`this is the time \ open

[noelle ackerman]

I’ve been waiting for my dreams to turn
Into something I could believe in
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The large duffel bag hit the floor with a 'thud' when Noelle dropped it from her shoulder. In it was neatly hidden the heels and cocktail dress that she had worn out to dinner with her younger brother and her parents. There was some fundraiser thing that the company her father worked at was hosting, and seeing as they were the family of the Marketing Manager they had to present themselves well. That meant that her brother had to wear a suit and she had to wear the itchy black dress that her mother had bought for her without Noelle knowing. It was all right though, after they made the rounds with their father she and her brother were able to go off and do whatever as long as they didn't "get into trouble." And seeing as she was twenty-four and old enough to take care of herself, that was applied more so to her brother.

When the night was over, they parted from their parents and Noelle dropped her brother at the dorms before she drove to the gym with her bag in the back seat. It was probably a little late to be heading to the gym, but at the same time she had seen others there late as well. What time was it? 7:30? 8:00 maybe? Yeah, it was kind of late. But in her defense, Noelle had to keep herself in shape. She could dance a little bit throughout the day while she was teaching, but it was nothing compared to what she was used to. She was used to spending hours here at the gym practicing a routine in preparation for an audition or something. Of course, Noelle hadn't been to an audition lately, but the idea of coming by and practicing for a little while was still appealing. It was never too late to learn something new.

The particular gym that she went to was large. It was separated into three different areas. The main room was the weight lifting room, which she did at times visit, then off of that came the large sports area with basketball hoops and other things. The doors on the other side of the weight lifting area led to the big dance room with light wooden floors, creamy white paint, and a long mirror that stretched across the entire left wall when you first walked in. Yoga and Martial Arts classes were held in here a lot too, but on a late Thursday night it was bare and open for anyone to use it. The walls were supposedly soundproof, but Noelle knew as well as the next person that even when the door was closed you could still hear the clanking of weights and the sound of whatever loud music the guys had playing at the time. She didn't mind though, after all these years it was just something to get used to.

Miss Ackerman had changed in the bathroom before coming in here, so now she wore her black tights, a light t-shirt that was long enough to cover her down to her thighs, and ballerina-style shoes so she could move around easily. Her hair was up in a messy bun, but her face still looked a little dolled-up since she had yet to wipe the make-up off that she had put on for her father's dinner. Pulling a random CD out of her bag (well, not really random, it was more less whatever she happened to have in there at the time) she stuck it in the Boom Box that was set up in the corner of the room and pressed play. A soft classical melody floated from the speakers, making Noelle smile lightly and tight her head to the side. Yeah, this was good, she could practice to this, or at least warm up to it. If she remembered correctly, there was a song later that was much faster and had more emotion embodied in it. That was something that she could practice to.

Noelle turned away from the boom box and walked back toward the mirror, stretching out her arms over her head as she did so. They fell back to her side when Noelle stopped face-to-face with her reflection and the young woman loosened up her shoulder and neck muscles. Then, she slid one leg back and the other one forward until she was on the ground in a split, and leaned the rest of her body forward until she could touch her toes. Noelle could still remember the first time she had tried doing a split, back when she was not as limber. It had been a painful experience needless to say. She was with her dad in the park and they were just throwing a ball back and forth. Harmless, right? Well, it had rained the night before and the grass was wet, and at one point she threw the ball and down she went. Noelle couldn't remember anymore how much it hurt, but she did remember crying for her dad to come and help her. Then, here she was almost twenty years later...

Noelle brought herself back up and stretched her arms upward as though she were reaching for the ceiling, inhaling deeply while she did and then exhaling when her arms came back down again. Right now, she forgot about the fact that she had to teach tomorrow. She forgot about the kids who always complained and had only taken the class because they didn't want to take gym, and she forgot about all of the other hassles that she faced throughout the day. This were her haven, if you wished to call it that.

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`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Anyone <33
`Word Count: 961
`Lyrics By: David Cook - The Time of My Life
`Notes:

[/font] avatars from somewhere i can't remember
whooot! my first open thread ^-^[/blockquote][/size]

[ciara]

"Just like I always wanted.. But I'm sure sorry..."

Her father.. the bastard that he was, he just seemed to get to her at the worst times. Right now, she was supposed to be memorizing lines for the spring musical.. but.. all she could think about was the damn deadbeat in jail that thought he had the right to know what she was doing with her life. The newest impulse to figure out? He'd written - not typed - a 4 page letter describing his thoughts, feelings, and insane ramblings about how he messed up and that he wished he was back in her life. She figured it was a spoof... something to make her miss him.

And sadly, it worked.

Though she hated to admit it, the bastard still had a softspot stolen away for himself in her heart. And his every antic worked. She hated him because of what he'd done to her and her mother, and how he'd ruined her relationship with her only brother. But, because he was her blood father, and the only man who had ever known her this well, she still loved him. That was the problem. She loved her father, but she hated and distrusted him. He was a criminal, who because they had been late to pay that damned bail bond fee, he beat her mother in front of the police station.

That's why she hated him. He was a monster...

Why didn't he understand she had no purpose for him anymore.. She was better off away from him, and away from the past. She hadn't realized that this walk of hers, with the deep thought she was in, had placed her inside the gym.. The doors had been unlocked, and for a moment, she'd thought she was in the student's lounge at the school. Shit, what time was it? She stared at the white wall in front of her for a moment, as if testing herself to figure out where she was, and then turned slowly, dark eyes scanning the "FITNESS DRINKS" sign over the counter of the consession behind her. Turning completely, she looked as if lost, but she knew exactly what her heart was telling her to do.. Run.. run for your life from every problem.. find the nearest treadmill, and beat the shit out of yourself..

This whole thing is your fault because you were crying, which is what made you and your mother late to get dad out.. She shook her head at the thoughts, beating herself down in a pity tyraid. Sighing, she slipped through the doors of the work out room, and looked down at her attire. She was still in shorts.. tennis shoes, and a t-shirt.. it was lounge day for her. She climbed up onto the treadmill, and stared at her reflection on the tv screen in front of her.. Ridiculous.. Now they provided tv's for fat people, so they felt more at home while they ran their ass off.. Dumbest thing she'd ever heard of.. Pressing the buttons, she got it going at a fast walk, 3.2 miles per hour at least, and then kicked it up to a jog.

Reaching for her long hair, she started pulling up the strands into a messy ponytail, the elastic from her wrist coming in handy. She stopped with her hair after a moment, the dark locks falling in krimped piles around the back of her neck, and looked at the second reflection.. A girl.. dancing. No.. take that back.. a woman. She liked the music that was playing.. but that wasn't ordinary dance.. Ballet maybe? Dawn blinked slowly, wondering how ridiculous she'd look in a tutu and covered in glitter, doing fancy pirrouettes for a judging score.. She smiled softly at the beauty of the woman dancing.. she was.. - wait.. wasn't that a teacher? She tore her eyes away as if seeing porn for the first time, and picked the pace up on the treadmill..

Tag: well I guess it's Noelle.. haha.
Word Count: 744
Status: Ehh.. boreed.. but the post helped..
Lyrics/Song: "White Horse" by Taylor Swift[/size]

[noelle ackerman]

And looking for that magic rainbow
On the horizon, I couldn't see it
________________________________________________________

The stretching had felt good. Noelle was limber and felt ready to get a good work out. She stood up off the floor, still shaking her arms and shoulders out while the music changed. Her heart was already racing, like it would when you first started dating someone and you got those butterflies whenever you saw them. Dancing just did that to her. It made her excited and gave her energy. In her opinion, it was better than sex! Okay, maybe not quite, but it was pretty darn close. Don't get the wrong idea from that either. She wasn't to kind of woman to go and sleep around with every guy she met. Noelle had more respect for herself than that. Besides, why do that when dancing was just as fun?

The new song started, still classical. It was more up beat than the last one though, and had a harder sound to it, almost like something by Mozart or Beethoven's 5th symphony. The strange thing was, she never remembered putting a song like this on any CD of hers. This was probably her father's or something, and she took it by mistake. Oh well, he wouldn't notice until the day he finally had a break. That day would never come. She loved her dad dearly but he had always worked too much, and his cell phone took the times that he did spend with his family away. It was hard to complain however, for Noelle had grown up with more than other people. Plus, the last thing she wanted to be known for was being a wealthy snot, or a whore...but that was beside the point.

The music picked up and the woman finally started to move. Her light movements carried her through turns and spins until she tried to lift off the ground in a high leap. Upon landing, her foot bent the wrong way and she fell to the floor. There was a shot of pain, but Noelle knew already that it was nothing too serious; it was more so frustrating and alarming. It would be sore for a day or two but that soreness could have been avoided if she had just landed right! The girl knew she was too hard on herself, but it was hard not to be. "Fuck!" Pushing herself off the floor, she fought through the numbing pain while she made her way over to the CD player and hit the "off" button. When the music stopped, she lifted her hands and tried to wipe the annoyance out of her eyes with her wrists. She had been lucky. From the dull throbbing Noelle could tell she hadn't really damaged anything, but rather strained it a bit. She was frustrated with herself because she was afraid of making an old injury flare up from a stupid mistake like that.

It was then that she noticed the sound of a treadmill on the other side of the room. The dance room did have some other exercise equipment in it, because there were some people who didn't like the hustle and bustle of the main gym. Her cheeks flushed slightly while Noelle pushed a strand of hair stuck to her chin away. "Sorry about that." She was sure that the young woman had heard worse language than fuck, but all the same she still had a problem with saying things like that around someone younger than her. It was probably because her brother would always pick up on her language when she thought he wasn't listening, and then repeat it later on to their mom. She had gotten into some hot water as a teenager with that. So, she tried to refrain from using it when she could.

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`Status: Finished!!
`Tag: Dawn Farlow
`Word Count: 632
`Lyrics By: David Cook - The Time of My Life
`Notes:

[/font] avatars from somewhere i can't remember
I know I’ve been saying this a lot but I am SO sorry this took me so long D:[/blockquote][/size]