Eleanor Martin leaned against her locker, on the phone with London Tipton (one of her friends from the Tipton; where her mother and little brothers live). Eleanor was known as the Boston girl; coming to New York to study to become a designer. She had to leave behind her chaotic little brothers, hotel singer mother, strict but loving manager and a dumb of an heiress and candy counter girl best friends.
She still called them every weekend and always got the low-down on what was always happening at the Tipton hotel. When moving to New York, she met the Russo family, who turned out to share the secret of being wizards. Cody, one of her little brothers, had found out through their ancestors that she gained powers from her Swedish ancestor, Elsa. It was ironic since Elsa also had little twin brothers, named Knuut and Olaf.
Alex Russo became one of her best friends, along with Charlotte and Harper, Max Russo becoming her new mischief partner and Jerry took her under his wing to train her (even though she didn't have to take the family wizard test).
Then, Justin Russo...oh, how he admired the girl. He would do ANYTHING just to have her affection at the end of the day; selfish magic or not. Of course, Eleanor being related to Zack Martin, she was oblivious to his antics and thinking he's doing it as a best friend who cares for her; also because everyone could see it except for her.
"London, for the last time, you didn't have to use Maddie as a baby bottle tester!" She slightly exclaimed. "She said I had to test it on the skin." London responded. "Your skin! Not hers!" Eleanor stated and frustrated, ended the call. Eleanor loved London but sometimes, she couldn't take it when London was being her usual dumb self. She put her phone in her pocket; looking at her surroundings to see she was clear and took out her wand from her jacket. Eleanor casted a wardrobe in her locket and began to pick.
"Blue, black, blue, cyan. Oh, blue and cyan, let's shake it up a little!" She smirked and casted the wardrobe away, and put on the selected shirt. "Hey, hey." Eleanor's New York best friend, Charlotte, skipped over. "Hey, how did your weekend vacation go?" Eleanor asked. "Well, we had to leave literally hours later." Charlotte said. "How come?" "My dad caused a forest fire." Eleanor's eyes widened. "Please tell me you're joking?" "Yeah...sure..."
Eleanor just pulled Charlotte away from the lockers, coming face to face with Harper and Alex. "Hey, girls." Eleanor smiled. "Hey, El!" Alex put an arm around the brunette. "Oh my gosh, did you guys hear? The 'Gurt Barn's handing out free frozen yogurt samples." Harper said. "How do you know that?" Charlotte questioned. "On my cell. I got a 'Gurt alert." Harper answered. "Well, you and Charlotte can but me and El can't. We have to work." Alex piped in. "You two always have to work." Harper groaned. A student came past them, with a beanie on their head; clearly trying to cover up their hair. "A beanie?" Alex arched an eyebrow.
"What's that? A hat?"
"Crazy, funky, junky hat."
"Overslept? Hair unsightly? Trying to look like Keira Knightley?"
"We've been there, we've done that. We see right through your funky hat."
The group of girls did their little dance to their 'Funky Hat' song. "It's just really hard to have friends who's always busy." "Yeah, we haven't hanged out a lot since you got a job there." Charlotte agreed with Harper. "I know. Why don't I get my parents to give you two jobs at the sandwich shop?" Alex suggested. "Yeah, we can hang out all the time and even get paid for it." Eleanor added. "That'd be great. I've never had a job before, well, except for the dollar Grandma gives me for rubbing lotion on her feet." The three gave Harper a look. "Yeah, well, we'll just make sure that you're wearing gloves when you make the sandwich."
~~~~~~~
Eleanor sat at the counter of the Waverly Sub Station; eating...a sandwich, of course. "Can you help me clean?" Alex questioned in annoyance. "I'm on break, and what are you even cleaning? That clear table?" She replied and took a bite. "Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Russo." Harper and Charlotte came into the shop; with smiles of pride on their lips. "We happened to be passing by when I noticed this 'help wanted' sign. We'd like to apply for the position." Charlotte held up a help wanted sign. "Girls, we didn't put that sign in the window." Jerry stated. "Well, someone must have." Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. "We're not hiring any sandwich associates." "Or people wearing a sandwich." Theresa pointed out Harper's shirt. "Harper, Charlotte, there's no jobs available. But if you can turn that sandwich into a taco, I think Raul's is hiring down the street." Jerry said.
"But we're swamped. We totally need more help with...all of our phone orders." Alex gestured to the shop; although, there was no one in the shop. "Girls, I know you think it'd be fun to work together, but it's really hard to work with friends, or family. The one time you forget to wipe off the tip of the mustard squeeze bottle and it's suddenly three hours of silent salami slicing." The mother told the four. "It dries at the end and gets crusty. It's unsightly." Jerry tried to explain. "Come on! You gave Eleanor a job!" Charlotte pointed to her friend. "Actually, Justin put in an application for her so he could admire her from afar. He says the shop's lighting really brings out her 'majestic' skin." Alex whispered to her. The red-head gave a look to the girl; then faced back to the parents.
Eleanor put her sandwich down as she stated how if the four girls were working together, then Jerry and Theresa could spend more time together. They wouldn't be so swamped with work as usual. "Yeah, Jerry, we could even go to one of those dollar movies you're always talking about." Theresa said. "It's a movie for a dollar. How could you not talk about that?" Jerry's eyes lit up in excitement. "Let me show you," She turned to her daughter and the best friend. "Alex, Eleanor, it is a big responsibility training new employees." She explained. "Does that mean yes?" Alex questioned. "You can't shirk your responsibilities while you're training them." Jerry joined in. "Does that mean yes?" Eleanor repeated Alex's question. "And remember, business comes before friendship."
"We're taking this all as a yes. Harper, Charlotte, you're hired." The squad started to scream with joy; stopping once noticing the looks from the parents. "I mean, welcome to the Russo family business." Eleanor held out her hand to the duo.
~~~~~~~
Throughout the day, Eleanor and Charlotte served several people whilst Alex and Harper gossiped. The brunette was thinking about getting the two back on their feet, however, she figured that it would be more funnier if Alex learned the hard way. She loved her best friend, but sometimes she needed to learn. "Eleanor, please get those two back to work." But then, there's Jerry. "Ugh! Why me?" "Alex will only listen to you." "Yeah, that only happens if hell freezes over." The wizard side-commented. Jerry just slightly glared at her and pointed right at Alex and Harper.
She slammed her tray onto the counter and walked over to them. "Regis, Kelly, super interesting subjects. However, have you ever thought about doing some actual work?" She butted her head. "Oh, right, sorry Ellie-" "Only my brothers get to call me Ellie. You call me El." Alex quickly corrected herself; stating that they were going to do some work. "We were just taking a break, but we're getting back to work."
"There's a customer. Why don't you take his order?"
"A cowboy hat?"
As Harper and Alex did their dance, Eleanor and Charlotte just stared at them. "Well, my shift is over; so I'm gonna get out of here. I'll call you later, okay?" The red-head said to her best friend. "Of course, I've got a few more hours left." Charlotte nodded and went to the kitchen area to check out. The tow had then finished; the three walked over to the customer.
"Hi, welcome to Waverly Sub Station. I'm Alex and this is Eleanor, we'll be your servers today." Alex smiled. "And this is Harper, she's our trainee." "Well, I'm thrilled. Tell you what, just give me the Bronx-strami, a large root beer, and a slice of that coffee cake over there, huh?" The customer with the cowboy hat said. However, Harper started to come in and suggest her own orders to him. The two brunettes slightly turned their heads towards their friend with a look; as if telling her to be quiet. "What? That's what I do." Harper stated. "Yeah, I'll have what the trainee said, huh?" The customer agreed with Harper.
The two girls walked back over to the counter, as Harper trailed from behind. "How'd I do?" She asked them. "Well, you just turned a $12 order into us owing him." Alex explained with a look. "Table 4, sandwich up." Jerry came out; ringing the bell with a smile as he placed a sandwich on the counter. "Why don't you just run sandwiches and me and Alex take orders?" Eleanor stated. The girl nodded in agreement; taking the sandwich but stumbled over, dropping the sandwich on the floor. "Okay, let's rephrase. Why don't you just clean tables and I'll take orders and Alex will run the sandwiches?" She said, with an expression that showed she didn't want to lose her cool. Harper agreed and the three went to do their jobs.
"Hey, El, how much coffee do I pour on the coffee cake?" Harper questioned. "...you remind me of my brothers every day."
~~~~~~~
As the three continued to work, Harper continued to be clumsy as she kept getting Jerry's shirt stained with condiments. She wasn't able to put the straws into the containers, and kept making people trip over. "Alex, Eleanor, can I talk to you two in the kitchen?" Jerry asked the two brunettes once Harper stained his shift...again. "Are you sure you don't wanna change your shirt first? It's gross." Alex pointed out as Eleanor gave a disgusted look at the sight of it. "No, because I'm sure she's gonna do it again." He responded and then led the two to the back. Theresa followed as well, obviously the two parents on the same page.
"Look, before you talk about whatever you wanna talk about, I have something to say. Harper's not working out." Alex said. "No damn, Sherlock." Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Oh, good. Then we're on the same page." "I'm not sure where this is going, but continue." Theresa piped into the conversation. "Well, we should probably let Harper go." Eleanor said. "Okay. This is a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be." Jerry sighed in relief. "Let us know how she takes it." Alex said, taking Eleanor's arm and they started to walk out. "Okay. Now we're not on the same page. It was your idea to hire Harper." Theresa pulled the two back. "And we told you two, business before friendship. So you're gonna have to fire her." She told them. "Why me? I only suggested Charlotte and she's doing great." "Yes, and we agree with you, however Harper is your friend too."
"You two come with us." Alex pulled them all into the refrigeration unit. "What are we doing in here?" Theresa asked. "Okay, if we stay in here long enough, Harper won't be able to find anyone and she'll just leave." "Alex!" Eleanor scolded. "And you expect that to work?" Jerry arched an eyebrow. "Well, it's how I got out of Harper's sewing club." Alex said. "Look, if Harper's not better by the end of the day, one of you are going to have to fire her."
"And I don't know how you're gonna do it, but I agree with your mother."
"Fine, but this could have worked."
~~~~~~~
Eleanor was going through her phone; looking at photos of her and her friends as Alex came out of the lair, a spellbook in her hands. "Oh, waitress spell, waitress spell, waitress spell." She looked through it. "No waitress spell." Eleanor put her phone in her strapped purse (that went over her shoulder) and joined her to help. "How about this? A serving wench?" She suggested as Justin walked in. Alex agreed with the idea, however, they had no idea what a serving wench was. "Hey, Justin!" Eleanor turned to the boy. "Oh! Uh...h-hi El!" Justin stammered. "Could you help? What's a serving wench?" "S-Sure, a serving wench is a beautiful...ah, I mean young!" He made a mistake as he got lost in Eleanor's eyes. "A young woman usually related to an innkeeper, who d-during medieval time, would serve grog and food to guests of the inn."
Alex rolled her eyes at his red cheeks and stammers; he could never really talk to Eleanor. "So like a waitress, right?" She butted in. "Well, not technically, because..." Justin regained his composure once Eleanor was away from his sight.
"So a waitress, right?"
"I guess. Why? Did my dad say there was a pop quiz on the medieval food-service industry?" He then frantically questioned. "Yep. Better study up." Alex shut the book and passed it to him; making Eleanor laugh slightly. "You don't need to study, Justin. You're smart enough already." She booped his nose platonically before following Alex out; whilst Justin had a small and happy freak-out to himself once she was gone.
The two girls went to the counter, noticing Harper with customers. They had complained of how she had gotten the order wrong; matters worse, when she took a drink from both of the sodas. "Take this girl with the skills of a bench and turn her into a serving wench." Alex casted the spell and directed it towards Harper. It then took effect and it was as if Harper had a complete change in her behaviour. "You know, you need all new drinks. I'll get those right away." She said to the group of customers. "So, how you feeling?" Eleanor asked Harper. "Suddenly, a lot better."
"Boy, Harper improved quickly." Jerry came out with a surprised expression. "Yeah, well sometimes it just takes a while for your skills to kick in. You probably know that from coaching since you're such a good coach." Alex complimented him. "I am a pretty good coach."
~~~~~~~
Eleanor eventually left Alex to the Harper-spell situation; going off to see how Justin's tutoring session was going. He had started a tutoring session in the Sub Station since he got an offer from one of the jocks at school, she was very proud of him helping other students. "Okay, Greg, it's great that heart Cindy, but that's not gonna help you in algebra class." Justin said. "Anthony, you're gonna have to start all over. Just saying that the Empire State Building is tall and pointy is not an essay. It's barely a sentence. And Natalie, this is H30." He took a piece off and ate it. "Now it's H20 and I have a treat."
"Hey, Justin. How are the sessions going?" She approached him. Justin froze on the spot and began to stammer at the sight of her. "Hey! Oh, uh, what's going on? I mean, how's up? Ugh..." Justin facepalmed but Eleanor just giggled at his nervous state. While she was oblivious to his feelings, she did find it cute sometimes. Then, a little kid named Frankie came up to them. "Oh, hello little boy. What can we help you with?" Eleanor kneeled down to speak to him. "First of all, it's what I can help you and your friend with, toots." Frankie said. Justin felt a pang in his heart when hearing Frankie call his woman a pet name. "This is a great tutoring business you both got here. It'd be a shame to see something happen to it." He knocks over the globe. "What the hell?!" Eleanor gasped.
"Oops. Looks like your world's come tumbling down." He directed that at Justin. "You owe me a new globe." Justin stepped in front of Eleanor. "No, you owe me 25% of your tutoring action. I'm the tutor in this neighbourhood, and I don't like competition." Frankie glared. "I bet you also don't like amusement parks, because you're not tall enough to ride the rides." Justin spat back and Eleanor laughed. "Witty comeback. You know what I think of witty comebacks?" He knocked the pencil container onto the floor. "Pick up those sticks. Get it? It's a game. Look it up. Good day." Frankie gave Eleanor a wink and tongue click before leaving.
"You get them. You're closer to the ground, because he..." Justin gave up trying to come back to the boy; getting down and picking up the pencils. Eleanor felt bad and kneeled down to help him whilst Justin observed her with a dreamy gaze. "You're so wonderful." He breathed out. "What?" Eleanor looked up, clueless. "I-I mean, it's wonderful of you to help."
~~~~~~~
Later that day, the Sub Station was packed with several customers. Harper must've been doing a really good job if the sandwich shop was filled with this many people. "Tuna wrap Brooklyn style, burn them. I need a roast beef. Knock the wind out of it and let it walk." Harper said. Jerry and Theresa entered and shock was their expression. "Where did all these people come from?" Theresa questioned. "Oh, Harper gave everyone that was here earlier a coupon to come for dinner and get a free soda with every sandwich." Alex explained to them. "But we already give free soda at dinner."
"I know. She's brilliant."
"Harper is doing great."
"I know. You guys could even go out again tomorrow." Eleanor suggested to the parents. "For as long as we've lived in New York, we've never been to the Statue of Liberty." "I know. And it's the one pencil sharpener missing from my monument collection." Theresa agreed with Jerry. They both go upstairs to start packing again for their trip...again. "Order's up." Harper came from the kitchen and gave food to the customers. "Did you hear that? I just talked my mom and dad into leaving you in charge." Alex told Harper. "Moving up in the world! Yay!" Eleanor laughed, throwing her hands in the air. Alex gave Eleanor a look and the girl put her hands back down.
"So when they leave, we can lock up and we can do whatever we want. Except go to the Statue of Liberty." "I don't think so. We're gonna be pretty busy here." Harper objected to Alex's suggestion. "I just e-mailed out a breakfast special, so you should be in about 5 am." She then told the two. "Yes ma'am, I'll let Charlotte know." Eleanor pretended to salute.
"I'm not coming in at 5 am." Alex gave a scoff. "Yeah, I think you are. I need two bows-wows painted red. And who do I have to kick in the can to get some nachos?" "I can come in whenever I want." She groaned. "No you can't. You heard your parents, they're leaving me in charge." Harper retaliated. "Because I told them to, you're not my boss. I checked with my boss. And since I'm my boss, I'm giving myself the day off." Alex argued. "I hate to do this, but if you don't come in tomorrow, you're fired." Eleanor's eyes widened at the statement. Sure, it did seem nice that Harper could work here now and hang out with the three; however, she didn't like it was going to lead to a situation like this. "Woah, okay, let's calm down here." She tried to calm the tension. "You can't fire me. It's my family's restaurant, you're fired." Alex directed back to Harper. "I'm in charge. You can't fire me!"
"My family owns the restaurant. And since I'm in the family, that makes me part-owner; owners can fire employees. Do the math."
"Well, fine. If you can fire me from the restaurant, I'm firing you from being my friend." Harper exclaimed back. Eleanor facepalmed; sometimes it didn't feel like she was far from home. She swore she could parallel Harper and Alex with her little brothers. "I'm removing this apron from the restaurant and the metaphorical apron of our friendship." She continued, taking the apron off and starting to storm out of the sandwich shop.
"There's no apron in our friendship."
"Not anymore there isn't."
~~~~~~~
Charlotte and Eleanor walked down the market; deciding to leave Alex with her problem, since it was one she made (only Ellie knowing the reason why). They loved Alex but they knew sometimes she had to make up for her own problems. "So, she stormed out?" Charlotte asked; Eleanor nodding in reply. "Quit or fired?" She then asked. "Charlotte!" The brunette snapped. "What? I can't help when there's gossip!" Her best friend defended.
The two kept going until they saw Justin with his group of students; deciding to go over and see what they were up to. "And for our next experiment, Chris is gonna drop a water balloon and a Ping-Pong ball from upstairs at the same time. Which one do you think is gonna hit the ground first?" Justin said to them. However, he got hit in the head with a water balloon, making Charlotte belt out with laughter. "Chris, you were supposed to wait for me to say "go". That guy..." He then got hit by another water balloon. "Okay, kind of deserved that one. Let's take a five and regroup."
The girls came over to the now-watered guy; Eleanor checking if he was okay. Charlotte gave a smirk to her ship, she would name them Jeleanor. "Do you need a towel?" The Martin wizard asked him, as Justin gave a wide-eye gaze to Eleanor's caressed hand, red doting his cheeks. "Um...I-I..." He stuttered. "Sure, thanks; gotta make sure I don't catch a cold, even if you are amazing." He let himself get carried away again; Eleanor arching an eyebrow, with Charlotte giving him a gesture to get it together. "At...helping people...in trouble!" Justin tried to correct himself. Eleanor gave a sweet smile to him in reply; he swore he could melt.
"Looks like Galileo's all wet. Where's my cut?" Frankie came over. "Oh great, this guy." Charlotte groaned, hands on her hips. "Hush, reddie. The Answer Man's getting tired of waiting." Frankie held up a hand to her. "You're tired? Sounds like it's nap time for you. Enforcers, assemble!" Suddenly, some little kids (clearly his goons or something) came around from corners. "So you got a lot of really tiny friends? And, anyone can drop down a rope..." Eleanor pointed out. "These two guys have black belts in tae kwon do. That guy brought a rope." "Oh, you can't out-do the rope." Charlotte gasped, Eleanor and Justin giving her a look; simply shrugging in reply.
"Chris, let them all go!" Justin yelled, him and the girls running in different directions; whilst water balloons and ping-pong balls fell. "Retreat, retreat."
~~~~~~~
The best friends had found out that Harper was now working at 'Gurt Barn'; given that they had their lunch break there (instead of sandwiches). Charlotte was staying there to keep tabs on Harper for the brunette, whilst she stayed at the sandwich shop. Also, she wasn't taking the Frankie kid anymore in torturing Justin in every waking moments, so...she made a few calls to some connections. Her head went up when she heard jazz music starting to play; seeing Frankie looking her down. "Take a picture, kid, it'll last longer." She spat as she placed her phone in her purse. "Fiesty, just how I like 'em." "Aren't you like eight?" Eleanor narrowed her eyes. The music then stopped once Justin Russo came into view from the top of the stairs of the market; a hard, stern expression on his face to the sight before him.
"Justin Russo. You, you thought you could hide, but you can't. Enforcers, assemble!" Frankie teased as his goons came out from the shop, behind him. "Have they been in there, the whole time?" Eleanor questioned. "Any last words, Russo, besides 'Mommy'?" Frankie taunted Justin again. "Yeah, I got something to say. Underachievers, assemble!" Justin yelled out; out coming the jocks he had been tutoring. The brunette narrowed her eyes, confused at the sight of them walking around (without a thought in their head?). She then just walked over to Justin, arms crossed. "What? You got something to say too?" Frankie now directed his attention to Eleanor. "I sure do. Bodyguards, assemble!" She exclaimed and four suit-dressed, sunglasses-wearing guys came from the shadows. She smirked as she slowly saw the once smug smile on Frankie's face now go towards a scared expression.
"I'd like you to meet my friends. This is Brian, he's currently failing geometry, but being recruited by Canadian football. This is Doug, going into his third year of the eleventh grade. All-star wrestler. And this guy? He's got a record." Justin introduced the jocks behind him. "And with me, these are bodyguards given to me by...London Tipton, close friend of mine and daughter of Mr Tipton." God, Eleanor did love having an heiress as a best friend sometimes. "That's Mark; he took down four guys who tried to rob Mr Tipton when he visited the governor. Philip here, could easily strangle a person with one grip of his hand. Then, there's Neo and Xavier...they've done things that I can't say. I had to sign an NDA for that reason." Eleanor explained. "You're smart enough to see where this is going, right, Answer Man?"
"This is just a little back-and-forth. You know...something tutors do. What do you say? Friends?" Frankie tried to offer the two. "Hey, what about you toots?" Eleanor only kneeled down with a sweet smile, only saying "Sorry, I'm not into short guys."
"Enforcers, run!"
"Get them, they're getting away, go!" Justin ordered the group of jocks; as they ran, along with the bodyguards. Eleanor placed hands on her hips and watched with a chuckle. "Hey, that was kinda cool back there." She said to Justin. "O-Oh, really?" "Yeah! And here, I thought you were just a lovable dork." She smiled and ran off to find the bodyguards. Justin watched her leave, doing a small joyous dance after, then ran after her.
~~~~~~~
They kept running and ended up at Harper's workplace. Charlotte noticed her friend and ran up to her. "Hey, where have you been?" "Sorry, I had something to take care of." Eleanor apologised. "Well, Alex and Harper still haven't made up. So, we need to step in." Charlotte explained to her. Eleanor agreed and said that she should go talk to Harper, whilst she talked with Alex; clearly so she could help Alex do the spell without being caught. "So?" She shrugged her shoulders as she approached Alex. "Not good." was all she replied. "What are you gonna do?" Eleanor asked. "I'm doing it." Alex said and started to undo the spell. "Take this girl who's a great serving wench and give her back her skills of a bench." and this took Harper back to her old, clumsy self.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't usually do this sort of thing. I'm employee of the month." Harper said, once she had dumped the food from the tray onto two customers. "Well, this is still good, we can scoop it up. Let me just get you some all-new yogurt." She picked the mess up and walked back. "So, your solution was to make her look bad?" Eleanor questioned. "I don't know, I'm mad. I just want her to be my friend." Alex replied. "Well, if you want her to be your friend, you gotta be her friend." Eleanor gestured to Harper, who was struggling with the yogurt machine, with the help of Charlotte. "I hate it when you're right." Alex groaned. "Aw, I love you too, honey." Eleanor fake awed as she put an arm around Alex; them going to join the two.
"Here, let us help you two." Alex said. "Why do you wanna help me?" Harper asked. "Because we're your friends. You can fire me from being your friend, but you can't fire me from acting like a friend." She explained as Eleanor and Charlotte tried to use cups, in order to keep the yogurt from overflowing and clearly not working. "I just can't get this cow to turn off." "Okay, we need something bigger, like a tub or something." Charlotte pointed out; Harper taking off her shoe and holding it out to her. "Something other than that." Alex simply just put her mouth under the flowing red, and the three gave a confused look at her. "Brain freeze!" She exclaimed as the machine stopped. "It must have run out." Harper said. "Yeah," and some more went atop her head. "Nope. Now it did." Alex deadpanned.
"I'm so sorry, guys."
"Why are you sorry? It's like a funky hat?"
"What's that? A hat?"
"Crazy, funky, junky hat."
"Overslept? Hair unsightly? Trying to look like Keira Knightley?"
"We've been there, we've done that. We see right through your funky hat."
The manager came out and took notice of the mess. "I'm sorry. We had a bit of an accident." Harper stated. "We should get our stories straight before the owner comes in." The manager said. Frankie then came running out, with one of the jocks behind him; Eleanor chasing after him, and Justin on her tail. "We'll blame him." The manager gestured to Justin. "I like her." Charlotte laughed. "Perfect. I've been blaming him my whole life." Alex smiled.