Alex rolled her eyes as she closed her locker. Coming up to her was her best friend who loved to dress in the weirdest ways. Harper.
"Hey Alex!" Harper grinned wide, "Want to come to my house to make pasta jewelry?"
"I dunno," Alex shrugged, "I have to work extra after school at the substation."
"What did you do this time?" Harper pressed.
"Wha-" Alex looked at her friend, stunned, "How can you accuse me of doing something?"
"Alex, I know your parents too well," Harper shook her way as the two made their way towards lunch, "Your parents make you work extra because you try to get out of chores."
Alex started to laugh. Her best friend knew her like a book, "High five Harper. You know me too well."
"Thought so," Harper clapped her palm against Alex's, "So? What did you do this time?"
"I pretended that the cash register was broken and made Justin do all the work," Alex chuckled, "But they found out."
"Way to go, Alex," Harper sighed and took out her lunch, "Now you get extra work. Where you actually have to walk."
"It is going to be brutal," our lazy bum protagonist grumbled. Then her chocolate brown eyes narrowed into slits when she spotted her school enemy, Gigi, and her two minions cut to the front of the lunch line, and no one had protested them doing so.
"What a stuck up," Alex grumbled, "I should have locked her up in my graphic novel for good."
"You don't have to say that twice," Harper nodded, "And how did her two minions grow back their hair so fast?"
"Wigs, I think," Alex sipped her apple juice.
"They are so dumb," Harper laughed. Alex joined in, chuckling.
"They would go as far as shaving their heads and wearing high heels on their hands and they wouldn't wear yarn wigs," Harper shook her head, "I offered them free lessons."
"Maybe you could teach me," Alex said suddenly, "I could use a nice wig as an emergency present for mom or dad."
"Always taking the shortcut," Harper sighed at her best friend, "That makes Alex an Alex."
"I," Alex pointed a finger at Harper, "Will take that as a compliment."
Harper giggled and they both started to eat their lunch.
-x-
Alex went to science with her best friend. Harper and Alex split. Harper sitting in the front row and Alex sitting in the back row, with an empty seat next to her.
"Ah," the teacher said, "Before we start, we have three new students coming to our school. Come in."
Then three boys came in, and Alex recognized them as Connect 3, the band that Gigi had glittered hearts next to in posters in her locker.
"It's Connect 3!" Gigi squealed like a fangirl she was and her two minions were praising her on how she found her future husband. Alex softly snorted at the incredulous expressions of the band.
Truth to be told, Alex HATED the band with a passion. Their songs all sounded the same, all heartthrobby and passionate, to the point it made the young wizard sick. She hated it that they used their looks to make girls fall in love with them, when she believed deep love had depth.
Just wait until art, Alex thought, and then you can eliminate the fangirls with flying paintbrush arrows.
"Be quiet, Gigi," the teacher scolded, and then turned around to the three band members, "Would you like to introduce yourselves?"
They nodded and said their name briefly, one by one, although every single girl in the class except Alex, already knew their names by heart.
Shane and Jason already got seated down but Nate seemed to be having a hard time finding a seat. Noticing this, the teacher asked, "Why don't you sit next to Alexandra Russo?"
Alex winced at the pronunciation of her full first name, but nevertheless, she shot a glare and raised her hand. When he saw her, Nate smirked. Alex was in no way a fan girl.
"So, come here often?" Nate asked as he slid into the empty seat next to Alex.
"Of course you moron," Alex glared at Nate, "Because this place is called school."
Nate was dumbfounded. Sure she was not a fan, but he thought he would be able to make her blush in two seconds flat. Shane and Jason turned around in their seats and shot him a sarcastic thumbs up while snickering at Nate.
-x-
Alex grumbled. In art, she was sitting next to Nate. AGAIN.
"I'll show you homework!" TJ started yelling.
"TJ just swallow your pride and tell the teacher you didn't do her homework," Alex groaned, turning her painting in.
"I'll show you pride!" TJ shot back.
"Does he always do this?" Nate whispered.
"You don't know the half of it," Alex whisper it.
"I'll show you half of it!" TJ yelled before the art teacher groaned and put a detention slip, signed, in front of him, effectively shutting him up.
"And that is why you are my favorite art teacher ever!" Alex laughed as she high-fived the teacher.
-x-
Alex hummed as she listened to "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift on her iPod. She liked that song the most out of all the songs by the country singer.
Soon she found herself singing and breaking a few small moves to the song. What she didn't know was Nate was watching her in awe of her beautiful voice and dancing.
"She really has talent, no kidding," Shane agreed. They then spot one of Alex's friends, Harper.
"Excuse me?" Nate asked. Harper politely stopped and smiled at the three of them, waiting for them to ask a question.
"Are you, by chance, Alex's friend?" Nate asked.
"Yep," Harper said with pride in her voice.
"Do you know what she wants to be?" Nate asked.
"An artist… I think. Sorry, she changes her mind a lot," Harper shrugged.
"Has she ever considered being a singer?" Nate asked.
"Or a dancer?" Shane added.
"No," Harper said, "In fact, I told her she would have a lot of potential doing it but she flat out said no."
"Why not? She obviously has what it takes!" Nate exclaimed.
"I don't know why she said no. She is not like most girls, okay? She might think it is too girly, thinking that if she becomes a singer or a dancer, then she might have to give up her choice of clothing," Harper sighed.
"What's wrong with her clothes?" Jason asked.
"Have you looked at them? Band tees, skinny jeans, converse and hoodies. She thinks being a star might mean wearing short dresses and high heels for the rest of her life," Harper said.
"That's not true," Shane said, "Look at us."
"Really? We're guys, not girls," Nate glared.
"Look, I wish I can answer your questions but Alex is about to leave and if I do not catch up, she will ditch me," Harper laughed nervously and then ran off.
"Wait!" Nate said, but the ginger haired female was gone.
"Look dude, we can find her tomorrow. Her name is Alex Russo, right?" Shane poked Nate on the shoulder.
"Yeah, but he is probably moping about the fact he didn't get her number, or the place where she stays," Jason smirked, earning a glare from Nate.
"Way to ask a girl," Shane snorted before draping an arm around Nate's shoulder, saying, "Being your brothers, we have no choice but to help you and find this 'Alex Russo'."
"Hey come on; let's grab a bite to eat. That Waverly Sub Station sounds nice," Jason broke the sentimental feeling.
-x-
Alex sighed irritably as she put on her apron which she hadn't touched in ages, on. This is what she gets for pretending stuff doesn't work when in reality, they do.
"I'd rather make pasta jewelry at Harper's than do an extra shift," Alex grumbled at all the guys giving her a suggestive stare. She whipped out her pad and pen and heard a ding from the door opening and closing.
Chairs were pushed back and people gasped dramatically. Quickly, Alex thought the intruder was a thief so she got two butter knives and held them up, yelling, "RELEASE YOUR WEAPONS!"
"Nice choice of weapons," Shane snickered. Nate grinned.
Alex's jaw dropped when in reality the cause of commotion was Connect 3. People were looking at her as if she grew a second head, and some looked at her with threat in their eyes.
"I… got butter knives and I am not hesitant to use them," Alex tried to appeal to her scary side by narrowing her chocolate brown eyes but ended up looking cuter.
"Jason, you may release your laughs now," Nate sighed.
Jason fell to the ground laughing and Alex looked incredulous at the madman laughing on the floor and up to the other two brothers.
"He okay?" Alex asked slowly.
"I have no answer to that," Nate sighed.
"Since it is just you three, thank you for giving me a heart attack, would you sit down and I can take your orders?" Alex asked.
"You work here?" Nate asked, interested.
"Shh…" Alex held a finger to her lips, "It is not something we poor people take pride in."
Nate chuckled as Shane couldn't stop snickering and Jason was trying to control his laughs from the outburst.
-x-
Alex took off her apron. She was done with her overtime shift, and she was fixing to turn off the lights when a voice stopped her.
"Hey Alex?"
Alex turned around, astonished, "Nate what are you doing here still? The shop is about to close!"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go out on a date?" Nate asked.
"That's unusual," Alex asked.
"You have never been asked out?" Nate asked.
"Oh no, I had. I had two boyfriends before. But when they asked me out they sounded unusually arrogant. I never thought someone would sweat it out asking me," Alex smiled.
Nate probably wanted to die on the spot when he asked her out. He was this close to popping a red rose out of nowhere and getting down on one knee and ask her out on a date. He would have sounded so cheesy and Alex being such a unique girl would find it repulsive.
"You're amazing when you act more like yourself," Alex punched his shoulder lightly, "Relax."
-x-
Weeks passed by. Nate never had the guts to really ask her out but asking her on dates was relieving all the worry he had about the real moment.
Gigi was furious. The dumb blonde had plotted to corner Nate and ask him out but Alex beat her to it.
"Look at her hair," Harper whispered, "What did you tell her? That she smells like garbage?"
"No, then I would be being too nice," Alex rolled her eyes.
"Then why is she sounding like a screaming Barbie doll nowadays?" Harper folded her arms.
"I don't know! I for once, resisted telling her that her clothes look awful as always," Alex bit back, sighing loudly.
"You did something and our stuck up queen is not happy," Harper sighed.
"There is the enthusiasm I need to get through the day," Alex fake smiled and followed her friend through the doors of the classroom.
-x-
Alex had forgotten something in her locker and before she could open her locker door, Gigi sprung out of nowhere and loomed around Alex's locker, like a mother protecting her cub.
"So Russo, what are you doing here?" Gigi smirked.
Alex narrowed her eyes in the 'what the heck' look and crossed her arms saying, "I forgot bringing a pen to science, harebrain."
"How dare you call me that!" Gigi sprung away from the locker.
"Nah, everyone knows there is nothing inside that skull," Alex snorted.
"No one would dare defy me!" Gigi pursed her lips and she flipped her hair in the annoying way that Alex knew.
"Um, if you search your name on Google, you have a lot more hate blogs than nice blogs. But then again, I never found one nice comment about you except on your blog," Alex smirked, taking her pen from her locker.
"So that Nate guy asked you out," Gigi scowled.
"On a date, yes," Alex crossed her arms again.
"You and him are not the ideal couple. He is mine the moment I saw him and you know I hate it when people step on my stuff," Gigi sneered.
"I guess this is why he hates you," Alex bluntly said, "No matter."
"He does not hate me!"
"You sound so controlling. If I tape record you now and show it to someone else you sound like he is a puppet for you to own, and nobody likes complete dictators," Alex narrowed her eyes, "If he asked you out then I would think he doesn't know what he is doing."
"I am desirable," Gigi glared at Alex.
"Oh really? The last guy that tried to dump you had to move Maine. And get mental therapy done. In Maine," Alex smirked.
"I honestly do not know what he sees in you," Gigi snipped, "Your looks are much more average than mines."
"If you are so pretty how come the Vogue magazine rejected you three times in a row to appear on cover and I got a letter of request?" Alex smirked.
"I don't know why he would want to be with such a bitch like you."
"Maybe he likes me on the inside and not on the outside so much. You are pretty but you are the most rotten thing when it comes to what is in the heart. Maybe that is why you don't have a boyfriend no matter how hard you try and almost every other girl does on this campus," Alex snapped.
Alex spun around and went back to her science class before she could get a scolding.
What they both didn't know was Nate was watching them secretly.
-x-
Alex still got scolded. Two in fact. One for picking a fight with Gigi, and the second for being late to class.
"What were you and Gigi talking about?" Nate whispered as they got their books from their lockers.
"Gigi being the usual stuck up bitchy princess," Alex sighed, "She kept going on and on about how you were hers and I stole you from her."
Nate scowled. He knew Gigi was a problem.
"Speaking of which, she is coming this way right now," Alex said as if she were talking about the weather.
"Nate! Why in the world would you choose her? Look at her clothes!" Gigi pointed her index finger at Alex.
Nate briefly analyzed Alex's choice of clothing for that day. Vintage Beetle's tee, dark skinny jeans, and knee high converse boots.
"And look at my clothes!" Gigi said in a more lighter tone, like sugar being mixed with honey and chocolate, a taste that seemed sick. Strapless pink dress that went mid-thigh, dark pink high heels, fluffy white scarf and a purple blazer.
"Why would you want to go out with her? Her lack of fashion is a big no-no," Gigi scowled.
Alex knew she was right. No one would want to go out with her, a girl who didn't wear dresses, did manicures, wore high heels, and did make up. No one would like a tomboy like her. Nate was too perfect for her. Gigi looked PERFECT for Nate.
Gigi saw the conflicting look on Alex's face, and smirked. She was probably winning! But she didn't look at the look of disgust Nate threw her way.
"I would be with her," Nate said. Alex's head snapped up in shock and Gigi's mouth hung like a fish.
"W-WHAT?! NO ONE WOULD REFUSE ME!" Gigi screamed.
"Apparently I would," Nate narrowed his eyes.
"Why her?! She is such a snob!" Gigi whined like a puppy.
"Maybe the snob is you," Nate glared. Gigi looked like she wanted to cry at the moment.
"Maybe she doesn't dress all fancy and girly like you. Maybe she doesn't act all sophisticated like you and maybe she is a bit on the sarcastic side. But she cares about everyone and the fact that she didn't fall for my looks is what I love about her. That is why I asked her on a date," Nate glared.
"But I could be so much better!" Gigi clutched at Nate's arm. He yanked his arm out.
"Or maybe NOT. The next time you bother me or my girlfriend again, I will report you to the principal. And chances are, you might get expelled," Nate snapped.
Gigi screamed right in front of Alex's face, making Alex cringe back a little. By the time Alex opened her eyes, she saw the blonde crying really loud and running away.
"Wow," Alex said wide eyed. She never knew she came on the boyfriend and girlfriend term thing. But she liked it.
"If I asked you to be my girlfriend, what would you say?" Nate asked.
Alex bit her lip tentatively and look up to Nate to see in his eyes if he was serious. When she saw that he was, she smiled.
"I would say yes," Alex grinned cutely.
Alex came up on her tippy toes and they kissed. Now as a boyfriend and girlfriend.
-x-