"Theodore, what happened to Jeanette?" Simon asked after the bell rang. He'd wanted to know since he'd seen her face in the door's window, but had waited until the class had ended to ask his "little" brother.
"Jeanette….she, wasn't feeling well…I think she went to the nurse's office." Theodore said, not looking at Simon. Simon gave him a skeptical look.
"She was sick? So she was late to class, and once she got here she got sick and ran to the nurse's office?"
"Um….yeah, I think. She didn't tell me where she was going, she just sort of ran off…." He said, still not meeting Simon's eyes.
"Theodore….you know I know when you're lying to me. If you feel you need to lie for Jeanette, I won't push….just tell me, is she okay?" Simon asked.
"…You should talk to her. I need to go to my next class, bye Simon!" Theodore said, before running out of the class. Alvin walked up to Simon, looking at the retreating form of his brother.
"Is he okay?" Alvin asked,
"I don't know. He's acting very strange." Theodore said, putting his back pack on and leaving the class with Alvin.
The rest of the day passed as normally for Theodore. He didn't see his brothers or the Chipettes in his other classes. When the final bell rang he hurried quickly to his locker. He was still worried about Jeanette, and wanted to get home quickly to make sure she was okay. He had just closed his locker when he heard a familiar voice.
"Theodore! Theodore wait!" Eleanor called to him, running down the hall. Theodore gulped, he'd hoped the next time he talked with Eleanor they were alone.
"H-hey Eleanor," Theodore said, closing his locker.
"Theodore, I have wonderful news!" Eleanor said, and she looked very happy.
"Really? What is it?" Theodore asked, forcing a smile on his face.
"We won the championship! The other team had to forfeit for some reason, so we win by default! It's not the way we wanted to win, but we're still the county champions!" She practically screamed, and hugged him.
"Really, that's great! Does that mean the soccer season is over?" Theodore asked.
"…Well, not really. Now we have to compete against the other county champions from across the state to see if we can become the State Champions!" she said, adding extra emphasis to the title.
"That's great…for you and Alvin," Theodore said. Eleanor could see something was wrong.
"Theodore, is everything okay?" she asked.
"Everything is…..is…..I…" Theodore tried to speak, but his throat closed up on him.
"Theodore, what is it? You can tell me anything." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"…..You…..Alvin," Theodore mumbled.
"What? I didn't hear you." Eleanor said.
"You kissed Alvin." Theodore said.
"I what?!" Eleanor asked, completely taken off guard.
"You kissed Alvin!" Theodore practically screamed, scaring himself.
"Theodore, I never kissed Alvin." Eleanor said.
"I saw it….on the soccer field today before lunch, you were holding hands….and then you leaned in close…" Theodore said, trailing off.
"Theodore, that's…" Eleanor started when Theodore interrupted.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I was just….surprised, I guess. If you want to be with Alvin, I understand, he is really cool….and all I want is for the two of you to be happy," Theodore said, dropping his chin to his chest.
"Oh, Theodore…" Eleanor sighed. She reached out and lifted Theodore's chin with her hand. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"You're so sweet….I never kissed Alvin." She said with a smile.
"But…at the soccer field…I saw…" Theodore said.
"Let me tell you what happened…"
"Okay, do you both understand how the move works?" Alvin asked Eleanor and Tommy.
"Yeah, sounds great Alvin, let's give it a try," Tommy said.
"Alvin, I don't…" Eleanor said, but Tommy and Alvin were already racing across the field. What could she do? She raced after them. She started moving the ball back and forth, dodging imaginary opponents, and passed it to Tommy. Tommy moved closer to the opposing goal, and came to stop about 10 feet behind Alvin.
"Here it comes!" Tommy called, and gave the ball a hard kick in Alvin's direction. Alvin lifted his foot in a kicking motion, and when he thought the ball was in the perfect position, kicked with all his might. Unfortunately, he tried a little too soon. His foot landed on the ball, and the momentum of his kick sent him flying backwards. He landed hard, his head bouncing off the ground.
"Alvin!" Eleanor screamed, and quickly ran to his side, dropping to her knees next to him. Tommy just stood there, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"Don't stand there! Get the coach….get the nurse!" Eleanor screamed at him. Tommy turned and started running towards the school building.
"Alvin….Alvin, talk to me," Eleanor pleaded. She couldn't remember being this scared.
"Eleanor….hey Eleanor," Alvin said with a grin.
"Are you okay?" Eleanor asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" he asked, and started to sit up.
"Alvin, you shouldn't move," Eleanor said, trying to keep him from moving.
"Eleanor…I'm fine, I promise," He shrugged off her attempts to hold him down and stood up, "Hey….when did they put a merry go round on the soccer field?" Alvin asked with a giggle. He looked a little green. Eleanor reached out and took his hand.
"Alvin, how about we go sit down…I'm not feeling well," She said, hoping a little reverse psychology would work.
"You don't? Then let's sit down, I don't want you to be sick," Alvin said, and he followed Eleanor to the bleachers. Alvin stumbled most of the way there, and Eleanor had to help him more than once. Once they reached the bleachers she sat Alvin down and wouldn't let go of his hand, fearing he would try to get back up.
"Thanks Alvin, I feel a lot better now." She said with a smile. She hoped Tommy would hurry back with the nurse.
"Eleanor, would you please stop spinning, it's making me dizzy…." Alvin mumbled, turning green again.
"Alvin…" She leaned in until their faces were inches apart, "Alvin, focus on me…look at me, I'm not spinning."
"Oh, that's good. Hey Theodore…" Alvin said, waving. Eleanor looked over her shoulder, but didn't see Theodore anywhere.
Great, now he's seeing things. She thought to herself, grimacing. She hoped he wasn't seriously hurt, she'd never forgive herself for not stopping him and Tommy earlier. She knew Alvin's "Alley-oop Shot" would never work…but when Alvin set his mind to something, there was no stopping him.
"Theodore really likes you, you're all he talks about…"Alvin said, grinning goofily.
"What?" Eleanor asked.
"It's true, when he and Simon think I'm not listening, it's 'Eleanor this' and 'Jeanette that'." Alvin said, with the same grin. She opened her mouth when she heard Tommy.
"Eleanor, I got the nurse!" he cried out to her. She was following closely behind, obvious concern on her face. Eleanor sighed with relief, with Nurse Catherine here, Alvin would be fine. She came directly to Alvin and pulled a pen light from her pocket.
"Alvin, can you see me, and understand what I'm saying?" she asked quietly.
"Of course Nurse Catherine…I'm fine, you should check Eleanor, she's not feeling well," Alvin said. Nurse Catherine looked at Eleanor, who shook her head quickly.
"I'll check her in a moment Alvin, but I need to be sure the soccer team captain is okay first, we have that big game this weekend, we're all counting on you," She said, and quickly flashed the pen light in each of his eyes. They immediately contracted, and she nodded.
"I don't think he has a concussion, but I'll take him to my office and watch him for a little while. He should be fine," She said to Eleanor.
"Thank you Nurse Catherine," Eleanor said. Catherine took his hand and led him away slowly. Once she let go if his hand, Eleanor started to shake. She had never been so scared in all her life, and she started to cry a little.
"Eleanor, are you okay?" Tommy asked, sitting next to her.
"I'm okay, I was just worried Alvin was hurt…" she said, giving a little sniffle.
"Is Alvin okay? Where is he?" Theodore said, whipping his head back and forth.
"Calm down Theodore, Alvin is fine. Nurse Catherine kept him through lunch, and after a little while he was back to normal. She thinks the blow to the head just made him loopy for a while."
"I'm so glad he's okay. I didn't know, he didn't tell me…" Theodore said, almost in tears.
"You know how Alvin is, he's gotta be the tough one," Eleanor said, and pulled Theodore into a hug.
"So, that means…you and he…." Theodore said, pulling away a little.
"Oh Theodore," Eleanor giggled. Theodore blushed.
"Well, that's good….not about Alvin…..about you and…." Theodore trailed off, his blush deepening. She just smiled at him again.
"Cause I….I really….I really like you…Eleanor," Theodore managed to stammer out. She giggled, and leaned in close to him.
"I really like you too Theodore," She said, and gave him a kiss…his first kiss. Theodore's head was spinning, it was over in an instant, a simple kiss on the lips, but it seemed to last forever for him.
"Wow…" he said, when their lips had parted.
"Glad you liked it…" Eleanor trailed off. Then she looked at one of the clocks on the wall and gasped.
"We need to hurry, I've got something else to tell you, and Miss Miller is waiting to drive us to your house," She said, grabbing his hand and dragging him after her.
"What's going on? What's happening at my house?" Theodore asked as he ran alongside Eleanor, still holding her hand.
"I'll explain on the way," Eleanor said as they went through the schools exit doors.