It's time for Eleanor to take center stage. This is her time to shine once again.
Sorry for the delay again. It's becoming very hard to motivate myself to start these chapters. Once I actually start, they take off, but the process OF starting is PAINFUL. So many distractions and so much fatigue.
But I persevere and once this chapter is finished, we're halfway done with story 8! Can you believe it? Then just 9, 10, and 11 remain!
ALVIN: Ells, it is GO TIME!
ELEANOR: This is a fun one, people!
ALVIN: Ready, set, GO!
ELEANOR: You're about to see me at my best and worst.
ALVIN: They're used to it. They've seen me at both as well.
ELEANOR: Right, yeah. Anyway...You can leave now, Alvin.
Eleanor's POV
Another three weeks had passed since Alvin decided to rename himself Alvin 2.0. He eventually told us that we didn't ALWAYS have to call him that. I guess Simon managed to talk some sense into him. I prefer calling him Alvin and if I do the 2.0 thing, it's not going to be very much. He's not the boss of me.
Halloween came and went. I threw an insane monster bash and it was the talk of the town for a bit. Problem is, most people thought Brittany threw it, not me. Being unnoticed is the worst. I'm trying hard to let it roll off me, but it's almost impossible.
As much as I would love to go more into what I did for Halloween, I don't have time. There's a much more important event that happened in November that I've gotta cover. I hope I get to tell you about Halloween eventually in a story. It's my favorite holiday.
Moving on. This whole mess started on a typical day. I'd just gotten home from school and I was watching a college baseball game on TV. Brittany came into the room and sat next to me. I ignored her until she started whining at me.
"I think Alvin's still mad about what I did at homecoming. He's answering my texts, but LOOK!" She shoved her phone in my face.
"Not now, Brittany." I grumbled. "I'm trying to watch the game."
"Just look! It'll only take a second or two. I need to know your opinion on things." My sister wasn't going to leave until I humored her.
I growled. "Here's my opinion. I don't want to talk about Alvin."
"Please, sis! I need you! I really really need you!" Brittany clasped her hands together.
"Okay." I sighed. The sooner I did this, the sooner she would LEAVE ME ALONE.
I looked at her phone, picking it up from the side table and scrolling through the texts. Post homecoming, Alvin's texts had changed from being full of emojis and long rambles to being shorter and more to the point. Less emojis were used and the overall tone was more…professional.
"I wouldn't be worried." I answered. "It seems like Simon taught him how to text less and manage his time better. He's been pretty busy these past weeks and exams are coming up."
"So you don't think he's mad?" She breathed a sigh of relief.
I stared at her. Too bad I couldn't pause the baseball game, but she needed to hear this! "No, I don't." Now for the part that will probably either make her angry or cause her to cry. "Although, he has every right to be. You made him look like a fool and now everyone thinks you're both dating and won't listen when we tell them you aren't."
Her ice blue eyes blinked. "Who's we?" She wondered.
I could see I was going to have to spell out everything for her. "Me, Jeanette, Simon, Theo,…You get the picture." I turned my attention back to the TV. The batter for our local college had just hit a home run. Sweet!
"So he's not mad, but he should be?" Brittany rolled her eyes. "Very encouraging, Eleanor." She grumbled sarcastically.
"Can I please watch the game? I have a bet riding on this!" I snapped.
My sister in the light pink sweater looked interested. "A bet? A bet for money?" I could easily imagine dollar signs filling her eyes.
"No." My eyes remained on the next batter. She was walking up to the plate with an aluminum bat.
Brittany walked to the other side of the room and gazed at a vase of plastic pink roses. They had been an apology gift from none other than the red capped menace. (Or red capped former menace, if you want to be more accurate.)
"What did you bet?" She asked, removing the roses from their vase.
I hesitated. If I told her, she would have material to blackmail me. I hoped my sister had the decency NOT to blackmail me. Oh who am I kidding? This is Brittany! Statistically, she was likely to blab my secret whether it was on accident or on purpose. That girl gossips way too much for her own good.
"Can't tell you." I laid down sideways on the couch and propped my head up on a pillow.
My oldest sister looked worried. "You didn't bet your hair again, did you? You almost had to shave your head last time!" She squeaked. Gosh she cares too much about how everyone else looks.
I shrugged. "It was only half my head. And it would have looked so cool." I desperately wanted to try something besides my current hairstyle. Though, I wasn't sure I could fully part with my signature twin ponytails.
"Cool!? Cool!?" Brittany facepalmed and sat down in a chair in our family room. "You'd have been banned from performing with us until your hair grew back. You know how struct management is with our image! Honestly, I cannot believe you right now. How are we related!?"
She continued to rant and I tuned her out to watch the rest of the baseball game. Eventually, she put her headphones in and started watching random YouTube videos on her phone.
The game eventually finished and the local college team won! Which meant that I won the bet! I texted Derek to remind him that he had to bring Theo and I a whole container of his Aunt Cynthia's cookies. Derek wasn't exactly a "friend." At least, not yet. He held a high respect for me though, since I once whipped his tushy at paintball.
It didn't take long for Derek to text back. [Alright, sporty girl. You'll get your cookies.]
Boy, I wished I could bet for money instead of food. Then, I could save up and buy something cool! Like tickets to the World Series! Or supplies to create a secret spy lair! I know I'm technically a musical act, but that doesn't pay as well as you think. Especially not with Dave and Miss. Miller squirreling all our money away for the future…a future we'll never experience.
I'm adapting to knowing I live in a cartoon really well, don't ya think? Obviously, I'm being sarcastic. This is HARD! I'm really feeling emotionally wrung out from it all. It's making it difficult to want to keep working toward my goals. I need all new goals now!
I've talked to Simon about this a couple times. He's pretty much in the same boat I am. Jeanette too. We all dreamt of college, but noooo! We have to be stuck forever in high school. It BLOWS!
At least I still had some constants I enjoyed. I had my detective stuff, cooking with Theo, my soccer team, and all that jazz. Still, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing out on all the things that adulthood brings! Like independence! True independence!
"Knock knock!" Theodore's childlike voice called me to the door.
I turned off the TV and rushed to throw the decorative door open. "You know you can just knock, right? You don't have to say "knock knock."
"Oh okay." He showed me a bag he was holding. The entire thing was full of scrap fabric. "Can I borrow your sewing machine? I wanna make a new vest and see how much better I am now that I have practiced." He smiled at me.
"Sure!" I replied, allowing him to walk inside. "I'll go grab it."
A few minutes later, we were set up at the kitchen table and both of us cut out pieces for decorating the patchwork vest Theo would soon sew together.
"I wanna do some cool shapes on top of it this time." The boy in the kelly green shirt with a lighter key lime green T-shirt jacket unbuttoned overtop had a plan.
I liked his plan. "Cool beans." I said, cutting a star shape out of yellow fabric. "Will this shape work?"
"Uh huh!" He nodded. "I also was thinking of an ice cream cone, a 4 leaf clover, a teddy bear head, a diamond and…"
"A heart." Brittany's voice startled both of us. "Either red or pink. Hearts look best in red and pink."
Her current outfit was a mix of red and pink. With a light pink sweater that had a darker pink heart on it and that red sparkly mini skirt she couldn't get enough of. Her leggings were black with pink hearts. I think she picked those leggings up over the summer. I had to admit, they worked for her. I wouldn't wear them. I don't do hearts.
"Do you wanna help us, Britt?" Theo's tail started to wag.
Now, I would have rather not had her help, because Theo and I work better and much more efficiently as a duo. Unfortunately, since Theo asked and he was leading this project, I had to follow suit.
"Yeah. We could use an extra pair of paws." I fibbed. I hoped Brittany would say she had better things to do. I crossed my fingers and stuck them in the pockets of my "pretty much signature at this point" watermelon hoodie, which I opted to wear with a teal skirt today instead of jeans.
My sister's lips curled into an excited grin. She eagerly sat down and started sorting the bag of fabric by color. "I would LOVE to! You both seriously need a fashion consultant."
"Yep." I said, hiding how annoyed I was. "We sure do."
"Thank you for offering, you guys." Brittany gushed. "I literally had nothing else to do…and I am so sick of watching makeup tutorials." Then, she started to complain. Exactly as I predicted. "I asked Alvin if he wanted to go to the mall, and he said that he can't because he's really close to making a breakthrough on his stupid flying skateboard. He doesn't want to lose motivation."
"I'm sure you'll get another day to hang out with him." Theodore reassured her, as he stitched together some scrap fabrics to make a section of the vest.
Brittany cut two hearts out of red and pink fabric as she continued her rant. "I'm less important to him than a silly invention. Like, what!? Why!? He's always made time for me in the past. I really do think he's mad!"
I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at her with. "Why do you think you're automatically more important than his life goal?" I knew that would start a brawl and I wasn't in the mood to have a sisterly smackdown in front of Theodore.
The boy in green did his best to help Britt shut her trap about Alvin. "Or he's busy. Maybe you'll have time over Christmas break."
"That's like a whole month from now!" Brittany whined loudly.
I focused on cutting an ice cream cone shape out of mint fabric, which took me two tries since Britt's outbursts caused me to mess up the first one.
"Or thanksgiving break!" Theo was determined to make her less mopey.
Brittany dried her eyes with a tissue. "Yeah, okay, maybe. That isn't too far away." She blew her nose loudly.
She was a little less irritating after that, but I still really really wanted her to go away. I had things I wanted to say to Theo that I didn't need misinterpreted as gossipy secrets to spread around.
The patchwork vest was coming together really well. I knew Theo was going to love the final result. The two of us worked diligently on stitching the vest together while Brittany helped cut out decorative patches. A well oiled machine we were, even if one cog was a little bit squeaky.
"I would go eat more ice cream, but I already had a scoop today…and the Homecoming Queen cannot afford those extra calories on her waistline!" In case it wasn't clear, Brittany was the squeaky cog I mentioned.
"You'll be beautiful no matter what you weigh." Theodore got out of his seat and walked over to pat Brittany's shoulder.
"And I'm pretty sure one extra scoop of ice cream won't hurt." I added.
My sister shook her head. "I can't risk it! What if I get addicted to it? I need another way to handle my sorrow."
Theo somehow managed to be off topic AND on topic at the same time. "Have you ever put olive oil and chopped nuts on vanilla ice cream?" He asked.
Britt's usually fair fur covered skin turned a bit green. I gotta say, it looked pretty funny. "That sounds DISGUSTING." She gagged.
What's this? An opportunity to gross out my sister. I'll take it! "Actually, it's pretty good. You should try it!" I told her.
"It really brings out the flavor." Theodore continued.
"If you two want alone time, just ask instead of grossing me out until I leave." Brittany huffed.
"What?" I tried to act surprised. "Who says we want alone time?"
Theodore looked ashamed of what he said. He hadn't meant to get that reaction. "I was just giving you a suggestion."
"Oh." Brittany still looked a little green. "Well, I'm not interested in trying it, but if you have any non-gross ideas, I'd be happy to hear them."
"Oh oh! I have a recipe idea! What if we made some veggie rolls that only have carrots and cauliflower? Cuz, cuz I know you don't like green food. We can call them Cali Califlower Rolls!" The brown eyed munk exclaimed.
Theo's idea was actually a great one! "Ooh yeah. I'll write that down in the recipe book." I offered.
"Hmmm." Brittany stroked her chin. "I could try it."
Another two hours later, we finished the vest. I handed it off to Theodore.
"Moment of truth." I said.
Brittany stood by my side. "Go, try it on!" She urged.
My best friend slipped the key lime colored jacket off and put on the multi-color patchwork vest. "What do you think? Is it better than my last design?"
"LOADS BETTER!" I cheered.
My sister gave a small nod of approval, which made her giant strawberry blonde ponytail bounce. "I actually like this one, although I still think the amount of color is overkill."
"Thanks for your help, girls." Theodore gave each of us one of his usual bear hugs. "I couldn't have done it without you." He strutted around the treehouse, imitating Alvin's old swagger walk that he barely does anymore. "I can't wait to show everyone my vest! I'll see you at school tomorrow!"
So I didn't get a chance to tell him about the cookies out loud. That was okay! I could surprise him tomorrow! I was a bit miffed that Theo and Britt both left before helping me clean up the scrap fabric mess and the pattern pieces. Oh well, at least cleaning it up didn't take that long.
The next day, I stopped by Derek's locker to pick up the cookies. They were peanut butter flavored with some caramel swirled in. Theo was gonna be ecstatic.
"Thanks, Derek." I said, grabbing the container of cookies. "And tell your aunt Cynthia "thanks" too."
"You got it." He gave me a finger guns gesture and then panicked a little. "I'm not threatening you. I swear." He shoved his hands behind his back.
"I know, dude." I gave him a one handed finger gun gesture in return.
He let out a sigh of relief and then looked confused. "People always seem to think I'm threatening them even when I'm not. I'm glad you get it."
I decided to tease him a little. "Maybe they'd find you less threatening if you hadn't been shoving their heads in toilets for years."
"Oh….oh yeah." He looked at his red sneakers. "I've apologized for that, I guess it takes more than an apology to fix stuff."
"Don't I know it?" I responded, leaning against the lockers. "There was one time I stained Brittany's favorite skirt with tomato sauce. No matter how much I apologized, she was mad at me, an entire week!" I frowned. "And that was an accident. The stuff you did was on purpose…even though you didn't really know how to control your anger any other way."
"Yeah." He closed his locker and stared off down the hall. "Do you think…" He was still speaking to me, but now he wasn't looking at me. "Do you think I'll ever be able to…be more to them than Derek the Bully?"
I was feeling super confident, so I jumped onto his leg and climbed up to his shoulder. I grabbed his head and gently tugged it to the side so he could look at me. "You betcha, dude. But, first you gotta stop hanging around Rotten Ray Ray and Terrible Terrence." I advised.
"But what if they start beating me up?" His pupils shrank as he got more and more nervous.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Derek, you're taller and stronger than them. If they try anything, you can kick their butts."
"I'm….not supposed to do that anymore." He said, looking away from me.
I turned his head back in my direction again. "You let me know when they're giving you grief and I'll record it for proof. Then, we can argue you beating them is self defense." I promised.
"Okay." The blonde boy started to walk to class.
I hopped off his shoulder and ran beside him, with my small legs pumping faster than his long ones. "Or, you know, I could beat them up for ya. Maybe trap them in a net, or put speedy laxatives in their drinks." I suggested.
That got a chuckle out of Derek. "I never knew you had such a dark side."
"Nobody knows much about me. Nobody." I admitted.
"I…err…uh…." He sounded more flustered than ever. "Would like to get to know you better."
"Awesome." I shimmied down from his back and then jumped up to surprise him with a fist bump.
We both hurried into class and I slipped the container of cookies into my black backpack with the baseball cap wearing skull on it. Out of all the side effects of Alvin's changes, that was my favorite one.
Sure, the backpack went a lot better with my punk phase, but I didn't care. The punk phase is over, yet I haven't lost the spirit that came with it. Plus, I kept the combat boots. Me and combat boots are a perfect match!
During class, similarly to how she'd been the past few weeks, Miss. Smith was still absolutely fed up with "2.0." She didn't think he was serious and she kept purposely asking him questions, thinking he wasn't paying enough attention. Surprise! He actually was. Also, double surprise! I loaded her coffee with laxatives before heading to the lunch room. That was probably a dumb idea, because she'd blame Alvin for it. Whoops.
In the cafeteria, I waited patiently for Theodore to arrive so I could share the cookies. To my shock, Alvin climbed up and sat on the bench of the cafeteria table. He looked…remorseful. Something was clearly bothering him.
"I have some bad news." He began.
I smirked. "You've decided the whole 2.0 thing was a phase?"
"What? No!" He drummed his fingers on the table. "It's about….the soccer team."
My ears twitched. I was suddenly far more invested in this conversation than before. "Oh? How….How bad is it?"
"I'm…" He rubbed the sleeves of his cyan jacket that he wore atop a red shirt with a rocket design. "I'm not on the team anymore."
"You QUIT THE SOCCER TEAM!?" I shouted in disbelief. Was this because of the nerd spell Britt keeps babbling about? Or because he was way too concerned about getting another concussion?
"Well, no, not exactly." He started to pace up and down the lunch table bench. "I was asked to leave."
"You were kicked off? HOW DARE THEY!?" They couldn't treat our star player like that just because he's a bit more concerned about his safety now.
His crystal blue eyes gazed across the lunchroom to the spot where the soccer team was currently sitting. "It's fine. Coach Dopkins says it's because my grade in gym is an F again." He explained. "And because I never show up to practice on time and I'm always distracted."
I genuinely didn't believe what I was hearing. "But you're our best player!"
Alvin rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Yeah, it sucks, but what ya gonna do?"
I climbed up on the lunch table and glared at him. "You fight it, that's what!"
"I'm not sure it's worth the fight." He admitted.
That blew my mind and not in a good way. "What do you mean!? Alvin, he's being unfair to you. You HAVE to fight it." I insisted.
"Maybe this is good though!" He fidgeted with his glasses and then took them off and began chewing on the arm of them. I could tell he was nervous. "I've been busy anyway." He slipped the glasses back on.
"Busy with the invention?" I asked, worrying about how much time he spent on that project, ignoring the rest of the world.
He shrugged. "Among…other things."
What was that pause for?
What other things did he mean? My detective instincts kicked in. I HAD to know more. "Did you join the Mathletes? Please tell me you didn't join the mathletes!" I knew that would REALLY set off my sister. She was walking on a thin enough thread of sanity.
Albert-Vincent, as I like to call him sometimes, looked down at the rubber friendship bracelets on his hands. "I don't have to go to a Mathlete meeting every day. No."
Interesting. I pried further. "You worded that funny? What gives?"
"I word everything funny." He replied with a chuckle. "That's nothing new, Ells."
Drat. I wasn't going to be able to pry any further. At least, not about him hanging out with Kevin and Cheesy. I could still ask about other things.
"So aside from the science stuff, what's got you so busy?" I folded my hands and stared directly at him. Let's see him weasel out of this!
"Ah, you know,…" He was SO nervous. "I just took up karate and ballet classes and this will give me more time to put my effort into those!" Alvin, buddy, get something to manage that anxiety!
"You're picking that over soccer?" I was hurt. This was the one thing I could always count on doing with Alvin. No matter how much he changed, we'd ALWAYS shared soccer. How could he just throw it away like that? The team needed him! I needed him.
He noticed how mad I was getting. "Just temporarily. I wanted to be in all three extracurriculars, but I'm stretching myself too thin. It's better this way. Plus, then I can actually focus on getting my gym grade up and re-join soccer next year!" He beamed like this was the best idea anyone had ever thought up.
I just about lost it. "NEXT YEAR!? NEXT YEAR!?"
"Ells, face facts. When it comes to soccer, I haven't exactly been the best team player. Now, you can get someone better and I can still enjoy sports outside of a team commitment. It's a win-win!" He opened his lunchbox and started chomping a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
To say I was merely mad would be an understatement. "I don't want "someone better," egghead! I want YOU." I pointed at him, in case it still wasn't clear.
"I'm sorry, Ells. Really." He washed down the sandwich with a blue raspberry flavored Hawaiian punch juice pouch. "I just don't have the time or energy to juggle soccer."
I sighed. I understood why he made his decision, but it still didn't sit right with me. "It's fine, Alvin." I said at last. "It's your life. I just hope you don't regret this."
"Ohoho! I still look forward to doin' sports stuff with ya." His nose twitched happily.
"…cool." I mumbled. I still didn't like his decision.
Theodore finally arrived to join us. He had been standing in the lunch line today instead of eating what Dave packed. His plate was piled high with veggie tacos and a side of potato wedges.
"Oh, hey! Theodore!" I shouted, waving at him. "I have a surprise for you."
"You do? Oh boy, what is it?" He asked.
"May I partake in this surprise?" Alvin slipped into his "scholar" tone. I had no idea if that was on purpose or not.
A pretty mean idea crossed my mind and I acted on it. "Sorry, the surprise is only for team players." I sneered. "Apparently, you're not one anymore." Too mean? Yeah, it was, wasn't it? Crap!
Alvin looked like he was going to respond with an insult and demand I give him the surprise, but then he stopped. "That's fair." He squeaked.
What the heck was wrong with this kid? It's like someone squeezed all the fight out of him. Urgh, don't try to figure it out, Eleanor. Focus on Theo and do your best to ignore whatever two point psycho is doing.
"Maybe it's a surprise you won't like." Theo told his brother.
I pulled out the container of cookies from my backpack. "Only if he doesn't like….peanut butter caramel cookies!" I announced.
Both chipmunks were practically drooling.
"Did I say it was fair? I mean it's unfair! It's very unfair!" Alvin reached for the container and I pulled it closer to me and Theo. "I want a cookie…maybe two. Three, if you're feeling generous."
Theodore grabbed a handful of cookies and started to nibble on one. "Mmmm. Thank you, Eleanor." He licked his lips. "Did you make these?"
"Nah, they're from Derek…" I started to say, before rudely being interrupted by Alvin.
"DEREK BAKES!?" The red capped boy gasped in astonishment.
I finished my sentence. "Derek's aunt Cynthia." I explained. "I won a sports bet against him."
"I fully endorse betting for cookies." Alvin snatched one when I wasn't looking. I gave up trying to punish him for leaving the team and let him have a few cookies. "Hey, speaking of Derek, did you hear he's got a girlfriend now?"
"For real?" Theodore asked between bites of cookie and taco. "Or in your head?"
I held back a laugh. Damn, Theo! That's right. Call him out on his flights of delusion.
"For real." Alvin told us. "Vanessa said they went on their first date last week. Evidently, it's pretty serious." He squeaked. Then, he frowned. I could tell that he was jealous. "Good for Derek. Gooood for Derek."
"You'll find a girlfriend someday, Alvin." Theodore assured him. "Maybe now's the time to finally step up and ask Brittany. You know she wants you."
"Yeah." I teased Alvin with sincerity. "She wants you BAD!"
The chipmunk in the cyan jacket folded his arms. "She doesn't want me. She only kissed me to get her old friend back. And, more importantly, I have absolutely no romantic attraction to her."
"Denial." Theodore and I chorused together in a sing song way.
Alvin shoved a cookie in his cheek. "Stop it."
"You stop denying your heart." Theo said, placing a paw over his own. "We've all seen how much you flirt and tease each other."
"While I don't think that teasing always equals flirting, I think Theo's right." I added, finally opening my own lunchbox. Today I packed potato salad, apple slices, and a protein shake. "You complain about how unlucky in love you are and how no one wants to flirt with you. Meanwhile, you have a great girl right in front of you and you're ignoring her."
"It's Brittany." He grumbled. "I don't wanna date Brittany." And then, he started making excuses. "Besides, I still have to adapt to being a total geekazoid now before I factor a girl into this mess."
Theodore and I both sighed. Why couldn't Brittany and Alvin stop being stubborn and talk things out? It didn't matter if their feelings were romantic or platonic, they needed to TALK about them. I was sick of everything being so awkward between the two.
"I thought the whole "2.0" thing WAS you adapting." I said a bit snidely as I nibbled an apple slice.
"Adapting. Not fully adapted." He started to chew his claws and then stopped, looking embarrassed. "The time just isn't right."
"Hey, Alvin,…" Logan had his black baseball cap on sideways as he walked past our table. "Where are you and Britt going on your honeymoon?"
"Honeymoon!?" Alvin stood up in shock. "We aren't even married."
Logan walked away laughing. This was the kind of thing Alvin had been dealing with since Homecoming. It didn't help that someone snapped a photo of the kiss and added it to our school website.
Did I feel bad? Sure. Could I have done anything about it? Not much. I had bigger fish to fry.
"And we aren't dating either! Nothing is official!" Alvin hollered, not that anyone would listen.
"Did you like the kiss?" Theodore tilted his head.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Alvin sat back down on the bench, looking like he wanted to disappear.
I needed to know how he felt, so I could know if my sister's obvious crush had any chance of working out. Because of this, I did something that was, well, pretty low.
"If you tell us, I'll give you three more cookies." I offered.
He sighed and took the deal. Finally, the boy in the rocket T shirt, spilled all the details. "It was my first kiss with a girl. Obviously, I enjoyed it. What I didn't enjoy was the fact that it happened despite me telling her NO. Did the kiss give me confusing feelings about Britt? Yeah." He rubbed his head. "Now I'm not sure I can even be friends with someone who's just gonna grab me and do that sorta thing whenever they feel like it. But it's BRITTANY and she's my best friend and I don't wanna lose her, but I also really really DON'T want to date her. Not now! Possibly not ever!"
That wasn't the reaction I was expecting. "You kissed Britt before, dude. Without her consent."
"That was a surprise cheek kiss." He reasoned. "I got swept up in the moment. It's different, isn't it?"
Theodore shook his head. "It's not so different."
"Oh." Now he looked guilty. "Well, I won't ever give her one again. That's for sure. Unless we do wind up…" He gagged on the last word. "Dating."
I handed him a few more cookies. "Thank you for telling us the truth."
Theodore had cleaned his plate of all but crumbs by now. "Yeah. Because we can't help you unless we know how you feel."
Alvin shoved the cookies in his mouth. "Can we talk more about the sports bet now? What did you bet on?"
"Baseball." I answered.
"Major league?" The red capped chipmunk questioned, tossing his empty ziplock bag back in his lunchbox.
"Nah!" I stretched my arms over my head. It felt like I was sitting too long. "Just college."
"How do you predict the winning team so often?" Theo nudged me.
"No clue. I just go with my gut." I answered, getting up to toss my garbage momentarily.
I heard Alvin start babbling behind me. "You mean you literally just guess? Imagine how good you'd be if you calculated batting averages and runs scored for each team and then used that to devise a function that can predict the outcome with 80% accuracy."
I sat back down with what must have been a very confused and yet fascinated expression. "I never thought of doing it like that." Maybe smart Alvin was the key to making me rich, but more importantly, NOTICED! If I could predict games with more accuracy and have more confidence in how they'd end, maybe I could bet real money instead of cookies!
"We'd be rolling in the cookie dough." Alvin finished, an almost-smirk appearing on his face. "Whattya say?"
"I say….you just might be onto something, poindexter." I tried my best to make sure I didn't look too evil when I smirked along with him.
Now, Theodore was the one who looked nervous. I should have taken that as a bad sign. I should have. But the opportunity of working with Alvin on a money making scheme was just too tempting!
When I got home after school that day, I heard Simon and Jeanette talking in the treehouse. I decided to watch them through the window while listening to what they said. It was fairly clear, just a bit muffled, but I understood every single word.
Surprise, surprise, it was ALL ABOUT ALVIN AGAIN!
"Look, I'm worried that the excessive candy binging might eventually start to affect Alvin's weight….more than it already has." Simon told my sister as gently as he possibly could, which for Simon was probably like wrestling an electric eel.
Jeanette was basically ignoring the issue he brought up and putting a positive spin on it. "Sometimes, gaining weight is healthy when you're healing from trauma."
It CAN be, but I wasn't so sure that applied to Alvin. Not that I have a problem with people gaining weight, I mean…COME ON! I'm a proud supporter of all body types. It's just…Alvin's been through so many drastic changes back to back, another change might cause him to implode.
Simon frowned. "Well, yes, in certain cases, but not this one." Hey! Exactly what I was thinking. Boy, I bet Simon and I would make a great team. "Not when he's more sugar than chipmunk!"
"I'll get him to cut back a little." Jeanette agreed, while fidgeting with her hands.
"You promise?" I could see relief in Simon's eyes.
"Of course. Although, I feel like I need to remind you, Chipmunks often gain weight in the fall and winter to prepare us for hibernation." I was starting to think my sister had done a lot of research on non-mutant chipmunks lately. Could she be right though? Did that apply to us?
Simon lost it. "Okay, sure, but not FROM EATING GUMMY WORMS!" He shouted, waving his arms around.
"Please, don't shout." Jeanette's ears drooped.
The chipmunk in blue reached out a hand to the sad girl. "I'm sorry. But, you understand what I mean, don't you?"
She nodded meeky. "Yes. I do. Like I said, I will talk to him."
Eventually, I decided they'd had enough alone time. I opened the treehouse door loudly and jumped in to announce my presence.
"Simon, Jeanette, just the duo I was looking for." I said, putting my backpack down at the front door. "I need your help with something."
"What is it?" Jeanette asked softly.
Simon's calculating gaze met mine. I could tell he didn't exactly trust me. Nor was he happy I interrupted his time with Jeanette.
"It's a sports thing." I explained, leading them both into the dining room area. "What do you know about baseball statistics?"
Simon stroked his chin. "We know about statistics, but not a ton about baseball aside from the basics of how the game is played."
"But we can research!" Jeanette added, fidgeting with a lavender flower hairclip that matched her lavender sweater with the purple and yellow butterfly. "We love research!"
"What prey tell would these baseball statistics be for? Your baseball team is off season right now." Simon's ocean blue eyes narrowed.
I knew I couldn't keep skirting around the truth. "It's for the College baseball season."
"You signed yourself up for college baseball?" My tall sister with the bun in her hair, took a seat at the dining room table. "How did you manage to do that?"
"Did you register under a fake name?" Simon's tone was pretty accusatory.
I stood next to the window. "I didn't sign up to play college basketball." I admitted at last. "I want to bet on it."
Both bespectacled chipmunks gasped.
Simon folded his arms. "I'm out. Sports betting is illegal. Especially, for you! It's underage gambling."
"Technically it's not." I reasoned. "My birthday was September 17th which means I WOULD have been turning 10 if I could age. Add 10 to the 8 years we know we've been trapped in limbo and that makes 18, baby!" I was REALLY proud of that loophole.
Simon made a funny noise halfway between a squeak and a groan. "I really don't think that's how it works."
"Me either." Added Jeanette as she looked more nervous than she had a few seconds ago.
"Besides, I may even be older than 18. Alvin said "at least 8 years" could have been more! I might even be something like…40!" I told Simon confidently.
Simon was definitely not amused. "I highly doubt you're 40, and it doesn't matter because PHYSICALLY you are still a CHILD!" He reminded me like I wasn't aware. "And we can't TELL anyone we can't age or the whole dimension could collapse!" Urgh, enough with the talk of the world ending. Do you have a darker mind than I do, Simon?
"You take the fun out of everything." I grumbled.
"That's my job." He looked vaguely proud of that. "I have to protect all of you, because you do a terrible job of keeping yourselves safe!"
"Simon is very good at his job." My sister gushed. Are we SURE she isn't crushing on him?
"What if I bet in Miss. Miller's name?" I asked, hoping that would get them on board with my idea. I knew I couldn't rely on just Alvin. I needed an entire team of brainiacs. Each one brought a different set of skills to the table. Together, we'd be unstoppable.
Unfortunately, Simon was STILL vehemently against it all. "Now you're talking identity theft too."
"I'm not stealing her identity!" I protested. "I can easily get her to agree to enter her info. She'll think making a little extra cash is cool! Although, she'll probably spend a lot of it on infomercial junk and taking her cat to get a perm."
"Duchess did look lovely the last time she got her fur done." Jeanette reminisced, trying to distract herself from what we were discussing. Her morals weren't as loose as mine.
"The only reason Miss. Miller agrees to things like this, is because she's a senile old lady!" Simon shouted rather loudly.
Jeanette and I both glared at him. "Don't talk about our mom like that!" We warned him.
"Even if it is true." I added under my breath. I loved mom to pieces, but I had to agree she didn't exactly have a great memory, or hand eye coordination, and she was extremely easy to fool.
Still, I was fooling her for her benefit. I wouldn't bet for very long either, just long enough to get enough cash to buy my way into the spotlight. Pretty soon, nobody would forget the name of the most charitable person in school! ME!
"My apologies. I could have found a nicer way to word that." Simon rubbed his nose. "But my point still stands. It's unethical to pull the wool over your mother's eyes and make her agree to something she doesn't fully understand."
"Simon's right, Eleanor." Jeanette twirled a strand of her brown hair. "It's morally wrong."
"Okay okay, then I'll find someone else willing to be the adult. Someone who knows what's up." I agreed. "But that person's probably going to want a pretty big cut of the cash." I warned them. Not that they cared about the cash.
"If that's the case, then I would be willing to help out." Simon responded.
"I would as well." Jeanette added with her midnight blue eye's sparkling. "As long as you promise to stop before things turn into a disaster."
I shook both their hands. "You have yourselves a deal."
"Let's get started." Simon took his laptop from his backpack and set it on the table. "I'll create an excel document to collect all the data."
"And I'll look online and gather as much data as I can." My sister smiled shyly at Simon and then grabbed her own laptop from upstairs, bringing it downstairs to work right by Simon's side.
The treehouse door creaked open and another chipmunk entered. He was so late, I'd almost forgotten I'd asked him to come here.
"And I'll help explain the importance of baseball physics!" Alvin 2.0 strutted inside clutching his two physics books. One for realistic physics and one about cartoon physics.
"What is HE doing here?" Simon sighed, while still typing.
Alvin looked hurt. "Is that any way to treat your favorite brother?"
"Hi, Alvin!" Jeanette waved at him. "I know you're very eager to help, but Simon, Eleanor, and I can handle this."
"Well, actually…" I chuckled nervously. "Alvin's part of this team too."
"Say what now?" Simon's eyes widened.
Alvin took a seat on the side of the table opposite Simon and Jeanette. "Using statistics and a function was my idea." He informed them. "Not to brag or anything." He tapped his head with his pointer finger. "Also, Ells needs my physics powers."
Simon closed the partially made Excel document. Then, he turned his laptop off and stood up. "No. No no. If this is Alvin's idea, I'm out."
"Come on, bro! Don't bail. Ells needs ya." Funny how Alvin could be so passionate about not letting Simon bail, despite bailing on the soccer team himself.
"It'll be okay, Simon. Alvin has better ideas now, remember?" Jeanette said in her gentle tone.
Simon put the laptop back on the table. I could tell he was conflicted. "Statistically, Alvin's ideas end in disaster 95% of the time."
"Nuh uh!" Alvin argued. "It's 50/50!"
"That's why I need all of you." I explained, pulling up a spare chair and standing on it. "With four of us working together, Alvin's idea has less chance to fail. If I was just working with Alvin alone, I would probably end up in prison or something."
"Hey!" The redhead commented, before changing his tune. "I mean, you aren't exactly wrong, but still "hey."
"I see." Simon looked around and then back to me. "So Jeanette and I are failsafes?"
"Pretty much, yeah. You all bring something different to the plan. I'm the tactical one, Alvin's the big idea guy, you're the math genius and idea editor to keep us from making mistakes, and Jeanette is the data collector." I winked at my sister. "She also helps us all not tear each other to shreds when we disagree."
"I am also fairly good at math." Alvin weighed in.
Simon opened the laptop back up. I guess he was going along with the plan now. "You have a C plus in math." He reminded his brother.
"Which for me, is fairly good!" Alvin stood up and put a hand on his hip. Simon was right about him gaining weight, wow. His hips were really noticeable, even through the loose and baggy shirt. I wonder how long it'll take before he notices. I'm certainly not saying a word.
We all did research and crunched numbers and calculated and recalculated. We didn't manage to get everything finished in that day, so we met up in our free time for a few more days after that.
While they devised the predictive function, I started to wonder which adult I could get to agree to bet on baseball with us. Then, it hit me! The answer was so obvious!
Who had a moral compass that was similar to mine? Who did things that were seen as bad, but for good reasons? Who was a little bit scattered, but less forgetful and more aware than my mom? Who was best friends with my mom?
The answer? MS. CRONER! She could totally help us! Plus, she really knew her baseball! She'd helped coach my team of misfits a few times! If this plan worked, her cats were sure gonna be dining on some fancy cat food.
So Saturday, we all went to Ms. Croner's house to get her fully briefed on the plan. Simon took this as well as you can expect.
"Ms. Croner? That's who you contacted!? She's only slightly more self aware than Miss. Miller." He facepalmed. "I knew agreeing to this was a bad idea."
"Si, dude, it'll work. Pigtails has got this handled!" The boy in the cyan jacket and sports jersey that said his obnoxious new name on it, jumped up and knocked on Ms. Croner's door.
"Ms. Croner does have plenty of experience with baseball." Jeanette added, putting her arm around Simon.
He softened slightly, but I could tell the idea still didn't sit well with him.
The frail looking old woman who is surprisingly strong answered the door wearing a purple cardigan over a yellow and pink dress. Her pink shoes had tiny cat faces on them. Those were a gift that Jeanette had gotten her.
"Eloise!" She greeted me. "Alfred, Seigfried!" She looked at Simon and Alvin, who weren't looking as much like twins as they usually did. Then, she bent down with a loud CREAK to address my sister. "And Jeanette!"
"How does she know your name?" I whispered quietly to the Chipette in the lilac colored sweater and violet overalls.
Jeanette's lips formed a quirky smile. "I take care of her cats a lot." She reasoned.
"What do you want?" The old woman hissed, sounding less friendly than earlier. "Did you blow a hole in my rosebushes this time?" She stared at Alvin 2.0.
"No, no, uh, Eloise…err Eleanor here would like to chat with you about a little business opportunity." He smiled, showing the braces that had been on since his skateboarding accident many months ago.
"Yeah." I tried to sound as sweet as possible. "Can we come in? It's about baseball."
The old woman brightened. "I do like baseball." She replied. "Alright, you may enter, but don't touch anything breakable or I'll have your head!" She warned.
A few minutes later, we were all seated on the couch in her parlor. Cats surrounded us from every angle, watching us with judgey eyes.
Jeanette was petting an orange tabby cat while a brown and white spotted cat batted at the bow hanging down from her messy bun on a ribbon.
"Okay, so, this is going to sound a little crazy." I told the only adult in the room. "We want to help you earn some money…by betting on baseball."
"It sounds too risky." She waved her hands. "I'm out."
"Wait! You haven't even heard the best part!" I exclaimed.
Alvin swooped in to explain for me. I wish he'd let me handle it, but he didn't do THAT badly, so I guess it was fine. "There's barely ANY risk! This trio of geniuses has all the data we need to determine who wins and who loses!" He grabbed onto both Simon and Jeanette and pulled them closer to him.
The cats weren't happy with Jeanette being taken from them and they followed her and bumped her with their heads.
"While the risk is minimal, there is still a risk." Simon awkwardly added. "Saying barely any is a stretch. The risk is 20%."
Alvin jumped from the couch to the arm of the chair Ms. Croner was sitting in. "But think about all that cash!" He quipped. "That cold hard cash! Just waiting for ya!"
"And you can bet against the type of mean rich people like Mr. Humphrey! Redistribute their wealth!" Jeanette suggested, petting both cats that were cozying up to her. "I know I'm donating my share of money to charity."
Ms. Croner tapped her chin. "I do like the idea of sticking it to those golden gooses."
"So you're in?" Alvin's red orange tail wagged so fast that it was a blur.
Our local crazy cat lady raised her fist in the air. "Oh what the hay. Let's do it!"
Alvin jumped back to the couch and high fived me while Simon looked at us both with furrowed eyebrows and worry in his eyes.
Simon and I teamed up and taught Ms. Croner how to use the website for placing her bets. I helped make sure she didn't leave any trackable digital footprints. Meanwhile, Alvin and Jeanette both did more research and collected data on every college baseball team in the state of California. We were in this to win it!
Within two days, Ms. Croner had placed her first bet. The day after, I snuck the 5 of us past security and into the stands at the very game we'd bet on. Would the outcome be what we expected? We could only wait and see.
Ms. Croner wore the same yellow and pink dress, now without the purple cardigan. She had a matching pink and yellow baseball cap on her head. My outfit was what appeared to be a solid medium teal shirt and darker teal shorts. On the back of the shirt, was the phrase "Always Fast, Never Last." Loved that shirt!
Simon was in a blue T shirt that said E= MC squared and some deeper blue shorts. Jeanette had on a medium purple shirt with an earth logo that said ECO GIRL and a pair of dark purple shorts. Alvin "2.0" was without the cyan jacket and just wearing the red jersey with his name on it in cyan. His shorts were just a medium blue-ish. He stuck out like a sore thumb sitting next to Simon and Jeanette munching a hotdog.
"Don't get ketchup on me." Simon hissed, moving closer to Jeanette and away from his brother.
"My bad." Alvin smacked his lips loudly as he chewed. It didn't bug me as much as it clearly bugged Simon.
"Oh I'm so nervous." Jeanette squeaked. "I wish I brought a fidget."
Ms. Croner watched the first player in the batting lineup step up to the plate. "Back in my day, we didn't have those shiny, gaudy, aluminum bats." She rambled. "We always used good old fashioned wood. It worked just fine."
"Fun fact: Aluminum bats are hollow inside! That allows the ball to compress them and then bounce back with more SPRING!" Alvin babbled. "This is known as….come on, anyone….does anyone know the answer?"
"I know it, but I'm trying to watch the game." I muttered.
Simon sighed. "Alvin, with all due respect. The material may be fascinating, but this is hardly the time for…"
His red clad brother made a buzzer noise with his mouth. "Eeeeer. Time's up! It's called the Trampoline Effect."
"Fascinating." Jeanette exclaimed. "Tell me more."
"No!" I groaned. "Just watch the game. I brought us here to watch the game."
"Wait a minute…." The chipmunk in the darker blue T-shirt said suddenly. "We don't go to this college and we weren't invited to this game. How did we get in?"
"That's classified." I replied with a smirk.
"Foul! Foul ball!" Ms. Croner called out. "Did you see that foul?"
"Shhhh." I told her. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
A couple hours later, the game was drawing to a close. Alvin and Ms. Croner were no less loud.
"They got a home run!" The elderly woman cheered.
"Ohoho! Did you see that? He was all like "yoink! I'll be taking home plate now." Alvin slid across the bench and landed on Jeanette and Simon. "Whoops."
"How much longer is this game?" Simon yawned. "I'm running out of steam."
"Someone forgot to know his energy." Alvin teased, climbing back into his seat. He started to sing. "Know your energy."
"Cut it out, Alvin." I hissed. The score was currently tied. It didn't seem like the statistics had helped predict anything. This may have been a huge mistake.
"I don't want to say I warned you, but I warned you." Simon muttered.
"It ain't over yet." I reminded my team.
"HEY! YOU KIDS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" A booming voice said.
I twisted my head to see it was coming from the man I'd distracted to sneak us into the event. "EVERYONE! RUN!" I yelled.
The guy chased us down the bleachers and we eventually lost him once we were really close to the fence. We actually had a better spot to watch the game from here, even though we didn't have anywhere to sit down.
"You're pretty fast for a geriatric." Alvin complimented Ms. Croner.
"Why you little…" She began. "I mean, thank you." I guess she liked the compliment.
"We're going to lose." Simon moaned, watching as the team against ours pulled ahead. "This was an awful idea."
"It does look like our calculations may have been off." Jeanette murmured. "Or this is one of those 20% times."
"Oof." Alvin grimaced, and his braces caught the sun and nearly blinded me. "Well, it WAS a good idea…in theory."
"There's still time left." I reminded them, folding my arms and then pointing at the field. "Keep watching."
Ms. Croner sat in the grass and pulled a pair of binoculars from her purse. "Maybe the other team is cheating."
"I doubt that's the reason." Simon pushed his glasses up. "I think we may have to call it, guys."
Then, like it had been planned all along, the team we were here to support scored one final home run, just as the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the game.
"Oh my gosh!" Jeanette flapped her hands like they were hummingbird wings.
"WE WON!" Alvin, Ms. Croner, and I all cheered together. Alvin and I both did cartwheels. If Ms. Croner tried to cartwheel, she'd probably break her hip.
"That was close." Simon murmured. "Too close."
Alvin nudged Simon. "Nah, that was proof that we're psychic!"
"Educational guesses do not make one psychic!" Simon argued.
"But they kind of do!" Alvin did a victory dance and tosses his cap into the air.
I caught it and then ran away from him.
"Hey! Give it back, Eleanor!" He chased me around and around.
"Come and get it!" I taunted. I eventually ran up and yanked the hat onto his head so far down that it covered his entire forehead.
He lifted it up and growled at me.
About two more weeks and many bets later, we were sittin' on some fat stacks of cash. We met up at Ms. Croner's to split the winnings. I took my share and Alvin took his share. Ms. Croner took her share.
"I have to admit, this has been fun." She agreed. "I feel like a kid again."
"I feel like I'm the only adult in this group." Simon commented dryly.
"Come get your money, Si!" Alvin waved a bunch of bills in front of Simon's face.
"No thank you." He stuck his hands in his jean pockets. "I'd rather not have anything besides an Excel spreadsheet linking me to this scheme."
"Suit yourself." Alvin handed Jeanette her cash. "Here's your share, Netta."
"I'm sure that the animal reserve will appreciate the donation." My sister took the cash, but she looked a bit uncomfortable too. "Is this the end then? Have we completed the goal, Eleanor?"
I tossed the money on the sofa and then rolled around in it. I'd always wanted to do that…without Brittany around to tease me about it. "Are you kidding? We are just getting started."
"And that's my cue." Simon started to walk toward the door. "You may keep the calculations and the spreadsheet, but I'm out. For real this time. I cannot be a part of this anymore."
"I think I'm out after this too." Jeanette admitted. "I've made money to donate to charity and I'm happy with that. I suggest we all quit while we're ahead."
"I'll quit pretty soon too." Alvin informed me, waving the money in front of him like a fan. "But I can manage a couple more bets, maybe some big ones! Cuz, scheme work makes the dream work, baby!"
He and I jumped at each other and bumped stomachs.
Simon was through with our antics. "I refuse to continue to participate in this scheme. I don't care how good your intentions are. Gambling is wrong. It's wrong for kids and wrong for adults too." He jumped up, opened the door, and walked out, slamming it behind him and startling all the cats, some of which jumped.
"Eh,…" I nonchalantly cleaned up the money I'd been rolling in. "We'll do fine without him."
"Ohoho! New videogames and art supplies, here I come!" Alvin 2.0 exclaimed.
"I don't care what Siegfried says." Ms. Croner rasped. "I enjoy the thrill."
"Who should we bet on next, Ells?" Alvin asked me.
I let out a wild and somewhat unhinged sounding laugh that definitely scared Jeanette. I had gotten a taste of the victory gambling could bring, and I didn't want it to stop. A gambling addiction is a very dangerous beast.
And we're going to leave it right there. I had no internet today and I typed up 90 percent of this without my notes! It's a good thing it was a chapter centered around one plot and not something more difficult. I love getting into Eleanor's head so much. Who knew an existential crisis would cause a gambling addiction to develop?
You'll hear from Eleanor again in the next part, because this is too long to be just one singular chapter. It is looking like the final number of chapters in this fic will be 50! Can you believe it?
Anyway, I would love to hear your predictions for what will happen next!
The next part will be ready ASAP! I have my notes again! YAAAY!
Also: You will notice that Eleanor conveniently left out the name of the teams she is betting on and who they're against. This is totally by design because she is a mysterious person who likes to withhold information. It's totally not because I had no internet to look up baseball teams. (wink wink)