Friday Morning

Friday morning came, and life was looking up for Alvin. The weekend was coming, he completed all of his homework, and it was the end of the first month of school. Only eight months to go.

If he could just get things sorted out with Brittany, there would be nothing to bring Alvin down.

Alvin was the last to wake up, and consequently, was the last to leave the house. It always was a struggle getting Alvin out the door at a decent time, although he never made anyone late, something he prided himself on. On Fridays, however, Alvin would have a little more "pep in his step" as he walked out the door. The weekend!

Typically, his and Brittany's fights would go something like this: Alvin and Brittany would show up at school not speaking to one another. Their friends would quickly find out but not want to associate with the drama. Alvin and Brittany would find out that everything was "boring" without their arguments. Something would happen that caused Alvin and Brittany to get into an argument. Then, even though nothing was said about it, they would make-up.

And that's exactly how it started in the morning. Dave dropped the chipmunks off at school, and they quickly met up with their counterparts. Well, Simon and Theodore met up with their counterparts. Alvin and Brittany dropped their bag off at their lockers and grabbed supplies for their 1st period, which they didn't share.

And oh boy was there tension! But both held their ground, no words—much less apologizes—were said.

Simon and Jeanette, and Theodore and Eleanor, did share 1st periods, respectively, so they walked their counterparts to their rooms. But Alvin met with his other friends, Brittany met with her other friends, and that was the end. No goodbye, no hug, no kiss...nothing.

When Alvin arrived at his classroom, he saw kids studying, kids talking about the new movies, and kids sitting on the desks making a ruckus. Naturally, he joined with the latter.

"Yooo, Alvin!" his friend, Xavier, greeted, giving Alvin a bro-hug. "What's good, my man?"

"Well I got in another fight with Brit," Alvin sighed, "but I think she'll chill soon."

"Aw man, really?" his other friend, Knox, commented.

"Yeah, it's all good though."

And that was the end of that. They continued with their conversation until their third friend, Julian, joined them.

"I got some big news," he announced to his friends. "So I was walking from my locker here, right?"

He heard a chorus of "yeahs." Everyone in their group paid close attention. People didn't say they had "big news" for nothing: something was going down.

"And I hear talk 'bout a new student, which made no sense 'cause who joins a new school on Friday?"

"He's a genius, actually," Xavier commented, "cause after today, he's got a weekend to look forward to, not four more days of school."

Alvin knew there was more to the story, though. That wasn't enough.

"Could be," Julian said, "but here's the crazy part: he's a chipmunk."

A new chipmunk? He, his brothers, and their counterparts all thought that they were the last ones, but another one? At this school?

For the first time in years, Alvin felt threatened. Was this the end of Alvin as he knew it? Was Alvin a chipmunk that was cool, or was it cool that he was a chipmunk?

Alvin, however, quickly thought it was silly of himself. His brothers were not inherently unpopular, but Alvin was definitely higher than them. Brittany was popular too, but it's hard to measure popularity between guys and girls.

But Alvin was popular because Alvin was Alvin...right?

"You know what classes he's got?" Knox asked.

Julian shook his head. "No idea, man. I think I saw him heading toward the Science lab, though. Can't remember which one, though."

There were many labs in the building—there were some for biology and some for chemistry. Alvin remembered that Brittany had chemistry, and Jeanette and Simon had biology. So, through one chipmunk or another, the new arrival will be treated by one of his kind.


Friday Afternoon

Alvin's next two classes also didn't have the new chipmunk. And even when he talked to his friends and brothers, no one had gotten to know the new chipmunk. However, his brothers and the chipettes—excluding Brittany, he didn't know about her yet—had the same interest as him in the new chipmunk.

He hadn't yet talked to Brittany. They only shared their last two classes—6th and 7th period. He would, without doubt, see her during lunch, but he doubted Brittany and he would talk.

There was no set place where Alvin would sit for lunch. Some days he would sit with his brothers and the chipettes, others he would sit with his other friends. Only one time did he do something else: his and Brittany's one year anniversary. His second and third anniversaries were on the weekend—obviously no school to have another "lunch" date.

He had received much urging from his brothers and Dave to do something special for Brittany. And Alvin wasn't a romantic, so school lunch was the best thing he could think of. It wasn't really a romantic lunch or anything, just a regular school lunch with only himself and Brittany. But he definitely was more of a boyfriend on that day than any other.

After he got his lunch, he located his school friends, but not the chipettes or his brothers. They could all be doing their own thing, Alvin figured, so he might as well eat lunch with his friends.

"Hey boys, what's up?"

They all greeted him, and their conversations started. Very quickly, however, the new chipmunk was the topic of the conversation. Knox had supposedly seen him.

"What was he like?" Julian asked. "Tall, short? Wide, thin? Strong, weak? Chill, nerdy? Good-looking, ugly?"

"Calm down, Julian!" Knox exclaimed. "I don't know, he was exactly how you'd expect...I don't know, a chipmunk!"

Alvin tried to appear not interested, but he was deeply invested in the conversation. Much to his dismay, the topic was dropped pretty quickly. To his friends, it was only an interesting thing. But to Alvin, it was a shock to his whole world.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he found his brothers and the chipettes, Brittany included.

Yet...something was wrong. Alvin wasn't the best at math, but he did pass it last year. There should be five chipmunks at the table, as Alvin wasn't there. But he saw six chipmunks!

Until he realized: Green, Light Green, Blue, Purple, Pink...Orange?

The new chipmunk had already made his mark among his brothers and chipettes.

So, he knew, he must go over there, and stand his ground.