Chapter 23: Gullible Jeanette

NEXT MORNING

Jeanette awoke to the sound of birds singing outside, she opened her eyes with a smile, and then realized that she was still in Simon's basement. 'Oh nuts, it's almost dawn.' She gasped as she thought to herself.

Without trying to disturb Simon's peaceful slumber she got up. It was a little tricky since Simon had his arm over her waist, but she managed to carefully lift it while she slid to her left and off the couch. She was about to reach for the window when she heard Simon's voice let out a groan. "Jeanette?" he asked.

She turned and saw Simon looking up at her like he just did something horribly wrong. Jeanette wanted him to know that he didn't do anything wrong and walked back to bend down and kisses him on the lips. When the young lovers pulled away from each other, Simon felt he needed to apologize.

"I'm sorry if I've hurt you."

"No, you haven't." Again she kissed him on the forehead. "I hold no regrets." She places a hand on his cheek and gives him a reassuring smile. "I love you, Simon."

"I…love you too."

Jeanette then got up and crawled out the window and Simon rolled over to find the bottle of Whisky that Jeanette put aside last night and took a drink from it. He hated waking up with the pain caused by the chemical imbalance of his enhanced brain. "What is wrong with me?" He asked himself. Simon knew all too well, that he wasn't acting like his normal self, he felt bad for what he did to Jeanette. It took so much for him to hide the pain from Jeanette, even though Simon loved his family and Jeanette, he knew that he would not survive much longer if he stayed.

He figured that he'd wait until the pain settles down before going upstairs to clean up and of course confront his family about returning home late, again. Dave was forgiving the other night due to the fact he had lost his friend and had to go calm down Tom. This time was different. He had a curfew and had to be home no later 11pm. Simon was sure Dave was not going to be so lenient, and could just hear the lecture he will receive. But that was the least of Simon's problems. He still was not sure how he was going to tell them about the fact that he's dying and is not sure how much longer he may have left to live.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

THE MILLER'S HOME,

Jeanette made it inside her home and upstairs without making a sound. She goes into the bathroom and washes up and brushes her teeth, mainly to get rid of the Whisky taste and smell from her mouth. Carefully, she then tip-toes in her bedroom and climbs under her covers ever so quietly that she wouldn't disturb her two sisters that are sleeping in the beds beside hers.

She was about to take off her glasses and place them on the table beside her bed, when she heard Brittany's voice spoke up in a grumpy tone.

"Did you have a good time?"

Jeanette nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She yelped and turned to face her sister that was leaning against her pillow.

"B-B-Brittany. I'm sorry if woke you."

"Don't bother apologizing. I barely slept all night."

"You were worried about me?" Jeanette replied in a surprising tone as she placed her glasses back on her face. She had never seen her sister look so concerned towards anyone before.

"Of course I was worried about you. You're my sister." Brittany speaks as she sits up in a full upright position.

"Where were you Jeanette?" Eleanor said as lifted her head from her pillow. Obviously she too was already awake when Jeanette came in.

"I was on a date with Simon. We went to a movie."

"We know that! Where did you go after the movie?" Brittany asked. She hopped off her bed and wondered up to her young, klutzy sister.

"Well, we walked to the park and ran into Tom and Renee there." Jeanette said nervously. She hated being corned like this.

"Then what?" Eleanor butted in. She also got up and walked over to her sister's bed, especially when she heard Tom and Renee's names…the ones that Simon was told to stay away from.

"Then we talked for a bit, and then Simon and I left." Jeanette took a deep sigh and wished that this discussion would just end.

"Where did you guys go afterwards?" Brittany said in a hurried tone.

"We decided to talk for a bit, so we went to Simon's old laboratory in the basement of his home."

Brittany and Eleanor looked at each other with suspicion of what might have happened in that basement. Then they both looked at Jeanette and could tell that she was leaving something out in her story.

"What exactly did you two do down in the basement?" Eleanor asked.

"N-n-nothing! We just talked. …And then we fell asleep. I woke up just when the birds began to sing and came home." Jeanette was beginning to feel so nervous that she started to fidget with her hands.

"Jeanette, don't lie to us!" Brittany barked.

"Just tell us what happened, Jeanette. We'll understand." Eleanor said in a nurturing, but concerned tone.

Jeanette bit her bottom lip, she suddenly felt dirty and uncomfortable. "We kissed." She slowly began to admit in a very quiet tone. "Then one thing sort of lead to another and…" She started to have problems filling in the rest. She turned away nervously and looked at the floor.

"Are you saying that you two…" Eleanor tried to say it but the words couldn't really come out either. Jeanette looked up at her younger sister and just nodded at her.

"You did 'it'?" Brittany interrupted in a shocked tone. "Oh, Jeanette! How can you be so gullible?"

"No, you don't understand!" Jeanette protested.

"What's there not to understand? Simon took advantage of you!"

"No, h-he didn't, Brittany! He wouldn't do that!" The tears began to escape from Jeanette's face.

"I'm betting he would, Jeanette! He changed! He's not the same Simon we knew five years ago. I mean think about it, he drinks, smokes, cuts classes, who knows…maybe he's doing drugs too! Five years ago he'd never do any of those things. I kept telling you that your compassion for everyone will end up getting you into trouble someday…now look, I was right!" Brittany preached.

"Simon and the others are dying, ok!" Jeanette blurted not knowing what else to say. "The 'Founders' from the Island did something to their brains to make them even smarter. Simon and the others are suffering now, because they cannot receive some stuff that would help stabilize the chemicals in their bodies! They already lost two of their friends because of this. If they are unable to come up with a cure soon they could all die!"

"So he's making up stories to fulfill his desires now? Not only that, but using the deaths of the other two chipmunks from that island as an excuse to gain sympathy?" Needless to say, Brittany was not impressed with any of this.

"No!!" Jeanette began to wail. She covered her face in shame as more tears fell from her eyes.

"It's ok, Jeanette. We all make mistakes." Eleanor said trying to comfort Jeanette while sitting beside her and stroking her back.

Brittany stopped when she realized that she was hurting her sister more. She leaned over and places her hand on Jeanette's other shoulder. "I think it would be best if you wouldn't see Simon anymore. He's done enough damage to himself. There is no sense in letting him try to drag you down with him."

Brittany waited until Jeanette stopped crying long enough to look up at her before continuing. "You know I'm right, Jeanette. Look, I'm sorry. I just wish that this didn't happen to you. But we all learn our lessons the hard way."

Jeanette hung her head as she continued to cry. She knew Simon wouldn't make up a lie like that, no matter how much he has changed on the outside. 'Brittany doesn't understand what Simon and his friends are going through. Not only that, Simon and the others will be leaving back to the Island tonight.' She thought. Jeanette didn't want to say anything more in fear that her sisters would hold it against her, so the three of them just sat on her bed until Jeanette could stop crying.