Dance Lessons on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Carter Browning

April 29, 2013 10:41 PM

Dance Lessons by Carter Browning

Carter liked wandering around the school and finding new things. When he found the MARS rooms he was rather pleased. A place to practice things he wanted to practice in between classes. He found the water room and was rather impressed over what he found. I’ll have to remember this room he told himself as he surveyed the surrounding body of water that appeared before him when he opened the door. He closed the door carefully and moved to the next one. When he came to the third door he was a little surprised to see a dance room. “Great…a place where I can brush up on my dance skills,” he said to himself as he walked into the room to look around. He waved a polite hello to the portraits he saw around the room. He knew he would need this room if he wanted not to look like a dweeb at ball. He wanted to make Wendy look good. Besides his cousin Kinley, Wendy was his only other friend so far at school. He didn’t want to do anything to make her look bad or embarrass her. He nodded approvingly at the room and bid the portraits goodbye before leaving the room shutting the door behind him.

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Carter woke up the next morning feeling slightly apprehensive. After seeing the MARS dancing room, he went up to the owlry to send his invitation to Wendy. He watched his favorite feathered buddy take off out of the window and headed back to the Teppenpaw Dorms. He still really hated the fact that they had to dance a jig to get into the room, but oh well. The dance lessons his mother had insisted upon to help improve his social graces (as she put it) had sort-of paid off. Now instead of being completely clueless, he was only moderately clueless. It was part of the reason why he wanted to meet with Wendy and have practice dance sessions so he didn’t end up stepping all over her feet. He dressed in loose fitting khakis and a knit sweater, a white button down collared shirt underneath. He rolled the sleeves up to about his elbows. He tried combing out his curly-ish red hair, but after little success just left it. At least his hair wasn’t smooshed to his head, definite sign of bed-head. It sort-of resembled an electrocution victim with the way it stuck out. There was very little he could to calm the mess so he left it. The way he figured it if Wendy said anything about it he could always joke that he needed to be more careful with cutlery and electrical sockets.

He slipped on his black dressy shoes, because everyone knows you don’t wear tennis shoes with khakis, and headed out of the dorms to meet with Wendy at the MARS room. Assuming she got his message and accepted his invite, he should see her shortly after arriving at the dance room. If she decided not to join him, well at least he would get some good practice time in before the real ball. He found the MARS room easily and slowly opened the door. When he didn’t see her already inside he figured that he had arrived early and went inside to wait. He said hello to the portraits as he had when he first found the room and wandered around it while he waited. He tried hard to remember the music charm that his mother had taught him and found himself only recalling bits of it. He frowned slightly when he couldn’t quite recall what he wanted. He figured they could come up with the musical aspect another way. Carter heard the door open and he turned to see who it was. He smiled when he recognized his companion and waved an awkward hello. He went to step closer, but he couldn’t get his legs to co-operate. He just hoped nobody noticed and he didn’t fall flat on his face.

0 Carter Browning Dance Lessons 236 Carter Browning 1 5

Wendy Canterbury

April 30, 2013 9:06 PM

Lead the way, kind sir! by Wendy Canterbury

When Wendy saw an owl approach her with a letter in its beak, she was firstly surprised and secondly excited. She thought her sister was sending her a note of encouragement or something through a school owl, but it turned out to be better. Carter apparently wanted to meet her in the MARS dancing room for dance lessons. She would never say no to hanging out with him and it would be nice to learn how to dance at a ball before actually dancing there in front of everyone.

She wondered if she should wear her dress, but she didn't want to wear it more than she already had in trying it on several times. She finally decided to wear her long bohemian-style skirt and a graphic tee of a cat wearing sunglasses. Her mom's family was super fashionable, so they had tried to get her to wear more fashionable clothes. Even though Wendy's closet was full of nice blouses, leather belts, high waisted skirts,and lots of button-ups, she still liked her T-shirt and shorts best. Though the long skirts were working their way up her favorites list quick.

Slip-ons were most likely what she was going to wear to the ball, but she didn't think about it when she put them on. Time hadn't seemed all that fast when she had been deciding what to wear, but it had passed really quickly. She hoped Carter wasn't waiting long when she looked at the clock before rushing out the door. The Labyrinth Gardens were blooming with life and she was tempted to stop and enjoy all the greenery, but she had her friend waiting. Her dad had noticed Wendy's growing love for the natural world and liked to tease her by calling her a serious nature-lover or a transcendentalist, whatever that last one was. She couldn't even deny it. It was perfect that her dorm was right in the gardens so she could come out whenever she wanted.

She made it to the MARS room in record time. Half of her journey had been spent watching her skirt billow in the wind. If Wendy had the patience to grow her hair long again, she totally would have just to watch her blonde hair billow in the wind along with it. It was too short to do any billowing, but that was okay. She liked it chin-length anyway.

Her older sister had showed her the MARS rooms last year as part of her little tour. Waverly loved them and Wendy thought they were cool. There just wasn't much for her to do here except practice her singing. But singing never felt the same without her mom to join in with her. And Wendy was not about to practice the piano if she didn't have to. Because of that she hadn't been back till right now. Now there was a real purpose: to learn how to dance.

Wendy pushed the door open to the room and found Carter already there. There were portraits looking at them, but Wendy didn't know what to do so she just gave them a little smile. Carter waved and he swayed forward a bit. He seemed a little awkward, but Wendy had always been good at diffusing any awkward or tense airs. "Hey Carter!" she said with a smile. "I hope you know how to dance 'cause I have no idea."

19 Wendy Canterbury Lead the way, kind sir! 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Carter Browning

May 01, 2013 1:07 PM

I'm usually bad at leading...lol by Carter Browning

Carter heard the MARS door open and turned to see Wendy walk into the room and smile at him. He found for a split second he couldn’t breathe. She looked really cute in the long wearing sunglasses. He gazed at the shirt quizzically, a small grin on his face. He realized a bit too late that he had been staring at her and grinned sheepishly. He felt a bit better when she spoke first. “Hey Wendy,” he crocked out, before clearing his throat and trying again. “Hi Wendy,” he managed, without his voice cracking this time. He nodded when he heard her question about knowing how to dance. “Yeah, I know how to dance. Well, I’m decent at it anyway,” he joked hoping it didn’t scare her that he wasn’t an expert at it. He studied the foot print steps that were posted on one of the walls while he decided which dance to teach her first. After studying the wall for a moment he decided that he would start her off with the dance moves he first learned, the Waltz. He turned back towards Wendy and began to explain to her what his plan was for their first lesson.

“Okay, I figure for it being our first dance session we should start with something pretty simple,” he began. “We’re gonna start off with the Waltz since its really only three basic steps.” He looked to one of the portraits that held musicians and asked them if they would be kind enough to play for them. The gentlemen in the portrait were delighted to be of any assistance and began playing a Waltz for Carter. Carter took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he positioned himself to show Wendy the steps. He held up his hands as though he had a partner and began trying to explain what he was doing while he was doing it. “Okay…If I remember it correctly we start on the left foot…left foot?” he glanced towards the portraits for some guidance. The older gentleman in the portrait next to the musicians nodded his head at Carter’s question. Carter nodded back and continued as he searched again for the rhythm he would need. Meanwhile filling the room was the gentle melody of the Waltz, Dadadada dada dada Dadadada dada dada.

He found the beat he wanted and began dancing around the room, three steps at a time. “You do the steps in a three count…like this,” he instructed, showing her the movements as slowly as possible. He started making funny slow-motion faces as he danced around the room showing her the steps. He knew he probably looked like a moron, but for some weird reason he didn’t care. If it made her laugh and have fun with it he was willing to be a moron. Carter knew that in about a year maybe two there was going to be some serious discussion on the subject of betrothal and he HATED that knowledge. He secretly envied the muggle borns and half-bloods for the fact that they didn’t have to deal with that issue. Carter told himself that until he actually had to worry about it, he was going to spend time with his friend and enjoy himself. He danced his way back towards Wendy and stopped in front of her. “Alright grasshopper,” he teased lightly. “Ready to give it a try?” He bowed slightly to her and offered her his hand.

0 Carter Browning I'm usually bad at leading...lol 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Wendy Canterbury

May 01, 2013 4:04 PM

Give it a try! I'll be a good follower by Wendy Canterbury

Carter was acting a little strange, but Wendy just put it off as nerves. It wasn't easy being a teacher even with friends. And if he was only decent at dancing and not an expert, she could see why he would be a little more self-conscious than usual. The first dance was going to be the waltz and Wendy tried to pay close attention to his steps. There were only three of them so they should be easy enough to remember.

The portraits seemed to know how to dance and play music, luckily enough, so she watched as Carter began to show her. It looked perfectly normal, him dancing with an invisible person in his arms. He moved around the room and Wendy got a little lost in the music. She did have some musical genes in her and she found the rhythm easily. It was easy enough to pick up on and Carter's steps didn't look that hard.

His funny faces made her giggle, but she wanted to try it too. She copied him, also pretending to be dancing with someone, but she made sure to keep an eye on him. She was doing pretty well, but she stopped before he did, making sure what he was doing was the same. It really was easy doing it by herself. Now the challenge was to do it with someone else.

Carter danced his way back to her and Wendy smiled. "Okay," she said, and took his hand. She fumbled a little with the arm positions, but she got it quick enough. When they started moving, she kept her eyes on her feet, making sure she wasn't stepping on his. It would take maybe another try before she could lift her eyes and look at her partner. It was three steps every time so Wendy got the hang of it quickly enough. She tried to look at him, but it felt unnatural after staring at her feet for so long and soon after she stepped on his foot. "Oh, sorry!" Multitasking was kind of difficult, apparently. "Wait, let's try again. It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be."

19 Wendy Canterbury Give it a try! I'll be a good follower 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Carter Browning

May 01, 2013 6:25 PM

I'll do my best..I promise nothing by Carter Browning

Carter saw Wendy mimicking him out of the corner of his eye as he danced his way around the room with his invisible partner. He danced his way back over to her and figured now was as good a time as any to try it with his partner. He offered Wendy his hand and she took it. He tried to set them up in the right positioning and when he was pretty sure he had it, he waited for the right note to start on and began dancing around with her. He quietly counted One, Two, Three…One, Two, Three so she could hear the beat to step to. He watched her carefully and grinned when he noticed that she had yet to look up from her feet to face him. Honestly he didn’t mind that she hadn’t faced him yet because he didn’t want her to see how nervous he was. Here he was dancing around with a girl he actually liked. That was new. When he had started his lessons he only had his cousin Kinley to dance with or his mother’s stuffy friends. His dance teacher had been a lady so he had danced with her a few times as well.

Their first couple passes went pretty decently and he was happy with their progress. She finally tried lifting her gaze to meet his and his heart about stopped. He fought the urge to blubber like an idiot and smiled. He was about to tell her they were doing pretty good when he heard her apologize. It was about that same time that he felt the tingling sensation in his toes. She was apologizing for stepping on his foot. Strangely enough he barely felt it or at least told himself he barely felt it. His eye teared up slightly from the slight throb from his foot, but kept grinning anyway. “Don’t worry about it,” he told her, brushing off the incident. “It happens to the best of us. I can’t tell you how many times I stepped on my cousin’s foot while we were practicing,” he confessed to her, leaving out the part that not all of those times were accidents. A few of them had been on purpose just to get Kinley’s shoes dirty.

He nodded encouragingly at her comment about them doing better the next time. “It’s actually a really easy dance once you get the steps down. The only hard part is doing them without looking at your feet. I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you,” he encouraged her. “Now, lets try again and this time try to look at your feet even less,” he instructed. He took her right hand and placed it on his shoulder, placed his right hand on her back and took her left hand. He put them back into dancing stance and had them begin again. He felt a little weird holding onto her mostly because he didn’t want her to feel like he was a creep or anything with the way he was holding her. He tried to hold her out away from him so she didn’t get too uncomfortable. He just hoped she didn’t think he was trying to be too forward.

0 Carter Browning I'll do my best..I promise nothing 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Wendy

May 02, 2013 3:19 PM

You're doing fine so far! by Wendy

Wendy had stepped kind of hard on his foot and his slightly misty eyes told her so. "I hope it doesn't hurt too bad!" she said, earnestly hoping she hadn't injured him for life or something. It was a little comforting to remember that all beginners had this problem. Hopefully this would only be a one-time thing. At least, she'd try to make it only a one-time thing.

Making the change from looking at her feet to her partner was difficult, but Wendy was determined to do it. "Okay," she said firmly, taking up the position again. She wondered if her mom knew how to waltz, having grown up in old country North Carolina, but she had never asked. It would be a good thing to ask about when she got back home.

As they danced, her mind wandered back into her head as she counted and tried to see her feet in her mind's eye. Her eyes stayed glued to Carter's face, but her mind stayed on her feet. It was easy to get lost in the movement of the dance, however, and Wendy was especially susceptible to musings. She imagined herself at the ball now, dancing like Cinderella might've danced with the prince. She could see herself wearing her ball gown and a tiara on her head, her golden hair even brighter than it actually was. Glass slippers would probably hurt, but she could pretend they were really comfortable glass slippers.

She stepped on Carter's foot again in her distraction and was glad that she wasn't actually wearing glass slippers. That really would've hurt. "Dang it, I'm sorry," she said, looking down at his foot. Hopefully it wasn't the same one. "Let's try again. I really like doing this," she said, smiling brightly. Good thing she had such a good teacher or else she would have been stepping on his foot all night at the ball!

0 Wendy You're doing fine so far! 0 Wendy 0 5

Carter Browning

May 03, 2013 2:25 PM

Glad to hear it :) by Carter Browning

Carter was thoroughly enjoying himself as he and Wendy danced across the room. He couldn’t believe how quickly she seemed to be picking up the dance steps. She had only stepped on his foot once and while it stung at the time, it was a distant memory now. He liked that he had managed to get her to look him in the face while they danced. He liked the look of concentration she held as they danced and could wonder what she was thinking about. He mentally shrugged away the question and enjoyed the moment. He was beginning to imagine them at the ball together dancing when something sharp brought him out of his daydream. He was becoming aware of a sharp throb coming from the foot she had already stepped on once before. He glanced down at his foot and found her stepping on it again. He grinned despite the pain and shook his head as she apologized. “Its okay,” he assured her. “My foot is soo numb I don’t even feel it anymore,” he joked, trying to make her feel better about the whole thing. He nodded when she suggested that they try it one last time. “Last time…then we try something else,” he suggested. He just hoped the next dance he taught her kept her away from his feet.

He held her in position for one final go and was very pleased when they made it around the room. He brought her to stop, held one of her hands and bowed to his partner. If he missed any of those steps his dance teacher would have skinned him alive. “And that Miss Wendy was the Waltz. Now we move on to our next dance which is called the Cha Cha,” he explained. He looked back at the musicians and asked for a Cha Cha song. As they began to play he positioned himself again with his invisible partner. He reluctantly had let go of her hand to take up his position to show her the next dance. “Okay…Now this one is a four count step with a kind-of three step butt wiggle,” he explained hoping she might have an idea of what he was talking about. He figured the best way for her to understand was for him to show her. He found the beat he needed and began dancing, counting off the steps as he moved. One, Two, Cha Cha Cha…Three, Four, Cha Cha Cha. He danced the first two steps and then wiggled his backside slightly at the last three. It looked like he was lightly stomping on the floor, but he wasn’t. He danced a couple more times to give her a better idea and then held out his hand.

“Ready to try this one out, grasshopper?” he smiled encouragingly at her. He really was having fun with this. He was really glad that she seemed to be enjoying it too.

0 Carter Browning Glad to hear it :) 236 Carter Browning 0 5