Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place or any of its characters.

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The morning sun shone brightly through a small gap in Alex's bedroom curtains and shined directly on the closed lids of the sleeping girl. Groaning, she clenched her eyes shut tighter and threw an arm over her face in hopes of returning to dreamland. Her hopes, however, were dashed when a loud pounding on her door startled her upright. As the pounding continued, Alex flipped back her bed sheets and shuffled to the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by Justin's smiling face.

"What?!"

"Mom sent me to tell you to get your butt out of bed and get ready for school," he answered proudly.

"Kay, I'm up, mission accomplished," she said before shoving the door shut in Justin's face. "Ugh, stupid morning people."

With a sigh, Alex grabbed her towel and drug her feet to the bathroom. After showering and getting dressed, she sauntered down the stairs to join her family in their kitchen. She was vaguely aware of her dad lecturing her about her, presumably about sleeping late, as she grabbed an apple off the counter and mumbled a quick apology.

"C'mon Alex, I'm meeting Zeke before school and unlike you, I'm not a fan of being late," Justin said, swinging his bag over his shoulder and heading towards the door.

The walk to school wasn't long but Alex insisted they stop at a coffee shop along the way so she could grab something to pep her up a bit. Under extreme protest, Justin waited for her on the sidewalk. When she finally emerged carrying a large steaming cup, he tore right into her.

"Why are you so selfish?" he asked in anger.

"What? I am not selfish," she protested.

"Yes you are. You don't care about anyone but yourself. God, I don't know how you even have friends! How can they stand being around you for more than five minutes at a time?"

"Dude, I just wanted a quick cup of coffee. Why are you freaking out on me!?"

"Never mind. It's not like you'll ever get it through your head anyway," Justin spat before quickening his pace and leaving her behind.

With Justin gone, Alex took to walking even slower letting his words sink in. By the time she sauntered up to the school, the tardy bell for first period was ringing. Shrugging her shoulders, she proceeded into the building and up to her first class. She walked in just as the teacher began explaining the last chapter they were supposed to have read in Homer's The Odyssey.

"Ms. Russo! So glad you could join us today!" her teacher exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. "Would you care to summarize last night's assigned reading for us?"

"Not really," she answered, dropping herself into a seat behind Harper.

"It wasn't really a question. Summary. Now!"

"Don't have one," she said nonchalantly sipping her coffee.

"And why not?" her teacher continued impatiently.

"Didn't read it," Alex answered truthfully.

"Well then you can read in detention after school today."

"Sounds like a blast," she huffed out.

Once the teacher took his attention off of Alex and began talking about The Odyssey again, she turned her gaze to the window. Outside, dark clouds were over-taking the once beautiful blue sky. Her mind wondered as she envisioned the kind of storm that those clouds were bringing over New York. Justin's harsh words from earlier kept replaying in her head and she started wondering if maybe they had any truth to them. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the bell ring ending class. Alex was finally pulled from her thoughts when she felt someone's hand grasp her upper arm.

"Alex?" It was Harper. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah Harper, I'm fine. Just a little tired today."

"Well class is over."

"Right," Alex answered, jumping up from her seat.

They walked together to their lockers and Alex stood by while Harper exchanged some of the books from her backpack for a few from her locker.

"Harper, do you think I'm selfish?" she asked suddenly.

"Define selfish."

"Oh c'mon Harper, you know what selfish means. Just answer the question."

"Well, you do tend to only do what want to do. Like there was that time you wouldn't go with me to my Nana's birthday party because you said she smelled like a jelly factory. Oh, and remember when you made me kneel in that mud so you could stand on my back and spy on Gigi. And don't forget that one time when-"

"Okay I get it, I'm selfish. I guess Justin was right, I must be a terrible friend," Alex said quietly.

"Not terrible!" Harper tried to argue.

"But not good!"

"Alex-" Harper started but was interrupted by a loud bang from the end of the hall. "Geeze, who brought firecrackers this time?" she asked to no one in particular.

Before Alex could answer, more bangs erupted from the other end of the hallway and kids began running and screaming all around them. That's when Alex realized it wasn't firecrackers, it was gunshots. And they were standing right in the middle of it.

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Good? Mediocre? Terrible? Shall I continue? Review and let me know what you think.

Also, I'm having trouble with something. I tend to get so excited by the ideas of my overall stories that I don't spend enough time on details. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can work on this issue? Feel free to drop me a message with advice. Thanks!