![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fic: In Plain Sight (Wizards Of Waverly Place, Justin/Alex)
Title: In Plain Sight
Fandom: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Pairing(s): Justin/Alex
Word Count: 3889
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Justin's favourite things from his room are sometimes more interesting than Alex expects.
Notes: Spoilers up to episode 2:23 - Paint By Committee. Written for this prompt at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
omgjustinalex.
When Alex comes down to dinner, Justin's there, looking infuriatingly smug.
Which, of course he is. The box labelled 'Justin's favourite things from his room' is still in her bedroom; on her bed, in fact.
There's just nothing in it, any more.
"You look upset," he says, and she glares at him.
"I'm not upset."
"Really," he says, like he isn't even trying to hide it, like he doesn't care if she knows. In fact, he probably wants her to; there has to be a reason he left the box just sitting out on the bed. "Hmm. Must just be your face."
"Funny," she says, and rolls her eyes. Sparring with Justin isn't nearly as much fun when he has the upper hand, which, really, she isn't surprised she's never noticed before now.
He has that same look on his face all through dinner, passing the potatoes and the salt and the gravy like he's happy to help her out, like there's nothing going on between them at all. She wants to scream, to kick him under the table or turn his hands into feet, but their parents look so happy about how nice he's being to his sister that she can't do any of that, not if she doesn't want to be grounded for a week.
So she sits in silence, instead, and waits until the meal is over, when their mom is washing the plates and Max is helping their dad come up with some disgusting-sounding dessert. Then she leans over towards Justin, and whispers, "This isn't over."
"Oh, yeah?" he asks. "What are you going to do?"
Okay, so she hasn't actually thought up that part yet. But she will.
And she isn't about to tell him that, so instead she says, "Wait and see."
"I'm really scared," Justin says, but for all his bravado, he looks a little nervous. Which he should.
Whatever plan she comes up with, it's going to be good.
-
So, okay, it's not like she's actually going to come up with a plan, or whatever. She's not Justin. But it's not like she really needs one, either; he took his stuff, so she's just going to take it back.
It's always easier than she expects to get into Justin's room when he's not there (it's not like he actually has a life or anything, but there's the sandwich shop, and studying in the lair, and whatever lame robot-related stuff he does with his surprisingly not boring science geek friends). So the next day, she sneaks in while he's running levitation drills with Max, closes the door gently behind her, and looks around.
There's no immediately obvious pile of stuff on his bed, which doesn't really surprise her; he's probably put it all away already, which is annoying, but fixable. Anyway, she was getting kind of bored with the old collection - most of the things had been in her room so long Justin had probably forgotten he even loved them in the first place - so maybe it'll be fun to start a new one. And Justin has never really been very good at hiding things, so it's not like this is going to be hard.
She's up to two dolls (action figures, whatever), his favourite sweater (ugly, but brand new), and his science textbook (really, that one's just funny) in less than half an hour, and that's probably not bad. It's not like she has to fill up her entire collection right away, after all. But she still hasn't found anything she's sure he'll miss (like, in a way where he actually wants it back, not just needs it, because the textbook totally doesn't count), so she glances under his bed, just in case.
And, wow, seriously, she needs to give him lessons or something. Hiding Important Stuff 101: Don't put it in one of the first places anyone is likely to check.
(She keeps things on her bookcase, in her hamper, in plain sight on her bedside table. There's a reason Justin doesn't have a matching collection of her things.)
Really, though, she's almost impressed. Because, a secret porn stash under the bed? Is almost like something any normal teenage guy would have.
She just never imagined Justin having one. Because he's, well. He's Justin.
(But, okay, impressed or not, she's definitely still going to tease him about this.)
-
He looks surprised when she lets him have the remote control after dinner, but not particularly suspicious.
At least, until she says, "I figured you'd want to watch the weather."
"The weather was on after the news," he says, but he's looking at her like he can't quite figure out what she's really saying.
It's okay, she'll help him along.
"The weather girl's pretty cute, though, huh?"
So, okay, Justin's crush isn't exactly a secret. Alex just hadn't realised that 'crush' meant 'badly photoshopped pictures of her face on other girls' naked bodies.'
(At least, that was one of the themes of Justin's collection. There were others, too, but Alex is trying not to think too hard about those at the moment.)
"Yeah," Justin says, but he doesn't get all smiley and stupid-looking the way he usually does when he's talking about her. And, really, she'd been planning on pushing it further, but the way he's looking right now, like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, is way better than anything she could have come up with. So maybe she'll leave it there, for a while.
She snatches the remote, anyway, while Justin's busy being distracted, and she gets all the way to the first commercial break before he pulls himself together enough to fight back for it.
(He still loses. Obviously.)
-
It takes her a day and a half to get bored with the whole 'waiting around to torment Justin' plan. Not that it isn't working - Justin keeps checking over his shoulder whenever they're alone, like he's just waiting for whatever she's got planned - but the subtle approach has never really been her thing. And when she has material this good to work with, not using it seems like a waste.
She's still trying to decide the best way to get out of going to math class when Justin approaches her, waving a piece of paper in her face. She can't see what's on it, but she doesn't need to; no way would his face be turning that shade of red if it were anything other than what she'd shoved in his locker that morning.
"What's this?" he asks, and her eyes widen, just a little.
"What's what?"
"This," he says, and turns the paper so it's facing her.
Alex can't help smiling a little; she'd had to rat out a group of seniors smoking near the bleachers in order to get Mr Laritate away from the office, so she could sneak in and make copies, but they'd turned out perfectly, so maybe it was worth it.
"Wow," she says, taking the paper. "That's -"
Justin snatches it back, like he doesn't want her to see, but he's the one who showed it to her, so she doesn't really get what his problem is. "Where did you get this?"
She shrugs as Justin balls up the piece of paper, and closes the locker door on her math textbook. She's probably not going to be needing it.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" she asks, and she almost manages to keep a straight face.
Justin just stares at her.
And then she can't help laughing, because really, his reaction is everything she'd hoped for. His face gets even redder, his eyes narrowing, and he takes a step towards her.
"Alex," he says, his voice dangerously low. Or it would be dangerous, on anyone but Justin. "You went through my stuff."
Hey, it was his own fault.
"You made me," she says, and ignores the way his jaw is clenching. "You really should have a lock put on your door or something."
"You're not supposed to go in my room!"
"Which is why you should put a lock on it," she says. Honestly, what part of this is he not getting?
"I want my stuff back," he says. "All of it."
Ew. She really doesn't want to think about what he'd do with it if she gave it to him. Instead, she nods towards the crumpled piece of paper. "There you go."
"That's not what I meant," he says. "Alex -"
"That's all I have," she says, and gives him her very best innocent look. "I swear."
Justin holds her gaze for a moment longer, like he's going to keep arguing, but then he storms off, tossing the paper in the trash as he goes.
Not that it matters. She has more copies.
She's still thinking about her next move when she sees Mr Laritate on the far side of the hallway, and she opens her locker quickly, pulling out her textbook.
"Miss Russo," Mr Laritate says, and glances down at the book in her hands. "Off to class?"
"Class," she repeats. "Sure. That's where I'm going."
She expects a lecture on how she's running late, or maybe a detention slip, but instead he just nods. "Run along, then."
Well, that went better than expected.
"And Alex," he says, and she turns around. "Nice job on the tip off about the bleachers."
So, not only is she a snitch, but now she's being praised for it.
Justin would be so proud. If he wasn't totally mad at her.
"Um," she says. "No problem."
"I hope I can expect such continued good behaviour in the future?"
She doesn't think it's likely, but she nods, anyway, and hurries off to class.
Great. Now she's following the rules all over the place.
-
Justin glares at her all the way home from school, hovers near their dad when they get to the sub station, but if that's supposed to scare her, it isn't working. There's no way he's going to tell their parents, not if it means having to admit what she took; if he wants to get back at her, he's just going to have to keep trying.
Later, he sticks around to watch the news with their parents, like it's something he actually enjoys (seriously, how is he this boring?), but he jumps up as soon as the weather comes on, casting a guilty look at Alex.
"I have to go study," he says, and it sounds like a lame excuse to her, but their parents seem to buy it. Coming from Justin, she supposes it's believable enough, if you ignore the way his voice goes all weird when he says it.
She follows him upstairs a few minutes later, and she can hear him rifling around under his bed, hears the indignant sound he makes (the one he'd probably call a growl, but is really more like a squeak) as he rips down the piece of paper she'd taped to his wall. Which seems like as good a time as any to knock, and when he opens the door, his face is flushed, and he's clearly hiding something behind his back.
(He really, really needs to get better at hiding stuff.)
"What do you want?" he asks, and he sounds mad, but for a second, he'd almost looked relieved to see her.
"Dinner will be ready soon," she says, and turns her back on Justin's best glare.
For a minute, he doesn't say anything, and then he calls after her, "I want my textbook back, too."
-
On Saturday morning, Alex talks - loudly, when Justin is in the room - about how she has a big science exam coming up soon.
Justin glares sullenly, but their parents look proud, like she actually cares about her school work.
That night, she tapes up another piece of paper on the bathroom mirror after she gets out of the shower, and when she sees Justin afterwards, he looks mortified, like anyone could have seen it.
Like he doesn't always take his bath at exactly the same time every night.
(That's his problem, see; she knows him too well.)
-
On Sunday, she wakes up to find Justin staring at her.
"Freak show," she mumbles, still half asleep, and struggles to sit up. "What are you doing in my room?"
"I want my stuff back," he says, and when she looks around, her room looks like a tornado just blew through it, more like Max's room than hers.
"Get out," she says, and climbs out of bed, pushing Justin towards the door. He barely moves, and she wonders when he became stronger than her.
"Alex," he says. "I'm serious. I want it back."
"What do you want back?" she asks. Maybe if he says it out loud, she'll even consider it.
"I want my textbook," he says. "And my action figures."
"Is that all?" she asks. She's still got her hands on his arms, standing closer to him than she meant to, but it seems to be bothering him, so she doesn't move away.
"I want everything back," he says, not quite meeting her eyes.
Well, it's not like she didn't give him a chance.
This time, when she pushes him out of the room, he goes, and she shuts the door behind him.
"And my sweater," he yells, and Alex crawls back into bed.
-
She wears the sweater down to breakfast, over her pyjamas, and Justin stares at her, rigid, as if someone just threw cold water over him.
"Isn't that Justin's?" their dad asks, around a mouthful of cereal, and their mom looks at him, annoyed, and then at Alex.
Alex shrugs. "I was cold."
"She took it without asking," Justin says, always eager to get her into trouble, and Alex shoots him a dirty look.
"Alex," their dad says, and then after a minute, "you should give that back."
She rolls her eyes, but slides the sweater over her head, and throws it at Justin. He catches it, but his eyes never leave her, his gaze fixed somewhere near the strap of her tank top.
Whatever. He can have his sweater back; this thing still isn't over.
-
Alex still knows Justin's locker combination (seriously, he should stop making up songs if he doesn't want other people to remember it, too), so she actually goes to school early on Monday, and uses the rest of the copies she made to paper the inside of his locker door. And then she misses the beginning of her first period class, anyway, because she has to stick around to wait for his reaction.
It doesn't disappoint.
Justin looks around guiltily as he tears the pictures down, and then straight at Alex, like he knew she'd be watching.
"Alex," he says, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to the doorway of an empty classroom.
"What?" she asks. It's not like she's trying to pretend she's innocent - it's way too late for that - but it's just so much fun watching him struggle to find words.
He glances at her arm, as if he's just realised he's still holding her, and lets go hurriedly. But he leans closer, anyway, lowering his voice.
"Stop," he says. "Just ... stop it, okay?"
Stop what? she wants to ask, but she doesn't. Instead, she asks, "Why should I?"
He flounders for a second, as if he's searching for an answer, and then, "Because I'm asking you to."
"Not good enough," she says, and Justin's expression, momentarily vulnerable, shuts down again.
"Then how about because I'm going to get even with you?" he asks, and she rolls her eyes. Yeah, like she's afraid of that.
"Like you could," she says, and Justin looks like he's about to say something else when they're interrupted by Mr Laritate.
"Alex," Mr Laritate says, but he doesn't look like he's about to lecture her. "I was hoping I'd catch you out of class."
"You were?" she asks. Ordinarily, that would be the set up for something bad, but he actually looks happy about it, which is just weird.
"Some of your classmates have been scrawling obscenities on your mural," he says. "I thought, since you were the one who painted it, maybe you could give it a little touch up."
Alex bristles. Damn seniors.
But, hey, at least this gets her out of class.
"Sure."
"And Justin," Mr Laritate says, apparently satisfied with that, "as the head of the mural paint committee, I'll expect you to oversee her work."
Great. More time alone with her brother. Just what she needs.
"Of course, Mr Laritate," Justin says, and looks meaningfully at Alex. "I'll make sure it gets done."
She would take offense, but, well, that's probably fair.
"We'll get started right away," she says. Take that, first period class. Now she doesn't have to bother looking up her schedule to find out where she's supposed to be.
"Excellent," Mr Laritate says. And then - not like she wasn't expecting it - "Oh, and if, by chance, you wanted to work a few cowboys into the mural while you're there ..."
Of course.
-
"You're not done yet?" Justin asks, and Alex turns around to glare at him. It isn't her fault that he ran off to the library to study.
Or, well, given that he said he needed to borrow a textbook so he could finish his science homework, maybe it is. Whatever.
Anyway, he's acting like he expected her to work without supervision. Like, seriously.
"I'm almost finished," she says. It's not that big a lie, anyway; there really isn't much she has to do.
Which is why she's drawing it out for as long as possible, obviously.
"It looks like you've barely even started," he says, which, okay, is also true. "Alex, Mr Laritate said -"
"I know what Mr Laritate said," she interrupts him. "I was there, remember?"
"Yeah, well, you'd better finish it soon."
Fine, if he wants it finished so badly -
"I'm annoyed because Justin's here," she says, drawing out her wand, "so let him see his greatest fear."
And, okay. She'd expected one of the pictures of the weather girl to show up on the mural, but instead it's ... well, one of the other ones.
One of the ones with dark hair and slim figures, the ones who looked uncomfortably familiar.
(So, okay, he has a type. It doesn't mean they look like her. Maybe it's just a weird coincidence.)
"Alex," Justin says, and his voice does that thing where it gets all high and squeaky. "What did you just do?"
"I fixed the mural," she says, like there's nothing wrong with this picture at all. "I thought you'd like it."
"Why would I like it?" he asks. His voice is a little lower now, but strained, like he's trying really hard to sound normal, and failing.
"It's based on -"
"I know what it's based on," he says, grabbing her arm so she's facing him. "Now change it back."
"Don't you want to look at it some more?" she asks. "I know you like -"
"Alex."
"Fine," she says, and waves her wand again. "Now to keep my brother from fainting, give us back the original painting."
Beside them, the mural shimmers, and settles back into the city skyline.
"Happy?" she asks, and Justin squeezes her arm a little before he lets go.
"Ecstatic," he says.
He's always been a terrible liar.
-
So, okay, maybe this thing has gone far enough. Alex really doesn't think she could top the mural, anyway.
She puts everything except the action figures in a separate box (it's not like she has to give everything back), takes it down the hall, and knocks on Justin's door.
"What?" he calls.
"It's Alex."
"I don't want to talk to you."
Okay, so he's really mad. She probably should have seen that coming.
"If you don't want your stuff back -"
The door is open before she can finish, and Justin tugs her into the room, closing the door behind her.
"You're really giving it back?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "No tricks?"
"No tricks," she promises. This time, she isn't even lying.
"And you haven't made more ... copies of anything?"
"It's all here," she says. She's already used up the last of her copies on Justin, and besides, it's not like she actually wants to keep any of this stuff.
She hands him the box, and he seems to relax a little.
"Maybe you should find a better hiding place," she suggests, and he glares at her, but there's no real malice in it.
"I'll keep that in mind," he says, but he shoves the box back under the bed anyway.
"I'm just saying -" she starts, and then she sees the looks in his eyes. "Okay, I'll stop helping."
"Helping?" Justin asks, and she shrugs.
"Whatever."
And -
Okay, so maybe it's just her, but suddenly there's, like, a weird vibe in the room. Justin is kind of wringing his hands, like he doesn't know what to do with them, and she feels like maybe she should say something, like giving the box back wasn't enough.
"So," she says. "About that whole thing, I'm, you know."
Justin looks at her like, no, he doesn't know.
"Justin!"
"Wait," he says. "Are you trying to apologise?"
"Fine," she says. "Are you happy? I said it."
"You didn't actually say anything," he points out, and she rolls her eyes. Whatever, he knows what she meant.
"So," he says after a minute. "Does this mean you're going to stop stealing my stuff?"
Alex snorts. She isn't that sorry.
"You know," she says, after another minute (and seriously, what is with the awkward silences?), "some of those girls kind of looked like -"
"Alex -"
"Harper," she finishes. "I mean, they all have ... faces."
"Yeah," he agrees, and she can't tell if he's disappointed or relieved. "They do."
Okay. So, she's just going to leave now.
She hasn't taken more than half a step away before Justin grabs her, and maybe he was just going to hug her, or make her promise not to tell anyone (she wasn't actually planning on it), but he pulls her back, and her face ends up a little close to his, and somehow, instead, he ends up kissing her.
And she kind of goes with it, because -
Okay, she doesn't actually know why she kisses him back. Except that it's kind of nice, if she closes her eyes, and mostly it's just an instinctive reaction.
It's less instinctive, maybe, when she reaches out to tug at his shirt, and Justin pulls back sharply.
"Alex," he says, and she can read the rest of the question in his eyes; Alex, what the hell are you doing?
Yeah, like she's the one who started this.
"What?" she asks. "Would you rather spend the night alone with your pictures?"
And then he's the one reaching for her shirt, so she's guessing probably not.
-
"Whoa," Line says, once she's done putting the finishing touches on the mural. "Confronting."
"What do you think?" she asks, and maybe it's too much, maybe -
"I like it," he says, and looks at her thoughtfully. "How old are you, again?"
"Old enough."
She always kind of wanted to be a tunnel person, anyway.
(And as long as Justin never comes down here again, she's safe.)
Fandom: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Pairing(s): Justin/Alex
Word Count: 3889
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Justin's favourite things from his room are sometimes more interesting than Alex expects.
Notes: Spoilers up to episode 2:23 - Paint By Committee. Written for this prompt at
omgjustinalex.When Alex comes down to dinner, Justin's there, looking infuriatingly smug.
Which, of course he is. The box labelled 'Justin's favourite things from his room' is still in her bedroom; on her bed, in fact.
There's just nothing in it, any more.
"You look upset," he says, and she glares at him.
"I'm not upset."
"Really," he says, like he isn't even trying to hide it, like he doesn't care if she knows. In fact, he probably wants her to; there has to be a reason he left the box just sitting out on the bed. "Hmm. Must just be your face."
"Funny," she says, and rolls her eyes. Sparring with Justin isn't nearly as much fun when he has the upper hand, which, really, she isn't surprised she's never noticed before now.
He has that same look on his face all through dinner, passing the potatoes and the salt and the gravy like he's happy to help her out, like there's nothing going on between them at all. She wants to scream, to kick him under the table or turn his hands into feet, but their parents look so happy about how nice he's being to his sister that she can't do any of that, not if she doesn't want to be grounded for a week.
So she sits in silence, instead, and waits until the meal is over, when their mom is washing the plates and Max is helping their dad come up with some disgusting-sounding dessert. Then she leans over towards Justin, and whispers, "This isn't over."
"Oh, yeah?" he asks. "What are you going to do?"
Okay, so she hasn't actually thought up that part yet. But she will.
And she isn't about to tell him that, so instead she says, "Wait and see."
"I'm really scared," Justin says, but for all his bravado, he looks a little nervous. Which he should.
Whatever plan she comes up with, it's going to be good.
-
So, okay, it's not like she's actually going to come up with a plan, or whatever. She's not Justin. But it's not like she really needs one, either; he took his stuff, so she's just going to take it back.
It's always easier than she expects to get into Justin's room when he's not there (it's not like he actually has a life or anything, but there's the sandwich shop, and studying in the lair, and whatever lame robot-related stuff he does with his surprisingly not boring science geek friends). So the next day, she sneaks in while he's running levitation drills with Max, closes the door gently behind her, and looks around.
There's no immediately obvious pile of stuff on his bed, which doesn't really surprise her; he's probably put it all away already, which is annoying, but fixable. Anyway, she was getting kind of bored with the old collection - most of the things had been in her room so long Justin had probably forgotten he even loved them in the first place - so maybe it'll be fun to start a new one. And Justin has never really been very good at hiding things, so it's not like this is going to be hard.
She's up to two dolls (action figures, whatever), his favourite sweater (ugly, but brand new), and his science textbook (really, that one's just funny) in less than half an hour, and that's probably not bad. It's not like she has to fill up her entire collection right away, after all. But she still hasn't found anything she's sure he'll miss (like, in a way where he actually wants it back, not just needs it, because the textbook totally doesn't count), so she glances under his bed, just in case.
And, wow, seriously, she needs to give him lessons or something. Hiding Important Stuff 101: Don't put it in one of the first places anyone is likely to check.
(She keeps things on her bookcase, in her hamper, in plain sight on her bedside table. There's a reason Justin doesn't have a matching collection of her things.)
Really, though, she's almost impressed. Because, a secret porn stash under the bed? Is almost like something any normal teenage guy would have.
She just never imagined Justin having one. Because he's, well. He's Justin.
(But, okay, impressed or not, she's definitely still going to tease him about this.)
-
He looks surprised when she lets him have the remote control after dinner, but not particularly suspicious.
At least, until she says, "I figured you'd want to watch the weather."
"The weather was on after the news," he says, but he's looking at her like he can't quite figure out what she's really saying.
It's okay, she'll help him along.
"The weather girl's pretty cute, though, huh?"
So, okay, Justin's crush isn't exactly a secret. Alex just hadn't realised that 'crush' meant 'badly photoshopped pictures of her face on other girls' naked bodies.'
(At least, that was one of the themes of Justin's collection. There were others, too, but Alex is trying not to think too hard about those at the moment.)
"Yeah," Justin says, but he doesn't get all smiley and stupid-looking the way he usually does when he's talking about her. And, really, she'd been planning on pushing it further, but the way he's looking right now, like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, is way better than anything she could have come up with. So maybe she'll leave it there, for a while.
She snatches the remote, anyway, while Justin's busy being distracted, and she gets all the way to the first commercial break before he pulls himself together enough to fight back for it.
(He still loses. Obviously.)
-
It takes her a day and a half to get bored with the whole 'waiting around to torment Justin' plan. Not that it isn't working - Justin keeps checking over his shoulder whenever they're alone, like he's just waiting for whatever she's got planned - but the subtle approach has never really been her thing. And when she has material this good to work with, not using it seems like a waste.
She's still trying to decide the best way to get out of going to math class when Justin approaches her, waving a piece of paper in her face. She can't see what's on it, but she doesn't need to; no way would his face be turning that shade of red if it were anything other than what she'd shoved in his locker that morning.
"What's this?" he asks, and her eyes widen, just a little.
"What's what?"
"This," he says, and turns the paper so it's facing her.
Alex can't help smiling a little; she'd had to rat out a group of seniors smoking near the bleachers in order to get Mr Laritate away from the office, so she could sneak in and make copies, but they'd turned out perfectly, so maybe it was worth it.
"Wow," she says, taking the paper. "That's -"
Justin snatches it back, like he doesn't want her to see, but he's the one who showed it to her, so she doesn't really get what his problem is. "Where did you get this?"
She shrugs as Justin balls up the piece of paper, and closes the locker door on her math textbook. She's probably not going to be needing it.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" she asks, and she almost manages to keep a straight face.
Justin just stares at her.
And then she can't help laughing, because really, his reaction is everything she'd hoped for. His face gets even redder, his eyes narrowing, and he takes a step towards her.
"Alex," he says, his voice dangerously low. Or it would be dangerous, on anyone but Justin. "You went through my stuff."
Hey, it was his own fault.
"You made me," she says, and ignores the way his jaw is clenching. "You really should have a lock put on your door or something."
"You're not supposed to go in my room!"
"Which is why you should put a lock on it," she says. Honestly, what part of this is he not getting?
"I want my stuff back," he says. "All of it."
Ew. She really doesn't want to think about what he'd do with it if she gave it to him. Instead, she nods towards the crumpled piece of paper. "There you go."
"That's not what I meant," he says. "Alex -"
"That's all I have," she says, and gives him her very best innocent look. "I swear."
Justin holds her gaze for a moment longer, like he's going to keep arguing, but then he storms off, tossing the paper in the trash as he goes.
Not that it matters. She has more copies.
She's still thinking about her next move when she sees Mr Laritate on the far side of the hallway, and she opens her locker quickly, pulling out her textbook.
"Miss Russo," Mr Laritate says, and glances down at the book in her hands. "Off to class?"
"Class," she repeats. "Sure. That's where I'm going."
She expects a lecture on how she's running late, or maybe a detention slip, but instead he just nods. "Run along, then."
Well, that went better than expected.
"And Alex," he says, and she turns around. "Nice job on the tip off about the bleachers."
So, not only is she a snitch, but now she's being praised for it.
Justin would be so proud. If he wasn't totally mad at her.
"Um," she says. "No problem."
"I hope I can expect such continued good behaviour in the future?"
She doesn't think it's likely, but she nods, anyway, and hurries off to class.
Great. Now she's following the rules all over the place.
-
Justin glares at her all the way home from school, hovers near their dad when they get to the sub station, but if that's supposed to scare her, it isn't working. There's no way he's going to tell their parents, not if it means having to admit what she took; if he wants to get back at her, he's just going to have to keep trying.
Later, he sticks around to watch the news with their parents, like it's something he actually enjoys (seriously, how is he this boring?), but he jumps up as soon as the weather comes on, casting a guilty look at Alex.
"I have to go study," he says, and it sounds like a lame excuse to her, but their parents seem to buy it. Coming from Justin, she supposes it's believable enough, if you ignore the way his voice goes all weird when he says it.
She follows him upstairs a few minutes later, and she can hear him rifling around under his bed, hears the indignant sound he makes (the one he'd probably call a growl, but is really more like a squeak) as he rips down the piece of paper she'd taped to his wall. Which seems like as good a time as any to knock, and when he opens the door, his face is flushed, and he's clearly hiding something behind his back.
(He really, really needs to get better at hiding stuff.)
"What do you want?" he asks, and he sounds mad, but for a second, he'd almost looked relieved to see her.
"Dinner will be ready soon," she says, and turns her back on Justin's best glare.
For a minute, he doesn't say anything, and then he calls after her, "I want my textbook back, too."
-
On Saturday morning, Alex talks - loudly, when Justin is in the room - about how she has a big science exam coming up soon.
Justin glares sullenly, but their parents look proud, like she actually cares about her school work.
That night, she tapes up another piece of paper on the bathroom mirror after she gets out of the shower, and when she sees Justin afterwards, he looks mortified, like anyone could have seen it.
Like he doesn't always take his bath at exactly the same time every night.
(That's his problem, see; she knows him too well.)
-
On Sunday, she wakes up to find Justin staring at her.
"Freak show," she mumbles, still half asleep, and struggles to sit up. "What are you doing in my room?"
"I want my stuff back," he says, and when she looks around, her room looks like a tornado just blew through it, more like Max's room than hers.
"Get out," she says, and climbs out of bed, pushing Justin towards the door. He barely moves, and she wonders when he became stronger than her.
"Alex," he says. "I'm serious. I want it back."
"What do you want back?" she asks. Maybe if he says it out loud, she'll even consider it.
"I want my textbook," he says. "And my action figures."
"Is that all?" she asks. She's still got her hands on his arms, standing closer to him than she meant to, but it seems to be bothering him, so she doesn't move away.
"I want everything back," he says, not quite meeting her eyes.
Well, it's not like she didn't give him a chance.
This time, when she pushes him out of the room, he goes, and she shuts the door behind him.
"And my sweater," he yells, and Alex crawls back into bed.
-
She wears the sweater down to breakfast, over her pyjamas, and Justin stares at her, rigid, as if someone just threw cold water over him.
"Isn't that Justin's?" their dad asks, around a mouthful of cereal, and their mom looks at him, annoyed, and then at Alex.
Alex shrugs. "I was cold."
"She took it without asking," Justin says, always eager to get her into trouble, and Alex shoots him a dirty look.
"Alex," their dad says, and then after a minute, "you should give that back."
She rolls her eyes, but slides the sweater over her head, and throws it at Justin. He catches it, but his eyes never leave her, his gaze fixed somewhere near the strap of her tank top.
Whatever. He can have his sweater back; this thing still isn't over.
-
Alex still knows Justin's locker combination (seriously, he should stop making up songs if he doesn't want other people to remember it, too), so she actually goes to school early on Monday, and uses the rest of the copies she made to paper the inside of his locker door. And then she misses the beginning of her first period class, anyway, because she has to stick around to wait for his reaction.
It doesn't disappoint.
Justin looks around guiltily as he tears the pictures down, and then straight at Alex, like he knew she'd be watching.
"Alex," he says, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to the doorway of an empty classroom.
"What?" she asks. It's not like she's trying to pretend she's innocent - it's way too late for that - but it's just so much fun watching him struggle to find words.
He glances at her arm, as if he's just realised he's still holding her, and lets go hurriedly. But he leans closer, anyway, lowering his voice.
"Stop," he says. "Just ... stop it, okay?"
Stop what? she wants to ask, but she doesn't. Instead, she asks, "Why should I?"
He flounders for a second, as if he's searching for an answer, and then, "Because I'm asking you to."
"Not good enough," she says, and Justin's expression, momentarily vulnerable, shuts down again.
"Then how about because I'm going to get even with you?" he asks, and she rolls her eyes. Yeah, like she's afraid of that.
"Like you could," she says, and Justin looks like he's about to say something else when they're interrupted by Mr Laritate.
"Alex," Mr Laritate says, but he doesn't look like he's about to lecture her. "I was hoping I'd catch you out of class."
"You were?" she asks. Ordinarily, that would be the set up for something bad, but he actually looks happy about it, which is just weird.
"Some of your classmates have been scrawling obscenities on your mural," he says. "I thought, since you were the one who painted it, maybe you could give it a little touch up."
Alex bristles. Damn seniors.
But, hey, at least this gets her out of class.
"Sure."
"And Justin," Mr Laritate says, apparently satisfied with that, "as the head of the mural paint committee, I'll expect you to oversee her work."
Great. More time alone with her brother. Just what she needs.
"Of course, Mr Laritate," Justin says, and looks meaningfully at Alex. "I'll make sure it gets done."
She would take offense, but, well, that's probably fair.
"We'll get started right away," she says. Take that, first period class. Now she doesn't have to bother looking up her schedule to find out where she's supposed to be.
"Excellent," Mr Laritate says. And then - not like she wasn't expecting it - "Oh, and if, by chance, you wanted to work a few cowboys into the mural while you're there ..."
Of course.
-
"You're not done yet?" Justin asks, and Alex turns around to glare at him. It isn't her fault that he ran off to the library to study.
Or, well, given that he said he needed to borrow a textbook so he could finish his science homework, maybe it is. Whatever.
Anyway, he's acting like he expected her to work without supervision. Like, seriously.
"I'm almost finished," she says. It's not that big a lie, anyway; there really isn't much she has to do.
Which is why she's drawing it out for as long as possible, obviously.
"It looks like you've barely even started," he says, which, okay, is also true. "Alex, Mr Laritate said -"
"I know what Mr Laritate said," she interrupts him. "I was there, remember?"
"Yeah, well, you'd better finish it soon."
Fine, if he wants it finished so badly -
"I'm annoyed because Justin's here," she says, drawing out her wand, "so let him see his greatest fear."
And, okay. She'd expected one of the pictures of the weather girl to show up on the mural, but instead it's ... well, one of the other ones.
One of the ones with dark hair and slim figures, the ones who looked uncomfortably familiar.
(So, okay, he has a type. It doesn't mean they look like her. Maybe it's just a weird coincidence.)
"Alex," Justin says, and his voice does that thing where it gets all high and squeaky. "What did you just do?"
"I fixed the mural," she says, like there's nothing wrong with this picture at all. "I thought you'd like it."
"Why would I like it?" he asks. His voice is a little lower now, but strained, like he's trying really hard to sound normal, and failing.
"It's based on -"
"I know what it's based on," he says, grabbing her arm so she's facing him. "Now change it back."
"Don't you want to look at it some more?" she asks. "I know you like -"
"Alex."
"Fine," she says, and waves her wand again. "Now to keep my brother from fainting, give us back the original painting."
Beside them, the mural shimmers, and settles back into the city skyline.
"Happy?" she asks, and Justin squeezes her arm a little before he lets go.
"Ecstatic," he says.
He's always been a terrible liar.
-
So, okay, maybe this thing has gone far enough. Alex really doesn't think she could top the mural, anyway.
She puts everything except the action figures in a separate box (it's not like she has to give everything back), takes it down the hall, and knocks on Justin's door.
"What?" he calls.
"It's Alex."
"I don't want to talk to you."
Okay, so he's really mad. She probably should have seen that coming.
"If you don't want your stuff back -"
The door is open before she can finish, and Justin tugs her into the room, closing the door behind her.
"You're really giving it back?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "No tricks?"
"No tricks," she promises. This time, she isn't even lying.
"And you haven't made more ... copies of anything?"
"It's all here," she says. She's already used up the last of her copies on Justin, and besides, it's not like she actually wants to keep any of this stuff.
She hands him the box, and he seems to relax a little.
"Maybe you should find a better hiding place," she suggests, and he glares at her, but there's no real malice in it.
"I'll keep that in mind," he says, but he shoves the box back under the bed anyway.
"I'm just saying -" she starts, and then she sees the looks in his eyes. "Okay, I'll stop helping."
"Helping?" Justin asks, and she shrugs.
"Whatever."
And -
Okay, so maybe it's just her, but suddenly there's, like, a weird vibe in the room. Justin is kind of wringing his hands, like he doesn't know what to do with them, and she feels like maybe she should say something, like giving the box back wasn't enough.
"So," she says. "About that whole thing, I'm, you know."
Justin looks at her like, no, he doesn't know.
"Justin!"
"Wait," he says. "Are you trying to apologise?"
"Fine," she says. "Are you happy? I said it."
"You didn't actually say anything," he points out, and she rolls her eyes. Whatever, he knows what she meant.
"So," he says after a minute. "Does this mean you're going to stop stealing my stuff?"
Alex snorts. She isn't that sorry.
"You know," she says, after another minute (and seriously, what is with the awkward silences?), "some of those girls kind of looked like -"
"Alex -"
"Harper," she finishes. "I mean, they all have ... faces."
"Yeah," he agrees, and she can't tell if he's disappointed or relieved. "They do."
Okay. So, she's just going to leave now.
She hasn't taken more than half a step away before Justin grabs her, and maybe he was just going to hug her, or make her promise not to tell anyone (she wasn't actually planning on it), but he pulls her back, and her face ends up a little close to his, and somehow, instead, he ends up kissing her.
And she kind of goes with it, because -
Okay, she doesn't actually know why she kisses him back. Except that it's kind of nice, if she closes her eyes, and mostly it's just an instinctive reaction.
It's less instinctive, maybe, when she reaches out to tug at his shirt, and Justin pulls back sharply.
"Alex," he says, and she can read the rest of the question in his eyes; Alex, what the hell are you doing?
Yeah, like she's the one who started this.
"What?" she asks. "Would you rather spend the night alone with your pictures?"
And then he's the one reaching for her shirt, so she's guessing probably not.
-
"Whoa," Line says, once she's done putting the finishing touches on the mural. "Confronting."
"What do you think?" she asks, and maybe it's too much, maybe -
"I like it," he says, and looks at her thoughtfully. "How old are you, again?"
"Old enough."
She always kind of wanted to be a tunnel person, anyway.
(And as long as Justin never comes down here again, she's safe.)