Like An Amateur in Chicago

Vexena slipped out of bed and put on a pink ruffly tube top with one strap and a short jeans skirt with black legging and pink ballet flats. It was still dark outside as she dressed. Slipping her rose pendant on, she tip-toed to the kitchen and grabbed a pink sticky note.

"Gone to Moulin Rouge, be back later. <3, Vexie"

Leaving it attached to his coffee pot, where she knew he'd find it, she headed out and hailed a taxi to bring her to the nearest train station. "Are you a bit YOUNG to be alone?" asked the driver skeptically. "Not at all," she lied, "I'm meeting my father there." The driver shrugged and didn't say anything else. When they arrived she gave him $50 ("keep the change!") and hurried to the appropriate train, flashing her train pass to the conductor and hopping aboard.

When she arrived, she went straight to Moulin Rouge. She'd gotten a letter from one of her old friends about meeting up here, and besides, no one could punish her if she didn't drink anything? Right? Her friend hadn't mentioned that... in fact, what was her name? Vexena didn't remember. Leaving all concerned thoughts at the door, she sauntered in and decided to party the day away.

Fiddling with the back of the chair that he was sitting in backwards, Julian sighed, glancing around glumly. Ever since that run-in with his father that had almost killed him, he'd found himself in this funk.

And for the life of him, he couldn't snap out of it. Sinking farther in his chair, his blue eyes glittered as he looked around. Eyes falling on a young girl, he tilted his head. Now why -?

Deciding to find out, Julian pulled himself up and made his way over to her. "Now, what is a little girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Vexena looks up at the man. He couldn't be too much older than she was... well yes he could. He looked around 16, but nothing weird like over 20. A hint of fear flashed through her eyes. What if she was caught, so early into her outing? Papa would never trust her again...

"Umm... well... I'm... here to dance!" She came up with, smiling brightly at her own quick-thinking. She held out her hand quickly, taking a step back so as not to jab him in the stomach. "I'm Vexena," she looked at him charmingly, hoping he'd forget the reason why she was here. "And you are?"

Tilting his head at the flash of fear in her eyes, he kept his face impassive. Oh, this looked like it was going to be fun. He hadn't messed with a younger student in so long.

"Pleased to meet you, Vexena. I'm Julian. Sixth year Prideux."

Well, he didn't appear to mind her being there so she didn't persue the subject. But a sixth year? That made him around 17, and much older than her.... but who cared! Her classmates would probably all be jealous that she was dating an upperclassmen... did she just think dating?! There's no way he'd hang out with her that much... or would he?

"Nice to meet you Julian. I'm a first year Valee."

Vallée, huh? Out of the three houses at Beauxbatons, that was the one that he disliked the most. The only person he could tolerate in that house was Lodie. The rest were just - intolerable.

And not just because of Monique. The Ravens (well, one. Hadn't the other died?) were impossible, and Kassidy had thrown up on him.

So his reasons for disliking them on principle were valid. "Ah, first year. I remember that. Everything was so much simpler."

Vexena giggled. "Well, I wouldn't say that... I don't know anyone going. None of my friends got an owl. I'm going to have to make all new friends." She still didn't know why. I mean, she'd heard of people with both muggle parents getting in, so why not any of them?

Looking around awkwardly, she heard a nice beat playing. After glancing at the dancers, learning what was a "cool" way to dance, she looked back at Julian with a playful grin. "Care to dance?" she inquired.

"That's not a bad thing." When he'd went to Beauxbatons, he hadn't known a single person. And it wasn't like he'd had a huge following of friends before he'd found himself in the magical world.

"You'll make friends. And who knows? Maybe they'll be better than the ones you already had." Shrugging, he gave her a little smile.

Dance? With a little girl? Weren't there laws against that? "I'd love to," he said with a nod and another smile, "but aren't I a little too tall for you?"

Vexena shrugged. "Maybe... well, I suppose you're right." Vexena snapped her fingers, suddenly remember the real reason she was here. "Oh yeah! One of them invited me here... I haven't seen her though, which is weird because she was always so punctual." She pouts, her mind wandering and creating ellaborate yet highly unlikely stories as to why she was late.

"Hey, I'm not *that* short!" and she slowly rises onto her tip-toes, hoping he didn't notice. He still towered over her. Giving up she said, "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Some people," Julian hummed, leaning down to get a better look at her, blue eyes glittering, "just can't be trusted to always be there for you. Some people will pretend to care, and then rip out your heart." Grinning, he straightened up, putting his hands in his pockets.

"What about we make a deal? When you get a little taller, I'll take you up on that dance." Flashing her a smile, he asked, "Whatcha think?"

Vexena didn't know if she quite liked the way he said that. It was dark and sounded full of something that did not bode her well in the future. Shrugging it off, she leaned to one foot and put a hand on her hip, "I think I can manage. After all, I came here alone, didn't I?--" she quietly gasped and covered her mouth at what she'd just let slip. Now he'd have her sent home for sure!

Her heart sank when he said that. "But that'll take forever! There has to be something to do here... so since I'm too short, what do you want to do?" she asks playfully, raising an eyebrow like she'd seen on TV but being completely naive about what she'd said.

Raising an eyebrow at her slip up, he just watched her rather dully. If there was something she was trying to hide, he didn't really have the energy to care. "What's wrong with that? You come alone, you make new friends...after all, you're here to dance, right?"

Shrugging, Julian said, "Nah, it won't take that long. You'll hit a growth spurt sooner or later and just shoot up." frowning slightly as he thought of his rather diminutive height, especially in comparison to his father's, he rubbed his arm, suddenly pale. Blinking rapidly at her question, he shrugged, "I don't know, what do you want to do?"

Vexena figured that meant she was safe. "Well umm yeah, that's right. Well, so far I'm up to one friend!" she smiled at him. She hoped he didn't think she was that young, that she was always making mistakes. At least he wasn't treating her like a child like Papa did.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I hope you're right. I'd hate being short for the rest of my life." looked down at herself. 'Grow faster!' she scolded herself, knowing very well she couldn't make herself but doing it anyways.

"You know I want to dance, but since that's not an option..." she placed a finger on her temple and tried to think hard. Come on, there had to be something... Aha! "How about we just sit and chat some more? I don't know..."

Giving the girl a little smile, Julian hummed a little tune he'd picked up from a child's television show. "Good," he said softly. "Making friends is good."

"Trust me, you won't. Not unless something goes freakishly wrong, but the chances of that are low." Nodding, Julian rubbed at his arm. Had something gone freakishly wrong with him? Because abusive parents seemed rather freakishly wrong.

"Sure," he shrugged, sitting back down in his seat, waiting for the girl to make her way over to him.

(OOC: Sorry I've been gone so long! Dx)

She giggled a litte. "Freakishly wrong? Like what?" She knew coffee could stunt your growth, a reason she never accepted any from her father, but coffee wasn't 'freakishly wrong'. She vaguely wondered what qualified as freakishly wrong in the first place...

Vexena took the chair next to him and crossed her legs, letting her hands delicately fold onto her lap. "So, anything to discuss? How are your lessons so far?"

Shrugging, Julian's dull blue eyes scanned the area around them, momentarily caught on an attractive redhead about his age. Giving his head a tiny little shake, he turned back to the young blonde, "Someone could always curse you to be at that height forever. Don't make enemies." He advised, rubbing absentmindedly at his jaw.

"Lessons are easy. Just do your homework, don't piss off the professors and you'll be fine."

Vexena knew she was losing the conversation. He was already looking away, something she knew usually meant the person was uninterested. She got up, flattening her skirt hastily and giving a small curtesy. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Julian, but I should probably be going. Have a good school year!"
She turned to go and couldn't help thinking about what he'd said about cursing. She knew about curses, but she'd never thought someone might use one against her. She'd never made any enemies, but she'd heard about blood statuses in this new "world" and how seriously some people took it. Maybe I should keep it a secret....? she wondered vaguely. She was happy to hear about the lessons however, as she wasn't one for school. Not that she wasn't a good student, she just wasn't... "dedicated".