A Suite and Magical Life

Chapter 7: Sometimes just being there is enough

January 5, 2008

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Before that day, Zachary Martin had not thought it possible to jealous, despairing and worried at the same time. The reason for his conflicting emotions was a message that Max Russo had passed on to him, the contents of which had worried him beyond belief.

Max had told Zack about a conversation between Alex and Justin. Justin had teased Alex because she had claimed to have had her first kiss, which was true (she had had her first kiss with Zack when they were 10 years old), but no one believed her. In order to one-up Justin, "Maximan" (as Max was now trying to be called), told Zack that Alex was planning to kiss another boy in front of Justin the next day.

Zack disliked that she would be kissing someone else and that it would likely be a boy she didn't know even existed. Just the very idea and thought of the situation of his Alexandra made his blood boil in anger and his heart roar with jealousy and despair. He quietly resolved that he wouldn't let her kiss a boy she barely knew.

January 6, 2008

New York City, New York, United States

Zachary Martin stood quietly, next to Alexandra Russo's locker. He had magically disguised himself, turning his chestnut golden-brown hair to raven black. He was wearing a dark, striped sweater and blue-grey jeans, and was holding his invisible wand in his hands. He looked at himself in the mirror: he looked like a dull, average high-schooler and not the gregarious and extremely talented wizard that he really was. He was pleased: his extra practice had helped improve his magical abilities. Zack made a mental note to thank Cody for nagging him enough to end his laziness.

He saw Miranda Hampson, dark haired and dark eyed, wearing a black polka-dotted shirt and bright red pants, standing in front of Justin Russo, who was wearing a dark striped shirt and brown jeans. The two of them kept kissing, and Justin looked deliriously happy, with his trademark goofy grin on his face. It was clear that their relationship was going well. Zack was happy to see Justin, who was notoriously awkward around girls, finally find his footing and go steady with such a pretty and kind girl like Miranda. All the same, something pained him.

Zack observed them jealously from a distance. They looked so happy together. That was what Zack wanted to build with Alex, but it seemed Fate just kept twisting their lives and creating hell for no apparent reason. He carefully remembered all the antics he'd gotten up to over his life, and realized that maybe, it was his karma. He shut that thought away; he'd been reading too many of Cody's books on Hinduism and Buddhism again. If things continued this way, Zack reflected, I will end up losing my element of mischief. He shuddered at the very thought: that was not something he even wanted to hear himself think about.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Hey, Justin!", and shattered his train of thought. He recognized the voice as Alex's and turned to look at her. He mentally prepared himself for the situation that was to come.

Zack saw her strut past Justin and his jaw dropped. Alex was wearing slight makeup and a blood-red dress with silver bands along the lower chest. She looked drop-dead gorgeous, Zack thought. He quickly busied himself with "his" locker, opening it with his wand, and conjuring up two books, which turned out to be The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. Zack wasn't sure what kind of omen that was.

Zack didn't realize how close Alex was until her vanilla scent hit his sense hard. She shut "his" locker, pulled his sweater, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him. The kiss was quick, lasting only a couple of seconds, but Zack was still dumbfounded, dropping the two Shakespearean plays he'd been holding.