Help is on hand for the less than fabulous on Cascade Hall

Charlie B-F-R

October 20, 2014 11:36 PM

Help is on hand for the less than fabulous by Charlie B-F-R

The ball was looming, which was a source of great excitement for most of Sonora, as they giggled and gossiped and asked or waited to be asked. Charlie was exempt from the latter of those excitements, though joined in the two former with double the enthusiasm to make up for it. There was no one tall, dark and handsome (or even tall, fair and handsome – it wasn't like he was picky) who was going to want Charlie to be his arm candy. Even if he could wave a magic wand and make someone attracted to him (or rather, spike their drink with Amortensia, which was the real but still equally unethical option) he didn't know who he'd go for anyway. There were some cute boys at Sonora but, try as he might to fall hopelessly in love with one of them, there was no one he really pined after. So, in order to make the most of the upcoming festivities, he had to explore his other great love in life. Fashion. On the second day of term, he pinned his posters proudly to the school noticeboards, advertising

Charlie's Midsummer Ball Services

Offering FREE fashion, hair and make-up consultations.

Also available, clothing alterations, customised corsages, and hair and make-up studio on the night of the ball, all for reasonable prices.

Look your most fabulous for the event of the year!

Appointments can be made by owl.

Of course, most everyone knew who he was and could (and probably would) just come up to him, but all the most exclusive boutiques were by appointment only. The poster was relatively toned down, for him. He had begun learning his lesson in first year when Henny helped him choose the customisations for Julian's corsage. Whilst of course she agreed, in principle, that there could never be too many rhinestones, maybe not everyone felt the same... The lesson had sunk in further running his make over booth at the fair. When you designed, you had an audience. Sometimes you had a particular crowd, the fashion elite, but sometimes you had to appeal to as many people as possible. This didn't have to mean being bland and watering down everything you did but it had to mean showing you were open to that possibility, and to listening to the customer. The poster was a pale pink, with an archway of flowers in darker pink around the top. At bottom, a witch twirled in an elegant dress, which emitted little trails of sparkle when she moved.

Charlie smiled, looking forward to getting involved in everyone's dress decisions and accessorising. There was only one ball dilemma which remained, and that was whether to ask Julian. Granddad, for all that he couldn't remember a thing about any of the bands or fashion designers Charlie liked for more than two seconds, could vividly remember how often the Sonora ball came around and the name of the girl Charlie had taken last time. To say he was keen for this to be repeated was an understatement, and less than subtle prods had been aimed at Charlie all through Christmas. He knew that wasn't Julian's fault and he felt mean that it might affect his decision to take her but it didn't exactly make him feel like he was exercising any free will if he did – his granddad would assume he had done it to meet his expectations and who knew what unreasonable pressures that would lead to in the future. What he really wanted – what the gender ratio really demanded that he graciously do – was invite every unasked witch in third year or above and flounce around the hall with several girls on each on arm. No one could be offended at not being singly special, given that it was him and it would be fun. He was supposed to be surrounded by a large number of fabulous women. Though if rumours were to be believed, plenty of them were being snapped up. He had definitely wanted Wendy Canterbury for his harem. There was something about her... Her clothing choice wasn't always great but he always found himself interested in it – in the way it hung on her, how it shaped her body and how her body might be shaped underneath it all. His little bubble had also been burst when the headmaster reminded them that prefects needed to open the dance. He wasn't going to leave Julian hanging, it was just cruel. Though maybe she had someone else she wanted to go with. Someone she could actually like in that way. Or was it really unreasonable to think that she might ask him, seeing as they weren't society and it wasn't that kind of date? He knew it was probably up to him though. There was just how to phrase to ask if he could ask all the other girls too... He was pondering this as he stepped away from his poster, and therefore bumped into someone.

“Sorry,” he said, blushing, “I guess I was miles away.”

13 Charlie B-F-R Help is on hand for the less than fabulous 252 Charlie B-F-R 1 5

Wendy Canterbury

October 24, 2014 4:51 PM

I could use more fabulous in my life by Wendy Canterbury

On the very first day of the term, Wendy had been asked to the ball. She hadn't really expected to be asked so it was a nice surprise. But now that she had a date, the pressure was on to dress up a little more. She had already picked out her dress during the winter break; it was less outlandish than the dress she had worn during her first ball, but no less colorful. The dress wasn't a problem. The problem was Wendy had no idea what to do with her hair or makeup.

She had never been very interested in painting her face and too lazy to really style and fix up her hair. The most she usually did was braid it in different ways or tie it up either to the side like Waverly did sometimes or in a ponytail. Wendy's older sister had been into hair and makeup and all that before she even went to college, but now that Waverly wasn't around as often, Wendy hadn't been able to ask for her help. She didn't have many girl friends to ask here at Sonora either except for Aria, and she didn't know if Aria would want to help her with hair and makeup. Maybe if Wendy hadn't been asked by Rupert, she wouldn't have cared to wear any makeup at all. But being asked to be someone's date made things a little different.

Wendy walked into Cascade with the aim of eating lunch, but she was stopped by an intriguing poster a few feet away that Charlie was standing in front of. She knew Charlie--not well, but they had been in classes together and it was no secret that he was quite the fashionista. He would be perfect to ask about this stuff. She had always admired his clothing choices. While Wendy had no clue about makeup, she did have an eye for fashion. Her fashion just wasn't always vogue. Today, however, she was wearing something a little more conservative and uncharacteristically plain under her uniform robe. It was a white long sleeve floral lace dress that she had bought during Christmas. It wasn't really her normal style, but she liked how it fit anyway.

She continued walking, her hazel eyes glued to the poster and not noticing as the wizard in question stepped right into her path. She bumped into him and was startled, dropping the Charms book she'd been holding to her chest. "Oops, sorry Charlie." She leaned down to pick it up. "But am I glad to see you." She pointed at the poster and smiled at him. "Can I be your first customer? I'm in desperate need of your hair and makeup advice for the ball. I've never worn makeup before." She wasn't desperate, per say, but she did need a lot of help in that whole makeup and hair department. Thank goodness for Charlie.

19 Wendy Canterbury I could use more fabulous in my life 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

October 26, 2014 5:55 AM

Couldn't everyone? by Charlie B-F-R

“Sorry,” he jointly apologised, bending down to pick up the fallen book at just the same time Wendy did, his hand brushing hers. He pulled away, feeling a little embarrassed. “I, uh, hope I didn't hurt you.” It seemed bizarre coming out of his mouth. He was Charlie. He wafted through life in a flamboyant cloud of campery, with about as much menace as a baby unicorn. Ordinarily, the thought of him hurting someone, of trying to put his fists up or get all macho on a Quidditch team, was laughable. But he was a boy and thus taller and heavier than Wendy, whom he had just stepped into.

“Of course, cupcake!” he beamed, when Wendy asked to be his first customer, delighted that his poster had got such a rapid response. Of course she was supposed to send him owl... He was an exclusive designer salon, after all.... However, he couldn't really find it in him to brush Wendy off in such a snobby manner. Here was someone actually asking him to sit down and talk about hair and make up. He couldn't exactly resist such a cute little damsel in distress, especially when she was begging to talk about some of his favourite things.

“Never ever?” he queried, amazed at her claim that she hadn't worn any make up. Surely she must have tried out simple things like nail varnish or lipgloss, or had a rummage through her mother's drawers whilst she was out. He always played with the free samples he got in magazines, though he did prefer putting them on other people, and had been using tinted moisturiser and concealer for the last few years. If he had been a girl, he was sure he would have embraced all the opportunities of their sex – they had so many more options to play with when it came to reinventing their looks. “Well, I suppose you don't really need to when nature gave you such a pretty face to begin with,” he conceded. The compliment was half true – Wendy did have a naturally sweet face but he personally felt that anyone could be improved upon with glitter.

“We'll need a proper appointment to go through some options but it wouldn't hurt to sit down now and for you to tell me about your dress and what sort of things you're thinking...” he smiled, gesturing to a nearby vacant table. This way he would be able to prepare some suitable colour palettes and mood boards for their first proper meeting, which would make it much more effective. Already thoughts were racing through his mind of what he would dress Wendy in, if he had the choice. Part of him almost hoped she hadn't picked out a dress yet, so that he could help her with that too. It was hard to tell what kind of figure she was hiding under that school robe, and he again internally bemoaned the frumpiness of their founding fathers. It was kind of fun to guess though, and it was increasingly becoming his favourite game in class. He supposed it must be because of the upcoming ball, and the inherent differences between how to dress an apple versus a pear, though in mind's eye most of Sonora's girls were rocking a pretty good hourglass figure under their uniforms, suited to the season's slinkiest dressiest...

“Right my little flower, do you have your dress sorted?” he queried, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand. “Rumour has it you have a nice little accessory to wear on your arm already.” This was of course the other great part of playing hairdresser. He was in prime position to get all the inside gossip on what was a date dates versus just a friend dates versus a wild rumour. He didn't think it was really true that Carrie O'Malley was taking a mirror and going with herself (not that it was beyond her really but he rather suspected it had been meant as a joke), rumours that Liliana Bannister was threatening potential dates with a Beater's bat seemed plausible but still unlikely... Of all the churnings of the rumour mill, the one he was most curious about was that of Adam and the Anns. He fervently hoped at least one of them would join his clientèle as there were definitely several different versions of how that date was planned out circulating and he wasn't quite sure which to believe.

13 Charlie B-F-R Couldn't everyone? 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Wendy

October 26, 2014 11:37 PM

You're quite fabulous already by Wendy

"Not at all," Wendy replied with a smile. She didn't think she was a delicate little flower like some of the other pureblood girls at this school. The next phrase that came out of Charlie's mouth sounded much more characteristic of him, though she had never been called a cupcake before by anyone, and her mom was a baker/pastry chef.

Charlie seemed amazed that she had never worn makeup before. Usually Wendy was all for the au natarale look half because she was lazy and the other half because she had never cared for it. She liked how she looked. But it wouldn't hurt to glam up just a little bit for the ball. She would just have to make sure Charlie didn't go overboard. He seemed excited to be taking her on as a customer. "Nope," she said. Even as a kid she'd stayed away from makeup. "Actually," she amended as she thought about it, "there was that time my sister practiced a makeup style by trying it on me. But that doesn't really count since I washed it off afterwards." Waverly had never treated Wendy like a little guinea pig, but there were times when she really wanted to see what something looked like on someone else.

Charlie's compliment made her smile. "Thanks," she said. Usually Waverly was complimented on her looks, probably because she made herself up a bit more. Wendy was glad to hear that other people thought her sister pretty, but it was nice to hear a boy say Wendy was pretty too.

Wendy followed Charlie to a nearby table and put her polka-dotted backpack down. She hadn't realized she would need an actual appointment to talk to Charlie about makeup and all that, but she supposed it only made sense. If he was that good, he would have a line forming and he couldn't do school, extracurricularss, and take on a bunch of customers in need of his expertise.

"I do indeed," she replied. "A dress and a Rupert," she giggled. It was amusing thinking of Rupert as an accessory. He really stood out on his own and it was part of the reason why they got along well. "News travels fast," she added. He had only asked her last night, after all, but she didn't really care to hide it or anything. It would be fun going with him and she didn't care who knew. As for her dress, it was a little difficult to explain what it looked like since there were a lot of colors in it. "Let me see if I have a picture of what my dress looks like. I ripped it out of the magazine I ordered it from." She dug through her backpack and happened to find the picture. "Ah, yes! Here it is." She slid it across the table to Charlie. It was funny that she cared what he thought of it. Maybe caring about the opinions of others came with age.

Wendy had never really thought about life as a catwalk or anything, but she was sure people like Charlie did. What she wore did matter to some extent especially if she wanted Rupert to like it too. "What do you think?" she asked. No matter what he said about it, she liked it a lot. It was bold and different without the tacky flowers or bows pinned on. "Don't tell me to get another one because I already bought it," she teased.

0 Wendy You're quite fabulous already 0 Wendy 0 5

Charlie

October 30, 2014 11:05 AM

Why thank you. But I think it's always possible to do more.. by Charlie

“I have my sources,” Charlie grinned, as Wendy commented that news travelled fast. Really, with Rupert waiting to grab her on the way back from dinner (so the story went), it didn't take a lot of imagination or detective work for that to have fed the rumour mill.

“You're already an excellent customer,” he smiled, as she promised him a picture of her dress. She slid it across to him almost shyly and he braced himself, remembering that he ought to smile and say it was lovely even if it was a train-wreck, and wondering how he could make it clear which clients had received which types of consultation from him so he could avoid being blamed for any atrocities (that weren't actually his fault). Fortunately, as he unfurled the paper, no faking was needed.

“Darling, it's fabulous. Very daring – though I suppose I should expect nothing less from the little peach flower garden in our first year,” he winked. Wendy had a taste for slightly eccentric dresses, judging by her choices, but good eccentric. Bold but correct choices were better than boring. He vacillated on whether it was better to play it safe if you weren't good at that sort of thing, or to vary between getting it ever so right and ever so wrong. “I love how graphic the skirt is.

“There are definitely a few ways we could go with this... I mean, it's a bold dress, so you can go tame hair and make up to balance, or wild to match up to it. Either way, I'd probably pick a theme colour out of the skirt. I'll put together a few different options that show the range of possibilities. Do you have an idea of what you would like, or any favourites from the colours?” he asked, remembering he needed to consider Wendy as a person with opinions and not just a dress up doll, however exciting that idea was. He began mentally playing with her hair, running the pretty blonde locks through his fingers... He'd got a faint waft of her shampoo as he'd bent down to pick the book up with her and the memory of the scent filled up his nostrils, adding to the picture in his mind; how he imagined her hair felt, the smell of her shampoo, his hands running through it and gently stroking the back of neck.... He shook his head trying to clear the vivid image of Wendy out of it, as it was in danger of eclipsing the real one sitting in front of him.

“Sorry. I... uh... zoned out. What did you say?” He shifted awkwardly in his seat. Sure he got distracted by daydreams of hairstyling – it happened all the time. But he felt odd about this, and a little awkward. It felt... different somehow.

13 Charlie Why thank you. But I think it's always possible to do more.. 252 Charlie 0 5

Wendy

November 02, 2014 11:37 PM

I trust your word - you're the expert! by Wendy

Wendy wasn’t really sure if Rupert had just been asking her as a friend or as a date, but those two went hand-in-hand with balls, didn’t they? She didn’t exactly attend these kinds of events regularly like some of her classmates, so she didn’t really know what the protocol was. If they just went as friends that would be fine. She didn’t like putting romance into everything just because she was a girl and he was a boy. After all, her friends had stories of their high school dances where they just went with guy friends.

But if he had meant something romantic...well, that was something she hadn’t yet considered. Wendy had never really looked for love the way her older sister had, and she didn’t know how it felt to have a crush on somebody. Love was confusing and everyone warned her to keep herself guarded, but she hadn’t met anyone yet who was nice to her just to take advantage of her. Some might call her naïve, but Wendy really didn’t care too much about what other people thought. She just did what she thought was right or kept out of all the relationship drama. Animals were simpler. Once she moved out of her family’s apartment, she was going to get a dog. Or an owl.

It wasn't that surprising that Charlie of all people had picked up on her and Rupert. Wendy did suspect that Charlie was just a little more perceptive than other people. She had always assumed it took a closer eye to see how to enhance one's natural beauty with face paint—er, makeup—and Charlie definitely had a knack for it. The way he kept up his appearance was different than other boys and he looked at the magazine picture like a fashion designer. He was definitely a good unique, and Wendy had an inkling that he was different from the boys she knew in more ways than one.

She smiled brightly at Charlie’s response to the picture of the dress. After getting it in the mail, she hadn’t taken it off for one whole day and had managed to keep it relatively clean. "Me too," she piped up, quick to agree when he said he loved how graphic the skirt was. His next question was fairly easy to answer. There were certain colors that popped out at her just from the get-go. "Orange, yellow, and I love that splash of a lighter blue there. I’m leaning more towards those colors, but what do you think?”

It took him a little bit to respond during which Wendy peered into his face, wondering what he was thinking about. Probably imagining what different hues would go with the dress or something mundane like that. She was really glad Charlie was here for her; if she was on her own, Wendy most likely would have given up and gone plain as she usually did. “Zoning out on your customer,” she said, letting her sentence hang in jest. “It’s okay,” she continued with a friendly smile. “I was saying I like the orange, yellow, and blue of the dress. Are three colors too much to work with? What do you think?”

0 Wendy I trust your word - you're the expert! 0 Wendy 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

November 06, 2014 1:45 AM

You're in safe hands by Charlie B-F-R

“I'm sorry,” Charlie admitted contritely when Wendy chastised him for his zoning out. She didn't really seem mad and was probably just teasing, something he normally would have joked back about but he felt genuinely embarrassed and awkward for some reason.

“Hm,” he said, addressing his thoughts seriously to her question, “I feel like one signature colour is probably the way to go – the idea being that it highlights that colour's presence in the skirt, whereas if you use all of them you're back to the beginning – no one is picking out one thing to focus on. But I'll put together a few ideas using different combinations. Yellows and oranges are lightly to suit darker skin tones, unfortunately, but there's a possibility of using a more orange-ish lipstick tone. I mean, not bright orange orange but something that's a more orange-y red. It will compliment the skirt but not stick out against your skin tone as much as an eyeshadow would. Though I suppose whether you want a lipstick rather than something lighter like a gloss depends on how much kissing you plan on doing?” he teased, raising his eyebrow inquisitively – as her style consult it was, conveniently, important that he knew these things. He was surprised to find himself feeling that the answer matter a lot to him. The idea of Wendy out in the gardens locking lips with Rupert Princeton produced an odd desire in him. After a little soul searching he identified it as the feeling of wanting to go and hit something very hard. He wasn't a naturally aggressive person and it surprised him that he should care so much, though he supposed he had tried to have a fatalistic crush on Rupert back in third year – it just hadn't ever really amounted to anything. Or maybe it was the fact he'd wanted Wendy for his entourage. And now here he was, making her all pretty just for someone else – someone who might well ruin it by smudging her lipstick! That had to be it, he reasoned.

“We could also use some metallics,” he continued, trying to keep his mind on the serious business at hand, “maybe a shimmery gold could be an option to bring out the yellow too. How do those sound? And any ideas on hair – I always think bigger is better but...” he shrugged. Some people did prefer the natural look, though he had no idea why when there were simply so many colours of eyeshadow and so little time. He couldn't quite see that someone with Wendy's taste in dresses would want tame anything – tame hair, tame make up, but you never knew what was going on in some people's heads...

13 Charlie B-F-R You're in safe hands 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Wendy

November 06, 2014 2:33 AM

I'm all yours! by Wendy

Charlie seemed sincerely sorry for zoning out, but Wendy shook her head. “It’s really not a big deal,” she assured him before they approached the topic of colors. One color would be hard for her to choose from such a beautiful dress, but he was right. Orange was her sister’s favorite color; Wendy’s favorite was yellow like her hair. But yellows and oranges both weren’t supposed to look good on her, though she liked to think differently. Charlie, however, was the expert and she nodded along. Orange lipstick didn’t sound very appealing especially because Wendy liked the natural look better, but right now she was putting herself at Charlie’s mercy. She wanted something that would make her look different; prettier, even.

The kissing question made her blush to her ears. It wasn’t something she was opposed to; now that she was sixteen, it was about time to have her first kiss. Wendy was rarely embarrassed, but Charlie had managed to catch her. It was just the way he had asked her about it, but she wasn’t even sure why she was turning so red in the first place. It’s not like kissing was an embarrassing act. “I didn’t think about that,” she admitted, gracefully accepting the teasing despite her red face. “I don’t even know if he likes me like that. He’s never said anything.” She trusted Charlie for some reason and found herself telling a little more than he probably wanted to know. “I don’t know if I like him like that either. It’s all very confusing, but I decided to just go with what happens. That probably doesn’t help with the lipstick or gloss question.” It was no secret that she was generally a free spirit; if kissing happened, then it happened. If it didn’t, then it didn’t. “I don’t know why my face is so warm,” she said, laughing a little at herself.

Wendy truly hadn’t thought about her romantic feelings for anyone. She did like hanging out with him and this year she’d spent more time with him than with anybody else. He was pretty good-looking and thoughtful, and she wouldn’t mind kissing him, but did that mean she liked him? She had also liked hanging out with Carter and she’d been closer to Carter than to Rupert, but did that mean she had liked Carter? It was all very, very confusing. She would have to spend her evenings thinking about this and sorting out her feelings.

The talk about makeup and something shimmery gold was still going on and Wendy tried to follow along. What was he talking about? Lipstick? Eyeshadow? “Shimmery gold sounds really great,” she said, imagining it. It would probably clash a little with her hair, but she didn’t really mind. It would be subtle but flashy enough to suit her taste. “My hair’s long enough to play with now,” she said, stretching out a lock of her shoulder-length, naturally wavy hair. She let it fall back and looked straight at Charlie. “I’m all yours.” She smiled at him. “I want to go all out for the ball. It's probably going to be my last one ever so I want to make it memorable."

0 Wendy I'm all yours! 0 Wendy 0 5

Charlie

November 16, 2014 9:16 AM

Really and truly? by Charlie

Wendy blushed over the kissing question. Did that mean she wanted to or didn’t? He thought it might well mean the former and he felt his heart sink a little. Her answer did little to reassure him, although it was better than a definite yes…

“Well then, I think I shall put you in lipstick so I can see what you’ve been up to!” he told her. Of course he wouldn’t really… He supposed he didn’t need to, as he was sure the news would get back to him one way or another… Maybe. If he heard they kissed, then he’d know for sure but what did it mean if he didn’t hear? People rarely reported non-news, the absence of something happening, unless it was surprising and shocking. If he heard nothing, he wouldn’t know. No news would be uncertain news, whilst actual news would be bad, which seemed like a fairly lousy choice. Though perhaps he could ask Wendy about it, if he didn’t find out… “I’ll pick out some nice glosses,” he reassured her, sounding a little less chipper than his usual self.

Her statement that she was all his made his insides feel warm and slightly melted. And she was, all her pretty hair that she was playing with, her eyes, her sweet little lips… All his. But the happy balloon filling him up punctured as he imagined the grand entrance into the Cascade Hall and he realised it wasn’t true. She was all his to make up for Rupert. He didn’t get to show off his work by having Wendy on his arm, twirling around with him in her fabulous dress. He knew that getting to play hairdresser and pretty everyone up should have been enough for him - he was getting to do what he loved best, and join in the ball in the best possible way that was open to him. So why wasn’t it? Part of his reservations about asking Julian came from the fact that he thought his friend deserved a proper date if she could have one (though, having run through all the possible candidates in his head, had decided they were all vastly unsuitable and undeserving, and would - quite frankly - have thrown a fit if any of them asked her). There were the things he wanted in theory - for everyone to go and have a nice time and nice dates but in practise he found that every time someone had one, or he considered the possibilities of it, he didn’t want that at all and it made him feel wretched. Perhaps he hated having it dangled under his nose that everyone else had something he couldn’t. If that was true, he wasn’t particularly proud of himself, as he liked to think he wasn’t a selfish person. However, as far as he could see, it was the only explanation that made sense.

13 Charlie Really and truly? 252 Charlie 0 5