Simon's Point of View

Of all the lying, conniving, cruel tricks he could have played… Heh, you think I'd be talking about Alvin in a thought like that, but after last night I don't even wanna think about him. No, that evil trick I mentioned; I'm talking about Dave. Let me explain; that morning after the dance, Dave was acting all nice, the kind of nice that made you think that something was up. He specifically told me and Alvin that he had a surprise for us, and when he parked the car in the school parking drop-off lot, he looked back at us from his driver's seat.

"Alvin. Simon. I want you two to stay in the car." I was skeptical, I mean, anyone would with their dad acting out of the ordinary. In the end, I was right to judge Dave's actions. He ended up dropping off four chipmunks that morning and I bet it's easy to guess the two who were stuck in the car. However, when we didn't turn around and drive home, my suspicions grew and the feeling deep in the pit of my stomach worsened. I could have dealt with the strange behavior if we were just going back home, but that wasn't part of Dave's plan, and I needed to know what was going on. I snapped out of my angered state with Alvin and let my curiosity get the better of me. I climbed the leather seat belt -which would be next to useless for me in a crash- so I could get a full view of the world outside. This wasn't the road home. This road wasn't familiar in any way. Past the cars on either side of us were tall buildings, some that had to be ten stories high. We were deep in the city. We didn't often go in this far unless we were performing at a concert.

"Dave, where are we going?" I questioned, breaking the streak of silence I'd began late last night. Dave ignored the question for a few moments before adjusting his mirror so Alvin and I appeared in the reflective glass.

"I don't know what's going on with you two, but I'm sick and tired of it. You both have been acting out of the ordinary: Simon, you being rude and Alvin, you attending class." He's complaining about that?! "I think you need help to work out your problems. I'm taking you to a child psychologist." Oh, that's just great! He can make me go, sure, but he can't make me talk to anyone there, and that includes Alvin! I gulped, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. The possibilities of what could happen… This wasn't good. What if the psychologist thought we were crazy too? What if he thought we should be separated and away from our family? I thought about bringing it up with Alvin, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to him. I was tired of him and everything he's done.

"Um, Dave…" I pondered, "You know, we don't need to do something so rash. Alvin and I are fine."

"Oh yes we do," He retorted, "but being the reasonable father I am, if things go well and you and Alvin can get along better you won't have to go back." Not very reasonable to me… It wasn't fair, after what Alvin did I was the one who had to act nice to him. It was a long drive compared to the usual school-and-back routine, and I was forced to sit on my tail, huddled in the corner of the soft seat while Alvin continued to try and converse with me.

"Si, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" He whispered and I hoped Dave wasn't listening in. I heaved a sigh and turned to face the door. I didn't care how childish I was being, I had every right to shun my brother. "Come on, Si…" He shuffled closer and a voice in my head told me to roll down my window and jump out of the moving vehicle, tuck and roll- anything to escape. "What do I have to do?"

"Here we are." Dave announced, parking the car with a loud screech. He really needed to get the brakes checked out. He opened the car door for me and Alvin and escorted us to the entrance of the doctor's office; a tall, gloomy building that acted more like a morgue. On the way, a crow cawed on top of a streetlight. I could hear it mocking me, laughing it's beak off at our suspense. "Ha ha, enjoy your stay you crazy loser. Ha ha!"

"Quiet, you!" I shouted, causing Dave and Alvin to turn back to me, acting as if I truly was crazy. Oh, jeez. Yelling at crows… I was crazy. I looked down at the separation between the outside gravel path and the building's tiled flooring, embarrassed at my outburst about nothing. The ride through the elevator wasn't helping. My stomach lurched and I became nauseous Elevators, anger, and sadness don't mix. The metal doors slid open on the sixth floor and Dave accompanied us to the front desk

"Sevilles." Dave said to the receptionist and she typed something into her computer, "Therapy for two."

"Alvin and Simon?" Sh confirmed and Dave nodded. Her desk was exceptionally clean with several cabinets labeled "A-Z". A place for everything and everything in it's place. A phone beside the computer, and a pile of papers beside the phone. Everything was so neat and tidy, it was actually kind of refreshing. "Have a seat," The receptionist gestured to a row of cushioned chairs, "Dr. Warren will be right with you." She smiled routinely and the folds in her skin told me she'd been doing this for a long time.

The chairs weren't as comfy as they looked and the light above me was bright enough to give me a headache. To the right of me sat a little girl who recognized me and smiled widely.

"Hey," She said excitedly, "You're Alvin from 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'! What are you doing here?!" I smiled back at her, but then remembered I wasn't myself, and she thought I was the lead singer, the egotist who hogged the spotlight more than half the time. I needed to act cool.

"Oh, you know," I said, "Keeping it real." Wow, that sounded stupid. In a therapists office? "I mean… Actually I'm here because of my brother."

"Which one?" She asked, "Simon or Theodore?"

"Alvin!" I pointed to my brother, but saw my own body turning it's head, distracted by the spinning fan above and following it's rapid movements. I slapped my head- seriously, Alvin?! "He drives me crazy!"

"Um, a-aren't you Alvin…?" The little girl backed away. Whoops…

"Heh, well, you see-"

"Alvin. Simon." A tall, bulky, shaggy-haired man walked out from the opposing hallways that lead to the therapy rooms, "Come on in."

The office was kind of what you'd expect from a child psychologist; the walls were colorful and decorated with pictures, there were a number of seating arrangements too, such as the couch, bean bags, or stools. Toys cluttered the back corner, and full bookshelves were stacked against the back wall. There was also a desk with folders on it; folders that read "Alvin" and "Simon" though they didn't look very professional.

At first I took a seat on the couch, but when Alvin sat down next to me I switched to a bean bag. I sank in the foamy feeling and even had trouble breathing at one point until I finally found a comfortable position where I wouldn't sink and suffocate.

"So," Dr. Warren began, "What brings you two here today?" I got the feeling he already knew.

"A car." I grumbled and he didn't seem amused. I'll admit I was cranky and deliberately acting like a baby, but my excuse was that I was Alvin. You are who you look like.

"I mean, why are you here?" He rephrased himself.

"Alvin messed up my science fair project and made us switch bodies and while in the process of convincing our family that we're okay, they've inherited the idea that we're insane." I thought sourly, "It's only gone downhill from there."

"We've been fighting a lot." Alvin said, pushing my glasses back up on his face.

"And why do you think that is?" Dr. Warren asked and my brother turned to me with an apologetic look splattered across his face.

"I've been a real jerk. I've been selfish and I ruined Simon's relationship." The doctor gave my brother a puzzled expression and searched through the folders.

"That's a bit of an understatement." I groaned.

"Simon, you know I'm sorry, right."

"It doesn't matter!" I spat, "After everything, I'm done! You ruined one of the most important things in my life!"

"Your project was that important to you?" Alvin said.

"No! You-" I began sinking again and I forced the doctor to look up from the papers and stare me down, "Do you see what I have to deal with?!" I had much more planned to complain about, but then I noticed the doctor's face, and boy did it look confused.

Alvin, not paying attention, spoke up, "Am I that much of a bother?" I took a breath and forced myself to nod. "Simon… I'm-"

"I know that you're sorry." I interrupted him. He's said that, what, fifty times today? From the moment I woke up to now, all I've heard coming out of his mouth was 'I'm sorry' and that was starting to get on my nerves. I was almost willing to forgive him just so he'd shut up.

"To make up for it, I'll spend day and night to fix everything I broke on the machine…"

"Wait, what?!"

"Heh, did I forget to mention that I may have accidentally… broke a few things on the machine." That sent me over the edge. I bounced out of the sinking bean bag and shot myself at Alvin.

"Boys?" Dr. Warren tried to interrupt, but to no avail. Consumed by my rage, I pounced at my brother, tackling him off the couch and we landed towards the toy area.

Scene Change

"… Boys, boys, boys!" The doctor screamed, "Enough! Your dad's here to take you aw- I mean pick you up!" I stopped chasing Alvin around the room and exhaled deeply, panting the breaths in and out. The room was a disaster. The couch's cushions had been ripped and stuffing hung over the arms, the bean bags had been completely emptied of their foamy pellets, and papers and broken toys were scattered around the room. Doctor Warren's hair was a curly mess and his panic-stricken face was drained of any color. In his right hand he held a container of Advil and in his left hand, a bottle of water.

Silently, Alvin and I trudged to the open door and were greeted by Dave's glare, piercing down at us. His eyebrows were furrowed and his arms were crossed- not usually a good welcoming.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"T-They're out of c-control." The doctor answered, "They fight, they destroyed everything s-starting with the toys…" Dr. Warren shook and popped another Advil. "Y-Your boys… F-Feel free to never bring them back!" He closed the door to the room and behind it I thought I could hear crying.

"Ahem!" Dave coughed and I felt my ears go limp; something told me we were in trouble, "Car! Now!" Without argument, I scurried to the car with Alvin to my right and Dave at our heels. I wouldn't say it was awkward in the vehicle, but it sure wasn't pretty. "You got kicked out of therapy." Dave said slowly, as if he was soaking in what I thought would have to be one of the hardest things any normal patient could do, "I could hear you all the way from the waiting room! Who gets kicked out of child therapy?! Boys, I want you to tell me what's going on right now!" I haven't seen him that angry ever since the casino incident when we went on a cruise. I wish I could tell him the truth, but with Jeanette's -it hurts to say her name- reaction coupled with the fact that we made a doctor take pills… I'm afraid of how Dave would take it.

"Um, it was an accident?" Alvin said unconvincingly.

"Simon, I never would have expected you to lie to me like that -terribly I might add." And then it occurred to me; the whole reason I was in this predicament, the reason everyone thought I was a liar, the reason Jeanette will probably never even consider going with me to the next dance, the reason I can't even enter the stupid science fair happening in a couple of days. All of it was because of Alvin!

The anger from this past week, everything I'd kept hidden, was boiling inside me again, but I was fatigued. My mind, my heart, my stomach. This week was tiring and I felt that I might vomit, but there was nothing to dispose of; I'd been too depressed to eat this morning.

"After lunch I want you both to go to your room and go to bed early." Dave said in that punishing tone only a parent could have.

"Our beds aren't there," Alvin brought up, "Si- my machine's still up there."

"What? Seriously? Simon, I want you to get rid of that thing. Does it even work?"

"Not the way it's supposed to." I thought sourly. How could he want it gone? I still needed it! It was the one thing that could change almost everything back to normal, and I was looking forward to working on it, despite my restlessness.

"D-Dave-" I said.

"Alvin, please don't argue now. I thought you'd be happy to sleep in your own bed again."

"We can't get rid of it yet!" I thought it was me who'd shouted -I was thinking those exact words- but my ears didn't lie. Alvin moved forward and set his foot down, "Please, Dave? There's still the science fair to think about. You don't want all that time to go to waste, do you?" I knew that Dave was considering what Alvin said. I stared at my brother; he was actually standing up for what I believed in.

"I suppose you can keep it for now, but as punishment for getting kicked out of therapy, both you and Alvin have to work on it, otherwise I don't want to see you doing anything fun; no TV, no video games, no going out for school events or anything. Got it?" Perfect! Finally just what we needed!

"You got it, Dave." Alvin winked and we arrived home.

Scene Change

Our room was a cluttered mess with dozens, if not hundreds, of small plastic parts lying everywhere. The mess made a tornado look clean. After fixing the bottom portion of the compartment where the formula -the chemical that we still needed to find/steal- would go, I turned my attention to where Alvin sat, working on the bottom half of one of the pods. I wanted to give him something easy to help with and the pods aren't that important, so if he messes them up… Again… never mind. He looked up from his work as if he could sense my gaze.

"What?" He half asked, half chuckled nervously. He double checked the pod and I knew he thought I was evaluating him. There was something on my mind and now was as good a time as ever to ask.

"How come that even when you're inside my body, everything still ends up going the way you want it? The way you make it?" I wondered out loud. I was positive he didn't want the therapy to go down the way it did, but I think we both needed to… run off… some stress.

"I'm just that good." He gave me the same wink he'd given Dave in the car, "So, Simon?"

"What?"

"I saved the machine- do you forgive me?" He was really trying and I knew that, and that was worth something, wasn't it? But still, Jeanette was so important to me…

"No," I sighed and he wilted like a dehydrated flower, "but it's a start."