Chapter 9: Wins and Near Losses

"Brittany! Brittany! Talk to me, please!"

"Al-vin..."

Brittany's wet body ached as she lay sprawled on the concrete, she could barely see a thing as she faded in and out of consciousness. Frantic voices reached her ears all warped and indistinctive apart from one voice alone...the voice of her love. She tried to call out to him but she was too weak to yell. She had no idea of the distance between them until a strong pair of arms embraced her waist and pulled her into a well-toned chest. The sweet smell of honey filled her nose as a paw softly brushed its fingers against her cheek.

"Britt, are you alright? Say something..." Alvin whispered into her ear. He sounded desperate and worried. Brittany looked up to see Alvin's face swimming in and out of focus, his golden eyes shining more than anything else.

"Alvin?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah, Britt it's me. How are you?" Alvin sounded relieved that she answered back, but he was still sounding anxious as he continually stroked her soft cheek.

"I can't move. My back hurts," she gasped softly. With the last of her strength, she leaned into his embrace and sobbed into his hoodie, causing him to hold on just that bit tighter. The warmth coming off him was comforting. "Where are they, Alvin? Where is she?"

"Don't worry, they can't get you now. I promise they can't get you...I'm here now." said Alvin in a soothing voice. Tears ran down the injured Chipette's face as she cried.

The last thing she said before she lost consciousness was, "Marni, how could you?"

Earlier that morning...

Everything was going perfectly as Dave entered his fourth week as a chipmunk. Every day, he was still learning new things and smelling new scents and he had to admit that besides all the lies, he loved every second of it. What could be better than being able to play and catch up with your friends all day? He loved being a part of the group instead of the caretaker of it. He loved just being one of the boys. And as much as he hated to admit this, he loved being a teenager once again.

Today was the most physical day at West Eastman High for the boys. Right after home group, the four chipmunks made their way to the gym locker rooms to slip into their track shirts while the girls got into the cheerleading uniforms. Ryan and Xander were lucky that they were ace athletes for the school; otherwise they'd be locked up for their interschool suspension. They sneered at Theodore from the other side of the locker room, gaining furious looks from his brothers and father figure.

"Just ignore them," whispered Simon calmly to Theodore as the four chipmunks walked outside onto the track field (seriously, I don't know anything about American high schools or American sport whatsoever...Except for NASCAR, I love NASCAR. So if any Americans out there want to fill this delusional Australian in, feel free in the reviews!)

Today, the weather was proving to be colder than of late and a very chilly breeze hit all the chipmunks, rushing through their fur and whipping the looser parts of their coats around. The Chipettes hugged themselves and shivered as their fur was a lot shorter than the boys. Jeanette and Eleanor snuggled into their partners until splitting for the sidelines with the other cheerleaders. Marni Randall, the temporary captain until Ryan's girlfriend Duffy finished suspension, didn't look too happy to see the girls. This was weird as not only was she the friendliest cheerleader there; she was also Brittany's best friend apart from Alvin.

Brittany didn't notice this at first though. As soon as she caught sight of her friend, she skipped lightly toward her friend and greeted, "Hey Marni! What routine are we practicing today?"

Marni just gave Brittany a sneering look and turned away just as Jeanette and Eleanor caught up to their big sister. Brittany looked both taken a back and a little hurt as she watched Marni strut over to the other girls.

"What's her problem?" asked Jeanette curiously. Eleanor shrugged while Brittany just shook her head in disbelief.

"I don't know, she's never snubbed me like that before," Brittany commented sadly. Suddenly, Marni called all cheerleaders to take their places for the first cheer and the girls rushed to their first positions.

Meanwhile on the track, the track coach was splitting the boys into pairs for the 1000 metres sprint (just bare with me when I use the metric system). One by one the pairs versed each other as they ran as fast as they could. The cheerleaders cheered for their favourite jock as Ryan and Xander sprinted like Usian Bolt towards the finish line, Xander winning by quite a large margin, much to Alvin's amusement.

The chipmunks only ever sprinted against each other, seeing as it wasn't fair to the humans who could never match their stamina and speed. The first race was Simon against Theodore. In the old days, it was Simon who always won, but seeing as Theodore had become a lot fitter and stronger, he had become a decent challenger for the bespectacled chipmunk. While their fellow classmates chose to cheer for either of them, Dave and Alvin stayed neutral and stayed silent.

The two brothers approached the starting line and kneeled in a starting position. Theodore stood almost upright, but Simon was closer to the ground. The rules were for chipmunks were that they had to sprint the first 500 metres on their hind legs before dropping down onto all fours to the finish line. Both looked pumped to race. Theodore had been improving with each run and kept beating Simon by wider margins. But the green clad chipmunk was getting cockier each week and had forgotten that Simon's slighter and slender body gave him an advantage. If Theodore was NASCAR, Simon was Formula 1!

"Go Simon!" Jeanette called out to her mate as she was thrown into the air for a flip.

"Go Theo!" cried Eleanor has she shook her pom-poms.

"Girls concentrate and stop fooling around!" Marni scolded in disapproval from the front of the group. Both Chipettes sent her apologetic looks, but continued to cheer their counterparts on in their minds.

The coach held up the starting gun-thingy and called, "On your marks! Get set! Go!" BANG! He shot a blank and the two chipmunks were off.

Simon and Theodore strategically paced themselves as to not wear themselves out so quickly. Simon stayed in front in a mild run, while Theodore stayed behind and conserved his energy for the last 500 metres. The wind became even colder as they reached the halfway mark and dropped down, immediately going twice their original pace. Dave watched on proudly since he'd only ever seen Alvin do any sport as a human, and he was really impressed. Alvin watched on with pride as well as his little brothers came to the finish line. Theodore had made his move and burst forward, but Simon did exactly the same thing and finished first.

All the guys who had cheered for Theodore groaned in disappointment while said chipmunk shook his brother's hand as an act of good sportsmanship. Eleanor gave a whoop of joy and ran over to meet her boyfriend, kissing him on the lips. Everyone jeered and wolf whistled until Marni nearly screamed in anger at the little Chipette. Eleanor ran back to Brittany while Simon and Theodore took a seat on the bleachers.

The coach turned to the last two chipmunks waiting their turn, "Alvin. Ross. You're up!

Alvin turned to Dave with a cheeky grin, "Get ready to eat my dust, Miller!"

"Only in your dreams Seville!" Dave taunted back, sharing the smile. The rest of their classmates looked excited. They had never seen Ross run before and by the look of his well toned body, he could just be a worthy rival for the fastest sprinter since The Human Torpedo over 14 years ago. What they didn't know though-and more importantly, Alvin didn't know, was that Dave Seville was and is, The Human Torpedo. This time however, he had the perfect body to beat his long time standing track record.

Filled with enthusiasm, Dave and Alvin approached the starting line for what was going to go down as the quickest race in West Eastman history. BANG! They were off! Alvin confidently jumped into action. He thought this was going to be a cinch as he was already out pacing his father. Dave let him go for now, using Theodore's strategy to conserve energy for when he needed it most. Within seconds, they had already reached the quarter way mark. Everybody else couldn't believe their eyes. Even Marni had stopped to pay attention.

With all eyes on them, the two chipmunks picked up the pace. Alvin looked like he wasn't even touching the ground as he hit halfway and fell onto all fours, Dave several metres behind him. But the Chipmunk Torpedo knew what he was doing. As soon as he dropped down, Dave kicked off the ground, keeping all of the work in his haunches. Just like on the treadmill a few weeks before, his ears flicked back and his tail straightened out. Pounding against the ground, Dave became a black and white blur.

Everybody was amazed. "Whoa! Who knew a chipmunk could have such a kick!" cried one of the basketball players in awe. The coach stood there with his jaw hung open nearly down to his feet as he stared between the race and his stopwatch. Simon and Theodore couldn't believe it. Was this really their father, about to beat Alvin?

Sure enough, as quickly as the race had started, Dave streamlined past a startled Alvin with one last kick of speed across the finish line. The red chipmunk skidded to a rough halt, wearing out his claws. Dave slowed to a swift trot, gradually stopping in front of the cheering cheerleaders. The rest of the family bounded forward and embraced their dad in congratulations.

The coach came racing forward looking ecstatic, brandishing the stopwatch in the air," Amazing! I can't believe what I'm seeing! You completed the track in only 49.57 seconds! Both of you beat The Human Torpedo's record by 5.67 seconds combined! I've never seen anything like it!

Everyone cheered louder at this. Dave was on top of the world; he beat his own record! The one thing he had never accomplished before graduating and completely pursuing music. He did it! And even better, Alvin beat it with him! Dave let go of Theodore and bounded over to Alvin, who was beaming at their accomplishment.

"That was a pretty awesome run back there," Alvin said happily as Dave clapped him on the shoulder.

"That right there is an understatement," said Dave, feeling bubbly and exhausted at the same time. They shook paws as the crowd surrounded them once more, still yelling with shouts of congratulations.

The only people not celebrating were (surprise, surprise) Ryan, Xander and Marni, all scowling and already planning to put an end to the celebrations...

Back in the girls locker room...

Brittany, as usual, took her time as she quickly showered and changed back in her clothes. As far as she knew, everybody else had already left. She stood in front of a mirror, trying to get her hair done perfectly. She wanted to look as attractive as possible for Alvin in case he was planning to ask her to the Valentine's Day Ball. And why wouldn't he? It wasn't like he had a crush on any humans. He was always truthful with her about that kind of thing. Hopefully, in the euphoria of setting a school record, Alvin would find the confidence to ask her. She was being patient with his nervousness, but she really hoped he would get over it soon.

Just as she finished tying her hair back, Brittany heard the door open behind her. She had barely spun around to see who it was, when she was snatched up by her tail. She yelped in pain and cried out, "What the hell?"

"You think you chipmunks are so precious, don't you?" snarled a dark voice. It was Marni. Her bright red hair draped around her angered face.

"Marni? What are you doing? I thought we were friends!" Brittany exclaimed in fear of what the human was going to do with her.

"You've never meant anything to me. You've only ever been good for popularity," jeered Marni, "Let's see your precious Alvin keep celebrating when he sees what's happened to his crush..." Marni was smiling evilly now.

Brittany cringed, "What are you going to do?"

Marni answered by striding onto a toilet cubicle and stuffed the defenceless Chipette into the water. Brittany struggled against the humans grip and gurgled. After a few seconds, Marni pulled her out and repeated the process before the Chipette could even gasp. After a few more times, Marni walked back out of the cubicle, Brittany struggling to get air back in her lungs. She screamed, "HELP!"

"Don't even think about it, bitch!" snapped Marni. To prove her anger, she ran forward and slammed Brittany into a locker. She yelped in pain as the force nearly broke her ribcage.

Brittany broke down. She screamed out again, "ALVIN! HELP!"

"I. SAID. NO!" Marni screeched. As a final assault, with all the strength she could muster, the enraged cheerleader slammed Brittany to the floor. Brittany positively screamed so loudly that only a fellow chipmunk could hear it. On impact, she felt her ribs break and fracture. She couldn't get up. She couldn't even feel her legs.

Marni just stood there for a moment, as if taken in what she had just done, before gaining her nerves and sprinting out of the room to hide.

Back to the beginning...

That's how Brittany ended up here. Alvin kept his unconscious counterpart close, still softly stroking her cheek. Jeanette and Eleanor were either side of their wounded sister, struggling not to cry as Simon and Theodore held them comfortingly. Dave was looking frantic and unbelievingly angry as he and Julie Ortega waited impatiently for the ambulance to arrive.

In her office, Dr. Ruben was yelling senselessly at Marni, Ryan and Xander. So many people had seen Marni running, there was no questioning who was behind the attack. Marni immediately claimed that the jocks had asked her to and they were rounded up without question. Undoubtingly, this was the last time they would ever set foot in this school.

Alvin had heard Brittany call of distress and of course ran to her aid at once. He feared the worst when he saw his beloved abandoned on the stone-cold floor. He was worried like crazy and felt like screaming at the paramedics for taking their sweet time when they finally arrived. They tried to take her away from Alvin, but after a huge argument, they had no choice but to take him with her.

A crowed of students watched as Brittany and Alvin were loaded onto an ambulance on a stretcher. Julie, Dave and the others all rushed to Julie's car so they could follow behind to the animal hospital across town.

"Don't worry Britt," Alvin whispered as he held her, "You'll be okay. I'll make sure of that."

Everybody knew that Alvin was true to his word...

A/N: That was both a pain in the ass and a lot of fun to write because that means we're getting even deeper into the story.

In case you missed my Author's Note from yesterday, I announced that Jason Lee is becoming a dad for the third time! Apparently, it's a boy and will be born sometime in June!

Here's my question for this chapter:

How should Dave react when he finds out about Simon and Jeanette's 'fun'?