Busted!

Harper walked in the front door, looking at the Russo family. "So I went to the zoo and found something quite extraordinary. I found that monkeys were the right outfit to wear on this very special day."

Jerry clapped, cheering. "Good job, Harper! But you aren't wearing monkeys right now. Are you just starting on it?"

Harper nodded. "Thanks for noticing, Mr. Russo. You know, some people ask me if I was your daughter around town. That's so strange."

Jerry chuckled nervously and looked at his wife for help. Theresa wiped her hands on a towel and smiled warmly. "We could never use you to our advantage pretending to be our daughter. But sometimes, it is necessary to pretend to be our daughter."

Harper smiled. "Of course. Anyway, have you seen Alex? If she wants to go to school on time, which I doubt will happen, she better hurry up."

Alex walked in calmly after Harper finished her sentence. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder while eating a bagel. "Let's go, Harper."

The two girls walked out of the door, leaving Max alone with his parents. Max stared at his parents and looked over to the door. "I should leave for school. Dad, remind me to stop by a zoo."

Jerry looked confused. "Why do I have to do that? You're not going to turn into them, are you?" he said.

Max shook his head and grabbed his backpack. "No, it's something better. You'll see. Later." He walked away.

Justin walked down the stairs calmly and grabbed his backpack. "Hey, Mom. Dad. Do you have the crunchy, crispy bagels you baked yesterday?"

Theresa shook her head. "Alex took the last one. But I do have sandwiches. You can eat that on the way to school."

Justin took a sandwich and looked at his watch. "Dad, do we have wizard lessons today? Because if we do, I can't come. I have a meeting, which involves aliens."

Jerry nodded. "Well, you can't miss out. You never miss our lessons. Even though you're getting older, it doesn't mean you can just ditch wizard lessons. If you do, you're going to have to make up for it by writing an essay about why humans get this metal taste in their mouth when transporting."

Justin walked out the door. He made his way for the school, trying to form a sentence that makes sense that he had to miss the meeting.

Zeke raced after Justin and glared at him. "Why did you miss our annual meeting of the Alien Club? You know you don't always do that. Try and make a meeting when you can and come on time."

Justin nodded and walked to the cafeteria. Max was there telling jokes to his friends, when he noticed Justin staring at him. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Justin asked.

Max scoffed. "I asked you first."

"I'm getting lunch. What are you doing?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know. Oh yeah! I was telling jokes to my friends."

Alex came nearby and knocked the tray from Justin's hands. "Go away, nerd! Can't you see that this is a popular table with popular people?"

Justin scoffed. "I have feelings!"

Alex shrugged. "Well, nobody around here seems to care!" She laughed at that comment, making Justin more mad.

After school, Justin and Alex spent the rest of the day arguing about what had happened at school. Jerry groaned and tried to make them stop. They wouldn't listen. Then, Max came in and held Jerry's arm. "Grain on, chain on."

Alex and Justin were bound in chains except Max and Jerry. Jerry laughed with joy and almost cried. "Good job, son! I'm buying you a new video game, no matter the cost."

Max looked at Jerry with puzzlement.

Jerry sighed. "Under 150 dollars. Under, not above. If you did, I would have a heart attack."

Max took the chains of his brother and sister and sat down.

Jerry glared at Alex and Justin. "I don't think you guys are responsible for your own magic. Magic isn't your own tool for enjoyment and entertainment. The reasons humans don't have wands is because they can't handle magic. If you absolutely cannot control yourself from magic, the wizard council will take our magic away forever. That's why I'm hiring a tutor, Michael. He's a real genius. Until he gets here, which will be in 2 weeks, you cannot watch tv, play video games, play with the wand, no hanging with your friends, no risking Max's life, and no contact with boys or the alien club."

Justin and Alex groaned and glared at each other. "This is all your fault!" they both shouted at each other.

Jerry went downstairs, leaving them to discuss their own problems. Theresa wiped her hands with a towel and looked upstairs. "Is everything okay, Jerry? It looks like Alex was having a tantrum again."

Jerry shook his head. "Nah, nothing that serious. I just punished Alex and Justin for always overreacting over something really stupid."

Theresa looked again. "Well, I hope they can work it out."

Jerry shrugged. "Okay. Did you bake the blueberry muffins?"

"Yes."

"Yes!" Jerry popped one into his mouth and groaned. "I should call Alex and Justin. Nah!" He took more and ate it.