Let's see what happens to our struggling little guy now. How long will his time with the cool kids last?
And then get ready, because Theo is going to do his best to help Eleanor figure out who she wants to be.
Telling you right now, you aren't prepared for the ending of this story. It's one of my favorite moments.
Brittany's POV
I woke up bright and early the day after Alvin's makeover and helped him prepare himself for school. Somehow he'd managed to mess up his hair already and I had to fix it, sigh, AGAIN. For someone who used to spend ages perfecting his hair, now it was like he didn't give a dang. Close enough was good enough for him, even if close enough meant parts were still sticking out all over.
As we walked to school, I stayed with Alvin at the start of our little lineup. We were followed by Simon and Jeanette. Bringing up the rear of our group were Theodore and Eleanor. My youngest sister still wasn't over her punk phase yet, but aside from that, everything was as it should be.
"Let me do the talking, okay?" I gave Alvin instructions so he wouldn't mess this up. "Just stay as quiet as possible and do your best to look cool."
Alvin frowned and fidgeted with the arm of his glasses turned sunglasses. "When will I be able to talk? Because I wanna talk. You know I love talking."
"You can talk whenever you stop accidentally slipping into nerd talk." I grumbled.
He looked down at his sneakers with the flames on them. "Okay."
"Chin up!" I forcefully tilted it for him. "Remember, you're CONFIDENT!"
As we approached, he looked up at the school building with a frown. "I don't feel very confident."
"I'm sure that's just the last of the nerd jitters leaving your system." I pushed Alvin forward. "Remember to smile."
He gave me the most awkward and forced smile I'd ever seen, with his braces showing.
"Not like that." I took my hands and used them to reshape his smile into one that didn't look ridiculous. "There. Now just hold that. Do not show teeth."
"Brittany, I admire your effort, but this is never going to work." Simon told me as he zipped up his cobalt blue hoodie.
"It'll work." I insisted. "It has to."
Eleanor scoffed. "You really think everyone's gonna just accept that Alvin's cool again because he looks like some teen movie star?"
I groaned. "They'll accept him if he acts the part."
"I hope everything works out." Theodore squeaked, holding up his fingers to show they're crossed. "I'll give a little of my luck to you, Alvin."
Jeanette was silent, just watching everyone talk. She seemed nervous. Perhaps she didn't want to state her opinion and cause an argument.
Alvin rubbed the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Guys, I….I….think I forgot how to act cool."
I slapped my forehead. "We just went over it yesterday!"
"My anxiety is at an all time high." Alvin continued.
"Like I said, just let me do the talking." I insisted. His doubts were only going to hold him back. They'd make him say and do stupid things.
"Alright." He gripped the strap of his paint splatter covered backpack. I don't like that thing. I know the paint splatters are part of the fabric, but it just looks messy to me.
Maybe I could get him to get rid of it? "Lose the backpack too." I ordered.
He looked sad again. "What? Why? I like it." He reasoned. "Besides, I gave my old one to The Chip-Punk." He snickered as he pointed at Eleanor.
I reached for Alvin's old backpack, but was forced to stop when my littlest sister snapped her teeth at me like an angry wolf. "Okay, fine. Fine. You can keep the new backpack." It was worth a try though.
At last, we reached the front entry of the school. This was it! The school day that could change everything back to normal! I could finally stop worrying so much about Alvin throwing his life away to become a scientist! It was all I could do not to squeal with excitement.
"Well, good luck with getting your old crew back." Simon rested a hand briefly on Alvin's cap. "And your, you know, Alvin-ness restored."
"Ohoho, thanks bro." The formerly nerdy kid replied. Phew. He was sounding more like his old self now. Maybe being around his peers helped!
I pulled Alvin through the halls, giving him more instructions. "Remember to wave. Now do the strut! You are awesome and everyone knows it! Remember who you are!" I smiled to myself, watching the faces of the other students light up.
"There you are, Alvin!" Jake, one of my former crushes, said.
Annie and Amber rushed toward us. "We were wondering if you'd ever come back!" The chorused together.
"Lookin' great!" Logan gave Alvin a high five.
Derek's eyes went wide. "What happened to him? Did he get hit on the head again?" The bully, who wasn't quite as much of a bully as usual, wondered aloud.
Alvin took a bow for his audience. "Attention, everyone, that total geeknerd you knew is dead. I'm back and I'm ready to party! So, you know, if you're sendin' out any party invites and you could throw a couple my way, that would be stupend…awesome!"
"You got it, Alvin!" Tracy tossed him an invite letter.
"See?" I told him proudly. "They love you."
"You're right, Britt." He sighed happily. "It is good to be back."
During our first hour class, Alvin annoyed Miss. Smith as he used to. He asked her about historical parties and then bragged about being invited to Tracy's party. He was slipping effortlessly back into his old role. Thank goodness. I knew it was just jitters holding him back.
Or at least, I thought it was. History class may have gone well, but math was a different story. He worked hard on keeping up with the rest of the class as we read our math textbooks.
I poked him with my favorite pink pom pom pen. "You're paying too much attention."
He laughed quietly with a snort. "First time anyone's ever told me that."
"Goof off." I commanded as gently as possible. "Be you."
He looked confused. "Why would I do that? I got my fill of goofing off last hour. Plus, hehe, I actually LIKE this class."
Oh? Well, this wasn't part of my plan. Why was it so hard to knock the nerdiness out of him? Oh, right, that would be the Simon brain bits lurking around in his psyche. "Uh…okay." I muttered. "You can like math, but don't talk everyone's ears off about it."
"You got it." Alvin looked back at the textbook in front of him. "Now, please, let me study."
This was worrying. Could he actually pull off being half a cool kid and half a nerd? Would the cool kids accept someone who babbles about physics like it's his biggest crush? No. No they wouldn't. I have studied them. I know their entire unwritten "cool kid" handbook. I needed to distract Alvin from talking about any school subjects except sports! He wouldn't be kicked to the curb again on my watch.
Gym class was next. I followed Alvin around while we played floor hockey. That's basically regular hockey, but played on the floor instead of an ice rink. Personally, I prefer the floor version. It's much less cold.
At least, I was on Alvin's team. That made following him around a lot easier. Eleanor was on our team too and she was really helping us kick the opposing team's behind. She was angry that she'd been picked last and was channeling all that anger into pure unbridled rage. Dang, sis, go off!
"Yes! One more goal! Bet ya never saw that comin'!" She gloated, dancing around with the hockey stick.
Derek groaned. He was playing goalie for the team Theo, Jeanette, and Simon were on.
"Good job, Eleanor!" Theodore squeaked loudly.
"Dude!" Derek shouted at Theodore. "She's on the other team!"
The chubby Chipmunk in green shrugged. "So? She's my friend. You have a lot to learn about making friends, Derek."
Vanessa glided across the floor like a ballerina. Her legwarmers grabbed my attention. They were very stylish on her, despite not being a trend. I secretly wished I had a pair of legwarmers. Something about that look just appealed to me. I would never admit it out loud though.
The latina girl in the pink dress with the flowers slid up to Derek. "He's right, you know."
Derek folded his arms. "Who says I want to "make friends?"
Vanessa laughed at him. "It's obvious. You've been a loner all your life. Your two current "friends" are jerks. You're tired of that. You think I haven't seen the way you cut them off? You're sick of their antics, just like the rest of us."
The former bully seemed flustered. I could tell from the deep blush in his cheeks that he liked Vanessa a lot, and that he was probably embarrassed knowing she'd been watching him without him realizing it. "That's not...I mean…uh…maybe."
SLAM! The human girl took her shot and the puck went flying past Derek into the net.
"Whoooo! Way to go, Nessa!" Alvin cheered. "That was a good strategy, getting him all distracted like that."
Hmmm. He called her Nessa just like he called Jeanette Netta. Maybe he didn't want to date my sister after all. It might really be a nickname and nothing else. Phew. Now that that's settled, I can focus more on the game.
"Eleanor, I'm open!" I held my hockey stick in my firm grasp.
My sister ignored me and passed to Alvin instead. Alvin brushed past Jeanette and Theo, but Simon stole his hockey puck and started running toward our goal.
"Hey!" Alvin cried in outrage.
"Oh no, you don't!" I took off my slip on tennis shoes and let my silky socks glide me across the floor. I locked eyes with Simon and made him my target. I was going to stop him from scoring a goal.
"Get 'im, Britt!" Alvin smiled at me, without showing his teeth. It wasn't his classic smirk, but it was something.
I closed the gap between me and Simon, sweeping into his space and stealing the puck before he even knew what hit him.
"What?" I heard him utter softly.
Now, I had the puck and I was heading back in the direction of Derek and the goal. This would be the first goal I scored the entire game, since Vanessa, Alvin, and Eleanor had basically been carrying our team. I was determined to make it. Then, someone had to go and distract me.
"Stellar idea, Britt." Alvin ran closer to me, hockey stick at the ready.
"Huh?" I turned to look at him.
He gestures to my feet. "Taking off your shoes to reduce the friction and allow you to slide around as if you were ice skating."
"Yeah, whatever." I turned back toward the goal. He would not distract me.
"Remember to limit your applied force!" Alvin shouted at me. "Otherwise, with your strength, that puck is going to ricochet out of the goal and come flying back at you!"
"Shut up, about physics, Alvin!" I took my shot and my stick connected with the puck using all my strength.
The puck turned into a blur, moving faster than I expected. Derek dodged it and it slammed the back of the gym wall. Technically, that was a goal. But, as Alvin had said, the puck bounced right off the gym wall and came flying back almost directly at me. I didn't even have time to react. It would have collided with my foot and likely shattered a bone upon impact or something if not for what happened next.
Alvin leapt into action and jumped at me, shoving me out of the way. Now, the object was headed straight for him. But before it could connect with him, he leapt into the air and the puck slid underneath him. It bounced off the opposite wall and then Alvin chased after it, eventually managing to slap his hockey stick on top of it and bring the runaway object to a stop.
The other kids that had all panicked from the runaway puck started to cheer. Alvin took a bow and soaked up the praise. "Thank you, thank you! This amazing feat was brought to you by the power of understanding phys…"
I shook my head from the bleachers, where I had climbed after Alvin pushed me out of the way. I hoped he saw me. He couldn't tell everyone he was still part physics nerd!
"…uhhh. Not important!" He chuckled nervously. Thank goodness he saw me. "This amazing feat was brought to you by the power of Alvin!"
A group of kids grabbed Alvin and hoisted him up on their shoulders. "Alvin! Alvin! Alvin!"
Eleanor tossed her hockey stick down angrily and shuffled over to me. "Figures. Alvin's getting all the attention AGAIN. Doesn't matter whether he's Mr. Popular or not. He always gets the attention."
"Well,…" I flipped my hair. "He did basically save my life."
Eleanor looked so angry that I thought she might break her hockey stick in two. "Grrrrrr." She growled.
I grabbed the stick away from her before she bent it any further. "Stop that. If you ruin the equipment, you have to pay for it."
"Did you girls see that?" Jeanette scrambled up into the bleachers with us. "He was flying for a second there!"
"See it?" I checked my outfit for scuff marks from the gym floor. "I was part of it."
"I saw it." My littlest sister grumbled. "But I don't think it's a big deal."
"His reaction time is so good." Jeanette flapped her hands.
"It is." I smiled. "Good to see his sporty side is back."
And it would stay back. No matter how much he wanted to talk about connecting physics to sports, I would stop him and discourage him until the urges disappeared forever.
Later, in the hallway, I caught up with Alvin again. He was getting ready for lunch and hanging with the popular kids. I sashayed up to them like a model and the attention flipped from just being on Alvin, to being on both of us.
"It's so cute how you saved Brittany like that." Tracy was gushing.
Another girl nodded. "Albrittina forever."
"I think we should call them Alvittany." Logan said, adjusting his black baseball cap. "It's got a better ring to it."
"Uh, we're not…" Alvin started to say, before I gave him a look that told him not to talk anymore. I would handle everything.
I posed as adorably as I could. "We aren't dating, but who knows what the future holds!"
Alvin looked VERY uneasy all of a sudden.
"You both should date." Amber said in her valley girl accent. "You'd, like, be the most popular couple in school."
I laughed nervously. This was clearly too much for Alvin to handle. Did he finally realize I was crushing on him yet? Or was he still oblivious?
"What!?" Alvin put a hand on his hip. "Get real! She'd hate dating me. She's too much of a perfectionist." DANG IT! He was still oblivious!
"Well, at least I CARE about the way people view me!" I replied with sass. "Perfectionist is just the opposite of slob."
"Is not." Alvin argued.
I put a hand on my hip. "Is too."
"Eh. I'm too tired to argue." Alvin grabbed his lunchbox, making sure to hide the I Heart Physics sticker on it with his hand. "So, uh, where are we sitting for lunch today?"
"The A table, obvi." Tracy led us into the cafeteria. "Now that you've proven you still have what it takes to be popular."
"Come on." Annie picked Alvin up and carried him to the table.
I followed Amber and claimed my seat. As captain of the cheer squad, the A table was my favorite place to hang out. Even though sometimes the conversations we had got a bit…uncomfortable.
"Hey, Brittany." Anita greeted me. She was the most popular member of the table, despite her taste in fashion looking geeky as heck. "How's it going?"
"Fabulous!" I exclaimed. "I'm just so glad Alvin's himself again." Mostly, anyway.
"Alvin's always been himself." She told me softly. "Phases are still a part of who we are. They shape us and sometimes they're needed to help us gain a new perspective."
"Urgh! You sound like my sister Jeanette." I groaned.
Logan spun a soccer ball around on his finger. "So, Brittany, think up any new cheer routines lately?"
"I have at least three, and I'm working on a fourth one." I explained. "They're going to be tough, but I know we can pull it off."
Greg, the basketball team captain and sort of a hunk, added into the conversation. "We really appreciate how supportive all you cheerleaders are." He put an arm around Tiffany, who was one of our newest cheerleaders. She was rather shy, but she was super flexible. Plus, with a name like Tiffany, she fit right in! I love the name, but not as much as I love Brittany.
"Omg!" Annie poked Greg's chest. "Are you and Tiff a thing?"
Tiffany nodded and then meekly hugged Greg.
"We've only been dating a week, but I have a good feeling." The basketball star grinned.
"Better become Alvin's girlfriend soon." Jesse, the most amazing actress (besides me) at our school whispered. "Otherwise, Tiffany and Greg will be the cutest couple in the yearbook this year."
I smiled confidently. Don't show fear. Don't let her see her words are getting to you. Just keep smiling. Keep up appearances. "Oh, I dunno. I don't think they'll win. Alvin will stop being oblivious any day now."
"Or you could tell him you like him?" Jesse suggested, sipping her iced green tea from one of those plastic bottles you get from the vending machine.
I didn't WANT to tell him. I wanted him to ask ME out. That way, I held all the power…and I didn't face the possibility of rejection. "Or you could mind your own business." I whispered.
"Smile!" Sandra, a girl with dark skin in an orange dress, took a photo of Tiffany and Greg. "Oh! You two are so cute! This is gonna look great in the yearbook."
Tiffany finally spoke in that whispery voice of hers. "Do you think we might actually win cutest couple?"
"We're totally guaranteed it, babe!" Greg assured her.
And that's when Alvin, who had been quiet and observing everything up until this point, spoke. "I don't think so. You'll have to beat Kevin and Pamela D."
I held my breath. What was that idiot thinking!?
"Like….you mean a different Kevin? Not the dorky guy who sounds like he always has a cold." Amber asked, glaring at Alvin.
"No. I mean him. And the girl with the indigo hair. They're adorable together." He took his sunglasses off and fidgeted with them.
Everyone at the table except Anita was now glaring at Alvin. Anita was re-directing her attention to her plate of avocado toast.
"That better be a joke." Greg threatened.
Alvin's eyes widened. It was like he finally realized what he just said. He laughed nervously. "Of course it's a joke. I mean, come on, they're super duper, uh, lame and stuff."
I could tell that they didn't fully believe him, so I gave him some helpful support. "Hahahaha!" I laughed. "Oh, that was a good one, Alvin! You're so funny!"
"I'm glad ya liked it." He winked at me and slipped the sunglasses back on. "Just a little humorous reference to my brief stint as a nerd."
Tracy moved closer to Alvin on the lunch table's bench. "We're so glad your nerd phase is over. That was so scary!"
"Uh huh. Definitely over. No more studying for fun! That's such a waste of time." Alvin agreed, sounding insincere and phony, but no one else seemed to notice.
"We're sorry that we lied about you being popular so long." Added Sheridan, who was late to the party, as usual. "But look at you now. You've won back everyone's hearts."
Logan raised his gatorade bottle in the air. "Soak it in, dude!"
"You wouldn't have lost your status in the first place, if you hadn't tried to humiliate your brothers." Sandy reminded Alvin.
"Yep. I know." Alvin got strangely quiet again.
"He doesn't like to be reminded." I nibbled my apple slices. "So, does anyone have plans for homecoming?"
"That's still weeks away, but I'm definitely going with Tiff." Greg announced. "She's my bae."
"I don't have plans yet." I framed my face with my hands. "But, I hope you all vote for me as homecoming queen. It's my dream to win!"
"I'll vote for you." Choruses of voices around the table said. Amber and Annie were not any of them, but I didn't need their stupid votes anyway. I wish I could kick them off my cheer team sometime, but that would be an abuse of power.
"Alvin, you should ask Britt out for homecoming." Jesse blurted out.
Alvin rubbed his stomach. "Yeah, possibly, I guess." WAIT? DO MY EARS DECEIVE ME? He said he MIGHT ask me out! "I'm feeling a little sick. I think it was something in the salad Dave packed me for lunch." The chipmunk in the black leather jacket and red cap groaned. "Is it okay if I head out?"
"Sure thing." Tracy told him. "Gotta make sure you're better in time for my party though. Okay?" She gave him a big smile.
"Wouldn't miss it." Alvin replied, before running off to who knows where.
"Do you think he's actually okay?" Logan asked me, with cheese from the pizza he'd been eating smeared on his chin. Urgh. Boys. Such slobs. At least Greg was well kept.
I nodded, even though I wasn't entirely sure. "Uh, yeah! Duh! He needs time to adjust to the new routine is all."
With that, I continued to eat my lunch with the popular kids. I thought about how great it would be to be homecoming queen, with Alvin as my date, cheering me on in the audience. I thought about slipping Alvin more hints that I like him, pushing him to ask me out before Tracy's party. It felt like life was finally back on the track I wanted it to be on. But, as you all know, I was pretty much a fool. What was going on with Alvin couldn't easily be undone and his newfound popularity would eventually force him to make a choice. All I could do was hope he chose a path that he could live with, and that I could live with.
BRITTANY: At least I'm not crying into a pillow this time. You're up again, Alvin.
THEODORE: Nope. It's my turn.
BRITTANY: Oh. Well, uh, good luck, Theodore.
THEODORE: Thanks! I hope you're doing okay, Brittany. I know this is really emotional for you.
BRITTANY: I'm managing it. It helps to listen to music and also live my dreams through reading Alvittany fanfics.
THEODORE: That doesn't sound healthy…
BRITTANY: It's FINE! I'm totally over him now, I swear.
THEODORE: Okay. If you say so.
Theodore's POV
I was just minding my own business, eating my lunch. Today Dave had packed us salads, which was really odd, even for him. I didn't really want the salad, so I borrowed some lunch money from Eleanor and got myself a school lunch instead. It was delicious! Mac and cheese with a side of baked beans and some tasty applesauce! It came with a cookie too! Oatmeal raisin! Not my favorite cookie, but it would satisfy my craving for a treat!
Alvin came up to the table I was sitting at, which was next to the table where Simon, Kevin, and the mathlete club sat. My brother looked really worried. I wonder why he was worried so much. His popularity he missed was pretty much back and he seemed okay the last time I checked.
"Theo, ya gotta help me." He said in a panic. "I think Jeanette nuked my ability to lie!"
"Well, uh, Dave always says lying is bad." I reasoned, finishing my cookie. "So maybe this is a good thing."
He shook his head and jumped up on the bench across from me. "It's not. Being a popular kid DEPENDS on lying. They're all such fakes." He rubbed his head. "I can feel my brain turning to mush the more I'm around them. What is wrong with me? I used to be good at this."
"Maybe you'll get better if you practice." I didn't like telling my brother to lie, but Alvin's big outrageous lies were part of who he was, weren't they?
"I doubt it." He looked so upset. "I can still tell small lies, but then I start feeling sick. I can't keep this up!"
Hey! I could relate to this! "I feel really guilty and sick when I lie too.
"Great." He fumed. "So instead of turning into Simon, I've turned into a weird mixture of Simon, Jeanette, and you." He tapped his chin. "Though I suppose that beats the alternative."
"Eleanor says that sometimes you have to lie to protect people." I squeaked, hoping that would steer him away from ANOTHER crisis. I just wanted my big bro to feel okay again.
"But lying to protect other people is one thing." Alvin rubbed the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Lying to protect yourself is SELFISH. I'm not selfish anymore, or at least, I'm trying to be less selfish!"
"Then, uhhhh…" I thought as hard as I could. "Don't do it for yourself. Do it for Brittany. She would be really sad if you got kicked out of the cool kids crowd again. So, every time you have to lie to fit in with them, remember you're doing it to protect her."
"Ohoho! That's FANTASTIC!" He grinned a braces filled smile. "Do it for her! Of course! It's so simple!"
Thank goodness! My advice worked. I wasn't sure if it was actually good advice, but it sure seemed like it was. "Hopefully this makes you less queasy." I said.
"Me too." Alvin rubbed his stomach. "I've always wanted to be a secret agent like Lorenzo Lorenzo, but this double life thing….it's hard, man."
I couldn't resist slipping in a reference to that song I picked for us to sing a while ago. I knew Alvin would appreciate it. "What? Did you think it would be a piece of cake?" I asked with a giggle.
Eleanor jumped onto the top of the table without any of us seeing her coming.
"But makin' cake's not easy!" She continued my funny joke.
Alvin chuckled softly. "You guys." He shook his head. "That was a good one. I accidentally set ya right up for it."
"Yup." I licked some of the mac and cheese off my lips. "You did."
"So how's life over there in Clique City?" Eleanor teased, sitting down next to Alvin by climbing off the top of the table and plopping onto the bench with a THUD!
"Cliquey and boring." Alvin scrunched his nose and deactivated his sunglasses, which turned them into his regular glasses. I still have no idea how that's possible, but Simon said it's cuz of nanobots or something.
"Awww." Now the Chipette was mocking him. "Would you rather be talking to your beloved physics book?"
Alvin's freckly cheeks turned pink. "Cut it out, Ells!"
"Answer the question." Her teasing suddenly turned serious.
I frowned. "Eleanor, stop. You're stressing him out."
"Okay. Okay. No jokes." The punk Chipette stared at Alvin with her intimidating and yet beautiful green eyes. "Answer this seriously. If you had to choose between being nerdy whenever you want and being with those guys putting on an act, which one would you choose?"
"I…uh….you know…I'd pick…" Alvin started to stammer even worse. He was trying to lie, but he was just so out of practice! "Uh, being, you know, cool, you know, and famous and, you know, stuff like, you know, that."
"Wow." Eleanor laughed. "Okay, uh, you know, good luck, you know, with that."
Alvin turned even redder. He was super embarrassed now.
I started to get angry at Eleanor. My brother had been through enough. Even if she thought she was being helpful, she wasn't. "Enough, Ellie!" I said with a small growl, but just a small one. I didn't want to sound too scary.
"Sorry. Sorry." Eleanor responded. I think she meant it, but with her punk personality, I couldn't be sure.
The bell rang and it was time to head back to class. I hung around a little longer in the lunchroom, after Eleanor had gone. Alvin stayed behind with me.
"I'm worried about her." I told Alvin quietly, in case Eleanor was still around and could hear me. "I wanna talk to her about everything, but I'm not sure where to start."
My oldest brother spun me around to face him. "Theo, I'mma tell ya what ya gotta do. Listen close. Ya listenin'?"
I nodded. "Uh huh."
He took a deep breath. "You need to de-punk that chipmunk."
"And you need to get better jokes." I replied, cracking a small smile. "How do I de-punk her?"
"Well, unlike my changes, hers are caused by a desire to get people to notice her. Just give her a new idea to make people notice her." He suggested.
"And then she'll go back to her normal amount of scary-ness?" I asked.
He pushed me in Eleanor's direction. "I guarantee it."
"Alvie!" I heard Brittany approaching.
"Aw nuts." Alvin re-activated his sunglasses. He hustled over to meet up with the girl in the carnation pink shirt and ruby red sparkle mini skirt with black leggings.
As I walked over to Eleanor's locker, I could hear Britt and Alvin. Not fully ready to talk with the punk girl yet, I looked back in the direction of my favorite red and pink couple.
"So, have you planned any fun leisure activities after school?" Alvin was asking some random popular kid. "I would love to partake in them."
"Will you excuse us for a moment?" Brittany pulled him aside. She sounded like her nerves were absolutely shot. "Don't panic. You can fix this. Just act natural."
"That was acting natural." Alvin moaned.
The girl with the strawberry blonde ponytail huffed. "Then don't act natural."
Alvin returned to the crowd to try and say something else. "What up, my pals! How's it hanging? Wanna see my stupendous skateboard tricks? They're quite impressive, not to toot my own horn or anything. Did you know I'm planning on making my skateboard fly?"
"Really? How!?" One of the kids asked.
"The power of Sci…" Alvin began, before Brittany cut him off.
Her ice blue eyes glared at him. "His awesomeness."
Oh brother. Alvin was REALLY trying, but the Simony part of him was just too strong. I didn't think he'd last much longer. I could only hope the fall back to unpopularity wasn't as bad as last time.
"Yo, Theo." The bold and brash voice interrupted my thoughts.
I blinked, surprised that I'd gotten so close to Eleanor without realizing it. Or maybe she got closer to me? That's also possible.
I tried to act cool and punk for her. "Yo?" I wasn't very skilled at it.
"Are you okay? You seem all mixed up." She asked.
I decided to just blurt out what I was thinking. "I'm just worried about you. Is this really who you want to be?"
She slumped her shoulders. "Not all of it, but maybe some of it."
"You're being meaner than your usual amount of mean." I said softly. "It'll get you noticed, but then people will still avoid you cuz you're mean."
"I know." She closed her locker door and looked down at her boots, sounding defeated.
Time to keep going. At least she didn't bite me yet! "And Eleanor?"
The Chipette still sounded sad. "Yeah?"
Oh boy. How do I tell her this next thing? "I didn't wanna say this, but you've been wearing those clothes for weeks. They're starting to smell." I squeaked out with my voice cracking nervously.
She brightened up and started to laugh. "That's the stench of non-conformity, dude."
"Ohhhh. Uh, um, couldn't you wear something else to get attention?" I asked politely.
She rolled her eyes. "What am I supposed to do? Walk around with a giant letter E on my shirt?" She asked sarcastically.
I suddenly had a really nice idea! It might even work! "Maybe you could write your full name? That might help people learn it!"
The beautiful Chipette's eyes sparkled. "That's PERFECT!" She nudged me with the arm that had the peeling temporary star tattoo. "Theo, I think you're the real smart one." She told me with a small and sly smile.
"I just try to help is all." I reasoned, not fully believing I was that smart.
Then, we both heard Alvin loudly bragging to Logan and Tommy about his current invention idea. "The flying skateboard is still a work in progress. I took apart one of Simon's jetpacks to see how the internal mechanisms work."
Unfortunately, Simon was nearby. He heard everything. "You did what?"
"Heh heh…oops." My brother in red and black nervously chuckled.
"No more science talk!" Ordered bossy Brittany.
Simon was mad! "I trusted you and this is how you repay me?"
"In my defense, I assumed I'd know how to put it back together." Alvin replied.
The chipmunk in the blue hoodie folded his arms. "You don't know a fraction of 1% about anything." He grumbled.
Brittany waved her arms frantically as she fibbed to the cool kids. "Just ignore them, people. Alvin's working the last remaining bits of nerd out of his system. He'll be fine!"
Alvin strutted over to Simon. "How dare you insult me with famous quotes?" He quipped.
"Stop taking apart my things without asking!" Simon shouted back.
Alvin sighed and then shouted again. "It was in the box you gave me!"
That caused Simon to storm off to class grabbing his science textbook and slamming his locker. "Ohhhh." He groaned.
Eleanor shook her head, fed up with their antics. That makes two of us. "Yeah. Definitely the smartest seville brother." She patted my back.
"Does that mean you'll take my advice and be less punk?" I asked, tail wagging.
She looked unsure, but then she started rubbing off what was left of the star tattoo. "Yeah. I'm still going to test the limits of my style. But this, ain't it." She looked down at her feet. "Although, I might keep the boots."
Wow! It had worked! I'm so glad that Alvin told me how to de-punk her. I couldn't wait to see what other, nicer, and less smelly styles Eleanor had in store. Maybe no one else noticed the stinky smell. I do have an extra sensitive nose.
The next class was science class and I could tell Alvin was really struggling not to be all know-it-all-y. He didn't have his music, cuz Miss. Smith still had his phone until the end of the week, but for some reason he was still able to do his work. It must be the magic nerd candy. He must be very doped up on dopamine.
Simon says it's basically a drug addiction but a kid friendly one. That sounds bad. Wait, does that make me bad for helping Alvin get candy? But if the candy makes him happy, then how could it be bad? I need to stop trying to think through this stuff. It's only making it harder to understand. I'll just keep doing whatever I think is best. That's what a sweet and kind person does.
ALVIN: Heeeey! I am back to narrate!
THEODORE: Thank goodness. I'm very tired of writing.
ALVIN: So am I, but this part's gotta be written!
THEODORE: After this, does the story get any happier?
ALVIN: It does! Yeah! Story 8 is like a nice breather full of fun hijinks and I finally get to reveal to all of my fans how I got the Alvin 2.0 moniker.
THEODORE: Yay! Sounds fun!
ALVIN: And now, back to my confusion and subsequent suffering!
Popular Kid-Alvin's POV
I had everything I ever wanted! I had my old life back, for all intents and purposes. I even looked cool again, despite still dealing with the braces and glasses. It felt….horrible. I almost hated it! I expected to feel right at home again, but I felt more out of place than ever!
It was as if half of me was enjoying the popularity and the other half of me was SCREAMING that it wanted out. But I'm Alvin! I shouldn't want out of the spotlight! My whole purpose in life is to rule the school and the stage!
As much as it pains me to admit it, I think my new re-wired intellectual brain was the cause of my apprehension. It wasn't that I couldn't keep up with the cool kids, it was that they couldn't keep up with me. None of them wanted to talk about anything that interested me. Occasionally, maybe they'd talk sports, but that was always short lived.
What they talked about the most was who was gonna date who and what a cute couple Brittany and I would make. Ew! No! Britt's just a friend. I may have given her some really romantic looking gifts, but I didn't have feelings for her. Plus, even if I did develop feelings for her, I wouldn't act on them!
I had approximately zero interest in being in the yearbook as cutest couple. I was shooting for Most Improved again! Round two, baby! It would be hard, but I knew I could do it! That's why, despite Brittany urging me to goof off and slip fully back to my old ways, I would remain a good student AND be popular.
And in order to do that, I had to focus on science class. I'd had an entire box of Nerds candy this morning, because Miss. Smith still had my cell phone with all my music. That may have been why I wasn't gelling with the popular crowd. I kept slipping back into nerd mode and saying things that they didn't approve of.
Then again, Tommy and Logan looked pretty interested in my flying skateboard idea when I told them. But were they just faking it? You could never tell with popular kids. They were all just putting on an act. I knew barely anything real about them. It was so OBVIOUS they were faking too.
"Does anyone know whether or not two atoms of the same element are identical?" Miss. Smith asked.
Crap! This was an easy question, at least for me and all the other science enthusiasts in the room. But I didn't dare answer it out loud, did I?
"Yes, Simon?" My teacher sounded relieved to call on him and not even think about calling on me.
My brother in the blue hoodie answered the question with exactly what I'd been thinking. "Two atoms of the same element are typically not identical. This is due to the vast range of possible states that the electrons of an atom can occupy."
"Very good, Simon." My teacher congratulated him.
As soon as she did that, my hand was in the air.
I heard the middle aged woman sigh heavily. I saw Brittany looking at me angrily, motioning for me to put my hand down. And I saw Jeanette giving me a hopeful smile. Because of her, my hand stayed up, despite my instincts telling me to put it down.
Miss. Smith's beady eyes turned directly to me. "Do you have anything to add, Mr. Too Cool For School?" She teased in an insulting way.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I do." I said in my scholarly voice. "If you want to fully describe and predict a chemical reaction, you gotta specify the ionization and excitation states of the electrons inside the atoms."
She looked shocked. It was the first question I'd answered all day. Not that I hadn't known the answers, I'd just been using all my self control to hold back. Plus, I had been letting myself zone out and puzzle over the physics of my flying skateboard idea.
"That's correct as well, Alvin…Good job." Miss. Smith was befuddled as heck. She didn't know what the frack was going on. It was PRICELESS!
I glanced around the room. The other cool kids were staring at me strangely, like they didn't know what to make of me.
"Quick!" Classic Alvin materialized as a ghostlike entity beside me. "Do something to prove you're still cool!"
"Speaking of excitation, who's excited for the weekend!? I can't wait for your party, Tracy! I'm sure it'll be the birthday bash of the century!" I fumbled out, sounding shockingly more confident than I felt.
The cool kids gave me nods of approval. Ohoho! I was doing it! I found the balance between both sides of my personality. Nothing could stop me now!
Two more classes later, the school day eventually came to an end. Miss. Smith called me again to stay after class. I wondered what I did this time. Was it all my disruptive talk? I mean, it wasn't as bad as my usual disruptive talk! I did it very infrequently, I think.
To my surprise, she handed me my phone back. "Here you go. Now, listen to your music and focus again. I'm begging you." The blackish grey haired lady said sternly.
"Thank you." I put my phone in my pocket. "But it's not the end of the week yet. I thought you said that I couldn't have it back until then."
"If it'll make you stop interrupting class, you can have it now." She told me.
I smiled. Oh, so that's why! Maybe my interruptions weren't as infrequent as I thought. I wasn't even aiming for this, but I'll take it.
"Ohoho, sure thing! I'll keep my lip zipped." I promised. I would TRY at least.
Now that I had my phone back, I realized that being popular meant a lot more texts to reply to. Oh goody. (Sarcasm) Another fun little surprise side effect I wasn't ready for. Oh well, maybe I wasn't ready for it, but if I back out now, I might never have another chance EVER. Like it or not, I was in it for the long haul.
One text in particular caught my eye. It was from some dude named Trevor. He asked if I wanted to meet him and some buddies after school. I sent him a quick text asking where to meet them.
And that's how I found myself hanging out in the computer lab with a group of kids I barely knew. I wondered if Britt knew them. Were they any of the kids she pointed to when she taught me who's hot and who's not in the yearbook? Urgh. I couldn't remember. Not one of them seemed familiar, at least not yet.
Aside from Trevor, who judging by his stocky muscular build, and football jersey, was definitely on the football team, there were three other students. Oh, and Trevor had a horrible looking spray tan that made him appear a little orange, but I didn't dare comment on it.
Next to Trevor, was a short, but still taller than me, girl with black hair in a ponytail and a blue top with a purple shirt underneath. She introduced herself to me as Veronica. She had a dark complexion and even darker eyes.
There was a girl with a leather jacket that matched mine, only hers was cropped and she had a rosy pink shirt and a fuschia skirt She had pale skin caked in too much makeup and I could have sworn she was the same girl who once made fun of Britt for misreading a magazine and thinking she was a long lost princess. This girl was named Morgan.
The fourth member of their little group was a guy with his head shaved. He was skinnier than Trevor, but still muscular. He was also as pale as Morgan and his black clothes and chains made him look like a vampire. He told me to just call him Z. I asked if that was short for anything and he shut down. I sensed it was a sensitive subject, so I didn't mind calling him Z.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" I asked the group.
Morgan got on one of the computers in the room. "We have a little mission for ya."
"Should be simple." Veronica twisted her hair nervously.
"Yeah." Trevor added, lumbering over to me. "As soon as the principal leaves, you need to get in her office and change our grades on the computer."
My blood ran cold. "What?"
Morgan showed me the screen of her computer. "We tried to get into the grades program through these computers, but we can't. We need to use the one in the office."
"But…but…why do I have to help?" I asked, stuttering a bit. My instincts were telling me to make a break for the door, but I couldn't move. If I left, I'd be seen as someone unworthy of being cool. Someone who deserted their fans!
Z grinned a tight lipped slasher smile. "Because, chippie, you're short enough to get into the main office through here." He pointed to the ventilation panel on the wall.
They actually wanted me to crawl through the vent system and then let them in the office, so that they could change their grades? All they wanted to do was use me. This wasn't like me jumping to conclusions and thinking Jeanette was going to use me. These kids didn't care about me, they only cared about how my tiny size could benefit them!
"Fellas…" I began, sounding like a weird mix of Dave and Simon. "What if I just tutored you instead? How 'bout it?"
They all laughed.
"Good one." Veronica patted my cap.
Trevor and Z unscrewed the vent cover. "In you go. Come on."
I stood my ground. "You guys, I can't do this." The instincts telling me to bail got louder. "And you shouldn't be doing this."
Morgan stood up, pushed in the chair, and faced me looking angry. "You better not rat us out. You'll be a narc!" She threatened.
Oh! I wasn't even thinking of that! What a great way to get out of this bad situation! "Yeah, ya see, the old me would have gone along with everything you say." I told them. "But I can't do that now with my robust conscience soooo…" I dialed up Miss. Smith's phone number on my cell phone. "…you bet I'm a narc." I wasn't even thinking of the consequences of my actions. The morals that were instilled within me were calling all the shots. Ohoho, thanks, Netta!
Z started to chase me, trying to grab the phone. "If you tell, you're going down with us."
"Haha. I don't really care!" I responded. "What? Ya think I've never been in trouble before!? Ha! Don't make me laugh."
"Hello?" Miss. Smith's voice yelled into my ear.
"Miss. Smith! Tell the principal to come to the computer lab! And hurry!" I said.
"Alvin?" My teacher sounded unconvinced. "This better not be a prank!"
"It's not! Trust me, Miss. Smith! You gotta believe me!" I hung up the phone and spotted a box of unused computer parts and junk. I started using a bunch of old disconnected wires and cables to tie the human kids up before they could leave. I felt like a real hero.
"Forget beating up the narc." Morgan hissed. "Just call someone else to change our grades."
"Yeah. Miss. Smith will never believe Alvin anyway." Trevor laughed.
Veronica looked uneasy. "All I wanted was to change my C in Computer Science class to a B!" She whimpered. I felt bad for her. I could relate.
"A C is still passing though." I gave her a warm smile as I watched her struggle to free herself from the wires. "I think you did a good job."
"Oh shut up, you snitch." She sneered.
"Guys, I just called the best hacker in the business." Z exclaimed. "They said they can help."
Trevor managed to free a hand from the wires, so I tied him up again. "What's their name?" He asked.
"L." The guy with the shaved head said.
Morgan snickered. "L? Are they a friend of yours, Z?"
"Stoooop." The boy with the single initial name groaned.
I heard a weird scratching noise and looked up to see where it was coming from. I watched as a panel of the ceiling shifted over and Eleanor came sliding down on a shiny teal ribbon. She was still dressed like a punk, but had ditched the fishnet leggings and scraped off her star tattoo.
Oh my gosh! It wasn't L that Z had been saying. It was EL! Short for ELEANOR!
I tapped my foot impatiently as the mischievous Chipette dismounted with a flip that could rival any professional gymnast. She landed on her feet.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
She smirked. "It's always the last person you expect."
I was not in the mood to play her games. "Jeanette would be the last person I expect. This is on brand for you."
"Yeah, you're right." She admitted.
"Are you really going to hack grades? Isn't this a little much for you? I know you won't get in trouble because nobody notices you for long, but what would Theo think if he found out about this!?" I was bursting with questions. My inquisitive brain demanded to know WHAT THE FRACK Eleanor was THINKING!
She hesitated and then looked between me and the pile of kids restrained by wires and cables. "I was hired. I think I have to. I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice." I said softly.
"Can you help us, El?" Z asked, looking at the pigtailed blonde.
Eleanor shook her head. "I'm sorry, guys. I thought you just wanted me to hack into a site that's blocked so you can watch pirated movies or TV shows. I draw the line at changing grades. That's way worse than catching a show that's lost media."
"Morgan kicked her free leg at Z. Her arms and other leg were still restrained. "Nice going, dummy."
"The site said Hacker for hire! How was I supposed to know she has standards!?" He griped.
I grabbed Eleanor's arm. "Better get outa here, Ells." I warned her. "The principal will be here any second!"
With a quick nod, the Chipette grabbed onto her ribbon and climbed back up to the ceiling like she was climbing the rope in gym class. She yanked the ribbon up after she was situated in the square shaped hole. Then, she moved the ceiling tile back in place. It was like she'd never been here.
I paced around, wondering if Miss. Smith and the principal would actually show up or not. They had to! They knew I was a better person now! Right?
"They're not coming, you little weasel." Morgan snapped.
Trevor successfully wiggled free and came lunging toward me. I dodged him and ran for the door.
"What is going on in here?" The lovely french accent of our principal was music to my ears.
It was followed up by Miss. Smith's nasally rasp. "Alvin, you better have a good explanation for this."
"They were going to change their grades in the computer system!" I said heroically. "They tried to get me to help them. I just thought, well, that you should know. I didn't give into their peer pressure! Haha! Aren't you proud of me?"
"The whole world is upside down." Miss. Smith remarked.
She and Principal Meadows took care of coming up with punishment for the four students. They got a month of detention and they had to scrub down every inch of the cafeteria. Plus, they had to write "I will not change my grades and will accept the grade I earned" 500 times! If I hadn't chosen to snitch on them, that could have easily been my punishment too.
That's not to say I wasn't punished, because I was! Bigtime! My punishment didn't come from the teachers or the principal. I didn't realize my punishment until the next day of school.
I had chosen to wear my geeky The Flash shirt under the leather jacket today. It gave me a much cooler look combined with this jacket vs my cyan one. I missed the cyan one a lot. I could still wear it at home though. Nothing stopping me there!
"Hey, Tracy!" I ran up to the girl in the forest green dress. "Can I bring my karaoke machine to your party? Or do you already have one?"
She turned up her nose at me. "Uh, about that, Alvin. You're not invited anymore."
"What? Why?" I felt a stabbing pain in my soul.
"Well, my parents are out of town and I'm throwing it without them knowing. I don't need anyone ratting me out to my parents. Catch my drift?" She walked away.
I waved to Logan and Greg, hoping they'd still want to hang out with me. "Heeey, dudes! How's it going?"
"Leave us alone, snitch." Logan grumbled.
Greg held up a fist. "Snitches get stitches."
It was like that with EVERY single popular kid. My status was GONE! Turns out, Trevor and Morgan had informed the entire school what I did to them. Now, I was not only seen as an unpopular dorky geek, I was seen as a narc! A tattletail, whoops, spelled that wrong. I mean, tattletale.
I sadly shuffled to my locker. "I guess I'm not popular anymore." I said to myself. I expected to feel worse about it, but sitting under the sting of rejection was…relief.
Brittany heard my words and scrambled over to grill me. "What do you mean you aren't popular anymore again? What happened?"
I slipped off my leather jacket and took the letter A pin off of it too. I shoved it into my backpack, switching it out for the cyan jacket with the alien head pin still attached. I knew continuing to keep that in my locker would come in handy! I slipped the letter A pin into one of the outside pouches on my backpack so I wouldn't lose it.
I faced Brittany and deactivated my sunglasses, transforming them back to plain old red glasses. My geeky appearance was restored. "I chose integrity." I stated calmly.
"And?" Britt asked again. Crud. She wanted more information.
I sighed. "They kicked me out."
"But….but…." She blubbered.
"Face it, Britt, I might look like I fit in with them on the outside, but you can't change what's happening inside." I told her. That was the cold hard truth. I couldn't hide my nerdiness. I couldn't hide my strengthened moral compass.
But the chipette in the off shoulder pink top was STILL desperate. "Sure you can! Just give it time. You'll get back into the flow of things."
I got slightly less calm. "Maybe I don't wanna change what's happening inside."
"Very well." She sighed. "Do what you want. I guess can't help you."
"You can help me by not trying to undo this." I said firmly.
Britt turned away from me. "Enjoy slowly turning into your brother." She sassed, with clear despair evident.
Ouch ouch! Don't cry! Don't cry! You know you aren't going to turn into Simon. I kept repeating that, so I didn't panic.
Brittany met up with her sisters. Jeanette was wearing some jeans with butterflies embroidered all over them and a cute purple shirt with a giant kitty cat face on it. Eleanor was standing proudly and wearing a hilarious outfit. She had a light mint T shirt with dark green letters embroidered across it sideways. The letters said "Eleanor." She had also written her name THREE times across her teal skirt and shorts combo in, I dunno, likely fabric pen. To top off the look, she was wearing a mint baseball cap with green letters that also said her name.
I watched as a group of students walked past and waved to the Chipettes. One of them blurted out. "Hi, Brittany! Hi, Jeanette! Hi, Brittany and Jeanette's sister!"
The littlest Chipette pointed angrily at the name on her shirt. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?" Poor Ellie. She couldn't beat her superpower of psychic invisibility.
At lunchtime, I knew I would no longer be welcome at the popular table. I spotted Simon and my geeky pals and hustled over to join them. Classic Alvin hovered in midair above the table, giving me a disapproving stare.
"This is not good." He quipped. "You couldn't even stay popular for more than one day!"
"I know." I thought at him. I didn't want the reminder.
Nerdy me manifested beside him, glowing with a shimmering cyan light. "You're better off this way. Trust me."
"I'm fading away! You're running out of time to save me!" Classic insisted.
"Shhhh. Just let me eat my lunch." I begged them.
"Keep trusting your gut feelings." Nerdy me instructed before vanishing and taking Classic Alvin's hand, causing him to disappear from view as well.
Finally, I could focus on my lunch and my friends.
"Well…" Simon broke the awkward silence. "That was short lived."
"I rushed in too fast." I said, sounding sad, but ultimately accepting this outcome.
Kevin fidgeted with his fingers. "So, uh, we've been talking about this for ages, and we thought now would be a good time to bring it up…"
"Do you remember when you taught us to stand up for ourselves and teach Derek a lesson?" Cheesy asked.
Did I? I thought back. Wait! I did! That was on one of the home movies Jeanette watched with me. "Vaguely. Yes."
Kevin started to talk again. "Well…."
He didn't get very far. I tried to guess what he was going to say before he could say it. "Do you guys need more help? More advice? My door is always open. Seriously. Got….Got some more free time on my hands now that I'm, you know, uncool again."
Cheesy took a bite of his hamburger and spoke with his mouth full. "This is perfect!"
The scrawnier nerd in the green T shirt continued to try and talk without being interrupted. "We, uh, took a vote and we were wondering if you'd like to be an honorary MathTron."
Me? Part of the Mathletes, or MathTrons? (I renamed them when I helped them be tougher.) Well, it's only fitting. Might as well be one. "Would I have to show up to every meeting?" I asked.
"Not much. Maybe once a month or twice." Kevin said.
"Basically whenever you feel like it. It's just a title." Cheesy added in before crunching his chips loudly. Boy, he was like Theo, but human.
"It's a title that reminds us we can count on you." Warren, the shyest member of the group, even spoke.
I looked at Simon, wondering if he'd be okay with me joining. "Si?"
My brother gave a nonchalant shrug. "I don't mind. You've already invaded every other thing I enjoy."
Was I actually agreeing to this? It's fine. It's just a title. Yeah, a title linking me to NERDS! I was horrified at the thought, and double horrified to realize how much I wanted that title.
"What do you say?" Kevin asked, looking at me hopefully.
I half-forced a smile. "Can I have a secret codename too?"
"If you want." Simon replied.
Cheesy cut in loudly. "Heck yeah!"
My smile morphed from half forced to genuine. "Call me, The Al-gebrainiac."
"Welcome to the MathTrons, Alvin." Kevin shook my hand.
Warren and Cheesy started chanting. I think the chant was a reference to a sci fi movie of some sort. "One of us! One of us! One of us! Excelsior!"
Simon facepalmed at their buffoonery.
I kind of liked it. It felt good to be accepted, to be part of something. Too bad that something was a club of math nerds. Me, the newest math nerd. WHAT HAD I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO!? It's too late to change my mind now. They look so happy.
I joined in with their chant halfheartedly. "Excelsior."
I suffered through the rest of the school day, enduring the disadvantages of my new reputation. It was weighing on me. I needed to release all this pent up frustration and anger. I was mad I was rejected for doing the right thing. I was too embarrassed to talk to Jeanette, because she knew this whole regaining my popularity thing was the worst idea ever. The person she had trained me to be, was too much of a goody goody to be popular. Bart to Millhouse indeed. Britt was right.
The auditorium was empty at the end of the day, so I went inside. It had good acoustics and I needed them for my idea. I climbed onto the stage and started to sing a sad reprise of the song I had written called I'm So Popular. I took off my hat and messed up my hair a little, placing the hat back on. I hoped that someone would hear my sad ballad-style song and take pity on me, allowing me a second chance at popularity.
"Have you heard all the rumors?
People sure like to talk about me
They wish that I was cooler
Ooh-woahh-woah-woah-woahh, ohh-ohh
I got 'em whisperin' all down the hallways
Mr. Geekazoid forever and always
Have you heard all the rumors?
Ooh-woahh-woah-woah-woahh, ohh-ohh"
Heading into the chorus, I felt no better, but I was determined to give it my all anyway. Music would help me come to terms with this. I was drifting far from the role Alvin Seville was meant to fill. The role no longer fit me.
"Who cares what they say about me?
This school wouldn't be cool without me
I care what they say about me
But this is the price to be who I wanna be!"
I held back my tears, I could feel them starting to well up. I pushed through, willing my voice not to break. I didn't sound choked up, but it wouldn't be long before I did.
"I'm on everybody's mind
I wish that I could turn back time
I don't know how to recapture the days
When I was popular
When I was the coolest
and everybody knew it
I was popular"
When I made it to the last word, the floodgates opened and the tears started to spew. I collapsed on the stage as a weepy mess. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. It had to be possible to be nerdy and cool! Confidence plus charm equals popularity, right? Or maybe not? What piece of the equation am I missing?
"He's in here, you guys." I heard Theo's cute voice say. "I can hear him crying."
Theodore pushed open the auditorium doors with help from Eleanor and Simon. The three of them raced to the stage to comfort me. I was so lucky to have them.
"We've got you, bro." Simon murmured as he climbed up on the stage.
"It's okay, Alvin. Everything will be okay. We promise." Added Theo sweetly.
Even Eleanor joined in with the reassurance. "You've still got people who care about you."
"Yeah. The popular kids were all faking. You said it yourself." Theo reminded me.
I sobbed harder. "But I still want to be popular! I'm not cut out for the life of an outcast!"
"You'll adjust." The pigtailed Chipette, rubbed my back. "Just give it time."
"Breathe." Simon added. "Remember to breathe."
"I'm a failure at everything I do!" I continued to sob. "Have I ever told you guys that my biggest fear is being a failure!? A flop!? A nobody!? Someone who isn't even worthy of still being a rockstar!?"
"You aren't a failure at everything." Theodore hugged me. "You're a good brother and a kind person. You help people almost every day."
"You inspired Jeanette and I to change up our styles. We're having fun figuring out who we are aside from just "Brittany's sisters" because of you." The pigtailed Chipette added.
She and Theo helped me to my feet. "I still don't feel any better. Singing was supposed to make me feel better, but even that failed."
Theo's brown eyes sparkled. "But, maybe you didn't pick the right song." He suggested.
Simon's face lit up. He got that look that meant his big brain had an idea. Which was good, because my big brain was too full of fog and sadness to have any ideas.
My brother, who ordinarily is not one for just randomly breaking out in song, walked further up the stage and started to sing a soft and calming melody.
"When you feel like you're lost, can't be found
When you feel like the sky's falling down
No point in sitting and waiting around
Keep your head up high, get your feet off the ground."
Theodore and Eleanor watched Simon sing with big smiles on their chubby faces. I watched him as well, wiping the tears off my glasses. He was remarkable.
"Just get back up when you fall
Don't hold back, free for all.
You've come too far to lose it all,
It's too late to turn back."
Suddenly, a spotlight illuminated my brother in the blue hoodie. It shone down brightly, I was caught and bathed in its glow too. Where did it come from? I got my answer to that question when I saw Eleanor jump down from the narrow beam where the stage lights were located. She'd switched it on manually, of course.
"Even when all you're feeling is pain
Even when things ain't going your way
Is a test that we all have to take
You gotta fall before you can learn how to fly."
When did Simon get such a good solo voice? Had he always been like that? Had I just never taken notice because I was too caught up being "the awesomest one?" I probably had. Oops. Add that to my mistake list.
"If you're falling apart, close your eyes,
When you're down, you can still touch the sky
Your heart stops, but you still feel alive
Don't be afraid, fear only lives in your mind."
Simon took my hand and led me across the section of the stage where the spotlight was shining. He danced a bit, urging me to join. I got into it a little.
"Just get back up when you fall
Don't hold back, free for all.
You've come too far to lose it all,
It's too late to turn back."
I think he was telling me, through this song, that he'd finally come to terms with me being a scientist. Or at least, that he was done acting like he was the only scientist in the family. I wouldn't know until the song ends and I could ask him.
"Even when all you're feeling is pain
Even when things ain't going your way
Is a test that we all have to take
You gotta fall before you can learn how to fly."
Hey, I had totally stopped crying now! The song worked! Theo was right after all. I'd just picked the wrong song! Simon finished his ballad with a hopeful smile at me.
"How to flyyyyyyy.
How to flyyyyyyy."
Whoah! Nevermind! He wasn't done yet! He held some stellar and pretty long notes. Wowza! My brother was LEGENDARY!
"Whoah! Si, where ya been hiding those pipes?" I remarked.
He awkwardly took a bow. "Oh, I just, really like the song."
The spotlight turned off and Eleanor jumped down again, landing right beside us. Don't ask me how she got up there. I only saw how she got down. "That was AWESOME!" She shouted.
"Do you feel better, Alvin?" Theo asked, twitching his brownish blonde tail. "Did the song work?"
"Ohoho! Like a charm." I replied, strutting across the stage. "And speaking of flying…" I glanced at Simon. This question was directed toward him. "Do you think that I'll be able to make my flying skateboard idea work soon?"
He chuckled in a good natured way. "Maybe not soon, but someday, yes." He put his arm around my shoulders. "Someday. In the far FAR future." He added.
I nudged him playfully. "It'll be sooner than that."
"You can do it, Alvin." Theodore cheered.
"Yeah. You've just gotta keep trying." Eleanor added.
"And you just gotta keep trying to get noticed." My baby bro told her as we walked off the stage.
"Nah." She replied. "I'm over that for a while. Besides, flying under the radar can be sorta fun. Stealth mode activate! I'm a ninja!" She struck a ninja-esque pose.
Simon nodded. "Good choice, Eleanor. Best to make due with the cards you were dealt."
"Wise words, my fellow erudite sibling." I said in my scholarly voice.
Theodore groaned. "Definition?"
"Having or showing great knowledge." Simon and I did our still terrifying little mind meld thing.
"Just say smart." My simple little bro wailed, sounding annoyed. "Please just say smart."
And with that, we left the auditorium, ready to handle the rest of this crazy day. What would come next?
After we all got home and had dinner, I called another family meeting. This time, I was holding it in the backyard. I wanted to feel the fresh air. Jeanette had instilled a love for the outdoors in me. Oh crap! I still haven't talked to Jeanette since my fall back to rock bottom.
"Netta,…" I began, since everyone except Eleanor had arrived for the family meeting. "I should have listened to you. I rushed in way too fast and I wasn't prepared at all."
"I'm just glad you survived a second fall." She said, sitting crosslegged in the grass in those embroidered butterfly jeans. "Does this mean you're still coming to lessons tomorrow?"
I laughed, to cover up my pain. "Well, I'm not invited to Tracy's party anymore! Where else am I gonna go?"
"Is that a yes? Or a no?" The socially awkward Chipette asked.
"Yes." I looked deep into her midnight blue eyes. "Wouldn't miss them for the world."
Eleanor finally strolled into view, wearing a mint green hoodie covered in red and green watermelon designs. She was also wearing jeans, just simple jeans.
"Aw man, am I the last to arrive?" She rolled her eyes. "Always last. Guess that's just how it is."
"What is that?" Brittany gestured to Eleanor's outfit, looking disgusted.
Her little sister beamed. "My new hoodie! You like it?" She was purposely instigating. I approved. Instigating Brittany was okay in my book.
The diva was not pleased. "It's tacky!"
"I really don't care." Eleanor sat down next to Jeanette in the grass.
"Now I have two sisters who dress tacky!" Brittany moaned, sitting next to them. "If you're going to change your style, at least follow my style blog tips."
Simon and Theodore both laughed and Brittany sent them a death glare.
"Looking marvelous, Eleanor!" Jeanette told her little sister.
"Thanks, Jeanette!" The pigtailed Chipette stuck her hands in the pockets of her hoodie.
"You look so cool!" I said excitedly. I had inspired her, so many people. I sure was Alv-inspiring!
"Thanks" Eleanor replied to me.
Brittany folded her arms over her fuschia off shoulder top with the belt around it. "ALVINNN! You are ruining everything!" She declared.
"That's enough, Brittany." Dave sternly shut the mouthy girl down.
"Let's get started." I said, pacing up and down across the grass as I spoke. "I'm a social outcast again. Haha. Raise your hand if you saw that coming."
5 out of 6 hands were in the air.
"Wow, everyone but Brittany? Really?" I asked. "Anyway, moving on…I have decided that I am going to remain a scientist and let whatever happens next…happen."
Brittany looked scared. "What happens next is you lose your mind! Literally! Alvin Seville is ERASED! Your original self DIES!"
That's it. She needs to hear what I have to say next. She may not ever believe it, but she needs to hear it. I took a deep breath and then I went off on my own tirade. "All my life people have been telling me to be someone else! Be more like Simon! Be more like Theodore! Be more responsible! Be more mature! Be nicer to people!" I exclaimed. I put my hand over my heart. "Now, I'm finally like that! I'm a person that I love being, that I feel proud to be….and all you want is classic Alvin back!?"
Brittany stood and attempted to protest, but before she could get any words out, Eleanor and Jeanette grabbed her and forced her to sit back down.
I went on with my speech. "Maybe Simon's invention HAS changed my brain chemistry. But if that's the case, and I like who I've turned into, then why does it matter!?" I asked. "And maybe Simon's invention had no effect on me whatsoever and you're just too skeptical of my self improvement!" I told Brittany, pointing at her. "Maybe we'll never know, but the point is….that I don't want whatever happened undone. No. I have come too far to just restart at square one. I'm staying like this. Forever. So get used to it." I finished talking.
"Well said, Alvin." Dave clapped for me. The rest of the group followed. Britt's claps were sarcastic as heck, but who cares? Not me. "Does anyone else want to share?" My father asked.
Theodore raised his hand. "I have something to say."
"Go for it, Theo!" Cheered Eleanor.
The chubby boy in the green sweater stood up. "I think I figured it out!" He said. "I know what happened to Alvin and why."
"Really?" I asked. I was so ready to have an answer, though the fear of Brittany being right still lingered a little.
Theo explained it, and things all made SENSE! How often does Theo ever make sense? "As we grow and spend more time around family and friends, we all become a big fused personality blob of the people we hang out with. The more you care about someone, the more you start to take a chance on stuff they like and the more you actually start liking it yourself." He squeaked. "People don't just change randomly. People change PEOPLE!"
Simon was in awe of our little bro. "That is actually really profound, Theo."
"It do be like that." I added, because I'm not gonna talk like an intellectual all the time. I enjoy flip flopping. I enjoy the unpredictability.
Theodore breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good! You guys got all that. I was worried you wouldn't understand it."
Dave frowned as he tried to figure out how Theo came to that conclusion. "Why wouldn't we understand it?"
The little chipmunk put his hands behind his back. "I was worried it sounded dumb." He confessed.
Simon and I spoke in unison. Again. "Quite the opposite."
We looked at each other, both a little freaked out.
"Being on the same wavelength is still weird." Simon remarked.
I chuckled. "It will never not be weird." Then, another question popped into my head. "Also, are you talking electromagnetic waves or oceanic waves? Or are the waves hypothetical or metaphorical?"
Simon's jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered from the shock.
"Are you okay, bro?" I asked.
He burst out laughing. "I still have to get used to you knowing about things like those."
"So is that it?" Brittany asked, looking bored. "Are we done here?"
"I'm not sure." Dave looked at me. "Are we?"
I started running toward the house, my rainbow shoes that I had changed into as soon as I got home protected my socks from grass stains. Dang, I loved those shoes. The flame shoes didn't give me the same artistic genius energy.
"Meeting adjourned!" I shouted. "I have a flying skateboard to build!"
Well, 3 more tries later, the flying skateboard building process was still a total bust, but I wasn't giving up. No. I was just taking another break to reassess what went wrong and correct it. While we're on the topic of reassessing stuff, I decided to take that Which Chipmunk Are You? quiz again. The results were STILL Simon. Drat. But, then another idea struck me!
I handed Simon my laptop. "I want you to take this quiz. Let's see if you get me."
"This is a dumb idea." Simon insisted.
"Just do it." I gave him puppy dog eyes. "Please? It might make me feel better."
Simon sighed and took the test. Several minutes later, results were in. "I GOT THEODORE!? Okay, this quiz is faulty."
"Yes!" I jumped on my bed with joy. "That means I'm not turning into you!"
"Apparently." Simon didn't look entirely convinced.
I hopped off my bed and took the laptop from Simon. Then, I raced downstairs to find Theo watching TV.
"What do you want?" He asked, in a quite snippy tone. Wow, he does not like being interrupted during new Talking Teddy episodes.
I sat on the couch with the laptop. "I want you to take this quiz and see if you get me."
"Why?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"For science!" I exclaimed.
Simon added to my explanation. "We're trying to prove it's inaccurate."
Theodore humored us and took the test. He got me! Just as I predicted.
"How could I get you?" My little bro asked me.
"Because it's wrong! That's why! I got Simon, Simon got you, you got me. Don't you see? This proves I might not be doomed to turn into Simon!" I was ecstatic.
"Ohhhh. Well, that's really good news." He turned his attention back to the TV. "Now, can I finish watching my show?"
"Of course, little buddy. Of course!" I took my laptop back and smiled. I was feeling better than I had in days.
Saturday arrived and instead of going to Tracy's party, I dug out all my yearbooks from the past years of school. All 8 of them. I wanted to reminisce about my glory days when I was popular. At least I'll always have the memories. It isn't all bad. Also, my pictures in these look awesome. Ah, 10th grade. Now, which one of these is from 9th grade? I wanna reminisce about Freshman year. I remembered nothing from Freshman year.
But there was no 9th grade yearbook! I looked through the stack again. "10th grade. 10th grade. 10th grade. 10th grade…." I gasped, realizing something astonishing and also REALLY freaky! Every single one of my yearbooks was from 10th grade. I had been in the same year of high school for 8 solid years…and I'd never known it! Never! No wonder everything felt monotonous and constantly repeating! THAT'S BECAUSE IT WAS! This could only mean one thing! I had to tell somebody.
Simon entered the bedroom. I guess he'd become the first person I told. The brother I had so much in common with, yet so little.
"Simon, guess what! We live in a floating timeline!" I was shaking with anxiety and excitement.
"A what now?" He inquired.
I slapped the yearbook I'd been looking at closed. I leapt off the bed and ran up to him. "Floating Timeline. I read about it on TV tropes!"
He grabbed me and started to shake me. "You have to stop reading TV tropes!"
"Hear me out." I begged.
My brother in the round blue glasses sighed. "I feel like hearing you out is ALL I do these days. You propose these crazy theories and…"
I decided to start right in on my wild explanation. "So I watched that one episode of the Simpsons where Bart goes on ADHD medication and becomes a genius. Then, that lead me to their TV Tropes page. The Simpsons live in a floating timeline. Time PASSES! Things progress technology wise, but nobody AGES."
He grumbled sarcastically. "Fascinating."
"It is, because, take a seat." I led him to his mini desk. "Ya won't believe this next part…WE LIVE IN A FLOATING TIMELINE TOO! We never age! We're always in the same school year! It all makes SENSE!" I took a deep breath. "WE LIVE IN A CARTOON!" I shouted, in case he still wasn't getting it.
"Then I guess you have to become the master of Cartoon physics now." He said dryly. "Get real, Alvin. Time passes here. We do age. I feel like I've aged a lot."
I pointed at my head. "Mentally to an extent. Not PHYSICALLY!"
"Do you have any proof of this wild theory?" He still was NOT convinced.
So, I brought the stack of yearbooks over, 4 at a time, because all 8 were too heavy. I dropped them all on the mini desk in front of Simon.
So, I gestured to the collection of yearbooks. "How about these 8 10th grade yearbooks I've collected?"
That's when his mouth fell open. He'd finally seen what I saw. "HOLY MOTHERMUNKING SHIRTBALLS!" He exclaimed with a startled cry.
And that, my dear friends, wraps up this tale. I love leaving ya on a cliffhanger. It's one of my favorite pastimes. So what do you guys think? Am I being pushed by the "Simon synapses" in my brain? Did Jeanette reprogram me? Am I still Alvin enough to be Alvin? Personally, I think I've always been an inventor, deep down, but my greatest invention….was myself.
Thank you all for reading another amazing tale in the origin of 2.0! What did you think of that ending? and Simon's song!?
Do you think the characters will all go through an existential crisis now once Theo and the girls are informed?
Tune in again for the next story and find out how Alvin gets his new name that finally serves as a good replacement for Albert!
Did ya like Eleanor's antics? She's sure fun to write! For more of her hilarious hacking attempts, check out The Secret World Of Ellie. I know this is a bold take on the character, but if she wants to be "a legit spy" as she says in Alvinnn, then hacking is a must.
Please review! I love your comments and questions!