This picks up right where we left off. Alvin's still absolutely devastated, but he's trying to find an upside to his situation.

Alvin's POV

I managed to suffer through dinner and then returned to my room to continue thinking about, well, everything. Dave told me that I'm not allowed to miss school this time, because he doesn't want a repeat of that time I got glasses. He thinks the exposure therapy would be good for me.

Speaking of the glasses, those do still come in handy for reading. Truthfully, I barely wear them, even for reading, especially not in public. In my own house I feel safer putting them on. I just don't like how they look on me or how everyone comments on them.

I paced around the room, wondering where I should go from here. I did still have my rockstar gig outside school. That was good…at least. Wait, what if my fans actually only liked Simon and Theo and not me? No, wait, there was no way Britt could have paid all my loyal fans. There was just too many. Phew! I still had my career to look forward to.

Ow! I stubbed my toe on my desk in the room. I noticed a stack of papers and books on it. Homework that I hadn't done. Plus, some homework that I tried to do, got confused by, and then gave up on. It was my pattern. Gosh how I wished I could understand this stuff better and not have to struggle through it so much.

I sat down at the desk and looked at the math worksheet. If I wasn't popular anymore, then I could be literally anything else. I could start devoting more time to studying if I wasn't obligated to go hang out with the popular crowd. I got a little sad at the thought of less parties to attend. I was gonna miss that.

Still, if I could get myself back up to Bs and high Cs, Dave would punish me less. There would be no hiding report cards from him. There would be no constant lies, no excuses, no Simon teasing me and saying I'm stupid.

If I played my cards right, I could have time with my REAL friends, time to study, and time to rock and roll. My life could still be fun! All I had to do was adjust to my new status. I smiled a little. Sure, being an improved student was no piece of cake, but I knew I had it in me. I'd done it before, I could do it again. And I would start by re-learning everything I forgot. Or at least….most of it.

"How are you doing, Alvin?" Theodore's voice startled me and I looked at my watch. I'd been staring at these math problems for 3 hours and I'd only done 10 of 50. Off to a great start. (Sarcasm)

"Better." I mumbled. "I think."

Simon joined Theodore in staring at me. "Are you actually doing your homework?"

"Y…Yeah." I could feel my face getting hot. "My math grade isn't just gonna magically raise itself."

"What happened to "who needs good grades anyway?" Simon asked with a slight chuckle.

I had said that, hadn't I? Man, I gotta stop blurting out whatever pops into my head. "I decided that since I'm not a cool kid anymore, I might as well be a smart-ish kid. But not too smart, ya know….cuz I don't wanna be a nerd like you."

"I don't think that'll be an issue." My middle bro commented dryly. "There isn't a nerd gene in your body."

"Right. So, anyway, looks like Most Improved Alvin is here to stay after all." I stood on my desk chair and took a bow. "You may applaud now."

Theodore clapped for me. "Yay for good decisions!"

"I see that ego of yours is on the mend already." Simon commented with a half smile.

Did I feel my ego again? Oddly, no. I had absolutely no feeling of awesomeness or success. I didn't even know if my plan to stay most improved would work. I actually didn't have much faith in it working either.

But as they say, fake it til ya make it. So I pretended my ego had returned to its usual intensity. "Yep. Haha. Can't knock me down." I was still very much crushed inside, but I didn't want to let it show. This was my plan for school tomorrow as well. Let my phoney confidence shine and pretend like losing my popularity didn't hurt at all. Haha! What could go wrong? Right! (I know very well what could go wrong, but I'm blocking it out by thinking about the math problems.)

Tomorrow, I would hopefully get to talk to Jeanette and Eleanor and get their sides of the story. I'd have to smooth things over with Britt too. I'm sure she'd like my decision to continue doing well in school. She has to, right? I mean, she's a goody two shoes principal's pet. I'm gonna be fine….I hope.

The day after the shocking curveball that sent my happiness sinkin' in a tar pit, I returned to school. I wasn't there out of my own free will. Dave and my brothers had just decided it was best for me to face whatever happened head on. They didn't seem to realize how hurt and betrayed I felt by a large portion of students…or how confused I was about Brittany.

As I entered the hallway, I expected all eyes to turn on me. I expected jokes and remarks about my fall down the ladder of popularity. I expected people to ask me tons of questions about my future. I didn't know what my future would look like. I had plans and now those plans seemed less likely to actually happen.

To my surprise, no one reacted to me. I walked through the entire hall like I was invisible. No one batted an eye. They ignored me whether by accident or on purpose. A feeling of dread washed over me. Was this what school would be like from now on? Did they really go from pretending to like me to….pretending I didn't exist?

So, being the absolute dunderhead I was back then, I decided I needed to grab their attention. I took my basketball out of my locker and spun it around on my finger. "Hey, uh, any of you guys interested in shootin' hoops with me after school?" I asked.

"Sorry." Tommy told me, crossing his arms over his plaid unbuttoned shirt. "We're busy."

"Busy with what?" I questioned.

The group of kids didn't answer. They just huddled and whispered and then walked away.

"Jenny? Tracy? Jesse? Anyone?" I showed off the basketball and dribbled it down the hall.

"Sorry, Alvin." Jesse walked to her class without giving me more than a 2 second look.

Tracy rolled her eyes. "I'm not really into basketball anymore." That was a lie! She was even still on the basketball team!

I mustered up my best smolder face and smiled at Jenny. Unfortunately, she was too busy looking at Simon…who uncomfortably averted her loving gaze.

"Okay,…" I decided to follow Tracy. "How about we play something other than basketball?" I suggested. "I know tennis! Do you like tennis? How about baseball? Squash? Lacrosse? Ping pong? Good ol' American Football?"

"Urgh!" She groaned, sounding weirdly like Brittany. "Take the hint, chatterbox. Leave me alone."

I felt my shoulders slump as I walked to my locker and pressed my head gently into the locker door in defeat.

"What's wrong, Alvin?" Jeanette's kind, soft, and melodious voice asked me.

I lifted my head. "I'm not popular anymore. Nobody wants to hang out with me."

"I'll hang out with you." She offered.

I sighed internally. I didn't wanna hang out with her to play sports. She wasn't very good. She didn't play many videogames either. Pretty much every single one was too violent for her. We had like nothing in common. I was a washed up former big man on campus and she was this tree hugging and animal loving sweetheart.

"Cool." I muttered, sounding about as enthusiastic as I felt. Which, was not enthusiastic at all.

"I wish I knew how to cheer you up." The girl in the purple hoodie continued.

I frowned harder. "You and me both."

I closed my locker and began the trek to Miss. Smith's class. When I arrived, I took my seat and slumped down in it.

Eleanor, Britt's youngest sister, poked me with a pencil to get my attention. "I heard you found out Theo was the real winner of the Cutest Chipmunk contest. Tough break."

"Yeah." I responded, getting out my math book and going back to trying to finish the last problems on my worksheet before the bell rang.

"I mean, are you surprised? Theo practically has The Cute One written on his forehead." The girl in the mint colored striped shirt added. She was trying to prompt more of a reaction from me. She could keep tryin. I wasn't in the mood.

So it had been Theo who won the contest before the Chipettes rigged the votes. Of course. At least it wasn't Simon. I would feel about ten times worse if my geeky bro had bested me in the adorable looks department. Sure, nerds can be cute, but only in a "I'm sorry you look like that and I take pity on you" sorta way.

I had almost reached the end of my math worksheet. "Hey, Simon, can I have help on question 47?"

"Not now, Alvin. I could have helped you last night." He said, organizing his pencil case while he talked.

"But I'm so close. Come on, help your new and improved brother out!" I whined in a way more childlike than I wanted to.

He groaned. "You and the word no aren't friends, are you?"

"I can help you, Alvin." Jeanette volunteered.

Her older sister immediately snapped at her. "Don't fall for it, Jeanette. He'll just con you into doing it for him."

"Britt, you underestimate him." She whispered.

Simon shook his head. "No, she doesn't."

"Why do you care about it anyway, Alvin?" The strawberry blonde Chipette sassed. "You won the award. You said everything would go back to normal after that."

I didn't love being put on the spot, especially right then and there. "I….changed my mind."

"And we all support him." Theodore's high voice joined the conversation. "Right?"

Brittany didn't look supportive. She looked scared. "Yeah." She said in a way that sounded…flat.

Nevermind. I had no time to worry about that. I filled in random numbers for the answers to the last three math questions. It was dumb, but I needed that assignment finished somehow. And getting 3 wrong wouldn't knock the score down too much…I don't think.

Lunchtime came and I had no idea where to sit. When I went to my usual table, everyone turned up their noses at me. I went to the next table of slightly less cool kids, but nobody noticed me. I decided to sit with Eleanor and the soccer team. At least they were, like,…a little bit welcoming.

"Heeey, look who it is." Eleanor waved at me. "Finally decided to pay us a visit?"

I chuckled nervously and took a seat. "I've been plannin' on eatin' with ya for months. I just never had the time." I bit into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Well, we're glad to have you." Another soccer player, that I didn't know well, added. It was nice to have someone who didn't treat me like a social…piranha…papaya? Some word that starts with P. I remember it vaguely from a TV show.

I ate with them almost the whole lunch period until a certain diva Chipette arrived to question me. Nice to know I could always count on Britt to be a real pain in the tail.

"Can I talk with him for a moment?" The strawberry blonde girl requested.

"Sure. Have at it." Eleanor told her oldest sister.

I gulped. I knew if Britt wanted to talk to me alone, she likely planned on yelling at me for some random thing I had forgotten I did.

Britt yanked me into a corner of the cafeteria. "What are you doing?"

"Be more specific." I told her, hoping that this wouldn't end with her playing mind games and then running away, frustrated that I couldn't understand what she WASN'T telling me.

She scoffed. "You know what I mean."

I felt an angry outburst coming on and shoved it deep into my core. "No. I don't know what you mean. I never know what you mean." I said. "Bottom line, assume I know NOTHING."

"You acted like a total teacher's pet in class today." She said. "Like, WORSE than when you were trying to win the award. It was sickening."

What? No I didn't….Wait, did I? I didn't really remember. I was just focused on keeping to myself until I could make it to lunch. Plus, it was hard to stay focused. "I did?"

"Has Simon brainwashed you or something?" She put her hands on my shoulders.

"N…No." I stammered. "Not that I know of." Wait, maybe he was brainwashing me! Without my knowledge! I would have to really try and beef up my self awareness.

"Then what is going on!? Why have you given up on getting back with the cool crowd already?" She wiped away a stray tear. She doesn't cry much, at least…not real tears and not in front of other people. I could tell I hurt her. I wasn't trying to hurt her.

"I'm just tryin' to make the best of a bad situation." I squeaked. "That's all."

She slapped her own forehead. "By turning into a nerd!?"

"Whoah! Whoah! Whoah! Hold up! I am NOT a nerd!" I insisted. "Not all good students are nerds."

"No, of course not." Brittany explained. "But not all good students go "uh, err, Miss. Smith? You forgot to collect our math homework." She put on a weirdly low voice and mocked me.

"Hey, I worked my tail off on that math homework." I replied. "I wanna see how many answers I got right so I know what I still have to study."

"There you go again. You're talking like Simon." She shivered. "Exactly like Simon. It's freaky."

"I'm no…" I trailed off. I WAS talking like Simon. Britt was right. I was talking like a stereotypical nerd. But talking like one once in a while definitely didn't mean I WAS one.

"It's like…you've lost your ego!" Tell me something I don't know, Britt. "You haven't bragged at all today…about anything."

"Gee." I muttered sarcastically. "I wonder how that could have happened."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?" Brittany balled her fists together. "I shouldn't have paid people to pretend you were more popular than you actually are. It was dishonest and Jeanette and Eleanor have both been chewing me out about it for AGES."

"I accept your apology." I said taking one of her hands. "But as much as I really want my status restored, I can't jump back into it right now. I can't. I'm too afraid of getting rejected AGAIN. So just…give me some time. Okay? I'll ask for your help when I'm ready for it."

She frowned and glanced at her shoes before glancing back up at me. "Okay." She agreed. "What are you gonna do in the meantime? Just….study?"

"Lots of things." I told her with an encouraging smile to hide my inner turmoil. "I'm gonna test my limits. Touch the sky! Try some new stuff! See where it takes me!" Yep. All that to try and avoid thinking about how unpopular I'd been for so long…without realizing it.

"Alright alright." That made her look less worried. "But don't wait too long, okay? Because the longer you wait, the tougher it is to bounce back."

"Ohoho!" I let that phony confidence bubble up. I needed to keep up appearances. "You know me. Bouncing back is my specialty!"

She giggled, sounding relieved. "There he is. There's the Alvin I know. I knew he was hiding in there somewhere."

And that's when the bell rang, dismissing us from lunch. I went back to class and made a very very conscious effort to NOT act like a nerdy kid. It lasted through the rest of my classes and I was feeling pretty proud of myself by the end of the day.

"Are you feeling any better?" Theodore asked as the 6 of us walked home together.

"Tons better." I lied. I still wasn't feeling totally like myself.

"Good job getting your homework done. I knew you could do it." Simon added, slinging his dinosaur patterned backpack onto his back.

I decided to come clean. "Actually I just fudged the last answers. But I tried on the rest of it!"

"Well…" Simon was unsure what to say to my dumb decision. "It's a start."

"So, uh, Alvin, now that the truth's out…" Eleanor's big green eyes stared at me. "Don't you think you owe someone an apology?"

"Huh? Who?" I asked. More mind games. What is it with the Chipettes and mind games? At least Jeanette is always straightforward. No guessing games.

"Simon and Theodore." The pigtailed girl replied. "Because you took over the school announcements and mocked them."

"Oh…right." I felt a lot of guilt all pile on me suddenly.

"Yeah!" Brittany imitated me. "You were like "Hi, I'm Theodore. Where's my wub wub? I want my wub wub!"

Eleanor predictably joined in. "And also "Hi, (snort) I'm Simon! (Snort) I like to think and do science cuz I'm BORING!"

"That's enough, girls." Simon stated calmly. "I think he gets the picture."

"I….I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just wanted to prove you were less cool than I was, so I'd win." I confessed. "But I did hurt you and it was horrible and I take full responsibility for that. I didn't deserve to win."

"We forgive you, Alvin." Theo squeaked.

Simon nodded in agreement.

"I think it's safe to say you've learned your lesson." Jeanette piped up.

"Yeah! When I'm mocking my brothers, only do it in private and don't broadcast it everywhere." I smiled confidently, thinking that was the true lesson. Which, I mean, it kinda was. Theo and Si mock me in private too.

Simon rolled his eyes. "Close enough." He muttered.

We continued to walk home and eventually split up to head to our separate houses. The girls went to the treehouse and my bros and I went to our human sized house with the chipmunk size doggy door.

Upon entering the house, I decided to sit down and watch some TV to relieve the day's stress. Sadly, when I turned on the TV I was greeted with one of those super tropey episodes of some teen drama. A popular girl was trying to make an unpopular guy look cooler with a total makeover. Without a doubt, that's the plan Britt had for me. She'd probably make me wear pink too. Gross!

I changed the channel. Talking Teddy TV Fun Time was on. Ew, no, that's Theo's stupid baby show. CLICK! I switched channels again. A dad yelling at his kids. Click again, now it was a mom and dad both yelling at their kid. I cycled to a new channel. Wouldn't ya know it? A mom nagging her son to do his homework. There was absolutely nothing worth my time on TV today.

So I turned the TV off, and picked something else to do. I grabbed my skateboard and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Dave.

"How was school today?" My dad asked.

I REALLY didn't want to tell him anything. "It was….fine."

"Just fine?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yep." I fibbed. "Better than I thought, actually."

"Well that's good." He opened the door for me. "Remember to be home before dark and wear your helmet." He handed me my black helmet with red spikes on top of it.

"Sure thing, Dave." I zoomed out the front door and hopped onto the board. "Ohoho! Skatepark here I come!" I announced to….myself. I don't think anyone else heard me.

Yeah, this less popularity thing was gonna take some getting used to. The other people at the skatepark looked at me now and then, but nobody tried to interact. Nobody knew what to make of me. I sensed rumors about me had already spread around town. Luckily, I knew my management team wouldn't allow these rumors to reach outside the town. They'd come up with a story, some excuse, some coverup. Whatever they said, I'm sure it could hold up until I was ready to dive back into my old life. This was only a small break, yeah. A time for me to experiment….no uhhh….not that word….attempt, yeah, attempt some new hobbies. A time to reflect, because I hadn't taken much time to reflect before. I was always running, racing, fighting to stay ahead. It made me tired. It wore me down.

This was…peaceful. It was different in both bad ways and good ways. But, like Britt said, it won't be for long. It can't be for long. So, I was going to make the most of it, while it lasted. Someday, I would surely be ready to try try again, at least, I thought so.

Yep. Totally. A break. That's all this is. (wink)

He's in so much denial. Looking back, it's no wonder he went through such a crisis.

That's the end of story 1! In the next tale, titled Physics Fiasco, Alvin gets himself into a crazy situation unintentionally….with both enlightening and terrifying results.