The Unexpected
Chapter 2
XOXOXOXOXO
Author's Note: Alright, chapter two! * does a little dance *
It's kinda hard for me to write about cute, little Theo being upset! XD
But I tend to be interested in stories focusing around him, or his girlfriend Eleanor, so I'll just have to suck it up.
Anyways, enjoy!
XOXOXOXOXO
Theodore fidgeted in his seat, biting his lip. Alvin nudged him, slightly irritated.
"Would you sit still?" he said, smoothing out his red jacket. "It's just an interview."
"But I've never had an interview before!" Theodore said. "None of us have!"
Dave stopped the car at a red light, glancing back at the six chipmunks. As Theodore had said, the Chipmunks and Chipettes were scheduled to attend an interview. It had completely slipped his mind, only recalling it this morning. He had rushed to get them ready and drive them to the site of the interview. The producers of the popular TruTV had requested the interview personally, and Dave couldn't pass up the opportunity. Besides, he figured, his sons and daughters would have to get used to doing interviews sooner or later.
"Don't worry, guys," Dave said soothingly, returning his eyes to the road as the light turned green. "All you have to do is answer questions to the best of your ability. It's no big deal."
Theodore sighed, leaning back into his seat. Dave was right, there was nothing to worry about. Besides, it wasn't like he was going it alone, right?
"This is so exciting!" Brittany said, bouncing in her seat. "Our first interview, girls!"
Eleanor and Jeanette squealed in excitement. Simon chuckled at their excited reactions.
"It's our first interview too, you know," Alvin pointed out. "They probably only asked because of us."
"Whatever," Brittany smirked.
Theodore couldn't help but chuckle at their competitive natures. It amazed him at how much his brother and Brittany had in common, but when it came to their careers they would fight like cats and dogs! It seemed to be completely different for Simon and Jeanette, who got along extremely well and loved each other's company. He often wondered what was stopping them from becoming an outright couple.
And him and Eleanor...
He felt his cheeks burn at the though. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Ugh, what was wrong with him? Eleanor was just a friend, nothing more! He wasn't cut out for things like that anyway.
"Ah, we're here!" Dave said, slowly parking in front of the large studio. Not only was it large, with many people going in and out of it, but they could make out a few famous faces as well!
"Oh my god, is that Kesha?" Eleanor said, wriggling out her seat belt and looking out the window.
"Oh wow, it is!" Brittany squeaked, starstruck. "We should get an autograph!"
"Now, now, settle down,bo" Dave laughed, taking off his own seat belt. "Remember, you have to be calm and collected in there. Especially when the interview starts."
"Yes, Dave!" the six chipmunks said in unison.
Dave opened the door and let them hop out before locking the doors behind them. They walked towards the front doors of the establishment, where two large bodyguards stood at attention.
"These are the Chipmunks and the Chipettes," Dave said. He took out his ID and handed it to one of them. "And I'm their guardian and manager, David Seville."
The blonde one scanned over the card and handed it back to Dave. He gave a signal to his companion and they stepped aside to grant them entrance.
"Go right on in," he said in a slightly southern accent.
The group of seven quickly made their way inside. To their amazement, the interior was just as impressive: three floors, dozens of rooms, a beautiful lounge, and comfortable furniture. Many celebrities, from comedians to singers, could be seen talking and laughing with one another, or making their way into one of the many rooms to handle business.
"Wow, can you believe it?" Alvin said, looking around in awe. "This is totally awesome!"
"It is very impressive," Jeanette said.
"No time to talk, guys," Dave said, briskly walking towards the front desk. "We don't want to be late."
Theodore gulped nervously as he scurried behind them. He tried his best to calm down, but he couldn't help but wonder if it would have been better to just fake sickness and avoid the trip altogether. All of these big-name stars made him feel small in comparison, and not just in size.
The receptionist smiled at the group as they approached. "Hello there! You must be David Seville, representing the Chipettes and Chipmunks, correct?"
"That's right," Dave panted. "We're here to do an interview."
"Ah, yes! Just take the elevator to the third floor and go into the fifth room on the left," she instructed. "Mrs. Johnson will be there waiting for you."
"Sounds good!" Alvin said, running ahead. "Come on, come on!"
"Wait up!" Dave said, exasperated. The others followed Alvin as he led the way into one of the elevators. Luckily, they were alone. Dave pressed the button for the third floor and they rode it up.
His hands were getting sweaty, so Theodore shoved them inside his pockets. The closer they got to the interview, the more he panicked.
Maybe they won't ask me too many questions, Theodore thought. I'm sure Alvin or Simon could just answer them all. Yeah! That's how it'll go.
Feeling a little better, he took a deep breath. There wasn't anything to worry about.
The doors slid open and they unloaded from the elevator. They walked down the hallway and finally came to their designated room. Gold words reading Rhonda Johnson were engraved into the wooden door. Dave gave them an encouraging thumbs-up before knocking.
Seconds later, the door swung open to reveal their interviewer. A petite but beautiful African American woman stood before them, dressed in a fashionable black velvet jacket and blue jeans. She had a gold necklace with a cross in the middle, complemented by gold, hoop earrings. Her hair, which was styled to fall freely onto her shoulders, was brown with gold highlights.
She gave them a warm, dazzling smile.
"Hey guys! It's a pleasure to meet all of you," she said, extending a hand to Dave, which he shook. "I'm glad you all could make it."
"It's our pleasure, babe," Alvin flirted, grinning up at her.
Brittany lightly kicked at his foot, earning a sheepish smile from him. "We're happy to be here, yup."
"Come on in," Rhonda said, stepping aside. "We have a minute or two before we start, so make yourselves at home."
The room was relatively small, but comfortable and warm enough to relax its occupants. A lone camera sat near the corner of the room, with a lean man fiddling with the buttons. Theodore was relieved that there wasn't many people to watch them: he couldn't imagine answering personal questions in front of a large audience.
He followed the others and sat on the large, comfy white couch. He sat between the end of the couch and Brittany, who was taking the chance to smooth out her skirt and jacket. Dave took a seat in a chair outside the range of the camera, sipping a cup of coffee prepared by one of the assistants.
"Brittany?"
"Yes, Theo?" Brittany said, looking down at him.
"Do you think they'll ask really hard questions?" he asked, rubbing his arm.
Brittany smiled and waved off the idea. "No worries, I'm sure it'll be the typical questions about our jobs and what it's like being chipmunk singers. Simple stuff like that!"
"That's a relief," Theodore sighed, feeling a little better.
"Alright," Rhonda said, sitting down in a chair on the opposite side of the table dividing them. "We're on in in three... two... one!"
The cameraman gave her a thumbs-up, a small red dot appearing on the front of the camera.
"Hello, and welcome to Celebrity Confessions! I'm Rhonda Johnson, and we have six very special guests with us today! Hit sensations, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes!"
The camera panned over to the three brothers. Alvin gave the camera a confident grin, waving his hand. Simon adjusted his glasses and smiled politely, nodding his head. Theodore gulped and shyly waved to the camera.
"Yes, the famous trio: Alvin, Simon and Theodore. They have taken the world by storm with hits such as How We Roll and Coast to Coast! It is an honor to be able to interview them, I must say," Rhonda smiled. "But that's not all! Giving them a run for their money are the fabulous sisters, the Chipettes! Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor!"
Brittany blew a kiss, Jeanette smiled brightly and Eleanor giggled happily as they were introduced.
"Yes, both of these groups have become a household name," Rhonda continued, taking a microphone from one of her assistants. "And tonight, we're going to be asking both of them a couple questions that we know fans all over have been dying to have answered."
"Bring it!" Alvin said, puffing out his chest. Theodore caught a glance of Dave slapping his palm to his forehead.
"That's what I like to hear," Rhonda said, chuckling. "Alright, first question for both bands: did you originally plan to make a career out of singing?"
"Oh, that's easy," Alvin said, beating Brittany to the question. "We didn't really think about becoming stars when we first met our pops, Dave."
"That's right," Simon cut in. "We just wanted a place to stay, but Dave took us in and started writing all of our songs. Working together, we got to where we are today."
Theodore sighed gently in relief. Brittany was right: Rhonda wasn't asking anything too difficult or personal. And his brothers seemed capable of answering all the questions themselves.
"Interesting!" Rhoda said. "What about you, girls?"
"Well, we actually did start with wanting to become singers," Jeanette said, twisting a little of her brown hair around her index finger.
"That's right," Brittany said. "We initially set out to find Ian Hawke and have him represent us! But that ended up not working out."
"Yeah, he was a real jerk," Eleanor said, pouting. "He overworked us and put us in cages! It was terrible."
"My, how horrible!" Rhonda gasped. "And that's why you moved in with Dave and the boys?"
"We hadn't planned on that," Brittany giggled. "But, yes. They offered to let us stay and we were happy to."
"Oh yeah!" Eleanor said, waving her hand. "Another reason we wanted to be singers was to meet the Chipmunks!"
Brittany and Jeanette's cheeks flushed a bright red as they spun around to face their baby sister. "ELEANOR!"
"What? It was!" Eleanor giggled, shrugging.
Theodore blushed at this: part of their reason was to meet them? He had never known that...
Alvin grinned at Brittany, whispering, "Wow, I had no idea you three were such big fans!"
"Shut up," Brittany said, folding her arms and looking away.
"How sweet," Rhonda chuckled. "Which brings us to our next question, and probably one of the most asked: how close are you with your counterparts? Are you all dating? Lots of fans think that you have feelings for each other."
Theodore just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Maybe this was a perfectly reasonable question, but he just couldn't believe there were that many fans out there who thought they were romantically involved with the Chipettes! And how was he supposed to answer that anyway?
Much to his relief, Jeanette stepped up to the plate.
"Honestly, Rhonda, we haven't known each other for too long," she said honestly, writhing her hands slightly. "So, we haven't really put too much thought into, um... that."
"Not that we haven't thought about it," Simon added, coughing. "It's just that we're so busy with school and tours that we haven't really had much time to do things like dating."
"Completely understandable," Rhonda said, nodding her head slowly. "I'm sure we can all understand that. Next question..."
Theodore swiped at his forehead, sweating slightly. How long had it been since this started? Surely it must be over soon. He glanced at the clock.
Aw man, it's only been five minutes! Theodore thought, groaning softly. This is torture.
"Now for some individual questions," Rhonda said, sitting up. Theodore sank lower into his seat. "Now, fans all over seem to have labeled each of you with a description! I'd like to hear your thoughts on that."
"Sounds good!" Eleanor said, leaning in.
"Starting with Brittany: many fans call you the 'vivacious' one! The trendy go-getter of your sisters. You have this fierce air about you, and it seems to drive others to be like you! How do you feel about that?" Rhonda asked the pink-clad Chipette.
"I'm flattered," Brittany said, beaming. "I never really thought of myself like that, but I'm very happy people think of me that way!"
"Some also call you the leader of your group," Rhonda added, taking a sip of her water.
"I don't know about that one," Brittany said, looking at Jeanette and Eleanor. "If there's one thing I learned in our experience as a band, it's that there is no real 'leader'. We're a team!"
She gave both of her sisters a hug, the two of them touched at her words.
"That's very sweet, and it's nice to see that you three haven't lost that sisterly bond at all," Rhonda commented. She turned to Jeanette this time. "What about you, Jeanette? While you're commonly known as the smart and sassy type, many also have dubbed you as the 'lovale klutz'. Your thoughts?"
Jeanette looked taken aback at this, alongside Simon. Even Theodore thought that this was extremely rude: did fans go around calling her a klutz? What kinds of fans were they?
To his surprise, however, Jeanette smiled.
"It's true, I'm not the most coordinated girl when left alone," Jeanette started. "But I can hold my own pretty well when I'm dancing with my sisters. They give me confidence. Also, even though fans might call me clumsy, I'm happy they think of me as lovable! That's very sweet of them!"
Theodore saw Simon sigh in relief. But he couldn't understand it: did the fact that she was also known as "lovable" really soften the blow of them calling her a "klutz"?
Seems like a mixed message to me, Theodore thought.
"Very classy answer," Rhonda said, impressed. "And, last but not least, Eleanor! Fans commonly describe you as bubbly and sweet, but they also call you the 'sporty' one! Your interest in exercise and sports have earned you a large following! What's your opinion on that?"
Eleanor grinned at this, her ears twitching in delight.
"I want to give a big 'thank you' to my fans, first of all," Eleanor said with a wave to the camera. "Secondly, I am totally happy with that! I always liked to work out and get lots of exercise; I didn't think many people noticed that about me, though."
Theodore couldn't help but smile at her reaction. It seemed that the smallest of complements could get a smile out of her.
"Well said," Rhonda said. "And now back to the boys. Alvin Seville! Probably the most well-known of all of you, with your name even being featured in the title of your band," Alvin grinned widely at this, while the other five rolled their eyes. "You're always referred to as being energetic and confident. Fans the world over refer to you as the 'cool' brother. How do you -"
"Rhonda," Alvin cut in, making her raise an eyebrow. "I have to say that my fans have great taste. I think they're absolutely right in thinking I'm the coolest, the most confident, the awesomest -" he hesitated when he caught the look on Dave's face. "Er, I mean, I'm happy they think of me that way."
"Looks like the fans were right on the money," Rhonda said, smiling at him. "And now, Simon Seville. Fans say that you're the mature brother of the trio, and some even say you're wise beyond your years," Simon smiled proudly. "But most commonly, they refer to you as the 'nerdy, but smart' one."
Theodore struggled to hold back a laugh when he saw Simon's eye twitch. This wasn't the first time he had been called a nerd.
"Honestly, I'm not too thrilled at the fact that so many people call me a nerd," Simon said through gritted teeth. He then sighed. "But I do appreciate that most also think I'm so intelligent. I'm touched and proud that people appreciate me for my smarts!"
"Nicely said," Rhonda said, finally turning to Theodore. After seeing how the others had received positive labels, he was confident he could give a good response of his own. "The youngest of the Chipmunks, Theodore Seville. You are thought of as the 'cute and chubby' one! Thoughts?"
"I... what?"
Cute and chubby? That's all I'm known for? Everyone else has a unique, special description and I get that?
Rhonda cast a quick glance to the camera before repeating the question. Theodore bit his lip and forced out a reply.
"Oh, well..." Theodore searched for a good, positive reply. What could anyone say to something like that? "I'm glad, er... my fans find me cute? And chubby."
The others glanced at each other nervously. Dave rubbed the back of his head. Rhonda, however, quickly picked up the conversation and moved on with the questionnaire. Theodore was too preoccupied with his thoughts to truly pay attention to the interview anymore: he gave short answers when she asked him specifically, and completely ignored anything else.
Is that how everyone sees me? Theodore thought, narrowing his eyes. The cutesy, fat one?
What seemed like ages passed until the interview finally ended. Rhonda thanked them all for their time and assured them that the interview would be broadcasted sometime during the following week. She invited them to spend a bit more time around the studio to relax and get something to eat before heading home. Dave gratefully accepted the offer and gathered the six of them so they could eat in the cafeteria.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Dave said. "You all did really well, and that was just the first time!"
"It was no sweat!" Brittany said, strutting across the snack table. "I'm ready for my next one, actually!"
"You can say that again," Alvin said, grabbing a bag of chips. "I don't see what the big deal is."
"Wow, this is quite a spread!" Eleanor marveled, looking over the many different cakes and cookies. "Theodore, do you want to try this vanilla swirl cookie? I've never heard of that one."
"No thanks," Theodore mumbled, looking down at his feet.
"Are you feeling alright?" Eleanor asked, concerned. "You've barely touched anything."
"I'm not hungry," he replied glumly.
The rest of them abruptly stopped what they were doing, turning to look at him with wide eyes. "HUH?"
He looked at them, bewildered. "What?"
"Woah, this must be serious!" Alvin said, alarmed. "You must be really sick!"
Simon came over to check his temperature. "Do you feel hot?"
Theodore pulled away. "What is wrong with you guys? I'm just not hungry, okay? Why does something have to be wrong for me not to want food? Is it that out of character for me?"
"What – no! We've just never known you to pass up a meal," Simon tried to explain.
"Of course I wouldn't," Theodore said bitterly, rolling his green eyes. "I'm just the fat one, aren't I?"
The others were completely taken aback by his words. They looked at each other, trying their best to figure out how to calm him down.
"Theo, don't tell me you let what some fans said get to you!" Alvin said, coming over to place a hand on Theodore's shoulder. "They also called you cute!"
Theodore snatched his shoulder away. "We're singing, dancing chipmunks. We're all cute! All of you got vivacious, lovable klutz, sporty, cool and smart! And then she went on to say other nice things about you beyond what the fans said! But no: all I get is cute and chubby? And don't try and tell me chubby is a complement. That's just a nice way of saying fat."
"Theodore, there's plenty of other things that we love about you," Dave said. "Surely you know that?"
"It's probably nothing more than what she said," Theodore said, hopping off the table and walking towards the front door, keen on taking the stairs down to the lobby. "I just want to go home."
"Theodore, wait!" Eleanor called, moving to follow him. Brittany stopped her, shaking her head.
"Give him some time to cool down, Ellie," Brittany said softly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "He's just upset right now."
"Yeah, let him go," Alvin sneered, folding his arms. "He's taking this way too seriously."
"But..." Eleanor said, glancing towards the way he left out. "Alright, I guess so..."
After eating and leaving the studio, they sat through a quiet drive back home. Theodore still hadn't said a word to any of them. Even when they arrived at the house and got inside, he immediately went upstairs and into his room, claiming that he wanted to get in an early nights' sleep.
It was hard for Eleanor and the others to see him like this, but they all figured he'd feel better in the morning.
At least, that's what they hoped.
XOXOXOXOXO
Author's Note: Ouch, that's got to suck. Everyone else is known for something positive or flattering, and they call you chubby. I can't really blame him for feeling cheated.
The next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for reading.