Journey To Excelsior

by AmbitiousAlvin

Everyone knows that Alvin's been through a lot of development to get to the point he's at today. However, a BIG question remains. How exactly DID Alvin become Alvin 2.0? What was he like at the start of the change? In the middle? How about the end? Well, look no further! I have all the answers right here in this story made of 11 mini stories!

32. Becoming Two Point Oh Part 2

Hello, persistent readers! I've got another installment ready for you! This particular section of our story is pretty difficult to write because it's not structured as a single plot. It's more like a collection of different plots all rolled into one tale.

As such, I have had to timeskip around a lot in the last chapter and in this one too. I hope it hasn't been too tricky to follow and I hope these chapters haven't been dragging on too long. I feel like they just keep getting longer and longer.

We're gonna start this one with Jeanette as a guest narrator again. I figure you're probably getting tired of Alvin's POV by now.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter! It's got some really good moments and I must say, it warms my heart to see Alvin 2.0 FINALLY loosen up and have more fun!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

ALVIN: Okay, Sugarplum. You up for this?

JEANETTE: I think so.

ALVIN: At least the worst of everything is over now, for a while.

JEANETTE: Yeah. Aside from everyone having an existential crisis, things are going great!

ALVIN: Precisely!

JEANETTE: I get to spend time with my sisters in this chapter too.

ALVIN: Haven't you been spending tons of time with them already?

JEANETTE: I can never spend too much time with them.

ALVIN: What about me?

JEANETTE: What about you, what?

ALVIN: Can you spend too much time with me?

JEANETTE: Hmmm. I don't think so.

ALVIN: (Grins) Ya just made my day.

Jeanette's POV

Things this school year were shaking the foundations of everything we knew, quite literally. (On account of that horrid earthquake.) I still wasn't all too sure about how to wrap my head around being a cartoon character who had the consciousness of a real person. What did this mean for us in the long run? What would happen if our show got canceled? Terrifying thoughts. I'd rather be thinking about ideas for my next story.

I was going to continue my quest to become a writer. Maybe, after that, I'd even do what Eleanor did and sign up for college level classes on the internet. I was living a lot of people's dreams. I had the ability to be young forever. Although, I suppose their dreams are about staying young as a young ADULT and not a child who has barely entered adolescence.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. I sat in front of my purple laptop computer covered in stickers of various animals that I had gotten at the craft store. Before the new school week began, I wanted to have at least a few paragraphs written. Of course, before that, I would need a plot. Should it be about a fairy kingdom? Or maybe about a lost kitten searching for his parents? Or I could combine the ideas and write about a lost kitten searching for his parents who finds out he's a fairy! Then, he could go to the fairy kingdom! Of course! That's perfect! Now, what should I title it?

"Jeanette, come on." My younger sister's voice said impatiently. "We're meeting the boys for family game night in an hour."

Oh fiddle sticks! I closed the document with all my brainstorming typed out and turned the laptop off. "Oh gosh. Thank you for the reminder, Eleanor." I answered sweetly. "I got so wrapped up in my writing, I almost forgot."

A loud groan came from the bed where my other sister was drawing out more fashion designs. "Must we suffer through this every other Saturday?" She complained.

"It's important to the boys and Dave, so yes." Eleanor nudged her. "Besides, you know you'll have fun once you get there."

Brittany frowned and grumbled loudly. "Not if HE'S there." I assume she was talking about Alvin.

"I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior." I said, giving my sister an encouraging smile.

She scoffed at me. I wasn't sure why my encouragement wasn't working correctly. "That's the problem, sis."

"What's your strategy?" Eleanor started to tease Brittany. At least, I hoped it was teasing. "Avoid him until he forgets you smooched him?"

My sister in the light pink shirt with a picture of her face on it, sighed. "That's strike one, Eleanor."

Eleanor pulled on a jacket over her mint tank top. It was a mixture of seafoam green and lavender. She continued to antagonize our eldest sister. "I mean, come on, did you REALLY think that would make him less of a dork? He isn't the frog prince. You're not beauty and he's not a beast."

Brittany gasped. "What do you mean I'm NOT BEAUTIFUL!?"

I tapped Eleanor lightly on her shoulder. "I think that's strike two." I whispered.

"I didn't mean it THAT way, I meant…" The pigtailed blonde was silenced before her sentence could be completed.

The girl in pink got up from her bed and flipped her hair. "I'm THE PRETTIEST girl in school. Everyone knows it. I'm talented and pretty and that's why I'm the perfect Homecoming Queen."

"Really?" Oh no. I sensed Eleanor was about to say something else to aggravate Brittany. "I didn't know that talented and pretty were synonyms for arrogant and entitled."

"WHAAAT?" My oldest sister faced her with anger in her ice blue colored eyes.

But she CONTINUED to talk, as if Britt's reaction wasn't even phasing her. "And vain and insecure and heartbroken…"

"That's enough, Eleanor." I spoke a little bit louder, so they would know I was serious. "And you too, Brittany. What happened at Homecoming wasn't great, but there's no use dwelling on it." I slipped my feet into dark purple ballerina flats with a black witch hat decorating each toe section. "And it's probably best if you don't bring it up during game night."

"Urgh. Fine." Both my sisters answered. I was glad that was settled. Hopefully, it wouldn't come up again.

I was a bit chilly, likely from my nerves being frayed by the needless yelling. I decided to slip on a purple argyle sweater-vest over my dark violet colored shirt. That would keep me nice and toasty. It matched the flower and butterfly embroidery on my jeans too. A perfect combo! At least, I thought so.

"You are not wearing that." Brittany stopped me as I approached the bedroom door.

I frowned. "But it's comfortable. Why are you so against comfortable clothes?"

"Look, Jeanette. You might be a little nerdy, but that doesn't mean you have to dress like a dweeb." She took a purple cardigan with pink flower buttons from our shared closet and held it up to me. "You'd look so much more stunning in this. I bet it would grab Simon's attention for sure."

I was embarrassed. My cheeks felt very flushed and warm. "I…I don't want to grab Simon's attention." I murmured softly.

"Don't be shy, sis." Brittany winked at me. I wasn't sure why. "I've seen the way you look at him. It's obvious you both have a thing for each other."

This conversation was making me very very uncomfortable. I fidgeted with my rubber band friendship bracelets around my wrist.

"Oh yeah. They hang out together a lot, and enjoy each other's company, so clearly they MUST be secretly in love." Eleanor stared at the ceiling. "After all, that's TV show logic 101, isn't it?"

"Can you cool it with the sarcasm, Eleanor?" Brittany huffed.

I hadn't even realized that was sarcasm. Drat. I really have to work on that. Maybe I should just assume almost everything Eleanor says is sarcastic? No, that has the potential to be catastrophic.

I walked out of the room still wearing the sweater-vest and my sisters followed. They continued to discuss romance stuff, which really didn't interest me a lot. If I wanted romance, I could just write a self indulgent story about two characters falling in love. And, I certainly didn't have any romantic attraction to Simon. At least, not any that I knew of. Perhaps, it's something I'd emotionally grow into.

"Here's a good one for ya." Eleanor quipped. "Alvin and Brittany fight all the time and can't stand each other, surely that means they're the ONLY ones for each other and they MUST be a couple. So which is it? Is it the people that get along who are automatically attracted to each other? Or the people that tease each other and make each other's life heck?"

"Well….err…uh…" Brittany couldn't answer.

Eleanor made a smile that looked like she was planning something devious. "Or is the truth a LOT more complicated than that?"

"I hate you." My strawberry blonde sister scrunched her nose in a very cute way. What she was saying, wasn't so cute.

I gasped. "Brittany, no! She's your family!"

"I don't mean literally, Jeanette. I'm just….annoyed." My sister in pink crossed her arms.

I felt my cheeks warm up once more. "Oh. Oops."

We reached the bottom of the treehouse steps. Eleanor increased her pace and walked in front of us. She turned around and thumped her chest with her fists. "Hate on me all you want, but you know I'm right." She stuck her tongue out at Brittany.

My oldest sister glared at the girl in the unique looking jacket. "Hey, since when do you wear lavender?" She asked.

"Since now." The blonde with the twin ponytails threw back her head and laughed. "Took you long enough to notice!"

And with that, she sped away into the Seville house with Brittany and I following her. I wished that Brittany and Eleanor would get along better, but I would never verbalize that wish…because then it might be granted in a way I didn't expect. After all, Theodore told me that he wished Alvin and Simon had more in common, and that's certainly true now, but it didn't decrease their animosity toward each other. It wasn't granted in the way he intended.

I leapt through the doggy door after Brittany and entered the boys' house. Theodore was in the kitchen with Dave making a batch of muffins and Simon was looking upset as he stared at the Quantum Mechanics book on the coffee table in the living room. My sisters and I entered the living room, but I'm not sure Simon realized we'd arrived.

"You took my brother from me. Why'd you do it?" He picked up the book as he grumbled.

Brittany began whispering to us quietly. "The craziness is spreading."

"What makes you say that?" Eleanor whispered back.

The girl in pink gestured to the scene we were witnessing. "Simon's talking to the physics book now."

"That doesn't automatically mean he's crazy." I pointed out. "Perhaps it's a coping mechanism."

"You think EVERYTHING is a coping mechanism." Brittany pointed out, a little too loudly.

Simon shoved the book behind his back. "Oh, hello, girls! Are you ready for game night?"

"You know it." Eleanor ran over to the closet and started tossing out game boxes. "Hey, can we play Clue tonight?"

"No." Brittany replied. "The last time we played that, you accused me of being a murder-er and attacked me." She swished her tail as she walked around the room.

"Your fault for choosing to be Miss. Scarlet. She's the color of blood!" Eleanor laughed.

"Who else was I supposed to be? There is no pink piece!" Brittany fumed. "Red is the closest to pink!"

Simon shoved the Quantum Mechanics book behind a pillow on the couch. I wonder why he was so hesitant to reveal his coping mechanism. Personification of inanimate objects was a lot healthier than Brittany thought. At least, that was my understanding. And I did take a psychology class. My sisters did not.

Theodore came out into the living room. "Maybe we could invent a pink piece so Brittany wouldn't have to play as Miss Scarlet anymore." He suggested. "And by the way, muffins are almost ready!" He reported with a proud grin. It's adorable how much confidence he's got in his baking abilities.

"Did someone say INVENT!?" Alvin's voice, loud enough to fill the biggest concert hall, bounced off the walls of the room.

Brittany let out a heavy sigh. "Here we go." She mumbled.

"Dang it, Theodore." Simon rubbed his temples. "You've summoned him."

"Oops." The youngest Seville brother said nervously.

I climbed up into a chair and peered around, trying to discern where Alvin's voice was coming from. I didn't see him anywhere.

"This is family game night, doofus." Brittany put her hands on her hips. "Not the time to ramble on and on about your stupid invention."

"I agree, wholeheartedly. No flying skateboard talk, okay? Alvin? Alvin?" Simon turned around to look behind him. "Where are you, Alvin?"

A red colored blur came zooming down the stairs and then leapt onto the couch with a loud THUMP! "Check me out!" Alvin pointed to the sports jersey he was wearing. It was red with cyan colored letters and it said his name on it. Underneath his name, it had a giant number. It said 20? Oh, no wait, there's a small dot between the 2 and 0. It said "2.0."

"Oh, Alvin, no." Simon's voice sounded both surprised and irritated.

"I loved your name idea and I am rolling with it!" The flaming orange haired boy cheered. "From now on, you may address me as Alvin 2.0!"

"More like two point psycho." Predictably, Brittany was not a fan of this change.

"Two point whacko." Eleanor added in, popping out from behind the chair opposite me.

"Two point uh oh." Finished Theodore heading back to the kitchen to check on his muffins.

I worried that their comments might discourage Alvin and cause him to lapse back into wondering who he really is.

Luckily, Alvin didn't seem bothered at all. "Your insults cannot get me down, my skin is impenetrable!" He boasted.

Simon groaned. "I may have to move to a new house."

There was still one thing bothering me though. Why was he so adamant about changing his name? "I thought we've been over this. You don't have to change your name." I told him gently, looking at his freckled face.

"Exactly! And I didn't! All I did was add uhhh….an addendum or whatever." He explained, sliding down from the couch. "Because, I am still the old Alvin, but I'm also brand new and this name represents that perfectly! Don't you think?" He pointed at the name and number on the sports jersey.

Before I could answer, my sister snatched the opportunity. "I think you've gone bananas." She retorted.

He gave her a lot of attitude. Finally, maybe the others would start to see the parts of the old Alvin that were still present within him. "I was talkin' to Jeanette. I know what you think."

"Well, I mean, as long as you're happy with it…I don't see a problem." I answered truthfully.

"Ohohoho! Yes!" He touched my cheek for a brief moment. "I knew you'd understand."

"Yeeeeah." Simon stretched out the word. Was that a sign of sarcasm? "I'm not calling you that."

Alvin's ears drooped. "Why not?"

His brother in the dark blue shirt, gave him a rather nasty glare. "Because it's ludicrous."

Again, Alvin didn't seem phased. "You'll come around eventually." He leaned on Simon's shoulder. "It beats Albert, am I right?"

"Yep." Eleanor agreed.

"Hardly." Brittany scoffed.

I wasn't sure exactly what to answer, so I said. "Uh huh." And I left it at that.

Theodore returned to the room with a plate of muffins and Dave right behind him. "Muffins are ready. Can we play the game now?"

"I'm ready if you guys are." I squeaked.

Alvin glanced up at Dave. "Uh, before we begin. I just have one quick thing to mention." He climbed onto the back of the couch to get closer to Dave's height. "Can you please refer to me as Alvin 2.0 now?" He asked his father.

The man let out a heavy sigh. "What's going on with him this time?" I felt like that was a rude way of asking, but it wasn't my place to say anything.

Simon looked up at his father figure with a defeated frown. "Hello, Dave. Welcome to the next phase of our collective nightmare."

"Come on, guys. I'm not asking that much." Alvin insisted.

"Okay, Alvin, err, 2.0." Dave looked concerned, but he played along. I was glad he did.

"Before two point dweebo rambles more, It's my turn to pick what we play." Brittany announced. "And I choose…the Game of Life." She set the game down on the coffee table.

"Sounds like a wonderful choice, Brittany." Dave took a seat next to Simon on the couch.

Eleanor poked at the game box with her finger. "This better be the updated version. No game is gonna force me to get married."

"Chill, sis." The girl in the light pink shirt pulled her away from the box, as if she was worried Eleanor would destroy it. "It is the version where you have a choice. Of course, you still could choose to get married! It is just a game after all." My sister's eye gave a twitch. "Not like we can get married in real life anyway."

Simon made a strange gesture to Brittany. I think it was to try and get her to stop talking before she accidentally revealed the fact that we couldn't grow up.

"Does that game have scientist as a career path? Because I'm gonna be the scientist." Alvin blurted out.

Simon grinned at him with that same devious look Eleanor liked to use. "Not if I choose scientist first."

"Oh, it is on, brother!" The red capped munk replied.

I gulped. I had a feeling this would turn out to be a very interesting family game night. I wasn't sure if it would be interesting in a good way, or a not so good way. We'd find out.

The game got off to a good start. I chose to go to college and be a veterinarian. Simon chose to also go to college, but due to spinning lower numbers on the wheel, he hadn't reached graduation yet. Brittany became a fashion designer and got married to a "super handsome hunk." Who was really just a blue colored peg that sat beside her pink colored peg.)

Theodore became a chef and adopted a dog, which was represented by a yellow peg that sat next to his green peg. Eleanor chose to be a secret agent and had already bought herself a beach house, which she kept reminding Brittany of. There was no teal colored peg, so Eleanor was also green. Dave wasn't playing since there were only six cars to add pegs to, but he watched everything as it happened. As for Alvin, he'd taken the college path and was about to hit graduation.

"Ohoho! That scientist career is mine!" He boasted. "Gimme gimme!"

"I hope you don't draw that card." Simon sneered at him.

"I'm drawin' three cards and Jeanette already took out the veterinarian card. Statistically, my odds of becoming the scientist are very high." Alvin drew his three cards.

Brittany rested her head in her hands as she stared at the game board on the coffee table. "Statistically, your odds of being the idiot are also pretty high."

The red capped munk ignored her and spun the wheel and moved forward to the space that said Graduation. He drew the three career cards and read them aloud. "Race car driver, video game designer, or scientist? Hmm which one should I pick? Shame I can't be all three."

"You would make a good video game designer." Theodore told his brother sweetly.

Simon looked hopeful. "I agree."

"And a super awesome racecar driver." Eleanor added.

"Yeah, I would." Alvin was clearly conflicted. Then, he took a breath and put two of the three cards back. "Too bad I pick scientist!" He laughed.

Okay, now was he trying to upset Simon, or just really happy he had the ability to pick the scientist card?

Theodore patted Simon's arm tenderly. "It's okay, Simon. We can make you another scientist card so then you can both be scientists."

"No, Theo. It's fine." Simon adjusted his glasses. "Congratulations, Alvin."

"That's Professor Seville to you, mister!" Alvin 2.0, I guess that's what we're calling him now, replied with a huge smile.

"How about Professor peabrain?" Brittany responded.

"How about you show me an ounce of respect?" Alvin requested.

"Urgh." My pink clad sister spun the wheel to take her turn. "It's like you don't wanna have any personality outside of "scientist boy"

"I have plenty of personality." Alvin flipped his ever lengthening hair. It was almost down to his neck now. "Not my fault you can't see past my looks."

"Okay." The girl in pink was very mad. "Vain scientist boy!"

Eleanor did that thing that people always say is something called snarking. "Look who's talking."

That got a chuckle out of everyone around the table, including me. Brittany herself did have the tendency to be quite vain.

"Why do you even like science so much?" The Chipette in pink asked, moving her car on the gameboard until she reached a spot that said payday.

Alvin shrugged, then he said something I wish he hadn't said. "I dunno, Britt. Must be because science didn't drag me to a dance I had no interest in going to and then kiss me in front of everyone."

"I'm sorry, WHAT!?" Dave looked at both Brittany and Alvin. "What is he talking about?"

"I'll explain it after the game." Alvin huffed. "If I do it now, we'll never get this thing over with."

Theodore took his turn and spun the wheel. "I sure wish the Albrittina ship was sailing, but on the bright side, at least everyone at school thinks it's sailing."

That earned him glares from both Brittany and Alvin.

The game continued on as we marched along the path of life and enjoyed all of life's little moments. I adopted 2 cats and had a child. Everyone asked me if I was going to name the peg Zeela or Pippi, so I named it a mixture of both. Her name was Zippila!

Simon got a career and chose to be a videogame designer. I'm not sure about his reasoning. Eleanor claims it was an attempt to spite Alvin. Personally, I think he designs wonderfully immersive virtual reality games. That career really fits him.

Then, a while later, Simon got very embarrassed when he landed on a "have a baby" space. I wasn't expecting that, honestly. What's so embarrassing about having a child? He's got Geizmo, after all.

"Hey, you're a single parent with a baby now!" Alvin teased him. "Just like in real life."

"Quit it, Alvin." His brother threatened.

"Don't you ALSO have a kid?" Eleanor asked, nudging Alvin.

"I do, and if I land on "have a baby," I'll say that's funny too." The red capped boy stuck his hands in the bowl of trail mix Theo had brought to the table. This game was very long. It was a fun activity for a weekend though.

"His kid lives in a birdhouse." Brittany groaned. "We are such a weird family."

I took my turn after Simon and landed on payday. "Oh wow. I just keep getting these."

"Guess your book must be a bestseller." Alvin winked at me.

"I thought she was a doctor for animals." Theodore rubbed his head. I could tell the game was probably tiring him out.

"Maybe she writes books on the side." The boy in red and cyan reasoned.

"Because you know everything about everyone." Simon grumbled, adjusting his glasses once again.

"My turn now." Eleanor spun and moved her lonesome little car with only her peg inside it. "Oh sweet! I get to choose a stock to invest in. Let's see…"

"Oh oh! You should invest in the ice cream shop!" Theodore said happily.

"Theodore, I am trying to win the game." The pigtailed girl looked at Simon. "Hey, Simon, statistically, what number is the most likely to be spun?"

"All of them have an equal chance, Eleanor. Though, logically, if this game were real life, then I would advise you to invest in the tech start up." The boy in blue answered. I liked that about Simon. He was always so logical.

"Ice cream shop it is." Squeaked Eleanor.

Simon's face was a canvas of disappointment. I would have taken his advice just to see him smile. He deserves to smile more often.

Eventually, much much later, we all reached retirement in the game. We counted up all our cash and determined that I was the winner, shockingly. After me, Simon had the next highest score. Then, Eleanor was in third and Theodore in fourth. Alvin got fifth which made Brittany…last.

"This game is the worst." My oldest sister fumed angrily.

Eleanor laughed at her misfortune. "You're the one who wanted to play it."

"Getting married is a real drain on your finances in this game." Simon advised her. "Similar to real life."

"That and her freakin mansion of a house. You could have lived in the apartment, but nooo." Alvin poked at Brittany verbally and physically.

"At least I wasn't living in a filthy garage!" She snapped back.

"A garage is the perfect place for a rockstar, racecar driving, scientist!" He replied.

"No." She shook her head. "It's the perfect place for a raccoon."

It was fascinating watching their interactions, but all this socializing had worn me down. I was in need of a good nap. I wanted to get back to writing, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Okay, fellas." Dave got up and stretched. He must have been very stiff from the couch. "I think that's a wrap on family game night."

"It's been great though. I had a really fun time." I said, before my sisters and I departed.

I planned to get back to working on my story ideas on Sunday, but something came up. You see, I saw a flier asking for volunteers to help fix the large gash in the road from the earthquake. I decided to volunteer my services and once I wanted to help, Alvin wanted to help as well. It took a bit, but the road looked almost brand new again!

Then Alvin got very interested in other ways he could help give back to the community. For the next week, we rescued a family of falcons living on top of the local library, helped out at the soup kitchen, and built bat boxes for all the poor homeless bats who lost their homes in the last bad storm.

That last thing led to this exchange that Brittany swears is funny and I should add into this tale, so here it is.

"Simon! I need you! Come quick! Alvin's gotten himself hammered!" I called up my usual emergency contact frantically.

When he arrived, he looked very surprised to see Alvin clutching his sore finger.

"Construction tools are PAINFUL." The red capped chipmunk moaned.

"This….is not what I thought you meant." Simon helped Alvin ice his bruised finger as he tried to figure out why Alvin was here helping me. Honestly, he has such a low opinion of the poor kid. I wish it didn't have to be this way.

I tilted my head at him. "What else could I mean?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but decided against it. I guess I'll never know.

A few days later, I was just sitting down before school, to munch some tasty falafel that I had made myself for breakfast. I figured I could squeeze in a little writing too. However, I quickly realized that this was not the case, and shut my laptop down once again.

"JEANETTE!" Brittany hollered impatiently.

"Coming, Britt." I walked upstairs and into our bathroom.

My oldest sister was plucking her eyebrows in the mirror. I momentarily pondered what would possess her to do such a thing, but then I realized it's Brittany and her reasons are often…not anything that makes sense.

"I need a professional opinion. Do my eyebrows look symmetrical to you?" She pointed to them. They were much less fuzzy than they'd been earlier. She must have been plucking for a long time.

I wasn't sure what to respond. "Uh…they're fine, but you really shouldn't care so much about them." I squeaked timidly.

This set Brittany off. Oopsie daisy. "The Homecoming Queen can't be seen with big bushy eyebrows! It would ruin her, I mean, me." She stared into the mirror and frowned.

I felt so bad for her. She was trying to fight against her own looks because she thought that's what everyone wanted. I had to tell her to embrace them, but that would be met with pushback. Instead, I said, "Even if the Homecoming Queen is a chipmunk? And bushy eyebrows are natural for her?"

"The world doesn't run on Chipmunk beauty standards, now does it, sis?" She snapped, hustling out of the bathroom.

Eleanor overheard us and joined in the conversation. "Be a whole lot easier if it did. Could let my claws grow as long as I want." She flexed her rather pointy claws.

I had a feeling Brittany would hate me for the next thing I said, but someone had to tell her. "Britt, with all due respect, I think this Homecoming Queen thing might be going to your head." I murmured softly.

"You THINK?" Eleanor laughed, as we walked down the stairs.

"I'm basically the only one of the six of us who is popular now." Brittany reasoned, putting on some of her favorite cherry flavored lipgloss. "I have an image to uphold and I will not let what happened to Geek Not-So Charming happen to me!" She marched into our kitchen and slipped the lipgloss back into her purse.

Ohhh so that was the problem. She was worried about a potential downfall from being popular. Her circumstances were completely different than Alvin's though.

"Gee willikers. Britt, you're stressing yourself out too much. It isn't worth it." I told her in as kind a voice as I could muster. I was fairly frustrated with her.

"Nice try, sis. I'm not Alvin." She replied. "I won't be taking any of your advice because I have seen where it leads."

And the frustration inside me continued to build. "B..But you're under so much pressure!" I reminded her.

Eleanor looked at me with a frown. "Don't bother talking to her, Jeanette. This morning I spent an hour convincing her NOT to shave her legs." She revealed. "Pretty sure she's all advice-ed out for the day."

Oh my stars! It was worse than I thought. "Why would you want to shave your legs? We're SUPPOSED to be furry." I tried my best to comfort my sister, and get valuable information on the situation.

The extremely stressed girl in the fuchsia top collapsed onto our couch. "Maybe I got sick of looking like a cartoon character compared to my classmates!" She shouted. "I mean, can you blame me? I'm going through a lot right now, girls." She went on, standing up and pacing around, using her fingers to list out everything going wrong in her life. "I lost my best friend, I lost my plans for graduation, I realized I don't fit in with the other girls…and they might kick me to the curb any day now." She took a breath and then looked at her fuzzy hands. "My fur is growing out of control and I feel like one of those weird hairy star wars creatures Alvin talks about." Okay, I don't think she was THAT furry.

"A Wookie." Eleanor interjected. "They're called Wookies."

One last time, I tried to walk her through what was happening. I hoped she wouldn't freak out again. "It's October, Brittany. We're getting our winter coats. It's temporary." I rubbed the fuzzy fur on my arms. "Plus, I like it. It feels cozy and warm." I admitted.

Brittany softened up a little bit at that. Perhaps, she really hadn't taken that into account. "I don't like it when things change without warning." She squeaked.

"We've noticed." Ellie commented. She sounded annoyed.

I wasn't annoyed by Brittany's lack of understanding. I felt bad that she felt the need to hold herself to such unattainable standards.

"Everything just feels so wrong." My oldest sister put on a light pink jacket that was hanging by the door. "I keep waiting for it to feel right again. I think, I need some sort of sign that things will be okay." She said at last.

Hooray! I actually could help her with that. I unzipped my backpack and took out a sheet of notebook paper and a pink marker. On the paper, I wrote "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and then held the paper up for my sisters to see. "Is this a good enough sign for you?" I asked sweetly.

"Not what I was talking about, but I guess so." The strawberry blonde giggled. "Come here, Sis." She hugged me and then dragged a very reluctant Eleanor into the hug as well.

"Watch the ribs, Hercules." My little sister teased.

"What did you just call me!?" The pink clad Chipette exclaimed.

I guess Brittany didn't like being compared to people who were extra strong.

"Nevermind." Eleanor muttered loudly.

Boy, I sure do love our sisterly moments. I just wish I could sit down and find the time to write my story. It's a good thing I'm not being graded on it. Hehe.

Speaking of grades, Simon and I were paired up together for a class project. The directions were fairly simple. All we had to do was create a poster about historical events from a certain country. We'd been assigned the country of Egypt. Theodore and Eleanor had been assigned Spain and Alvin and Brittany got Australia.

So far, Theodore and Eleanor were working as a lovely pair. A complete contrast to Alvin and Brittany, who were talking more than they were actually working. I don't know why Miss. Smith pairs them up together unless it's so she can watch them fight.

Alvin 2.0, (I keep forgetting to call him that, my bad) was trying his hardest, bless his little heart. He was drawing the entire poster while most of the rest of us were printing things out in the computer lab and gluing them on.

"If I have to draw one more kangaroo, my hand is gonna fall off." He told Brittany, shaking his wrist.

"I can't find anything about the history of Australia." My bratty sister was being her usual self. "Aside from this article about a gold rush."

"Wait, there was a gold rush in Australia? Really? Huh? The more you know." Alvin bumped Brittany out of the seat and took over typing on the computer. "How about I do research and you draw?"

"You can't tell me what to do." My sister pouted. "We're supposed to be PARTNERS."

"It's nothing personal." The chipmunk in the red and cyan jersey squeaked. "I'm just a lot faster at research than you."

Brittany took his cyan jacket that was lying beneath the desk and tried to strangle him with it. Both of them were sent into the hall for being disruptive. Oh dear.

"Wanna see our presentation?" Eleanor popped up, startling Simon and I as we worked on drawing hieroglyphs and writing out blurbs about how mummies were formed and the significance of the magnificent sphinx.

"Uh, we're working, Eleanor." Simon raised an eyebrow.

I didn't want to turn my sister away, but I knew Simon wanted time with just me. "Why don't you give us a short run down and then we'll still have time to finish our project." I suggested.

"Okay, so, it's all about the history of Bullfighting!" She pulled a red cloth off the poster, revealing it. What followed was a quick explanation of everything contained in the project.

Theodore slumped his shoulders. "I wanted to write about the history of Spanish cuisine." He said. "But I was outvoted."

"By who exactly?" I asked. "There's only two of you."

"By me." He giggled. "Cuz I voted for Eleanor's idea too."

"Everyone expects us to do food." My younger sister explained. "I figured we could surprise them."

"And I like the idea." Theodore admitted, putting his hands in the pockets of his green hoodie. "Though I'm still a little disappointed we didn't pick food."

Eventually, Simon and I got some time alone at last. I tried to block out everything else and focus on only Simon.

"This is nice." He mumbled to me, barely loud enough for anyone (except Theo) to hear.

I smiled and leaned in closer, inspecting the delicate swoop of his exquisite handwriting. "It is, isn't it?"

"I can't remember the last time you and I have spent this much quality time together." He continued. "I've missed it."

"I don't know, Simon." I turned my attention back to drawing more intricate symbols on our posterboard. "I feel like we've still spent a lot of time together."

"Time with Alvin doesn't count." He said rather sharply, as he glued on a printed out picture of an ancient pyramid.

I felt very embarrassed. Maybe I hadn't been one on one with Simon as much as I used to be. "Oh."

"I understand you enjoy his company, and sometimes I do too." He explained, looking rather despondent. "But lately, it seems like he's been tagging along and inserting himself into everything we do. At first, I enjoyed having him there to sort of…stop people from assuming we're dating." He twisted the bottom hem of his shirt. "But, well, I'm starting to miss the kind of fun we used to have together. The quiet walks in the park, the library time, the trips to the hardware store, the time spent at the local observatory. I'm worried that, since Alvin likes all that stuff now, what's stopping him from replacing me in your life?"

"Oh, Simon." I murmured. "He could NEVER replace you."

"Are you sure? Because ever since Alvin's become this "2.0" guy, I have felt like an afterthought. Everything's always about the changes and how they affect Alvin. What about how they affect me? I'm BARELY coping, Jeanette. Barely. My depression has been, well, through the roof…and that's putting it lightly."

I gasped. Had I really overlooked how Simon felt that much? I felt so bad for the poor guy. "I had no idea you felt that way. Why didn't you tell me this weeks ago?"

"I kept trying, but Alvin was always in the way. Between the self improvement lessons and the fact that he clings to you like a gecko static clings to a wall, there hasn't been much time." He looked down at his shoes.

"Better late than never, I suppose." I reached out and took his hand. "Thank you…for finally explaining everything."

He still looked upset. "That was harder than I thought."

"You did very well." I looked back at the project, knowing now that Simon was doing his best to hold everything together. He needed a good distraction. "We should, uh, probably finish our poster now."

"Yeah, we should." He agreed. His emotional walls went back up, but I appreciated the moment of vulnerability. I vowed to make sure Alvin didn't take over all of my time, because he wasn't the only person who needed my friendship.

As you can probably predict, Simon and I got an A on our project. Eleanor and Theo got a B plus! And Alvin and Brittany, well, they both were lucky to pull a C minus.

I stayed true to my promise to spend more time with Simon. We went to the movies that weekend and saw a documentary on The Cretaceous period.

"That was extremely informative." Simon told me as we walked out of the theater.

"I agree." I smiled. "So many new facts to learn."

"Where are we headed next?" He asked. "I think it's your turn to pick."

I picked the animal sanctuary. Then, we got smoothies and visited the library. Simon told me he had a great time…and Brittany teased us both and asked when the wedding was. I didn't care for that.

The following day, I took a bike ride with my sisters! It really helped Brittany put those angst ridden memories of Homecoming behind her. Although, she was still far too concerned with being the perfect Homecoming Queen. Eleanor enjoyed the day a lot more than Brittany. I think anyway. I'm not entirely sure, but she sure talked a lot about taking another bike ride out to Dead Man's Peak. I'm not sure our chipmunk size bikes are built for mountain biking, but if Eleanor wants to try, I fear there's really no talking her out of it.

And now, that brings us to the last section of my narration. I am very tired and I would like to take a break. I'm sure I'll be back again before this entire story is over. It's a long one, isn't it?

Anyway, the next week, during one of our lessons, Alvin brought Warbie along. Seeing the little bird made me remember how much he wanted that toy motorcycle from the store. I decided the time was right.

"Today is a very special day." I told Alvin, err, Alvin 2.0.

"What's so special about it?" He wondered, sitting on my bed, holding his little yellow warbler friend in his hands.

Warbie flew out of Alvin's hands and perched on the bookcase. "Are these boring lessons finally over? I mean, ya gotta be running out of things to teach this guy."

"Alvin folded his arms. "Warbie." He said sternly.

"What? She broke your brain and then taped it up and now you wanna be some scientist guy. If the lessons don't stop, who knows who you'll become!?" He sounded worried. I wonder if he'd been talking to Brittany and she'd been telling him these things. Or maybe he'd heard them from Theodore?

I cleared my throat to get their attention. "Well, actually, that's what I want to talk about." I squeaked. "I wanted to congratulate you on becoming your best self. You're now someone that you're happy with, someone you aren't as conflicted being." I told Alvin.

His crystal blue eyes started to water. "Wait, is Warbie right? Do you actually want to stop the lessons?" The chipmunk's lip trembled. "Please don't stop the lessons! There's so much more you can teach me! So much more I can improve upon!"

I held up a hand. I have seen Britt and Ellie do that when they want someone to quit talking. "I'm not stopping the lessons." I clarified for him. "Now, I want both of you to close your eyes, and no peeking."

Alvin and Warbie both did as they were told. I handed Alvin the box with the toy motorcycle inside. The bespectacled munk in red tried to feel what the surprise was with his eyes closed. Classic Alvin behavior. Wouldn't want to change that about him.

"Okay, you can open them!" I squeaked happily. Zeela and Pippi joined me in my celebration.

"Congrat-lations!" The robot toddler said.

Pippi's squeaks roughly translated to "Let me ride it too! Let me ride it too!"

Hmmm. A Mouse and A Motorcycle. Now that would make a good story. Oh curses, that one's already been written. Back to the drawing board. Maybe I could write a story about an aspiring artist?

Alvin's eyes flew open and he looked at the motorcycle with a grin. "HOLY NUTS! NETTA, YOU ARE THE BEST! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

"You've earned it. You're Alvin 2.0 now. Like you said." I patted him on the cap.

"I am! Ohoho! And It feels GREAT to be me!" He quipped proudly. "You could say I'm Two point overjoyed." He wrinkled his nose. "Nah, nope. That pun is cringe."

"Oh, I don't think it was that bad." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"No, no, trust me. It was bad. You just like me so much that you're immune." He insisted.

Warbie swooped down to check out the toy. "With this thing, I'm gonna be the coolest bird on the block." He said. "Once I pimp out my sweet ride."

Alvin laughed so hard that he snorted, which I found adorable. "You don't know what that means, do you?" He asked the baseball cap wearing bird.

"I heard it in a movie." His avian pal chirped.

I really didn't know what it meant either, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to. I know the last movie Warbie watched with Alvin and Eleanor was about a gang of motorcycle riding thugs who beat people senseless. In other words, not my kind of movie.

Alvin unboxed the motorcycle with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. "I can't believe I actually did it! I'll be honest, I had a lot of doubts about making it this far. I still sorta doubt I'm Alvin enough sometimes."

"I knew you'd make it." I said, getting out my kit of friendship bracelet making supplies. "I have always believed in you.

"I'm glad someone did." His braces sparkled in the sunlight.

"And someday, you'll feel Alvin enough again too." I assured him. "Though I can't say for sure when. Healing isn't always a linear process." I added, to make sure I wasn't misleading him accidentally.

"So, uh,…" His freckled cheeks turned a little bit pinker. "Can Warbs and I play with the motorcycle now?"

"Of course." I replied. "As long as you let Pippi have a turn too." I scooped up the mouse and handed her to the red capped boy.

Alvin beamed. "Sure thing."

Pippi squeaked happily and danced around in Alvin's hands.

"Whoah, look at her go." He chuckled. "She got the moves."

"I have moves too!" Warbie perched on the motorcycle seat.

Alvin put Pippi on his shoulder and used the remote control to let Warbie zoom around. That is, until the bird and the motorcycle went tumbling down our staircase.

"Oh no! Warbie!" Alvin and I shouted.

"I'm okay!" Came the little bird's reply. "Let's do that again!"

"Or, we could go outside." His father figure suggested.

"I'll come with you." I picked up my friendship bracelet kit and hurried downstairs after them. Oh how much fun it would be to sit on the bottom step of the treehouse staircase and make intricate rubber bracelets for hours.

I felt my heart beat faster. I was practically overflowing with friendship. I had Alvin, and Simon, and my sisters, and little Theo! And I had friends in my classes too, plus yearbook club! And green living club! Still, there was no one I felt as close to as my sisters and the Chipmunks.

After months and months of agony, I had succeeded in getting Alvin through the roughest patches of his transformation. He had emerged from all the trials and tribulations as someone truly extraordinary. I couldn't wait to see what he would do next.

JEANETTE: Okay, it's your turn again, my little, uhhhh…Red hot chili pepper.

ALVIN: Hahaha what? Where did that come from?

JEANETTE: Brittany told me to say it. Is it….inappropriate?

ALVIN: Depends how you think about it.

JEANETTE: Oh, I'm so embarrassed.

ALVIN: Don't be. Come on. I promise I'll forget you said it.

JEANETTE: You come up with so many pet names for me…and I have none for you. It feels unfair. I just don't understand why I can't come up with them. I'm a very creative person and…

ALVIN: It's fine, Netta. Really. You'll figure out a pet name of your own for me someday. And if ya don't, well, no sweat. I'm not that bothered by it. Besides, as we have established, I LOVE my name.

JEANETTE: Oh, phew. Okay. Thank you. I feel better now.

ALVIN: Cool! Now, go take your well deserved break. I can finish this chapter off.

Alvin 2.0's POV

(IT FEELS SO GOOD TO FINALLY WRITE THAT! LET'S GOOOO!)

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! And Stupendous haha! I think, after the struggles and building uncertainty of the past several months, I was finally starting to understand myself. I was learning how to balance the old Alvin and the new Alvin together! It wasn't easy, but it was getting significantly easier each passing day. I was HAPPY! I was genuinely enjoying life again! It's about dang time!

Despite that, the identity crisis was still ever-present. Things kept changing and my outlook of life and how I fit into it continued to shift. I pushed all the anxiety as far back as I could manage, determined that I could ignore it and then it would release its iron grip on my soul, right? Furthermore, my soul was definitely not Simon's. I reminded myself of that daily. It was an easy thing to forget.

I arranged my brand new toy motorcycle next to my action figures on the shelf above my bed. It was a reward for my stellar achievement. Netta gave it to me and I loved it to pieces. Despite, you know, forgetting it existed for a while there. Gosh, how long had it been since I lost my status anyway? Had to be getting pretty close to a year at this point.

I stared at the items on the shelf above my bed, grinning ear to ear. I'd been thinking about redecorating my room, but that would have to wait a bit. I didn't wanna mess around with it too much before my personality "fully settled." Jeanette seemed sure that it was nearly settled. I, conversely, was anticipating a lot more time before Classic and I learned how to live with each other. We both had wildly different ideas for redecorating our space.

Luckily, I'm not dwelling on that! This is meant to be a fun story!

Let's see, what else can I talk about? Oh! Oh! My flying skateboard attempts were getting more and more close to what I envisioned! Simon helped me with a couple little things here and there, but for the most part he let me work it all out on my own. He was there in case of emergencies, and I was glad of that.

Still, I wanted this thing FINISHED! I was on try 57 now and it STILL wasn't working right.

I took off the prescription safety goggles Simon had made for me and ran a hand through my wild red hair. The three tiny grey streaks were well hidden under the rest of my hair, but the fact that they were still around irritated me.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. "Why does this have to be so difficult? Why can't I get this thing to fly?"

"You know what you have to do, Alvin." Nerdy me's voice in my head reminded with a cheerful sound.

"Nohoho! Don't do it." Classic Alvin begged.

I put my usual glasses back on and grabbed my cap off the lab table. "Sorry, dude." I said to Classic. "I'm Alvin 2.0 now. Alvin 2.0 isn't too proud to ask for help."

That slight change in my name made all the difference. I theorized that if I could see myself as a "2.0" model, then I could also see myself as STILL Alvin. So far, my theory was correct! Although, I got the sense that a lot of people hated referring to me as 2.0. Joke's on them. That only made this MORE fun for me. It was almost like I was pranking them without actually pranking them. Excelsior! (Really starting to like that word almost as much as stupendous.)

I pressed a few buttons on the wall and the lab door slid open, allowing me to walk back into our bedroom from the closet lab. Simon has so many secret labs hidden all over our house. I've asked him about the possibility of me getting my own lab someday. He said once I've proven myself to be a serious inventor "we'll see" which is Simonese for "no."

Nobody else appeared to be in the bedroom at this time, so I hiked downstairs to find Theodore. He was in the music room, working on a new drum solo.

"Sounding great, little bro!" I told him as I walked in.

He twirled a drumstick in his hand. "Thanks, Alvin."

"Have ya seen, Simon?" I asked him, hoping he'd know how to locate my elusive brother. Simon had been vanishing so much lately that someone may think he'd gotten lessons from Eleanor.

Theodore frowned. "He's…uh…with Jeanette."

"Oh?" My stomach flip flopped a bit. "When will they be back?" And why did Simon suddenly WANT alone time with Jeanette after telling me he didn't want that?

"He didn't say." My youngest bro answered.

"Figures." I whipped out my iphone and tried to call Simon, but Theodore snatched the phone away mid dial.

"Don't call him." The boy, in the dark forest green sweater with an ice cream cone design on it, scolded me.

This was so frustrating. I was holding it together surprisingly well. "Why not?"

Theodore's big brown eyes locked with mine. He spoke with a very serious sounding tone, even though his voice was still that of a real young child. "Simon says his depression is on a "potential incline" and he doesn't wanna talk to you."

So Simon thinks I make his depression worse. Sigh. Nope! Nope! Not gonna let it get me down! "But we gotta work on my flying skateboard today." I explained. "He promised." I started to grumble. "I bet he's still threatened by having another scientist in the family!" He was probably still upset I got to be The Scientist in The Game Of Life. But that was weeks ago!

"No, no, Alvin, that's not it." Theodore insisted, shaking his pointer finger at me. "You gotta Stop jumping to conclusions. It always ends badly for you."

Why was Theo acting like this!? "But…" I protested.

He continued to explain things. In his defense, the next explanation did make a lot of sense. "Simon wants to help you, he's just going through a lot and he needs time to process this." Theo sighed. "You keep changing everything suddenly without warning and it's getting on his nerves. Can ya blame him? First you hate science, then you love science, then you aren't a nerd, then you are, now you change your clothes all the time and your hair and you've been through more personalities in a year than most people go through in their whole lifetime. Nobody can keep up with you. I don't even think YOU can keep up with you."

Oh brother. He did make a very believable case. Lately, it had been tricky for me to adjust to the constant shifts, even if the fundamentals of who I was remained mostly unaltered.

"Alright, uh,…" I stumbled awkwardly over my words. "Tell him I'm sorry for being so confusing and that whenever he feels better, I could really use his help."

"I will." Theodore shuffled over to play the drums some more. "Thank you for understanding."

I smiled. I handled this super well. "No problem. Last thing I wanna do is stress my fellow science bro out."

"Wow." My brother in green looked at me in shock. "You really have learned a lot."

I chuckled. "That's what I keep tellin' everyone."

The next day, at school, I set out a large nametag on my desk that said Alvin 2.0. It was red (specifically crimson) with glittering golden letters. The reason I made it was kinda silly. My sports jersey that said Alvin 2.0 on it was currently in the laundry and I was back to wearing a red hoodie with my cyan light bulb design shirt underneath. I hoped this cool looking name tag would make sure that everyone respected my new name.

"What is that?" Simon asked, pointing to the name tag as he took his seat.

I didn't answer him. Instead, I just grinned and showed off my braces while leaning back in the chair.

"I think you've taken this "2.0" thing, far enough." My brother frowned.

Si was currently wearing a really funny blue shirt that said "I am snarky on a molecular level" on it. The word SnArKY was spelled out using periodic table elements.

"I'm just getting started." I replied, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

He grumbled as he sat down next to me. "No one is going to call you that."

"Yo, 2.0!" Eleanor came into the room to prove Simon wrong. "How's it going?"

"It's weird!" I responded. "I'm not popular and I still look like a dweeb, but I have never felt better than this! I'm truly free now!"

"It's nice to see you smiling so much again." Kevin said, leaning over my desk from his human size desk behind me.

Cheesy nodded in agreement. "Hey, when do you think you're gonna prank people again?" He asked. "Because Miss. Smith keeps deducting points off my math assignments and if it keeps up, mom says I have to see a math tutor."

Simon gave Cheesy a glare not unlike the ones he reserves for me. "That's because you keep turning them in covered in bright orange cheeto stains." He explained.

"Yeah, but, I CAN'T get a bad grade in math! It's my best subject. The only thing I'm good at." The chubby teen was filled with sorrow.

Gosh, I really REALLY wanted to prank Miss. Smith. She hadn't taken that well to the "2.0" thing either. However, I knew that pranking her was wrong. Thanks for the ability of foresight, Netta.

"Gee, Cheesy, I wish I could help." I squeaked. "Really, I do, but pranks are kinda behind me until I figure out a way to do them without feeling guilty about it."

Eleanor waved her hand. "I can prank her for you!" She volunteered.

"No pranks." Simon told both the pigtailed girl and Cheesy. "None. Nada. Don't even think about it."

"Maybe you can try to eat stuff that doesn't stain your fingers while you work on math from now on." I fidgeted with my hands in my lap.

I wanted to play a prank SO badly! Classic wanted to, but he was part of me. We shared this brain. Shouldn't that mean I let him call the shots half the time?

Miss. Smith barged into the room and looked at the name tag on my desk. She shielded her eyes from the glitter. "Alvin, put that thing away or so help me…"

I cut her off. "But you're allowed to have a name tag on your desk. Why can't I have one on mine?"

"Because hers doesn't blind people." Whispered Simon under his breath.

"Because I am the teacher!" Miss. Smith squawked in her irritating voice. "And you are the student!"

"I want to remind people that I have a new name." I reasoned. It felt perfectly okay to me.

"You changed your name?" Amber and Annie gasped in unison. "Is it finally something less old fashioned than Alvin?"

"It's Alvin 2.0 now." Kevin answered them for me. Always good to know he's got my back.

"2.0?" Miss. Smith folded her arms.

"It's used to denote an advanced or upgraded version of an original concept." I said in scholar talk.

My teacher rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know what it means. I'm surprised YOU know what it means."

I was more than happy to answer that for her. "Speaking Simon-ese, or Geek Speak, if you will….is just another one of my many talents now." I boasted. "But….it freaked me out a lot when it began. And even now, when I've seemed to gain more control over it, sometimes it still astounds and terrifies me." I rambled.

"Be quiet." She begged.

"Just hear me out…" I didn't want to stop talking until she understood what I was going through.

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem very upgraded to me."

"Then you aren't paying enough attention." I smirked at her. Hadn't smirked in a while. That felt good. It felt right.

"Better grades don't always mean a better person." She warned me.

"I know." I answered, with my feet up on the desk now. "But in this case, they do."

"Just remove that eyesore from your desk so we can get on with the lesson." Miss. Smith wanted to play hardball, it seems.

I crossed my arms confidently. Still only at 40% of my usual confidence, but at least the amount increased from 30%! "Not until you give me a good reason why I should."

"If you don't, I'll give you lunch detention." She threatened.

Well played, teach. Well played. "That's a good reason." I stuffed the glittering name tag back into my backpack with the paint splatter designs on it.

I didn't wanna risk lunch detention! That would deprive me of hanging out with my comic book club! Or with Kevin and the Mathtrons.

Still, I was hesitant to give Miss. Smith the win. I did something I know I shouldn't have done, even though it felt great. I took her stapler out of the desk and hid it at the back of the classroom. She'd go crazy looking for it, AND she couldn't prove I did anything. Revenge was SWEET!

Another day that week, something else pretty noteworthy happened! I was rushing through the hall trying to get to gym class, when I was stopped by Derek's former thug friends. He didn't hang out with them as much these days. We'd both gone through quite a character arc.

"Look, I know you guys have an "attack all nerds" policy, but…" I activated my sunglasses mode on my usual glasses. "I'm a cool nerd. 100% nerd and 100% cool! That's too many percents you say?" I pointed to my sports jersey which was clean again. "Alvin 2.0 don't care."

Ray Ray tried to hit me with his fist, but I used my extensive knowledge of physics to dodge his attacks. "I am gonna beat the dweeb out of you so things can go back to normal!"

"Oh come on! Don't you have better things to do?" I asked, continuing to dodge the fists.

"Nope!" The boy in the ski cap grinned like a supervillain.

"Didn't you hear? Ray Ray's the new head bully." His friend whose name I can never remember added.

Ray Ray scoffed. "Since Derek's decided he's a wuss now."

"Hey hey! I am not a wuss!" The blonde boy in the purple varsity jacket strolled up to them.

I decided to do something that I never thought I'd do in a million years. Defend Derek Smalls. Defend the dude who made school rough on my family for 8 solid years. (Not that he knew it was that long.)

"Yeah! He's not!" I ducked behind Derek's leg. "He's actually a pretty cool guy."

The teen in the ski cap laughed. "Hahaha! Hear that, Derek? The nerd thinks you're cool!"

Random unnamed bully with the Texas accent scowled at me. "Want us to stuff him in a locker for you?" He asked.

"No!" Derek retorted. "I can stuff him in a locker myself!" Oh crud.

Derek picked me up and held me by the collar of my jersey. I should have seen this coming. Guess he hadn't had as much development as I did.

"Oh come on, man! I just called you cool! Give a dude a break?" I pleaded like the loser they all perceived me to be.

Derek shoved me in a locker. I peered out through the slots to see Ray Ray pat him on the back.

"I guess ya still got it." The scrawny teen said.

Derek growled at him. "Don't make me break your nose, Raymond." He threatened.

"Shhh! Okay, okay, you can keep your position as head bully! I surrender! Don't hurt me!" With that, Ray Ray was gone. He and the other thug ran so fast down the hall that I got dizzy trying to calculate their velocity.

As soon as they were out of sight, Derek opened up the locker. Ohhh! So he wasn't actually bullying me again! This was all an act!

"Okay, they're gone." The blonde boy helped me out.

I gave him a weak smile. "Thanks." I squeaked. I brushed the dust from the locker off my jersey. "Would have loved a head's up about your plan though, just sayin'."

He winked at me playfully. "Now, beat it, nerd." He advised.

What was this dude's deal? Maybe he was just having a hard time letting go of the person he used to be. As I walked away, I mumbled under my breath. "I guess Jeanette was right about that too. Character development isn't always linear." Someday, I hoped Derek would be able to fully cut ties with his bully life. It was nice to know he hadn't totally reverted, at least. I was worried about that, since, you know, cartoon universe and all.

Speaking of cutting ties to your past life, a new obstacle presented itself before me. I expected one eventually, so I felt okay with it. I could tolerate it, at least.

Dave sat me down in the music room one day to let me know that management had been begging him to allow us to do a small live show. Nothing too much. Three songs, tops. I just wasn't totally sure I was up to being onstage…as Alvin 2.0 when everyone expected me to be someone who now only existed as half of me.

"Do you think you can handle it, Alvin, uh, 2.0?" My father spoke as gently as he could.

I frowned. "I don't know, you guys." I looked at my brothers and the Chipettes who were also present in the room. "It seems like a lot."

"I think you can do it!" Theodore cheered.

Jeanette nodded in agreement.

Brittany and Simon exchanged worried glances. They did that a lot. Probably because they still thought Simon messed up my brain.

Eleanor climbed up and stood on Dave's piano. "Just let Classic you take over while you're onstage! Easy peasy!" She told me.

I blinked, startled. Did they not want me to perform as 2.0? At all? Was I supposed to just keep this a secret forever?

"Oh, and I almost forgot." Dave handed me a red container with a glittery gold A on it. "These were made especially for you, just like you requested."

"Maybe they'll help you make a decision." Brittany added.

What was in this mysterious box that I requested? I had to open it and see. Once I did, I wished I hadn't. Contact lenses. Freakin' contact lenses sized for my big and unique mutant chipmunk eyes.

I HAD asked for these a long time ago. Back when I first got glasses. All I had wanted was to ditch the glasses and wear contacts just like Dave does. So why did the contact lenses feel like such a letdown now?

I hated to admit it, but I didn't want to wear them. At all. I still wasn't super fond of the glasses, but I felt they represented my personal growth. Why did I have to pretend that personal growth never happened in order to go back onstage? It didn't seem right.

Everyone was waiting for my reaction, so I feigned enthusiasm. "Contacts. Oh boy. Just what I wanted."

"Sorry it took so long for them to get made." Dave started to organize his sheet music as he spoke. "We had to jump through a lot of hoops to get them."

Brittany smiled at me. "And they were very expensive."

Just what I was afraid of. No way to refuse to wear them now. After all the time and money spent to preserve my old image, I had to play along. "So, uh, I guess I'm not going to be performing as 2.0 then."

"Someday, perhaps." Jeanette put a hand on my shoulder.

"Alvin…" The Chipette in pink almost looked sorry for me. "You've seen how the press reacts to itty bitty changes like fluctuations in someone's weight. How do you think they'll react if you get up onstage and go…" She dropped her voice lower and imitated me, making me sound like an idiot in the process. "Hi, I'm no longer the mischievous and charismatic guy you love. Now I'm dull and boring and I like to invent things."

Simon gritted his teeth. "I'm right here."

Britt noticed her social frackup. She tried to cover it up. "I know. But dull and boring works on you, Simon. That's your image."

My brother's signature sarcasm was extremely evident. "Lucky me."

"Okay, okay. I get the picture. I'll TRY to channel Classic for the stage." I agreed. "I can't promise it'll work, because looking like him and acting like him don't always go hand in hand, but I can TRY."

Jeanette clapped her hands. "Stupendous! And we can finally sing Ultraluminary! Dave cleared the rights for it."

"Actually, my pal Mr. Bagdasarian did. He's a lawyer." My dad revealed.

I felt a wave of anxiety overtake me. "Ultraluminary? You mean the song I was singing when my voice failed?" I gulped. "I…I can't do it solo."

"Then we'll help you!" Theodore and Eleanor chorused together.

"I wouldn't mind doing parts of it as well." Jeanette grabbed my hand. "We can sing the verses like a duet."

Brittany bumped her sister in the purple overalls to the side. "Or Alvin and I could do the duet parts."

"We'll figure it out. Perhaps a compromise?" Simon shoved his hands in his pockets. "I wouldn't mind singing with Jeanette."

"There is no way Jeanette's voice is as good at singing the lead as mine." The girl in the dark pink sweater with a light pink heart on it sure had a high and mighty opinion of herself…like I used to.

"Have you even HEARD Netta sing solo?" I asked, standing next to my good friend as I defended her. "She could totally do it!"

Jeanette climbed up onto Dave's computer desk, where he would usually record us singing and remaster our tracks. She opened her mouth and let out some of the most spine tingling notes I'd ever heard in succession.

"I'm the light every night in your world. Are you ready to watch me be legendary? 'Cause I'm…" She whispered the last part. "…ultraluminary."

Several jaws dropped. Mine was one of them, and I'd heard her sing before. This was new though. She had a kind of confidence I'd never seen in her before. Did she absorb MY confidence? No! No! Stop being silly. That's what Classic Alvin would think. Classic Alvin isn't very good at accurately guessing cause and effect.

When it came time for our show, I paced around backstage. I'd been hounded by questions from the press on my way here. One of them was particularly annoying because it involved my alias.

"What can you tell us about your cousin Albert?" The pushy reporter stuck the mic in my face. "We didn't know there was a seventh chipmunk around. Can we meet him? Will he ever perform with you?"

I answered their questions as calmly as I could, making everything up on the fly. I was good at lying again, at least! "Albert is a mysterious fellow. I never know where he's headed or what he's doing. He's also pretty shy. He only likes hanging around Simon, cuz he's into all that geeky stuff." I made sure to phrase it in a way where I sort of said "geeky stuff" in a disgusted way. "As for performing, his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. That'll never happen in a million years." I still didn't know if I could sing Ultraluminary without sounding terrible, so that last part made me a little jumpy.

I guess everyone would find out. Sure, I had been rehearsing the song like crazy, but when I got onstage, would the stress make me go all flat again!?

"I'm not ready!" I told my brothers and the girls as we were all getting prepped in our dressing room. "I'm gonna mess this up. I know it." I was dressed entirely like my old self. The contact lenses ITCHED! We couldn't do anything about the braces, so I knew the press would have a field day with those. I anticipated a lot of jokes about eating so many nuts making my teeth crooked or something. The internet is a cruel place.

"It'll be over before you know it." Jeanette assured me, as she twirled in her midnight blue dress with silver constellation designs all over it. "I love these outfits, Britt! You've outdone yourself this time!" She told her sister.

"Thanks." Brittany posed for a photo that Theo took. Her dress was a bright fuchsia with gold constellation designs. It had a belt with a sun on it. Jeanette's had a moon and Eleanor's a star.

I slipped on my dark crimson jacket with matching constellations on it. It fit nicely over my hoodie. The buttons on it were shaped like the planet Saturn.

"These are really nice. Stylish and functional! The best combo." I said, trying to calm my nerves.

Simon had a dark blue jacket with silver constellation designs. Theo's matched his, but was dark green. Am I missing anyone? Oh yeah! Eleanor's dress was a deep teal color and her designs were also silver. Only Britt and I got gold. I wonder how long it took Britt to design these one of a kind outfits for us. She sure was something!

"We're on in a minute." Simon murmured.

Eleanor peeked out the dressing room door. "There's the signal. It's go time, people."

"Remember to channel old Alvin and let him shine bright." Theo whispered to me as we walked down the corridor that led to the stage. It was time.

The bright spotlight touched me and I felt alive! Sure, I had to hide half of myself in order to be here, but at least I got to sing my very 2.0-style song. I was still 2.0! I was just him in secret.

"You wish on me in my glitter light." Jeanette began.

I and let the lyrics and tune vibrate through me. "First star you see tonight." I sang.

Was that on key? I think so! Phew!

My duet partner danced beside me. "So wish away, wish with all your might."

"Upon this radiant sight." I finished the verse.

Simon and Jeanette took center stage to blend their voices in harmony. I had to admit, they sounded amazing together.

"The stars ignite

They flame from dust

Born out of gravity and force, they combust

And though they try in rivalry

They'll never shine bright as me!"

We all danced around the stage, pulling off crazy gymnastic moves as we sang the chorus together. The choreography was perfect. Everything timed exactly right.

"I'm the light every night in your world, hey

You revel in the glory of my beauty

You ready to watch me be legendary?

'Cause I'm ultraluminary

Whoa, welcome to lunaria

Whoa, so spectacularia

Whoa, super singulary

'Cause I'm so very, very

Extraordinaria"

I got ready to sing with Netta again. "The cosmic shine of my fine display, can turn the night to day." I soulfully belted.

To my surprise, Brittany came around and stood beside me. I guess she was my partner for this verse. Super. (Sarcasm)

"I hear they say that the Milky Way, can't help but envy me." Brittany twirled in her constellation dress.

We both took each others hands and then closed our eyes and sang together.

"I am the brightest star

Superb, spectacular"

Simon's turn now, he walked across the stage, singing the words with the same raw emotion in his voice he had back when he sang How To Fly to cheer me up after I lost my popularity (a second time.)

"It was a desert on the moon when we arrived. Gathering all of my tears, heartbreak and sighs." He gestured to Brittany.

"Jeanette made a potion ignite and turned the night to a radiant city of light!" The fuchsia clad girl announced with an equally soulful delivery. "From tears I rise! I riiiiiiiise!"

We all chorused together and resumed our amazing dance moves.

"I'm the light every night in your world, hey

You revel in the glory of my beauty

You ready to watch me be legendary?

'Cause I'm ultraluminary

Whoa, welcome to lunaria

Whoa, so spectacularia

Whoa, super singulary

'Cause I'm so very, very

Extraordinaria."

We finished and took a bow, all holding hands in a row. There was me, Brittany, Simon, Jeanette, Eleanor, and Theo…in that order. I wanted to hold Jeanette's hand, but I knew better than to complain.

I'm actually super glad that I didn't sing this solo. My family and friends deserved their chance in the spotlight too. Even Eleanor did, and I'm sure she'd get to sing a solo onstage someday. For now, I was ready to take on the next two songs of our set. (I forget which ones! I'm sorry! I literally went so far into pure classic mode that I forgot them.)

I nailed the performances though! Alvin Seville was ALIVE! Alvin Seville 2.0! I could be whatever I wanted! Skateboarder, gamer, rockstar, and inventor! I was riding a real high from that show!

I was happy to get home and remove the contacts and revert back to my cozy cyan jacket and crimson shirt with the yellow flash symbol though. I winded down that night playing videogames and calling up all my comic book club members to tell them I survived the concert. Vanessa said she watched me live and thought I was incredible. I thought so too. Boy, it felt good to be ME!

A few days later, I realized exams were coming up and I was having so much fun inventing my flying skateboard and getting back in touch with my music career…I had forgotten to study. Now, there was still a week or so before exams! It wasn't like TOTAL last minute rush. More proof I have improved!

"What up, my Mathtron homies?" I asked, strolling into the room where Simon was hanging with the Mathlete club, which I renamed Mathrons because it sounds better.

Simon looked embarrassed. "Please, never say that again."

"Too informal?" I climbed into a seat. "How about, Greetings, geeky gentlemen?"

"I'm good with either." Kevin shrugged.

"What brings you here, Al-gebrainac?" Warren remembered my codename! Epic!

"Ah, well, I need your help studying for exams. I figure we could whip up some flashcards or something." I opened my notebook. "See, I took a ton of notes, but they're all disorganized."

"You came to the right place!" The redheaded kid in the green shirt looked over my notes. "Organizational systems are pretty easy. You just have to know how to start."

"Thanks, Action Fraction." I replied. That's Kevin's codename.

Cheesy looked out the door of the room we were in. "Alvin, hide." He whispered, sounding worried.

I knew exactly why he said that. As soon as I ducked down in the human sized desk chair so nobody could see me, Brittany walked into the room.

"Cheesy, your father is in the main office. He says he's picking you up early today." She reported, holding her clipboard to her chest.

I prayed she wouldn't see me.

"Why's he doing that?" My friend asked her.

The Chipette groaned. "I don't know! I would have called you on the intercom, but it's not working so I had to walk all the way down here. My feet are killing me."

"Your feet aren't killing you." Simon called her bluff. "I have seen you run track in high heels."

"I guess I'll see you later, guys." Cheesy walked out of the room with Brittany. "I probably have a doctor's appointment I forgot about or something."

As soon as they were gone, I climbed down from the desk and shut the door. I didn't want anyone to see me in here and tell Britt.

"Do we embarrass you that much?" Warren asked, looking up from the equations he was writing down.

"Oh, come on, you guys, you know it's not you. It's her." I rubbed the sleeves of my cyan jacket. "She CANNOT know I joined the Mathtrons."

"You can't hide this from her forever." My brother in the round blue glasses pointed out.

I scrambled back up into the desk chair. "Wanna bet?"

Kevin gave out a small sigh. Then, he came up with an idea. He had lots of ideas. In that way, he reminded me of me. "Maybe you could gently ease her into it."

Okay, this wasn't one of his better ideas. "It doesn't matter how gently I tell her. She's gonna flip out. This is the point of no return. I'm one of you now, I'm one of you forever. And once she knows, all hope of the old Alvin coming back will be gone and she will be a danger to the whole town!"

"That's a massive exaggeration." Simon insisted. "You don't know how she'll react until you tell her. Maybe this is the thing that will force her to accept that you've been, urgh, "nerdified." He used air quotes.

"I'll tell her eventually." I promised. "Just not yet." I looked up at the teen sorting my notes. "Kevin, where did we leave off?"

"You have to group the notes about topics that relate to each other together." He said in his nasal voice. "It's much easier that way."

Simon and Warren silently watched us work. I wonder what they were thinking. Probably that I've broken a ton of barriers and I may eventually be the key to dismantling our school's social hierarchy. That's what I was thinking.

Back at home, Simon finally helped me a little more with my flying skateboard test. It failed yet again, but that didn't get me down! I knew I would succeed if I kept trying! and trying! And trying some more!

I got bored during one of the tests and decided to take a break. I pulled out my phone and waved it in front of Simon.

"Check out my new ringtone." I played Know Your Energy for him loudly.

He scrunched his nose. "What happened to your old ringtone?"

"The Alvin Twist is iconic." I squeaked. "But very classic Alvin. This one screams "I'm 2.0."

My brother didn't seem interested. He looked…sad. "This 2.0 thing has gotten way out of hand. It was out of hand to start with, but now it's going too far. You can't keep insisting everyone call you "2.0." He explained. "Just let them call you Alvin."

I stared at my rainbow shoes. "A lot of people don't want to call me Alvin." I mumbled.

"And calling yourself Alvin 2.0 isn't going to fix that." Simon furrowed his brows as he cleared some miscellaneous junk off the lab table. "Listen, how about if you call yourself that, and if people want to, then they can as well. But you cannot keep DEMANDING people call you that."

"If I changed my name to Albert, could I demand people call me that?" I wondered.

"Well, yes, because that's a name and not a number tacked to the end of an existing name." He turned to look at me again.

"I see." I guess that did make sense. 2.0 did sound a bit ridiculous, but if the name made me this happy…why was that a bad thing? "If I stop forcing people to call me that, can you do something for me?"

"What would you like me to do?" He nibbled his lip.

I put my hands behind my back and shuffled my feet awkwardly. "Can you call me that? Not all the time, but like…on occasion? Switch between the two?"

He let out a heavy sigh and adjusted his glasses.

I decided he needed a bit more convincing. "Please? It means a lot to me. The name represents my journey! My journey from slacker to excelsior student. I know it sounds silly and you feel silly saying it, but it helps halt the identity crisis, Si. That's how impactful it's been."

"Okay." My younger brother agreed at last. "I can do that."

"Ohoho! Terrific!" I squealed with glee. "Now say it!"

"You're Alvin 2.0." He muttered.

"Louder!" I encouraged him.

"You're Alvin 2.0." He said at a normal volume.

I poked his shoulder with my finger. "That all you got!?"

"YOU'RE ALVIN 2.0!" He shouted!

I gestured to myself with my thumb. "Ya darn right I am!"

"I can't believe you've grown up this much." Simon sat down at his desk. "It's uncanny. I mean, we CAN'T grow up, but somehow…somehow you did."

"That's the power of persistence!" I exclaimed. "I beat the odds!"

His attention turned to the fully solved Rubix cube lying on his desk. "Were you playing with my Rubix cube again?"

"I was, yeah. Why?" I answered. I knew what this looked like.

Turning the colorful geometric object over and over in his hands, he looked absolutely flabbergasted. "You….you solved it?"

No. Jeanette did, but he didn't need to know that, did he? "It appears I have." Technically, not lying!

"Alvin, this is a yes or no question. Did you solve my Rubix cube?" Oh crap! Simon the brainiac was onto my ruse. I keep forgetting our minds work in more similar ways now.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." I started to walk out of the closet lab.

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to hope that's a no." He set the solved cube down.

"Keep hoping!" I called back over my shoulder. Then, I raced away and grabbed my average non-flying skateboard and hopped out the window.

As I skated around outside to clear my head, I reflected on all the things that had happened lately. The majority were good! I didn't even need Theo's trick of finding the bright spots within a sea of misery. Life couldn't be better! (Unless I was popular at school again.)

Yeah, I had a feeling that it would all get better from here! Maybe someday Dr. Wilson would even return to Santa Barbara High! It might seem like a long shot, but I have faith that he will. After all, he mentioned he might in his letters.

Of course, being a 2.0 version of me wasn't going to solve all my problems. The hallucinations still happened, I just haven't written about them in a while. Got more important stuff to cover. My two conflicting identities continued to battle for control of my brain. I was likely going to flunk at least 2 of my exams. But I didn't really care? Those things just didn't bother me the way they used to. I hoped this feeling lasted forever.

As you already know, it did not. Sorry, Alvin.

That finishes off this chapter! How did you like it? Things are all starting to come together now!

Once again, many meta jokes and references. Too many to count. I apologize if that's not your thing. I really hope it's your thing though!

It's very cathartic to write Alvin 2.0 like this. This is the closest to the balance I think he's ever hit. Luckily, he keeps bouncing to and from this sweet spot for the rest of his life so far. I think he'll always be the type to feel emotions that change constantly. It's just who he is. The super high highs and low lows just come with being Alvin.

In the next installment of this story, I timeskip a LOT less. Plus, you get plenty of Eleanor hijinks as we learn about how she's testing her limits. Knowing you're in a cartoon can REALLY change your outlook on life.

See you soon! Keep the reviews coming if you wanna read what happens next! They are my main source of motivation!