Simon made his way on stage, seeing his brothers in matching outfits.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked in confusion.
"Backing you up, bro," Alvin replied. "They pulled a Backstreet Boys routine on you and your partner." He chuckled.
There was a deadly silence before Simon said, "Please tell me I'm not singing with Brittany..."
"You're not."
Simon gave a menacing glare to his brother.
"I mean it, Simon. I swear you're not singing with Brittany."
He sighed. "Then who am I singing with?"
There was another chuckle. "I can't tell you."
"Who is it, Alvin?"
"My lips are sealed, and so are Theodore's."
Simon turned to see the Chipettes, Brittany most specifically. He rushed over. "Brittany, who am I singing with right now?"
"I can't tell you because you're going first. You'll just ahve to find out when you sing." A smile came to her face. "Oh, don't worry about the spoken part at the beginning. Alvey and I already have that covered." She was holding a cell phone in her hand.
His eyes widened. "We're doing 'The Call'? But I've never sung lead for that! Alvin's always done it!"
"Don't worry, Simon. You'll do great."
"Thanks, I guess."
Brittany got into position with Alvin and started doing the first part:
Brittany: Hello?
Alvin: Hi, it's me, baby. I'm sorry... Listen, I'm gonna be late tonight. So, don't stay up and wait for me. Okay?
Brittany: Where are you?
Alvin: Wait, wait, wait... say that again?
Brittany: Hello?
Alvin: You're really droppin' out. I think my battery must be low. Listen, if you can hear me, we're goin' to this place nearby. Alright? Gotta go!
Simon took in a huge breath before taking the lead:
Let me tell you the story
'Bout the call that changed my destiny
Me and my boys went out
Just to end up in misery
Was about to go home
When there she was standing in front of me
I said 'Hi, I gotta little place nearby
Wanna go?'
Alvin and Theodore came by their brother's side to sing back-up for the bridge and chorus as Julie, Ally and Phelan watched backstage in suspense:
I should've said 'No'
Someone's waiting for me
But I called my girl up and said:
'Listen, baby. I'm sorry
Just wanna tell you, don't worry
I will be late
Don't stay up and wait for me
I'll say again
You're dropping out
My battery is low
Just so you know
We're goin' to a place nearby
Gotta go'
Brittany and Eleanor moved to the ends of the stage to have Simon's partner - a certain brunette-haired Chipette - come on stage for the next part (lyrics changed, of course):
Now, two years gone
Nothing's been won
He can't take it back
What's done is done
One of my friends found out
That I wasn't his only one
And it eats me from inside
That he's not by my side
Just because he made that call and lied...
Jeanette had her sisters back her up on the chorus:
'Listen, baby. I'm sorry
Just wanna tell you, don't worry
I will be late
Don't stay up and wait for me
I'll say again
You're dropping out
My battery is low
Just so you know
We're goin' to a place nearby
Gotta go'
Simon couldn't believe what was going on: he was actually singing a duet... with Jeanette! His heart practically raced before he sang the next line:
Listen, baby, I'm sorry
Jeanette echoed:
Listen, baby, I'm sorry
The six chipmunks joined in for a very epic chorus of "oh's" before Simon and Jeanette both came back in with another verse:
Jeanette: Let me tell you the story 'bout the call that changed my destiny
Simon: Me and the boys went out just to end up in misery
Was about to go home when there she was standing in front of me
Jeanette: He said 'Hi, I gotta little place nearby. Gotta go!'
Simon: 'Listen, baby. I'm sorry
Just wanna tell you, don't worry
I will be late
Don't stay up and wait for me
I'll say again
You're dropping out
My battery is low
Just so you know
We're goin' to a place nearby
Gotta go'Both: 'Listen, baby. I'm sorry
Just wanna tell you, don't worry
I will be late
Don't stay up and wait for me
I'll say again
You're dropping out
My battery is low
Just so you know
Jeanette: We're goin' to a place nearby
Both: We're goin' to a place nearby
Gotta go'
The crowd cheered as the two of them watched in utter disbelief. They could not believe what they had just accomplished, and they couldn't wait to see if there was an opportunity to do it again.
A few hours after the performance, Jeanette was in her new dorm: the walls were a shade of pastel blue, the carpet was a chocolate shade of the color brown, but most of all, it didn't feel like home to her. She wondered what could be missing.
Not my sisters, she thought. I see them on a daily basis... It could be Miss Miller or Claire, but I already called both of them.
"I know what it is!" Jeanette concluded. "My roommate! But... he's never going to come if he knows it's me that's his roommate. He won't want anything to do with me..."
"Don't say that," came a coarse voice from the doorway.
Jeanette turned to see that Simon was in her doorway, a white sheet of paper with dorm room number 213 on it.
No way, she thought. He didn't.
"Is that a slip for this dorm?"
He nodded.
Jeanette hugged him. "AWESOME! You're my roommate!" She watched as Simon sat at the small table, sipping on a hot chocolate he had gotten with Phelan. "What's the matter?"
Simon wrote something down on the back of the empty sheet of paper he was holding, folded it, and handed it to Jeanette, watching her unfold it.
"I can't speak," he wrote down. "Got a bad case of laryngitis."
Jeanette frowned and jotted down a sentence or two, sitting herself on the bed and throwing the paper back to Simon.
"Sorry about that," the note read. "I've just had one of those days where it feels like something just seems... missing."
The note was then tossed about in a series of back-and-forth conversation on that small sheet of paper, starting with Simon:
"I feel the exact same way. I'm not quite sure what it is I think I'm missing, though."
"Me too... I still have our song stuck in my head."
"...'Our' song?"
"Well, yeah. We sang it together. It only makes sense."
"I get that, Jeanette, but... oh, never mind. I really don't want to talk about that."
"Talk about what?"
"... How we feel about each other."
"I don't get it. You mean, like the 'just friends' kind of way, or do you mean something else?"
"Well, remember seven years ago when I asked you to that Ghosts n' Ghouls Ball at Edison?"
"Yeah."
"And remember when we kind of pulled off the 'Cinderella' thing?"
"What 'Cinderella' thing?"
"The whole 'stiletto being like a glass slipper' thing?"
"Oh... yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, it's just that... people kind of saw us as 'more than friends' when that happened."
"I'm just curious: why are you asking me all this?"
"You see, the thing is... I want to be more than just friends, if you get what I mean?"
"Do you mean like... dating?"
"Well... yeah. I mean, if you don't think you're ready, I can always wait."
There was a stiff silence in the room as Jeanette replied, "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that."
"Really? I can't believe this might actually be it."
"What is 'it' exactly?"
"The opportunity to finally have you... as a girlfriend."
Jeanette came over to Simon and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you," she said.
Simon smiled. "I love you, too," he replied, his voice still a little coarse.
The two of them started to kiss, and neither of them felt any regret about what they had just started. As the two of them got closer, Jeanette wrapped her arms around him.
"Don't ever let me go," she said.
Simon held her. "I won't," he replied, finally kissing her and getting the one person he wanted to have for a very long time: Jeanette.