"You're the girl who helped my brother and me yesterday."

I looked up with a start to see Alexy grinning widely. We were the first ones in the classroom; the warning bell hadn't even rung yet.

"Yes, that's me. Did you find all of your classes okay?" I answered after only a slight pause. 

"Yup! Thanks for the help," he chirped while leaning against my desk, folding his arms on top of it. "So your name was...Willow?"

"Yes, Willow Sato. And you're Alexy, right?"

"Hey, you got it! Armin's at home today because he stayed up all night playing his video games and wouldn't wake up. He was supposed to go shopping with me after school, too," Alexy said sulkily as he knelt on the ground and leaned his chin on top of his folded arms on my desk forlornly. I had a powerful urge to ruffle his hair, but I quickly clasped my hands together since touching him without permission would be beyond rude.

"So, you're the mastermind behind your outfits?" I asked, and he looked up at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, both you and Armin are dressed so stylishly. My aunt is in the fashion industry, and the first time I saw you, I thought that she would love your style. It's very colorful and vibrant." 

Alexy's mouth dropped open, and he grabbed my hands. "You know about fashion? Do you like to shop?" he asked excitedly. 

I blinked rapidly, trying to decide whether to laugh or move my hands from under his grip. Alexy is so excitable, I thought with interest.

"Well, Auntie is better at it, but I like to shop, yes."

"Will you go shopping with me after school?" Alexy was almost shouting now, his purple eyes shining with excitement. 

I quickly did a mental checklist. I had a dance lesson with Shin-woo at seven, and I didn't know what my homework load would be... but after looking once more into Alexy's excited face, I couldn't say no.

"Sure. But I have to be home by six." 

Alexy leaned forward, bringing our hands up in between us. "That's perfect! I'll meet you at the entrance doors right after school!" Alexy said enthusiastically and sat down at the desk next to mine. Something about his bubbly personality reminded me of Auntie, and I found myself wanting to get to know him more.

"Do you mind if I ask why you moved here?"

"Dad got transferred to a company near here," he answered and then grinned. "I'm really glad I moved here! My old school kinda sucked, I'm excited for a new start." I nodded slowly in understanding.

"That was the same with me. I moved here after spring break last year. It's an awesome school; I love everything about it." Alexy's mouth dropped open as he gawked at me.

"You moved here, too? Are you serious? But you're, like, a legend!" 

Now it was my turn to be shocked.

"What? No way," I refuted, waving my hand in a dismissive gesture.

"It's true! I asked a bunch of people about you since you were nice and helped my brother and me out. Everyone was saying how you stood up to the school bully in the cafeteria, and the basketball team idolizes you, and you're super smart." 

I opened and closed my mouth in shock. People are talking about me? Why on earth would they do that?

"Good morning, Willow." I looked up into Nathaniel's cheerful face. He sat down in the other chair next to me and leaned forward to look at Alexy. "Morning," he greeted with a friendly smile.

"Yo!" Alexy replied with a grin, then he leaned forward. "Hey, Nathaniel. Willow isn't a new student, is she?" Nathaniel raised an eyebrow in confusion, and his eyes slid over to mine for a second.

"Well, not technically, but she did move here after spring break last year." Alexy turned an awe-filled gaze on me, and I fidgeted.

"So, Willow, did you get your aunt to sign your permission slip?"

"Yup!" I replied, gratefully turning away from Alexy and meeting Nathaniel's golden gaze. "I already turned it into the principal. She was thrilled."

"What are you talking about?" I looked up to see that Lysander and Castiel were walking past me to sit in the second row.

"Oh, you'll find out in seventh period," I replied with a grin. Castiel opened his mouth, probably to make a sarcastic retort, but then the bell to start class rang out, and Mr. Schiess walked in.

"Welcome to day two of Government. To begin, I'll call the roll, and then we'll proceed to our current events portion. In the first ten minutes of class, I want to discuss noteworthy events that are happening right now in our government." 

As the class discussed a recent natural disaster, I made a mental note to start reading the newspaper so I could contribute to the discussion. The day passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was seventh period and I was headed for the student council room.

"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked Nathaniel as I glanced at the stacks of folders.

"Each classroom gets a folder. Just hand it to the teacher and explain to the students a little about the event. I would stress that they get out of school for a whole day, and there are prizes for the winning teams."

"Really? What kind of prizes?" I asked while carefully balancing half of the folders in my arms.

"Restaurant gift cards and stuff like that," Nathaniel answered while holding the door open for me. "I'll take upstairs, and you can do downstairs."

"Sounds good. How many people do you think will sign up?"

"I'm not sure. We have to get at least 25 teams to cover the cost of the buses. If we don't get more than that, then this will have been a waste of a fundraiser."

"Well then, I guess we'd better really sell it," I said with a smile, and Nathaniel nodded. "I'm going to start with my Advanced Watercolors class. I'll see you later, Nathaniel."

"Good luck, partner," Nathaniel called, and I chuckled, pushing the door to my classroom open.

"Ah, perfect timing! Come up here, please, Willow." 

I blinked in surprise and then walked up to Mr. Faraize at the front of the class, flashing a smile at Violette and Kim.

"Class, this is what I was talking about. Principal Shermansky has organized an orienteering race, and I have volunteered to be one of the chaperones. As such, I expect all of my students to sign up and participate." 

Confused chatter broke out, and Mr. Faraize held his hands up for silence.

"This race will be taking place in the beautiful Lankelti Forest, home to many marvelous deciduous trees. Most of my own inspiration to paint comes from viewing the world around me, and so I am making this an assignment for the class. We will all spend the day in the forest and then come back and paint whatever you found most inspiring for your first piece." Mr. Faraize took one of the folders from the stack in my arms and smiled at me. "Thank you very much. You may go to the next classroom now."

I nodded quietly, smiling with excitement. That means that Violette and Kim will be coming to the orienteering race too! This is great! I thought happily as I left the classroom and made my way around the bottom floor of the school.

It didn't take long to go through the rest of the classes. At the far end of the English hallway, I walked into Mr. Tremont's class after knocking lightly. Mr. Tremont looked over, and his face split into the widest grin I had ever seen.

"Miss Willow! What a delight to see you again!"

"Sato!" I looked over in surprise to see Troy and Jackson waving at me. I waved slightly, then turned back to Mr. Tremont.

"Hello, Mr. Tremont," I greeted brightly, walking towards him. My stack of folders was much smaller now as I handed one to him. "Would you mind if I made a little announcement to your class?"

"Of course not!" he agreed, dramatically stepping to the side and leaving me in the middle of the room. I tried to hold back my giggle as I looked at the class, which appeared to be English 11.

"The school is putting on an orienteering race this coming Friday. Mr. Tremont will pass out the permission forms after I leave. It costs 50 dollars to sign up, and you have to be in teams of two, but you will be excused from classes and there will be prizes for the three fastest teams."

"Will you be my partner, Sato?" Troy called out exuberantly, and Jackson shoved him.

"Yah right, like she'd go with you."

"Miss Willow is quite sought after," Mr. Tremont remarked with a glimmer in his eyes, and I tried to keep from blushing.

"It's not like that, Mr. Tremont. I'm Troy's tutor and friend. But I'm sorry, Troy, I already have a partner." Troy sighed and propped his chin in his hands sulkily. "I promise that it's going to be a lot of fun. Besides, who doesn't like to get out of school every once in a while?" 

The class laughed as several people raised their hands in assent. I smiled, said goodbye to Mr. Tremont, and went on my way, chuckling merrily. It was a shame that I had completed my required English credits last year, I wished I could have taken another class with Mr. Tremont.

It took me almost the entire period to hand out the signup sheets. I walked back to Advanced Watercolors for the last ten minutes of class, and Violette handed me some notes she had taken for me. I nodded my head in thanks and listened to the rest of Mr. Faraize's lecture on transparent versus opaque paints. The last bell of the day rang out, and I grabbed my backpack before heading to the entrance. Just as I saw Alexy's shocking blue hair, I felt Dajan's arm rest on my head.

"So, Sato, are you going to be in the orienteering race?" he asked without preamble. I nodded and was about to respond to him verbally when someone else's voice caught my attention.

"Sato! Wait a sec!" Dajan and I turned to see Brandon jogging up to us. "Sato, will you be my partner for the orienteering race?" 

I opened my mouth, but Dajan stepped in front of me before a sound could pass my lips.

"Brandon, we talked about this."

"Umm..." I tried to interject, peeking from around Dajan's broad back. Brandon's eyes seemed as if they were on fire, and I instantly stopped, feeling myself moving a little more behind Dajan.

"Look, Dajan, I get that you're her bodyguard or whatever, but you can't decide for me whether I ask her out or not." 

I blinked in shock. Ask me out? He couldn't mean....

"Sato can go out with whoever she wants, but I'm not going to let you pressure her," Dajan responded with a hard edge to his voice that I'd never heard before.

"Just because you keep her close doesn't mean she'll like you," Brandon hissed.

"I'm not doing it to make her like me. I'm trying to protect her."

"And you think I'd hurt her?" Brandon asked, enraged. 

Dajan folded his arms, staring down at Brandon. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't like it one bit.

"You guys are friends. You shouldn't argue like this," I interjected, feeling tears prickle the back of my eyes. 

Dajan looked back at me, and guilt flashed across his face. Brandon's anger, however, was not so easily diffused; he turned his burning eyes on me, and I gulped, feeling beads of sweat going down my back.

"You want to be my partner, don't you, Sato?" he asked in a dangerous voice. Instinctively, I shrank behind Dajan's broad back.

"I actually already have a partner. I'm sorry," I said quietly, trying to keep eye contact without showing the fear that was bubbling up in me. It was irrational, I knew that, but something about Brandon reminded me of my father, and the anger in his eyes was giving me chills. Just as quickly as Brandon's anger erupted, it fizzled out as he looked at me dejectedly.

"Already?" he asked disappointedly, and I nodded mutely.

"Who's your partner?" Dajan asked with a touch of worry.

"Nathaniel," I responded simply, wanting nothing more than to get out of this situation. 

Dajan let out a breath of relief and nodded, ruffling my hair. "A nerd like you. He'll be fine. But if you need any help, just call me and I'll be right there." 

I nodded nervously, glancing over at Brandon, who had turned away from us.

"I'm going to go. I'll see you later, Dajan." 

I walked away quickly, taking deep breaths and feeling my heart rate slowly return to normal.

"What was that about?" 

I jumped, letting out a small squeak, and immediately covered my mouth with my hands in embarrassment as Alexy stared at me with wide eyes. He then let out a loud laugh, and I tried to giggle along with him. He eventually stopped laughing and grinned at me.

"A little jumpy, aren't you?"

"Just a little," I admitted before clearing my throat. "So, where are we going?" 

Alexy's purple eyes sparkled, and he grinned happily at me. "There's a cute boutique I saw that I want to go check out. Come on!" 

Alexy and I hopped on a bus and rode it into town, where he brought me into a store down Main Street.

"Everything is so cute! Oh, look at this! I bet this would look great on you!" He tossed me a pink shirt with purple ribbons going down the sides. "Oh, look at this hat!" he said while placing a huge brown top hat on his head. Before I had time to comment, though, something else caught his eye.

I followed him around the store in stunned silence, watching him go through the items as if he lived there. At one point, he grabbed a light purple scarf and wrapped it expertly around the top hat while reaching for a brown belt and looping it around his neck. I had never seen anyone shop with such gusto before.

As he browsed, he chatted incessantly about his favorite color combinations and his dreams of someday becoming a stylist. I listened to him with interest, amazed and awed that he had such a firm goal for his future. In the middle of his explanations, he gasped, then draped his jacket around my shoulders so that he could slip into a green shirt and a red striped jacket. Alexy turned around and glanced at my arms, which were full of all the clothes he'd tossed at me.

"Oops, I guess I got a little carried away," he said with chagrin. I couldn't keep myself from laughing as I tried to balance all the clothes in my arms without dropping them.

"Here, let's go through these again." Alexy began putting clothes away until I was left with only three dresses. "Go try those on," he commanded. 

I obediently walked to the fitting room in the back of the store while shaking my head and grinning. I quickly changed into the off-the-shoulder gray and blue dress. The gray overlayer had been ripped so that it read "Bla Bla," and the bottom was frayed slightly. It was a lot edgier than I usually went for, but I kind of liked it. I walked out of the fitting room and looked around for Alexy. He was once more in the scarf section, wrapping an orange one around his own neck.

"Alexy, what do you think?" 

Alexy turned and smiled at me. "I knew it would look good on you, but let me see the other ones. I'm not sure if this really says 'Willow'," he said with a quizzical expression.

I went back to the fitting room and tried on the purple dress with a narrow waist, puffy sleeves, and a poofy skirt. It even had pockets on the side. Feeling a little silly, I walked out with my hands in my pockets. Alexy was waiting for me, and he grinned widely before covering his mouth.

"Why, Alexy, you don't like this?" I asked in mock surprise, swishing the voluminous skirt back and forth. Alexy let go of his pent-up laughter, and I joined him.

"I don't think you and poof belong together," he observed through his chuckles, and I nodded in agreement. "Let's hope the last one is a better fit for you," he said, shooing me back into the fitting room.

As I locked the door behind me, I picked up the third dress and smiled. It was a pale orange color with thick straps for sleeves and a sweetheart neckline with a small red circle gathering the material towards the middle across my chest. The skirt fell to just above my knees with three lines of red wrapping around the bottom. Enjoying the feel of the material, I slipped it on and smiled at my reflection in the mirror. As I spun around, the skirt flowed around me beautifully, reminding me of the sundress Auntie had picked for me. I smiled again and walked out. Alexy was waiting for me outside the door this time, and I spun around once more. He clapped enthusiastically, so I dipped into a curtsy.

"That's more like it! I knew I'd find something for you. Come on, I'll buy it for you."

"What? You don't have to do that," I dismissed quickly, but Alexy flashed me a brilliant smile.

"I want to! I've had a lot of fun shopping with you. But, if I buy you this dress, I do have conditions," he said while raising a finger seriously. An image of Auntie flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but smile.

"And what would those be?"

"You have to wear it to school tomorrow, and you have to let me do your hair and makeup." 

I blinked in surprise and then put one hand on my hip. "Alexy, are you making me your styling guinea pig?"

"Yup!" Alexy admitted with a wide grin, and I laughed. 

I didn't know why, but I felt completely relaxed when I was with Alexy. He was very handsome, but he reminded me so much of Auntie that I had trouble seeing him as a boy and not my auntie in disguise.

"Okay, fine. But if that's what you want, then you'll have to come home for dinner and meet my auntie. It would probably be better than just showing up early in the morning without warning."

"Are you sure? I don't want to bother her," Alexy mumbled, losing the glitter in his eyes.

"I'm sure! Auntie will love you! Unless you already have plans?" I asked, worried I had overstepped my bounds. Alexy brightened, though.

"Nope! I'll just call and let my parents know I'll be home late. Now, go get changed, we still have to find accessories and shoes for you!" 

Alexy pushed me back into the fitting room, and I laughed, marveling once again at how similar Auntie and Alexy were. With a new dress, shoes, bracelets, and hairpins bought, I brought Alexy home with me. It was almost 5:30.

"Auntie, I'm home!" I called.

"Willow! I missed you! You're always here before I get home! It was so sad coming home to an empty house." Auntie pulled me into a bear hug, and then she noticed Alexy. "Oh," she said softly.

Auntie circled an arm around my waist and examined Alexy from head to toe. Alexy's bright smile slowly faded as the silence continued for several seconds. Auntie deliberately walked over so that she was standing right in front of Alexy. Without her heels on, she was a couple of inches shorter than Alexy, but she carried herself as if she were seven feet tall, and I could almost see Alexy shrinking back from intimidation. She suddenly clapped once, making both Alexy and me flinch, then she turned to me and grinned broadly.

"He's wonderful! Can we keep him?" A short laugh escaped me before my mind had fully processed what had just happened. Alexy let out a sigh of relief, and Auntie began flittering around him like an excited butterfly. "These colors are fabulous! And your hair! It's wonderful! Come in, come in, I ordered some pizza. I hope you like Mushroom and Bacon deep dish."

We all went into the dining room and ate our pizza. Auntie and Alexy soon were in the middle of a rapid-fire discussion; when he found out that she used to be a designer, I thought he would float away with happiness. I left them to their conversation to pack my workout clothes for my dance lesson with Shin-woo. When I came back, they were still thick as thieves.

"Auntie, I'm heading out now." Auntie stopped mid-sentence and turned around in surprise.

"Willow, when did you get over there?" 

I stifled a giggle and shook my head. "I have to go or I'll be late for my lesson."

"Oh, that's right! Do you want me to drive you, sweetheart?"

"I can take the bus, it's not a problem," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand.

"I was just telling Alexy that I'll be watching his work on you closely. If I think that he has potential, once he graduates, I have a friend who's a stylist who might take him on as an intern."

"Alexy, that's great!" I exclaimed excitedly, and his eyes shone brightly.

"He has to impress me, though," Auntie said seriously, and he grinned.

"Don't you worry, Ms. Sato, I'm going to blow you away! But since Willow's leaving, I should probably head home too. I'll be here bright and early, though, be prepared, Willow," Alexy warned seriously, and I rolled my eyes, grinning.

A/N I love how dynamic Auntie and Alexy are together, and Willow just patiently lets them do what they want :P