Wednesday
Monday and Tuesday had been great days for Alvin. Two more days of basketball were played, and the freshmen asked him if he wanted to eat lunch with them. He, of course, said yes.
If Alvin didn't know before, he knew now: They were the good friends.
They told Alvin all about themselves—funny stories, previous relationships, and much more. Alvin, however, stayed quiet. He most certainly had his fair share of funny stories and drama within relationships, but he wasn't proud of it all.
He knew eventually he would have to talk about himself; he just didn't want to do it. It would do no good.
The bell signaled the end of 3rd period and the beginning of lunch, so Alvin grabbed his lunch and embarked toward the cafeteria. He wasn't sure where his friends were sat, but they told him that their table would be very recognizable.
So Alvin stood in the cafeteria for a moment, trying to find either his friends or a highly recognizable table. And this time, he didn't care what others thought of his standing in the middle of the cafeteria. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and the cafeteria was big. It should take Alvin a moment to find his true friends.
It was the first time in a long time that Alvin observed the layout of the cafeteria. It was much different than how he last saw it. But it wasn't any different than how he expected it to be.
The chipmunks and his ex-"friends" all moved to different tables. They moved to a larger table, so that Albert, Alvin's brothers, Alvin's ex-"friends," and the chipettes could all fit at one table.
He sighed, and didn't dare to investigate further. Instead, he continued looking around at the cafeteria, and he found his new friends waving at him, signaling that they were over there.
His friends were correct when they said that their table was very recognizable. It wasn't so much the table, rather what the table was against that made it so recognizable.
The majority of the cafeteria was painted a white-beige color over the bricks. The wall their table was against, however, was painted a bright orange, which really made it stand out. There were plaques of that staff on that wall, so the school must've wanted the plaques to stand out, thereby painting the wall a different color.
"Hey Alvin," Peter greeted when he arrived at the table. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Alvin replied as he sat down in his spot. "Why do you ask?"
"Your mind seemed to be wandering as we were waving to you."
"I was just thinking about some stuff," Alvin shrugged. "Anyways, uh, how are you guys?"
"What kind of stuff?" James asked, ignoring Alvin's question. "I saw you looking at the dragon fruits."
"The dragon fruits?"
"Oh yeah, it's our slang for popular kids," Thomas explained, but he saw that Alvin was still confused. "It's 'cause dragon fruit looks really cool and appealing on the outside, but the taste is actually bland. Bitter, if anything."
They were absolutely right. The "cool" kids life may seem awesome on the outside, but on the inside, there's nothing amazing to be had—only disappointment, if anything.
"Ah," Alvin exclaimed, "that makes sense. I gotta agree with you on that one."
"But why were you looking at them for so long?"
"I don't know," Alvin sighed, "I'm just angry, I guess."
Peter looked a little concerned. "At what? Do you wish you were still popular?"
"No, not at all," Alvin chuckled a little. He was over the 'spotlight' craze he once had. He matured now, at least he hoped so. "I just feel bad for my brothers."
"Why? They seem to be enjoying themselves."
"But it's like they've been changed, and not for the better, in my opinion. Like you said with the dragon fruit, I think they're mesmerized by the popular life, and don't realize how lonely it really is there. And what's worse, I have virtually no relationship with them anymore," Alvin admitted.
"Not even Brittany?"
Alvin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh man, she's the worst right now."
"Really?"
Alvin wasn't going to tell his friends about what happened to him at first, but he honestly wanted to get his thoughts off his chest. It had been a while since he told a friend—or therefore friends—all his troubles. And he knew he could rely on these friends. So he explained his troubles and his frustrations.
"Yeah. We had a fight and broke-up by the time Albert showed up. And I don't know what he did to her, but she's been all over him," Alvin ranted. "I don't even think she's thought of me in the past weeks. Truly, I've been replaced."
"Are you sure?"
"How many times will you ask? I'm positive!" Alvin huffed. "Right now, if you were to ask her about me, she'll just say, 'Oh, Alvin? Yeah, I used to have a thing with him.' Something like that, at least. Even though we were together for three years, and we've only been broken-up for a little while, it's like I'm a distance memory! Though, my brothers don't act much different."
"If you say so," James shrugged.
"Why?"
"Well she's looking over here at you. And she's smiling."
Alvin turned around, and he immediately saw Brittany. They made eye contact, and she quickly looked away. Alvin was confused, and turned around also.
He would have just thought that she was looking at the plaques behind him, but when he turned around again, he caught her looking at him. She, however, looked away once again. Too far away to see a facial reaction, he sighed.
He turned back around to his friends. "Hey guys? Odd question, but can you tell me when Brittany's looking at me?"
His friends agreed, and a few moments later, they said, "Hey, Alvin? She's looking at you."
He put his hand over his face, confused at what was going on. She had to be looking at him: there was no one else she could be looking at. He honestly felt as though he was in middle school again, playing a stupid game like this.
But before he could look back again, the bell rang, and she was already gone. That, Alvin thought, was very strange.
A Few Hours Later
And it only got stranger for Alvin. It completely slipped his mind that he had his last two classes with Brittany. Would she be the same?
She could've been looking at him in their last classes for the past weeks, he supposed. He couldn't really see Brittany from where he sat, and there was little reason for him to turn around to look at Brittany.
When class started, Alvin slyly turned his head to see if Brittany was looking at him, but she was not. He did it again a few moments later, but she still was concentrating on the teacher.
Maybe it was breaking some social code, but Alvin would be lying if he said that he didn't wish Brittany was looking at him. And he'd be lying if he said that his heart didn't sink a little when he noticed she was not.
He continued on with class until the teacher wanted a student to go to the classroom next door and ask for a stapler, as she couldn't find one in her room. Alvin volunteered to go, but the teacher called on someone else to go, and on went the lesson.
Alvin felt someone was staring at him, though, and he looked around the classroom. It should come as little surprise that it was Brittany.
Alvin considered himself lucky, as there was a mirror by the front of the classroom that, when looked at from Alvin's perspective, one could see Brittany's and someone else's desks. So, with no creepiness intended, Alvin could see how long she was looking at him.
When he focused on the mirror, he almost saw...admiration in her eyes, which made no sense, because a few weeks prior, she had nothing but hate and disgust for him.
However, the student quickly returned with a stapler, and quickly Brittany turned away. It was moments like these that would continue on and on for the rest of the day.
Alvin's mind must've been playing tricks on him. It's not as though he and Brittany have never met, and Brittany clearly had no interest in him, so why was she acting like this?
Unless...something has changed.
