CHAPTER 1
Theodore Seville checked himself thoroughly in the bathroom mirror before exiting, adjusting his green Nike jacket. Someone has been on his mind lately, but what are the odds of her even noticing him at all? Highly unlikely. His rounded physique and bashful personality never got him very far with people, especially girls.
He was the complete opposite of his brothers. One was the school jock, the quarterback of the Varsity football team and "chick magnet", so to speak. The other was on the Honor Roll whenever semester grades flew into homeroom, and he never failed to make anyone laugh. Theodore was none of that. Sure, his grades weren't terrible, and he wasn't physically inactive, but no one is really interested in a chubby "marshmallow" who is considered "socially awkward" by his peers.
As he was walking down the hall, his hazel green eyes were fixed on something, or should I say, someone: Eleanor Miller, his obvious crush. Ever since the first day of school, when she had first moved to the area, he had wanted to get a chance to know her. Her bright green eyes, her shimmering, short blonde hair, and her beautiful singing voice made him naturally attracted to her. She was a bit more on the rotund side, unlike her sisters, but Theodore didn't care. He felt like they could relate so well.
Theodore approached his locker, a few feet away from Eleanor and her friends. He would occasionally glance over at her, then quickly return to gathering his homework for that afternoon.
As he decided to sneak a final glance at her, he found himself staring into two glowing, beautiful green orbs. Eleanor had noticed him glancing at her and was now staring back at him. As she waved at him with a smile, then turned around and walked away, Theodore realized his heart was beating fast, and he was sweating.
It took him a minute to regain his composure and proceed to the bus loop outside of West Eastman High School. But not before he was confronted by his older brother.
"Can it be? Did I see what I think I just saw?!" the other Seville, one of Theodore's two brothers exclaimed. He was wearing a blue GAP swearshirt and had dark, blue-trimmed glasses. He was the oldest out of the trio and the brains of the bunch.
"What do you mean?" Theodore asked.
"I mean you," his brother laughed, "You kept looking at her, and eventually she noticed...nice job, Theo!" He tried stifling his laugh, but to no avail.
"Knock it off, Simon." Theodore continued walking as Simon trailed behind.
"Listen, Theodore." Simon stepped in front of him. "If you wanna impress a girl, you gotta be confident..." He made a graceful gesture with his hand. "Smooth."
"And you know this...how?" Theodore questioned.
Simon gave him a long stare. "What? You don't think I've ever had this problem before?" He rolled his eyes.
Simon continued. "I may not be a "super cool" jock like Alvin, and I know that I'm technically classified as a nerd, but I know women." Simon patted Theodore on the back and kept walking.
"Wait..." He turned around. "Speaking of the Devil, where is he?"
As the teenager waited for the soda machine to give him his afternoon energy, he zipped up his red sports jacket in response to the chilly October wind. Some of the cheerleaders shouted and waved at him, smiling fawningly. He winked back at them as they made their way to the buses, whispering amongst each other.
This was Alvin Seville, the self proclaimed "awesomest one" of the trio. As the quarterback of the West Eastman Eagles, he had a reputation to live up to. To adults, his reputation was that of a troublemaker, your average teenage boy. He was always finding some way to get himself into mischief, and usually found himself in detention. From skipping class to pranks on the teachers, it's just a day in the life of this Seville.
"Alvin!" He heard his name being called from behind. He turned around to see his two brother walking over to him, and they did not look happy.
"Where have you been?" Theodore demanded.
Alvin raised his hands in defense. "Chill, guys! I was just making my day."
"Well, hurry up then!" Simon responded."
"What's the rush?"
"I think we all wanna go home."
"I think we all know why YOU wanna go home, Simon." Alvin have Simon his infamous look of mischief.
"What are you talking about?"
"We all know YOU wanna try and get a "study date" with the new girl." Alvin grinned devilishly.
Simon smacked his brother upside the head. "How about you NOT say that out loud!" Simon folded his arms. "Alright, spill it. How did you know?"
"Well, how could I not?" Alvin shot back. "She's nerdy, shy, and always has her head in the clouds. You two are perfect!"
Theodore's eyebrows shot up. "Wait! Are you talking about..."
"Jeanette Miller? Eleanor's sister? Yeah," Simon answered. He put an obvious emphasis on "Eleanor".
"Oh, okay. Never mind."
Simon turned to Alvin. "Alvin," he said, "do you promise that whatever is said here stays here?"
Alvin gave him a suspicious look. "What are you getting at?"
"Promise?"
"Ugh, fine. What is it?"
"Theodore has a crush on Eleanor Miller...my crush's sister."
Alvin raised an eyebrow. "We're talking about the same Eleanor, right? Good singer, short blonde hair, a bit chubby?" Simon frowned at the last comment.
Theodore looked away sheepishly. "Yeah..."
Alvin jumped excitedly, nearly spilling his soda. "I knew it! I knew it!" He stopped jumping and faced Theodore. "You two are PERFECT!"
Simon grinned. "What about you and Brittany?"
Alvin stopped dead in his tracks. His expression immediately changed from celebration to fear. Brittany was the third sister of the Miller trio. She was, in retrospect, Alvin's female twin.
Simon continued. "Don't you think it'd be cool to have a three-way relationship going on? Theodore with Eleanor, me with Jeanette, and you with-"
He never finished the sentence, for Alvin had grabbed him by the collar and raised a fist behind his ear.
"Don't even think about saying that again," he whispered in a dangerous tone. He let Simon drop to the ground as he began pacing back and forth along the cement.
"What's the problem with that?" Simon got up and dusted off his hoodie.
Alvin's face showed horror. "Brittany's the devil incarnate!" Alvin shouted, attracting attention from a few. "She's way too self-centered; she only cares about herself! She gets set off by the tiniest things! And she's a total attention whore!"
"Your point?"
"You know that she's the captain of the Varsity Cheer Squad, right? Well, I've already seen her get set off at football practices and games, and by the tiniest things too!"
"Really?"
"Yup! Do you remember the home game against Carson Long High?
"Oh yeah! Was Brittany the cheerleader that-"
"Yup. She nearly murdered the quarterback from Carson Long because he accidentally knocked her makeup bag off of the bleachers."
"But you have to admit, that was pretty hilarious."
"I've made my choice: Brittany and I are definitely not a match made in Heaven."
Simon was trying to maintain his composure. "What are you talking about? A cocky quarterback and a hotheaded cheerleader are perfect!"
Alvin shoved Simon aside and stormed off to his car.
Theodore had been standing aside this whole time. "Is Alvin gonna be okay?"
Simon laughed. "Of course, Theodore. He just doesn't want to admit his feelings." They both proceeded to the bus.
Meanwhile, not too far from where they were...
"Chill, guys! I was just making my day." That's what three teenage girls overheard as they hid behind a bush, eavesdropping on someone's conversation.
"Ugh, why did you drag me into this, Jeanette?" an auburn-haired girl complained to a brunette next to her. "This bush is messing up my hair!"
"Can we just leave? I wanna get out of here!" a shorter, blonde girl, Eleanor, said, itching her arm.
"Not yet," Jeanette whispered. "I have to know if he likes me."
"Which one?" the auburnette asked. "There's three of them!"
"The tall one with the glasses," Jeanette responded dreamily.
"Oh..." The auburnette made a disgusted face. "The nerd?"
Jeanette glared at her sister. "Brittany! He could hear you! And he is NOT a nerd!"
Brittany rolled her eyes.
Suddenly, Jeanette heard something that caught her attention.
"I think we all know why YOU wanna go home, Simon."
"What are you talking about?"
"We all know YOU wanna try and get a "study date" with the new girl."
"How about you NOT say that out loud!" There was a pause. "Alright, spill it. How did you know?"
"Well, how could I not? She's nerdy, shy, and always has her head in the clouds. You two are perfect!"
"Wait! Are you talking about..."
"Jeanette Miller?"
Jeanette gasped in delight at the sound of his voice pronouncing her name. Simon...so that was his name...so sophisticated yet witty...fitting for him.
"Jean?" Eleanor was waving her hand in front of Jeanette's face, but to no avail; she was hopefully lost in admiration.
"Theodore has a crush on Eleanor."
That sentence, from Simon to Alvin, made Eleanor immediately focus her attention on the conversation.
"Wait..." Eleanor was speechless.
"Hey! I knew it!" Brittany smiled at Eleanor. "You two should totally go out."
"I don't know..." Eleanor said quietly.
"Aw, why-"
She was interrupted by a comment from Simon.
"What about you and Brittany?"
Brittany stopped short. Was Simon making a suggestion to Alvin to ask her out? She had to admit, she had a huge crush on Alvin; he was the guy of her dreams. Everything about him attracted her: his sense of humor, his voice, not to mention his body and looks. But she was Brittany Miller...THE Brittany Miller! The sexiest girl in school and Varsity cheerleader captain. Oh, no...this could not be happening. This would totally ruin her reputation.
"Oh, HECK no!" Brittany nearly stood up and marched straight over to the boys, but Jeanette and Eleanor managed to hold her back.
"What are you doing?!" Eleanor exclaimed.
"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Brittany fired back. "I'm not about to have Alvin Seville as my boyfriend. That would be hell on earth!" She couldn't believe she was saying this, but sacrifices had to be made to protect her deepest secret.
"Britt," Jeanette said softly, "Calm down. What's so wrong about having him...THE Alvin Seville as your boyfriend?"
Brittany stared at her sister in disbelief. "What's so wrong?" Her voice was slowly rising. "What's so wrong?! That little...that...TWERP is unbelievable! And that's not a good thing!"
"Well, what's so..."
"He's so emotional!"
"And you aren't?"
"His ego is through the roof!"
"And yours isn't?"
"And...worst of all, he's so mean! Always pulling pranks on my friends and I, getting US in trouble...ugh! If I had my chances..."
Jeanette secretly found this amusing. "Britt, think about this. Guys have a tendency to tease other girls to get their attention. Girls do the exact same thing. It's a term that's referred to as "flirting"." Jeanette grinned shyly at her little joke.
"Eww! Alvin? Flirting with me? Well, if THAT creep lays one hand on me-"
At that moment, Brittany heard Alvin yell something that struck her deep. She was completely unprepared for this lethal attack.
"Brittany's the devil incarnate!"
It stabbed her heart like a thousand needles. She liked Alvin, she really did. But is this how Alvin saw her?
"She's way too self-centered, she only cares about herself!"
Tears welled up in her eyes. How could he say such things? Or...she took a mental step back to think. Was this all true? Was this what everyone thought of her? Is her reputation a lie?
"She gets set off by the tiniest things! And she's a total attention whore!"
Brittany turned away from her sisters, not wanting them to see the tears that slowly trickled down her cheek. She had genuinely thought that Alvin was just flirting with her at first. She thought he was different. She thought they had a chance together. Now, she truly knew...
"I've made my choice: Brittany and I are definitely not a match made in Heaven."
That did it. Brittany dashed to her car in hopes that no one saw her breaking down. As she ran, her tears flew off of her face and hit the ground behind her. She didn't take notice the way that Alvin looked at her as she sped past him.
As Alvin was walking to his car, he was still fuming at what Simon said. Him and Brittany...disgusting! How could he just assume that they're perfect together? Just because she was ruled out of the Miller trio by Simon and Theodore's pickings doesn't mean that they're automatically destined to be together!
He was still walking as someone slammed into his shoulder from behind, knocking him sideways onto someone else's car. As he got up, rather dizzy, he spotted something on the ground, probably something that whoever ran into him dropped...a makeup bag with he initials BM on it.
He looked back at the figure who was still running. He realized that it was a girl, and she was crying. She looked so familiar...where had he seen that auburn hair before?
He looked at the makeup bag, then back at the girl, then back at the bag. Brittany Miller? If that was her then why was she...Oh, no. "Did she hear what I was saying?" Alvin thought to himself. "Oh well, she deserved it."
Alvin looked at the bag. "I'll just put it in her locker tomorrow."