Ok, I'm a day late. Don't hate me, please. It IS the holiday season after all. Tomorrow is Chirstmas! (Which is why most of you probably won't be reading this until next week, or something like that.)
So if any of you will recall a few chapters earlier, there were still a few loose ends in the anger department. That's all tied together here. And, if you couldn't already tell, after this chapter we'll be in the home stretch. Are you wondering just how many pages (from Word 2007) you've read so far? Well, that's a secret. But you are already in the sixties my dears. (Which is one fourth of the length of The Lessons They Teach, for anyone that cares to know that). Just a little interesting tidbit for you all.
And, if you haven't already: Go to my DA page (the link is on my profile) and check out the SURPRISE from last chapter. (It shouldn't be too hard to figure it out...one, if you've read that chapter (which you should have, unless your a weirdo that skips chapters and therefore misses BIG events in my stories because even little things have important parts in my stories) you'll figure it out just by looking, and two, it's called Surprise...both for you and the kids in the picture.)
AND: (Yes, another and.) I still need a Theo/Ellie duet. I simply cannot post the next chapter until I find a good one! (I know, the duet is going to be in chapter 15/16, but I'd like to actually write those chapters before posting the next one.)
AND DON'T FORGET: Sign my petition to let Ross and Janice know that we want to see more of the cartoon Chipmunks (and not just the old episodes either...the Chipmunk Adventure needs to be shown on TV as well as the fact that they need to make more).
Switched
Chapter 13 – How a Sister Apologizes
Jeanette held the necklace out, still staring in disbelief. It was so beautiful, and now she was holding it in her own two hands. Usually she didn't really care that much towards trivial things like jewelry, but she was a girl after all. Some things really did make her jaw drop with instant adoration. And now she was holding it. Simon was such an angel!
First buying her and Ellie ice cream, then pulling out the necklace…It made her blush thinking about it. She'd been so happy that she hadn't been able to talk all the way back to the Seville residence. Simon had almost thought she was upset, but she flashed him a smile with a cute little 'sorry, no Seville Chipmunks allowed here, remember?' as they'd reached the gate and the girls headed up for the house. Simon had been the one that had left speechless, amazed at how happy Jeanette was.
But the real cuteness went on between Ellie and Theo. They'd found that there wasn't enough money each get their own sundae (especially with all the toppings they liked), so they agreed to get one extra-large sundae and split it. While Simon was trying to figure out how exactly to present his present to Jeanette, Eleanor and Theodore were scooping up the ice cream together, Eleanor dabbing off some chocolate that Theodore got on his face. It was certainly adorable.
Now the only matter was Brittany and Alvin. No…Alvin was fine. Brittany was the problem. She shut up the box, putting it carefully in her suitcase. There would be no occasion to wear it over the next week anyway. She had been keeping her own tabs on the polls, so it hadn't been a surprise when Simon had given the girls the bad news. 80 percent wasn't going to change in four days. Three, technically. The fourth day would be Thanksgiving itself.
Both girls jumped a little when they heard a light knocking on their door, but neither of them budged. Was it Dave or was it Brittany? Whoever it was didn't speak, so the girls stayed planted to their beds as the knock sounded again. Finally, Eleanor spoke up. "Who is it?"
"It's me!" they heard their sister on the other side. They quickly glanced at each other, then rolled over on their beds.
"We don't want to talk to you right now." Eleanor's face had scrunched up into a scowl as she found it easy to say no to Brittany, but Jeanette was having a hard time not running over and letting her sister in. There was a pit in her stomach that told her that Brittany had learned her lesson already.
On the other side of the door, Brittany rubbed the jewel hanging around her neck as she thought of what to do. They didn't want to talk to her, but that didn't mean she couldn't talk to them. And what was the best way for a sister to apologize? Sucking in a deep breath, she plunged into a song.
"Hey girl, I just called to tell you hi.
Call me when you get this.
Haven't talked lately, so hard to find the time.
Give the boys a big kiss.
Tell them that I miss them,
And by the way I miss you too.
I was thinking just today
About how we used to play
Barbie dolls and make-up, tea parties, dress up.
I remember how we'd fight
Then make up and laugh all night.
My sisters, my friends."
Jeanette couldn't take it anymore. She jumped off her bed and hurried over to the door, only to feel Eleanor's hand on her arm. As she turned around, she could see her pig-tailed little sister shaking her head. "Let her keep singing," Eleanor said.
"Oh yeah before I forget:
I met someone.
I think I really like him.
I was just wondering if I'm jumping the gun
By going out on a limb."
Jeanette broke from her little sister's grasp as her elder sister sang, throwing open the door and singing two lines to convey that she understood what Brittany meant. Her sister wouldn't have been able to sing that if she hadn't made up with Alvin.
"Invite him home for Christmas
To meet the family."
Then it was Ellie's turn to jump in
"Seems like just yesterday
You brought home oh-what's-his-name.
He had been drinking,
What were you thinking?
After he passed out
We can laugh about it now."
Brittany giggled as she took her sisters' hands, singing the next line.
"I've learned a lot since then."
Jeanette and Eleanor pulled back, catching a little bit of something in her eyes. Weather it was happiness or deceptiveness, they couldn't tell.
"My sisters, my friends."
Brittany watched as they backed away with uncertainty, and her eyes dropped as she meekly continued the song.
" Do you think you come and see me sometime soon ?
We could just hang out like we used to."
As she glanced up, she saw that they weren't even standing in the doorway anymore. It hurt her to see them gone, but she knew they could still hear her. At the very least she could try to continue with her Reba-style apology.
"It's late and I should go,
But I can't hang up the phone
Until I tell you what I don't tell you enough."
She jumped about a foot in the air as she heard her sisters singing from behind her.
" Even though at times it seems we were more like enemies,
I'd do it all again."
Brittany spun around and leaped to hug them.
"My sisters, my friends.
Oh my sisters, my friends."
She let a few tears roll down her face as she let the end of the song hang in the air before speaking. "I thought you guys had decided to ignore me!"
"That's what you get for staring at the ground," Jeanette teased.
"I didn't think I stared at it that long…"
"So did you and Alvin make up?" Eleanor pressed, wanting to get straight to the point.
"Of course we did!" Brittany held up the jewel around her neck as proof, which only got her sister's to groan. "We talked the whole thing over. Everything. I'm going to be more fair from now on."
"Well that certainly good news," Jeanette said, trying to get Eleanor to let up.
"And what about Theodore and Simon?"
"I take back everything I said about them," Brittany said instantly. "I was just so mad that you guys didn't seem to understand why I was upset! It was wrong of me to insult them." Both of her sisters stared in shock.
"Um…can you say that again?" Jeanette said. "I think what's left over from my cold made that sound funny…" Brittany merely smirked and raised her voice.
"I said 'I take everything back and that it was wrong of me to insult them'!" She turned and strutted into the bedroom, spinning around to look over her shoulder. "Aren't you two coming?"
"Brittany, there's something else we have to tell you."
"Oh?"
"About the polls…"
"Alvin told me."
"Why don't you seem worried?" Eleanor shot.
"Because." There was a glint in her eyes that told them that she knew something they didn't.
"Brittany?" they both questioned.
"I know that the polls are bound to turn around quite soon." Eleanor and Jeanette didn't press the matter. They knew just by her tone that this needed great secrecy. But Dave, who was standing just around the corner, couldn't help but wonder what the kids were planning.