Alvin's Point of View
Saturday! FINALLY, after the last week of school before Winter Holidays, I was free from the endless boredom of monotone teachers lecturing me about something a rock star will never need. And the best part about this whole thing was that I got to spend the Holidays with Brittany. Nothing seemed better than drinking eggnog and opening presents with the love and comfort of my girlfriend. I wasn't used to saying that; I have a girlfriend, and her name is Brittany. She isn't the smartest, and she admits it, but she is talented and pretty and serious about being in a relationship with me, no matter how much we argued. When we argued, usually it was about what now sounded like stupid things, but now we argued about couple stuff. Earlier in the week, she got angry at me for talking to some other girls like they were a threat or something. The amount with which we argued hadn't changed and sometimes it made me wonder; were things really that different from before we started dating? I thought I knew the answer: we now knew how the other felt. We both knew that we liked the other.
I guess I had to give Simon and Theodore some credit, even thought they not only violated me, but they were also the reason for flooding the bathroom upstairs. We wouldn't be able to use it for at least another week! It didn't matter though, because Dave had a surprise that if I had a million guesses I never would have guessed.
"Everyone get packed." Dave said a couple days after the bathroom flood.
"For what?" Simon had asked and at the time I considered the idea that he had arranged for us all to go to a military school.
"We're not spending Christmas at home this year." Dave explained, "I rented a nice cabin where we can spend Christmas together. Its in the country further north where there's snow." At first, I wasn't sure what to think. I was excited, I'd never actually gotten to play in snow before. But now I was a little nervous, if I got in trouble, than Dave could leave me there and I'd have to fend for myself.
"Alvin," I heard the sweet call of my chipette, "come on, we're leaving." Everyone was tired; we had to get up early so we'd have the rest of the day to explore our home for the next three weeks. Theodore yawned and looked like he was sleepwalking… Into the door. I was sure he would wake up as excited as I was when we got to our destination. We'd actually get to play in the snow! I wondered what it would be like. Would it be fluffy like a blanket the way some of my teachers described it, or would it be rock solid? There was only one thing anyone in my family could agree on: It would be cold, even for a chipmunk with fur to cover his (or her) entire body. I ran over to the rest of the group as Dave continued checking off his list.
"Extra clothes… "He started, "Coats… sleeping bags… wrapped presents… Everyone here?" He took a quick head count before grabbing everything, "Alright, let's get moving!" He was too chipper in the morning…
It was a long car ride. So far, we've been driving for an hour, and we had at least another two to go. The sun was barely creeping out over the light pink horizon and the rest if the sky remained a darker shade of blue or purple. We were certainly out of the city, but had yet to see any terrain with a simple sheet of snow. I wanted to be awake when that first sheet. However, sleep threatened me with every tree we drove past -about every half second- and I had no choice but to stop holding myself up to the window and to sit back in the seat.
"What do you think it'll be like?" Brittany asked, creeping up to me. Her sisters had fallen asleep as had my brothers. Theodore band Eleanor leaned against one another as pillows, and Jeanette had her head in Simon's lap, who lay back against the seat peacefully, caressing Jeanette's shoulder.
"Really cold." I stated, thinking she was referring to the snow and country.
"No, silly; the cabin! Can't you picture it?" Her eyes went glassy and she described her daydream, "One in the woods, calm and private, one that's cozy, but big enough to dance around in. What a way to spend Christmas!" I stared at her blankly, she had just answered her own question for me, and I just nodded in agreement. Truthfully, I was more interested in the fun we could have in the snow; more specifically, snowballs. Other kids at school, when I brought up going away, told me about snowball fights and how serous, but fun they could be, especially with ice. I was not going to miss out on that. "You look anxious." Brittany giggled when I looked out the top of the window again.
"Aren't you?"
"Mhm." She nodded and snuggled up against me, taking my arm and wrapping it around her body like a blanket. I had no idea where to go from here. Sure, I was known as a ladies man, but I've never actually been with a girl. I knew what I could do to make her feel special, but placing that plan into action was harder in real life. Brittany was incredible, and I was immobilized. I didn't know what I was thinking or doing, I forgot everything I knew about girls at that moment.
"Uh, Britt? What are you doing?" No no no! I did not just say that did I?!
"Snuggling…" She said and moved away, "Sorry, I didn't know you were uncomfortable with it." There was a sadness in her voice that killed a part of me inside, a disappointment that made me cringe.
"I'm not uncomfortable with it." I said quietly and patted the spot next to me, hoping she'd take the hint to return to the snuggling. Luckily she did without hesitation. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I be my usual cool self around her? She was no different than before, what was I scared of? As her breathing slowed and softened, so did these thoughts. Maybe I was just being too hard on myself, but if I wasn't, who would be? I would not be my own worst enemy. Soon she was sleeping in my arm with her head resting on my chest. 'What are you doing?' I-d-i-o-t! Obviously she wanted to snuggle. Clearly I was just off my game from lack of sleep. I slid my eyes closed and instantly tuned everything out.
"Everyone wake up!" Dave's voice was barely audible, to me anyway, "We're here."
"What?" I yawned and Brittany stood up groggily, leaving my arm numb. It tingled as blood rushed through it again.
"I said we're here." Dave repeated and stepped out of the car and opened our own door like a butler would. The second a crack appeared, giving us fresh air, I wish he'd left the door closed. A cold gust of wind forced it's way through and jolted me awake. "Come on, guys, don't you want to see the cabin and play in the snow?" He sounded exactly like a parent who thought they knew how to coax their kids into doing something they didn't want to do; yeah, like I'd fall for that. I was going to stay right here in this car, warm as a sock. Everyone cowered behind me, fumbling over each other as they tried to get further away from the cold. "It'll be warmer in the cabin." He stated, catching my attention. Hoping to look brave in front of Brittany, I took the first initiative; I walked up slowly to the opening, the cold wind streaking against my body and piercing through my red hoodie.
"C-Come on," My teeth chattered, "Munk up. It doesn't even look that bad." I looked down out the door and into the fresh, pure white snow and that alone made me feel frozen. Jumping in like a pool seemed pretty stupid right about now and I didn't think that a snowball fight was an option.
"Go on, Alvin." Brittany challenged, "Since you're so brave, you can jump in first." The combination of her grinning and shivering at the same time ingrained itself in my mind. What choice did I have? Like a fool, I hesitated, and that was my downfall; Brittany walked up behind me, knowing I wouldn't move, and shoved me out if the car.
COLD! I was half buried in snow and already, ice started to form on my exposed fur. Dashing up out of my snow grave, I made my way up Dave's leg, past his torso and onto his shoulder, brushing myself off along the way. He gave me a disapproving look, but I ignored him as I got my first view of the cabin. Snow-covered trees surrounded the area, but not enough to be a forest. The cabin itself was secure from any other company, no other buildings stood by, and it was made of full logs. Windows stood on either side of the front door and the shape of the cabin made it look like a cool bungalow. Two areas in front of the building were patchy, I guessed they were where the actual owner planted a garden. It looked very homey, kinda like how Brittany described it. Another blast of air hit me and I'd had enough.
"Dave, it's a little chilli," I complained, "and… The others want to go inside."He rolled his eyes and carried us all to the door and inside. As quickly as I'd gotten cold, I'd gotten warm. The cabin's warmth was amazing as it fended off the outside.
"Wow!" Everyone gasped and was set down at the first sight of the interior of the war, (so so warm) cabin. There had been work done on the inside, the walls had been changed for a more interesting design rather than continuing with the log look. The mahogany walls were layered with framed pictures of scenery. To the left of the entrance was an open area with a fireplace that made the whole room feel homey, and to the right was a hallway.
"Care to see the rest, guys?" Dave asked, having already moved down the hallway. I followed slowly with my brothers and the Chipettes behind and widened my eyes at the next room.
"There's a hot-tub?" Jeanette exclaimed; at the end of the hallway was a huge room with not only a bubbling hot-tub, but also everything we'd need to have fun inside; a snack-filled cupboard, a mini-fridge filled with what some would call drinks, but what I would call a wet prank, and a view of the frozen lake behind the cabin.
Another small hallway trailed off the dream room leading to the kitchen and off of that, the bedrooms. There were two and like half a year ago, Dave had his own separate room while we got stuck in the same room, the only difference: the room we shared had only one queen sized bed. This gave me doubts that we would be getting any sleep.
Being outside seemed so different with cold weather and the crunching of snow beneath my feet. With no shoes, we could only stay out for so long before our feet froze off. I watched Brittany trudge through the mountains of snow in her smooth pink coat and I laughed as she sunk.
"Shut up." She glared at me, her eyes colder than the snow and striking me more-so than the wind. "Stop being a baby and get your butt in here."
"You can't make me." I said, glancing over at the lake. She was very controlling. I never brought it up for fear of argument, but it was really annoying and really, we argued enough.
"What's wrong, chicken?" She challenged me again.
"You can't make me go there… DAVE!" I countered.
"Excuse me?!" Angry girlfriend… What to do; turn on the charm and smooth-talk my way out or pretend she's right about whatever we started fighting about and surrender? I didn't get the chance to do either because by the time I made up my mind I had a handful of snow in my face. Through my snowy vision I watched Brittany turn valiantly towards Simon and Jeanette, who were dancing in the snow, their blue and purple coats making a dark indigo. No way could I let her get the best of me. I buried my paws deep in the snow, and ripped a formed snowball from it. My paws were already getting numb as I held the snowball, the numbness made me throw it more than my needing payback. The packed snow landed right on the back of Brittany's head. I wasn't sure if I'd regret that or not, but I knew I'd find out soon. She turned around with her face red with anger and she looked at the bespectacled couple, both of which nodded and grabbed a snowball.