SIMON'S HOT TUB STORY

I took off his hoodie and laid it aside, then slowly slipped his body down into the warm water of the hot tub. I let out a long sigh, relaxing as he sank further into the nice hot water. It felt good on my fur, and I was more than content to sit there, taking in the refreshing warmth that spread from the bottom of my feet to the tip of my tail.

The concert tour had brought us(Me, Alvin, Brittany, Theodore, Eleanor and Jeanette) to a secluded little ski lodge, up in the mountains somewhere, far away from the ravenous crowds and the omnipresent paparazzi. I really didn't mind all of the attention, none of them did, Alvin least of all. But Dave had said that sometimes it's necessary just to get away from it all for a little while in order to rest up and recharge, and I couldn't agree more. So when Alvin and Theodore decided to go play in the snow outside the lodge, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a little alone time.

And what better way, I thought, to spend an afternoon to yourself than by relaxing in a tub full of steaming hot water. I sighed deeply and slowly sank up to my chin. For a split second, I found myself wondering what my brothers were up to right now. It was all I could do to not imagine Alvin taking a snowball in the face, and I chuckled despite myself.

I stiffened at the sound of someone sighing behind me, and nearly choked in the water. I immediately recognized it as one of the girls. My heart skipped a beat—I thought he would be alone in here. Slowly I turned to see who it was.

Standing a short ways off, her back turned to me, was Jeanette, idly humming a tune as she carefully folded a towel for herself next to a bench. My heart leapt to my throat at the sight of her, partially because I was always glad to see Jeanette, and partially because I knew what it was she was about to do.

I didn't even have time to think. I couldn't help but watch as she removed her denim jacket and laid it next to her towel by the bench. I could feel his heart beating faster as she pulled her pink shirt up over her head, and finally pulled her skirt down to her feet, kicking it over onto her pile of clothes.

I gulped hard. I could see everything. The subtle stripes on her back. Her beautiful, silky smooth fur. Her perfect, perky tail… I felt wrong for looking, but at the same time… I just couldn't help myself.

In my excitement, I hadn't realized that I had turned myself around in the tub to see her better, and was resting both paws on the edge of the tub as I watched. In a bit of misfortune, one of my wet paws slipped, causing me to give way and utter a little grunt.

Jeanette, previously unaware that anyone was in the room with her, instantly brought her arms up about herself, glancing feverishly around the room. "W-who's there?" she stammered.

Trying to regain myself, I brought myself up again and made my presence known, but still stayed in the hot tub. "It's me, Simon!"

Jeanette looked over at me, and instinctively tried to cover herself again. "Oh, hi Simon. I-I didn't know anyone else was in here."

"Heh, well, I was just, uh, trying out the hot tub," I replied with my usual awkward smile.

She giggled a bit, relaxing her arms. "I see that."

There followed a short silence before I spoke again. "There's, uh, plenty of room in here if you'd, uh…maybe like to join me?" Even as I spoke the words, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.

"Well, umm…" She hesitated at first, but relaxed a bit when she saw that I, too, was without my clothing. In truth, she was just as excited to see me in such a state as I was to see her. So she smiled and said, "Alright."

A feeling of elation swept over my entire body as I heard her speak those words. I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I just moved over in the tub and allowed her room to come in. She started by dipping only her toe into the water, then slowly lowered herself into the tub, even more slowly and deliberately than I had been. When she finally settled herself in, only her head and shoulders were visible above the water.

At first, we could only trade awkward glances at each other, the only form of communication we could muster up the nerve to make. I occasionally stole another glance at her unclothed body through the rippling water, careful not to let her know what I was doing. If I had only been paying closer attention, however, I would have noticed Jeanette doing the same.

Just as the silence was transitioning from bashful to awkward, I gathered my courage, cleared my throat in a meaningful way, and opened my mouth to speak. "So, um, what…uh, brings you here?" I winced as I realized the stupidity of my own words.

She just smiled demurely. I really is cute that way, she thought to herself. "Well, Brittany didn't feel like doing anything, and Eleanor went outside to play with Theodore, so…" she shrugged her shoulders. "I figured I might as well do some exploring. I went to the library first, looking for…someone to talk to." She caught herself glancing in my direction as she said this, before quickly continuing. "After that, I thought the hot tub sounded relaxing, so here I am." She allowed herself to look in my direction again, and noticed that I appeared to be studying her quite intently. "What about you?" she probed.

If I was being honest, I hadn't paid a bit of attention to what she had just said. I was too busy taking in her face, watching the emotions flit across it like paint on a canvas, creating an elegant picture each and every time she moved. But there was something that bothered me a little bit, something that seemed out of place. "Jeanette, did you mean to leave your hair up in a bun?"

"What?"

"Your hair. If you're trying to relax, I would think you would want to let your hair down, right?"

"I…suppose so," she said, instinctively reaching a hand up to her carefully pulled-up hair. "I guess I just didn't really feel the need to let it down. Ellie fixed it for me this morning, and I'd hate to undo it just yet."

"Hmm." It seemed like an honest answer, but he wondered if there wasn't more to it than that. I decided not to push it, though. "You seem pretty close with your sisters."

She chuckled a bit. "Well of course, I love my sisters! I don't know what I would do without them. Though, I admit, sometimes I do get a bit—" She stopped short, as though she had come close to revealing some vital secret. She cast her eyes downward, and almost shamefully finished her thought. "Well…a bit lonely, I suppose."

"Lonely?" I exclaimed. "How could living with two sisters ever be lonely?"

"It's not really what it sounds like!" she quickly covered, more nervous than she ought to be. "I mean, we do all kinds of things together, as a family—we listen to music, we practice our singing and our dancing together, we always share our meals. But sometimes I just feel like…like—ooh, I don't know! I just—I just really wish I hadn't said it, I—"

"Hey, hey! It's alright!" I said as he reached out a paw and placed it reassuringly on her bare shoulder. She instantly fell silent at my touch, and listened with keenest intent as I continued to talk. "Don't worry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just asking." As I spoke, I could feel the tension in her body melting away until she became more or less relaxed once more.

She took a sharp intake of breath as I removed his paw from her shoulder, as though she had forgotten to breathe while I was touching her. "Thanks, Simon," she whispered breathlessly.

I smiled nervously. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable—"

"Oh, no no no! You didn't do anything wrong! I promise."

"Well then…what is it?"

She was hesitant, I could tell. There was something she needed to get off her chest, but she just wasn't sure of the best way to go about it. After a few quiet moments, she took a deep breath and started to speak. "Well, like I said before, we're a family, which is something I never, ever take for granted. But when your family is as close as ours, it's hard not to compare yourself sometimes. It's not really a popularity thing—Brittany enjoys the spotlight, but I don't begrudge her that one bit. And Ellie's happy just so long as everyone else is happy. But sometimes I wonder, just where does that leave me? My sisters love me very much, I know, and I love them too…but sometimes I just feel so…"

"…Alone?"

She looked up at me, and he could see that her eyes were a little misty. She quickly lowered her head again, and spoke in a whisper that was barely audible. "Yeah…something like that."
I looked down in thought. I could see where she was coming from. I had the best brothers in the world, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but sometimes I wished there was someone who better understood me, as an individual, someone who shared the same thoughts, the same interests…the same desires.

I looked over at Jeanette again, and noticed her head was still lowered. I looked closer, and saw the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Jeanette? Are you okay?" I asked, reaching out a hand to her.

She didn't move. "Can I—can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course," I replied, scooting closer to her.

"Well, normally I'm not very comfortable around people other than my sisters. I get all flustered and shy, and I never know what to say. But, ever since I met you…whenever I'm around you, I don't feel that way. You make me feel…like I'm not alone anymore."

She looked up at me again, and this time she looked directly into my brilliant blue eyes. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is…is that I like you, Simon. I like you a lot. Do you…like me, too?"

I could practically hear my heart thumping through my chest as she finished speaking. I leaned in closer, and took a deep breath. "Jeanette?"

She leaned in closer too, until we were practically shoulder-to-shoulder. "Yes, Simon?"

"Why don't you go ahead and let your hair down?"

She remained very still, didn't move at all, and to the casual onlooker it would seem as though she were taken aback by his response. But behind those delicate purple frames, I watched as her eyes betrayed her true feelings. Gazing into her beautiful blue irises, I could see the excitement, the relief, the joy, and the passion all flitter through her eyes at once. I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she had understood my meaning. She turned around in her seat to face me proper, and without saying a word, reached her dripping hands up to her hair. She gave a tug, and I watched as her hair fell into place around the back and side of her head. She ran her hands through it once, shook it a little for good measure, and faced the Chipmunk sitting beside her. "Well?" she asked, anxiously.

I gulped hard, and said the first thing that came to his mind. "I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

And with tears in our eyes, we embraced each other, holding on tight to the one person that we now knew could make us feel whole. And all the while, I kept whispering this simple phrase into her ear: "I like you, too."