A/N: Hi everyone! I know this chapter isn't very long, but it gets to the point I guess. This story is almost over… after this, there will be only one more chapter left (well, maybe two, but probably just one). Enjoy!
Merry Christmas, I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying I love you
I meant it
When Brittany woke up, she knew something wasn't quite right. She sat up in bed and her eyes rested on a very bizarre sight. Sitting on the edge of her bed was herself; well, two versions of herself actually. The Brittany sitting on the left side of the bed had her dirty blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a hot pink tank top and tight jeans. The Brittany to the right looked more like Brittany did today; her long caramel-colored hair cascaded down her back. She was wearing a black turtleneck and charcoal knee length skirt. She looked about five years older than the other Brittany.
As strange as this was, Brittany felt eerily calm, almost as if she expected this. Although she felt no worries, she was still incredibly confused.
"What's going on?" Brittany asked.
"We're here to straighten you out," the younger Brittany said. Brittany could smell the bubble gum on her breath.
"Straighten me out?" Brittany asked. "What do you mean?" She kept looking at one Brittany to the other. One looked pretty and determined, the other beautiful and sophisticated. Both of them represented her; the new Brittany looked so appealing, but she couldn't help but long to feel like the old Brittany again.
New Brittany sat up straighter. "You're obviously confused about your situation... and you're torn between the two of us." She nodded to the pink-clad Brittany.
"Well I'll tell you what I think," Old Brittany said loudly. "I think you need to just surrender and go back to Alvin. I mean, come on, you guys are such a cute couple!"
"There's more to a relationship than looking cute together," New Brittany pointed out. "Maybe you should give Simon a chance…"
"NO!" New Brittany interrupted, looking horrified. "Come on, Brittany, this is Simon we're talking about. He is so not your type. You need someone like Alvin; someone cool, someone exciting…"
"Someone who is a complete jerk," New Brittany muttered.
"He said he was sorry!" New Brittany said, throwing her hands up in the air.
New Brittany turned toward Current Brittany, her blue eyes looking serious through her smoky eye shadow. "How can you be so sure he means it?"
"I'm not," Brittany finally spoke up. "But he seems sincere."
"That's because he is!" the younger Brittany squealed. "He's older, more mature. He knows what he did was wrong, and he loves you."
New Brittany rolled her eyes. "He's an actor. He's bored and just wants to fool around during winter break. This is Alvin Seville we're talking about, the biggest player in California!"
Younger Brittany shook her head, her ponytail hitting her in the face. "No," she said simply.
"How can you be so sure?" Brittany heard herself ask.
She watched as the younger version of herself shrugged. "I don't know. I just do."
"That's because he's all you know," New Brittany said. "It's time to let Alvin go. Give Simon a chance, or find someone new."
"Not Simon," Old Brittany said, grimacing. "I mean, really? He's a total geek."
Brittany felt herself shake her head. "He's more than that. Simon is really nice and smart and I like being with him. I feel bad that he was hurt by all this."
Old Brittany looked at her in disbelief. "Why? It's not like you two were actually going out or anything. You shouldn't feel bad."
Brittany leaned back, feeling more confused than ever.
"Don't worry," New Brittany said. "You're mature. You'll make the right decision."
"You'd better make the right decision." Old Brittany crossed her arms across her chest and glared. Her face was serious and a bit intimidating. "I don't date nerds."
...
Brittany's eyes snapped open. She immediately looked at the foot of her bed.
There was nothing there. No Brittanys.
Brittany looked at her alarm clock and gasped when she saw the time. It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. She wondered how long she'd been having that crazy dream.
She stumbled out of bed and was hit with realization that today was Christmas Eve. The anniversary of the worst day of her life, thanks to Alvin Seville.
Rubbing her tired eyes, Brittany opened her bedroom door. She jumped when she almost ran right into Jeanette.
"Sorry!" Jeanette said. "I was just coming up to make sure you were alright. You've been asleep for a long time." Brittany walked past her sister. "Are you feeling okay, Brittany?"
"M'fine," Brittany muttered, heading straight for the bathroom. Without thinking, she shut the door and turned on the shower. Brittany stripped off her clothes and practically jumped into the tub, letting the hot water sting her body. She wished she could stay in that little space all day.
She did, however, manage to keep to herself most of the day. She spent most of Christmas Eve in her room, claiming to be trying on outfits for tomorrow. In reality, she was laying in bed, trying to make sense of everything.
I'm pathetic, she thought.
Hours of feeling sorry for herself passed by, until finally hunger kicked in. Reluctantly, Brittany went downstairs. Miss Miller and Jeanette were standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey Britt," Jeanette said with a smile. "I was just about to come get you. The Sevilles invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner."
Brittany frowned. "Why? We're going to be spending the whole day there tomorrow anyway." Brittany was still trying to find an excuse to skip out on the Christmas celebration at their neighbor's. She figured her best bet was to fake an illness.
"I know," Jeanette said. "But Dave offered to cook for us since Miss Miller…" Jeanette trailed off and glanced at their guardian. "Well, she's not really in the mood to cook."
Miss Miller rolled her eyes. "That's a bunch of nonsense, Jeanette. I don't know why Dave is doing this, but I've never been one to turn down a free meal."
Jeanette shrugged. "So are you coming, Brittany?"
"No," Brittany said sharply. The way she said it made it seem so final, like there was reason for Jeanette to ask questions.
"Um, okay," Jeanette said, her blue-green eyes wide behind her glasses.
Miss Miller grabbed her coat. "Where is Eleanor?"
"I think she went out for a jog or something," Jeanette said, slipping into her thick purple jacket. "I left her a voice message on her phone."
"A what?" Miss Miller asked, clearly confused.
"I'll explain on the way," Jeanette promised with a patient smile. She opened the front door and looked at Brittany. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
"I'm feeling a little sick actually," Brittany said, setting up her excuse to stay at home tomorrow.
"Oh," Jeanette said. Her expression was hard to read, and Brittany couldn't quite tell if her sister believed her or not. "Well, get some rest. See you later."
"Bye," Brittany said right before Jeanette closed the door.
Brittany made herself a salad and ate it in front of the TV. She kept flipping through channels, but everything that was on was a Christmas movie, Christmas special, or Christmas episode.
Well what do you expect? Brittany asked herself. It's Christmas Eve.
After mindlessly watching Frosty the Snowman, the irritable Chipette went to the kitchen to put her bowl in the dishwasher. When she went back into the living room, Eleanor walked in through the front door. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and her winter hat and blonde ponytail were dusted with fresh snowflakes. She was wearing lime green sweatpants and jacket.
"Where have you been?" Brittany asked in a flat voice.
"Jogging," Eleanor answered breathlessly.
Brittany snarled. "Who goes jogging at eight thirty on Christmas Eve night?"
Eleanor loosened her scarf around her neck. "Someone who didn't have time to run earlier because she was wrapping Christmas presents during the day."
"Always the procrastinator," Brittany sighed. She wished her sister would just go away.
Eleanor frowned and put her hands on her hips. "What's your problem?"
"You." Brittany said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Eleanor's pale eyebrows shot up. "What did I do? I've hardly seen you the last week."
Brittany inhaled. This was it. This was when the truth would come out.
"I know about you and Alvin hooking up," Brittany said, struggling to keep her voice steady.
Eleanor was frozen in shock. Her brown eyes looked at Brittany unblinking. It looked as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Who told you?" Eleanor asked in a small voice.
"It doesn't matter how I found out," Brittany said, noting that Jeanette, Alvin, and Eleanor all asked who had spilled the beans. "What matters is that you didn't tell me in the first place."
Eleanor's shoulders sagged. "Oh come on, Brittany. You know why I couldn't tell you."
"Right," Brittany said with an eye roll. "Because I'd get mad. But did you ever think I'd be even madder that you weren't honest?"
"Well I'm sorry if you're upset," Eleanor said, not sounding all that sorry. "But you have nothing to worry about because what Alvin and I had apparently wasn't a big deal anyway. We haven't been involved in months."
"But you still like him." Brittany folded her arms across her chest. "Don't you?"
Eleanor silently looked down at her muddy tennis shoes. Then she lifted her head up and looked at her sister with a brave face. "Why do you care? You're always going on about how you're over him."
"This isn't about whether I'm over him or not," Brittany shot back. "This is about how you went behind my back and hooked up with my ex-boyfriend."
To Brittany's surprise, Eleanor actually started to laugh.
"I don't see anything funny about this," Brittany said.
Eleanor shrugged. "Oh, I was just thinking about how you're so angry about me not being honest, when you've been lying to everyone all along."
"What are you talking about?" Brittany asked impatiently.
Eleanor's laughing faded, but a wicked smile remained on her pretty face. "You're obviously still in love with Alvin."
A surge of anger went through Brittany's body. She wasn't angry because Eleanor was falsely accusing her; she was angry because Eleanor was absolutely right.
"You don't know anything about me," Brittany said through clenched teeth.
"I know that you're selfish," Eleanor said, matching Brittany's intensity. "As long as you're happy, no one else matters. But when you're upset about something, you seem to go out of your way to make sure everyone else is just as miserable.
"Whatever," Brittany grumbled. She wasn't sure what Eleanor was talking about. "You're just jealous. You always have been." She sighed dramatically. "I knew coming home was a mistake."
"For once, you're right," Eleanor said. She took a few steps closer to Brittany. "Everyone has been trying to have fun this Winter break and all you've been doing is moping around the house feeling sorry for yourself for God-knows-what. It's always all about you."
"You don't know what I've been through!" Brittany fired back.
"That's because you haven't talked to me," Eleanor said, a hint of sadness in her voice. The sadness was noticeably lacking in her next few sentences. "You came home trying to show us how cool and grown-up you are now, with your new clothes and fake new attitude. But face it Brittany: You're still the self-absorbed, spoiled little brat you've always been."
Brittany's mouth went completely dry. Before she had time to even think about what to say, Eleanor turned around and walked out of the house. She slammed the door as hard as she could, making the picture frames on the wall rattle.
Brittany stood still in the silent house. Had that really just happened? Had Eleanor—her sweet, cheerful, little sister—just told her off?
Her throat tightened and her eyes began to water. Suddenly, everything became crystal clear; Brittany knew what she had to do.
Without giving her decision a second thought, Brittany ran upstairs to her room. She yanked her suitcase out of her closet and gathered as many clothes as she could. She shoved the outfits in the case and, with a lot of pushing, was able to zip up the suitcase.
After grabbing her purse and a few necessary toiletries, Brittany hurried downstairs to slip into her coat and boots. She reached for the doorknob, but paused.
Miss Miller.
Brittany dropped her bags and headed for the kitchen. She frantically searched for paper and a pen. She figured she at least owed a note to the old woman to explain her sudden departure. After all, none of this was Miss Miller's fault.
Brittany found a pink post-it pad and black ink pen. She quickly wrote:
Miss Miller,
I'm sorry I had to take off like this, but something came up. I'll call you later.
Merry Christmas,
Brittany
Brittany hesitated before writing anymore; she knew what she was about to write was going to make some people very angry. But she was desperate to get out of here, and this was something she had to do…
P.S. I had to take the Cadillac to the bus station. I'll leave to keys under the mat under the driver's seat. I'll send a text to let you know where I parked.
I'm sorry.
The Chipette took a deep breath as she laid the sticky note on the counter. For all she knew, Miss Miller probably wouldn't even notice she was gone.
Brittany grabbed her bags and before she knew it, she was sitting in the driver's seat of Miss Miller's pink Cadillac backing out of the driveway. Without even glancing at her house or the Seville's house across the street, Brittany put the car in drive and sped into the night.
A/N: Yeah… I'm not going to lie, I hate this chapter. The dream sequence was kind of confusing and I feel like I'm just writing the same old thing over and over again. The only part I didn't hate was Eleanor and Brittany's confrontation (I seem to have been writing quite a few of those in my stories lately), but even that could've used some work. Oh well. I'll make the next chapter better, okay?
BY THE WAY some of you have been asking about We're off to See America! To answer your question, I am working on it. I didn't forget! I'm just having writer's block; but be patient, it'll be out soon (hopefully!).
