11

"Hey, Justin…" Luke Venkmann was the tallest kid in the twelfth grade at Tribeca Prep. He was on the school football team as the entire back line. Atop his head was a shock of bright blonde hair. To look at him, Justin had to crane his head up higher and higher and higher to see Luke's green eyes peering down to him over that barrel chest. "I think your sister's cute."

"So do three-hundred and seventy-five other guys." Justin answered.

"Can you put in a good name in for me?" Luke asked. "I'd like her to come to my brother's bar mitzvah as my date."

"Well," Justin pulled out a journal of names. "I'll put you on the list… you are number three-hundred and seventy-six…" He penciled in Luke. "Most of these guys don't even go to this school!"

"Thanks…" Luke started to turn away then turned back. "Oh, another thing…"

"I don't have any pictures of her in a bikini!" That was the second most requested question of him.

"Wanna buy some?" Luke opened a photo of Alex's head photo-shopped on to Pamela Anderson's body.

"Oh god!!!!" Justin pushed himself away while pounding his skull. "Get out of my head! Get out of my head! Get out of my head!!!" He looked up as Alex came from gym class to head for her locker. She and Harper were talking. Harper backed to the lockers as Justin approached.

"Alex…" Justin was losing it. "You've got to help me. I've got almost six hundred guys here wanting you to date them!" He waved the book. "They think you've got some kind of… reputation."

"How the heck did they get that idea?" Alex slammed her locker shut.

"Oh, I don't know…" Harper reacted while thrusting her own body a bit. "Maybe singing almost exactly like Madonna!!!" She stopped dancing and shot Alex a look as she took Justin's journal of names and requests. "Justin, most of these guys don't even go here!"

"I know!!!"

"Luke Venkmann…" Alex saw the last name. "Well… he's kind of cute in a… shaved Nazi Sasquatch kind of way, but, Justin, I'm only really interested in Kevin right now. I'm not really interested in dating several guys anymore."

"Well, you better let these guys off the hook or…" Justin paused trying to think. "Or else… get Kevin a helmet, bulletproof jacket and shin guards…"

"I'll handle it." Alex looked across the entry hall to Miss Tisdale coming down from the second floor and heading to the office. "Harper, meet me in class…"

"Check…" Harper signed off as Alex patted Justin to calm him down, pulled her schoolbooks to her chest and rushed to meet the hot blonde teacher. She swerved round to miss students Shelia Castellari and Lisa Winters and confronted the bosomy teacher near the teacher's mailboxes near the door to the teacher's lounge.

"Miss Tisdale…" Alex had chosen her song. "How about "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid?" Alex had her attention. "Big paper mache rock, red hair, seashell top and a mermaid tail as I sit in the spotlight and…"

"I don't think so, Miss Russo."

"Okay, I got other choices here..." Alex whipped out her pad. "Metal Princess Leia slave costume, paper mache Jabba the Hutt behind as I sing…"

"No, Miss Russo…"

"I can work with this." Alex seemed to have a one-track mind. " I watched Moulin Rouge last night and Nicole Kidman sang this song…"

"Miss Russo…" Miss Tisdale seemed to know where this was going. "Do you have anything where you wear more clothes instead of less?!" She looked intently at the girl. "I mean - How about singing "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz?"

"I've got bad memories of The Wizard of Oz." Alex commented. "I once got trapped in it."

"I'm not even going to pretend I understand that comment." The blonde teacher sighed a bit with her mail. "I'm sorry, Miss Russo, but you're losing valuable rehearsal time here, and if you don't have a song by the end of the day, I'll have to take you out of the program. I'm sorry."

"What?" Alex's heart was breaking as her eyes filled with tears. Miss Tisdale moved around her and headed to her classroom as the warning bell sounded for class. Her heart breaking, her frustration growing, her head trembled a bit as she whipped out her wand and wanted to smite Miss Tisdale for being difficult, but then.... that was what the Old Alex might have done. Her hand shaking, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes full of tears… she was about to lose it. She opened her fingers and allowed her wand to slip from her fingers to hit the floor…

"Alex…." Kevin was coming out of the boys' bathroom and came running to her, picking up her wand and handing it to her. "Alex, you dropped your drum stick…" He thought it was a stick to pound on drums. "What's wrong?"

"I want to be in the talent show so much…" She held on to him and bawled over his shoulder. "I keep showing Miss Tisdale all these songs, but she won't let me sing…" Her heart was spilling forward with emotion. "I can sing… I can really sing… Why does she hate me?" Her eyes were red with tears as she clung to him, her voice wavering and whimpering… she wheezed and sobbed with a broken heavy heart she had never felt before…

"I'm sorry…" Kevin held her close as the hall emptied of kids running past them. "I know what you mean. It's so heart-breaking to have a talent no one appreciates…" He thought of his writing, paused and thought about what he could do to help her. "You know… I have a song I think she'll let you do, but it would mean sharing the stage… and you'd need a place to rehearse…"

"What…" Alex pulled back looking at him sniffling as a tear rolling down her cheek. "What song?"

Several hours later, back on Waverly Place, Theresa Russo used a lull in business hours to do her family's laundry. She collected the laundry from the hamper in her bathroom and then from her kids' bathroom. From far away, she heard music from somewhere in the neighborhood. It was loud enough she could realize it, but she couldn't figure out the words. As she headed down to the loft and the door to their private garage next door in the alley, it got louder and more obvious. Where was this music coming from? She moved to the door leading down to the laundry room in their garage and opened it to a blast of music nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Alex, are you down there?" She called ahead. The music shut off. There were sounds of several people running around as Theresa started coming down, she turned the corner and looked down to the bottom.

"Hi, mom…" Alex tried to sound innocent with Kevin standing next to her. "Can I help you?"

"Alex…" Theresa was very suspicious as she came closer. "What are you doing down here by yourself with a boy?"

Alex and Kevin looked at each other guilty.

"Nothing… nothing at all…"

"You're down here by yourself with a boy, and…" She turned to the washing machine and noticed several other high school kids coming around Jerry's old car and rushing secretly back up the stairs. "What? What?!!! What's going on here? Hey, you!" She started screaming as Kevin kissed Alex and ran for it himself. Teresa was screaming. "What the!!! Jerry!!!!"

"Theresa?" Jerry heard the screaming and saw the boys pouring out of his basement stairs and escaping through the loft. "Who? What? He… I… Ooo… Alex!!!!" He never thought he'd be accusing Alex of anything ever again, but he tried hard to grab one of the teen male miscreants, but the agile youth vaulted over the sofa and out the door, another one rushing out to the patio and jumping down to the street. Two more rushed down out of the shop; the whole time, Jerry was trying to head them off. He recognized Kevin trying to escape.

"Hey, Mr. Russo!!!"

"What did you do to my daughter???!" Jerry jumped to catch him and missed. Kevin got away as Jerry jumped to his feet looking for more kids. What the heck was going on around here? Who were these kids? What were they doing in his basement? "Theresa!!!!" He jumped up screaming.

"Ow… ow…. ow…" Alex was being pulled up the stairs by her ear in her mother's hand. Her mother was furious! She had never been so shocked! She dragged her daughter to her father to explain herself.

"Alex…" Theresa let her go. "Explain yourself!!!"

"Yes…" Jerry was steaming mad. He was so outraged, his face had turned red. "Who were those boys?!!!"

"Some of them were girls…" Alex confessed.

"Oh my god…" Theresa grabbed her heart and crossed herself with her cross. "Now she's swinging both ways!!!!"

"We were rehearsing for the talent show!!!" Alex finally explained herself. "We needed a big place to meet after school." She looked at her parents. Jerry looked at Theresa, and Theresa looked to Jerry.

"You finally got a song?" Jerry asked.