"Last time we visited Meerkat Manor, a rival group called the Commandos was making large inroads into the Whiskers' territory."
Eleanor kicked her feet back and forth as she sat on the couch and watched her favorite show on Animal Planet, Meerkat Manor.
"Ew ew ew ew!"
Jeanette cringed as she walked across the coffee table, pushing aside Toby's leftover food and dirty laundry that he left all over the house.
"I never knew living with boys could be so...messy!," she pushed aside an uneaten apple that only had one or two bites taken out of it.
"Jeanette, Meerkat Manor's on, come watch with me!," Eleanor asked her sister before quickly turning back towards the TV.
Jeanette smiled, "Sure, Ellie. Maybe a little TV will calm me down."
She jumped onto the couch and sat on the blanket that Eleanor was using.
Crunch!
"What the...?"
Jeanette's eyebrows shot up when she heard a loud crunch sound after sitting on the blanket.
She lifted up the blanket and saw an old taco wrapped up inside the blanket.
"Ugh! A taco? In a blanket? Toby!," Jeanette groaned.
"Ladies and gentlemen, going for his turkey, it's the Tobester."
Later that night, Toby and the girls were playing SwiBowling.
It was Toby's turn. He swung his joystick and got his third strike in a row.
Toby laughed triumphantly, "Beat that."
"Well, since you asked," Brittany grabbed her joystick.
She swung her joystick up and knocked down all of the pins in one go. Toby's jaw dropped while Brittany just smirked.
"You said beat that, right?"
Toby snapped out of it and just scoffed, "Whatever. I'm still winning."
"Give her a break, Taco Boy," Eleanor said, getting up from her spot on the couch, "This day's been bad enough already."
Toby's eyes widened.
"Oh, I think I see what's going on here. You girls have been having some problems at school, haven't you?"
Jeanette shook her head.
"No, not really. I mean, unless you consider getting dunked head-first into a public toilet a problem."
Toby laughed.
"Ouch! Swirlies are the worst."
He looked down at Jeanette, who had an eyebrow raised. His eyes widened and he quickly covered up his mistake.
"At least that's what I've heard. 'Cause there's no way I could know that on a, on a personal level."
"Toby, what was school like for you?," Eleanor asked.
Toby froze and stared ahead at nothing as he remembered his high school years.
Flashback
In high school, Toby was a total nerd. He had braces, acne, and bullies were always targeting him.
They gave him swirlies all the time and he just laughed nervously to try to get on their good side.
In the hallway, people kept pinching him because someone taped a "Pinch Me" sign to his back.
In gym class, he got clobbered in dodgeball, and even after he was hit, everyone just kept throwing balls at him until he was knocked out.
But even after all of that, he never got what he really wanted: A date with his crush, Julie Ortega.
"Toby? Toby? TOBY!"
Toby snapped out of his daze and looked down at Eleanor, who was giving him a confused look.
"What was school like for me? Uh, in a word..."
Toby smiled.
"Awesome. But, you know, that's 'cause I was like, extremely popular."
"Is that why you still live with your grandma?," Jeanette asked.
"And refer to yourself as, 'The Tobester?,' " Brittany asked, making finger quotations.
"And go, 'pyu-pyu-pyu,' all day?," Eleanor asked, making video game noises.
Toby chuckled smugly.
"Bedtime."
7:00 AM
BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!
"Brittany..."
Toby's face was pressed against his pillow as he tried to ignore the alarm blaring throughout the house.
"Brittany, wake up and turn off the alarm."
...
...
...
"Brittany!"
Toby got out of bed and slowly walked out of the room.
"Brittany, I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding, Brittany, turn off the alarm!"
"Girls..."
He walked into the girls' bedroom, but nobody was in there. Their beds were empty and unmade.
The alarm was still blaring, so Toby followed the noise until he found on the kitchen table. He turned it off and walked out of the kitchen.
"Girls, this isn't funny!"
"Hello, humane society?"
Toby walked back into the kitchen when he heard a muffled voice coming from one of the cabinets.
"Yes, I need help. There's a crazy man after us. He wants to take us somewhere horrible."
Toby realized that the voice was coming from the dishwasher. He opened it up and saw the Chipettes inside with a cell phone.
"SCHOOL!," Brittany shouted into the phone.
She looked up and noticed Toby for the first time.
"Oh! Toby! Uh...good morning?"
"Out!"
"Come on, Toby, have a heart," Jeanette pleaded.
"Have a heart? Dave wants you to go to school, so you're going."
"Yeah, well don't worry about picking us up at three, Toby. We'll get a ride. In an AMBULANCE!," Brittany practically screamed.
"Girls, girls, come on," Toby chuckled, "Trust me. The second day is never as bad as the first."
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The coach blew her whistle and gym class had officially started.
The class had to complete an obstacle course that including climbing across monkey bars with rings, walking across a balance beam, jumping onto a spring board, and landing at the other end of the mat.
Amy finished in less than thirty seconds, with Zoe trailing behind her.
Jeanette was having trouble keeping her balance on the balance beam.
"Ok ok, arms out, eyes forward, don't look down."
She shut her eyes so she wouldn't have to look down. Unfortunately this caused her to fall off the edge of the beam.
"Whoa!"
She landed on the floor and her glasses fell off.
"Look forward. Gotta remember that."
Eleanor was still struggling on the rings, due to her small size. She tried to jump from one hoop to the next, but she didn't jump far enough and fell to the floor and groaned as she rolled onto her back.
"Call...the...nurse..."
Brittany was already at the spring board, warming up before she jumped.
"Ok, Brittany, remember your three steps. Jump, twirl, and pose."
She did all three of those things just as Amy was walking by.
"Hey furball, newsflash, it's gym class, not a photoshoot."
She and Zoe started laughing.
"Oh my gosh! You're so funny!"
"I know, Zoe. I know."
Brittany frowned and began to walk away.
"Ha! Look at her now! She's walking away! I knew she wasn't gonna- -"
Amy stopped when she saw Brittany running back towards the spring board.
"Jump?"
Brittany got a running start and jumped onto the spring board.
"Jump!"
Brittany twirled in midair like she did at the house.
"Twirl!"
She landed at the other end of the mat and posed.
"And pose!"
Just as Brittany posed, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.
"Who says dancing skills don't apply in real life?," Brittany smirked at Amy and walked away.
While everyone else began to leave, Amy and Zoe stayed and watched Brittany walk off.
"The girl's got skills," Amy nodded.
"But isn't she just dancing?," Zoe asked.
"No. She's a natural gymnast. We could definitely use her on the team. Hey furball!"
Brittany turned around and put her paw on her hip as she looked up at the two bullies.
"How would you like a spot on the cheerleading squad?"
"Cheerleading? Me?," Brittany asked, seeming interested.
Amy crouched down so she could look her in the eye.
"I gotta say, you're pretty good. Why don't you come hang out with us at lunch? That is, if you want to join?"
Brittany put a finger on her chin.
"Hmm, interesting proposition."
"Brittany?," Eleanor painfully called out from the mat.
The pink-clad Chipette glanced back at her sister and turned back to Amy.
"Let me get back to you on that."
"This is a limited-time offer. Don't take too long to think about it."
She got up and walked out of the gym with Zoe.
Brittany rolled her eyes as she walked back to Jeanette and Eleanor.
"Yeah right. Like I would ditch my sisters just to become the first chipmunk to ever join a cheerleading squad. Fat chance!"
She put her arms around Jeanette and Eleanor and frowned at the two cheerleaders as they walked away.
Lunch Hour
"B! R! I-T-T! A! N! Y! What's that spell? Brittany!"
Brittany was practicing her own cheer as she and her sisters ate lunch at their own table.
"What's that spell?"
"Brittany!," Jeanette and Eleanor cheered.
"And the crowd goes wild!," Brittany pretended to mimic an audience cheering.
"Psst, hey!"
Jeanette turned around and saw Amy sitting at the table next to them. She pointed at her and made a hand motion for her to come over.
"Me?," Jeanette asked, surprised.
Amy shook her head and pointed behind her. Jeanette realized that Amy was pointing to Brittany and not her.
"Britt-any! Britt-any! Britt-any!," Brittany and Eleanor chanted.
"Um, Brittany?," Jeanette asked, interrupting the cheer, "I think the super-cool cheerleader table is paging you."
Brittany rolled her eyes and frowned.
"Why would I want to go over there? I mean, sure, being a cheerleader sounds awesome, and I'd become super popular, and everyone in school would be able to see me cheer at every football game, and I'd get one of those super cute cheerleader outfits, and..."
Brittany's eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh, I do wanna be a cheerleader."
"You can go if you want to, Brittany," Jeanette said.
"Really? You guys don't mind?"
"Sure," Eleanor smiled.
"Thanks, girls. I'll be right back!"
And with that, Brittany jumped off the table and ran to the cheerleaders.
"What's up, ladies?"
The cheerleaders smiled as Brittany gave each of them a high-five.
The cheerleaders were practicing a cheer with their pom-poms. Except for Brittany, whose pom-poms were to big for her to use.
So she ripped off two pieces of ribbon and started doing a ribbon dance.
At lunch, some boys from another table were looking over at the cheerleaders.
"I think she's cute."
They watched as Brittany performed an entire cheer on the table and ended it with a double flip.
Brittany glanced at one of the boys and made a phone sign with her paw.
"Call me," she winked.
Ian walked out of his apartment wearing only his red robe. He had his phone pressed against his ear as he picked up the newspaper on the welcome mat.
"I'm telling you, Bernie, the Chipettes are old news. I've got the next big thing: Singing male chipmunks! ...Hello? Bernie?"
Ian groaned when he realized Bernie had hung up on him.
"Ugh! God! What part of singing male chipmunks don't these people understa- -"
Ian cut himself off once he looked at the newspaper. There was a picture of the Chipettes on it.
West Eastman enters the Chipettes in "Music Mania'
All county music contest getting lots of notice
"Boys, we're going to school," Ian walked back inside.
Brittany was having lunch with the cheerleaders again. Amy turned to her and smiled.
"Hey Britt, the football team's got a game this Friday. Think you're ready for it?"
"You bet!," Brittany smiled.
"Great! And if you play your cards right, I'll let you be on the top of the pyramid."
Brittany gasped, "You mean it?"
"IF, you prove that you're ready for it," Amy said with a serious face, "And if you wanna do that, you have to do something big. Think of it as a right of passage."
"I'll do anything!"
"Great, I'll get back to you."
And with that, Amy got up and walked away.
Jeanette hopped next to Brittany and smiled, "Hey Brittany."
Brittany turned towards her sister and smiled.
"Jeanette, you'll never believe what just happened!"
"What?"
"Amy just said that she'll let me stand on the top of the cheerleader pyramid! That's like the greatest thing she could ever offer me! Ever!"
"Wow, that's great, Brittany. But, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What?"
"Well, you've been spending a lot of time with the cheerleaders lately. You're never around at home anymore."
She leaned towards Brittany's ear and whispered.
"And I'm not sure yet, but I think Toby keeps forgetting to flush the toilet."
"Ew!," Brittany cringed.
"Do you think you can cut practice a little early today? I promised Eleanor that we would watch Meerkat Manor tonight."
"I'll see what I can do, Jen."
"That's what you tell me everyday, Brittany."
Jeanette jumped off the table and walked out of the cafeteria. Brittany frowned and ran after her.
"So wait."
Brittany stopped Jeanette in the hallway.
"You think that I've been spending so much time cheerleading on purpose?"
"No no, of course not. I just think you might be spending so much time cheerleading because Amy's been making you."
Brittany gave her a confused look.
"Good luck with the show, girls!"
They both turned around and saw two boys putting up a poster of Music Mania with Eleanor.
"Front row seats, can't wait!"
Eleanor ran up to her sisters, smiling brightly.
"So, what song are we gonna sing?"
"Yeah, Britt. No pressure, but the whole school is counting on us," Jeanette reminded her older sister.
Brittany rolled her eyes.
"Oh, relax. It's like Amy says. Who's gonna beat singing chipmunks?"
Suddenly, the girls' mouths dropped open when they looked ahead of them.
Because standing right there in front of three open lockers, were the Chipmunks.
Alvin closed his locker first and turned towards the girls. His eyes widened and his mouth curved into a smile. He was wearing a chipmunk-sized red hoodie.
Simon closed his locker next and turned towards the girls. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He pushed up his glasses as he began to smile. He was wearing a chipmunk-sized blue hoodie.
Theodore closed his locker last and turned towards the girls. He immediately smiled brightly once he saw them. He was wearing a chipmunk-sized green hoodie.
The six chipmunks swore they could hear music playing in the background as they stared into each others eyes.
I wanna know what love is
Brittany blinked slowly as she stared into Alvin's brown eyes.
Alvin smiled as he stared into Brittany's bright blue eyes.
I want you to show me
Jeanette's ear twitched as she stared into Simon's dark blue eyes.
Simon's ear twitched as he stared into Jeanette's violet eyes.
I wanna know what love is
Eleanor's nose twitched as she stared into Theodore's dark green eyes.
Theodore's nose twitched as he stared into Eleanor's light green eyes.
The Chipettes sighed, lovestruck by the three new chipmunks.
I want- -
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNG!
The school bell snapped the all back to their senses. Alvin shook his head and dragged his brothers away by the arm, trying to ignore the strange feeling he got when he saw Brittany.
Simon sighed, "That Jeanette is stunning."
"I think Eleanor was looking at me!," Theodore smiled.
Alvin glanced at the Chipettes again. Brittany looked even more beautiful than he imagined.
"Yeah, I know," he shrugged, "But guys, remember what Ian said? We can't trust them!," he reminded them.
Simon and Theodore frowned and nodded as they walked away, unaware that the girls were still watching them leave.
The girls watched the boys until they were out of sight, still shocked by what had just happened.
"Whoa," Eleanor gasped.
"Wow," Jeanette said breathlessly.
Brittany purred.
All three of them smiled, lovestruck.
