Okay, because for some reason, I accidentally put 'CHAPTER UNO' on the other one, but it was just the prologue, okay? :) By the way, I forgot to mention that in this thingy-ma-jiggy, Alex, Max and Justin aren't wizards. So yeah.

Sorry for the slowness of the updates and stuff. Those who reviewed, I will send you a thank you message after I upload this. SO YEAH: )

ENJOY

PS: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING BUT MY SOUL :)

PSS/PPS: Sorry for any mistakes, grammatical, spelling wise, whatever.

Here goes

CHAPTER UNO - FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The cashier kept on screeching like a deranged banshee when Alex felt something extra-cold fall on her chest. No, no—not on her newly bought t-shirt! Okay, so no matter how…attractive this guy in front of her was, she was going to give him a real beating.

"Oh my goodness!" Harper exclaimed suddenly, giving Alex a jolt. "Did she just say…Shane Gray?!" Harper turned bright red and began fanning herself with her hands.

"Wait, Shane Gray?" Alex raised a brow, puzzled. She knew that name…which probably meant that Shane Gray was someone famous. "Oh, right—from that gay band Justin listens to all the time!" She said a little too loudly. "You're Shane Gray?" She asked the dude in front of her (who totally looked amazing with his Fedora, black Ray Ban shades and jacket).

Okay, first, Shane didn't know how to react: either (a) be swept off his feet because this girl behind him was totally hot when she was mad, (b) be fuming furious because this insanely hot girl just called their band 'gay', or (c) be running for his life because he had just been found out. "Yeah, I'm Shane Gray." He smirked and said it a little bit too cockily, giving Alex the wrong impression.

For any ordinary girl, that five-star smirk would've knocked her off her feet, but Alex was not ordinary. At all. There was a long, dragging silence as Shane waited for Alex to declare her undying affection for him and his hotness. Meanwhile, Alex was waiting for an apology. She honestly didn't need some big-headed, conceited "rock star" treat her like dirt.

"Well?" Shane asked after a few minutes, ready to run away once he saw that a crowd of shirt-ripping girls had formed right outside the door. He didn't mean to sound impolite, though.

"Well, Shane Gray, since when did you think that spilling smoothies on someone was okay, and then not apologizing would make things better?!" Alex spat, fuming. It didn't help that she was PMS-ing that day.

"What?!" Shane furrowed his brows, confused. Oh, right. He completely forgot—he'd spilled his drink on her. "Oh, oh…"

"You…you self-centered wanna-be rock stars really think you're all that, huh?" Alex frowned, upset. "What? You think just 'cause you're all famous and overly-rich that you can treat me like dirt? Like you don't have to apologize because you're all privileged and because you're a celebrity?" She left Shane speechless. "C'mon, Harper, let's go." She said as she walked out of the store.

Harper stayed behind, though. "I'm sorry about that," She murmured softly, chuckling, hoping to lighten the mood. Shane was just so stunned, he couldn't say anything. "My friend—Alex—she acts all evil-like when she's PMS-ing. She's awesome on regular days, though."

"HARPER!" Alex came back in, irritated, as she grabbed her best friend by the wrist, "What did I tell you about talking to other people about my menstrual cycle? Let's get out of here." The two of them stormed out of Milkyway, leaving Shane, well…confused.

"Alex," He smiled to himself as he got out of his daze and made a run for it.

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"Alex, what is wrong with you?" Harper gasped as she caught up with her friend. "Don't you know that Shane is super famous?"

"So?" Alex asked, a bit offended. "That doesn't mean he can treat people as if they're inferior just because he's well-known." She added, "And besides—he spilled his strawberry smoothie on me!" Her angry mood quickly changed to a perky, bubbly one. "Gives me an excuse to buy a new shirt!"

"Well, shouldn't you be thanking him for that?" Harper asked, confused now.

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna say that to his face!" Alex shook her head, "I just gave the guy a real beating! I can't just go, 'Hey, by the way, thanks for spilling your smoothie on me'. That would totally just ruin the whole point for the argument."

"Ah, you're right there," Harper nodded. "Besides, I think it was kinda mean that he didn't apologize."

"I know!" Alex nodded as both of them entered a thrift store. "But I have to thank him for another thing—not just for the excuse to buy a shirt."

"What's that?" Harper questioned, curious.

"Now I can sell this shirt to Justin." She winked at Harper.

"Why would Justin want that?"

"Because he's a huge fan of Connect Three—once he knows that Shane Gray spilled his smoothie on this shirt, he's going to pay, like, billions to get this shirt."

"But Shane didn't even get to drink the smoothie, which makes it totally useless."

"Justin doesn't need to know," Alex smirked, putting her index finger near her lip.

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Shane caught up with his breath as he shut their hotel door. Running five blocks from the mall to the hotel totally wore him off. Man, girls were crazy. Wait, speaking of girls…

"Alex," He murmured again, his mood getting happier.

"Who?" Nate asked lazily as he sighed at what he saw on the TV: Hannah Montana's concert preview. He shut the TV and moved on to the bed, where Jason was playing Pop the Bubbles on his laptop.

"This amazing girl I met at the mall." Shane smiled as he sat on the empty bed, taking off his shades, hat and jacket. "Well, not really met, more like argued with." He shrugged.

"Wait—don't tell me a girl really had the guts to…disagree with the Shane Gray?" Nate laughed—no one ever dared to do that before!

"No, I just spilled my drink on her and forgot to apologize." Shane smirked, "She grew all ballistic and wild and began freaking out at me—but not in a good way." Nate raised a brow curiously—was this still the 'amazing girl Shane met at the mall'? "She was so hot."

"You have weird taste for women," Nate commented, shaking his head. Shane thought of a billion witty comebacks about Nate and his taste for women, but kept his mouth shut. He knew Nate was already so hurt inside.

"So, what time is Frankie coming tomorrow?" Shane asked, changing the topic.

"About eight o'clock in the morning," Nate responded. "I volunteered to pick him up from the airport, since, you know—I can drive now." He was just rubbing it in Shane's face that he got his license while Shane didn't pass the driving test.

"Yeah, with any adult beyond twenty-five." Shane rolled his eyes. "Is Big Rob goin' with you?" Nate nodded.

"After picking him up, I'm going to show him some cool stuff, like the park, and stuff like that." Nate explained, "And then we'll meet up at some place for lunch."

"Awesome, have you decided where yet?" Shane questioned; he had always been the foodie.

"Nope, but I'll text you tomorrow, when Frankie and I see some place cool."

"Whatever you say," Shane shook his head.

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"Hey, Justin," Alex grinned as she knocked on her big brother's bedroom door. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and Justin was just getting up. "You like Connect Three, right?"

What a random question. Of all the things Alex would talk to him about, Connect Three might've been at the end of the list. "Um, yes, yes I do." Justin grinned proudly, hoping that his sister had become a fan overnight. Suddenly, he had the feeling that he was being tricked. "…why?" He asked curiously.

"Well, last night, Shane Gray was right in front of me at Milkyway," Alex began and held up her t-shirt, "And he spilled his drink all over me."

Justin had read about the crazy girl who yelled at Shane Gray before he made a run for it. Without thinking about anything else, Justin blurted out, "How much for the shirt?!"

"Ew, you should like a fan girl." Alex teased, "Fifty bucks,"

"Deal!" Justin said excitedly, grabbing his piggy bank (Alex laughed in her head. It was all pink and fat) and took out a crisp fifty dollar bill. Justin gave it to his sister and she carelessly threw the shirt at him.

"Justin, I've got a question," She murmured, toying with her newly earned cash, "Why the excitement for the shirt? I mean, it's just Shane's drink." Then suddenly, a weird, twisted thought dawned upon her, "Oh God, please don't tell me you're gay. I mean, I know I've called you gay like a billion times before, but please tell me you're not serious!"

"Chill, Alex." Justin shook his head, "I like girls, not guys, okay? Though Zeke is a very good friend of mine, but anyway, do you have any idea how much this shirt will cost on e-bay? And how much it will cost twenty years from now?"

"Hmm…I guess I should've thought of that," Alex shrugged, "Geek." She murmured before walking off. She skipped towards their kitchen, where Teresa was making pancakes, and Max was eagerly sitting on the dining chair, persuading Teresa…with something related to basketball.

"No, Maxy, basketball is too dangerous." Teresa sounded firm as she flipped the pancakes on her frying pan. "Do you know how you can collapse when that dangerous orange ball hits your head?"
"Psh, mom, chill." Alex intervened, "Basketball is not dangerous. If it were, Justin would be dead by now." Max chuckled. "What's up, Max?" She asked.

"Well, my friends are playing basketball later, and I really want to go." Max gave his mom the puppy-dog pout. "Please, mom?"

"No one's going to go with you, anyway," Teresa pressed.

"Alex can go with me!" Max exclaimed, gripping on Alex's skinny arm.

"…I can?" She raised a brow, "I cannot, Max, you are a liar!" She frowned at him.

"Go with me and Justin will have to cover both our shifts in the substation." Max whispered, a sly smile on his face.

"Ah...I mean, I can go." Alex beamed at Teresa, "And I really, really want to spend some quality time with my little brother."

Teresa sighed in defeat, "I guess basketball and your sister watching over you won't hurt."

"Yes!" Alex and Max gave each other hi-fives. "I get to go out and Justin works for my shift. It's like hitting two stones with one bird!" Max gave her a 'what-the-heck?' look, "…or something like that. Sheesh." She changed the topic, "What time are we leaving?"

"About ten," Max said and grabbed a pancake.

"Cool."

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"How are you, little guy?" Nate gave Frankie a warm hug, and for that split second, even forgot about his break-up. Frankie was always a happy little fellow.

"I'm great," Frankie hugged him back, "But I'm sick of Aunt Sally and her house that smells like dead cats." He shrugged as Nate put him down. He gave Big Rob a hi-five.

As usual, the paparazzi followed the two brothers and Big Rob around the airport, claiming luggage and all that. But as they got into their car, though, the paparazzi went away.

"Where do you wanna go?" Nate asked casually.

"I dunno. Let's just drive by and see if we find some place interesting," Frankie answered. Nate was shocked at how mature he sounded—wasn't this his little brother who enjoyed eating boogers for a pastime? He chuckled and nodded.

"You miss us?" Nate joked.

"Not really," Frankie shrugged, "We're men, Nate. We don't miss."

"I wish," Nate murmured under his breath.

"By the way," Frankie said, "What time is it?"

"Ten twenty," Nate answered, checking his watch. They drove around for a little while until they passed a basketball court where some other eight-year-olds were playing pathetically (in Nate's point of view, at least). A few meters away, some girls were dancing.

"Hey! Let's stop here!" Frankie suggested—he had always been a fan of basketball ever since Shane made him watch a video of Shaq.

"Sure," Nate nodded, putting a hat on. "Hey, Big Rob, you don't need to go out with us. We don't really wanna draw attention."

"Copy that!" Frankie echoed, smiling.

They got down and went near the kids playing basketball. Frankie seemed mesmerized. Nate, on the other hand, was as bored as dead people, and decided to watch the girls who were dancing. The song was "Freeze" by T-Pain and Chris Brown and everyone danced equally awesome…except this one girl at the front (their backs were faced to him, by the way) who danced like those trained dancers in the movies. She was…amazing to watch.

The only thing in Nate's mind was 'Who is she?'

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Rewind twenty minutes ago…

"Ugh, this is so boring." Alex frowned and settled herself on one of the bleachers. Watching eight-year-olds play basketball was…unexciting and dragging. All they were doing is running around, not even caring that the dude with the ball was on the other edge. It was like they were playing tag…and one guy was bringing a ball. "Even Justin plays better than those guys," She shook her head and reminded herself that they were, in fact, eight.

Suddenly, her sidekick vibrated. It was a message from Anna, her friend from school. It said "Hey gurl. You're part of the dance crew aren't u? we're having a performance in school for the homecoming, so we're gonna have to make something up. Wanna meet up and practice? Any suggestions for venue?"

Immediately, Alex replied, "thank goodness! U saved me!! Come by the basketball court near the substation RIGHT NOWW. :] let's get started as early as possible. Watching 8-year-olds play bball is sooo boring. bring a cd player or something. Lets dance to something cool lyk a hip hop song : )"

A few minutes later, Anna and some of the other people who were part of the dance crew came. They settled on the song "Freeze", all agreeing that it was awesome and addictive. They started coming up with some dance moves. A few minutes later, while they were going over the steps they had come up with, she noticed a black SUV stop by the corner, and two people came out, but she didn't really care. She noticed that there was a kid, though, so he was probably Max's friend.

They kept on dancing until the song ended. It was perfect!

"Great work, you guys," Anna smiled at all of them. "And thanks for bringing us all here, Alex."

"No problem," She smiled. "You guys can go home now, by the way. I'm just gonna wait for my little brother."

"Okay then. See you later," Anna waved good-bye and all of the dancers went out. When Alex searched the place and realized that the dude she had seen get off the SUV disappeared, yet the kid was still there at the side of the court, so he probably wasn't one of Max's little friends.

She glanced at Max and his 'team', they were arguing about three-pointers, which obviously couldn't be done since the court was too small, but others begged to differ. Then they were arguing about putting the ball in the basket…for some reason.

"Hey, Alex, you're tall," Max called all of a sudden, "Can you try shooting the ball from here?" He asked, stepping on the line that separated the basketball court from the grass.

"Um, okay? I guess?" Alex shrugged as she went up the court, got the ball from a kid and stood at the tip of the court. "But I'm no good at basketball, Max, and you know that."

"Just try," Max said, determined. Alex took a deep breath and slowly threw the ball towards the basket.

"Whoaaa," Alex gasped as she saw that it went in, "That was a lucky one." She saw the little loner kid at the side, finding him vaguely familiar, and saw his shocked expression.

"Hey little guy," She greeted him with a friendly smile.

--------------------- A few minutes ago

"Frankie, want a hotdog?" Nate asked, his attention finally off the dancing girl. Even from the back, he could tell that she was gorgeous. Frankie nodded, wanting to play with the guys, but became shy. "Okay, you just stay there, alright? I'll be back in a sec. Don't move." Nate made sure Frankie understood the words 'don't move' before going off to buy a hotdog.

A few minutes later, the dancing girls stopped and all but one went away. She's probably the sister of the short guy, Frankie thought as he called her and she went on his way. He said something about her being tall and she nodded, grabbing the ball from a kid. She went to the edge of the court, where bits of grass started to grow, and tried to shoot. Frankie shook his head—it just couldn't be done…but when the ball went inside the basket, his jaw fell on the floor. The kids went in frenzy, giving hi-fives and attempting to do it themselves. Suddenly, the pretty girl who was the short kid's sister, approached Frankie.

"Hey little guy," She smiled, and then he knew that she wasn't like other girls. He didn't scream at him and at how cute his brothers were, she was just generally down-to-earth and…well, normal.

"Hey," Frankie smiled back, "You were really good. Do you play basketball?"

Alex giggled as she imagined herself actually becoming an athlete…psh, it required work and moving. Ugh. She shook her head, "No, I'm too lazy for that…moving kind of stuff. By the way, I'm Alex."

"I'm Frankie." He said.

"Hey, Frankie, you didn't introduce me to your friend," Nate joked as he approached his brother and one of the girls who danced earlier. Frankie and Alex both looked up and Nate…stopped. Okay, this girl was insanely pretty that Nate forgot about Hannah Montana for five seconds straight, but thinking of pretty led to flowers and Hannah loved flowers. He sighed as he put on a smile.

Alex raised a brow curiously. She knew that she knew this guy. Was he from school? Naw, probably not, because if he was, he'd say 'Hey, Alex!' or something like that. Who was he? Um, um, it was at the tip of her tongue, but…oh well. "Who are you again?" She asked, a brow furrowed.

Who are you again? Seriously? Nate was expecting something like a deranged scream or a hug, or a kiss, or something crazy that fan girls usually do. "Um, you don't know who I am?" He managed, shocked.

"Okay, that is a really cocky thing to say," Alex rolled her eyes. Wait, speaking of cocky, the first person that got inside her head was that Shane Gray guy. "No, wait, don't tell me, you're part of that gay Connect Three band?" Alex said sarcastically, but little did she know that she hit the mark, bull's eye… except for the gay part, though.

"What did you just call my brothers and me?!" Nate asked, furious.

"I told you not to tell me," Alex said wittily, getting scared a bit. Okay, so she had just insulted two famous people in one week…and they were brothers. "Wait—please don't tell me that you're the band with the awesome Big Rob?" She imagined how easily Big Rob could squash her, just for insulting two famous brothers.

"So you like him more than the band?" Nate checked.

"I'm not gonna answer that," Alex shook her head, "Max, let's go before a big rapper beats us up and makes us…ketchup."

"Ketchup?" Nate questioned, a smile tugging at the end of his lips. He always thought random people (girls) were cute. He just couldn't admit that this one was cute (anymore) because of what she just said.

"What? If we go home now, we'd still get to work," Max frowned, "An hour more, Alex. C'mon."

"Alex." The name was tattooed to Nate's brain. At that point, he remembered that Shane was also head-over-heels in-love with another girl named Alex. It was another Alex, right? I mean, the name Alex is real common, and it could be short for Alexandra. Right?

"Let's go." Alex shook her head and grabbed Max by the arm. Before leaving, she went back to Nate (and he was happy, hoping that she'd come to her senses and apologize, and they'd both live happily ever after together) and spat, "You don't know where I live." And then suddenly, she yelled, "Run, Max! Run!" And both of them sped off. Nate couldn't help but chuckle.

Suddenly, Nate's phone vibrated. It was a message from Shane. "Where's lunch?"

"Where do you wanna eat?" Nate asked Frankie, who was too busy devouring his hotdog to pay attention to anything.

"I'm eating right now, so I don't really care." Frankie shrugged.

"Okay, let's just go 'round New York, huh?" Nate laughed and both of the brothers got inside the SUV.

"Everything okay back there?" Big Rob clarified, starting the car.

"Yeah, everything's cool." Nate answered back.

"Oh, so it's cool for a really good-looking girl to run away from you, Nate?" Big Rob joked.

"Just drive. Please." Nate shook his head, upset at the fact that he just let an attractive girl out of his grip. A few meters away, Nate saw the Waverly Place Substation. "Looks good," He thought and sent Shane the address. "I guess we're eating here."

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"You insulted a famous person?" Justin clarified, "And that famous person was Nate Gray?"

"Oooh, you're gonna get it," Max shook his head.

"Oh just shut up and give me my orders!" Alex rolled her eyes and got a tray and put the sandwiches on them and began serving the people their meals.

A few orders and cleaning tables and getting more orders later, Alex, Justin and Max realized that there was a huge crowd outside their substation.

"Business is doing good these days," Jerry commented. "Someone open the door, guys."

"ALEX, you do it," Justin and Max said in unison as they escaped to the lair.

Alex rolled her eyes as she opened the Substation door. Suddenly…

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"God, the paparazzi is impossible," Shane grumbled, hoping to get inside the substation with his shirt on. "You suck, Nate."

"Oh, shut up," Nate rolled his eyes, his grip tightening on his little brother. Jason stayed behind and waited with their parents, hoping that the paparazzi would all leave when Shane, Nate and Frankie would be inside.

As if on cue, the restaurant's door opened. Shane got inside, fixed his crumpled shirt and messy hair, and suddenly, he saw her.

"Alex." He said, a smile forming on his beautiful face. For once, he didn't care about his clothes, or his hair. What were the odds?

"You work here?" Nate asked, seeing Alex wearing an apron and carrying a tray. His emotion was a mix of shock, excitement, joy, and anger.

There you gooo:)

It wasn't that lame, but it was boring, I guess, but definately better than the "PROLOUGE". Haah :p

Review please :D *huggs*

:)) xxx.