Jeanette's POV
Alvin dropped me off at the treehouse and I ran inside. So many conflicting feelings were overwhelming me! I didn't stop running until I was all the way into my bedroom. Flopping down on the bed, I let out a heavy sigh. Alvin was right. He is SO COMPLICATED!
Brittany looked up from her Teen Beat magazine. "What's wrong? Finally realize what a jerk you picked for a boyfriend?" She asked in a caring way.
"I…..It's not….that." I didn't know how exactly to convey my feelings. Still, I had to try and give it my best shot. My sisters often give me good advice about socializing and maybe Brittany would have some tips on how to solve my ethical dilemma.
"Then what is it?" She put down the magazine and laid on her stomach with her feet kicking in the air.
"It was a lovely date. We both enjoyed our time together." I told her, with unwavering honesty. "Then,..."
"Then what?" Her ears twitched.
"Then…..Ray Ray came by and made fun of us…..and Alvin…..b….b...beat him up. I….I know I shouldn't want to change him, but I'm not sure I can emotionally link myself to someone who's willing to be so violent."
She listened to my words very intently. "Are you going to break up with him?"
Should I? No, not after one misstep. That wouldn't be right. Maybe I could talk with him?
"I….I….I I'm not sure. I don't want to….cuz I really like him! Maybe I can….train him to handle his anger in a more constructive way."
"Ha! Good luck with that." She laughed. I couldn't tell if she was actually wishing me luck or not. Her face showed no signs of dishonesty, although to be frank I'm not sure what signs to look for outside of someone looking to the left. Liars look left. I learned that from a crime and mystery TV show.
"I can't just give up on the poor guy." I said, barely raising my voice above a whisper.
"Yeah, you can. You can do whatever you want. If he's not the guy for you, he's not the guy for you. There are plenty of other guys out there." She's so sweet when she's like this. I know she cares a lot about my wellbeing.
I situated myself into a more comfortable position on my bed. My face grew hot as I told Brittany the next thing I felt she absolutely needed to know. "It doesn't have to be a guy. It just….can be any person I form an significant emotional connection with. I'm not terribly selective."
Britt's eyebrows went as far up as they could go. "That opens up a whole long list of possibilities! You should definitely tell Alvin it's over. Wouldn't be fair to string him along."
I thought back to something Brittany had said before, an important question she'd asked me yesterday.
"But Alvin's so amazing in so many ways. And, I did say that I'd love him no matter what. I wouldn't be true to my word if I dumped him because of one perceived flaw." My head started to hurt. I was thinking too much. It shouldn't be this hard!
Brittany closed her eyes a moment. She was probably thinking up more wise big sister advice for me. "Sis, If you want to continue dating someone so prone to fighting, that's your decision. However, I think…."
"And you accept my decision no matter what?" I asked, grinning like an excited puppy.
"I….don't really have a choice." She conceded.
I got up and ran over to her bed to hug her. "Thank you, thank you for being such a supportive sister!"
"Yeah, supportive." She agreed with me.
Time to locate my other sister. I carefully walked down the steps and into the kitchen to see Eleanor.
"Did you get a chance to read my story?" I asked, my tail wagging. It does that when I'm very excited.
"Yeah. I did. It was super. I liked the ending with the girl firefly liking the guy one whether he can flash brightly or not." She stirred up a container of low-fat greek yogurt and smiled at me.
If the characters in my story can accept each other's flaws, then I shouldn't feel such an intense dislike toward Alvin's. That's only logical.
"Eleanor," I began, fidgeting with my fingers as I often tend to do when I'm nervous and confused. "Would you consider Alvin a violent person? Or, a person prone to violence?"
She started laughing. "ALVIN!? Violent!? HAHAHA! He's not violent! He's a big softie! He hurts people only if they hurt him first. And, violence is like...his last resort."
"He beat up Ray Ray today." I whimpered, still bombarded with confusing feelings and different viewpoints.
"Good for him. Ray Ray is a scumbag." She said, green eyes glistening.
"You think….he deserved it?" I asked. I hadn't considered Ray Ray deserving to be taken down a notch. Maybe being beaten by a nerd was the only way he'd learn how to show proper respect. Maybe this was the start of a wonderful revolution where everyone at school would begin being kind to one another. Bullying would become a thing of the past!
"That depends…" Eleanor looked at me expecting... something, I wasn't sure what. "What did Ray Ray call him?"
"A loser….actually he called us both that. And he said I could do better. Then he made fun of Alvin's clothes and called him a girl." I reported the way I had seen the situation go down.
"Oh yeah. He definitely deserved it. I would've given him a major noogie too," Eleanor got up from the table and punched the air. It looked quite silly. "And I would've threatened to kick him in the…..you know where."
I did not know where. This conversation was enlightening though. I think I had all the advice I needed. "I guess I can tolerate Alvin's….methods of solving problems, even if a few turn violent."
"Sometimes the only way to fight jerks is to get physical." Eleanor concluded, as she rinsed off her spoon.
"Like that song by Olivia Newton John." I exclaimed.
Eleanor shrugged. "Really more of an exercise song."
I suddenly had the urge to go upstairs and listen to that song. I thanked Eleanor and then that's exactly what I did. Purple earbuds in, iPod on shuffle, and now I could sort through all my conflicting thoughts and emotions. I decided not to break it off with Alvin over one little karate fight. I couldn't let one negative quality overshine all his positives! That's what everyone else did to him. That's how he got his bad reputation in the first place. He was a good person. Sometimes, good people have anger issues. It's a fairly common thing. With that matter settled, I could finally relax.
A few hours later, I felt much better about everything. I read through my firefly story and cleaned up some small punctuation and grammatical errors. Should I post it? Maybe anonymously? I was too frightened of negative comments to post it with my name attached. Plus, without my name on it, people might be more willing to give it a read. I spent a while typing it into the correct format for the website I was submitting it to. Then, I stared at the "submit" button on the bottom of the webpage. I stared and I stared and I stared. Every time my hand reached out to click the mouse, it hesitated. I couldn't bring myself to do it. What if it wasn't as good as Eleanor said? What if it was still full of errors I missed? What if the plot was dumb? Or what if I accidentally plagiarized the idea without realizing it?
"Jeanette?" Came a friendly and concerned voice from behind me.
"Huh?" I turned around to see Eleanor, dressed in her light green pajamas with pictures of candy on them.
She folded her arms. "Are you going to actually use the computer? Or just stare at it for the rest of the night?"
"I…..I want to post my story." I murmured in a quiet tone.
"Then, post it." She told me. Again, my sisters are so supportive. Sometimes, it seems like they're too supportive.
"I can't." I let my shoulders slump. "It's not good enough. I'm an amateur writer. I'll never be a professional."
She grabbed my desk chair and turned me around to face her. "No quitter talk. Who told you you were an amateur?"
"Uh….me?" I was confused. Do all writers struggle with being confident in their work? Was I the odd one out?
"Jeanette, you are NOT an amateur, and even if you were….everyone starts somewhere. You'll get better. You should let the world enjoy your story! You never know, it might even become popular!" And with that, she clicked the mouse for me and submitted the story.
"Oh, I don't want it to be popular." I explained, in case she wasn't aware. "I just want a few people to enjoy it and leave some reviews." If it was popular, that would be too much for little old me to handle. I wouldn't know how to respond to so many positive and negative comments coming in the thousands.
"Right, well, I'm sure it'll get some good reviews." She smiled.
I stared at the newly submitted story and gulped. What had I gotten myself into? It was definitely time for bed. I function better when I get my proper nine hours. So, without another thought, I tucked myself into bed and stared up at the dream-catcher hanging from my ceiling. Happily nested, (yes, I call being all safe and warm under covers "nesting") I finally drifted off to dreamland.
ALVIN'S POV
I slid across the kitchen floor and over to the refrigerator. My first date with Jeanette was an overwhelming success, except that minor hiccup at the end. I was ridin' high! She was totally my dream girl! I could feel it in my heart! Nothing could possibly ruin this moment of bliss!
"Alvinnn! How many times have I told you not to run in the house!?" Dave's thunderous footsteps came closer to the fridge.
I raised both my hands in the air, "you didn't say anything about sliding!" I reminded him. I HADN'T been running at all! I was shoeless and sliding around on the completely level floor in my dark blue socks with physics equations written on them.
"I shouldn't have to." Dave picked me up and sat me down on one of the stools near the counter. I HATE being manhandled!
"Dave,..." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to get hurt. I slide around all the time. I'm a pro at it." Sliding around is, once again, a product of my athleticism and my extensive knowledge of the laws of physics.
"When you're in my house, you obey my rules. I'm trying to keep you safe, Alvin." My dad looked tired and off his game as usual. I wanted to argue. There was a force bubbling up inside me. I shoved the temptation down deep into my core and nodded at my favorite, because he's my only, parent.
"Fine. No more sliding or running or skipping or tackling people….unless I'm outside." I added that last part to remind him that he could only control what I do inside the house. Outside, I'm an independent man! And I love it! Well, except for when I'm at school. Teachers control me there.
"Right." Dave nodded at me in approval.
It was at that moment that my brothers entered the kitchen.
"Hey, Alvin. Wanna play some videogames with us?" Theodore spoke first, in that adorably innocent tone.
Simon's expression was one of curiosity mixed with smug-ness. "Yeah, you can tell us all about your day out with Jeanette." He'd purposefully avoided the word date. I wonder why. Did he think it wasn't a real date?
I leapt down from the stool and hurried back to the fridge to grab myself a refreshing root beer cooler. Then, I took a long swig before answering my brothers. "Sure!" I confirmed. I did have some homework to do, but that could wait. There was more fun to be had!
My bros and I played videogames for….I'm not sure how long. It felt like a short time. But, like I said, I SUCK at sensing time pass. I put the controllers for the game back in their container so that Dave wouldn't get on my case about not cleaning up.
Simon approached me. We were both out of earshot from Theo. "Meet me in the closet lab." He instructed in his bossy way.
"Why?" I asked, I sensed he was acting mighty suspicious.
"I just want to talk. In private." Simon ran over to the closet and punched in the secret code on his keypad.
I followed him, trying my best not to get too distracted. My best….is never good enough.
I picked up a glowing beaker and held it up to my face. "What's this?" I inquired.
"Put that down!" Simon ordered.
I felt bad for touching it. Why would he make his lab so inviting? Seriously!? It was stocked with so many weird gadgets and gizmos...or should I say gadgets and a Geizmo? Haha! Geizmo is Simon's robot kid. It's less weird than it sounds, I swear.
"Are you okay?" My brother asked, but I barely heard his words.
My mind was preoccupied as I checked out everything the lab had to offer. A sharp tingle spread through me. It was all so cool! My eyes were wide and my tail felt like it was twitching so fast that it must have been a blur. I felt something wet trickling down my chin. Crud! Was I drooling!? No, no, I gotta stop that! Looking at sciency stuff cannot make me drool! It's humiliating!
"I'm fine….ish." I lied. I was in the middle of a full mental freakout.
"Really?" Simon did not sound convinced. "Because you're staring at my inventions the same way you stare at hot girls."
Those words helped bring me back to reality. "No I'm not." I said, denying my uh…..lapse in control. Yeah, that's all it was.
"Right." Simon's sarcasm was thicker than butter.
I broke. I had to tell him the truth. Maybe he'd understand. Then again, the LAST thing I wanted was Simon understanding exactly what I was feeling. That would mean we're….too similar!
"Okay, bro. I'll tell you, but you have to promise to never tell anyone." I could feel my face growing hotter by the second.
"I promise, by the honor of the Bro Code. I will never tell a soul." He said, looking directly at me.
"For….awhile now, I've been getting tingles every time I do something nerdy or see something nerdy. I don't know how to stop them. I think….they might be caused by aliens." I admitted.
He looked confused and concerned. "There's a force in your brain that rewards you for being nerdy?" He tapped his chin, deep in thought. "With these…."tingles?" You call them?"
I nodded. "Yes. It's like that. Starts as a pleasant tingle in my brain and spreads to my whole body." And it's so WEIRD FEELING! I WANT IT TO STOP!
"Sounds more like adrenaline to me." Simon sat down at his small desk chair.
Adrenaline? I tilted my head to the side. "It's not nerdy stereotype mind control?"
Simon shook his head. "Hardly. It's a feeling that's training you to love being yourself. You feel overjoyed and pumped with adrenaline because you're doing something you love."
He can't be right. I mean, I'm clearly being influenced by something beyond my control. Even Britt knows it! That's why she wants the old me back!
"I love skateboarding and sports, and I don't feel the tingles then." I revealed, knowing that telling Simon this was risky.
"Of course not." My erudite brother told me calmly. "Because you've done them for years. You had that feeling when you first started, I'm sure. You've just forgotten. Novelty wears off over time. You still enjoy those things, but you're off chasing something new and exciting because it's new. Understand?"
Wow! That sorta made sense. "Kinda." I replied. I did get what he was trying to say.
"Beware though." He cautioned me. "The allure of science can do crazy things to a person. Very crazy things."
"Like make them build a monster out of dead body parts?" I asked, referencing one of my favorite monster stories.
"Something like that. Anyway, I called you in here to ask about….the date. Did you enjoy your trip to the science museum and the planetarium?" He raised a brown eyebrow.
Hold on a minute. He was acting suspicious again. "I never told you where I went." I pointed an accusatory finger at him. "How did you know? Have you been tracking me?"
"Let's just say, Warren and Bruce saw you there." Simon told me.
"Yeah. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every part of my date….except the part where Ray Ray called me a girl." I was STILL stinging from that. Curse my thin skin.
Simon sighed. "Ray Ray is a terrible person. Don't pay him any mind."
"Too late for that." I murmured. "I attacked him with my karate powers."
"In front of Jeanette?" He looked worried. Too worried for my liking.
"Yeah." I admitted reluctantly. Suddenly, my brain flashed back to earlier that day…..and I knew EXACTLY why Jeanette had been so quiet on the walk home. "Oh man, oh man, I screwed up! I blew it! I had the best girlfriend ever and I blew it! She's gonna hate me now, Si. What do I do!? What do I DO!?"
Simon bit his lip, as he tends to do when he's stressed out and not sure what to say. "I'm….I'm sure she'll forgive you. She doesn't hold grudges."
That did not make me feel better. Not one tiny bit. "I didn't mean to," I said in a very high, even for me, voice. "I was just so SICK of being picked on. I don't know how you and your Nerd Squad handles it! The comments people make….they CRUSH MY SOUL, man. I don't know how to cope!"
"You'll learn." He assured me, not realizing I didn't really want to. Learning to accept this kind of treatment might work for him, but I'm Alvin Seville. I'm famous. I demand respect! I'm….not a geeknerd, they can't call me that and think I'll conform to that mold!
And then, Simon decided to say something that made me feel even worse. "It's something all of us go through." All of US. All of the NERDS. He was implying that the more people picked on me for being a nerd, the more I'd transform into a full blown nerd, A mega-geek-nerd. Brittany might have been on to something. I COULD seriously risk losing ME if I'm not careful.
"Alvin? Alvin? Have you zoned out on me again, buddy?" Simon touched my cheek with his cold hand.
"I…..I think I'm going to go…..lay down." I turned and bolted from the lab. Once I was comfortable in my bed, I remembered I still had homework to do. Good thing it was Saturday and I'd have a full day tomorrow to dedicate to homework…..URGH! There I go again. The nerdiness runs deep inside me. I'll probably never get rid of it at this point. But, maybe it isn't such a bad thing. Being 2.0 feels…..good. Yeah. Why was I doubting myself? I blame hormones, bullies, and Brittany. They're the cause of my instability. Can't exactly get rid of them. I guess Simon's right. I'll have to learn to live with it.