I SEE YOUR TRUE COLORS
A/N: This takes place after the events of The Chipmunk Adventure. There are some references to that movie, as well as another Chipmunks fanfic called What Happened in the Balloon. Special thanks go to that story's author, krazy-kookiegirl. And FYI, I own nothing.
"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Naturally, they became heroes."
—GEORGE LUCAS
The warm, steamy water flowed over me and down my neck, back and shoulders as I stood underneath the shower head. Ordinarily, I try not to take too much time and consume as little water as possible when I shower, but today, I was lost in my own thoughts. My brothers, our friends the Chipettes, and I had been through a lot since our round-the-world hot air bal-loon race. Besides getting the Hail Mary of all lectures from both Dave and Miss Miller, there was also having to testify in court against the Furschteins, the diamond smugglers who'd roped us into their dirty business. To this day, I still couldn't tell you which was worse: that, or being dragged into this whole crazy mess by Alvin. Sure, we'd cracked a major smuggling ring, as he'd tried in vain to tell Dave on the way home from the airport; and for the most part, visiting all those places was actually kind of fun. However, I still could've done without having to go through everything else—specifically, being held prisoner in Cen-tral America and almost being fed to crocodiles.
A loud pounding on the bathroom door snapped me back to reality. "Hey, Simon!" I heard Alvin yell impatiently. "Are you planning on coming out of there sometime today?"
I sighed in disdain and shut off the water. Don't get me wrong—Alvin is my brother and I love him like crazy, but I was still angry at him for getting us into all this trouble.
After the quickest drying-off and dressing on record, I opened the door and hurried out of the bathroom past Alvin, not even looking in his direction. I'm normally a forgiving person, but getting over this one was going to take me a very long time.
I went to my room, put my socks and shoes on, and picked up the dark blue Adidas backpack that Miss Miller had given me for Christmas last year. In the bag were three library books that were due. I not only needed to return them, but I also needed something to get my mind off of things.
Bag in hand, I made my way downstairs. Theodore was in the den wat-ching cartoons, and Dave in the living room, sitting at the desk with the checkbook and a stack of bills.
"Um—Dave?" I asked tentatively.
"Yeah?"
"I, uh—I have some library books to return."
"Okay," Dave answered. "That's fine."
"Okay. Well, uh—I'll be back."
Dave barely even looked up. Either he was too busy with his work, or still angry at us for doing what we did. At any rate, I wasn't about to stick around to find out.
I put on my blue denim jacket, slung my bag over my shoulder, and was out the door. It was a breezy, overcast day, and temperature-wise, I'd say it was approxi-mately between 59 and 63 degrees. As a native Californian, that was just fine with me. Unlike Alvin and Brittany, I wasn't exactly fond of triple-digit heat. Alvin says it's because I don't tan, which is part of the reason. Plus, when it's really hot out, that's when there are bees around: sweat bees, wood bees, honeybees, you name it. And yes, I'm allergic to bee stings.
When I arrived at the library, the first thing I noticed was that they were closed. That's when I remembered that they close early on Saturdays. Oh well, at least there was the book drop, so they'd still get them back. (By the way, I don't mean to brag, but for as long as I can remember, I never once had to pay any overdue fines.)
After dropping my books off, I turned around and started to leave. And there, sitting on one of the benches near the curb, was Jeanette.
She was staring into space, completely oblivious to everything around her. She also didn't have a jacket on, and was hugging her bare legs against her chest. I knew what I had to do, but for a moment, I was reluctant to app-roach her. Ever since the Chipettes rescued us, I'd been having these really weird feelings when I was around her, even more so than usual. It was during the balloon ride back home that she and I were really starting to get close. Jeanette was and is one of my dearest friends, but lately, I'd been under the impression that our friendship was turning into something more, and wondered if she felt the same way.
Go to her, I thought to myself. She could use the company anyway, so what have you got to lose?
Slowly but surely, I walked up to her. She didn't even hear me coming, and that's when I made my presence known. "Hi, Jeanette," I said. She gasped and gave a tiny jump, then turned and saw me.
"Oh, hi, Simon," she responded, with that warm, sweet smile of hers. God, she was so pretty. "How are you?"
"Oh, I've been doing okay. You?"
"Eh, same old same old. I forgot the library closes early today, and since it's such a nice day out, I figured I'd sit here awhile."
"Yes, it's definitely one of those days for that," I observed. "Not too hot or cold, and not too sunny or cloudy."
"Exactly."
I don't know what possessed me to do what I did next. Maybe I was run-ning out of things to say, or maybe it was because I didn't want her to get cold. Either way, I set my bag down on the far end of the bench, took off my jacket, and draped it over her legs as I sat down beside her.
"Thanks," she smiled gratefully. Then she noticed the white T-shirt I was wearing. "Won't you be cold?"
"No, I'll be okay," I answered. To be honest, I was starting to feel a little chilly, but I put it out of my mind for the time being. If Alvin had seen what had just happ-ened, I know for a fact that he would've made some lame joke about me trying to look tough and macho for the fairer sex (his words, not mine).
"Say, what were those books you were returning?" Jeanette asked.
"Oh, just some material on astronomy, chemistry—you know, the usual stuff," I said, as casually as I could manage.
"Sounds interesting. I just finished this book about Greek mythology, and it reminded me of when the six of us met up in Athens."
I couldn't help chuckling at that memory. Of all the stops on our adven-ture, that was the only one that I really enjoyed the most—that is, when Alvin and Brittany weren't arguing over who could "out-rock 'n' roll" whom.
"Yeah, that was fun, wasn't it?" I said with a half-smile. "And I still can't believe we didn't run into Dave."
"Yeah, neither can I," Jeanette agreed. "By the way, is he still mad at you guys?"
I paused. I wanted to think that he'd calmed down since then, especially since it was well over a month since those people were convicted, but I still wasn't too sure.
"I'd like to think otherwise," I admitted. "He was pretty furious, as was Miss Miller. And she hardly ever gets angry."
"True. But don't worry, she'll come around. And so will Dave."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Hey, Simon?"
"Yes?"
Jeanette cleared her throat and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face before continuing, "Um, in case I didn't tell you yet, or if I already did and then forgot, I—I just wanted to say—well, thank you. For helping me feel better when I was sick. You know?"
Oh, I knew, all right. I knew exactly what she was getting at. We were thousands of feet in the air, and the disorientation of being up so high and seeing nothing but ocean and sky had made her nauseous. Our siblings were all asleep, so I was the only one who could be there for her.
Now that I think about it, that's when these feelings started.
"You're more than welcome," I said, patting her shoulder. "And thank you for letting Alvin and me borrow those extra sweaters of yours, even though Brittany wasn't too pleased with that."
"Anytime," Jeanette giggled. "You know, you guys did look kinda cute in those, um—garments you were wearing."
I don't know what shade of red my face turned when she said that, but it sure felt hot. And my throat felt like it was full of sand.
"And you girls sure looked pretty in those princess outfits, too," I managed to eke out as I looked away. "You, especially."
"Really? Wow, thanks, Simon."
I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, and she was smiling bashful-ly. Still blushing, I smiled back and shrugged.
After a while, Jeanette's smile started to fade. Right then and there, I could tell that she had a burning question. "Um—Simon, can I ask you some-thing?"
"Sure."
"Well, I don't mean to pry, but I just wanted to know how you've been doing since all of this happened," she explained. "Not just you and your brothers, but—well, you personally."
In that instant, it was so quiet that you could've heard a pin drop. As much as I appreciated Jeanette's concern for me, I was also wishing that she hadn't asked me that.
But then again, maybe her question was inevitable.
I turned toward her, and the look on her face said it all. She knew I was still trying to come to grips with what we'd been through. I contemplated telling her everything was fine and changing the subject, but there was no fooling her.
"Well," I finally sighed, my voice wavering ever so slightly, "to tell you the truth, Jeanette—I've had better days."
I happened to glance down, and saw Jeanette's hand on my wrist. I don't know how she knew what to do, but she did.
"It must've been really rough for you, huh?" she suggested. And there was no mistaking the sympathy in her voice.
I nodded wordlessly, and that's when I felt a very subtle tear come to my eye, and my bottom lip just starting to tremble. I tried to convince myself that it was just a speck of dirt or a cinder that had found its way in there, but I knew deep down that it wasn't. As the tear suspended itself in place like a drop of dew on a spider's web, I also knew what Jeanette was really wanting to ask me: she wanted to know if I was okay, especially after she and her sisters had come to our rescue. I could also tell that she knew how terrified I was at that time. True, we'd stalled those natives by singing "Wooly Bully", and they really enjoyed it. But in the back of my mind, I knew that if it hadn't been for the Chipettes, we would've all been killed.
After forcing myself to hold it together—not just for her sake, but mine as well—I finally broke down. The tears that were threatening to fall did so, and I hunched over, held my head in my hands, and started sobbing quietly. It all came flooding back: trying to talk Alvin out of that stupid race, my warnings falling on deaf ears, being enslaved and almost sacrificed by the natives, and being chased through the airport by the Furschteins. The pain was indescribable.
"C'mere," Jeanette comforted as she warmly pulled me to her. I took off my glasses, laid them on top of my bag, and buried my face in her lap. As I continued crying, I felt her hand stroking the back of my head. It felt so good, so soothing. It reminded me of all the times Dave was there for me when I was upset about something, but this time, it was Jeanette. It was such a wonderful feeling, and I didn't want it to end.
"It's okay, Simon," she whispered. "Just let it out. Let it all out."
That made me cry even harder, and there was no way I could stop, even if I wanted to. As if I was three years old again, I wrapped my arms around her waist and clung to her for dear life.
"I was so scared, Jeanette," I wept, shivering uncontrollably. "I thought for sure that we were done for."
"I know, honey," she murmured, putting her left arm around me and lay-ing her head on top of mine. I'm not too sure, but I think I heard her sniffle. "I know you were. I was scared, too. We all were. But it's over now, Simon. It's not gonna happen again. You're here, and you're all right. You're safe now. Okay?"
Nodding, I reached into the back pocket of my jeans and dug out the silk handkerchief that Dave had gotten me from Paris. I don't know how long it took me to pull myself together, but it sure felt like an eternity. And you better believe it was such a relief to finally get it out in the open.
"And to be honest with you," she went on, "I dunno about the others, but I thought you were really brave when you threw that spear at the plane's garbage hatch and it dumped all that trash on those creeps."
As shaken up as I still was, even I had to laugh at that. And I could only imagine how huge those dry-cleaning bills were, not to mention how rancid they must've smelled.
"Simon?" Jeanette asked as she helped me sit up. "Do you wanna talk to Dave about this? It might help."
Dave. Yes, of course. If there was one person I could always talk to, he was the one.
I nodded, wiped my eyes, and blew my nose. Talking to Jeanette help-ed a lot, but at the same time, I also had something really important to tell her. And this was the time to do it.
"Before we go," I said as I put my glasses back on, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you for so long, and if I don't do it now, I might never get another chance."
"What is it, Simon?"
It was now or never. As Alvin always said, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
"I've been thinking about this a lot lately," I began. "And you see—well, the thing is, I—"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
There, I said it. Very quickly, mind you, but I still said it. Now all I had to do was wait for her answer.
"You do?" she gasped, staring at me with startled bluish-green eyes.
"Yes."
Jeanette's face softened. She put her arm around my shoulders, and her other hand on my chest as a solitary happy tear cascaded down her face. "I love you, too," she whispered.
"You do?"
"Yes."
Without another word, the two of us leaned toward each other and kiss-ed tenderly. Our arms instinctively wrapped themselves around my neck, and her waist and upper back. My heart raced. My lips tingled wildly as they gently and gracefully pressed against hers. My left knee was shaking like a Chihuahua in a blizzard. Her right palm was touching my cheek, which felt like it could burst into flames at any minute. She then rested her head on my shoulder, and ran her fingers through my hair as I rubbed her back.
If there really was such a thing as heaven on earth, this was definitely it.
When we separated, we took a few minutes to look into each other's eyes as we tried to catch our breath. I could tell what she was thinking, and vice-versa. Eventually, all those terrible memories were starting to become secondary.
"Feeling better?" she asked, once again with her sweet smile, and I an-swered with an ecstatic nod. I loved it when she smiled at me like that. It was the most beautiful thing in the world.
I felt ten feet tall.
"C'mon," she said at last as we stood up. "Let's go talk to Dave. Both of us."
I paused again. "Well—you know, I'm the one who really has to talk to him," I pointed out. "You don't have to."
"I know that, but I want to," she said as she gave me back my jacket. I started to say something else, but she cut me off with a raise of her hand. "I really do."
I thought it over as I put my jacket on. As long as I'd known Jeanette, she was always so helpful and supportive, and she always saw the best in everything and everybody. If anybody in the world knew how to give moral support, it was her. And I didn't need a PhD to figure out that she wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Okay," I decided as I picked up my bag. She then slipped her hand into mine, and we left the bench.
I felt so much better. Dave always told us Chipmunks that it takes a lot more guts to talk about your problems instead of bottling them up so much. And believe me, he sure knew what he was talking about.
As we walked hand-in-hand back to my house, I looked up and saw the sun's rays peeking through the endless rows of altocumulus clouds that were blanketing the sky. Upon seeing that, I could practically feel those negative feelings I was having melt away. And I knew that with Jeanette in my corner, talking to Dave would be so much easier.
For now, that was all that mattered.
THE END