Chapter 6: A Chipmunk's Birthday!
The next day after our so called classes, we met at the Smoke Pit as usual. The Chipmunks have made it a habit to join us almost every night even if it was one or two of them, but they came in a group most of the time. The boys and I didn't mind. In fact, we found having them around was quite refreshing.
That night, however, there seemed to be an unusual silence coming from the Chipmunks. Normally they are more at ease when they get the chance to get away from the Founders. But for some reason they appear almost sad. I didn't sense any of them being whipped, or punished in anyway by the Founders.
All I knew that something was on their minds, and I really wanted to know what that was, so I could see if I was able to help them in any way. That's when I noticed each of the Chipmunks would quickly glance up at the youngest of the group, Simon. He, indeed, seemed sadder then any of the others.
I walked up to Simon to see if I could get any answers. "What's wrong? You're usually more at ease when you're away from the campus?" I asked him, giving him a friendly nudge.
"Oh, don't mind me…I'm alright, really." He told me, before releasing a sigh.
I could tell he was hiding something though; it was the tone in his voice. When I looked around and saw the concern looks from the other Chipmunks. I had a feeling that they knew what was bothering their friend, but decided to keep it to themselves. If anyone is going to keep secrets in this group, it's going to be me. I was becoming more intrigued with what was bothering Simon and if I really wanted to know what it is, then I had to get him to trust me more.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" I kept gazing down at him until he would look up at me. As soon as did look up and I was able to look into his eyes. There was great distress written all over them.
Simon let out another exasperated sigh before he finally spoke, "It's my birthday today." He said barely auditable.
A birthday? I thought to myself in almost in an irritated fashion. This long face for a birthday?
I had stopped thinking about my own birthday because it would distract me from my goals on the Island. Most of the other students of the Island did the same, but most of them ended up as slaves to the Founders Cause. That was when I collected myself again and realized that there was more to his story. I was curious to find out what that was.
"Something tells me that there is more to why you are upset, Simon. Perhaps you would feel better if you talked about it?" I told him, calmly.
"Well…" He started, but trailed off, as if unsure what he wanted to say it. "It's also my brother's birthdays too. We are what you might call, triplets. I'm trying to remember the fun times we would have had," A slight smile formed in the corner of his mouth. "My older brother Alvin would demand most of the attention, and of course, most of the presents."
"This did not bother you, did it?" I said, noticing the calm and contentment in his voice as he spoke of his family like this. He shook his head and allowed himself to grin more.
In the corner of my eye, I noticed Renee and Brenda whispering to each other before getting up to run off in the field. I felt that they would not wonder far, but still I felt it would be necessary to have one of the boys escorting them. By using telepathy, a technique I have perfected quite well, I told Mark to go after the girls and watch over them. The oriental teen nodded at me before getting up to head in the direction of the girls. With that taken care off, I brought my attention back to Simon's story.
"What else is on your mind, Simon?" I kept the conversation going, to help Simon ease off the lonely feeling.
"My younger brother, Theodore."
"Oh?"
"He would always go for the cake. One time Alvin got so carried away with wanting to count all his presents that he didn't realize he bumped into poor Theo and had the cake all over Theodore's face." Simon chuckled.
"What about you?" I said smiling at the innocence of this young one's story.
"Me? I would always enjoy the moment with my family. It would not bother me that I wouldn't receive the most gifts or the biggest piece of cake. Our father, Dave, always tried to make sure we all got everything we wanted. I love my family, Mary. They were my foundation. It's no surprise I miss them so much." He finished with a slight choke of emotion in his voice as tears blinded Simon.
I realized then that Simon was least affected by the Founder's brainwash by showing the fact that he still holds on to the past. I was becoming more intrigued with this young Chipmunk. He defiantly showed great promise. Gently, I reached over to stroke his cheek in a sisterly manner. This seemed to comfort him. Instinctively, he started to lean into my touch. Simon appeared to become more relaxed and better that he was able to tell his past in the open.
All of sudden Renee and Brenda came back giggling. Mark also returned wearing a smirk on his face. The girls both threw a flower necklace over Simon's head, leaned over and each kissing him on either side of his cheeks. "Happy Birthday, Simon!" They both chimed at once.
Simon instantly blushed. Tom let out a howls of laughter, while Brian picked up a few grains of grass to throw on to Simon's head as if it were confetti.
"Hey," Tom then started to say in a serious tone as he made his way up to Simon's face until their noses almost touched. The eldest Chipmunk's serious look softened with a wide grin. "Where's my kiss?" He teased and winked.
Simon began laughing as he pushed his friend away from his face. "No offence, Tom, but you're not my type!"
I found myself smiling at this scene. When I looked over to Jeff, Mark, and Rob I saw that they too were enjoying the Chipmunks innocent charm to help there friend feel better.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a drink right about now." Jeff said as he got up. He dug out our secret stash of alcohol. An unsettling feeling was felt in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know if it was wise to expose alcohol to the Chipmunks. The side effects might not be good. But it was too late for me to say anything.
Jeff handed Simon one of the bottles. "Here you go, Birthday Boy. You first."
There was a slight hesitation in Simon's discussion to take the first sip or not. He looked over to Tom as if he would have the best choice to make. "Hey, it's not like we have anything to live for anymore!" He said bluntly.
Simon then looked up to me. I ended up staring into his steel grey/blue eyes. They appeared so innocent as he was looking for a second opinion from me. I wanted to tell him that it would be a mistake to do this. He was still way too young to experiment with alcohol. It was bad enough that we had him and the other Chipmunks start up on smoking. But I reminded myself that we did that to save them from being destroyed by the Founders.
There was only one thing I could say. "It's your choice." I said hoping he would turn away the bottle.
Simon looked back at the bottle in his hand. He shrugged before deciding to take his first gulp from the bottle. After his first swallow Simon pulled the bottle away from his mouth and made a face of discussed. "Yuck!" He blurted. I almost wanted to laugh, but instead I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Simon quickly glanced at my hand before taking another sip out of the bottle then handed it to Tom, who waited eagerly to try it.
Meanwhile, Mark handed me a bottle that was already opened and like a natural reflects I took a sip. Before I realized hours went by and we were all very drunk. The young Chipmunks had no problem dancing and singing and making the rest of us laugh. We all wished the night would never end. But eventually, it did.
A clear sign of the party ending came when I realized that Simon was feeling noshes. He started crawling to a nearby bush. It wasn't soon after that he started throwing up.
I looked at the boys, and they agreed that the party was defiantly over. Apparently Simon wasn't the only one feeling sick after their drinking binge. The other Chipmunks were also starting to throw up, and wonder away from the group. Jeff decided to stay with Simon, whom has now passed out behind the bush, while the rest of us collected the others and sneak them back to the campus.
I managed to get the girls and the three of us made it back to their quarters without being seen. Mark and Rob had a little problem controlling Brian's slight temper but were able to calm him down while helping Tom walk normally.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
It would be an hour and a half before have to wake up for the morning assembly I wondered how the Chipmunks were going to handle it. This would be their first hang over. All I knew was that I would have to try to focus my mind to block the Founders from realizing that we were parting last night. Through out the whole day the Chipmunks had an enormous headache, but managed to survive with my help.