I was told bad things would happen.. |noelle|

[huganazn]

So, here he was. Felix grew more and more nervous every time a second ticked by on his dancing teacher's clock. He was sitting in the dance hall, just waiting. No, dance wasn't his first period class, but right now, talking to the dance teacher was his top priority. It was only about seven thirty in the morning, so only the teachers should be in their classrooms right now. Unless some of his peers were major over achievers...or getting laid... Felix shook that thought out of his head before he began mentally undressing his English teacher. No, he was here on business. This was serious.

Now, Felix wasn't sure how long he'd been there. He was sitting in the middle of the dance floor, and he knew that he had been there for a while. He'd gotten up early - before six - and got dressed. But just how long? was the question. He'd gotten dressed, brushed his teeth, brushed his hair, grabbed his camera and left. Since he was of the male gender, that probably only took him ten or fifteen minutes. So, Felix had probably been sitting here for a good half hour. Since he had no roommate, there wasn't anyone he'd wake up by moving around and getting ready for the day. He didn't normally get up this early; he usually liked to sleep until he absolutely had to get up, but today was different. He had to tell Miss Ackerman something...something he felt was important.

It was possible...almost promised that she wouldn't take him seriously. He'd been trying to find the right words all morning. It seemed like there weren't any right words for his situation. But still, he was all alone and he was muttering words into the silence of the morning. He was waiting. He'd even brought his teacher Starbucks coffee. He didn't want to be turned away, not again...

[noelle ackerman]

mile by mile feelings i just can't reconcile
my heart's on a string, these broken wings
________________________________________________________

What day was it? Thursday? Friday? Noelle was hoping so bad that it was Friday. No, not because she wanted to get away from her students, but because she had anxiously been awaiting Saturday all week, or at least after a few nights ago when Aaron has asked her if she would like to join him for dinner. Since then, she had continued giving him his private after school lessons and had become all the more excited, to the point where Noelle had almost completely forgotten about the anonymous flowers that had been left in her doorway. Almost. They were sitting on her desk in her room, so it was hard to completely forget, and adding to that the fact that they were gorgeous there was no way the woman would be able to completely push away the question of who had sent them.

Unfortunately, there was no time to ponder these things right now. It was time to go through her morning routine to get ready for classes. She arrived at school early, just like many of the other teachers, stowed her belongings in the closet, added some water to the vase holding her flowers, and let her computer boot up while she went to the office. There was a bit of a chill in the hallway, brought in from the frigid air outside. It had gotten to the point where a tiny bit of snow covered the ground in the morning every few days, and it made her excited. Noelle couldn't wait until it was really snowing so she could sit at her window during some nights when she couldn't sleep and watch it fall. It was one of her favorite things to do in the wintertime, along with admiring Chicago's Christmas decorations.

After grabbing her mail out of her mailbox, Miss Ackerman stopped by the front desk to talk with the secretaries, as she did every morning. It was always meant to be a harmless 'good morning' but with the three of them the conversations became much longer. One inquired if she found out the owner of the flowers yet while the other asked if she was busy this weekend because she was trying to find someone to look after her kid while her and her husband went out of town, then the chat spiraled from there. The next time she glanced up at the clock, she was surprised to see that almost twenty-five minutes had passed. "Oh, I'm sorry guys, I gotta go! We'll talk later." She said her goodbyes to her office friends and picked up her mail again, then started on the walk back to her room. The office was situated in the middle of the school between the arts' wing and the core classes' wing, which meant that it wasn't too far of a walk for her. Even if it were a long one, she wouldn't have minded. There was something nice about the school when it wasn't crowded with students.

Here's one thing that was a little different for her, Noelle was wearing flatts today - mainly because of the cold - so you couldn't hear her heels clicking down the hall like you normally would. It also meant that it would be easier for her to catch her students, because they wouldn't know she was coming when they were alone in the room and goofing off. At the same time, the woman never paid much mind to it. Teenagers were teenagers and she wasn't going to fill out disciplinary paperwork for something that wasn't a big deal, since her student were pretty good most of the time. Her door was being held open with a doorstop, making it easy for Noelle come back into her room with her hands full of mail. Well, at first it was easy, until a dark figure in the corner of the teacher's eye that hadn't been there when she left made her jump so suddenly she dropped everything she was carrying. The mail hit the floor with a dull "smack" and spread out over the wood, leaving Noelle's heart pounding when she laid her eyes on one of her students sitting in the middle of the floor. Breathing out a deep sigh of relief, she pushed her hair back and away from her face.

"Oh, Felix. I'm sorry, you scared me." And rightfully so. The woman wasn't used to seeing students this early in the morning, let alone sitting in her room waiting for her. Glancing down at the fallen mail, Noelle bent down until she want kneeling on the floor to gather it up, all the while talking to the young man a little ways away from her. "You're here awfully early, can I help you with something?" She didn't see him until later on in the day, and he didn't seem like the type to come in this early, hence her confusion.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Felix Rivera
`Word Count: 839
`Lyrics By: David Cook - I Did It For You
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
*is intrigued* o.O though i think i know what he's gonna say LoL
I was trying not to make it too long for you but I got into it >.<[/blockquote][/size]

[huganazn]

"You just have to say it," Felix told himself. "You can't be afraid. Not again. She has to know why you hate her class." He was waiting to hear his teacher's click-clacking heels coming down the hallway, warning him that she was about to enter the room. He was planning on standing up, the coffee he'd bought her in hand, handing it to her, and asking if she had a few minutes to discuss something important with him.

But things, Felix had learned, rarely go as originally planned. The door to the dance hall opened, surprising Felix. He looked up and saw the woman he'd been waiting on for over an hour. Quickly, he grabbed the coffee and stood up. "Sorry about..your mail, ma'am," he said as he watched her bend down and pick up the dropped envelopes. "You look...nice today, ma'am," he added, trying to be polite, trying to make up for startling her. Of course, saying ma'am after every sentence was probably annoying to his teacher, but a nervous habit for the nervous boy.

Felix pulled out his phone and pressed the lock key, to find out the time. It was still barely 7:30 in the morning. "Yeah, I guess I am here a bit early, since my class isn't until after noon time," he said to her, not trying to appear too nervous. "I would normally be asleep right now," he explained to her, "but last night, before I went to bed, I got a call from my mother. We talked for a bit, but then she told me she had to..go to work. Something didn't feel quite right about last night."

Of course, none of this was in the script he'd written down in his memory; actually, it sounded a lot better than the original version. He hoped all his fear had been really stupid and juvenile, but a part of him still doubted it..

[noelle ackerman]

who knew i'd be so fragile
far away from you
________________________________________________________

Her hair started to fall into her face again as Noelle picked up the fallen mail, so she flipped it back over her shoulder and tilted her head to the side a bit so it wouldn't get in the way anymore, all the while listening to Felix' nervous stuttering as he stood up. By his reaction, it seemed fair to say that she had taken him by surprise as well. "It's all right," she responded to his apology, "It's only mail." It wasn't like she had been holding anything fragile, and even if she had been it wouldn't have really been his fault. Gathering up the last bit of it, the woman pushed herself back up to a stand and smiled to Felix at his thoughtful comment. "Thank you." He was a sweet kid, obviously a little nervous about something though with his frequent use of the word "ma'am." She wasn't exactly fond of being called that, it made her sound old, but she inwardly bit her tongue and refrained from saying anything. He already seemed worked up enough.

As Noelle finally made her way over to her desk where she could set down the mail, she listened to Felix while he talked about how he usually isn't awake yet. The students were lucky that they got to sleep in. She might seem like a morning person, but she really wasn't, it was incredibly difficult for her to get out of bed this morning. Noelle was more of a late afternoon and evening person, which was when she had the most energy. Right now, she would normally be running on a cup of coffee, but she hadn't had the chance to get any yet. That made the sweet aroma of Felix' Starbucks all the more alluring. If she had the time, she would have to stop there later and get some, or ask a teacher running that way first block to pick some up for her. That was one thing the teachers did, they were always buying things for one another if the other couldn't leave. If the teacher was feeling particularly nice that day, sometimes he or she might even get something for the students.

A concern expression crossed her features at Felix's last words. Was that what he was here for? Did he need someone to talk to? If that was the reason she was flattered, and she would try her best even though Noelle wasn't too sure how good she was at giving advice. Good advice was something that came with time an experience, and whoever thought a twenty-five year old was already experienced enough was clearly mistaken. Well, maybe some were, but she was not one of them. Turning her body so she was facing Felix, she rested her elbow on top of her desk/counter thing and searched for the right words. "Is it...um...something that you wanted to talk about?" Noelle was starting to hope that talking was not something that he was here for, because as much as she would like to help she didn't know how much of a help she could be to him.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Felix Rivera
`Word Count: 539
`Lyrics By: David Cook - I Did It For You
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
little shorter than the last one >.< LoL[/blockquote][/size]

[huganazn]

Remember that old break up line, "It's not me, it's you?" It was the oldest way to break up with someone, but it was still used today. No, people didn't tell their exes, "It's not me, it's you," anymore and just walk off. Over the years, there had become many variations of the line, but it was always heartbreaking. But Felix didn't want to use a variation, and he didn't want to break up with his teacher, mainly because they had never been together. But still, it was what Felix was here about. It wasn't about him; it was about her.

"Yes, ma'am," he told her, following her over to her desk. "I'm not here to compliment your hair or make up today, although, like many women, I'm sure you don't mind it." That was probably wrong. There probably was a point where a woman would tell a guy to shut up about her already. Of course, Felix hadn't ever been in much of a relationship to find out, so right now, he probably wouldn't know. "I'm sorry. Saying that was probably a mistake," he said after thinking for a moment. "I haven't been in a relationship in a while," he explained. "But my problems with the ladies isn't why I'm here. I'd ask one of my girlfriends...no, not girlfriends, like, romantic, but..."

Felix shut himself up. He wasn't here to talk about girls, either. He was here to talk about something that worried him. "Actually, I wish to talk to you about my mom...and you, if that's alright." To her, it was probably like a bombshell attacking. He imagined what she was thinking. This boy is insane; I don't even know his mother... How could I have a connection to her? Well, he was more than willing to explain to her, if she was curious to know more.

[noelle ackerman]

tearin' down your walls
is forcing me to break
________________________________________________________

Each moment spent in the boy's presence was making Noelle all the more curious to know what was on his mind, and why it had brought him to her room a while before classes were even going to start. It just didn't usually happen, at least not to her. There had only been a couple people to show up at her room this early in the morning so far this year, one was an administrator and the other was Aaron. Both of them, as you could guess, were not students. In fact, if you were to put the three of them in the same room, she would be the youngest! That was beside the point, though. The point right now was that something was bothering Felix and he had come to her for help, and being the teacher figure that she was to him Noelle would try her best to help despite the fact that it freaked her out a bit. She was new to teaching, and so far had only had to help people with things that involved dancing.

He was right; she didn't mind it, to a point. His compliments were, at the least, flattering. At the same time though, coming from a student it was still a little strange for her. Again, it was something that Noelle was getting used to. That, and knowing when it was and wasn't okay to touch someone. Growing up she had always been a very touchy feely person (not in a gross way). She liked giving hugs and all that kind of stuff, but one wrong touch on school property could lead them into a lawsuit. So, Noelle found herself very closed off sometimes, and wondered if it made her seem cold to anyone. She was definitely not a cold person but who knows? She was still working on that comfortable medium. As Felix continued on, the woman's concerned expression turned into a soft, and hopefully calming, smile.

"Actually, I wish to talk to you about my mom...and you, if that's alright." This question urged her to bite the inside of lip, making it look like she was pressing her lips together in a curious way. In truth, Noelle was still hesitant about the "talking" thing, though she was sure halfway into the conversation she would get over it. What made it a little worse though was that he wanted to talk about her. Why? Had she done something wrong? Was his mother angry with her for some reason? Noelle had never met his mom before, so if some angry lady with a meat cleaver came at her Noelle wouldn't know what to think. "Um...okay....how about we sit?" The teacher straightened her posture and leaned off her desk while gesturing him toward the chairs on the far side of the room. She made her way over herself as well, quietly sitting down in one of the chairs in the middle and angling herself so Noelle was facing Felix when he sat as well.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Felix Rivera
`Word Count: 512
`Lyrics By: Kelly Clarkson - Tip Of My Tongue
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
*is still curious*[/blockquote][/size]

[huganazn]

||That post made me laugh out loud! I promise no crazed women with meat cleavers will be coming after Noelle any time soon.||

Felix had worked hard in this class. He had danced his ass off just to get a good grade. Dancing just didn't appeal to him. The only thing he was really good at was dirty dancing, but the guy's role in that particular dance was quite simple, so it wasn't surprising. But real dancing, like ballroom dancing, he had never been fond of. Not just because of the fact that he had no sense of beat, but also because of stories he'd heard from his mother.

Whenever Felix told his teacher that he wished to talk about her and his mother, he noticed that she was instantly much more curious, but still quite nervous. It was almost like she was more cautious..like he was about to tell her that his mother wished her dead and she wouldn't stop until she was dead. No, Felix's mother would never be that involved in his life. He used to be lucky if she asked how his day had went.

He followed her over to a few chairs. He watched her sit down, then motion for him to sit as well. "No, thank you, ma'am," he said. "I would rather stand." Felix's mind was running a mile a minute. He wasn't sure what to say to her. He knew what he needed to say, but he couldn't find the right words. It was probably best to tell her the whole story.

"As you may or may not know," Felix began, "my mother used to live in Mexico. She loved to dance. For a while, that was how she made her living. She would dance in the streets of Mexico. But she was young then. Only about nineteen. She was kidnapped and actually taken over the borders. Remember, this was before everyone got so tight about security. Turns out, she was kidnapped by a pimp. He thought she was beautiful. He used her for a while, but then decided that she, too, would have to make money for him. So every night, he would send her off into the streets..." He knew the story too well. It always made his mother emotional, and now that he was old enough to really understand it, Felix got emotional, too. He wiped a tear from his cheek before continuing. "She explained her pricing to me once. Twenty bucks for a blow job, fifty for a bang, a hundred for a blow and a bang. No matter how much money a man paid for her, she only got to keep ten dollars of what she earned. The rest went to her pimp. But...if she was good in bed for him, she would get to keep twenty dollars. She's been doing that every damn day now. I exist because of her fucking profession." By now, he was crying. He didn't care. "But I didn't come here to tell you a sob story, ma'am."

[noelle ackerman]

i feel bad that i can stand here strong
cold as stone, seems so wrong
________________________________________________________

When Felix said he didn't want to sit, Noelle felt a little silly. But, instead of showing the split second of vulnerability she nodded an "okay" and turned herself back to face the student. The woman crossed one leg comfortably over the other, then rested her palms over the edge of the chair on either side of her, then moved her chocolate eyes to Felix's as he decided on where to begin. In waiting, Noelle continued to wonder what this was all about. She had had a few ideas in the beginning but when he mentioned his mother it completely threw her off again. Adding on to that his nerves the teacher was at a complete loss. Again, she was new to this. Instead of fretting over it though and trying to read his mind when clearly she wasn't going to be able to, Noelle sat patiently and waited for the teenager to open up to her.

His story started with "As you may or may not know..." and then continued from there. As Felix talked about his mother and explained everything, she could feel her face falling. Noelle had heard about people being kidnapped and taken across the border before, but it never really hit home until a moment like this when it was someone you knew either telling a story like this one or being the one who was actually kidnapped. It was horrible. The woman could only imagine what kind of things happened to some of those people. Well, she didn't have to imagine much now, after Felix's story. When his eyes began to well up with tears, the girl felt herself biting her bottom lip with a bit of guilt. She was in no way ashamed of herself or her life, but hearing something like that at times made her guilty for being raised the way she had been. You know - with money. She and her brother had honestly never really had it that difficult, not compared to others. - others like Felix.

Noelle slowly rose up out of her seat and took a step closer to the boy who now had a few tears falling down his face. She wasn't even thinking about being a teacher right now, her womanly instincts made her feel more maternal. The woman reached out her right hand, laying it very delicately on Felix's shoulder as her voice softened, "Are you all right?" Well, obviously he wasn't, but the question was meant in more of an "Is there anything that I could do?" kind of way. Even if she didn't feel like she was very good at giving advice or helping in these kinds of situations, that didn't mean she wouldn't try. Noelle hated seeing people torn up like this.

"But I didn't come here to tell you a sob story, ma'am." There was more? Man, she wasn't sure if she could take it. Noelle was fighting to keep the shaking out of her voice and the wetness out of her eyes already. Along with being a very sensitive person, she was also very imaginative, as many people were. Also, like many other people, she had practically been able to see what was happening in her mind as he explained everything, and being the fragile person she was it got to her easily. It took a lot to keep herself composed in front of the boy. "Then what's up? I mean...take your time though, you don't have to rush anything." Her hand rubbed his shoulder very lightly, enough to hopefully be comforting.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Felix Rivera
`Word Count: 608
`Lyrics By: Rascal Flatts - I Feel bad
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
LoL! I'm glad it made you laugh xD I mean...this
is getting depressing enough D:[/blockquote][/size]

[huganazn]

"Just think," Felix said, ignoring everything his teacher said. Normally, it would be very rude. And right now, it still probably was. But right now, he didn't exactly care. He wiped a few more tears from his cheeks and spoke again. "Just think.. Ten dollars a day, times thirty days. That's three hundred dollars a month. She'd had twenty Pesos when she was kidnapped, but that's only about two American dollars. To say the least, she didn't pay for our house." It was kind of obvious who did, then. "No cable, no fucking electricity. No wonder those damn Mexican kids made fun of me. Their parents might not have much, but they had a hell of a lot more than we had."

But he was done telling her about his life, what it was like growing up in the Rivera household. "I was talking to my mom last night," Felix told her. "She calls me a few times a year, just to check up on me." Felix knew that his mother cared for him; she just had trouble displaying her affection. "I told her I was taking your class this year. I'd done it...well, I'd done it to impress her. But..she said something I hadn't expected. 'Que se están convirtiendo en una bailarina, a mi hijo. Me temo que para su maestro.'" He spoke perfection Spanish, and not in an Americanized way. Growing up with his mother meant he had to speak Spanish or not speak at all.

"That...in English means 'My son is becoming a dancer. I fear for your teacher.'" Felix took a deep breath and wiped a few tears away from his cheeks. "Now, my mother is normally a secretive person. None of my friends knew her profession, if you could call it that. But she asked me to warn you of the dangers that...the dangers that lurk in the world of a dancer."

[noelle ackerman]

if everyone loved and nobody lied
then we'd see the day when nobody died
________________________________________________________

It felt good to know that Felix felt comfortable enough with her to tell her this things, but at the same time it was difficult since Noelle still had no idea what to say in order to be comforting. It wasn't something that you could give the person a hug and say, "Everything is going to be all right," because they weren't talking about the future - they were talking about the past. Felix was already scarred by these bad memories, and there was no way to fix it. They were something that was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. The only control he had over them was whether he chose to make something better for himself than what he had, or if he chose to succumb to the memories and end up in the same place as before. It all depended on how strong the person was. Maybe Noelle should tell him that? It was hard finding her voice, though.

The boy went on to explain how he was talking to his mother last night, which he only got to do every so often. Then, he said something in Spanish, something that Noelle did not understand. Her Spanish was very limited, meaning that she knew how to count to ten, say yes or no, and a few words like "burrito" and "quesadilla." As far as a second language, the woman knew more French than anything, but that still wasn't the best. She didn't understand it enough to be able to carry out a conversation. That didn't matter much at the moment though, what did matter was that Felix had said something that she felt she should understand, but she couldn't. Silently, Noelle hoped that he would tell her what it meant, but if he didn't she would be forced to ask.

"That...in English means 'My son is becoming a dancer. I fear for your teacher.'" The teacher's expression was suddenly overtaken by confusion. Why would her son becoming a dancer make his mom fear for her? Noelle didn't ask, seeing in Felix's face that he wasn't done talking yet. He then went on to explain that his mother wanted to warn her that the life of a dancer was dangerous, and a slight chill crept down her spine. The woman began to feel incredibly uncomfortable with the conversation, especially since she did not know how to respond to that, but it would be a little rude to brush it off, wouldn't it? Noelle bit down on her bottom lip, a force of habit for when she was either uncomfortable or thinking hard about something. "Well...I think no matter what we do, there is always going to be some sort of danger involved." Yeah, because saying that would really help the situation! Noelle silently scolded herself for that one. See? She wasn't any good at this. She wasn't wrong though, taking a shower in the morning could even be deadly when you think about it.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Felix Rivera
`Word Count: 514
`Lyrics By: Nickelback - If Everyone Cared
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me [/blockquote][/size]