Alex woke up the next morning to find her entire family, minus Max, already downstairs. She noticed that Harper wasn't out of the basement yet, but figured she would show up soon enough, since she had to be up already. Before Alex could ask about breakfast, the doorbell rang. "It's Julia." She guessed, sort of knowing she'd be right.
It was, except she could hardly be seen over the two oversized cupcakes her from view. Trying not to laugh, Alex called up the stairs to her brother. "Max! Julia brought you cupcakes!"
Max was at the bottom of the stairs in a matter of seconds. He froze when he caught sight of his present. "Oh my gosh, I can't even see you." The tray moved up and down when Julia laughed at his comment, but he could hear a bit of pain in her voice when she spoke. "This is really heavy." In response to that, Max took the tray from her and put it on the counter. It was only then that he noticed she had one hand behind her back. He gave her a questioning look, so she showed him what he was holding.
"I also brought you a pineapple." He didn't know what to say, considering he never even told her he like pineapple. "Thanks." Julia shrugged. "I owed it to you." She told him, still standing in the doorway. He told her to come in, with his eyes, and she understood perfectly. The only one who witnessed that 'conversation' was Alex.
As soon as Julia walked in, the beaded belt on her layered skirt making sound as she walked, people started asking her questions. "So, you know about magic." Jerry said. It wasn't a question, but he looked at her to answer as if it was. Before she could, Max was talking. "Dad…" He whispered. Which was a warning, since he knew she was embarrassed. "Relax, Max." He said, trying to be nice. "I'm just making conversation." "You hate it, don't you?" Theresa said, making Jerry laugh. "No." That was all she said.
"Have you read any spell books yet?" Justin asked her, making Alex roll her eyes. "Why would she do that? She has no use for spells." She blinked, having a thought. "You do have no use for spells, right?" She asked, sitting on the couch. Julia almost laughed. "Alex, just because I'm mortal doesn't meant I don't enjoy reading spell books." Before finishing her statement, she looked at Justin. "Knowledge is hot."
That would've been an awkward moment if Harper hadn't laugh as she walked into the room, and she didn't laugh just to fill the space. "It's true."
Later on that morning, Harper was watching Alex trying to repaint Julia's painting. "You're in it too." Her best friend told her. She paused afterward, with a questioning look on her face. "Aren't you bored just watching me? Grab a paintbrush and start painting something besides mountain scenes." She mocked. Harper laughed and took her advice.
They hardly talked while they painted. Alex really had to concentrate since Julia's picture was so small, and she didn't want to make any mistakes. She had to focus, and that frustrated her. After awhile neither of them could stand the silence. "Can I ask you a question?" Harper asked, while she covered her entire canvas with color. That was just the background, she had no idea what she was going to do with the painting itself.
"Hmm?" Alex replied, barely listening. She didn't want to let anything distract her from her work. "What's wrong with Justin lately?" Alex shrugged. "He won't tell us. I thought you'd know." "Why?!" Alex gave her a look. "Why not? I'm just saying. By the way. How much did you guys cook? I'm still finding food, Dad's never been happier…" Something crossed Alex's mind at that moment. She put her paintbrush down and waited for her best friend to stop what she was doing.
"What's wrong, Alex?" Harper saw a change in Alex's expression. She went from focused to almost furious in a matter of seconds. It didn't make sense. Alex took a deep breath before saying what was on her mind. "When did you guys find the time to do all that stuff?" Harper gave that some thought. "Well, I think it was around 11:30 when he woke me up." "11:30!" Alex repeated.
"Well, it might have been a little later." She admitted, sort of intimidated. Alex put her hands up, even more frustrated. "I thought we went through this already." "What do you mean?" Harper asked, trying to meet her gaze. Alex rolled her eyes, but then just sighed wishing Harper would try to see things from her perspective.
"You… him? It can't happen." Hearing this, Harper almost laughed. "This isn't funny. You don't get it." "Actually Alex, you don't get it." Alex scoffed. "Yeah, explain it then." "I don't like him. Not that way." Alex narrowed her eyes, but that wasn't because she was mad. She was confused. She could tell Harper was serious.
As if written proof wasn't enough, the words were heard coming out of her mouth. Justin couldn't believe his ears as he stood outside his ears as he stood outside his sister's door, listening to the two girls laugh. This meant the world had turned upside down.
That perfect made sense to him and he wish it didn't. For the billionth time since Harper moved in he wished what went on didn't make so much sense. If that was the case, it would hurt a lot less.
He went back to his room and felt like ripping every single page out of Harper's journal. He'd ignored his conscience and read the entire thing cover to cover, and that meant he would suffer the consequences. He was haunted by what was no longer hidden behind her plastic smile. She'd invaded his mind and she wouldn't stay out of his dreams, and he hated it. He'd loved being able to Harper as a friend, but all that was ruined. He didn't know what to call her anymore, he never really did. There was one word he had for her, that he pushed to the back of his mind every time it surface. If she was going to make him question who he was, if she was going to make everything different and difficult, then maybe she didn't even deserve to know what that word was.
Julia ran off to the lair when Max was midway through eating his first cupcake, which actually required a knife and fork. The second he noticed she wasn't with him, he went to find out why.
She was just sitting there, in a trance. "What's wrong now?" She looked at Max and asked: "Did you ever have one of those moments where you have no idea what's going on?" He just laughed in reply. "What's really bad is when you feel like you're the only person who knows what's going on." Julia admitted. Max sat down next to her. "I've never had one of those moments." He said. "Well, then you're lucky." He shook his head. "Will you please stop saying that?" Julia didn't understand. "Why? It's good to be lucky."
"Yeah, but I'm n—" He cut himself off, thinking his sentence over in his head before letting it come out of his mouth. "You're right, I am lucky." "I wish I was lucky enough to be clueless in this situation. I feel so guilty." "About what?" Max asked her. She laughed bitterly. "Trust me, Max. You don't wanna know." "Then why did I ask?" Julia shrugged, but she knew how to answer. "You're a good friend, that's why."
They were silent for awhile until Julia said: "Actually, you're the only friend I ever had." Max laughed. "Stop lying." "I'm not lying. Lying is how friends get lost." "How would you know if you've never had any before me?" He teased. Julia sighed. Then she said something Max wasn't expecting. "My parents were friends, and then they started lying to each other…"
Everywhere he went, Justin was feeling more and more guilty about reading Harper's journal. He basically lied to her face. He couldn't stand the thought of it. It wasn't possible for him to lie to anybody, it was something he just never did. It was even worse realizing he was going to lose a friend over that lie. It was coming back to haunt him. He might have been able to handle lying, but the pressure was building on him.
He knew he couldn't tell anyone what was going on, at least not his parents. They were already suspicious of what he was doing. He didn't want to lose their trust as well, but he had to say something, because guilt wasn't proving strongest in the mix of emotions that flooded his heart.
"Psst." Alex's automatic reaction was to turn around and glare in the direction the whisper had come from. She could see her older brother standing in the doorway. "What?" She whispered back. Justin motioned for her to come closer. She opened up the door all the way. "Can't you see we're busy?"
"Yeah, great." He answered sarcastically, trying to guide his sister to his room. They found themselves standing in the middle of his bedroom floor. "What do you want?" Alex was hoping the conversation would go quickly, she had work to do.
"Advice?" "You don't even know what you got me here for?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Not really." "Oh, well, then… bye." She started to walk out of the room, but he pulled her back. "I need your help." "What's going on with you lately?" She asked. "I don't know." Justin admitted. "So, again. Why am I here?"
"I don't have anybody else to talk to." "Conversations usually have a point. What's yours?" He looked hopeless, she looked annoyed. "Say something." She told him. "I don't even know what your problem is, maybe you should find someone who does." He gave that statement some thought, surprised at himself. "I would, but Julia probably hates my guts right now."
"Julia?" Alex echoed. "Yeah, she's the only one who actually knows what's going on in this house… and she doesn't even live here." Alex gave a silent sigh. "So what if she hates you? If you have to talk, then talk." Alex went for the door a second time and Justin let her go. She stopped at his doorway and turned around, pointing at him. "By the way, she must not hate you too much, since she put you in her painting."
"Cool." Julia said, as she and Max walked into the living room. "What is?" He asked her. "Your brother's guitar." She answered, since she saw it on the couch. "Don't touch—" She disobeyed Max's order before it was even given. She ran her fingers over the strings, too gently to actually play anything.
"C'mon." He warned, afraid she was going to get in trouble. She didn't listen and Max's sighed. "Does it have a sign on it? " He asked Julia. She made a face. "No." "Well it should. He's gonna be mad." "I don't think so." Julia replied. "I'll blackmail him." She said, flashing that sly smile of hers. "Yeah, you would." Max said, thinking about it. "Wait, with what?" "I'll find something."
"You can't blackmail him to not be mad at you." "I can't?" Julia asked. "You probably can." He decided. "Why do you keep touching it?" He asked, seeing her trace the outline of the instrument. "I'm not touching it." She argued. "I'm watching you." " I see that. I'm getting acquainted." She corrected him.
"Getting acquainted." Max repeated, sounding annoyed. "You're putting your fingers all over Justin's guitar." When he said that, Julia knew he was only teasing her. "Yes." She said. "That's how I get acquainted." Max sat down next to her. "It's not how you got acquainted with me."
Feeling guilty, like she'd done something wrong, Julia put the guitar down. She turned Max's face to her as she touched it, but didn't do that for too long, thinking she would scare him and that the whole situation was just plain awkward. She didn't notice the sad look on his face when she went back to the guitar.
"Now can you let me play?" She asked. Max was almost as shocked by that as he was when she touched his face. "You… play?" "I do." She answered matter-of-factly. "What do you want me to play?" "Anything." "Alright." She started strumming chords, and it took awhile for Max to realize what song she was playing, since she put her own spin on it. It took a few seconds for him to figure out that it was "Everlong" by Foo Fighters. He was impressed, and smiled the whole time Julia was playing.
"Where did you learn how to play?" Max asked her. "Well, the first time I ever saw a guitar I was in a pawn shop. With my dad. On one of our many adventures. The second I saw it, I just picked it up and started playing. I was terrible my first try so I just kept playing. The owner wasn't mad because, I guess, he'd never seen anything like it. I remember my dad asked me why I play 'til my fingers blistered."
"What did you say?" "I told him that that was true dedication, and there was nothing better than music." Max nodded in agreement, but then Julia said: "Except love, but they're tied." She was almost gushing. "In fact, I don't think there's a difference. If one comes without the other, it's not real… and it's not worth it."
"Where do you come up with these things?" Max asked her, making her laugh silently. "It's just how I always felt, I guess." She told him. Max thought about that for a second and said: Wanna see my songbook?" "Why didn't you tell me you had one before?" Julia asked him, smiling. "Why didn't you ask?" "Why didn't you just tell me?" "Why do you have to be the kind of friend that doesn't let it go after that?" Julia shrugged. "It keeps you talking, I guess." She admitted.
"You like it when I talk?" "What's wrong with when you talk?" "Most people think it's annoying." "Most people don't know you like I do. You live up to your name." "I still haven't figured out what it means." Max admitted. "Your name? Oh, come on. It's so obvious."
"To you, maybe." He replied, getting up from the couch to walk upstairs. Julia held him back for a second. "To put it simply, you're the best." "What's your name mean?" "Well, Julia means 'forever young' and Wyatt means 'brave, strong and ready for combat'." She told him, laughing. "What's your middle name mean?" "Loved and slender." She answered quickly. "What is your middle name, anyway?" "I'm not telling you, it's embarrassing." "I'll be your best friend." He said. Julia rolled her eyes. "Max, you are my best friend."
Justin walked past his brother's room to find Julia sitting crossed-legged on the floor, flipping through his song book. He almost laughed because her eyes were glued to the pages, and he could relate. He was going to just leave her alone, but he remembered what Alex had said and felt obligated to ask for advice. So, he knocked on the open door. "It's for you." Max said. She giggled. "How do you know?" "He's right." Justin said. "Can I ask you a question?" Julia got up and walked out into the hallway.
"That all depends." She whispered. "If you wanna discuss anything related to your latest piece of reading material, then I'm definitely not up for that." "Okay. Technically, it's not my latest piece of reading material because I'm finished with it." "Oh, good. That means there's nothing to talk about, then." "You're the only one who can help me figure out what to do."
"No. You're the only one who can help you figure out what to do. I can't tell you how to feel." "Who said I was feeling… anything?" Julia gave Justin a look. "Please, since I moved here, Jarper's my new favorite couple." "Hey!" "That just my opinion, though." She reminded him. "Okay, whatever." He said, trying to not to sound mean. "Just… what am I supposed to say now? I don't know how to talk to her anymore."
"Why do you even have to talk?" "Well, what else am I gonna do?" Justin lowered his tone to a whisper. "Give Harper the silent treatment for the rest of my life?" "No. I think you should say something, I just don't think you should talk when you do." "What does that mean?" He just looked at her, hopeless. Before walking back into Max's room, Julia said: "You're smart, Justin. You'll figure it out."
He gave another heavy sigh and Julia went back to her spot on the floor. Justin walked away knowing she wasn't going to do anything more to help him. He knew she was mad, she had a right to be. Plus, she made a point. This was her problem, not hers.
"Hey, Max?" He looked at Julia. "Yeah?" "Did I ever thank you for taking me to see my dad?" He shook his head. "It's okay. You were kind of tired, and besides, you're probably still annoyed with me for putting the phone right up to your ear." Thinking about what happened last time he did something wrong, Max said: "It's fine if not thanking me is your payback, you know."
Julia laughed lightly, and stood up to face Max. She walked up to him slowly, and gave him a hug. He smiled and hugged her back. "Thank you, Max." She said. A second later, her lips touched his skin.
A second after that, she was standing over him, wondering how he could've possibly passed out.
Finally, I got to update! How was it? The reson behind the song choice (just in case anyone was wondering) is because of one of the behind the scenes features when the actors listed what was on their iPods. I'll try to update soon!