Justin Vincenzo Pepé Russo.
His name leaves a bitter, dark taste on the tip of her tongue. Alex Russo grimaced thinking about the brother who had been her whole life, now left her behind in the cold, irritating dust.
He had been there to hold her when she was born. He was there when she said her first word, which was his name. He was there when she did all of her firsts as a baby. Held her hand on the first day of school, when she got her first bad grade, when she had her first boyfriend, when she had her first breakup, when she was betrayed by Gigi and when she did all of her stupid pranks in high school.
But the family wizard competition had changed everything; it had changed him from the warm, protective brother she always had known him to be, to the proud, arrogant jerk he became when he was appointed the next headmaster of WizTech.
And when he married Juliet, he had officially sealed his ticket to the exit door of her life; he left her to deal with broken hearts, loss, grief and succumb to the harsh reality all on her own. Alex had remembered when Justin had announced that he was getting married.
The brunette family wizard had recently broken up with her werewolf boyfriend, as he was too much of a chicken to be with her after she won the competition for him. She made it clear to him and her own family that she had broken from the emotionally straining on-again-off-again relationship by moving out into her own apartment.
Alex would call her parents from time to time, and even email Harper and her boyfriend Zeke frequently. If it was someone who she was tightly knit with, it was Harper. And Harper had come to realize how much of an elitist Justin became and had grown to share Alex's resentment for the new headmaster.
Alex had gone down to the first floor of the apartment complex and check the mail. She knew her bill was supposed to come any day, and she knew she would have to go somewhere in secret to conjure money for the payment. But as she jammed her bronze key into the box labeled with her apartment number (thinking wistfully how it wasn't apartment number 13B), she had a feeling of dread when instead of a pile of bills she was met with a single fancy and heavy envelope in the box.
She wanted to chuck it in the trash when she saw the expensive frills, lace and sequins coat the outer layer of the envelope; she knew damn well it was a wedding invitation. And only one family member had been planning on tying the knot in the near future. But she decided to grab the envelope and slam the tiny mailbox door closed and stomp upstairs.
When she slammed the door behind her, she dropped her keys on the counter and slumped down on the couch and stared at her only piece of mail for a couple of minutes; her apartment was soaked in a pregnant silence. But then instead of chucking it in the shredder she had in the corner of her living room, she opened it gently. An adjective she wasn't normally associated with.
She opened the envelope and her dread was proven correct, Justin really was inviting her to his wedding, after YEARS of not speaking to her, after YEARS of not bothering what's up with her life, and YEARS of bothering to be a real brother.
Rage coursed her veins as she came to a chilling realization; he doesn't give a flying duck about her. Justin only needed her to be part of this false 'picture-perfect' family at his wedding. He wanted to use her like a pawn in his chess game, to convince Juliet's side of the family that his own was a functioning, happy and tight-knit. Like they expect them to be.
Her cell phone rings, and Alex looks at the caller, and to her annoyance, she knows it is Juliet… sweet Juliet, who knows nothing of his wicked dark ways of manipulating people.
"Hey Jules, what's up?" Alex calls out in false cheeriness, using her friend's nickname she used a long time ago.
"It has been a while since I heard that," Juliet admitted, "I loved it, missed it in fact."
"Is there a reason you called? Because I have work in an hour," Alex lied; she told her parents she has a job as an artist.
"Yes, I'll make it quick. You coming to my wedding?" Juliet asked hopefully; and for some reason Alex wanted to string her on and say yes, but she knew it would be best to sever ties with the blonde vampire just like Harper did, it was the only way to live her life free of troubles.
"I'll have to see," Alex said, glancing briefly at the location of the wedding next week; it was in Hawaii.
"Alex, you're a wizard, not a mortal," Juliet sighed in annoyance, "Can't you just flash here?"
It was then Alex realized that Juliet had changed and she knew why Harper wanted nothing to do with her; Justin rubbed his nasty influence on her. No wonder even their parents wanted to associate much with the two of them either; Jerry and Theresa agreed to be all fake smiles at the wedding and hoped to recede into the quiet atmosphere of the Waverly Sub Station with Max and Alex.
"Yeah and almost expose myself to mortals? I will have to think about it," Alex snapped and said, "I will see. And don't push your luck."
With that, Alex ungracefully slammed her thumb on the red phone button on her touchscreen smartphone, hanging up on Juliet and ending their conversation.
While the phone was buzzed alight with constant calls from Juliet, knowing damn well Juliet couldn't flash her pasty butt to her apartment, Alex could just make out an alert of a message from Harper Finkle.
Harper: You're not going, right?
Alex: Hell no. I think I know why you hate her.
Harper: Yeah, I think HE rubbed off on her.
Alex: It's a pity though, I would've still loved her if she could at least wing her eyeliner.
Alex huffed, the memory melting away into nothingness, leaving her in present day. She was sitting in the couch of her own apartment, not her old home near their family owned sub shop. No, she's past the painful memories. This time, she was going to selfishly live her own life the way she wants to. Tired of being used by Justin as some trophy, some sort of prop to bolster his 'affectionate brother' façade he had developed over their lifetimes.
"This time, I'm my own person, and I know no Justin Russo. He died along with my trust," Alex whispered bitterly as she poured herself a big glass of dark, bitter, red wine. The strongest wine she could find at the nearest grocery store.
And somehow, as she gulped her drink down rather quickly, she could've sworn it tasted much sweeter on her tongue than saying his name.
Justin didn't show up to her college graduation. Not like she wanted him there.
Justin didn't show up to her door for her birthday. Not like she wanted to see his face.
Justin didn't send her anymore emails. Not like she wanted to read them.
Justin didn't acknowledge the holidays to her. Not like she wanted his warm wishes.
And his texts dwindled. Whenever he did text her or Harper, he ended it with 'Justin & Juliet' but neither of them responded to them. They kept the couple on read. And eventually he stopped trying to text them. Not like they wanted to read their crappy, well-constructed messages. And eventually, Alex deleted her conversation thread with her brother, which had all of the text messages she ever sent to Justin from every phone she had (as they transferred over when she got a new phone).
A month later, Alex deleted all the photos of him from her phone. She changed the wallpaper and lock screen to a picture of her and Harper, the closest people who stuck with her thick through thin. Alex unfriended him on social media and deleted all pictures of him from the accounts.
When people asked, why did his pictures disappear, Alex said she was running out of storage space. And that she had to get rid of some junk. They believed her but didn't understand the dark undertone of her words. They thought she needed some available space. And in a way, she did.
Two years passed since his wedding. Alex hadn't thought about him since she was all caught up with dating around casually, hopefully finding a good wizard boyfriend. She was also excited about being the godmother of Harper and Zeke's baby boy.
As she went through a bin of her old stuff, she found the wedding invitation. The perfume of vanilla clung to it, and Alex's stomach twisted in disgust.
Vanilla, the scent vampires use to cover death and decay.
She had meant to throw it away but each time it was a blend of guilt and her parents' pleading to not do it. She hates her brother but can't bring herself to part with the wedding invitation. It will always be the pomegranate stain on her white dress, the flaw in her otherwise happy life.
Alex's phone vibrated and she saw a text from Max.
Max: So, mom and dad told me to tell you Justin and Juliet are expecting a baby in December.
Alex: Please don't ruin my favorite holiday besides my birthday.
Max: It has been two years. Can you let it go?
Alex: He had been there our whole lives. This isn't an ex-friend of five years. I will never forgive him for abandoning the family for his inflated egoistic life.
Max: I know, I hate him too. But I am saving face and heartbreak by texting him once in a while. Maybe you should do it too. Maybe it can help you find some closure.
Alex: …I'll see about it.
But Alex never texted Justin. Not after she deleted their conversation thread.
The sickly-sweet smell was invading her nostrils and making the dinner she had just thirty minutes ago threaten to resurface again, so she shoved the heavy wedding invitation in the box, messily scooped up the rest of her memorabilia in there too, and shoved it the highest shelf of her walk-in closet. Hopefully she wouldn't have to touch it again for years to go.
Dear brother,
You may have forgotten me, but let me remind you exactly who I am.
I am Alexandra Margarita Russo. Your younger sister. Second oldest Russo sibling. Soon to be the aunt of your child. You were among the first people to hold me right after my birth. You played with me the most, held me the most, and spoke with me the most.
You were the first word I ever said.
You were the person to see all of my firsts as an infant, toddler and child.
You were there to congratulate me for my first A.
You were there to comfort me for my first F.
You were there to support my first relationship with a boy.
You were there to hug me after my first breakup and nursed my broken heart.
You were there for my Quinceañera
You were there for each of my pranks.
And now you left me in the dust. They sting my eyes and now I cry. Suddenly you expect me to be okay enough to show up to your wedding and probably the baby shower, after giving me the cold shoulder for years. No. I am not your doll. You don't get to use, break, discard and expect me to be brand-new with the snap of your fingers. I am happy without you, because I don't have a thorn in my side, that thorn which is you.
Goodbye forever. Thank you for all of the memories, even though they are faded.
From,
Your biological sister
A/N: Yeah this is based off of my life. No, I don't and never did have a boyfriend but I do have a cousin who was there my whole life and then just isolated me once he got married. And in my senior year, one weekend he had the NERVE to demand me to come halfway across the country (and pay for all of my airfare ticket and travel expense) for his wedding. Since I didn't come he threw a tantrum and didn't come to my high school graduation, which I am really happy about. I don't want to deal with him at all. And he and his wife are expecting a child. A child who I will never meet.