Oh man, thought Meg to herself. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, he's making me go to this stupid baby place. Thanks a lot. He didn't even give us permission slips or anything to sign!

"Look, I know this is kind of spur of the moment, but I've already called up the buses to bring us there," he said. "The reason I didn't plan anything earlier, is because I was busy with my wife last night. Anyways, it's time to hop on the bus in a single-file. Time is of the essence, chop-chop!" he said, clapping his hands.

"Yeah, whatever," said Meg, clearly annoyed at what he was planning for her class, not even bothering to listen to her teacher, let alone actually, you know, get in line.

Annoyed at the fact she wasn't getting on the bus, he leaned over to Meg and said something in her ear.

"Meg, I know you're one of the less popular students, but I still need you to get in line with everyone else."

Meg said nothing, but merely got up, and went in line with the other students.

"Hey, Meg?" asked another girl.

"Yeah?" asked Meg, turning around.

"Look, I'm just as annoyed about this as you are," she asked. "He's just doing this because he's too lazy to do anything good with us."

"I know right?" said Meg. "He's such a-"

Suddenly, her teacher, who had heard what she said, angrily turned around, glaring at the girls.

"I heard that!" he blurted out.

"Sorry," said both girls meekly.

"Yes, now, where was I?" he said. "Now, we're all going in a single file to the field trip. And there will be absolutely no talking in line!"

Oh, great, said Meg. I'm eighteen, not eight!

Getting on the bus was pretty hard. All the kids were shoving themselves out of the way to get on the bus first, but none of them were worse to each other than Meg.

"Out of the way, pointdexter!" said a tough-looking young man as Meg was trying to get a seat.

"Yeah, there's only so much room on the bus, fatso!" said Connie D'Amico. "It's amazing they let you on considering how fat you are!"

Oh, fine, thought Meg to herself apathetically. It's not like my feelings mattered or anything.

She decided to take a seat by a window, in the back of the bus, without anyone to sit with. It was time for her to accept defeat from the bullies.

Meanwhile, Alvin and his brothers were excited to go to Turtle Back Zoo. But with excitement always brings nervousness, so they got pretty concerned about what would happen there.

"Doesn't our teacher realize that some of us are chipmunks?" said Simon. "And that some of our natural predators might be there?"

"Just be glad Ian Hawke won't be there," said Alvin. "He's our real predator."

"Yeah, what kind of b

"Yeah, we also have a lot of other enemies in the animal kingdom," said Simon. "Like, you know, actual hawks."

"Whatever, Einstein," said Alvin. "They'll know we're friendly and back off."

Simon said nothing, but merely scuffed in resentment. He loved his brothers dearly, but sometimes they could be really annoying to him.

At Turtle Back Zoo, all the kids were really excited to see the animals, but the teacher had to give them a stiff lecture.

"Before we go around and see the animals make babies and go to the bathroom, I need to set some ground rules. One, everyone has to have a buddy. Two, you are not to be separated from your buddy. And three, if under the circumstance you are separated from your buddy, you are to tell a trusted adult."

"Hey, I was about to say that!" said Meg's teacher.

"Say what?" said Alvin's.

"All of that!" he said.

"Aren't these kids a little old to be here?"

"Aren't you a bit re-"

"Oh, shut up," he said.

Suddenly, Meg's teacher turned back to them.

"Look guys, I know we're stuck here because your teacher was too lazy to do anything else. It sucks," he said. "But you heard the guy. Stay with a buddy, don't do anything retarded, and call me if you need anything," he said.

"But you didn't even give us your-" said Meg.

"You heard me," said the teacher.

"Okay, fine," said Meg, still baffled as to why her teacher was doing this. Because she wasn't very popular, it was difficult getting her a buddy, but her friends Patty, Esther, and Ruth let her join in with them.

Walking around the zoo with her friends was kind of a bore, but then they seemed to find something interesting. It was a cool little playground...which had an age limit sign, 8-12.

"When no one's looking, I'm going to get a pen to cross out the "1" and make it a "2!"" said Patty. All of the girls laughed at her comment, even Meg, who wasn't having a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, Alvin and his brothers were having a much more fun time walking around Turtle Back.

"I can't believe our teacher would let us have fun like this," said Alvin. "Isn't school supposed to be boring?"

"Well, I enjoy school," said Simon.

"Yeah, that's because you're super-smart," said Alvin. "I'm still strugglin-"

"Oh look, a playground!" said Theodore, excitedly noticing the playground. All three of the boys rushed to the place to take first dibs.

They had a blast on the playground. Alvin flew down the slide, Theodore hung out on the swings, and Simon climbed on the jungle gym. The boys were having an absolute blast.

Until, at least, they saw HIM.

Ian Hawke was, for some reason, giving a tour of the place. Because he couldn't make money off of singing chipmunks, he decided that making money off of showing off entrapped animals was the next best thing.

"And here we have the hawks," he said. "Hawk's my name, and showing hawk's are my game!"

The tourists groaned at his stupid joke.

"And here we have a playground with chipmu- oh my god, Alvin, is that you?" he said, noticing Alvin.

Suddenly, Alvin gasped in fear. What would the school do if they found out he was kidnapped? Worse, what would Dave find out if he was kidnapped by Ian? He couldn't let that happen, but at that point, all he could do was scream in terror.

"What's going on?" asked Simon.

"Him!" said Alvin, pointing towards Ian, absolutely terrified.

Suddenly, Ian walked over towards the chipmunks, ready to kidnap them.

"Come to papa!" he said, holding out his arms with a malicious look on his face.

"Run for it!" shrieked Alvin. He and his brothers immediately ran into Meg's backpack. Because they couldn't play on the playground, she and her friends decided to play soccer on the playground.

"Give to me, Meg!" said Patty.

"No, me!" said Ruth.

"Just kick the ball!" said Esther.

"Guys, I don't know where-" said Meg, but not before she kicked the ball into the net.

"Nice!" said Patty.

"Okay, maybe this isn't so bad after all," said Meg. "This is actually kind of fun," she said to herself.

Meanwhile, Alvin and his brothers were watching the whole thing, seeing what Meg would do next.

"I know this isn't the best hiding place, but it'll do. We just need something to hide in until Ian's gone," said Alvin. "Hopefully he won't be out long."

"Ian's not stopping until he finds us," said Simon. "Hiding from him is an absolute moot point."

"Why is he working as a tour guide?" asked Theodore.

"Because, I've always wanted to show off entrapped animals!" he said, finally finding the boys, and reaching toward them with a malicious grin on his face.

"NOOOO!" said Alvin.

Suddenly, Meg turned around, having heard his scream. "Why the hell do I have a talking backpack?" she asked as she walked toward her backpack.

"Wait, Meg!" said Esther. "We need a selfie here. We can talk about your talking backpack later."

"I'm just baffled as to what the hell's happening here," said Meg, walking toward her backpack to see the chipmunks. "Why are there-"

Mistaking her for Ian, Alvin and his brothers hid themselves even further into the backpack.

"That's odd," said Meg. "Backpacks don't talk like that."

"Whatever," said Patty. "Let's just take a selfie, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," said Meg, going to take a selfie with her friends.

"Phew, that was a quick one!" said Alvin.

"So, how long are we here?" asked Theodore.

"Theodore, I told you," said Alvin. "Until Ian leaves the scene."

"That's going to be a really long time," said Simon. "He might not leave until nighttime."

"Simon, we can't take any chances," said Alvin. "Anything is a step above him catching us."

"I heard he became a tour guide here," said Theodore.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Alvin.

The boys stayed in Meg's backpack, too terrified to leave. There was no way in hell that they would let Ian ruin their lives.