Relationships are on the agenda and they aren't very stable.
Time is ticking, only five days left until the start of the competition; the chipmunks need all the help they can get.
The household awakes to a sunny Wednesday morning; hopefully the weather can influence the mood of the chipmunks, which is hostile at best.
Surprisingly, Brittany was the first to awake and emerge from the bedroom, aided by the fact that she had had trouble sleeping at all. She couldn't help but ponder the state of the friendship between her and Alvin, and hadn't gotten much sleep in doing so.
Brittany sat down for breakfast, deep in thought, daydreaming enough not to notice that Alvin had entered the kitchen and was heading for the table where she was sat. Alvin jumped up onto the table and took a seat, still looking away from Brittany, expecting a hostile reception. This caught Brittany's attention, snapping her out of her daydreaming and back to reality. She glanced over at Alvin to check if he was still down in the dumps. To her, Alvin looked sad, and she felt guilty for this; he was trying so hard to convince her to forgive him and she had been stubborn and forgiving. After sitting in silence for what seemed like hours Brittany made up her mind.
"Listen, Alvin." Brittany said, before her mind went blank.
"Please forgive me Britt." Alvin replied, looking up with a look of honesty. "I know I did wrong. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
Brittany could tell by the genuine emotion in his voice that he was speaking from the heart, and truly meant the sentiment.
"Thanks Alvin," She replied, "You really helped me out last night."
"I knew you didn't want to do dodge ball, plus I didn't want you to get hurt." Alvin explained.
He was being so thoughtful, and after all she had put him through these last few weeks. She felt a lump developing in her throat as she realised how hurtful she had been.
"I forgive you." Brittany said, keeping her emotions at bay. "It's silly for us not to talk to each other, and I'm sorry."
"I'm the one who should be sorry, I've not treated you with enough respect, and you've shown me that." Alvin reasoned.
Hearing this made Brittany feel even worse about herself, she had put him through hell this last couple of days and he was still blaming himself, even though it was partly her fault.
"Let's just be friends again." Brittany said desperately, "I missed talking to you."
"I missed you too," Alvin replied, getting to his feet and walking over to her. Brittany stood up and welcomed him with a friendly embrace; they hugged out their problems and had restored their friendship.
Dave entered the kitchen area in time to see the two in their friendship restoring embrace.
"I'm glad to see you two have kissed and made up." Dave said as he walked over to the table.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Brittany replied, "Sure we're friends again, but I'm not sure I'm ready to restart our relationship."
"Why not?" Alvin asked curiously.
"I have my reasons." Brittany replied fobbing off any questioning about her decision.
"Well, the main thing is that you two are friends." Dave said happily, looking on the bright side.
At that moment Theodore and Eleanor emerged from the bedroom, overhearing Dave's remarks. They both joined Alvin and Brittany at the table, curious to know if they had heard Dave correctly.
"Have you two patched up your differences?" Eleanor asked.
"Are you friends again?" Theodore asked.
"Yes." Brittany replied happily.
"We're a team again," Alvin added. This pleased Theodore and Eleanor, all the hard work at mending the relationship had paid off.
"Are Simon and Jeanette up yet?" Dave asked.
"Not yet," Eleanor replied
"It's not like them to sleep in." Dave said. On finishing his sentence, Dave noticed Jeanette emerge from the bedroom and into the kitchen area.
"Good morning Jeanette. Is Simon up yet?" Jeanette shrugged and continued to walk to the table, not showing any concern for what Simon was doing.
"Someone needs to wake Simon up, or we'll all be late for school." Dave said as he poured out a bowl of cereal.
"I don't think Simon would be too pleased to see me." Alvin said, knowing that he wouldn't get a friendly reception from his brother this early in the morning.
"I'll go." Theodore said as he hopped off the table and walked across to the bedroom.
"The rest of you better start getting ready for school as well." Dave said.
Theodore entered the bedroom and looked around to see if Simon was up yet.
"Simon?" He said, before climbing up onto his bed.
"What is it?" Simon replied sounding half asleep.
"You need to get up; we're going to school soon." Theodore explained.
Simon sat up in bed and tried to wake up as best he could. He put his glasses on and looked at the clock; this was a decent enough wake up call for him.
"Seven thirty!" Simon said, jumping out of bed in surprise. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"I did." Theo replied.
"Thanks, but it's a little late to be woken up. Seven thirty." Simon said, frantically grabbing his clothes and heading for the bathroom.
Theodore's job here was done, so he headed back to the kitchen, hoping that Simon wouldn't cause them to be late for school.
Thankfully they all arrived at their school lockers with a few minutes to spare. Dave rushed off to Dr Rubin's office, not wanting to be tardy. The six of them were generally looking more cheerful than they had done for a while; helped by the fact that Alvin and Brittany were now friends again.
"Britt," Alvin asked, "I think it's great that we're friends again, but..."
"Me too," Brittany replied quickly, knowing that the conversation was heading towards their relationship, and steering it away.
"But I want to know why you aren't sure about our relationship." Alvin continued.
Brittany wanted to avoid explaining her reasons but knew that she would have to sooner or later.
"Well, it's really because of the neglect I got from the relationship before. And I kinda resent you for that." Brittany explained.
"Can't you just put it behind you so we can start over?" Alvin asked, hoping for the best for their relationship.
"I can't just forget about something like that, it could jeopardise any new relationship we have." Brittany reasoned.
"Okay, I understand." Alvin replied, deep down inside he was angry nut he knew that it was his doing and he was the only one to blame.
Simon and Jeanette were keeping quiet and avoiding one another, after collecting their school stuff from the lockers they left in opposite directions. Theodore was watching the two of them as they left without any acknowledgement to each other.
"I don't think Simon and Jeanette are getting along very well." Theodore said turning to the three remaining chipmunks.
"We helped fix Alvin and Brittany's relationship, but we broke theirs in the process." Eleanor agreed.
"What's that about fixing out relationship?" Brittany asked curiously.
"Well, we were the ones who put Simon and Jeanette up to helping you." Theodore explained.
"So our breakup has caused Simon and Jeanette to drift apart?" Alvin asked.
"I'm afraid so," Eleanor replied.
"That's awful, we have to do something." Brittany said feeling guilty that her actions had caused the rift in the relationship.
"We better discuss it at lunch or we'll all be late for class." Alvin said realising that they were almost late. The four of them dashed off to their first classes, with thoughts of Simon and Jeanette's relationship stuck in the back of their minds.
Later at lunch, it was evident of a rift developing between the two of them. Simon and Jeanette were sat at separate tables eating their lunches. Theodore and Eleanor sat on a table between them, so as not to cause them to fall out and so that they could keep a close eye on the two the two of them. Alvin walked over to Jeanette and sat next to her.
"Hi Jeanette," He greeted as he joined her for lunch.
"I'm sorry Alvin, but you can't hang around with me, it's causing problems between me and Simon." Jeanette explained.
"It's okay, I understand." Alvin replied.
He stood up and left the table, seeking out advice from another source, he was determined to find a way of restoring his relationship with Brittany. Theodore and Eleanor watched on as Alvin left Jeanette's table and joined Simon at his.
"Hi Simon," Alvin greeted, trying to get on his good side.
"What is it Alvin?" he replied with annoyance in his voice.
"Well, I was wondering if you could help me." Alvin continued.
"Leave me alone." Simon replied.
"But..." Alvin protested.
"You've done enough damage already," Simon interrupted angrily. "I'm the one who needs help, my relationship with Jeanette is crumbling and you need help?"
"I can help you." Alvin volunteered.
"You're the last person that I would ask for help. Just go away Alvin." Simon raged.
"Okay, sorry I asked," Alvin replied with attitude.
Simon glared at him; this was enough to get him to make a hasty retreat to the table where Theodore and Eleanor were sat. Brittany joined them just as Alvin had sat down.
"Wow, the line for lunch was so long." Brittany said as she took a seat.
"Hi Britt," Alvin welcomed.
"Hi," She replied, looking across to Simon and Jeanette checking how each of them was doing.
"They're still not talking." Eleanor said.
"Well Jeanette would, but she didn't want to make things worse." Alvin explained.
"What about Simon?" Theodore asked.
"He's really angry at me, so I better keep out of his way for a while." Alvin answered.
"I should talk to Simon," Brittany volunteered, "After all, he talked to me when we broke up."
"Good idea." Eleanor replied.
"We'll finish lunch first though?" Theodore suggested as he tucked into his own.
"I suppose so, it's harder to think on an empty stomach," Brittany agreed. "Elle, you should try and talk with Jen, she'll listen to you, she always has done."
"I'll see what I can do." Eleanor replied.
Once Brittany had finished her lunch, she got up to go to Simon's table.
"Could you boys clean up our trays?" Brittany asked.
"Sure," Alvin replied sounding a bit too keen.
Eleanor got up from their table and headed for Jeanette's table.
"Good luck." Theodore said.
"Thanks." Eleanor replied smiling back at him.
At that moment Alvin had a brainwave, seeing Theodore and Eleanor's social chemistry reminded him of something that Jeanette had mentioned. 'Taking a leaf out of Theo and Elle's book', that was it; Jeanette had provided him with the answer to his problems. Alvin flashed back to all the times that Theodore and Eleanor had been acting all 'Lovey-dovey' in front of him. The time where the two of them were lying back-to-back after Theodore had a nightmare. The time where him and Brittany first saw them holding hands at school. The time when the chipettes tried on their dresses preparing for the photo shoot, and Theodore and Eleanor hugged. And the time that Theodore stood up to Ryan and protected Eleanor purely out of love. Remembering all these events, it clicked, Alvin knew what to do.
As he took the trays back to the cafeteria with Theodore and put them on a stack of trays, he decided to give his idea a shot.
"Theo?" Alvin said.
"Yes," he replied looking at Alvin curiously.
"Could you help me?" He asked.
"How?" Theodore asked puzzled at what he could offer him in the form of help.
"Well, I want to get back together with Britt, but she doesn't think I'm..." Alvin said not being able to find the word in his vocabulary. "What I'm trying to say is, can you help me be more like you?"
Theodore just stared back at him with utter confusion, he still had no idea what Alvin was trying to say and what he could do to help.
"You and Elle have been close over the past couple of weeks and I wanted some pointers." Alvin explained further.
"Oh," Theodore replied, finally understanding the proposal of help.
"Well, do you think you could help?" Alvin asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure; you would just be tricking Brittany into thinking you had changed." Theodore replied feeling uneasy about the idea.
"I just need to know what I have to do to treat her right and then I can make the change permanent." Alvin explained, pleading his case.
"I'll have to think about it." Theodore said, knowing that Alvin could be using him to trick Brittany, but ultimately needing time to think for himself before making any rash decisions.
Back outside at the lunch tables, Brittany was with Simon attempting to convince him to patch things up with Jeanette. And Eleanor was with Jeanette trying to help her patch things up with Simon.
"Listen Simon," Brittany said as she joined him at the table. "I know that the 'hugging incident' the other night is behind this fallout."
"It's not just that," Simon replied.
"What else is there?" Brittany asked.
Simon paused and thought to himself whether it was a good idea to tell her or not.
"Ever since you and Alvin split up, Jeanette has been siding with him and trying to hang around with him as much as possible." Simon explained. "And after the 'incident' the other night I'm convinced that Jeanette wants to be with Alvin and not me."
Brittany was slightly surprised at hearing all this, she was oblivious to Jeanette and Alvin being close and didn't really buy into Simon's story.
"Don't think like that, Jeanette wouldn't want to be with Alvin." Brittany said, "It's all just a big misunderstanding, nothing between the six of us has changed, we're all still one big family."
Simon didn't answer back about it; he just gave Brittany the cold shoulder treatment. He knew she was trying to convince him that he was imagining the whole thing, but it was so clear in his eyes that Jeanette liked Alvin.
"Well, don't be so quick to make accusations; it could do more harm than good." Brittany suggested, leaving the table and returning to her own.
Eleanor was having a little more luck with Jeanette than Brittany had with Simon.
"Jen, why are you acting like this?" Eleanor asked. Jeanette didn't feel like talking, she felt annoyed about the whole ordeal.
"What is it all about? You can tell me." Eleanor added being supportive towards her sister.
"Well..." Jeanette started, convincing herself to talk. "I'm annoyed at Simon. He thinks that I have a thing for Alvin, when I was only trying to help their relationship."
"I think Simon's just a little stressed and frustrated. He wouldn't mean it really." Eleanor encouraged.
"The whole hugging episode was a big misunderstanding, I was only being thoughtful and comforting, and Simon jumps to the conclusion that I like Alvin more than I like him." Jeanette explained. "I just want him to apologize for thinking I don't love him anymore."
"Don't worry Jen; he'll come to his senses." Eleanor said, trying to keep Jeanette's spirits up.
"If he does, I'll forgive him." Jeanette replied, knowing she could lose him if she didn't.
Eleanor left Jeanette and returned to Brittany at their own table, who was still awaiting the return of Alvin and Theodore. Eleanor could tell that Jeanette wasn't truly mad with Simon, she just wanted to be treated fairly, and if Simon did that then they would patch-up their friendship and everything would be back to normal.
"How did it go with Simon?" Eleanor asked.
"He's convinced that Jeanette is more interested in Alvin than himself." Brittany replied.
"Jen wants him to apologise for thinking that she does." Eleanor added. Brittany sighed.
"It's going to be tough getting Simon to change his mind about Jeanette liking Alvin." She said.
"We have to try." Eleanor replied.
Whilst walking back outside from the cafeteria, Theodore noticed the jocks laughing together all sat as a team, he also saw how disbanded their own team looked. Seeing the two contrasting scenarios helped make up his mind, he didn't want the team to break up and he certainly didn't want to be beaten by the jocks. Theodore stopped just outside of the cafeteria, a fair distance from where Brittany and Eleanor were sat. Alvin noticed that he had stopped and turned back to see why.
"I will help you Alvin," Theodore said.
"Really?" Alvin questioned.
"Yes, but only if you find a way to get Jeanette and Simon to make up and be friends again." Theodore explained.
"As soon as I get back with Britt I'll fix Simon and Jeanette's relationship. Okay?" Alvin proposed.
"Okay." Theodore replied, happy to know that Alvin would help him.
"We'll start tonight, but don't tell anyone, it has to be a secret." Alvin said, stressing the required secrecy of the whole thing.
Theodore was helping Alvin for the sake of the team, getting him to help reunite the team was a better prospect than going it alone. It was the only choice he had, and Alvin and the team would not want to lose to the jocks.
I'm so glad that Alvin and Brittany are friends again, but what about Simon and Jeanette.
If Alvin's lesson in love pays off, he can help restore the whole situation.