Old Flame

Chapter 7

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews, everyone! I love reading your opinions.

Anyway, onto the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy.

XOXOXOXOXO

BRITTANY

Tryouts were today.

Brittany was so nervous, she could barely concentrate on her assignments! She had been practicing diligently everyday until now. Luckily, her sprained ankle from a few days ago had healed relatively quick, allowing her to continue her back flips. Although she was dreading auditioning in front of the judges, especially Ray, she was also confident that she would do well.

She had worked hard for this moment, and she was sure it would all pay off today.

I wish Uncle Roy was here, Brittany thought sadly. I never did get to really apologize for treating him like that. I let my pride get the better of me. No matter how popular or big I get, I'll always be a chipmunk. And I'm proud to be one.

Brittany shook her head to clear her thoughts. I can't think about that right now, though. I have to concentrate!

She continued down the hallway towards the gymnasium, clutching the hall pass she had gotten from her Literature teacher to her chest. As she rounded the corner and walked down the hall leading to the various Health rooms, she spotted a large group of girls (and even a few boys!) talking and waiting just outside the large double doors. Seeing this, Brittany's stomach churned ever more.

Her ears piqued when she noticed a familiar blonde girl standing near the front of the group. Brittany smiled in relief and waved her arm around, jumping to get her attention. "Stephanie! Hey!"

Stephanie started slightly and looked around for the person who called her name. She smiled when she noticed her tiny chipmunk friend scurrying to her side. She bent down and held out her hand, allowing Brittany to rest on top of it before letting Brittany stand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Britt!" Stephanie greeted, in her usual bubbly manner. "You excited?"

Despite her nervousness, Brittany couldn't help but grin back. Honestly, Stephanie was probably one of her few true, best friends. Stephanie was optimistic, outgoing, friendly, and athletic. She had also taken an interest in cheer-leading even before Brittany enrolled. Stephanie and Brittany also had a slight competitive nature, though not nearly as big as it was with Alvin.

"I am," Brittany replied, rubbing her rounded tummy. She giggled softly. "So excited, I feel like I'm gonna puke!"

"Hey! Not on my new leather jacket!" Stephanie joked, laughing.

Brittany giggled before curiously looking around at her competition. She spotted quite a few acquaintances gathered around, as well as a lot of the more popular teens...

Brittany suddenly did a double take, gritting her teeth. What is she doing here!

Charlene was only a few feet away, chatting and laughing with a couple of other girls while similarly sitting on one of their shoulders. Why was she here? Brittany had never heard of her being interested in cheer-leading before, so why was she suddenly here, out of the blue?

"I can't believe this. What is she up to now?" Brittany said quietly, only so that Stephanie could hear.

Stephanie followed her line of vision and scowled as well. Stephanie was one of the few people Brittany had confided in about Charlene. Sadly, Brittany couldn't tell her sisters about her problem. Jeanette was too wrapped up in Charlene's suspicious offer of friendship, so wouldn't hear anything against her. Eleanor didn't seem to want to judge her wrongly, so she tried her best to remain "neutral". And Alvin... there was no way he'd believe her. He would only claim that she was making up lies about Charlene because she was jealous. Although Brittany absolutely hated to admit it to herself, but a part of her was jealous. Yet, a larger part of her was annoyed with his unrelenting defense of Charlene. Why couldn't he see how misplaced his trust was?

"Yeah, I don't know what she wants now," Stephanie said slowly, watching the blonde chipmunk straighten out her hair. While Stephanie hadn't had any negative interactions with the girl yet, she trusted Brittany's judgment enough to watch out for her. Although her little friend could be confrontational at times, Stephanie knew Brittany well enough to know that she did not go around making enemies for no reason. It usually took a lot to get on Brittany's bad side. "Don't worry, she can't do much with everyone watching."

"I hope you're right," Brittany said, sighing. She shook her head. "I just know she's up to something, though..."

Suddenly, one of Ray's underlings opened the doors. She was a pretty, Asian girl by the name of Tina. Unlike most of Ray's friends, she was actually pretty nice and charismatic. Brittany never understood why she wasted her time with a sad bunch like them.

"Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait. We're ready for you to come in," Tina announced, leading the way back into the gym.

The group billowed in after her, the chatter slowly dying down. As they entered the large gymnasium, the group noticed the long table placed in front of the folded bleachers. There sat Ray, placed in the middle of four of her fellow cheerleaders. It was likely she had picked her most talented teammates to help her decide. In front of each girl lied a clipboard and pen. A blue mat, which was obviously meant for their routines, rested a safe distance away.

Brittany whimpered, trembling slightly. Stephanie soothingly patted her back.

"Don't sweat it, Britt," Stephanie said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks, I'm sure you will too," Brittany smiled.

Her smile faded as quickly as it came when she spotted Charlene jump off of her perch and scurry towards the table. Brittany's jaw dropped in shock when she saw her climb up the side of Ray's arm and sit on her shoulder. The two of them smiled at each other, as if they were old friends. Her blood ran cold.

Brittany watched intently as Ray whispered something to Charlene before turning to face them.

"Alright, so! I know all of you have been waiting so long for this very moment," Ray started dramatically, flipping her neat bangs out of her eyes. Brittany groaned softly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "And I'm sure you all will do just fine." Ray glared at some of the plainer and nerdy girls, cutting her jade eyes at them and making them flinch slightly. Brittany couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. "Well, some of you will do fine."

The girl to Ray's right blew her whistle, instructing the group to organize into a single line and perform their routine one by one. Brittany fidgeted as Stephanie took her place in line. Brittany was grateful that they were near the end of the line.

Brittany and Stephanie eagerly watched as the girls in the front of the line began to do their routines. Although Brittany was confident in her own abilities, she was genuinely impressed with some of them. Quite a few of those trying out were graceful and coordinated, impressing Ray and her fellow judges. However, as to be expected, some were downright horrible and looked like they belonged on American Idol's Worst Auditions. It was obvious that a few of them never picked up a pompom in all their lives. Each time someone finished their routine, Charlene would whisper something into Ray's ear.

Brittany's blood boiled. What the heck is she saying to her!

"Something's definitely up," Stephanie said, speaking Brittany's thoughts. "I just know it!"

"I know! Since when did Ray and Charlene get to be so buddy-buddy?" Brittany asked, scowling.

Finally, it was Brittany's turn.

With a deep breath, Brittany hopped off of Stephanie's shoulder and ran to the middle of the mat. All eyes were on her. She was used to the attention, but what she was wary about was Charlene. She was smirking at her knowingly, which only made Brittany want to smack that smug grin off of her face.

One of the judges played back the music. Brittany started out by reciting West Eastman's signature cheer before performing a series back flips. She did fairly well on her flips, having spent a lot of time working on them with her sisters. She added in the regular claps, stomps, and common maneuvers. At the end, Brittany finished with a split, panting slightly from the effort.

The judges clapped for her, nodding their approval. Brittany returned to her feet before walking towards the group who had already finished their routines. In the corner of her eye, Brittany caught Charlene furiously tug at Charlene's bejeweled ear, frantically whispering something to her. Ray jerked away, however, and irritably waved her off. A satisfied smile came to Brittany as she saw Charlene huff and cross her arms.

Stephanie gave her a thumbs up before walking over to the mat. Stephanie recited the school's cheer before going for her own routine. Unlike Brittany, she excelled in doing frontal flips and added her very own flare. Brittany winced when she tripped on one stunt, but Stephanie was able to mask it well.

After she was done, it seemed she also left a good impression. Brittany congratulated her as she came to her side.

Half an hour later, everyone had auditioned. The judges made their final comments to each other before scribbling the last of their notes on their clipboards. Ray cleared her throat and sat up, smiling.

"Alright, thank you all for trying out," Ray said, flipping her flawless black hair. "The results will be posted in the main hall Monday morning. So, look out for it, 'kay? You might just be lucky enough to join my squad."

Dismissed, the group slowly made their way out of the gymnasium and started to talk just outside the doors. None of them wanted to head back to class, especially Brittany. She hated class, and this was the perfect opportunity to skip!

"Oh my gosh, I hope we make it on the team!" Brittany squealed, bouncing lightly as she walked beside Stephanie.

"I know, right? It'd be a lot of fun to be on the same team," Stephanie agreed, nodding. Her brow rose as she spotted Charlene, who stomped out of the gym with a sour expression. "Wow, wonder what's got her tail in a knot?"

"I bet I can find out why," Brittany smirked, walking over to Charlene. There was no way she was going to pass up the opportunity to gloat. She put on an innocent face as she stood in front of the pouting girl. "Hey, Charlene. Not interested in trying out?" she asked sweetly.

Charlene visibly faltered, but quickly recovered, smiling. "Oh, Britt! Uh, no, I only wanted to watch."

Don't call me 'Britt'. You're no friend of mine, Brittany wanted to say, but held her tongue.

"Oh, that's too bad," Brittany said. She played with her own sun-kissed ponytail, raising her voice a bit so that those around her would hear. "I just thought it was weird that you wanted to watch, but sat with the judges. You wouldn't be trying to turn votes in anyone's favor, would you?"

Several of the other students obviously had the same suspicions, because they folded their arms and looked down at Charlene, clearly not pleased in the slightest.

Charlene's eyes widened and she shook her head emphatically, quickly denying the accusation. "N-No! Never! I'd never do that."

"Oh. Just checking," Brittany smirked, turning smartly on her heel and walking back. Her sensitive ears picked up Charlene grumbling, and could clearly hear her call her a "bitch".

Oh, so did she forget that I have good hearing too?

Brittany suddenly spun around and looked Charlene dangerously in the eyes. Charlene, horrified, took a step back.

Yeah, I caught you. You're not as clever as you think you are!

"You're damn right, I'm a bitch," Brittany said coolly. Charlene gulped, taking another step back. "You're not the first to call me that. But let me tell you this: you better back off. Because you've seen nothing yet."

XOXOXOXOXO

Later in the day, Brittany rushed towards West Eastman's football field. She slipped through the holes of the iron gate, tossing her backpack beside the benches.

She looked towards the team, who was hard at work practicing for their upcoming game. Brittany watched with pride as Alvin worked with Ryan to carry the ball away from their opponents. She couldn't help but cheer when he dashed ahead of the group, catching the football when Ryan passed it to him and earning them a goal.

"Go Alvin! Woo!" Brittany yelled, clapping her hands. "Kick their butts!"

Alvin wiped his forehead of sweat, looking back at her. He grinned happily when he saw Brittany cheering for him, working even harder to impress her.

Brittany shook her head. He's such a show-off, she thought with a smile. That lug!

Brittany sat down on the bench, watching intently as the boys took their positions in the middle of the field. Her thoughts drifted back to earlier that day, when she had given her all for a chance on the squad.

If I make it, I'll be able to wear those cute, red outfits, Brittany daydreamed, a light blush tinting her cream-colored cheeks. I wonder what he'd say when he sees me in one, at one of the games...

"Hey, Britt! Thanks for waiting up for me!"

Brittany squeaked in alarm, nearly falling off the bench. She looked to her right, only to see Alvin smirking down at her. His fur was damp from sweat, his helmet in his hand and a towel draped over his left shoulder. Brittany shook her head to clear her thoughts before standing to greet him.

"It's about time," she said, folding her arms. "It's hot out here! Don't you know what that does to my fur?"

"Yet, here you are, still waiting for me," Alvin teased, winking. "You're sweet!"

"Shut up, Alvin," Brittany snapped, trying her best to mask a grin.

The two of them hopped off the bench, Brittany slipping back into the straps of her backpack. Brittany suddenly remembered that she had brought him a water bottle, handing it to him.

"Thirsty?" Brittany asked. "I brought you a little something. I don't want you to faint on me in this heat," she added playfully.

Alvin's face lit up as he gratefully accepted the tiny bottle. "You have no idea, thanks – wait. Is this one of those Barbie water bottles?" he said incredulously.

Brittany giggled and folded her arms. "Hey, how else was I supposed to get you a water bottle our size? And it's not like it's pink, even though I wanted one. You're lucky they had one in red!"

"Alright, alright, sheesh!" Alvin laughed, taking a swig from it. He leaned over a planted a soft, quick kiss on her cheek. "Where would I be without you, Britt?"

"Flatterer," Brittany replied, gently touching the spot he had kissed. She twitched her nose happily. "You're welcome, Alvin."

The two chipmunks made their way towards the main building, keen on meeting up with Dave and riding back home.

And the best part was, Charlene was no where in sight.

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: It was only a matter of time until Brittany was going to fight back! Can't mess with a girl like her and not expect a fight. Watch out, Charlene!

Also, Stephanie's not really an OC. I based her on the blonde girl in the Squeakquel that we saw pretty often. She's pretty well known, she stars in Good Luck Charlie and Lemonade Mouth! I was surprised when I realized she made a cameo in the movie!

Anyway, please give feedback. The next chapter will be up soon!