Thank you for the reviews! Keep em coming, 'cause I'm just getting started! Now we're back in the present day, where our heroines face their first challenge: mornings. Enjoy the story - and your pie!

Late

Brittany woke with a start. She rubbed her forehead and groaned. What kind of bizarre nightmare was that? She pondered the thought until her bedroom door peeked open.

"Rise and shine, Brittany," a quiet voice murmured from behind the door. "Wake up." The door flung open, and light from the hallway poured in, temporarily blinding Brittany.

"Ack! Geez. Blind me, why don't you?"

"Sorry, Britt," Jeanette said, creeping into the room. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, I'm awake now," Brittany responded, rubbing her dilated pupils. She yawned, then got out of bed. "Sorry I'm sleeping in so late."

"What happened to the alarm clock I bought you last week?" Jeanette asked, watching her elder yet shorter sister cross over to her adjoining bathroom.

"I broke it Saturday," Brittany replied casually as she closed the door behind her.

Jeanette stared at the door. "How did you break it?"

"I'm not sure," Brittany replied through the door, "but when I woke up that morning, it was in pieces. I think it had something to do with the nightmares I've been having abut some princess or whatever."

"Hmm… interesting," Jeanette said.

Oh, well. That clock never helped me anyway. I'm still late for everything." Brittany opened the door a little to throw her t-shirt on the floor.

Jeanette sighed. "Well, you never want to get up for anything, so I guess it doesn't really make a difference."

"Yeah, that too."

Without warning, something pink flew at Jeanette's face. She peeled the object off her face and shrieked, dropping it in horror. "Brittany! Was that really necessary?"

"Come on, it's not that bad," Brittany replied. The water was running for a shower.

"It's gross!" Jeanette squealed, her cheeks turning red.

"Please, Jeanette! Do you know how much my pair of underwear would sell for on eBay? Some desperate loser would be lucky to have that!"

Jeanette stared at the panties on the floor in disgust, thinking what person would possibly want to pay money for them. Though it wasn't impossible…

"Hey, Jeanette?"

Jeanette looked up at the door. "Yeah?"

"Can you hand me my clothes so we can go?"

She cringed, but grabbed one of the white blouses and green plaid skirts. She also reluctantly picked some underclothes, too, just in case.

"Good morning, girls," Miss Miller greeted the two eldest Chipettes as they came down the stairs, properly dressed in their private-school uniforms.

"Morning, Miss Miller," they replied, sliding into two chairs surrounding the kitchen island and helping themselves to freshly made blueberry muffins, courtesy of Eleanor Miller, the youngest Chipette of the group.

"Where's Eleanor?" Brittany asked, taking a bite of muffin.

"She was here a second ago…"

"Good morning, girls!" a cheery voice exclaimed from behind them.

"Hey, El," the two girls said.

"Here's the mail, Miss Miller," Eleanor placed the mail on the counter, then picked up a muffin and bit into it. "We should probably get going, guys, school starts in, like, an hour."

"Right," Jeanette agreed, sliding off her chair and polishing off her muffin. "See you later, Miss Miller…"

"Wait, girls!" Miss Miller stopped them, pulling out her digital camera. "I want to take pictures of you before you go to school."

Miss Miller dragged the three girls to the living room, positioning and repositioning them until they were tired of smiling.

"Miss Miller, I don't really understand why you're doing this," Jeanette told her.

"My cheeks are cramping," Eleanor complained through her forced smile.

"Mine, too," Brittany mumbled through gritted teeth.

"just one more picture, and then you girls are off to your first day of school," Miss Miller promised.

The girls looked at one another in confusion.

"Miss Miller, our first dat of school was two months ago," Eleanor pointed out.

"don't be silly, girls," Miss Miller laughed. "today is August 17."

Jeanette shook her head. "today is October 17, miss miller."

"no, today is August 17, I know it…"

Jeanette took out her phone and displayed the date on it, showing it to Miss Miller. "see? Today is October 17."

Miss Miller adjusted the reading glasses on her face, disappointed. "oh. Well, then, why does my wall calendar say August? You can't always trust newfangled objects like phones, Jeanette."

Brittany observed the calendar on the wall. "Miss Miller, you haven't changed the calendar since august. That's why your dates are off." She ripped the months of August and September off the calendar.

Miss Miller looked around, flustered. "oh. I guess I'll see you girls when you get home, then. Have a good day today, okay?"

"Okay!" They said cheerfully, then grabbed their backpacks and headed out the door to escape the awkward silence.

"Could Miss Miller be any slower?" Brittany aske as they walked down the sidewalk.

"I think it's because of old age," Eleanor commented. "the elderly forget lots of things."

"Maybe," Jeanette said thoughtfully. She let her thoughts wander off into the bluish-yellow clouds the sunrise left behind, and her eyes wandered to the clock tower on the village hall.

7:50.

Jeanette gasped. "You guys, let's get going! School starts in forty minutes!"

Her sisters gasped as well.

"It takes about another half-hour to go this way," Eleanor said. "If there isn't traffic on the main road, that is."

"I know a shortcut through town we could take," Brittany said quickly.

"Well, what are you waiting for, a bus?" Jeanette asked. "Lead the way, Britt!"

And the three girls rushed down the street.

And... scene! So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Receive your piece of pie NOW!