The Return
By LandminesLandslides
Chapter One
The Seattle University Campus sprawled out in front of twenty-one year old Alex Russo, who was seeing it for the first time. It had been tough to get in, given her less than spectacular performance in high school, but she had finally found a college that would take her. It hadn't been her first choice of places to study art, but no one else would take her. Given the circumstances, she considered herself lucky to get in here. The College of Arts and Sciences here did seem to be pretty competent, at least according to what she'd heard. She knew this was going to be hard, but she had matured a lot in the four short years since graduating from high school, so she hoped she would be able to deal. She looked down at the e-mail instructions she had printed out. According to these, she was supposed to go to the Casey building to meet her advisor, a woman named Alice Harmon. She was the dean of The College of Arts and Sciences and would help Alex get registered for her courses. She already had an idea of what she would be taking: English 120, Philosophy 110, and History 120. Had to get the core requirements out of the way before taking on the major requirements.
As Alex walked, she reflected on what it had been like to leave New York. Part of her had felt a little sad. It was the only city she had ever known and even when she'd complained, she'd loved it. She wondered how Justin was doing. He'd gotten into NYU on an academic scholarship, which had made sense given the fact that his study habits had been the polar opposite of her own. She knew she would have to work on that here. She was on a scholarship as well, which meant that she would have to keep up her grades or lose her chance. She pushed Justin out of her mind for the moment and focused on her walking. It wasn't like she couldn't go see him anytime she wanted. That was one of the beautiful things about having powers. Yes, she had powers. She had been the one to win the family competition, which had occurred last year. She had been as surprised as anyone. She had been studying for it for a while when it happened, but she hadn't expected it so soon. But in any event, she had come out victorious. Thankfully, Justin hadn't held against her. He had congratulated her and said she had earned her victory. She smiled slightly at the memory. She knew Justin could handle himself just fine without his powers. It was one of the things she had always admired about him, even if she had never admitted it.
Soon Alex came upon the Casey Building and walked through the large glass doors. Alice's office was on the fourth floor with the other faculty advisors. Alex immediately made her way for the elevator and pressed the call button. When it opened, she stepped inside and pressed the button for the fourth floor and waited for the elevator to start moving. After a few moments, she stepped out of the elevator and made her way confidently through another door. If she was reading this right, Alice Harmon's office should be around here. She went up to a desk where a girl was working reception. Judging by her clothing, Alex guessed she was a student.
"Excuse me," Alex said, calling the girl's attention to her, "I have an appointment with Alice Harmon."
"Can I have your name please?" the girl asked, barely looking up at her.
"Alex," Alex said, "Alex Russo." The girl typed something into a computer. Alex couldn't see her face to confirm it, but something about this girl seemed familiar. What could it be?
"She's available now if you want to go in," the girl said, breaking Alex out of her reverie, "Her office is that one." The girl was pointing to another door.
"Oh ok," Alex said, momentarily dismissing the feeling of familiarity as déjà vu, "Thanks."
"No problem," the girl answered back, "Better hurry." Alex nodded and entered through the door.
"Excuse me, are you Alice Harmon?" she asked the woman in the room.
"Yes I am," the woman said, "You must be Alex Russo."
"That's right," Alex said, "I'm here to register for classes." She handed the woman the list of the courses she wanted to register for this quarter. The woman appeared to look it over.
"All right," she said after a moment, "I can take care of this for you. Just one moment." Alex watched as Alice clicked something on her computer and a window opened. After that, she typed some keys and then turned to Alex. "Okay," she said, "You're registered for this quarter."
"Thank you," Alex said, "By the way, which way is it to Bellarmine Hall?" Alice reached into a drawer in her desk and produced a map. "Just follow this and you can't miss it," she said, "Is that where you're staying?"
"Yeah," Alex said, "I'm from out of town, so I had to get a dorm."
"That explains the luggage," Alice responded, looking at Alex's bags. Alex nodded and laughed before turning to leave. She could get to like it here. She made her way back to the first door she had come through, ready to take the elevator again. She passed the reception desk again and noticed that the girl behind the desk was staring at her. Suddenly, Alex was hit with a bolt of recognition. She did know this girl. She had definitely seen her before.
She walked out of the building calmly, trying not to let on that anything was wrong. Inside though, she was terrified. If what she was thinking was true, this was definitely not good. She looked at the map she had been given and hurried quickly to the Bellarmine Residence Hall. She quickly made her way up to the second floor, having spent most of the trip here memorizing her dorm number. She was glad that she had requested a single residence room, because the conversation that she was about to have was most definitely a private one. She set her stuff down next to the only bed in the room and then walked over to the desk with the phone on it. According to the brochure, phone and internet services were part of her residency fee. How convenient for her. She picked up the phone and began to dial the number of Justin's dorm room, hoping she could get his take on this. One ring, two rings, three rings. "Come on Justin, pick up," she muttered, "This is important." She breathed a sigh of relief when Justin answered. "I'm glad you're there," she said, "I need to talk to you. Now."
A/N: End of the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. One note for fans of the Wizards of Waverly Place series: This fic is going to be a lot more serious than the series, so if you came looking for comedy you may want to read other fics.
