Jeanette's POV
"Jeanette! Wake up!" Eleanor's stern, no-nonsense voice shook me out of my slumber. I blinked to get my bearings and fumbled instinctively for my glasses. It felt so odd. I was sitting up and not lying down. What was going on? I was suddenly shaken by the realization that I could see clearly! My glasses were already on my face somehow. This was odd. Could I be dreaming?
"Hey, earth to Jeanette." Eleanor snapped her fingers in front of my face. "I'm TALKING to you."
I finally looked around at where I was. The kitchen? How did I wind up here? I looked down at the notebook in front of me and suddenly the memories of what I did last night came flooding back.
I had returned home, my mind abuzz with a new idea for a story. Maybe my story was good enough to be a movie someday! Then, again, movies aren't usually as good as the books. Literature just is able to capture details and feelings through words that get lost onscreen. Anyway, my latest idea was connected to the experience I had with Alvin yesterday. Oh it was amazing! I surely hoped Eleanor would ask me about it. She probably wouldn't.
Another idea struck me, maybe she wouldn't ask, but I could certainly let her know, right? That wouldn't be rude.
"Oh, hey." I picked up my notebook and smiled at her. "Wanna read my new story?"
She raised an eyebrow. "So that's what you spent all last night doing?"
"It was worth it." I declared. "Oh you'll love it Ellie, I just know it, you see it's about this firefly…" I began babbling as I usually do when one of my special interest topics comes up. I once spent 2 full HOURS chatting Eleanor's ear off about bees. She enjoyed it, I expected her to get bored and walk away, but she didn't.
"Cool." She said, seemingly interested in my writing.
"It is cool!" I gushed. "He's not like other fireflies. He doesn't blink in the correct patterns to attract a mate. And, because fireflies only have one night to flash their proposal signals and pair up, the pressure is really getting to him. He's worried his crush won't like him and he'll never find true love."
"Dang, poor dude." Eleanor commented. "Wait, fireflies only flash one night of the year? Is that a fact or did you make it up for the story?"
"It's a fact!" I beamed. "It's so fascinating! Like a secret code language. I wanna learn to speak firefly!"
"If anyone can do it, you could." She replies as she got up from the table. "I'll definitely read it later." She assured me, causing my heart to jump with delight. I am so lucky to have a sister like Eleanor.
My other sister entered the kitchen looking rather worse for wear. Her face had makeup, but it couldn't disguise the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. Her hair was still un-ponytailed and was a ratty mess. She was wearing a bright pink T shirt and a lighter pink ruffled skirt that resembled a rose bud turned upside down. While still fashionable, she looked absolutely miserable.
"Are you okay, Brittany?" I asked, sensing she was feeling terrible but unsure exactly why. Maybe she was coming down with something. Oh dear, I hope it's not contagious.
She looked at me and her face contorted into a painful expression.
"I did it." She told me sadly. "I shouldn't have accused you. I did it."
I hadn't a clue what she was referring to.
"What did you do?" I asked curiously, my Sherlock-esque detective skills kicking in.
"I ruined Alvin." She sobbed. "I'm to blame!"
Oh sister. She was back on THAT topic. I really don't think he's ruined. How can I convince her?
"Well, uh, yes, you paying the entire school to treat him as a popular kid was….wrong and bound to backfire, but he isn't…." I was about to say the next word when she cut me off, dropping a picture of Alvin in front of me.
"LOOK AT THIS!" She exclaimed. "LOOK WHAT I DID!"
I studied the picture. It was clearly of the old Alvin, no doubt. He had that telltale smirk-smile combo and a gleam of arrogance in his eye. On the picture was a crude drawing of circular glasses, much like my own, in black pen. Upon further inspection, I noticed braces drawn on his teeth too.
"It was mean, but if he didn't see it, I don't see the harm. It was stress relief therapy. According to my psychology book, defacing images of people you're angry with can release powerful endorphins to help your mood." I informed her, hoping she'd take my explanation to heart. I really should know my sister better. My words did absolutely nothing to calm her.
"Don't you get it!?" Her pink lips quivered. "I CURSED him! It was me! I drew on this picture and it must have been a cursed pen I used because Alvin….Alvin's turned into THIS!" She held up the picture again.
"Pretty sure that's not how it works." Eleanor commented, making herself a cup of tea.
"He hasn't turned into that." I stated pointedly. "For one, he got his braces off. And two, his glasses are much more rectangular than round….even though they have rounded bottoms."
"You are missing the point! I started the nerd curse! Maybe he doesn't look EXACTLY like this, but you have to admit it's a little weird that he's changed into a complete opposite of the Alvin we knew."
I scoffed. "Or the Alvin you THOUGHT you knew."
I suddenly didn't want to be around her. She was so caught up in her altered perception that it would probably take a whole month to convince her he's still Alvin. And I couldn't wait that long. I had a date to get to. Alvin would be expecting me.
"He was my friend too, sis." Brittany told me sharply. "Eleanor, you see it too, don't you? He's had his head messed around with by the nerd curse."
"Honestly, no. And if I did, I wouldn't care. He's grown up, Britt. You can't handle that. It's not my problem." And with that, Eleanor left the room with my notebook. She was probably going off to read my story.
I turned to my despondent and confused older sister.
"Britt, everything is fine." I told her sweetly. "Even if he was cursed, there's nothing you can do about it. Like I said, hexes are hard to break. It's best to accept Alvin for who he is now. You'll be happier, he'll be happier, everyone will be happier."
She looked at me with a serious expression. Maybe I'd finally gotten through to her.
"Tell me, Jeanette, if Alvin suddenly decides he wants to go back to the way he was, what would you do?"
Well, ouch. I wasn't expecting such a loaded question. What would I do if the kind and unique guy I loved became someone who got a kick out of messing with people and making people yell his name. Wait a minute, doesn't he still do that now? Okay, I'll think about this a different way. What if he were to give up his love of science? His quest to learn, to grow, to improve? The answer was easier than I thought.
"I would continue to love him no matter who or what he is." I answered truthfully.
She scowled at me and left the room.
Guess she was expecting a more jaded answer. Does she think Alvin and I only have chemistry because he's nerdy? Does she think Alvin changed to impress me? I sighed. I'll probably never fully understand either of my sisters. At least Eleanor is a lot more straightforward.
A few minutes later, I entered the Seville house. I was on a mission to find my boyfriend. Theodore saw me and came scampering over.
"Hi!" He greeted me. "Alvin's upstairs getting ready. Simon wants him to wear a bow tie, but he is being really fussy." He mentioned. "He really wants to look good for your date."
"Oh, uh, I never specified it being formal dress or anything." I tucked my hair behind my ears and smiled nervously. "He can wear whatever he chooses."
Theodore nodded and rushed toward the stairs. "I'll go tell him that. There are fresh veggie burgers in the fridge if you want one. Made them up last night." And with that, he was gone.
I walked awkwardly into the kitchen and jumped up to open the fridge. Everything here is so much bigger than at my house. It's a bit tricky to grow accustomed to. The veggie burgers sure looked good, sitting there waiting to be warmed up and eaten. Too bad I wasn't actually hungry yet. Then again, Theodore was so nice for offering. Maybe just one bite?
My face was stuffed full of veggie burger when he entered the room. I wiped my mouth with a napkin awkwardly. Hopefully there wasn't any bits of the green stuff from the burger stuck between my teeth. Brittany has always told me that's embarrassing.
He walked toward me, giving me a full view of his outfit. It was definitely not formal wear. He had on his usual cap, a red shirt with a decal of the planet Saturn on it, a light blue vest on top of the shirt, and dark purple and blue galaxy leggings to complete the look. I LOVED IT! He looked like a space themed hipster. In contrast, my purple flower patterned sundress and jean jacket looked quite simplistic. Who really cared though? Not me. We both have our own sense of style.
He glided up to the table with a sway to his walk.
"We still plannin' on spending the day together?" He asked me.
I blinked rapidly. "Y...Yeah, that's the plan." I reached out and touched his vest. "I like this look. It's very…..you."
"Thanks. Hey, check this out." He turned around and pointed to the back of his vest with his thumb. Embroidered on the back of the vest was a large yellow A with a red outline around it.
"Very cool!" I gushed happily.
"It's symbolic." He told me, turning around once more. "I'm putting my past behind me, and looking forward to the future."
"But….not all the time, right?" I asked, worried he'd given up his trademark identification. "Cuz, I don't mind it, and I don't want you giving up the letter A for me. I know it seems superficial and you aren't superficial anymore, but it's….been your thing since you were created."
His face twitched when I mentioned "created." It was very possibly still a sore spot with him. I would have to be more careful.
"Relax." He stood confidently. "I would NEVER lose the A for good. Can't even bring myself to not wear it. And besides…" He pointed to his feet. "I have As on my shoes too."
I breathed a sigh of relief. See? Brittany is wrong. Alvin 2.0 and Alvin Classic are one in the same.
"G….Got any p...plans for our d...date?" I stammered. I chose the walk through the woods. For fairness, it should be his turn to choose the place.
He shrugged a response.
"I figure we'll just walk around town and see what we're interested in. Lots of cool things going on today. There's a museum exhibit on static electricity, it's buy one get one free day at the Tropical smoothie place, oh, and I heard on the news that there's also a craft show. Gonna be a prime spot to collect some awesome stuff." He wiggled his eyebrows. I'm still not sure how to do that.
"Sounds like fun!" I loved his plan. All those things sounded amazing. Maybe we'd have time to do them all! With luck on our side, hopefully.
As I glanced down nervously at the butterfly mood ring attached to my pinkie, I began to remember the first time Alvin and I ever hung out just the two of us. We had taken a trip to the mall because he wanted to show me the arcade. We tried the roller coaster simulator and tons of other cool videogames there. By the end of our arcade session we had enough tickets to buy a small trinket from the prize shop. Alvin had wanted a whoopie cushion for pranking people, but he saw the way I was looking at the more expensive butterfly mood ring and….well….he gave up the tickets he collected so I'd have enough to get it. Back then, he was "classic" as Brittany calls it. He was no less of a gentleman then he is today.
He led me to the door and we both leaped through the doggie flap. He went first and I followed, stumbling on my dismount.
"You okay, Netta?" He asked.
"I'm fine." I giggled girlishly. It was time for us to have our own mini adventures around town. The social construct known as dating is so baffling. How was this any different than that day we'd spent in the arcade so long ago? Still, maybe it DID feel different to Alvin and I just didn't notice because I am not good at noticing those sorts of things. Different feeling or not, I was determined to give this first official planned date everything I had.
ALVIN'S POV
"Ohoho! This is gonna be the perfect Satur-DATE!" I exclaimed as my girlfriend and I walked together down the sidewalk. Where would we go? What would we do? The possibilities were ENDLESS! It was exciting!
She giggled at my pun. "I think so too."
"It's just the two of us. No unwanted interruptions from a certain bratty blonde." I told her with a playful wink.
She scowled. Oh man! I am an idiot. This wasn't SIMON I was talking to. Jeanette wouldn't want to speak ill of her sister.
"I know Brittany can be…..a handful, but I don't think she's a brat." The kind Chipette replied with a soft and gentle tone. Gosh, she's so sweet. What is a total mess like me doing with her? She doesn't deserve to have to put up with me and all my woes.
"Yeah, heh heh, hey, let's not talk about Brittany." I suggested. "Sorry I brought her up."
"Okay." She adjusted her deep indigo denim jacket. I couldn't tell what she was feeling. There weren't many outward signs of affection. Maybe there was something weighing on her mind and stopping her from being more intimate.
"So,..." I began awkwardly. "I have a little proposition for you."
Her midnight eyes glistened, almost distracting me from all other thoughts. "What is it?" She asked me.
"Would you…..wanna come hang out at my comic club? On Fridays? It's super cool. We draw a lot of different things and we give each other art tips and story tips. Sometimes, we even create our own superhero action figures with Isaac's 3D printer." The words gushed out of me like a stream of water. I'd been waiting to ask her for so long. But, what if she said no?
"That does sound fun!" She commented, bending down to pick up a caterpillar from the sidewalk and put him back down in the grass. "There you go, little guy. Now you won't be stepped on." She told the wormy creature.
I couldn't help but smile at her kindness toward the thing that I'd probably have just run over with my skateboard without a thought. She brings out the best in me. She reaches down past what I realize is a macho facade and manages to somehow pull out the softer side of me. The crazy part is, I don't mind being so soft and vulnerable with her. With Britt, being soft would lead to you being treated like a servant. Jeanette doesn't treat me like a servant. It feels good to get vulnerable around her, show her my inner strengths and weaknesses.
Our date together was an overwhelming success. We got to do so much fun stuff! I'm surprised we were able to pack so many activities into a short window of time. Each one was more exciting than the last.
First, we visited the craft fair and picked out a few cool necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and backpack clips to take home. All of them came in very vibrant colors!
After the craft fair, we hit the electronics store. I browsed through a selection of laptops. I'm in need of a new one. My current one has had almost every part replaced...twice. What do you expect? I bought it in 2013.
We stopped for lunch at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I got a berry blast smoothie and Jeanette got a smoothie with kale and avocado. I also tried something called hummus for the first time ever. It was way better than its name sounds. Jeanette may have been thrilled with my Satur-DATE pun, but Dumb-mus was clearly not striking a chord with her.
Our next stop was the local gym. Jeanette did yoga and step aerobics while I ran on a treadmill and tried to break my record for the fastest time. It ended with me slipping off the machine and flyin' all the way across the gym. Note to self: treadmills will never beat running naturally. Now, I have two bruised knees AND some really sore muscles….everywhere.
We hit the comic book store next and I browsed through the new issues while my enthusiastic girlfriend looked around at almost every single comic in the place. She was trying to decide what sort of comics she's the most interested in, but the answer turned out to be all of them. She's gonna make such a stupendous addition to the comic book club.
We stopped by the local Science museum to see the static electricity exhibit too. There was an interactive demonstration and Netta and I got to touch this statically charged up sphere. When we touched it, our hair stood up on end like we were receiving electric shocks. There weren't really any shocks though. I know what those feel like. They are PAINFUL. Simon's lab security systems used to electrocute me a lot. The sight of my bright red-orange hair poking upwards was very amusing to Netta. I must have looked like a mad scientist! When she touched the sphere and her hair did the same. In fact, since her hair was longer than mine, the effect was even more funny looking. I gotta get me one of these plasma static ball thingies. It would be excellent room decor.
The last place we stopped was the planetarium. I have a free pass for me and one guest for LIFE! That's what happens when you find a meteorite and demand a reward. My meteorite is on display at this very planetarium too. Obviously, Netta was impressed by it! Who wouldn't be? There are so many awesome things to do at a planetarium and my girlfriend and I did most of them in an hour. We rode a rocket ship simulator, played with an interactive star constellation map, created our own alien slime, AND still had time for a visit to the gift shop.
As we were leaving, Jeanette clutched her bag of gift shop goodies tight. "I had a great time today." She said, causing my palms to start sweating.
"I did too!" I told her.
The date was definitely one of the better ones I'd had in my lifetime, and I'd had quite a few. Like, a zillion.
Unfortunately, this warm glow of satisfaction couldn't last. Ray Ray, one of the bullies from school, just happened to be waking by and saw me and Jeanette leaving the planetarium.
"Hey, losers!" He shouted. "Did you have a fun time at the planNERDtarium?"
Urgh. That wasn't even a good pun. Wait, isn't that a pun I used to use? Probably. Okay, so maybe it's an okay pun.
"Get lost, Ray Ray." I told the obnoxious teen.
"I don't have to listen to a couple of weirdos." He shot back.
I growled under my breath and then responded with…"I would if I were you."
Jeanette said nothing. I could tell the situation was making her uncomfortable.
"Or what?" The teen continued to taunt us. "Are you gonna lecture me to death? Are you gonna zap me with a fruity little invention?"
"Don't test me." I growled.
He strolled up to us and lifted Jeanette in the air.
"Hey, girlie, why don't you date the blue one instead of this hopeless excuse for a boy? I mean, come on! He's wearing LEGGINGS!" Ray Ray was asking to be beat up.
"Uh, excuse me. These are athletic compression trousers. They're like wearing the bottom of a superhero suit! They make me feel EMPOWERED!" I shouted back.
That didn't stop the rude dude with the bad tude. "They make you look even more like a girl than you already do."
Okay, now he had pushed me way past my limits. I am a GUY! I don't understand how wearing rainbow colors automatically makes someone girly. Colors are unisex! He'd gone too far, so
I snapped. I know Netta wouldn't be proud of me for using violence to handle the situation. Still, I have every right to use my karate talent to defend myself and my girlfriend. Why take the classes if I'm not gonna use it?
Two minutes later, Ray Ray was on the ground with me standing triumphantly on his chest. Jeanette was safe, and I felt like the king of the world. Ray Ray pushed himself up and ran off.
"Yeah, you better run!" I threatened, puffing out my chest. "And be sure to tell everyone ya got your butt kicked by a Geeknerd! I want that to be the front page headline!"
Jeanette grasped my hand, looking nervous and upset. "You….You didn't hurt him too badly, right?"
"Nope." I answered. "I just gave him a couple bruises."
"Alvin,..." She bit her lip. "Violence is never the answer."
I frowned. "You handle problems your way. I'll handle them mine. I didn't need an answer. I just needed him to leave us alone. Sometimes, talking to people doesn't work."
She must have known I was right, because after that she was silent on almost all of our walk home.