Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock or Wizards of Waverly Place or t.A.T.u. or any of their songs.

Ah, my trip was amazing! Thanks so much for the reviews and good trip wishes. They are much appreciated.

Alex Russo was never a well-behaved child. Even as a young girl, she was always cooking up schemes to get her older brother Justin and/or her younger brother Max into trouble. And when she got to her teen years, it only got worse. She fell into a rebellious stage, much to the annoyance of her parents. Visits to dorky Principal Laritate's office were almost a daily event. Her grades were nothing short of terrible, and if she didn't have her extracurricular activities to back her up, she probably wouldn't be passing at all. But that was her sophomore year.

In her junior year, Alex refused to return to the cheer squad, which she'd been forced to join in the first place. And she was sooo done with Happy Helpers club. She wasn't a kiss ass and she didn't like kiss asses, so that club wasn't for her. And you could forget about her painting another mural for the school!

The only thing Alex really cared about this year was having as much fun as possible. Over the summer, she'd come to terms with the fact that Justin was going to win the family wizard competition, so there was no point in even trying. She was going to enjoy her magic while she still had it, not a care in the world if she was being irresponsible about it.

That's the biggest thing that set Alex apart from all the other slackers in school. She was a wizard, which meant she had to try to underachieve because she could zap her homework done if she really wanted to. Her father had been a wizard, but had given his powers to his younger brother Kelbo. See, in the magical community, there was a rule that there could only be one wizard within a set of children. So, since Alex was in the middle of her two brothers, once Max turned eighteen, the three Russo children would have to battle for the family's magic; the winner would become a full wizard while the other two would lose their powers forever.

All her life, Justin had been the perfect child. He balanced schoolwork and wizard lessons without even breaking a sweat. He had graduated last year as valedictorian. Never in his life had he received a B, while a B would be a miracle for Alex. Justin had even managed to complete all of his wizard lessons, which meant he got to use magic however he pleased−as long as he didn't violate wizard law, that is. But Justin would never even dream of breaking a rule, unlike his younger sister. He was the epitome of dork, in Alex's opinion.

And then there was Max. If it wasn't for him, Alex would be considered the dumb one in the family. It was hard to believe that he and Alex and Justin were born to the same parents. Everything Justin was, Alex and Max were not. Max was basically a younger, male form of Alex, just less cunning and a lot messier.

Essentially, Alex felt she and Max were no competition for Justin. So why fight fate? She would just let Justin have the family magic and use it while she could. What did it matter if she messed up big time and exposed her family as wizards? No mortals were supposed to know about wizards. The only non-mythical person that knew the family's secret (besides their human mother, that is) was Alex's weird best friend Harper that sometimes wore fruit as clothing; but she wasn't about to tell anyone. If anyone else found out about them, they'd all lose their powers. No more magic for the Russos. Too bad for Justin. Her family losing magic wouldn't really affect Alex since she was going to lose her magic anyway. So, if it didn't affect her, therefore, it didn't matter.

The only person Alex cared about was Alex, and as far as she was concerned, that was a good thing. But as far as the universe was concerned, little Miss Alex Russo needed a serious wake up call.

"Alex, you're going to get caught!" Harper Finkle said to her best friend Alex Russo. Harper put her hands on her hips, carefully avoiding the belt made of flowers she was wearing; in her red hair, there was a matching flower headband that she'd made herself, just like pretty much all of her clothes.

Alex sighed and took the cigarette she was about to light away from her lips. "Harper, I'm not going to get caught," she said, running a hand through her long, wavy black hair. "Have I ever been caught before?"

"Yes," Harper replied without hesitation.

"Like when?" Alex asked, playing with the plastic lighter in her hand.

"Pretty much every single time you've ever done something," the red head replied. "You're not as slick as you think you are, Alex."

"I am too slick!" The part Hispanic girl exclaimed. She twirled the cigarette around in her fingers. She was two years too young to purchase them, but in New York City, they were pretty easy to come by. This would be the first time she'd ever tried smoking.

"Someone's going to come in and bust you and I don't want to be here when that happens," Harper said, eyeing the door.

"And who's going to come in, Harper?" Alex snapped. "This is the most disgusting bathroom in school, and it's way at the end of the hall, the farthest one from lockers and the cafeteria. There's old, dried piss all over the floor, mold growing in the sinks, grime on the mirrors, and to top it off, only one toilet works; and the door to its stall is missing completely. No one uses this place. Ever. We're safe."

"Why do you want to smoke anyway?" Harper asked, changing the subject.

"Because it's a classic rebel move," Alex said sarcastically. "Just to say I've done it, okay? It's not like I want to get hooked on it or anything."

"With addiction, you don't really have a choice in the matter," Harper said flatly.

Alex glared at her friend, defiantly bringing the cigarette back up to her lips, placing it in her mouth. Harper watched with a shocked expression as the young wizard flicked on the lighter, lit the cancer stick, and took a small drag. As soon as the smoke started to make its way down her throat, Alex began to cough. The smoke didn't even have time to hit her lungs.

Pounding herself on the chest and gasping for breath, Alex caught Harper giving her an 'I told you so' look. One thing Alex hated was other people being right, especially about her. Taking a few deep breaths, she was able to get her breathing under control before taking another drag. This time, she didn't even let it get past her mouth. As soon as the smoke was in her mouth, she blew it out.

"Smooth," she said with a grin, pretending like she knew what she was talking about.

Harper rolled her eyes. "Okay, Alex, you've made your point, now put that thing out!"

"No," Alex said, moving the cigarette out of Harper's grasp when she tried to reach for it. "I want to finish it," she said, flicking the ashes in the full garbage can in the corner that probably hadn't been cleaned out since the 90's.

"Do you always have to be so stubborn?" Harper asked, very annoyed.

"Yes," Alex said with a huge, devious smile and took another drag, trying her best not to have another coughing fit. She took a few more, looking around the bathroom in disgust. "They really should clean this place. Fix it up so it's useable. I have no idea how it meets health code regulations," Alex said, glancing at her watch to see how much time was left of her lunch period.

"Uh…Alex…" Harper's eyes were the size of saucers and her face was turning pale.

"What?" Alex agitatedly asked, pushing off the wall to look where Harper was pointing. She then noticed that the trashcan she'd been using as an ash tray had a trail of smoke coming from it and the inside was lit up by flames that were starting to get larger and larger as the seconds went by. "Shit!" Alex exclaimed, rubbing the cigarette butt out on the bottom of her shoe like she'd seen in the movies.

The frantic young wizard ran over to the sinks, turning the knobs to get water to extinguish the flames. But it was no use. None of the sinks worked. Then Alex realized it wouldn't matter if they did because she had nothing to put the water in anyway.

"Harper, I don't know how to put this out!" Alex cried, heart beating like crazy with panic.

"Well… See ya in P.E.!" Harper yelled her classic line, followed by a speedy exit.

"Harper!" Alex yelled after her, but it was no use. Her friend was gone. "Some friend," the girl muttered to herself before focusing on the situation again. Thinking quickly, she took out her wand and pointed it at the flaming trashcan. As soon as she did, though, her mind went blank. "Oh God, what's that spell?" She wondered aloud, tapping the side of her head to remember. She knew she knew it; she'd used it on her vacation with her family when she ended up fixing it so that her parents had never met and she and her brothers had never been born (long story). But she could not for the life of her remember it at that moment.

A small cry of surprise escaped her lips as the entire garbage caught flame, sending a wave of heat throughout the room. Not knowing what to do, Alex did what she did best in these situations: she ran.

Alex stood outside the cafeteria doors, trying to get her bearings. She sniffed her purple t-shirt with the peace sign on the front to make sure she didn't smell like smoke; she did. Digging in her purse, she found her body spray and gave herself a few squirts with it. Sniffing herself again, she smiled. Much better. She sprayed closer to the ground and walked through the mist, just in case the smell was on her dark skinny jeans or black Converse sneakers too.

When she was sure her face held a look of calm, cool, and collective, she entered the cafeteria. A few people waved at her and she nodded in their general direction, not showing much interest. That was how she did things.

As she passed by, Harper caught her by the arm. "Did you put it out?" the red head hissed at her rebellious friend.

"Put what out?" Alex asked innocently, her brown eyes aimed across the room, where the food was being distributed.

"The fire!" Harper whisper-yelled.

"Oh, that." Alex shook her head. "Nah, I figure someone else will find it and take care of it." She started to make her way towards the food, grabbing a red, plastic tray in the process.

"Alex!" Harper trailed after her. "You need to put it out or else something bad is going to happen!"

"Like what?" Alex turned to the frantic girl with the flowers in her hair.

As soon as the question was out of her mouth, a loud siren went off throughout the school. After years and years of countless drills, the students immediately recognized it as the fire alarm. The high school students groaned and stood up, annoyed to be interrupted during feeding time; they assumed it was another pesky fire drill.

"This is not a drill, people. I repeat: this is not a drill!"Mr. Laritate yelled from the doorway. "Move it!"

Once everyone realized there was an actually fire and they were in real danger, the students were rushing towards the emergency exits, pushing and shoving, trying to get out first. Alex, however, remained rooted on the spot.

"Like that!" Harper yelled over the sirens as she took Alex by the arm and started to drag her towards the doors. Once they were in the main hall, the girls looked up to see smoke starting to float from upstairs into the lower level. "Oh you've really done it this time, Alex!" Harper growled as they were pushed about by the other students to get outside.

"I have just been informed that this was not an accident," Mr. Laritate stood on a bench in front of school, addressing the student body that was scattered across the sidewalks and parking lot. They had been outside for nearly two hours. No one had been permitted to leave, even if no learning was going on. "This was an act of arson. Whoever is responsible will be found, and there will be consequences!"

"Oh no!" Harper's hands went to her cheeks in fear. "What if they find out I was with you? What if they charge me too? I can' go to jail, Alex. I just can't!"

"Harper, chill," Alex said, rolling her eyes behind her aviator sunglasses. "No one's going to jail. They're not going to catch me. And even if they do, the most they'd do is give me detention for the rest of the year."

Harper looked at her skeptically for a few seconds. "You need jail," she muttered before turning away.

Alex, who had heard the comment, simply raised an eyebrow, shook her head, then started fishing in her purse for her iPod. Placing the ear butts in her ears, she pressed the play button to continue the song she'd been listening to last: 'Not Gonna Get Us' by t.A.T.u.

She smiled a little to herself. No, they weren't gonna get her. There was no way.

"I can't believe there was a fire at your school!" Theresa Russo said as she ushered her two youngest children into their New York apartment.

"Are you kids okay?" Jerry Russo asked, rushing over and running a nervous hand through his light brown hair. He'd been worried sick when they'd gotten the call to pick up the children because there had been a fire.

"We're fine, Dad," Alex said, a slight whine in her voice as her father tried to hug her. She hated being fussed over. "Quit freaking out." She poked Jerry in his small protruding belly.

"Why wouldn't we be okay?" Max asked, dropping his bag by the door.

"Because there was a fire, Max," Theresa explained. "We were afraid you might have been hurt."

"There was a fire?" Max asked in disbelief.

"Max, you were there!" Alex plopped herself down on the couch. "Why did you think the alarm went off and we were outside?"

"I thought it was a drill." Max shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you not hear Mr. Laritate yelling 'this is not a drill!' when the alarm started going off?" Alex asked her younger brother.

"Yeah, but I thought he meant something else," the boy said, scratching the back of his head, messing up his brown hair a bit.

"What else would he have meant?" Alex asked, afraid of the answer. She held up her hands to stop Max's response. "No, don't tell me. I changed my mind. I don't want to know."

"I wonder how it started," Jerry said to his wife, ignoring the interaction between his children.

"I asked one of the other parents and she said the story was that it was an act of arson," Theresa said with a slight frown. "Who would do something like that?"

Jerry and Theresa looked over at Alex suspiciously, knowing her habit of causing chaos.

"Nah," they both said, shaking their heads. Alex liked to cause mischief, but she would never do anything this serious. They were talking about a felony, here! Alex had her moments, but their sweet little girl would never do something that serious.

As Jerry and Theresa went to sit beside their children on the couch, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Mrs. Russo said, trying to flatten her wavy brown hair before greeting guests and planting a warm smile on her face. She swung the door open to reveal Mr. Laritate, Max and Alex's principal, accompanied by two police officers. "Mr. Laritate," Theresa said, her smile fading. "What's going on?"

"We need to speak with Alex," the principal said, thumbs hooked in his suspenders. The guy seemed to think he was a cowboy or something.

"Is it serious?" Theresa asked, standing aside to let the three men in. She knew it was a stupid question because there were two cops with him, but she didn't know what else to say.

"This is very serious, ma'am," one of the officers, the African American, said, removing his hat to reveal short black hair.

"We don't need to tell you that there was a fire today at your child's school, I'm sure," the other said, placing his hands on his hips. He was a bit younger than his partner. He was frowning with his black eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes, I'm aware," Theresa said, her heart hammering in her chest. "What does that have to do with my daughter?" She looked over to see Alex trying to tip toe out of the room, to the wizard lair. "Alex!" she yelled, stopping the retreating girl.

The sixteen year old froze and turned around, painting an innocent smile on her face. "Yes, Mommy?"

"I'm going to ask you this once, Alex," Mr. Laritate said. "Did you have anything to do with the fire at school today?"

"No, sir," Alex said, shaking her head.

"You had to do this the hard way," the high school principal sighed.

"Miss Russo," the older officer addressed the young wizard, "when we checked the school's security cameras, we found footage of you going into the bathroom that was lit on fire earlier today, then later running out. It was very suspicious."

"We have reason to believe, reason the evidence supports, that you were the one that started the fire," the younger officer said, giving the girl a hard stare.

"Does this play VHS?" Mr. Laritate asked, pointing towards the family's VCR/DVD player.

"Yes." Jerry nodded grimly.

"Officer Davis," the principal motioned for the African American policeman to put the tape in.

The younger officer, Officer Peterson, grabbed Alex by the arm and brought her over to the couch, making her sit. He sat beside her and Mr. Laritate placed himself to her left. She was in the middle of authority, something she hated. Max sat himself in the nearby chair, very interested in seeing his sister get in trouble. Alex's parents stood behind the couch, Jerry's arm around Theresa to comfort her.

Officer Davis started the tape. When the black and white picture appeared on the screen, two girls walked into the frame. One was wearing a peace sign shirt and the other was using plants for clothing.

"That's Alex!" Max yelled, pointing to the screen and stating the obvious.

"Max!" Alex hissed at him, shooting daggers with her eyes.

The two girls on screen looked around cautiously before going into the bathroom, the dark haired one doing one last quick survey before pulling her head inside.

"Looks pretty suspicious to me," Peterson said, looking at Alex.

The sixteen year old just gave him a blank expression while Davis fast forwarded through the shot of the empty hall until he saw someone run out of the bathroom. He rewound and paused so that the girl was still in the frame.

"Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

"That's Alex's sidekick, Harper Finkle," Mr. Laritate clarified. "My guess is that she's innocent. Probably got dragged into the scheme against her will."

Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes. It's not like Harper didn't have free will or anything. She chose to be in that bathroom. She didn't have to go in the first place if she didn't want to.

Davis gave Alex a hard look before starting the tape again. After about another thirty seconds, the on-screen Alex ran from the bathroom, while the real life Alex kept her eyes on her Converse, intent on keeping them there. The officer then fast forwarded until a teacher appeared on the screen. The teacher sniffed the air, opened the bathroom door, stuck her head in, quickly pulled it out, coughing, and staggered toward the fire alarm, which she pulled. Davis then stopped the tape.

"So," he said, "the last person to exit the bathroom before it was found ablaze was you." He pointed at the girl.

Theresa groaned, burying her face in Jerry's shoulder.

"Start talking, Russo," Laritate said, looking at his favorite student (despite all the problems she caused) with cold eyes.

Alex sighed, knowing it was no use; she'd have to come clean. "Okay, ya got me. I did it."

"Ugh…Guh…Errr… Alex!" Jerry sputtered, unable to form decent words.

"How did you start the fire?" Officer Peterson asked, taking out his notepad to take notes.

"I was smoking," Alex said, earning a wail from both of her parents.

"Smoking?" Theresa exclaimed, lifting her head from her husband's shoulder. "Alex! What did we tell you about that?"

"It kills?" Alex questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly!" Jerry nodded, his face red and a vein popping out in his head. "So why would you do it?"

"To say I've done it?" Alex stated in a way that made it sound like a question, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway, I was flicking my ashes into the trashcan, and I guess it caught fire or something."

Officer Peterson snorted while writing. "Or something," he muttered.

Alex glared at him before continuing. "I didn't have any way to put it out, so I panicked and ran."

"Why didn't you pull the fire alarm?" Davis asked.

"I didn't want to get caught," Alex admitted.

Davis sighed and stroked his mustache. "Well, Laritate, what do you want to do? Press charges?"

Alex's eyes went wide, fear evident in the deep brown orbs. She looked at her principal, silently pleading for him to be reasonable. Laritate stared at her, torn. He'd always liked Alex, even if she did mess up more than she succeeded. He knew deep down, she was a good kid. He didn't think she deserved jail, even if she would probably benefit from it. But he loved the Russos. They'd been his favorite family since Justin had started at the school.

"No," he said slowly, "no charges."

Alex smiled gratefully as her parents sighed in relief. The officers, however, were furious.

"What?" Peterson asked, gripping his pencil so tightly he almost broke it.

"As administrator of the institution, I refuse to press chargers," Laritate said. "Your services are no longer needed. Thank you, officers."

Davis and Peterson shook their heads at each other. Peterson stood up and stormed out of the apartment; he hated seeing people get away with crimes. Davis grabbed the tape out of the VCR, threw it in Laritate's lap, then followed his partner out the door, slamming it behind him.

"Thank you, Mr. Laritate!" Alex said, loosely wrapping her arms around her principal to show her gratitude.

"How could you, Alex?" the principal stood, getting out of the hug.

"I didn't mean to," Alex said, hanging her head a little.

"That's not going to cut it this time, Russo!" Mr. Laritate ran a hand over his face. "There has to be consequences."

Alex nodded. "I know… So detention for the rest of the year?" Her principal shook his head. "A week's suspension?" she asked.

"Alex, I'm sorry, but I have no choice but to expel you," Mr. Laritate said.

"Expel me?" Alex exclaimed. "Come on, Mr. Laritate. I know I screwed up, but you can't do this to me!"

"You did this to yourself Alex," he said. "Starting tomorrow, you are never allowed to step foot on the school grounds again. I'll send your belongings from your locker home with Max tomorrow." He looked at Jerry and Theresa. "I'm sorry, my hands are tied."

"No, we understand," Jerry said quietly. "Thank you for not pressing charges. We really appreciate it." He stuck out his hand for Laritate to shake, which he did.

"No problem." He took one last look at Alex. "Have a good life, Russo," he said before turning and leaving.

Alex stood there with her mouth hanging open slightly, shocked. She turned slowly to her parents. "Mom, Dad…"

Jerry reached over the side of the couch and grabbed Alex's purse. He stuck his hand in it, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He looked at his daughter sternly. "Room…Now," was all he managed to say, crumpling the cardboard container in his hand angrily. Alex started to make her way there when Jerry stopped her. "Wait." She turned to him. Jerry stuck out his hand that wasn't holding the cigarette carton. "Wand."

Alex gasped, her hand going to the back of her jeans, where her wand was safely tucked. "Dad, no."

"Now, Alex!" Jerry yelled, his anger getting the best of him.

Alex slowly pulled her wand out, placing it in her father's hand. Jerry snatched it, and, to Alex's horror, snapped it in two.

"No more magic until further notice," he said before turning away from his stunned family and going over to the trashcan, throwing the crumpled carton of cigarettes into it along with the broken wand.

Alex bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. She turned and ran to the stairs, running up the spiral staircase as quickly as she could. She went straight to her room and slammed her door. Not because she was angry, but because she was frightened. Sure, she'd made mistakes before, but never this bad. And she'd never seen her father so angry before. He'd prohibited her from using magic before, even taken her wand, but he'd never, ever broken it.

She switched off the lights, making her room completely dark. She went over to her bed, crawling into the safety of her blankets and buried her face in her pillow.

"I really messed up this time," she muttered into the white fluffiness, overwhelmed with stupidity.

"You set the school on fire?" Justin asked, rushing into his younger sister's room, switching on the light in the process.

Alex, who had been taking a nap, sat up, very agitated from being woken up. "Justin, get out!" she threw a pillow at him.

Justin ducked, the pillow narrowly missing his head. It brushed over his brown hair, which he had gelled to stick up. "Well someone's in a grumpy mood." He sat on the edge of his sister's bed.

"What part of 'get out' do you not understand?" Alex asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Heard you got expelled, too," Justin said, receiving a nod from the sleepy girl. "What the hell were you thinking, Alex? How could you be so irresponsible?"

"Are you trying to make me feel worse, Justin?" Alex snapped. "Because if you are, you can leave. In fact, just leave. For the third time, I don't want you in here, so get out!" She pointed towards the door.

Justin ignored his sister's demand. "Did Dad take your wand?" he asked, knowing the usual punishment.

Alex brought her knees up to her chest, the sheet still over them, and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin atop. "He didn't just take it, he snapped it in two. And then he threw it in the garbage."

The eldest Russo gasped. "He didn't."

"Yeah, he did." Alex sighed. "You'd know this if you'd been here. Which, thinking of it… Where the hell have you been for the past," she checked the clock, "three hours?"

"Four hours, actually," Justin corrected. "I was in the wizarding world."

"'Kay…?" Alex asked, waiting for clarification.

"I was in one of those realms that times goes by a lot faster in," Justin said. "In this world, a year equals an hour in our time."

"So you're four years older now?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"No," Justin said, shaking his head. "Since I'm from this world, I age like I would here no matter where I go. I was just able to fit in four years of life into four human world hours. But it still felt like four years."

"What the hell took you four years?" Alex asked, frowning.

"I completed college," Justin said with a smug smile, holding up a certificate Alex just then noticed he'd been holding. "I am now a certified teacher."

"Of what?" Alex asked skeptically.

"Of English, math, science, history… Every school subject," Justin said defensively.

"Why would you get a degree you could get in our world in the wizarding world?" Alex took the certificate from Justin and looked at it.

"Because it was a lot faster, duh." Justin rolled his eyes.

"But why not get a job that you could do as a wizard?" Alex handed the certificate back. "Like the monster hunting thing you did?"

"I'm still planning to go to a university to learn wizard skills later in life, I just wanted to have a back up human job in case I lose the wizard competition," Justin said.

"Justin, you're not going to lose," Alex said, rolling her eyes like her brother had done earlier. "In case you haven't noticed, Max and I are no match for you. Plus, I don't even know if Dad's going to let me do magic ever again after today."

"Maybe," he said, glancing over at the clock. "I gotta go. See ya later."

"Where are you going now? Back to the wizarding world to attend medical school?" Alex asked, kneeling on her bed.

"No," Justin said when he reached the door. "I'm meeting with some people about possibly home schooling their daughter. Because I can do that now. Because I'm a certified teacher. Yeah. That's where." He smiled smugly again before exiting the room.

"Show off," Alex muttered before settling down under the covers and grabbing a magazine off her bedside table. She flipped through the pages for a few minutes before an idea started forming in her mind. As it worked its way out in her brain, a small smile started to form on her lips. "Hey, that could work," she said to herself, sitting up excitedly.

She threw the covers off her legs and jumped out of bed, dashing for the door. She ran down the hall and down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She skidded to a halt when she landed in the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch, talking quietly. They looked up when she came down, both frowning slightly at her, letting her know they were still angry. Alex approached them slowly.

"Okay, I know you're super angry at me right now, but I have a really great idea!" she said, a small smile on her face.

Oh goodness, what is that child up to now? …I know, but you don't. Ha, sucks for you. ;)

Personally, I really like this chapter. I'm quite proud of myself.

Review.