California Gurls (Phoenix/open)

[Dylan Cross]

Dylan's large, silver boom box played the music loud. There was a crowd of teenagers around a select few breaking down the moves on a laid out piece of cardboard.

There was a girl dancing side by side Dylan and they had their routine kind of down pat. She was getting better at dancing.... but she still wasn't quite there... hopefully joining the cheer squad will help out and she was sure it would.

People were cheering for Dylan. They were probably just pumped a Canadian girl was representing California??? Well what ever it was... she didn't give two shits 'cause she was just there to have fun

Dylan was now finished with her little bit and stand on the side lines cheering on the others and even trying to learn what they were doing just by watching intently. She took a swig of water. The exercise and heat was getting to her. All of the teens around the group were sweat slicked. She was too despite what she was wearing.

[Phoenix]

Phoenix was sweltering. It was too hot for his comfort levels but he had still been driven out of the cool apartment by boredom. Cursing the bane of his existence, Phoenix had gone walking through the heat trying to discover a means to eradicate his boredom. After only a short way his ears pricked up as a steady beat could be heard reverberating through the air. Curiosity overtook caution in a narrow race as Phoenix changed his course and began to walk towards the source of the music.

As he neared the source of the music he could easily make out the shapes of teenagers crowding around a cardboard square near a boom box. Realising that this was more interesting than walking, Phoenix walked on over to the fringe of the group of teenagers and awaited the next performer. A song that he didn’t recognise began playing through the speaker as an attractive, blonde teenager placed herself in the middle of cardboard space. Another teenage girl joined her and as the music built up and the together they began dancing in similar patterns. Whilst Phoenix knew that he was no aficionado on the subject of either break dancing or pop music, he did understand how important rhythm and beat were when dancing. His analytic nature took over as Phoenix watched as the two dancers moved across the cardboard demonstrating their prowess. As the song ended the two girls performed one last dance move before stepping off to the side so that some other dancers could entertain the crowd. A cheer erupted from one side of the group and began spreading. Phoenix clapped his hands in applause but maintained his composure.

Another song started up and more dancers appeared trying to better the previous group but not managing themselves quite as well as the blonde girl and her friend. Casting his eyes around the group he saw the blonde girl who had been the better of the two dancers. Phoenix would walk over to her, sliding through the crowd to accomplish his goal. After the girl had taken a draught of water, Phoenix would step up next to her.

“Nice! You did pretty well out there. Not sure if I like the song but you made it bearable. I’m Phoenix by the way.”

Phoenix would wait for her response before nodding his head in a direction away from the crowd, indicating that it would be both easier to hear each other and cooler away from the mass of loud, sweating bodies.

[Dylan Cross]

Dylan's head was still thrown back as she let the refreshing liquid pour down her aching throat. The beverage so simple and tasteless was the most refreshing thing she could have at a moment like this. Her eyes then shifted over to a boy whom had approached her from the crowd. She finished up her drink and replaced the cap looking over at him.

“Nice! You did pretty well out there. Not sure if I like the song but you made it bearable. I’m Phoenix by the way.”

Dylan smiled and was about to hold her hand out for him to shake, but held back when she noticed the gesture of his head to walk away from the crowd. It was odd he would wanna go walking with her and such... maybe he was hitting on her?? Well... so far he didn't seem like her type of guy... Now would it be safe to follow him? She would glance back at the group, some of the guys nodded letting her know they would have her back. They were quite rough looking...bandannas and shit.

She would look back at him with a small nod and begin to walk away from the crowd.

"Um.. thanks.. And I'm not a fan of the song either... it just works for the dancing. My kind of music isn't very break dance friendly." she would hold out her hand to the side he was on as they walked for a proper shake. "And I'm Dylan bee tee dubs." her eyes would shift back to the board walk in front of them at a loss for words. "Umm... so whats up?"

[Phoenix]

A look of confusion was clear on the girls face as he motioned for them to move away from the crowd for a short while. Whilst they began to walk away from the crowd she glanced back towards a few members of the crowd who nodded back at her. Phoenix gave them a quick once over and knew that they wouldn’t cause too much trouble for him should this go the wrong way.

Um.. thanks.. And I’m not a fan of the song either… it just works for the dancing. My kind of music isn’t very break dance friendly. And I’m Dylan bee tee dubs. Umm… so what’s up?”

Phoenix smiled as she spoke. What she said was a contradiction. She didn’t particularly like the song but she danced to it anyway? Phoenix almost shook his head in a non-understanding way but caught himself just in time. Facing Dylan he would extend his hand for a hand shake.

“What is your kind of music then? Oh, and if you’re wondering, I only brought you away from the crowd so I could hear you speak.”

Phoenix would turn to face Dylan as he spoke with a half smile on his face. Hopefully this would lead to something interesting.

[Dylan Cross]

“What is your kind of music then? Oh, and if you’re wondering, I only brought you away from the crowd so I could hear you speak.”

Dylan nodded... it didn't change the fact she thought it was weird he chose to talk to her above everyone else. She would smile towards him with a shrug to his question. "I donno.... The music you can't dance to." she would stop and sit herself on a bench that wasn't too far from her friends, but far enough for him to be happy. She would pat on the warmed wood for him to have a seat and would lean back bracing the beating sun.

"And what kind of music do you listen to?"

Music was never really her favourite topic. It wasn't much of an interest to her, but she supposed it was a conversation starter. She would pull out her phone and start texting some friends like many teenagers did... since her becoming a cheerleader she had gotten rather stuck up... not as bad as the rest of them.... but pretty bad in her standards.

[Phoenix]

“I dunno… The music that you can’t dance to.”

Phoenix would chuckle, that wasn’t helpful at all, although, it did sound more like what he listened to than whatever she was dancing to before. Phoenix would notice her hand patting the bench next to her and would proceed to sit down in a comfortable position, slouching slightly. Phoenix sat for a moment, enjoying the simple pleasure of the warm sun on his face and the cool breeze.

“And what kind of music do you listen to?”

Turning his face in her direction, Phoenix would smile at her. His music taste was not the usual. It ranged from classical symphonies to thrash metal; he was never quite sure why he liked the two extremes of culture more than the comfortable range of normal pop music.

“Well, usually I’ll listen to heavy metal or classical music. What you might describe as something you can’t dance to.”

Phoenix would speak with a wry smile as he used her own words in his sentence. The boredom was starting to whiter away, however, sitting around having a conversation was only the start and wouldn’t sate his boredom for long.

“I understand that you enjoy having fun. That much is apparent by your knack for dancing. I was just wondering if you could help alleviate some of my boredom. Anything would be welcome.”

[Dylan Cross]

“Well, usually I’ll listen to heavy metal or classical music. What you might describe as something you can’t dance to.”

Dylan would laugh then stick her tongue out as if to have a "distaste" for classical music. It was never her cup of tea and she wasn't going to like to seem more versatile. It's not like she was here to impress... she was simply here to live her life to the way she wanted to... which meant doing random shit last minute and without a thought.

“I understand that you enjoy having fun. That much is apparent by your knack for dancing. I was just wondering if you could help alleviate some of my boredom. Anything would be welcome.”

"Alleviate?"

Now.. basically everyone knew that word, but Dylan wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She could learn and get smart if she put her mind to it... but given her life she never really paid attention. Instead she focused on trying to make ends meat for herself as well as try to live life before it was over.

"I'm...gonna assume that means make you unbored?" she then shrugged thinking about the question. "Good question.. I have no idea what to do.. I was dancing..." she would then smile. "I know! How about I teach you some moves!?" she would hop off of the bench and point towards the group of kids. "What'aya say?"