More Alvinette moments incoming, but first Eleanor and Alvin face the aftermath of his decision. Things aren't going well. He'll be okay, but at what cost?

Eleanor's POV

I watched it happen. I even tried to jump in and knock him out of the way before it happened. Unfortunately, I was too slow. Tracy's foot kicked the ball too fast for me to intercept it. I watched as the ball slammed into Alvin's head and took him for a ride all the way across the field and into the goal. OUCH!

"It's up to you, coach, to keep him from getting hurt." Simon's words from a couple days earlier replayed, almost mocking me. "We're counting on you."

He was going to be FURIOUS!

"He's fragile." Theo's voice joined Simon's, echoing in my mind. "He's very excited for the championship, but we're worried he's gonna push himself too hard."

I gulped. I pushed him too hard. I could only hope his injuries weren't too bad. Ha! What were the odds of that? I know I sometimes say Alvin needs some sense knocked into him, but I didn't mean it LITERALLY!

I pushed my way through the crowd of people gathered around the goal. I needed to find Alvin and use my medical training to get him back in tip-top shape before Theo and Simon found out I had pushed their crazy brother into the game when he didn't want to play.

"Excuse me!" I yelled. "Excuse me!" It was no use. None of the humans noticed me.

I heard a lot of babbling, but the only words I could make out were "concussion" and "hospital." Oh great. (Sarcasm) It's worse than I thought! I needed to tell Alvin's family.

I felt a tug on my arm and turned around to see Brittany wearing her cheer uniform. Her mascara was running and her lips were trembling. "Is….Is he okay?"

"Probably." I didn't know for sure, but I knew I had to keep Britt's spirits up. "Theo got a concussion and he was fine once they got him to the hospital."

"CONCUSSION!?" Brittany shouted with a gasp.

I pointed to an ambulance that had just pulled up to take Alvin away. "There's our ride. Let's go."

My sister in pink ran with me to the ambulance and we both got inside. Alvin was laying on a gurney. He had his head propped up pretty high with a pillow, so it was more like he was sitting on the gurney. He was completely unconscious. There was a large bump on his forehead, but no blood.

"This can't be happening!" My sister squeaked. "He was doing so well!"

I squeezed her shoulder tightly to calm her down. "He'll be fine. He HAS to be fine. Besides, there's no blood. I'm sure the ball didn't hit him that hard. And, well, Alvin's got a hard head."

Brittany sobbed into her pink hooded jacket that was previously tied around her shoulders.

At that moment, my phone started to ring.

"What's that noise?" One of the guys who loaded Alvin into the ambulance spotted us.

Brittany was still crying, so I shouted up at him. "It's us! Hi! We want to ride with him!"

"Are you family?" The EMT person asked.

"B…Basically, yes." Brittany managed to get out between choked sobs.

I nodded. "His friend, his family, his coach." The reason he's in this mess in the first place. I thought the last part bitterly to myself.

My phone was still ringing, so I answered it. It was the LAST person I wanted to talk to.

"Eleanor, do you know where Alvin is?" Simon's uniquely deep, yet still high-pitched voice asked me.

Crap! Crap! Crap! What do I tell him? The question was, did he know about the accident or not? "Uhhhh….playing in the championship."

"HE'S WHAT!?" Simon was panicking on the line. "YOU LET HIM PLAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!"

I didn't know why Simon was so angry and panicked. Wasn't Alvin SUPPOSED to play in the championship? "Wasn't that the plan?"

"WHERE IS HE NOW!?" The middle Seville brother continued to get even more irate.

I froze, fumbling for the words. "In an…Ambulance." I said finally.

"WHAT!?" I was starting to think Simon may have had information about the situation that I didn't.

Even Brittany didn't know why Simon was acting this way. "What's Simon's problem? It's not Alvin's fault he got hurt." She whimpered.

"Look, he'll be fine." I told the brainiest Seville brother. "Just get Dave and Theo and Jeanette and meet us at the hospital."

"ELEANOR, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" He fumed. "I TRUSTED YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING, AND YOU LET HIM GET HURT!"

"I'm s…sorry!" I stammered. "Anyway, we'll be at the nearest hospital to San Marcos High." Our championship game was an away meet. Hence scheduling the bus. "I'll keep you posted."

"ELEANORRR!" He growled.

I hung up the call. I felt so guilty. Alvin wasn't up to this and I made him play anyway. I let Simon and Theo down. I let the whole Seville family down. I looked at the unconscious chipmunk lying on the gurney. His cap was off and Brittany was holding it, stroking the brim to keep herself from sobbing again. I whispered in Alvin's ear, not that he would or could hear me. "Please be okay."

It didn't take long before the ambulance arrived at the hospital. Alvin was looked over and then set up in a nice private room. Brittany and I were allowed to hang out up there, as long as we promised not to touch anything. I started to talk to the doctor who was tasked with helping Alvin recover.

Her name was Dr. Goodwin. She seemed like she knew what she was doing, which is more than I can say for most people in my hometown. "He'll be alright." She told me. "When he wakes up, he'll probably be groggy and have trouble thinking clearly, but as far as concussions go, this one is very mild."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dr. G." I turned and scampered over to Britt. "You hear that? She said it's mild."

Brittany was staring out the window, clutching Alvin's cap and her own pink hoodie. "Super." She whispered.

I had Alvin's glasses in my messenger bag. I'd grabbed them before hopping in the ambulance. I think that was all his belongings we needed to keep track of. Yep! All accounted for.

"Did you scan his brain?" I asked the doctor.

She nodded. "Usually we don't, but since he's so small and so fragile, I figured it's best to take a look." Honestly, it was probably also because he's famous.

I sat down in a chair in the room. "So he's perfectly fine?"

She frowned. "I wouldn't say "perfectly." He's suffered some head trauma and he's still going to need time to heal. There's minor damage in a couple areas, but I predict his brain will heal itself and repair most of the damage."

Brittany interjected into our talk. "What if his brain was already damaged before he was hit by the soccer ball?"

The doctor laughed. "I doubt that's the case."

"It is the case. Trust me." Brittany crossed her arms.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not damage, Britt. He has ADHD."

"Oh yes, that explains the unusually large amount of activity across both hemispheres." Dr. Goodwin made sure Alvin was propped up in the bed, because, as I remember from my medical research, you aren't supposed to lay down when you have a concussion. "I thought that was common in chipmunks."

"Whatever he has, is NOT common." Brittany stared at her unconscious friend.

The doctor continued to tell us about Alvin's brain. "You know, I've never seen someone with so much activity while unconscious. It's almost to a concerning level, but he is fine in every other way."

"He must be having one heck of a dream….or nightmare." I remarked.

That's when Dave, Theo, Simon, and Jeanette arrived. Dave knocked on the door to the room and Dr. Goodwin let him inside. "You must be Alvin's father. Come in, come in."

"Is he okay?" Dave gingerly stepped closer to the bed. "Oh, Alvin." He moaned. "Why do you do these things?"

"It's very likely he'll be alright. Of course, we won't know for sure until he wakes up." The doctor stepped outside in the hall to talk to Dave for a bit. I wish I'd been included in the discussion, but I am just a kid to her. She doesn't realize I've studied to be a doctor even though I never officially got a doctorate.

"I can't believe this." Simon rubbed his temples.

Theodore tilted his head. "You can't? I totally believe it."

I tried to avoid the nasty glares Simon and Theodore were giving me. I felt awful. I wanted to crawl in an empty grave and bury myself. Then, pop up when I'm feeling better and pretend to be a zombie and scare them. Let's face it. That's my sense of humor.

"That poor boy has been through so much." Jeanette whispered, taking a seat by the window next to Brittany.

Brittany looked down at Alvin's cap in her hands. "I just want him to wake up."

"Why did you let him play, Eleanor?" Theodore whimpered, looking at me as if I'd betrayed him.

I sighed. "Because I thought I was supposed to. You said I could let him play if I went easy on him." I frowned. "I guess I didn't really go easy on him."

"That was BEFORE he got his eyes dilated!" Simon grumbled loudly.

Wait….hold up. What? "He got his eyes dilated? When?"

"The day before the game." The taller boy in blue explained. "Theodore said he told you."

"Uh oh…" Theo groaned. "Okay, so, this is probably really dumb, but I didn't tell her or Brittany. Alvin wanted to tell them himself."

OF COURSE! That explains why Simon was so mad at me on the phone. He thought I KNEW! "He didn't tell me ANYTHING." I said. Bye bye guilt!

"Me either." Brittany smiled. "But this is great!"

Simon's eyebrows shot up, he ran to the window to scold the Chipette in pink. "My brother has suffered a serious head injury. Please explain how on EARTH this could be GREAT!?"

Brittany stood up on the chair. "Because it PROVES he's still Alvin! He made the dumbest decision possible! Alvin's not gone! He IS in there! We just have to keep tugging and we'll bring him out!"

"No tugging." Theo commented. "He needs to rest."

"She's got a point." I said. "This is the most Alvin thing he's done in weeks."

Jeanette sighed. "So much for him being less impulsive."

Dave and Dr. Goodwin re-entered the room. They both went to Alvin's bedside and checked on him.

"At least he's getting sleep." Dave commented. "He's been overworking himself so much lately."

Slowly, Alvin's eyes started to open. "Did we win the game?" He mumbled.

"Yes we did." I said with a half smirk. "You were the winning goal."

"I scored the winning goal?" Alvin's pupils were still sorta big, which concerned me, but then I remembered his eyes were dilated.

I shook my head. "No, you WERE the winning goal."

"I don't understand." He blinked those large blue eyes with the weirdly big pupils. "Where….Where am I?"

"The hospital." Dave told him.

We were all gathered around him now.

"Hospital? I'm in the hospital. I thought this was a 5 star health spa!" He chuckled. "Wait, if I'm in a hospital... am, am I hurt?"

Simon frowned and put his hand on top of his brother's hand. "You have a concussion."

"Is that bad?" He reached up to rub his eyes and then blinked some more. I bet he didn't know why his vision was screwed up. I wonder how much he could remember.

I decided to mess with him. It was wrong, but I was mad he hadn't told me about not being allowed to play the championship game. "You've been unconscious for 50 years."

Simon didn't find my teasing funny. "Eleanor!"

"For 5 years." I amended my joke.

Simon gave me another stern warning. "Eleanor!"

I chuckled. "5 hours…."

The glare wouldn't stop. Now Dave and the others were glaring too.

"2 hours." I told him the truth at last. "Only 2 hours."

"Oh…" He closed his eyes. "Why can't I see clearly?"

"Because your eyes are still dilated." Simon told him.

"Yeah." Theo stepped in with another reminder. "It'll go away eventually. Really soon."

Brittany smiled at him warmly and rubbed his cheek. "You played an amazing game….until you got hit by that soccer ball."

Alvin pieced the information together and his face flashed with recognition. "I was the goal. I WAS the goal. Oh no! What've I done?"

"Alvin, for a "super genius" you make the most brainless decisions!" I berated him.

He started to whine. Alvin was back! "I didn't want to miss the soccer championship! I can't lose sports too!"

Dave looked at him sympathetically. "Well, you have now."

"What!?" He gasped. He has a very iconic sounding gasp.

"The doctor said you can't play any sports for a month or two." His dad told him.

He looked like he might cry. "What!?"

"You need time to heal." Dr. Goodwin said softly. "That head of yours took a beating."

"You already have a D in gym. It's no loss, right geekazoid?" I teased him.

"Noooooo!" He shouted.

I continued to joke around. "I'm playing you a song on the world's smallest violin." I said, rubbing my fingers together.

Theodore looked at me funny. "You shrunk a violin?"

"No." I replied.

"Was it Simon who shrunk it?" He asked, not realizing it was just a funny expression.

I groaned. "This family drives me nuts."

"Knock it off, Eleanor. This is not the time for your jokes." Simon said in a grouchy way.

Yeah, he was right. Alvin needed us to help him recover. Confusing him more and more would have to wait until his addled brain was back to its usual self. At least I knew it wasn't my fault. I had nothing to be guilty over. I was still the best coach ever.

ELEANOR: Okay, that's it. Gotta go! Peace out!

ALVIN: I can take it from here. I'm sure everyone is dying to know what it feels like in my head right now.

ELEANOR: Maybe the readers are. I could care less. You recovered. It's done. It's over with. I've moved on.

ALVIN: I love how much nothing seems to phase you. Can you teach me your ways?

ELEANOR: Maybe someday. For now, you gotta write!

ALVIN: See ya round, Ells!

Alvin's POV

While I was knocked out, I was having another one of my crazy weird dreams. I was floating in space, without a spacesuit. All the planets around me looked like different sports balls. Volleyball, basketball, baseball, tennis ball, you name it. There was a meteor headed straight for me that looked like a soccer ball. I swam across the inky black abyss and then the meteor passed on by.

I could hear voices, they were all too muffled to make out. I wanted to join them, but a giant squid appeared and started to strangle me with his tentacles. I screamed and it wrapped a tentacle around my mouth. Then, there was a big and bright flash of white light and I slowly opened my eyes.

I didn't have many thoughts on my mind. I COULDN'T. It was like rooting through a thick fog to try and figure out what was going on and how to respond. My vision was absolute trash. Everything was warped and blurry. I couldn't hold a thought for more than three seconds, tops.

Eventually, a bit of the fog cleared, but everything still felt funny. My friends and family caught me up on what was going on. Eleanor tried to scare me, and succeeded. Then, the doctor said I have to give up sports. It figures, all that work trying to stay a sporty guy for nothin'.

"I….I can't not play sports." I sobbed. "I have to."

"You have plenty of other things to occupy your time." Simon's comforting voice said. I could see the familiar blue and brown blur by my hospital bed. Gosh, I hated hospitals.

"You could learn more about science." A purple blur next to Simon suggested. I assumed it was Jeanette. She sounded like a soft and sweet soul like Jeanette even if she wasn't Jeanette.

Oh yeah! Physics! I still had that. Or did I? I tried to recall anything I'd learned about physics over the past months. It was like digging through goop. Thick and slimy goop. The facts were there, I could feel it, but I couldn't reach them.

"I wouldn't push him to think too hard for a while. He's still recovering." The nice lady doctor in the room said. She was sorta hot, in a professional way. I love a lady in uniform.

The truth dawned on me. I was cut off from the knowledge I worked so hard to acum…u…late? Learn. Screw it. I'm not even gonna try and be wordy. I can't right now. "Oh no! Simon, Simon, my head feels weird. It's like I'm all loopy and gooey up there." I squeezed my brother's hand. "I'm back to classic. I don't know physics anymore. I don't know ANYTHING anymore."

Si squeezed my hand in return, to let me know he was there. "Stay calm. It's probably just temporary."

"Yeah." Eleanor added. "You did say something like "brain off" before running onto the field."

"I did…I don't recall….it's all fuzzy." I answered truthfully. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. Great. (Sarcasm) I made myself even DUMBER!

"That's what a really bad concussion does to you. Remember when I got one playing Mega Bounce Battle?" Theodore asked.

I sort of remembered that. Sort of. Theo acted so out of character. At least I had more of my brain intact than he did back then.

The nice doctor lady brought me a cup of water. "Your concussion isn't one of the worst I've seen. Like I said, it is very mild. I predict everything will return to you as long as you rest."

"Like I said." Simon repeated. "Temporary."

I was not feeling any better. The water was nice, but my head still hurt. I had a headache and it felt way too hard to think. I couldn't even form a plan. I was downgraded to below-classic Alvin level. "What if it's not? What if this is it? What if I never get the chance to enjoy learning again!?"

"We'll all rejoice." That was Britt's voice. I would have smacked her, if I could locate her. It's a good thing I couldn't.

Jeanette sounded absolutely positively….mad. "Speak for yourself, Britt."

I groaned. "Yep. I'm completely back to classic up here….and now I've lost science AND sports." This could NOT get worse.

"I'm sorry, Alvin. That's a real bummer." Theodore squeezed the hand opposite the one Simon was touchin'.

Britt was as sassy as ever. "But it's your own fault for your STUPID decision."

"The eye doctor said you couldn't play in the championship! And what did you do? You played in the championship blind and got hurt." Dave reminded me. Thanks for once again saying what an IDIOT I am.

I gave the drink back to the doctor lady and crossed my arms. "Don't rub it in. If I could think about it hard I would." I sighed. "I can't."

Jeanette put a soft hand on my forehead. "Just rest your head. You'll be okay."

"And he'll need to be limited to 1 hour a day of reading or TV." The doctor lady was no longer a friend of mine. And I no longer thought she was hot.

"Ya might as well pull the plug on me now, doc!" I said. This kept getting worse. Was my life going to get worse and worse now? Was this only the start of a downhill slide?

My dad scolded me. "Don't be dramatic."

NO! DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! "But I'm injured!" I cried. "And I'm gonna be so BORED!"

"Ah. It is good to have him back." Brittany commented again, even though no one asked her to. I really wanted to smack her. I was so over all of this!

I spent the night in the hospital and half of the next day. Eventually, my eyes were back to normal. I still couldn't see much, but it was at least slightly less blurred out. I don't remember what else went on in the hospital. I mostly just sat in my room, thinking about how I couldn't remember my new favorite subject and cursing the universe for being so MEAN TO ME!

Once I got home, Eleanor returned my glasses and then my vision was decent again. Not perfect, because I still needed a stronger prescription, but somewhat decent.

"Where's my cap?" I asked, now back in my own bed. My room felt comforting. Like I said before, I hate hospitals. They're too,…well,…clean. I know that's the point since they gotta be sterilized. I just hate when things look too clean and smell too clean.

Eleanor fluffed my pillow. "Brittany's got it."

I felt my fur bristle. My hands clutched my blanket furiously. "Tell her to give it back."

"It won't fit with that giant bump on your head." The feisty pigtailed girl sassed.

"I don't care! It's a snapback. I can adjust it." I fumed. "Where is Brittany!? I WANT MY CAP NOW!"

The pink clad thief ziplined in and tossed my cap at me. Eleanor caught it and hung it on the bedpost. "Fine. Take it." Britt scoffed. "By the way, I can hear your complaining from the treehouse. Cut it out."

Theodore hurried into the room with a book in his hands. "It's story time!" He squeaked. "Are you ready for a story, Alvin?"

"I can't read." I muttered, remembering the doctor said that in order to recover, I couldn't tax my brain with uhhh. "Activities strenuous on the eyes." I didn't know what strenuous meant. Which was scary, because I was pretty sure I did a few days ago.

Theodore crawled onto the end of my bed. "Yeah, but the doctor didn't say you couldn't listen to me read."

"Oh….good idea." Boy, I missed being able to have ideas. "It's not a baby book, is it?"

At this moment, Simon and Jeanette entered the room. It was sweet how everyone was rallying around me. And missing school was also sweet.

Theodore shrugged. "Kinda a baby book, kinda not. It's Captain Underpants book 9. Simon said you like them."

"Oh good. Yeah, Simon's right. I love 'em." I settled into my cozy bed. I grabbed my cap off the bedpost and hugged it as if it were a plushie. I couldn't wait to wear it on my head again, but my head hurt too much to put anything on it right now.

"And after that, I can read you some of my Sherlock Holmes story!" Netta's beautiful face lit up with excitement. Boy, it was good to see again. I missed looking at her.

"Yeah." I smiled. Okay, so I might have completely lost all my physics know-how, but a guy could get used to this. I did love all the attention.

Over the next few hours, Theo, Simon, and Eleanor took turns reading the Captain Underpants book until it was finished. I got to imagine the scenes in my head. At least my imagination was workin' properly. When they were finished, Jeanette sat with me and read a chapter of Sherlock Holmes. (Although Britt protested me being left alone with her sister.)

I was bored again. I wanted to do something other than read. "Hey, uh, Netta?" I asked.

"Yes?" Her midnight eyes glistened as she looked at me.

"I think I'm a bit tired of books for now. Can we do something else?" I yawned.

"We can talk." She suggested. "How does your head feel?"

"Foggy, fuzzy, not quite right." I sighed. "I'm still worried I lost my smarts forever."

She climbed onto the bed and sat cross legged, looking at me like I was the only thing in her world that mattered. "I'm sure they're not gone forever."

"It all just seems so hopeless." I started to cry. I didn't want to cry, but my emotions were on the fritz, as usual. "I try and try and then I get sent back to start, only to try all over again. It's an endless cycle of learn, forget, learn, forget. I'm SICK of it."

"Nothing is hopeless." She wiped my tears with a tissue. "And I think I know how to make you feel better."

"You do?" I felt very safe with her here. She was becoming a better friend than ever before, and she was also pretty darn good before anyway.

Jeanette closed her eyes and began to sing. I recognized the song immediately. It was one of our original songs. I was usually the one who sang it. In fact, it's probably one of my favorites. That's not saying much though. I have a LOT of favorites.

"Sometimes I wonder what's gone wrong

Most folks have lost their spark

Life without a ray of hope

Sure can get mighty dark"

She had this dazzling energy around her. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it. She made me feel warm and well cared for.

"And as I started thinking

Why life had turned so blue

I saw a book of fairy tales

And suddenly I knew"

She was a big fan of fairy tales. I could remember that well. Why could I remember so much, but not science? I wanted to remember science.

Regardless, I decided to join in with her for the chorus.

"You gotta believe in pumpkins

If you want to go to the ball

Don't stop yourself from havin' a little

And you can have it all"

I wriggled myself out from under the covers and we both stood up. You have much better control of your voice while standing compared to sitting. We faced each other as we continued to sing.

"Faith is just like planting seeds

They help your dreams come true

Believe in what's around you

And good things will come to you"

I entwined my fingers with hers. "Now and then you're gonna feel, Stuck in the caboose." I sang.

She tossed her head back and imitated the way I pretty much speak the next line in the song. "But throw those feelings out the door, and remember Mother Goose."

"Because life is what you make it" I added.

Jeanette raised her free hand toward the ceiling. "You can fly or you can fail"

"Yes, create a world of dreams come true" I grinned, as we danced a little, but not a ton, on the bed.

"And life will fill your sail!" Jeanette finished.

"Listen to us!" I shouted.

"You gotta believe in pumpkins

If you want to go to the ball

Don't stop yourself from havin' a little

And you can have it all"

Back at the chorus, both our voices mixed together in perfect harmony. It almost made me forget about how bleak my situation was earlier. I needed to have hope!

"Faith is just like planting seeds

They help your dreams come true

Believe in what's around you

And good things will come"

"Yes it will!" I squeaked adamantly.

"Believe in what's around you

And good things will come"

"Yes it will!" I repeated. I was DONE feeling sorry for myself. Gee, I wonder how long that will last.

"Believe in what's around you

And good things will come to you"

We finished the song and then Jeanette tucked me in and kissed the bump on my forehead gently. I knew I wasn't supposed to do a ton of physical activity,but the bit of dancing felt really good. I enjoyed it a whole lot.

"Everything will get better." She pressed a finger against my nose. "You'll see. Just give it time."

She was right. I just needed time to heal, to rest, to let the physics facts come back to me. Plus, it's not like I would be limited in what I was doing forever. In fact, two days from now, I'd be able to return to school. Maybe two days from now I would have my genius back as well. Anything is possible.

The next day, I sang a lot. I sang with my brothers before school. I sang with the Chipettes after school. I even played some cool bluesy songs on my harmonica. It was nice getting back in touch with music. Music was basically my roots, after all. I wouldn't be ME without an undeniable love for music and an amazing voice. Even Dave came in to join me and my bros in a song. Some song called You Two from Oliver Twist. Again, weird that I can remember that and not science. I hated that Oliver Twist book we read for school, although I found the Dodger guy interesting.

During my recovery time, I also got to listen to more TV shows and listen to my friends and family read me more books. Simon even broke down and agreed to read Animorphs number 1: The Invasion. Jeanette tried, but the descriptions of violence in the book made her almost throw up. She's such a sensitive soul. I like that about her.

Before I knew it, Sunday night was here! I was playing an instrumental version of Let Me Make You Proud by Jeremy Jordan on my harmonica when Simon and Britt walked into the room.

"Urgh. Do you have to play that stupid harmonica?" The diva girl scoffed. She scoffs a lot.

I stopped playing and sneered at her. "I thought ya wanted me to be classic Alvin. Classic Alvin plays the harmonica." I blew it loudly in her ear. Off key too, on purpose.

"Ow!" She covered her ears.

I went on sassing her. "I'll have you know, people pay good money to listen to me play my harmonica."

She rolled her eyes. "They pay to hear you SING." She stressed. "They TOLERATE the harmonica."

"Brittany, can you stop picking on Alvin?" Simon asked, exasperated with her. Haha! I knew that word. My vocabulary was slowly returning to its enhanced state!

I didn't want her around. She had made me upset by rejoicing while I was in pain. "Only if she leaves." I smirked, at least I think I smirked. It might have been the dorky half smile.

"Fiiiine." She groaned and then waltzed up to me. "See you at school tomorrow, Alvin. It's so good to have you back. You worried me sick, you know that?"

"I know." I said softly. "I went too far into nerd mode. I'm trying to find the balance. In order to get there, I gotta go to both ends of the, the….uhhhh…."

"Spectrum?" Simon finished for me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "That thing." Had he read my mind? Nah, I probably was just obvious.

Brittany left the room and then it was just me and Si. At least, until Theodore entered.

"Alvin, you're famous!" Theodore exclaimed.

I tilted my head. "I'm already famous, Theo. What are ya talkin' about?"

"You're in the school newspaper!" He handed me the article.

I looked at Simon. "Am I allowed to read yet?"

"You're allowed to read now, yes. That was just for two days, Alvin. Just stop if your head starts to hurt and rest again." My annoyingly tall brother said.

I adjusted my red glasses and scanned the article. "Having A Ball? Not quite. Santa Barbara High student, Alvin Seville, suffered a nasty concussion after becoming one with the soccer ball to score the winning goal in the championship. Alvin's condition is stable, but it looks like his soccer days have come to an end." I couldn't read any more. I crumpled the article. "This sucks!"

"Cheer up, Alvin." Theodore patted my arm. "You won't have to give up soccer forever. They just exaggerate for effect. Anyway, the whole school is talking about you. They miss you a lot."

"I bet they do." I crossed my arms. "They miss having a target to pick on."

"No, actually." Simon told me. "They're all worried about you. Wondering if you're going to bounce back. Which, I know you will."

"Would you like some crackers?" Theodore held out a tray of crackers.

I looked at the crackers and something really weird started happening. Lines, numbers, loop de loops, and random symbols appeared. They were all uhhh superimposed over the crackers. "What the?" I shook my head to try and stop the hallucinations. I looked around the room. Oh fudge! They were all over the room too! What was HAPPENING to my vision. Why were there glowing cyan numbers!? What did they MEAN!?

"What's wrong?" Simon asked, noticing my distress.

I let out a shaky breath. "Do you guys see a bunch of weird mathy stuff in the air?"

"Huh?" Theodore replied.

Simon looked concerned. "No, no, I don't. Why? Do you?"

"Yep." I gulped. "They're floating and glowing and I don't know what they mean!" I started to panic. "There's something wrong with me! Make it stoooop!"

"We aren't doing anything!" Theo squeaked.

"Alvin, I think you may be…" Simon tapped his chin, which brought up a bunch more random numbers. Equations? They were equations? I dunno. "Hallucinating."

I closed my eyes, willing the visions to stop. "I'm hallucinating about math!"

"Maybe it'll help you with your homework." Simon chuckled.

I was mad. This wasn't something to make light of. "Shut up about homework! My vision is all screwey! No! No nooooo!" I gripped my head with my hands.

"Hold on." My bro in the blue shirt handed me one of his notebooks. "I have an idea."

"Good." I said sarcastically, watching the numbers and lines all move around. I was getting dizzy. My brain was broken. I did this to myself. I did this with my stupid decision. I was the only one to blame. "Cuz I still can't think up any ideas."

"I still can't find the numbers you're seeing." Theodore remarked. "I bet I couldn't tell you what they mean, even if I could find them."

Simon handed me a royal blue pen. "Draw what you're seeing." He instructed.

I focused as hard as I could on writing down the stuff that was clouding my sight. When I finished struggling to collect all the randomly changing mathy stuff and shapes, I handed Simon the notebook.

"No way." My brother in blue gasped. He held the notebook out to me. "You really don't know what any of this means?"

I shook my head. "It looks like a random alien language."

"Yep. That's what I'm getting too." My chubby bro commented. Wow, Theo and I were back in the same boat when it came to learning stuff.

"Alvin, these are equations." Simon smiled. "Physics equations. You're literally SEEING physics."

Wait, really? That was….hopeful. Except for the fact that I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THEM! "Huh? Well they don't make any sense to me." I blinked and slowly the numbers started to blink out of existence. My vision was back to normal. "And now they're gone."

"It doesn't matter." Simon was ecstatic. "Do you know what this means?"

"No." Theo and I chorused together.

"The physics you learned is still IN there." My brainy bro went on. "It's manifesting in the form of a hallucination, but it's THERE. It's not gone. It WILL come back."

"Maybe I can still somehow complete my assignment for Dr. Wilson!" I was thrilled! I didn't lose my smarts forever! They'd slowly return to me! "Got any ideas? I am fresh out." I asked with a chuckle.

"I'll have to think of something." Simon hugged the notebook. "Wow. You can actually see physics. You're so lucky. This has never been documented before."

"Maybe it's cuz he was studying it so hard when his head got all messed up." Theo's THEOry actually had some weight behind it.

"Maybe, maybe. I'll tell Jeanette and we'll do some research." He ran to his bookcase to grab his laptop from the shelf below the books.

I sighed. "Wish I could research with ya. But I'm tired and hungry." I munched some of Theo's crackers. "Thanks for these, Theo." They were a whole lot more tasty without weird numbers floating all over them.

"You're welcome." He beamed. "I'm glad you've still got your science stuff."

"You and me both." I was still weirded out by the visions, but maybe that was just a one time thing. Yeah. And if it wasn't, I guess I could learn to handle it. It's not the superpower I wanted, but it's definitely a superpower.

I was feeling a lot more optimistic than I had in months. School tomorrow would be a pain. Losing sports for a while still stunk. But I would be okay. I always was okay. And someday, hopefully soon, my head would fully clear up and I would be perfectly fine again. Well, as perfectly fine as someone having an identity crisis can be. That's right. I now realized they were RIGHT. I was having a major identity crisis. Huh? I guess that soccer ball DID knock some sense into me.

Part 3 complete!

This entire chapter is a well meaning spoof of how Alvinnn! and the Chipmunks always resets the characters back after they learn life changing lessons. I wanted to take the usual "character gets amnesia" trope and flip it in a unique way. I hope you like it!

Alvin hasn't figured it out yet, but he's a cartoon character who isn't meant to have what he learns stick with him, because it could alter the very fabric of the show. The universe ITSELF keeps trying to reset him, because to it Alvin is "glitched." Alvin, being the stubborn guy he is, will fight to keep what is rightfully his, but it may come with a catch he wasn't expecting.

Also, Alvin's "seeing physics" powers were a thing before the episode The Crow That Ate My Homework came out. Post that episode, I headcanon all the concussion did was knock the ability from his dreams into reality.

And another note, You Two is from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, not Oliver Twist. Alvin confused it with another song from their movie songs album.

I look forward to finishing this tale so that I can start on story 6. As always, reviews and thoughts and guesses as to what happens next are highly encouraged!