I have decided to put together a bunch of mini stories that detail some key points in Alvin 2.0's arc. I figure his character development is more effective when you can follow him along as he's actually going through these things, rather than just having to take his word for it after the fact.

The first tale, for any of you Alvinnn fans out there, is connected to the events in the Alvinnn episode entitled "The Wall" not to be confused with the 80s episode of the same name. (If you ask me, they should have named this episode Popularity Contest because the 80s episode "The Wall" is so iconic it should not be messed with.)

Anyway, you don't HAVE to watch that episode first to understand this, but if you'd like to, go for it! It's only 11 minutes after all.

Enjoy this angst and friendship filled fic!

Alvin's POV

It all began like just another ordinary day. I had suffered through all my classes, as usual, I had totally crushed everyone in dodgeball, and I was just about to score myself a date with Sheridan! She was everything I love in a woman. Pretty, talented, popular, amazing smile, great personality.

I'd been hoping to ask her out for a while. I even asked Brittany for advice on what to say to her. Which, if I recall, had gone something like….this.

"Ya gotta help me, Britt. I love her! I need to be with her." I was on my knees in the middle of the hallway near Brittany's locker, begging my little heart out.

"You'll never get her. She's completely out of your league." Brittany stated, as she took out a spiral bound notebook and shoved it into her backpack.

I leaned against the locker and crossed one foot in front of the other, trying to look like the amazingly cool guy I was. "What are you talking about? I'm like the most popular guy in school! Any girl would be thrilled to go out with me!"

"You have mid tier popularity at best." Brittany said, rolling her eyes and slamming her locker door shut. "There are different levels to this stuff. Sure, you're popular, but you're not going to be homecoming king material or anything." She flipped her ponytail as I followed her through the hall.

Different levels of popularity? That was new information that I didn't realize before. I suppose it did make sense. Still, I wasn't going to ADMIT it made sense. "I could so be homecoming king! I could be prom king too! My coolness knows no bounds!"

She sat down on the steps at the school entrance and unzipped her backpack again, pulling out the school yearbook. Her sister Jeanette was on the yearbook committee and that's why she had a test copy already before the end of the year…I think. I'll be honest, I don't really pay attention to stuff like that.

The beautiful girl in pink opened the yearbook and showed me my picture. I looked GOOD! My hair was perfect! My smile was incredible! I was holding my coveted Most Improved Award that I had won by getting my grades up.

Now, before you go accusing me of being a nerd or anything, I ONLY tried for the Most Improved Award because it was a surefire way to get my picture in the yearbook after being absent on picture day. Because, like, come on! My face deserves to be looked at for years to come!

"Look at this!" Brittany pointed a manicured fingernail at my picture.

I chuckled. "I look at it all the time, Britt. I'm practically the most attractive guy in the world, after all."

She groaned loudly. I didn't know why. "Urgh. You are so full of yourself." She muttered. "No, you dimwitted bozo. This is your ONLY picture in the whole yearbook. You won Most Improved. That's it. You didn't even win any of the superlatives."

I blinked. "Superla…whats?"

She flipped through the pages of the book. "Superlatives, Alvin. You know, like Best Smile, Most Athletic, Coolest Hair, Cutest Couple…"

"Ohhhh yeah. So your point is?" I blinked again, barely processing her words because I was too busy thinking about the potential of a date with Sheridan.

"My point is, IF you were "the most popular" kid in school…you'd have won more than just the "I raised my grade point average" award." Brittany finished with a huff.

"So what you're saying is…that Sheridan and I should try and win cutest couple next year?" I asked excitedly.

Brittany's mouth gaped open like a fish. I knew I had said something stupid and completely misunderstood her, but I couldn't understand why or how. Which meant, I couldn't figure out how to come to whatever conclusion she was pushing me toward. I just needed her to say it outright. Enough of these mind games!

But, Brittany being Brittany wanted to continue to play the guessing game. "You know what? Do whatever you want, Alvin. I'm done trying to help you."

"You haven't helped me at all!" I shouted. Then, I ran off to join my brothers as we waited for Dave.

"Hi, Alvin." Theodore greeted me. "How did your day go?"

I ignored most of his question and jumped right in to what I wanted to ask. "It was fine. I'm finally gonna ask Sheridan out. What should I say to her?"

Simon smirked. "How about "Hello, Sherri. Would you be interested in dating a one foot tall chipmunk who causes trouble wherever he goes?" He joked.

"Ha ha." I laughed sarcastically. "Hurry up and give me an idea! My phone is running out of battery!" I had the text chat open. The little box I was meant to fill with words was blank. Usually I don't overthink things, I just impulsively jump in. But would that work for this?

"How about just "will you go out with me?" Theo suggested. "Or how about "I really like you. Wanna catch a movie?"

"Oh! Those are both brilliant, Theo!" I raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you come up with that?"

He shrugged. "I watch romance shows on TV sometimes."

I started to type the second thing Theo said into the text box, but my phone screen suddenly went dark. Battery dead. Dreams shattered. I wanted to scream.

"Oooh tough break." Simon remarked. "But don't worry, you can still text her when we get home after your phone is charged."

"Nohoho!" I moaned. "I have to do it now! I won't have time at home after Dave lectures me!"

Simon pushed up his dorky round blue glasses that made him look like a smurf. "Lectures you? What did you do this time?"

"Oh nothing." I put my dead phone in my pocket and my hands behind my back. "Just that I'm….flunking math again."

"Aw man, Alvin." Theo sighed. "Already?"

"You just won an AWARD for getting your grades up to almost all As." Simon reminded me, as if I didn't already know AND feel guilty about it. "That was less than 2 months ago! And now you're FLUNKING!? AGAIN!?"

I tried to play the situation off as a joke, hoping to break the tension. "You know me. Ol unreliable." I shrugged. "Besides, I already met my goal of winnin' the award, so…eh who needs good grades anyway?"

Simon shook his head, fed up with my antics. "Maybe you don't need As or Bs, but you need to at least pass."

I looked behind me at the school. Maybe I could run inside there and talk to Sheridan real quick before Dave got here.

"Yeah, Alvin. Cuz…now everyone knows how smart you can be if you put effort into it." Theo pointed out.

Urgh! Yes, it was true, if I put in "effort" I could be another average run of the mill student. BORING! Besides, my study system annoyed everyone, I gave up literally all my free time, and putting in effort was just SO MUCH WORK! It wasn't a good system in the long run, so it's back to shooting for a bunch of Ds and Cs!

In fact, I'm pretty sure anything I learned during my brief time as Most Improved Student was no longer even in my head. Especially all that math. That was gone like an extinct animal. Math and science are two of my worst subjects. I'm not that great at history or literature either, but science and math just NEVER stick and I don't know why. Not that I'd ever want them to stick or anything. That would cause a whole bunch of problems.

"I know, I know, but that was ONLY to win the award." I reminded them. "It's not something I can just keep up forever. I'll burn my brain out. I only have so much brain juice and once it's gone…then I need to recharge it." I looked at the doors of the school again. Now was my chance! "Anyway, I gotta go! If Dave gets here before I'm back, stall him!" I requested before beginning to run.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Simon asked, clenching his jaw.

"You'll figure something out. You've got this!" I shouted as I got further and further away from my brothers.

"Alvinnn!" I heard Simon holler very faintly as I ran up the steps of the school and burst through the doors.

I had no clue where Sheridan could be at first. I thought about it a bit and suddenly I remembered she was on Britt's cheer squad. Or at least, she hung out with Britt's cheer squad even if she wasn't officially part of the team.

I hurried out to the field where the squad usually held their practices. Sneaking up behind the bleachers, I could see all the gorgeous girls shaking their pom poms. It was GOLD! I had the best view in the house. Naturally, I wanted a closer look.

I could have stayed where I was. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have looked like if I hadn't made the choice I did. The choice I made would function like the first domino in a chain reaction that sent my life tumbling out of control and pushed me onto a path that no one expected.

Not aware of the sheer horror that awaited me, I scampered closer. I got close enough that I could hear the girls (and the couple guy cheerleaders that were also there) talking.

And that's when I heard it. Sheridan's beautiful voice talking to Brittany….about me. "So he still wants to ask me out?"

"I'm afraid so." Brittany replied. "I tried to talk him out of it, but it's like talking to a wall. You'll let him down gently, won't you? He doesn't take rejection well." Aww it was sweet of her to care about my feelings. Wait!? Rejection!? Sheridan didn't want me? Why wouldn't she want me? What had I ever done to make her hate me so much?

"I'll do my best." The beautiful brunette girl said softly.

Then, those evil witches Amber and Annie had to pipe up. I dunno why Britt hangs out with them. They're terrible people.

"Alvin's such a loser." Annie commented. Well, I thought she was a loser too, so we're even.

"I don't know why you're friends with him." Amber added. "He's so weird and creepy and annoying." I wanted to attack her for those comments, but I knew I had to stay hidden.

Brittany faced the two catty girls. "Who I'm friends with or not friends with is none of your business. I care about Alvin, a lot. None of you know him like I know him." Oof. I don't think she knew me as well as she thought either, but it was nice to see her stand up for me.

Annie dropped her pom poms and ran a comb through her blonde hair. I sensed practice was wrapping up. "You care about him? Awww that's sweet." She said in a teasing tone. "Is that why you keep paying people to pretend he's popular?"

"Shhhh!" Brittany put a finger to her lips. "I told you never to tell anyone that!"

I felt dizzy suddenly. My vision blurred. Paying people to PRETEND I was popular? That had to be some kind of joke. I had to have heard her wrong or something!

"Chill out, Brittany." Another random girl who I didn't know said. "It's fine. Everyone here knows."

"I think it's sweet honestly." Sheridan commented. "And not sweet in a fake way like Annie thinks." She shot an annoyed glance at the girl with the blonde bob cut.

"Wait." One of the boys said. "You pay people to pretend Alvin's popular? That's not good. You're basically lying to the guy."

I covered my ears and sat in the grass. This was not happening. This could not be happening. I had to be asleep! Yes! This was an on brand nightmare for me!

"I HAVE to." Brittany said, loud enough that I could hear her even with my ears covered. "If this got out, it would destroy Alvin as we know him!"

Yeah. She was right about that. I felt completely destroyed. I felt like someone had crushed me into a tiny little ball and then kicked me to Mars.

"Fine." Annie sassed. "But you're only making this worse for him. The sooner he finds out his real status, the better."

"Uh huh! Cuz he's, like, not super popular, not even mid tier popular. He's only slightly above Kevin and Cheeseball and those other geeks." Amber, without realizing it, practically drove a stake through my heart.

They grouped me with KEVIN!? AND CHEESY!? I mean, sure, I did hang out with them a lot but there's no way we had close to the same social status….right? RIGHT!?

"I don't feel comfortable discussing this any more." Brittany hissed at her friends or ex-friends or whatever.

I decided it was time to reveal myself. Maybe if they knew they hurt me, they'd apologize and let me be in their popular club again.

I stepped out onto the field where they could see me. "Imagine how I feel." I said bitterly.

There was a big awkward silence and Brittany was the one to break it. "Alvin, what….what are you doing here?"

"I came to ask Sheridan out." I mumbled in a small voice. "But….well….yeah."

Brittany nibbled her pink lip. "It's not what it looks like!" She blurted out.

Suddenly, all my sadness turned to boiling anger. "You PAID them to pretend I'm popular!? You PAID THEM!?" I screamed.

"I only did it to protect you!" Brittany yelled back, I could tell she was panicking.

"I'M NOT POPULAR!" I wailed. "I'M A PHONEY! I'M A FAKE! IT'S ALL FAKE!"

"Alvin, wait…" Brittany reached out to me. "It doesn't have to be. I can teach you how to be popular for real. I'm sorry I did this, but at the time it was the only way I could think of."

I looked down at the ground. "How long?" I asked. "How long have you been paying them?"

"A year or two." She admitted.

I scowled and glared right into her icey blue eyes. "If you have to pay them, then I don't even wanna BE popular." WHAT THE? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!? Never in my life did I expect to say THAT! But it was true. Who wants fake popularity they didn't earn? I needed to re-evaluate my entire life. But first….I needed to go home, where no one else can see me, and bawl my munkin' eyes out.

"What? Alvin, you don't mean that!" Brittany gasped.

"Yes I do." I turned around and ran from the field, trying in vain to stop the tears from starting to pool in my eyeballs.

I made it back to Simon and Theodore and a very annoyed Dave….who quickly became less annoyed when he noticed I was having a complete breakdown. I wasn't very good at hiding it.

"Aw man. She said no, didn't she?" Theodore patted my back.

"W….W….Worse." I blubbered.

"She said "never ever in a million years even if you were the last man on earth?" Asked Simon.

Of course they thought that Sheridan was the reason I was crying. They didn't know how hard my world had been rocked. I wasn't in the mood to tell them either.

"I don't want to talk about it." I buckled myself into the carseat.

Dave looked sympathetic. "There are plenty of other girls, Alvin."

"It's not about a girl!" I shouted, annoyed.

Theodore's brown eyes blinked at me. "Then what's it about?"

One car ride home later, I had successfully and PAINFULLY explained everything. Dave had said it was okay to go upstairs and "process things", so I took the opportunity to try and play a videogame.

The videogame only made me more frustrated. I didn't have my usual confidence. It was dead. Learning what Brittany did had ripped it to shreds. I felt like I was missing something else too.

GASP! My ego! I didn't even feel like I HAD one anymore. I expected that familiar flutter in my chest that always told me I'd bounce back because of how awesome I am. It wasn't there. I didn't FEEL awesome. Maybe I wasn't actually awesome. This was so much worse than that time I thought I lost my mojo.

I was nothing! A screw up! A flop! A fake! A poser! A total loser! I hugged myself, feeling the comfort of my favorite slightly ripped red hoodie. This was the worst day of my life. I had never felt lower than this before. I didn't know how to handle it.

I threw myself on the bed quite dramatically and sobbed into my pillow. "I'm never going back to that school!"

Simon climbed up and sat on the bed, rubbing my back gently before I pushed his hand away. "Aren't you overreacting a little? It was going to happen eventually."

"Yeah." Theodore added, climbing up on the bed to join us. "What did you expect? Britt couldn't keep paying them in secret forever."

Hold up. All I had told them was that I found out I wasn't popular. No mention of how Britt factored into it. Which meant only one thing. "YOU KNEW!?" I flipped myself over and stood up, narrowing my eyes at my baby bro. Then, I glared at Simon. "What about you?"

Simon put his hands behind his back. "Brittany made me swear not to tell."

"And Eleanor?" I asked, between choked up sobs.

Theodore nodded sadly. "She helped Britt rig the Cutest Chipmunk contest votes." He squeaked.

No no no! I couldn't take any more painful secrets revealed! "THAT WAS FAKE TOO!?" I scowled as the pieces of the situation began fitting together. "Of course it was! Because I'm stupid! Because sensitive little Alvin can't handle a smidge of rejection! Because I need to be coddled like a wimpy, spineless DORK!" I ranted.

Simon gestured to me with his arm. "You CAN'T handle rejection. This right here proves it."

I turned away from my brother in blue. "I don't WANT your PITY!" I spat. "I WANT my popularity back."

"Alvin, can you listen to me for one second?" Simon grabbed my arm.

I turned to face him again, and then quietly asked. "D…Did Jeanette know?"

Theodore handed me a tissue to blow my nose in. "Unfortunately yes."

"Yeah." A flicker of sadness crossed Simon's usually stoic face.

The last shred of control holding back my tears finally broke. I started crying like a river. "What am I supposed to do now, Si?" I hoped that my genius brother had the answers. "That was, that was my whole identity! And now….now I have NOTHING!"

To my surprise, Simon just handed me a tissue as Theo had done previously. "I don't know, Alvin. That's something you have to decide for yourself."

"We'll be with you every step of the way." Theodore added as he hugged me.

I blew my nose into a tissue. "Might as well be a nerd or something." I moped.

Simon's fur began to bristle. "I wouldn't recommend it." He said, with a hint of annoyance. Why the annoyance? Was he mad? I'd be encroaching on his territory. Not that I was serious about the nerd thing. I don't even know why I mentioned it. I guess because in my mind the only thing opposite popularity was….nerd.

Theodore patted my head. "You'll figure it out eventually. This isn't the end of everything. You'll see." His words of encouragement did nothing to stop the growing feelings of disgust.

I grabbed Simon by his shirt collar. "You gotta help me! Make a potion or a spray to give me back my irresistible charm! I want people to love me again!" I begged.

Simon shook his head. Oh well. I knew it was a long shot anyway. "People who don't like you for who you are aren't worth your time. Also, are you sure you ever had these quote "irresistible charms?" I hate when he does air quotes.

"I must have!" I exclaimed, even though I was having doubts. "Girls used to really love me! The Cutest Chipmunk contest ruined EVERYTHING."

My middle brother hopped off the bed and back to his own. "That's surprising." He said with his customary biting sarcasm. "Who would have thought dressing up as your brothers to humiliate them wouldn't make girls fall head over heels for you?" He paused, giving me time to think about his statement.

"I dunno, who?" I wasn't really considering it that hard. I just needed the answer.

"EVERYONE WITH A BRAIN!" He shouted at me angrily.

"You did tell people I was a baby who needed his wub wub." Theodore added, going back to his own bed. "And I still don't know what a wub wub is."

"Face it, Alvin. After the stunts you pulled to try and make us lose, this is a pretty fitting comeuppance." Simon laid down and leaned an elbow on his pillow.

Theodore picked up Talking Teddy and sat on his bed with the creepy robotic bear. "It's never too late to show everyone you've learned from your mistakes." He reminded me.

Urgh! Learning. Hadn't I been learning enough lately? Wait, does it still count as learning if you don't remember what you learned?

I just sighed, hoping that I could close my eyes and wake up and suddenly have my precious social status restored.

And then in came Brittany through the open window via the zipline that connected our houses. Boy, was she upset. "I was trying to help you! You ruined everything! Why were you spying on us!?"

"I dunno." I wished I had a better comeback than that. I wasn't in the mood to argue with Britt. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. "I can't think clearly. My entire life is falling apart."

Brittany held up her hand and flapped it around, mocking me. "Excuses excuses. Don't you ever get tired of making excuses, Alvin? Look, it's not too late for you to turn things around." She told me. "I'll give you a crash course in what's trendy, how to hold back your stupid ideas, and how not to creep girls out."

Simon groaned and jumped out of bed to confront Brittany. "He doesn't need lessons from you."

"Since you can't think clearly." Brittany droned on, ignoring Simon. "I'll do the thinking for both of us. I'll make our lives PERFECT again. I promise." She sounded both nice and mean at the same time…and also slightly deranged. Was she losing it as much as I was?

"Britt, go away." I moaned.

"You wanna be popular? You gotta start acting like it. Be less annoying. Nobody wants to hear you complain all the time. Also, start being suave again. You've become too needy and desperate lately. It's not a good color on you." The girl in pink continued to monologue basically.

I was really mad now. "I'VE BEEN THE SAME AS ALWAYS!" I insisted. "Haven't I?" I tried to think of the last time I had been suave. Nothing came to mind, but I did have a killer headache from all the crying.

Britt shook her pointer finger in my face. "No. You haven't. You've been like a clingy and pathetic little thing. But, I forgive you. Now, let's get to work."

Simon pulled Brittany away from the bed. "You aren't taking him anywhere."

"He needs time to rest and recover!" Theo chimed in. Always looking out for my needs. Best bro ever.

"Not if he wants Mr. Popular back he doesn't." Brittany snapped. "Come along, Alvie." She motioned for me to follow her. I chose not to. "Alvie?" She asked again, softer and less angry this time.

I put my hands on my hips. "No, Britt. I'm gonna stay right here."

She looked sad. "Okay….well….if you need me, you know where to find me." She walked toward the window. "Goodnight, Alvin."

"Goodnight, Britt." It wasn't exactly nighttime yet, but knew I wouldn't be seeing her the rest of the day. I know she's only trying to help, but the wounds were fresh and I was super impressionable. The last thing I needed was to become putty in Britt's hands. No siree. That would be awful!

Ah good ol' classic Alvin, am I right? He's a character!

Let's see what awaits him in the conclusion of this first story, shall we?