Chronicles Of Santa Barbara High

by AmbitiousAlvin

School can be tough. Family life can be tough. Life in general can be tough. How do the Chipmunks and Chipettes cope? By writing in the fancy journals and diaries their parents bought them for Christmas. Each chapter contains 6 entries, 1 from each kid.

27. Weird Science Fair Part 3

STILL SATURDAY...

BRITTANY'S POV

Far enough away from Alvin's little corner of heck, I tried to gather my thoughts. Alvin had just dropped a huge bomb on me, which was kinda ironic since he'd promised not to make anything explode. He blew my mind! So Classic Alvin could theoretically be separated from him mentally? Did that mean there was a chance that Classic would regain full control some day? Or was that wishful thinking?

Besides, I didn't NEED Classic Alvin anymore. I had Simon to be my significant other….if he wanted to be. Urgh! Why is romance so stressful? I wish I knew where Simon was. We NEEDED to have a talk. He owed me a solid yes or no answer! I wouldn't rest until I got one.

Actually, that's a lie. I felt myself yawn. I was in need of a good rest. Jeanette had woken me up SO early. I wandered around the science fair from booth to booth in a useless attempt to keep from drifting off. It would be a LOT easier to stay awake if all these experiments and presentations weren't so….not my style.

Jeanette's had flare, at least. It had style and finesse. It also had a cute little mouse in a princess costume. Maybe I was a little biased since I had spent so much time setting it up, but I thought it was fabulous. If I could give out an award for most aesthetically pleasing project, my sis would get the gold. Too bad I'm not a judge.

"Brittany!" Jeanette waved to me. "Do you want to see Pippi run the maze now?"

Hmm. Well, maybe that WOULD stop me from sleeping. "Sure!" I stood in front of the maze and watched the TV screen attached to the table next to the one that held the maze.

Jeanette glanced at Pippi who was seated by the entrance of the castle. "Are you ready, Pippi?"

I could have sworn the mouse raised her tiny paw above her eyes and gave Jeanette a salute.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Jeanette pressed a button and the cardboard drawbridge of the castle lowered.

Pippi was a smudge of white in my vision as she zipped inside. I rubbed my tired eyes and turned my attention to the TV screen.

"So, is this what she sees?" I asked my sister in purple.

Jeanette nodded. "Pretty much. Oh! Look! She's found the first treasure chest!"

I stared at the glistening glitter encrusted chest. "Jeanette, is that my earring case?"

"Um….." She giggled nervously. "It might be. I didn't know you still wanted it, honest! I found it in the attic, completely abandoned."

I tried to keep my temper in check. "Yes. Probably because your mouse STOLE it! Can she even open that thing?"

As if to answer my question, Pippi did in fact open the chest. There were no earrings inside, just sunflower seeds.

I sighed. "Great. Another pair of earrings lost. You owe me a replacement, sis." I told Jeanette sharply.

"I'd be happy to supply a replacement." She squeaked in her soft whispery voice, which was extremely difficult to hear over the rest of the noise in the room. "I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere though. They've gotta be in our house."

I yawned again loudly and my sister looked sad.

"You're bored, aren't you?" She frowned. "I'm sorry I kept asking you to watch. You don't have to watch if you don't want to."

I felt terrible. "No, no, no, Jeanette. I'm not bored. I'm just….in need of a nap. I was up early and I keep trying to eat cookies so the sugar can give me energy, but…" I was cut off by ANOTHER yawn. "...It's not working."

"Ohhhh." She brightened up. "You can take a nap. I won't tell anyone."

"Really?" My eyes were barely open now. "Thank yoooou."

I knew that I was supposed to be on call in case of an emergency that required my principal's assistant duties, but I had just finished cleaning up puke because I couldn't find the school janitor AND dealing with 2.0's craziness. I was wiped out. If I forced myself to stay awake any longer, it wouldn't be pretty.

Jeanette led me to a ledge by the window, I struggled with my tired body to climb up and get situated. She brought me a roll of paper towels from Vanessa's experiment to use as a pillow. Then, she snipped off a piece the her purple tablecloth from her presentation table to use as a me-sized blanket. It was so cozy.

"Should I get you some headphones?" She asked.

I tried to reply, but all that came out was random and nonsensical mumbling.

I felt her tuck the blanket around me. "Sleep well, Brittany." That was the last thing I heard as the world faded to black.

I awoke in a beautiful meadow with mint green colored grass and a periwinkle sky overhead. Millions of pink and red flowers were sprinkled throughout the grassy area. I don't think I knew I was dreaming then. It just felt so peaceful, so serene. Gosh, I needed this.

I was wearing a simple pink ruffled sundress and pink flip flops. There were pink flowers on my sundress that matched the ones in the meadow. This was perfect. A great place to relax and let all my troubles melt away. Nothing could ruin this.

I skipped through the grass and did a cartwheel, my flip flops somehow miraculously staying on my feet. I belly flopped into the grass and just rolled around. There were no grass stains on my outfit. It was true bliss.

I rolled onto my back and put my hands behind my head. I stretched my legs out as far as they could reach. When I was finished laying down, I sat up and picked one of the red flowers and stuck it in my hair. A pretty blue tulip popped up in its place. That was odd. I still didn't know I was dreaming though. I was lost in the moment.

I heard Alvin's voice suddenly. It came from everywhere at once. It was almost too overpowering. "Ohoho, fancy seein' you here."

I held the red flower up like it was a weapon. "Yeah, great thinking." I thought to myself sarcastically. It's not like the flower could protect me from a threat.

"Hello, Brittany…." Alvin spoke again...from wherever he was. "Are ya gonna answer me or what?"

"Where are you, 2.0?" I asked, in an annoyed voice. How dare he come in here and do his stupid "dreambombing" technique.

"I'm NOT 2.0" The voice sounded offended.

"Who are you then?" I looked around the meadow, trying to find him.

Alvin laughed. It sounded...significantly higher than 2.0's usual chuckle. Could it be? "Look up." He instructed.

I tilted my head up to the sky. There had been nothing there before. Would that still be the case? "It's….It's YOU." I gasped.

There he was, dressed in his ripped up red hoodie and baggy jeans, red converse adorned his feet. His hair was short and his eyes were free of those clunky red framed glasses. "Of course it's me. Did ya really expect me to vanish forever?" He flapped his feathery white angel wings and flew down to pick me up. Wait a second….ANGEL WINGS!?

"Alvin, what's going on?" I asked, clinging to him.

He smiled lovingly. "I'm rescuing my princess. That's what."

I sighed happily. Part of me knew it was too good to be true, but the other part of me wanted to soak in as much fake dream love as I could.

And then, things got weirder. Simon flew in on a jetpack wearing his basketball uniform and stylish sports glasses. He carried a basketball in his hands. "Let her go, Alvin!" He demanded. "She's not your princess anymore. She's mine!"

"Ya wanna play that game?" Alvin clutched me tighter and glared at Simon. "Come at me, bro! See what happens."

Simon threw a basketball at Alvin and missed. He growled. "You don't even love her like I do!"

"Do so!" Alvin stuck his tongue out at Simon immaturely.

"Boys, settle down." I commanded, though to tell you the truth, I did like being fawned over.

Simon manifested another basketball out of thin air. "This is your last chance, Alvin. I'm warning you. Don't make me pull out my bag of tricks!"

"Your stupid magic science tricks are no match for my awesomeness!" Alvin declared forcefully. He dodged the second basketball with ease.

I clapped my hands. "Way to go, Alvie. You'll have to do better than that, Simon."

Simon grinned a mischievous grin and then made a third basketball appear. "Say goodnight, brother."

"Uh oh." Alvin's grip on me loosened. He flapped his angel wings and soared to the side, missing the basketball but just barely.

I, however, was released and sent tumbling down to land in the flowers below, most of which were being overrun by blue tulips. Interesting. Did that mean anything?

"Sorry!" Alvin called down to me. "My bad."

"That's okay, sweetie." I assured him.

Simon wasn't giving up, he zapped up a forth basketball, this one charged with electricity. "This. Ends. Now!" He tossed the ball and it flew through the air quickly.

Alvin didn't have a chance to dodge it. The ball slammed directly into his face and sent him hurtling toward the ground. He landed there and laid unconsciously in the grass.

"I wish it didn't have to come to this." Simon landed and the jetpack turned off. He extended a hand to me. "Shall we dance, my lady?"

"I have to make sure Alvin's okay first." I said, racing over to the unconscious boy.

Alvin blinked his eyes open and looked around as if he was disoriented. "Oh man, oh no!" He blinked rapidly and then grabbed his head in pain. "My brain hurts! Make it stoooop! Simon, what….what did you do to me?"

Simon was filled with regret. "I taught you a lesson. That's what. Maybe….Maybe I shouldn't have done that."

Alvin crumbled to his knees upon standing and his angel wings turned to dust. His form began to flicker and glitch out. "Please….help me. This can't be how it ends!" The glitchy pixels consumed him and his entire form shifted to looking like Alvin 2.0 in all his anti-charming dorkiness.

"Speak to me, Alvie!" I attempted to grab him, but he pushed my hand away. "Alvie?"

He turned his back on me. "Sorry to break it to ya, Britt. I'm kinda over you. My mind has been opened to so many possibilities, but you...you aren't one of them."

I fought back the tears. "Simon, why would you do this to him?"

Simon winked. "I'm only half the reason he's changed. The other half was all you, beautiful."

Why!? Why would he remind me that I was part of the reason Alvin had become so mixed up and traumatized!?

I screamed and ran away from them both, but the blue tulips transformed into giant venus fly trap plants and tried to eat me. Then, Jeanette swooped in on a rainbow unicorn and saved me. Looking back, it was a very very VERY weird dream….nightmare...thing. I'm lucky it ended when it did.

"Brittany, Brittany, are you awake?" Jeanette tapped my cheek lightly and I woke up with a startled shriek. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"Yeah….I'm, I'm fine." I lied. The nightmare shook me up quite a bit.

"Phew." Jeanette helped me down from the window ledge. "Good. Cuz Dave is looking for Alvin and Simon and can't find them."

"Wait, now Alvin's missing too? I thought he was at his project." I stood on my glitter heels with shaky feet.

My taller sister nibbled her lip. "He's not there now."

"This doesn't make any sense." Dave was pacing around in front of the mouse maze. "Alvin really wanted me to see his demonstration. He wouldn't just leave suddenly."

"Maybe he had to use the bathroom." I suggested with a sleepy yawn. "Hey, is Theo still manning the refreshments?"

Jeanette climbed onto Dave's shoulders to get a look at the refreshment table. "No. He's not." She reported. "All the Chipmunks are missing. And so is Eleanor."

"Eh," I stretched and arched my back. "Snoopy McSnooperson is the least of my worries right now."

Dave set Jeanette back down on the ground. "I'm going to find my kids." He said, like the papa bear he was. "Would you like to come along?"

"I can't." Jeanette petted Pippi and fed her a blueberry. "I have to stay here. The judges haven't seen my project yet. They could be here any minute now."

"Brittany?" Dave's amber eyes looked straight at me.

Hmm, well, if I tag along, I'd get some quality time to talk to Dave about...my issues. I'll do it! "Just give me one minute to wake up." I said sleepily.

A couple minutes later, Dave and I were walking through the school hall together. "Something really strange is going on here." The adult said.

I shrugged. "Isn't everything we do strange?" I pointed out.

"This seems stranger than the usual strange." He scratched his head. "Especially Alvin and Simon. You'd think they made a bet to switch lives or something."

That reminded me. I needed to know what Dave thought about my problem. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" I proposed.

He picked me up to carry me on his shoulder, since my legs were still shaky. "What is it about?"

I groaned. "Boys and romance."

"Maybe this would be a question better suited for Miss. Miller." He said calmly.

I shook my head. "No no no. She wouldn't understand the consequences. You do."

"Okay." The man smiled. "I'll do my best to help."

"Should I date Simon?" I ripped the bandaid off right away.

He coughed a little. I think I took his breath away. "What?"

"Well, it's just, I've been trying to get over Alvin for a long time now….and I'm worried Simon's just a rebound. I want to make sure that I'm treating him the way he deserves to be treated and not forcing him into being my replacement Alvin." I explained, climbing down so he could carry me in his arms instead of on his shoulder.

"That is….I'm sorry, Brittany. I'm not sure how to help with that." He answered.

I frowned. "I figured as much. I guess I'll just follow my heart, but my heart got me crushed last time. I don't have much faith in it."

"Romance is one of the trickiest things to learn. It's even harder than being a parent...and being a parent is pretty hard." We passed by the auditorium and he peered inside to look for his boys. There was no one to be found.

I folded my arms. "I wish I had answers. I wish there was some big instruction book on how to know if a crush could ever be a serious thing. I'm honestly jealous of Jeanette and Alvin. Everything with them seems so effortless. It makes me feel like I'm unlovable. Too high maintenance."

"I'm sure that someone out there would love you. Maybe it's Simon, maybe it isn't, but you'll never know unless you take the leap." He told me softly.

"And you don't think it'll ruin my friendship with Simon if I get it wrong?" I asked in a higher voice than usual. I felt so vulnerable. I squirmed in his grasp. I was ready to walk again.

"Absolutely not. What makes you think it will?" He set me down on the floor as we approached the art room.

My legs were stronger now, more woken up and less jittery. "Because my friendship with Alvin has never been the same." I confessed.

"Maybe not yet, but you and Alvin just have to get to know each other's new rhythm." He knocked on the door to the art room as I considered his words.

Maybe that's it. Maybe I do just need to focus on getting to know Alvin 2.0 better. I need to start searching for activities we both can enjoy together without them becoming a fight or a bet or a brawl.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Dave peeked through the art room window. "This room's empty too. Maybe they never left the cafeteria."

"Maybe." I didn't know where to even begin looking. There was a loud crunch under my feet. Pretzel crumbs. "Ew. Who would leave a mess like this?"

Dave's face lit up. He had an idea. "Theodore!"

The two of us took off, following the trail of pretzel crumbs hoping they led us to at least one of the Chipmunks. At least for a while I didn't have to be crammed in that busy cafeteria. That was a silver lining. I suppose. I was happy I'd gotten in a little convo with Dave, even though I still didn't know what to do about Simon. Of course, if he rejected me, it wouldn't matter anyway. Like I always say, life ain't easy.

JEANETTE'S POV

I continued to wait for the judges to stop by my castle labyrinth so that I could show them how amazing and smart Pippi is. The little mouse was still zooming around inside the maze, finding all of the little treasures I had hidden inside. I would have to re-hide them again after she finished. It's a good thing I had designed many different hiding spots.

At last, she emerged out the draw bridge, having collected all the tiny treats hidden once more. "Where's Brittany?" She squeaked.

Brittany had been watching her at the start, but then had fallen asleep. I felt pretty bad for making Brittany have such an early morning. I didn't realize it would affect her this much. Luckily, Brittany's rest seemed to perk her up. She agreed to go with Dave on the search for the Chipmunks and Eleanor. I don't think she would have done so if she'd still been tired.

"She left with Dave." I informed Pippi. "Eleanor and the Chipmunks are missing."

"I wanted her to watch me run." The rodent in the princess gown said sadly. "When is she coming back?"

I shrugged. "No one knows. Hopefully soon."

I spotted the judges checking out Pamela G's "Which soil grows the best lima beans?" experiment. They were going to be approaching mine next. I took the time to reset all the special treat containers inside the castle, AND made sure the pulley system on the elevator was still working.

When I finished, I stood tall and Pippi climbed up into my hands. She knew it was time. We were both ready as we would ever be.

Miss. Emma was the first to walk over. She reached out to pet Pippi, who backed away in fear.

"It's okay." I told her. "She won't hurt you."

Pippi's droopy ears lifted and she cautiously sniffed Miss. Emma's finger.

"This is lovely." Miss. Emma complimented my labyrinth. "Can I see inside it?"

I took her around to the back, which was covered by a transparent panel. From the back of the project, you could see the sheer amount of intricate details within the cardboard castle.

"It's 5 stories tall." Mr. Dotson walked around the front, ooohing and ahhing at the historical accuracy of the castle as well. "How long have you been building it?"

I felt my cheeks turn hotter and knew I was blushing. "Almost a month." I squeaked.

The other three judges showed up. "Alright, Jeanette." Miss. Smith looked at her clipboard. "Please tell us what purpose your castle serves. This is a science fair, not a historical model contest."

I blinked. "Isn't it obvious?" I gestured to my posters that explained the skills that all mice share.

Ms. Parish pointed to Pippi. "I think that mouse is going to run through and have to find her way out."

"Close." I told her. "But actually, she's gotta go on a scavenger hunt, collecting seeds and cheese cubes." I don't eat cheese, but Pippi loves it.

Coach Dopkins whistled. "How long do you think it'll take her to find everything?"

I grabbed a stopwatch from the table. "Let's find out!" Pippi approached the drawbridge and I began to count down. "In 5….4….3….2….1!"

I lowered the drawbridge and Pippi scampered into the maze. The judges attention turned to the screen that showed what Pippi was seeing. They watched her find the seeds on the first floor in Brittany's earring case, then they watched her locate the second treat. It was cheese cubes inside a butterfly shaped case. It had been the case my treasured butterfly pendant came with when I purchased it.

I felt my breathing turn shallow when Pippi approached the elevator. There was always the slight chance that it would break. I didn't want it to break! Not now! Not in front of the judges of all people! I fought away the sudden uncontrollable urge to start chewing on my nails. Thankfully, I had painted them with purple glitter polish, so as soon as I raised them to my face the smell of the nail polish reminded me not to nibble them.

Pippi leapt into the elevator. It was the only non-historically accurate part of my castle. Usually, they had stairs. I had tried to make the labyrinth work using stairs inside, but it had proven too difficult to mix the stairs into the design. Plus, the small cardboard pieces I tried to use for the stairs were much too flimsy to support Pippi's weight.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Pippi yanked the cords supporting the elevator with her tiny paws and the pulley system lifted her up to the second level of the maze. She was very fast finding the treats on that level as well. Then it was onto the third and fourth. The judges, even Miss. Smith, were mesmerized, at least I thought they were. They sure LOOKED mesmerized.

"Ingenious use of the elevator on the side." Mr. Dotson told me, flipping his scarf with a flourish.

I proudly smiled. "Thank you. That part was the hardest to make work."

"How is she able to lift up the lids of those cases?" Ms. Parish asked. "Did you train her?"

I shook my head. "No, no, she's naturally curious and she always gets into anything that's not locked up." I explained.

Pippi completed the fourth level and scurried back to the elevator. She rose up to the fifth and final level. I glanced at the stop watch. It had only been about three and a half minutes! She pushed a lever with her nose to open a secret passage and found the goodies I had hidden on the final level. Then, it was back to the elevator with her now full and satisfied belly.

The judges and I watched as she rode the elevator down and scuttled to the drawbridge exit. She did a little victory dance once she was outside the massive castle. It was ADORABLE!

"Bravo!" Mr. Dotson clapped his hands.

Miss. Smith smiled at me and adjusted her glasses. "Wonderful job, Jeanette. I'm sorry I was so critical before. I've just seen a lot of people completely forget about the originality aspect of this competition."

Miss. Emma petted Pippi's head and the little mouse rubbed against her hand. "She's so soft."

"Alright, team." Coach Dopkins waved for Miss. Emma to follow the group. "Let's move out. Got a bunch of projects left to judge before we decide the winners."

"Wait!" I raised my hand. "Before you go, does...does this mean I get my extra credit?"

Miss. Smith nodded. "Yes it does." She showed me that she put a gold star next to my name on her clipboard.

Wow! My name was one of very very few that had a gold star next to it. I guess I really had come up with something pretty special.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Pippi." I tickled my mouse friend under the chin.

She squeaked happy little squeaks of comfort.

I touched her nose and made a "boop" sound effect.

She liked it. She licked my finger playfully.

I let her run around atop the table as I hid more goodies inside the castle in case I got another chance to present it for someone.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" A haughty chuckle rang out. I knew exactly who it had come from.

I walked closer to Pippi to protect her from the blonde boy in the blue suit jacket. "Leave us alone, Bocarter. You….You aren't welcome here." I clenched my hands into fists.

He faked innocence. I suspected he was up to something. He's ALWAYS up to something. "I just came to look." He folded his arms and stared down at me. "Your castle is no match for my amusement park. What did you make this out of anyway?"

"100% recycled material." I replied.

"Lame." Bocarter scoffed. "But I suppose it shouldn't surprise me." He pointed a finger at Pippi, almost close enough to touch her. "You gave the rat a crown? Gosh, you're pathetic."

Pippi lashed out and chomped down HARD on Bocarter's finger. Served him right.

Bocater was livid. "This better not give me a disease!" He growled, clutching his sore and bleeding finger.

I smiled proudly at Pippi. "Don't worry." I said to the disgruntled boy. "She's had all her shots." I let Pippi run back up my arm and rest on my shoulder.

"I'm BLEEDING!" Bocarter wailed.

Should I help him? I looked around my area for something to wrap his wound. "Sorry, Bocarter. Fresh out of band aids. You'll have to see the school nurse or use a paper towel." I could have given him the paper towel roll pillow that I used for Brittany's makeshift bed, but I decided to hold onto that just in case I needed it later. Was it petty? Kind of, but….Bocarter didn't really deserve my help. What goes around comes around. That's a saying Theodore taught me.

I watched as Bocarter marched over to Vanessa's paper towel experiment and demanded that she help him out. "I need a towel. Hand one over?"

Vanessa stared at him. "Can you ask nicely?"

"I'm about to bleed to death and it's going to be your fault!" The bite in question was already starting to stop bleeding.

Vanessa stared up at the ceiling. "Get lost, Bocarter. It's a tiny little bitemark. You're not going to die from it."

"Why aren't you helping me!?" The rich kid was frustrated. It was a little funny.

Vanessa slapped both her hands on the table angrily. "BECAUSE IF I KEEP HANDING OUT PAPER TOWELS TO EVERY PERSON WHO WANTS ONE, I WON'T HAVE ENOUGH LEFT FOR MY EXPERIMENT DEMO, YOU DINGBAT!" Wow, Vanessa barely gets mad, but when she does...you better watch out!

I felt bad for taking a whole roll for Brittany, even though she said it was okay at the time. Once Bocarter had been successfully scared away, I handed her the roll back. "Here, I'm finished with this." I said sweetly.

"Oh, you don't have to return that, Jeanette. I have plenty of towels to spare." She winked at me. "But I won't give any to that skidmark." She gestured her thumb in the direction of Bocarter.

"Ohhhh." I nodded. I understood what was going on now. "Well, you can still have it regardless."

I scurried back to the labyrinth to join Pippi again, thoughts of all the crazy random things happening today replayed over and over in my mind. How had this turned into such a hassle? What if Dave and Brittany couldn't find the others? Why was Brittany so mad at Eleanor anyway? There wasn't a good reason. Eleanor had already apologized for the roller rink thing.

"Oh, Pippi." I sighed. "Why are things so chaotic right now?"

Pippi patted my hand and squeaked. Her squeaks roughly translated into. "Simon's gone nuts, Alvin's overworked, Theodore seems extra jumpy, and Eleanor's being accused of something she didn't do."

"Eleanor's wrongly accused?" I echoed. "Is that why Brittany's so mad? About something Eleanor didn't even do?"

Pippi nodded. She told me that a couple nights ago, she unlocked Brittany's diary to take a peek in it. She was just curious and wanted to mess with latches and levers. She didn't mean to cause any harm. Unfortunately, Britt knew she hadn't forgotten to lock it, and blamed Eleanor. What a pickle!

I decided I had to text Brittany and tell her the truth IMMEDIATELY! Then, my sisters could be friends again and maybe Eleanor could also come out of hiding! I turned my phone on, but the signal was really bad. There weren't enough bars to send a text at all. Maybe if I climbed higher I could get a better signal.

I knew there was no place that was safe for ME to climb, so I did the next best thing. I gave my phone to Pippi and she carried it up with her in the elevator to the top of the castle.

"Do you have bars yet?" I asked.

"Yeah!" She squeaked.

"Perfect!" I exclaimed. "Now just type a text to Brittany….except….you can't actually type words yet, can you? I haven't trained you to. I've been meaning to, but other things keep coming up. Oopsie daisy." I hadn't thought this through.

Just then, Pippi dropped the phone and it fell down the elevator shaft and crashed at the bottom.

"Oh no!" I picked up the phone and the screen was black. I tried to turn it back on to no avail. It must have broken upon impact. I'm sure Simon can fix it...at some point….if he isn't too busy with basketball.

"Sorry!" Pippi rode the elevator back down and slumped beside the castle.

I petted her head. "It's okay. These things happen." I scrunched my nose as I thought of what to do next. I'd already presented for the judges. Did I have to stay here? No! "I guess I'll have to go tell Brittany in person instead."

I drew up a sign that said "Will Be Back Soon" on it and taped it to the TV screen by my project. Pippi jumped into my shoulderbag and we both set off in search of Brittany or Eleanor...or maybe the Chipmunks. I wondered who we'd run into first. I secretly hoped it was Simon. Out of everyone here, he was the one I was the most worried about.

I exited the Cafeteria and walked into the hall. It was MUCH quieter out here. I hadn't realized how much the noise had been upsetting my senses until it was gone. It was peaceful here, very serene. I could think clearly and no one was around to stare at me with judgey eyes either. It felt marvelous. Now, I could complete my mission without making any more errors.

ELEANOR'S POV

Theodore and I dragged a very very uncooperative Alvin into the hallway. Being Alvin, he started mouthing off his signature complaints. I really wished I had a roll of duct tape so I wouldn't have to listen to him.

"Eleanor, what did I just tell you earlier about KIDNAPPING!?" He yapped incessantly. "Theo, how could you let her talk you into this!?"

"Like we said." Theodore's sweet voice responded. "We need your help."

"With what?" Alvin groaned. "And don't you DARE say "it's classified!" He glared at me with his bright blue eyes.

"Ya wanted to find Simon, right, carrot top?" I teased. "That's what we're doing!"

Theodore nodded. "And you think the most like Simon, so we need you to get in his head and find out where he'd be hiding."

The dorky boy scowled. "First, I am deeply offended that you would think that. Second, that still doesn't give you the right to drag me around. And third, you BOTH know that I really want Dave to see my presentation so that he can stop viewing me as an accident waiting to happen!"

"Oh, put a sock in it." I ordered. "Unless you want me to put a sock in it for you."

He raised a reddish orange eyebrow. "Uh...what do you mean by that?"

"I mean…" I tightened my grip on him. "I'll take my own sock and shove it in your mouth. You want that to happen?"

"N...No." He stammered.

Theodore fidgeted with his fingers. "I don't know about this, Eleanor. Maybe Alvin won't be as much help as you think."

"Yeah, because, I might be a total dweeb now, but I don't think like Simon." Alvin insisted.

I pushed him against the wall in the hallway. "But you know what it's like to be popular. So, my question for you is "where would you go to hide if you were being mobbed by annoying fans?"

He blinked. "I wouldn't be hiding at all. I eat attention for breakfast….or at least classic Alvin does."

"Does 2.0 know where to hide?" Theodore questioned sweetly, stepping up behind me.

Alvin made a funny face. It looked like he was trying to think, but getting nowhere. "Hmmm. Uh….well...there is one place 2.0 might hide."

I released my grip. It seemed Alvin wasn't going to fight back now. He was finally willing to work with us. I assumed it was because he was worried about his brother's wellbeing.

"What place is it?" Theo squeaked. I kinda hated that it was easier for him to extract information from Alvin than it was for me. It did make sense though, given their brotherly bond.

Alvin 2.0 pointed down the hall. "The library."

I fumed. "You know we already checked there earlier!" I reminded him.

"Yeah, but that was when we were looking for Theo, not Simon." Alvin scratched his head, err, hat. "I think."

"What makes you think that he'd be there now if he wasn't there when we were looking for Theo?" I rested a hand on my hip.

Alvin paced himself as he walked alongside us. "Call it brother's intuition."

Theodore and Alvin went ahead and I followed behind. I watched them both walk in entirely different ways. Theodore moved like a small child who wasn't always the steadiest on his feet. He took several short and careful steps. His little tail twitched to and fro behind him.

In comparison, Alvin walked similarly to Brittany, but with his legs further apart. His hips had an awful lot of exaggerated sway to them. It was pretty annoying to watch. Like, dude, seriously? You aren't a runway model. I have bigger hips than you and I NEVER move like that.

Finally, I just HAD to comment on them. "Alvin, buddy, can you stop with the hip swinging? It's distracting."

He turned around to look at me, frustrated. "I can't." He insisted. "Believe me, I have TRIED. They do this ALL THE TIME and I bump into EVERYTHING. I haaate it."

"He's put on a lot of weight recently." Theodore said very bluntly. "But shhh! He's sensitive about it."

Alvin's freckled face turned red. I giggled. Theo was right, and the shorts Alvin attached the suspenders on didn't hide his enhanced shape all that well. In fact, they just drew MORE attention to it. But hey, he DOES love attention.

"It's only temporary." Alvin gritted his teeth. "As soon as the winter weight comes off, everything will go back to normal."

"You hope anyway." I teased.

He looked scared and uncomfortable. "Can you go back to comparing me to Simon? I'd take that over this."

"Okay." I grinned.

Theodore shot me an "I know what you're up to and you better not do it" look.

He wasn't the boss of me, so I went in for the kill. "How do you feel about you and Simon basically switching lives?" Was that too mean? Nah.

"We haven't switched lives." He growled indignantly.

"You sort of have." His brother said reaching up and patting his shoulder. "But we don't have to talk about that if it makes you uncomfortable."

"I feel FINE about it." Alvin attempted to shove his hands in his shorts pockets, but quickly realized the shorts were extremely tight on him and that just wasn't possible. "I chose this and I'm stuck. No point in imagining any alternative scenario."

Aw no. He was going into his "scholar talk" mode again. I poked him too hard I suppose.

"It'll be okay, Alvin." Theodore, being the extremely nice guy he is, hugged Alvin and caught him off guard.

Alvin shook his head and peeled the chipmunk in green off him. "Stop saying that. Stop it. Sometimes, things aren't okay and there's nothing you can do to fix them."

"Maybe you'd feel better once you get out of that outfit." I remarked, trying to be funny. It only made him madder. "It's so tight, it's making you extra crabby."

"I'm crabby because NOTHING is going the way I planned it!" The boy in the rainbow suspenders grumbled loudly.

"Nothing's going how I planned either." Theodore added.

I folded my arms as we approached the library. "Yeah, or how I planned. You don't see me whining about it."

The nerdy kid glared at me again. "Expressing my emotions at all is whining to you!"

"You complain too much. I'm sick of it." I replied, jumping ahead of the two Chipmunks and opening the library door. "Oh Simon? Simon are you in here?"

"CRAP!" I heard a human girl's voice say.

I flicked on the library light and stared down the person who had made Theodore an anxious mess all week. "Hello, Sabrina."

"Aha!" Alvin was suddenly giddy, like he'd forgotten everything that happened moments before. Who knows, maybe he did! "So she is the skinny jeans chick. I knew she sounded like someone I've met!"

"Not the time, Alvin." Theodore held onto his brother as I went absolutely feral and chased Sabrina around the library.

"It's time for justice!" I screamed, jumping onto a bookcase and then down from it to land on her back.

"Get off! Get off! Ew! Don't mess up my hair, freak!" She turned around in circles, trying to dislodge me.

I gripped hard. "You are going to pay for those green beans AND apologize to my best friend or so help me!" I shouted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Theodore and Alvin watching from the distance.

"Should we help her?" The red capped boy asked.

Theodore nervously glanced at the book drop box. "I think we should let her handle it." He said, grabbing Alvin's hand and pulling him under a library table.

Drat! I kinda needed their help. I wasn't a match for Sabrina alone. I needed them to distract her while I subdued her. I couldn't even reach her neck to hit her pressure point.

She eventually succeeded in bucking me off. I landed on my butt and growled at my partners. "Don't just stand there! Get her!"

We all chased after Sabrina as she left the library and darted down the hall. It was a mad dash back to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, she beat us there. She was a human with longer legs after all. We hadn't stood a chance, even though we could run faster than she could if she was our height.

The elusive culprit vanished into the science fair crowd and I knew I'd blown my chance to capture her. "Nice going, guys." I griped at the Seville boys sarcastically.

"Sorry!" Theodore held up his hands. "I panicked!"

"I was afraid she'd choke me with my own suspenders." Alvin rubbed the back of his neck. "We have history."

"Did you play pranks on her?" His brother asked politely.

Alvin's voice got raspier than usual. I could tell he didn't want to be saying this, but he couldn't resist telling his baby brother. "More like played pranks WITH her, if ya catch my drift." He frowned. "And it nearly cost me my relationship with Jeanette."

I groaned loudly. "Urgh! Is there anyone in this school who isn't part of your emotional baggage?"

"I would hope so." He cracked a forced smile. "Anyway, since I helped you find one of the missing persons, can I PLEASE go back to my project now?"

"Nope." I grabbed his skinny arm. "You still have to use your twin telepathy to find Simon."

The boy in the bowtie was furious, but he couldn't escape my grasp. All his muscle was concentrated from the waist down, leaving the rest of him weak and wimpy. "For the last time, I can't read Simon's mind!" He replied, sounding annoyed.

"And we're triplets." Theodore interjected. "Not twins and an extra. It would be pretty silly if we were."

We turned the corner and walked down the hall toward Miss. Smith's classroom. Still no sign of Simon. Darn it! The classroom seemed like a good place to hide. We trekked on through the halls until we arrived back at the library again. We'd traveled in a C shape. There was only one section of the school we hadn't searched.

Theodore had picked up a map of the school from Miss. Smith's empty classroom. He used a green pen to draw an X through every room and hall we'd searched. "What if Simon's not even in the school anymore?" He proposed, sounding worried.

Oh my gosh. That idea had NEVER crossed my mind until now. Maybe Simon had gone outside or even run back home, seeking comfort in his own bed. "You might be onto something, Theo."

"You guys!" Alvin squinted into the distance. "Either I'm hallucinating from stress or that's Dave and Brittany!"

"What!?" Theodore and I said at the same time, equally surprised. What were they doing here?

Alvin started waving his arms and jumping around. "Dave! Dave! Over here!"

Brittany and Dave ran to us and we ran to them. It was a big reunion, even though we'd only been separated for half a day. It was good to see them!

Theo and Alvin jumped into Dave's arms and I reached out to high five Brittany. "Hey, sis. How's it going? Are you looking for Simon too?"

She turned up her nose at me and gave Theo and Alvin her attention instead. Rude much? I still had no clue what I did that made her this upset with me.

"We searched all these places." Theodore showed Dave his map. "But Simon wasn't in any of them."

"Would you like to go see my presentation now, dad?" Alvin's red-orange tail wagged excitedly.

"Alvin,..." Dave set the boy back on the ground along with his other son. "There are more important things to focus on."

"I'm sure Simon's fine. He's clearly hidden well enough that no fans can find him." The red capped munk insisted.

"Theo thinks he might have gone home." I informed Dave and Brittany, even though Brittany was still pretending I didn't exist.

"We tried to call him but we got his voicemail." The adult man sat down against the wall, mainly to get closer to our height, but probably also because he was tired.

Brittany paced back and forth. "I just want this day to be over already." She grumbled. Oh swell. Another complainer. She and Alvin should hang out more. Then, they could complain to each other and spare the rest of us.

"Boy, I'm gonna have a lot to write in my diary tonight." Theodore squeaked innocently.

That caused the Chipette in pink to scowl even more. "Don't say that, Theo. You'll encourage Snoopy."

"Did you just call Eleanor the beagle from the Peanuts comics?" The dirty blonde chipmunk was confused.

"Maybe Snoopy should be your name instead." I sneered at Brittany.

Dave glanced between the two of us. "Girls, can I have some context here?"

"Sure thing, Dave." I smiled sweetly. "Brittany read my diary."

Brittany's fur bristled. "And you read mine!" She pointed a pink manicured finger at me.

I was taken aback. "I didn't read yours!" I said honestly.

She wasn't having it. "Then why was it unlocked?"

I hate that I said this next thing, but I was basically at the end of my rope. "I dunno! Maybe your dimwitted brain forgot to lock it!"

Alvin gulped and tensed his hands. "You guys didn't read my diary, did you?" There he goes again, inserting himself into other people's business. And he's not even sneaky about it like I am. He just blurts out dumb things to get people to focus on him instead of anyone else.

At least Brittany had a good comeback for the little rascal. "Nobody needs to read your diary, Alvin." She flicked his shoulder length hair. "We already know what it says, on every page." She continued, walking around him in a circle and mocking the way he talks. "HELP! I'M BECOMING MORE AND MORE OF A NERD!"

That got a huge giggle out of me, a small one out of Theo, and a chuckle out of Dave.

"Hey! I didn't write that on EVERY page." The boy in the dorky outfit looked very embarrassed. "Just, you know, some of 'em."

Theodore whistled to get our attention. "We don't have time for fighting, you guys. We need to find Simon." He reminded us. "I feel like there's a huge clue that we're overlooking."

I took note of everything in the hallway. A fire extinguisher on the wall, lockers, a trash can… "He might be in here." I climbed into the trash can to search. Still no luck. "Or not." I jumped back down to the floor. There was a loud crunch under my feet.

"Urgh." Brittany picked pretzel crumbs off the bottom of her high heeled shoes. "Someone made a huge mess and I am NOT helping clean it up. I refuse. I am NOT the school janitor."

"The janitor isn't here." Theo revealed. "He went home early cuz he got sick from Jenny's cookie dough experiment."

"Wait, wait, wait…" My sister gasped. "You mean the puke I had to clean up was from HIM!? And that's why I couldn't find him!"

Dave stood back up. "Well, we probably should be getting a move on. There's still a few rooms left to check."

"This day is so weird." I remarked, following the others.

"Eh, it's school on a Saturday. What do you expect?" Alvin quipped, walking close to Brittany.

"Ouch!" I heard the girl in pink shout. "Stop bumping me with your hips, Alvin!"

He groaned in response. "I'm not doing it on purpose."

"Yes you are!" She growled.

He bumped her again. "Okay, that one WAS on purpose, but only cuz you're nitpicking the way I move just like you nitpick EVERYTHING else."

"I need my space!" She shoved him gently away from her.

"Cut it out, you two." Dave separated the warm colored duo and walked between them. Brittany was on his right side and Alvin on the left.

Thank goodness. While their argument was kind of entertaining, we didn't have time to be slowed down by their nonsense. I walked behind Dave and next to Theodore, who I didn't mind being close to. Would we find Simon in the next room we checked? I sure hoped we would.

THEODORE'S POV

Three more rooms checked, and still no sign of Simon. Group morale was getting pretty low. I knew it was my job to help keep everyone thinking positive, but I was getting kind of sick of my job. Couldn't someone else take over being optimistic for a change?

"Come out, come out wherever you are, Simon." Eleanor said in a sing-song type voice.

I really didn't think he'd still be in the school. Although….he wouldn't have gotten out very easily without someone seeing him and chasing him. So maybe he WAS still hiding in the school. But where could he be hiding?

"Urgh. We're never going to find him." Brittany grumbled.

My "toxic positivity" as Alvin called it, kicked in. "Of course we will. Eleanor is the best detective ever. She can find anyone."

"Yeah! I figured out who the green bean thief was." The blonde with the twin ponytails boasted. "Even if I haven't caught them yet."

Dave looked at me. "You finally told her? Thank goodness."

"Yep." I giggled nervously. "It was easier to do it on accident."

He chuckled and bent down to ruffle my hair. "Well, accident or not, I'm glad all the practicing finally paid off."

"Me too!" I agreed. "And Ellie's not mad...at least, not at me!"

Eleanor shuffled her feet. "I'm pretty mad at Simon right now. If I didn't have to track him down, I'm sure I'd have caught Sabrina by now."

Brittany kicked around some of the pretzel crumbs on the floor. "If I have to hear about that stupid green bean mystery one more time, I am going to lose it!" She pretended to point a TV remote at Eleanor. "I'd like to change the channel and watch something OTHER than The Great Chipmunk Detective."

"I've got a mystery for ya, Ells." I sure hoped Alvin's comment would be useful. I didn't want to listen to him and Brittany fight again. "How does one become the perfect ratio of nerdy to cool?"

"That's not a mystery, Alvin." My best friend in the watermelon patterned hoodie groaned.

"Is so!" He argued.

She glared at him with her green eyes. "No, it's not."

"Don't you two start." Dave warned. "I just went through this with Alvin and Brittany."

I sighed and tried to focus my mind off their words. All I had wanted to do was make refreshments and hang out at the science fair. I felt like I'd spent too long wandering around and around the halls, with no end in sight.

I walked ahead of the group and spotted someone in the distance, long before anyone else did...cuz they were still busy arguing. I could make out a tiny figure in purple. My instincts told me it must be Jeanette. What was she doing away from her project?

"...I'm just sayin'!" Alvin's squeaky voice yelped. "You said you could solve any mystery. How come you won't help me?"

"Maybe it's because you refused to call me by my name for years." Eleanor growled. Before he was 2.0, Alvin had been known for annoying Eleanor by pretending to forget her name.

My brother in red held his arms up. "That's water under the bridge."

"I reserve the right to not help you." The mint clad girl poked his chest.

"Ow!" Alvin smacked her hand away.

She poked him in the back the next time. "Oh, you cannot possibly be that sensitive."

"Quit it!" My brother hissed.

"Let me poke him!" Brittany poked at Alvin's cheek.

"Uh, Dave…" I stopped thinking about the purple figure in the distance and gestured to the girls and Alvin. "Feel free to step in and do some parenting here."

Dave picked Alvin up and held him close. "Don't poke him, girls."

"Sorry." Brittany pouted. "We're just so bored."

"Yeah!" Eleanor grumbled. "There's not a clue in sight!"

And that's when Jeanette came close enough to us that the rest of the group could see her. She tripped and fell, letting out a loud "whooooah."

Immediately, both her sisters rushed ahead to help her up.

Alvin struggled in Dave's arms, but our dad wouldn't release his grip.

"Are you okay, sis?" Brittany asked, helping Jeanette to her feet.

Eleanor sighed. "Darn it. Beat me to it, like always." She had arrived to help Jeanette just seconds after her sister in pink did.

"I'm okay." The tallest Chipette said softly. "I just tripped on these darn pretzel crumbs."

"They're everywhere." Brittany muttered. "They start at the cafeteria and go all the way down this hall."

Suddenly, it hit me. I knew how we could find Simon! The answer had been right there under our noses….errr...our feet, the whole time! "Where do they stop?" I asked Brittany, my tail wagging.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Does it matter?"

Dave and Alvin caught up to us. Alvin had finally managed to free himself from Dave's grip. They were just in time to hear my idea! Awesome!

"Uh huh! It matters a lot." I squeaked.

Jeanette blinked and rubbed her head. "Why do pretzel crumbs matter?"

"Because pretzels are Simon's comfort food!" I exclaimed. "If he's feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or just sad for no reason, he ALWAYS wants something salty!"

"Or to be salty to us." Alvin joked, riffing on Simon's tendency to be extra snide and sarcastic when stressed.

Eleanor picked up on what I meant before anybody else. "So if the pretzel crumbs were from Simon, then…"

"Where the pretzel trail ends, that's where Simon's hiding!" I finished, clapping my hands together.

"Brilliant detective work, Theo." My mystery solving partner high fived me.

I blushed. "Thanks. I just wanna find my missing brother. I gotta know he's okay."

"Let's not waste any time." Dave declared. "Lead the way, Theodore."

I stayed in front of the group as we moved through the hall in the direction we had JUST come from. I kept my eyes on the pretzel trail, looking for the spot where it veered off course. So far, it just went in a straight line. We reached the end of the hall where it turned the corner and then came to a stop. To our left, was the gymnasium and to our right, a locked janitor's closet.

"Which way did he go?" Alvin asked, turning his head side to side.

Brittany confidently turned to the left. "Where does any basketball player go? The gym obviously." She stated. "He's probably shooting hoops to calm himself down."

"The gym it is then." Dave put his hand on the door to the gym.

"Wait!" I ran over to him and pulled on his pantleg. "He's not gonna be in the gym. It's too much of an open area. He wants to stay hidden." I pointed to the janitor's closet. "He's GOTTA be in there."

Jeanette stepped forward to knock on the door. She hesitated before she could and smiled at me. "Since you found him, I think you should do the honors." How nice of her! I was happy she'd thought of that.

I took a few steps forward and then gave a sharp knock. "Simon? It's me, Theodore. Are you in there?" I said quietly, but loud enough that he could hear.

A muffled voice came from the other side. "Please...just...leave me alone!" It was Simon!

"It's okay, Simon. We'll protect you from the crazy people." I promised.

"I'm fine in here!" He insisted. "Go enjoy the science fair. You can get me after!"

"But what if you run out of air in there?" Jeanette whimpered.

Simon sighed loudly. "It'll be fine!"

"No it won't." The girl in purple pointed out. "That room has no windows. I doubt you're getting much air from the ventilation system either. You have to get out before the day's over or you'll d…."

"I can't!" Simon replied, sounding terrified. "I can't get out!"

"Why?" I asked. "Is the door stuck?"

"N….no…..I just….can't!" His voice sounded strained.

I looked at Dave and the others. I was totally lost. What was I supposed to do!?

The adult man walked up to the door and pounded on it. "Simon, this is your father, unlock this door right now!"

"I….I….I can't!" Simon repeated. He was stuck in a panic loop. That much was certain.

"Well, I tried." Dave sighed. "Any other ideas?"

Alvin stepped up to take a shot at it. "I'll get him out." The red capped guy boasted. "Oh, Siiiimon, if you don't come out right now, I'll tell Dave what you did during the math test." Oof. That's not really a good idea, Alvin. You'll make this worse.

My dad was confused. "What did he do?"

"You're bluffing, Alvin." Simon growled. At least that shook him out of the panic loop.

My oldest brother sighed and moved away from the door. "Yeah. He's right. I'm bluffing."

"What did he do?" Dave repeated, sounding angry. I wonder if he knew he probably wouldn't be getting that answer.

Eleanor rolled up her sleeves. "Alright, enough wasting time. Simon, I'm coming in there."

"Stay out!" Simon ordered. "Go away. Just enjoy the rest of your day and leave me out of it!"

"But you'll suffocate!" Jeanette reminded him.

Simon wasn't budging. "I'll suffocate from attention if I do come out, so what's the point!?"

I really didn't want my brother to die in a janitor's closet, so I turned to look at my friend in mint and teal. "Eleanor, you know what to do!" I said.

Eleanor brought all of us into a huddle. Dave had to crouch down to huddle with the rest of us. "I'm gonna pick the lock and send someone in there, but the question is who." She informed the group.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me. He clearly doesn't want to talk to me. That's why he's hiding." She flicked her right hand like she was shaking water off it. I think that's a gesture that girly girls do a lot. I wonder if it means anything.

"No, No, he's hiding because popularity is overwhelming him." Jeanette explained to her shorter sister in pink.

"Is that what this is all about?" Dave was slow to catching on, but he had caught up now.

Then Alvin had to go and add in some sarcasm. "No, it's about him suddenly hating school."

"He hates school now?" Jeanette's face was deep in thought.

Alvin groaned. He was mad his attempt at comedy was faulty.

The purple Chipette caught on faster than she used to. "Ohhh sarcasm. Right."

I had enough of people getting off topic. "Who do we know, that isn't Brittany, who has experience with popularity?" I asked.

The answer was simple. All of us turned to look directly at Alvin in his spunky dork outfit glory.

The red haired chipmunk backed away from our huddle. "Guys, no, really, I….I….can't!"

Eleanor grabbed him again, which I didn't approve of, but I knew that he was our one hope of rescuing Simon somehow. "And you're doin' it anyway." She commanded. "Look, you're the ONLY one who can get through to him, and from what Theo's told me about your fighting...you and Si are due for a heart to heart talk."

"Th...That's true." I squeaked. Plus, I knew both of them had been trying to have heart to heart talks for weeks, but things kept getting in the way.

"Come on, Alvin." Dave begged.

"This is your moment to shine." Brittany added, smiling warmly. I'll never understand how she can go from loving him to hating him and then back again.

"There has to be some other way!" Alvin cried out.

Jeanette took his hand and stroked the fur on it. "Please, Alvin." There were tears in her eyes. "He's in a very dark place and he's going to hurt himself. Don't you want to be the hero who rescued your brother from certain doom?"

Immediately, Alvin's entire body language changed. It got less nervous, less apprehensive, and more...confident.

"Okay." He agreed at last. "I'll do it."

"Coolio." Eleanor grinned. "Now, pick the lock." She instructed.

"With what?" My brother in red asked, looking lost.

Eleanor's sassy sister in pink held up her hands and extended her nails. "With your claw, Einstein."

"Might be a small issue with that." Alvin extended his claws out as far as they could go, which wasn't very far. They were nubs. Jagged and chewed numbs. "I, uh, I chew my claws when I'm nervous." He admitted. "I get nervous a lot."

"Guess I'll do it myself." Eleanor climbed up to unlock the door. Then, she grabbed Alvin and tossed him inside, closing the door again immediately so he wouldn't change his mind and run back out. She laughed maniacally. "May the odds be ever in your favor."

Why would she say that? Was it a reference to something? "I don't get it." I commented.

"Now what do we do?" Brittany asked, sounding impatient.

"Now, we wait." Dave started to pace around. "And hopefully this won't take too long."

"Can you hear what's going on in there?" Jeanette asked me in her whispery tone.

Oh right. My supersenses would come in handy right now. I cupped my hand around my ear. "I think so."

"I really wish Eleanor would stop pushing me around." I heard Alvin mutter, although now he sounded muffled too. "Okay, bro. Let's talk."

"Of course they sent you." Simon replied, sounding annoyed. He was talking a lot quieter now, compared to the shouting he'd done before.

"Hey, drop the attitude, Si." Wow. Alvin didn't go in there to mess around and play jokes. He knew there was a job to do.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Simon was receptive to talking. "I don't WANT to talk."

"Well, tough acorns, pal." My higher-voiced brother replied in a sassy tone. "Because I'm not leaving until we talk."

I could hear Simon's deeper-voiced groan. Their voices were so different, yet so similar. It was kinda like their personalities.

"What are they saying?" Brittany asked, pressing her ear to the door.

"They're trying to have a talk, but…" I nibbled my lip. "I have a feeling we might be here a while."

Collective groaning came from the whole group. I kinda wished we'd all gone in the closet to help Simon. At least, everyone but Dave. He didn't really fit. Now, it was entirely up to Alvin to somehow convince Simon to come out. He needed to not make Simon madder or more scared or more uncomfortable. Maybe sending Alvin in there wasn't the best idea. We were desperate though.

I tried to force myself to think positive. Simon would be fine. He'd surely come out before the air supply was all gone. Alvin would talk sense into him. Things would be okay. I just had to sit tight and wait. Was this toxic positivity? No. It was something I needed to keep myself from worrying too much. It was essential. I'm not so positive that it's a problem and I never will be.

SIMON'S POV

They found me! How on earth did they find me!? I thought this place was safe! I thought that I could just hang out here until it was time to go home! They weren't supposed to find me! No one was supposed to find me!

Besides, contrary to Jeanette's belief, I had PLENTY of hours before the air supply ran out. If I found myself struggling to breathe, I would just open the door. There, you see? Easy problem to solve. They could have taken the "I'll be fine" and left me alone. They COULD have.

That, however, is not what they did. They insisted on sending my bozo of a brother in here to quote "rescue" me. He was relentless and frustrating and basically the LAST person I wanted to see. He kept wanting to talk. I was NOT in the mood to talk. I was trying to recover from a panic spiral, trying hard to NOT let it turn into a panic attack.

And yet, my brother in red continued to ask stupid questions. "What are you doing here, Simon?"

"Hiding from the popular-azzi." I replied, pressing my body against the back wall away from the door.

Alvin frowned. "They chased you in here?"

"Yeah…." That wasn't the truth though. I amended my words. "Well, technically no. I was chased by them and then I retreated here to avoid them. They didn't chase me all the way through the halls."

He sat against the wall next to me. "Those fans really can be a pain in the tail." He agreed, fidgeting with his fingers in his lap.

I looked at him in his ridiculously geeky suspenders and bowtie, then I looked down at my shiny blue basketball uniform. Years ago, he wouldn't have wanted to be caught dead in that outfit. And I could have never imagined being a jock in any way shape or form. Things had truly shifted. I didn't know if it was for better or worse.

"Wow, I guess we kinda...have switched lives." I murmured.

Alvin crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "No dip, Sherlock. That wasn't glaringly apparent?" It would never not feel weird listening to him switch from urban slang to scholar talk.

I sighed. Maybe Eleanor was right. It's high time my irritating brother and I had a heart to heart about our status swap. "I never meant to get in this deep." I sounded a little choked up as I told Alvin everything. "I only wanted to be part of a team. Not a star player and certainly not popular enough to get my own posse."

To my surprise, he already deduced the reason behind my behavior. "I know, which is why I hate that I'm jealous of you." He tugged nervously on the strands of his orangish brown hair.

I glanced at the door. "So where do we go from here?"

"I have a science fair to get back to...and you...have some choices to make. Choose wisely." He said, rising from the floor to stand.

I looked up at my brother from my seated position. "You don't have any advice?"

"Hmm. Advice on how to avoid the popularity I crave and miss every single day?" He looked at me as if I were completely nuts. "No. No I don't. Besides, I don't want you to quit the basketball team if being there makes you happy." He added.

I was shocked by his words. Never in my life did I think that I'd be hearing such a thing from the mouth of the former mischief maker. Granted, he had said similar things to me before, but they always felt forced. This dictation was undisputedly genuine. "Thanks, Alvin. That's...pretty big of you."

And then, as if a switch in his brain was flipped, he was back to his usual sense of humor. "Well, I have cast aside my impish ways and embraced a more rational and educated persona." He claimed, sticking his hands on his hips proudly.

"And you're ruining this." I responded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"What? It's the truth!" He gestured to his clothes. "I mean, LOOK AT ME!"

I started to relax a little. "Yeah, because that outfit sure screams rational and educated." I quipped sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Good one, bro." He started walking to the door. "Now, come on."

"I'm still not leaving." I pursed my lips tightly.

He looked surprised and then walked back over to join me. "What can I do to make you comfortable getting out of here? Seriously, I will do anything."

"There's nothing you can do. I'm going to be mobbed by fans until I quit the basketball team." I stated miserably.

He rubbed his chin. "I've got it! Maybe you could start hanging out with the few members of the basketball team who aren't pressuring you into dumb stuff!"

I sighed and curled up against the wall again. "I was thinking that, but what do I do today?" I felt tears prick at my eyes again. "The saddest part of this is...I actually DID still want to see everyone's projects. I planned to do that after meeting up with the team. Now, I can't do either."

Alvin's blue eyes shone with determination. "Maybe you still can!" A wide smile crossed his face. "I have an idea that's just crazy enough to work."

"What is your…" I started to question, before falling silent as I watched Alvin's actions.

He took off his cap and unstrapped his rainbow suspenders. Then, he wriggled out of his tight fitting red shirt and jean shorts. "We switch our lives back." He squeaked.

"Huh?" I still hadn't caught on.

"But only temporarily." He added, standing there in his underwear and gathering up the clothes to hand to me.

Finally, I was able to deduce his plan. "You want me to pretend to be you?"

"Well, yeah. You need a disguise, right? What better disguise than this?" He reasoned. "You go back to the science fair as me. I'll go back as you. The popular kids won't know the difference."

I looked at the pile of clothes in my hands. "I'm not so sure about this. Besides, then you'll be the one who can't enjoy the science fair."

"That's why I said "only temporarily," dude." He explained. "Once I've outrun the crowd, I'll change into a backup outfit and then there will be two Alvins to ignore and zero Simons to chase!"

I still didn't fully believe this would work, but...I had nothing to lose really. I took off the basketball uniform as fast as I could. "Alright, here goes nothing."

"Ohoho! That's the spirit!" He pumped his fists in the air.

I looked at my brother and then at the blue basketball shorts in my hand. I held them up and tried to eyeball their size compared to Alvin. "Are you sure these will fit on you?"

He grabbed them from me. "They'll stretch." He insisted, yanking the waistband to prove the shorts had enough give.

There was something else I noticed. "Hey, you have freckles on your shoulders and back now too."

"They're from stress." Alvin hoisted the shorts up and jumped around to get them over his hips. "Nothin' to worry about. They'll disappear any day now."

I dressed myself in Alvin's clothes and made sure to attach the suspenders. The shorts were so large on me that there was no hope of holding them up without suspenders. I placed Alvin's hat on my head and instantly felt warmer. How does he STAND this thing?

"Should we switch glasses too?" Alvin asked, tying his hair in a small ponytail and hiding it under the shirt collar. He added a blue scrap of fabric he'd found in the janitor's closet to use as a sports headband.

"Probably." I said, removing my glasses. "If we don't, it'll wreck the effect." Not that this was going to work anyway. We didn't look that alike. He had an entirely different build, opposite to mine. We had different hair lengths and colors too.

I put his glasses on and gasped. "Do you wear the same prescription as me?" I could see fine. Everything was in fact fairly clear.

"Do I?" He shuddered. "I hope not." He slipped the oval shaped sports glasses on. "Oh come on!" I assume he'd figured out he could see fine through them. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I do."

I pointed out what that meant. "Your eyes have gotten worse."

He groaned. "Yep."

"A lot worse." I added.

He walked toward the door, tail swishing side to side. "Please, don't remind me."

"ARE YOU GUYS DONE IN THERE YET!?" Brittany asked impatiently from the other side of the door.

"J...Just about!" I yelled back.

Alvin pushed the door open and walked out into the well lit hall. I followed, keeping my arms behind my back. Everyone was staring at us. Dave, Theo, and The Chipettes. I knew they weren't fooled by the disguises, even though the basketball team and my mob of fans would be.

"Guys?" Theodore's brown eyes studied us. "Something doesn't look right."

"I'm so glad you're safe, Simon." Brittany hugged Alvin and then kissed his cheek. "I was worried after Jeanette said you'd be a goner."

Eleanor giggled. "Uh….Brittany?"

"What?" Brittany fluttered her eyelashes."

Alvin pushed her away gently and frowned. He didn't like being kissed without consent, at least, not by his former crush.

"That's….not Simon." The shorter Chipette finished.

Brittany backed away in horror. The thought that she had just kissed Jeanette's boyfriend by accident dawned on her. "Sis, I really didn't know!"

"It's okay, Britt." Jeanette assured her confused and humiliated sister.

Dave finally asked the question that I was expecting him to have asked when we first walked out. "Why did you switch clothes?"

Alvin wiggled his eyebrows. "It's all part of the plan."

"I hope it's a good plan." Theodore commented, looking as unsure as I felt.

"It's the best plan ever." My doppleganger boasted.

We walked down the hall and back to the cafeteria, stopping in the drama club room to grab me an annoyingly long orange wig so I could better capture Alvin 2.0's essence. It tickled the back of my neck and blocked my peripheral vision. I hated it, but I hated being fawned over by a bunch of random people more. The wig was the lesser of two evils.

"This is your dumbest plan ever." Eleanor whispered to Alvin.

"We'll see." He shrugged his narrow shoulders, which made the straps of the uniform tank top slip off and need to be readjusted.

Dave looked at me for advice on what to do to follow Alvin's plan. "So am I supposed to stay with you while Alvin goes running off?" He asked.

I nodded. "Affirmative."

"Hey, Simon." Alvin smirked at me before we entered the cafeteria.

I was in no mood to put up with his antics, but I made the mistake of responding anyway. "Hey, what?"

He snickered. "You look like a clown."

Oof. Okay, maybe I deserved that. I'd been taking shots at this very look earlier. Could you blame me though? It's a very laughable look!

"Yeah, well…" Brittany smirked and shot a devious glare at Alvin. "It looks like the Simoness in your brain has finally spread to your whole body."

I high fived her. That was a brilliant comeback.

I thought that would shut Alvin up, but he kept going like he was on autopilot. "Nuh uh! No Simon could possibly rock these curves!"

I cringed. Seeing Alvin dressed as me saying things I would never say gave me a weird sense of dissociation. I really hoped we wouldn't have to keep this up for long.

"Should we text Dexter and tell him we found Simon?" Theodore wondered aloud.

"I'll text him myself." I turned my phone back on and sent Dexter a text that let him know I was okay, but in disguise as my brother. "He was worried about me?" I asked, feeling a flood of appreciation. I hadn't known Dexter long, but I did consider him to be quite close.

"Of course he was." My cheerful brother quipped. "He's your friend."

"Or he's a manipulative jerk who's pretending to be a friend while using you." Alvin cut in.

"Nuh uh." Theodore told Alvin with a frown. "That's Greg, not Dexter. Dexter is one of the good ones."

"I always thought Greg was nice." Brittany looked at me with a frown. "I guess I was wrong too."

"High school sure is complicated." Dave walked through the door of the cafeteria and Alvin followed him.

It was less than five seconds before Alvin was surrounded by random students. His plan seemed to work. Nobody gave me a second thought.

"Omg! Simon! Where have you been?" "Simon, Simon, can you teach me how to shoot baskets like that?" "Love the new hair color! Did you dye it?"

"You're welcome." Alvin whispered to me, before he ran off, leading the group of incessant idolizers to chase him.

Brittany watched him go and stood next to me with a confused look. "This has been SUCH a weird day."

"Weird as heck." I agreed, awkwardly chuckling.

I was grateful that I was free at last. And soon, once I formally put in my resignation or whatever I had to do, the problems with the basketball team would be history. I could finally start getting my life back on track. I couldn't wait.

ALVIN 2.0'S POV

There I was, running from a crazy mob of over enthusiastic fans. It felt oddly familiar. Back when I had been classic Alvin, I wouldn't have run FROM the fans though. I would have run toward them. Still, it felt good to run. I hadn't realized how much pent up energy was just sitting inside me, mostly unused.

Obviously, it wasn't an ideal scenario. I was dressed like Simon and I did fully intend to somehow lose these followers so I could resume my original plans. The original plan in question was SHOWING DAVE MY SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT! I was really sick of all my attempts being derailed!

I ran past Kevin and Cheesy's mini Hadron collider project, and Warren and Bruce's rocket project. The starstruck teens still chased me. Geez! How is Simon of all people THIS popular? Honestly, I can't blame him for being overwhelmed. I was a little overwhelmed too.

But I also liked it. It felt good to be needed and wanted and complimented, even if they thought I was someone else. Plus, this basketball uniform was COMFY! No wonder Simon wore it so much! The fabric was super stretchy and silky with a sort of shimmer to it. It felt like bathing suit or leotard material. I'm gonna have to ask Simon how I can get one of these in my size….and in red...or maybe cyan.

I ran past a bunch of other projects and spied the door to the courtyard. My mind generated another great idea. I exited into the courtyard and climbed up a tree. The group of teens followed me outside and looked around, wondering where on earth I'd gotten off to so quickly. While they were looking for me, I climbed down the tree and snuck behind them to reach the door. Before they had time to fully react, they had been locked out and I was safe inside the cafeteria.

Now, eventually, someone would allow them back in. I was counting on that. It wouldn't matter because by then I would be back to looking like Alvin. I knew this idea would work! I traveled underneath many tables to make it back into the school hall without being spotted by anyone else who wanted to talk to Simon.

I took a detour to the bathroom on the way to my locker. Not to actually go, but...to look at myself in the mirror. I know, I know, so predictable. I just wanted to see what I looked like in the uniform!

I stepped up to the shiny reflective surface and took out the ponytail holder keeping my hair back. It fell down to my shoulders again and I shook my head to make it swish. Studying my reflection, I frowned. Nope. Waaay too Simony for my taste.

I tried to visualize what the outfit would look like in red. That was slightly better. I also tried to imagine myself in an outfit that actually fit me. Simon's shorts were giving me a wedgie. Dang winter weight, my lower half was PLENTY big before, thank you very much. Maybe I should exercise more? But I'm already a pretty active person!

I left the restroom trying to forget how weird my reflection looked. I cursed myself for being so curious about it in the first place. Once I was safe at my locker, I wiggled my way out of Simon's uniform and folded it up nicely. Now, I just had to figure out what else to wear. Hmmm.

"Come on, backup clothes. I know you're in here." I muttered.

I found my favorite cyan long sleeved top all balled up at the bottom of my locker and a red glittery vest sandwiched between two textbooks. That would work! I slipped both articles of clothing on.

As for pants, I had three options. There were crazy short cyan gym shorts that were basically as long as my boxers. Those were definitely out. That left my old scuffed and stained jeans that I just couldn't part with or a pair of purple, blue, and reddish pink galaxy patterned leggings. The leggings were definitely giving off spacey vibes, which could fit well for the science fair.

Despite that, I chose the jeans. I figured they'd get me picked on less. But, as my luck would have it, upon pulling on the jeans I realized that they hit a point where they just wouldn't go any further. I was forced to put on the galaxy leggings anyway. At least they were comfy and a similar fabric to Simon's basketball jersey.

I crumpled the too-small jeans into a ball and shoved them back in the locker. There were no spare shoes around, so I stuck with Simon's shoes. Now, I just needed my glasses and cap back and I would feel whole again! My head was so frackin' COLD!

I sped back to the cafeteria to be greeted at the door by Brittany. "Aw nuts." I grumbled. "Are you gonna frisk me again?"

"No." She smiled with a hint of mischievousness. "But I am going to say that outfit is barely an upgrade from your Professor Nutcase costume."

"What's wrong with it?" I fumed. "Galaxy leggings are trendy!"

She closed her beautiful blue eyes and laughed. "Yeah. They are. When they're actually being worn with something that compliments them."

"Must you critique every one of my outfits?" I walked past her and she followed me.

"I am the fashion police." She replied with a titter. "I want everyone to have the right to remain stylish."

"This is stylish." I stuck my chest out proudly. "It's geek chic."

"Whatever you say, two point weirdo." She waved me off toward my project.

Dr. Wilson was there to greet me and Theo was hanging out there as well.

"There you are, Alvin." Dr. Wilson smiled at me. "I've been looking all over for you. I have a message from Simon that I forgot to deliver earlier."

That made my ears twitch. A message that Si told him to give me? What could it be? "Yeah?" I said enthusiastically.

My AP science teacher leaned closer and spoke quietly. (or what passes for quietly in a noisy cafeteria) "He said that he's sorry he didn't listen. And he said you'd know what he meant."

"Awwww." Theodore spun around in my swivel chair. "That's so sweet. See? Simon really does appreciate you!"

I could feel my heart beating faster and my mind whirling. OHOHO! HE KNEW THAT HE SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR MY HELP SOONER! My suspicions had been confirmed.

"Thanks, Dr. W." I grinned. "He's right. I know exactly what he means."

Dr. Wilson and I spent a while longer talking about my project and how I'd come up with the idea. I recounted so many of my harrowing challenges in vivid detail. Theodore listened too. He was pretty interested. Still, no sign of Dave. I guessed he must be hiding with Simon.

"Woah." My littlest bro parted his lips in surprise. "If I'd known you were having THAT many failures, I would have offered up my marble run toy weeks ago."

"I was literally telling you I had a zillion failures." I reminded him.

Then he reminded me that "a zillion is technically exaggerating." Well, it FELT like a zillion, okay?

"Have you got any idea where Simon is?" I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I needed my cap back. Now.

Theodore pointed across the cafeteria. "I dunno. I'm guessing that way."

It took a little while to locate Simon. He wasn't with Dave like I had thought. Drat. As I approached Simon, I swiped my cap off his head and knocked his orange wig off by accident. "Yoink! I'll be taking that!" I declared.

"Hey! Careful!" He shouted as quietly as possible. "You'll blow my cover." He picked the wig up and placed it back on his head.

"Sorry." I removed the sports glasses and held them out to him. "Can we switch glasses back too? I miss my red ones."

"I would have thought you'd want to keep the cooler looking ones." He teased me.

"Simon, hand over my glasses or I'm gonna tackle ya and take 'em!" I threatened.

And then I was ONCE AGAIN grabbed by Eleanor. She'd been hiding somewhere, waiting to strike like a snake in the grass. "Hey, don't you be causing Simon any problems."

"Who made you Simon's bodyguard?" I asked, trying to pull my arms free.

"I did." My brother who looked a lot like me at the moment smirked. And the smirk he did wasn't just ANY smirk. It was my classic smirk. "But, he can have his glasses back." He took off the red frames and we exchanged eyewear.

Finally, I was back to feeling like me. Eleanor let me go and I leaned up against the wall. "So, Si, my man, wanna check out my final project?" Since Dave wasn't around, he was the next best thing.

"Wouldn't having two Alvins there be pretty suspicious?" He asked.

Eleanor nodded in agreement.

Darn it. They were right.

"Well, I guess I should get goin'." I stretched my arms. "Wouldn't want people to think I cloned myself."

"Definitely not." The tiny blonde Chipette joked at my expense. "One Alvin is PLENTY."

"Yeah." Simon chuckled.

I wasn't offended by their words. "By the way, Dr. Wilson told me what ya said." I winked at my brother. "Thanks."

And with that, I was off. I passed by Jeanette's mouse maze to wish her more luck and she told me that the judges put a gold star next to her name. I wondered if they'd put one next to my name. Maybe! Ohoho! I might actually win without having intended to win.

Back at my project, I was alone once again. Theo had run off somewhere and I was still in that rarely visited little corner of the cafeteria where Brittany had stuck me. Strangely, I didn't mind. It gave me time to collect my thoughts and process every part of this mixed up day.

Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, I heard a loud yawn. The strangest part was that it sounded like ME yawning. Where had it come from? Could it be?

"What's going on?" My own voice echoed in my head. "Where are we?"

It was Classic Alvin! He was back! I instantly visualized him laying on top of my presentation table looking super duper bored. He was somewhat transparent, as he usually is in my visualizations. It felt so strange to have him back...in the best way possible.

But, I wasn't gonna let him just pop up with no explanation. His actions had consequences, just like mine. "Where have you been?" I hissed angrily.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He sassed.

"Don't play games with me, buddy boy." I threatened.

He floated up off the table. "I'm in your subconscious, dude. I thought we went over this."

"So that's where you've been hiding out?" I questioned, hoping no one saw me talking to the air and called me crazy. "You sent that text to Britt without me even knowing about it! Not cool, classic!"

He laughed and then zipped around, hovering next to me. "Ohohoho! Fun fact, Dweebus. I didn't send the text to Britt. That was all you. Sleep deprivation from obsessing over inventions is a funny thing."

I was floored. "S...Sl...Sleep deprivation?"

"Yeah! It was late at night. You'd just finished writing in that girly diary of yours. You wanted to make a funny joke and...ya did." He waved his hands like jazz hands.

I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. "It is NOT a girly diary."

"Dude, it came from a girl store." He reminded me, before getting distracted reading my posters. "So, is this your science project?"

"Yep." I beamed with pride. "Done at the last minute in typical Alvin style."

He zoomed around and then floated back to me. "Whoah ho ho! You are awesome! All this is awesome and…" His voice trailed off as a terrified expression crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked him...err me, other me.

"And I love it?" He couldn't believe what he was saying. "You…You've tainted me with your love of science!" He moaned dramatically.

I knew this was traumatic for him, so I attempted to soften the blow. "Inspired. The word you're looking for is "inspired."

"Pretty sure tainted describes it better!" He scoffed.

He started looking through all my memories to catch himself up on the past week that he missed. I didn't realize he could do that...then I remembered we do share the same brain. He's got total access.

"What the heck was that outfit you had on?" He cringed. "Okay, that's it, I am never leaving you in charge alone again. I can't believe people saw me dressed like….that!"

"I like it." I defended my rainbow suspenders and bowtie. "And I might wear it again sometime."

"Nohoho! Please don't!" He begged. "You'll taint us even more with your geekery! I like what you've got on now. Stick with that."

That surprised me. "You LIKE galaxy leggings now?"

"They've grown on me." He looked absolutely terrified once more. "No no nohoho! Your 2.0 traits are being absorbed into ME! I'm….oh crud, am I gonna be as nerdy as you are?" He asked me.

I decided to break the bad news to him, not that he'd listen. "Always have been."

"Shut up!" He put his hands over his ears. I dunno what that did, since I could literally talk to him internally as well as externally.

"We are the same person, dude." I waved him away with my hands, cutting the visualization of him as I did so. "You're just the younger and less experienced version." I told him inside my head, so no one could catch me talking to myself.

He whimpered. "And I'd like to stay that way thank you very much!"

It was time to lay down the law. I was sick of struggling with him. "Suit yourself, buddy. If we're gonna share this body, you're gonna have to put up with my nerdiness."

"Fine, but you're gonna have to let me be a rebel sometimes too." He told me sharply.

I fidgeted in the chair as I continued to speak to him with my thoughts. "That's okay with me. I should have never wished to be free of our….my rebellious instincts." I felt super guilty about that.

"Seems like someone owes someone an apology." He chided.

Aw nuts. Yeah, he was right. "I'm sorry, Classic. For what it's worth, I missed our...my rebel side."

"I forgive ya, dude." He responded. "Now, when are we leaving this snooze fest?"

"I dunno. A couple more hours, tops. Maybe four." I should have known better than to say that.

A loud groan filled my head. Boy, it was good to have Classic back. I still secretly wished that he had come back after the science fair was over, but it was good to know that he forgave me. Nice to know that I forgave myself. Because he is me, but also not me. I given up trying to explain it in a way that makes sense. It'll never make sense. I DON'T make sense. It's just not a thing I do.

The bottom line was that I had my rebellious side and my usual mischievousness back in full swing. The urge to prank people was there again too. I had to manage it. I had to push it back and make sure I didn't act on any of the impulses coursing through me. A difficult, but not impossible feat.

My energy level had skyrocketed again. I thought it was a lot before, but now it was turned up to eleven. I was me again, every part of me. Whether that was a good thing or whether it would totally doom me, I had yet to find out.

One chapter left until the science fair is over! I can't believe I made it this far! I want to thank all my readers and people who encouraged me.

I hope you're all enjoying this! I have poured my soul into every chapter of this story, as I do with all my stories.

Who do you think will win the science fair? Will Brittany ever get to talk to Simon more? How will Eleanor finally catch the green bean thief? And, now that Classic has returned, will Alvin 2.0 be able to handle him?

Find out in the shocking conclusion of...Weird Science Fair!