Name
Carmen Isa Velez
Nickname
She's been called short stuff on several occasions.
Age
Seventeen [17]
Program
The Dance Program
Sexuality
Pansexual
^Exercise
^Movement
^Dancing
^Video Games
^Comic Books
^Playing Manhunt
^DC Comics Merchandise
^Large Movie Posters
^Exploring
^Lollipops
^Durable Shoes
vNovels
vChocolate
vHot Drinks
vHeights
vInjuring Herself
vPredictability
vPeanuts
vMagazines
vRiddles
vWatching TV
vBallroom dancing
Fears
vCarmen is actually terrified of heights, far preferring to be on the ground or even underground. She can be in a two story building, but three stories and up means the girl has to stay away from windows. She doesn't even like having the top bunk when she has bunkbeds.
vMelrose has a record of producing successful dancers- and that's impressive, but it doesn't quite manage squash Carmen's fear of life after school. She's worried that she won't be able to succeed in the dancing world. The girl would live off of next to nothing if it meant she danced for a living, but is worried that she won't even get that much.
vWhen she was younger, Carmen had some rather serious body image issues. She was a bit of a stereotype- starving herself because she thought that if she was a bit lighter, that jump would be just right, or her twirl would be a bit more graceful. She went through therapy to get through it when her parents found out. As it stands, she's afraid that something will make her relapse- it's a danger that she is putting up plenty of defenses against.
Dreams
^It's a matter of course that Carmen wants to be a professional dancer- after all, she enrolled in this school as a dancer, did she not? The girl would give anything to dance for a living and accomplish this goal. Background dancing, movie dancer, whatever allows her to do what she loves.
^This might be a little bit silly sounding, but the young woman has always secretly wanted to be a superhero- not so much a dream as a little wish since childhood. She certainly wouldn't mind bringing about some vigilante justice or something, though- she just wants to be a hero to someone, it doesn't have to be the world.
Talents
Dancing || Finding Things || Bilingual || FPS Games
Hobbies
Dancing || Reading Comics || Playing Video Games || Exploring
Secrets
vObviously, Carmen doesn't really go around advertising that she spent all of freshmen year and part of sophomore year with an eating disorder- it isn't the kind of thing you want people to know about and she's rather ashamed of it anyway.
vThis is a childish secret, but Carmen considers it a sort of secret- she was pretty much infatuated with Dick Grayson throughout all of middle school. Some girls had posters of boybands, she had Nightwing, Robin, and his stint as Batman plastered over her walls.
vCarmen is not the first person in her family to shoot from stardom- her elder brother is rather famous in the dancing world. Thankfully, he goes by their mother's last name, and she by their father's, so people don't really make the connection. She doesn't want to have to stand in his shadow, or to ride on his tailcoats.
Carmen has the tendency to come across to people as something of a goofball- her sense of humor is certainly a far cry from dry, and doesn't really qualify as witty. She's the one with the stupid jokes, who can make a pun for just about any conversation, and does her best to do so. Some people see her as nothing but a goofball, and those people are usually shocked when they see her dancing, because she can transform entirely, from amicable and easygoing to intense and graceful. But the focus of the moment is not her dance style, but the girl who is seen backstage before the recital- the one who tries to calm people down with stupid jokes and obscure references that people tend to just ignore.
Oh, God, the references. Those who know her will attest to the fact that she makes as many as she can, as if hoping that people will be convinced to share her love if she mentions her favorite video games and comics often enough. Basically, she relieves her own stress by acting as though she has none- by trying to make people at least laugh a little bit. She may be a dancer, but that's her bit- acting the fool during tense moments so that people will loosen up. Tense as in stressful- she's at least not going to crack jokes at a funeral, or while someone is spilling their heart out to her.
It is this willingness to make jokes at her own expense, and this stubborn goofiness, that makes Carmen the sort of person that makes friends easily. She's a social sort of person, and there isn't really much to explain it. Perhaps it is her tendency to always be able to pinpoint something good in a person, even if they otherwise act like a complete asshole. Even when she has reached her edge with a person, and is going to tear them down, she will see that spark of beauty, and is able to prevent herself from dehumanizing others because of this. Doesn't mean she won't chew a person out, though. But she will tone it down, often not releasing the full extent of her anger.
When she sees this beauty in others, she makes no attempt to hide it- she doesn't really attempt to hide much at all, in general. Carmen is an honest girl, and if she likes something about a person, she will tell them, no questions asked. Some people hang around her because of this- they know that they can trust her to be honest with them. She doesn't ignore people and expect them to get the hint that she doesn't want to hang out- she will point blank tell a person if she thinks that they don't really belong as friends or anything like that anymore. Perhaps it isn't the most tactful attribute in the world, but it is true of hers. She might honestly tell someone that she dislikes them, but she also is able to make people see their own beauty- maybe that's her much desired superpower. She is able to make people feel like they are the center of the world when they tell her something, because she gives undivided attention. Unfortunately, this can include unwavering eye contact, because people complained that she never looked at them when they were speaking to her back in her childhood. She's bad at realizing when the eye contact is making people feel uneasy, and this can occasionally put a damper on the whole 'make them feel important' thing.
Carmen has had plenty of people use her as a therapist of sorts, someone who will listen to their problems and give them her feedback. Very rare is it for this to be a vice versa situation, though. She feels ashamed of her own stress, and doesn't like to acknowledge it very much, so the young woman winds it up as tightly as possible and tucks the neat little ball away to the back of her mind, until it pops open and fills every crevice and corner of her mind. That happens rarely, luckily. Still, her way of dealing with stress is hardly the healthiest manner. Carmen does improve upon it a bit in that her dancing helps her to relieve stress- she dances a lot when going through tough times, almost obsessively, in fact. She just doesn't like talking about her concerns with people because she figures that they can be ignored. As though out of sight means out of existence. Perhaps she hides it because of her insecurity, which drives her to see her own concerns as trivial and not worth troubling others with. The girl acts cheerful, goofy, and completely carefree, but she is the posterchild for suppressed anxiety- and she knows it. The girl's been trying to work on her insecurity and anxiety, which is to say, she's been pushing those issues to the back of her mind as well. It's something of an unhappy compromise, really.
She tries to make up for her insecurity through hardwork- as though shoving enough force at a wall is enough to push it. The girl practices far more than she lets on, certainly, and can often be seen in the dance studio at 2am, only to be in school the next day bragging about how much sleep she got last night. The girl tends to deal with her issues by herself, because she thinks that asking for help equates being unworthy of it- like she hasn't tried hard enough, she isn't good enough. In fact, she is something of a coward when it comes to herself, strange as that might sound. She is afraid to accept the reality of many of her concerns, and so instead keeps throwing effort at them. She doesn't easily accept that some things can't be changed, that is to say. She is typically easygoing, but in matters of the self, the girl can be a bit more stubborn than usual. To be fair, it is this tenacity, plus a bit of natural talent, that helped her to get into this school. And she is determined to ensure that she will have a career in dancing after this school, as well, even if that means running herself to the bone in the wee hours of the night, and then having to find new ways of making herself seem completely awake during the day. Unfortunately, it kind of shows when she falls asleep in class- and when her grades begin to slip, just as they had when she was younger. She knows her limits, of course, she just has the tendency to push them a bit.
Goofy || Easygoing || Amicable || Hides Stress || Insecure || Optimistic || Hardworking || Blunt || Cowardly
New York, New York
History
Leo Velez and Maria Correia were both raised in New York City, living in the same apartment building and going to the same school. Leo's parents spoke Spanish at home and Maria's spoke Portuguese, but when they were with each other, the pair spoke their own sort of English- the language of close friends, where nothing said can be the same as launching into a three minute explanation. They grew up together, after all- Maria had been born in that apartment building, and Leo moved there when his family left Spain (he had been around four years old at the time). As soon as Leo moved in, Maria singled him out as being around her age, and pestered him relentlessly until he relented and became friends with her. She had perhaps the most influence over how he spoke English, as he learned it, and thus their language seemed to have a sort of sync found typically in families. They were thick as thieves, of course, and were known for being best friends throughout their elementary school days. Skip a few years and they were on their way to university, and likely to marriage. The couple had decided to hold off on marriage until Leo graduated- he was aiming for a degree in accounting, as it happens.
That being said, things didn't pan out exactly as they had intended. Maria became pregnant before Leo could reach even his Bachelors degree. He decided that it was more important to take care of the child, and began to cut down on his load so that his classes were maybe once or twice a week, enabling him to work at a local store- Maria did the same, a cashier at a nearby grocery store. By the time Maria had given birth to their first child, whom they named Liam after a teacher they had both admired, they made another decision: Leo dropped out of college and got a full time job. He had nearly reached the Bachelors mark, but they didn't have the time or money to pay for more classes, even with the student loans. Besides, three years later Maria had another child- a girl whom they named Carmen, after Leo's late grandmother. When Carmen was born they couple moved to a new apartment, though it was still in the Bronx, where both of them had grown up. It was further from Leo's work, but somewhat safer from where they had recently lived, allowing Maria to feel more comfortable getting a part-time job, which she did when Carmen was around three years old. Carmen's mother often came to babysit three year old Carmen and six year old Liam, both of whom were something of a handful. Carmen was constantly wandering off, and Liam had the tendency to throw fits when not indulged.
That being said, both of them were talented kids, and good-natured despite their occasionally misleading behavior. Liam, of course, was in school before Carmen, and would often come home and brag about how much fun he was having in school. The girl didn't mind, because she enjoyed hearing about the adventures of the 'big kids' who were able to attend school. More importantly, she loved what her brother would bring home from the school library and let her read- comic books. The sort that are more appropriate for kids, of course, meaning that she wasn't really introduced to characters like Catwoman and the like until a bit later. Regardless of the ratings, though, they instilled in her what would become a lifelong fascination with heroes. This was not the last interest that her elder brother would introduce her to, however.
By the time she was around six years old, and and in kindergarten, Carmen's father had received a few promotions at work, and was now the manager of the store where he worked. This good fortune was followed by the announcement that Maria was pregnant with what would be the third and final child of the couple. Though the birth of her younger sibling was important, something else happened the next year which would change the course of Carmen's life, which had admittedly not really been set at that point. Her elementary school received a grant in the arts, with the intention of providing more opportunities to the students, many of whom came from families living below the poverty line. This grant provided for music, chorus, art, and, yes, dance. And so a love was born- maybe not her first love, an honor given to Dick Grayson, but certainly her most important one. One she has yet to lose.
At first, Carmen had planned on going with the art extracurricular program. She wanted to draw pictures like the ones that she saw in comic books. However, her older brother convinced her that taking the dance class would be fun. Following after him as she always was, Carmen eagerly agreed. After all, she was a first grade, and he was a very impressive fourth grade. Dance turned up to be the right choice for both of them. Carmen had always been very flexible, able to bend her body a bit more than the average person, and this turned out to give her a great advantage in class. She and her brother were both in the program for two years, taking classes everyday during their 'arts' period, when it got shut down. The siblings were crushed. It had become a bonding thing for the two of them, but more importantly, it had grown to be something which they both adored.
They found good fortune once more, though, for their had been a guest instructor now and again, and the Velez siblings had caught her eye. She made a deal with their parents- if the children would help set up and clean after class, they could dance in her studio for free. While skeptical at first, Maria and Leo were eventually won over by the pleas of their children. Thus, a new accommodation was made for the two, and they were able to continue dancing. And they were good, continued to be. Both took ballet exclusively at first, the classic, but by the time she reached sixth grade, Carmen wanted to do more than that- she wanted to try hip hop, jazz, contemporary- she wanted to do it all. Her brother put all of his focus into ballet, but she wanted to experiment. And that she did, though she remained in ballet. By the end of the year, she remained in ballet and hiphop. Outside of classes, one of her friends, who was taking breakdancing lessons at a local community center, taught her what he learned in class. The girl lived and breathed danced- she was constantly practicing. She had time only for dance and for comics, as her break. Unfortunately, her grades began to slip because of this, not an ideal thing. When her parents found out, they threatened to take her out of dance classes. She had to beg them not to. Her brother had already gone on to Melrose Academy, and she wanted to do so as well- something that would require to put in her all for the next year, especially.
So they relented, albeit reluctantly, warning her that she better keep with at least a B average. Basically Carmen ended up stretching her time very, very thin, laying down a foundation of stress that did not prove to be optimal for her. She wanted to do everything- dance, read comics, hang out with friends, watch movies, get decent grades, stay on the track team. Dancing took up a lot of her time, but she wasn't going to let go of it. She ended up quitting the track team, and sliced her movie watching quite a bit, filling up this time with Dance, Dance, Dance. By the end of eighth grade, she had managed to get into the school. Receiving the acceptance letter was perhaps the happiest day of her life.
The next year, she entered as a freshman, and was lucky to have someone she knew there- her brother was a senior at the time, and known as one of the best dancers, definitely the best male dancer, in his year. They had been very close in childhood, and she expected that this would continue to be the case- it wasn't. Her brother told her to keep their sibling status a secret, because he didn't want to have to worry about her too much, and didn't want her riding on his tailcoats. She found herself agreeing, but she placed a lot of stress on herself to do well, to emulate her brother. The girl became obsessed with the idea of being lighter, and ended up dealing with anorexia for the next year, before her brother found out and told her parents. Once more, they threatened to take her out of the school. A compromise was reached- she went into therapy over the summer, something which cost her family a good deal of money, and promised to begin eating regularly again. There were instances of relapses, but she kept those a secret, and is doing better now.
Theme Song: [url=LINK TO SONG]What song do you think explains you?[/url]
Anything else: Put any other information you deem necessary.
