#brennen describing her as lovely got me sighing like a school girl

[satisfactuality]

kristen applebees realest lesbian bc i too would see a nice 6'6" girl in a beekeeper suit who loved baklava and be down bad enough to let her take 24 hours to workshop a pick up line

[parachutingkitten]

Dancing Without You - Ch 3: Hello

A look into Cole's short time at the Marty Oppenheimer, the friendship he left behind when he ran from it, and what happens once he has to confront it.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

“We’re capping off our week by getting dance partners-”

A collective giddy laugh crossed across the room- mainly from the girls… including me. 

“These were assigned by height, so hopefully you’ll be able to work well together. Now, on one hand, you’re going to be dancing with this person for the rest of the semester, so get to know them, and try to get in a rhythm together. On the other hand, it’s only for a semester. So, if you don’t gel with your partner, you can always request a switch next semester. Sound fair?”

Nods spread across the room as Mrs. Haley looked down at her clipboard. “Find your partner once I read your names.” I could feel excitement starting to get the better of me as she started reading names. The kind that made me roll my feet and tighten my fingers. “Sarah Avery and Trevor Littleton.” A whole semester with one person! And through the week I had seen a lot of great dancing from some of the guys. “Mariah Beason and Devon Watson.” Not that it mattered. I’m sure I’d have a great time with whoever I got. It’s a performing arts school! Everyone here wants to dance. That’s what’s important. “Julia Brennen and Alex Garcia.” ...right? 

“Amelia Davenport and Cole Brookstone.”

I peeked out of the crowd only to meet eyes with a pair I’d never seen before. He had messy black hair, dark green eyes, and an uncertain expression playing across his features. We both stepped out of line and walked to the side. I glanced over at him. He seemed nervous.

“It was Cole, right?” I whispered. He seemed caught off guard. 

“Yeah. And Amelia?”

I smiled and nodded. “I haven’t seen you before.”

“I’m usually towards the back,” he shrugged.

“What’s your emphasis?”

“I’m still undeclared. You?”

“Ensemble dance,” I smiled.

“Well, that’s good,” He smirked. “At least one of us will know what we’re doing in this class.” 

I chuckled, trying to stay quiet as Mrs. Haley continued to read names. His sudden confidence seemed to come out of nowhere. “You more of a singer then?” I asked.

“I’m…” he trailed off. “I’m here. Let’s just start with that.” He brushed it off playfully. 

“So, if you’re not a singer, and you’re not a dancer…” 

“Well,” He cut me off, both of us laughing a bit. “I mean, I do sing, and I do dance. I’ve been singing and dancing since I was little. I just… if I had to describe myself, singer and dancer would not be the words I would use.”

“What words would you use?” 

He paused for a moment, thinking it over, as if it were the first time he had considered the question. “Well... I really like hiking, mountain biking, skiing-”

“So, you’re an adrenaline junkie.” I cut him off.

He laughed. “Yeah. Sure, let’s go with that. Adrenaline junkie.” He repeated it, smiling at the thought.

“So, what got you into performance?”

“My dad,” he smiled. “He has crazy-person performer blood. He’s been with the same quartet for years, he’s won the Blade Cup a few times, he’s-”

“The Blade Cup?!” I stopped him. “Really?”

“Yeah, you follow it?”

“Not closely or anything,” I shrugged. “But that’s really cool. The Blade Cup is a real performer’s competition. I mean, I know it’s pretty niche, but it’s a sizable award.”

“What do your parents do?”

“Well,” I hesitated. “They’re both dancers, but they’re in education. They um… they mainly work with really young kids,” I waved it off.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked, obviously reading my tone.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “A lot of people here come from pretty elite families, so when you go up to them and say, ‘my parents work with toddlers’ you get some weird looks.”

“Well, I think it’s awesome.” He assured me. “Getting kids involved in dance is such a wholesome thing to do with your life.” Cole was honestly the first person on campus I had spoken to that wasn’t put off by my parents. Just the tone with which he said ‘wholesome’ made me much happier than it had any right to. “Is that what you want to do?”

“I love my parents, but there’s no way I could do what they do. I’m headed straight for Ninjago City,” I smiled. “I’m gonna be on Broadway someday if it kills me.”

“Well, you’ve certainly got your priorities in line,” he smiled.

“Alright class!” Mrs. Haley broke our conversation. “Everyone has their partner. Most of you have had a minute to chat. Hopefully, you don’t totally hate each other just yet. Let’s get to dancing, shall we? Can we start with just a basic waltz?” Music began to play throughout the studio as Cole took my hands, and we started moving. 

“For what it’s worth, I don’t totally hate you,” I joked.

“Dare I say, things seem to be going pretty well?” 

I smiled, a warm feeling filling me as we danced together.

“Look, I don’t know what your schedule is like, but if you’re free after this, we should totally do something together. Of course, if you have class, or are meeting up with friends or what not-”

He laughed. “Oh, I don’t really have friends here.”

I smiled. “That makes two of us then.”

~*~*~*~

I hadn’t thought too much about it. It all seemed like such a distant thing until the moment we arrived. When I finally pulled up the parking brake, I realized how fast my heart was beating. Why was I so nervous? I don’t get nervous about these things. I never did. But here I was, unconsciously holding my breath at the idea of approaching the front door.

“You said she was apartment 14?” Jay asked me, looking out the window. 

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Should be on the right here somewhere.”

“How do we go about this? Should we all go to the door? Would that be overwhelming for her?” Pixal asked from the back. “Do you want to go by yourself first?”

“No! No, she’ll be fine,” I shook my head. “It’ll be fine. It’s probably better, actually, if there’s more people. Just so there are no surprises or anything… right?” I glanced back at Pixal. Her cloaked disguise caught me a bit off guard for about the fifth time this trip. I was never going to get used to seeing her with normal skin.

“You know her best.” Pixal crossed her arms in defiance of my indecisiveness.

“We’ll all go up together. But leave your stuff here, we don’t want to seem pushy or anything.”

“You seem pretty nervous,” Jay turned to face me.

“Let’s just do this,” I sighed, opening the door to escape his comment. My teammates followed as I locked the car and started over to apartment 14. “You guys should know, she’s…” I paused for a moment trying to find the words. “...a lot. She’s a total performer, and she’s high energy, and she’s very touchy. Don’t ask her about any Broadway show unless you want your ear talked off about it. In fact, the less you mention musical theater, the better off you’ll probably be.” As we reached the top step, I turned around to face them. “And she has this pet peeve about brushing your teeth while on your phone so-”

“Cole,” Pixal stopped me. “I think we’ll be alright. Okay?”

“Right…” I sighed, turning back around to face the door. I took a deep breath, knocking before I freaked myself out too much. A moment passed without any trace of movement behind the door. 

“What if she’s not here? What do we do then? What if-”

“Dude, it’s been like two seconds, chill out,” Jay nagged me. 

And before I could get a chance to think about it, there she was, standing on the other side of the door, staring back at me. 

She looked different.

But she hadn’t changed. 

Her hair was put up in its usual messy bun, and she wore a loose shirt hanging just off her shoulders over a pair of yoga pants. Her bangs hung just above her emerald eyes, almost in a forgotten attempt to cover them. But you couldn’t hide those eyes. They were so green. So rich, so vibrant. 

Exactly like I remembered.

And suddenly, I wasn’t nervous anymore. 

“Hi,” I smiled.

She looked at me, still stunned. 

“... Cole?”

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

“What are you doing here? Why…” She looked behind me, seeing that I wasn’t alone. “Oh my gosh! Come in. You guys are probably on a mission, and I’m just letting you stand out in the open!” She opened the door wider, stepping back into her house. “Come in, come in!” She waved us in, promptly closing the door behind us. “What are you doing here? Do you need something from me, is there something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble? I’m sorry,” she shook her head. “I should just let you talk. Why are you here?” 

“The team’s safety is at risk. We needed a few safe-houses to stay at for a few days, and Cole recommended you as a trustworthy possibility,” Pixal explained.

Amelia glanced over at me again, her mind obviously still a bit overloaded at the moment. “Wow. Okay.” She sighed. 

“It would likely only be a few days,” Jay jumped in. “And you wouldn’t have to do anything, but you should know that us staying with you might attract some danger.”

Amelia stood, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the ground, her arms crossed and biting her lip. She was thinking. The room was quiet for a moment as she processed the information, but her head soon popped back up with a smile, energy entering her body again.

“No, this is great! This actually works out really well! My roommate just moved out a week ago, so I’ve got the whole apartment to myself, and a spare bed, and room on the couch, loads of spare blankets and such. Plus, I’ve got the week off. It really shouldn’t be a problem! Do you guys want anything to drink? I just put on some tea-” Amelia’s head shot over to the kitchen.

“I think we’re alright,” Pixal stopped her, pulling back her attention.

“I’m such a terrible hostess!” Amelia laughed. “I don’t even know your names! I mean, I really should. But I don’t really watch the news much, it’s um…” her eyes glanced over at me for a moment before returning to Pixal. “It can be difficult for me… But maybe I can remember.” She turned to Jay, looking at him for a second. “You’re the blue one, that’s… lightning powers, right?”

“That’s me,” he nodded.

“Hold on, I know this,” She bounced on her heels. “It starts with a J, right?”

“It is Jay.”

“Oh!” She laughed. “That’s right! Jay! And then...” She then turned to Pixal, clearly more stumped than before. “Actually, I’m not sure I recognize you.”

“Maybe this will help,” Pixal deactivated her cloak as Amelia jumped in surprise. 

“Ah! You’re Samurai X!”

“But you can call me Pixal,” She extended a hand, Amelia quickly taking it. 

“That’s so cool! I can already tell we’re going to get along.” She turned to me, a soft smile gracing her face. “...and I know you.”

“I know you.” I smiled back; our eyes now locked on each other.

“Well, I’m going to get our stuff from the car.” Jay announced, heading towards the door.

“Oh, yeah,” Amelia laughed. “I guess you guys would have stuff. Bring it in and we’ll figure out where I’m putting you all.”

“Jay,” Pixal called after him as he exited. “You don’t-” but she was cut off as the door closed. “Have keys…” she sighed. I grabbed the keys from my pocket, tossing them to her as she followed him out. “Thanks.”

As the door closed, I felt arms surround me and a squeak in my ear.

“It’s so good to see you! I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too,” I chuckled as she broke from me. 

“I can’t believe you’re a ninja!” She took my hands, still giddy. “I mean, I can. You’ve been a ninja for years now. But it’s different when you’re right in front of me!”

“And you totally made it to Ninjago City and everything!”

“I always told you I would,” She hit me on the shoulder.

“Are you, like… on Broadway and stuff?”

“Soon! I’ve got an understudy position in an off-Broadway show, but we’re working on moving over sometime next year.”

“That’s so awesome! I can’t believe you actually made it! I mean…” we both chuckled for a moment. “I can. It’s you. But it’s just so surreal now that you’re actually doing it.”

“Oh!” her eyes popped, letting go of me. “I really should go get that tea from the stove before it boils over!” She started towards the kitchen as I followed her, laughing. “What’s so funny?” She asked, moving her pot off the burner. 

“Nothing. It’s just… you’re just as scatterbrained as I remember.”

She turned off the stove, leaning against the counter and taking my hands again. “I really did miss you, you know. It was never the same after you left.”

“I missed you too.” I gripped her hands a bit tighter, our arms swinging to some silent beat running through us both.

“But look at you! You have friends now and everything!” She teased, letting go of me and turning back to her teapot. “Now that’s something I never thought I’d see.” She poured herself a cup as we both chuckled.

“They’re great. I think you’ll really like them.”

“Oh, we’re definitely gonna have some fun.” She turned back around, gingerly holding the warm mug between her hands. “We're having a party tonight for sure.”

“Doesn't that seem kind of counter-intuitive to the whole safe-house thing?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “It’s a Friday night. My neighbors would be suspicious if I didn’t blast music and order pizza.”