All Mixed Up

by Heather Alexander

  “All right,” Manny said agreeably.

  Alex sighed and closed the door behind him. Problem solved.

  “You know, that’s too bad,” Justin said as he watched him go. “I really liked Manny. Oh, and he wears the same sweater as me, which I saw on a mannequin . . . that looked a lot like Manny . . . Kinn.” A strange look passed over Justin’s face. “Manny Kinn,” he said slowly. “Manny Kinn,” he repeated, faster this time. Then it hit him. “Mannequin,” he said with a sigh.

  “Yes. I animated the mannequin from the store!” Alex cried. “What’s the big deal?

  “Alex, you can’t be using magic without my permission! That’s a complete disrespect of my authority,” Justin scolded.

  “Hey, I tried to change him back, but it didn’t work!” Alex said defensively.

  “Uh-oh.” Justin looked wary.

  “What ‘uh-oh’?” Alex asked. Judging from Justin’s expression, this was bad. Big-time bad.

  “If you bring something to life and it develops emotions, you can’t change it back,” he explained. “Manny’s in love with you.”

  Alex gasped. What? This was so not what she had in mind! What was she going to do now?

  Chapter Four

  Alex couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She tried to play it cool. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a mannequin! He can’t be in love with me,” Alex told Justin. She laughed at the thought. She left to find Riley. It was time to enjoy the street fair with her real boyfriend.

  Ten minutes later, she and Riley were sitting at an outdoor table, holding hands. As she gazed into his brown eyes, an enormous bouquet of red roses suddenly appeared in front of her.

  “Alex, look, I brought you one flower for every minute that I’ve loved you,” Manny declared.

  Alex gaped at the beautiful roses. There were at least a hundred of them! “Oh, no.” She had a terrible sinking feeling. Justin was right. Manny was in love with her!

  She pushed the roses toward a shocked Riley and jumped up. “Manny, we broke up, don’t you remember? You have to stop following me.” She was trying to be as nice as possible.

  “I can’t, Alex. I’m in love with you. You get me. You taught me how to drink from a straw without poking myself in the eye. Remember the time I kissed the duck?” He smiled at the memory.

  Alex felt terrible. Manny sounded just like she had when she was trying to hold on to Riley. She tried to think of a solution, a way not to hurt Manny’s feelings. Then it came to her. “But what if someone else got you?” she asked him. “And then you could have even better times with them.”

  “Really? Do you know that someone?” Manny asked.

  “I think I do.” Alex smiled. Her plan was inspired. “She’s a real doll. She’s a friend of my brother’s.”

  Alex cracked open the front door of their apartment and peeked in. She could see Justin and Max at the kitchen table. She sighed in frustration. Her plan would have to wait until later.

  Alex watched as Justin handed a dusty old book to Max.

  “More wizard homework? Dad doesn’t even make me do homework on Friday!” Max protested.

  “Max, if you put it off until Sunday night, then I won’t be able to put you kids to bed early. Have a little quiet time for myself,” Justin said as he steeped a tea bag in his mug and paced around the dining-room table.

  “What are you going to do, light some candles and take a bath?” Max mocked.

  “My quiet time is my quiet time,” Justin said defensively, sounding just like his mother.

  Max stood up. He’d had enough. “Okay, so you’re a teenage boy who drinks tea and likes to take baths.” He smiled mischievously. “Like I’m not going to tell anyone about that on the Internet.” He laughed and bolted upstairs for the computer in his bedroom.

  “Hey! You get down here, young man!” Justin blew his whistle and chased after him. “That’s it!”

  Alex pushed open the front door. She heard her brothers’ feet pounding up the stairs as she snuck inside. She knew she only had a few minutes before one of them came back down. She had to work her magic quickly.

  She tiptoed to the kitchen counter and grabbed the box that contained Calico Woman. Sliding the doll out of the box, she bent it so it sat on the edge of the counter. Taking a step back, she pulled out her wand.

  “Okay. Murrieta-animata.” And to make her bigger, Alex added, “Grande!”

  Bright lights flashed, and suddenly a woman dressed in a black unitard with leopard-print trim and a headband with cat ears stood before her!

  “Ow! Oh, those twist ties really hurt,” Calico Woman exclaimed, rubbing her wrists.

  Alex grinned. Instant girlfriend. She grabbed Calico Woman’s arm, brought her outside to the street fair, and spotted Manny. Perfect!

  “Manny, meet Calico Woman,” she said, introducing them. “Calico Woman, meet Manny. You two have a lot in common.”

  Manny looked at Calico Woman, who had long golden hair, talonlike nails, and a serious expression on her face. “I don’t have anything in common with a superhero!” he exclaimed.

  “Oh, you’re so wrong, Manny,” Alex said. “Who likes to say hello?”

  “Ooh, ooh, ooh!” Manny raised his hand and jumped up and down. “Hello.”

  “Hello,” replied Calico Woman.

  “Who here is dishwasher-safe?” Alex asked.

  Calico Woman waved her razor-sharp nails. “That’s the only thing about me that’s safe,” she hissed.

  Alex forced a smile. “See? You two are going to be so happy together.” She pushed them toward each other and retreated to Riley’s side.

  “I’m still in love with her,” Manny confessed to Calico Woman, gesturing toward Alex.

  “Oh.” Calico Woman gave a slight shiver. “When you say that, that makes me really mad.”

  “Yeah, that’s called jealousy,” Manny explained.

  “Oh!” Calico Woman gasped. “I don’t like that feeling.”

  “There. See? All done,” Alex told Riley as they watched the new couple talk. “He’s perfectly happy with her. Now nothing can go wrong.” Yikes. She knew that bad stuff always happened when she said things like that. “Oh, I hope I didn’t jinx that,” she added nervously.

  Chapter Five

  “And right after dinner, you have to take a shower and then get into your pajamas,” Justin instructed Max. Justin was liking this whole being-in-charge thing.

  “Can I take a shower in my pajamas?” Max asked.

  “Then you would be wet, your pajamas would be wet, and your entire bed would be wet,” Justin pointed out.

  “But if everything’s wet, is anything really wet?” Max asked. Justin stared at his little brother, amazed. What was with his mind-bending questions? “Like when you’re totally underwater, you’re not really wet,” Max explained.

  “Yes, you are,” Justin said, annoyed. Did his parents have this much trouble getting Max to do things? he wondered.

  Justin walked toward the kitchen counter and then suddenly stopped short. A familiar empty box lay there, ripped open. He gasped. “Calico Woman’s gone! Where—?” He frantically searched the floor.

  Max picked up the box and inspected it. “Well, duh. It says right here, no chains can hold her.” He pointed to the writing on the front of the box. “Chains are a lot stronger than a cardboard box.”

  “See?” Max ripped the box in half.

  “Max! What are you—?” Justin squeezed his eyes shut. So much for selling Calico Woman in perfect condition! Her box was destroyed, and she was missing.

  “Alex!” Justin yelled. He knew she had to be responsible for this somehow!

  Alex couldn’t have been more pleased about how the day was turning out. She walked hand in hand with Riley down Waverly Place.

  Just then, Manny raced up to them. “Alex, don’t leave me! Look, look! I won you a stuffed gorilla!” He handed it to Alex.

  She sighed. She thought Manny would be so happy with Calico Woman. Well, at l
east happy enough to forget about Alex. I guess I was wrong, she thought.

  “All right. Enough. This has got to stop, Manny,” Riley warned him. “It’s over.”

  “But I’m in love with her,” Manny said.

  “Seriously! It’s over!” Riley yelled. He began to chase after Manny.

  “Wait!” Alex sprinted after them, still holding her stuffed gorilla. “Riley, wait!”

  Calico Woman dashed behind her. “Manny, Manny! I love you!” she cried.

  Meanwhile, Justin surveyed the street fair with Max. “Okay, let’s split up and find Alex, because wherever Alex is, that’s where my Calico Woman doll is.”

  “Well, there’s Manny,” Max said, watching the living mannequin run by.

  “Oh, and there’s Riley.” Justin pointed to Alex’s boyfriend chasing Manny.

  Alex rushed past them, dragging the stuffed gorilla along the ground. She was only steps behind Riley. “Oh! Found Alex,” Max called.

  “Manny!” Max and Justin turned to see a woman in a black-leather catsuit running down the street.

  “And Calico Woman,” announced Max. “Man, she is huge!”

  “And alive!” Justin exclaimed.

  “Manny! Manny! We were both made in China!” Calico Woman’s voice echoed down the street.

  Justin began to run. He had to catch his doll!

  Manny wove through the fair. He dodged kids with cotton candy and people eating funnel cakes. Riley hopped on an abandoned scooter and zoomed after him. Alex ditched her stuffed animal, strapped on a helmet, and borrowed a demonstration skateboard to give chase. Calico Woman followed behind her. Justin, desperate to catch up, spotted a clown on a miniature bike. He pulled the bike away from the small clown and pedaled frantically, his knees pumping past his ears. The clown yelped and ran after Justin.

  Manny tried to run faster. They still hadn’t caught him, but they were getting close.

  “We need a volunteer! Who wants to sit in the dunk tank?” called out a carnival guy in a blue-and-white-striped vest. He stood in front of a huge round tank filled with water.

  “I’ll go in!” Manny waved his arms as he ran through the crowd gathered around the tank.

  “Excellent. Excellent. Just climb right up there.” The carnival worker pointed to the platform perched above the tank.

  Manny scrambled up and sat down on the platform. He hoped he’d be safe up there.

  “Okay, who would like the first shot at sending this handsome fella into this dunk tank?” The carnival worker held up a beanbag.

  “I would!” Riley skidded his scooter to a stop and grabbed the beanbag.

  Alex jumped off her skateboard. “Riley! What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to teach Manny that no one comes between me and my girl,” Riley declared.

  Alex giggled. Riley really does like me, she thought. She was so distracted thinking about Riley that she didn’t see him throw the beanbag. It hit the target squarely, releasing the platform and plunging Manny into the water.

  “No!” Calico Woman yelled as she ran up to the platform.

  “Alex!” Justin cried. He appeared just in time to see the big splash.

  “Oh, no. What happened to Manny?” Alex took a hesitant step and peered inside the tank. This can’t be good, she thought.

  Chapter Six

  The Russo siblings were nervous about looking in the tank. Finally, Max peeked in.

  “It looks like he got wet,” Max commented. “You know, sometimes water can make a spell wear off.”

  “How do you know that?” Justin asked.

  “Because the spell just wore off,” Max replied quietly. He pointed to Manny, who was now just a jumble of unassembled mannequin parts.

  Calico Woman teetered over to the tank. “Manny, what have they done to you?” she wailed.

  “What’s going on here?” the carnival worker demanded.

  “Alex, ‘that guy over there’ just turned into giant doll pieces!” Riley shouted.

  “That’s it!” the carnival worker barked as the crowd pressed closer to the tank, leaning in for a better view. “I’m calling Waverly Place street fair security!”

  “No, no, no. No need to do that, okay?” Alex stepped forward, trying to calm everyone down. “Um, I have to tell you something. I have to tell everybody something.” She stood in front of the tank to address the crowd. She was frantically thinking of something believable to say. “Ladies and gentlemen, the man you saw in the dunk tank is really a—”

  “Alex!” Justin interrupted, rushing to her side. He was afraid she’d tell everyone they were wizards.

  “Magician!” Alex finished.

  The crowd gasped.

  “The Great Manic-Keeny!” Alex exclaimed. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like the crowd was buying her story! “And for his big trick, he has disappeared in the dunk tank, leaving an unassembled mannequin in his place!” She reached into the water, pulled out an arm, and held it high in the air for everyone to see. “Ta-da!”

  The crowd cheered enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah.” Justin was impressed by his sister’s quick-thinking save. He gestured toward Alex. “And how about a hand for his lovely assistant!” He clapped, and the crowd applauded even louder. “Yeah!” Then he noticed Calico Woman leaning over the edge of the tank. “Watch the outfit. You’re going back in the box,” he warned.

  “I never liked you,” she hissed. Then she raced off.

  “Hey! Hey, you get back here!” Justin darted after her.

  Max stared at the tank. “Wow. I thought Manny was just a mannequin who got turned into a person and then back into a mannequin. But he was really just a magician. Great show! Great show!” He clapped and cheered.

  A little while later, Justin walked with Alex along a quiet section of Waverly Place. The street fair was closing down. The crowds had gone home. But Justin still hadn’t tracked down Calico Woman.

  He sighed. It had been a long day. “Look, Alex. See what happens when you break the rules?” he said.

  “Things end up working out for me?” Alex asked with a knowing grin.

  “No. You almost exposed us as wizards, and I lost Calico Woman. She was worth a hundred bucks,” Justin griped.

  “Hey, I got my boyfriend back, and I’ll give you a hundred bucks,” Alex offered. “Who got hurt?”

  “I did, because you didn’t respect me being in charge,” Justin said. He sat on the curb and looked down.

  “Why is that so important to you?” Alex sat down next to him. “What about living? Having fun? Doing stuff to tell stories about? Like this. This is going to be a great story to tell.”

  “The only people you could tell the story to would ground you,” Justin pointed out.

  “If you would calm down every once in a while, I would tell you stories,” Alex offered.

  Justin nodded. He knew this was his sister’s way of saying she was sorry without actually having to say it. That was okay with him.

  “Like, I bet you always wondered what happened to your light saber and cape,” Alex said casually. She got up and headed toward home.

  “Alex!” Justin cried. “How am I supposed to calm down when you tell me stuff like that?”

  He chased her down the street, wondering if there was a magic spell to stop sisters from annoying their brothers!

  Something magical is on the way!

  Look for the next book in Disney’s

  Wizards of Waverly Place series.

  Oh, Brother!

  Adapted by Heather Alexander

  Based on the series created by Todd J. Greenwald

  Part One is based on the episode “Justin’s Little Sister,” Written by Eve Weston

  Part Two is based on the episode “Alex in the Middle,” Written by Matt Goldman

  Alex Russo sat in Mr. Laritate’s social studies class, talking to her best friend, Harper Evans. She kept her eye on the door, waiting for the teacher to walk in. Just as the bell rang, he entered the classroom. He w
as dressed in his usual suit, but instead of a regular tie he was wearing a bolo tie, a traditional cowboy neckpiece. “All right my little history wranglers, enough ruckus,” Mr. Laritate bellowed. “Let’s start off Thursday’s class as we always do.” He paused and waited for his usual punch line. “With an oral pop quiz!”

  All the students groaned. Alex turned to Harper, who was sitting behind her. “Oh, my gosh,” she commented sarcastically. “It’s the Thursday pop quiz we have every Thursday. I’m totally caught off guard.” She rolled her eyes.

  Mr. Laritate scanned the classroom for the first student to call on. “In no particular order,” he said, “Wendy Bott, you’re up! The French and Indian War was fought by three groups of people. Name two of them.”

  Wendy stood up. She fidgeted nervously as she stuttered. “Um . . . the French was one for sure,” she said. “And the other one . . . I’m just going to guess, Indians?”

  Mr. Laritate grinned. “Excellent!” he exclaimed, as he rang the large cowbell sitting on his desk. He called on the next student. “Nellie Rodriguez, you’re up. The War of 1812 started in what year?”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Nellie said nervously. “I studied for this one.” She quickly looked down at her hand where she had written the answer. “Uh . . . 1812?”

  Once again, Mr. Laritate rang his bell. “Another winner!” He zoned in on Alex. “Alex Russo,” he said. “The Monroe Doctrine. What is it? When was it passed? And please give a two-minute argument defending it.”

  Alex couldn’t believe it. Everyone else had gotten such easy questions! This was totally unfair.

  “Hold on,” she said, standing up. “The other two questions had the answers in them. My question’s supposed to be: the Monroe Doctrine—whose doctrine is it? I’d say ‘Monroe’ and you’d say, “Yipee-dilly-willy-way-to-go-little-filly.’”

  “Oh, Alex,” groaned Mr. Laritate, shaking his head disapprovingly. “You are definitely not your brother Justin.”