Disclaimer: I don't own any songs or characters used in this story

Author's Note: Sorry this took a while to update, I've been busy. And I wrote most of this at like 1 am so the writing is a little sloppy. I listened to Dirty Diana the whole time I wrote this chapter, for inspiration. I usually hate when songs are in stories, but I wanted to do something intense and cool. And I love the guitar parts, they sound so cool! If you haven't heard Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana song, I highly recommend it. It might help you get into this chapter a little more (plus it's just an awesome song!). Read and Review!


12:06 pm

The Stage

Brittany sat on the empty spacious stage, her legs dangling off the edge. She studied her fingernails, which were still painted hot pink from the night before.

Where is he? Brittany wondered. She was still waiting on Alvin, the one who told her to be here on time, the one who came up with this stupid idea in the first place.

Brittany heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and expected to see Alvin; but instead she saw his taller brother carrying an electric guitar.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany asked Simon.

Simon sat beside her. "Alvin didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Simon held up the guitar. "He asked me to play the guitar parts for the song."

Brittany's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Why?"

Simon shrugged and said, "I don't know why he wants me to…"

"No," Brittany interrupted, shaking her head. "I mean, why would you agree to it in the first place?"

The intelligent chipmunk looked at her and grinned. "The same reason you agreed to it. Alvin has a knack for convincing people to do what he wants."

Not wanting to admit Simon was right, Brittany folded her arms across her chest and stared ahead. She looked up and noticed people in the sound booth. Then she heard more footsteps behind her.

"It's about time," she growled at Alvin.

"Sorry," Alvin said briskly. "I had some last minute things to take care of with the wardrobe people."

Simon rolled his blue eyes to the ceiling. "After all the people you've told, you honestly think Dave won't find out about this?"

"Of course not," Alvin assured. "As long as everyone keeps their mouths shut."

Brittany's ears perked up at this.

"You told me Dave was fine with the idea," she said to Alvin.

Alvin laughed nervously. "So I stretched the truth a little," he admitted. "Think of it as surprising Dave."

Brittany rolled her eyes, amazed how deluded Alvin was.

"Relax, we'll be fine," Alvin said confidently. He turned to Simon. "Are you ready to start, Simon?"

"No," Simon said flatly, glaring at him.

"Good!" Alvin chirped, ignoring his brother's sarcasm. He turned to the Chipette next to him and noticed her hair was neatly pulled back. "You won't need this," he said, yanking out the elastic band that was holding her hair in its ponytail.

"Ow!" Brittany cried. She snatched her hair tie back from him. "What the hell, Alvin?"

Alvin sighed, adjusting the microphone on his headset. "Brittany, you need your hair to be loose for this song. Remember what I said about hair flipping?"

"Whatever." Brittany ran her hands through her now-messy mane.

Alvin pointed to the guys in the sound booth, signaling them to play the song.

Simon strummed the guitar loudly to open the song, like he was supposed to.

"I still don't know what I'm supposed to do!" Brittany yelled over the loud music.

Alvin replied, "Improvise! Just follow your instinct." He smirked at her. "Remember, you're Dirty Diana."

Before Brittany could say anything else, Alvin began to sing.

"You'll never make me stay, so take your weight off of me.

I know your every move, so won't you just let me be?"

Brittany stood there, still unsure of what to do. Alvin, who continued to sing, widened his eyes and impatiently gestured for her to start doing something. She replayed Alvin's words in her mind: "Improvise. Just follow your instinct. Remember, you're Dirty Diana."

Brittany took a deep breath. You aren't Brittany Miller right now, Brittany told herself. You're Diana.

"She's sayin' that's okay,

Hey baby do what you please,

I have the stuff that you want

I am the thing that you need."

The music finally got to Brittany and she officially embodied the character. As Alvin sang, she walked seductively over to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and dipped her head back.

"She says, There's no turning back

She trapped me in her heart!"

Simon let out the loud guitar riff, right before the chorus. Brittany flipped her head up, letting her long hair fall into her face.

"Dirty Diana, no…"

Brittany forgot that she couldn't stand Alvin. She forgot that he was making her perform the routine against her will. She forgot that she had no idea if what she was doing looked good or not. All Brittany could think about was being this character Diana. And Diana wanted Alvin, even if Brittany didn't. So she focused on him like he was the only person in the world who mattered, and Alvin did the same to her.

As the song continued, Brittany's dance moves got bolder. She and Alvin were practically grinding on each other by the third verse.

Simon, who they seemed to forget about, felt awkward watching his brother dance so promiscuously with a girl they had known since they were little kids. It was also a bit surprising; by the way they were dancing together, it would appear to a stranger that Alvin and Brittany were actually attracted to each other. But he had to admit the dance fit the music perfectly. He knew that Alvin's prediction about the routine would probably be correct… the audience would love it. Obviously Dave would hate it, but it was clear that Alvin wasn't doing this for Dave's approval.

And Simon was actually enjoying his guitar parts. He found himself putting a lot of feeling and energy in it, and he was satisfied that he was hitting every note perfectly. He had never played an instrument with such power and confidence.

The last chorus ended, and Alvin and Brittany swung their hips and heads to the throbbing bass. Alvin shouted out the chorus and the song started coming to a close. Finally Simon gave the guitar a few aggressive strums, signaling the song's end. When he did that, Alvin pulled Brittany close to him.

The echo of the guitar rang in their ears as they stayed in that position; Alvin's hands rested on Brittany's hips and her arms were around his torso. They stared at one another, breathing hard, their eyes glazed over with exhaustion. The hot lights and physical activity had made both of them sweat and feel light headed.

Then they heard Simon set his guitar down on the stage, snapping them out of their daze.

Brittany shook her head a few times, trying to think straight. No longer was she the vixen Diana… she was back to being Brittany Miller, and she was back to hating Alvin.

She pushed Alvin off of her and looked away.

"That went well," Alvin said, wiping sweat off his forehead.

Brittany nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

"You were good," Alvin said to her. He gave her a playful smile. "I couldn't help but notice how realistic you were as Diana."

The Chipette rolled her eyes. "I was acting," she reminded him. "And I'll have to be a damn good actress tonight to convince people I like you."

Alvin snorted. Maybe Brittany was just "acting," but he was pretty sure it was impossible for her not to feel a connection to him when they were all over each other during the song. He had certainly felt something with her… he wasn't sure what exactly, but it was something.

"So," Simon broke the brief moment of silence. "How long is this going to take?"

"Huh?" Alvin turned to his brother, forgetting he was even in the room.

"This rehearsal," Simon said. "I know you wanted to meet us here at this time because it's Dave's lunch break. I'm assuming you'll want to finish up before he comes back."

"Right, right," Alvin said. "Okay, I'll tell you guys some of the special effects I have planned for this…"

Alvin, Simon, and Brittany practiced the song for another hour. Each time they performed it with the same passion and intensity as the first time. It was almost as if the song hypnotized them, making them forget who they were, convincing them to do things that were usually out of their usual comfort zone (Simon even dropped to his knees while playing the guitar a few times, something he had never even considered doing before).

When Alvin declared the rehearsal over, he quickly left, claiming he had to talk to some guys about the special effects again.

Simon walked over to Brittany. "Do you think it'll turn out okay?" he asked, referring to the new act.

Brittany, cheeks flushed from just finishing the song again, shrugged. "I don't know. It should."

"You know," Simon said, "Alvin has a point about how, um, realistic you were being."

Brittany looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Meaning…?"

Simon cleared his throat. "Well it's just that you seemed like you really liked Alvin."

Brittany narrowed her eyes. "Why does everyone always imply that I like Alvin?" she demanded. "I don't have any feelings for him whatsoever! It's just acting! The performance won't work unless we act like we like each other! The key word here is act, Simon! Got it?"

When Simon didn't answer, Brittany threw her hands in the air and yelled, "You're just as bad as Eleanor and Jeanette!"

Jeanette. Brittany had said the magic word.

As Brittany walked away in anger, the events from the night before immediately entered Simon's thoughts. He had forgotten about Jeanette for the last hour, but now she was as present in his mind as ever.

"Great," Simon groaned. He left the stage feeling more stressed than before.

***

8:50 pm

Backstage

Alvin hurried backstage as soon as he and his brothers finished singing their song.

"Hurry up, Simon!" Alvin said, pulling his brother in their dressing room. He didn't see Dave anywhere. He figured he was busy running around backstage, just making sure everything was working right.

Simon had forgotten that he was going to be in Alvin and Brittany's act. He rolled his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood for a quick costume change.

Brittany emerged from her dressing room at that moment. Her sisters, expecting to see her in her red dress for Crocodile Rock, gasped when they saw her.

She was wearing a thigh-skimming black dress under a leather jacket with knee-high black boots. Her make-up was dark and exaggerated, fingernails painted black, ears studded with silver earrings (most of which were clip-ons), and her hair was poofed to 80's perfection.

The Chipette caught her reflection in the mirror. She hardly recognized herself… the big hair, the red lipstick, the shiny black boots… it was so un-Brittany.

I look like a hooker, Brittany thought, angry at Alvin for making her look so ridiculous.

"Brittany," Eleanor said slowly. "Why are you dressed like that?"

Brittany had forgotten that she hadn't told her sisters about Dirty Diana.

"There was a change in the performance," Brittany admitted. "And it was all Alvin's idea. Do you honestly think I'd voluntarily wear something this trashy?"

"Of course not," Jeanette said, shaking her head. "We never said you did."

Before Brittany could say anything else, she saw Alvin running out of his dressing room. He was dressed in a simple white shirt and black pants. He stopped when he saw her and smiled as he looked her up and down.

"I'm a genius," he said, observing his costume design.

"Yeah," Brittany said, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her narrow hips. "If you specialize in 80's prostitute looks, I'd say you've nailed it."

Alvin smirked. "You look good and you know it. Now let's get out there before Dave catches us in these clothes."

Alvin ran off in the opposite direction of the stage, which Brittany found odd. But she thought something else was even weirder… Alvin had just said she looked good. Alvin had never complimented her on her looks before.

He's not thinking straight with all the excitement, Brittany convinced herself, as she took one more glance in the mirror. She was no longer pretty, pastel-wearing Brittany Miller. She was sexy, sultry Diana. And despite the crazy big bangs and the black leather jacket, Brittany was starting to get used to her new look. Her make-up was dark and wild, but it fit the exaggerated 80s look they were going for. She liked how the tight dress hugged her body in all the right places. And the high heels on the books made her look legs look longer. Brittany grinned and stood up a little straighter. Alvin was right. She did look good.

Brittany stood at the edge of the stage, not quite sure where Alvin had gone. Suddenly, the lights went out. The audience gasped at the sudden darkness, not sure what was going on. They grew quiet, wondering why the happy piano music from Crocodile Rock wasn't playing.

Then a spotlight came onstage, creating a silhouette of someone with their back turned to the audience holding a guitar. The person gave the guitar a loud strum, and fog began to surround the stage. The guitarist slowly turned around, and Simon was revealed to the audience. To Brittany's surprise, there were only a few cheers; the crowd seemed too focused on what was happening to care that a fan-favorite was onstage.

Brittany saw a trap door in the middle of the stage open. As the background music began to play, Alvin slowly rose out of the bottom of the stage, the blue-tinted fog surrounding him. That made the audience go crazy, as they realized they were in for a real treat.

Then Alvin began to sing. He looked off stage, toward Brittany, and motioned her to come toward him.

Kiss Brittany good-bye, Brittany told herself. You're Diana now.

Brittany strutted toward Alvin, coming into the crowd's view. She almost smiled when she heard the cheers get louder as she made her appearance, but she was determined to remain in-character. And the only thing her character wanted was Alvin Seville.

Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor watched from the side-stage as the performance went on. By the end of the first chorus, they were so mesmerized by Alvin and Brittany's electrifying onstage chemistry that they all jumped when they heard an irritated voice behind them demand, "What's going on?"

They turned to see Dave, a mixture of anger and confusion on his face. "What are they doing?" he asked in horror.

"Don't worry, Dave," Theodore said with a reassuring grin. "Alvin says the audience will love it so much, you won't want to pull it from the show."

Dave ran his hand through his dark hair. "I have to stop this," he muttered. "If they're dancing like that now, I can only imagine how inappropriate this will get by the end!" Dave hurried off, leaving Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor to watch some more of the performance.

"Let me be!" Alvin yelled into his headset as Brittany dipped her head back and came back up, her heavily hair-sprayed mane flipping around all over the place.

"She likes the boys in the band

She knows when they come to town.

Every musician's fan

After the curtain comes down."

Jeanette cringed at those lines. She wondered how many of the fans understood that innuendo. But if they did, they didn't seem too upset about it. The crowd was on their feet, hooked on the routine. Alvin was even throwing in some Michael Jackson dance moves, which made their fans cheer in awe every time.

The hot lights combined with the heavy black leather jacket were making Brittany sweat like crazy. She slowly unzipped her jacket.

"She's sayin', that's okay,

Hey baby do what you want!

I'll be your night lovin' thing,

I'll be the freak you can taunt!"

At the word "freak" Brittany took off her jacket and threw it into the crowd. Brittany would normally never do something like that; she knew the jacket had to be expensive, and she wouldn't just throw it out to random audience members. But she wasn't Brittany, she was Diana, and Diana didn't care about how expensive the dumb jacket was.

"I don't care what you say

I want to go too far!"

Brittany threw her arms around Alvin.

"I'll be your everything

IF YOU MAKE ME A STAR!"

At the climax of the verse, the lights rapidly flashed from blue to red, making the crowd burst into applause. Simon's guitar riff just added to the intensity of the song.

"Dirty Diana, no…

Dirty Diana, no…"

During the chorus, Alvin and Brittany were thrusting their hips to the powerful music, oblivious to whether it looked good or not. They were both relying heavily on their instinct. They weren't worried about what they thought might look good, they were just doing what they felt.

"LET ME BE!" Alvin screamed, signaling the last verse to begin.

The music got softer again, as it always did before a new verse started. Alvin and Brittany got closer and looked at each other intensely.

"She said I have to go home

'Cause I'm real tired you see.

But I hate sleeping alone

Why don't you come with me?'"

Alvin continued to sing, but he had to admit it was difficult to focus the way Brittany was all over him. Between the sexy, pouty-lipped expressions and wildly seductive dance moves, he kept noticing how amazing she looked and liked the fact that she was flirting with him, even though they were only acting.

The three siblings backstage were in awe of the passionate performance, even though they were expecting Dave to pull the plug on it any minute.

"Alvin is killing this song," Eleanor said to Jeanette, clearly impressed. "His vocals are the best they've ever been."

Jeanette nodded in agreement. Alvin and Brittany were certainly stealing the show, but she noticed Simon's guitar playing was perfect. The guitar parts were what made the song sound so different, so passionate.

"Diana walked up to me

She said, I'm all yours tonight.

At that, I ran to the phone,

Saying, Baby I'm alright

I said, But unlock the door

'Cause I forgot the key."

Brittany grabbed Alvin by the shirt and pulled him toward her forcefully.

"She said he's not coming back,

BECAUSE HE'S SLEEPING WITH ME!"

Something behind them shot off bright white sparks, almost like mini-fireworks. This, of course, made the audience go wild with applause and cheers. They began jumping and shouting with excitement as Simon dropped to his knees and threw his head back as he played the guitar with as much energy as he could.

Alvin screamed out the chorus, walking over to Simon and dancing alongside him for a few bars. Then he went back to Brittany and grabbed her by the waist, dancing with her until his voice faded out.

With a few loud final strums on the guitar, the song came to an end with Alvin and Brittany in each other's arms. Alvin considered going for a passionate kiss, since they were both so into their characters, Brittany probably wouldn't have minded. But something held him back; he wasn't sure what it was, but he just couldn't bring himself to kiss her. So he settled for gently tilting her chin toward him, and slowly leaning in as if he were going for a kiss. But he quickly pulled back as the audience started screaming their lungs out, begging for more.

Brittany guided herself from Alvin's arms and looked into the mass of people cheering them on. She felt dizzy. Did Alvin just try to kiss her? And was it weird that, for a split second, she was actually hoping he would?

She didn't have much time to think about it. She, Alvin, and Simon took their final bows, basking in the applause.

"You know," Simon shouted to his brother over the noise, "I hate to admit this, but you were right. The audience loved it!"

Alvin smirked and continued to wave to his adoring fans. "Simon, don't doubt me."

Simon rolled his eyes and smiled at the crowd. He knew for a fact that he would doubt Alvin many more times in their lives, but he decided to let Alvin have some satisfaction with this one.

The three began to exit stage left, but gasped when they saw a furious-looking Dave Seville glaring back at them.

"Uh oh," Alvin said, his cocky smile fading. He spun on his heel and decided to exit stage right instead.

Over the deafening applause from the hundreds of fans, Alvin managed to clearly hear the shout that he had become so familiar with over the years: "ALLLLVVVVIIIIIN!"

Alvin picked up speed and hurried off the stage, heading the opposite direction of his father. As well as their performance had gone, it was clear that Dave was unhappy.

When Alvin got backstage, he hurried to his dressing room to get changed for his next song. But Dave stood in front of the room, his arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face.

"Alvin," Dave said, his voice full of anger. "What was that?"

Alvin laughed nervously. "What was what?"

Dave narrowed his eyes. "Not only did you disobey me when I clearly told you we weren't changing Crocodile Rock, but you sang and danced to a song full of sexual content!"

"Dave," Alvin said with a sigh. "I know you're mad, but the audience loved…"

"I don't care what the audience thought!" Dave yelled. "I told you not to do it, and you went behind my back and changed everything anyway! Not to mention you dragged Simon and Brittany into this! I'm sure there are parents of our fans out there outraged about what you just did."

Alvin shook his head. He just didn't get it. The fans weren't mad… they loved it. Who cared what the song was about, as long as people enjoyed it?

Dave sighed in frustration as his son just stared back at him. He knew Alvin was clueless to why he was so upset. And he didn't have time to explain anything to him; the Chipmunks had to be back onstage in a few minutes and Alvin needed to get ready.

"If there weren't hundreds of fans out there who paid good money to see you perform, I wouldn't let you go back out there tonight," Dave said, stepping aside to let Alvin inside the room. "Don't think you're off the hook on this one, Alvin."

"Yeah, yeah," Alvin muttered, pushing past Dave. He knew he was acting like a jerk, but he didn't care. Dave was being completely unreasonable.

Dave turned to Brittany and Simon, who had been standing behind him.

"As for you two," he said firmly. "I'm not through talking with you either. I know Alvin is manipulative, but you could have said no."

Brittany smiled sweetly. "But Alvin said that you approved the idea," she said.

"And you believed him?" Dave raised an eyebrow, not buying Brittany's claim. He sighed again. "Look, we'll discuss this later. Go get ready for the next act."

When Dave walked away, Simon turned to Brittany. He was surprised to see her grinning.

"You don't seem to upset about this," he observed, even though he felt sick with guilt.

Brittany nodded toward the stage, where they could clearly hear the excited crowd chanting "Brittany! Brittany! Brittany!"

"It was worth it," Brittany said, her smile widening. She walked toward her dressing room, her poofy 80's hair-do bouncing with each confident step.


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