With this newfound determination, Brittany exited her room, went downstairs and made her way into the Miller kitchen. Once the Chipette was in the kitchen, she saw both of her little sisters there. Jeanette was clearing her plate and glass off the kitchen table, while Eleanor was putting some chocolate chip pancakes onto a plate.
So that's what Eleanor had made for breakfast this morning. Chocolate chip pancakes, served with plenty of butter and maple syrup for everyone. There was also some bacon and scrambled eggs on the side. It all smelled so good! But the auburn-haired Chipette knew it was all loaded with carbs and about a million calories. She felt as if she was getting fatter just from inhaling all these fatty breakfast foods.
Brittany then took a look at both her sisters to see what they had chosen for their first day back to school outfits.
Jeanette was wearing a long, shapeless dark purple dress with an equally shapeless lavender cardigan. The cardigan was buttoned up, but it looked like not all the buttons were properly aligned with the loops they were supposed to go through. So the sweater was now in some weird asymmetrical shape that it was clearly not meant to be in.
She was wearing black ballet flats that were looking a little bit tattered. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, just like the one she had always worn since they were little. Not intentionally so, of course. She wasn't wearing any makeup. And of course, she was wearing her signature glasses.
Brittany couldn't help but roll her eyes at her middle sister's fashion choices. She had really wished Jeanette would've woken her up and asked for her help in picking out her back to school look this morning.
The truth is, Brittany knew how pretty Jeanette really was. But if she would've just let Brittany pick out a stylish outfit for her (as well as do her hair and makeup), she would have been drop dead gorgeous. She always was anytime she would let Brittany make her over for dances and dates with Simon. It was especially obvious, judging by the fact that the middle Seville brother couldn't take his eyes off the brunette Chipette anytime Brittany handled her look for the evening.
But that was Jeanette Miller for you. She hated wearing makeup. And she very much preferred to be comfortable rather than fashionable. So she stuck to a makeup-free, baggy clothed look for the first day of school.
Brittany sighed. She was so tempted to take Jeanette up to her room right now and redo her entire look. But the eldest Miller sister had her own problems to deal with right now.
The blue-eyed teenager then looked over at her baby sister's choice of outfit for today. Eleanor's back to school attire was a little more acceptable. The blonde Chipette had opted for a pair of skinny jeans and a white raglan jersey t-shirt with spring green cap sleeves that had "California" written on the front of it in spring green letters with the number "83" below the writing, also colored spring green.
She was wearing white Skechers. She had on small silver studded earrings. Her makeup was very light. All she wore was some lip gloss and mascara. Eleanor had ditched her signature pigtails during their Freshman year of high school. She now wore her platinum blonde hair back in a sleek, elegant French braid.
While Brittany thought the outfit was a little too casual for the first day back (first days were supposed to be all about making an impression, after all!) and she still hated the color green after all these years, the oldest Chipette had to admit that the youngest Miller sister pulled this look off well.
Then Brittany took another look at both of her sisters. Even through the loose-fitting clothes Jeanette was wearing, you could tell how tall and thin she was. Some would even say she had the body of a supermodel or dancer. She definitely looked graceful, despite not exactly being the most coordinated of her sisters. If only she would allow Brittany to help her bring out her true beauty more often, instead of hiding it behind those frumpy clothes.
And Eleanor had slimmed down quite a bit since they were kids. Thanks to all the sports she played, she had lost all that weight. While not exactly super skinny the way Jeanette was, she had curves in all the right places. Needless to say, all the boys at their school found her extremely attractive. She got asked out on dates constantly. But she'd always say no because she was madly in love with Theodore.
Brittany then looked down at her own body, suddenly seeing every single pound she gained all over her body. This all felt so unreal to her. Out of all three Chipettes, who would've ever thought that she would be the one to struggle with her weight the most?
"Oh, looks like somebody finally woke up!" Eleanor chirped in her usual cheery voice, shaking Brittany from her thoughts. "I thought either Jeanette or I were gonna have to go upstairs to get you."
"Yeah," Jeanette agreed, as she walked over to the dishwasher to put her dirty dish and glass in there. "You don't want to be late for our first day of school."
"Anyway," Eleanor continued. "There's plenty of food left over for you."
The youngest Chipette started putting a couple of chocolate chip pancakes onto a plate for her sister, until she was stopped.
"Actually," Brittany started out. "I'm really not that hungry. Like, at all. So why don't you just put my breakfast in the fridge for me and I'll eat it later. Like Jeanette said, I don't want to be late. And because of my knee, I'm a lot slower than you guys. So I'm just gonna go now and I'll see you both when I get to school, ok?"
She decided not to tell her sisters about the new diet she had decided she was going to start today. Sure, she had been on diets before. But those were usually just to help her maintain her weight for things like dances so she could make sure she still would fit into her dress for the big event.
This was the first time that Brittany was starting a diet to actively lose weight. She never had to do this before because she had always been satisfied with her weight in the past. Now she had to really get serious about limiting what she ate. And for some reason, she just didn't feel comfortable confiding in her sisters about her diet this time.
Jeanette and Eleanor both looked at each other with concern. But ultimately, they decided not to push their older sister. They knew she was under more stress than usual with this being the first day back for all of them. They weren't going to fight her over one skipped meal. Or question her over the fact that she actually cared about being on time for anything for once. Especially school.
Eleanor simply nodded her head and started packing up all the food into containers to put away in the refrigerator, just like her sister had asked of her.
Brittany picked up her large pink tote bag and made her way out the door, her knee slowing her down significantly. Once the eldest Chipette was outside, she let out a heavy sigh.
She knew Eleanor had worked hard to make breakfast for them all. She felt bad for not eating with her sisters. It would have been nice to indulge in all those rich breakfast foods. And since Eleanor had cooked it, it was guaranteed to be delicious. But the teenager realized she had to prioritize here.
The most important thing right now was sticking to her plan in order to get back the control in her life that she so desperately craved. And she knew the only way to do that was to start with controlling what kind of food she put in her mouth. In turn, she expected all those excess pounds to go away in no time. She had to do this. She had to remain strong.
Brittany swung her bag over her shoulder, held her head high and slowly hobbled on her way to school. Thankfully, the high school wasn't very far from their home. She didn't feel like waiting around for Dave to give her a ride this morning. More to the point, she didn't want to run the risk of seeing Alvin.
The eldest Chipmunk had his own car now and while Brittany wasn't sure if he would actually offer her a ride or not, she just really wasn't up to dealing with him right now. She wanted to avoid seeing him at all.
Of course, she realized that would be impossible once she was at school. They were bound to run into each other in the halls at some point. And it was likely they would have some classes together as well. She just hoped they wouldn't have the same lunch period or their lockers near each other.
Although, she was allowed to leave school grounds to eat off campus now that she was a Junior. So it seems at least that was an option for her. It was doubtful her so-called friends from the cheer squad were going to let her sit at their table this semester anyway. And probably next semester as well since it was looking unlikely she would be cleared for cheerleading that soon.
When Brittany arrived at school and limped in through those doors, she continued to keep her head up high and look ahead of her. There was no way she could let anyone at that school know how insecure she was feeling right now as a result of her newly discovered weight gain. Especially not Alvin or the cheerleading squad.
"Just fake it until you make it." She told herself in her head. Hoping maybe nobody would notice the extra weight if she acted like it didn't exist herself.
Although she was limping because of her knee, she continued to act as if nothing in her life had changed between the time before she got hurt and now.
She looked down at her outfit and sighed. The jeans might not have been her first choice for her back to school ensemble. She wished she could be in her favorite miniskirt right now. But still, she intended to rock these jeans as if they were the hottest trend to exist right now. There was at least one good thing about them- they hid her knee brace from plain sight. The constant reminder of everything she had lost over the last six months.
At least she was able to still wear her eye-catching red top. And with any luck, Alvin would notice too.
As if right on cue, she just so happened to see her ex-boyfriend as she walked by a row of lockers. She kept her composure. Instead of walking the other way, she decided she was going to walk right past him and smile.
She wanted to get their first encounter after the big breakup over with already. And what better way was there to make Alvin think she wasn't fazed by any of it? Yes, she was happy with this plan. She intended to have Alvin believe she was totally over him.
Meanwhile, Alvin was struggling to keep his cool himself when he noticed Brittany. Of course, the first thing that caught his sight was the red tank top. His favorite color and he loved the way it looked on her. He knew she wore it today specifically to drive him crazy. And it was working!
But it was more than just her wearing his color and how incredible she looked in that top. Seeing Brittany in red was reminding Alvin of the night they slept together. Specifically, of the lingerie she wore right before they did the deed. The lingerie he had taken off of her himself, revealing her beautiful body to him for the first time.
He also couldn't help but notice how great her ass looked in those jeans she was wearing. God, he loved it when she wore tight clothes that showed off her figure! And now that he knew what she looked like under those clothes... he couldn't keep an involuntary smile from forming on his face as memories from his intimate night with Brittany came flooding back to him.
Every kiss, every touch... how they both had their hands all over each other. Exploring each other's bodies for the first time ever. How good it felt for them to be the closest they had ever been. But the teenage Chipmunk shook his head as he forced himself to get a grip.
He knew he needed to stop thinking about Brittany in that way. After all, he was the one who broke up with her.
He looked her over once again as she got closer to him and for the second time that day, a huge smile took over his face.
Then again, every guy is entitled to his fantasies.
"Here she comes!" Alvin thought, as he straightened his shoulders and tried to seem nonchalant. After all, he couldn't let Brittany know what he had literally just been thinking about.
As Brittany approached Alvin, those beautiful icy blue eyes gazed right into his and she flashed him a huge smile which showed off her perfectly white teeth.
"Hey Alvin." She said in a calm and casual tone of voice.
"Hey Brittany." He replied, trying to match the cool and easygoing sound of the auburn-haired beauty.
Despite how confident he managed to come across to his ex, his head was filled with nothing but doubts. His thoughts were racing, wondering what he should say next.
More than anything, Alvin wanted to tell Brittany that he made a huge mistake and he knew it. He wanted to just grab her, wrap his arms around her, kiss her and beg her to take him back.
He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and he realized he would never find anyone better suited for him. But why would she even give him the time of day after the way he dumped her?
Then he wondered if maybe he should ask her if she's ok. Not just to see how she's been holding up after the breakup though. He knew that the rest of her problems didn't exactly magically disappear either.
But knowing Brittany's temper the way he did, he knew it was likely she was just going to yell at him and tell him he had no right to ask her things like that anymore. But still, it didn't feel right to not ask how she was doing at all. She was still his friend. Or was she?
If anyone had tried to call Alvin a coward before, he would've laughed in their face and gone to great lengths to try to prove them wrong. But that's exactly what he felt like right now. A coward. Damn! Even Theodore had more guts than this.
Fortunately, Brittany had taken off before he even had much of a chance to say anything to her. Alvin watched her walk away. He'd never seen anyone who was limping manage to maintain the kind of confidence Brittany was exhibiting. He couldn't help but admire her strong-will and determination.
Of course, he had always known this about her. But now all it made him do was continue to regret his decision. Which left him with the same question as before. Did he really do the right thing?
And then he couldn't help but wonder how Brittany seemed so totally unfazed by seeing him and was even smiling at him. Was she actually over him already? Thinking Brittany got over him this quickly really bothered him a lot.
He never liked thinking of himself as being the kind of guy any girl could just easily get over. But especially not Brittany. The girl who he had just spent the last four years in a relationship with.
The one he had turned down dates with countless other girls for because of his love for her. And after they just shared their first time together not that long ago... how could she already be over him?
Alvin sighed heavily as he decided not to think about it anymore. He pulled his class schedule out of his red backpack and buried his face in it. He was suddenly very eager to find out what his first class was and go to it.
Not that he actually cared about being on time, of course. But anything was better than hanging around this hall and risking another awkward confrontation with his ex.
At the same time, Brittany was thinking about the confrontation she just had with Alvin as well. There was no yelling, no arguing and no otherwise nasty words exchanged between the two oldest Chipmunks. And yet, that was somehow one of the most uncomfortable moments she had ever experienced in her entire life.
In fact, the whole no hostility thing is probably what made this all so awkward. Ever since they met when they were children, they have always had a love/hate relationship which consisted of back and forth banter.
Even after they became a couple in seventh grade, that never stopped. So being all hi and bye like this really wasn't typical for them at all. Being ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend was painfully brand new territory for them.
But at least now she had gotten that out of the way. Up next, dealing with her squad friends. If they were even still her friends, that is.
After the morning had passed and Brittany's first few classes were over with, it was finally time for lunch. Brittany was starving at this point.
When the Chipette had entered the cafeteria, her nose was greeted by the aroma of all the different foods being served. And she could tell right away none of it was exactly what you would call healthy options.
The teenage girl grabbed a tray and got on the line to buy lunch. However, she was immediately put off as she got closer to the front and saw what the fluorescent lighted cafeteria had to offer for lunch.
Chicken nuggets, fries, cheese pizza slices that she could see the grease dripping off of and some weird kind of brown meat-looking thing she wasn't even sure how to identify. She didn't even see any fruits or vegetables there, so she could at least fill up on some corn or something.
Were lunches this unhealthy at all schools? She couldn't believe she never took notice before. No wonder Eleanor always insisted on making her own lunches to bring to school.
The teenage Chipette sighed as she left the lunch line and put the light blue tray she had taken back. There was no way she was going to ruin her whole diet by eating any of this unhealthy crap.
Brittany decided to look around to see which of her friends from the squad had the same lunch period as her. She looked around and finally spotted two girls from cheerleading, Erika Sheridan and Shelby Cassidy. And they were sitting with... Missy Snootson. Of course. Just her luck.
While she maybe could have tried to approach Erika and Shelby on her own, she knew it was no use as long as Missy was gatekeeping their table.
Suddenly, Brittany found herself reliving her first day back at school after returning from a week of bed rest last year. Specifically, the moment she had tried to join her friends at their table.
Flashback - Six months ago
Having adapted to walking on crutches pretty quickly, Brittany made her way into the cafeteria as if she had been using the crutches for months. She smiled when she noticed her squad all sitting together, laughing and having what appeared to be a good time.
The young Chipette went over to the table of familiar faces. She didn't even bother getting lunch. She was just super eager to see her friends again.
Even though she had been forced to leave the squad while her knee healed, these girls were all still her friends. Right? She was sure they would still let her sit with them.
Brittany approached the table and started to pull out an empty chair next to Missy, until she was stopped by the curly-haired brunette herself.
"What do you think you're doing, Brittany?" Missy asked, in her usual snobby tone of voice.
The auburn-haired Chipette shot the brunette teenager a look that said "Are you kidding me?".
Missy scoffed and then continued to speak.
"Oh, I get it now. All those painkillers must be messing up your brain. Not that there was really much there to mess with anyway."
Brittany glared at her and was about to say something equally mean back at Missy, until she was cut off by her number one enemy.
"Well, let me explain the rules to you again." Missy then went on as if she was talking to a toddler. "You see, this table is for cheerleaders only. You are not a cheerleader anymore, which means there's no room for you at this table now. So, bye-bye Brittany! You'll have to find somewhere else to sit from now on."
Brittany continued to glare at Missy and gritted her teeth.
"I'm only off the squad temporarily, Missy." She said through her gritted teeth. "When my knee is fully healed, I'll be back. Not only that, but I'll be captain again too. And you'll go back to being co-captain. Playing second banana to me, like always."
"Yeah, we'll just see about that." Missy said arrogantly, then laughed.
Brittany scowled. There was no way she was just going to take what Missy was telling her at face value. Sure, she might've taken Brittany's place as cheer captain while she was stuck on the sidelines, but that didn't mean the entire squad was going to start excluding her from everything from this point on.
The determined teenager refused to give up on finding a seat at her squad's table. She belonged there and she knew it, even if Missy couldn't seem to accept that.
Brittany made her way over to another chair on her crutches. This one was next to a girl with long, straight dark brown hair. This was her friend, Erika. Erika would let Brittany sit next to her for sure!
But then Brittany was caught by surprise as Erika put her pink Hello Kitty tote bag down in the chair.
"This seat is being saved." Erika responded, while pushing back her dark brown bangs and not even looking at Brittany.
"For who?" Brittany asked, raising her eyebrow. Disbelief was evident in her voice. "Really, Erika? You're really saving this seat for someone else?"
"Look..." Erika continued. "I think Missy has a point. We're pretty full here. I mean, it's like you need a reservation these days."
Brittany was now in shock. She couldn't believe this was really happening.
Then a girl with wavy, dark blonde hair spoke up and pointed her finger to another table. Her friend, Shelby.
"Isn't that your sister Eleanor over there?"
Brittany looked over to where Shelby was pointing and saw Eleanor eating lunch with some girls from her soccer team. They were all talking with each other and laughing. Her baby sister certainly looked like she was having a better time than her right now.
"I'm sure your sister and her friends won't mind if you crash their table for today." Shelby suggested.
Brittany saw the somewhat apologetic look in her green eyes. Did Shelby have sympathy for her? But then why was she going along with Missy and the rest of the squad with their decision to freeze her out?
Brittany knew she had no choice but to just leave at this point. She hated accepting defeat. Especially when it hurt this much.
While Brittany and Missy were never exactly friends to begin with, she had actually liked Erika and Shelby. And she couldn't believe how much they were letting Missy manipulate them.
Brittany decided to leave the cafeteria altogether after that. She wasn't even sure where she was gonna go. But anything was better than staying here and watching her former friends having fun without her. With that, she made her way out of there on the crutches.
End of flashback
Having just gone through this very vivid memory, Brittany suddenly felt super uncomfortable being back in this cafeteria again. And on top of that, her stomach was now growling and she was feeling sharp hunger pangs.
The smell of all of those unhealthy, fatty foods the cafeteria was serving was getting to the Chipette. She knew it didn't help at all that she had skipped breakfast today. And now, it looked like she would be skipping lunch as well. But she had to get out of here so she wouldn't be tempted.
She looked around to see if anyone else she knew was there. It looked like Alvin and her sisters all had different lunch periods. She did see Simon. He was with a group of friends who Brittany assumed were part of the science club he was always going on about at band practice.
She also saw Theodore sitting at a table and eating with some boy who's name she didn't even know. It was hard for her to believe Simon and Theodore had more active social lives than she did right now.
In any case, the two younger Seville brothers were clearly preoccupied at this moment. They probably weren't going to notice Brittany slipping out. She could always use the excuse that she was having lunch off campus anyway.
When Brittany was outside the school, she found a bench to sit at. To distract herself from how hungry and stressed out she was feeling, she pulled some homework she was assigned from her earlier classes out of her tote bag.
That's right. Brittany Miller was actually going to spend her lunch period doing homework. She couldn't believe it herself. If you told her this would happen just a few months ago, she would've laughed in your face. But she was just so desperate to take her mind off everything going on in her life right now.
When Brittany got home that night, she barely even ate dinner. She nibbled on some vegetables from the salad, but wouldn't touch the spaghetti or mashed potatoes Eleanor had made. She just told her sisters she was still full from lunch, so she didn't feel like eating much.
And this would continue for the next few weeks. Brittany would not eat the breakfast that Eleanor had prepared in the mornings. She would either just grab an apple and head out the door or skip breakfast entirely.
She would avoid the cafeteria at school and just go outside and get some of her homework done instead of eating lunch. And for dinner, she'd only eat the vegetables that Eleanor was serving and avoided all the fattening, carb-filled foods.
Eventually, Brittany started to feel satisfied over hearing her stomach growl and feeling the hunger pangs. To her, this meant she was finally showing her body she was the one in charge, not the other way around.
She knew that pretty soon, she was going to put on her favorite skirt again and be able to zip it all the way up this time. She couldn't wait until the scale went back down to her old weight. Or even better, less than what her old weight was. And that time was coming soon. She just knew it.
A/N - Looks like Brittany is headed in a dangerous direction! We already know from the first chapter that this will NOT go well for her.
So was her interaction with Alvin anything like you expected it to be? He's definitely still very much in love with her! If only Britt knew how he really felt about her.
What about the cheerleading squad with her "friends"? Do you think they'll ever accept Brittany back into their clique? Or will Missy continue to manipulate them?
And how long do you think it will take for the others to notice Brittany's concerning change in eating patterns?
Thank you again for all your sweet reviews, everyone! It always makes my day to read them. And they've been keeping me motivated as well.
I appreciate all the favorites and follows too. Seriously, you guys are amazing!
I hope you've all enjoyed chapter five! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
