A.N. This chapter is shorter, but it explains a lot of Alex's actions and thoughts during the action of the first.

The reason Alex smiled when she saw her brother in the stands was because she wanted him to think that she was actually having a good time. That way, he wouldn't be able to make fun of her for having to sign up for cheerleading. That is totally why she smiled when he cheered for her, OK? So don't think anything else, just drop it.

And when Justin went up to talk to Harper afterwards and Alex was angry – so angry her nostrils flared even though no one could see – it was not jealousy, got it? She was just mad that he was talking to her friend. And they were blushing? What could be going on? He'd better not be asking her out on a date.

Ugh, Harper and Justin dating? He was just doing this to bother her, naturally. He'd be taking her friend away and just, well, it's just annoying to date your sister's best friend! And Harper probably wouldn't shut up about it, either.

* * *

The next day, Alex felt was soon enough to approach Harper about it.

"So what were you and Justin talking about?"

"Oh I shouldn't tell you," Harper said. "Wait, whoops, that was too much, wasn't it?"

"Some are a gem-"

"Stop stop! I'll tell you! Justin asked me out on a date."

Alex rolled her eyes. She didn't even need to use magic on Harper, she was so scared of it Alex could merely threaten to. And her worst fear was validated.

"Harper how could you? You know he's the enemy! And he's a huge dork!"

"I don't think you give your brother enough credit, Alex," Harper said, almost defiantly if you asked Alex. "He's very sweet and caring."

Alex wanted to say "But he's my brother! I get to say who he dates!" (Or if she cared more about grammar, "whom"). But she didn't. Because that would be oddly controlling, even for Alex.

"Whatever, I bet he's only dating you to bother me," she opted to say instead. She hated to say something so hurtful to her friend, but it was the truth and she felt that Harper had to know it.

"Well I guess I'll see about that," she said. "The date is on Friday night."

"OK. We need to hang out on Saturday so you can tell me about it. But I'm not bringing you to the house. That would be, I dunno, awkward for me. We'll have to go shopping."

"Understandable. So, how about we start early? Say, 10ish?"

"All right, I'll see you then."

* * *

As quickly as it had come for Justin, Friday came even quicker for Alex. At 7, when Alex knew that Justin would already be getting ready for his date, she went to his room.

"I know you're going on a date with Harper. Why! Didn't we go over this?" Alex started with. It was true, they'd already had a thing where it looked like Justin and Harper were starting to get closer.

"How did you know?" Justin asked.

"Please." Alex entered the room. "She couldn't keep that a secret for more than a day. Surprised she kept it that long, really."

"Ah."

"Well?" Alex was starting to get annoyed with him now. Why was he being so terse with her? It's totally unlike him! He's usually too talkative.

"Well what?"

"I told you! You can't date Harper."

"I thought you were OK with Harper and I being friends." How could he be so calm? It was like he had figured out how to be graceful under pressure for the sole reason of annoying her. Since when did he get so good at that?

"Friends yes, not dating! And even the friends thing I'm not thrilled about. It's weird for me. I mean, because then I might have to hang out with you." And she did not want that. Right?

"Well I promise not to bring you on any of our dates, then." Did he have the audacity to actually smirk when he said that?

"Dates? You're already planning a second one? What's it going to be, a museum?" Justin looked somewhat hurt when Alex said that, but she told herself she didn't care.

"Well if you already know, why bother asking?"

"Ugh, I don't know what's worse, that you're dating my best friend or that you're going to bore her to death." Alex hoped that this would convince Justin that he should not date Harper. Because it would be weird for Alex. That's totally the reason.

"Look, there's stuff you don't know about Harper. You didn't know she was a cheerleader." What could he know about Harper? Wasn't like, the first time they ever talked alone, ever, just a few days ago? And how could he bring up the fact that Alex didn't know Harper was a cheerleader? It was Harper's fault for not telling her!

"Neither did you!" Alex was admittedly a bit ashamed at such a lame comeback, but it was true. It should stick where it hurts.

"Maybe so, but I care to find out things."

"Whatever, you're just doing this to annoy me!" Hopefully the truth would hurt him, too.

"Please, you are so self-centered." Well, Alex couldn't deny that. "It's not always all about you."

"This time it is. And I'm not being self-centered! I'm just thinking about Harper." This was actually true, this time. "You're leading her on just to annoy me."

"I'm not leading her on." Alex wasn't sure he was telling the truth there. "I really do enjoy spending time with her."

"Fine. But if you hurt her, you're answering to me." Leaving with a threat was always a good plan.

* * *

Alex wasn't sure exactly why she hated the idea of Justin dating Harper so much. Justin dating anyone wasn't a pleasant thought to her, though she couldn't quite tell why. But Harper was her friend! She was someone that she was supposed to laugh at Justin with! Alex didn't like sharing, she never had, and she certainly wasn't going to share now. It was totally because she didn't want to share Harper, of course. There was no other reason. It wasn't like she was jealous of her, or anything.

Still, why had he chosen Harper? Oh, of course Alex would have to extol Harper's good qualities, but she didn't think they were good for Justin. She knew her brother much better than Harper, much better than anyone for that matter, and she knew the kind of girl who would be good for him. He needed a girl who would make him relax, loosen up a bit, not be such a stick in the mud. Someone who would encourage him to occasionally break rules and take a few risks. That was the kind of girl she wanted to see with Justin. Juliet, for example, convinced Justin to actually go against their parents' wishes and that was something Alex had to respect. Harper, however, was a good girl. Justin wouldn't break any rules for her because she wouldn't even want him to.

Of course, Alex wasn't even sure why she was caring about Justin. Or rather, why she was caring about whom Justin dated, because she certainly wasn't going to admit that she cared about Justin.

* * *

Alex was waiting for Justin on the couch when he came in around 10:30. She hadn't even been doing anything but stewing and getting more angry at him for dating Harper.

"OK, spill. Did you kiss her?" she said, bounding up from the couch.

"What? That's hardly any of your business."

"I bet it was all awkward and nerdy," Alex said, fishing for an admission.

"Again, none of your business."

"Aha! So there was a kiss!" That was close enough to an admission for Alex "You know if all she does is talk about you tomorrow I swear I'm going to get back at you." Ugh, that would just like Harper.

"Tomorrow?" Alex couldn't believe how dumb Justin could be sometimes. Duh, they'd hang out tomorrow.

"Yeah. We're going shopping," she spelled out for him. "But I'm not bringing her here. I'm sure you two would just stare off into each other's eyes or something sickening like that." Good one, Alex.

"Yeah. We'd do that." Justin left for his room and Alex fumed.

* * *

Alex knocked loudly on Harper's door. She opened it quickly, apparently waiting for Alex. Well, it was 10:04, which was rather on time for Alex, but Harper had probably been waiting since 10:00.

"Hi," Harper said happily.

"Ugh, don't give me that," Alex said. "You need to tell me about the date. Was he boring?"

"He was a perfect gentleman," Harper described.

Alex snorted. "Sounds boring to me."

"It wasn't," Harper protested. "It was quite lovely."

"Did he kiss you?" Alex was pretty sure he had, but wanted to pressure her friend into admitting it too.

"Yes. It was wonderful," Harper said dreamily. Alex shook her head and sighed.

"There's no hope for you two. What did I tell you about dating him?" Alex cried.

"Alex, you sound angry," Harper said, almost sadly.

"I am, but not at you, at Justin," Alex sneered.

The shopping trip was not quite like Alex had expected. Harper talked nothing about Justin. She gave every detail of the date and to Alex it sounded totally disgusting. He was such a gentleman and a nice guy that it would have bored her to tears if she had been on a date with him. Not that Alex was imagining being on a date with Justin or anything. That would just be weird.

And when Harper ran out of things to tell about the date (since, after all, they had been watching a movie most of the time) she began to talk about the future. Specifically her alleged future with Justin, which Alex still doubted was going to happen even if they were dating now.

* * *

Alex came home for dinner after leaving Harper at her house. She was extremely angry and needed to take out her frustration on someone, preferably Justin. And fortunately, he was sitting on the couch when she came in.

"Ow! What was that for?" Justin cried as Alex punched him.

"Harper indeed couldn't stop talking about you. Ugh, I thought it was bad when she just liked you, but now that she's dating you..." Alex punched him again.

"It's not my fault that I'm such a ladies' man."

"I hope this is just a phase. For both of you!" Alex stormed up to her room.

All throughout dinner, Alex glared at Justin. She wasn't staring at him, she was glaring at him. There was a difference. She was angry with Justin for dating Harper, she told herself. This wasn't jealousy or anything. So they all ate in unusual silence.

* * *

The next day during church Alex's phone vibrated in her pocket. She stealthily pulled it out of her pocket and saw that it was a text from Harper.

"OMG he made another date with me!!" it read. Alex's nostrils flared again. How could he do that? He was supposed to have gotten his desire to date Harper out of his system with one date. She was going to have to give him a stern talking-to.

So after church, she did just that.

"You made another date with Harper!" she yelled at him.

"How did you know?"

"She texted me during the service. You know, since she forgets when Catholics have Mass."

"Oh. Well, you should have been paying attention to the priest."

"You're one to talk! Do you even remember who delivered the sermon today?"

"Ah. Er. No. OK, you got me there." He went upstairs to change. Alex followed after him, how dare he think he can get away that easily.

"You know, Harper isn't like other girls you've dated." Alex decided to go for the intelligently explaining why he shouldn't date Harper approach.

"Oh? How so, pray tell?"

"Well she's weird. I mean, in a good way, of course."

"Alex, I've dated a centaur, a werewolf, and a vampire. I'm pretty sure Harper isn't that weird."

"Oh please. That centaur you went to one dance with. And Juliet was really normal for a magical girl. I liked her," Alex said, finishing up slowly.

"Ha! You admitted to liking one of my girlfriends."

"What's so odd about that?" Alex was not blushing. She was just angry, right?

"You never like my girlfriends."

"Well that's because so many of them were unlikable! Juliet was different." Alex reasoned.

"Of course, you like Harper too," Justin said, turning again to go back to his room.

"Well of course I do! But I don't like her as your girlfriend!" Justin went into his room. Alex scoffed and went to change into her own work clothes. She hoped that Justin would get that she was mad at him during their shifts, so she made sure to be more uncooperative than normal with him.

* * *

The next week came quickly enough, even though Alex was still extremely upset with Justin. And a little bit with Harper, too. She knew how Alex felt about her dating Justin. She was giving him the silent treatment all week, except that she occasionally snipped at him. It was like a perfect combination.

After their second date, Alex was waiting for Justin again.

"So when's the third date?" Alex said, angrily expecting there to be a third.

"There's not going to be a third," Justin said glumly. Alex looked at him with wide, angry eyes.

"This is just what I was afraid of! Now you've broken her poor little heart!" she cried.

"Hey! You were just about to be mad that there was going to be a third one!" Justin defended.

"Well of course, but this is even worse! See, this is why you shouldn't have dated her in the first place!"

"You don't even know how it happened. She was very understanding."

"So you did break up with her! What happened?"

"It was mutual, really," Justin tried to explain. "There wasn't any spark between us." Justin left to go up to his room and Alex sat back down on the couch. Hum. Well, she had to admit – she was actually happier now that Justin was single again.