I'm back with another fun mini short. This one focuses on my beloved OTP (one true pairing) Alvinette! Brittany is also featured pretty heavily and there's lots of good Alvin and Britt banter.
Without further ado, please enjoy!
SMOOTHIE MOVES
Jeanette's POV
Inside the dressing room, I gathered with my sisters and the Chipmunks. We prepared to go onstage for our concert at the Civic Center. It wouldn't be long now. I could hear the crowd cheering.
It was a Saturday night, which was good since that meant we weren't out of town on a school night. The Civic Center we were scheduled to perform at wasn't in Santa Barbara, you see. It was a 2 hour drive to get here.
It wasn't a particularly fancy event. We were all in mostly casual clothes with very little glitz and glam. (Unless you count Brittany, who was wearing a sequined pink hoodie and a light pink satin mini dress underneath.)
I had chosen a pair of blue jeans with purple butterflies and green vines embroidered up the side. My shirt was plaid with shades of phlox, periwinkle, and violet. Rounding that off, was my favorite cozy and warm dark purple hooded jacket with tiny cat ears on the hood.
Eleanor was dressed in a mint colored dress that almost reached her knees. Over the dress, she wore a dark teal-green cardigan. I could tell the outfit was bothering her, but she knew that management wanted her to dress to fit her image. Which, unfortunately, meant "appropriately girly."
I watched her rip the large bows out of her hair and replace them with hair ties that had some tiny plastic fruit slices on them.
"Much better." She muttered.
"I think they look great too!" I told her, smiling happily.
I turned my attention to Simon and Theodore. They were dressed in matching solid blue and green shirts and dark jeans. Theo had brought his patchwork vest along which I think is just lovely, but he wasn't permitted to wear it onstage.
Theodore drummed the makeup table nervously with his drumsticks. "3 minutes until showtime, guys."
Simon slicked his hair to the side and made a funny looking face in the mirror. I think he was trying to look attractive, but it just seemed like he smelled something really nice.
Which was definitely NOT Brittany's perfume. That's enough to take your breath away. I caught a whiff of it and slowly backed away.
"Is everyone ready?" My older sister asked, holding up the perfume. "Anybody need to be freshened up first?"
"We're good." Eleanor snatched the perfume bottle from Brittany's hands. "We're GOOD."
"Are you okay, Alvie?" Brittany twirled one of the swivel chairs around to reveal Alvin sitting inside it. He was being abnormally quiet, which caused me to worry about him.
"Yep." Alvin sat motionless in the chair wearing his old ripped up red hoodie with a yellow A on it. He wasn't wearing the same jeans he used to, because they didn't fit him anymore. However, he'd gotten a brand new pair that was almost identical in a larger size.
He got to keep the rainbow sneakers on his feet, but the rest of his look was basically what everyone dubs "Classic Alvin." He looked okay with it, aside from the vacant stare. I wondered if he was actually alright on the inside or feeling miserable.
"You haven't said much." I pointed out, walking up closer to Alvin, but trying to avoid getting too close to Brittany and her perfume.
"I'm tired." Alvin blinked his blue eyes and squinted. "Let's get this done and over with."
Theodore, Simon, and Britt all gasped.
"You mean the great Alvin Seville doesn't want to perform tonight?" Simon teased.
Alvin jumped out of the chair. "Don't act so surprised."
My sister in pink handed him the case with his contact lenses. "Uh, aren't you forgetting something?" She teased.
Alvin sighed loudly and then picked up his red framed glasses from the makeup table and put them on his face. "No. I'm not. I don't need those."
"Management says you HAVE to wear them." Simon reminded his brother. "Since you are the one who begged and pleaded and threw such a stink to get them in the first place. Plus, they were very expensive."
"Yeah. And besides, you know glasses make you a lot less marketable." Brittany added.
Alvin growled and swiped the contact lens case from her. "I need help putting them in." He admitted, looking directly at me.
I removed his red glasses and helped him quickly to get the contact lenses situated on his eyes. I didn't mind him looking like this. It was knowing how much he hated it and how much his decisions had cost him that put a real damper on things.
"Thanks, Netta." He squeezed my hand gently.
I squeezed it back. "You're going to do great out there."
A goofy grin spread across his face and he was suddenly his energetic self again. "Ohoho! I know! I'm gonna rock the house!"
He grabbed his guitar and strummed a chord. Shaking his head to the side as he did. Some of the hair from under his cap started to spill out.
"Alvin, hair!" Brittany whispered loudly.
He put the guitar down and pushed his hair back underneath the cap. I handed him some bobby pins to help keep it in place.
"Did I get it?" Alvin spun around slowly in a circle so we could see him from every angle.
Brittany nodded. "You're good. Also, you might want a trim."
"It IS getting harder and harder to keep it all hidden." Simon rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, on a similar note, do you think management would let me change my hair?" He wondered aloud.
"Not likely." Eleanor rolled her eyes.
I was confused. "Since when do you want to change your hair, Simon?" I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I just figure, you know, maybe if we ALL try something different, we'll get more people willing to accept the updates."
Brittany stood by the door and scoffed. "Or we'll ALL wind up losing our fanbase!" She insisted.
"I think trying something different could be fun. More people should be open to it." I sighed. "But I know that's not how the world operates."
"Mmm hmm." Brittany nodded in agreement.
Alvin and I held hands as we walked down the narrow passageway from the dressing room to the stage. We exchanged nervous glances and then, even though we didn't want to, we let go of each other.
Alvin stepped out into the blinding spotlight first and I meekly followed. It was time to sing and dance the night away….and then spend all day tomorrow recovering from it. Although, maybe that's just a me thing.
The concert went extremely well! We sang so many hits like Superstars, Partyin' is Life, Go On Get, Keep Dancing, and All About The Act. My feet were very tired by the end of it all. I'm surprised I didn't trip over anything.
After the crowd had cleared out and we were helped tidy up the stage, I suddenly had a great idea. I knew what would help lift Alvin's spirits after a night of being forced to pretend he's had no character development.
I scampered over to my boyfriend holding a microphone in my hands and then started to sing. The song choice was from High School Musical which is one of Alvin's favorite movies.
"You know the world can see us
In a way that's different than who we are" I closed my eyes and waited for his response. Would my idea land? Was this too much?
"Creating space between us
'Til we're separate hearts" He sang back, grabbing a microphone of his own.
"But your faith it gives me strength
Strength to believe
We're breakin' free!" We both sang together, looking into each other's eyes.
"We're soarin', flyin'
There's not a star in heaven
That we can't reach
If we're trying
So we're breaking free!"
He must have already taken his contacts out earlier, because he used the hand that wasn't holding the microphone to take his glasses from his backpack and put them back on. Then, he took off his cap and shook out his hair, letting the bobby pins clatter to the floor.
He put the cap back on and grabbed my hand, twirling me around in a circle. I giggled and then fell into his arms. This was FUN! Why couldn't I do this onstage with him more often? I love dancing like nobody's watching. Especially when nobody's actually watching….except Simon.
He looked at us sternly. "Sorry to interrupt your moment, but we've gotta go."
"Right, yes, of course." Alvin put the microphones back and then helped me down from the stage. (But I made sure to pick up my bobby pins first.)
We ran off to the tour bus together, hearts aglow. Our love was indisputably real, no matter how long we had to fake that it wasn't. I was in the mood to write a strongly worded letter to our management team, but I knew that idea would have to wait.
The next day, I invited Alvin to the mall. I figured we both needed a day to hang out and work through all the concert stress. In addition to that, I was volunteering at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe there anyway. Pamela G had invited me to job shadow her! It was very exciting!
While I waited to hear Alvin's response to the invitation, I helped sanitize the tables and un-jam the blenders. Then, Pamela taught me the recipies so that I could help make customers smoothies! It was a fascinating process. There were so many combos!
The first customer of the day ordered a Mango Hurricane smoothie with Mango, cherry, orange, pineapple, and kale. The next customer ordered a peanut butter smoothie with a banana. After that, three girls from the popular crowd at school came in and ordered a Watermelon-kiwi, Lemon-Lime coconut, and an orange and ginger smoothie. The day was going really well.
"So how many different combos are there?" I asked Pamela, as I stocked the fridge with fresh fruit that had just been shipped.
"Well, as of this week, at least 50. We have some seasonal ones that come and go." She explained.
"Wow!" I felt my ears twitch. "Are we allowed to buy one ourselves on break?" I was really in the mood for a smoothie and a falafel wrap. It is fun to say falafel.
"Of course." She showed me the list of smoothies to pick from. "Better start thinking about which one you want now so you can order quickly on break." She winked at me.
I looked over the list of smoothies and thought about the pros and cons of each choice. What did I feel like today? Definitely something fruity! The Pomegranate Plunge? The Island Green? The Strawberry Banana Sunrise? I thought about the choices even more as I continued to fetch customers their orders.
Around lunch time, Brittany strolled into the shop to check up on me. I was just about to take my lunch break. She motioned for me to join her as she sat at one of the tables.
"Hi, sis!" I greeted. "Do you wanna try a smoothie?"
She shook her head. "Not interested. I just came to see how you're doing."
"I think it's going well so far." I replied as I sat down. "Are you sure you don't wanna try a smoothie? They're really good."
"They're not my thing." She took out her nail file and began to file her nails.
I rested an arm on the table. "What if you just had a tiny sip of mine?" I proposed.
She lost her temper. "Jeanette, I said I'm not interested. Leave me be."
"Alright." I frowned. "But you'll never know if you like it or not unless you try it. And trying something different once in a while is good for you. You have to get used to differences because the world is full of unpredictability."
She stuck a finger on my lips. "Spare me the lecture, Jeanette."
A familiar high pitched and slightly raspy voice came from the shop entrance. "Hey, girls!" It was Alvin. He hadn't responded to my invite text, but he'd shown up anyway. What a joyous coincidence!
"Alvin!" I waved him over to our table. "So glad you could make it! Would you like to try a smoothie?"
"Ohoho! You betcha!" He licked his lips. "I could use a good ol thirst quencher."
"You realize most of these smoothies have vegetables, right?" Brittany asked Alvin with a raise of a single eyebrow. "You know, those things you always feed to Theodore when Dave's not looking?"
"Uh yeah." He told her. "I like veggies now. Especially when they're masked by the sweet juicy goodness of pineapple."
"You should try the Avocolada." I walked with Alvin to the counter to order as I told him about the smoothie I thought would be the perfect fit for his tastes. "It's a pina colada with avocado and spinach added! The avocado gives it a really neat texture."
"Okay! You're the expert, after all." He grinned at me.
Brittany rested her head face down on the table as we walked away. "Unbelievable." I heard her mutter.
"What flavor are you getting?" Alvin asked me, taking off his cyan colored hoodie and tying it around his hips to reveal a red T shirt that had a rocket design on it.
I went through my top ten choices and finally narrowed it down to one. "I think I'm gonna try the Berry Boost with protein powder." After all, the shirt I was wearing was a blue and purple tie dye top that I had created by dyeing with blueberry and blackberry juice.
Alvin figured out how I'd decided almost instantly. "It'll match your shirt." He laughed. "I love it!"
We ordered our smoothies and then sat down at the table with Brittany to drink them. We sat together on one side of the table while she stayed on the other side.
"Thanks for stopping by." I told Alvin softly. "Did you get my invite?"
"What invite?" He asked, before checking his phone. "Oh,…well,…I did now."
"If you never got my invite, how did you know where I was?" I tilted my head to the side before sipping more Berry Boost smoothie.
"I asked Eleanor." He said, drinking his smoothie very quickly. "Holy nuts! This tastes fantastic!" He turned his attention to my sister. "Which flavor are you gonna try, Britt?"
"None of them." The stubborn girl replied coldly. "And don't you dare try to talk me into it."
"I already tried and it failed." I quipped to my enthusiastic boyfriend.
"You're missin' out." Alvin told Britt. "It's not often ya find something healthy for ya that tastes this good."
"Can we PLEASE talk about something else?" Brittany scrolled aimlessly through her Instant-Gram feed on her phone while continuing to chat with us.
I wasn't sure what else to talk about, so I looked to Alvin to help the conversation flow. He's an extrovert and talking to people is one of his strongest skills. I usually just infodump and then panic if someone asks to change the subject.
Alvin took out a fidget spinner and played with it as he spoke. "That was some concert last night, huh? I barely even remember it."
"That's because you had a nervous breakdown that miraculously ended when it was time to go onstage." Brittany's voice sassed him, quite harshly. At least, I interpreted it as harshly. Knowing Britt, she probably meant it in a more playful way.
"Nervous breakdown?" Alvin blinked. "What? Really?" He looked at me for confirmation.
"I'm not sure what it was, but you were very quiet during the bus ride there and while we were getting ready." I informed him.
"You were doing the thousand yard stare and trembling." What followed those words was Brittany's poorly thought out attempt to show Alvin what he looked like. She forced herself to tremble while looking like she saw a ghost.
"Oh…..yeah." Alvin took another sip of his smoothie. "I was talking to myself in my head. No idea that's what it looked like. I was channeling Classic, so that I didn't mess up onstage and all that. No biggie, really."
I'm not sure I fully believed Alvin's words. "Ohhh. That explains it." Or at least, part of it.
"Right…makes sense." I don't think Brittany actually thought it made sense. I know I didn't think it made much sense.
Alvin switched gears and handed Britt the menu of smoothies to pick from. "Check it out. 50 flavors. Ya sure there's not ONE you wanna try?"
"Why is it so important to you that I try one?" Brittany huffed, seeming annoyed.
"Because you gotta learn to be less stubborn." Alvin smirked.
"And you gotta learn to be less delusional." Brittany retorted with an extra huff.
"Uh, um…." I stammered. "C…Could you guys please calm down?"
"I'm plenty calm. I am calm, cool and collected. All thanks to this super cool and refreshing smoothie." He waved what was left of his smoothie in Brittany's face. "What's that? The smoothie has something it wants to tell you. It says "try me, Brittany! Try meeeee! Drink meeeee!"
That was my cue to back away from the table. I quickly sucked down the rest of my smoothie and went to recycle the empty cup.
"Smoothies can't talk, you weirdo." I heard Brittany tell him.
"Try meeeee! I don't bite! I'm not poison!" Alvin went on.
"If you don't stop, I'll make you wear that smoothie on your head!" My sister threatened.
"Well, my lunch break's almost over." I said, returning to the table. "Gotta get back to work soon."
"I'll work with ya!" Alvin sucked down the rest of his smoothie and then tossed it backwards toward the recycling bins. He missed by quite a large margin. I wasn't so sure about having him work with me, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying he couldn't.
"I've gotta run soon too." Brittany put her phone in her pink glittery purse. "I have some prom dress designs to work on back at home."
"Prom!? When's prom!?" My boyfriend jolted in his seat.
I decided to answer his question. "Prom's at the end of the year. It's many MANY months away."
My older sister flipped her ponytail as she walked to the door. "It's never too early for prep. See ya!" She walked away with a wiggle in her step.
"Oh phew. Cuz I am NOT ready for prom." Alvin commented. I wasn't sure if the comment was to me or himself.
"Me either." I agreed.
The red capped boy in the stylish matching glasses got up and picked up the empty smoothie cup he'd thrown. "Which recycling bin does this go in?"
"It's plastic." I told him sweetly. "It goes in plastic."
Alvin helped me with the rest of my shift. Pamela was a bit skeptical of him at first, but he proved he was serious about helping. The only problem was that he kept getting distracted making lovestruck faces at me.
After at least sixteen times of reminding him what he's doing, he finally seemed to get in a groove. It helped to have an extra pair of paws! Especially when the yoga class next door ended and the participants all came here for their post-Yoga smoothie.
Eventually, the day ended and I thanked Pamela once again for the opportunity. Then, Alvin and I headed for home.
"I must say, Netta, you've got some smoothie moves." Alvin made a humorous pun as we walked outside into the parking lot of the mall.
"You're so sweet." I gushed.
"Ya know, I bet if you and I work together, we can come up with a plan to convince Britt to try a smoothie." He said, slipping his cyan hoodie back on, but leaving it unzipped.
"You think so?" I asked. "I think maybe we should respect her wishes….as disappointing and utterly ridiculous as they may be." I continued. It was clear that even small changes and new things tend to set Brittany off…especially lately.
"She's gotta learn not to be so judgey somehow." Alvin swung around a street-lamp pole. "This'll be good for her."
"Hmmm." I tapped my chin as I wondered if Alvin's idea was truly good or if it would backfire. "Maybe there's a way to get her to try one. But ONLY one. We don't want to overwhelm the poor girl."
"Fine fine. We'll pick out one flavor she can't possibly resist and we'll trick her into tasting it. Then, when she loves it, we can say "TOLD YA SO!" He boasted. "And then…" He grinned even wider, almost maniacally. "We'll convince everyone to try more and more new things until they all accept that changes aren't so scary!"
"I don't think it works like that." I patted Alvin's arm sympathetically.
"I wish it did." His mood changed suddenly again, shoulders slumping.
"Are you okay?" I asked tenderly.
He looked up at the evening sky. "I'm once again wondering if performin' is really what I'm made for."
I frowned. Why would he think that he wasn't made to do what he loved? Wait, hold on. I had a theory… "Being a rockstar has lost its thrill, hasn't it?"
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "No….maybe….maybe a little." He admitted. "I don't like keeping up the act. It's lying. It's lying to not wreck my life, but having conditioned myself to avoid lying as much as possible, it feels wrong."
"You're overthinking it again. You made it through. Now you don't have to worry until the next concert." I nuzzled his cheek.
"This dang brain overthinks a lot." He pouted. "But you and I both know I can't keep up the act forever. One of these times, I'll slip up….and lose everything."
"No you won't." I assured him. "Stop thinking that you will. You're only stressing yourself out more. Let's work out exactly what we're going to do to help Britt face her fear of change."
That helped snap him back into scheming mode and out of crisis mode. We discussed possible plans until we made it back home.
The next day, after the day of school had concluded, Alvin and I put plan number one into action. We sat innocently in the mall food court and waited for Brittany to arrive. Alvin was sipping a strawberry milkshake which was really a Tropical Smoothie Cafe strawberry banana smoothie in disguise. To further attract Brittany, we'd added a small sparkly pink umbrella to the fancy pink tinted glass containing the beverage.
Then, at precisely 5:00pm, Brittany entered the food court just as I'd instructed her to. I figured the food court would be a more comfortable place for her than the smoothie shop. Although it was very crowded, and much less comfortable for me.
"How long are you going to do this job shadow thing anyway, Jeanette?" She took a seat beside me and asked.
"Only a week." I responded.
My sister seemed satisfied with that answer and turned her attention to Alvin, noticing the smoothie he was drinking. "Where'd you get that?"
"Dairy Queen." Alvin fibbed.
Britt's ice blue eyes watched the sparkle encrusted umbrella, fit for a princess. "What flavor is it?"
"Strawberry." He grinned, pushing the enticing drink toward her. "Want a taste?"
"I hear it's very good." I added. I had no idea if Dairy Queen milkshakes were good or not. They contained milk. I don't drink milk.
To my surprise, the idea didn't actually work out. Brittany folded her arms and looked suspiciously at the drink. "Nice try. I know exactly what you're doing."
"What? Whattaya mean?" The boy in the red cap held his arms out to the side.
Her nostrils flared. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
Alvin opened his mouth to answer and I sensed whatever he was about to say would only anger my sister more.
I leaned across the table and whispered. "Don't answer that."
He shut his mouth immediately after hearing my words. He narrowed his eyes as he calculated what to say next, choosing his words very carefully. "Britt, I'm not gonna poison ya. This doesn't even have anything green in it."
"I've had just about enough of you two." Brittany got up from the table and strutted away. "And Jeanette, I can't believe you're encouraging this. I thought you were better than this."
Ouch….well, that hurt a lot. "Maybe we are best leaving her be." I murmured. I didn't want my sister to view me as an enemy conspiring against her.
"Don't worry." Alvin looked over at the girl in pink as she left the food court. "I've got a better idea."
Two days later, I watched nervously as Alvin poured the strawberry banana smoothie into Brittany's reusable pink thermos that previously contained her strawberry milk.
"I liked the first idea better than this." I whispered.
"Shhh! She's coming!" Alvin and I hid ourselves underneath the table in our kitchen.
Brittany shuffled into the kitchen wearing a pair of earphones and dancing across the floor to the beat of the music in her head.
She picked up the thermos and unscrewed the lid, taking a drink from it and then….spitting it out. "What the heck!? Ohhhh! ALVINNN!" She cursed angrily.
I watched with guilt piling up as she dumped the entire smoothie down the drain without even taking another sip. So much for plan B.
Too scared to face Brittany after our transgression, Alvin and I bolted upstairs and I sent him back to his house via the zipline that connects our bedroom windows.
Brittany stomped upstairs and I laid down on my bed with a book in my hands, trying to give the illusion I was doing that the entire time.
"You!" She pointed at me and I cowered. "Tell your idiot boyfriend that his little tricks won't get me to try a dumb smoothie."
"I will." I vowed to make Alvin stop messing with her, somehow.
She descended into an angry rant. "He tampered with my thermos, he tried to squirt smoothie in my mouth with a squirt gun, he replaced my toothpaste with it, he even covered me in a fake rash and said the only cure was this "serum" I had to drink. Guess what the serum turned out to be!"
Wait a second. I'd only approved putting the smoothie in her thermos. The other ideas Alvin had told me about, but I warned him they weren't okay. I felt very very upset with him at that moment.
It was time we had a very important discussion. It was rather late, so I would have to talk to him after school sometime tomorrow. I wrote a list in preparation of things to say. I'm not too skilled in coming up with words on the spot.
The next day came around and I was back serving smoothies until my evening break. During the break, I confronted Alvin with Brittany by my side to offer backup.
Brittany allowed me to start the difficult conversation. "Alvin, Brittany told me what you've been doing to her. I thought we talked about it and you agreed those ideas were wrong!"
"I was desperate!" He clasped his hands together and got to his knees. "And she was being so unreasonable! I couldn't help myself!"
"Excuses, excuses." Brittany scoffed, about to smack Alvin with her purse until I intervened and grabbed it away from her.
"I know it was wrong and it could have ended a lot worse than it did. I'm sorry, Britt." He faced her with sad eyes.
"Why is it so important that I try the stupid smoothie anyway!?" She took her purse back from me and slung it over her shoulder.
I put my hands behind my back. "We just figured that with fifty flavor combos, there'd be at least one you like. Then, I think once Alvin got involved it became a battle of wills." That about sums it up, I think.
"Well, I'm still not going to try one." Brittany insisted.
"And that's okay. That's your choice. I respect it." I nudged Alvin to encourage him to agree with me.
"Yeah okay." He rubbed his neck. "I guess pranking ya into tryin' a vegan smoothie was kinda dumb."
"Kinda dumb?" Brittany put her hands on her hips. "Kinda?"
"Fine! Fine! VERY dumb." Alvin admitted.
"Thank you." My sister strolled up to the counter and set some money down on the table. Wait, was she actually going to buy a smoothie!? That didn't make any sense. "One bag of sunchips please." She turned around to face Alvin and I. "Do you guys want anything?"
"A Mango Hurricane." The Chipmunk wearing red, yellow, and cyan squeaked.
"And I'll take a Strawberry Sunrise." I added. "Please."
"Yeah, please." Alvin smiled his dorky and endearing grin while Britt rolled her eyes at him forgetting his manners.
The person taking orders looked down at Brittany. "What flavor sunchips would you like?"
"Any flavor is fine with me." She shifted her footing, causing her flared fuschia skirt to swish.
Alvin leaned closer to me and whispered. "Wish she had that attitude toward smoothies."
I giggled and hoped Brittany hadn't overheard that comment.
When the smoothies were ready and Britt had her bag of sunchips, we gathered at our favorite table in the shop. I drank my smoothie and Brittany opened the bag up and started to munch.
Alvin fidgeted with the straw on his smoothie. "So, do you guys wanna hear about the pop quiz I totally aced today?" He asked.
"Not particularly." Brittany said, nibbling a chip. "Also you didn't ace it. You got a B plus."
"Which, for me, is practically acing it!" He insisted, taking a drink of his marvelous mango flavored smoothie.
"Congratulations, Alvin." I said proudly. "Was it a science pop quiz?"
"Nope! History! My worst subject!" He replied in a confident way. "I am totally rockin' this semester."
Brittany clutched her throat suddenly and panted. "Uh, guys, these chips are setting my mouth on fire!"
"Yeah. That's to be expected." Alvin showed her the words on the bag. "They're zesty jalapeño."
"You knew!?" My sister screeched in outrage. "You knew and you let me eat them!?"
"Oh no." I moaned.
Alvin shrugged. "You said any flavor's fine, so really this one is on you."
"Urgh!" Brittany grabbed my smoothie faster than I could react. "I can't believe I have to do this." She took off the lid and started drinking it as fast as she could. When she finished, she had a strawberry flavored mustache, which she licked off with her tongue. "You know, that's actually not bad."
"That's what we've been saying!" I quipped with a giggle. The way events played out was so unexpected.
Alvin got to say what he'd been waiting to say for days. "I TOLD YOU SO!"
"What flavor was this again?" She asked me, cheeks pink with a tinge of embarrassment.
"Strawberry Sunrise." I repeated, happy my sister had come around at last.
Even later that evening, when it was an hour from closing time, the three of us were walking through the mall to do some window shopping.
"So, Britt, do you think you'll try any other smoothie flavors?" Alvin asked her.
"Maybe." My sister admitted. "But it'll take some time and I need you to be patient with me."
"We'll be very patient." I promised wholeheartedly.
"Good." She glared at Alvin. "You too, okay poindexter?"
"You got it." He reached out to high five her, but she was clearly not in the mood so she rejected his gesture. "I'll be more patient than Theo and Ellie watching a pie bake in the oven, more patient than Dr. Wilson is when I don't understand a question, and more patient than every fan still waiting to know if we're ever going on a world tour or not." He babbled.
"I get it." Brittany made the "zip your lip" motion.
"He's been working on practicing his patience." I told my exhausted sister. "He's doing a lot better."
She nodded and then stared at an object in the distance. A confused look spread across her face. I hurried forward to get a closer look for myself. On the wall was a poster with a picture of Alvin's face on it.
The picture was at least a few years old because in it he wasn't wearing glasses nor did he have his long hair and freckles. But it was the word written under the picture that really caught our attention. It said, in very bold letters, "BANNED."
Brittany gave Alvin an angry glare. "You told me that you weren't banned from the mall anymore!" She hissed.
Alvin stood next to the poster which highlighted the similarities and differences between the poster and the physical three dimensional version of him. "Relax. Nobody cares anymore." He chuckled. "And those who do, don't even recognize me." He tapped his glasses. "Clark Kenting is real!"
"But you're still going by the name Alvin." I scratched my head. Then again, the poster didn't SAY his name anywhere on it.
"They must think I'm my own cousin or somethin'. Which is fine by me. I was banned unfairly anyway." Alvin snapped a picture of himself by the poster using his phone. He stuck out his tongue and made the two fingers up peace sign. It was adorable.
"You confuse me so much." Brittany shook her head and then pulled him away from the poster.
"I know." Alvin responded with a half smile.
"Come on, guys." I said quietly, hoping to stop any arguments. "Let's go."
Alvin scurried ahead. "Do you guys wanna come to my house tonight for gummy bear pizza? I'm making it to celebrate my amazing pop quiz score."
"I'll pass on that." I clutched my stomach at the thought. "Because of the cheese." And also because it sounded revolting.
"How about you, Britt?" He poked her shoulder with his finger.
She gave him a push and sent him backward to land on his bottom. "No thanks. That sounds disgusting."
"You'll never know unless you try…." Alvin began, before switching his sentence. He must have remembered he needed to respect Britt's tastes and not pressure her. Good for him. "I mean, that's fine. More for me."
He linked arms with me and we walked together with Britt next to us texting on her phone. It had been a very crazy week so far. I wondered what else would happen before the week was over. Whatever it was, it was sure to be a wild ride.
I guess what you should take away from this story is that trying new things isn't as scary as it seems. That people should be open to trying new things, within reason of course. But, also, you should never pressure someone into trying something after they've said no…because you don't know what possible reasons they have for saying no. It's very inappropriate to push people out of their comfort zones, even when it's for their benefit. That's pretty much all I have to say on the matter. Thanks for reading!
I really know how to completely improvise a funny twist ending at the last minute. Don't I?
This one was very self indulgent, I will admit. I just love Netta and Alvin! They're so good for each other!
Also, Tropical Smoothie Cafe doesn't actually have 50 flavors, but I sure WISH they did.
Next time, we will have a Simon focused tale! Then the Dave camping story if I can somehow figure out Dave's POV.