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Fic: Mnemonic Devices To Help You Remember ... (Wizards Of Waverly Place, Justin/Alex)
Title: Mnemonic Devices To Help You Remember How To Spell 'Mnemonic Devices'
Fandom: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Pairing(s): Justin/Alex
Word Count: 3470
Rating: PG
Summary: She finds sticky notes in four different books, folded pages in two, and even notes scrawled in the margins of something she thinks must have been one of their dad's old magic books.
Notes: Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
irishmizzy for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
yuletide. Spoilers up to episode 2:5 - Night At The Lazerama.
"You're studying."
As far as observations go, it isn't a particularly interesting one. It isn't a question, either, but Justin seems to be waiting for an answer, so whatever.
"Yeah," Alex says, slamming the book shut a little harder than she needs to. Like it's a hint or something - she was studying, but now she's sitting here answering his stupid questions, which isn't exactly helping her concentrate. (Not that she wants to concentrate, exactly. More like she needs to.)
"Why?" he asks, and seriously, he's supposed to be the smart one?
"So I can learn stuff?" she says, but if Justin's supposed to go away after he's done completely interrupting her, maybe he didn't get the memo. Instead, he moves forward into the lair, dropping onto the bench beside her so that she has to move her books or risk getting Justin's ass imprint on them.
He doesn't help her - of course - just leans back and crosses his legs on top of the table. "Why?"
Great, they're doing that.
"So I can kick your butt in the wizard competition," she says. And then, because he's annoying her, "Again."
He stops smirking at that (just for a second, but she still notices), and Alex feels a small swell of pride. It's a pale echo of what she felt then, with full powers thrumming under her skin and the satisfaction of knowing that she beat Justin at something that actually mattered, but it's still enough to remind her.
(And it hurts a little, but maybe that's good. Maybe she needs it, if she wants to win again.)
"You got lucky," he says, but his voice is a little different than it was a second ago. "It's not going to happen again."
"Then I guess I don't need to share these," she says, and snatches away one of the books as Justin starts flipping through it. He cries out, staring down at his thumb like she sliced his arm open instead of giving him a papercut, and she smiles a little. He's still annoying her, and she still isn't getting any work done, but maybe now they're even.
"Like I need these anyway," he says. Like he could take them from her, more likely. "In case you've forgotten, I'm way ahead of you."
She hasn't forgotten. It's the only thing their dad ever talks about after their lessons; it's the only reason she's here.
"For now," she says, and it's a little more optimistic than she's really feeling, but it's not like she has to let Justin know that. Let him think she's catching up to him, that this stuff means more to her than a bunch of words on a page and spells she can't seem to get right. Maybe he'll be easier to be around if he isn't so smug all the time.
Only, he doesn't look any less smug. If anything, that stupid expression of his only gets worse, like she'll never catch up to him and he knows it. Not before the competition, anyway. Maybe not if they had forever.
"Whatever," he says, and stands up. Finally. Maybe now he'll actually go away, and she can get some work done. "By the way, you're reading the spell backwards."
Alex doesn't feel quite as good after he's gone as she thought she would.
-
The first time Alex finds a dog-eared page in one of the books, she doesn't really think about it. It's not like Justin to mark a book like that - she's pretty sure he has actual bookmarks, which is just weird - and it's not like Max to have actually read a book, but maybe Justin was just in a hurry or something, or maybe it got turned down accidentally. It's a little annoying, the book keeps flipping open to that page when she's trying to study the next chapter, and it's not until she gives up and just reads the damn thing out of sheer frustration that she starts to understand what their dad was talking about in their last lesson. And that's ... oddly convenient, but whatever, if it means she can finally master that stupid spell, she doesn't really care.
Except she's certain that there are no other folded pages in the book, she would have noticed for sure, but the next time she opens it, the newest spell on their dad's lesson plan is marked. Again.
It's probably just a coincidence.
-
"Varava Graviata," Alex says, and their dad looks - okay, if she's being honest, he looks surprised.
He sound surprised, too, when he says, "That's correct. Nice work, Alex."
Sure. It turns out, studying is a lot easier when you don't have to study everything.
"Now," he says, "would you like to demonstrate it?"
And, okay, usually she'd try to come up with some excuse to get out of this, because she's starting to really hate the look on their dad's face when she messes something up. Almost as much as she hates the way it adds half an hour onto their wizard training whenever he has to fix one of her mistakes. Only, she isn't sure she needs to.
Like, she's pretty sure she's actually got this one.
"Varava Graviata," she repeats, waving her wand, and the lamp in front of her hovers above the table, only wavering a little as she holds it there and then lets it back down. And it feels good, even if it's just a simple spell (and even if Justin's not here so she can rub it in his face), because she did this, and she got it right, and their dad's looking at her like he's actually proud, the way he usually looks at Justin instead of her or Max.
One hundred and one. Take that, Mr Stuffleby.
"Excellent," their dad says. "Max, now you try."
Their lesson ends up going over by half an hour anyway, but Alex almost doesn't even mind.
-
"I heard you mastered another spell," Justin says, sitting way too close on the couch, she's pretty sure, just to annoy her. Like, there's room for three people to sit, even after their mom cooks from one of grandma's recipes, he doesn't actually need to be touching her. "How many until you reach five thousand, again?"
Four thousand, eight hundred and ninety-nine. Not that she's counting.
"Hilarious," she says. "Run away from any monsters today?"
Justin pulls a face, but he doesn't actually say no, so Alex is pretty sure she's on to something.
"You know, if you ever run into a monster that's scared of people who just stand there and scream like little girls, you might even catch one someday."
"Hey," he says, but he straightens up, which means he isn't crowding her so much any more. "I've caught plenty of monsters."
"Yeah," she scoffs. "You caught a fake horse, a robot, a watermelon, and a monster that you created in the first place."
"It was a Fakeahorseus," he says.
Whatever, that's what she said.
"Still real impressive," she says. And then, when he starts to lean forward like he's going to point out that it was his first hunt and at least he's still ahead of her, blah blah blah, she adds, "Oh, and you needed my help for all of them."
He doesn't even try to argue that one, and she leans back, satisfied.
"I'mstillaheadofyouinthewizardcompetition," he says, quietly, like it's all one word. And seriously, if that's his only comeback, it's getting kind of old. "And unless you know to rotate your wand counterclockwise instead of clockwise, you'll never master dad's next spell, either."
"You're right," she says. "So thanks for that."
Make that one hundred and two.
-
"You're actually studying?" Harper asks, and - okay, Alex gets that it's a little weird, whatever, but does she have to have this conversation with everyone? "Wow, I thought you would have forgotten about that already."
Yeah, well, it's kind of hard to forget with Justin looking at her all the time, like he knows the answers to everything and she's just, like. Borrowing the power that's rightly his, or something. If there were an easier way to fix it, she'd choose that, but so far, this is the only thing she can think of.
(Except turning him into something small and squishable and then maybe accidentally wearing her heaviest boots, but their dad already ruined that one - and then punished her, like, seriously, how is it fair to punish someone for something they almost did? It's not like they put people in jail for attempted murder.)
So, she's studying.
"Yeah, I'm studying," she says. And she really doesn't want to ask (especially in public, which, well, the sandwich shop is semi-public, at least), but -
"What was that song you taught me, again?"
"You mean the song Justin made up?" Harper asks, and, yeah. She was just hoping she wouldn't actually have to say it out loud. "That's easy. I am singing this whole song to learn a spell -"
Yeah, she definitely should have waited until they were alone.
"Learn a spell," she chimes in, burying her head in her arms, and if the words come out a little muffled, at least she doesn't have to look at Justin, leaning over the counter like he's going to be remembering this for a very long time.
(At least she can comfort herself with this: if there's a spell to fix that, she'll find it eventually.)
-
"Are you sure you won't reconsider sabotage?" Max asks.
It's tempting.
And then he gets as far as 'lemur' before she thinks that, no, maybe it isn't.
-
Besides, there's this: she only knows one person lame enough to use sticky notes.
The dog-eared pages are one thing, Justin accidentally telling her how to fix spells and leaving his tape recorder lying around so she can listen to his stupid potion songs. Even if he doesn't actually need to learn potions any more, but whatever. It doesn't necessarily mean anything, not even when you add it all together.
But books don't just spontaneously generate their own sticky notes, and anyway, she can recognise Justin's handwriting easily enough. (She only spent an entire summer learning to forge it so she could leave fake notes from Future Justin lying around his room, that kind of thing doesn't go away overnight.) And they could have been meant for him, he could have accidentally left them attached, except they say stuff like, no, seriously, repeat it three times, and, don't mumble, trust me, and Justin always repeats something three times if the instruction say to, and he never mumbles spells, so there's no way they're sticky notes to himself.
And this is the point where something's supposed to click, except there's a part of Alex that thinks maybe she knew all along.
Justin is helping her.
-
She finds sticky notes in four different books, folded pages in two - but only books they have another copy of, typical - and even notes scrawled in the margins of something she thinks must have been one of their dad's old magic books. (There are two types of handwriting on that one, and she ignores the one that's mostly giant jokes.) And in one book, tucked into the back, an actual cheat sheet of potions and what they're supposed to smell like.
So, definitely Justin. And Alex isn't sure if she should, like. Thank him, or whatever. Because - it's weird, right? Not like they haven't helped each other out before, but this feels different, somehow. Like he's making a sacrifice, letting her catch up to him.
And the thing is, he still hasn't said anything. So -
Maybe she shouldn't, either.
-
"I'm proud of you," their dad says, drawing her aside after the lesson. And it's not like Alex is suddenly growing a conscience or whatever, but she feels a twinge of something that someone else might possibly call guilt. Maybe.
Because that really cool spinning thing that she just made the tabletop do wasn't even in the book, and seriously, she doesn't even get how Justin knows half this stuff.
"It's no big deal," she mumbles, and she'd leave, if she could, but he's standing between her and the door, and pushing past him would just make it look like she's hiding something. Which is pretty much the worst way to hide something.
"No," he says, laying a hand on her shoulder, and great, now he wants to have the big heart to heart. Ugh. "You've really been dedicated to your studies lately."
"Uh huh," she says. Noncommittal is probably best.
And then his face gets kind of a pinched look, and she knew there had to be something else. "There's nothing you want to tell me, is there?"
"Nope," she says. She can't quite maintain eye contact, but her voice doesn't waver, either. "Nothing."
He looks like he buys it, anyway.
"Great," he says. Smiling, like he's relieved. "Well, keep up the good work."
That's not really up to her, but whatever.
-
Add the newt eyes first, the sticky note says, and that's pretty much the opposite of what the instructions in the book say. But, okay, the note wouldn't be there if there weren't a reason for it, right?
(Sometimes, she almost convinces herself that all of this is some elaborate plan, Justin's way of getting back at her for beating him in the competition. Except he's never been good at getting even, and anyway, she's pretty sure the notes have helped her way too many times for all of it to be fake.)
So, whatever, she adds the newt eyes first. It's not like it'll be the first time she screws up a potion, even if the note is wrong.
(It isn't, and seriously. Justin is smarter than books, she has no idea how she's ever going to catch up.)
"How did you get it to work?" Max asks, later, still covered in the remnants of his potion, and she has to hide a smile. "I swear I followed all the instructions."
"Just lucky, I guess," she says, and her fingers slide over the note tucked in her pocket.
-
"Whatever," she says, and hands the remote over to Justin. His fingers close around hers, but he doesn't move, like he's frozen in place or something. "I don't care. Watch your stupid fish show."
"Whales are mammals," he says, pulling his hand back and flicking through the channels.
Whatever, like she cares. There's nothing good on, anyway.
-
"My little girl is growing up," their mom says, like studying for wizard lessons means she's suddenly an adult or whatever.
(See, this is exactly why she never wanted to get old.)
"It's just a grade," she says, and it's not like she cares, not really, but -
Okay, it doesn't feel horrible to have her homework pinned to the fridge. (For the first time ever, Justin points out, whatever. It's not even true; the picture of a flower she drew in first grade stayed up there for a whole month.)
And if getting an 'A' means she gets pie, maybe there's something to this whole school thing, after all.
-
Thank you, she doodles on one of the books, almost absently. Their dad is droning on and on about some old dead dude, turn to page two hundred and forty-seven, and by the time the lesson is over, she's forgotten about it.
You're welcome, is right underneath it the next time she opens the book, and for a second, she can only stare at it.
And then she writes, I'm still going to kick your butt.
-
Motor oil, sweat, and a hint of cotton.
"Super strength potion," she says, and their dad smiles.
Beside her, Max looks offended, like smelling stuff is his thing. She grins, and draws a smiley face on the book, right below, you owe me one.
-
"Who's that from?" Harper asks, and Alex scrunches up the note, shoving it under her books. For a second, she almost considers eating it, but that seems a little too extreme. Or like something Max would do.
"Nobody," she says, and tries to pretend she's suddenly interested in what their teacher is saying. It probably isn't very believable; there are no cheat sheets in her math textbook, and there's not much chance of her ever getting an 'A' on her own, but it's better than the alternative.
Because, seriously, it's not like she can explain that she's getting notes from her brother. Not that it's weird, or anything, it's just - she's pretty sure Harper wouldn't understand.
"Is it from that new guy?" Harper asks, leaning closer. "I think he likes you."
"Um," Alex says. "Yeah, sure. That's who it's from."
And Harper makes an excited squealing noise that gets Harper a glare and Alex detention, but whatever, it's only third period, she was probably going to end up there anyway. Plus, it means Harper doesn't talk to her for the rest of the period, and it's way easier to ignore her questions when she's miming them.
It's harder to fake an entire conversation after class about some new guy Alex has never seen before, but at least it means they've moved on, sort of.
-
Don't mess it up, the note says, and Alex sticks her tongue out at it. Not that Justin can see her, but it helps.
I'm not you, she writes, and sticks the note back in the book.
It's only the first really advanced spell their dad has let her try, after all. What could possibly go wrong?
-
Nothing does, and Alex grins at Justin on the way out, tries not to jump when he presses something into her hand.
Congratulations, the note says, and if he just wrote it, the ink should be smudged, but it isn't.
-
"We can have any kind of dessert you want," their mom says, and Alex doesn't even hesitate before she asks for Justin's favourite.
She just - doesn't feel like cinnamon tonight, is all.
-
She doesn't shove her wizard report card down the garbage disposal, or turn their parents into guinea pigs, or anything.
That one goes on the fridge, too.
-
"Do you know what independent study you're going to pick?" Justin asks. Quietly, not looking at her, like they'll only keep getting along as long as it stays a secret.
It feels too soon, but it isn't, probably. A few hundred spells - unless her math went seriously wrong somewhere, which is also a possibility - and she's done.
She's still waiting for the catch.
"Yeah, right," she says. "Like I think about that stuff. Only losers care about school."
He keeps smiling, even if he's still not facing her.
-
Monster hunting? the note reads, and she tucks it into the side of her mirror.
-
Four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.
She thinks.
-
Justin finds her in her room, staring down at the first note she ever found, and she tucks it away quickly, like it's something she has to hide. It's not like he doesn't know about it, not like he isn't the one who wrote it, but it still feels like a secret, almost, like something she doesn't want him to see.
He sits beside her on the bed, shoulders touching, and for a minute, neither of them speak. She's almost late for wizard training, and it feels like something big, something important. Like it's the end of something.
"Why?" she asks, and she doesn't have to see Justin's expression to know he gets it.
"You're my sister," he says, but it doesn't feel like an answer to her question; more like the answer to a different question, one she doesn't know.
"Exactly," she says. Max is his brother, too, and Justin isn't helping him.
He shrugs. "Why did you give up your powers?"
For a while, she can't even answer him. Justin's never been the one who brought it up before, like he's been trying to forget it ever since it happened. (Sometimes, she almost thinks it never did.)
"It wasn't fair," she says, and then smiles. "To Max, I mean."
"To Max," Justin echoes, and he's smiling, too. "Of course."
Of course.
"Thank you," she says, so quietly it's almost a whisper. She takes his hand, gently, like she's expecting him to pull away, but he doesn't. Instead, he squeezes her hand tightly, looks over at her like it's important, and it's almost like something clicks - like the notes, like the folded pages, something she thinks maybe was always there. And for a second, it's almost like she can't breathe.
She tucks it away, like the notes, somewhere she can think about it later. Maybe.
"Good luck," he says, but she doesn't think he's talking about her lesson, and he doesn't let go.
Neither does she.
Fandom: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Pairing(s): Justin/Alex
Word Count: 3470
Rating: PG
Summary: She finds sticky notes in four different books, folded pages in two, and even notes scrawled in the margins of something she thinks must have been one of their dad's old magic books.
Notes: Written for
irishmizzy for yuletide. Spoilers up to episode 2:5 - Night At The Lazerama."You're studying."
As far as observations go, it isn't a particularly interesting one. It isn't a question, either, but Justin seems to be waiting for an answer, so whatever.
"Yeah," Alex says, slamming the book shut a little harder than she needs to. Like it's a hint or something - she was studying, but now she's sitting here answering his stupid questions, which isn't exactly helping her concentrate. (Not that she wants to concentrate, exactly. More like she needs to.)
"Why?" he asks, and seriously, he's supposed to be the smart one?
"So I can learn stuff?" she says, but if Justin's supposed to go away after he's done completely interrupting her, maybe he didn't get the memo. Instead, he moves forward into the lair, dropping onto the bench beside her so that she has to move her books or risk getting Justin's ass imprint on them.
He doesn't help her - of course - just leans back and crosses his legs on top of the table. "Why?"
Great, they're doing that.
"So I can kick your butt in the wizard competition," she says. And then, because he's annoying her, "Again."
He stops smirking at that (just for a second, but she still notices), and Alex feels a small swell of pride. It's a pale echo of what she felt then, with full powers thrumming under her skin and the satisfaction of knowing that she beat Justin at something that actually mattered, but it's still enough to remind her.
(And it hurts a little, but maybe that's good. Maybe she needs it, if she wants to win again.)
"You got lucky," he says, but his voice is a little different than it was a second ago. "It's not going to happen again."
"Then I guess I don't need to share these," she says, and snatches away one of the books as Justin starts flipping through it. He cries out, staring down at his thumb like she sliced his arm open instead of giving him a papercut, and she smiles a little. He's still annoying her, and she still isn't getting any work done, but maybe now they're even.
"Like I need these anyway," he says. Like he could take them from her, more likely. "In case you've forgotten, I'm way ahead of you."
She hasn't forgotten. It's the only thing their dad ever talks about after their lessons; it's the only reason she's here.
"For now," she says, and it's a little more optimistic than she's really feeling, but it's not like she has to let Justin know that. Let him think she's catching up to him, that this stuff means more to her than a bunch of words on a page and spells she can't seem to get right. Maybe he'll be easier to be around if he isn't so smug all the time.
Only, he doesn't look any less smug. If anything, that stupid expression of his only gets worse, like she'll never catch up to him and he knows it. Not before the competition, anyway. Maybe not if they had forever.
"Whatever," he says, and stands up. Finally. Maybe now he'll actually go away, and she can get some work done. "By the way, you're reading the spell backwards."
Alex doesn't feel quite as good after he's gone as she thought she would.
-
The first time Alex finds a dog-eared page in one of the books, she doesn't really think about it. It's not like Justin to mark a book like that - she's pretty sure he has actual bookmarks, which is just weird - and it's not like Max to have actually read a book, but maybe Justin was just in a hurry or something, or maybe it got turned down accidentally. It's a little annoying, the book keeps flipping open to that page when she's trying to study the next chapter, and it's not until she gives up and just reads the damn thing out of sheer frustration that she starts to understand what their dad was talking about in their last lesson. And that's ... oddly convenient, but whatever, if it means she can finally master that stupid spell, she doesn't really care.
Except she's certain that there are no other folded pages in the book, she would have noticed for sure, but the next time she opens it, the newest spell on their dad's lesson plan is marked. Again.
It's probably just a coincidence.
-
"Varava Graviata," Alex says, and their dad looks - okay, if she's being honest, he looks surprised.
He sound surprised, too, when he says, "That's correct. Nice work, Alex."
Sure. It turns out, studying is a lot easier when you don't have to study everything.
"Now," he says, "would you like to demonstrate it?"
And, okay, usually she'd try to come up with some excuse to get out of this, because she's starting to really hate the look on their dad's face when she messes something up. Almost as much as she hates the way it adds half an hour onto their wizard training whenever he has to fix one of her mistakes. Only, she isn't sure she needs to.
Like, she's pretty sure she's actually got this one.
"Varava Graviata," she repeats, waving her wand, and the lamp in front of her hovers above the table, only wavering a little as she holds it there and then lets it back down. And it feels good, even if it's just a simple spell (and even if Justin's not here so she can rub it in his face), because she did this, and she got it right, and their dad's looking at her like he's actually proud, the way he usually looks at Justin instead of her or Max.
One hundred and one. Take that, Mr Stuffleby.
"Excellent," their dad says. "Max, now you try."
Their lesson ends up going over by half an hour anyway, but Alex almost doesn't even mind.
-
"I heard you mastered another spell," Justin says, sitting way too close on the couch, she's pretty sure, just to annoy her. Like, there's room for three people to sit, even after their mom cooks from one of grandma's recipes, he doesn't actually need to be touching her. "How many until you reach five thousand, again?"
Four thousand, eight hundred and ninety-nine. Not that she's counting.
"Hilarious," she says. "Run away from any monsters today?"
Justin pulls a face, but he doesn't actually say no, so Alex is pretty sure she's on to something.
"You know, if you ever run into a monster that's scared of people who just stand there and scream like little girls, you might even catch one someday."
"Hey," he says, but he straightens up, which means he isn't crowding her so much any more. "I've caught plenty of monsters."
"Yeah," she scoffs. "You caught a fake horse, a robot, a watermelon, and a monster that you created in the first place."
"It was a Fakeahorseus," he says.
Whatever, that's what she said.
"Still real impressive," she says. And then, when he starts to lean forward like he's going to point out that it was his first hunt and at least he's still ahead of her, blah blah blah, she adds, "Oh, and you needed my help for all of them."
He doesn't even try to argue that one, and she leans back, satisfied.
"I'mstillaheadofyouinthewizardcompetition," he says, quietly, like it's all one word. And seriously, if that's his only comeback, it's getting kind of old. "And unless you know to rotate your wand counterclockwise instead of clockwise, you'll never master dad's next spell, either."
"You're right," she says. "So thanks for that."
Make that one hundred and two.
-
"You're actually studying?" Harper asks, and - okay, Alex gets that it's a little weird, whatever, but does she have to have this conversation with everyone? "Wow, I thought you would have forgotten about that already."
Yeah, well, it's kind of hard to forget with Justin looking at her all the time, like he knows the answers to everything and she's just, like. Borrowing the power that's rightly his, or something. If there were an easier way to fix it, she'd choose that, but so far, this is the only thing she can think of.
(Except turning him into something small and squishable and then maybe accidentally wearing her heaviest boots, but their dad already ruined that one - and then punished her, like, seriously, how is it fair to punish someone for something they almost did? It's not like they put people in jail for attempted murder.)
So, she's studying.
"Yeah, I'm studying," she says. And she really doesn't want to ask (especially in public, which, well, the sandwich shop is semi-public, at least), but -
"What was that song you taught me, again?"
"You mean the song Justin made up?" Harper asks, and, yeah. She was just hoping she wouldn't actually have to say it out loud. "That's easy. I am singing this whole song to learn a spell -"
Yeah, she definitely should have waited until they were alone.
"Learn a spell," she chimes in, burying her head in her arms, and if the words come out a little muffled, at least she doesn't have to look at Justin, leaning over the counter like he's going to be remembering this for a very long time.
(At least she can comfort herself with this: if there's a spell to fix that, she'll find it eventually.)
-
"Are you sure you won't reconsider sabotage?" Max asks.
It's tempting.
And then he gets as far as 'lemur' before she thinks that, no, maybe it isn't.
-
Besides, there's this: she only knows one person lame enough to use sticky notes.
The dog-eared pages are one thing, Justin accidentally telling her how to fix spells and leaving his tape recorder lying around so she can listen to his stupid potion songs. Even if he doesn't actually need to learn potions any more, but whatever. It doesn't necessarily mean anything, not even when you add it all together.
But books don't just spontaneously generate their own sticky notes, and anyway, she can recognise Justin's handwriting easily enough. (She only spent an entire summer learning to forge it so she could leave fake notes from Future Justin lying around his room, that kind of thing doesn't go away overnight.) And they could have been meant for him, he could have accidentally left them attached, except they say stuff like, no, seriously, repeat it three times, and, don't mumble, trust me, and Justin always repeats something three times if the instruction say to, and he never mumbles spells, so there's no way they're sticky notes to himself.
And this is the point where something's supposed to click, except there's a part of Alex that thinks maybe she knew all along.
Justin is helping her.
-
She finds sticky notes in four different books, folded pages in two - but only books they have another copy of, typical - and even notes scrawled in the margins of something she thinks must have been one of their dad's old magic books. (There are two types of handwriting on that one, and she ignores the one that's mostly giant jokes.) And in one book, tucked into the back, an actual cheat sheet of potions and what they're supposed to smell like.
So, definitely Justin. And Alex isn't sure if she should, like. Thank him, or whatever. Because - it's weird, right? Not like they haven't helped each other out before, but this feels different, somehow. Like he's making a sacrifice, letting her catch up to him.
And the thing is, he still hasn't said anything. So -
Maybe she shouldn't, either.
-
"I'm proud of you," their dad says, drawing her aside after the lesson. And it's not like Alex is suddenly growing a conscience or whatever, but she feels a twinge of something that someone else might possibly call guilt. Maybe.
Because that really cool spinning thing that she just made the tabletop do wasn't even in the book, and seriously, she doesn't even get how Justin knows half this stuff.
"It's no big deal," she mumbles, and she'd leave, if she could, but he's standing between her and the door, and pushing past him would just make it look like she's hiding something. Which is pretty much the worst way to hide something.
"No," he says, laying a hand on her shoulder, and great, now he wants to have the big heart to heart. Ugh. "You've really been dedicated to your studies lately."
"Uh huh," she says. Noncommittal is probably best.
And then his face gets kind of a pinched look, and she knew there had to be something else. "There's nothing you want to tell me, is there?"
"Nope," she says. She can't quite maintain eye contact, but her voice doesn't waver, either. "Nothing."
He looks like he buys it, anyway.
"Great," he says. Smiling, like he's relieved. "Well, keep up the good work."
That's not really up to her, but whatever.
-
Add the newt eyes first, the sticky note says, and that's pretty much the opposite of what the instructions in the book say. But, okay, the note wouldn't be there if there weren't a reason for it, right?
(Sometimes, she almost convinces herself that all of this is some elaborate plan, Justin's way of getting back at her for beating him in the competition. Except he's never been good at getting even, and anyway, she's pretty sure the notes have helped her way too many times for all of it to be fake.)
So, whatever, she adds the newt eyes first. It's not like it'll be the first time she screws up a potion, even if the note is wrong.
(It isn't, and seriously. Justin is smarter than books, she has no idea how she's ever going to catch up.)
"How did you get it to work?" Max asks, later, still covered in the remnants of his potion, and she has to hide a smile. "I swear I followed all the instructions."
"Just lucky, I guess," she says, and her fingers slide over the note tucked in her pocket.
-
"Whatever," she says, and hands the remote over to Justin. His fingers close around hers, but he doesn't move, like he's frozen in place or something. "I don't care. Watch your stupid fish show."
"Whales are mammals," he says, pulling his hand back and flicking through the channels.
Whatever, like she cares. There's nothing good on, anyway.
-
"My little girl is growing up," their mom says, like studying for wizard lessons means she's suddenly an adult or whatever.
(See, this is exactly why she never wanted to get old.)
"It's just a grade," she says, and it's not like she cares, not really, but -
Okay, it doesn't feel horrible to have her homework pinned to the fridge. (For the first time ever, Justin points out, whatever. It's not even true; the picture of a flower she drew in first grade stayed up there for a whole month.)
And if getting an 'A' means she gets pie, maybe there's something to this whole school thing, after all.
-
Thank you, she doodles on one of the books, almost absently. Their dad is droning on and on about some old dead dude, turn to page two hundred and forty-seven, and by the time the lesson is over, she's forgotten about it.
You're welcome, is right underneath it the next time she opens the book, and for a second, she can only stare at it.
And then she writes, I'm still going to kick your butt.
-
Motor oil, sweat, and a hint of cotton.
"Super strength potion," she says, and their dad smiles.
Beside her, Max looks offended, like smelling stuff is his thing. She grins, and draws a smiley face on the book, right below, you owe me one.
-
"Who's that from?" Harper asks, and Alex scrunches up the note, shoving it under her books. For a second, she almost considers eating it, but that seems a little too extreme. Or like something Max would do.
"Nobody," she says, and tries to pretend she's suddenly interested in what their teacher is saying. It probably isn't very believable; there are no cheat sheets in her math textbook, and there's not much chance of her ever getting an 'A' on her own, but it's better than the alternative.
Because, seriously, it's not like she can explain that she's getting notes from her brother. Not that it's weird, or anything, it's just - she's pretty sure Harper wouldn't understand.
"Is it from that new guy?" Harper asks, leaning closer. "I think he likes you."
"Um," Alex says. "Yeah, sure. That's who it's from."
And Harper makes an excited squealing noise that gets Harper a glare and Alex detention, but whatever, it's only third period, she was probably going to end up there anyway. Plus, it means Harper doesn't talk to her for the rest of the period, and it's way easier to ignore her questions when she's miming them.
It's harder to fake an entire conversation after class about some new guy Alex has never seen before, but at least it means they've moved on, sort of.
-
Don't mess it up, the note says, and Alex sticks her tongue out at it. Not that Justin can see her, but it helps.
I'm not you, she writes, and sticks the note back in the book.
It's only the first really advanced spell their dad has let her try, after all. What could possibly go wrong?
-
Nothing does, and Alex grins at Justin on the way out, tries not to jump when he presses something into her hand.
Congratulations, the note says, and if he just wrote it, the ink should be smudged, but it isn't.
-
"We can have any kind of dessert you want," their mom says, and Alex doesn't even hesitate before she asks for Justin's favourite.
She just - doesn't feel like cinnamon tonight, is all.
-
She doesn't shove her wizard report card down the garbage disposal, or turn their parents into guinea pigs, or anything.
That one goes on the fridge, too.
-
"Do you know what independent study you're going to pick?" Justin asks. Quietly, not looking at her, like they'll only keep getting along as long as it stays a secret.
It feels too soon, but it isn't, probably. A few hundred spells - unless her math went seriously wrong somewhere, which is also a possibility - and she's done.
She's still waiting for the catch.
"Yeah, right," she says. "Like I think about that stuff. Only losers care about school."
He keeps smiling, even if he's still not facing her.
-
Monster hunting? the note reads, and she tucks it into the side of her mirror.
-
Four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.
She thinks.
-
Justin finds her in her room, staring down at the first note she ever found, and she tucks it away quickly, like it's something she has to hide. It's not like he doesn't know about it, not like he isn't the one who wrote it, but it still feels like a secret, almost, like something she doesn't want him to see.
He sits beside her on the bed, shoulders touching, and for a minute, neither of them speak. She's almost late for wizard training, and it feels like something big, something important. Like it's the end of something.
"Why?" she asks, and she doesn't have to see Justin's expression to know he gets it.
"You're my sister," he says, but it doesn't feel like an answer to her question; more like the answer to a different question, one she doesn't know.
"Exactly," she says. Max is his brother, too, and Justin isn't helping him.
He shrugs. "Why did you give up your powers?"
For a while, she can't even answer him. Justin's never been the one who brought it up before, like he's been trying to forget it ever since it happened. (Sometimes, she almost thinks it never did.)
"It wasn't fair," she says, and then smiles. "To Max, I mean."
"To Max," Justin echoes, and he's smiling, too. "Of course."
Of course.
"Thank you," she says, so quietly it's almost a whisper. She takes his hand, gently, like she's expecting him to pull away, but he doesn't. Instead, he squeezes her hand tightly, looks over at her like it's important, and it's almost like something clicks - like the notes, like the folded pages, something she thinks maybe was always there. And for a second, it's almost like she can't breathe.
She tucks it away, like the notes, somewhere she can think about it later. Maybe.
"Good luck," he says, but she doesn't think he's talking about her lesson, and he doesn't let go.
Neither does she.
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(Anonymous) 2017-02-22 02:33 am (UTC)(link)