Hello, Friend-os! Sorry for the delayed update - this chapter was a little harder for me to write, for some reason...
Anyway, I hope you like it!
-Blythe
Chapter 5: The decision
"Oh no!" Exclaimed Alvin, horrified by the result of his clumsiness, "Not only is Brittany going to win now, b-but Dave's going to kill me!" He began to pace, frantically searching his head for something plausible to tell Dave about what he did to the lighting. He began to imagine what Dave was going to say to him; the disappointed looks, the shouting, the punishment, everything Alvin hated about the results of his shenanigans. That was the problem with being a curious kid: it always came with a consequence.
"The anchoring cord's over here! It was tied down last time I saw it!" Said a heavy, masculine voice. Alvin heard footsteps coming closer and began to panic, hurriedly looking for a place he could hide. He began to race toward the stage closet, but he was too late - he'd been spotted.
"Hey kid! You! Hey! Stop!" Said the voice, growing louder as the footsteps approached. Suddenly, Alvin was picked up from behind by the back of his shirt.
"Let go of me! Put me down!" shrieked Alvin, flailing his legs and arms. The man eyed Alvin, scratching his scruffy five o'clock shadow.
"Did you do this, little boy?" He asked, his booming voice causing Alvin to cower, "Did you break that cord over there?" He indicated the remainders of the broken cord on the floor, pointing to it. Alvin gulped.
"Uh...hehe...accidents...happen...?" Responded Alvin guiltily. He was toast.
Five minutes had gone by, and Alvin was nowhere in sight. As expected, this was something to be alarmed by; Alvin was always around after a performance, even if he did poorly. It wasn't like him to skip out in the midst of a competition! Each remaining chipmunk and chipette did what was natural to do in this situation: they searched for him.
"Alvin! Alvin where are you?" Called Simon. It was no use. The sound of the crowd drowned out any chance of Alvin being able to hear them, wherever he was. Simon shook his head slowly and sighed, glancing down at his younger brother, "It's no use, Theodore. He won't be able to hear us through all this calamity."
"Then...wh-what do we do, Simon? I-is Alvin not going to show up to see the results of the competition?" Asked Theodore, moving curtains to see if Alvin might be behind them, which he wasn't.
"I don't know, Theodore. It isn't like Alvin to back away from a challenge... especially after how well he did tonight! Let's check the dressing rooms..."
The two younger chipmunks began to exit the offstage area toward the private rooms until they were stopped by the purple-clad chipette.
"Simon! Theodore! What are we going to do about the audience?" Squeaked Jeanette worriedly, "They're expecting the show to continue!"
Simon and Theodore looked at each other for a moment, then back at her.
"I guess...the best thing to do is get the results from the audience without him being on stage," Replied Simon, "It's the only thing we can really do at this point!"
Meanwhile, the tech crew people were throwing fits in the light booth, enraged at the mysterious demolition of the stage lights. None of them were sure what had happened, but after closer examination, they estimated the cost of the damages to be around $15,000 for the damaged lighting and electrical equipment, and an additional $10,000 just to replace the hardwood panelling backstage where the sparks landed. It was an electrical catastrophe! One that had never occurred during a performance in the history of this concert hall. So naturally, they were enraged, scrambling about, hunting for the person responsible.
"Alright, set monkeys," yelled the technical producer as he stomped his way to the offstage booth, "which one of you idiots is responsible for this mess?! I want answers!"
The group of bewildered techies looked at one another, then back at the producer, all speechless. None of them had left the box since the chipmunks stepped on the stage.
"No one's gonna own up to this? Fine! So you're all just saying that the strip lighting just decided it was going to spontaneously break from its anchored position and magically fall with no logical explanation behind it?!"
"I'm sure there's some sort of explanation for this," said a gentle voice. It was Dave. Upon hearing the crash from backstage, Dave was concerned. He wasn't concerned as much about the lighting, but rather that it could've really hurt one of his boys or one of the chipettes; especially Brittany who was on stage and the closest person to the spark shower. "I don't think anybody meant to damage the set! I'm sure it was just an accident."
"Yeah?" sneered the tech producer, "An accident, eh? Well just because they're accidents doesn't mean they cost any less! We're looking at about $25,000 worth of damage expenses here, Mr. Seville! Would you like to be helpful and fork over $25,000?!"
"W-well I don't know what else to tell you, sir! I'm not sure how the electrical equipment fell like that!"
Just then, a tall, stocky man entered the room, dragging something small, red, and shivering behind him, "I think we have our culprit, sir."
Dave gasped, recognizing his son, "Alvin?!"
There was silence as everyone glared down at the red-clad chipmunk. He was always one who loved the spotlight, but he never liked it like this.
"Ehehe...Hey, Dave...F-funny seeing you here...hehehe!" mumbled Alvin nervously, pasting a wide small on his face to hide the guilt.
"ALVIN!"
As the crowd began to chant for the continuation of the show, the Chipmunks and Chipettes grew anxious.
"We're going to have to go out there now," declared Eleanor, "The show must go on!"
"Wh-what are you planning to say, Ellie?" asked Theodore, "Alvin's nowhere in sight! A-are you going to ask for the votes without him being on stage?"
"I guess so... But what else can we do?"
The rest of them solemnly agreed. It was time to wrap up their show, even without the lead chipmunk. Eleanor shook the nerves out of her hands and marched onto the stage, grabbing the mic. The crowd's energy returned upon her entrance.
"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen! It is now time to vote for the winner of tonight's competition! Have you all made your decision?"
The crowd immediately responded with ear-splitting cheers and applause. Eleanor looked off stage to Jeanette, who was combing Brittany's hair that had recently become tangled from her shining performance on stage. Brittany looked like she'd fall apart within a matter of seconds - she was still catching her breath and leaning on Jeanette's shoulder, her chest heaving up and down. Eleanor had never seen Brittany so weak before and it worried her, so she decided to rally the votes on her own.
"Excellent! Let's begin, shall we? Everyone who would like to vote for Alvin, please speak now!"
There was a booming response from the audience, a wave of roaring and screaming in response to his name. Eleanor smiled and nodded, putting her hand up to silence the audience.
"Okay, good!" She paused as the audience calmed down, "Now...all in favor of Brittany?"
The same deafening sounds of screaming, hollaring, and chanting filled the room. It was hard to tell which response was louder; Alvin's or Brittany's. Eleanor looked backstage to Theodore and Simon, who were also unsure of the results. It wasn't the best way to receive results from hundreds of people, no, but usually when competitions like this happened, they'd at least be some kind of end result. Simon shook his head, unsure of what to make of all this. Theodore shrugged, also perplexed.
"Well," began Eleanor, "If I'm not mistaken, I'd say we have a-"
All of a sudden the crowd burst into a spontaneous fit of applause before Eleanor could finish her sentence. Confused, she looked around.
Brittany had gotten up from her seat off stage and hobbled into the stage light, her knees trembling and barely able to hold her up. Jeanette rushed onto the stage and helped Brittany stand up before she collapsed again into her arms - it was amazing how Brittany could even walk in a straight line with how much her body went under. Brittany waved to the crowd, causing the room to tremble from just the sound itself. The crowd's response was so boisterous, Eleanor had to cover her ears until they calmed down.
"Wow!" Said Eleanor breathlessly, "Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems we have our winner!" She walked over to Brittany and lifted her arm over her head, "Brittany!"
After the show had finally ended for the evening, the five performers went back to their dressing rooms to change into more comfortable clothes. The night was a success, and because of the impromptu competition, they'd probably just increased their star power! With Alvin's incredible guitar solo and Brittany's groundbreaking mix of songs and tap dancing, they were sure to have gotten the attention greater than what they were used to. As they all finished changing clothes and left the theater, they saw dave standing by the van. Alvin was inside of the vehicle, crossing his arms; he looked disappointed and embarrassed - not only had he lost the competition, but he also was going to have to help Dave pay for the huge mess he'd accidentally created. What a night it was for Alvin Seville; first he was on top of the world, delivering an outstanding performance and re-establishing himself as a musician, then the next thing he knew, he was getting punished and humiliated for something that was an accident. The worst part about tonight is that since Brittany won, she was going to rub it in her face for the remainder of the week - no, the month! Alvin wished he could crawl into a hole and stay there.
"Come on, kids. Time to go home now." Said Dave, pulling the car keys out of his pocket, "It's getting late and you all must be exhausted!"
"You bet I am!" groaned Brittany, limping and leaning on Jeanette for support.
As they all piled into the car, Brittany sat next to Alvin, grinning widely as he turned away from her.
"So, Alvin," she goaded, "I didn't see you for the finale of the show! Care to explain?"
"Yeah," Simon chimed in, "Where were you? We searched everywhere for you!"
"It's like you disappeared!" Added Theodore.
"I don't wanna talk about it," snapped Alvin, avoiding eye contact with everyone and looking at his shoes, the things that had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
"Hey, you guys? How about we talk about something else for awhile," suggested Dave, still furious with the backstage catastrophe, "Did you all have fun tonight?"
The four other performers all agreed that the performance was unlike one they'd ever had before! It was spectacular! Never had they gotten that kind of audience response before! The only thing they'd have to figure out was how they were going to top that in the future concerts!
Alvin and Brittany were silent as the others talked. The pink-clad chipette was grinning ear-to-ear.
"Did ya hear who won, Alvin?" She bragged, "I'll give you a hint; she likes pink, tap dances, and is a far better performer than you!"
Alvin growled, sinking into his seat, "yeah, yeah. Congratulations."
Brittany was loving this. She sure showed Alvin! As the van cruised down the highway, Brittany was on cloud nine. She took her emery board out and began filing her nails.
"You should've heard it, Alvin... That sound of winning! People in the crowd cheering my name! For a moment, I thought they'd burst onto the stage and chase after me! It was chilling! Isn't it scary, Alvin? Having people wanting to sweep you off your feet and steal you away? I guess I need to be careful, being the hottest act of Rock and Roll," She laughed, continuing to boast, "But you don't have that problem, do you?"
Alvin balled his fists. He'd had had enough of her bragging.
He began to fire back, "Sure I do!"
Brittany laughed, checking her nails, "No, you don't!"
Alvin sat up in his seat, shooting her a glare, a look of challenge in his ice blue eyes.
"Alright, little miss popularity!"
He'd now attracted the attention of the whole van.
"Here they go again," whined Simon.
"How much ya wanna bet I can beat you at everything else?! You name it, and I KNOW I can beat you at it!" Challenged Alvin, he nose pressed to hers. As soon as Brittany got that look in her eyes, everyone knew they were in for yet another competition. If this was the way they'd shown their friendship for one another, it certainly wasn't very normal.
"We've GOT to keep these two apart!" moaned Jeanette.
Thanks for reading, guys! I'll update soon!
(by the way, anyone catch my Chipmunk Adventure reference? ;) )
So what will happen? What kind of challenge will Alvin come up with?
-Blythe