SUMMER

Justin Henrie, an 18 year old wizard parked his hot new Challenger in front of the Russo household. It's another one of those monthly family-family get together now that they've rarely seen each other. Everyone had been waiting for him since he went to Columbia to fix his admission. He was going to take up Computer Engineering with the hopes of building robots to beat in chess. He went inside and there he found his parents chatting with the Russo parents. The Henries and the Russos have been family friends for a long time now since their dads are best of friends back in WizTech. He sits besides his best friend Alex, who was going to Parsons to pursue her love for arts this coming year.

"Hey Alex," he said as he took the remote control from the petite brunette.

"Hey- what the- Justin!" She shrieked as she tried to take it from Justin. Justin throws the remote to Max and licks it.

"Ew gross Max," Justin exclaimed.

"Who said he was gonna run away with it you moron?" Alex exclaims as she hit Justin in the arm. "You're cleaning that up." She stood up and took some Reese's from the fridge.

"Everybody, dinner's ready!" Theresa announces. There were several delicious food served like roasted chicken, pasta, salad, buttered seafood and some crème brulee. The 2 families ate and chit chatted about their recent stories.

Once they finished and cleaned up, they gathered at the living room. Alex sat between Justin and Max as their parents took a seat together, seriousness evident in their faces.

"Okay...the reason we're all here is that we have important news to tell you Alex and Justin," Jerry says as he looks at the two.

"And we've been discussing this since you were born," Justin's mom, Carol, tells them. "It's final."

"You guys are making me nervous," Alex replies suddenly feeling nerves as she sat up straight.

"Okay... Back then, we've decided," Jerry paused. "We've decided that we're fixing you into an arranged marriage in order to maintain wizardry purity in your bloodline."

"WHAT?!" Both Justin and Alex exclaim. Thoughts running in their head like mad.

"You can't make me!" Alex screams as she stood up. "You can't tell me who to marry!"

"Yeah and we've been friends for so long, it would be damn awkward!" Justin added to his parents, his eyebrows scrunched up.

"This is final. No buts whatsoever. This is so that you both will be assured of a good life!" Justin's dad, Lorenzo declares.

"Mom! I can't believe you agreed to this!" Alex accused her mom, her face clearly showing frustration, anger, sadness and shock all at the same time.

"Sweeties, it is for your own good. We only want what's best for you!" Theresa replied in a "I'm-sorry-but-we-had-to-do-this" kind of voice.

"Best for me? Are you kidding me? What's best for me is making my own decisions and learning from them when I make mistakes. Not this!" She yelled, tears building up. Handling things like this is too much for an 18-year old girl to take.

"She's right. And... What about Max?" Justin questioned, the thought of being with Alex kinda weirds him out.

"We're still looking for his partner. This wizarding arranged marriage have been a tradition and yes I broke that tradition," Jerry added as Alex was about to retort how he married a mortal. "Not that I'm complaining but can you really stand on your own? Alex you can't even feed your pet!"

"Oh wait so I'm getting a girl soon?" Max butted in. Jerry nods his head. "Sweet! I don't have to go looking for one! Laterssss!" He said and dashed out of the room. Alex rolled his eyes at his annoying brother's stupidity.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Alex questioned, a mixture of emotion flowing through her. She looks at Justin for a moment.

Jerry answers, "no honey, we're just saying that this is what's for the best of you."

"Justin!? Why aren't you fighting back?"Alex asked in a strong and disappointed voice but an emotionless face as her eyes stare through him.

"No use Alex. They never even let me do my own decisions," he said in a soft voice as he shook his head.

"Now you know that's not true!" Carol buts in.

"It is! I would've gone to MIT but oh no, Columbia is in New York!" Justin mocked his parents. "I'm getting out of here!" He starts to go out but Jerry stops him.

"Wait! The vow!"

"I'm not taking any damn vows. You can't make me," Alex firmly replied, shooting daggers at the old people.

"You are and if you're not, I can assure you of no powers during the competition!" Jerry reprimands.

"DAD! That's unfair!" Alex yelled in tears now. Justin goes over to her and pats her back. "You had your way, why can't I have mine?!"

"Because I said so!" Jerry exclaims.

Alex starts crying hysterically. She was single but that doesn't mean guys don't like her. She just isn't ready for any commitment. She goes to her room and locks herself up for the night. Her parents left her alone so she could get this sunk in her system. Jerry decided to just initiate the vow the next day which the Henries agreed with. The Henries went home with an expressionless Justin.

The next day, the Henries returned to perform the unbreakable vow. It is unbreakable because if the participant breaks the vow, he or she would either lose his/her powers (if he/she won the wizard competition) or he/she would be dismembered in their wizarding world (if he/she didn't win the wizard competition.) Alex descends the stairs with hatred in her face as her parents wait for her. She ignores her mother's sweetness to get her in the mood that she snapped at her for being too chatty too early in the morning.

"Alex, do not talk back to your mother like that!" Jerry sternly reprimanded her daughter who just rolled her eyes. Her father eyes her with great annoyance.

"Hands up," Lorenzo interrupts before the tensions grows even more. Knowing that this is a losing battle, Alex lets her hand be taken by Jerry and linked to Justin's own.

Their hands took in a form of a shake hand as Lorenzo takes out his wand and point it at the center of their connected hands.

"These hands, these bodies, these souls, bond them in forever's vow. A union in commitment for the promise of a bright tomorrow. An unbreakable vow between Alexandra Marie Russo and Justin David Henrie, witch and wizard alike, I hereby declare. Today, tomorrow and forever they will stay true, a life made in promise they will share." And a snake like glow wrapped their hands signifying the seal of the vow. Alex once again broke down in tears and Justin hugged her.

"The wedding will commence after your graduation, which is in four years," Jerry spoke up.

"And it wouldn't matter if you or Max won," Theresa added. "Because I know you will have an assured life Alex."

Alex whimpered more into Justin's shirt. She wasn't complaining about being paired up with him. He's an amazing guy. He's smart, good looking, dorky and nice. A cute geek as one may say but the idea of being forced into something like this is something she can't comprehend yet. She broke off the hug and once again locked herself in her room.

Three weeks passed and she still isn't talking to her parents. Alex only talked to Max if she needed something like helping her out with chores and stuff. Justin tried to cheer her up and gave her the pros even though he himself has no idea if this arranged marriage is gonna work out for them. Her friends especially Harper tried to make her happy and bonded more with her before they went their own ways for college.

Alex and Harper were packing Alex's stuff for when she moves to their apartment near their colleges. She and Justin will be living together so that they can try to work it out. They aren't anything officially and Justin felt like he didn't need to ask what they were because in the end, he's ending up with her.

"I'm gonna miss you Alex," Harper sighed as she tok more of Alex's clothes from her closet.

"I'm gonna miss you too Harper," she smiled sadly as Harper gave her a hug. "But we're like two hours away, so maybe we can visit like during weekends..."

"Yeah I know...But still. It feels weird being somewhere without my bestfriend," Harper replied as she pulled away. "Pinky swear you won't find another bestfriend?" She pouted and held out her pinky.

"Pinky swear," Alex connected her pinky to Harper's. The two share a smile before being interrupted by Justin's knock.

"Hey Alex we're going," he said as he smiled at the two girls and then left. Alex and Justin are going to move a couple of their stuff to their apartment that day.

The 3 got in Justin's car and they dropped Harper off at her house. Their apartment is like 2 hours away from home via car and about 30 minutes via the subway.

Mauve and mocha colors colored the wall, a creamy carpet covered the floor and the white light emitted a different kind of glow as they switched it on. The 2 bedroom apartment suited the two well. They decided it's still best if they got their own rooms. It had 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a living room and a small back yard. It came with a serious tag price but hey, there was cable TV and fast internet connection and it was situated right near the district area where they can easily get what they need. They decided to not stay in an on-campus dorm so they can try to make their status work.

Justin, being the gentleman one, gave Alex the room with the bathroom. She walked up the mahogany stairs and to her new room. It was fairly sized and there was a mini walk-in closet so she was happy with that. There was a queen sized bed in the middle and the door to the bathroom was a few feet away from it. She figured that this was the master's bedroom. Meanwhile, Justin unloaded his things and went in his room, just beside Alex's and started to organize some of his properties in the drawers. His room was smaller but he didn't complain. He doesn't have a lot of things anyway.

As they finished fixing most of their stuff, it was nearly six o'clock so they decided to grab something at the local cafe they saw on the way.

A/N: New stuff. RnR pls? DL4SG.