A/N: I'd like to thank LoveAlvittany, Stevenspielburgwriter3, The Simonette254, xxXCrazy4ChipmunksXxx, and Alvinnascar5 for their wonderful reviews. Thanks to all my readers for their support! It's only because of the readers the author writes. This is my first real romance story, and it's a Simonette. Please R&R after reading. Cartoon universe, one-shot. [I own nothing except the story line, and most of Jeanette's gymnastics team, with the exceptions of Juliet and Jillian.]
Enjoy! And, just in advance, I have nothing against onions. I like them cooked.
It was late September in Los Angeles. The sun shone bright, despite the cold autumn winds that occasionally blew through the landscape. The leaves were anywhere from lime green, marigold yellow, scarlet, coffee brown, or plum purple, but no matter what tone the leaf was, it was beautified by the rays of the sun.
Just then, a bell rang in the distance. Over at Peterson Middle School, Jeanette was just released from the school's Creative Writing Club, and was eager to get home for a nice warm cup of Eleanor's hot cocoa, with marshmallows and cream on top... she sighed with longing, then put on her purple puffy coat, grabbed her purple messenger bag, and got ready to set out into the cool September atmosphere.
As she set foot onto the worn sidewalk, a breeze slapped the back of her neck, along with the hairs that had fallen from her messy bun. She continued to walk the few miles to her house. Soon enough, the wind picked up, and was blowing hardheartedly.
By the time she got home, the wind had blown out her ribbon, leaving the Chipette with an unruly, tangled mess of hair, a few leaves blown onto her, a worn ribbon in one hand, and a knapsack on her back. She rang the bell, and the worst possible person to see her like this happened to answer the door- Brittany. She opened it, attempted to begin with a cheerful "Hi Jean!" but made the mistake of actually looking at her sister in the process, so her greeting actually turned into, "Hi Je- what the heck happened to you!?"
Flabbergasted, Brittany pulled Jeanette in, and shut the door with a SLAM! "Ugh, right now, I'm ashamed to call you my sister," Brittany grumbled, ignoring Jeanette's wince. "We are going to give you a nice shower, and this will be the perfect opportunity for a redo of your wardrobe- I mean, get something besides blue and purple in there! After that, we can go to the mall to get you a makeover, and-"
"I don't th-think that'll be necessary," Jeanette protested shyly. "I-I mean, th-the shower is, b-but the makeover isn't…" her voice trailed off.
"You better look better than this tomorrow!" Brittany huffed.
She slipped back into the living room to watch the television, while Jeanette climbed upstairs to clean up. As she climbed up, she spied Miss Miller the kitchen, which was right below the stairs. She was dicing onions- yuck! Hopefully that wouldn't snake into their dinner tonight. Jeanette stayed a moment to watch her adoptive mother wipe a tear from her eye. Then, she continued up the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, Jeanette walked out in a jean skirt and baggy lavender sweater- her signature outfit was in the laundry. Brittany surveyed her and muttered, "I could've done better," but otherwise left her alone.
Dinner didn't have onions in it- it turned out Miss Miller was using them in a recipe to donate to a charity bake sale. Instead, dinner was roast chicken. Jeanette happily ate, content. After dinner, the girls went up to their separate rooms and had some fun until 8:45, which was lights out.
Jeanette, however, couldn't fall asleep. Her gymnastics tournament was in two days, and it was the biggest one of the year! If she won, she could get a scholarship, and that would surely help her achieve her dream of going to Oxford. She tossed and turned, trying to sleep, and finally, at ten PM she managed to get some shuteye.
The next day, Jeanette woke up at 6:34 AM. She leaped out of her bed, and into the Jack n' Jill bathroom that she shared with Eleanor. She was admittedly thankful that it was Eleanor that she shared with, and not Brittany, who would fill the countertop with her endless collection of cosmetics.
As she peeked into Eleanor's room, she saw that Eleanor was, in fact, awake, and straightening her bed. When she turned around to see Jeanette, she chirped, "Hi Jean! What do you want for breakfast this morning?"
"Morning, Ellie!" Jeanette brightly replied. "A pancake or two would be nice," she added shyly.
"Of course!" Eleanor exclaimed, fluffing up her pillow. "That'll be simpler than any of Brittany's omelets," she added with a smile.
With that, Jeanette went back into the bathroom, the door ajar. She moisturized and washed her face, cleaned her glasses, etc. before getting her stuff organized, and going downstairs. Eleanor was already at work making breakfast.
By then, it was 6:45 in the morning, and the brunette snickered quietly, as she knew what that meant for her sister, Sleeping Brittany. Miss Miller insisted that the girls were up and about by 6:40 AM on weekdays, and if you weren't… let's just say that both her sisters looked forward to one week off all their chores.
Shortly after, Jeanette could hear Miss Miller inform Brittany in sing-song: "Brittany! You have triple the chores for one week! I can extend that if you don't wake up now!"
Soon enough, Brittany clambered down the stairs, muttering and scowling. "You got lucky this time," she hissed as she passed her purple-clad sister, who was once again in her signature outfit, as she plopped down beside her at the dining table.
Eleanor came out a few seconds later, grinning with two plates of pancakes. "I heard I don't have to do my chores for two weeks. Is that true?"
"Yeah, but don't get too used to it," was all Brittany said before starting on her breakfast.
Twenty minutes later, they were all ready to go to school. Miss Miller watched through the window as they walked to the fork where they rendezvoused with the boys on their way to school. They walked in silence until Alvin announced, "Girls! We have news!"
"Tell us!" all the girls shouted in unison.
"We're going on an eight-month long world tour!" Simon finished. "Isn't that great!"
Jeanette quietly asked, "When are you leaving, and where are you going first?"
"Tomorrow, and Sydney, Australia," supplied Theodore.
The girls screeched, "Tomorrow?! Sydney!?" They were suddenly shocked, because that meant that the Chipmunks had kept the tour a secret for a long time.
"Yeah. Are you okay, guys?" Alvin asked the Chipettes.
"We're fine!" Eleanor said a little too quickly.
They sped off to school, leaving the Chipmunks in the dust. The wind fought against them, but soon enough, they were on the campus borders of Peterson Middle School. The girls, even Brittany, raced into the building, and into the ladies' room. "It's like they don't even seem to see that we could possibly miss them," murmured Jeanette.
"Yeah," Eleanor quietly agreed. "But we have to go to class now! See you in the lunch room!" With that, Eleanor left, with her sisters behind her.
Usually, on a normal day, Jeanette loved going to 1st Period Science. It was enjoyable, interesting, and she got to spend time with her secret crush- Simon Seville. What's not to like? But today, she dreaded going to that wing of the middle school. She slid into her seat, at a desk she shared with… Simon. She quietly did the experiment, and only talked when she needed to, deliberately ignoring Simon's attempts to start a conversation. Soon enough, Science was over. Jeanette went through her other classes until lunch.
At least she had an excuse for missing lunch with them today- she had to sit with the portion of her gymnastics team that attended Peterson. In the hallway, she fell into step beside her best friend- who also happened to be the only other Australian on the gymnastics team- Sydney Anderson. "Hi, Sydney!"
Startled, Sydney turned to face Jeanette. "'Sup, Jean? Can't wait for the tournament!"
Jeanette smiled. Sydney was like that- she would skip from one topic to another like that. They chatted until they were in the lunchroom, and they saw Jillian, Juliet, and Sam, the rest of their gymnastics team, waving to them from a table. Sydney and Jeanette jogged over. They started making plans, but meanwhile…
"Where's Jeanette?" asked Simon as he sat at their 'special table.'
"She's sitting with her gymnastics team," stated Brittany, matter-of-factly. "They have their biggest tournament of the year tomorrow."
With that, they ate in silence, the boys finally beginning to grasp why the girls seemed so upset. "What time does it start?" asked Theodore, finally.
Just to their dismay, it was right when they had to be on the plane with Dave. "Maybe we could watch it on Dave's laptop!" Theodore suggested, trying to ease the tension.
Over with Jeanette, the girls were busy planning for their big day. No one could really understand what everyone else was saying; it was so loud, but excitement buzzed around them. Hardly anyone touched their lunch, and they chatted until the end of the lunch period.
A few hours later, Jeanette and her sisters were at Dave's house, saying goodbyes. "How will you guys finish eighth grade?" asked Jeanette.
"A professional tutor is coming on the flight," Dave replied.
Jeanette checked her watch and sighed. "Well, I have a meet, you know, last minute preparations," she said, as she gathered her things to go. "Bye! See you next year!"
Little did she know, she would be seeing them a lot earlier than that.
The next day was it. The gymnastics tournament! Jeanette had a hasty breakfast of buttered toast and hurried to get her sports duffel ready, before going to the venue. She quickly located Kate, who was another member of the team in ninth grade. They sat in silence, too nervous to talk. Sydney eventually came, followed by Sam, Juliet, and Jillian. They went to their assigned part of the locker room and brushed up, already in their attire. Soon enough, it was time for the competition to start.
First was the balance beam test. Jeanette went first, and did so-so for the first half, only tripping once, but for the second, Jeanette wobbled, and the beam shuddered, sending Jeanette off the beam and falling onto her arm and her head at the same time. She was still, and no one could see if she was breathing, but everyone was still when the beam fell off of its 'legs' and onto Jeanette's. She was still not moving, and Brittany, Eleanor, and Miss Miller ran onto the platform. A doctor [who had been there the whole time, just in case] ran down with them and started talking to Jeanette. "Can you hear me, Jeanette?" asked the doctor.
She lightly shook her, and then turned to Miss Miller. "I'm afraid she has to go to the hospital," she said, gesturing to her leg, which was bended the wrong way after a coach had taken off the beam. "Her arm is broken, too. I can't show you now, because I may disturb it."
Meanwhile, on their private flight, the boys were watching some funny YouTube videos. Suddenly, the video stopped. "We interrupt you to bring you tragic news from the State of California Annual Gymnastics Competition," a female voice informed them.
"What?" cried the Chipmunks in unison.
The computer reloaded to a different site. It showed a video taken on somebody's phone of… Jeanette!? It couldn't be, Simon thought, as he hit play. They saw everything, from the start to the wobble to the fall. "…Officials say that the beam could be defected, or she could just be a klutz," a voice informed them. "Details on the accident are still murky."
That was it. The video stopped after that, leaving the boys crestfallen and shocked. Theodore worriedly called, "Dave! Something's happened to Jeanette! Come here!"
Dave hurried over from his seat up front. "What's wrong, boys?" he asked.
"This is what's wrong," Alvin said, as he replayed the video.
After watching it, Dave was worried as well. "Oh dear," he muttered. "I'm calling Beatrice. I'll put her on speakerphone, too."
Instead of Miss Miller picking up, however, it was Brittany. "He-hello?" She sniffled.
"We heard about what happened to Jeanette," said Dave, as he hit Speakerphone.
"WHAT YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T HEAR IS THAT SHE'S IN A COMA!" Brittany snapped. "Sorry," she murmured, embarrassed.
"A coma?" Theodore asked, horrified.
"That's horrible," Alvin exclaimed, shocked.
"Yeah. Miss Miller is talking to the doctors outside. Elle and I are right by Jean," she said, now sounding glum.
"Can you put us on speakerphone?" asked Dave.
"Sure thing," Brittany obliged, pressing the button. "Elle, it's Dave and the Chipmunks. They heard about Jean."
"How did you hear about it?" Eleanor asked, confused. "I only thought the local stations were covering that."
"NBC is covering it, too," explained Simon. "Our normal YouTube viewing was interrupted. It's breaking news all around."
"Whoa," Brittany said simply. "Well, she is an international star, so that makes sense."
"But we don't want to interrupt your tour," Eleanor said. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."
"Jeanette's in a coma, and you're telling us not to worry?!" Alvin shouted at her.
"This is one of your biggest chances at superstardom, and you're telling me you're not going to take it?" Eleanor screeched back at him.
Theodore stepped in between them. "Guys," he said. "Calm down. Jeanette is going to be fine, and yeah, we're skipping the tour, whether you like it or not, if that's okay with you, Dave?"
"Of course," Dave heartily agreed. "Kathy," he called to the stewardess, "Can you go tell Chuck to turn back around. Personal emergency."
The stewardess nodded and hurried off.
"Ellie, there's nothing we can do to stop them," said Brittany, who wanted the boys to come home.
"Oh please," retorted Eleanor. "You're right, but I know that tone. I've lived with you for thirteen years and counting- you want them to come home!"
Before Brittany could think of a comeback, Alvin asked, "Hey, wait- if Jeanette's such a klutz, then how did she get any good at gymnastics anyway?"
"Alvin…" began Dave.
"She does wobble," explained Brittany. "Haven't you seen her? She does it all the time! It's just that the judges are so old-school that they think it's a new school trend or whatever."
"Of course not," assured Dave.
Soon enough, Miss Miller was back, and she needed her phone to call somebody else, so the call was cut off.
The next few days were depressing- and dull. There was no improvement- or lapse in Jeanette's condition; she stayed in the hospital, and the same. That was before the Chipmunks were home. They demanded to see Jeanette that Tuesday morning; the girls were at school. They looked at Jeanette and sat by her, until Alvin and Theodore got bored and went to school with Dave; only Miss Miller and Simon remained. Wait- did she just move? Simon thought as he watched Jeanette.
He had to be hallucinating- now he thought he was seeing her eyes flutter. And now she was waking up- only now did Simon know what this meant. "Jeanette! You woke up a week early!" he exclaimed as he wrapped her into a gentle hug.
"Hi," Jeanette greeted weakly. "How long was I out?"
"Three days," Simon replied.
"No way!" Jeanette replied, flabbergasted.
Meanwhile, Simon was trying to unknot his tongue. He knew he had to do it now, or never. So he took in a deep breath, and let it all out with a, "I...you!" which simply left Jeanette startled.
"What?" she asked. "I...you?"
"I've wanted to tell you this for a while," admitted Simon, "but I love you."
Jeanette was stunned. "I-I-I'm fine if you, don't, return my feeling-" Simon was cut off.
"But I do," said Jeanette softly, putting her finger on his lips. "I do love you," she said, before pulling him into a deep kiss.
What did you think? No flames, please R&R!