Welcome to part 2! Let's move on over to the advanced group and see what Simon's up to! He's having a ball!…for now.

Warning: Loads of Alvinette fluff ahead once we get to Alvin's POV.

Simon's POV

The advanced class was initially everything I expected it would be. I wished Jeanette had gotten into the advanced program with me. I know she's smart enough for it. It would have been a prime opportunity to squeeze in more No-Alvin time.

Unfortunately, Jeanette didn't even try to qualify for the program. She preferred the beginner classes. It was understandable, really. The workload of these classes was not for the faint of heart. While I welcomed the concentrated pressure, I knew Jeanette would have cracked under it. And Alvin? He wouldn't have stood a CHANCE.

I finished typing up my latest research paper on the mini laptop assigned to me. I'd been working on this a little all week. It was due at the end of the program. They gave us three research papers to do. One down, two to go. I'd wisely budgeted my time so that I was averaging one research paper a week. Efficient.

Would you like to know the topic of the first research paper? I had chosen to write about solar flares and their effect on our power grids and satellites. Delving as deep as I could into the subject, I pulled out some fascinating information. I missed this. The calm serenity of completing my assignments without a certain red capped shadow hovering next to me. Yes, this was the life.

Too bad, it was about to be over.

The downhill slide began after class ended on June 20th. Kevin ran over to me with some news that made my palms sweat.

"Did you hear they changed the curriculum for week 2?" He said, sounding panicked.

I felt my ears twitch. "No, I haven't heard a thing." I answered. "What kind of changes are they making?"

He gulped. "Apparently, they're doing some sort of big brother program where both groups are combined and each one of us has to work with a beginner class student."

I felt my blood run cold. I could already see where this was headed and it spelled trouble. Combining the groups!? What about my alone time?

"You know what that means?" Kevin frowned.

I may have snapped at him. "Yes! I know what it means!" I freaked out. "We need to make them reconsider before…"

"Hey, Simon!" An unpleasant raspy and high pitched sound tormented my ears. It was HIM.

I looked around the room that our instructor led us to. It was a sea of teens in space suits. Some were adorned with blue suspenders and some with maroon. It was true! Kevin was right! The classes were MERGING!

A lump rose in my throat. "Uh oh."

"Is that any way to greet your favorite brothers?" Alvin walked over to me with Theodore by his side.

The smaller, stouter chipmunk threw his arms around me. "We missed you so much!"

I looked around for Kevin, wondering if he could help me face the awkwardness by talking to Alvin so that I didn't have to. He was gone already. Off mingling with his peers.

I gently removed Theodore from my waist. "Hey, hey, guys." I tried to hide how irritated I was to see them. "I didn't know this was happening."

"Neither did we." Theo quipped. "What an amazing surprise!"

"Yeah." I feigned enthusiasm. "It sure is."

"Come on, Si!" Alvin tugged at my arm. "We saved you a seat."

"It's right next to Jeanette." Added my youngest brother.

Well, I suppose it isn't ALL bad. Jeanette was a good friend, and I HAD missed seeing her far more than I missed Annoyance One and Annoyance Two.

I reluctantly sat down between Eleanor and Jeanette. Alvin sat on the other side of Jeanette while Theodore sat next to Eleanor.

The smile on the face of the girl in the purple glasses indicated she was as delighted to see me as I was her.

"So,…" I flashed Alvin a playful grin. "How was detention?"

"Didn't get it." My older brother responded.

I folded my arms in my lap. "Theodore sent me the video of Eleanor running the advanced obstacle course. I know you did too."

"I didn't though." Alvin insisted.

"Theo." Eleanor said in a hushed whisper. "I thought we agreed not to share the video until we get home."

The little brown eyed Chipmunk whimpered in his childlike lilt. "It's just Simon."

Before anyone could say anything else, the instructor from the majority of beginner classes started speaking into a microphone. "Welcome, students! I have exciting news. This year, we're going to try something new we've never done before. Each student from the advanced group will take a student from the beginner group under their wing and help them with their activities. Doesn't that sound fun?"

A ruckus of applause rocked the room. Wow, I guess most people were excited.

I couldn't even fake it. I just let out a groan and slouched in my seat. Luckily, no one heard me over the thunderous sound of clapping and shouting.

"Now, you'll be expected to stay with your buddy whenever you aren't in class or in your private suites." The instructor continued.

Great. Fantastic. Stupendous. (Is the sarcasm in my delivery evident enough for you?)

"Each pair will be assigned randomly." He handed the mic to a tall woman with a beehive hairdo that nearly defied gravity.

The woman sounded weirdly reminiscent of our teacher Miss. Smith. Though, far less grating. "Without further ado, let's get started!…"

I sighed. Assigning them randomly at least meant I stood a chance. Perhaps I'd get Jeanette as a buddy? Or even Anita? Eleanor would be…a decent option, though I have doubts about our ability to function as a team. She's such a wild card.

I listened through every single pairing, and there were a lot of them, hoping and praying that I'd hear my brothers' names called off before it came time to assign MY buddy.

There went Jeanette. It looks like she's Kevin's partner. They both stood at the front of the room wearing the matching purple wristbands they'd been given.

And there went Anita…partnered with a girl named Sharie. Their wristbands were light pink.

Eleanor was given a teal wristband and partnered with a student named Della.

The pool of available buddies continued to dwindle. This was NOT looking good.

"Simon Seville." The instructor lady called my name.

I got up from my seat and shuffled awkwardly to the front of the room. They gave me a medium blue wristband.

"Your buddy will be…"

I gulped as I looked at the available candidates left. There was Theo, Alvin, and the boy who resembled the bully Theo had once faced. Yeesh. Okay, well, I guess I know who I want out of that bunch.

"Please say Theo…please say Theo…." I begged quietly.

"Alvin Seville." The woman announced.

"Oh…joy." I muttered sarcastically.

Alvin raced over to receive his blue wristband and bumped it against mine. "I guess you're my Big Little Brother now." He chuckled.

I tried to play along. "And you're my…Little Big Brother."

"Ohoho! What are the odds of this happening?" Alvin asked as we walked away to join the other teams.

I rolled my eyes. "Too likely." I answered. I guess I should have prepared for this. I was in a cartoon and this made a good episode plot. Have I mentioned I hate cartoons with contrived coincidences?

A while later, we were all prepping ourselves for the advanced simulators. Alvin was extremely excited, which meant he was grating my nerves more than usual.

"Do we have to listen to the rules every time we use these things?" He complained.

I kept my composure. "Yes."

"Why? It seems like a waste of ti…" He stopped speaking as I shot him a glare.

Once the rules were refreshed, we boarded the simulation unit.

"Don't touch anything until I tell you to." I instructed.

Alvin reached for the buttons, but then held his hand back, as if forcefully stopping himself from touching them. He looked so strange without his signature cap. Like an imposter taking the place of my original brother. I knew that was a silly way to look at it. He'd proven time and time again that my original brother lived on within him.

The redheaded Chipmunk paced around the simulator. "Can I drive?" He requested.

"Absolutely not." I hissed.

He seemed hurt by that. Oops. "But…you're supposed to be teaching me. How can you do that if I'm not driving?"

Drat. There he goes with his ironclad logic again. "Well…"

"And didn't they say that we EACH could take turns driving?" Alvin added smugly.

We'd been in here less than two minutes and I already wanted to throw him out of here. Or, as my doofus genius brother would say…"YEET him out of here."

"I'm driving. That's final." I repeated.

Alvin's ears drooped. "You don't look happy to see me."

"Gee, what gave that away?" I muttered sarcastically.

"I thought you said you trust me." He mumbled sadly, his glance flickering to the control panel repeatedly.

I slumped my shoulders and strapped myself into the driver's seat. "I do trust you. I do. Just NOT with this."

"Siiiii." He whined, dragging out my name incessantly. "I am MORE than qualified to pilot this thing." He held up a paper with a letter A scrawled in the top left corner. ""See this, Simon. A 97% on my last quiz."

I knew I would regret this, but part of me hoped that he'd surprise me. If there was one thing 2.0 was good at, it was surprising everyone.

"If I allow you to pilot…" I groaned. "You have to LISTEN to my instructions. This isn't as easy as the simulation you flew with Theo." Yes, Theodore had texted me to tell me all about that.

The boy with the red glasses gave me a salute. At least he did respect me, as his superior. ""Rodger that, Captain Crankypants."

A few minutes later, Alvin was driving haphazardly through a field of very realistic looking asteroids. The simulation was shaking like crazy. I was panicking, because even though I knew this was only a test, I didn't want to fail! This was NOT going well!

"Alvin, turn left! Turn LEFT!" I shouted. He turned… right. "THAT IS NOT LEFT! Please, pay attention!"

"I'm TRYING TO!" My older brother squeaked frantically. "I can fix this! Give me a chance."

"No!" I unbuckled from my seat, despite the directions saying that we should remain seated at all times. "Let me handle this!"

Alvin and I engaged in a tug of war over the joystick and control panel.

"Back off, Simon!" He snapped.

I furrowed my brows. "You had your turn to drive. Now, it's mine!"

"Well, I can't concentrate with you yelling at me!" He wailed.

"If I don't yell, you don't listen." I tugged the joystick again. "Even when I do yell, you don't listen."

Alvin growled angrily and then managed to yank the joystick from me, "We're gonna crash!"He yelped.

I managed to swerve us back on course...and then Alvin proceeded to slam into a planet. The simulation ended. We had failed miserably.

We both faced each other and shouted. "NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

Alvin looked down at his space boots. "I….I really thought I could do it."

"You should have just let me drive." I muttered as we started the walk of shame out of the simulation.

Theodore and his buddy Christine walked out of their simulator with heads held high. I guess they'd done better than us.

My baby bro jumped over to Eleanor and her buddy. "We didn't crash into a single asteroid!" He boasted.

"Awesome, Theo!" The green eyed Chipette cheered. "Guess who picked up 23 pieces of space debris! This team!" She yelled triumphantly.

"It's not a competition." Della, her partner, reminded her.

"But if it was, we'd totally win." Eleanor bragged.

Kevin and Jeanette high fived each other and he picked her up to carry her on his shoulder. They both looked thrilled.

In fact, most of the other students did, which indicated that Alvin and I were the only team who screwed this up.

Alvin pouted and sat down on the floor by the wall. "I wanna go home. I'm a failure! I'm worse than Theodore was when he first came here!"

I sighed. Maybe I'd been a little too hard on him. Maybe he would have succeeded if I had let him figure things out himself. But I was supposed to teach him. That's the objective of this whole buddy program. Man, I was tired of teaching him.

I sat down on the floor beside him. Time to give him a pep talk. That's what a good brother does in a situation like this.

"No you aren't." I said. "No one can master everything on their first try. What happened to getting back up and trying again? Alvins don't quit."

"I...I guess you're right." He sniffled and wiped his nose on his space suit. Revolting. "I'm sorry I made us fail."

I looked him directly in those big blue eyes. "You didn't make us fail. Our colossal frackup was a team effort." It was true. We were both at fault.

Suddenly, a smile crept across his sad face. "We'll do better next time, Si. I know we will."

"Yeah." I wasn't sincere. I had my doubts. Big big doubts.

Over the next couple days, Alvin and I faced a lot of daunting tasks. I can't even list them all, only the most memorable. We took on an international space station themed escape room. Alvin was surprisingly good at solving the puzzles, though it didn't happen without a fair bit of arguing. We also studied together after finishing a scavenger hunt that was themed after obscure facts about space. On day 4 of working together, we created our own model rockets! Then, it came time to launch them. Needless to say, things got dicey.

After class, and lunch, we all went outside. The sun was out and shining brightly. The clouds were white and blue.

"It's the perfect day for this!" Theodore squeaked.

Eleanor fidgeted with the controller in anticipation.

Jeanette let Kevin man the launch. She kept her eyes on their rocket and crossed her fingers.

I reluctantly handed Alvin our controller, as I wondered how badly he'd screw this up.

Mr. Tibbits yelled. "3...2...1...BLASTOFF!"

Eleanor and Della were the first to launch their model rocket into the sky. It went so high that we all lost sight of it. When it returned, it landed gently on the grass.

Anita and Jeanette followed her with their advanced class partners. They launched their rockets and watched them fly, though not nearly as high as Eleanor's.

"Oh wow! So cool!" Anita shouted.

"Look how high it's flying!" Jeanette squealed.

Kevin and Jeanette's shared creation took a nosedive and wound up stuck in a tree.

"Oops." The teen boy muttered.

Alvin pressed the button, but the model rocket he built with my help stayed firmly grounded. He got irritated and pressed it two more times. Still nothing.

"Why won't this thing WORK?" He grumbled.

"User error." I deadpanned, inside I was laughing, but I didn't let my face show it.

My older brother huffed. "I know I connected all the stuff correctly. Why is this happening?"

I cracked the smallest hint of a smile before resuming my stoic expression. "Sounds like a skill issue."

"Can you say anything that's actually, you know, helpful?" Alvin asked with a scowl.

The smile appeared again, less hidden this time. "Let me try it."

"No." He turned his back to me and continued to SMASH the button. On the last try, he was ready to give up. He tossed the remote on the ground.

And that's when our model rocket ascended into the air, blasting off faster than any of the previous teams' attempts.

Alvin jumped up with excitement. "Hoho! I knew it would work."

I facepalmed.

One of the instructors left shortly, before returning with a hooked pole and a ladder. They worked to retrieve Jeanette's rocket from the tree, returning it to the Chipette.

She hugged the rocket like it was a friend she thought she'd never see again. She's so sweet.

Our rocket fell to earth and clunked Mr. Tibbits in the head. He had to receive medical attention, but he was fine after that.

I, on the other hand, was slowly losing my credibility as a good teacher. The worst part? There wasn't much I could do about it.

The day after the rocket launch, we were taken to a large room full of crafting supplies. Our assignment today was to create scale models of what we think a colony on Mars would look like. It wasn't one of my favorite assignments, but I was determined to give it my all.

Eleanor met up with me as we were selecting our supplies from the bin. "Did you hear that we get to watch a REAL rocket take off soon?"

"No." I murmured. "How is everyone finding these things out before me?"

"Gossip, Simon. Gossip." She chittered.

Jeanette selected some clay and markers. "Gossiping is wrong." She told her younger sister.

"When is the launch taking place?" I inquired.

"Ah ah ah." Eleanor shook her finger. "You heard Jeanette. Gossiping is wrong."

I gave her a look that said "Are you kidding me?"

"Week 3! I think!" Jeanette covered her mouth. "Oh no! Now, I'm spreading the rumor!"

"It's not a rumor!" Theodore grinned, scampering over to us with a toddler-style walk. "I read about it on the schedule! See? That's gonna be like…the Space Camp finale."

"And, we're going to meet REAL astronauts!" Alvin chimed in, startling me from behind.

Theodore chuckled. "Uh, yeah. We met astronauts last time too."

"Oh." The redhead looked embarrassed. "Once again, I am out of the loop."

"Alvin, why don't you go get a head start on our colony?" I suggested, trying to separate him from our little group so that I could speak to the others without him butting in about aliens or superheros or god knows what else.

He took the bait. "Oookay!" He gathered up a bunch of craft materials and shuffled away.

I noticed a distinct sway in his walk cycle that hadn't been there previously. Well, he was clearly more confident now. Good for him.

Eleanor started to tease me. "Are you having fun yet?"

I grabbed a foam ball from the box of supplies and squeezed it. "Let me put it this way." I replied with a clenched jaw. "If I have to hear about Fermi's Paradox one more time, I will be putting Alvin on that rocket to the international space station. Mark my words."

"That bad?" Theodore asked.

I nodded. "I haven't had any peace! He even comes into my room at night, pestering me with ideas about our projects. I can't TAKE this."

"We aren't supposed to leave our rooms at night." My baby brother squeaked.

"No, really? I didn't know that." I snarled with sarcasm.

"You sound very grouchy." Jeanette opened her arms wide and let the craft supplies she had been holding fall onto the table. "Do you need a hug?" She inched closer to me.

"Maybe….Maybe just a little one." I admitted.

Jeanette hugged me to help calm me down.

Then, she and Theodore wandered off to meet up with their buddies. This left me with Eleanor.

"So…" The blonde Chipette began. "When do you think Alvin's gonna notice…you know…" She drew an hourglass symbol and held it up so only I could see.

Ah yes. I had almost forgotten that Alvin still didn't realize his weight and weight distribution had undergone a dramatic shift.

I shrugged. "Could be anytime. It's….not going to be pretty."

"I can help him through it." Eleanor winked. "I'm like the spokesperson of body positivity."

"I can't believe he hasn't noticed yet. He only fits into half his pants." I remarked.

"Yeah." She fidgeted with a plastic cup and then started cutting it with scissors. "I padded his spacesuit strategically so he hopefully won't notice while we're here, but I could only do so much."

"At least we won't have to worry about his suit ripping." I added.

She chuckled. "Yeah. Wouldn't want anyone to see the dark side of the moon."

I rolled my eyes at her crude humor. "You're terrible."

"I know." She smirked.

The girl with platinum blonde hair in a long ponytail came over to grab her partner. "Come on, Eleanor. Let's get started."

"Sure thing, Della." The Chipette waved goodbye to me. "See you round, Simon. Good luck with SpaceCase."

I would certainly need it. I picked up some markers and cardboard and then joined Alvin at a table in the corner of the room.

To my surprise, he already had a great start on our colony. He must have been building this even before he rudely butted into my conversation earlier.

"That doesn't look half bad, Alvin" I commented. I figured he could use a compliment and I was genuinely impressed by the immaculate construction.

My brother grinned wide enough to show his braces. "I'm glad you think so. I worked real hard on it." He responded.

"What can I do to help?" I asked, putting my hands behind my back. It was time to let Alvin be the Captain now. His talent in arts and crafts eclipsed mine. Heh heh. Eclipse. Space joke. Oh no. I have been spending far too much time with Alvin.

"You can assist me as we add the aliens!" He replied, adjusting his glasses.

It's a good thing his lightsaber wasn't currently in the room, or I would have wacked him with it.

Instead, I just groaned. "No. No. No aliens. I didn't agree to aliens!"

"Si, come on. A colony on Mars needs Martians." He insisted. "We've been over this."

"M…M…Martians?" I stammered. "Are you out of your mind!?"

"Yes. Kinda." He tapped his head. "You know, identity crisis and all. We've been over this."

I sighed. This wasn't going well. Just when I thought we were actually getting somewhere, he pulls a stunt like this.

"I wanted our colony to be, oh, I dunno, REALISTIC." I tried to stay calm, but it wasn't working.

"It will be." He gestured with his hands dramatically.

I scoffed. "Not with aliens."

"Will so! Aliens EXIST! There's no solid proof, sure, but I have a theory as to why." He boasted. "Basically, I'm well on my way to solving Fermi's Paradox!"

I gripped the sides of my head. "No, you aren't."

"Would you like to hear my theory?" His tail wiggled back and forth.

I frowned. "I can't think of anything I'd enjoy less."

"Aw, come on." He pouted. "It's a good theory! Anyway, nobody's seen the aliens because, get this, they're already here! They're hiding among us! They're smarter than us, Si. Much smarter."

"Smarter than you maybe." I insulted him. My patience was gone. He brought this on himself.

"Can I add just…three Martains? Pleeeeeease?" He clasped his hands together.

I sucked in a breath. I was done fighting. "Do whatever you want."

"Don't be like that, Simon. We're supposed to be a team. Remember? You and me! Co-Geniuses!" His blue eyes appeared to dim. "It seems like you hate working with me, though I can't fathom why…"

I got out of my chair and stood, facing him. "You CAN'T!? You CAN'T!?" I fumed.

"I was really looking forward to being in your class." Alvin continued. "I studied super hard for the entrance exam and everything. I don't know how I could have possibly flunked."

I lost it. Everything I'd tried to hide came spewing out. "You didn't flunk the exam!" I shouted. WHOOPS!

My brother's lips curled into a snarl. "And how do you know that?"

"BECAUSE I DID!" I covered my mouth with my hands, but it was too late.

Alvin's eyes started to water. I knew in his head he was slowly piecing together what had occurred. "What?"

I decided the time had come to tell him the truth. The truth made me seem terrible, but holding back would only deepen the brotherly rift.

"I took it for you, and I flunked." I confessed. "Your real entrance exam was 80%."

He was overjoyed. "YES! I knew I passed that test!" He pumped his fist in the air, before his celebration was cut short. "Wait….why….why did you do it?" He asked, voice growing softer.

Despite my reluctance to be put on the spot like this, I explained further. "I didn't want you in the advanced classes. I knew you'd just complain the entire time. I'm sorry! But, aside from that….I….I just wanted a break, okay?"

Now, it was his turn to hit me with the sarcasm. "I can see that worked out real well for you." He folded his arms. I could tell he was hurt, blinking back obvious tears.

"Look, ever since you became a genius, you have clung to me like a gecko!" I went on. It felt GOOD to release this pent up frustration. I made my voice slightly higher and mocked him. "It's always "Simon, let's study together. Simon, let's invent something. Simon, check out my new ideas!" Oof. I could tell he was being hurt worse by that. Okay, how do I fix this? "And, don't get me wrong, I do like spending time with you, really, I do. But occasionally, maybe more than occasionally….I need some time to MYSELF." I finished.

There. Everything was out in the open now. Would Alvin understand? Or had I wasted my breath?

To my surprise, he smiled through the tears gushing. "So what yer sayin' is….you need some….SPACE?"

OH THANK GOODNESS! He UNDERSTOOD!

"Yes." I replied, before realizing the obvious joke he'd slipped in. "Wait…..I see what you did there."

"I forgive ya, bro." He wiped the tears away. "I guess I didn't realize just how annoying I still am. I'll give you space. I swear." He turned to leave.

"Alvin, wait." I touched his arm gently. "Maybe….Maybe you can give me space AFTER we finish adding A Martian to the colony."

"Just one?" He took a seat and smiled.

"Just one. It's a compromise. We are a team, after all." I responded, taking a seat beside him.

"Ohoho! Stupendous!" That cheered him right up.

At least, it did for a while. I could tell there was still a lot on his mind. As we finished up our colony, and he finished up his electric green six fingered alien with three noses, he kept making sad sighs and slight moans.

I decided to try and coax whatever was upsetting him out. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing." He mumbled.

"Are you sure?" I pried further.

He sighed. "Since we're revealing huge secrets and all that…." He fidgeted with a ball of clay, squeezing and twisting it. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yes. Of course." I gave him my most encouraging smile.

His lip trembled. "I...I know you don't want to hear this, but I don't think your weird synapse swapping helmets had any effect on my intelligence." He confessed.

I didn't know HOW he could think that, given the collection of evidence to the contrary. "They had to. They turned you into a supergenius." I insisted.

"No, No, they didn't. They just made me..." He looked down at the floor, shamefully. "…less afraid to be one."

I faced him with my hands held in my lap. I felt like his therapist. If there's one thing I am absolutely atrocious at, it's giving people therapy.

"You seemed pretty afraid at the beginning. That's why you hid it so long." I pointed out.

He swallowed and lifted his head. "You were always the smart one, Si. I didn't want to take that away from you because you value your intelligence more than anything. But it also made me worry about what my life would look like if it was revealed." He got out of the chair and paced around, still fidgeting with the clay. "I saw the kind of responsibilities you had placed on you and just the public view of "nerds" in general, and I didn't want that to be me. I don't want the repercussions that come with being a perceived stereotype."

Oh? Oh? OH! That made SENSE!

Taken aback by his words, I murmured. "You really are smart then, huh?"

"Deep down inside, yeah. A part of me always has been." He answered. "At least, I think so. I've been doing quite a bit of, you know, self reflection."

He started to work on the finishing touches for our Mars, err, Martian colony.

"Why did it take you so long to realize your potential, then?" I questioned, though I felt that I shouldn't press so hard. I HAD to know.

My older brother sighed. "Because I tried my hardest to convince myself it wasn't true. Being a supergenius who struggles to focus in school is waaay more embarrassing than having everyone think you're some dummy who can't read or spell. And by acting like a dummy, I eventually believed I was one and just gave up on my smart side." He rambled. "Now and then, I would remember and shove the impulses down. But I can't hide it anymore, Simon. Dr. Wilson and Jeanette have shown me that this IS part of who I am. It's as real as my love of pranks or skateboarding or monsters." He looked at me, blue eyes, almost the same blue as mine, shining. He believed every word he said.

And you know what? So did I.

"I'm sorry that…well…I added to your identity crisis along with Brittany." I frowned. The guilt was building. "I guess I wasn't a very good brother."

"It's okay, Si. And you're right, as usual. You aren't a good brother." He paused for a split second and I was about to get angry at him, before he added. "You're the best brother I could ask for."

I chuckled. "Even though I failed a test for you and cost you your spot in the smart-kid program?"

"You saved me from a bunch of research papers and stuff, so….yes." He held out his hand.

We both bumped fists and did our secret handshake. Brotherly bond restored.

Soon, the colonies were all finished. I took a look at ours. The small pod-like structures and tents were lined up beautifully. Alvin's little alien sat cross legged in front of the largest tent. It really did add just a bit of whimsical flare to the project.

We all labeled our colonies and put them on display in the room. We'd return for them when camp concluded and then we'd take them home. I couldn't wait to show Dave.

Alvin and I managed to get through the rest of week two. The arguments lessened considerably. He stopped coming into my room at night. He even managed to help me with my second research paper on the formation of Black Holes! When we were working together, he took extra care not to crowd me out or push up against me. He granted me as much space as possible.

At last, it was announced that the buddy program was over. Everything would return to normal for week 3. I was actually a bit sad to lose contact with Alvin once more, though I was still relieved. It would feel great to get back to the usual routine.

"Bye, Della!" Eleanor said, parting ways with her mentor. "It's been fun working with ya."

Jeanette waved to Kevin. "See you in another week."

"Adios, amigo!" Theodore said to Christine. "I'll follow you on Instant-Gram!"

"I guess this is it." Alvin said to me, clearly disappointed. "This is where we part ways."

"Despite, well, everything…" I smiled. "I did have some fun working with you."

"Right back atcha, pal." He pointed at me.

"Goodbye, Alvin…" Shoot! Wait, was anyone in earshot? "I mean, Albert."

A goofy smirk twisted his lips. He held up a hand gesture commonly used by Vulcans. "Live long and prosper, Si."

I couldn't hold back my laughter and a few chuckles slipped out. Alvin was such a "geeknerd."

As I left to return to my class, I snuck one glance back at Alvin. He was talking to Theodore and Jeanette and he appeared alright. I knew they could take good care of him. They'd been doing so since summer began. Actually, they'd done it before summer too.

And on that note, I shall conclude this section of our tale and turn it over to yet another narrator. It has been quite painful and yet oddly therapeutic writing this. Until next time, this is Total Eclipse, signing off.

SIMON: Okay, SpaceCase. You're up. Hello? SpaceCase? Alvin? Alvin? ALVINNN!

ELEANOR: What's shakin', Mad Simontist?

SIMON: What are you doing here?

ELEANOR: Alvin says since I don't get to narrate at all in the next stories, he's givin' me one last chance to write in this one.

SIMON: That sounds fair. Alright, carry on.

ELEANOR: Time to go out with a BANG!

SIMON: Nothing too intense, please.

ELEANOR: You're not the boss of me.

Eleanor's POV

Hey, people! I'm here to bring you MY thoughts and feelings about Space Camp! Do I hate that I'm last again? Yeah! But, I ain't lettin' it stop me. We're on week 3 now! And I have SO much to tell you!

I kicked this week off with a new hairstyle! And everyone noticed it this time! I MADE them notice it.

I pranced into the lunchroom and pointed at my hair. "Check it out! I got space buns!"

"Lookin' great, Supernova!" Theodore gave me a cheer.

Alvin's eyes were wide. "Dude, you look like Princess Leia!" He exclaimed.

I glared at him. "Call me princess again, and we all know what's gonna happen." I clenched a fist and held it up.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! She's just the first thing I thought of!" He ducked under the table. "Don't hurt me!"

Theodore decided it was time to break the tension. "Does anyone wanna try my freeze dried ice cream sandwiches? They're neapolitan."

"Ooh, yes please." I licked my lips.

"You know it!" Alvin stood up and bonked his head on the table. "Ouch!"

Jeanette rubbed his head with her hand. "You poor thing." She murmured. "I'll get you an ice pack."

"Thanks, Netta." The redheaded boy took a seat and grabbed one of the ice cream sandwich packages.

"Let's all try them on the count of three." Theo suggested. "One, two, three…"

We bit into the strange substance. It was a little bit weird, but the flavor was there. It was weird to bite into ice cream that wasn't actually cold, but once I got past that…it was great!

Theodore coughed and spit his out. "Yuck! It's so chalky. Awww. They even ruined ice cream!"

"I like it!" Alvin squeaked. "It's really bizarre, but the flavor is great!"

"I guess I can't get past the texture." The chubby chipmunk admitted. "What do you think, Supernova?"

He was looking at me for my answer, and I totally delivered. "It's delicious."

"Maybe I should try it again." Theo looked at the rest of the ice cream sandwich.

Jeanette returned to the table with the ice pack for Alvin's head. She babies him so much. It's equal parts frustrating and cute. He needs more tough love, if you ask me.

My older sister's midnight blue eyes glanced from the treat to Theodore. "I wouldn't take Alvin and Eleanor's advice on what tastes good. I've seen them drink a bottle of hot sauce before."

"I was trying to see if I could burp fire." The red spectacled geek claimed.

"Did it work?" Jeanette raised an eyebrow.

"No." Alvin groaned, his cheeks turning red.

I pointed to myself. "I did it because Derek bet I couldn't."

"And?" My sister tilted her head.

"And he was wrong." I added, nonchalantly.

Alvin suddenly looked really uncomfortable. I sensed it was time for yet another reminder of everything he's been through. He barely shuts up about it. Like, DUDE, we get it. You're 2.0 now. Stop fixating on all the differences and just LIVE!

"I can barely tolerate hot sauce at all these days." He complained. "Or anything spicy, for that matter."

"Fascinating." Jeanette watched him with what could have been mistaken for a lovestruck expression.

"Yeah. The transformation goes DEEP." He droned on. "I get that it changed big things, but it's all the little changes that REALLY surprise ya. I feel like it's gotta be connected to the concussion. Our noses and tongues aren't the only things that help process taste. They're like…connected to receptors in the brain."

"My favorite topic." I groaned sarcastically. "Alvin's brain."

"So you're saying that a bump on the head can change your sense of taste?" Theodore gulped.

"Pretty much, yes." His brother answered. "Provided it's severe enough."

"Oh no." The littlest chipmunk whimpered.

"What's wrong, Nebula?" Jeanette asked, using Theo's codename.

He tried to play down his anxiety, but he wasn't fooling anyone. "Oh, nothing. Nothing. Just…uh, gonna be really careful not to hit my head anymore."

We all finished our meals of crazy space food and then had another class. After that class, we walked through the halls together. I knew exactly what was coming next and I was HYPED!

I put an arm around my sister. "Well, Astro-Nut, it looks like we're heading to the space walk simulation room again."

Theodore folded his schedule and placed it back in his pocket. "This time, we're going to Mars!" He exclaimed.

Our group entered a downright huge room. It was the same one we'd been in during week one, only now it was decorated to look like the surface of Mars instead of the moon.

"Woah!" Jeanette breathed. "Your favorite planet." She winked at Alvin.

"Wowza!" Her clingy pal exclaimed. He put on a helmet and grinned.

I slipped mine on, careful not to mess up the space buns Anita had so meticulously styled. I was SO READY for this!

One of the instructors lowered the gravity of the room slightly. It was a bit less bouncy than the moon, but still plenty bouncy.

Theodore skipped happily around. "I love it here!" He said, through his headset.

"This is almost as bouncy as the moooooon!" Jeanette laughed, leaping into the air.

And then, Two Point Dweebo had to activate Nerd-Mode again. He says he doesn't do it on purpose. I don't believe that.

"The surface gravity on Mars is only about 38% of the surface gravity on Earth, so if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 38 pounds on Mars." Alvin informed everyone, before the instructors ever had a chance to. "I have no idea where I learned that." He added sheepishly.

"Tell us more!" Jeanette egged him on.

"Sis, what are you doing?" I questioned her. "You know this stuff."

"I do." She sighed happily. "But I love listening to him talk about it."

And so, he continued to talk about it. "On the moon it's only 17%, so that makes this place 21% less bouncy than the other room we were in."

"Boy, Alvin...you sure know a lot about numbers." Theodore sounded impressed.

Okay, it was time to have some fun. I outstretched my arms like a zombie and began chasing Alvin. I knew this would get him to act less pretentious and aggravating.

"I am Xelian." I said, making my voice lower and more threatening. "How dare you come and invade my planet?"

"Cut it out, Ells." Alvin laughed playfully. "I prefer aliens in my books. Okay?"

What? Since when? Oh, I see, since he would rather make goo goo eyes at my sister. Urgh. Romance. There really is no need for it. Friendship love, family love, those are the only types of love I understand.

But then, as if some unbeatable force was pushing him, he turned away from Jeanette and faced me head on.

"Besides, I'm not invading." He claimed, suddenly as into the game as I was. He fiddled around with his helmet intercom until it distorted his voice. "I'm a Martian and I live here too. My name is Axteralis."

I guess even Theodore wanted to be a part of the fun. "I can do an alien voice too." He told us.

"Oh I have GOT to hear this." I laughed.

Theodore narrowed his eyes. "I am Glycor from the planet Zoltan. I came to Mars for a vacation." He said, in an alien voice equal parts convincing and equal parts pure adorable Theo.

"That's...That's really good. Really convincing." I smiled at him.

And the game began! We started discussing our alien cultures and eventually Theodore said something that sent ol' Axtreralis on a rampage. He maaay have been egged on by me. Okay, he was. I told him to say "You remind me of a Total Eclipse." Haha! Comparing Alvin to Simon never gets old.

Theodore darted past Jeanette with Alvin and I chasing him down.

"Stop! Please!" He wailed. "I just wanted to visit your beautiful red planet."

"Lies." I accused, still in character. "You were sent here to spy on us and learn our secrets!"

Alvin's voice changer broke, so he was back to purposefully talking in a nasal voice. "The big giant head has warned us about you."

"The big giant head?" I gave Alvin a strange look. "Seriously? Where do you come up with these things?"

The boy chuckled and switched back to his normal voice. "It's a Third Rock From The Sun reference."

I blinked a few times. "I have no clue what that is."

"You should watch more TV." He said, before tackling Theodore. "You'll never escape us, Glycor! Give up now! We'll make this quick and painless!"

"Nooo! Spare me! Please!" Theo pretended to be burned to a crisp by our invisible ray guns. "Ahhhh!" He fell to the ground, twitching his leg. I had a new respect for his acting skills! Dang!

"Okay, everyone." Mr. Tibbits said. "That wraps up our time on Mars. I hope you've all had fun."

Aw man! It was over already. Oh well! At least we got to play around and blow off steam. Plus, I was pretty hungry again.

"If this is what spacemen eat, I think I'm content staying an earthling." Theodore remarked, once we were eating dinner. He was using a fork to pick at the dehydrated pizza. "When I get home, I'm going to make myself a huge lettuce, cheese, and tomato sandwich on rye bread." The chubby boy declared, rubbing his belly.

I nodded. "I think that's a great idea, Nebula. And I'll make some cream of mushroom soup and pasta!"

Jeanette picked at the pizza. "I'm not sure if this stuff is even vegan. There's no way to tell."

"It's pizza, Netta. Chances are, you know, it isn't." Alvin frowned.

"Oh man. I wish this program had a vegan option." My sister ate the pizza anyway. "I'm going to feel guilty about this for months."

"Ya gotta eat." I pointed out bluntly. "Mother Nature will forgive you."

"You think so?" She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

I grinned. "I know so."

The next day, we got to have another amazing opportunity. We all gathered into our classroom, but this wasn't a usual class. No no. This was something WAY COOLER.

Two men and two women in bright blue space suits entered the room. They waved to the class as they strolled in.

Mr. Tibbits, who has a really funny name that makes me wanna laugh at it, but I know if I laugh I'll get in trouble, introduced the other adults.

"This is Jesse Mayfield, Conner Hampton, Kiran Atkinson, and Avery Campbell. They're astronauts that graduated from our training program 8 years ago. They've all been to the International Space Station at least once."

Avery and Jesse both smiled.

"We're very excited to meet all of you." Jesse told our group of junior cadets.

"I see we have a bunch of smart and talented individuals here today." Avery added.

"Have you got any questions for us?" Kiran stroked his stubbly chin.

Theodore was the first to raise his hand.

Conner bent down to Theodore's height. "What's your name, young man?"

The brownish blonde chipmunk smiled. "It's Theodore. My question is, why do astronauts really only eat cold and dehydrated space food?"

Kiran chuckled. "Ah, starting us off with an easy one." He gestured to Avery. "Would you like to handle this one, Aves?"

The darker haired woman with an equally dark complexion explained for us. "Having the food freeze-fried or dehydrated takes up less space, and is more weight efficient. It also makes the process of food preparation and consumption easier. You don't want food or liquids to get loose and float around a spacecraft."

"Ohhhh. That makes sense." Theo responded in his cute little voice. He sounds so young, but he's also got this weird wisdom to him. I admire it.

A few more students asked questions after Theo, but let's face facts, you probably could care less about them. So, I'll skip ahead to Jeanette's question.

"What is the trip to space like?" She twirled her purple pencil around. "What do you feel emotionally and physically while in the rocket ship?"

Connor answered that question. "You feel strange staring down at earth. It looks like a tiny speck as you drift farther and farther into space."

Jesse started talking after him "Physically, space takes a toll on the body. We have to do weight training every day to stay fit and we still lose at least 1% muscle mass."

Well, I guess Alvin can't be an astronaut. He cannot afford to lose any more muscle mass.

Avery also contributed to the conversation. "The lack of gravity stretches out your spine too. You get about two or three inches taller. Sadly, that effect is only temporary."

"Aw man. I was hoping that would be permanent." Alvin grumbled. "I wanna be taller."

I raised my hand in the air. Unfortunately, no one noticed until Theodore said something.

He pointed to me. "I think the girl with the really cute space buns has a question."

"Oh my gosh." Jesse looked at me sympathetically. "I'm so sorry we skipped over you. By all means, ask away."

I felt a wave of confidence fill me up. I proudly declared my question. "Do you think that a tiny chipmunk could go to space someday?"

"There have been animals in space before, so I don't see why not." Kiran said with his light and airy voice.

Avery giggled. "You'd have to train a lot harder than you have been here, but I could definitely see you all traveling through the stars."

"Heck yeah." Alvin stood up on his desk. "Cuz we're superstars!"

"Get down, Albert." I scolded him.

He jumped back into his seat.

We had to call him Albert, since technically that's the name he's enrolled under. Wouldn't want the whole world knowing about his descent into madness, would we?

The best part? Albert-Vincent is his real name. He's probably never going to know. Oh how I loved calling him his real name to get back at him for calling me Elsa, Ester, Eloise, Elise, and all those other things.

The question and answer section wrapped up and we sat through a presentation and slideshow of the astronauts' space journey. Then, once it was over, they shook hands with us and left the room.

We talked about that experience during our next activity, which was drawing ourselves in space suits.

"I'm pretty sure they're the coolest people I've ever met in my life!" Theodore squeaked.

I grinned. "I know right!" I drew myself with the space bun hair in my astronaut suit.

I watched Alvin's attempt to draw out of the corner of my eye. Without the cap, his hair kept getting in his eyes when he leaned forward.

"This is so irritating." He, you guessed it, complained.

Jeanette took off her hair tie, that kept her bun secured. She shook her brown wavy hair out and handed the purple elastic to Alvin. "Here...use this. I have plenty of spares in my suitcase."

Alvin's eyes were so wide I could see white all around them. His pupils grew and he seemed like he was about to drool. Why? I mean, it's just Jeanette with her hair down. Nothing special.

He allowed Jeanette to skillfully ponytail his hair into a small waterfall ponytail on top of his head.

"There, isn't that better?" My sister asked.

Theodore and I tried unsuccessfully to stifle our fits of laughter.

Alvin shrugged. "Pretty sure I look 40% more dorky." His cheeks turned pink as he looked at Jeanette again. "But who cares?"

We continued to work on our art stuff, until my sister held up her picture. She had drawn and colored a picture of...you guessed it, the Milky Way.

"Does this look accurate?" She fidgeted with the crayon in her right hand.

"Yeah, you've really got an eye for art, Jeanette." Theodore replied sweetly.

"Totally." I complimented her. "But uh, the assignment was to draw yourself in an astronaut suit."

My clueless sister looked at all our drawings and then back to her incredible Milky Way doodle. "Oh oops" She softly sighed. "Now I feel silly."

"I have an idea!" Alvin pointed to the middle of Jeanette's picture. "What if you made a tiny drawing of astronaut you on a different piece of paper, cut it out, and added it to this one?"

That made the girl in the purple glasses practically swoon. "Oh my gosh! I think that'll work! Thank you, SpaceCase."

"Heh heh, don't mention it." He winked.

"Oh alright. I won't mention it." She responded softly.

Alvin fumbled awkwardly. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant…"

Theodore and I burst out laughing again.

"Would you two stop doing that?" Alvin rubbed his temples in a Simon-like way.

I smirked. "When it stops being fun."

Gosh, I had almost forgotten how much I loved Space Camp. The break from Brittany, Theo coming out of his shell more, Jeanette being….Jeanette. It was all so hilarious and chaotic. You know me, I love me some chaos, baby!

I'm really bummed, you guys. This is gonna be the last time I get to narrate this story. I had a lot of fun sharin' my views with you. I'm still going to be around, don't get me wrong. I'm not fading into the background or anything. It just…won't be the same. Before I turn you guys over to Alvin and whatever insanity his mind cooked up, I shall leave you with this advice. Never stop reaching for the stars, or shooting for the moon, and always, always laugh at Uranus. Because, come on, who would name a planet that if they DIDN'T want it to be comedy?

ALVIN: It isn't even pronounced Yer-Ay-Nus. It's pronounced Yerinis. Which, I only know because Simon has told me it approximately 20 times.

ELEANOR: Urine-is? Yeah, uh, still funny. And besides, pronouncing it differently is a dialect thing.

ALVIN: Urgh, you are killin' me, Ells.

ELEANOR: Keep picking on the way I say Uranus and I'll remind you Pluto isn't a planet anymore.

ALVIN: Pluto will ALWAYS be a planet in my heart. They only cut him out of the lineup because he's small. I thought your thing was to root for the little guy.

ELEANOR: Alvin, we are talking a literal ball of ice and dust. It's not the same.

ALVIN: Get. Out.

ELEANOR: Sure thing! Have fun simping for Jeanette!

ALVIN: (growls) ELEANORRR!

Alvin 2.0's POV

Stardate, June 29th

Meeting real live astronauts was INCREDIBLE! But, what was even more incredible were all the facts I wowed everyone with on trivia night. I don't hold any ill will towards Simon and his decision, but I was definitely advanced class material. At least I knew my instincts about passing the test were RIGHT!

Before trivia night began…there was something else interesting that I just can't leave out. How do I start this? Well, I was a sweaty mess after a dip in the obstacle course's mud pit. I had run through it again, trying to beat my time, but I was actually slower. That didn't bug me though. Jeanette had congratulated me on almost making it and said that the mud pit was the toughest obstacle.

I'm rambling. Gotta speed this up a bit. It all started when I took a shower. I had a song stuck in my head and I HAD to sing it while I was scrubbing all the gunk outa my fur.

"They say our solar system is centered 'round the sun,

Nine planets, large and small, parading by.

But somewhere out in space,

There's another shining face

That you might see some night up in the sky."

The acoustics in here were AMAZING! My voice sounded so powerful! I could stay in here all night, but then I'd get reprimanded for wasting water by both the staff and a certain Chipette with gorgeous brown hair, like waves of the finest silk. Her hair smells like lavender and vanilla. Mmmm. Vanilla.

"Interplanet Jeanette, she's a galaxy girl,

A solar system Ms. from a future world,

She travels like a rocket with her comet team

And there's never been a planet Jeanette hasn't seen."

I slipped out of the shower and dried off, changing back into my space suit and putting my cap on. I decided I was gonna wear my cap to trivia night and nobody could stop me. Needless to say, Classic Me approved.

"No, there's never been a planet Jeanette hasn't seeeeeeeen."

I sang the last line loudly as I re-entered our cadet's quarters. That's a fancy space way of saying our room. Then, I bumped into Theodore on my way to grab my water from the mini fridge. My vocal chords needed it.

My baby bro looked at me strangely. "Were you singing Schoolhouse Rock?"

"Mmm hmmm." I answered, unable to open my mouth as it was currently full of water.

"Why were you singing Schoolhouse Rock?" He continued.

AI swallowed. "Oh Theodore, Theodore, why does anyone need a reason for anything?" I did a small twirl. "I guess the mood just struck me."

Then, he said something that stopped me dead in my tracks. "Is there a reason why you said Jeanette when the lyrics are supposed to be Janet?"

I spit the mouthful of water I had just taken a sip of. Coughing and sputtering, I choked out. "I did what now?"

"Uhhh. You didn't realize it?" Theodore raised an eyebrow.

I felt really weird. "Uh noooo." Drat! I was thinking about Jeanette too much. But, I couldn't help myself. She was just such a vision of beauty. I'd felt extra weird since I saw her with her hair down. Oh, speaking of that…I had undone the ponytail on my head and moved it lower. I figured it looked manlier that way. Not that I NEED to look manly.

Theodore zipped up a plush toy in his suitcase. "Do you like her?" He asked. Was he still on this? "Like…LIKE her?"

I got super defensive. "No. Whatever gave you that idea?"

He looked unamused. "The song, the way you stare at her, the fact that you constantly talk about how great she is." He listed off the reasons on his furry fingers.

"Yeah, well, that proves nothing." I walked toward the door with a confident strut.

"Oh good. We won't have to handle a Brittany-Quake." Theodore giggled.

Oh, so now he was making fun of me? And implying once again that I would end up with that belligerent brat.

Two could play that game. "Do you have a crush on Eleanor?" I teased. Yeah, maybe I was letting Classic Alvin have a bit too much control over me. But, hey, it was nice havin' him around.

Theodore rocked back and forth on his feet. "Uhhhhh…Oh! Um, I think I hear Chase calling me. I better go see what he wants." He hurried out of the room.

"Ohoho. He is simping for Eleanor." I said to myself. The hypocrisy of the situation was lost on me.

Moving on, I was droppin' jaws left and right at trivia night. And nobody seemed to care that I broke the rules to wear my cap.

"The shortest space flight was 15 minutes long. It was preformed by Alan Shepard, on May 5, 1961." I went above and beyond, spouting out the facts like an encyclopedia.

"How do you know that?" Fred asked. He was being less of a jerk to me now. Thank goodness.

I shrugged. "I really like spacey stuff."

Even Theo was getting a couple answers right.

"What flavor ice cream did Baskin-Robbins release in 1969 to commemorate America's landing on the moon?" Mr. Tibbits read the question off a card.

"Lunar Cheesecake!" Theo proclaimed. "And did you know that Dairy Queen made a Zero Gravity blizzard to celebrate 50 years since the moon landing?"

Ohoho! Of course! This kid could tell you everything there is to know about ice cream and desserts.

Once we reached the final question, my whole team began to chant. I picked out Jeanette's soft voice among the crowd. Oh, and by the way, her hair was back in a bun. I'll miss the long lovely locks framing her face, but this still makes her look positively radiant.

"SpaceCase! SpaceCase! SpaceCase!" The crowd was goin' wild!

Suddenly, the nickname I had hated, became a symbol of something much better than I could have ever imagined. The nickname truly wasn't a way to make fun of me. They were all cheering me on! This was like being out on the football field or running track! I was COOL again...cool with a new crowd. Still cool.

The very last question was read out by the instructors. I readied my hand above the buzzer. "What was the largest meteorite to hit Earth? And how old is it?"

Meteorites...just another one of my specialties.

"It was the meteorite that made the Vredefort crater. The impact happened about 2.02 million years ago." Oh gosh. I hope that was the correct answer.

"You are…" Mr. Tibbets paused. "CORRECT!"

"AW MAN!" Eleanor groaned. "That means we lost."

"And we won!" Chase lifted me into the air. "Great job, Albert!" He winked.

I slid my glasses down my nose and turned them into sunglasses with the press of a button. "Call me…SpaceCase."

Stardate, June 30th

Back in class the next day, Mr. Tibbits handed back our last assignments. Whoah ho ho! I was doing fantastic! I'd probably paid more attention in these classes than I had at school in my entire lifetime.

"Who's ready for a pop quiz?" Our teacher questioned with a big smile. "I have a special prize for anyone who can score 90% or higher."

SPECIAL PRIZE!? Sign me up! I flew through the test. I was positive I knew the answer to every question.

"You should mess up on a couple. You don't wanna get everything right and be a teacher's pet, do ya?" Classic taunted.

My old instincts are…relentless. Surprisingly, I DID want to get 100%. So, I did!

That night, I had the craziest dream I'd had in ages. Which, as you know, for me, is saying a LOT. I found myself in a forest, looking up at a brilliantly stunning deep purple sky. The sky was filled with stars. So many stars!

This dream made me feel like singing. Though, to be fair, most things make me feel like singing. I thought I caught a glimpse of a UFO in the air above me. I decided to follow it to a clearing while performing the heck out of my favorite song from a group called The Byrds.

"Woke up this morning with light in my eyes,

And then realized it was still dark outside,

There was a light comin' down from the sky,

I don't know who or why."

I saw a glowing mint colored paw mark on the ground and then another one up ahead. I followed them. There was a whole tail! Where it was leading, I didn't know, but I had a feeling it was leading to something HUGE.

"Must be those strangers that come every night,

Those saucer shaped lights get people uptight,

Leave blue green footprints that glow in the dark,

I hope they get home alright."

I saw the silver spaceship again and pumped my legs as fast as I could, trying to get its attention. I was going to meet those aliens and prove to Simon once and for all that they DO EXIST! I wanted to be abducted, dang it!

"Please, Mr. Spaceman.

Won't you please take me along?

I won't do anything wrong.

Please, Mr. Spaceman.

Won't you please take me along for a ride?"

I finally got its attention. At my request, the UFO activated a bright blue-green tractor beam that pulled me up inside it. As I rose into the air, I wondered if this was actually a good idea. Then again, it was just a dream. Wasn't it?

When I was aboard the spacecraft, I found myself staring at none other than the Chipette who had been on my mind for days. She was dressed in a shiny lavender colored space suit with a flower belt. She also had on a purple headband with fuzzy pom poms atop alien antennas.

"Jeanette?" I whispered, entranced by the sight. Had Jeanette been an alien in disguise all along?

"What are you doing here!?" She shrieked in surprise. "This is my….dream."

"It was an accident. I swear!" I squeaked, feeling awkward. "I didn't even know this was a dream….let alone YOURS. I'm so sorry for invading your privacy. I'll leave." I tried to wake myself up, closing my eyes.

"No." She reached out a hand and touched me. "Stay."

I opened my eyes and looked down. I was wearing my PJs that she and Eleanor and designed. The ones that, coincidentally had a glowing alien head on them.

Then, I looked up at her again. "You really want me to stay? Most people want to get the nightmare demon, you know, out of their dreams."

"I've never shared a dream with you before." Jeanette came closer. "And you aren't a nightmare."

"Oh…wow…" I was tongue tied. "Netta, I dunno what to say, I…"

"Shhh." She put a finger to her lips. "Let's enjoy the moment. We may never get an opportunity like this again."

She was right. I leaned my head on her shoulder. "Alright, Interplant Jeanette."

"Is now a good time to tell you I forgot to bring my dreamcatcher with me?" Jeanette asked, holding me tight.

"Guess that solves that mystery." I chuckled.

That night, we traveled through space and landed on Jupiter. Jeanette told me everything she knew about Jupiter and then we chased each other around playing tag on the planet's surface. It wasn't inhabitable in real life, but dreams have no rules. It was one of the greatest dreams I'd ever had.

Stardate, July 4th

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Nothin' says independence like watching real live astronauts blast off to the International Space Station. Plus, we were watching the launch WITH the advanced group. That meant, I got to see you know who!

He met up with Jeanette first, and she gave him a small squeeze. "I'm so glad to see you again. How have your classes been?" Those midnight eyes indicated she was ready to hang on his every word.

"They're enjoyable." Simon replied. "I almost miss him, you know? I wasn't expecting to, but I do."

"Of course you do." Netta's laugh made my knees feel weak. "He's your brother."

Ohoho, that's my cue. I shuffled up to them. "I knew you'd miss me!"

"This is not an invitation for you to bother me again. FYI." He was as grouchy as ever. Never change, Si. Never change.

I started babbling and I really don't know why. I think it was because Jeanette enjoyed my gratuitous infodumps, even about info she already knew.

"Guys, did you know that a typical rocket produces more than a million pounds of thrust that allows it to carry more than 6,000 pounds at speeds topping 22,000 miles per hour?" I squeaked.

"Yes. We both did." Simon responded, looking aggravated.

"What other fun rocket facts do you know, SpaceCase?" Theodore asked, tapping my shoulder.

Haha! Can't stop my infodump now, Total Eclipse. "In order to be able to burst through the gravity of the Earth, a rocket needs to travel at a speed of 7 miles per second."

My taller brother rolled his eyes. "Fascinating." He commented with his signature snark.

"It is fascinating." Jeanette, as usual, had no idea he was being facetious.

We all set up lawn chairs and took our seats, to watch the launch.

"Alright everyone." The instructor lady with the cool dyed hair began. "Who wants to start the countdown?"

Both classes chanted together. "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..." We screamed the last part at the top of our lungs. "BLASTOFF!"

The giant rocket, err, space shuttle thingie shot into the sky. My physics hallucinations turned on and allowed me to gauge the predictive velocity and all that jazz, but I ain't gonna bore ya with it.

"So cool!" Theodore squealed. "I got great footage..." He looked at his phone with a frown. "Well...it would be great...if you stand on your head while watching it….cuz I filmed it upside down."

Jeanette showed Theo what to do to make the video stop flipping around. "First, go to settings. Then, turn off automatic rotation. And...there you go." She finishes with a delicate wave of her hand.

Both groups FINALLY got to have dinner together after the launch. And, as a bonus…we got REAL food! It was a 4th of July smorgasbord. Hot dogs, salad, chips, sodas, pizza! NON-DEHYDRATED pizza. My tastes might be sorta different now, but I could NEVER stop loving pizza.

Theodore wouldn't stop talking about the launch. I'm so glad he was into it. "And then...the rocket was all like...KABOOM!" He mimed the rocket taking off with his hands.

Eleanor gave a small chuckle. "We know, Theodore. We know. We were there. Remember?" Her hair was back to normal pigtails now. I would miss the space buns.

"Space Camp is almost over, you guys." Jeanette mentioned sadly. "I don't know if I'm ready for the fun to end."

I shockingly, didn't agree with her. "I think I'm ready." I admitted. "I'm sick of this routine. Everything is scheduled and it's very confining!" I listed my grievances. "I wanna go back home. I wanna wear bright colors again and my cap more often. I wanna go skateboarding. I wanna go roller skating, play videogames, go swimming, and live without boundaries...or, you know, with less rules."

"NOW YER TALKIN!" Classic Alvin was thrilled.

I was about to take a bite of the pizza, when I stopped. I had just realized the magnitude of what I said. "...I sound like my old self, don't I?"

Theodore nodded happily. "Yeah...a lot like him."

"So, Alvin, are you planning on coming back next year?" Eleanor asked me, sipping on a coca cola.

Did I want that? Surprisingly, no. "It was fun and all, but I'm over it. I think I wanna do something else with my summer next year." I confessed.

"Awww. I guess the hard work drained all your nerd energy." The pigtailed Chipette joked.

Simon nearly choked on his salad. Laugh it up, Si. I know I deserve it.

Besides, there wasn't much Eleanor could say that WOULD bother me.

I nibbled my hot dog. "Who knows, maybe in the future I'll come again and reach level 2, but... I'm not sure." I shrugged. It really didn't bother me that I wasn't planning on coming again for a looong time either. Man, I missed being this laid back.

Theodore finished his food and patted his stomach. "Boy, I'm stuffed." He burped and the whole group laughed along with him.

"That's our Nebula. The cloud of gas." Eleanor commented, patting Theo's back.

Jeanette happily enjoyed her salad as well. She didn't say a whole lot, but I knew she'd have lots to talk about when we got home.

I figured this would be a good time to reveal my next surprise. "Oh, hey, Si. I got a little something for you at the gift shop." Handing him a bag, I tried not to let my face show how FUNNY this gift was.

"Uh, thanks." He took the bag with a little hesitation.

Theodore's brown eyes got real wide. "What is it? What is it? What is it?"

Simon unfolded the shirt that had been in the bag. It was bright sapphire blue colored and had planets all over it. The kicker? Was the phrase on the shirt. "I Need Space." CLEVER, right? Now, as long as he was wearing that shirt, I'd remember not to bug him! It indicated that I respected his decision, but I wasn't above teasing him a bit. I had to. It's what Alvins do.

"Do you like it?" I batted my eyeslashes, the way Britt normally did.

Simon playfully responded. "I hate you."

"I know." I grinned.

He slipped the shirt on, over his spacesuit. "Well, it beats the "Next Sarcastic Comment Loading" one you got me for Christmas." My brother quipped.

"So that means you like it?" I teased.

He met my gaze with an unreadable expression. "I never said that."

I winked at him. "You don't have to."

Jeanette didn't realize what was going on, but she winked at Simon too.

Weirdly, Theo and Eleanor were as quiet as mice.

"Well, aren't ya gonna laugh at that?" I figured that if they laughed at me, it's only fair that they laugh now.

Both of the short chubby chipmunks shrugged.

"Oh sure, now you're quiet." I grumbled.

Stardate, July 6th

The final day had come. I was so ready to get on that bus and ride home. Unfortunately, I had to make it through the awards ceremony first. Which was fine, I guess. I like awards. Wait, did I remember to charge my phone for the bus rode home? Yes. Yes I did.

The weird instructor with the beehive hair that brought to mind Marge Simpson, began talking.

"Thank you all for coming to be a part of this wonderful program." She said, handing each student a certificate of completion and a gold medal with the space program's planet logo on it.

I looked at the golden certificate in awe. I almost couldn't believe I was holding it. The medal is even cooler. I'll wear this thing as much as he can. Or, maybe not. It is HEAVY.

Mr. Tibbits announced next. "We have some more special awards for you this year too." He went on. "The Speediest Cadet award goes to Supernova."

Eleanor held her certificate above her head proudly. "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

"Our Rookie award goes to….Cadet SpaceCase." Our instructor said, looking at me.

WAIT, REALLY? I trembled with excitement. "Check it out! I'm a space rookie!"

"The Sweetest Camper award goes to Cadet Nebula."

Theodore blushed. "Thank you, thank you, for this high honor."

"And,…" Mr. Tibbits handed Jeanette her certificate. "The Most Creative Camper award goes to Cadet Astro-Nut."

"Whooooo!" The Chipette grabbed the paper and then ran over to me.

"So does everyone get an award? Or just us?" I asked.

"Oh, everyone!" She explained.

I frowned. "So then, did I actually earn this?"

"Of course you did, silly!" She grabbed my hand. "You survived Space Camp."

I smiled at her. "Yeah….yeah I did." I stared deep into those captivating midnight blues. "Sorry, can you repeat that? I got lost in your eyes again. Those things are dangerous. Maybe I need to get GPS or somethin'." I remarked. Oof. That almost sounded like a pick up line. But it clearly wasn't. She's a FRIEND. I'm just a charismatic guy now that Classic is back.

She giggled and soon, we were headed off to board the bus.

Many, MANY hours later, the bus pulled up in front of the Seville house. Four of the five intrepid space explorers, still in their spacesuits, climbed off the bus and knocked on the door of our house. I stayed put for now.

"We're home!" They yelled.

Dave opened the door and came rushing outside, along with Brittany, and Warbie. He was very quick to scoop up Simon, Theodore, Eleanor and Jeanette for a group hug.

Then he noticed someone (me) was missing. "Where's Alvin?"

That's my cue.

I slowly walked down the bus steps as my iPhone blared the theme to 2001 Space Odyssey at full volume. I dragged my small suitcase behind me.

Upon reaching the grass below, I declared. "That's one small step for Alvin. One giant leap for Alvinkind."

I wasn't there for more than a second before Brittany ran up to me. She was so fast that she dropped her purse with Warbie hanging onto it. She embraced me in the biggest warmest hug.

"You're back!" She exclaimed happily.

Warbie flew over to join us. "I didn't think you'd come back." He murmured sadly.

"Really, why not?" I wondered aloud.

Brittany made an irritated face. Oh, I did not miss that. "What do you mean, why not? He probably thought you were going back to your home planet." She joked.

"Britt, please." I sighed.

Then, my little birdie pal landed in my hands. "Sometimes, I get the feeling you'll change so much that you won't love me anymore." He frowned. Though, it was hard to tell with his beak.

My heart BROKE. "Aww, little buddy." I reassured him. "That could NEVER happen."

Even Brittany agreed with me. "Yeah, I mean, no matter how different Alvin is, he still loves both of us." She said sweetly.

"Yeah! You're my family." I petted Warbie's feathery head. "And Britt, she's a sister to me." I added.

The Chipette in the light to dark pink ombré sundress frowned. "….Yeah. A sister. But, you know, maybe more eventually."

"And maybe not." I gave her a cheerful smile. Ohoho, I knew this made her mad.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." She flipped her hair.

Was she irresistible? Her hair was pretty alluring, but…nope. Literally no romantic attraction.

"It's good to have you back, Alvin." Warbie chirped. "Was Space Camp fun?"

"I bet it was real fun IGNORING my messages the whole time." Brittany teased. She'd found out somehow that the poor reception was a fib. "But, don't worry. I won't hold that against you. Dave told me to leave you alone and let you just…be."

"Most of it was fun, actually." I told them all, as we rejoined the rest of the group.

Theodore smiled. "He just had to get over his nerves."

"I'm glad to hear you had a good time, Alvin." Dave added. "I was very very worried. But, you know, I always worry about my kids."

"So, are you up for a trip to the arcade?" Brittany asked, batting her eyelashes at me.

That sounded AWESOME! "Absolutely!" I responded. "Just let me put my things inside and grab something to eat."

Brittany tried to hold my hand as we walked inside, but I rushed ahead to deny her that opportunity. Hand holding was a privilege and she would EARN it.

I did have a ton of fun with Warbie and Britt at the arcade. It seems all that time together had bonded them after all. He no longer annoyed her as much as he used to. Oh, and now he had an acquired fondness for getting his talons painted. Britt sure is persuasive.

It felt good to have that adventure behind me. I would always have the memories, but there was still much more of the summer to enjoy! Little did I know, it would be another life changing summer…just like the last one.

That concludes the Space Camp story! I hope you all enjoyed the drama as much as I did. The loose ends are really being tied up now.

I think Eleanor did a great job on her final narration. She certainly has gone out with a bang.

My favorite part of this chapter were the Alvin and Simon bits because writing them just feels so natural. And, obviously, the part where Jeanette lets her hair down from the bun and Alvin is JUST HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HER!

The mental gymnastics this kid performs to avoid facing the truth are AGGRAVATING.

I have to draw Simon in that shirt now at some point.

Anyway, there's a lot more summer ahead. When I return, Alvin's going to have a dream unlike one you have ever seen before. What do I mean by that? Keep reading to find out. We are about to get soooo meta.

Have an amazing day!