If you like the 80s munks, you're gonna love this chapter.
THROWBACK THURSDAY
BRITTANY'S POV
Dear, Diary,
I am so excited for tonight! It's roller rink day! I've got my outfit all picked out and everything! The theme is 80s night, which is perfect for Throwback Thursday! We're actually allowed to wear our skating outfits to school today too! Our school is also allowing us to dress up today since we were supposed to have a spirit week, but it got cut down to just spirit DAY instead. Apparently, there was an incident last spirit week involving people showing up to school in outfits to mock the teachers and now we're all being punished.
Today is 80s day, which is great since the roller rink is doing 80s night. I have chosen to wear a rosy pink glitter crop top, a paler pink plaid skirt, periwinkle leggings, a daisy yellow scarf tied in a bow, and matching daisy yellow leg warmers. I'm so mad that legwarmers are out of style. I like wearing them, but I have to remain trendy which means I can't wear them often. On days like today, I can finally embrace them and no one will say a thing!
My mom, Miss. Miller made us all some pancakes for breakfast. They were good, not the best, but a good try. Mine had little chocolate chips in them. She's calling me outside now. I think I've gotta go. I really dread her driving us to school. She's such a dangerous and reckless driver. At least it's only a 5 minute drive. Fingers crossed she doesn't hit a tree or go too fast over the speed bumps. I'll get a chance to write again later. See ya!
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Today's been a really slow school day. It's almost over. In about an hour, I'll be on the rink in my rosy pink skates with glitter covered laces. Simon came into the office today. He was dressed so cool! Black is a good color on him. It really compliments the blue. I wish I could have told him that. For some reason, I got so flustered that I hid under the computer desk to avoid him. Can I do it tonight? Can I tell him that I have a crush on him? Oh, I don't know. I get these bursts of confidence and then I go back to just...imagining things and being too scared to say anything. It was a lot easier telling Alvin I loved him. I mean, it's what our marketing team and management wanted. Then again, I never really came out and told Alvin I loved him until after he turned into a geek. Still, I was never THIS flustered around him! What is Simon doing to me?
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I did it! I finally did it! It took a long while to work up the courage. First, I asked Simon to skate with me. Then, I watched him from afar as he skated alone and with Jeanette and Eleanor, biding my time. All of a sudden, Eleanor vanished and some really really embarrassing mushy love songs started playing from the DJ booth. Couples skate wasn't for another hour, so I was confused as to why the love songs were playing. I looked up to the DJ booth and saw Eleanor there, WITH THEO! Both of them were waving at me.
I knew this was my moment. It was now or never! I started to skate up to Simon, but Alvin blocked my path. He was also super embarrassed by the song and he blurted out "you're not Jeanette." I told him I had no idea where Jeanette was and shoved him out of the way. I was not missing my chance!
I skated up to Simon and I reached out for his hand. "W….Would you...like to….skate with me?" I asked. I wanted to get far enough away from Alvin before revealing my crush. Simon didn't seem to suspect anything. He said, "sure. Uh, we skated earlier, remember?" I didn't answer, I was lost in his embrace.
He finally realized what was going on and he gasped. "Oh….you mean?" "I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!" I blurted out suddenly, loudly enough that...well, I am SURE Alvin heard. I'm sure Dave heard and Miss. Miller too. Simon looked uncomfortable. "Uh….okay. I'm….I'm not sure where we go from here." "Can you take some time to think about it?" I felt tears welling in my eyes.
He released my hand when we finished skating together. "I think we BOTH need some time to think about it." He told me. I felt bad. I had made this such a public display. Simon was overwhelmed. Why did I just drop it on him like that? That was so dumb!
I don't know how Simon feels about me, but he said he needs time to think. That isn't a clear no! There's hope! He might contact me any time now and say he'd love to try dating! Then again, he might reject my advances just like Alvin did. I'm not sure my heart can take it. Why is romance so CRUEL!?
I've gotta get some sleep before I wind up staying up all night imagining worst case scenarios of Simon hating me. I feel like such an idiot. Love really does make you crazy. Maybe I should sing Simon a song? No, no, that might push him away more. I have to wait and let everything play out. Who knows? Maybe the crush will magically go away before he rejects me….and we can just pretend it never happened.
JEANETTE'S POV
Dear, Diana,
Today was oh so fun! In the morning, Miss. Miller made us pancakes. Mine were made with a vegan pancake mix and had little blueberries in them. It was nice to see her so excited about the roller rink. She said she hadn't been to a roller rink since she was in her 50s! She helped us pick out our Throwback Thursday outfits, which were very 80s inspired.
I wore a medium blue off shoulder top, a purple galaxy skirt with stars on it, white leg warmers, a dangling purple hair bow, and some cute rubix cube earrings to jazz things up a bit. My skates were also purple but with laces that had a pink and green floral pattern. I was a little shaky on them, so I wore them to school to practice. Yeah...that was not such a good idea.
Upon arriving at school, I crashed into Amber and Annie and then into Cheesy….and then Logan, Bruce, AND Tommy too. Honestly, I crashed into too many kids to name. I always remembered to say sorry, at least. I crashed into the teacher's desk when I entered the classroom. That wasn't good.
I wobbled over to Alvin's desk to say hi to him and he offered to help me keep my balance. It was so nice of him. I wish it had worked. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough force to keep me upright, so whenever I fell down, he did too. Needless to say, both our knees were bruised by lunchtime when I finally got the chance to switch my skates out for normal shoes.
During lunch, I started planning out my ideas to assist Alvin with the science fair in my journal. Eleanor came to sit next to me and I closed the journal quickly so she couldn't snoop. I love my sister very much, but she is very very nosy. Too nosy for her own good.
I asked Eleanor if she was actually planning on coming to the rink with us or if she was going to sneak out and try to get more green bean caper clues. It was very blunt, I was told. She did say she was taking a break from the case today. That filled me with a bit of relief, although I am still concerned. She seemed very shaken up when she got home yesterday. The case is certainly taking a toll on her.
There weren't any after school activities I had to do today, so I got to go straight to the roller rink when school let out. Miss. Miller came along, but Dave was the one who drove us all there. I got to sit between Simon and Theodore. Simon was dressed in black, for some reason. He still had blue on him, but it was mostly black. I guess he decided to switch it up for 80s day.
I worry that Simon's being influenced by the basketball team in a negative way. He seems to enjoy himself, but the way he acted at Anita's party was really concerning to say the least. I just hope he manages to maintain his lovable personality through all this.
Theodore offered me some goldfish crackers and dried apple slices. They were delicious and helped me maintain my energy throughout the whole night. I couldn't really get anything from the concession stand because it all had milk or cheese in it.
When I went inside the roller rink, I started to panic that I forgot my skates in my locker, but Eleanor came to the rescue and revealed that she remembered to grab them. Wait, does that mean she picked the lock on my locker? I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, I got to skate around with Alvin and even though I fell a bunch more times, we both had a blast. I also played arcade games with Alvin and Theodore. I watched Britt and Simon skate, but I couldn't find Eleanor after she delivered my skates. She must have snuck off somewhere...hopefully still in the building.
During a lull in the action, I was able to talk to Miss. Miller about life in the 80s. She talked about a bunch of fun stores that were now out of business. She also talked about how she had to use a landline phone because cell phones back then were only for rich people and they were nothing like cell phones today. She mentioned she auditioned for a talent show once, but she lost to a woman named Missy Snootson. Hehe. That's a funny name, Snootson.
Eventually, my social meter was full and the crowd of skaters was starting to get overwhelming. I retreated into the bathroom to read some Owl House fanfics on my phone to pass the time. I think I missed a lot.
When I ventured back onto the rink, things between Simon and Britt were awkward. Dave was skating with Theo, and both looked shocked. Eleanor looked guilty and Britt looked mad at Eleanor. Alvin was mad, but he wouldn't tell me why he was mad. Something definitely happened. I hope it's explained to me eventually.
The car ride home is really awkward too, which is why I'm taking this time to write in you. Thank you for helping me analyze and understand my complex feelings. I think I'm actually getting better at reading people's emotions, though I still need to work on being less blunt and more tactful. I'm sure I'll figure it out someday.
ELEANOR'S POV
This is the private journal of Eleanor Nichole Miller. Anyone caught touching this will be SORRY!
I didn't have to prepare breakfast today either! Thank goodness, because I was pretty worn out from ALMOST DYING YESTERDAY! Mom made pancakes and she even took the time to make different ones for each of us. (Mine had chunks of banana) I'm surprised she could remember what we all liked because her memory is not that great. It's about as good as her driving record.
After breakfast, we picked out our outfits for the day. Brittany took FOREVER to decide. I wore a white T shirt with a teal sweater-vest and teal striped tie. I also added a mint skirt with a black studded belt and matching black studded wristbands. My skates were black with neon mint stars. I looked like a schoolgirl meets 80s punk rocker. Unique, unforgettable, but barely noticed because of my curse of psychic invisibility.
It was Throwback Thursday today at school. The theme was 1980s fashion. Everyone was dressed up and a ton of students looked like they walked straight out of the show Stranger Things. It was epic! I stuffed my skates in my locker and slipped on a pair of black Mary Janes. There was no way I was wearing my skates all day at school. Only a real dummy would do that. Case in point, my sister Jeanette. She knocked down so many desks and crashed into so many students. Eventually, Alvin offered to link arms with her and try to help her keep her balance. Then, they BOTH bumped into everything. It was kinda hilarious.
I talked with Jeanette at lunch and she boldly asked me if I actually plan on going to the roller rink with everyone or not. It's weird how much of a backbone she has these days. I like it. My sisters and I are becoming really strong and confident girls. I told her I didn't plan to sneak out. I was taking a well needed day long break from the case. Still can't believe I got locked in a freezer yesterday. What kind of detective am I!? Am I in over my head? No, I'm not. This case is just infuriating and once I solve it, I can solve so many other cases.
Home Ec class with Theo went great. I'm glad the Home Ec teacher is back. She had been out sick, but only for a day. I guess she just needed to update her allergy meds. Allergy season is so bad this year. It's like...the middle of January and it's snowed two times, but the ragweed is still in the air! It doesn't affect me, but I have to listen to Jeanette sneezing all night which is NOT pleasant.
Theo and I made a cheesecake and then Theo ate pretty much the whole thing. I should expect that by now, really I should. Together, we hatched a plan to mess with the DJ booth at the roller rink and play love songs to annoy Britt. Granted, Theo wasn't trying to annoy her. He was in it to inspire her to follow her heart. He's sweet, really. I wish I had half the heart Theo does.
The roller rink was packed with people, all dressed for 80s night. Dave was gonna dress as Michael Jackson, but luckily Alvin talked him out of it. There were like 6 other Michael Jacksons anyway haha. I challenged Alvin to some skating tricks and he ignored me. I also remembered to grab Jeanette's skates since she forgot them in her locker. She was so happy. I'm pretty much a hero.
Long before couple's skate was gonna start, Theo and I enacted our plan. He distracted the DJ and then tied him up. Meanwhile, I hacked the computer and played a bunch of overly sappy 80s love songs. I can't remember all of them, but "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" and "Never Gonna Give You Up" were two of them.
Brittany saw me in the booth and gave me a look that could kill. I waved at her. Finally, I got her back for reading my journal. Her face was like a ripe tomato. She even wound up blurting out that she had a crush on Simon, which I did not see coming. Maybe this was too far? I wrecked her plan of breaking the news to him gently and more privately. Oops. Oh well. It's not like she's any stranger to awkwardness.
Am I missing anything? Oh, wait, Mom and Dave skated together. They were both pretty good, but then they tried to dance on skates and that was super embarrassing. I think embarrassment was the emotion of the night. Isn't that what life is like though? Awkward, embarrassing, and messy, but so worth it.
I'm gonna run now. Britt's taking off her skates and I have a feeling she's gonna chase me. I deserve it. I pushed way too far. In fairness, I only meant to annoy her, not force her to blurt out her feelings to Simon loud enough for the entire room to hear. That was fine, wasn't it?
THEODORE'S POV
Dear, Diary,
Today was 80s Day at school! I wanted to start the day with an old school breakfast, so I looked up which cereals were the most popular in the 1980s! Lucky Charms was a big one, so I poured myself a big bowl of Lucky Charms and offered my brothers some. Simon declined it and chose a bowl of the cereal with the tiger on it. Alvin had a giant size bowl of Lucky Charms, which made me kind of jealous cuz that meant he got more marshmallows.
It was a nice sunshiny day, there was still frost on the ground in the morning, but it melted later on. I picked out a nice 80s style outfit that wasn't too over the top. It was a medium shade green shirt and lighter green bubble vest. I chose bright neon blue or...whatever color Alvin calls that, Cyan?, shorts. My skates were neon green with darker green wheels.
Dave wore his pale sky blue Best Dad Ever sweatshirt that I got him for Christmas. That was the same time he got us these diaries. He also wore plain baggy jeans and grey skates with blue wheels. Alvin mocked his outfit for being "boring." I told Dave I didn't think it was boring at all.
School went pretty much the same as it always does, except everyone was wearing really unique looking outfits and they played some music over the PA system at lunch. I saw Alvin limping into the lunch room and asked him how he was feeling. He said he was fine and he could still skate tonight. He acted like it was no biggie, but I got the feeling it was a big big biggie.
Dave packed me some bagel bites for lunch. He said those were super popular when he was a kid, which was in the 80s. I dunno if he was a kid in the early 80s or late 80s. I also had some green beans, since I had extras from my art project. I drank Hawaiian punch to wash it all down. The red kind, AKA the best kind. Alvin thinks the blue kind is the best and Simon swears that the green kind is. It's funny, cuz it's like all our favorite colors are switched when it comes to flavored stuff.
It's true for slushies and candies too. Alvin's favorite flavor is blue raspberry, mine is cherry, and Simon's is green apple. The Chipettes favorite fruity flavors are strawberry, grape, and watermelon. Theirs do match their color schemes, unlike ours. I find that very neat! Don't you? Also, Dave is really allergic to strawberries, but not artificial ones, just real ones.
I thought about sitting with Eleanor for lunch, but she seemed to be having a pretty nice conversation with Jeanette…and I didn't want my green beans to remind her of her unsolved case. I decided to sit with Cheesy who was wearing a tie dye outfit and long haired wig that looked like they came more from the 60s than the 80s. He insisted they were 1980s themed though, and I didn't wanna make him feel bad by telling him he was mistaken. It's not like it was that important.
After lunch, I had more classes and my last class was Home Ec! I love Home Ec so much! I made a cheesecake with Eleanor today and she was so distracted that she let me eat it all. I think she was really excited about the roller rink. She told me that she wanted to sneak into the DJ booth to play surprise romance songs. I thought that was a great idea! That's just what Britt needs to build her confidence and be more comfortable telling Simon how she feels. It'll be like a telenovela!
I'm in the car now on the way to the rink. I'm all set to skate until my legs hurt. I gave Jeanette some of my emergency snack goldfish crackers and dried apple slices. I know she can't eat the pizza at the place cuz of the cheese. It's definitely easier being vegetarian than vegan. I'm glad I'm not Jeanette. I could never give up cheese! Anyway, I have to go. I can't wait to tell you all about 80s roller night!
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That…didn't go as well as I thought it would. It was still fun, I think. I'm not sure whether to list the fun stuff first and end with the bad or list the bad stuff first and end with the fun. Maybe, I'll do a little of each.
It all started off okay. I skated around and around, the music was catchy, things were going well. Alvin and Simon weren't fighting and actually even skated side by side for a small moment. The flashing lights and loud music started to make me dizzy, so I took some breaks to play in the arcade that's connected to the roller rink. It's on the opposite side as the speakers, so the music is nice and quiet over there.
I started to play a game where you race a virtual motorcycle. It was pretty fun. Alvin and Jeanette both came to join me. Then, we played a bunch of other games like Pac Man, which was only one player so we all took turns. Oh! And Space Invaders and Qbert or whatever it's called.
I went to the claw machine after that and I saw this plush fish about the size of my whole arm. It was the perfect cuddle size! I wanted it to remind me about my fishing trip with Dave! The fish was even periwinkle, which is the color of Dave's favorite sweater!
The claw machine was mean to me. I put in so many coins, but every time it would drop the fish just as I was almost to the chute that would let it come out of the machine. I tried over and over and over again. I got frustrated and my anger started to bubble, so I left the machine and went to go get dinner, which was 3 slices of cheese pizza with potato chips crumpled on top.
Alvin came over to me and told me that he could beat the machine for me. I wasn't sure he could, but he managed to prove me wrong. In less than 3 tries he had freed the fish. What should I name my new fish plushie? I dunno yet. I'm just glad I get to keep him instead of longingly staring at the plexiglass prison he was in. I asked Alvin how he did it. He went "oh it's easy. It's all about physics, geometry, and timing." I think he just got lucky. Maybe eating a double bowl of those Lucky Charms gave him super luck!
We're at the part where things start to get a lot worse. Eleanor and I went through with her plan to sneak and play the love songs. She revealed to me that it was meant to be a prank to get back at Britt for reading her journal. I told her that wasn't very nice and I didn't want to be a part of it. It was too late.
Brittany got so caught up in the music that she blurted out she likes Simon in front of everyone. I was really upset with Eleanor for making me a part of the disaster. Luckily, Simon and Britt talked things over and while they haven't decided to make anything official yet, I foresee good things happening for them in the future. I guess this really was like a telenovela after all. Lots of drama and very very awkward. I'm getting a little sleepy so…that's it for tonight.
Wait, one final thought. Eleanor totally deserved being chased around the whole building by Brittany after what she put that poor girl through. I can imagine Brittany feels very conflicted over everything that's happened, and probably still scared Simon will reject her. Hmmm. Maybe I can convince him not to.
SIMON'S POV
This Journal is Property of Simon Oliver Seville
DO NOT TOUCH: ESPECIALLY YOU, ALVIN!
Brittany has a crush on me! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I have been hurt so much by love before. I don't think I'm ready for a girlfriend. Also, it's BRITTANY! Should our relationship become official and then end later on, I would always be awkward around her as a friend. I don't want this. I never wanted this. All I wanted was to try something new and now it's caused my entire life to implode around me!
I don't understand how it came to this! The day started fine. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes and dried apple slices for breakfast, watched an episode of Young Sheldon on demand, and went upstairs to pick out my outfit for Throwback Thursday.
I donned a black sweatshirt with a blue, beamed eighth music note on it. The sleeves of the sweatshirt were also blue, but had the word "music" written all over them in small, black letters. I chose a pair of ripped jean shorts and blue galaxy pattern skates. I decided to mess with Alvin just a bit and picked out a black baseball cap, which I wore backwards. I looked pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
Perhaps my cool looks factored into Brittany asking me out? If that's the case, I should have told her it was a costume. I SHOULD have told her that I wasn't interested at all. Instead, I said I would think about it. THINK ABOUT IT! Why would I do such a stupid thing!? I'm fairly certain basketball isn't making me dumber. That is preposterous! But then why have I made a string of such terrible decisions this week and last?
Okay, back on track. I was looking forward to going to the roller rink after school today. Dave and Miss. Miller had been planning this for ages, it seemed. I was blissfully unaware of what would happen there. School seemed unusually long and repetitive today. I got more texts from my friends but only answered them between classes.
Jeanette wore her skates to school for whatever reason and Alvin tried to help her get around instead of simply taking the skates off and putting them back in her locker. I'm not sure what that was all about. Together, they took quite a few nasty falls. Alvin was limping before too long. By lunch, thankfully, Jeanette had put on normal shoes.
I caught Alvin limping around the cafeteria and told him that maybe he shouldn't skate very much tonight. He insisted his leg was fine, even though it appeared that he either twisted or sprained it. Typical Alvin though, he values having fun over his own safety, always.
By science class, his injury looked even worse. His leg was clearly bruised and he was keeping as much weight off it as possible. I did feel pretty sorry for him. He wanted to skate so much, and had he not felt the need to help Jeanette he would be able to without pain. Then again, Jeanette didn't ask him to help. He brought this on himself.
When School was over, we piled in the car and traveled to the most popular roller rink in town. There was a cacophony of flashing lights and chattering voices inside. I guess 80s night was a larger turnout than I expected. I glided across the floor on my skates, trying to forget my troubles for a few hours. There were no people from the basketball team there, thank goodness. I didn't have to wonder if they would be a terrible influence on me or not, as multiple people have claimed.
My moves on the rink were smooth but the fruit smoothie I got at the concession stand was smoother. Surprisingly, I also got a ton of positive comments on my outfit and baseball cap. Alvin was fuming. I felt bad that he obviously thought I was trying to replace him by choosing this costume. Looking back, maybe part of me was. I asked him if he wanted to skate with me and I slowed my pace to keep up with him and his sore ankle. He's gonna be feeling that tomorrow, I'm sure.
I got the chance to speak with Miss. Miller and Jeanette just a little. I also floated the idea of playing basketball together sometime tomorrow by Dave, who seemed receptive. I wanted to practice basketball a lot, but not always with the team. If they truly did have a bad influence on me, I figured limiting my exposure to them and adding exposure with other friends and family would keep me from falling into bad patterns.
During my break from skating, I watched Jeanette and Alvin play arcade games and saw Theo trying to beat a crane machine. I figured he'd never beat it, as those things are scams. Somehow, he got the plush toy he wanted though. I wonder if he crawled into the slot to get it. That's what I would have done, but I am much thinner than Theo.
Back on the rink, I was minding my own business when the Brittany incident happened. A bunch of sappy 80s love songs that were honestly kind of favorites of mine started to play over the speakers. I didn't think much of it until Brittany skated up to me and shouted that she has a crush on me. It caught me off guard and I nearly fell over.
Okay, well, I should have seen it coming. All her weird behavior as of late makes sense. She asked me if I wanted to skate together, even though we had skated quite close together earlier. All the hints were always there, I was so preoccupied by the science fair thing and basketball thrill that I never gave her weird behavior enough thought.
Now, I have this large predicament. How long will Britt be willing to wait for my answer? Do I want to give it a try? Perhaps, I'm a step Brittany needs to take in order to grow into her best self. I have to decide soon. She's never been all that patient. Maybe we should talk this out again tomorrow.
Also, I forgot to mention. I wanted to talk to Eleanor all night, but I couldn't locate her. I wanted to ask how her case was going, since Jeanette informed me she was acting very shaken up last night. Eleanor was MIA until the end of 80s night when we learned she was behind all the love songs played in a row. Eleanor and Theo apparently already knew of the crush too. Brittany told them. I wish they'd given me a heads up or something. I feel like a fool.
ALVIN 2.0'S POV
"I'm twisted up inside, but nonetheless I feel the need to say. Don't know the future, but the past keeps getting clearer every day. In my mind. Rewind. Be kind. Rewind. — The Goldbergs Theme Song "Rewind"
Dear, glitter covered journal of my secret fears and deepest desires,
HAPPY THROWBACK THURSDAY! HAPPY 80s DAY or whatever you wanna call this day. I've been up since 4am because I am so HYPED! I love going to the roller rink and Dave's taking all of us after school. Really wish we didn't even have to go to school, but it's spirit daaay!
We have a spirit day instead of a week because of me. Last time we had spirit week, there was a day where we could wear costumes of anything we wanted. I dressed like Miss. Smith and did several admittingly unflattering impressions of her. I also convinced Cheesy to dress as Mr. Dotson and Kevin to dress as Coach Dopkins and do the same. It was a RIOT! Now, the whole school is paying the price. Whoops.
I opened my closet and my first thought was that I had nothing to wear! Then, I was like "Wait, hold on! I have so much 80s stuff, practically my whole wardrobe is 80s stuff!" I picked a cyan shirt with a golden A filled with scarlet music notes, crimson shirt underneath, royal blue galaxy shorts, and comic book pattern skates that have all the colors to match the rest of my outfit, plus lime green. Obviously, my cap stayed even though Simon chose to wear a cap of his own.
I admired my reflection, the clothes did little to hide my chipmunky hips, but I looked SUPER RAD! What is the 80s term for that? Bodacious?
I saw Theo eating Lucky Charms and decided that I needed a double helping to propel me through the day. I figure school will be pretty fun. I've always loved 80s nostalgia for whatever reason. Having an 80s day at school followed by 80s night skatin' with my fam is a dream come true! Ohoho!
I'm kinda mad that Simon's dressed super cool today. I think it's a bad sign. Being popular is definitely goin' to his head. Can't openly complain about it though. Everyone will accuse me of bein' jealous. I feel like there's something I'm forgetting today. Oh yeah, science fair stuff. No, wait. I don't have to worry about that today. I deserve a stress break. I'mma write again later, in my backpack ya go. I'll need ya when classes get boring.
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It's been I dunno how many hours. The day's quickly started to decline. Si's been getting so many compliments on his punk bad boy look and I can't stand it! I know he's only wearing that cap backwards to mess with me. And by me, I mean classic me and not 2.0 cuz 2.0 barely cares. But, that's not the only unfortunate occurrence, oh no no no. It wouldn't be my life without at least several. Lucky Charms cereal does not contain actual luck. Or, or, if it does, I am immune to it because of my Alvin curse.
Jeanette couldn't get to her locker to put her skates away until lunch and I decided to be a gentleman and try to help her out. I held her as steady as I could, but we kept getting knocked around by the other students by accident and falling. Gravity is heartless sometimes, ya know? I was really feeling the effects of like 30 falls by lunch.
My ankle was swelling up. I think I may have sprained it or twisted it. It wasn't hurting me that bad though, because of the adrenaline and excitement coursin' through my nervous system. Theo and Si both noticed me limping, but like…I wasn't even aware I was limping. I know it's gonna be completely fine once I'm on the rink. I'll try and not put very much pressure on it until then. Just gonna sit here at my desk and pretend to take notes. I think Simon just peeked at my leg. Oh shoot! Now it's bruised. But. but. does that mean it's actually badly injured? Probably not. I bruise real easy, always have. I break bones easy too. I also heal fairly fast, so it balances out. It won't be long and I will be skatin' my cares away!
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I am feeling so many weird uncomfortable things right now. I dunno where to start. The roller rink started out real fun. I, despite the cumulatively worsening state of my ankle, skated to the music and lost myself in the rhythm of my fave 80s songs. There's too many to name haha! I skated with Jeanette, Theo, Simon, Britt, and even Miss. Miller…who was about as good a roller skater as Jeanette.
At least Jeanette and I stopped falling so much eventually. I think she was starting to get the hang of it. She does skateboard, and it's like I always say, "roller skating is like having two skateboards strapped to your feet." By the way, I taught Netta how to skateboard, so I'm confident I can make her a pro roller queen too.
Dave was embarrassing me with his dance moves, so I decided to show the other skaters how it's done. I did some flips and twirls and even skated backwards. Then, my ankle gave out and I was forced to get off the rink before anyone knew.
I got some snacks and a giant blue raspberry slushie. As I sipped on that, I watched a group of random hot girls swooning over Simon. Urgh. I told myself they were only swooning because I was already taken and Si's the next best thing in their feeble, easily manipulated minds.
Disgusted and also impressed by Si's moves, I decided to head to the arcade. Netta, Theo and I played Pac Man, Space Invaders, some weird motorcycle race game, and so much more. Eventually, the games stopped stimulating me enough and I returned to the rink.
My leg was still sore, so I skated slowly. Ellie came up and scared the crud outa me. She challenged me to a skate off. As much as I wanted to, I knew for a fact that if I tried more tricks and faster skating, my ankle would be screaming at me to stop the whole time. I declined and she accused me of being a chicken. Seething, I shoved classic aside temporarily before his influence could take over and force me to agree to her challenge.
I went back to the arcade after a while and helped Theo win a fish plush with my awesome physics skills. Claw machines ain't got nothin' on me. The fish reminded me that I was still jealous that Theo and Dave had a cool bonding experience yesterday and Dave still hasn't been able to approve a single science project of mine.
I didn't stew on that for long. I wound up searching for Jeanette as 80s love songs started playing. They reminded me, I wanted to skate and dance with her. If I was busy with her, no one else would think to challenge me to a skate off.
I bumped into Britt, which was super awkward given the romantic music playing and our past. She got ticked off and shoved me, causing me to fall on my bad ankle. As I limped discretely off the rink, I heard Britt shout that she has a crush on Simon. SAY WHAT NOW!? Since when? What does this mean!?
Thankfully, he didn't give her a clear answer yet. He needs time to think. We ALL need time to think. Simon and Britt dating would be good though, wouldn't it? It would make sure she's off my back and only sees me as a friend. But Simon and Britt would also become the school's most popular IT couple. Aside from making me feel like more of a loser, that would be a lot of pressure put on Simon. (who is already under so much peer pressure as "STAR BASKETBALL PLAYER.") He tends to crack pretty bad under pressure. I'm talking full on nervous breakdown.
The car ride home was probably the most awkward one we've ever had. Jeanette missed everything cuz she was reading fanfics in the bathroom. I feel really guilty cuz had I not turned down Ellie's challenge she would have been busy with that and not messed with the music. That got to Britt's head and caused Britt to say what she did in the way she did.
I'm confused, which isn't anything new, I guess. I feel so overwhelmed and now I'm overthinking and I really really need sleep, but how can I sleep when I'm becoming more and more of a loser each day. I don't even have the science fair. I have NOTHING! Help me. Please, someone. Help me. I need a frackin' miracle.
My voice is back to cracking cuz of the stress. My pants are all still tight, but what's the point buying new ones if all this extra girth just goes away come springtime? The only good thing I can think of is that my memory has been great recently. Consistently. I wonder what that's all about. It's been on the rise since fall.
Oh, wait, I remember reading something about squirrels and chipmunks in one of the biology books at Netta's place. Apparently, the hippocampus in their brains, (which helps with memory) grows 15% larger in fall and winter. That's why they always remember where they bury their nuts. I stick my nuts in a cupboard in the house, but I wonder if I can somehow hack this 15% improved memory and use it to make a bangin' science fair project. Maybe hope isn't lost after all. Except for Simon, cuz regardless of whether he says "yes" or "no" to dating Britt, she will make him MISERABLE.
Alrighty! That's a wrap on this fun day! Been building to it for a loooong time.
Originally, I wanted to make the Chipettes dress exactly like their 80s selves, but I thought invoking the style of the outfit with a bit of an original twist was more fun. Their looks are "inspired by" but not exact.
The longer this story goes, the more challenging it becomes to write. I guarantee I have unknowingly introduced some plot holes or discontinuity because of the sheer stress on my brain of working through a single day in 6 different viewpoints. If you catch any glaring mistakes or things I forgot to follow up on or story threads that I dropped suddenly with no explanation, please message me and let me know or mention it in a review so I can possibly go back and correct it. Thanks!
Chapter 17 is going to be all about Decisions and then we'll get to take a fun break for the weekend chapters. There is a little over a week remaining until the final chapter. Can I pull it off? You'll see...and so will I.