A/N thanks for all the reviews guys! They really mean a lot to me! I don't own WOWP but i really like it! Lol
Alex woke up the next morning in her bed in the guest room. She was confused. How did she get there? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the beach. She sat up in the white bed and thought for a second. Justin must've carried her upstairs. For some reason that made her smile and brought a warm feeling to her chest. She kicked off the blankets and skipped downstairs to see Justin and Emma laughing over orange juice and cereal.
"Hi, Alex!" Justin said, smiling at her.
His smile made the warmth in her chest flow through her veins and her whole body until she felt as if she was glowing. "Hi, Justin!" She said back.
He looked a bit confused about why she was acting so happy to see him, and honestly she didn't know why, but he didn't say anything just poured her a glass of juice and passed her the cereal.
"I was just telling Justin about my class." Emma said. "I teach fourth grade at the local public school. That's why I have the summer off."
"Cool!" Alex exclaimed. "You get the whole summer off? Maybe I should be a teacher. Oh, wait. That would involve being in school. Pfft, nevermind."
Justin rolled his eyes but grinned. Alex felt a fluttery feeling in her stomach and was confused. What the hell?
"I was thinking of going into town today." Emma said. "I need to pick up some groceries. Do you guys want to come?"
"Yeah, sure." Alex said. "Is there like an internet cafe or something I could go to? I hate not having any contact to my friends."
She didn't own a laptop and Justin didn't bring his. He didn't want to talk to anyone from New York. He also didn't bring his phone and he threw hers into the ocean. Emma didn't have a computer and she wouldn't let Alex call long distance to New York.
"Yeah, there is." Emma said. "Justin and I could get the groceries while you chat online with your friends. And then after we can go to the art gallery and talk to the owner."
Alex wanted to squeal with delight. Instead she played it cool and just nodded while saying calmly, "Yeah sure, whatever."
Justin grinned at her and glared at him. They finished breakfast and Emma cleared up the table while Justin and Alex raced upstairs to the bathroom.
Justin got there first (he wasn't faster, he just had longer legs!) and Alex tugged on his arms and tried to wiggle past him.
"Alex!" He shouted. "Stop it! I got here first!"
"Yeah, but you take forever in the shower! Let me go first!" She demanded.
"No!" He yelled. "I was here first!"
She managed to wiggle past him into the bathroom and shouted, "HA!" in his face. But before she could slam the door, he picked her up by her waist and dropped her into the hall. He then slammed and locked the bathroom door.
"JUSTIN!" She shrieked, pounding on the bathroom door. "THIS ISN'T FAIR! LET ME IN!"
He just laughed and said, "Leave me alone, Alex."
She pouted and stomped back to her room. She picked up her wand and ran back to the bathroom door.
"I need to get in and my brother locked me out, unlock this door don't make me scream and shout." Alex said, waving her wand at the door. She always was good at Make 'Em Ups.
When the door clicked open, she burst through. Only to see Justin standing naked in the shower. She screamed then he screamed and wrapped the shower curtain around himself and she put her hands over her eyes.
"GET OUT!" He shrieked at her. She gladly obeyed.
She ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She collapsed onto her bed in her light blue room and shivered. She so didn't mean to see that. Thankfully, she didn't get a good look down there, she mostly only saw his chest. Which was dripping with hot water and like, really built. He also had really toned arms. When did Justin get so muscular? It was kind of... no. Don't go there. She decided to skip the shower and dressed quickly in a miniskirt and a powder blue three-quarter length t-shirt with a white tank top over top with blue and yellow flowers on it. She completed her look with yellow high-tops and a side ponytail.
Emma called her and Justin down; they were leaving to go to into Faireville which was only a fifteen minute drive away. She left her room and walked down the stairs to see Justin standing fully clothed at the front door. She blushed and didn't look at him. He was wearing a green t-shirt with jeans which made his eyes look brighter. His hair was still wet from the shower. Emma didn't notice the tension and piled them all into her old car. It looked like it had used to be turquoise but rust and salty air and darkened it. They drove silently into town. Emma dropped her off at the internet cafe and promised to be back in half an hour.
Alex bought a strawberry Danish and vanilla mocha coffee and bought a half hour pass to the computer. She logged onto Facebook and checked her friend's statuses.
Zeke Beakermean just invented a Robo-Dog. Go, Fido!
Max Russo wonders why we can't have clouds as pets.
Theresa Russo misses her babies : (
Alex felt a pang of guilt for hurting her mom but the next status made her freeze.
Mason Greyback is lonely in London.
Alex felt her hands shake. She bit her lip and nervously looked around the empty cafe. She shivered as she re-read the black and white words sent from a computer thousands of miles away. She missed him. She missed Mason with all of her heart. She ached for him and wished he wasn't so far away. But he was stubborn and she knew she could never change his mind. She sighed and moved on before painful memories could haunt her.
She scrolled down the homepage looking at posts from her friends from school. The computer dinged, signally someone wanted to chat with her online.
Harper Finkle: Alex! I've missed you so much! How's Florida?
Alex Russo: good i guess. Justin threw my phone into the ocean so i couldn't text u. howz new york?
Harper Finkle: We're all good. Except things at the Sub Shop have been crazy. Max and I have been working double shifts because you and Justin aren't here. Your mom's pretty upset, though. She wanted to go down the Florida the second she knew where you two were. But you guys have the IPP and your dad was too cheap to buy plane tickets.
Alex Russo: lol ya that sounds like dad! florida is actually pretty cool. everyone is nice and no one gets mugged! people actually say hi when they see you on the streets! and not just the crazy people!
Harper Finkle: That's great, Alex! How's Justin's mother? Your parents were telling me about her, she sounds pretty cool.
Alex Russo: she is! shes setting me up with this art dealer and shes been super nice to justin about all of this! we r staying with her for the summer. I don't know what we r doing next.
Harper Finkle: Maybe I can talk your parents into visiting you at Labour Day. We can come down to Florida for the weekend and you can come back to New York with us!
Alex Russo: i dunno. justin seems like he doesn't want N E more contact with the fam. maybe i can change his mind by the end of the summer? if he gets all the info he wants from emma maybe he would be ready to go back home? i have to go now harper, ttyl!
Harper Finkle: Okay, bye Alex! Say hi to Justin for me!
Alex logged off the computer just as it was about to shut down. She threw out the wrapper for her Danish and the cup from her coffee and waited on a bench outside for Emma and Justin. They pulled up and Alex hopped in the back seat. They drove through the town to the art gallery and Emma chatted easily with Justin and Alex. Even Justin seemed to get over his earlier embarrassment about being walked in on in the shower. They parked by the art gallery and they all got out. Alex stopped in front of the door. She just couldn't walk in.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Justin asked her when he noticed she wasn't following.
"I-I can't do it." Alex said in a rare moment of insecurity.
"Why not?" He said to her, confused.
"Because... because I'm not really an artist." She cried suddenly. "I'm just an amateur! I paint in an abandoned train tunnel with homeless people! I'm not ready for a real gallery!"
Emma decided that would be the time to wander off and let Justin handle this.
"Hey," He said softly, putting both his hands on her shoulders. "You are a real artist. I've seen your paintings; you're really good. And I'm not a liar."
Alex shrugged. She stared cautiously at the doorway to the art gallery. She took a deep breath and balled her fists. "Okay." She said. "Let's do this."
She pushed open the door and a bell jingled over it. She was clutching her portfolio she summoned from her home in New York the other day. A man walked out from a back room with a big grin on his face. He had messy brown hair that flopped over his eyes and kind blue eyes. He was tall and gangly and seemed a little clumsy.
"Hi!" He said, holding out his hand to Alex for her to shake. "My name's Mark Harrison. Are you the artist Emma was talking about? Alex Russo?"
Alex shrugged and flicked her hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, I guess."
Mark grinned. "Well, let's see some of your work!"
She handed him her portfolio and he flipped through it slowly. He had a look of deep concentration on his face as he studied each painting. Alex was dying to know his opinion.
"I like them." He finally said with a smile. "They are daring and bold. I can see you have real potential. I would like to hang your paintings in my gallery. If they become popular, I'll give you a part in a show for emerging artists I'm putting on in two weeks. My friend from Tampa is coming as well to check out the local artists. If you impress him, he could really set you up in Tampa and maybe all over the US."
Alex was feeling lightheaded. This was all going so fast. One day she was just another teenager in the Freedom Tunnel and now she's in an art gallery!
"Thank you." She said sincerely to Mark. "I'll work on some new pieces for you. Thank you so much!"
He laughed and said, "You're welcome. Why don't you get back to me with those new pieces and in the meantime, I'll hang your paintings up and see what people think."
Alex couldn't stop grinning. She walked back outside where Justin and Emma were waiting for her and didn't have to say anything. Justin already knew from the look on her face.
"He's hanging your paintings in the gallery?" He shrieked.
Alex squealed with delight and Justin grabbed her and spun her around like he did when he was covered in food and she was wearing that magazine dress of Harper's. She laughed and he grinned at her. For some reason, her breath caught in her throat. Must be the excitement.
"I'm so proud of you!" He said.
"Congratulations, Alex." Emma said. "I think this deserves ice cream!"
She led them down the street to quaint looking ice cream parlour. They walked up to the counter and placed their orders. There were more choices in ice cream then Alex had ever seen in her life. She finally decided on Very Berry Strawberry. She used to love chocolate ice cream, but ever since the Spanish Pocket Elf fiasco, she hasn't much of a liking for chocolate.
Justin ordered Mint Chocolate Chip and Emma ordered Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake. They settled down at a table by the window and just talked and laughed. Alex caught Justin's eye and smiled at him, making her stomach erupt in butterflies again. Whatever this feeling was, it was very odd, but not altogether bad.
A/N whew that took me a long time to write. I. Hate. Exams. Sorry if i don't update in a long time, my parents like to take away my computer while it's exam time. But i really hope you review and tell me what you thought of it!