Journey To Excelsior

by AmbitiousAlvin

Everyone knows that Alvin's been through a lot of development to get to the point he's at today. However, a BIG question remains. How exactly DID Alvin become Alvin 2.0? What was he like at the start of the change? In the middle? How about the end? Well, look no further! I have all the answers right here in this story made of many mini stories! Narrated by: Alvin feat the other 5

58. Let The Nerdiness Commerce EPILOGUE

Well, we're here at last. The final part. The epilogue of our tale. It's a lot harder for me to end this than I thought. I've puzzled out how to finish it for weeks now. I also have been extremely busy in addition, which has not helped.

I think the main thing stopping me from writing this was…I'm not ready to say goodbye. Endings are the hardest part. I think I have a good one, but I can't be sure. I'm putting too much pressure on myself to end this perfectly.

So, Alvin and I are going to just try our best. Will every arc get a satisfying conclusion? I hope so. I think this chapter will serve as one last fun send off that bridges the gap from this story to the next.

It's been so much fun writing all this for you. I hope that you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Thank you for all your support. I love you guys.

There will definitely be more stories with the munks, but I think they'll be shorter ones for a while. This huge fic took a lot out of me. I think I'm gonna focus on some arts and crafts this summer. And more road trips!

Anyway, Alvin's got some final things to say before we finish this as well. It has been a team effort. I couldn't have done it without all six of them.

ALVIN: Hey, guys! Hope you're havin' an amazin' day. I'll be honest, I procrastinated on finishing this thing a lot. Distractions are everywhere. But, I am FINALLY back and ready to catch you up on how the first few months of my school year went.

Was AP Science everything I hoped it would be? Or did I make another mistake? How did I manage to balance everything? All these questions and more will be answered in our hilarious conclusion! Let's rock and roll!

Alvin 2.0's POV

A few more days after the trial, I was still going strong. My schedule was packed with activities and I was rarely bored. I sorta missed being bored, but I had so many rewarding things to do. I also set aside time for myself to relax and unwind. It was very much needed, now that the difficulty level of school had increased exponentially.

As I'd been planning, ever since I learned he was returning to the school, I finally FINALLY got a chance to show Dr. Wilson my crowning achievement. I rode my flying skateboard to school that morning and rolled up the sidewalk, waving to my favorite teacher.

"Mornin', Doc!" I squeaked.

The wavy haired man sat on the bench, flipping through an entertainment magazine. He looked up and set the magazine aside as I approached.

"Good morning, young scholar." He greeted me. "Is that what I think it is?" He gestured to my skateboard.

I beamed. "The one and only!" I positioned myself for a rolling jump into the air, after which I would activate the rocket boosters and show off. Because, well, it's okay to show off when someone ASKS you to show off! "Are you ready for this!?" I asked.

"Absolutely." My science teacher's eyes gleamed. "Wow me."

I rolled by at a steady pace and then picked up speed. Then, I made sure my feet were strapped in place and blasted into the sky, flying around back and forth in front of the school.

"Whoooohoooohooooohoooo!" I shouted. I was filled with boundless enthusiasm!

Dr. Wilson was astounded. "A mechanical marvel if I ever saw one!" He declared. I knew he meant every word of that.

"I can't wait to invent more stuff!" I said, whizzing by with a giddy laugh.

Alvin Seville! Inventor extraordinaire! Nobody expected it, but that's ME! Because, well, as I mentioned before, scheming and inventing follow the same sorta steps. The pattern is similar. All I did was re-apply my penchant for scheming to inventing. It's a much more constructive use of my abilities.

Now, that's not saying I don't scheme anymore. I still do. It's just a lot less frequent, and most of my schemes cause less…trouble. (Usually!) Sometimes, I still get carried away and the Classic Alvin side comes out. That's gonna keep happening. I have accepted it. Someday, I will be better at working with all my facets of personality. But, for now, I'm just living in the moment.

Dr. Wilson rubbed his chin. "I wonder what you'll come up with next."

I zoomed in a circle around his head. "Who knows?" I replied. "But whatever it is, it'll be AWESOME! Maybe it'll even win me a Nobel Prize!" I frowned, remembering something super important. "Although, I wouldn't wanna win one before Simon does. That would drive him crazy."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." The kind man advised. "But it's always good to have goals."

"My goals list keeps on growin'." I bragged.

It was at that moment, Brittany came out of the school to look up at me. She rolled her eyes upon seeing me zip around like I was riding a silver bullet. Then, she looked suspiciously at my AP teacher.

"Uh…shouldn't you two be getting to class?" The Chipette in the hot pink tulle skirt and light pink tank top with a medium pink glitter covered crop jacket, asked us in an annoyed tone.

Dr. Wilson checked his digital watch. "I have plenty of time." He reported.

"Yeah!" I added, hovering in midair on the skateboard. "Don't be such a buzzkill, Britt."

She let out a heavy sigh. "When you get in trouble, don't come cryin' to me."

The strawberry girl strutted back into the school, swishing her tail back and forth. She was definitely irritated, but she was slowly getting used to the new me. Turtle speed is still progress.

I continued to show off my flying skateboard, or skyboard, or whatever I'm calling this thing, to Dr. Wilson. I explained the mechanics of it, the process of failure and eventual triumph, and how understanding physics principles had assisted me in my quest to create it.

Unfortunately, being the like minded kin we were, we sorta lost track of time.

Miss. Smith came marching up to us. "What are you both doing!?" She asked in her extremely grating voice.

Dr. Wilson and I were perfectly in sync. "Science!" We shouted.

The middle aged woman tapped her foot. "Class starts in 5 minutes!" She reminded us, loudly.

My science teacher looked embarrassed. "It does?"

"Oops!" I squeaked.

Desperate to not be late, I flew through the open doors and into the school. My flying skateboard zoomed through the halls. "I'll see you later, Dr. Wilson!" I called over my shoulder.

"You can't fly that thing through the school!" Miss. Smith yelled, starting to chase me.

My AP science teacher chased after her. "The laws of physics state that he can. I think you mean he SHOULDN'T." He said, raising his pointer finger.

Miss. Smith shouted at the man angrily. "THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!" She continued to run after me. She was surprisingly fast for an old person.

Dr. Wilson covered his ears. "You are incredibly loud." He said to Miss. Smith.

The grey and black haired lady skidded around a corner and kept running toward me. "Get down from there! This instant! Or I'll have you suspended!" She threatened.

I skillfully and safely landed the skateboard in front of her classroom. Ohoho! I was getting so good at that! "What? You wanted me to get to class on time! Look, I'm here with a minute to spare!" I reasoned. I hopped off the board and tucked it under my arm.

Dr. Wilson finally caught up, totally out of breath. He leaned against a locker. "Let me handle this." He said softly to my other teacher.

"You're not handling anything!" Miss. Smith snapped.

That didn't stop the Doc. "I assure you. I can talk sense into him."

"Oh really?" She gave him a smug expression. "How do you plan on doing that when you don't have any sense yourself!?"

Hey! That was mean! Dr. Wilson has PLENTY of sense.

My AP science teacher approached me with absolutely no indication that he was upset or going to shout. "Alvin, that was some very fancy flying, but it's probably best if we keep that sort of thing…outside, okay?"

I smiled sheepishly. I'd kinda already figured that out, but the reminder was well received. "Heh heh. Oops. Yeah, I'll try to remember that next time." I promised.

"Exquisite." He smiled at me. "Because we wouldn't want the other students getting injured."

"Definitely not." I agreed.

Miss. Smith folded her arms with a "HMPH."

Dr. Wilson proudly stood outside her classroom, adjusting his gold framed glasses. "See? I told you I could do it."

The irritated woman waved her hands to shoo him away down the hall. "Just go!"

My science teacher bent down and whispered something in my ear. "I'd stay on her good side today. She is really grouchy."

I sighed. "She's like this every day." I complained as I walked into class.

Miss. Smith shooed Dr. Wilson away again and then entered the classroom behind me.

"They don't pay me enough for this." I heard her groan as she took her seat behind her desk.

"Guess what, Miss. Smith!" I leaned my skateboard against my desk and plopped my backpack down by my chair. "I did all my homework last night!"

She didn't sound too enthused. "Good for you, Alvin."

"Like, can you shut your trap for once?" Annie asked me, applying a little lipgloss as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Hmmm." I sat in my seat. "No, I don't think I can."

Kevin and Cheesy both chuckled softly.

Even Derek joined in, very awkwardly.

"It's…It's probably best if you are quiet…so Miss. Smith can teach." Jeanette advised me softly.

I knew she was right, so I sat through the history lesson and tried to focus the best I could. I understood half of what was being taught, which is more than I usually get out of History class.

At the end of class, we got our homework from the previous day passed back. My tail wagged as I expected a high score on my history of presidents worksheet.

"What did you get?" Theodore asked, trying to peer at my score.

My smile turned into a frown as I read the score aloud. "25%"

"That's an F." My littlest brother said softly.

"Yeah." I groaned. "It's the worst score I've gotten this week. I guess there's still room for improvement."

"That's the spirit!" Eleanor showed me a thumbs up.

"Better luck next time, Alvie." Brittany said sincerely, giving me a gentle pat on the shoulder and then taking her hand away and shoving it behind her back.

"Yeesh. 25%?" Simon took the worksheet from me. "That can't be right. You worked on this for two whole hours."

"Si, it's fine. I'll do better next time." I tried not to let the score get to me.

Juggling AP Science with my usual class load meant that occasionally, I'd have a lot of scores like this. But, as long as I passed the marking period with a C or B, who cares if I fail an assignment here and there?

"Hahahaha!" Bocarter, that blonde guy with the navy blue suit, in case you forgot, decided to try and ruin my day. "You got an F!? I thought you were supposed to be smart now!"

"Don't start, Bocarter." Simon warned, blue eyes narrowing.

I pushed aside my feelings of inadequacy. "I AM smart." I explained. "My smartness is just, uh, you know, a wee bit unreliable. No biggie."

"You're such a failure." Bocarter taunted, saying something that my own brain tended to tell me on repeat.

I decided that the best way to get him to shut up, was to do something unexpected. "Thank you." I said, accepting the attempt at bullying as a compliment instead.

The rich kid's jaw dropped. "Huh!?" He uttered, dumbfounded.

"If I'm failing, then I'm learning." I explained, matter of factly.

Ray Ray, who was no longer Derek's buddy, pointed at me. "Ewww. He likes learning, you guys."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Yes he does. We have established this."

"Failing isn't as scary as it used to be." I revealed. "Sure, it still sucks, but I can move past it and try again…or change my approach. And sometimes, I can say "well, I gave this my all, but this isn't for me." I went on, getting more and more comfortable with the concept. "Because I don't HAVE to be great at everything. Nobody out there is good at everything. So, yeah, failing is pretty important when ya really think about it."

"Nerd alert." Ray Ray laughed.

"I didn't need you to write me an entire book!" Bocarter sneered.

My baby bro stood up in his chair. "Oh, uh, if you want the short version, failure is just a step on the way to success." Theodore added sweetly.

"Precisely!" Simon and I exclaimed in perfect harmony.

My bro in the royal blue T-shirt and I looked at each other slightly embarrassed, but chose to embrace it anyway. We had more in common, and that wasn't a bad thing. It would just take some more getting used to.

I was feeling bold, so I climbed onto Bocarter's desk and got right up in his face. "You should get on good terms with failure too." I told him smugly. "Have you seen the current polls for the Class President? Anita is kicking you to the curb!"

"She's what!?" Bocarter pounded his fist on the desk.

"It's true!" Eleanor showed him the polls on her phone. "You've got…about 25% of the vote. Read it and weep."

"Nooooo! This is unacceptable!" The angry guy with more money than he knows what to do with bellowed. "Why aren't you voting for me?" He asked our class. "Do I have to bribe you!?"

Vanessa snickered. "We all know Anita's the better choice."

"I voted for her because she's not you." Brittany informed Bocarter with an adorable head tilt. "And also because if Anita's Class President, she won't want to run for Prom Queen too." The girl in pink whispered to me.

I had to admit, that was a pretty good plan. Maybe Britt could actually be Prom Queen? Anything's possible.

"Are you running for Class President this year, Si?" I asked, nudging my brother's shoulder.

Simon found another party invite taped to the underside of his desk. "And get even more of these?" He held the envelope up. "I think I'll pass." He crumpled up the invite and shot it across the room, into the wastebasket by Miss. Smith's desk.

My eyes widened. "How did you do that?"

Simon looked surprised. "Do what?"

"That epic shot!" I pointed to the wastebasket.

Simon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It comes naturally."

I was about to say something about him having extreme basketball skills, but I was interrupted by Derek shouting something out randomly.

"Hey, do you guys think I should run for Class President?" The boy in the purple and white varsity jacket joked. At least, I THINK it was a joke.

A bunch of the students stared at him in disbelief. They didn't know why the school bully, or former school bully wanted a position like that.

"Heh heh. Nevermind." The tall teenager slunk down in his desk.

A certain usually overlooked Chipette, in a mint and lavender jacket and teal colored shorts, climbed up onto Derek's desk.

"I'd endorse you over Bocarter any day." Eleanor told him honestly.

Derek looked really content knowing that. Good for him.

Miss. Smith came back into the classroom and we all got ready for math class. I wondered if she heard anything that was going on in here while she was on her between-class break.

I shuffled to her desk and looked up at her. "Hey, uh, sorry I'm still a nuisance. I try really hard not to be. You have no idea how hard I try not to be."

The woman in the checkered teal dress looked through her stack of collected math papers. Then, she peered down at me. "It's fine, Alvin."

"I'm gonna, you know, keep on trying." I promised. "Forever."

She smiled warmly. "At least I only have to last 2 more years with you. Then you'll be out of my hair."

Or so she thinks, anyway.

"Y…Yeah." I forced a nervous laugh. "Totally."

"Congratulations, by the way." She added. "On the Most Improved Student thing. It's an amazing accomplishment. I'm still not sure how you pulled it off."

"I swear I didn't cheat." I said, placing my hand over my heart.

"I know." Miss. Smith softened a little more. "But you sure had me suspicious at the start."

I rubbed my neck nervously. "Heh heh yeah. I guess I can't blame ya for that."

"I hope you don't have any complaints about the story problems today." She added, half-sternly.

"If I do, I'll keep them in my head." I told her honestly.

"Now, that's what I like to hear." My teacher handed me the graded homework from yesterday. "Also, good job."

I stared at the letter written on the sheet. A minus. Boy, I was getting a lot of those lately.

"Ohoho! Yes!" I held the paper to my chest. I got ready to hurry back to my desk, but she stopped me.

"One last thing. If you need help with History, there's no shame in getting a tutor." The middle aged lady added.

I wasn't ready to agree to that. Besides, I already had Simon and Jeanette to help me, and all my systems. Maybe in the future I'd be ready for a tutor again, but for now…I'm pretty much set.

"No thank you, Miss. Smith. I've got everything handled. Really!" I half-fibbed. I had MOST things handled, but not everything.

She shrugged. "If you say so."

I hurried back to my seat, but on the way, I showed Jeanette my A minus. She gave me a huge hug and we twirled around.

"Way to go!" She exclaimed.

Holy nuts! My life is stupendous! It took a lot of work to get here, but I made it!

That weekend, after I had half my assignments all finished, I was ready for a break. I played legos with Theo and even Simon joined in for a bit. Then, he and Theo went to go play live action Candyland with Simon's virtual reality device.

They asked if I wanted to join, but I sensed another opportunity I could take. Besides, Simon and Theo deserve some one on one time without me butting in. I told them if they need extra players, Geizmo and Lilly would love to play.

Once my brothers and their kids (or robot and dog) were occupied, I crept quietly into the music room.

"Hey, Dave. Are you busy?" I asked, sounding as innocent and childlike as I could.

My father sighed. "Unfortunately." He took off his headphones. "What do you need?"

Drat. I guess I was bothering him. Only thing to do now is back away.

"It's not important." I reversed course and started to leave the room. I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.

Dave must have noticed I looked sad. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I just, you know, wanted to play a game of catch with ya in the backyard….like you do with Theo sometimes." I confessed.

"I would love to, Alvin, but I really have to get this next jingle finished." The man in the blue sweater looked from me to his computer.

I stared up at him. "Yeah. I understand. But, uh, maybe afterwards?" I hoped I didn't sound like I was begging.

"Maybe." He was already more focused on the computer than me, typing out song lyrics, hitting backspace, typing different lyrics.

Classic Alvin fed me an idea that was only a touch mischievous. I decided to try it.

I put on my more mature scholar voice as I leaned against the chair in the room. "I really think you should use this opportunity wisely." I told the workaholic. "Take advantage of it. Remember, dad, I won't be 9 years old forever."

Yes, I will. But he doesn't need to know that. Shhhh! If this makes him realize he's gotta spend more time with me, then it's perfectly okay to lie a little.

As I expected, Dave suddenly saved his file and turned away from the computer. "Actually, now that I think about it, I could use a break." He admitted. Yes! I changed his mind! "Let's play some catch."

I grabbed a baseball and two catchers mitts. One was gigantic and the other fit my tiny hand. "Awesome!" I said, smiling.

Maybe this whole not growing up thing had more perks than I realized!

Dave and I went out to the backyard and I tossed the baseball to him. He missed the catch and had to pick it up off the ground. I chuckled a little watching him.

He tossed the ball at me and I leapt into the air to catch it. My reflexes were definitely flexin' today. The ball landed right in my mitt and I landed on my two feet.

I wound up, jumped again, and tossed a curveball at Dave.

He caught it that time, but it was quite a big reach. He almost lost his balance and fell in the pool.

Both of us moved away from the pool after that and continued to toss the ball back and forth. Spending time with Dave was pretty fun. I knew this wasn't going to be something we did a whole lot, but I savored the moment.

And then, dear old dad started talking. It was painfully clear he had no idea how to talk to his own son. I felt bad for the guy.

"So, uh, nice weather, isn't it?" Dave tossed the ball gently in my direction.

I grabbed it skillfully out of the air. "Yep." I played along with his boring question. "Fall's comin'." I threw it back.

"How's school?" He asked, catching it.

"School is school." I replied reflexively.

He tossed the baseball at me again. "What about your advanced science course?"

"It's been great." I answered with a smile, jumping up to grab the projectile moving toward me.

Dave looked at me strangely. "And you've been behaving yourself?"

"Mostly." I answered.

He frowned. "Alvin." He said sternly.

"I'm doing the best I can. Sometimes I slip, but I'm working on it." I blurted out, catching the ball as Dave threw it again.

"Good…good." My dad murmured.

"They aren't even big slips! It's just, you know, sometimes I don't know when to shut my mouth, or when my jokes aren't funny anymore. No biggie." I continued.

"Right." He reached way out to catch the baseball after I threw it too far to the side.

"You believe me, don't ya, Dave?" I tilted my head and blinked my eyes.

"Surprisingly, yes." He tossed the baseball up and down in his hand a few times. "So, do you still have those hallucinations?"

I nodded. "Yeah, now and then. Semi-frequently." The physics ones AND the hallucinations of my other selves.

"And you're sure you don't need to talk to a professional about them?" He threw the ball toward me.

I launched myself up and caught it, spinning gracefully and landing back on my feet. "I'm sure. I've got them mostly under control." Key word there, MOSTLY. "Having extra me-s to talk to is fun. Seeing physics in action? Also pretty fun."

"Okay…" I could tell Dave had no idea where to take the conversation next.

"No offense, big guy, but you need a lot of practice with this." I teased.

He blinked. "With baseball?" He asked.

I laughed. "No. With idle chit chat. You're talking to your own kid! Why ya gotta sound like you're reading off a script or something!?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure…what to say to you. I'm still getting used to…all of this."

"I know, I know." I climbed up to sit on his shoulder. "But just…lighten up. You can ask me anything! I'm an open book! Why waste our precious time talking about school and weather?"

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Dave asked, sitting in a lawn chair and setting me down on his knee.

"I am so glad you asked." I began to tell him every thought that popped into my mind. "I finally beat level 32 of Masters Of Zolinda vol 6! Dr. Wilson and I have talked about creating a device to contact aliens. Simon even said he could help, even though he doubts we'll be successful. I drew 7 new panels in my latest comic book, oh, and I figured out how to advertise at school without breaking the rules. Well, it's not technically advertising. It's more like, just talking about it with my friends and then they talk with their friends and it spreads. Jeanette says she has a surprise for me that'll be ready next week.

"That all sounds very exciting." Dave remarked, sounding happy for me.

I continued to babble. "Oh, and Eleanor mentioned wanting to go mini golfing. Can we do that, Dave? Can you take us mini golfing soon?"

"I don't see why not." He chuckled. "We don't live far from Putt and Stuff."

"STUPENDOUS!" I shouted happily.

"But I have to finish that jingle first." My dad reminded me.

"Of course." My ears twitched. They wanted to droop, but I wouldn't let them. "Hey, maybe I could help you with the lyrics." I offered.

"If you want to." Dave said, gently setting me down on the ground and handing me the baseball.

"What's the jingle for anyway?" I asked.

My dad cringed. "A kitty litter commercial." He shielded his face and prepared for my barrage of insults about his lame jingle writing side job.

But they never came. At least, not today.

"Well,…" I forced an awkward smile. "I'm not sure I'll be any good, but there's a first time for everything."

Dave uncovered his face. "Thank you, Alvin."

"No problem, daddy-o." I responded.

He gave a small chuckle at my enthusiasm. Meanwhile, I tried to figure out how to write a small song snippet about kitty litter. I was really gonna have to rack my brain for that one.

Speaking of my magnificent mind that I talk about WAY too much, Simon gave me another brain scan. He did it the day after I had time alone with Dave. I think he wanted to know how on earth I'd had a conversation with Dave that didn't end with us both snapping at each other.

"It looks different again." My brother in the royal blue lab-coat reported.

I squirmed in my seat in his closet lab. "Is it bad? Am I still turning into you?"

"No, no. Nothing of a sort." He wrote something on his clip board. "You have an impressively developed pre-frontal cortex for a nine year old child."

"I should hope so." I responded. "I've probably been a child for over 18 years."

He scratched his head. "Peculiar indeed."

"How can you tell all that from these blobby things?" I pointed at the scan.

My bespectacled brother pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell me you've forgotten everything on the exam already."

"It's in here." I pointed to my head. "Somewhere." I added, feeling irritated.

The amount of information I could take in and play around with at once was astounding. But the amount I actually could recall at will was…kinda pathetic. But, the good thing was, I knew that! I knew where my weakness was, and I could work around and compensate for that weakness to the best of my ability.

Simon sighed. "You want me to tell you what a well developed pre-frontal cortex means?"

"Yes please." I told him, hiding my sting of defeat.

"It means you're more mature." He said with a hint of wonder in his eyes. "You can plan, prioritize, weigh the consequences of decisions, your conscience kicks in more often than not."

"Yeah." I laughed at the sheer absurdity of it. "I know. I didn't need a brain scan to tell me that. Ms. Croner literally told the whole trial that."

Simon chuckled. "I just wanted to see if she was right or not."

I frowned. "Sadly, as developed and as my pre-frontal whatever is, my giant emotion controlling lobe is still a pain in the butt."

"Amygdala." Simon sighed.

"I knew that! It was on the tip of my tongue." I responded, jumping out of the chair.

"Yes, that appears to have BARELY matured. If anything, maybe there was a minor change there. But I can't really tell…" His voice trailed off.

I unattached the nodules and wires from my head.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Simon looked at me angrily. "I wasn't done."

"But I am." I yawned. "I'm tired, and I gotta go flex my super developed pre-cortext thingie on my homework. There'll be lots of other opportunities to analyze me."

My brother understood. "Okay." He agreed reluctantly. "You're right. You're right."

"And Simon?" I walked out of the lab.

"What?" My brother sealed the hidden closet lab behind the password protected doors.

I ruffled his hair. "Get some sleep. We're going mini golfing this weekend."

"That…That does sound enjoyable." Simon smiled. Then, he was overtaken by a loud yawn. "Oh man, I really do need sleep."

"Ohoho. I am two for two." I bragged.

"Huh?" Simon took off his round blue glasses and rubbed his eyes.

I smiled a dorky half smile. "I was right on both accounts." I boasted.

"Don't let it go to your head." My taller bro warned me.

I laughed. "I won't. I won't. That wouldn't be very mature of me."

"Congratulations on finally catching up to the maturity level of the rest of us." Simon teased, as we sat down at the mini desks to start our homework.

"Caught up?" I puffed out my chest and gripped my red bubble vest. "I like to think I surpassed it."

"You definitely did not." He insisted.

I shrugged and flipped open the folder where my worksheets were mostly organized. "Maybe I did."

"Okay, let's talk about something else." Simon grumbled.

"Dude, I was just teasing." I quipped. "I know I'm not THAT mature."

He rolled his eyes playfully and then we worked on our homework until we were ready for bed. Homework comes the easiest to me in the really late evening. So, now my strategy is to do half my homework after videogames, then eat dinner, relax after dinner, and fly through the rest before bed. I'll probably have to change this strategy again eventually. At least it seems to be working for now.

When the weekend finally came around, I was excited to get to Putt and Stuff and play some mini golf. I love golf! Which is something else I never thought I'd say. It's such an interesting sport though. Plus, the balls are colorful. Regular golf is nice, but mini golf is where the real fun is. I love the themed decorations around every hole. Plus, I can use my physics visions to get a hole in one 80% of the time!

Jeanette picked out a golf ball that matched her medium purple T shirt with lavender butterfly designs all over it. She stuck it in the pocket of her lavender shorts for safe keeping.

"It is a lovely day for mini golf, isn't it?" She announced.

Simon did not think the day was lovely. "Everyone, try not to club each other." He ordered. "I'm mostly talking to Alvin, Brittany, and Eleanor." The boy, in the blue long sleeved shirt and indigo hooded jacket, pointed at each one of us, in case there was any confusion.

Eleanor couldn't resist one of her usual comments either. She gripped a mint colored golf ball in her hand. "Wow! Did you hear that? My name made the list."

"Get that sweet sweet recognition." I told her. "While it lasts." I added in a hushed tone.

The girl in the mint and lavender striped shirt and dark black denim cutoff shorts, gripped her golf club tighter. "Get ready to taste the bitter sting of defeat." She threatened.

I twirled my club expertly. "Get ready to witness the coolest trick shots of all time!" I boasted. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to tangle the club in my crimson sports jersey with Alvin 2.0 written on it in cyan letters.

Then, I tripped and fell. I bounced right back up though!

Theodore held up three fingers. "I bet three cookies that Alvin's golf ball is gonna wind up in the water."

The boy in the green shirt that read "In Pizza We Crust" was clearly trying to tease me. That pizza logo sure looked good enough to eat.

"Haha! I second that." Eleanor added, racing toward the first hole.

"Third it!" Brittany strolled by holding her golf club like a scepter. She was wearing a light pink cropped T-shirt with one of the sleeves slipping off her shoulder. Under that was a darker pink tank top. She had periwinkle shorts with a heart shaped belt buckle.

Why do I care so much about what she's wearing? Urgh, stupid glasses making me notice every little detail.

Anyway, If they wanna pick on me, so be it. I'll show them.

"Brittany, come on." I said. "You know I'm the physics king. What game has more applied physics than mini golf?"

Suddenly, a pink golf ball smacked me in the head. I knew it came from Brittany. She was standing next to the tee and smirking.

"OW!" I rubbed the spot the golf ball hit. Luckily, my cap, lined with bubble wrap for extra protection, took the brunt of the impact. No more concussions for this genius.

Brittany continued her taunts. "Did ya see that one coming, physics king?"

"No." I muttered.

She smirked again "That's what I thought."

Simon gave Brittany a raised eyebrow, indicating his disapproval. "Britt, what did I say earlier?" He asked.

"I didn't club him." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

"No sending golf balls flying at his head either." Simon fumed. "Come on, people. This isn't even something I should have to say!" His patience was ALREADY being tested.

"Alvin started it." Brittany claimed.

I felt my fur bristle. "I did no such thing."

Dave groaned and tapped his golf club on the ground. "I don't care WHO started it." The adult in the black T-shirt with gold musical notes decorating it sat down on a bench by the first hole. "Just play the game."

"Yes, Dave." All six of us replied.

I lined up the shot and took a swing. As I predicted, I was AWESOME! "What did I tell you? Hole in one."

Brittany clenched her teeth. "You're cheating."

"No, I'm not." I leaned on the trunk of a plastic elephant that was part of the zoo-themed mini golf couse. "I'm simply using my intellect and reflexes."

Eleanor's voice rang out, startling us. "Bam! Hole in one!"

"Eleanor, what are you using?" Her sister in pink asked, smugly.

The feisty blonde twirled her club. "Brute strength, talent, and confidence."

I didn't mind being upstaged. Classic fussed a little, but he was outvoted.

"The fact that I can do this well with only a fraction of my usual confidence is very impressive. Don't ya think?" I asked the two girls.

Both of the sisters weren't amused. "No."

Theo was up next. He missed the hole by about 3 feet. "Aw nuts!"

"Don't worry." I tried to improve my baby bro's self esteem. "I'm sure you'll get it on the next try."

He didn't. But, eventually he got the green golf ball to go where he wanted

"Or the sixth try." I patted his back.

Jeanette took her shot and smacked Simon's shins with her club. The purple ball sat on the tee, completely untouched.

"Oops. Sorry, Simon." The shy Chipette squeaked.

Simon grunted, trying to downplay the pain. "No, no. It's okay. It was my fault for standing too close."

Britt swung her club in a beautiful arc. "Watch and learn."

"Control your force, Britt!" I warned her.

Too late. BLAM! Simon pulled a pretty pink golf ball out of the plastic mountain on the course. It left a large dent.

"Shoot!" The oldest Chipette grumbled.

Simon took two swings and missed them both. "This isn't as easy as basketball."

"Put your knees into it, Simon." Dave instructed, tapping his fingers on his dark blue jeans, right where his kee was located.

Simon swung and missed again.

Dave got his ball in in 3 strokes.

Jeanette wound up needing to get her ball out of a tree.

"We're gonna crush them." Eleanor told me softly.

I gave a curt nod of agreement. "Mmm hmm."

When we got to hole number 5, I had a fun fact to share. But, as I was trying to seem less annoying, I couldn't simply blurt it out. Luckily, I had a better plan.

"I have a quiz for you." I informed the group. "See that curved tube? What do you think will happen to the ball after it enters and exits the tube? Simon, Jeanette, don't tell them. I know you already know."

Theodore raised his hand. "It'll move in a curve!" He guessed.

"It'll move slower?" Eleanor asked, still holding her mint golf ball. She moved it through the air in slow motion to demonstrate.

Brittany admired her nails as she stood next to Dave. "I don't really care."

Time to give them the answer. Sqeeee! I was so excited! "Well, it is going to move a little slower as it loses momentum. All golf balls do that. So Eleanor is kinda right." I explained.

"Boo ya!" The pigtailed Chipette exclaimed.

"But the answer I was looking for was, it moves in a straight line when it comes directly out the other end of the tube." I finished. As I spoke, I demonstrated what was talking about. I putted the red ball into the tube and it came out the other side. It traveled straight and fell in the hole perfectly. Another hole in one!

My dad sighed. "Alvin, that's fascinating but…"

Brittany shouted at me, dropping her golf club on the ground due to her mad arm gestures. "WE DON'T NEED A PHYSICS LESSON, RIGHT NOW!"

"What she said." Dave pointed to the girl in pink.

Simon missed again, his ball hit the rocks that bordered the green. "Well, that was nowhere near the tube." He sighed.

"Good try!" Cheered Jeanette.

Theo leaned on his club. "Maybe you need to stop overthinking it." He suggested.

"Maybe." Simon shrugged. He tried again. The blue object bounced off the curved tube.

I saw what was coming and jumped into action. Using my weird physics hallucinations, I was able to grab the ball before it could smack my grumpy brother in the face.

"YEOWCH!" That STUNG! "Force hurts." I complained, rubbing my sore hand and giving the ball back to my bro.

"Thanks, Alvin." He responded, pleased that his glasses weren't cracked and his nose wasn't broken.

"Hey, hey, physics king." Was that Eleanor calling for me again? "Guess who got her 5th hole in one!"

Now, that was impressive! I'd only managed three. "Nice job, Ells!" I congratulated her.

"That means you're second place." The mint and lavender clad Chipette added.

I smiled. "Second place ain't half bad, but it's still anyone's game." I really did enjoy being less competitive sometimes. Although, it was still fun, and addicting, to win.

We made it to hole 12, but Jeanette lost her ball around hole 8. She searched and searched and never found it. The water current must have carried it away. She was out of the game now, but was more than happy to watch. She texted Miss. Miller to see how Pippi was doing, promising to pick her up after the golf game concluded.

Obviously, Eleanor and I were the most into the game. Brittany was tryin' to be, but she STUNK at golf. Okay, well, she was better than Theo, Simon, and Jeanette. Still, that ain't sayin' much.

My jaw dropped as Eleanor scored almost effortlessly. This particular hole featured a giant crocodile guarding it. It was NOT easy to stay on target.

"Oh, wow! Hole in TWO! Did you see that?" The youngest Chipette bragged.

I frowned, I wasn't too upset or anything. I was just counting on staying tied with Eleanor. "Nuts! This hole took me four. I thought the greens were a lot faster and may have miscalculated."

"It's alright, Alvin." Jeanette offered her perspective. "You're still way ahead of me." She'd lost her ball, so she filled in 6s as her scores for all the rest of the holes.

Theodore tapped his club on the turf. "What do you mean by the greens being fast? They don't look speedy to me."

Oh, right. I forgot they didn't know that.

"Ah, it's just some terminology I picked up from the Ultimate Golfer's handbook." I tried to say that modestly. It was HARD. "It means that the ball moves faster ON them."

Brittany had had enough. She poked me in the ribs with her club. "Okay, more fun facts nobody cares about aside, I bet Eleanor's going to win."

I shielded my eyes from the sun and looked at the current scores. "It does appear so. But, anything can happen."

"What are you willing to bet, Brittany?" Her youngest sister asked. A devious gleam in her green eyes.

Theodore rocked on the heels of his green and yellow sneakers. "Oooh! Oooh! You should bet your dignity! That's a thing Alvin does…and you miss the old Alvin, so…this way, it'll be like he's still here." He told the sassy girl.

I loved that idea. "Ohoho! What do you say, Brittany?"

Simon let out a heavy sigh as he used his club like a cane to keep him upright. He was hot and irritated and he wasn't enjoying one bit of this. "Can we just play the game?" He asked.

I got an idea for a very funny joke, that was bound to fly over some heads. "Don't be such a 1 over 2 times PV squared times C small D times A." I teased Simon, wiggling my red-orange eyebrows.

As I figured, Britt didn't have a clue what my words meant.

"A what?" She blinked her ice blue eyes.

Eleanor shrugged. "Got me hangin'."

In the most deadpan manner possible, Simon spoke. "That's the formula for drag force." He explained. "He's calling me a drag."

Whoops. Now I was on the receiving end of a Simon glare.

Dave slumped his shoulders as he sat on the bench with Jeanette. "How many holes are we away from the 18th?

"6!" The girl with the butterfly motif said sweetly.

My dad groaned.

Meanwhile, Britt started to lay out the conditions of our bet. "Okay, If Eleanor wins, then you have to be my assistant for an entire day…without complaining." She told me.

I weighed the pros and cons of taking the bet. One day would be awful, but it was only one day. And, this was. Nice way to show Britt that I still had a very small competitive streak in me.

"Fine, but if I win…" I rubbed my paws together. "You have to wear THIS!" I gestured to my Alvin 2.0-core sports jersey, paint splatter jeans, and red glasses. I wouldn't make her wear the shoes. I didn't trust her with those. Plus, my feet are way bigger than hers. It wouldn't be practical.

"Ick. You drive a hard bargain." She frowned.

Eleanor tapped her sister on the back. "Take the deal. You know I'm gonna whoop him."

The girl in pink listened to the demon tapping at her. She shook my hand. "Deal."

I grinned deviously. "Splendid."

"Splendid? Urgh." A disgusted half-cough came from the girl in the pink off shoulder T-shirt.

"What?" I grinned. "It's a delightful word. Much like magnanimous, esteemed, tremendous, oh and verbose. I really like that last one." I was off on another tangent. Oops.

Simon looked at me. His blue eyes filled with concern. "Dude, we seriously need to work on the dictionary talk. You're going to alienate your peers."

I heard…most of that. But, then I got fixated on the last thing out of his mouth. "Did someone say aliens!?" My tail tip twitched.

"HE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT ALIENS!" Brittany shouted.

"Right." I chuckled nervously. "I knew that."

Theodore made his final shot and wrote down a 6 on the scorecard. "Uh, guys…I think I'm ready to move on to the next hole. I don't like how that crocodile is looking at me." He squeaked.

"It's plastic, Theo." Eleanor pounded her fist on the croc's back.

My little brother in green wasn't swayed. "I don't care. He's real enough to me."

At last, after many more hilarious shenanigans and sassy quips, we arrived at the final hole. As is mini golf standard, this one was a windmill.

Theo held his golf club upside down and talked into it like it was a microphone.

"It's the final hole! Eleanor is winning by only THREE points. She's about to take her final shot." He announced.

Jeanette covered her eyes. "Ohhhh. I can't watch. The windmill is so pretty, but so dangerous."

Dave rubbed a large bruise on his arm that he'd received at hole 16. "Only when Brittany's putting." He quipped.

"I said I was sorry!" The, too-strong for her own good, Chipette replied.

Simon cheered the loudest. "Go, Eleanor, go! Then we can all head home!"

"And have ravioli!" Theodore squealed happily. Ah, Theo. Always thinking of food.

Honestly, I was a bit hungry myself.

"Good luck, Eleanor." I said sincerely.

She growled. "Stop being so nice to me. We're rivals. If I win, you have to be Britt's servant."

Brittany rested a hand on her hip. "I didn't say servant. I said assistant."

"I know what you SAID." Her green-eyed sister emphasized the last word.

I rested an arm on Britt's wide shoulder. "And I know what you meant." I told her playfully.

My friend scoffed and removed my arm from her shoulder, looking disgusted. "Because you know everything."

"A great deal. Yes." I responded. "But not everything."

And that's when Simon lost it and screamed at us from the bench. "JUST STOP TALKING AND HIT THE BALL!"

Jeanette stroked the sleeve of his indigo hoodie. "Let's use our inside voices." She gently commented.

Theo's brown eyes filled with confusion. He did his iconic nose scrunch thingie. "But we're outside."

"DO IT, ELEANOR! DO IT, NOW!" Simon shouted.

Eleanor swung her club and knocked the ball off the tee. It stayed in a perfectly straight line….until it hit the windmill's blade and went shooting off in another direction.

"Aw man! I thought I had it!" The littlest Chipette groaned.

"It's okay, Eleanor!" Jeanette clapped.

Theo let out a gasp. "If Alvin can get a hole in one, he'll win." He said what I was thinking.

Brittany crossed her arms. "He'll never make it."

"Sure I will." I replied nonchalantly.

She scoffed. "No, you won't."

"Ohohoho, you're gonna eat those words." I strutted up to the tee.

Theo rubbed his stomach. "All I can think about eating is ravioli."

Eleanor laughed very hard. He laughed along.

I set the red golf ball on the tee. "Watch the master at work." I worked out the rotation pattern of the blades and calculated their speed. Then, I swung with all my might. "It's all about…" The ball rolled into the hole just before a windmill blade swung down to block it. "…the timing." I handed my club to Theodore and took a bow.

Brittany let out a cross between a moan and a squeal of anguish. "Noooo!"

"I bet Isaac Newton was a great golfer." I proclaimed.

"That's never been proven." Simon folded his arms.

"Well, he would have been…if he played." I insisted.

Eleanor shook my hand. "Good game, 2.0."

I turned to look at my best frenemy. She had lost. It was time to pay up.

"Oh, Brittany…" I said in a song-song way.

She looked horrified. Ohoho yes, life was SWEET.

A while after the game, we were all gathered in the living room, waiting for the big reveal. While Britt got changed, I had switched back into my unzipped red hoodie and the cyan shirt with the golden lightbulb. I paired that with my galaxy leggings, or athletic compression trousers. I prefer to call them that. Leggings is so basic.

"Come on out, Brittany." Eleanor beckoned, stifling her giggles.

Theo, predictably was all about that positive energy. "I'm sure you don't look that bad."

Dave looked down at me. "Was this really necessary, Alvin?" He asked, sounding worn out from our long day.

I stood on the coffee table and paced around as I spoke. "A bet's a bet, Dave. She knew the rules, and she lost. Bam. That's how it works."

Brittany entered the room, wearing plastic red glasses with no lenses, my 2.0 sports jersey, a pair of my paint splatter jeans with a belt so they didn't go falling off her narrow hips, and a cyan shirt under the red sports jersey. She also wore the most colossal frown I'd ever seen.

"I've never been more humiliated in my life." She declared. Her cheeks were as pink as her usual attire.

Simon didn't know WHAT to say. "Oh….that is….a look." He fumbled out.

"I think you look very nice." Jeanette said to her sister, while fidgeting with one of her friendship bracelets. "Although, I prefer the look on Alvin."

My mirth could not be contained in any way. "AHAHAHAHA!" I grabbed my belly, rolling around on the coffee table at the sight.

"I'll get you for this!" Brittany shouted with fury.

Eleanor shook her head. "Nuh uh. He won, fair and square."

"He IS a square." The Chipette spat, adjusting the fake glasses perched on her nose. "Look at me! I'm mister new and improved! I'm so responsible! Who wants to hear a thousand physics facts that nobody cares about?" She said, in a poor imitation of my voice. Her impression was significantly more nasal.

"Wow! Look at us! We're practically the same person!" I continued the joke, climbing down and standing next to her.

Theodore used his phone to snap a photo of us.

"No photos of this! Please!" Britt begged.

"I won't share it." The boy in the green shirt promised. "I just want one."

Eleanor jumped between me and my doppelgänger. "Seeing two Alvins is so weird."

My hallucinations of Classic Alvin and Nerdy Alvin sat next to Dave on the couch. They laughed together.

"Not for me." I said aloud. Having hallucinations was cool. It was my imagination running wild. We were totally functional too. I was used to them, at last.

Brittany pinched a bit of fabric from my custom made jersey. "How much longer do I have to wear this?" She complained.

"A few hours." I happily informed her.

She groaned and sat in a chair to sulk.

"You're lucky he isn't making you wear that to school." Simon pointed out.

"That would be so cruel." Jeanette added.

I smiled at the golf game's ultimate loser. (Which I say with endearment.) "Could be even worse."

The girl wearing her own fashion nightmare, rolled her eyes. "How?"

"I could have made you wear…GREEN." I laughed and then dodged a swipe of her extremely sharp nails.

Jeanette spoke softly again."But he would never do that either." She looked at me.

I couldn't resist getting in one last zinger. "Not unless she loses another bet."

"Alvin!" The whole room full of people scolded me.

I chuckled sheepishly. "Kidding. Kidding. Badly timed joke."

Have I mentioned I love my crazy family? Because, I love my crazy family! And they love me. Quirks and all.

The next school week, I got another surprise! It happened while in Dr. Wilson's class. Lots of surprises happened in there, but this one took the cake!

"Overall, you've all done a fantastic job on your homework." My favorite teacher informed our class. "Unfortunately, most of you seemed to struggle a bit on questions 11-15. But, not to worry. I have an idea." He looked directly at me.

Gulp! Why was he looking at me? I couldn't have messed up anything! This was the class I consistently brought my A game to.

"Alvin, can you walk us through what you did to solve questions 11-15?" He passed my homework back to me, and pointed at the equations on it.

Error! Error! Does not compute! I was surprised, shocked, anxious, and a little terrified. All the conflicting emotions gripped me tight.

"M…M…Me?" I stammered in disbelief. I'd never been ASKED to show off how I did homework. I was usually the one watching everyone else's examples. Because, well, I tended to get things mixed up.

Dr. Wilson smiled warmly. "If that's alright."

I jerked myself back to reality, before I could get lost inside my own brain. "Y…Yeah! I can totally do that."

I jumped out of my seat and proceeded to walk everyone through the AP science questions and equations. I felt more capable than ever before. There was something else, another feeling bubbling under the surface. I refused to entertain it. I focused purely on my nerd side.

"Very well done, Alvin." Dr. Wilson announced when I finished.

I walked back to my human-size desk. I climbed up and took my seat, half dazed and definitely freaked out. I didn't know HOW I just did that, but I did.

Simon leaned over to nudge me playfully. "Way to go, teacher's pet."

"Oh, I'm not a…" I started to say, before realizing he was RIGHT. "Holy nuts! I…I am." Wrong! That felt so wrong! And yet, so…right?

"Wear it with pride." My brother advised, looking impressed.

I was embarrassed, but also touched and still pretty freaked out. That's a standard for me.

My eyes were wider the heck. "This still feels wrong."

"You'll adjust." Simon responded. "I'm sure of it."

"I'll do my best, bro." I said, trying to shake off the icky feeling.

He patted my back affectionately. "I'm sure you will."

I pushed the embarrassment aside with all my might. "It is pretty exhilarating being an example of excellence." I snapped back into nerd-mode.

"I know the feeling." Simon rolled his eyes at my scholar talk.

I'm on a teacher's good side now. That's…weird. Maybe Britt's nerd curse theory isn't that far off? No, no! Don't think like that, Alvin. Don't let her get in your head!

I'm just gonna think about how to reconcile my class clown-i-ness with my budding teacher's pet persona. That's possible, right? I prefer to call it my teacher's favorite pupil persona. I am nobody's pet.

A couple days after that, Jeanette finished her story. She petted Pippi's mousy little head as she sat on the couch in the treehouse's den area, waiting for me to finish reading it. I was a fast reader, when I wasn't distracted. However, it probably still felt like ages to her. She reads even faster than I do.

I read the last sentence and then stepped away from her laptop. I fidgeted with the rubix cube in my hands. Still couldn't solve it.

"Well?" Jeanette sat her tiny mouse daughter on the end table next to the couch. She nibbled her fingernails, err, claws and played with her hair.

I gave her a glowing review. "This story is probably the best thing you've ever written."

"What did you think of the ending?" She asked.

Pippi looked bored and started to poke at the TV remote.

"Don't be rude." Jeanette softly scolded the smaller rodent.

Honestly, sometimes I forget we're half-rodent ourselves.

I sat next to her on the couch. "It's great! The little fairy kitty finds his parents, but now there's this new information out there about how to upgrade his powers, so you basically have a way to make a sequel….if that's something you're interested in." I told my crush.

"Oh, I don't think it needs a sequel." She clasped her hands together. All her environmentally friendly nail polish had chipped off, and she hadn't re-applied it. "I have several other ideas I'm toying around with. Would you like to hear them?"

"Sure!" I squeaked.

And then she was off. If there were ever a contest for who could infodump the most, we would be tied for first place. She was so CUTE! I can't wait until she's ready for a boyfriend. I'll wait for her, as long as it takes.

"The first one is about raccoons who enter in a dumpster diving contest. If was inspired by Eleanor. Then, there's one about this peacock who wants to solve a mystery, but he's not good at hiding and he's very clumsy." She went on. "Oh, and then the third one is about three tiger cubs who team up to….go on a shopping spree? Oh, oops. I guess Brittany interrupted that one. I'll have to rework it later."

"All your ideas sound STUPENDOUS!" I declared. I was way too hyper.

"Really?" The brunette with the beautiful smile started teasing me. Of course, being Jeanette, she did it in the nicest way possible. "Or have you been distracted by my face again?"

I vaulted off the couch, waving my hands. "No no no! I promise I was listening. Detective Peacock, shopping tigers, uhhh…trash rooting raccoons. See? I was listening!" I said in a rush.

She looked pleased. "Thank goodness. Because repeating myself can get a little exhausting." She quipped.

"Ha! Yeah! I know." I flopped down on the couch and adjusted one of the girly pillows under me. "Think about how many times I had to tell Britt the same thing in different ways before she finally got it!?"

"I'm just so glad she's stopped talking about the curse." Jeanette breathed a sigh of relief.

"For now." I murmured.

My irresistible best friend, turned mutual crush, brought out a small, red, glitter covered box. "I have something for you."

"Aw, Netta, you spoil me so." I responded, my heart had never felt more full.

Pippi had enough of our mushy gushy talk. She left the room and headed for the kitchen.

"Don't mind her." The Chipette in purple explained. "She's been having mood swings lately."

I nodded in an understanding way. "So what's in the box?"

"Oh….well….it's just a little something, but I don't want to spoil you." She replied. "If you don't want it…."

"Of course I want it." I blurted out. Then, my better judgement caught up. "But I don't want you to think I read your story just to get a reward." I clarified. Please, don't think I'm greedy! I begged in my head.

Jeanette's lips parted in an O of surprise. "I don't….I don't think that."

"Phew. Okay. Just checking." I trembled with anticipation. "Now, what's in the box?"

She opened the present and took out a purple heart shaped pin that said "physics" on it. "I saw this online and thought of you." Her midnight eyes glistened.

"Netta, I love it!" I pinned it to my unzipped cyan hoodie.

"And that's not all." She continued. "I know you're still not allowed to tell your fans that you're 2.0 yet, but…."

"But what?" I asked.

"But I thought you might like this." The beautiful girl pulled out a plush Alvin doll that had been redecorated to look like the new me.

I held the plush gently and touched his glasses. "You….You made this?"

She shyly looked away. "Well, I added the glasses and the different clothes and the shoes." She squeaked. "And extra hair too."

I hugged the doll close. "He's awesome! And he's gonna go great with that tiny Warbie plush I got from another Alvin from the multiverse."

Jeanette giggled and looked at me once more. "You gave Theo such a rough time about Talking Teddy and now look at you with your own plushie collection."

I felt my cheeks heat up with a heavy duty blush. "Heh heh. They're good anxiety relievers. What can I say? I get it now. I totally get it."

"I can teach you even more anxiety relieving techniques." She offered sweetly.

I was on board with that. I definitely needed some. "And I can teach you how to play golf without losing the ball and having to pay for it." I said, nudging her playfully.

"I'd like that." She grinned.

We both intertwined our fluffy tails as we sat on the couch. It was a perfect moment.

Later, we went upstairs to the attic. Jeanette was in the process of building Pippi her own little hideout up there. That way, the mouse could feel independent, but still be close to home. She told me all about her ideas and then we got to talking about school again.

I finally got enough confidence to ask something huge. "So….wanna go to Homecoming together?" I flinched, expecting to be rejected.

"On a date?" The girl in the purple specs murmured. "I still don't think I'm ready yet. Making it official is such a BIG step."

It's okay. I had a plan. I maneuvered cautiously over the power tools lying on the floor. "So….could we go as friends?"

"What if we spent Homecoming here instead?" She suggested. "And we could slow dance together."

I brightened up a little. "I like the way you think!"

To my shock, she grabbed my hands suddenly. "Would you like to slow dance together right now? As friends?"

My jaw hurt from the intensity of my smile. "You don't have to ask me twice!"

"Marvelous!" The girl in purple plugged in a stereo system and turned on some cheesy ballroom music.

I prepared to dance with her. "Okay, so, I'm supposed to put my hands on your waist." I reached for it and realized that she was built like a long skinny rectangle. "Where is your waist?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. But I'm happy with how I look."

"Me too." I beamed. "I think you look gorgeous."

She blushed and tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. The rest wobbled in her messy bun atop her head.

"Wanna put your hands on my waist instead?" I rubbed the indent with my fingers. "Everyone can tell where that is."

"Sure!" She gently held my waist.

I held her shoulders.

The two of us waltzed around the attic like we were professionals. And, ya know, the more I listened to it, the less cheesy that instrumental music sounded. It was alright. But, music with lyrics was still more my jam.

Things weren't all sunshine and roses for me. I was startled after school one day by Brittany's footsteps marching up the stairs. I stopped playing Candy Crush on my phone and looked up at the solar system mobile above my head. It was time for action, before Santa Barbara suffered a Brittany-quake.

"Don't let her in here!" I climbed off the bed and scrambled over to Simon.

MY blue clad brother looked annoyed. "Why?"

"Because she's gonna find out that I redecorated my room and flip out!" I said in a hushed raspy tone.

"What!? It's hardly different!" Simon waved his hand at my section of our bedroom. "You put up some posters and a solar system mobile and got a bookshelf! That's it!"

"It'll still be too much for her." I insisted, shoving Simon in the direction of the door.

He thought about what I was saying, then rubbed his pajama clad arms. "You're right. You're right."

"I need you to distract her." I begged.

And he did. I watched as Simon awkwardly leaned on the doorframe, blocking Britt's path. "Heeeey, Brittany. How's it going?" He asked, exuding a sort of effortless charisma. I didn't know he had that! At least it was still partially mixed with dorky Simon-ness.

Brittany looked at him, un-impressed. "Are you trying to be cool?"

"Uh, err, only if it's working." My taller brother responded.

The Chipette intruder sighed. "Can I come in?"

"Sorry, no." Simon gulped. "Room's a bit messy and kind of a danger zone." He came up with an excuse faster than usual.

"It doesn't look messy." Brittany pointed out. Her light pink ruffled skirt shook as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Looks can be deceiving." I added, jumping next to Simon, to block even more of the room from view.

"There's also….uh….a dangerous chemical leak." My brother in the robot PJs added. "We'll take care of it, right, Alvin?"

"Oh yeah! Definitely!" I sounded happy and peppy, but internally I was irritated that Simon picked a really dumb excuse.

Case in point, Britt started panicking. "Oh my gosh. Are you guys okay? Have you been breathing it?"

Simon desperately tried to double to back and undo the damage to our ruse. "Uh, well, it's not so much dangerous as just….very embarrassing if you get it in your system."

Okay, I could work with that. I summoned up whatever was left of my charisma. "It makes you act all loopy and crazy and then you blurt out whatever you're thinking." I nudged Simon.

"…okay." Yes! The Chipette in the pink shirt with fancy trim took the bait. "So, when will it be safe to go in your room again?"

Before I could respond, Simon beat me to it.

"Hard to say!" He answered nervously. "Might be a few….weeks."

"Or months." I added.

"Possibly a year." Simon finished, wiping his sweaty palms on his blue and white plaid PJ pants.

"Cool." Britt mumbled sarcastically. She was annoyed with us, but it beats the alternative. "Well, I guess I'll just stay out until you clean up the…mess."

Simon waved her away frantically. "We'll alert you once it's been fumigated."

She gave us a mega eyeroll and left in a huff.

"Boy, that was a close one." A higher pitched and childlike voice squeaked from behind us.

Simon and I jumped and hugged each other, then regained our composure. It was only Theodore standing there, holding a bag of trail mix and wearing his mint, vertical striped PJs.

"Yeah it was." I calmed myself down. "Hey, where did you come from?"

"I was in the teepee listening to all your bad attempts at lying." Theo confessed.

I sighed. "Don't be nosy like Eleanor."

"Sorry." The dirty blonde Chipmunk put his hands behind his back.

Simon chuckled nervously and shut the bedroom door. "Our lies weren't….that bad."

"Yeah they kind of were." Theo showed us no mercy. He couldn't be fooled.

"Heh heh." I rubbed my neck.

Our little bro skipped over to his nightstand to grab his laptop. "So when are you gonna let Brittany see your new decorations?" He asked, looking at me with a smile.

I felt a wave of nervous energy overtake me. "A few weeks, possibly a month, maybe a year. This way, I also get a break from Britt ziplining in unannounced. Oh yeah! Thinking ahead!" I rambled quickly.

Theo's brown eyes widened. "But isn't lying bad?"

"Yes, usually." Simon explained. "But this is to protect Brittany, and us as well."

I nodded. "It's gonna help her adjust in the long run. I can't just keep throwing changes at her suddenly. I gotta ease her into it."

Theo went back to his less confused state of being. "Ohhhh. That's really clever. Good thinking." He walked over to Lilly's dog bed and rubbed her belly.

She panted happily.

Simon tugged at the sleeve of my glowing alien head PJ top. "Is it just me, or am I getting better at lying?"

"Welcome to the darkside." I whispered ominously.

The taller Chipmunk was worried. "Oh no."

"I'm teasing, bro. You're fine." I nudged him.

The blue clad boy let out a shaky breath. "Oh, heh heh, good one."

Theodore joined us again, holding up his laptop. "Wanna play some Mystic Mountain Adventure?"

Oh boy! Did I ever? It had been a couple months since I played. It felt like FOREVER.

"We would, but Alvin and I have a research paper to work on." And there goes Simon, bein' a total drag force again.

I started to protest. "That's not due until October! We have plenty of time."

"I know, but if we should at least pick a topic." My brother in blue insisted.

Not to worry. I knew how to shift his opinion on the situation. "Si, bro. I am a mature, intelligent, responsible young lad." I placed both hands on my hips. "Now, if you'll excuse me…. I'm going to eat some mac and cheese, drink a juicebox, and play videogames because even mature kid-dults need a break from kid-dulting." I grabbed my laptop, which was now covered in various stickers I'd bought with Jeanette at the craft store.

"We could really use a third player on our team." Theodore used his baby bro charm on Simon.

The grouchy guy softened instantly. He wanted to play too, but his neurotic-ness was getting in the way. The dude ain't a procrastinator, like yours truly.

"Okay, okay. Count me in." Simon typed in a code on his bookcase and retrieved his laptop from the hidden compartment. Fancy schmancy.

Our littlest brother cheered. "Yaaaay!"

I must admit, we burned the midnight oil that night. We quested until we could quest no longer.

The end of September drew near and Si and I worked on the research papers. One day, no clue what day it was, Brittany caught me rocking out in the cafeteria.

"Are you seriously looking up physics SONGS now?" She asked.

I closed YouTube and stuck my phone in my pocket. "…maybe." I admitted. "But, in my defense, it's called the AP Physics Rap. It helps me remember everything I need to know." Yeah, that wasn't the only nerdy music I was listenin' to. But she doesn't need to know that.

Simon looked at me suspiciously. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Nerd brain's really kicking today." I rubbed the sleeves of my cyan shirt that I was wearing underneath the iconic letter A one.

By the way, I moved my alien head pin and purple heart physics pin to my backpack. I figure then I won't have to worry about accidentally throwing them in the wash with my clothes. Joining them is a letter A, a rocketship, and a guitar pin.

"That doesn't answer my question." Simon unpacked his boring lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich.

"I have no idea if I'm okay or not!" I opened my lunchbox and started to munch my PB and J. "But, but, I just learned that because gravity is just masses attracting each other mutually, there's really no such thing as down!"

The Chipette in the cheerleader uniform pretended to be interested. "Uh, that's nice."

"Hey, Simon." I swallowed a bite of my sandwich. "Wanna hear about string theory and loop quantum gravity?"

"I don't know what either of those means and you know it." Brittany grumbled.

I purposely got on her nerves. She said she liked it when I did. She liked it more when I was in Classic Alvin mode, but beggars can't be choosers.

I smirked. "It's pretty straightforward. Which theory you gravitate toward depends whether you like your space stringy or loopy."

"I think you're extremely loopy." She responded with a laugh.

Si laughed along. "Let's save the physics talk for AP Science." He advised.

"Fine, Fine. I got it. No smart guy talk until 5th hour. I read ya loud and clear." I agreed. "Now, who wants to hear about Brittany's ongoing quest for Prom Queen for the millionth quadrillionth time?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "At least he's off the science stuff."

After lunch, I strolled through the hall, marveling at how much things had changed and how much they hadn't.

Annie winced, walking carefully on her bandaged ankle. She tripped and the gentlemanly guy who helped her to her feet…was Derek Smalls.

"You alright?" The teen boy asked with concern.

The blonde girl in the trendy outfit sneered. "Get your hands off me, freak!"

Derek let go and dropped her back on the ground. "I was tryin' to help you!"

"I don't need your help." Annie snapped, forcing herself back up with an expression of pain.

"Fine!" The former bully shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was TRYING to do a good thing." He fumed. "You're so ungrateful! Don't know WHY I even bother with you!" He kicked the trash can in the hall as he walked away. "I HOPE YOU TRIP AND SPRAIN YOUR OTHER ANKLE TOO!" He shouted ferociously. The old Derek was shining through in that moment.

"He's harassing me!" Annie whined to Eleanor, who was unlucky enough to be standing nearby. "Brittany's sister, like, talk some sense into him!"

The pigtailed blonde in the watermelon hoodie laughed. "Nope."

"You're going to let him keep harassing me!?" The bratty teen girl was NOT happy. Is she ever though?

"Yup." Eleanor leaned against a locker and put on a pair of sunglasses.

Annie stomped her good foot. "How RUDE!"

The little Chipette snickered. "Okay, okay. I'll talk to him…IF you can answer one simple little question."

"I can do that." Britt's former friend smiled.

The mint clad Chipette looked up at the human. "What's my name?"

Oof. I knew exactly how this would end. Nice job, Eleanor.

"Uhhhh…" The blonde teenager in the pink skirt and shawl tapped her chin.

"You've known me for years, Annie. It's not that hard." The green eyed chipmunk was getting PIZZED.

"Is it….Noreen?" Annie finally guessed.

Eleanor made a buzzer noise, like on a game show. "Wrong answer, but thanks for playin'." She walked away, with a devious smile.

Derek pointed at Annie and laughed hysterically.

"Oh and I suppose YOU know her name?" The valley girl voice of Annie sure grated my nerves.

"It's Eleanor." Derek said matter of factly.

Annie limped away. "I was, like, close enough."

"No, ya weren't." The pigtailed Chipette called out.

I decided to follow Derek further and see where he went. He stopped outside the classroom door and met up with my friend Vanessa.

"Guess what I got!" The founder of the comic book club flirted openly with her boyfriend.

Derek chuckled. "Don't tell me you got another talking bird." He groaned with a hint of jest.

"No, silly. I got us tickets to the football game Friday!" Vanessa revealed. "Front row seats!" She showed him two tickets.

The teen boy's eyes went wide. "WHOAH! How'd ya swing that?"

"My dad won them and has no interest in going." The girl with the floral dress, this time blue and green instead of her usual pink, waved the tickets at Derek. "Are you free?"

"Yeah!" He jumped into the air. Then, he cut the celebration short. "Wait, uh, I gotta tell my aunt before I go. Having someone care about you is…weird."

"No problem." Vanessa tickled his chin with the tickets. "Already asked her yesterday."

"What? How?" He looked very surprised.

Vanessa grinned. "I saw her at the mall."

Derek awkwardly took the tickets. "Cool….uh, I guess it's a date."

The darker skinned girl embraced him with a kiss. On the lips! Good for them! Better them, than me and Britt. Haha.

"Have fun, you guys!" I exclaimed.

"Ahhhh!" I may have wrecked Derek's romantic moment. Oops. "Have you been watching us this whole time?" The former bully asked.

"Maybe." I started to talk faster as my pulse quickened. "But, you know, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Being vulnerable is good."

I looked up at a very, very angry face.

"Right, big guy? Derek? Derek?" I gulped. "Uh oh."

Well, looks like the blonde jock dude was back to chasin' me through the hall. "Get back here so I can knock those dorky glasses off your face!" I can't say I missed this.

I heard Vanessa talking to someone else. "…They'll be fine, right?"

"Most likely." That voice belonged to Theo.

"Character growth isn't always a linear path. He'll learn to manage his anger over time." And there was Jeanette. I'd know that soothing sound anywhere.

"He ain't gonna hurt Alvin." Eleanor joined them. "He's just blowing off steam."

Derek chased me down the hall further and I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. "I'm sorry I called you vulnerable! Ahhhh!" I screamed.

The next day, I got to class right on time, which was still abnormal for me. All the improvement in the world, and yet, my timekeeping was abysmal.

When I arrived, I overheard Warren talking to Simon.

"Are you still planning on entering the physics bowl?" The Asian teen asked.

My brother organized his binder as he replied. "If all goes well, yes."

I hung from Warren's desk and then climbed on top of it. "Did I hear one of my favorite words?" That word of course, was physics.

Simon frowned at me. "You're not entering the physics bowl." He said sternly.

"Yeah, You're super busy with that AP class." Warren added softly.

"But so are Simon and Kevin and they can do it." I reasoned.

Warren twirled the purple pencil that matched his shirt. "I guess….if you really want to."

Simon reluctantly agreed. "You can be the alternate."

"Whattya mean by that?" I wondered. I knew what the word meant, but I was too excited to get the context.

"The understudy. If one of us can't participate, you're backup." My brother clarified.

"YESSS!" I cheered. "I love being a backup plan!"

Warren still seemed worried. "Have you told Brittany about being a MathTron yet?"

"Nope." I jumped off his desk.

"When are you going to tell her?" The teen pressed.

I felt a cold chil tickle my spine. "When the time is right."

Simon gave me an un-amused look. "Whenever she finds out because he failed to cover his tracks."

"Yeeeeah. Probably." I couldn't deny it. He had a point. He was likely right.

Switching gears, I ran over to where Bruce was seated. "Hey, Bruce! Did ya like my new comic?" I inquired.

"Sure did!" The teen in the yellow T-shirt with a black Batman logo was one of my most loyal customers.

"Are you busy?" I leaned against his desk. "I wanna give you a behind the scenes look at the next story I'm working on. It has been…a pretty slow process."

"Sorry, Alvin. I've got soccer practice." He ran a hand through his curly black hair. He was growing out an afro this year. It looked super rad!

"That's cool!" I replied. "The offer's always open."

"Maybe next weekend." He said with an excited smile. "And I can show you my dad's comic book store too."

"Yesssss yessss yeeeeeah!" I cheered. That sounded like a blast! Gosh, I have so many friends now! Being a good kid ROCKS!

A month later, between classes, I strutted up to my brothers and the Chipettes. I had just gotten my progress report. I was practically glowing with pride. Pride. Not arrogance. Okay, maybe like, just a hint of arrogance.

"Guess who's getting a solid B in AP Science?" I boasted.

"You?" Brittany shut her locker and adjusted the straps of her fuschia off-shoulder top. The heart necklace around her neck gleamed.

"Yep! This guy!" I pointed at my freckled face.

Jeanette stopped fidgeting with her amethyst butterfly pendant. "Way to go!" The girl in the tie dyed peace sign shirt exclaimed.

"How did you manage that?" Eleanor asked, unzipping her mint watermelon hoodie and revealing the teal Soccer Girl T-shirt underneath.

I held up two fingers. "Two words." I announced. "Extra. Credit."

Four of the five, excluding Jeanette, stared at me in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Brittany asked, her strawberry blonde tail puffing up.

Theodore's stare with unblinking brown eyes, unsettled me. "It's gotta be a joke, right?" The kid in the green "I Doughnut Care" shirt said.

Eleanor studied me like a mystery she thought she solved. "Yep. Calling it now. Any minute he's gonna say "gotcha."

I folded my arms over my letter A T-shirt. "I firmly believe there's nothin' wrong with doin' a little extra credit." I stated.

They all stared even harder.

"Uh…"Simon began, rubbing his striped sleeves under his royal blue atom T-shirt.

I finally realized what I said without thinking it through. I looked at Simon with a horrified expression. "Did I just say that!?" I squeaked.

"You did." My genius bro replied.

I gasped. "Who am I?" My hands flew to my cheeks.

"Here we go again." Eleanor groaned.

Simon smiled at me and gripped my cyan sleeve sticking out from under the T-shirt. "Alvin 2.0. That's who."

Brittany sighed and then threw her hands up. "For better or worse."

My fear of becoming a stereotype melted away. I got all hyper and excited again. "You're right! And Alvin 2.0 LOVES getting extra credit! Mainly from Dr. Wilson, but still." I grinned.

"I'm glad he came back." Jeanette quipped. "You deserve a teacher who doesn't pick on you."

"Thanks, Netta." I said, feeling the sweet inner glow of recognition. "I just wish that his class didn't have so much homework."

"Gotta take the good with the bad." Eleanor added, walking down the hall.

I grappled with my insecurities as I followed her. "Part of me still wonders if I can do this."

Theodore hugged me. "You can! We believe in you!" He whispered something else in my ear. "Even Brittany."

"Mostly, I guess." Britt agreed.

Jeanette gestured to me. "You are exceptional. Everywhere I look, I see proof of that."

"It's true." Simon patted my cap. "And I'll remind you of that, as much as you need to be reminded."

"Heck yeah!" I danced down the hall, rhyming and continuing to boost my self esteem. "I'm Alvin, dorky, bold, and stunning. Most improved student 2 years running!"

Brittany gave me a gentle shove. "Mostly dorky." She commented.

I faced her and struck a pose. "Half dorky. Half cool." I argued.

"Only cool by geek standards." She teased.

I frowned. "What about Simon?"

The fashionista looked at the other nerdy boy. "He's cool…ish."

"He's one of my favorite brothers!" Theodore squeaked with his childlike lilt.

"Of course, he's ALWAYS the favorite." I grumbled, sulking.

Theodore giggled. "I said one OF my favorites. Cuz you both are."

"Jealous much?" Simon walked next to me, winking.

"No!" I protested. "I have my jealousy totally under control." Mostly. Mostly under control.

Eleanor waved her hands ominously. "For now."

"It still blows my mind." The boy in blue said.

"Mine too!" The shorter Munk in green agreed.

Brittany closed her compact mirror and stuck it in her purse. "Same here."

"What?" Jeanette asked, having zoned out of the conversation to watcha bird flying by the window.

Simon calmly caught her up. "Alvin's gotten to become the good student he never knew he secretly dreamed of being."

"Oh yeah. That." The girl in purple responded.

I passed by a display case that said the graduating class of 90 something. Inside, was a picture of Dave as a teenager. It was taken back when he went to this very school. Okay, technically it was a picture of Dave's whole graduating class. But, I was mainly focused on my dad.

"Wanna know what still blows my mind?" I asked the others.

"What?" Theodore squeaked.

"That we're gonna be stuck in high school for eternity." I groaned in frustration.

Brittany seemed even more upset than I did. "Don't remind me."

Jeanette consoled her moody sister. "It's not all bad. We're going to make the best of it."

"At least all our friends are here too." Theo commented. "And I bet we'll make a lotta new ones!"

"It's not the worst outcome." Simon gave me a slight pull, urging me to get away from the display case.

Eleanor shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "At least we're aware of it. We can use that to our advantage." I wished I could let stuff roll off my shoulders like she does.

"We can try lots of new things!" Theodore continued to look on the brightside.

"Don't overdo it." Brittany warned.

Simon cracked a tiny smile. "We do have several exciting opportunities ahead."

"And who knows how many surprises!" Jeanette added, uncharacteristically loudly.

My mood began to shift. Back to being content, my mind was racing with endless possibilities. "Plus, well, who knows! Simon, Jeanette, and I might be the first pre-teens to graduate college someday."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I highly doubt that."

Eleanor scowled. "I'd love to go to college too." The pigtailed girl said. "Just throwin' that out there."

Netta patted Eleanor's shoulders, and then mine. "Perhaps we'll go on to do amazing things even without college."

Brittany's ice blue eyes flashed. She suddenly looked happier too. "Most people peak in high school. So, if you think about it, we're already at our peak." She reasoned.

I loved that logic. "Yes! Yes! Brittany's right." I gestured excitedly as I walked faster. "We've got a mix of kid and adult perks at the same time!"

"Shhhh." Simon cautioned. "Not so loud. Someone could hear us."

Theodore dropped his voice to a hushed whisper. "So you guys agree? Not aging is fun?"

Brittany nodded. "Sometimes, yeah." She whispered back.

"Not all the time. But, it can be." Eleanor concluded.

Another idea struck me. "You know, I think now's a good time for a song." I may or may not have been planning to sing this very song since I found out I'm trapped in Santa Barbara High indefinitely. "You guys up for it?"

My baby bro in the green T-shirt looked up at me. "What do you have in mind?"

I rubbed my hands together as I quietly explained my intentions. They were ALL in. We all needed to blow off steam and what better way than a kick-arse musical number!?

We ran together through the school hallway, as I broke out into the song High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup. They're one of my favorite bands, since their name's so funny.

"Five seasons, you think for sure

That's all you've got to endure"

I slid across the black and white checkered floor, passing by Miss. Smith's classroom. She poked her head out and then rubbed her temples, giving her "whatever" face. She didn't bother stopping the montage. She just walked back inside and slammed the door.

"All the popular cliques, all the stuck-up chicks

So superficial, so immature"

My brothers, the Chipettes, and I passed by the basketball team, the group of A table people, and the cheerleaders. Most of them ignored us. Amber and Annie glared at us angrily. Brittany turned her head so she couldn't see them and held up her paw. Eleanor stuck her tongue out at them.

"Finally think you might graduate

You take a look around and you say, "Hey, wait!"

I grabbed a blue graduation cap that I'd been saving in my locker, and stuck it on top of Simon's head. He took it off and hurled it back into my locker, frowning.

"This is the same as where I just came from

I thought it was over,"

We stopped for a minute and looked up at the banner outside the cafeteria that read "Welcome Back, Students!" I cringed at it. Brittany sighed, Jeanette looked puzzled, Theo didn't seem phased. Eleanor and Simon groaned.

"Oh, that's just great" Simon and I said sarcastically in unison.

Then, all 6 of us started to sing as we ran further down the hall. We passed Jesse and Sheridan and Mr. Dotson, standing outside the auditorium. Then, we passed by the art room as the janitor was helping our art teacher hang up a creative display of art from the last few weeks. Warren came up and showed Simon a History test with a letter A grade. Simon cheered for him.

"The whole wide world is just as obsessed

With who's the best dressed and who aces tests"

Bocarter scoffed at us as we ran by. Texting on his bejeweled iPhone. Ray Ray was rigging some poor kid's locker with a paint bomb. I set it off secretly for him, while still singing. The bully wiped some of the green paint off his face, wondering what went wrong.

"Who's got the money, who thinks they're funny"

Brittany pointed at herself and then at me, as we all sang that next line. Okay, maybe I was a mess, but I was currently less messy than the new head bully!

"Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess"

I gestured to my dorky clothes and then joined Kevin and Cheesy at the end of the hall. I climbed up on their shoulders and took a few funny selfies with them.

"And you still don't have the right look

And you don't have the right friends"

Brittany and Theodore each held up a yearbook. Brittany's was from at least 8 years ago. Theodore was holding the most recent one. They flipped them open and showed off our school photos. We all looked about the same, but…more tired and wearing different clothes. Then, of course, I had glasses and braces and wild long hair. I'm so glad I don't have to wear braces anymore.

"Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends

High school never ends"

I sang the second verse, being the one most familiar with the song. We turned around and raced back through the hallway, passing by Anita and a group of less snooty popular girls. Tiffany was telling Anita a joke while Anita was showing off her button that said Class President. She'd won the election, much to Bocarter's dismay.

"Check out the popular kids

You'll never guess what Anita did"

We all ran by Derek and Vanessa, who were holding hands with only their pinkies intertwined. They smiled at each other and Jeanette ran up to hug one of Vanessa's legwarmer clad legs.

"Where is Derek takin' Nessa on a date?"

Bocarter strolled by and looked at Anita's Class president button. He balled his fists and pounded on a locker, then sunk to the ground, looking irritated and upset. Tough break. Rejection hurts, but it's also Bocarter, so I can't feel THAT bad for him.

"Did Bocarter win the presidential debate?"

Simon clearly felt even less bad than me. "Haha. He wishes." My brother in blue chuckled.

Brittany and I danced in perfect sync, singing together to the next part. We shook our hips and shuffled to the beat. It was great being her friend. I wonder how long it'll be before she can endure my 2.0 side without calling him a curse.

"And the only thing that matters

Is climbing up that social ladder

Still care about your hair and the car you drive

Doesn't matter if you're fourteen or sixty-five"

I sang loudly as I gestured at hyperspeed to my main crew. Brittany placed a tiara from her locker on her head. Simon adjusted his glasses and smiled.

"Brittany Miller, she's the prom queen

Simon, he's captain of the chess team"

Theodore pulled a whisk out of his locker and waved it around. Eleanor opened her locker and several sports balls fell out. A soccer ball, basketball, baseball, tennis ball, volleyball, even a football. She tossed the football at me. I caught it and tucked it under my arm, continuing to race down the hall.

"Theo is a chef, Ellie's the quarterback

Seen it all before, I want my money back!"

Theodore pulled at my crimson T-shirt."You forgot somebody really important!"

I did? Who was it? Wait, The love of my life! Oops!

"Oh yeah! This is my best friend Jeanette!" I wrapped an arm around the girl in purple and pulled her close. "She changed my life, for the better. She's one in a million! Now, back to the song!"

The six of us Chipmunks sang together again. We kicked the dance moves up a notch. A few of our friends joined in, dancing down the halls as well. I spotted Kevin, Cheesy, Pamela D, Jeanette's pal Pamela G, (so confusing) Sheridan, Jesse, Tracy, Bruce, and even the members of my comic club!

"The whole wide world is just as obsessed

With who's the best dressed and who aces tests."

Derek lifted Vanessa into the air. Tiffany waved her pom poms. Jake drummed on a locker. Theodore tried to take a bite of Cheesy's sandwich, but he was shooed away. Annie and Amber rolled their eyes and Bocarter stuck up his nose. Kevin lifted Simon up and hugged him. Simon didn't look too enthused. I grabbed Jeanette's hand and pulled her close. Sheridan handed Brittany some pom poms too.

"Who's in the clubs and who's got the grub

Who's absolute worst and who's just the best"

Brittany did a quick impromptu cheer routine. Theo and Eleanor bumped their stomachs together in a show of unbreakable friendship. I ran my hands through my partially gelled hair (that was still sorta messy) and took a quick peek at the mirror hanging in my locker. I looked COOL!

"And you still don't have the right look

And you don't have the right friends

And you still listen to the same tunes you did back then

High school never ends

High school never ends"

I closed the locker and danced between Kevin and Cheesy and my comic book club pals. We turned the corner and got stares from random students that weren't dancing. Dr. Wilson passed by us, shaking his head and chuckling to himself. He was glad we were having fun.

"The whole wide world is just as obsessed

With who's the best dressed and who aces tests

Who's got the money, who thinks they're funny

Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess"

The fairly large group of us ran back underneath the large Welcome Back banner. We shimmied and shook 'til our legs hurt. If this was a movie, I imagine this whole song sequence could be, like, the ending credits. The final hurrah.

I took it solo, Simon and Theodore lifted me up and I did a front flip, landing on my feet. The soles of my rainbow shoes felt bounce-y. I liked it.

"And I still don't have the right look

And I still have the same old friends"

I pulled my brothers close to me. The Chipettes slid close to us. Eleanor held up a bunny ears sign behind my head. Brittany rested her head on top of Theo's head. Jeanette peeked out from behind Simon and waved. FLASH! Someone took a photo of us. Turns out, it was Principal Meadows.

"And I'm almost the same as I was back then

High school never ends"

I gestured to myself with my thumb. Britt didn't look convinced. Jeanette, Theo and Simon patted my back.

The Principal shared the photo with Brittany. "Wonderful song, students." She complimented us. "But you really should be getting to class."

"She's right." Simon tapped his watch. "The bell will ring any second now."

RRRRRRING! Right on schedule.

We all dispersed from the area and headed back to class. Back to the grind. I sang the last lines fairly quietly to myself as I walked.

"High school never ends

And here we go again"

I was ready to make the best of eternal school. Both of the voices in my head were optimistic, which rarely happens. We were gonna jump whatever hurdles this school year threw at us. I had a feeling, there'd be plenty.

When I went into this, I thought being Alvin 2.0 would be better than being Classic Alvin. It's not better. It's not worse either. It's just different. But I like the difference. It's getting easier to handle every day.

Wow, I think I did it. This is the end, you guys. What should I say for my final sendoff? Oh, hold on! I think I got something. Thanks for sticking with me, through thick and thin. I'm so overjoyed that people actually wanna read my extremely long story. This isn't even all of it. I couldn't even begin to explain the whole thing. The most important parts are here and that's what matters.

Remember to be true to who you are. We are all paradoxes. We cannot be quantified into a few different boxes. The boxes are there to generalize, to sort. Who we are is a mix of everything we have ever felt and everything we have ever experienced. Ya can't put all of that in a box!

No two people are exactly the same. No two versions of me from different universes are the same either. It's crazy to think about. Maybe it blows your mind. Still, it's true! It's possible to have traits that seemingly conflict with each other too. That's just part of the paradox.

I'm cool and I'm a dork at the same time. I'm both smart and dumb at the same time. I'm really talented and I'm also a failure. I CAN be all of those things at once. All of those things make me…Alvin!

It surprised me to learn this, but….I didn't really like EVERYTHING about being 2.0. I also didn't like EVERYTHING about being Classic Alvin either. Nothing was as simple as good or bad. There were positives and negatives to each way of life. I was a "good kid." I was also still a "bad kid" sometimes, but I was still learning. Growing without growing up.

And yeah, life is messy, awkward, complicated, and a little humiliating sometimes. But, as Jeanette has taught me, there is beauty in even the messiest situation. The most important thing is that I never stop believing in myself. In my old self, in my new self, in all the future selves I'm going to become.

Am I a little bummed that I can't think of things as simply as I used to? Yeah. Do I long for a life with less stress and pressure? You bet.

But, I wasn't cursed. I was given a gift. The gift of complexity. The gift of being more than the guy I was programmed to be. I shared that gift with my family, my friends, even some of my rivals! I spread a wave of mostly positive change throughout our world.

And that? That makes EVERYTHING worth it.

I apologize. That was longer than I intended. Epilogue? More like a part 5 haha! It's shorter than the previous chapter, so I call that a win. When the dialogue flows, it really flows.

HOW DID YOU LIKE IT!? I second guessed myself writing parts so much. I think in the end, I managed to show you where everyone stands going forward. The Munks' and Ettes' were really having a ball.

What were your favorite scenes from this chapter? Are you going to miss this story as much as I do? I am literally in tears right now. I can't believe it's really over. But, all good things come to an end. And the alternative universe will still be going strong!

I fit in some foreshadowing for other stories I've written in this tale. Plus, I finally got to write the mini golf scene! That's been planned in my outline for ages. Originally, this chapter was only going to be the mini golf scene, the Alvin and Dave scene, and the finale scene with the song. I'm so glad I got the chance to add more. Who said epilogues need to be short anyway?

Once again, I love the Miss. Smith and Dr. Wilson interactions and I'm toying around with an idea where the two are team chaperones for a field trip together. Let me know if you'd like to read that someday. I might make it a mini tale!

Deleted scenes for this fic will be uploaded as an entirely separate story as I have motivation. There's a lot to sort and comb through. This is it! We are FINISHED here!

In closing, I would like to say, I appreciate all of you so much! Thank you for taking a chance on my unconventional and a little nuts interpretations of the characters. (Especially Alvin!) I don't like prolonged goodbyes, so I'm gonna channel my inner Eleanor and just say "peace out!"

ALVIN: Ohoho! And they said it couldn't be done! 58 chapters! Thanks for reading, guys! Have a STUPENDOUS and EXCELSIOR summer! (Or Winter, I guess, or whatever season it is when you get to this chapter.) Now, I have a hankerin' for a icy cold root beer. See ya….whenever. You can follow my fam and I on Tumblr! Just search for "Alvin 2.0." I'm easy to find!