You all know the drill by now. This was all supposed to be in the last chapter, so my intro for it will be short. The perils of making outlines, am I right?

At least this means the part I considered cutting will actually make it in!

Enjoy!

Alvin 2.0's POV

School was really interesting. Everyone around seemed to have a different reaction to our looks. We walked into the school in slow motion and I could tell that everyone except Jeanette and I were kinda nervous.

Simon kept hiding his striped sleeves behind his back. Theodore wore his patchwork vest proudly, but every time someone would look at it, you could see his eyes widen in terror. Brittany, by far, looked the most uncomfortable and…Eleanor was gone from my radar again. Seriously? How does she do that!?

We strolled through the halls and got mixed reactions from the other students.

"Cool vest, Theodore." Complimented Jesse and Anita.

"Adorable headband!" Added another girl to Jeanette.

Logan gave Simon the finger guns. "Really rockin' those stripes."

"Your vest is so crafty, Theo." Vanessa added, with her birdie bestie perched on her shoulder.

"Ya don't look half bad." EVEN Derek had nice stuff to say. He stood next to Vanessa and his eyes fell on me. "Except you. What is that thing?"

"It's argyle." I explained pointing at my sweater-vest.

"Isn't only being half-dorky your thing?" The former bully teased, because it was a bad habit.

Then, the girl in the pink dress with the bird on her shoulder nudged her boyfriend. "Quit it, Derek." She warned. "OMG, Brittany! Are those legwarmers?" Vanessa pointed down to her own. "They match mine!"

Brittany wasn't expecting the compliment. "Th…Thanks."

"I told you. Change can be good." Jeanette whispered to her sister.

Then, we hit a patch of the hall where the kids were a little meaner. It was to be expected. A lot of rude kids go to this school.

"Why are you wearing cat ears?" Amber teased Jeanette. "I thought you were a chipmunk."

"That's so ugly. You look like you're wearing a used dishrag." Bocarter sneered at Theodore.

"I wanna take the vest off now." My baby bro whispered. "Please, can I?"

"No. No. Just power through. Do you really care what Bocarter thinks?" I advised him.

Ray Ray laughed at Simon. "What? Do you think wearing stripes makes you cool or something?" He taunted.

Simon's eye twitched angrily. "I LIKE them."

"Dude, you're never gonna be cool." The bully laughed.

"And I care because?" Simon was surprisingly chill.

"Leave Simon alone, Raymond." Derek threatened, walking up behind my brother like a bodyguard.

"So you've finally chosen your side?" The kid in the beanie chuckled. "And ya picked the freaks?"

The boy in the varsity jacket folded his arms. His pride had been challenged. "Yeah. I guess I did."

"I am NOT a freak." I announced. "I am a mutant with superpowers. Get your facts straight."

"Yeah!" Theodore added, stepping out from hiding behind my back. "Don't mess with the little guy. Grrrr!"

Derek smiled. "Now, beat it, buttwipe." He sneered at Ray Ray.

"Way to go, Derek!" Eleanor cheered. "You rock, man."

"What a wimp." Ray Ray shoved the former bully as he walked away.

Derek held up a fist and struggled not to punch him. I feel that, dude. I feel it. I recalled struggling to not punch Brittany during our argument over the economics assignment.

The day went on and most people were receptive to our new looks. I even got some comments from kids on how the sweater-vest looked good on me. Which it did. I had to admit. Plus, Britt couldn't stand it, which was funny.

During lunch break, Kevin commented on it.

"So did you change your look again?" He asked.

"No. Of course not." I explained. "This is only for today. It's an experiment Jeanette devised. We're wearing stuff we've always wanted to wear."

Cheesy raised an eyebrow. "And you've always wanted to wear….that?"

I felt weird about my decision. Did I like this look? Surprisingly, yeah. "I guess the stereotypical nerd mojo must be stronger than I thought." I reasoned.

"So…." Simon jumped up to the dweeb table to join us. "Did you give Brittany the bad news yet? She seems to still be acting like you're a couple."

I frowned. "I tried and she didn't get it." I answered.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah. I was there. Can confirm, she is…"

Cheesy made the cuckoo sign and did a fake bird call. "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

"Cuckoo for coco puffs." I added.

"Did you say no?" Simon questioned me, unpacking his lunch. "Or did you say "maybe?"

"I…..uhhhh…." I looked at Kevin, hoping he'd help me out.

"I think he said no, but then changed it to maybe because she ignored the no." My geeky pal said.

"Alvin." Simon groaned. "You need to get this solved."

"I will." I promised. "Just gotta get some more advice on it."

And I definitely tried. At the end of the day, I caught up with Vanessa and Derek as Derek was getting ready for soccer practice.

"You guys are dating now, right?" I asked. "What's it like?"

Derek smiled. "Pretty fun. Why?"

"I have to decide whether or not to date Brittany or not." I recapped the situation for them. "Turns out, she's been crushing on me for years."

"Well,…" Vanessa nibbled her lip. "Romance requires compromise. A lot of compromise."

"If you date her, maybe she'll stop you from wearing sweater-vests." Joked the former bully.

"Not helping, Derek." I snapped.

Vanessa sat crosslegged on the bench by the soccer field. "I don't want to discourage you or anything, but if you and Brittany can't even compromise on the economics project. A relationship isn't going to be easier."

"Yeah!" Derek agreed. "Imagine going from doing everything you want, to half of everything you want. That's basically it."

Vanessa stood on her tip toes and poked his cheek. "But if you love someone, then you will be willing to let some things go."

"Thank you, both. This has been very enlightening." I told the two teens. "I know what I'm gonna do."

This talk had made me 100% sure, that no matter how sweet and nice and accommodating Brittany is, I STILL didn't want to date her. I already sacrificed enough of the stuff I liked, due to my obligations and life goals. Plus, I was awful at time management, and Britt was super good and she'd scold me every time I showed up late. A shudder ran through me. It would be like dating the soccer team and Miss. Smith combined. Crap. Now, I have no more excuses. I have to tell Brittany everything.

The next day, I was back in my usual attire with the letter A shirt and the cyan shirt under it that Jeanette had bought me. It felt a lot more ME than the sweater-vest. Though, the sweater-vest still felt like me, albeit a different version of me. I kept it in my closet, for special occasions.

Brittany surprised me by my locker with a plate of fresh oatmeal cookies. "How's my hardworking man today?" She asked.

I stared at the cookies. "Did you make these or Eleanor?"

"Me, obviously." She grinned. I noticed she was still wearing the pink legwarmers.

I wasn't convinced. "So what you're saying is, they'll give me food poisoning." I joked. Brittany was a lethal cook. If she made these, I didn't wanna taste one.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. It was Ellie."

I snatched a cookie off the plate and munched it.

A group of popular girls walked by, also wearing legwarmers. I felt my jaw drop and some cookie crumbs hit the floor. "Wh….Wh….What?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention." Brittany's laughter was tinkly, like bells. "I started a trend. Legwarmers are back in style! My sister comes up with the best ideas."

I wanted to remind her that Jeanette and I came up with the idea together, but I held my tongue. Maybe she was more likely to go along with it, because she THOUGHT it was only her sister's. Which, you know, the basis of it was.

"Good for you." I said, feigning enthusiasm.

We entered the classroom and pushed our desks together, and I once again suffered through the economics unit of history class. I'll spare you the details. Otherwise, I'll run out of time to tell the more important parts of this tale.

We met up again in the hallway after class, and I FINALLY had enough courage to tell her how I felt.

"Britt,…" I began. "The past few days have been great. I appreciate you picking on me less, but…"

"But, what?" The girl's blue eyes blinked. Gosh, she was so pretty! Why was I not in love with her? What kind of joke was this?

I took a deep breath and smashed her heart to smithereens. "I REALLY don't think we should date."

"What!? Why not!?" Her expressive ears drooped.

How did I put this in a way she'd agree with? "I can't possibly ruin your reputation, Britt." I said, more dramatically than intended.

And her patience began to thin. "You won't."

"I don't deserve you." I continued rambling. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be with an absolute mess of a guy like me. Besides, you said it yourself. The whole nerd thing makes you cringe."

She pulled at my cyan colored shirt sleeve. "Don't worry, I can change you back. You can be your old self again, all the parts of him that everyone loves."

Nooo! Not back to this again! How long did it take her? 4 days? Tops? Maybe 5 or 6? I knew it hadn't been over a week.

"But I don't want to change back. That's what I keep telling you.." I insisted. I was getting tired of saying those words.

The pretty Chipette pouted her pink lips. "Not even if it means that you can be with the girl of your dreams?"

I sighed, stepping back. I needed to have space to flee if this conversation suddenly went south. "Britt, you AREN'T the girl of my dreams." I responded, feeling my heartbeat increase.

"Then why are you always dragging me into them!? Huh?" She poked my chest with her finger.

"Because I think about you all the time." I reasoned. That was how my powers worked.

Brittany facepalmed. "Because you LOVE me, doofus." She repeated.

She could SAY it all she wanted. I knew better. "No. More like because you can't leave me alone and I'm always worried about upsetting you and losing your friendship." I blurted out, not really meaning to.

"Or you're in denial again." The Chipette frowned.

I felt cornered. I knew what I had to say, but the words wouldn't come out.

"What's the matter, Alvie? You know I'm right." She leaned against the lockers, triumphant grin on her pretty face.

"No, you AREN'T." I found my courage at last. "I wish I couldn't answer this differently, but I CAN'T. If you want me to have romantic feelings for you, you gotta stop pushing me so hard. Give me time for the feelings to sort themselves out." Urgh, I gotta stop talking before this turns into another "maybe." I scowled at her as I continued. "And realize that, I still might not ever want to be your boyfriend. Even after I have sorted myself out, there's a chance all we'll be is friends." YES! I did it. Now, for the gut punching question. "Is that okay? Do you even wanna still be my friend?" I meekly added.

"Of course I want to be your friend." She exclaimed. "I'll be your friend for as long as it takes for you to stop being in denial."

She STILL didn't get it!? All that work and she STILL didn't understand.

I clenched my fists tighter. "And what if I'm NOT in denial?"

Her smile flickered. It was as if the thought never crossed her mind before. She bought into the destiny bullcrap. Now, she was forced to consider the fact that I might never date her, or maybe even wind up with someone other than her.

"We'll deal with that whenever we have to." She gave up the pursuit AT LAST. "So, do you want to plan more of the wedding thing? Or is that awkward now?" She asked softly.

"It's no more awkward than it was before, so….I guess. Yeah." I answered. Phew. I was thrilled to finally have that settled, but it felt bittersweet nonetheless. I hoped I'd eventually wind up in love with Brittany, once she'd matured a bit more and loosened up that controlling attitude. She was a great girl. Seeing her head over heels for me was as amazing as it was annoying.

After school during the week, Simon, Netta, and I put in a little work on the invention each day. I felt like I was working harder than I had ever worked in my life. Sometimes, I did still get to goof off. I videotaped Jeanette unclogging a hose with her permission, so I could watch the video back and learn how to do it myself. She finally got the clog, which turned out to be a ball of my shed hair, unstuck. The hairball wound up launched and Simon and stuck to his glasses. It was HYSTERICAL!

But, one day, as the deadline grew near, Simon met up with me in my lab. He had terrible news.

"I think you should drop out of the contest. This is obviously too much for you to handle all at once." He said sadly.

"Simon, dude, I'm fine." My voice cracked horribly. I knew I'd overworked myself, but if I admit it, did that mean I'd have to drop out and let Simon and Jeanette present OUR invention?

My taller bro responded with one word. "Really?" He held up Brittany's compact mirror so I could see my face in it.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream of terror. My shoulder length hair was a mess, my cap was on crooked, and my face had once again broke out in that acne-style rash. In addition, my nose was red and puffy and my eyes had dark circles underneath them. I was starting to realize the life of the grind and I were basically enemies. I was not cut out for this. I would never be cut out for this. One big project at a time was my limit.

"I warned you about burnout. Did I not?" Simon asked, closing the mirror.

I touched my face in horror. I knew I would look great again as soon as I stopped overworking myself, but I just COULDN'T stop.

"But I don't WANT to do the project with Britt!" I reminded him. "And I DO want to work on the Junior Inventor thing! This SUCKS! IT'S NOT FAAAIR!" I whined. "We've come this far, I can't bail now!"

My brother looked at our almost complete automatic dog washer, sitting on my lab table. "Well, errr, I suppose, if it's what you really want more than anything." He didn't look sure, but he allowed me to make my choice.

"It is! I promise I'll relax later." I said in a rush.

"I've heard that before." My brother groaned. "Then it's back to…."

He played a recording of my voice from his phone. "Relax? What an absurd suggestion. Science waits for no one! I must master my exceptional inventing abilities! Join me, my erudite sibling and together we'll improve the whole world!"

"Who is that?" I asked, despite knowing, I just couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. "Is that…?"

"My invisible brother who lives in the walls." Simon joked, sarcastically.

I groaned. "Simon!"

He didn't even crack a smile. "Clearly, it's you."

I gulped. "Is that what I sound like?"

"Pretty much, yes." He pocketed the phone.

Horrifying. How did I let myself slip that far!? "I'm so pretentious and….nerdy." I moaned.

He nodded. "Yes, you are. We've been over this."

"I didn't realize I sounded like…..like…..a stereotypical dweeb too!" I squeaked, voice cracking.

"Well, you don't talk like that ALL the time." Simon reminded me, finally smiling. "Sometimes, you still sound like a blithering simpleton."

"I do?" I asked.

"Of course!" My brother finished.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good."

Simon chuckled. "I recorded that solely because Dave was convinced I imagined you saying it. I proved him wrong."

"Oh, Si!" I facepalmed and hit my glasses. Ouch.

Oof. Great, so now Dave knew I was extremely nerdy too. I guess I'd have to make peace with that. There are a lot of worse things to be. Besides, I was gonna live it up over the summer, to make up for all this grueling and unending work!

I did eventually take Simon's advice and take some breaks. The rash cleared up, the dark circles reduced, and my newly acquired seasonal allergies went back to acceptable levels. Even my voice was back to sounding stronger and more vibrant. The bad thing was, it took longer to complete both projects.

At last, the time came to test our invention. It was the day of the Junior Inventor's Contest. Time was up. We'd JUST made the deadline. Talk about perfect timing.

We showed off the finished product to our family members. Simon and Netta allowed me to announce it.

"At long last, we give you,…" I pulled the sheet off the invention. "The Doggie Bath-O-Matic!" The name idea was all mine. "Trademark pending."

Everyone clapped.

"Let's make sure it works before we go trademarking it." Simon advised. He was once again sporting his new striped shirt. Just the sleeves visible. He was taking little steps toward exploring his style. Makes a bro proud.

Eleanor was still in her lavender and teal jacket and ripped shorts combo. "So are you testing this thing on a real dog, or what?" She asked, looking bored.

Jeanette twisted at the long ribbon hanging from her bun. "Well, eventually, yes, but for our first test we need something else. I'm not confident it won't malfunction."

"Ohoho! I'm sure it'll work perfectly." I exclaimed. "You and Simon worked on it."

The girl in the purple lab coat smiled at me. "You did your part too." She said sweetly. Ah, I could listen to her talk all day.

Her pigtailed sister chuckled. "Yeah, but he's the reason it might malfunction."

"Thanks, Ells." I said angrily.

Brittany frowned at the shorter Chipette. "Don't be rude, sis."

"You are KIDDING me right now." Eleanor muttered.

Yeah, Britt was STILL being nicer to me, following my confession. I expected it to wear off eventually. A small sliver of me missed the banter. It wasn't that I wanted it to disappear. I just wanted it reduced.

Theodore entered the bedroom, wearing his patchwork vest over a green long sleeve shirt. "I know what you can test it on!" He waved a filthy mud covered beagle plush in the air. "This is Woofy Williams." He introduced us to the pooch. "Brittany got him for me at the carnival. And then he got all messy in a mud fight with Eleanor."

"He couldn't dodge my attacks." The green eyed blonde bragged.

Theo gave the plush to Jeanette. "Will he work?" My baby bro asked.

Jeanette set the plush in the Bath-O-Matic. "I think so! Thank you, Theodore!"

"One clean puppy, comin' up!" I announced. "Si,.." I pointed to the machine. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Simon smiled at me and pressed the button. The machine hummed to life. The hoses moved around quickly. The invention shook and sputtered, but eventually we heard a loud DING! Then, the lights began to flash.

Jeanette pulled out the clean toy. She handed it to a very amazed Theo.

"Wow! He looks like new!" My baby bro hugged the toy.

I high fived both Jeanette and Simon. "We are such geniuses!" I boasted.

Simon's watch beeped as he slipped his royal blue labcoat on. "We have to hustle!" He shrieked. "Or we'll be late."

Dave helped us load the invention into the car and then we were off to the competition. Because it was in town, I didn't even have to use my alias as Albert. I could actually BE Alvin 2.0. In fact. I'd written "2.0" next to my name on my cyan labcoat in fabric marker.

We stood by our masterpiece, getting more anxious by the second. I saw a dude with a shaved head and a long beard and tiny little oval glasses on his nose. Oooh! I bet he's one of the judges!

"This is the coolest thing I have ever done!" I squeaked to my best friend and my brother.

"Really?" Jeanette looked at me strangely. "I think you've done a lot of cool things. How can you pick?"

Simon patted my shoulder. "There is NO WAY this is cooler than your flying skateboard." He complimented me. He actually complimented my very first invention! I'd say "who is this guy and where's the real Simon?" But, I am pretty sure we've moved past that. Simon and I were really getting to know the new me.

"Yeah. You're right." I laughed.

"There's a judge headed this way." Jeanette warned us. "Ohhhh." She ducked behind Simon.

The man I'd seen earlier stopped at our table and admired our work. "Very original, kids." His eyes drifted to Simon and suddenly he was starstruck. "Good heavens. Are you Simon Seville?"

Simon pointed to his nametag.

"It is such a privilege to meet you." The judge gushed.

My brother puffed out his chest. "Likewise, Sir." He shook the man's hand.

The judge guy kept talking. "Is it true that you built a functional flying machine called the Munkmobile? I've heard rumors, but I just have to know."

My brother looked unsure how to handle the attention. "I did, yes." He responded.

Okay, enough about Simon. He wasn't the only impressive chipmunk around. I mean, look who's standing next to him! I had to get the judge to notice me!

I slid up beside Simon with a charismatic smile. At least, I hoped it was charismatic. My charisma stat had dropped pretty low recently.

"You know, I'm something of a scientist myself!" I declared, shaking the judges hand. "According to Simon, I have completed my scientific rite of passage and therefore earned the title." I went on. Then, I pointed to the quietest member of our little trio. "And my friend Jeanette did too, we couldn't have accomplished any of this without her. It was basically her idea." I finished.

Jeanette stepped out into view and waved nervously. "Hello."

"You are an amazing young lady." The judge reached out his hand.

The shy girl shook his hand with her minuscule chipmunk one. "Th…Thanks."

The competition dragged on and on after that. I was very bored. Watching the other teams present was kinda fun, but I still couldn't wait until we were up.

Theodore and Eleanor arrived, carrying a live golden retriever puppy.

"Doggo Delivery service!" Eleanor announced.

"Woof woof." Added Theodore.

"You're just in time." Simon told them. "Cutting it close."

"Sorry." Theo's ears drooped. "We had to wait for Bart's owner to get home."

If you don't know, Bart is a puppy Theo found that he named TJ. Then, we took care of the little guy until his owners showed up. Theodore still visits him regularly.

Jeanette scooped up the puppy carefully and prepared to put him in the machine. "Don't worry." She told him, petting his head. "I promise it's safe."

I thought the machine started up fine, but Simon looked at it strangely. "I don't think it's supposed to shake that much."

"Yeah it is." I assured him.

"No. It isn't." He started to panic. "Something is wrong."

One of the hoses jiggled loose and smacked Eleanor in the face.

"Ow!" She held her nose. "Yeah. I'm with Simon. This thing's haywire. HIT THE DECK!"

"The water pressure's rising." Jeanette nibbled her fingernails. "Shut it down!"

"Oh good." A sassy voice came from behind us. "I haven't missed the show."

I turned around and saw Brittany. Had she come here to support me? Or watch me fail?

"We have to get Bart out of there!" Wailed Theo.

Jeanette wasted no time sticking her hands inside the contraption to free the puppy. It was risky, but I knew she'd always risk her life to save an animal in trouble. That's who she is! She managed to get out with only a few scratches from a soap covered brush. Phew.

The invention continued to shake and I faced Brittany with anger coursing through me. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, but with the order the events had played out, who could blame me.

"What are you mad about this time?" The girl in the pink dress quipped, seemingly unphased by the chaos.

I knew at last why she was acting so nice. All the times she wanted to "help" with the invention. She'd made me let my guard down, and I'd fallen into her trap. "YOU SABOTAGED IT!" I cried. "I can't believe I didn't catch it sooner. You want me to fail and give up my dream of being a scientist, so you SABOTAGED our invention!"

"No, I didn't." She shrieked angrily. "I wouldn't do that!"

"LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" I growled. "This is low, Britt! This is the lowest you have ever sunk! I HATE YOU!" I screamed.

"Before we go pointing fingers,…" Simon gestured to the machine. "We have to fix this! How do we fix this!?"

"Also…" Theo pointed to the crowd. "People are staring at you."

I grabbed Britt by her shirt. "TELL ME WHAT YOU DID, SO WE CAN FIX IT!" I ordered.

She started to get angrier too. "Oh my gosh. I show up to support you and THIS is how you treat me!?"

"GUYS!" Jeanette held the frightened puppy. "Calm down. Bart is very scared."

"Alvin, I'm sure Brittany didn't do anything!" Simon exclaimed. "It was probably you."

"ME!?" I was outraged. "WHAT!?"

"You weren't paying attention and you probably connected something wrong!" He accused.

I felt my fur stand on end. "Then explain why it worked at the house and not here!"

"I….I don't know." Simon stammered.

"I'm sure it's Alvin's fault." Brittany interjected. "He couldn't handle two projects at once." She pointed to the blue and purple clad chipmunks. "He should have let you two be the team, but noooo. He has to try and do everything even if it runs him into the ground!"

Eleanor nodded. "Yeah. That seems likely.

"Of course. When in doubt, blame Alvin!" I shouted. "Then wonder why Alvin no longer wants to act like Alvin!"

The pigtailed girl frowned, looking guilty. "Sorry, I just don't think Britt would sabotage you."

"She's been so nice lately." Theodore said in his childish tone.

"It's all an ACT!" I replied, emotions entirely out of control. "SHE TRICKED ME!"

Jeanette handed the golden retriever puppy to Eleanor and took a look at the malfunctioning invention. "I know what's wrong!" She squeaked. "It's missing a piece."

Theodore gasped. His brown eyes lit up. "There was a little piece that fell off when you tested it. I didn't know it was important! Honest!"

"Oof." I felt awful. "My bad. Sorry, Britt."

She walked away from me. "You better be." She hissed.

"Do you know what piece it was?" Simon asked eagerly. "Because I am not great at thinking under pressure."

I dunno, Si. I thought to myself. You were pretty good in the department store when you came up with a plan to save me.

Theodore scrunched his nose. "Uh….it was….uh….a small piece."

I groaned. We were getting nowhere. "Look who you're talking to, Simon. Did you really expect him to know?" At least, the blame was off me.

"Let's just calm down." Jeanette advised, gesturing with her hands.

My taller bro wailed. "Calm down! Calm down! Our invention is a disaster, Jeanette!"

I took note of the components of the invention. Twisty thing, flippy thing, hose connectors, the brush holder. The spinny doohicky. Hold on. There was an empty space…and I knew what needed to fill it. "Wait, you guys! I know exactly what piece is missing."

"Oh thank goodness." Simon rubbed his forehead. "Which one is it?"

I proudly smiled. Ohoho! Saving the day. "The black square thingie."

Simon stared at me with a blank face, before bursting into an irritated growl "...THAT DOESN'T HELP ME!"

"Not to alarm anyone,.." Jeanette gulped. "but I think this thing is about to blow."

Right. We really should have turned the thing off before we started arguing.

"Come on!" Simon pleaded. "You have to know what piece we need."

Knowing Simon and I were occupied, The Chipette in purple shut the invention down. She adjusted her round purple glasses. "Crisis averted." She breathed. "…mostly"

My brother continued to beg. "Alvin, I don't want to put more pressure on you, but you NEED to know this."

"I told you! It's the black square thingie." I repeated.

"But what's it called!?" He was freaking out.

"I don't remember!" I yelled.

He sighed and then got extra irritated. "This, this right here, is why it's important to know what things are called."

Oh right. Maybe, maybe he had a point. I needed to think!

"I know what it does!" I claimed truthfully. "It controls…uhhh…something important."

"What!? What is it, bro!? What!?" Simon was turning paler by the second.

Boy, I was feeling hot. Hot from the panic and embarrassment. Like a fever of 100 degrees. Wait a sec….hot….degrees….I knew the answer! "Temperature! It controls temperature!" I sputtered out.

Simon and Jeanette looked at each other and the two bespectacled brainiacs shouted in unison. "The temperature sensor!"

"So that's why the water pressure raised so much!" The brunette girl realized out loud.

Simon had regained some confidence. "We can fix it! Hurry!"

"How!?" I wondered. "Where are we gonna get another black box thingie?"

"You guys….you'll never guess what I found." Theodore said happily, pulling the missing temperature sensor out of his pocket. "I must have put it in here and forgot."

I squeezed my little bro tightly. "Ohoho! Theo, you may have just saved the day!"

"We don't have any time to lose, people!" Simon yelped.

And so, we managed to repair the Doggie Bath-O-Matic and present it for the judges after all. We didn't win, but we came darn close. The judge who idolized Simon congratulated us on our ingenuity and quick thinking.

"Ooh boy, what a day." I stretched as I climbed back into Dave's car.

"How did it go?" Our dad asked.

"It was nearly explosive." Eleanor said playfully, rubbing her bruised nose.

Theodore lifted Bart into the car and then climbed in after the rambunctious canine. "I saved the day!"

"We lost." Simon mentioned, hopping up to join Theo.

"But we also won!" Jeanette added, jumping in the car after him. "The invention worked. Isn't that the most important part?"

"Yeah." My taller bro agreed. "I guess we did kind of win."

"Ohoho yes!" I smiled. "And I have yet another working invention to my name!"

Brittany poked at me. "And now you can take a break."

Simon gave me a look that I knew meant that Brittany was right.

I agreed. "Yeah. Now I can take a break."

Days flew by and I made sure to put my best foot forward on the whole marriage project. It was a lot easier to focus on it, now that I wasn't busy in the lab. I even watched some Project Runway with Brittany, to make up for wrongly accusing her of sabotaging the invention. Meanwhile, Eleanor, Theo, and Simon, took the Bath-O-Matic all over the neighborhood. They gave free shampoos and scrubs to all the dogs in town. As for Netta, she worked on her fairy kitten story. We kept in touch frequently. She would send me updates! I treasured each one.

At the end of April, I arrived home from school one day to an incredible thing! I landed and dismounted my flying skateboard, tucked it under my arm, opened the door and strolled into the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!" A cacophony of noisy voices shouted.

I jumped up in shock…and dropped the skateboard on my toe. It was unharmed. My toe was bruised. Did I care!? No! Not one bit.

"What's all this?" I asked, putting away my skateboard. I read the banner hanging over the archway.

It said "WE ACCEPT YOU, ALVIN 2.0!"

Dave stepped forward and knelt down to my level. "Brittany told me that it's been over a year since you lost your popularity. We all wanted to do something special, to celebrate how much you've grown."

"Britt,…" I felt tears prick my eyes. "Brittany did this for me?"

"Yeah I did." The cheer queen did a flip and landed in front of me. "And I even invited all your nerd pals! And your non nerd pals too!"

I looked at the array of guests. Kevin, Cheesy, the comic club, Anita, Officer Dangus, Bruce, Warren, even Logan showed up! And of course, Britt's sisters were there, and my family.

"Thanks, Britt. This is….the nicest thing you've ever done for me." I blubbered.

Theo handed me a kleenex and I blew my nose.

"I tried to get Dr. Wilson." Brittany unfolded a letter and handed it to me. "He couldn't make it, but he sent you a card."

I read the card aloud. It was short, but the words filled me with hope. "Hello, Alvin. Your friend tells me that you've hit another big milestone in your life. Unfortunately, I can't make it to your party, but I want you to know that you've not only reached your potential, you've surpassed it.

Sky's the limit, young scholar. Reach for the stars." I sniffled. "Sincerely, Dr. Adam Wilson."

"Yay, Alvin!" Theodore blew a party horn.

Eleanor joined him, shaking a pair of maracas. "Oh yeah! Go, Alvin! Go, go, go, Alvin!"

"Wait until you see the cake we made you!" My littlest brother squealed gleefuly.

Miss. Miller brought out a three tiered cake, with the bottom tier in yellow, the middle one in red, and the top one in cyan. It was decorated with physics equations, music notes, and sports equipment…all drawn with deep crimson frosting. At the very top of the cake, my name was meticulously spelled out in periodic table elements.

"Whoah! That looks stupendous!" I exclaimed.

"Those were my idea." Simon revealed, pointing at the top of the cake. "I might not have much culinarily expertise, but my steady hands make decorating a breeze." And his perfectionism too.

"Nuh uh." Theodore called Simon out. "You scraped that off and started over like fifteen times. Don't lie."

"You can take the first slice, dear." Miss. Miller told me. "You are the guest of honor."

"In your own home, apparently." Eleanor chided with a chuckle.

I grabbed my slice of cake and then took a seat between Kevin and Jeanette at the dining room table. "Am I dreaming?" I wondered aloud.

Jeanette fidgeted with her butterfly necklace while munching some vegan cupcakes. "I don't think so."

"And Britt REALLY did all this?" I asked again.

"Well, I helped with the music selection." Kevin bragged. Ohhh, so that's why the background score was some of my favorite tunes.

"We all pitched in." Dave sat across from me. "But Brittany was in charge."

Hey, at least she put all that controlling energy to good use.

I nibbled at some of my cake. "This is so weird." I laughed. "I love it, it's wonderful, but boy does it feel WEIRD." I wiped some cyan frosting off my letter A shirt.

"Look at you!" Jeanette gushed. "The little sapling has grown into a tall and mighty tree!"

"Jeanette,…" I felt both good, and embarrassed. "I'm the same height I've always been." I joked.

"I meant it metaphorically." She explained, as if I didn't know. Gotta love her, I mean, like her.

"Oh….well I do FEEL taller and stronger." I stood up in the chair and flexed my muscles.

Brittany rolled her eyes. I guess she thought my muscles weren't impressive.

The weirdest part was that Britt did all this, and yet, I only saw her as a friend. I guess her plan had failed…If that was her plan.

We finished the cake and talked about our favorite Alvin 2.0 memories. Then, we cleared space in the living room and danced for an hour. Dave got tired and rested in an arm chair while Miss. Miller kept on boogy-ing. That old lady had some moves!

Warbie ate too much cake and Eleanor took care of him while he was sick in the bathroom. Poor bird. Geizmo and Zeela played blocks in the corner, but the two robot toddlers occasionally hurled a block at the rest of us now and then. I had the strangest life.

And it was only getting stranger. Just before the party ended, Brittany came over to me holding my favorite cyan jacket. "Don't be mad." She opened up the jacket and showed me a tiny red heart embroidered inside it with the words Be True. Be You. It was small.

"Well,…" I responded, slightly aggravated and reading too much into the heart. "I don't appreciate ya stealin' my jacket, but…I like it." I slipped the jacket on, fiddling with the dangly acorn shaped zipper pull. "Do you mean this?" I pointed to the words.

She nodded. Her strawberry blonde ponytail bobbled. "Theodore told me that even though I don't understand it,…I might never understand it. I can still be nice to you so….this, all this,…" She gestured to my looks. "It's okay."

"That's your apology? It's okay?" I was understandably miffed.

Brittany got defensive. "It is a perfectly good apology."

I tapped my cheek. "It doesn't really read as an apology to me." I told her.

"Why not?" She grumbled.

I slipped into my more scholarly tone. "Because of the glaring absence of the phrases "I'm sorry" and "I was wrong."

The Chipette's blue eyes blazed. "I'm….sorry…..that you lost your mind and then made the rest of us deal with it!"

I made a buzzer noise with my mouth. "Wrong answer! But thanks for playing!"

She went off on another desperate rant. "I'm sorry I didn't love the crazy person you turned into and I'm still getting used to him!? Huh!? Is that what you want to hear!?" She got choked up. "I'm sorry I treated you like a possession I owned! I'm sorry I tried to stop you from hanging out with my sister! I'm sorry I am a jealous and horrible monster who…only wanted to be with you."

I held up a hand, my own eyes starting to water. I felt Britt's pain. Being rejected was the worst. "Okay, okay, that's enough." I frowned. "Now I feel bad for making you apologize. We're cool, Britt. At least for now. I appreciate the trying. I just wish you could get used to me faster. Though, you know, I understand ya gotta go at your own pace." I said my peace.

"I wish I could get used to this faster too." She agreed. "I'm mad that…I can't"

I smiled at her, encouraging her to continue practicing. "Keep working at it. You'll get there. I know you will."

"You're a good friend, Alvin." She looked guilty. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"I know, Brittany." I replied. "I know. And I accept your apology."

"I miss our playful arguments." She whispered quietly.

I grinned. "I miss them too. But, you can still tease me, okay? Just…know that sometimes I'm gonna tell ya to stop…and, you know, mean it."

"Oh thank goodness." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Because being nice to you this long has been TORTURE!"

I smirked. "I know."

And there you have it! My friendship with Britt bounced back to almost exactly what it had been before all the drama. We even managed to finish the marriage project by the deadline. We compromised! But, I did give Britt a bit more agency over the decisions than I did. It wasn't a perfect 50/50 split, yet it did the trick. We got a B! A B for Beautiful Brittany…as she reminded me CONSTANTLY.

Theodore and Eleanor got an A on their….I dunno how to describe it. It was like super secret agent themed AND toy store themed at the same time. There was also wrestling and a cookie eating contest.

Simon and Jeanette's wedding project made me feel nauseous again. Especially when I saw the drawings of them riding together on two white horses. The decorations were nice, but too traditional for my taste. I guess Simon didn't let Netta show off her more unique side. Or maybe she just felt like going more traditional. The dress she picked was outstanding. I wished I could see her wear it, instead of having to imagine it based on the power point presentation slide. Whatever. I'm rambling again. They also got an A.

I met up with Brittany in the hall, holding my hands behind my back.

"What's up, two point weirdo?" She asked, closing her compact and dropping it into her purse.

I grinned. "Now that our project is over, I have a present for you."

Her strawberry blonde tail wagged. "A present?"

"Yep! Hold out your hands." I instructed.

The girl in the light pink tank top and shimmery ruffle red skirt held out her hands excitedly. "Oh, I knew you'd come around! What did you get me? What did you get me?"

I handed the Chipette a small stack of papers. "Our divorce papers."

"W-What?" She stammered. "Y..Y…You can't be serious."

I folded my arms. "The theme was marriage."

"Marriages don't end like this! They can't!" She wailed.

I smirked. "Some do." I started to walk away from her. "Consider this marriage, effectively over."

Brittany's strong hands crumbled the divorce papers as she fell to her knees and yelled up at the ceiling. "ALVINNNN!"

Ohoho! Now, it was like that assignment never happened. Free at last. Life is SWEET!

May turned to June and soon, yearbook superlatives were announced. I felt like I had once again bounced back to the midpoint between my old self and my new self. Not too troublesome. Not too geeky. Just the best mix of both.

"Congratulations, bro." Simon showed me my picture in the yearbook.

I had done it. The coveted award was mine. I felt like my new persona was now indefinitely locked in place. Though, honestly, I had felt that way since the acceptance party. It was official! I had changed all our lives! For the better!

"I'm not sure how you did it." My brother continued. "You just keep surprising me."

"So, you won the most improved award AGAIN?" Eleanor walked beside Simon in her signature watermelon hoodie. "What are you gonna do now?"

I pumped my fist to the sky, attracting the attention of Theo, Jeanette, and Brittany.

"I'm going TO SPACE CAMP!" I exclaimed, already thinking about how fun the first few weeks of summer would be.

"Space camp?" Brittany looked confused.

I put a hand on one of my hips. "Got a problem with that?" I asked, putting more swing in my step.

"Yeah, Britt." Theodore echoed. "Got a problem with that?"

The girl in pink shook her head and practiced being more accepting. "No, No, no problems. Go. Enjoy nerd camp."

I grinned at her. "Can I interest you in joining me?" I teased.

She got very grouchy, as I expected. "Not a chance."

"Are you sure that's how you want to start the summer?" Simon asked, narrowing his eyes. "There are classes there. It's kind of like summer school."

"But they're more fun than Miss. Smith's." Jeanette assured me.

I grabbed the soft spoked girl's hand. "I'm sure." I repeated. "Sign me up for SPACE CAMP!"

As I skipped down the hall holding Jeanette's hand, I could hear my brothers conversing about me.

"Should we tell him there's no aliens at space camp?" Theodore asked Simon.

My fellow genius bro sounded smug. "No. Let him be surprised."

No aliens? Ha! That's what they think. I bet I'll find one! I mean, I might. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm getting into. But, I'm sure I'll love it! A couple weeks of hanging out with my brothers and Jeanette and Ells! Learnin' more about astronomy and astrophysics!? WHAT COULD BE BETTER!? And, that's not even the best part. I'd finally be able to take a good long break away from Brittany! After the economics project, I NEEDED that. She needed it too!

Ohoho! This summer belongs to me! Adventure, excitement, intrigue! I could have it all! I deserved it all! I knew myself and I knew how to stand up for myself. I had beat my identity crisis to the point where I was 80% healed! I survived another year of school and I am ready to reap my reward. Simon says I should get a journal to take notes. I can't WAIT to decorate it with STICKERS! Let the Space Camp preparations BEGIN!

I did it! I got through the mess! And, I didn't even have to cut the acceptance party from the chapter. It's so nice to see Brittany accept Alvin AT LAST! Or at least, begin actually trying too. AND SHE THREW HIM A WHOLE PARTY! There's that heart of gold shining through.

I really loved writing the Junior Inventor's contest part. The way everything came together was perfect! And, it proves Alvin's over his need to win now. Or at least, getting better at not being devastated when he doesn't. I cannot stress how good Jeanette is for him.

Oh, that Alvin 2.0 sure is a character. What awaits him at Space Camp? Will it be what he's expecting? What hijinks await?

Special thanks to my friend Torchu212 again for the divorce papers scene lines. It was the perfect end to the fake wedding arc. Sorry, Alvittany fans.

Please review! I love hearing which parts are your favorite and which characters bring the best bits. I try to make sure everyone shines, despite the focus being on Alvin. It'll be interesting doing most of the next chapter without Brittany, but she'll probably make a cameo or two.

And with that, I bid you farewell! For now! Take care, everyone!