Meg tried to concentrate in class, but it was downright impossible! No matter what was happening, Meg couldn't help but think of Alvin. The fact that her class was dissecting what appeared to be a dead squirrel didn't help.
"There was a scientist named Simon who often studied the dead entails of animals that he often hunted," he was saying, oddly enough using the pointer in an intimate area, as Meg was taking pains to not have thoughts of terrible things happening to the chipmunks, because she wasn't there to help them. But she couldn't help it. Reminders of what was happening were everywhere.
"Meg, are you listening?" snapped the teacher.
"Yes, of course I was listening!" Meg lied.
"You have an undissected animal that would say otherwise," he told her, looking down at her tray with the dead squirrel.
"Actually, I can't do this," said Meg. "It goes against my principles."
"Meg, this is the first time you've ever said that in class," he told her. "What's gotten into you?"
"Mind your business!" she snapped.
"I'm not leaving until you give me an explanation!" he snapped.
"Okay," said Meg. "I admit it. I'm a vegetarian, and vegeterians like me don't dissect animals."
"Of course you are," he said. "In any case, get off your goddamn high horse, and exterminate it!"
Meg clearly looked too uncomfortable to do or say anything.
"What did I say?" he said. "Exterminate it!"
It was at that point Meg got white with shock.
"You do look awfully pale," he said, putting his hand on her forehead. "Perhaps you'd like to see a nurse?"
"Yeah, sure," she lied. "A nurse would have exactly what I need. Or, I could go outside and get a breath fresh air."
Meg left the classroom, walked into the school's nature sanctuary, immediately started mashing buttons on her phone.
"Dad, What's going on here?" she angrily screamed at her father.
"Meg, what the hell are you calling me about?" said Peter. "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Yeah, I've decided to take it break to see if you've exterminated Meg-"
"Oh, you mean those Chippendale's" he asked. "Yeah, I'll be exterminating them-"
"One: dad, their names are Alvin and the Chipmunks," she said. "They've been living with us for three weeks, you should get that by now. Second of all, when the hell is the exterminator coming, anyway?"
"Who?" he asked. "Oh, the exterminator. Yeah, him. Well, he'll be coming sometime this week."
Meg was totally apprehensive. She could hang her phone, and resume classes as if nothing was happening, or she could ask to leave school early, and go check on Alvin and his brothers. Before she could make a decision, however, the teacher suddenly came in.
"Meg, what did I say about taking a break longer than two minutes?" he said.
"Two minutes?" said Meg. "Oh, for a minute there I thought you said ten minutes! Silly me."
"And what did I say about cell phones in school?" he asked, immediately confiscating her phone. "This isn't frickin' high school!"
It kind of is thought Meg. But she couldn't explain a word. She was too sad for words. Walking up to the curb, she immediately flagged a bus and left the scene.
Well, she tried, but then suddenly, a popular, blond girl in a tube top walked up to her. "Hey, Meg?"
"Clarisse?" asked Meg, turning around.
"Clarisse?" she said. "Don't be silly! It's me, Connie D'Amico."
"CONNIE?" asked Meg. "What are you doing here?"
"Why would you care?!" she snapped. "Okay, I admit it. I'm here for busting the school dress code. Apparently, they don't like it when you wear a shirt that shows three inches of your midsection."
She didn't see Clarisse, but she didn't care. She was, however, quite determined to save her new friends!
...Unfortunately, catching a bus was much easier said than done. She had missed one that left several minutes beforehand, and when the next one came, it was on the other side of town!
Anxious, Meg pulled out her phone and immediately called her house.
"Hey, guys?" she asked.
No answer.
"Alvin? Simon? Theodore?" she asked. "Dad?"
It was getting cold, so Meg decided to hail a taxi.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Just take me wherever," she said, giving the driver a 20.
The drive was only ten minutes, but to her, it was more like twenty minutes, if not ten hours.