Alvin's Point of View

Even though the clock says it's seven o'clock, it feels a lot later; time seemed to take forever at this time, just like in school. A second equaled an hour, an hour equaled a day. Looking out the window and the dark sky outside, it could have been anywhere from ten to midnight, but still the clocks, both the digital ones and the analog ones, said seven. Obviously I've been freaking out all day, and I guess the resulting reaction was time displacement. This must have been what stress felt like. Like how Simon felt all the time. Come to think of it, I've never asked him what time it was before, I wonder if he'd be able to answer. Can you blame me for my stress though? I need to know how the dance was going! Were Simon and Brittany getting along? Had Brittany killed my brother in an attempt to figure out why we were acting so strange? (Munk knows that didn't go well for me and Jeanette.) Had they kissed? Or would my body be brought home in a hearse, mangled and barely recognizable? They've been there for hours, ever since school ended and I hardly think things could have gone according to plan. We haven't once, over the past week, had so much as an ounce of luck, things haven't once gone right, and now we were overdue for something good to happen.

Ever since I told Jeanette the truth, she's been going out of her way to ignore me. Earlier this evening I attempted to sit beside her on the reclining chair -I really should have taken baby steps first like slowly approaching and asking if she wanted company, but whatever- and the second my tail touched the soft cushion, she hopped up as if she were in the military and ran away from me towards the kitchen. I thought about chasing after her, but that would be just a little bit creepy, don't you think? Why she chose the kitchen to run to is somewhat of a mystery; she could have just as easily made her way up the stairs and into our room, but either way two points were made clear: One, she would go anywhere and probably do anything to get away from me, and two, when girls think you're lying to them, give them a heck of a lot of space. Well done, Alvin, well done.

I was hoping I'd be able to fix everything before Simon got home, you know, make sure that Jeanette didn't hate him and that there was still a remote chance of them having their awkward, quiet relationship, but Jean wouldn't even talk to me. To be fair, I guess telling someone you're her crushes brother inside her crushes body can really tick that certain someone off.

"Hmph!" Jeanette grunted past me, ripping open a book (Really, who keeps books in the kitchen?!) and attempting to read it while climbing the stairs. Case in point. She's angry, and if I were her, I wouldn't miss an opportunity for a guilt trip either. She had almost every right, other than the fact that I actually was telling the truth and that this was all a misunderstanding.

"Come on, Jeanette," I said, following her up each step and ignoring my rule of giving a girl her space, "Why won't you talk to me?" We climbed a couple more hard steps before she spoke in a cracked voice that could make even the happiest little elf a little sad.

"Because you're a filthy liar." Ouch, okay, I know it doesn't sound very believable, but I am telling the truth! That remark though, I guess I kind of deserved it, Simon didn't, but I did, I'll give her that one and that one only. Before I could reply however, she jumped up to the last step and slipped. Instincts kicked in and a brief half-second of panic struck through me as I opened my arms to catch her. I don't know if Simon's limbs are weak, or if it was the force of impact that sent me flying backwards and to the ground with her wrapped close to me. Together we laid on the previous stair, but for all I knew we were still falling. Her bright violet eyes blinked rapidly at mine and it was like I was lost in her own emotions. Sure she was scared, but she still reflected the angry, sad emotions of being rejected, being "lied" to, and how quick everything was happening. I didn't know what to say, what to do, but either way I felt like I was going to cry. Were these her exact feelings? All this time, she's felt this bad? Was this what Simon did with her all the time? He empathized with her and this was what it was like. Come to think of it, I've never empathized with Brittany. How did Simon know how to do it? She stared into my eyes for a split second and quickly turned away, climbing off of me.

"D-Doesn't change anything." She said and waited around long enough to help me up, "L-Liar." And with that awkward moment passed, she skittered away, clutching the closed book to her chest. There were a couple things ingrained in my brain. For one thing, she is sooo not over Simon, I could see it in her eyes, among the dark feelings, there was a spark. For another, I think, even if it was for a brief, tiny, almost invisible millisecond, she believed it was me inside this tall, nerdy, dark0furred body.

I decided it was time for me to leave her alone; as I've said, there was no hope of fixing an entire relationship tonight and I really didn't want things to get worse; stalking her, yeah, not the best idea right now. I bet that eventually, if you pushed her buttons long enough, she could get fierce like Brittany. You know what that means, right? Video games! Although I doubt I'd be able to pay any attention to the screen, just the sound of the racing music, or the amazing visual of the graphics would lighten the mood, calm me down a bit. My minds been wandering all evening. I was one hundred and ten percent sure that if Simon and Brittany weren't home within the hour, Simon would be dead. I mean, what was more likely to happen: The dance went well and Brittany was totally in love with me, or the dance was a disaster and there'd be a chipmunk funeral held in a couple days? Seriously, which one has greater odds? No way did the dance go well; Brittany would come home angry or sad or both, and Simon, if he came home at all, would get the pleasure (sarcasm!) of hearing the news, spoken in the gentlest way possible, that he and Jeanette would likely never happen. This really had to be a bad night for him, poor guy. Maybe I should hold off the news and wait until the machine was fully repaired. Why put more stress on him?

"We're home!" Brittany announced, jumping through the mail slot before I could turn on the television. She gave me a look that seemed to be a mixture of pity, happiness, and anger, "How was your evening, Simon?" I thought about Jeanette's angry outbursts and how she'd fallen and I'd caught her.

"Uh, it was okay." I said. I couldn't tell her the truth, that would spell trouble. It's not like the truth ever did me any good.

"Hm, well I'm glad." She scoffed and went up the stairs; she'd be joining her sister, that was good, right? Sister time was always good. I heard the metal flap shudder and caught sight of my brother. Hey, he looked pretty dashing in the red tux. I should wear that more often.

"Soo?" I thought it was implied as to what I meant by that, but my brother was clueless so I guess not.

"So, what?" He frowned.

"So, how'd it go?"

It was fun!" Theodore exclaimed before a yawn and barely making it through the mail slot.

"I was asking Simon." I stated.

"Simon?" Dang it! Why can't I grasp a hold of saying my own freaking name?!

"I mean Alvin," I corrected myself, "I'm tired, give me a break, Theo." Theodore obliged and happily scurried to the kitchen with Eleanor my his side.

"They haven't separated since the slow dance." Simon chuckled slightly, followed by a tired sigh.

"Dude… HOW WAS THE DANCE?!" What, was he doing this on purpose? "Did you and Brittany… You know?" I made a small hand gesture which involved them interlocking with each other.

"Excuse me?!" Okay, not the best gesture to make.

"Did you and Brittany kiss?!" Jeez, you think it's obvious enough? Did I have to spell it out for him? His face fell and his eyes turned from confused to soft.

"Oh… Well we-"

"SIMON!" I heard Brittany scream and the thuds of her coming down the stairs were not a good sign. "What is wrong with you?! Why would you do that to my sister?!" She grabbed me by the collar of the hoodie, and the angry expression on her face included her teeth blaring, grinding together so hard I thought she might break them. Any moment I expected steam to be shooting out of her ears.

"Whoa, hey," Simon interjected, pulling Brittany off me and standing in between us, "What's going on? What happened?"

"Oh, you wanna know what happened?!" She exploded and Simon nodded calmly.

"No, you really don't." I thought.

"Your idiot and probably insane brother said he was you in his body!"

"Alvin, you did what?" Simon whispered harshly.

"Alvin?"

"Simon, you did what?"

"Um… well… I…" I stammered, looking into my brothers eyes again, hoping for some back-up. They were now hard and just as angry as Brittany's.

"Not only that, but he hurt her by continuously bringing it up and saying it was he truth."

"But-" I tried to say, but was quickly cut off.

"You know, she's right," Brittany continued, "you are a dirty liar." That was the last thing I heard from Brittany; I think I got off easy. She ran straight back upstairs and I knew it was for comfort. I turned back to Simon, who was in shock or something because he was just now realizing the situation. His eyes were mad, but even worse, they were sad.

"A-Alvin, you didn't…" He choked and I tried to grab his arm, you know, to pull him into a hug, but he jerked it away and turned his back to me, keeping his face lowered to the ground, "Why?" He managed to spit out.

"I… I… I couldn't keep lying to her." I confessed, "I didn't think she'd hate you." I took a step towards him, but he shuffled away quickly.

"How could you…" He whispered, pulling off the tie he was wearing, "I do everything to save your relationship with Brittany and you just ruin my own relationship just like you ruin everything else?"

"I don't ruin everything…" I said, hardly getting defensive.

"Oh, please," He said, "You ruined my science fair project twice, you made me interfere with my friendship with Brittany, and you ruined my relationship with Jeanette."

"Simon, I didn't mean to do any of those things." I argued.

"That's just it!" He raised his voice louder, though I don't think anyone other than me could hear it, "You never do. Whether it's all an accident or not, you just do it." everything was falling apart, not that we knew what we were doing or anything, but at least before we still had each other to stick with while facing this problem. Now… Well, I've never seen Simon so upset. Truth be told – I messed up and now Simon was the one paying for it. He sulked his way to the recliner, no doubt getting ready for bed, but despite everything, there was still something I needed to know, something that I knew would irk me if I never found out, no matter the outcome.

"Simon," He barely acknowledged me (turning away still counts as acknowledging, right?) and I could tell he wanted nothing to do with me, "You said that you saved my relationship with Brittany… Does that mean you kissed her?" He stopped with whatever he was doing and turned so his front was facing me, though his face still hung down low to the ground. He didn't nod his head yes or shake his head no.

"Who cares?" He mumbled as o of his tears dropped off his face and into the palm of my open paw.