"Alvin, please do the worksheet!" Simon begged his older brother. It was after day two of the class, and Alvin was ready to blow a gasket. All he wanted was to play with his brothers and cause mischief, not be under house arrest until he finished his homework. Alvin crumpled up the paper and threw it at Simon while yelling,

"No! I am sick of it! Christmas Vacation is for a BREAK, not for going to stupid classes and getting stupid HOMEWORK!" The paper hit Simon square in the face and knocked his glasses askew. While adjusting them, Simon watched Alvin seethe out the door, slamming it in the process. Simon groaned in exasperation. He picked up the paper and placed it on the desk, not bothering to uncrumple it.

"Why in the world are we eating that AGAIN?" Simon heard Alvin's angry voice tumble up the stairs and through the closed door. Simon winced. He was yelling at Theo. Simon set his face. He wasn't going to let Alvin bully their younger brother. He ran downstairs and watched as Alvin had cornered Theo, and with a pan held above his head, was about to hit their baby brother. Simon ran as fast as he could and tackled Alvin, knocking the pan out of his hands before he could do any damage. The pan clattered to the floor with a BANG.

Theo sat, trembling, in the corner of the kitchen, his hands held above his head, his eyes closed. When he peeked, he saw Simon wrestling Alvin to the floor, trying to calm him down. "GET OFF ME!" Alvin screeched, planting a punch right into his brothers' nose. Simon cried out and fell off Alvin, holding his nose, which was throbbing painfully. Alvin's face was red with anger, and he jabbed a finger against Simon's chest. "You can't tell me what to do, you FREAK," he hissed. "If I don't want to go to those classes, by God, I WON'T. If I don't want to do the homework, I WON'T. Got it?" Simon nodded deliriously. It was then Dave decided to come home from wherever he had been. Probably Christmas shopping, as it was the day before Christmas Eve.

"Hi fellas, I'm ba-!" Dave stopped mid-sentence. He looked around the house, confused; usually his boys always came to greet him. His eyes scanned the house suspiciously until he saw Alvin's red shirt and cap, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He walked towards the kitchen, and saw a terrifying sight. Alvin was screaming with pure hatred in his voice at his brothers, Simon was kneeling on the floor, his eyes watering and both hands over his nose, and Theo sitting in the corner, his arms wrapped around his knees, which were pulled up defensively. Dave put a hand on his oldest son's shoulder, but Alvin turned and started yelling at Dave.

"And YOU! Where have YOU been this whole time? Just leaving us here like you always do? What kind of father are you?" Alvin stomped past Dave and up the stairs to his room, where he slammed the door. Dave turned back to his traumatized sons.

"What happened?" He asked dumbly. Theo, who was quick to recover, since Alvin was gone, replied,

"Alvin exploded out of the blue! I was making food, the same thing we had last night, and he just blew up at me! He was going to hit me with a pan, but Simon pushed him away. But then Alvin hit him in the face," Theodore looked at Simon, as did Dave. Simon's hands were still glued to his nose.

"Is that what happened?" Dave asked Simon, who nodded. Simon continued the story where Theo didn't know, keeping his hands on his face.

"I was trying to get Alvin to do the homework for the class, but he didn't want to. He left our room, but then he went and attacked Theo. I knew in his state, he might do something drastic, so I ran as fast as I could to get him away from Theo, but yeah, he hit me."

Dave knelt by Simon and gently pulled his hands away. Simon grimaced at the chilly air on his bruised nose. Dave winced. It looked pretty bad. Simon's muzzle was all purple, and his nose itself was purple and blue speckled. He had to take off his glasses so they wouldn't hurt him. Theo ran to get some ice while Dave wondered why this sudden burst of anger from his eldest.

Dinner wasn't much better. Simon's nose was still pretty bad, and even Alvin winced when he saw it when he came downstairs to eat. The entire meal was in silence, except for near the end. Dave tried to make small talk. "So how was your day, boys?" Alvin blew up again.

"How was our day? You're asking us how our DAY was? It was miserable! I had to go to the freaking class and Smarty-Pants over there tried to make me do the homework," Alvin nodded to Simon degradingly.

Theo tried to stick up for Simon. "He's just trying to help you. I mean, he's going to the class too, aren't you grateful?"

"Shut up, Fatso; no one asked you!" Alvin shot. "I wish you would just DIE!" Theo's eyes widened in horror and he ran to Simon and sobbed hysterically into his chest.

"Alvin!" Simon scolded, trying to comfort Theodore.

"Yeah? What is it, Brainiac? Some more unneeded remarks? I don't need you. I wish you weren't as smart, then you'd realize just how weird you are," Simon frowned deeply at Alvin and turned away. He wasn't hurt as much as humiliated.

"Alvin, stop this now. You are out of control; just go to bed," Dave said, standing up and walking to Alvin's seat. Alvin jumped onto the table so he was eye-level with Dave and snarled,

"I hate you. Who do you think you are, just taking us in as babies, then telling us what to do? You aren't even our real father. Heck, I bet we would be better off if we never even knew you! I wish we had never met, and that you were as far away from me as could possibly be!" Alvin then leaped off the table and ran to is room for the night, leaving behind a shocked family.

Theo was calming down slightly but he still clung to Simon for comfort. Simon put an arm around him protectively. Dave came up behind them and scooped them up. "Why don't we watch a movie?"