Simon wandered the school corridors with his paws in his pockets, it was lunch time and nobody was around. Ryan and his friend Jeremy Smith had just pulled a prank on him, telling him he was the litter monitor and he had just been in a fight with Alvin in the bins after he betrayed him and put his football game before himself, Theodore and the song off. He was both angry and sad, his self confidence had been knocked, his family was falling apart and he missed Dave who was still in hospital.
In the library, Jeanette was sat at a table, reading a book, until she spotted a familiar chipmunk in blue walking past with his head hung. Jeanette left her book, leaped down from the table and into the corridor to follow the chipmunk.
Simon stopped at a giant yellow sign and adjusted his glasses to read what it said, 'CAUTION! WET FLOOR'. He then looked at the floor in front of him and shrugged his shoulders, before carefully walking over the wet surface. Behind him, Jeanette scurried after him, quietly, not wanting to be seen, but when she missed the sign and scurried onto the wet floor, she slipped and screamed as she slid towards Simon, trying not to fall.
"Help!" Jeanette yelled.
Simon turned round to see Jeanette sliding towards him, then held his arms out.
"I gotcha, Jean," Simon said.
Jeanette slid closer to Simon and fast, then she lost her balance and flew in the air, but Simon heroically caught her in his arms, but then he lost his balance and slipped onto his back, but held onto Jeanette so she could fall onto him instead of the hard surface.
"Sorry," Jeanette said, shyly.
"It's okay," Simon said.
Jeanette and Simon sat up and Simon gave Jeanette his hand as he stood up, helping her up to her feet.
"Are you hurt?" Simon asked.
"No," Jeanette said, "you saved me."
Simon smiled. "I did, didn't I," he said.
Jeanette broke eye contact with Simon. "I'm so embarrassed," she said.
"It's okay," Simon assured, "accidents happen."
"No, I mean…" Jeanette paused. "I embarrassed myself in front of you."
Simon blushed. "You didn't," he stuttered, "not at all."
There was a moment of silence between the two chipmunks who were too shy to make eye contact with each other. Finally, Jeanette spoke up.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine," Simon said, "you didn't hurt me."
Jeanette giggled.
"No, I mean…" Jeanette broke eye contact again. "I saw you walking and you looked sad."
"Oh, it's nothing," he said, "I kinda had a fight with my brother is all."
"Alvin or Theodore?" Jeanette asked.
"Alvin," Simon said. "Me and Theodore never fight. Me and Alvin are like enemies, but he's my brother. I'm not sure HE sees it that way."
"Why?" Jeanette asked.
"He… kinda betrayed me," Simon said.
"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked.
Simon looked down at the floor, sadly.
"I got pranked and Alvin didn't do anything about it," he said.
"You got bullied?" Jeanette asked.
"Yeah," Simon said. "Ryan and some guy named Jeremy told me I was the litter monitor, turns out there's no such thing. I just wanted the school to be a more tidier place."
Jeanette could see that Simon was genuine, she started questioning what Ian told her about him. "I think you did a good thing," she said with a smile.
"You do?" Simon asked.
"Yeah," Jeanette said. "Those bullies should be ashamed of themselves."
Simon smiled. "Thanks," he said.
There was another moment of silence between the two.
"Um, anyway," Simon finally said, "I won't keep you any longer, um, good luck to you and your sisters at the sing off and uh… yeah… bye."
Simon turned to walk away, but Jeanette stopped him.
"Wait," she called out. Simon turned towards her. "I was reading in the library and… kinda have no one to read with. Do you maybe wanna hang out with me?"
Simon smiled and walked back towards Jeanette. "I'd love to."
Jeanette and Simon smiled at each other then turned to walk to the library together. All things aside, the rivalry between the two bands, this was the start of a beautiful friendship.