Chapter 3 - Alex will always be Alex - to Justin's dismay
.
.
.
For the next couple of days, Justin tries to inform Alex of the rules the school follows and the subjects she will have to approach during classes. Developing the kids' improvisation skills is not the limit of what Alex will be teaching. It is part of her class to help the kids with their magical skills as a whole, the same way Justin helped her improve her ability in his delinquents' class; or helping the kids at making spells without chanting rhymes, being they improvised or not.
Justin does his best to keep Alex interested as he instructs her. However, with her short attention span, 'try' is the precise word to use. "Remember when Dad taught us about…"
"Hey, Harper!" Alex interrupts him.
Startled, Justin turns around to catch her with her phone to her ear. Well, at least Alex didn't teleport Harper in, as he immediately assumed, but still…
Justin stares at her, scolding. Did she really just answer her phone while he was still talking?
"No! It's left, then right, and right again. Why didn't you take the map I did?" She tells Harper.
"Alex!" Justin shouts, trying to call her attention. Does he really think she would just drop the call to listen to him?
"Where are you now?" Alex asks to her friend at the other end. "No, to the left!" She shouts, then takes her phone off her ear. "This way's gonna take forever." She pulls her wand and points it to the phone.
"What's going on?" Justin asks.
"Harper got lost inside our closet. And I'm taking her out of there." She waves her wand and the spell hits the phone, hopingly getting to the other end. Justin is left only wondering how big her closet is.
Alex brings the phone to her ear again. "YOU FLASHED ME OUT OF THE APARTMENT!" Harper's alarmed voice sounding as clear as if she were in the room, even Justin hears it coming from the phone.
"Dammit!" Alex curses. Then she points her wand to the phone again. She casts another spell hoping to correct her mishap. "Are you back in? … Oh, great! … Next time you get into the closet, take with you that map I leave hanged on the door. I always…"
"ALEX!" Justin yells.
"Uhm! … I gotta go now, or Justin is gonna start yapping something about paying attention, and I'm not in the mood to pay attention, but he's gonna keep talking and talking…" She looks up at Justin, catching his mad stare. "…I gotta go. Bye!" She hangs up.
"Now I AM gonna 'yap' about paying attention. …And a bit more about concentrating when you're casting a spell, which you still can't handle, apparently!" Justin schools.
"Can we say this was enough telling off and go have lunch?" Alex tries.
"No!" Justin sternly answers.
"But I'm getting hungry. And you know how grumpy I get when I'm hungry. I'm just saying."
"Ugh… Fine!" Justin agrees. He is also getting hungry and he is so not in the mood to deal with this.
Again, Justin and Alex sit together for another lunch. Yeah! Justin can't seem to shake her off anymore, not even during lunch. Oddly, Alex has been quiet for a few minutes, practically stuffing her face with food, staring down at her plate. This is so not like her. Eventually, she finally looks up and breaks the silence.
"Hey!" Alex whispers to Justin. "Who is that one with the creepy stare!" She nods to the side showing the weird man sitting by the edge of the long table next to theirs.
"Oh! That is Professor Stein. He teaches about magical creatures." Justin explains.
Alex peeks back at the gnarly, deformed man, and their eyes cross for a second. Alex looks away, but not quick enough. The man stands up and clumsily works on his wizard cape.
"Oh, no! I think he is coming here." Alex says with a worried tone.
"What's the problem?" Justin asks when the man starts walking to them.
"He's too creepy!" She whispers back.
"You are the one who dates a werewolf. You should be used to 'creepy'." Justin replies.
"He doesn't look wolf-y the whole time. Well, not when it's important!"
The strange professor gets by their side before Justin can reprehend her. "Headmaster Russo." He greets Justin with his hoarse voice. "You must be Miss Russo."
Alex looks up at him with concerned eyes while taking a bite on her mini-pie, now recognizing the man as a mixture of a goblin and something familiar she can't quite figure out.
"I'm Professor Stein! But you can call me Frank if you want!" He continues.
Alex freezes for a moment and gives him a surprised look. "Frank… Stein!?" She repeats with curiosity after swallowing.
"Yes!"
"FrankStein!" She quickly repeats his name almost as one single word.
"That's right!" Stein reaffirms. Then, a second after, he looks away, pensive, as if no one has ever done this before. "Anyway…" He comes back after a couple of seconds. "…You see, Miss Russo. I have read somewhere about your werewolf boyfriend."
"Y.e.a.h.!?" She takes another bite on her mini-pie.
"Well, being a scholar of magical creatures I would… Uhm!" He bends down closer, invading Alex's personal space, making her back up. "…I would love to be able to have a quick talk to him." He asks, rubbing his hands in expectation. Not creepy at all.
"Stein?!" Justin calls. "What have we talked about personal space?"
Stein takes a step back and stares at Alex, waiting for an answer.
"Uhm! … Sorry but he is in England right now." She tells him.
"Hmmm! Pity. Some other time maybe. See you around." He turns around and leaves.
Alex watches the man walk away for a moment, then turns back to Justin. "You better keep that guy away from my boyfriend!" She demands.
"Calm down. That was just his way. He's not gonna do anything." Justin tells her.
"I don't care. I don't wanna see what happens if he and Mason get at each other."
"They won't. Stein is more attitude than action."
"Whatever!"
"So, Mason is visiting the family?" Justin asks.
"The Autumn Moon Feast is coming. He's gonna spend some time there preparing for it. He'll be back right after." She explains.
"And, let me guess. You didn't go because his parents still want you for the main dish?" He supposes with a mocking smile.
Alex stares at him with narrow eyes. "Why the mocking tone? Even Juliet's parents thought I looked delicious." She throws her hair back, exposing her neck. "Sometimes can be a curse to look this good."
Justin simply shakes his head. He doesn't even know how to answer that.
They take a little recess so Justin can solve some school related subjects, but mostly because he knows how grumpy Alex can also get without some post meal slack. …Anyway, they get back to the instructions, eventually.
It is already very late by the time Justin finally gets to tell Alex everything he believes she absolutely has to hear about what she will be teaching before facing a full class. Then, he finally lets her go.
By now, Alex has seen so much that the darkness and eeriness of the hallway that takes her back to her quarters, this late at night, doesn't feel that menacing. Fine, it's not comfortable either, but close to something like facing the Angels of Darkness, she can do this.
However, she still gets startled when she runs into Professor Fiendl in the hallways, and so does he.
"Miss Russo!" He tells her with surprise. "What are you doing out so late?"
Alex can feel something about his voice, some apprehension. "I was talking to my brother. What are YOU doing out so late?" She asks him with a suspicious look.
"I was… just… taking a walk because… " Fiendl stammers. "…I couldn't sleep. That's just it."
Alex's bullshit alert goes off. She gives Fiendl a narrow stare.
"Really?!" She takes a look around at the dark and cold, not at all inviting eerie hallway. "Because the place is calming and warm, I assume!" She calls him out on it.
"Uhm! … You warm up to it after some time." He tries to fix it.
"I'm sure you do. Just one warning. I'm the prankster here. So, whatever you're up to, don't think you can top me because if you're trying anything, I'll get back at you!" She warns him with a mad stare.
"I'm not trying anything." He defends himself with hands up in sign of innocence. "I was just … taking a walk."
"Yeah, right. I've got my eye on you." Alex delivers and walks away, giving him one last suspicious peek from the end of the hallway. Then she goes straight to her quarters to end the day.