A Learning Experience: Spying for Dummies (part two)

Alex was a lot sharper than people took her to be. She was especially smarter than her brother Justin thought. It didn't bother her that much really. It actually made it that much easier to take advantage of him.

She knew he had been watching her all day, knew that he was following her right now. It didn't particularly help him that recently she had developed a sixth sense where he was concerned. Whenever his eyes were on her she just felt hot. He'd distracted her so much that she hadn't even noticed Riley sneaking up on her.

It was hard to mask her annoyance at his appearance. She had once found his obnoxiously cocky attitude desirable, but she saw him for what he really was now. A boy in love... with himself.

She wasn't really dating him and she had no intention of taking him back. She never had and she was getting tired of stringing him along. At first it had just been a little payback, letting him suffer for how he had treated her, then it had shifted into part of one of her devious plots. She was using him to make Justin jealous.

Ever since that first kiss with Justin she'd known that she had absolutely no interest in Riley, whatsoever, because seriously if a guy couldn't give you more tingles than your own brother who were you kidding? There was nothing there.

The chemistry between her and Justin, on the other hand, could not be ignored. The electricity between them was palpable and, unlike with any other boy, she knew she loved him. It wasn't infatuation, it wasn't a passing fancy, it wasn't a summer fling. She loved him and she knew he loved her back.

The thing was, most people didn't know, Justin was kind of dumb in certain ways. He couldn't look at their situation and realize the obvious conclusion. Society be damned, they were meant to be together.

She'd seen his freaked out reaction after their first kiss. It had taken her almost two days to plot out her strategy. Then she had confronted him claiming they could help each other practice a physical relationship and it would be just that, practice. She knew the idea was ridiculous but she also knew he would at least try to believe her, because he wanted to believe. It was as simple as that.

It was perfect really he and Miranda were just like her and Riley. There was nothing there, which was evident by the awkwardness of them trying to be together. So, by pushing him towards Miranda she was forcing him to realize that she wasn't what he really wanted and by acting as if she had taken Riley back she was forcing him to realize what he really wanted. What he really wanted he already had, his little sister Alex. Only it was taking a lot longer than she had planned for him to figure it out and she was growing anxious and tired of the deception. Would he ever accept it or was she just deluding herself? She wanted to march over to Justin, grab him, shake him, and shout. 'Break up with her already! You're mine now!' then throw him down on the ground and as Justin might say 'consummate their love'. That would never work though, it would probably set him into a panic, as always she had to trick him into doing her bidding.

So right now she was trying to do her best to remain neutral and not let her true feelings come through. She didn't even really know why Riley was still perusing her. She hadn't given him the slightest bit of encouragement although she hadn't discouraged him either. She had even kind of hoped he would be going after Miranda after the deception she had pulled off yesterday, but then at Miranda's reaction to whatever it is Riley had done she felt a little guilty at sicking the douche bag on the poor girl.

Alex turned looking up at Riley with disinterest. "Oh, hey." she glanced past him, thinking about walking off as if he didn't exist, but then Justin would see. Sighing she resigned herself to the situation hoping the opportunity to ditch Riley would come soon and not look too suspicious.

"Hey doll, I wanted to talk to you." he smiled at Alex before looking off to the side pointedly.

"Yeah, Whatever." Alex montoned, glancing off to her side to see Harper waddling around uncomfortably beside her. She grinned seeing a perfect excuse to get out of there.

"I wanted to talk about us. I meant there is an us right? I just thought we could make it official again."

Alex frowned. She didn't want to do this anymore but she also didn't want it to end while she knew her brother was watching. "Look I don't think this the best time to talk about this. I think Harper might be about to wet her ocean theme dress." Turning to look at Harper she laughed at the girl. "I'm coming!" she called out, wondering if Harper really had to go or was just helping her out of an awkward situation. When Harper ran out of sight Alex had her answer. She moved to follow her best friend but was quickly blocked in by her ex's body.

"So, there is an us to talk about." He moved in pressing his her up against the lockers.

Alex barely restrained the urge to knee him in the balls. She felt his breath on her neck and it sent chills of disgust coursing through her body as he spoke.

"I've been thinking about us all day, and here is the proof." he pushed his lower body into her and Alex's eyes widened when she realized something was poking her in the belly. Her stomach churned and she shoved him away as quickly and forcefully as she could.

He grinned at her reaction moving in closer. "Come on baby..."

She greatly regretted the fact that kicking him in the nads would totally ruin her plans. Instead she feigned surprise and called out Justin's name as if she hadn't realized he had been there the entire time.

Riley immediately backed off looking a little bit panicked. She only wished she could laugh in his face like she wanted. She stepped forward leaving him behind her as she took in Justin's adorable deer caught in the headlights look.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, focusing on her brother and ignoring the boy behind her. He almost seemed scared of Justin. Maybe he would slip away if she pretended he wasn't there.

"Just getting something out of my locker."

"Yeah?"Alex shoved down a snicker. He was bluffing. Not only did she know for a fact that was not his locker, she knew whose locker it was. Harper's. She waited patiently, as he muttered a spell to break the lock knowing the pay off would be hilarious. There was no telling what he would find in Harper's locker and she was actually surprised at was she saw. She hadn't know Harper was making her own underwear, too.

"Yeah, I forgot my-"

"Your bra?"

His reaction to the hideous object in his hands was just too funny. She watched him stutter and couldn't help teasing him, but her teasing had somewhat changed. She didn't just want to make him mad or embarrassed. She came forward so their bodies were so close they almost touched. When she held the bra up against him she deliberately moved her hands over his hard chest. When she spoke she brushed her lips tenderly against his ear lobe. She even forgot that they weren't completely alone.

"Alex?"

Ugh, Riley! She rolled her eyes quickly before she moved to acknowledge the interloper.

"What are you two talking about?" The sound of his voice suggested he might not be as stupid as he seemed.

She threw out a barb about Justin to throw Riley off just in case he was on to them. The anger and hurt in Justin's eyes didn't go unnoticed but it appeared to appease Riley as he went back to his regular dopey over confident self.

Putting his arm around her he mentioned something about her going to his basketball practice. She didn't want to watch him play, she didn't want to cheer him on, and she definitely didn't want to leave Justin behind looking like a wounded puppy but she let Riley lead her away until they had a little privacy.

They were in the entrance to the gym and this was about as private as it was going to get, yanking her self away from Riley she turned to go, planning to head back to Justin.

"Alex?" he questioned reaching out to grab her wrist. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving." she said calmly pulling her arm away from him.

"What? Why?"

Alex sighed. This had to end. It had already gone on too long. "Riley, this isn't going to work."

His eyes watered slightly at the prospect of actually being dumped. "What do you mean? You said you would give me another chance."

He looked upset and she did feel bad but she knew he really wasn't sad about losing her. He just didn't want to lose. "I said I might give you another chance. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

Riley's face turned red with frustration and he shot out an accusation. "This is about that guy you've been hooking up with!"

"What?" Alex cried out in panic. Had he seen her with Justin. Then she tried to cover it up. "What are you talking about?"

"I heard you talking to that weird friend of yours. Right after we broke up you hooked up with some other guy!" He was angry now and he didn't hide it.

Relief washed over Alex. He didn't know anything. "Fine, there is someone else. Someone I'd much rather be with that you." she snapped.

The blow to his ego was too much. "You fucking slut!" he said it loud and every one in the gym who had previously been ignoring them turned to look.

Alex was humiliated. She thought about mcreary time reary but she so didn't want to relive this moment. Instead she settled for gialsday timesday. Propped up on one foot it was hard to land a good punch on Riley's face and it was even harder to pull his pants and underwear down but she managed it the best she could. She even had a smile on her face as she hopped down the hall. She wished she could see the look on his face when time unfroze but it was probably best she wasn't there, besides she was sure she would hear about it. Hey maybe someone would even catch some of it on their cell phone!

Miranda had been keeping an eye on Justin all day and he was definitely acting strange. She had expected some difficulty in remaining unseen as she spied on her boyfriend but there really hadn't been any problems at all. He was so distracted he never once noticed her discretely tailing him.

He was completely absorbed in following his little sister around, which honestly was not what she had been expecting of a guy who was cheating, but she continued to watch nonetheless. So she watched and waited and she watched some more until she finally hit pay dirt.

She saw Justin pulling a bra out of his locker, a really ugly bra but it was still a bra. He had a brief conversation with his sister before throwing the brassiere to the floor. A few minutes later they were gone. First Alex leaving with her slimy boyfriend then Justin following behind them a little while later. That is when she swooped in. She rushed into the hall scooping up the evidence hoping for some clue to the owner. She studied every inch of the fabric but found nothing, feeling dejected and defeated she turned to throw the useless clue into the nearest trash can.

"Hey!" a sharp voice squeaked indignantly.

Miranda jerked her head around to the angry sound only to find a weird girl in an Ursula the sea hag-esque dress glaring at her.

Harper had been rushing back from the bathroom. She hadn't wanted to leave Alex alone with Riley. Her best friend had been acting strangely lately and she was afraid Alex's relationship with Riley was moving too fast. Riley was okay to go on a few dates with but he wasn't really serious boyfriend material. She suspected they were getting too physical and if that were true Alex could get hurt. She'd thought Alex had been right behind her but apparently not. So she was going to do the good best friend thing and butt into Alex's personal business.

Alex was gone though. Instead she found one of her least favorite people with one of her more private creations. It wasn't bad enough that the girl had Justin, she also had to break into her locker and steal her things? Why?

"How did you get my bra? And what do you think you are doing with it?" Harper spat with more attitude than she thought she possessed.

Miranda's mouth dropped open as the impossible notion struck her brain. Justin hadn't been following Alex, he had been following this girl. He was cheating on her with his sister's crazy friend.

Author's Note: Okay I hope this doesn't ruin the story for everyone but this has always been my plan. I was going to reveal at the end that Alex had been scheming to get Justin all along but was just too insecure to admit her feelings to him. That's why a lot of times I've avoided her point of view and been vague about her feelings. I decided to just come out with it though. I think it may have stunted the story some . I wish i hadn't kept it a secret this long because I'm worried about it seeming like a half-assed plot twist. Next chapter should have some smut. Thanks for reading.