Simon's POV

Our team's fate was now in jeopardy. I knew it. I could FEEL it. The chances of Alvin taking things seriously was very slim. In fact, he was likely to bail on us. What if another exciting opportunity came up for him? He'd forget all about the Physics Bowl until it was too late. Then, I would have to hear him whine about it...for months.

"Well, dudes." Alvin jumped down from the desk. "I hate to dine and dash, but I'm meeting my girlfriend in the park later."

Yes, Alvin. We get it. You have a wonderful girlfriend. Rub it in all of our faces every chance you get, why don't you? Meanwhile, I struggle to maintain even close friends...and now my closest friend Warren wasn't even going to be at the competition. Life had truly dealt me a rotten hand.

"Say hi to her for me!" Kevin said, stacking more crackers on top of each other. I realized he was building a house of cards out of crackers.

"Me too." I added. I like Jeanette. She's a good friend. How sweet, gentle Jeanette manages to put up with my brother the nincompoop is beyond me. "Here. I'll write it down so you don't forget." I took a sheet of paper from my notebook and quickly jotted down the words.

"Simon, I don't think that's necessary." Warren commented.

I took my pencil case out of my backpack and looked inside it. Perfectly organized, as usual. Pencils, pens, assorted color paper clips, and aha! Tape! I taped the paper to Alvin's chest. "There." Was it cruel? Maybe. Hopefully though, this would train Alvin to remember things better. He wouldn't want to be embarrassed by looking like a walking marquee.

"Thanks, bro." Alvin responded sarcastically. He ran out of the room with the paper taped to his chest flapping with every footstep. Maybe I should have used more tape.

With Alvin gone, I could now talk to the group about my real feelings without making Alvin feel bad. "Guys, I'm not sure we can do this without Warren." I said, nibbling my lip.

"Sure we can!" Kevin raised a skinny arm in the air and flexed it. "We've got gumption! We have spirit!"

"I think you still stand an adequate chance." Warren said, chewing thoughtfully on a cheese chunk. "Ow" He rubbed his cheek. "Stupid wisdom teeth. I can't wait to have them out."

"Will you still be smart without your wisdom teeth?" Theodore asked, scratching his head.

"Yes. He will be." I explained. "The teeth in your mouth have no impact on your IQ."

"Oh good." Theodore sighed in relief. "Because it would be a real bummer if you suddenly weren't smart anymore."

"Certainly." Warren chuckled.

"I sure hope you guys beat Bocarter's team." Theodore told us sweetly. "But don't forget, not winning isn't the end of the world. It's not really what's important."

At that time, it seemed like the most important thing to me in the world. Why didn't I just listen to Theodore?

"Right." Cheesy agreed with my chubby brother. "But we still really really REALLY wanna win."

"I know we'll win! Like Alvin said, he knows this stuff!" Kevin seemed almost desperate to defend Alvin. I suspected he was in denial.

"Him knowing physics is only ONE half of the battle." I pointed out. "He also has to be quiet until he answers questions, not wander offstage, and not embarrass us in front of the entire audience."

"Do you have any faith in him?" Kevin adjusted his glasses and added the final cracker to his impressive creation.

"I have plenty of faith in him!" I slammed the table with my fist, causing Kevin's tower to fall and crumble. He looked devastated. "Kev, I...I didn't mean it. It was a knee jerk reaction."

"Jerk reaction is right." Theodore whispered quietly, but loud enough that I could hear.

Cheesy nodded. Fantastic. Now he thought I was acting like a jerk too. Which, yes, I was, but...not intentionally.

"It's fine." Kevin said, munching on the crackers.

"As I was saying,..." I returned quickly to my train of thought, in the hopes that everyone wouldn't fixate on my blunder. "I have faith in him. I think he'll try, but at the end of the day Alvin is still Alvin. There's only so much he can do."

"Maybe he'll surprise you." Theodore, ever the optimist, squeaked with his childlike lilt.

"I would love nothing more than to be surprised." I answered honestly. "I'm simply being realistic."

Cheesy raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because, Cheesy!" I shouted. "I don't want to be disappointed!"

"Simon, can you stop yelling?" Kevin asked me.

I felt embarrassed. "Y...Yes."

"I think the best thing to do is, practice, be confident, not let the stress bog you down, and let whatever happens happen." Warren, now in the role of the observer, tried to give us his version of a pep talk. It did not make me feel very peppy.

"Yeah." Kevin agreed. He seemed to feel better. Good for him. I wish I did.

"We still have three fourths of our original team." Cheesy added in, his green eyes shining with a confident glow I never knew they possessed. "So, statistically, we still stand a 75% chance of victory even if Alvin's a dud."

Cheesy, Warren, and Kevin put their hands on top of each other. I sensed they expected me to do the same, so I placed mine in as well.

"MathTrons on three!" Kevin said in his nasally voice. "One, two, three,..."

"MATHTRONS!" We all shouted together while Theodore watched us with a smile.

"Or would it be the PhysicsTrons?" Cheesy questioned aloud.

We all laughed at that one. I suppose I was beginning to feel a tiny bit better.

Amazing what friends can do.

Back at home, I looked over all my flashcards another time. I had to absorb every bit of this information. Cheesy was right. We still had three of our four original team members. Plus, we had an unpredictable wild card. There was no way of telling what he would do, but the rest of us wouldn't change anything. We were still going to study like fiends.

My phone's ringtone started to play. It was my own voice mixed with my brothers' singing a very fitting song for my mood.

"Who knows why things go wrong?

You've got to carry on

Pick up the pieces and move on

Get yourself together and try try try again."

I answered the phone without checking the caller ID and I instantly regretted it.

"I heard you're short a player for the Physics Bowl. Real bummer losing Warren. He wouldn't have been able to save you, but it would have been fun watching him try." Bocarter's British accent taunted me. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

My fur bristled. I could feel my jaw clench. "Leave me alone, Bocarter! For your information, we already HAVE a replacement lined up for Warren. You haven't won yet."

"I can assure you, your replacement is no match for us." Bocarter replied smugly. "Who is it?"

I wished I could reach into the phone and punch his face. "That shall remain under wraps so that you can't sabotage them. I know what you're up to. I know you got Andrew, Jamie, and Alexa JUST to mess with my head and throw off my game!"

"Oh, did I?" He feigned surprise. "How unfortunate."

"LOSE THIS NUMBER, BOCARTER!" I screamed, having had all I could take. I hung up the call and slammed my phone down on the table.

I put my head down on the mini desk I had been sitting at and tried to calm myself down. It wasn't long before Dave entered the bedroom.

"Rough day, Simon?" He asked in a sympathetic voice.

I groaned. "You don't know the half of it."

"What's bothering you?" He tried unsuccessfully to sit in the tiny chair of Theodore's desk and eventually decided to sit on the floor. That's the downside of being a human when you have three tiny chipmunk children. The stuff made for them, isn't made for you.

"It's….." I began. I wanted to tell him. Maybe he'd offer some good advice. However, I was having trouble finding the right words. "It's nothing, Dave. It's school things."

"Simon, if it was nothing you wouldn't be this upset. Please, tell me what's going on." Dave looked at me with concern.

I broke, and everything I'd been trying to hold in came spewing out of me.

Dave listened to every word, as an attentive father should. Then, he stood up and patted my back. "And you don't want Alvin on the team?" He asked.

I made an odd noise that sounded like a cross between words and mumbling. "I do want him on the team. I really do." I grabbed at my thick hair with my hands. "He just makes everything so DIFFICULT!"

"Maybe he won't though. He loves physics. He's probably very excited to be part of the team." Dave replied.

I sighed. "Yeah, he's excited NOW. The novelty will fade. He'll lose interest. He'll bail on us when we need him most, then blame his ADHD and I'll be left picking up the pieces like I ALWAYS do."

Dave let out a long whistle.

"I wish I could count on him." I moaned. "I wish he would be more punctual, more attentive, less unpredictable."

"We all do, Simon. Sadly, the truth is, then he'd be less,…well,….Alvin." Dave scooped me up in his arms and hugged me. "And we all know how annoying he'd be if that happened. We got a preview of it when he first became this 2.0 fellow and tried to hide everything that made him "fun."

"I know, and that's why I'm upset. The problem HAS no solution." I jumped out of Dave's arms and picked up my deck of flash cards. "No matter what, there's a chance he'll bail and we'll have to forfeit."

"Not necessarily. You could have another person ready to take Alvin's place if he bails." Dave suggested. I have to say, that might be one of the smartest ideas he's ever come up with.

"That's BRILLIANT, Dave." I smiled. It was a minuscule hint of a smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you were down in the dumps." He told me. "Why don't you take a short break from studying so you don't wear yourself out?" He walked toward the door and winked at me. "We could make fruit smoothies together."

Oh man. That did sound delicious right about now. I tidied away my flashcards and scampered after him.

"I'll have a peach mango, no wait, a pear guava, wait, do we even have guavas? Oh oh! How about peach banana with a hint of almond extract?" I asked, smiling happily. My worries were all still there. I wasn't actively worrying, but they were all still there in my head. The worries. The doubts. The anger. The pain.

"Whatever you'd like." Dave lifted me onto the countertop in the kitchen by our blender. It was a shiny new one. Alvin and Theodore blew up the old one trying to blend mentos and coke. Alvin said it was a "experiment of scientific curiosity." I knew it was just an excuse to see a cool explosion. He learned nothing.

Dave and I enjoyed our smoothies together as we waited for Alvin to arrive home from the park and Theodore to arrive home from baseball practice with coach Eleanor.

I imagined myself onstage with my friends winning the Physics Bowl. I imagined how good it would feel seeing Bocarter throw a tantrum like a tiny child because he didn't win. He throws more tantrums than my robot child Geizmo. Speaking of Geizmo, I should probably have checked on him. I figured he was off watching educational Youtube videos or playing with his favorite toys.

Back to my daydream, I stared out into the crowd and held my trophy in the air. Kevin and Cheesy lifted me onto their shoulders and Alvin victory danced around the stage like a complete idiot. If only that vision could come true. Alas, the odds of that were slim. Maybe they'd be higher if I went with Dave's idea. I'd have to be sure not to let Alvin find out I had another replacement for him though. That would end in utter disaster.

Alvin's POV

As I ran down the hallway of the school with the stupid note taped to my chest, I felt pretty dumb. Seriously, brain!? If you'd let me actually get the information I need to know out of you when I ask for it, none of this would be happening. Simon probably thinks I'm becoming an idiot again.

"You were never an idiot, Alvin." The voice in my head told me. I couldn't tell if it was classic or 2.0. They both seemed to be melded together a lot. Occasionally, I could hear from them separately, but not often. Angry at myself, I tore the note off my chest and crumpled it into a ball. I tossed it in the wastebasket by the school exit and rushed outside into the warm springy air.

I walked down the sidewalks, realizing that I had completely forgotten my flying skateboard in my locker. I was feeling too lazy to go back inside and get it. Urgh! What is up with me lately? Why am I like this? What is WRONG with me?

Eventually, I met up with my girlfriend in the park. She was right where I expected her to be, chained to an oak tree with a peaceful smile on her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked dead. I knew she couldn't actually be dead, so I got a really long twig and used it to poke at her until her eyes opened.

"Oh, hello, Alvin." She said in her soft whispery angelic voice.

"Hi!" I grinned. "And also Simon and the Mathletes say hi too." Yes! I didn't forget to tell her that. Thank goodness.

"Did anything interesting happen at school today?" She asked.

"Lots of stuff. Logan got detention, Annie got squirted in the face by the drinking fountain, and I joined the Physics Bowl team officially. Oh oh!" I unzipped my backpack and took out a stack of papers. "As requested, I got you printouts of the lessons and all your homework."

"I don't deserve you." She reached out to take the papers.

"And…." I continued, pulling a clipboard from my backpack. "...got you this so that you can do your homework while you're still out here. Is there anything else you need?"

She shook her head. "That will be all. Thank you. I knew I could count on you."

"At least one person can." I thought bitterly. "You sure?" I asked as I looked at her surroundings. Being chained to that tree did not look comfortable at all. Plus, what if it rained? She needed something like….an umbrella.

"Yes. I'm sure." She insisted. I could hear her stomach growl. She wasn't being entirely truthful.

"You sound hungry." I took out my lunchbox. "I have some leftover apple slices and broccoli." I offered.

She graciously accepted them. "Thank you again. I was hungry. I just...didn't wish to inconvenience you."

"It's no problem, really." I slipped my backpack back onto my back. "I can dash home and get you an umbrella if you need one."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Storms and rain aren't in the forecast for tonight."

"Doesn't mean they won't happen." I told her. I climbed up into the tree and sat on a branch above her head. "How long did you say you're doing this for again?"

"Until Humphrey Enterprises agrees not to cut down this tree to build an extension on the playground." She stated firmly.

I loved her passion. Still, I was worried. "And how long could that take?"

She shrugged and rubbed the chain around her waist. "No way of knowing."

"What if they decide to cut it down with you still attached?" I gulped.

"By law, they aren't allowed to. Besides, you're always saying life is better with risk." Her ears and nose twitched happily.

I jumped out of the tree and walked around to stare into her midnight eyes. "I know. You're my girlfriend though. I don't want anything bad to happen to ya."

She shifted the papers and clipboard to her right hand and grabbed my hand with her left. "I'll be okay, Alvin. Mother Nature always finds a way to protect those who protect her."

"If you say so." I leaned in and kissed her cheek. "See you tomorrow."

"Keep me updated on everything I miss." She squeaked softly.

"I will." I assured her, before adding…"Everything I remember, anyway."

She giggled at that and I giggled too before my giggles halted abruptly. Why was I joking about my bad memory? It was literally a ticking time bomb waiting to wreck my life if I couldn't keep it in check. I had to find a way around it. Letting it stop me would be a lame thing to do.

I left the park and returned home, tossing my backpack onto the couch in the living room and then racing up the stairs to my bedroom. When I arrived in the room, I was the only one there. Hmmm. What should I do?

I spotted some science fiction books near my bed that instantly started to draw me toward them. Before I knew it, I was sitting on my bed, almost halfway through one. It was a really captivating read. There were these space pirates...and they were trying to make the protagonist find treasure for them on the forbidden planet. Uhhh….the back of the book explains it better.

After that, I did a bunch more things and then I retired to the couch in the living room to play my favorite videogames.

"Why am I not surprised?" Simon's voice shook me out of my gaming trance. He was standing near the TV, tapping his foot like an impatient rabbit.

"What do you mean?" I asked, adjusting my glasses. They kept slipping down my nose no matter what! I really am not a fan of these things.

"I mean, you said you would take being Warren's replacement seriously….and you haven't. At all." Simon crossed his arms.

I flicked off the TV using the TV remote, without even saving my game first. It didn't matter anyway. The game I was playing wasn't a level up one. It was just mindless fun to stimulate the old noggin.

"Yes, I have." I protested.

"Then why aren't you studying?" Simon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I already studied. It took me five minutes." That wasn't a lie. I had been practice quizzing myself in my head on physics stuff earlier that day. It was one of the many things I did after getting back from delivering stuff to my precious tree hugger.

"I don't believe you." Simon growled.

I decided to show him how serious I was. "Alright, buster. Wanna see what else I got accomplished?"

"Only if it's related to the competition." My brother was stern and somewhat cold with me.

"It is!" I raced upstairs and ran to our closet. I pulled out four T shirts with matching logos all in our favorite colors. Crimson with cyan sleeves for me, royal blue for Simon, kelly green for Kevin, and deep blue for Cheesy. Mine and Simon's were chipmunk sized. The other two weren't. "Check it out! I made us cool T shirts! Well, uh, Theodore helped."

Simon looked at the logo on his shirt. "Physics Knights?"

I held mine to my chest. "Mine says Physics King."

Simon handed the shirt back to me "I hate to break it to you….We can't wear these for the competition. It's not a sports game. It's got a strict formal dress code."

I could feel my waggling tail droop suddenly as my mood tanked. Disappointment replaced my joyfulness. "Oh…..Can we at least wear them for practice?" I asked.

Simon took a long pause. Finally, he spoke again. "...Fine"

"Stupendous!" I cheered, my tail waggling once more. "I have a feelin' Kevin and Cheesy will really like 'em."

"Yeah." He sounded upset.

I blinked. "Did I make you mad?" I whimpered.

"No." He said sarcastically. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Simon, I'm sorry. Just….give me a chance. I won't let the team down, I promise. You gotta trust me." I begged.

Simon turned away from me. "Tell me, Alvin 2.0." He spat the 2.0 part like it was a disgusting taste on his tongue. "How many times has me trusting you worked out in the past?"

"Ooof…..well…..I would say about 50/50 maaaybe 40/60." I answered honestly. "But, you know, that was classic me. I'm different now."

"Are you? Are you really?" He asked, whipping back around to face me with a deranged look on his face.

"I…...I…..I'm a little different." I answered. "I don't usually break promises now that I'm 2.0."

"It's not about breaking promises on purpose! Are you DAFT!?" He shouted. "It's about your inability to pay attention to things for the time required. It's about you forgetting things left and right and making a mess and treating this competition like it's supposed to be FUN! It's academic, Al! It's hard work! It's not about fun, it's about beating Bocarter so that I don't have to look at his smug face for the rest of the school year!" Simon covered his mouth with his hands.

I wiped a tear from my eye. "Don't call me Al." I mumbled.

"You call me Si all the time. Hypocrisy." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Look." I said letting a few tears flow, but otherwise keeping my cool. "I know how hard it is for you to trust me. I guess I really can't expect you to. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. I can learn stuff my own way. I can help you win. I know I can."

Simon let out a heavy sigh. "If you say so. I don't think your system of study works though."

"I am an B, C, and occasional A student." I pointed out. "When I used to be a big chip-flunk." I smiled a smug smile. "The system works. It's all explained further in my self help book. Alvin's Guide To Leveling Up In Life. Catchy, don't ya think?" I grabbed the book from my nightstand and showed it to him.

"When did you have time to write a self help book?" He asked, looking shocked.

"Uh…..yesterday." As soon as the words left my lips, I cringed hard. This would surely set Simon off.

He was furious. "You mean yesterday you couldn't be bothered to work on our school project, but you could spend countless hours writing a gosh darn SELF HELP BOOK!?"

I took a few steps back from him. "Okay, no need to get mad. That's how I operate, man. Stuff that interests me first, schoolwork later."

"ALVINNN!" He yelled, advancing on me with fire burning in his blue eyes.

"Please,..." I said weakly, hiding underneath my bed. "Don't yell at me."

Simon calmed himself down and then walked over to me. He sat on his own bed and frowned. "Does the Physics Bowl really interest you, or are you using this as an excuse to hang out with Kevin and Cheesy because they've been busy with me lately and you're jealous? I need you to be honest."

I climbed out from under my bed. "It started as an excuse to hang with friends." I told my taller brother.

"I KNEW IT!" He shouted.

I stopped him by shouting back. "LET ME FINISH!" I held my hands in my lap. "But that was when I was the alternate. I'm on the team now. I'm fully invested in it. It DOES interest me, Si. For as long as science interests me, it'll interest me."

"Even now that you know it's not fun?" He asked.

"Well, I'm a little bummed about that, but I'm still totally in it to win it. I have an obligation. And who knows? Maybe I'll use my genius intellect to find a way to make it more fun."

He brightened up a little at that. "You have been interested in science for much longer than I thought you would be. Maybe I'm the one overreacting for a change."

"Uhhhh….I dunno. I have had, you know, some fears about….the same sorta thing you brought up." I admitted. "I AM worried that someday the novelty of science will wear off and it suddenly won't fascinate me anymore."

He bit his lip and then came over to sit with me on my bed. "That is certainly a valid concern given how you latch onto things at random."

"What will I do…..if all this 2.0 stuff stops and I become….I dunno….Alvin 3.0 or something?" I asked.

He was suddenly extremely gentle with me. "Alvin, don't worry about it." He said. "The more you worry, the more likely it is to happen because you'll trick yourself into thinking it's happening." He smiled. "I know how your brain works."

"You think so?" I asked. I don't think he has a clue how my brain works. I'm still learning how it works!

"Besides, Science has a way of hooking people in for a very very very long time. Remember, the allure of science is an extremely powerful force." He put an arm around my shoulder.

This sure beats being yelled at. Still, he was acting so nice all of a sudden. What if he had other intentions? No! No! I will not be paranoid. He had a sudden change of heart when I told him I'm serious, even if I don't look it. That's all. That's it. My brother is NOT scheming against me. He wouldn't.

"Soooo….can I study my way, or are you gonna run me through some kind of mega nerd bootcamp?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence between us.

"Did you forget you're a nerd already?" He teased.

"No. I didn't. Answer the question, dude." I commanded.

He ruffled my hair with his hand. "You can study your way…..for now." He jumped off my bed.

"For now? That sounds ominous. What do you mean by that?" I shivered.

"I mean, if you don't fare well at the practice tomorrow, I am going to run you through the most complicated and challenging nerd bootcamp you've ever experienced." He warned me.

"It'll be the only one I've ever experienced." I pointed out. "If I actually do it, which I won't because I'm gonna spout so many physics facts at you it'll make your head spin! And then I'll calculate how fast your head is spinnin' with my physics powers!"

He looked unconvinced. "We shall see, young protégé."

He left the room and I shivered. There was something sinister about the way he said "protégé." Still, I chose to think about other things. A lot was on the line for sure, but I was CONFIDENT that I could be the best nerd squad teammate the world has ever seen. You can probably already guess what happened the next day at practice. I think everyone could. Everyone that is, except me. Boy, I was a clueless sap….a couple months ago. Simon was no better though. Really. In fact, I think he might have even been a little worse.

Stay tuned, dear readers. It's about to get….more complicated.