Alvin Two Point Oh and the Chipmunks: Mini Tales!

by AmbitiousAlvin

A collection of fun and short stories that are easy and fast to read. Imagine them like episodes of Alvinnn, but for my alternative universe instead. There will be comedy, drama, and plenty of heart! I hope this will gather some new readers who may not feel they have time in their busy schedules for my longer stories. Each chapter will be a different story with an "episode" title.

19. Breaking Bad…Habits

I'm struggling to find time to write with the munks due to us always being exhausted from work. But, I am NOT giving up. None of us are.

This is an idea I have been toying with for a bit, and I figured now's a great time thematically to use it!

We've had to basically do this story scene by scene over a lot of days. I don't like this, because I can't get into hyperfocus. I hope it's still as good as our other tales.

I miss zoning out and deeply being immersed in my imagination. My coworkers say it'll come back in a few months when I'm less exhausted all the time. I dunno if that's true. I guess I have to force it for the time being, maybe I just need to watch more Alvinnn to re-activate the juices.

Rambling aside, take it away, Jeanette! This is her longest mini fic! I'm so impressed!

BREAKING BAD... HABITS

Jeanette's POV

Hello again, it's Jeanette. I have another very interesting tale for you. This one's about an idea that I came up with, for a spirited game of sorts. Remember when we wrote in our diaries about the Anti-Sarcasm Day challenge? This is sort of like that, only different. Pretty different, actually.

I'm not really sure how to explain it without giving the plot away. And I'm not the best when it comes to hosting games. Anti-Sarcasm Day was not well received, nor did it help me learn to understand sarcasm any better.

What has helped me learn more about expressions and sarcasm are the lessons that Alvin gives me sometimes. Isn't that adorable? We both give each other lessons! I enjoy it! It is ever so wonderful!

But I'm getting sidetracked. My story begins on another school day. We were all sitting together in the cafeteria, as we do on some occasions. I wished we could sit in the courtyard. I craved the fresh air and abundant sunshine.

"Sure is nice to be back to school after a long winter break." Simon commented, sipping on an apple juice pouch.

Alvin munched on some cream cheese and chives sandwich crackers as he worked diligently on his make-up assignments. "Speak for yourself." He muttered.

"At least me making everyone sick bought us a few extra days of vacation." Brittany tried to look on the brightside.

Simon, Theodore, and Alvin all glared at her angrily.

Eleanor glared too, even though she hadn't gotten sick. She had to care for the rest of us. I was told it was brutal.

"Yeah. It was REAL FUN spending my vacation with every symptom known to mankind." Alvin sassed, in a way that implied he didn't think it was fun at all.

Yay! Understanding sarcasm is so fun! And that's not me being sarcastic! I really think it's fun!

"What are you complaining about?" Eleanor asked, dipping some of her pretzels into my hummus. I allowed her to do so, but I do wish she'd ask first.

"Yeah!" Theodore added, between bites of his mixed veggies. "You got to miss even more school than us."

"I would have rather been at school." The boy in the red cap growled.

Simon chuckled at the comment, I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it was because he didn't expect Alvin to say such a thing.

"I'm glad I got to go to school." Theodore kicked his feet merrily under the table. "Alvin's really loud when he's sick."

"I'm loud because I have to get stupid eye drops for FIVE DAYS!" The angry Chipmunk folded his arms. "Pink eye could have happened to ANY of you, but noooo. As usual, the universe chose me."

"No." Simon corrected him before I could speak. "You chose to wipe your eyes with hands that weren't washed enough."

"I had hair in them!" Alvin pouted. "Why couldn't Brittany be the one who got pink eye!? PINK IS RIGHT IN THE NAME! THAT'S LIKE…THE BRITTANY DISEASE!"

"Excuse me!?" My older sister glared at my boyfriend.

"We can't change what happened." I said, dipping some more crackers in my hummus and munching on some tofu strips. "We can't change who got sick or what they got sick with…"

"Or who still needs eye drops after school." Theodore squeaked, eliciting another glare from Alvin.

"Right." I frowned. We'd all been through a lot. "But we can change our attitude. We have to try and persevere, no matter how hard it gets." I thought about my recent struggle with grief and the worries about the world ending. "And it's…really hard."

"Indeed. I fear life's only gotten harder since last year." Simon nodded his head.

"I have ALL this to catch up on. AGAIN!" Alvin groaned, tapping his pencil furiously on the table. "I feel like I'm back at square one. AGAIN!"

"It'll be okay." I rested a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Careful, Jeanette." Theodore warned me sweetly. "We don't want you to catch pink eye too."

Alvin's fur stood on end. "I stopped being contagious 24 hours after the eye drops started, thank you very much."

Eleanor stood up on the cafeteria bench. "Okay, that's it. I'm calling this." She folded her arms angrily. "We need a new topic before we have to hear about Alvin and his neverending sickness for the 100th time."

"I…." Alvin retreated as if Eleanor had slapped him. "I didn't even complain that much."

I finally realized that this was my chance! The idea I had kept swirling in my head since we sat down could finally come out at last.

Before I was even fully aware of speaking, I had blurted out… "I know what to talk about!"

Everyone except Alvin looked surprised to hear me talk so abnormally loud. But, well, there's a first time for everything.

"Go for it, sis." Eleanor sat back down and pointed to me with an encouraging smile.

And I suddenly felt nervous. I didn't know how to start. I could explain it so eloquently inside my head, but why wouldn't the words come out?

"Uh….well…..errr…..there's…..uh…."

Brittany tried very hard to keep her cool, but eventually after a while, she got irritated with my lack of clear speech. "Any day now, Jeanette."

"Sorry…." I closed my eyes. Maybe I'd feel less nervous if I couldn't see them judging me. "I thought of….uhhh…."

Simon and Alvin each took one of my hands and squeezed. The sensation was alarmingly sudden, but quite comforting. It helped ease my nervous energy.

"So I have this idea for a New Year's challenge." I began.

"Cool!" Alvin was the first to respond.

"Oh boy!" Theodore squealed with delight.

"I'm in!" Eleanor's voice joined them. "I'm always up for a challenge."

Brittany shrugged her shoulders and adjusted the strap on the tank top she wore under her fuschia off-shoulder shirt. "I don't really have anything else going. January's a slow month."

Simon still hadn't responded. I let go of his hand and opened my eyes. Then, I also let go of Alvin's hand.

"I would be interested." Simon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But it is highly dependent on the nature of the challenge."

That was my cue to add more. "The goal is, that each of us pick one bad habit that we REALLY want to break…and try to break it by the end of the month." I explained, twirling a strand of my hair on my finger. I did this frequently with the two strands that hung loose from my bun and framed my face.

"Oof. That IS a challenge." Simon remarked.

His younger brother in green nodded. "It sounds like it might be fun though."

"My biggest challenge is gonna be pickin' which habit to break." The third Seville brother continued to focus on his make-up homework while also staying in our conversation. Remarkable!

Eleanor rubbed her hands together. "Hmmmm. What should I choose?"

"I don't know if I really HAVE any bad habits." Brittany said, much to the surprise of everyone else.

Laughter bathed the table in its whimsy as Eleanor and the boys found Brittany's remark ridiculously incorrect.

"You…um….have a few." I said rather bluntly.

"Urgh." My oldest sister looked at her phone. "Maybe one or two."

"You could start with not checking your phone every few minutes." Simon suggested.

Brittany's right eye began twitching. "And you could start with not giving people advice they didn't ask for." She replied.

I gulped. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"It's official. We can't decide." Alvin 2.0 threw his hands in the air.

"You talkin' about the people in your head again?" Eleanor teased playfully. At least, I HOPE she was being playful.

The redheaded boy nodded. "Why ELSE would I refer to me as WE?" He reasoned.

Theodore looked at Alvin and then stood up on the cafeteria bench. "Why don't you pick THREE habits to break then?" He suggested. "Since you're like three guys in one!"

"I know a habit he could try to break!" Brittany smiled. "No more talking about his brain in EVERY conversation. It's kind of interesting sometimes, but usually it just gets repetitive and irritating."

"Sorry." Alvin stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm…we're not accepting unsolicited advice."

I sensed I wasn't going to be able to get a word in unless I interrupted someone else talking. Gee willikers, I don't like interrupting people.

"I vote for Brittany's idea." Eleanor raised her hand. "I'm also tired of hearing about the Wonderful World Of Alvin's Brain."

Alvin looked hurt. "Understanding how my Autistic and ADHD brain functions is NOT a bad habit."

"No, of course not." Simon patted his cap. "But babbling about it to EVERYONE is."

I took a deep breath and interrupted the conversational flow. I imagined that the conversation was a river, and I was a mighty dam. I also had beavers living inside me, since that's what beavers do. Oops. I may have gotten carried away with this metaphor. Sorry.

"I know what habit I'm going to try to break." I revealed, at a medium volume.

Everyone looked very interested in what I had to say.

Eleanor broke the awkward silence. "Which one?"

"Jeanette has habits that are bad?" Theodore wondered aloud, scratching his head and causing his blonde hair to become slightly more fluffed.

"I have a pretty big one, yeah." I put my hands in my lap and swayed side to side to regulate my nervous system.

"No way." Brittany gasped.

I nodded. "Yes way. I want….I want to stop biting my nails."

My oldest sister froze with a spoonful of chocolate pudding in her hand. She slowly set the spoon back down into the pudding cup. "You bite your nails?"

"Since when?" Eleanor looked equally shocked, her mouth agape.

I couldn't meet their eyes for more than a brief second.

Simon and Theodore both seemed surprised as well, but not as intensely as my dear sisters.

"Since….always." I forced myself to speak, though it suddenly felt unnatural and uncomfortable to do so. "Whenever I get too nervous. I can't help it."

"I bite mine." Alvin showed everyone his freshly nibbled claws. "Hey, that could be my bad habit to break too!" He squeaked with enthusiasm.

Eleanor shook a finger at him. "No copying! That's not fair."

The red-capped boy let out a groan. "Urgh fine. I'll pick something different."

Theodore smiled at me with his usual sort of grin. "I know what I wanna try." He declared.

"What is it, Theo?" I was delighted by his level of interest and commitment already.

"Not leaving the fridge open all the time." The little boy in the green sweater with a picture of a cookie on it, folded his hands in front of him. "Cuz closing it protects all the food from going bad…and food going bad is really sad."

I tried my best to match his smile. "I think that's a great goal to strive for."

Eleanor took a long slow slurp from her protein shake. I wondered what she was thinking, but I didn't want to ask.

Luckily, Theodore asked for me! "What bad habit are you gonna work on, Ellie?"

The pigtailed blonde made a face that sort of looked like a squiggly line. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I suppose I could work on being less cynical." She admitted. "But, that feels more like part of my personality than a bad habit."

Simon nodded sweetly. "Being less cynical opens you up to enjoying things more." He told her. "I'd say it's worth a try."

"Kay." My youngest sister's green eyes filled with determination. I've always admired her determination. "I'll do it."

Brittany scrolled aimlessly through her phone, getting more and more frustrated. "I don't know what to pick. I don't do any of the bad habits on this list."

"Can I see that?" Alvin leaned over her shoulder.

I expected her to push him away, but she didn't. It's sweet how much better those two get along now.

"Sure." She even handed him the phone!

Alvin 2.0 scrolled through the list and grimaced, reading some of the things aloud. "Talking to yourself, procrastination, not holding eye contact, staying up late, daydreaming, forgetting people's names, using your phone before bed, playing videogames, fidgeting. Wow. This list is ableist as FRACK."

"I have to say, I agree with the no phone before bed rule." Simon frowned. "It can make it hard to sleep."

"Depends on the person." I corrected him politely. "I use my phone before bed. I read fanfics and sometimes write down ideas. Or I research things."

Alvin's eyes went wide and he seemed very nervous all of a sudden. "I HAVE to use mine. Or I get stuck in infinite negative thought loops and start panicking. The phone directs my attention away from the mess in my….brain. Dang it, I said brain again."

"Hmmm. I suppose that's valid." Simon rubbed his chin.

Eleanor tapped Brittany's shoulder. "Come up with anything yet?"

The girl in pink seemed either irritated or sad. I couldn't tell which. "No."

"I have a suggestion!" Alvin volunteered.

He received a much haughty-er "No." in response.

Simon snatched some pretzels from Eleanor when she wasn't looking. "May I make another suggestion?" He asked.

Brittany's ice blue eyes turned toward the ceiling. "Only if it doesn't involve my phone!" She grumbled.

"It doesn't." The bespectacled chipmunk in the blue shirt with slightly lighter blue stripes said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, you have my attention." My oldest sister took the last spoonful of chocolate pudding and then immediately wiped her hands on a napkin.

Simon struggled a bit to say what he wanted to say. I could tell he was ever so careful not to set my sister off. "You could stop engaging in so much, errr,…retail therapy."

Eleanor scooted closer to Brittany and invaded her personal space. "Yeah. You can't fill your empty soul with shiny things." She added. "And did you really need those primrose scented bath beads that you only used ONCE?"

I wasn't sure what this bath bead incident entailed, but I would soon learn.

"They were on sale." Brittany protested.

"For ONE dollar off of 25." The pigtailed Chipette replied. "That's not a sale, it's a rip off."

My oldest sister looked at her pretty pink polished nails. "Well…."

"Think of all the money you'll have to spend on stuff that you actually want!" Alvin interrupted suddenly, slapping his hands against the table with vigor.

"It's an addiction, Brittany." Simon pointed out gently. "Even you have to admit it."

The struggle concluded at last, as the stubborn Chipette finally realized they were correct. "Fine. I'll give up buying things when I'm extra emotional, but I REFUSE to limit my phone time." She agreed.

I gave her a HUGE encouraging smile! "Marvelous! Thank you for participating, Britt."

"It's the least I can do." My sister gave a subtle smile back. "At least we'll all be suffering together."

We continued to eat lunch and then began to clean up. I knew the bell would ring soon.

"I'm still trying to decide which habit of mine needs work." Simon told the group. "Truthfully, I've already been working on sleep, exercise, being less negative, being less perfectionistic…."

"Yeah yeah." Alvin cut him off, quite rudely. "You're on your way to actually being Mr. Perfect. We get the picture."

Theodore scolded his brother before I could explain he'd been rude. "Alvin!"

I'm not sure Alvin heard him, because he kept on speaking. "Congratulations, Brittany! You're dating Mr. Right! Bet ya didn't realize his first name is ALWAYS." He gestured with his hands, as he often does when talking.

"That's enough, Alvin." I said, with Eleanor echoing the same words mere seconds after me.

Theodore folded his arms. "You should stop interrupting." He told his brother sharply.

At this moment, Alvin realized what he had done and instantly deflated. "Sure thing." He perked back up, but it was clear he felt guilty. "That'll be Classic me's habit to break. For Albert, I think I'll try and be less particular and picky about, well, everything."

Oh dear. He's really trying to break TWO habits? Why does my boyfriend always have fo be so…extra?

"Just don't spread yourself too thin." I warned him, packing away the last tofu strip into my lunchbox. I hadn't finished them all. I was full.

The boy in the cyan and red shirts chattered some more. "And for my Alvin 2.0 side, I will continue to do the impossible."

Eleanor smirked. "Be less annoying?" She teased.

Luckily, the teasing didn't seem to make a dent in Alvin's fragile self-esteem. "Heh heh, no." He responded cheerfully. "I'm gonna work on significantly reducing my negative self-talk."

Brittany stared at him with half lidded eyes, looking bored. "Which means?"

"I'm gonna beat myself up less over everything." The exuberant boy explained. "I tend to get overly critical when it comes to my own behavior these days."

I opened the notes app on my phone and started to write down their goals and my own, so I wouldn't forget.

"That's a noble choice." I said sweetly to Alvin. "It won't be easy, that's for sure."

"It's the one thing about me I really wanna change." Alvin admitted to all of us. "Because I am SICK of feeling like a screw-up, despite all the proof that I'm NOT one."

I wish he'd only picked one habit to work on, but I understand he has trouble only focusing on one thing at a time. It's something my self-betterment lessons never really improved.

"Have you chosen your goal, Simon?" I wondered, writing down more in my notes.

He smiled nervously and brushed some stray hair from his face. "I think so. Please don't laugh." He requested.

I gave him plenty of reassurance. "This is a safe space, don't worry."

"Yeah!" Alvin encouraged his younger brother. "You've got the floor, Si."

"I bet you picked something really good!" Theodore exclaimed.

Eleanor nodded. "Let's hear it!"

Brittany smiled like she just won a quiz show. "Is yours "be less stingy and enjoy life more?" She guessed.

The boy in the blue striped shirt shook his head. "Not really."

"Darn." My sister in pink sighed. "I really thought I was onto it that time."

At last, Simon revealed his challenge. "Mine is…stop excessive snacking between meals."

An odd choice. I couldn't possibly have seen that coming.

Alvin started to tease his beloved brother. "In other words, live on more than bean burritos, Ramen noodles, mac and cheese, chips, and pretzels?" He poked at Simon playfully.

Simon glared. "Ramen can be a meal!"

"Technically yeah." Theodore backed him up. "But it's good to have some fruit or a veggie with it." The green-clad Chipmunk added.

Simon finished packing up his lunch as the bell rang. "At least I don't use MOUTHWASH to soak my Ramen." He hissed at Alvin, but not literally..just in tone.

"Ewwww." Brittany flicked her hands like she was flinging germs from them. "Who does that?"

As we started the walk to class, Simon and Theodore both pointed directly at Alvin. He does have very strange taste in food.

My sister in pink stared at the ceiling for another split second. "Like I needed to ask." Oh wait! That's an eyeroll! Alvin taught me to recognize that more. He, Eleanor, Simon, and Brittany do that an awful lot. I am not sure I know how to roll my eyes. I do stare at the ceiling sometimes though.

Anyway, back to the story. My apologies for the interlude.

"It's delicious!" Alvin was still talking about the Ramen with mouthwash flavoring. "Mmmmm. Minty fresh!"

Theodore looked up at his brother with a look of horror and then politely announced his opinion. "I think your taste buds are broken."

Simon and Brittany both laughed a little.

"I got the idea from this YouTube show called Good Mythical Morning!" Alvin continued.

Eleanor seemed a little interested. "Oh yeah. I've seen that a few times."

"It's hilarious!" The red-capped Chipmunk rambled happily. "Hours of entertainment!" Then, he suddenly became sad. "Man, I miss when I could waste a full day watching YouTube. I never have time to do that anymore."

And suddenly, Eleanor lost her interest in the conversation. Had she been faking to be polite? Why must people do that? It's basically lying.

"Yeah life sucks." The girl in the mint hooded sweatshirt and black jeans with neon green stars stated. "Anyway…."

"Uh…Eleanor?" I frowned. I hated interrupting, but it seemed she'd forgotten something important.

"What?" She tilted her head.

Brittany put a hand on her hip as she walked. "You're already failing the challenge."

Eleanor stopped in her tracks, seeming confused. "All I said was "life sucks"….ohhhhh. Yeah, I guess that DOES sound cynical." She admitted, with a faint groan.

"This might be harder than you thought." My strawberry-blonde sister teased.

That made Eleanor even MORE determined somehow. "No way. I can totally be all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows." She insisted. "Just watch me."

"I can help you!" Theodore offered with his usual sweet demeanor.

My youngest sister smiled confidently, in a way that made my stomach jump. It was unsettling. Yeah. That's the word. Very unsettling.

We reached our lockers and when Simon opened his, a bag of sour cream and onion flavored potato chips fell out.

"I can't believe my excessive snacking has become a bad habit." The tallest Seville brother complained as he shoved the chip bag back into his locker. "It figures, I try to manage my depression and wind up addicted to salt and microwave-able food."

Theodore gently patted his brothers back before opening his own locker. "It's okay, Simon. A lot of people eat their feelings." He squeaked. "And you don't have to completely stop snacking on stuff. You just gotta do it less than now."

Alvin 2.0 let out an adorable chuckle. "Simon's Theo genes are showing."

Well, Simon does always say that Alvin's Simon genes are showing.

"….I deserve that." Simon admitted, as he retrieved his AP Science textbook and closed his locker.

"So Jeanette…" I felt a sharp elbow in my side. "Does the challenge winner get a prize?"

I turned to see the culprit, and it was Eleanor. I suppose I should have recognized her unique voice.

I gulped. I didn't have a prize! I hadn't been planning that! "Uhhhh….the satisfaction of a job well done?" I softly responded. "Maybe?" I scratched my head and tapped my foot to regulate my nervous system. "I don't know. I didn't really think of prizes. Sorry." I grabbed what I needed from my locker and tried to avoid eye contact with my sister.

"Maybe you can find a mystery prize!" Theodore told me, jumping excitedly.

I closed my locker and hugged my books to my chest. "Maybe!"

Alvin snatched his AP Science textbook from his half-messy and half-organized locker that seemed as though it was shared by multiple people with different needs.

"I for one definitely need the prize for sweet sweet motivation." He quipped.

Oof. Yeah. He was right. Both Eleanor and Alvin rely on prizes and awards to complete challenges. Brittany might as well, I'm not certain.

"I'll come up with a prize….somehow." I promised them, keeping my head down.

"Awesome." Eleanor cheered. "Okay, Munk Squad! Let the challenge BEGIN!" she chuckled as we walked through the hall to our after-lunch classes. "This is going to be a wild week!"

I had a feeling I was about to get more than I bargained for when it came to this particular challenge. But it was too late to change my mind now. Everyone agreed. I'd just have to tough it out. I realized, suddenly, that the urge to drop my books and chew my nails was VERY strong. I shifted the books under one arm and before I could stop myself I had gnawed off the tips of my nails on my entire right hand…AGAIN. How would I ever stop this awful habit!?

I did my best to concentrate on my classes, but the next time I looked I had chewed a couple nails off my left hand too. I needed something else to chew on. Gnawing is only natural for a rodent, especially when they're nervous. My anxiety has been increasing a lot lately. I don't know if it was the bad news or the start of the year, or maybe I'm still recovering from being sick. Anyway, I needed to find a less frowned upon way to calm my nerves.

During art class, I caught myself chewing on the eraser of my mechanical pencil. Thank goodness I wasn't chewing on one of my decorative erasers. I would feel so bad if I munched on one that looked like a cat or a unicorn or a bunny. I've named them all too, but I won't get into that because mini tales are supposed to stay truncated.

"Are you okay?" Anita came to sit beside me.

I couldn't lie to her, so I shook my head. "I'm trying to stop biting my nails, but…" I showed her the jagged and blunt claws on my hands. "I'm not having much luck."

"Hmmm." The kind teenager in the purple plaid skirt that matched my own, rested her head on her hand. "Have you tried eliminating the stressor that causes you to bite them?"

I sighed. "I can't. It's my nature to stress about the future of our planet. I wish more people cared so that we can live peacefully and respect Mother Earth." I looked away briefly and focused on the art project I was working on. I'd drawn the diagram of a pond ecosystem and I was sculpting a 3D frog to accompany it.

"I see. Yeah….that is tough." The girl adjusted her rectangular pink glasses. "I wish I knew how to help."

"That's okay." I sighed and nibbled my ring fingernail on my left hand absentmindedly. Oops.

I suppose I should probably explain how my mutant human-chipmunk nails work. They don't unsheath quite like cat claws or average chipmunk claws. They usually just look like human hands covered in fur with fingernails. But my fingernails can…turn into claws. They extend from the nail bed an extra inch when they're "unsheathed" which,…well,…gives me that much more to bite. Chipmunk teeth are also very strong so even though my claws are durable, my teeth make very short work of them.

"May I borrow some tape?" Anita requested politely.

I snapped myself back to reality. I wasn't sure how long I'd been just sort of staring into space. "Absolutely!" I handed her the tape from the craft bin.

An idea dawned on me. What if I used tape to cover my nails? Then I couldn't bite them without tasting the disgusting tape!

When class ended, I took a roll of masking tape and wrapped the end of each finger. There, now I could grow accustomed to ignoring the urge to bite my nails.

On my way outside, Cheesy grabbed my attention.

"Hey!" He yelled in a friendly way, that was still much too loud for my liking. "I heard you're tryin' to stop nail bitin'."

I was shocked that word got around about my challenge so fast. I suppose I shouldn't be.

"Did Alvin tell you?" I wondered.

He nodded. "Yeah." The redheaded boy in the blue and white math-themed sweater reached into his pocket. "Here. I have something that'll help." He handed me a stick of bubblegum.

I frowned, but then forced a smile. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't chew gum."

"Aw darn." The boy with the slight lisp sighed. "Oh well. Was worth a shot. Good luck on your challenge!"

I waved goodbye to him and exited the building. So far, so good. My fingernails were still taped up.

Unfortunately, by the time I made it home, my hands were so sweaty that the tape was peeling off. It couldn't stick because of the sheer amount of sweat. Gosh, I wish I could stop being nervous. I needed a new plan.

Making my way upstairs, I decided to take an after school nap before transitioning to the rest of my day. It was a pleasant nap. When I awoke, Pippi, my tiny mouse daughter, greeted me with happy squeaking. She teased me for being a sleepyhead.

I ran a comb through her hair and that helped calm me a bit. While I was doing that, I caught her up on my challenge.

"Brittany's going to lose." She squeaked. Luckily, only I can understand her….because, at that moment, Brittany entered the bedroom.

I sighed. "It's possible, but only time will tell."

"Don't tell me you're talking to yourself." My sister took off her second layer and kept on only the light pink tank top that had been underneath. "The competition's driven you crazy already?"

"I was talking to Pippi." I explained, slightly upset by her words. "And even if I was talking to myself, that wouldn't make me crazy. It's a perfectly natural way to organize thoughts. It's a very healthy practice."

"Yeah, true." Brittany agreed. "But you and Alvin don't need any more things in common." She let out a small giggle.

"Heh heh." I matched her giggle. I wasn't bothered by her words. I could sense she wasn't trying to make me feel bad.

Pippi scurried over to my nightstand. She sat patiently on her haunches, watching my sisters and I interact.

Eleanor was next to enter the room, seconds after Brittany. "It is a beautiful day, isn't it? Simply WONDERFUL!" She stressed the last word.

My oldest sister stared at her, looking annoyed. "Is that your Jeanette impression?" She asked in a teasing way. "It needs practice."

Eleanor skipped around the room merrily. "I'm just being my happy, peppy, totally UN-CYNICAL self."

Brittany took a step back toward her bed. "You're scaring me."

The pigtailed girl let out a very high pitched giggle. "That's the idea."

I stared at them, trying to make sense of why Eleanor was clearly overdoing this. "I thought the idea was to break our habits." I murmured.

Eleanor shrugged and jumped onto her bed, sitting cross-legged and smiling unnaturally wide. "I guess scaring people is just a bonus." She looked at Brittany. "Sooo, how're you doing on the challenge?"

The pink clad girl stood as proudly as a peacock. "I've managed to stay off Etsy and Amazon and every online shopping site all day." She announced.

"Good job, Brittany!" I clapped for her.

"Cool." Eleanor's cheerful smile turned devious. "Did you hear about the purse sale they're having at the mall? Buy one get one free!"

The strawberry-blonde girl's eye started to twitch. She bit her lip. "There's a what?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're bluffing."

My youngest sister rolled onto her belly and kicked her feet in the air. "Ask your friends if ya don't believe me. I overheard Sandy talking about it."

"This is OUTRAGEOUS." Brittany threw her hands in the air.

Eleanor stared at me, still holding the smile. I briefly imagined that her jaw was likely in a great deal of pain.

"Your nails look very nice, Jeanette." She complimented me.

I immediately stuck my paws with the chewed off claws behind my back. My face warmed with the intense heat of embarrassment.

I whimpered. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"Nah. I really like them. Honest." The girl in the mint hoodie assured me.

Brittany rolled her eyes and this time I definitely knew that meant she was exasperated with Eleanor's behavior. "It's probably because she thinks they look like witch fingers." She paused and then added. "No offense."

I started to cry. "I don't even know when I'm biting them. I tried using tape but it first wouldn't stick and then when it did stick it painfully pulled my fur." I explained, grabbing one of my softest purple flower-shaped pillows and stroking it to stay calm.

Brittany had already started to seem sympathetic, but now she could clearly see my distress and her big sister instincts kicked in.

Before I knew it, she was sitting next to me on the bed. She pulled one of my hands out from behind my back.

"Don't cry, Jeanette." She said tenderly. "I can help you."

I blinked the tears back. "H…H…How?"

"With this!" Her glittery bubble skirt bounced with each step as she ran to her vanity. She opened a drawer and took out a color coded rack of nail polish. After selecting a bright shade of blue-violet, she put the rack away and closed the drawer.

She held the nail polish bottle out for me. I could see a faint shimmer and sparkle when the light touched it. "First, we'll soak your hands to promote nail growth. Then, I'll give you a manicure! Your nails will look so gorgeous that you won't be able to bite them!"

"They'll also smell terrible." Commented Eleanor. "And that's not me being a cynic. That is a warning."

"Only while they dry." Brittany responded, with an irritated look in Eleanor's direction.

I nodded. "I know. Britt's done my nails before…a few times." I looked down at my hands. Would the idea actually work? Or would I end up with flakes of nail polish in my mouth? Yuck! "I suppose…it's worth a try."

"SQUEEEEEEEE!" Brittany's squeal of delight was extremely loud. "This is going to be so fun!" She grabbed my hands and dragged me toward the door.

Eleanor grabbed a baseball and tossed it back and forth in her hands. She also re-situated herself so she was on her back and propped up with a pillow.

"You should join us, Ellie." The pink-clad girl exclaimed.

I could tell that Eleanor was biting her tongue. She must have had a lot of very cynical comebacks that she wasn't allowed to say. "No thank you."

"Was this tested on animals?" I asked, trying to read the label on the bottle of polish.

Brittany shook her head. "Only if you count me." She stated with a soft smile. "Last call, Eleanor." She urged our third sister once again to join the activity.

The pigtailed girl rubbed her chin. "Hmmm. Can I paint them neon yellow with giant green smiley faces?"

Brittany rubbed her forehead and groaned in disgust. "I guess."

Eleanor leapt off the bed and waved her arms in the air excitedly. "Yaaaaay!"

"Your Theodore impression also needs work." The sassy Chipette chided.

My somewhat unsettling sister returned her comment by sticking her tongue out and making a fart noise. I believe they call that "blowing a raspberry." I do not understand what it has to do with raspberries.

A while later, we were all relaxing at the kitchen table, waiting for our nails to dry. Brittany had painted hers in several shades of pink ranging from hot pink to pastel pink. Eleanor's were so bright and neon that they hurt my eyes a little. I guess it's because I'm so sensitive.

I looked down at my blue-violet shimmer nails. The color sure was stunning. I could admire the sparkle for hours. Maybe Brittany was right. It could help me keep them out of my mouth.

"These are awesome!" Eleanor commented, admiring her own nails.

"Told you so." Brittany boasted.

I frowned. "I can't tell if you're being serious or just trying to be less…yourself."

"Exactly." My youngest sister grinned VERY wide again. "And you never will."

I nudged Brittany and whispered softly. "Am I the only one getting Cheshire Cat vibes from her?"

"No. She's creeping me out too." My oldest sister whispered back.

Eleanor got up and went to the window. She threw open our floral curtains. "There we go! Plenty of sunshine! Don't you just LOVE the sunshine?"

"Ellie…" Brittany cleared her throat. "Maybe you should pick a different habit to work on."

"But I just love this one so much! I'm so FILLED with positive emotions and hope!" She placed her hand over her heart dramatically.

I didn't know what to say, so I just blinked and blew gently on my fingertips.

Brittany flipped open a compact and admired her reflection as soon as her nails were dry. "OMG! We should show the boys our nails!" She got up and ran toward the door.

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" I asked. "I'm a bit tired." The process of getting a manicure took more of my energy than I thought.

"But what if you accidentally chip one or…" I sensed Brittany was about to say "bite them again?" But, luckily she stopped herself. "Something?"

"Well…I guess I would like to see the boys." I felt myself twitch nervously. "Especially Alvin."

"It'll be fun watching them try to succeed at their near-impossible goals." Eleanor commented. "I'm pretty sure Theo's gonna win."

"Enough talk." Brittany grabbed her phone and slid it into her favorite glitter covered purse. It was pink, like many of her belongings. "Let's go!"

We entered the boys' house and found Theodore and Simon in the kitchen. I immediately noticed a giant pastel green sticky note on the fridge. It said "IMPORTANT REMINDER: DON'T LEAVE FRIDGE OPEN!" Theodore's commitment to the challenge was very obvious. I began to wonder if everyone was more committed than I was. What was so bad about biting my nails anyway? Aside from the habit being unsanitary. But I ALWAYS wash my hands. A lot. I guess I just feel bad when my nails are all jagged. And sometimes I accidentally scratch myself. That's not fun.

"Guys, it is a day for the record books." Brittany announced, dancing into the kitchen and twirling around. "Eleanor let me paint her nails!"

"Look!" The Chipette in question waved her neon yellow and green nails around. "Their cute smiley faces match my unbeatable positive attitude!"

"…okay." Simon didn't know what to think either. At least I wasn't alone in failing to understand my sister.

"I love them!" Theodore cheered. "They look really nice, Eleanor." The chubby boy ran to the fridge and pointed at the sticky note. "Guess what! Guess what! I remembered to close the fridge 3 whole times today!"

"And he only forgot once." His taller brother in blue added.

"And how are you doing, Simon?" I asked politely. "I hit a few snags, but I'm hoping the nail polish works." I drummed my fingers on the countertop as i climbed onto the stack of books located on the chair.

Simon frowned and looked upset. "It's been….hard." He rubbed his temple. "I haven't had a single snack since we got home. And dinner seems so far away."

Theodore climbed up and hugged his brother. "Don't worry. You'll make it." He pulled a bag of pumpkin spice pretzels from his pocket and started crunching on them.

His brother got very angry. "Theo, do you HAVE to eat those in front of me!?"

"Oops." He climbed down and hid over by one of the cabinets to eat, so he was out of Simon's sight.

"I can still hear you crunching." The blue-clad Chipmunk groaned.

"I'm so sorry, Simon." I told him honestly. "Maybe this wasn't the best decision for you."

He just shrugged. "We've all got it rough."

"Well, I managed to not buy ANYTHING so far!" Brittany jumped onto the table and grinned.

At that moment, her phone rang and she took the call. We all watched as her face contorted into an expression of pain.

"Hey, Sandy! What's up?….No way!….ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?….Half off!? Really!?….Urgh, I'm sorry. I can't go." The Chipette in pink sighed. "Believe me, if I could go, I would….it's just…" I could almost see the gears in her mind turning. "Alvin gave me pink eye!" She lied impulsively. "Have fun….No, please don't buy me any purses. Please…..I can't enjoy them right now anyway."

We all had very different reactions to the call. Simon looked sympathetic. I was a bit irritated that Brittany lied. Theodore wasn't even paying much attention. Eleanor was continuing her devilish Cheshire smile but now she had a slight hint of "I told you so" energy about her.

"Yeah….I miss you. Talk soon!" Brittany hung up the phone and screamed at the ceiling. "I HATE THIS STUPID CHALLENGE! I HATE IT! AAAAAAARGH!"

"You lied." I blurted out softly.

"NO DIP! WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!?" She screeched. "I DON'T WANT THEM TO THINK I'M BLOWING THEM OFF BECAUSE I AGREED TO SOME STUPID BAD HABIT CHALLENGE! THEY WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND!"

"That must have been really hard for you." Theodore finished his pumpkin spice yogurt pretzels and re-joined our group.

"It was." Brittany wiped a tear from her eye. "But I am NOT failing. I WILL beat my shopping addiction! Even if it kills me." She cried again. "YOU GUYS, WHAT IF IT ACTUALLY KILLS ME!?"

"Something tells me that your retail therapy may have been a coping mechanism for a lot more than just mood swings." Simon pointed out, seeming worried.

"Don't worry, Brittany." Eleanor said in a very out of character way. "Nothing can hurt you! You're like…invincible!"

My older sister's upper lip stiffened. "I don't want to talk to you anymore." She said, jumping off the table and turning up her nose.

She ran into the living room and we all followed her. Simon found another bag, this time of salted caramel yogurt covered pretzels and immediately tossed them toward Eleanor.

"Yay! Free pretzels!" She opened them up and chewed with her mouth open. "Ohhhh yeah, that's the stuff."

Simon sulked as he sat down on the couch. He looked spaced out for a moment.

"Are you alright, Simon?" Brittany noticed and said something before I could.

He clutched a pillow awkwardly. "Yeah. Just a little light headed."

"You should eat something." I told him. "Maybe a granola bar."

He shook his head. "That's snacking, Jeanette."

"Right yeah." I was now very worried about both Brittany AND Simon. And Eleanor too, even though she seemed to be having the time of her life.

And it just occurred to me that Alvin was nowhere to be found. I wondered how he was faring with his THREE goals.

"Where's your brother?" I climbed carefully into a chair by the TV.

"Getting his eye drops." Theodore grimaced. "We should probably plug our ears."

"Even earplugs don't help." Simon grumbled. Not snacking seemed to have him back down in the dumps.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad, you guys." Eleanor hopped into the chair opposite me.

It was. It was excruciating.

We could hear Alvin from all the way upstairs and he sounded like he was being tortured.

"AHHHHHH IT STINGS! IT BURNS! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! THIS IS MISERABLE! I WOULDN'T WISH THIS PAIN ON MY WORST ENEMY!" He screamed without taking a breath. "DAVE, ARE YOU SURE I'M NOT ALLERGIC!? THIS IS WORSE THAN THE PINK EYE WAS! HOW MANY MORE DAYS OF THIS!? I CAN'T TAKE IT! AAAAH YAAAAH! HELP ME! SOMEONE HEEEELP! OH NOOOO NOT THE ITCHY CRAWLING! MAKE IT STOOOOP!"

"You were saying, Eleanor?" Simon chided with a half-hearted and weak smile.

My youngest sister only shrugged.

"Only a few more times with the drops." Theodore unplugged his ears. "Then the nightmare will be all over."

"Until Alvin screams about something else." Brittany commented.

"That poor kid is in so much pain." I told my sister. "Have a little sympathy."

"I do have sympathy! I do! But also….what are we supposed to do about it? Just let Dave handle him." The girl in pink folded her arms.

Dave came down the stairs a little while later with dark circles under his eyes. "I don't get paid enough for this job." He muttered.

"You don't get paid at all for being a parent." I reminded him, helpfully.

"Exactly." He flopped down on the couch next to a half-asleep and spaced out Simon.

"Does anyone want to watch a sappy film about the awesome power of friendship?" Eleanor asked the group.

"Take it down a notch, Eleanor." Simon grumbled, holding his head. It must have been in a lot of pain.

"When's dinner, Dave?" Theodore asked, climbing up to rest on his tired father's lap.

"Oh no." Dave stood up suddenly, causing the green-clad Chipmunk to fall on the floor. "I forgot dinner!"

He helped Theodore back up to his feet and then ventured into the kitchen to make…well, I'm not sure what was for dinner.

The dirty blonde boy grabbed my hands. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" He asked my sisters and I.

"Absolutely." Brittany replied. "Anything to get my mind off the mall."

"Sure!" Eleanor beamed.

I nodded. "Uh huh." If Dave's not making something vegan safe, I'll probably make myself a salad.

Suddenly, the adult man bellowed from the kitchen. "WHO LEFT THE FRIDGE DOOR OPEN AGAIN!?" There was a heavy sigh, followed by an "ALVIN!?"

"NOPE!" Theodore yelled into the other room. "IT WAS ME, DAVE! SORRY!"

The youngest Seville boy slumped his shoulders. "I could have sworn I remembered to shut it last time!"

He hurried into the kitchen to close the door for Dave.

We all just sort of sat around quietly while we waited for dinner. I assume everyone was stuck in their own heads….wondering how to survive this difficult challenge. This gave me some time to think of the prize I promised everyone. Unfortunately, I was so stuck on focusing on NOT biting my nails, that I couldn't think of ANYTHING.

I began to feel my heart race, so I twisted my friendship bracelets to stop the building anxiety. Then, my mind wandered to the cool oasis I often imagine when I'm overwhelmed and I feel like I'm drowning. I imagined the seagulls overhead and dolphins frolicking through the waves.

Slowly, the panic began to subside. I looked down at my hands and realized the nail on my pinkie finger was jagged, but the rest of them were still pristine and perfect.

"Ick." I quietly uttered, excusing myself to the bathroom to wipe the nail polish flakes off my tongue. A very unpleasant sensation. But at least it was only one finger I compromised! That is a good thing! Isn't it?

"My daily torture has been concluded." Alvin announced, stepping into the room wearing his cyan bathrobe with red music notes and yellow lightning bolt designs. His face lit up when he saw my sisters and I were here. "Oh, hi, girls!"

Brittany waved to him first.

I was next to greet him, with a soft spoken…"Hi!"

Eleanor continued to spread her overblown brand of positivity. "You look amazing! The color cyan really works on you!"

Both Alvin's eyebrows raised high enough to be very noticeable behind his glasses. "Is she okay?" He pointed a shaky finger at my younger sister.

"Yeah!" Theodore nodded, having re-entered the room while I was lost in my own head. "She's just being super nice." He explained.

His brother in the red baseball cap still seemed unsettled. "Uh huh…"

Brittany hopped off of the couch and scurried over to Alvin. "How are you doing with your three bad habits to break?" She asked sweetly, before a deep frown crossed her face. "I'm about to lose it. I thought I could do this, but now I'm not so sure."

Eleanor did a cartwheel across the floor and then landed on her feet. She jumped onto the coffee table. "It's only day one!" She shouted. "Things will get better!"

Alvin 2.0 held both his arms awkwardly as he tried not to gesture with them while speaking. "Honestly, I've been cheating so far on the first one. Can't interrupt people if you avoid the people." He laughed a nervous little titter of a laugh. "Classic doesn't like avoiding people though." He added. "He is screaming!" A look of pain appeared briefly.

I felt so bad for him. "What about the other two?" I asked as tenderly as I could muster.

He paused shortly as he processed what I'd said. Then, he answered. "I have been trying to be less picky. I haven't asked for much. And at dinner today, I'm gonna eat everything without complaining." He declared.

Simon raised his head before flopping it back onto the pillow. "We applaud your effort."

The oldest Seville boy started to rub his arm and his ears drooped. "It's the least I can do. I annoy each and every one of you with my behavior and it is excessive and sometimes rude." He admitted. "I'm a horrible guy sometimes….most of the time." He exhaled a heavy sigh from his lips. "Whoops. Negative self talk. Time for my punishment."

I gulped. I didn't know what sort of punishment Alvin had planned for himself, but I sure hoped it wasn't anything terrible.

He reached into the pocket of his bathrobe and pulled out a tiny red squirt bottle. He held it up to his face and squirted his cheek. The water must have been either too hot or too cold, because it made him flinch.

Brittany seemed concerned. "Okay, that was funny back when Eleanor and I did it, when you were studying for that quiz. But watching you treat yourself like this….is just sad." She commented.

Alvin put the squirt bottle away again. He waved his hands around in front of him. "No! The cold water's good!" He exclaimed. "It helps calm my nervous system! Then, the urge to negative self talk goes away! Cuz, you know, I'm regulated again!"

"Hmmm. Very interesting." I replied.

"There is a science behind it." Simon chimed in.

Once again, the feeling that I'd made a mistake overtook me. I slid down from the chair and paced a little. "You're working so hard." I told Alvin, before turning to adress the others. "You all are. Maybe….maybe too hard."

Eleanor pumped both fists toward the ceiling and then purposefully fell to her knees. "This is easy." She boasted.

Simon rubbed his stomach. "No pain no gain."

Theodore folded his hands in his lap. "Hard work is good. Dave says it builds character."

Brittany dug her pink polished nails into the arm of the couch as she climbed back up to sit with Simon.

"I need to win. I NEED to." She repeated, with a very…unhinged expression.

"Me too!" Alvin agreed. "Gotta get that mystery prize!"

I still hadn't come up with the prize! OH NO! Without even being aware of it, I began nervously chewing all the rest of my nails. I looked down at my hands after I tasted the disgusting nail polish flakes.

"Aw no! Not again!" I exclaimed.

I wasn't a fan of my own idea anymore. This was just too tricky.

We ate a wonderful dinner with the boys and Dave. He made a pasta salad and mine had vegan safe alternatives for the cheese and plenty of veggies.

Simon dug into his pasta salad like a hungry animal. The whole table watched him while I sunk down in my chair, feeling guilty that he felt the need to stop a habit that wasn't even BAD because of my silly game.

"Simon, you may wanna slow down." Dave advised. "Before you choke."

"Oh…oh yeah." The boy in blue stopped devouring the pasta salad and tried to go back to eating it at his usual pace.

"Is he okay?" The adult in the navy blue button up sweater asked, glancing around the table.

"Yeah." Theodore tried to cover for his brother. "He's just hungry."

I guess nobody wanted Dave to know about the challenge.

We made it almost to the end of the meal, when Alvin started clutching his stomach in pain.

"Ohhhh" He moaned.

Dave got irritated instantly. "Don't tell me you've come down with ANOTHER symptom."

"No…I just….I dunno what set it off." Alvin squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "It feels like it does when I eat spicy food."

"There's no spicy food here." Brittany reported, eating her own pasta salad with no green ingredients.

"I know." The boy in the red and cyan shirts (he'd removed the robe at this point) looked worried. He started obsessively picking through his bowl of pasta salad.

"It's probably just IBS." Simon suggested. "If it started up when you ate."

"Nuh uh." Alvin shook his head. He continued to pick through what was left of his meal. "AHA!" He shouted, startling us. "I have found the culprit." He held up a tiny chunk of red pepper on his fork.

Eleanor started to laugh. "Dude, that's a red bell pepper. It's NOT spicy."

"I only like yellow bell pepper." Alvin told us like it was something we were all supposed to instinctively know.

"Red and yellow bell peppers taste EXACTLY the same." Brittany told him.

"Well…" Theo frowned. "Not EXACTLY."

"Not at all. They don't digest the same for me either." Alvin reported with an even more pained expression.

I understood what had happened instantly. The red pepper had triggered Alvin's food sensitivities. Food sensitivity was very common in neurodivergent people, especially those who are autistic. Alvin and I were both autistic and had figured it out only recently. Though, to be honest, I suspected I might be for years.

"What can we do to help you?" I asked.

"I dunno." Alvin started to cry. "For once in my life, I wanted to not be all picky and particular about stuff! But I can't even do that!" He dried his tears with his napkin. "I'm impossible to deal with. I'm sorry. You're better off without me."

He grabbed the red squirt bottle sitting next to him and squirted his face once again.

Dave rubbed his forehead. I could tell his patience was thinning. "All this over tiny chunks of red pepper?"

I came to Alvin's defense. "Food sensitivities are serious business."

"Yeah!" Theodore added. "And fears of certain food too. Like how Brittany can't eat anything green."

My sister in pink nodded. "True, I guess. I'm sorry I thought you were being dramatic, Alvin."

Simon swallowed his last mouthful of pasta salad. "I guess your Albert side has REASONS that he's so particular about everything."

"Y…Yeah." Alvin's ears drooped. "But this means I'll never break the habit."

Eleanor patted his cap. "Cheer up, buttercup. You still have two bad habits that you can break without making yourself feel sick."

I smiled encouragingly. "I think you should embrace your particular-ness and listen to it more. It might help you stay regulated and feel better."

"In that case, can I pick out all the rest of the pepper?" Alvin asked Dave politely.

"If it bothers you that much, then alright." His dad still seemed confused.

"Thanks." The boy happily rid his bowl of all the red peppers. "Who wants these? Any takers?"

"Ooooh me me me!" Theodore volunteered. He scooped up the extra chucks of diced pepper.

I smiled to myself. I had influenced Dave to actually listen to Alvin instead of assuming he was trying to be difficult intentionally. I did that. I was making a difference. A small difference, that would help in the long run. It turned out to be a lovely dinner.

Since the nail polish idea wasn't working and I was sick of tasting that yucky nail polish, I came up with a third plan. I started wearing my gardening gloves all the time. They made my poor little paws extra sweaty, but it was better than biting my nails again.

Unfortunately, three days later, my paws were covered in a plethora of tiny, itchy, red bumps. Simon told me it was called Athlete's Foot. I asked how I could get a condition meant for feet on my hands. He said it was likely from the excess sweat.

I decided to continue wearing the gloves regardless. The itch continued to plunge me into the depths of sensory heck. It was worth it though! I kept repeating that to myself. Just until the end of the month…it's so close.

I sighed upon noticing a calendar and realizing it was still a little over a week away. How dreadful! I itched my hands absentmindedly. That was becoming a brand-new habit.

My family and friends didn't seem to be faring any better. This challenge was putting us all through the ringer. I met up with them after school and strolled into the living room of the Seville house.

Brittany was drawing a picture of a stunning red dress at the coffee table as she spoke. "How are you all doing?" She asked. "I am having a FABULOUS day. NOT!" I could sense she didn't mean it, though the sarcasm was still hard to completely pick up on.

I showed everyone my paws. "I'm struggling, but I have these gloves…and they're helping, I think." I scratched my left glove. "Aside from the itchy blisters."

My older sister frowned and dusted some colored pencil shavings off her drawing. "I really thought my painted nails idea would work."

"Me too." I replied. "Oh well." I shrugged and took a seat, wondering what else to try if the glove idea became intolerable.

I noticed that Simon appeared to be half-asleep on the couch, Alvin was playing his favorite Dungeon Master 6 videogame, and Theodore was way over in the corner of the room…doing something at a very small plastic yellow table with a chair similar to what you might see in a kindergarten classroom.

Simon seemed to read my mind. "Why…..is Theodore in….the corner?" The boy in the blue galaxy-patterned T-shirt and acid wash jeans struggled to speak. He was barely alert.

Theodore waved to us and stood up from his seat. "Oh! Hi, guys!" He squeaked. "I put myself in "time out."

"Why?" Brittany raised an eyebrow.

The little boy seemed embarrassed? I think. It was hard to read him when my hands were so ITCHY. "Because I forgot to close the fridge again and…"

Alvin kept his eyes focused on the videogame and his hands pressed several buttons as he interrupted Theodore. "Ya know, I think that refrigerator is cursed. We should invent something to keep it closed properly so Theo doesn't have to remember!" The excitable kid in the cyan hoodie and red shirt with a rocket paused the game. "Si, come on! Grab your labcoat!" He pulled gently on his sleepy brother.

Simon yawned. "…..I don't…..really feel…..like inventing…..stuff today." He forced out painfully.

"What!? How can you not!?" Alvin gasped. "Isn't it like….your lifeblood?"

He only got one word in response. "Tired."

"You're always tired." The redhead sighed.

"Too tired." His dark brown haired brother grumbled.

Honestly, Simon's cute even when he's grumpy, but I prefer it when he's feeling better.

Alvin looked directly at me, picking up his controller again. "Has Simon been losin' sleep lately?"

"I am not sure." I said, not knowing what other answer he would have expected.

Brittany was concentrating hard on her dress design. "He's just….out of it." The girl in the pink dress with gold music notes continued to color until her colored pencil lead broke. Then, she set the pencil down and groaned.

Theodore commented from his spot across the room. He pulled on the strings of his deep green hoodie. "Simon should be snacking." I really liked the shirt Theodore had on today. It was his usual shade of green and covered in images of rainbow candies.

"That's a very cute shirt." I blurted out impulsively.

"Thanks." He beamed an adorable grin. "Anyway, can I continue saying what I was gonna say before Alvin interrupted me?"

Oops. He did, didn't he?

"I interrupted you?" It seemed Alvin wasn't fully aware of it.

"Uh Huh." His little brother in green responded.

Alvin pinched his own arm quite forcefully. "NUTS!"

"What did you do that for?" Brittany turned her head to address her bestie, as she calls him.

He winced. "It's my punishment."

Simon blinked slowly like a sloth. "Is it working?"

"So far, no. I just have this." The boy in the red glasses rolled up his sleeve to show a giant bruise forming on his poor arm.

Theodore sighed. "I forgot what I was gonna say now. Aw phooey."

Brittany's tail waggled as she walked over to Alvin. "You should really get some cream for those." She quipped excitedly. "Let me order some for you online!" She pulled her phone from her pocket.

Theodore put his hands on his cheeks. "Noooo! Brittany." He cried out. "You have to resist the temptation!"

"Draaaat." My sister grumbled.

Then, she did something very odd. She stood up, her eye twitched three times, she locked her gaze upon the laundry basket in the room, and then started obsessively folding the laundry. She was like a well-oiled machine, but there was something concerning and unsettling about her.

My boyfriend noticed it too. Alvin's ear gave a flick as he grimaced. "Is she okay?"

"No." Simon gulped. "Likely not."

I realized what was happening. It was concerning to a degree, but not nearly as much as I initially feared. "She organizes things even more when she's under stress." I explained, adjusting my jean jacket over my purple T-shirt with an elaborate flower design. "This should make her feel better, I think."

Suddenly, Theodore shouted out again. "I remembered what I was gonna say!"

"Hooray." Simon half-heartedly exclaimed.

"I got really bored in time out, so I decided to put together this puzzle!" The adorable chipmunk in green gushed. "I'm almost finished!"

I wandered over to look at the puzzle, my blue and purple ombré skirt brushed my legs as I did.

The puzzle was a rather large one. It was a farm scene with cows and pigs and sheep and a rooster. I love roosters. Their calls can be loud, but they are majestic creatures.

"Good for you!" I patted Theodore's back as I admired his handiwork.

Brittany finished speed folding and sorting the basket of laundry. "There. Beautiful." She tented her fingers, then scanned the room for anything else she deemed out of place or imperfect. "Can I dust off your TV? It is filthy."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

Alvin seemed a little weirded out by my suddenly eccentric sister. "Sure, I guess." He paused his game again.

"Why do you wanna dust the TV?" Theodore inquired politely.

Brittany held the wet wipe delicately in her hands. "Because I will literally…"

"Die if you don't?" Alvin finished, pinching himself again immediately. "DANG IT!"

"Yes." My sister's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"

He looked surprised. "I was…..trying to make a joke….it didn't land."

"This is NOT something to joke about!" Brittany stated firmly. She frantically started dusting the boys' TV.

Theodore frowned and came out of time out to join the rest of us. "I've never seen Brittany act like this before."

"She's usually better at hiding it." I said, following behind him.

Simon let out a heavy sigh. "I wish I could help, but I can't think straight. My head is pounding and my thoughts are all….slow."

I was about to say something and encourage him to drop out of the game, but there was another interruption. Luckily, this time it wasn't from Alvin.

Eleanor danced into the room shaking a pair of mint green pom poms. She wore a cheerleader outfit in several shades of mint and teal. It had white colored accents. She waved the pom poms and her pigtails bounced around as she jumped. Her giant smile was just as unsettling and uncomfortable to witness as it was 3 days earlier.

"Heeey! There they are! There's my incredible and amazing family!" She declared. "How ya all doin'!?"

"HORRIBLE!" Brittany tried to return to her drawing, but hesitated.

I stood, frozen in my spot next to the couch. "We are….deteriorating." I answered, compelled to honesty.

Alvin pointed to Eleanor's cheerleading outfit. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Brittany rested a hand on her hip. "She got tired of imitating Jeanette and Theo and now she's taking a stab at me."

"Nah! I'm just feelin' PEPPY!" Eleanor jumped around. "Two, four, six, eight, everybody's doin' great! Whooooooo!" She did the splits and waved the pom poms more. "Gooooo ALL OF US!"

"Good lord…" Simon mumbled.

Eleanor got up and shook her pom poms right in Simon's face. That wasn't very nice.

"Uh, Eleanor, I think….." I began, before being interrupted by…well…it's not really a mystery who.

"Think you've gone off the deep end." Alvin finished, pinching his arm again. "My apologies, Netta. I am REALLY trying to get this under control!" He exclaimed.

I sighed. "I know. I'm not angry." I assured the boy, lest he lapse into negative self talk.

"The deep end? Ha!" Brittany finished dusting the lamp and then carefully folded the filthy wipe. "She's in….uhhh….what's the deepest part of the ocean, sis?"

"The twilight zone!" Alvin answered impulsively. He sighed and pinched his arm, letting out a pained squeak this time.

I shook my head. "Close. Actually, it's the midnight zone." I corrected.

The red capped boy snapped his fingers. "I always get it mixed up with that old TV show." He commented.

Eleanor came up to me with shimmering green eyes. "Wow! Jeanette! You are so smart! We are all so smart! We're going to change the world someday!"

I took a step back and voiced my thoughts on the matter. "She's somehow making me feel worse. Her words are so nice, but I can't help but think….."

Now, SIMON interrupted me. "They're laced with nsync….insin….Incense…" He looked worried that he couldn't say the word he was searching for. After a cough, he finally got there. "…insincerity."

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"And you picked up on it!" Brittany wrapped me in a super strong bear hug. "So proud of you, little sis."

I broke away from the hug before she could accidentally crush my ribs. "Maybe we should all stop this game." I suggested. "It's gotten so out of hand."

Theodore shrugged. "Things with us usually do."

"WHAT!? No!" Eleanor exclaimed.

Brittany and Alvin agreed too. "We can't stop!" They chorused.

I looked to Simon, hoping at least he'd be on my side.

He gave everyone a very tired thumbs down sign.

"We'll be fine." Eleanor tried to boost our confidence. "It's only, like, another week of this."

I frowned as I looked at everyone. We were all suffering so much. This wasn't the fun New Year's quest I had been expecting. And now, now we were stuck.

"What could go wrong?" Alvin said, with a hint of sarcasm. Possibly?

Not those words! Why does he say that so much?

I gulped. Who knew what we were in for next?

A few more days drifted on by. The blisters on my paws worsened…and I eventually stopped wearing the gardening gloves entirely.

One morning, I was standing by my locker and trying to decide which method to try next. Oh dear! And I still hadn't come up with a prize! This was too much of a commitment.

I watched the boys and my sisters as they walked through the hall toward their lockers. Everyone was in new outfits except Eleanor, which was to be expected because it was a different day.

Simon was wearing an even deeper blue shirt than usual, perhaps as a means to reflect his mood continuing to decrease. His jeans were dark grey. He also had matching dark circles beneath his eyes.

Brittany had on a pink sweater with golden shimmery hearts decorating it. Her skirt was light pink and she wore dark blue leggings.

Theodore had on his green "In Pizza We Crust" shirt and some light blue jeans.

Alvin had on a pair of his galaxy leggings, a baggy cyan T-shirt with The Periodic Table on it, and a red long sleeved shirt underneath. His longer hair was in a puffy short ponytail.

I'd chosen to wear my purple plaid shirt today with some floral patterned leggings and a red-violet pleated skirt.

Okay, with that aside, so you can properly visualize this, let us begin our scene.

Eleanor tossed her pom poms into her locker. As she was doing this, she spotted a pastel green slip of paper on her friend's back.

"Theo, what's this?" She questioned.

The boy in green sighed. "A sticky note. I've been putting them everywhere to remind me to close the fridge. I don't know how I keep forgetting." He told us. His hope was depleted. Poor him. Poor all of us.

"Oh dear." I fidgeted with the long red-violet ribbon hanging down from my bun.

Brittany looked up at the ceiling. "Isn't that a little….oh what's the word Alvin always uses?" She looked at the boy in question, who appeared strangely silent and devoid of emotion. Not a good sign. At all.

"He's not gonna help me out?" The pink-clad girl huffed. "Okay…uh…"

"Excessive. That's the word." Eleanor finished.

"Yes! Thank you!" She squeaked, her extra long ponytail swishing as she walked.

Theodore opened up his locker. Inside the locker, were 10 more pastel green sticky notes that all said the same thing.

REMEMBER TO CLOSE FRIDGE!

"Did I say a little excessive?" Brittany commented. "I meant a lot. Just….a LOT." She gestured with her hands toward Theo's locker.

"And it hasn't even helped!" The little dirty-blonde boy squeaked. "I swear I closed it though! Maybe I dreamed about it? But it doesn't feel like a dream."

I touched a finger to my chin. "Dreams rarely do."

Simon rubbed his stomach as it growled like a very angry cat. "Urgh. How am I still hungry? I JUST had breakfast!" He complained.

Brittany obsessively organized her locker before checking her reflection in the mirror and then promptly cleaning off the shiny surface with a wet wipe. "Maybe it's the stress." She suggested.

Simon looked unamused at her words. "I'm USUALLY stressed."

Eleanor slid up to him, the skirt from her cheer outfit swishing as she did. "I'd be stressed too if I just flunked my math test." She patted his shoulder in a way that came across as condescending. "But don't worry, I'm sure you'll do much better on the next one!"

The brunette boy turned as pale as a ghost. "I….I W…WHAT?" He stammered.

My youngest sister showed him a picture that she took of his math test. It was sitting on Miss. Smith's desk, graded with a 33%. Yikes. "The proof is in the pudding."

"Aw man!" Theodore licked his lips. "Now I'm hungry for pudding!"

"Me too." Simon smiled subtly at the thought. "Delicious butterscotch pudding or maybe tapioca." He suddenly shook his head, as if to clear it. "I FAILED a math test!? And it was EASY math too! It's literally just ALGEBRA!" He shouted.

Brittany narrowed her eyes at our sister. "How did you get that picture, Eleanor?"

"Miss. Smith left her desk unattended." The mint-clad girl shrugged.

I nibbled my lip. "You really should stop snooping." I told her.

"THAT should have been your bad habit to break." Brittany added.

"Ooh yeah. Woulda been a good one." Eleanor agreed, before skipping toward her locker. "Oh well. No use crying over it. Not when there's SO MUCH to be HAPPY about!"

Simon placed both paws on his hips. "Eleanor, your mission was to be less cynical." He reminded her angrily. "It wasn't "make positivity your only personality trait!"

"You sound like you're getting gloomy. I know what'll cheer you up!" The spirited Chipette blew a New Year's party favor horn directly into his ear.

The boy in deep blue rubbed his head. "Well, it's official, this challenge is killing off my brain cells." He announced with a scowl.

"You think YOU have it rough?" Brittany wiped down the mirror in her locker again. "I had to lock my laptop in my closet! ETSY SENT ME EMAILS WITH COUPON CODES! AHHHHHH!" She shrieked loudly.

I felt so bad for her. "That is unfortunate." I murmured. I'm not sure anyone heard me.

"I'm starting to feel lightheaded." Simon staggered and almost fell over.

Theodore steadied him. "You should sit down."

He took Theo's advice and sat down absentmindedly….in the middle of the hallway.

"Not there, you dunderhead." Brittany lifted him up and carried him closer to the lockers. Now, he wouldn't have to worry about being trampled by human feet.

Simon looked like he might burst into tears any second.

"What's wrong now?" My sister in pink asked ever so calmly.

"You always call ALVIN a dunderhead!" He wimpered. Then, he gasped as a new thought dawned on him. "Don't tell Alvin I got a lower grade than him in ALGEBRA! PLEASE! I'll never live it down!"

I tried my best to calm Simon. "I don't think Alvin will make fun of you for it."

"HE WILL! I KNOW HE WILL!" The exhausted chipmunk insisted.

"Shhhh. Shhhh. Hang in there." Theodore advised. Then, his ears twitched and he looked confused. "Hey, where did Alvin go?"

Eleanor immediately burst into hysterical laughter. She was happy that someone else was going unnoticed I assume. And very happy it was the boy with what everyone dubs Main Character Syndrome.

"What are you giggling about?" Simon snapped angrily.

Eleanor pointed at the mostly cyan-clad boy. "He's standing right there!"

Brittany nudged her red-capped friend. "You're weirdly quiet today." She noted. "Anything you'd like to add?"

"Not particularly." Alvin's voice was quiet and very un-expressive.

I sensed I knew what had happened, but I hoped my hunch was incorrect.

"Are you sure?" The strawberry blonde girl pressed.

The redhead gave a curt nod. "I am very happy watching you all talk. I am soaking in every word. I can recall it all with stunning accuracy. My mind hasn't wandered once." He stated, adopting a very professional dialect.

Yeah. I had a feeling my hunch wasn't wrong.

"Uh oh." I squeaked, having pieced together the reason he was acting this way.

Even while his cognitive function was impaired, Simon figured it out as well. "Alvin, did you take your ADHD meds?" He stood up on shaky feet.

"Yes. For you see, I am physically incapable of not interrupting people without them." Alvin, now Albert (as he calls himself while he's like this) replied.

"Oh Alvin." His taller brother sighed.

Theodore looked at his oldest brother with a pouty lip. "Why would you do that to yourself?" He wondered aloud.

"The goal outweighs the sacrifice." Alvin/Albert responded. "It was the logical course of action."

I could see why he'd think that, but he was way off base. I looked at the fur on his tail as he rooted through his locker for his textbooks. It was so bushy. The poor kid was a bundle of nerves.

Brittany was very sad. Her emotion was so intense that it was instantly clear to me. "Does this mean you're staying on them all the time again?" She asked softly.

"Good heavens no. I would never." He quipped in his scholarly voice. "This is merely extra training to teach me to stay quiet."

Eleanor smiled quite deviously. "I like it!" She patted his head. "Who's a good Albert-Vincent? You are! Yes you are!" Why was she treating him like a puppy? That's just wrong.

He jerked away. On his extended release ADHD meds, physical contact leads to a lot of overstimulation. "Please, do not touch me." He requested.

Brittany finally decided the mirror was clean enough and closed her locker. Phew. I was beginning to worry about her. She kept resembling a Sims character caught in an endless loop of the same task.

"Isn't Classic Alvin the one supposed to be doing the challenge of not interrupting people?" The pink-clad Chipette asked.

"Yeah." Simon answered.

A haughty smirk spread onto Britt's cheeks. "Being Albert is cheating." She pointed out.

The boy's emotionless face faltered for a quick second before his frown returned to a flatline. "….Oh dear. It appears as though I have made a rather large miscalculation. My mistake."

A groan came from Simon as he hoisted his heavy books. I couldn't tell if it was the books causing it, or Alvin's little oopsie daisy moment.

"It's okay. The meds will wear off…eventually." I reminded our group.

"Yeah." Eleanor rubbed her hands together. "Until then, we all get to NOT be interrupted! How cool is that!?"

We all glared at Eleanor, except for Alvin. He simply gave her a blank and uncomfortable stare.

Have there been enough signs this is a bad idea yet? I wondered to myself in my head.

"Oh come on." My youngest sister folded her arms. "It IS cool."

"The temperature in this building is rather toasty, actually." The cyan-clad boy started to walk to class.

"Where are you going?" Theodore called after him.

Alvin, err, Albert showed us his watch. "We have one minute until the bell sounds. We must make haste. Learning awaits."

"Sure thing, Shelvin Cooper." Brittany grumbled, rolling her eyes. I caught it that time. It was DEFINITELY an eyeroll. Her whole head rolled slightly, actually. That made it easier to perceive.

We all followed Alvin to class while Eleanor started singing the song Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows by Leslie Gore.

"Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together!" She grabbed Theo's hand and pulled him close.

Alvin/Albert covered his ears. I felt bad for him. Music and loud noise in general also overstimulates him while medicated. It's why he speaks softer. His own voice irritates him.

"Cut it out, Eleanor." Simon scolded her.

"Would you like a lollipop? I have one in my locker." Theodore frowned. "But I don't have time to get it now. Maybe before the next class."

Eleanor wasn't listening. She continued singing. "Brighter than a lucky penny when you're near, the rainclouds disappear and I feel so fine…"

"Take that sunshine and shove it up your butt." Brittany muttered.

"JUST TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE MINE!" The spirited blonde pigtailed girl finished at peak volume.

I looked down at my nails and noticed they were chewed even more than before. But with everything going on, that was to be expected. Curiously, the more I tried not to bite them, the more stressed I became and the more I bit them.

I decided I would have to quit the challenge. I wasn't cut out for this. Not yet. Maybe someday, but I still had a lot of growing to do.

Two more days later, I found myself unable to locate the others. I searched around until I found three of the five in the boys' basement.

I crept down the stairs and called out softly. "Hello? Is anyone down here?"

"We're here!" Theodore's cheerful voice echoed off the walls. I noticed he was sitting at Simon's lab table and playing Candy Crush on his phone.

Simon was at his desk, spinning around and around in the swivel chair. He looked pained and miserable. He wore a blue shirt so deep blue that it was nearly black.

"I'm feeling dizzy." He murmured. "So dizzy."

"That's because you've been spinning around nonstop for like 10 minutes now." Brittany pointed out in a somewhat bratty way. She was sitting against the wall and hugging her knees.

"I have?" Simon quit spinning abruptly.

"Please eat something, Simon." Theodore begged, putting his phone away as he completed a level. "We're worried about you."

Simon gripped the sides of his swivel chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "NO NO! I'll fail the challenge!"

"Forget the challenge!" Brittany snapped.

I agreed with her. With my hands behind my back so I could discreetly fidget, I approached Simon and sighed. "I've been doing some research lately, to keep my mind occupied…and you're probably not going to like what I've discovered." I informed him, wiping my sweaty hands on my lilac floral patterned skirt.

"I probably won't even understand it." He murmured, sounding more depressed than ever.

Theodore tried to cheer him up. "I think you will!"

Yes. Simon needed his faith back!

"I'll….try." He mumbled.

I felt my legs begin to quiver, but I pushed through. I paced back and forth in front of Simon's chair. "Well,…some people…need more calories to power their brain." I stated. "In fact, the harder you work on mental tasks, the more calories your brain burns. It isn't just physical exercise that burns calories." I explained what I'd researched.

Simon gave me a blank stare that slowly morphed into a flat-out horrified stare.

"Great. Now, Jeanette's talking about brains too." Brittany grumbled. Again, probably sarcasm, but I wasn't certain.

I was too busy worrying about Simon.

"What….What are you saying?" The deep-blue shirted boy gasped.

He still didn't understand? I guess I needed to explain further. "It appears that you NEED those snacks throughout the day to help you power through. Not only for your intelligence, but to help you handle your depression and keep your emotions under control."

"NO!" He shrieked.

"Yes." I repeated.

"NO NO NO!" He started freaking out. I didn't understand why.

I folded my arms and put on my most serious expression. "Please don't argue with me, Simon." I requested politely.

"I can't fail the challenge!" Simon slid out of the chair and wobbled. "I CAN'T! I thought Brittany would be the first one to fail! I CAN'T FAIL BEFORE BRITTANY!"

My oldest sister looked irritated. "Uh….ouch." She scowled. "Look, Simon. This hasn't been easy on any of us, but you have it the worst. You have to pick another bad habit to break. Something that isn't going to do THIS to you." She gestured to his wibbly wobbly legs. They were shaking more than mine!

Theodore nodded, running over to help steady Simon again. "You can barely hold your head up between meals."

"Right. Right. But on the plus side,…" Simon interrupted himself with a yawn. "I'm getting some really good sleep."

I teisted the friendship bracelets on my wrist. "Too much sleep is bad too. Everything needs balance."

"I can hold out 'til the end of the month!" Simon insisted, walking toward the stairs. "I CAN! I WILL PRE….something." He couldn't think of the word again.

So, I helped him out. "Prevail?"

"YES! PREVAIL!" He tried to walk up the stairs and then immediately fainted.

Brittany caught him and then she carried him upstairs. Theodore and I fetched him a high calorie protein shake.

My older sister laid him down upon the sofa and then poured the protein shake into his mouth and forced him to swallow.

I wasn't sure that was safe, but I stayed quiet.

Simon blinked his eyes open and sat up. He looked more alert than he had in over a week. "What happened?"

"You passed out from exhaustion and not enough nourishment." I told him tenderly.

His face flushed with embarrassment. "Oh."

"Now, can you finally stop?" Theodore begged. "The mystery prize isn't worth it!"

He nodded, seeming defeated. "Yeah….Yeah. I'm out. I'm done. I should have listened to you days ago." He covered his face with his hands. "My grades have TANKED this past week!" He admitted, as much as it pained him.

"It's okay, Simon." I said, sympathizing with him. "At least, now you know that snacking is essential. Perhaps, you won't feel bad for caving to your urges anymore."

He rubbed his chin. "I suppose so." He got up from the couch and stretched his arms. "Thanks guys. Good luck on your goals. Especially you, Brittany."

"Why do you think I'm going to be the next one out!? I have SO much self control!" My sister huffed, while she took both pillows off the couch and set them back on a total of three times before she was satisfied.

I had to tell her, even though I assumed it wouldn't go over well. "I assume it's because the lack of retail therapy has brought your OCD to the surface…where everyone can see it."

She whirled around to face me. An expression of fury contorting her features. "I do NOT have OCD!" She shouted, before lowering her volume. "I don't even know what those letters stand for, but I DON'T have some weird brain disorder like the rest of you….no offense." She added the last part, feeling guilty for how she'd spoken while her emotions ran high. More progress! Small progress is progress.

We followed Simon back downstairs as he spoke gently to her. "Perhaps this is a conversation for another time?"

"Yeah. Please. I have so much to worry about without adding whatever OCD is to the list. Gosh." She replied.

We ventured down the basement steps and when Brittany reached the bottom, she unpacked another wet wipe from her purse and began wiping down Simon's lab tables.

I exchanged worried glances with my bespectacled best friend.

Theodore nibbled his lip.

Brittany finished speed cleaning the tables and then opened one of Simon's drawers and pulled out a chain of paperclips. She unhooked each one from the chain one-by-one and set them back in the drawer.

We all could only stare.

"What?" The diva snapped. She buttoned up her light pink cardigan and dusted off her fuchsia skirt. "They were bothering me. I can't ignore them or something terrible will happen to you guys. I don't know exactly what….but just…bad juju." She informed us.

Theodore seemed the most unsettled. "We'll…um…take your word for it." He quipped nervously.

Simon knew that he couldn't continue to press the topic of OCD. He decided to treat my eccentric sister with the care and compassion she needed. "Thank you for cleaning and organizing my things, Brittany."

She smiled. "You're welcome!" She pointed at me. "Uh, sis? You're chewing your claws again."

I sighed and took my paws away from my mouth. "Oopsie daisy."

The tips of my ears started to tingle. A sign of an oncoming anxiety attack. Oh fiddlesticks!

"Are you okay?" Theodore asked, noticing my sudden increased fidgety behavior.

I nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just going to go…uh…look for Alvin!"

I bolted up the stairs before anyone could stop me. Once I reached the top, I turned back to make sure I hadn't been followed.

Brittany was against the wall again, hugging her knees and repeating. "Must not shop. Must not shop. Resist the shiny. Resist the shiny."

Simon had opened his mini fridge and grabbed a hot pocket. "Oh sweet cheesy bacon ranch, how I've missed you!" He caressed the shiny package and then ripped it open.

He popped it in the microwave.

"Oooh oooh!" Theodore made a grabby hand gesture. "Can I have the cheddar broccoli one?"

Simon nodded and then zapped both hot pockets with his portable heat gun.

"Ohoho! IT IS SNACK TIME!" He declared happily. "Do you want one, Brittany?"

Brittany didn't answer, she kept repeating the same words as she grabbed her legs tighter. "No spending money. No spending money. No spending money. No spending money."

"Oof." Simon bit into his hot pocket. "She is definitely going to be the next one out."

"Yup." His little brother agreed.

I decided I'd seen enough. Nobody was going to follow me. They all had their own things to deal with.

I pulled open the basement door and exited.

A few minutes later, I found Alvin in the kitchen. He was intently watching the fridge. He wasn't doing anything else, just sitting at the countertop and staring at the fridge.

"Alvin?" I called out.

"Hey." He said back, with a medium degree of loudness.

I tilted my head as I glanced up at him. "What are you doing?"

He frowned. "I decided since I suck at reducing the frequency of,…" He cleared his throat. "I mean,…at curbing my bad habits, I might as well make myself useful in a different way." He squirted his face with squirt bottle that was sitting beside him on the countertop.

"By staring at the refrigerator?" I asked, more confused than ever.

Luckily, he didn't mind giving me some much needed clarification. "Yeah. If my calculations are correct, that fridge door is gonna pop open any second now and I will have proved that Theo was NEVER the culprit." He announced proudly. How noble of him.

I climbed up to sit beside him. "It's sweet that you're doing this for your little brother." I gushed happily.

"And because I'm bored." He added with a slight chuckle. "But mostly for Theodore." He confirmed.

I watched him stare at the fridge while only tapping his finger slowly and rhythmically on the table.

"You're getting a lot better at tapping into your Albert side while you're not on meds." I noted.

"I am?" He blinked, seeming surprised.

"Yeah! You're laser focused right now." I responded cheerfully. "And very serious."

He narrowed his eyes and gave me a very calculated stare, before returning to watch the fridge. "It's still a work in progress." He admitted. "I wish I could switch modes whenever I want to. WITHOUT the extra synthetic chemicals to help."

"You'll get there." I encouraged him. "Just keep practicing."

"Right. Cuz practicing not interrupting people worked SO WELL." He replied sarcastically. I definitely caught it that time. The red-capped boy in the layered shirts (now with the crimson and gold letter A T-shirt on top and cyan long-sleeve shirt underneath) rolled up his sleeve.

I gasped. His fuzzy arm was COVERED in bruises. All the way from the elbow to his wrist. I counted at least fifteen! He'd pinched himself in the same place hard enough to form a bruise….in fifteen different places. And it was my fault. Curse this terrible challenge!

"Oh dear! Those look awfully painful." I stroked his fur and he winced as my fingers brushed lightly over a bruise.

He pulled his sleeve back down. "They hurt less than the eye drops. Man, I am glad to FINALLY be finished with those." He sighed. "But, I know I'm gonna fail the challenges. I made my goals all completely impossible!"

"You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'll manage to stop chewing my nails either." I admitted, showing him my sad looking paw with all the jagged and short claws.

"It's alright, Netta." He smiled that awkward half smile of his. Then, he placed his hand containing chewed off nails right next to mine. "At least we'll match." He joked in earnest.

I felt a smile spread across my face. I reached my pinkie finger out and intertwined it with Alvin's. "That makes it a little better." I replied.

At that moment, we were startled by the fridge door suddenly popping open and swinging.

Alvin and I un-intertwined our fingers so that he could leap up. "AHA! I KNEW IT!" He shouted.

I was awestruck. "I don't believe it!"

Alvin leapt off the counter and ran to the archway. He called for his youngest brother. "THEODORE! THEO! GUESS WHAT!"

I heard the pitter patter of Theo's footsteps. He raced into the kitchen. "What?"

Alvin 2.0 grabbed him and spun him around with giddy glee. I watched the scene from above, still sitting on the countertop.

"You HAVEN'T been accidentally leaving the fridge open, buddy! The hinge is faulty! It keeps popping!" He explained. "But, don't you worry. I'm gonna fix it for ya…..as soon as I get Simon's help." He chuckled and rubbed his neck sheepishly. I figured it was still tricky to admit he needed help.

"Oh no!" The boy in the green sweater and patchwork vest whimpered.

I tilted my head again. He wasn't making sense. "Isn't this a good thing?"

"But now I don't have a bad habit to break!" He responded anxiously. "And I'm gonna be out of the challenge too!"

I climbed carefully down to join them, putting a comforting hand on Theodore's arm. "I'm sorry, Theo. That's just how these things go sometimes. Unfortunately."

"Yeah." His frown became a wide smile. "I'm so glad it wasn't my fault. I KNEW I remembered closing it!"

"It's likely been happening to all of us." Alvin squeaked. "Wish ya hadn't been blamed. I know what that's like. Not fun at all." He placed his hand over his heart.

"Uh uh! It's not!" Theodore agreed.

I confidently tried putting my hands on my hips, but found the gesture uncomfortable. Instead, I just held them in front of me, tucked neatly at my sides with the fingers curled downward.

"I know what we have to do now." I said bravely. "It's time to put an end to our impossible quests….and declare Eleanor the winner."

"She's gonna really like that." Theodore wagged his tail excitedly.

"YES!" Alvin pumped his fists into the air. "We won't have to listen to Little Miss Sunshine anymore!"

I nodded. "And everything can go back to the way it was." I added. "Because…I guess some stories don't NEED character development."

Theodore shifted his weight from one food to the other. "But we DID learn something." He mentioned.

I was surprised once more. "We did?"

"We learned WHY we have our habits and that maybe they aren't so bad after all." The short and chubby chipmunk beamed brightly.

My lips parted in an O of surprise. Then, I really thought about what he said. It did make sense! "That's very insightful, Theodore."

"My negative self talk is bad." Alvin said firmly. "I'm gonna keep workin' on that, though…maybe not by treating myself like a dog." He took the squirt bottle off the countertop and jumped over to empty it out in the sink.

I smiled from ear to ear. I smiled at Theodore and my always in flux boyfriend. "I'm so proud of us!"

Alvin backflipped off on the edge of the sink and somehow landed on his feet. He spread his arms out wide. "Ohoho! Yes! I still got it!"

Theodore and I both giggled together at his antics. Having him around makes life so EXCITING!

Later that day, I gathered everyone in the treehouse for a family meeting. We didn't usually have family meetings in the treehouse, but I wanted to mix things up a little. I gathered us all around our dining room table. It was time to end this torture once and for all.

"I have an announcement to make." I began, standing tall. "I think we should stop the challenge. Immediately."

"What!? Why!?" Brittany repeatedly lined up the salt and pepper shaker on our table, never quite satisfied by their positions.

"It's so much fun!" Eleanor added, flipping one of her pigtails in a way that seemed like she was imitating Brittany.

Alvin tapped his fingers on the table. "Because it's destroying us." He stated, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Simon sighed.

I could tell he was still down in the dumps. Probably, because losing the challenge first was difficult to accept. He was back to wearing medium blue though! A sign his sadness had been reduced!

Eleanor leaned back in her chair, still smiling widely. "But suffering builds character."

"There are LIMITS." Alvin 2.0 told her with a piercing glare. "And not ones like the Limit Laws in Calculus." He suddenly rubbed his forehead. "Why am I thinking about Calculus at a time like this?"

Theodore just shrugged. "Maybe it's stress."

While the boy in the Kelly-green hoodie spoke, Brittany adjusted the strings hanging from his hoodie.

"Uh….can I help you?" The little dirty-blonde chipmunk questioned her with a raised eyebrow.

My oldest sister realized what she'd been doing and retreated back to her seat. "Sorry. They were uneven. It was bothering me."

"See? Right there!" Alvin pointed a fuzzy finger toward the pink-clad girl. "Brittany NEEDS to shop again. She's driving herself completely mad."

"She needs to reduce her retail therapy." I explained. "But not cut it out entirely. It is a valid coping mechanism. All our coping mechanisms are valid."

Simon nodded. "I guess what I need to work on is accepting the things I can't change." He brushed a strand of brown hair back from his face. "I have to make peace with making mistakes….however difficult that is."

I clapped for him. "Very good, Simon!"

"Hold up!" Eleanor leaned too far back and her chair crashed against the floor. "Whooah! Oof!"

Theodore and Brittany helped her back up.

"Are you okay?" The chubby cheeked boy asked tenderly.

"Totally good! Just peachy!" The girl in the mint and teal cheerleading outfit sprang to her feet.

"The competition is over, Ells." Alvin 2.0 rested a hand on his hip as he stood up. "You can cut the act now."

She twirled around. "Who says I'm acting?" She retorted. "Anyway, what I was going to say before I fell…"

"It's obvious you're acting." Brittany sassed.

"CAN I PLEASE TALK WITHOUT BEING INTERRUPTED!?" My youngest sister requested in a terribly loud voice.

"Sorry! Sorry! Go ahead!" The strawberry blonde in the pink sweater plopped back into her seat.

Eleanor sat down as well, folding her hands in front of her. "If we're stopping the competition, then who won?"

"None of us." Simon answered.

"But I haven't been cynical this ENTIRE time!" My youngest sister pointed out.

Brittany folded her arms and pouted. "And I haven't purchased ANYTHING either!"

"I guess you both win." Theodore reasoned. "I think. I know I don't. I wasn't even forgetting to close the fridge in the first place."

"I failed all THREE of my challenges." Alvin rested his head on the table, looking very bored. "But I'm gonna keep workin' on one of 'em."

"I don't wanna share my prize with Brittany." Eleanor grumbled.

"Hmph!" The girl in pink turned her nose up. "In that case, I don't want to share my prize with you either."

"We have to extend the challenge one more day." The shortest Chipette begged.

I let out a small sigh again. This was tougher than I thought. "You don't understand." I squeaked timidly. "You're missing the point."

"Oh, don't tell me there's no prize." The uncomfortably peppy girl suddenly turned very serious.

I was frozen and could only mumble. "Uh….um…uh…"

Alvin came to my defense and pounded his fist lightly against the table. "Stop puttin' so much pressure on poor Netta!"

"She promised us a prize though!" Brittany argued.

Eleanor glanced at her nails that still had happy smiling faces painted on them. My nails were the opposite. Most of the polish had long since flaked off.

"I guess I don't NEED a prize." My sister in mint-green admitted. "But I'd still like one. A reward or something." She raised her pointer finger. "I know! How about my prize is not being interrupted by Alvin for a whole week?"

"Look…." The red-capped boy's frown deepened. "It's not like I WANT to interrupt you guys. I will lose my thoughts if I don't blurt them out. My mind moves too fast for most conversations. I have this notebook thingie Dr. Wilson gave me. I use it to write my thoughts down, but that's not enough sometimes." He explained.

"Ohhhh." Theodore smiled at his brother. "That makes a lotta sense."

"Hellooooo?" Eleanor waved her hands. "Back to me. I want my prize."

"You know what?" Brittany exclaimed, looking toward me. "I don't care about some silly prize anymore. Whatever you come up with, Ellie can have it."

"You're actually forfeiting!?" The younger Chipette gasped.

"Yes! I am!" The girl in pink stood up with a flourish. "This long rotten nightmare is OVER!" She exclaimed. "Bring me my laptop! MAMA NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES!"

Eleanor looked up at the ceiling. "You can get your laptop yourself." She snapped. "It's still in the closet where you left it."

My older sister giggled sheepishly. "Oh, right. Yeah." She ran upstairs faster than Alvin's favorite superhero The Flash. Not literally, but she definitely appeared to be moving at the speed of light.

"So, how long 'til you come up with my prize?" Eleanor inquired, with a mischievous wiggle of her eyebrows.

I got up and began pacing around the table. "I don't know. I just don't know what to give you. I was so busy trying not to nibble my nails that I couldn't think about anything else for very long." I felt a small tear roll down my cheek. "I shouldn't have promised anything I wasn't sure I could deliver."

My actions caused my younger sister to change her tune. She was worried about me. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Like….it doesn't have to be anything big. How about a certificate that says Bad Habit Breaker Extraordinaire?"

I wiped the tear away with my finger. "I can probably manage that."

"OH ETSY, IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK! HEHE!" Brittany came back with her laptop and sat down again. She kicked her feet under the table gleefully as she added things to her online shopping cart. "YES! I NEED THIS DRESS TOO! AND THIS NECKLACE!"

Simon leaned over to look at her screen. "Don't go overboard."

"Oh! Simon!" Theodore reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of pumpkin spice yogurt covered pretzels. "I have something for you."

The boy in blue impulsively snatched the bag and opened it. "Thank you, Theo." He was practically drooling. "Mmm. Delectable autumnal flavor." He munched them rapidly.

"Don't you go overboard either, bro." Alvin teased.

"Hey, I NEED these to power my intellect!" Simon shouted back.

"Ohhh." His older brother laughed. "So these are like your Nerds candy?"

"Mmmmhmmm." The bespectacled boy in blue had his mouth full.

"I'm going to make you your certificate now, Eleanor." I told her cheerfully. "Congratulations."

"Yeah! YOU'RE THE WINNER!" Theodore waved his arms around and wagged his tail.

"GREAT JOB, ELEANOR!" We all chorused as a group.

She soaked in the praise like a sponge and her smile turned from creepy to genuine in an instant.

I quickly drew my little sister up a beautiful certificate on some mint-green construction paper. I added all her favorite symbols to decorate it. Soccer balls, stars, trophies, bats, watermelon, magnifying glasses, and, well, too many to name.

When I finished, I handed her the certificate and she held it above her head proudly.

"I AM THE BAD HABIT BREAKER EXTRAORDINAIRE!" She boasted. "And now…" She looked down at her cheerleading outfit. "I'm gettin' the munk outa these clothes!"

Simon let out a small chuckle. "Welcome back, Eleanor."

"That was THE WORST! I don't know HOW I did it! It was fun being so positive to annoy you, but it got so repetitive. I wanted to SCREAM! I dunno how you two do it!" She ranted on and on, gesturing to Theodore and I.

I smiled. "Well, I think every family needs a cynic to balance out the optimist." I informed the group. "To keep everyone down to earth. To be realistic."

"But sometimes that can go too far." Simon added. "So just…be mindful."

Eleanor gave him a salute. "Roger that, gloomy Gus."

Surprising us all, Eleanor peeled off her cheerleading outfit and revealed a mint tank top and deep teal shorts underneath. She removed the smiley face hair clips that I just realized had been added to her twin ponytails.

"Ahhhh." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Much better."

Then, she went to the kitchen to try and scrub the nail polish from her nails.

"I feel a little crummy for sayin' this, but…I missed the old Eleanor." Alvin 2.0 smiled awkwardly.

"I did too." Theodore added.

Brittany didn't look up from her laptop.

Simon chuckled again. "I think this challenge may have been the hardest on her, even though she made it look easy."

"It just goes to show, that sometimes change is what you want…and sometimes it's something you force yourself into." I remarked, smoothing my mid-length purple skirt out under the table. "I think that being true to you is best. If you want to change, change for YOU."

"Yeah!" Alvin bounced his leg excitedly. "And don't try to break a bad habit just cuz the world says it's bad! Sometimes habits have PURPOSE."

Eleanor slid back over to us. "Life really sucks, doesn't it?" She asked. "Because people label so much mundane stuff as BAD and insist it wrecks your life. The world is hopelessly broken."

"It is! And people just heap expectations on you nonstop to conform and follow all their dumb self-help guidelines." Alvin ranted. "When those don't work for you."

"I have a New Year's resolution!" I raised my hand high in the air. "Let's all celebrate and accept our weird and frowned upon coping mechanisms!"

"I'll toast to that." Simon commented. "Or, I would, if I had a glass."

I got up and grabbed everyone a glass and poured us all some tasty apple juice.

"Heh heh. I was making a joke, Jeanette." The boy in the medium blue jacket twitched his ears.

"Oops…" I felt my face heat up again. "Well, now we all have something to drink anyway."

Alvin held up his glass. "A toast to new possibilities, strong friendships, and a KICKBUTT NEW YEAR'S DO OVER PARTY!" He announced. His voice started out soft, before growing loud and hyper by the end of the sentence.

"Here here!" We all clinked our drinking glasses together.

I guess even though my idea had backfired, something good still came out of it. I don't have anything I should be ashamed of. Nothing at all.

A few days later, Alvin and Simon had successfully fixed the fridge so that it wouldn't pop open anymore. Everything was pretty much back to normal. Dave helped us set up for our party! We scheduled it for the weekend, because we wanted extra time and school just takes up so much of our time.

On Saturday, we all partied like there was no tomorrow. We wore our usual casual clothes, but added shiny beads around our necks that clinked together as we danced throughout the Seville house.

"Whoooooo!" Alvin showed off some freestyle moves. "Now the year can REALLY begin!"

"Being sick for New Year's really stunk." Theodore quipped. "I'm glad we get to do it over."

"Hey, Simon." Eleanor nudged him. "Want me to getcha a grape soda?"

"Errrr…." The blue clad boy seemed unsure how to respond. "No thanks."

"Ya sure? It'll make this party waaay more fun." She grabbed the can from the fridge, which closed tightly without popping back open. Then, she held the purple-colored can up to Simon's face.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He took the can and was about to open it. Then, he hesitated.

"Did you shake this?" He narrowed his eyes.

Eleanor smiled innocently. "What? No. I would never."

"Eleanor." He set the can on the coffee table.

My sister in the watermelon-patterned hoodie sighed. "Okay, okay, maybe I shook it a little."

Theodore nudged me, grabbing my attention. "Have you seen Dave?" He asked.

I nodded. "I think so. He went that way." I pointed to the stairs.

Theodore rushed to the stairs and I followed him.

Sure enough, his father was at the top of the stairs carrying a stack of empty boxes that previously contained New Year's decorations.

"Dave!" The little boy in green waved happily. "Guess what! I wasn't forgetting to close the fridge! The door was broken!"

The adult man set the empty boxes down and then walked down the stairs to meet up with Theo.

"Really?" Dave looked sad. "Oh, Theodore. I'm sorry I blamed you. You just seemed like the most likely culprit."

"It's okay." His youngest son beamed. "I understand. Besides, it coulda been worse."

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"You coulda blamed Alvin. Actually, I think you did, at first. Oops." The boy in green answered with a smile. "Anyway, you should join our party, Dave"

Brittany walked by and her ice blue eyes brightened immediately. "Yes! We've been practicing a new song and we need an AUDIENCE!" She waved her hands with a flourish.

Dave rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Well, alright." He agreed. "I suppose I can take a break from work…since it is Saturday."

"Yay!" I clapped my hands.

"Places, everyone! Places!" Brittany helped us all prepare for our performance.

"Ohoho! This is so exciting!" Alvin rocked back and forth on his heels.

The Chipette in the pink dress with gold music notes put a hand on Alvin's shoulder. "We might need just a little Classic action for this. Is he ready?" She asked politely.

His red-orange tail wriggled. "You bet he is!" He responded.

"Fantastic!" She stepped into the formation.

I tried my best to remember all the steps, just like we'd rehearsed.

Dave sat down on the couch to watch us. It was now or never.

My legs began to quiver, but I took a couple calming breaths to stop them. It was time to sing and dance. I always felt better and more confident in myself when I was performing.

"Netta, start us off." Alvin 2.0's squeaky voice caught me off guard.

I gulped. "M…M…Me?"

"Yeah. You inspired this song choice, so you should start." He winked playfully to put me at ease. "You got this."

"Okay." I whispered softly.

The music began and I started to sing a song by Ed Sheeran called Bad Habits. Heh heh. That's a little on the nose, don't you think?

"Every time you come around, you know I can't say no."

I locked eyes with Alvin and felt chills racing up and down my spine. Happy adrenaline chills. Singing was such an emotional release. An anxiety release!

Alvin took the next line.

"Whenever I want fun around, I let you take control."

He flipped his cap backward and activated his sunglasses temporarily. That was a sign his Classic Alvin side was calling the shots.

"I can feel the paradise before my world implodes."

Simon added, shuffling his feet.

Eleanor jumped in front of Simon.

"And tonight had something wonderful!"

She sang proudly.

The tired looking blue-clad boy stepped to the left so that he wasn't blocked by my sister and sang some more.

"My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone."

Alvin shrugged his shoulders and danced to the beat.

"Conversations with some strangers I barely know."

Brittany bumped Alvin out of the way and took the next line of the chorus.

"Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't."

Theodore drummed on his knees as he sang.

"I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do."

I was a lot more comfortable now. I recited the words that I'd memorized.

"My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space."

Alvin de-activated his sunglasses, but kept his cap on backwards.

"And I know I lose control of the things that I say."

I noticed Simon's eyes drifting toward the can of grape soda as he sang.

"Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape."

We all linked arms and chorused as a group.

"Nothin' happens after two, it's true, it's true, my bad habits lead to you."

We all pointed at each other. I pointed to Theodore and he pointed to me. Alvin and Brittany pointed at each other. Simon and Eleanor pointed to each other as well.

"Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

My bad habits lead to you.

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

My bad habits lead to you."

Brittany picked a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses out of a box of party favors and slipped them on.

"Every pure intention ends when the good times start."

Eleanor danced around with two LIT sparklers in her hand. That seemed awfully dangerous to me.

"Fallin' over everything to reach for all those sparks."

I closed my eyes so I wouldn't be distracted by the sparklers and mess up my lines.

"It started under neon lights, and then it all got dark."

Alvin 2.0, because I'm positive Classic had somewhat slipped away again, leaned against me briefly.

"I only know how to go too far."

Simon rocked out with some freestyle moves.

"My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone."

Alvin did a fancy twirl and then shrugged again.

"Conversations with some strangers I barely know."

Brittany continued to sing as she browsed through her phone and made another purchase. She looked irritated with herself and slipped the phone away.

"Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't."

Theodore continued to drum on his legs to the beat of the music as he sang.

"I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do."

I put my hand above my eyes and looked out into the distance.

"My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space."

Alvin pointed to his mouth as he danced.

"And I know I lose control of the things that I say."

Simon finally broke down and opened the grape soda, taking a few sips after his line.

"Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape."

We all linked arms again and chorused together.

"Nothin' happens after two, it's true, it's true, my bad habits lead to you."

We pointed at each other. But this time, the pairs were different. I pointed to Alvin, he pointed to me. Theo and Eleanor pointed at each other. And Simon and Brittany pointed to each other as well.

"Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

My bad habits lead to you.

Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

My bad habits lead to you."

We finished the song and took a bow as Dave clapped.

The party continued after that, and Eleanor continued to bother Simon for whatever reason.

"I knew you couldn't resist the soda." She taunted. "You are SO addicted."

"There's still half a can remaining. I'm exercising my self control." Simon replied in a calm, cool, and collected manner.

Brittany was about to buy something else on her phone. "Must be nice to have that." She muttered, bitterly.

"I can teach you." The kind chipmunk in blue offered.

"Please. I am HOPELESS." She whimpered, finally accepting help.

"I love happy endings." Theodore said to himself.

"Me too." I agreed.

"And I love downer endings. Like that Flowers For Algernon book." Eleanor babbled. "Now THAT was a downer ending."

"Shhhh!" Alvin hissed at her, but not literally. "No spoilers. I just checked that book out from the library!"

Simon's eyes went wide. "WHAT!?"

"I'm a total bookworm, Si. Pretty sure that's old news by now." His brother in red and cyan quipped. "The plot, it speaks to me."

"Very interesting." Simon sipped more on his grape soda. "NOW the book interests you. When Miss. Smith assigned it in class, nothing, but NOW you suddenly can't get enough." He stressed the nows.

Alvin simply shrugged. "That's the Albert in me, I guess." He shuddered and looked uncomfortable, but then smiled again. "And I'm gettin' better at learnin' to love him."

I didn't mention it, but I was VERY glad Alvin hadn't gotten into that book while our class was reading it. The plot would have hit a little too hard back then. I'm not even sure he can handle it now, but…I'll be there for him through the ups and downs. Just like I'm there for everyone.

"This has been a great party." I told them softly.

"Sure has, Netta. It sure has." He held my hand and our matching chewed off nails brushed against each other.

I noticed his glasses were slipping and adjusted them for him.

He did the same for mine.

Simon burst out laughing. "Do you two ever get tired of twinning?"

"When it happens, I'll let ya know." Alvin replied in a sassy way.

I just giggled.

"Maybe you'll twin with Britt someday. It usually happens the more ya hang out with somebody." He added, causing Simon to turn pale.

I could have sworn I heard him gulp at the prospect of "twinning" with my big sister.

"CRAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!" Eleanor's voice grabbed my attention. She swung from a streamer and landed next to the TV.

Theodore put his hands on his hips. "Ellie, it's supposed to be HAPPY New Year. Cuz the before one was crappy…and this is a redo."

"Fiiine fiiine." Eleanor grabbed two more sparklers and lit them. "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

"You really should dust your TV." Brittany interjected, standing on a red cushioned chair next to the TV. "It is FILTHY again."

"This family is nuts." Simon grinned. "I love us."

"Me too." I rested on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, fidgeting with my beaded necklace. "Me too."

And that's the story. Oh dear, I hope it wasn't too long. I fear covering a plot with all six of us never lends itself well to a mini tale format.

I would like to conclude by saying that you should only break habits that you're willing to put in the effort to break. And remember, sometimes habits and coping mechanisms go hand in hand. Things aren't always as unhealthy as people say they are. I think habits are very subjective. What is an unhealthy habit for someone might be a less bad one for someone else. As long as the benefits outweigh the downsides, you know you're on the right track. At least, that's my opinion. I wouldn't call myself an expert in psychology just yet.

Goodbye, everyone! Until I write again. Thank you for being so patient with me as I crafted this very difficult story. What's next? Who can say? But, I know it will be humorous and heartfelt. That's our style.

Wish we had time to re-read this and fix typos, but executive dysfunction is kicking my butt lately. I've had to be on top of things at work, which means everything else my brain has barely any juice left for.

I don't think Jeanette is AS affected as I am, but she's still very tired these days.

Sigh, I complain too much. Anyway, on with my comments…

Eleanor in this fic was probably my favorite part. Everyone really brought their A game, but she absolutely went above and beyond.

Jeanette is beginning to pick up on conversational nuances that she used to miss! Good for her!

Yes, my version of Brittany does have OCD (like me) and it's been hinted at throughout all my other fics. This is the first time that it's been brought up directly. Poor girl is so concerned with always having her makeup lined up in rainbow order because if anything is out of place, she fears something terrible happening to her sisters and her. (And that's only one of her many compulsions.)

Simon went through the wringer in this fic. Poor dude. GIVE THIS BOY HIS SNACKS!

Theo was a delight, as usual. I did NOT see the fridge being faulty coming. The idea just sorta….happened as the characters and I were writing, as most ideas do.

Alvin 2.0, my main man, he was being purely and completely himself. He's just gotta keep working on reducing that negative self talk. His ADHD med self is becoming another favorite character of mine. I wonder what would happen if he accessed Albert while OFF medication. Could it be done? You'll have to wait and see.

And, as usual, I can't resist sneaking in an Alvinette scene. At least it was small this time. Lol.

I think those are all my notes.

Oh, wait! One last thing. My new job coach, who is LEAGUES BETTER than my old ones, she told me to start the multi-chap fic! We figured out that the mini tales are becoming so long winded and complex because my heart YEARNS for the multi-chap fic. Plus, then I can post chapters without actually finishing the story WHENEVER I WANT! WHOOOOO! It's ideal since I have to work a lot now and have much MUCH less free time.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE DELETED SCENES FROM JOURNEY TO EXCELSIOR AND THE NEXT MULTI-FIC!

Bye for now! Have an awesome day!