A/N: Yes, I'm still alive! I haven't really been in the mood to write lately, so that's why this story hasn't been updated in such a long time. But hey, it's summertime, can you blame me? But seriously, I'll try to update more often. As I was writing this chapter, it reminded me how much I enjoy it. So here it is... the latest chapter of You Belong with Me. Oh yeah, and please send me a review!


Tuesday after school Eleanor sat on the couch trying to do her math homework. She had been working on it for at least twenty minutes and was only on problem two. Instead of her paper being filled with algebraic equations, it was covered in doodles and Alvin's name written in swirly script.

"I've got it bad," Eleanor said to herself, observing the embarrassing evidence that she was so into someone who didn't like her back.

Or did he?

Eleanor sighed and leaned back on the sofa. She wasn't in the mood to get into that internal debate again.

She crumbled the paper into a ball and tossed it behind the couch. There was no way she could focus on math right now.

Eleanor took two stairs at a time to the bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the water in the tub as hot as it would go. A long, steaming hot shower was exactly what she needed.

About ten minutes later, Eleanor stepped out of the shower just to realize she had left all of her clothes in her bedroom.

"Crap," she muttered. Eleanor grabbed a fluffy yellow towel and wrapped it around her body.

Steam poured out of the room when she opened the bathroom door. The blond made her way to her bedroom but gasped when she saw who was standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Alvin!" she yelped. Her face turned crimson as she tightened her grip on the towel, silently praying to God that it wouldn't fall off, exposing her nude body.

"Hey," Alvin said simply. He looked Eleanor up and down, an amused grin on his face.

"W-what are you doing here?" Eleanor asked him. She tried to sound firm, but she was too humiliated.

"I'm looking for Brittany." Alvin made no effort to hide his wandering gaze.

"She's not home," Eleanor said quickly. Don't fall off, don't fall off, don't fall off, she willed the towel.

"Okay," Alvin said with a nod. "I guess I'll just wait downstairs."

Eleanor's heart quickened when she saw Alvin look at her bare legs. Feeling self conscious, she hurried into her room and called, "I'll be there in a minute."

"You know," Alvin said as she made her way to her room, "that's a good look for you."

Eleanor froze. Wrapping her arms around her, she turned and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alvin shrugged. "I guess it means that you're not just the cute little sister anymore." Then he went downstairs.

Eleanor shook her head, trying to process what was just said to her. What the hell was he talking about?

She quickly slipped into some comfortable clothes and ran a comb through her damp hair before hurried downstairs. Alvin was sitting on the sofa, staring at Eleanor's open math book.

"Have you even started on it yet?" Alvin asked her when she got to the bottom of the stairs. He said it as if nothing had happened... as if he hadn't just seen her wearing nothing but a tiny towel. As if he hadn't just shamlessly flirted with her.

"Not really." Eleanor was relieved that she had gotten rid of her original homework/Alvin doodle shrine. She took a seat next to him on the couch.

"So when is Britt supposed to get home?" Alvin asked her. "We still need to talk about what happened at the party."

"It seems to me that you two have already kissed and made up," Eleanor scoffed.

Alvin furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? I haven't talked to Brittany since we brought her home."

Eleanor blinked at this surprising confession. Her mind raced; either A) Alvin was an amazing liar, B) Brittany hadn't been hooking up with anyone before third period, or C) Brittany was making out with someone else. Eleanor had a bad feeling that the correct answer was C.

"Never mind," Eleanor said, hoping Alvin would forget she said anything.

Alvin looked at her for a moment, but Eleanor spoke before he could say anything.

"I just don't see why you keep coming back to her," she blurted, hoping he wouldn't ask her to elaborate about what she had just mentioned.

"Well we've been dating for a long time," Alvin explained. "We always manage to work things out."

"But you fight all the time!" Eleanor pointed out. "You two must be having amazing sex, because I don't know why else you put up with her."

Eleanor's face burned with embarrassment when she realized what she had just said. She had no idea why she brought Alvin and Brittany's sex life into this… it was none of her business. However, that was her only explanation as to why they were still together.

Eleanor braced herself for Alvin's reaction, but he only laughed and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" Eleanor asked, wishing she could take her words back.

"Brittany and I…" Alvin said with a smile. "We haven't actually…" his voice trailed off, but he didn't need to finish his sentence. Eleanor instantly knew what he meant.

Her jaw dropped. All this time Brittany had led everyone to think that she and Alvin went at it like rabbits. And Eleanor, along with the rest of the student body, had believed it. After all, Alvin and Brittany had been together for years, and they were both extremely flirtatious and charismatic. It was just so hard to believe they weren't sexually active. Well, at least not with each other.

"But all the rumors…" Eleanor said, still in shock.

"Are just rumors," Alvin admitted. His expression was hard to read. He didn't look embarrassed, but it was obvious that no one else knew about this.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Eleanor asked. "I mean, everyone thinks you two are very, um, active." She felt another blush coming on and wondered why they were still talking about this embarrassing subject.

Alvin shrugged and said, "Eleanor, I'm a guy. Guys don't care about that kind of stuff. If people think I've had sex with Brittany, then whatever. I'm not going to deny it."

This answer disappointed Eleanor; yet, in a way, she appreciated his honesty. And it made sense… Alvin had matured a lot over the years, but he obviously still cared about what others thought of him. He wouldn't want to be known as the guy who had been dating the hottest girl in school for years and had yet to have sex with her.

Eleanor shook her head, still in awe. "I just can't believe it."

"We've came close. Really close." Alvin grinned as if he was remembering how close they had actually gotten. Eleanor held back an eye roll. "But when we almost do it, I just… can't. I mean, I could… if I wanted to," Alvin quickly added, making sure Eleanor didn't get the wrong idea. "I just don't really want to. Well, I think I want to, but when the time comes, I just can't. I make up some lame excuse, like that I'm tired or that I'm going to miss something on TV." Alvin sighed and leaned back on the couch. "You probably don't want to be hearing this, do you?"

"I don't mind," Eleanor said. Actually, she found it comforting that Alvin and Brittany hadn't had sex. For some reason it made them seem less official… like, they weren't as close as everyone thought.

Alvin turned toward his friend. "She's my girlfriend," he said. "I don't know why I can't make love to her.

Eleanor knew why. She found it almost laughable that Alvin couldn't figure it out. She wanted to tell him why he couldn't have sex with Brittany, but she wasn't sure if she should say anything. Bringing the situation up was nosy enough and Eleanor wasn't sure she wanted to give any more of her opinions regarding Alvin and Brittany's relationship.

"Do you really want to know what I think?" Eleanor asked. She stared at her lap.

"Yeah," Alvin said softly. "I do."

You can do it, Eleanor told herself. Just tell him the truth.

Eleanor took a deep breath and blurted, "I don't think you can bring yourself to have sex with Brittany because you don't love her."

Alvin blinked in surprise. Eleanor forced herself to look him in the eye.

There. She had said it. She didn't think Alvin loved his girlfriend… and she had told him right to his face.

"Maybe you're right," Alvin said quietly.

Eleanor's brown eyes widened. "You think so?"

Alvin shrugged. He had a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was looking at something far away. After a few moments of silence, Alvin stood up.

"I should get going," he said, his voice sounding distant.

Eleanor wondered if she had said the wrong thing. Based on her luck, she probably did.

"I thought you wanted to talk to Brittany," Eleanor pointed out. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to explain what exactly he meant by "maybe you're right."

"I have to go home," Alvin said, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "There's something I have to do." Alvin headed for the front door, but paused and turned to Eleanor as he grasped the handle. "Thanks for the talk, El," he said with a smile. Then he was gone.

Eleanor sat on the couch, unable to move.

Okaaay. What was that?

Suddenly another thought entered Eleanor's mind. It was something she didn't want to deal with, but at the same time, she needed to find out the truth.

Eleanor pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed Mara.

"Hi Eleanor!" Mara cheerfully answered after the first ring.

"Hi." Eleanor's voice was unable to match her friend's perky tone. But she wasn't calling for a friendly chat. This was business. "Look, I have a question."

"If it's about the math homework, forget it," Mara said quickly. "I am totally lost."

"It's not about homework," Eleanor said, twirling a lock of blonde hair. "It's about… well, I need some inside information."

Mara squealed with joy. Despite her sweet, innocent personality, Mara was a huge follower of school gossip. She livedfor the latest AEHS scandal. Mara was always first to know who was dating who, where the craziest parties were, and even which student got the lowest test score in class. Although not exactly popular herself, Mara always knew what was going on.

"I thought you didn't care about that kind of stuff!" Mara exclaimed. She sounded as if she had chugged a gallon of coffee with about five cups of sugar.

"I'm usually not," Eleanor reminded her. She often rolled her eyes and scoffed at Mara's lunch time gossip sessions. "But there's something I need to know." Eleanor took a deep breath. Did she really need to know? Yes, she did. She didn't want to, but it was something she needed. "Did you hear anything about Brittany making out with someone today? Like, around third period?"

The other end of the line was deathly silent.

"Mara?" Eleanor asked. She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. The call hadn't been disconnected. "Mara? Hello? Are you still there?"

"I'm here," Mara said, her voice sounding very small.

"So?" Eleanor prompted. "Did you hear anything?"

"Well… maybe. Sort of." Mara's mood had shifted from joyous to reluctant in less than five seconds.

"Tell me, Mara," Eleanor said calmly. "She's my sister. I deserve to know."

"Okay," Mara sighed. "I heard something about it. Apparently between classes, someone saw Brittany getting hot and heavy with Bradley Owens in the empty computer lab. But it's probably not even true," Mara quickly added. "I mean, Lauren told me, but she heard it from Kelsey, who heard it from Natalie, who heard it from Allison, who heard it from Courtney Williams. That's, like, a five-person-passed rumor. They're usually not that accurate after person number three."

"Oh I think it's pretty accurate," Eleanor mumbled, leaning on the couch cushions. So it was official. Brittany was making out with a guy before class. A guy who wasn't Alvin.

Of course, it wasn't a huge shock. Eleanor had pictured it being in some smelly old broom closet, but it made sense that Brittany would opt for a spacious empty classroom instead, despite the fact that it practically doubled their chances of being caught. Brittany would risk getting busted rather than partake in the privacy of a dirty, cramped closet any day.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Mara said. "I just didn't want you to be disappointed in Brittany, you know? I mean, she is your sister, and I'm sure it would hard to know that she'd cheat on Alvin like that."

Eleanor's heart sank at the words "cheat on Alvin." Alvin Seville, the coolest, most athletic, most charismatic guy at school had been cheated on. Then there was Brittany, who was envied by half the girls at school for dating him, and what does she do? She finds someone else to kiss. Eleanor felt so angry that she wanted to rip out Brittany's shiny hair strand by strand.

"Thanks for the info, Mara," Eleanor said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"No problem," Mara chirped. It was obvious she was glad she had just given someone a scoop. "So, hey, do you want to try to figure out this math together? I'm so confused."

"We're getting ready to eat dinner," Eleanor lied. There was no way she could focus on school work after learning all this information. "I'll probably ask Jeanette for some help, and maybe we can go over it during study hall tomorrow."

"Oh. Okay." Mara's disappointment was obvious.

They exchanged quick good-byes and Eleanor hung up. Eleanor stared at her math book. She wondered if she should tell Alvin about the whole Bradley Owens thing. He didn't seem to know about it. But according Mara's number of sources, it was only a matter of time before he found out.

Eleanor picked up her binder and casually flipped through the pages, wanting to look at her Alvin lists again. But they weren't there.

Not that Eleanor was worried. They were probably in other binder, which was safely tucked away between her text books in her locker at school.

Yup, that's where they were. Locked away in a place that only Eleanor had the combination to access.

At least that's what Eleanor's optimism convinced her to think.


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