"Out of here, that's for sure," Justin says with a grim smile as he takes another bite into his sandwich(hers, actually, they swapped). He looks out the window of the sub shop and holds down a sigh.

She can tell. Alex usually can- they've been best friends for about two years. "Really? Why would you want to leave the city that never sleeps?" She's honestly curious, and a little surprised, at his sudden admission of moving away for college.

There's chewing as Justin takes another bite. He's stalling, as per usual these days. "I need at least eight hours of sleep every night, more on weekends," Justin finally answers. "I don't care about this scene here."

"Where are you going then? Out to the middle of nowhere in like... Georgia?"

His lack of an answer makes Alex choke on her smoothie. "Uh, Justin? This is where you prove me wrong." When he still doesn't say anything or meet her eyes Alex tries to not sound desperate when she adds, "please?"

Justin shakes his head. "It's not that simple."

"I think it is!" She hates the whining that gets in her voice as she pleads with him.

"I'm not going anywhere until next year, Alex!" Justin says, frowning and biting into his sandwich again. "It'll be fine."

Alex doesn't really like the idea of their friendship being counted down in days. So no, Justin, it isn't fine. She can't control the fake grin on her face or the way she casually leaves a few minutes later.

When she's a freshman and he is a sophomore, Alex tries to ditch her old middle school personality and try to be aware, alive, and make her name known. It turns out she's more of the bitch type and she spends almost the entire year killing her friendship with Justin and making enemies.

Now she thinks Justin is a great friend and neighbor but they never see eye to eye on anything. He always wants to help or do the right thing and it kills her to see it ruin her plans again and again.

One day, however, she pisses off a certain Brittany Petivisht. Her name sounds annoying just being said.

They day goes something like whispers, gossip, then avoidance by all her friends.

Alex almost asks someone what's going on but then she sees Justin sitting by himself and sits down by him.

"Hey," she says, grabbing his uneaten apple. "I was just wondering how you were."

Justin stares a little bit harder. "Sure I'm not killing your wonderful rep?"

"No," Alex says, "You aren't. Not today. Because something else is and I'm not sure what it is."

"You don't know." Justin says it more like a fact than a question so she doesn't dignify this sad little obvious statement with anything more than nothing. "That is just sad, man."

She takes another bite of the apple and speaks with her mouth full. "What is happening?"

"You're going to fight Brittany in the parking lot after school. Today. All or nothing."

"Are you serious?" Alex asks, dropping the apple. She's on the verge of not breathing from all this annoyance and then this, this, the worst thing ever because that girl is the 'fat bitch who rips off

skinny girl's chests', as Harper told her this morning with a pity pat on the back.

Justin nods. "I thought she was nice, too. Oh well. Have fun dying."

"Justin!"

"What?" he asks, exasperated. She doesn't like doing this but oh well.

"I need your help."

He raises an eyebrow. "For?" It figures he won't make it easy. She didn't want to beg for it but...

"To stop me from dying in a fight. Or having to think up something myself."

Justin smiles. "See? Your new attitude caught up with you. Finally. Now if only you hadn't told her she was 'so ugly half of your beauty would still win over her in a contest' and all those other insults, huh Alex?"

When this happens she feels like crying. He won't help her. She's going to end up in the hospital with ugly scars on her body that will ruin her model chances, and Alex is going to be the laughing stock of the school. Not to mention online videos.

"I'm sorry you think that way," Alex says in a stiff voice as she gets up and leaves his table to go cry in the usually empty bathroom.

Later that day she gets word from Harper that something amazing has happened:

Brittany decided that she wanted to go on a date more than beat her up. And that sorry, she understood that her brother just ran away from home and that maybe Alex just needed to see a teacher before being a bully.

Alex doesn't know why this is happening. She rides the subway to her favorite pizza joint, intent on finding out if her coupon still works when she sees it.

There's Brittany sitting on one side of the booth, laughing and texting someone on her phone. She looks happy and not at all the annoying girl Alex made fun of in school. And sitting across from her is one of the best guys she knows.

He pushes up his glasses and shakes his head, probably correcting her, and then makes a wild gesture while talking that makes Brittany crack up.

Alex doesn't want them to see her so she leaves and sits on a bench two blocks over. Justin has to be one of the most amazing people she knows. Not that she'll ever tell him, but really, what kind of friend does this for an annoying girl like her?

Only a superfriend.

"M-my parents are fighting," Justin says, voice shaking. He isn't crying which makes Alex have hope for the situation going on one wall over but she isn't that into it.

She makes a shushing noise and rubs his back. "It'll be fine," Alex says. She's being a lot better than she figured not telling him her own parents thought his were divorcing. "They just... talk like that. My parents communicate when they fight."

Justin sniffs and rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Why? Why can't they just get along like your parents?"

"My parents fight, too," Alex says. She isn't sure what information is helping and what isn't because she hears some swear words she'd even never say and swallows the own fear in her throat for him.

They sit there under the sheet tent, a flashlight on in the middle, and Alex wraps an arm around his shoulders. "Do you want some coffee? Some milk or hot chocolate?"

He takes awhile to answer because there is a pause in the argument and a door slams. Justin looks in so much pain that Alex shoves herself aside for once and talks.

"Justin, look at me." He slowly raises his head and blinks, unwavering and shaking with no crying. "Listen to me. You can't blame yourself. And you are, okay, I know it Justin. But you can't think that. When two people argue they hurt each other and most of what they say doesn't really mean anything more than just 'I'm hurt' or 'I'm upset'. It feeds off anger and you may be brought up but it isn't you."

The slow creeping of Justin's tears are making her begin to panic so Alex shakes her head. "Um, you need some hot chocolate. I'll make you up something sugar filled and you'll love it."

"You'll drink it all for me," is Justin's slow response and she squeezes his hand before slipping out of the tent.

As strange as it sounds outside the tent it is so different. Less peaceful. Probably because Alex cast a muting spell on the tent so Justin couldn't hear everything that was going on.

Screams of all kinds. Alex walks, no, runs into the living room and sees her parents sending Max out the door to a friend's house. She waves a mute bye and they all stand around awkwardly staring at each other once he's gone.

"How...?" Jerry asks, scratching the back of his neck. Her dad has never been good with questions involving feelings.

"He's... working on it. I said I would make him some hot chocolate," Alex answers as she starts getting out the cup, packet, and milk. She sets it in the microwave and watches the time tick by with a gentle hum.

Her mother walks over and gives her a one armed hug. "You're a great friend, honey."

She wants to explain how she isn't. How she treated him like shit up until last week, and now she still feels like she could have done something better to make Justin not be so upset. Realistically it isn't like she could have done anything, but she can't change her thoughts.

The microwave goes off and she hurries to dump the packet in. Alex doesn't bother cleaning up the access and stirs it with her finger, licking it off and running back into her bedroom. She slides in and almost trips over the start of the tent but makes it inside.

"Justin?"

"Is it over?" Justin asks. He has his ears covered and judging by his expression he has the entire time.

Alex doesn't say anything and just passes him the mug of hot chocolate. They sit there, quietly listening, and when she pulls him in close, both her arms around his shoulders but far enough away that she can talk to him, she has this horrible thought.

Even crying with his glasses slipping off his nose, even quiet and sad, he still is someone she would like to be with. And if these circumstances were different she would tell him.

But more doors slam and she just hugs him tighter. That's what friends should do.

There's sometimes when she wants to go back in time. Her dad taught her the spell, for a few seconds, but now she's thought too long and it's been three hours too long.

Alex doesn't know why she did it.

Really, there was no point in telling him she was a wizard. It was just that he kept asking why she was acting weird, why she was always chanting strange things, or why she always did what she said someone else should do(like her 'make this happen now by magic or karma!').

But he didn't have to go and just run off like that!

Alex knows he's at the library. She's there, too, spying on him. Making sure he doesn't tell anyone else. So far he's just grabbed about seventeen different books from the nonfiction section and started reading all of them.

They're all about wizards, magic, and the whole folk tales. She knows because she's actually read those books before when she had to do an essay on any subject in English. Those books should tell him everything that she wants to because...

...she just put a spell on them to make them say what she wants them too.

What? Why should she use magic to solve her problems like this?

Because if Justin doesn't stick with her she has nobody.

He comes around. Justin shows up at her door with a box of chocolate and strawberries, holding them out without a word. She takes them and then he walks in and sits down on the couch. Alex is just glad her parents are taking Max out to go look at a pet store. That gives them a good hour or two in private.

"So, I thought about what you said," Justin starts off, eating a strawberry. He always grabs things to eat when he's nervous, and she knows this because he once explained the need to stall for time when talking. Apparently he's not so good at words.

"About me being a wizard?" Alex suggests. She just wants him to say it's all okay and get back to making fun of her low grade in history now.

He nods. There is a small amount of time where he just eats until he lets out a sigh. "I'm not sure what to say because it isn't fair for me to judge you. I'm just wondering if this is another practical joke you're pulling on me?"

Alex leans forward. "I wouldn't joke about this, Justin."

"Okay," he says. "Okay. Can... I see this magic?"

She hesitates for a moment and that's long enough because he starts to say she doesn't have to, it's fine if she doesn't and Alex wants to prove to him she can do something. So she stands up and pulls out her wand.

The words are out of her mouth before she can recognize them, and then she's waving her wand at a cushion and watching it turn into a living bunny. The rabbit sniffs her arm and then burrows into her arms.

"Okay," Justin says. He stares at her, rubs his face with his hands, and shakes his head. "I can't understand it yet and I know it's a secret because I read about that so I'll just say everything makes so much more sense."

"Really?" Alex asks. She wants to believe him but it's hard when he's so... solemn.

He takes the bunny from her and pets it. "Yeah. I kept thinking something was up, you and your parents were so weird about everything whenever I came over here. Always covering up, saying this or that and I knew it wasn't true."

Alex laughs. She needs to remember to tell her parents that Justin could see through their cheesy act and lies. "This... means a lot to me if you're okay with it."

"Why wouldn't I be okay with it? We're still friends, nothing will change it." Justin smiles and she grins. She waves her wand and the bunny is a cushion once again. He sets it down and Alex thinks, this is the moment, that moment, because they're walking closer together.

She sees it in his eyes. Alex really wants him to just kiss her because she told him her secret and he's okay with it-but Justin just wraps his arms around her in a hug.

Oddly it's more comforting than the kiss she wanted.

Over time she has come to accept that Justin just can't drink her coffee.

"What's wrong with it this time?" Alex asks, crossing her arms over her chest. The sugary drink called a frappe with whipped cream has to be the best thing invented since the actual, you know, whipped cream.

He shakes his head, a sour expression on his face, and hands it over. "Gross. Tastes like someone dropped sugar cubes in chocolate sauce."

"That's why it tastes so good," she says back. She takes a sip and lets out a sigh of contentment.

Justin rolls his eyes and looks over at the Starbucks menu. "It says they have normal coffee, too. How come you never get that?"

Alex leans back into the lounge chairs they are sitting in and shrugs. "Never really thought about you liking that nasty coffee, honestly." She snatches off his glasses and puts them on to read the fashion section of the newspaper.

"You know I can't see without those."

"Wear contacts?" She helpfully suggests.

Justin squints at her. "Yeah, I just magically got contacts in my eyes that I've never worn before."

"Right." Alex pulls off the glasses and wipes off the lenses, handing them back. She never really knows why she does that, besides how cute Justin looks without them, but somehow reading with glasses makes her feel smarter.

When Justin gets up to go order some coffee she pulls out her sketchbook and begins to draw out an idea for a new outfit. It's a new dress, something to wear whenever her and Justin do their day trips.

"Is this seat taken?"

Alex looks up and stops breathing for a second. "Umm..." she looks over and Justin is still in line, not even ordered yet. Surely he'll understand when this hot, British guy is smiling over at her?

"You can sit down."

"Thanks," the hot guy says, relaxing into the seat. He puts his feet up on the coffee table and sips at his tazo tea. "Is that your sketchbook?"

Alex feels her face heat up from blushing. "Yeah. Sometimes I draw or plan out outfits, but it isn't that often." She's lying, of course, but she wants to get this guy's name, number, and possible Friday night plans.

"That's awesome. I like to sketch sometimes, too, usually dog paintings." The guy laughs at himself and she can't tell if he is seriously into those ugly things or what. "My name's Mason. I'm an exchange student from England."

"Wow! I'm an exchange student from my apartment." They share a laugh at her lame attempt at joking.

The conversation picks up and she just remembers about Justin when she remembers she still has his newspaper. Alex looks around for him but she doesn't see him, and she feels a little bad.

Until Mason asks about her Friday plans. Score!

Well, she can't say she didn't see this coming.

Mason is a nice guy.

They paint together outside at the park one day, and she finishes her painting early. It's a mixed media collage that shows someone walking with their lover on the bridge, leaning over the edge, holding hands, with a dog dejectedly holding a ball in his mouth beside them.

Alex tries not to think of what she was meaning and instead shoots Justin a text message asking him what's up. They haven't talked in almost three days(its two days and twenty hours) and she really does miss him.

Her phone doesn't beep so she sends the same message again. Maybe it will look like her phone resent it on its own if he asks.

They eat lunch on the bridge. There is a sandwich she made for herself, and Mason packed his special food. Alex doesn't like to know what it is while she eats her food.

"So do you Americans always paint sad things?" Mason asks, pausing from his messy meal.

Alex passes him a few napkins. "My painting is sad? I used happy colors and paper."

He laughs into the drink of water and shakes his head. "Oh, Alex, that is not happy. The poor little dog is all alone because his best friend human left him all alone to play catch."

"The dog can get over it? Find someone for itself too?" She suggests.

"Alex," Mason draws out her name and sighs some more, "you can't expect a dog to play catch without its best friend."

Alex doesn't know where this is going but she's getting defensive fast. "It doesn't need its best friend to do everything with."

Mason stops eating and stares. Flat out stares, not bothering with hiding his annoyance.

"What?"

"You can't play catch by yourself, because without a best friend who do you return the ball to?" Mason gets fired up into this and she's reminded of making her his muse that one time, but it's gone when he stands up. "Best friends are the people who bring you up, make you feel good, help you out- if you don't have one of those you fall. Can't catch yourself."

Alex thinks over this for a second before trying to know what this refers to. She can't make any connection to how worked up he is and she ends up opting out with a, "It's just a dog and a ball, Mason. Not their life."

Their picnic finishes in the tense silence before her phone beeps.

'stopped ur house, u on date w/mason have fun'

With only a little bit of tingling in her down mood Alex sends back a 'yeah i def am thx'. She reads over it a few times first to make sure it sounds okay.

Why does she care?

A horrible day always starts when her mother wakes her up.

"Honey, someone is here to see you!" Her mother sounds so happy that she sings it with an awkward smile before leaving the room.

Alex rolls over and falls off her bed. She lays in the heap of covers a few lazy minutes before Max comes by and throws open her door.

"I could have been changing," she mumbles up at him, struggling to get up.

Max laughs at her and does a lame little victory dance. "No, mom told me you'd fall back asleep. You're too lazy to get up."

Getting up was too hard to she climbs on her bed first. "Who's out there?"

"Some girl, like Justin's girlfriend?"

Alex freezes and stares. She almost stops breathing from the shock and feels sick to her stomach, for no good reason what-so-ever, and then she falls back onto the bed. "Why does she want to talk to me?"

"Well... between you and me, I don't know if she is really his girlfriend."

She lunges up to ask him what the hell he means but Max is gone whistling down the hallway and her door is shut. Normally it wouldn't stop her from yelling but she is really confused so she does what she knows best and dresses up to look better than Justin's new girlfriend who isn't a girlfriend. Ignoring all the acronym rules Alex decides to refer to her as the G.A.G. It's funnier.

With her adorable skirt, tights, shirt, and awesome belt Alex pulls her hair up when she walks out into their living room.

A pretty blonde girl is sitting on their couch. Not as pretty as Alex is, but still nice. She smiles brightly and introduces herself as Juliet, who wants to date Justin.

"And why are you asking me this?" She says in a bored tone that hides all her anger, resentment, and confusion. There might be some hurt in there but she's an amazing lier and it doesn't show.

Juliet explains how she talked to Justin and he said that, unlike lame friends who never mention anything, he goes by their rules so he needs her to go through Alex to see if they get along. He wants to do double dates after all! Isn't he just the cutest?

Alex doesn't want to tell Juliet that she sort of like Justin, and won't ever like her in a million years since she is a loser, but instead Alex acts like freaking Wonder Woman and tells that G.A.G. she's cool with her and Justing being all gross and cute.

Mason almost doesn't believe her.

"You're... breaking up with me?" He asks, voice showing the obvious confusion he's been saying for the past while clearly. "But why?"

Why? Alex wants to laugh when he feels the need to ask why. She wants to yell out that he cheated on her with Justin's girlfriend, that he was so clingy she almost lost Justin, that he was so crazy she was afraid, and she couldn't stand him now that she knew he was a werewolf.

She just crosses her arms and says, "I can't be in a committed relationship right now. I think I like someone else."

Of course he questions it some more, and she thinks he shouldn't be so surprised since she's been ignoring him as much as he was clinging to her. But there is nothing else to worry about. Alex feels so much better when she walks away. No yelling involved.

Except Juliet comes running in the coffee shop when she leaves, frazzled, and shouting out Mason's name. Alex feels nothing more than a brief moment of resentment towards Juliet's awesome dress.

She steps outside into the rain and feels someone pull her aside. Alex laughs despite it all as she recognizes Justin's bright orange umbrella over their heads. He's walking along beside her and she finds it comforting.

"Juliet went in there," she points out. They were supposed to be dating and all.

Justin laughs and links their arms so they walk side by side, pressed together to avoid the rain. "I know. She was so worked up over Mason that I told her to just go ask for him back."

"I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be," Justin says. She looks up, surprised, but there isn't any resentment there. "She was hiding secrets from me left and right. There really was no grounds to our relationship."

Alex clicks her tongue and matches his steps.

"Plus, she totally talked about Mason all the time. Bet I know as much about him as you do."

"Huh," Alex comments. She doesn't know what to feel because she wasted six months, and, and then some on him. She isn't sure if it is good or if it is bad. And to be honest she really wants to paint a picture.

Justin pulls her into a store. Not just any store- an art store.

"Do you read my mind?"

"No, reading your mind would be saying yes I do have twenty bucks for you to spend," he says back, shoving her into the main area and starts folding up the umbrella.

Alex breathes in deeply and feels... something. "Thanks, Justin."

Justin grins over at her. "Hey, you helped me. I help you. What are friends for?"

"So you drink this coffee now?" Alex asks. She takes a sip of his foul black, dark coffee that makes her mouth dry up. "Sick."

Justin shoves her over and sits on the couch with her. "Better than your foo-foo stuff. That makes my stomach hurt."

"Well, thanks for bringing it. I was feeling bored." She yawns and slouches deeper into the couch. Her head lays on his shoulder but neither of them mention it or move.

The opening lines of Lord of The Rings start sounding through the speakers on the fine Friday morning and Alex thinks that man, this will be a long day. But then she sees how Justing looks over at her and starts explaining why this is so awesome, it's like the best-

She kisses him and cuts him off, and then he takes a moment to stare before he kisses her next.

Contrary to popular belief Alex does not make out with him all day. She falls asleep through the first one until she starts to get upset for Merry and Pippin, then she is wide awake the third movie shouting obscenities when her characters get hurt.

And yeah, later they make out under a blanket fort that she rebuilds just for them. Alex likes it better in that place.