All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 21 (Epilogue)

*About 4 months later*

Alex listened to 'Us Zabs' on her music player. It was a song she'd downloaded off of their MrSpace page. they also had a WizFace profile, and she downloaded the song there as well, but she can only listen to it at home, since it also came with its home music video that magically left the computerscreen to play in front of you. right now, Alex was bent over her sketch pad as she sketched her best friend and brother, who were across the street in the sub shop. In the picture, Justin held up a plate with a sandwich and fries, which he held up in a 'your sandwich, mi'lady' type of gesture. Harper, who was in the booth seat, was looking up at Justin as if she was trying not to laugh at him.\

Across the street, however, Harper and Justin were sitting across deom eachother as they both read from a Shakespear play, the plate between them empty. Alex had to admit, if they ever stopped beating around the bush in cautious consideration of Alex's feelings, the two of them would make a cute couple. Alex looked down again, this time at her cup, which was empty. It was just as well. thought it was summertime now, she knew that she shouldn't stay up all night. Still, she was sad that her cup was empty so quickly. It really was a good cup of coffee.

the bell sounded as the door to Hagerty Beans opened up, and Max came inside. Without a word, Max's Companion Yuu (originally 'You' but changed after Max made an error when he painted the dog house he made in shop class with the wrong lettering) sat down right next to the door and waited for Max patiently, just as he had for the past four months. Yuu quickly became a great addition to the Russo family, and the changes in Max were noticable. Though he didn't become a genious overnight, he showed a lot of improvement both in school and in his magical studies. Justin loved having a dog in the house again, and even Alex liked when Yuu put his head on her knee when she did art projects at the table. It made Alex somewhat eager to meet her own Companion, and she was curious to konw what animal it would be.

"Wow, you're really good," a new voice said, which caused Alex to look up suddenly. Melissa stood by her table with a coffee pot in her hand. Alex and Melissa had spoke a lot before, usually about the competition and music in general. Since her time as a human radio on shuffle, she had a lot of new knowledge on the subject. As far as Alex knew, Melissa had never seen her art, even though Alex spent just about every day there, drinking coffee and thinking of new things to create.

"Oh! Thanks," Alex said. She studied Melissa for a second more before she said, "Nice highlights." Melissa, as far as Alex knew, had dirty blonde hair, so it was a bit surprising to see the new white/blonde streaks. the barista put her fingers through her hair, almost as if she'd forgotten that she had changed her hair.

"Yeah, thanks. The hairdresser was frustrated about the slow buisness, so he put highlights in for free out of boredom."

"He did a good job," Alex commented. Melissa smiled. Alex looked out the window at Justin, who had his hand up as he spoke out a part of the play he and Harper were reading. A couple of people were watching them, and some even looked impressed. "You couldn't really tell now, but my brother had a crush on you," Alex said somewhat out of the blue. She wasn't sure why she said that, actually. She felt she wanted to say something, but didn't know exactly what to say to her. Now that she thought about it, though, she wondered if Justin's crush on Melissa was real or if it was a front so that Alex wouldn't find out who he really loved.

Melissa also looked across the street. "Oh yeah? I'm glad he got over it. Though I like brunettes, the type I like tend to... keep it longer," the blonde said. She tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and wouldn't look at Alex. It took the middle Russo a moment to realize just what Melissa told her.

Alex had come out to her family and to Harper, and thanks to the redhead, Ales now owned the promised potholders (a good 5 months early, mind), but she wasn't yet at the stage where she felt comfortable wearing rainbow colored pride things like one of the regulars in detention did. She had gone with Harper to the gay pride parade, and she could swear that Harper had more fun than she did. then again, it was pretty crazy there, and Harper is, well, Harper, so it shouldn't have surprised her as much as it had.

"Ah," Alex said, and motioned across the street. She swallowed before she said, "the redhead," as if that would explain it all, and Melissa nodded as if it had.

"And now she's with your brother?" Melissa asked, watching as Harper stood up and looked down to Justin as she read out her part from the play.

"Well..." Alex said, not sure how to answer that, since they werne't really together. Yet.

"That must hurt," Melissa said somewhat softly.

"It did, once, but they've been good about getting close when I'm not around to preserve my feelings or something. I've gotten better about it. Besides, I figured that falling for a straight girl was like some lesbian right of passage or something."

"You're stronger than me, then. I don't know if I could be okay with it."

"I don't know, maybe i time you would," Alex said as she put more shading on her picture where the plate's shadow gfell over parts of Justin's wrist. "I'm glad that she didn't end up hating me or that our friendship hasn't gotten too weird, but knowing now that you're... like me makes it easier. I need a friend like that."

"Definately," Melissa agreed.

"Missy!" came a yell fro the back, "It's not your break yet, so quit yer chitchat and help me stock the Seattle brew!"

Melissa made a 'yikes' face to Alex, who returned one with a guilty look of her own. "Guess I've gotta get back to it, but if you ever need to talk about it- or anything really, then you know where to find me."

"Yeah, the same goes for you, too. Or if you just want a free sandwhich, I'm right across the street," Alex repleied. She was just about to ask Melissa if she would want to go see the lesbian film 'Fire' with her that Friday at the dollar theater, but there was another shout from the back.

"MISSY! TALK TO RUSSO LATER!"

"Alright! Coming!" Melissa shot back. The two of them exchanged a look that said they'd talk some other time, and the older girl hurried to p;ut back on the burner before she disappeared.

Alex smiled at the scene that'd just happened. Her gaze then went back to Justin across the street. Harper was reading now, and Max had joined the small group of spectators. She let out a small laugh as she added in a little more blush to 'Sketch Harper's cheeks before she paused for just a minute. Then, she turned the page to start anew.

The End