Brittany continued to walk away from Alvin's red BMW, picking up the pace as much as she possibly could in a dire attempt to get away from him. Not even caring that she was probably putting her knee at risk by ignoring the instructions of both Dr. North and Kristina to take it easy.
At this rate, she was not even sure she cared about whether or not she would be able to go back to cheerleading in September anyway. It wasn't really her squad anymore. Missy had made that crystal clear to her. And while the old Brittany would have fought her rival cheerleader tooth and nail for her rightful spot on the squad and title of cheer captain back, this broken Brittany just didn't have it in her to put up the fight anymore. Her once fiery spirit was now extinguished.
However, she started thinking about what Shelby had said to her in the bathroom the night of the spring dance. How all the girls on the squad secretly despised Missy and wished Brittany would come back. She had already known how miserable Missy was making them all thanks to gossip, but it felt good to hear it confirmed by one of her former squad members.
They all just let Missy intimidate them out of socializing with Brittany. Being a cheerleader at their school was strongly coveted. Nobody wanted to risk being kicked off the team. Still, it stung to know that the girls she once considered among her closest friends would choose cheerleading over her.
Which brought her back to wondering why exactly she felt she should trust Shelby anyway. She was one of the girls who betrayed Brittany just so she could stay in Missy's good graces and remain a cheerleader. And even worse, she dug that knife further into her back when she told Eleanor that Brittany had been purging. After promising she would keep her mouth shut.
God, why did everyone automatically have to jump to the conclusion that she must be bulimic when they heard her barfing? Why couldn't they just buy it when she told them it was a virus or something she ate? She needed everyone to just mind their own business and, for once, focus on anything but her!
Besides, why should she save any of those traitors from Missy anyway? After the way they treated her, she really didn't feel like doing them any favors. Even if it would somehow benefit her. So no reason to worry about going easy on her knee for their sake.
But then there was performing in concerts with her sisters. Something she had been in love with since she was in diapers and prided herself on being the bandleader of The Chipettes. And why wouldn't she enjoy being the leader? It meant she always got to tell her sisters what to do. Not that she really needed an excuse for that anyway. She was the oldest.
She also thought about the feeling she got when she performed on stage. How she loved all the attention she would get for it. All eyes being on her as she sang her heart out in that angelic voice of hers. The warmth she could feel from underneath all those spotlights. The sound of music from all around her, which would only help her feel even more energized. The audience watching in awe as she would pull off some super complicated dance moves that even many performers who had been at it for longer than Brittany had still struggled with.
Even if she might have been able to live without cheerleading, could she really just give up performing so easily? Was she seriously just going to let her knee deteriorate to the point where she was going to have to permanently retire from her career? The one thing she had been the most passionate about her entire life?
And if her knee didn't end up being her ultimate downfall when it came to getting back to performing in full force, what about her singing voice? She had noticed every now and then, her throat would become sore and scratchy. So far, it didn't seem to have any effect on her singing. But what would happen if she didn't stop sticking her fingers down her throat?
And then the ultimate question popped up in her head. Would she even live long enough to get back to her old life again? At the rate she was going, she was beginning to wonder if she would even make it into her twenties. Would she even make it to eighteen? She usually tried not to allow her mind to go there too often because it scared the living daylights out of her. But even more frightening than that thought was the fact that it still didn't freak her out enough to make her stop doing this.
And as far as performances went, she thought about how much she loved participating in school plays as well. She thought about the very first play she landed the lead in back in third grade at Thomas Edison Elementary. How she had won the starring role of the titular character in Snow White fair and square. But then that spoiled brat, Tara-Marie (who was an even bigger diva than Brittany ever was), stole the part from her because her daddy happened to be the director. But Brittany had rightfully reclaimed the role of Snow White again when Tara-Marie kept screwing up her performances during rehearsals.
And now she had to deal with Lindsay Piper stealing all the roles that she should've been playing in all the high school productions. God, Lindsay was so annoying with her shrill voice and slutty wardrobe. Brittany felt like she would almost rather deal with Tara-Marie again than her. Actually, she had not seen or heard from Tara-Marie since fifth grade graduation. Last she heard, Tara-Marie's parents sent her to some prestigious private school at the start of middle school and she had apparently stayed in the private school system since.
If only Lindsay would just go back to whatever school she transferred from. It didn't matter to Brittany that she got injured last year. The part of Sandy was hers, as far as she was concerned. And Lindsay managed to steal both the lead role in Grease and Alvin from her simultaneously. And now she was going to play Sophie in the school's spring production of Mamma Mia with Alvin playing Sky. Another part Brittany knew she deserved, despite not even being able to audition for it.
Even the smaller parts she would get in plays meant a lot to the oldest Chipette. Like the weeping willow tree she played in the third grade production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Despite her disappointment at finding out she wasn't a girl named Willa who cried a lot, she knew she was the best damn willow tree that any production of that play had ever seen. Especially considering she had to improvise to help save the play when Theodore started transforming into a werewolf on opening night and almost ruined the whole show.
That definitely ended up being one of her best performances as an actress. She knew she rocked the part, even though she was still somewhat bitter about having lost the leading female part to Eleanor. But at least her baby sister was a way better actress than Tara-Marie. And much more deserving of a starring role than Lindsay.
She and her sisters even did a handful of movies with The Chipmunks when they were younger. Granted, they were pretty much all obscure parodies such as Daytona Jones or Batmunk that probably very few people had even seen, let alone remembered. But still, they were her time to shine as an actress. Plus, it all counted as experience she could put down on her resume.
She was genuinely hoping she would get the chance to do more with her acting career once she finished high school, in addition to her music career. To be in even bigger, more well-known movies. To land some roles on Broadway. Actual roles and not just Uncle Harry's idea of what that was when he tried to scam The Chipettes.
Maybe she could even land a part on a television series one day. Either a sitcom or drama would suffice, she would have a chance to show off her extensive acting range all the same. But was any of this even a possibility now? Did it still have a chance of becoming a reality for her? Or was it all just a pipedream now?
When she was eventually able to snap herself out of her reflective thoughts, she looked behind her ever-so-slightly. She could still see her ex-boyfriend's red vehicle out of the corner of her eye. She then got an idea. She spotted a tall tree nearby and quickly made her way over to hide behind it. Once she was fully hidden by the tree, she watched as Alvin drove away from the vicinity at last.
Once the teenage Chipette was sure her ex was out of sight, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. She slowly came out from her hiding spot, pulling up one of the pink spaghetti straps of her dress that was sliding down her shoulder. Feeling a familiar pang nagging her in her stomach, she decided to head back to the very place she had left Alvin behind at just minutes ago.
Brittany was not sure exactly how long she had been walking back for. However, the next thing she knew, she was back in front of Wendy's. She stood there for a minute or two, wrestling with thoughts of whether or not it was honestly worth going in. She continued to gaze at the paper "OPEN" sign in the window.
She could barely believe she was seriously considering eating fast food right now. But then again, she had been doing a lot of things these last few months that the old Brittany would have been appalled by. She was seriously disgusted with what she had become, but was obviously not ready to stop.
Damn it! She was having some serious regrets right now about getting into Alvin's car earlier. Not only did she have to deal with him confronting her with his suspicions about her eating disorder, she now had a craving for French toast sticks dipped in maple syrup because of him.
She was completely mortified that he knew she was bulimic as well. And even more pissed at Eleanor than she was before for getting her ex-boyfriend involved in her personal business. Not that it was Eleanor's business either, really. Brittany was strong and could handle this on her own. She just needed everyone else in her life to back the hell off and let her be.
With that, she let out a huge breath she had been holding in and pushed her way through the glass double doors. She tried not to draw too much attention to herself as she walked in, hoping she would not be recognized by anyone. She started thinking about how maybe it would be a good idea to start disguising herself with sunglasses and a hat when going into public places like this. Or the pink wig she would wear on occasion as a kid that would make her look like the eighties icon, Cyndi Lauper.
Because real celebrities wore disguises when they went out in public. And she was a real celebrity. She was Brittany freaking Miller! Lead singer of The Chipettes. It was just a shame she couldn't afford to hire a bodyguard and a limo driver to take her around too. That would show them all!
The moment Brittany walked into the restaurant, her nose was attacked by the smell of sizzling greasy bacon and sweet aroma of maple syrup. Screw Alvin for making her want to walk into this place! She knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the vicious cycle that was now a daily ritual for her would be repeating itself all over again.
The young Chipette walked around cautiously, basically getting herself ready to take off in case she was recognized. Luckily, the place was actually not super busy for a Saturday morning. The only people she really saw in there were a big family.
Within that large family were two girls and a boy, who's ages all appeared to range from approximately three to seven years old, running all over the restaurant and laughing. The parents were also sitting at the table with a toddler boy who was in a high chair and wearing a Superman bib that had a pocket to catch food in. There was also an infant girl, who the mother was holding close to her chest and feeding with a pink bottle. Brittany would have given anything to be as carefree as all those kids were once again. Though as she started to think about it, had she ever honestly been that carefree before?
Besides the big, bustling family, she also saw a few individual adults who were sitting at tables all by themselves. Most were drinking coffee and reading either newspapers or magazines. Probably people who were stuck working on Saturdays and just stopping for breakfast right before heading to whatever jobs they had. But they were all minding their own business, as far as Brittany could tell.
So the point was that the few patrons that were even eating inside the restaurant all seemed to be busy and focused on their own lives. This made the teenager feel pretty certain that all these people were way too wrapped up in their own worlds to notice her. At least, that was what she hoped would be the case.
The pink-clad girl reluctantly approached the counter where she could order. The scent of rich breakfast foods mixed with the chatting and laughter of the children had still been traveling throughout the restaurant. As she got further into the restaurant, it suddenly dawned on her that she was way overdressed for a Saturday morning at a fast food chain. Adjusting both the bow and thin straps of her dress, she was currently feeling even more self-conscious than she did before. Her blue eyes darted all over the establishment, knowing she was bound to stick out like a sore thumb now.
It was highly unusual for Brittany Miller to be feeling this way over her choice in outfits. Normally, she prided herself on her impeccable fashion sense and would not particularly care about being somewhat overdressed for her surroundings. In fact, she would have typically taken pride in that too. To her, this would have been an indication that she had better fashion sense than everyone in the room. She would believe she was the best dressed person there.
But at the moment, she wanted to do nothing more than blend in. Between that slanderous article being out about her and that encounter with that nosy cashier last night, she didn't want the attention. As she drew closer to the female attendant at the front counter, she sincerely hoped this wasn't going to be anything like the infuriating interaction with Alissa just the night before.
When the cashier looked up from her register, she smiled at Brittany. Her brown hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail that looped through her uniform hat which matched her apron and her name tag read "Melinda". She looked to be in her early thirties.
"Welcome to Wendy's!" Melinda greeted in a voice that was cheerful, but not irritatingly so. "What can I get you today?"
Brittany had decided to get the French toast stick combo, just like Alvin had before. She ordered it to stay. However, she decided she would skip out on the coffee.
Somehow, black coffee with tons of sugar poured in it just didn't seem particularly appealing to her. And while the Chipette did enjoy the occasional latte (which she would very rarely indulge in due to the high amount of sugar, much less tell others about), she wasn't in the mood for one at this moment. Actually, she wasn't even sure if Wendy's offered lattes anyway.
Melinda told Brittany her total. Brittany pulled money out of her small pink purse. This was something she also happened to find in the treehouse when she was searching for an outfit to wear earlier. She made a mental note to check the treehouse for more spare cash that might be lying around. She could certainly use any extra money she could get their hands on these days.
Brittany took her tray when Melinda handed it to her and started to walk off. As she was walking away, she heard the employee's voice shout out to her.
"Love the dress, hon! So cute!"
Brittany froze in her spot for a moment. She was not entirely sure how she should perceive this. Was it genuine praise? Or was this more of a backhanded compliment where Melinda was acting nice to her face, but secretly judging her on the inside and would laugh about it when gossiping with her co-workers later?
The latter was something she had known so many mean girls in her high school to do. Admittedly, Brittany might have been guilty of engaging in this particular behavior herself on occasion. But only with people she didn't care for like Missy and (more recently) Erika.
In the past, Brittany used to believe most of the compliments she would receive from others. And why wouldn't she have? She was beautiful, talented, popular, and successful. She had no reason to think any kind words being spoken to her were fake.
But now, she just wasn't sure she could believe anything that came out of anyone's mouth anymore. She didn't know who she could and couldn't trust. She truly felt like she was all alone in this world.
"Thanks." Brittany skeptically muttered under her breath as she continued to walk away.
She decided not to give this exchange another thought. It just wasn't worth analyzing anymore. Analyzing everything was more the kind of thing Simon or Jeanette were known for. Not her.
Right now, she just wanted to eat her breakfast in peace. Although she wasn't expecting it to be all that peaceful considering she knew what was bound to happen. But she wanted to at least try to calm herself down.
The Chipette scanned the restaurant for a bit before finally eyeing a seat that was in a secluded corner against the wall, away from prying eyes. She could eat her meal without the judgmental stares of other patrons who happened to be there that morning. Hopefully, her exit would go just as smoothly. And more importantly, her detour to the bathroom.
She gingerly strolled up to the table, pulled out a chair from one side, and sat down in it. She shivered as the chair felt cool against the part of her legs that wasn't being covered by her minidress. But she swiftly got over it, opened up a package of syrup and dipped a French toast stick in with barely a thought.
As she absentmindedly dipped and munched on one French toast stick after another, she thought about exactly how utterly screwed she was right now. Despite all the progress she had made, she still couldn't cheer or participate in plays. And she knew her most recent actions were likely not going to help one bit.
The general public now believed she was a druggie thanks to the "anonymous source" at her school who lied to the press and caused them to write that vile piece about her. How was she ever going to live this one down? Sure, she knew she was not the first celebrity to have a false vicious rumor spread about her like that. And unfortunately, it was very doubtful she would be the last either. But even if most people were to forget over time and she was somehow able to clear it all up, she knew there would always be some idiots out there who would still believe it forever.
There was also the big hit her reputation at school had just taken after she passed out in front of half the student body. She was doing so well holding her own against Missy and Erika up until that point too! She knew she would have ended up outwitting both of them if she had been strong enough to carry on.
And since she was sent to the nurse's office as a result, she had to talk with Nurse Webber. The first person who actually put a name to what was going on with Brittany. Of course, she should have realized she would never be able to fool someone who was a medical professional and had been working with teenagers for two and a half decades. The woman was trained to spot these kinds of issues.
Even though she was able to at least temporarily get Nurse Webber off her back, she also realized she wasn't buying any excuse Brittany gave her. She knew the truth. The teen Chipette could just tell. And she was feeling paranoid that the nurse was going to try to force her to talk to the guidance counselor, even though she claimed she couldn't do that.
And naturally, she was presently feeling more backed into a corner than ever now that her sisters and Alvin all knew. And she was angry at them for knowing. Angry at them for not believing her when she told them she was fine and didn't have an eating disorder. Angry at them for not leaving her alone about it. For wanting her to get help and trying to take away the last thing she had control over in her life.
But most of all, she was angry at herself for not doing a better job at hiding it. All this time, she had thought she had been doing a pretty good job of covering her tracks. Always spraying down the bathroom with perfume after vomiting, running the water when she was purging, not eating when she was in a situation where running to the bathroom wouldn't be as easy for her. Where exactly did she slip?
But she knew the answer. It was the spring dance, where she made the mistake of trusting Shelby Cassidy. Never again! From this point on, Brittany knew the only person she could count on for anything was herself.
Brittany then looked down at her hand in surprise and realized she was holding a seasoned potato wedge. She didn't even taste it. But apparently, that was what she had just been munching on. She then looked down at her tray and realized all the French toast sticks were gone.
This was just so surreal. She was so engulfed in all of these intrusive thoughts that she couldn't remember even tasting all that sugary maple syrup and then not noticing the switch to the salty potatoes. Even now, she was ravenously gobbling up one fry after another so fast that the taste wasn't registering with her. It was almost as if her taste buds were shot.
It was like she was now solely eating just so she would have something she could make herself throw up. Was this seriously what eating had turned into for her? And if that was true, why was she craving all this unhealthy food in the first place?
Once the last fry was gone, the teenager wasted no time getting up from her seat, swinging her purse over her shoulder, throwing out her trash, and then hurriedly dashing to the bathroom to do what she felt she needed to. Just as she always did in public restrooms, she looked for the cleanest stall. It actually did look surprisingly spotless for a public restroom right now. She guessed it was probably because it was morning and the bathrooms had just been cleaned.
Still, she felt a public bathroom could never truly be clean clean. But she was desperate right now. So she entered the stall that appeared to be the tidiest to her and locked the cold metal door behind her.
She kneeled down on the tan tiles, cringing as she tried to get over feeling disgusted that her bare legs were touching the floor of a public restroom. Why couldn't she have worn pants today? Oh, right. Because her wardrobe options at the treehouse were limited. She was going to have to do something about that if sleeping over there was going to become a more regular thing.
After finally purging all the contents of her stomach in the Wendy's bathroom, Brittany pulled got piece of toilet paper to wipe her mouth with. But as she was about to throw the toilet paper in, her eyes happened to glaze over the bowl, and that was when she noticed several specks of... blood? She was vomiting blood?
Her whole body froze in horror, each muscle seemingly locked up as if she were paralyzed, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. It was then that her earlier thoughts about facing mortality sooner rather than later seemed like a very real possibility to her. She was legitimately scared now. So crippled with fear, she could not even move from the very spot she was in.
Did she really want to die? As messed up as her life was right now, she didn't think she actually did. She felt like she wanted to live. But was that going to happen if she kept this up? What if she was already too late?
Maybe it was time she put a stop to this. But despite what everyone was trying to convince her of, she knew she didn't need a shrink. She could stop anytime she wanted. She was the one who was in control here. Right?
She cleaned up after herself, flushed the toilet and then walked out of the stall. She washed her hands with soap, dried them with a paper towel, and then took a look at herself in the mirror. She could see how pale she was and the big bags under her eyes that no amount of makeup (which was also running) she caked on seemed to cover. But mostly, she just saw how fat her face was.
She still looked fat, as far as she was concerned. And she feared that if she stopped purging, she would only gain even more weight. But still, it was either that or possibly death. As unappealing as the former was, it was still better than the latter. That's what she was trying to convince herself of, at least.
As Brittany walked back out into the restaurant, she realized that it might actually be time for the switch from breakfast to lunch. Maybe she could actually eat a meal and not throw it up this time. If she stopped purging altogether, there would be no need for any kind of medical intervention. Her body should just heal on its own from there on out. That made sense, didn't it?
When she got to the counter and saw the new menu, she realized her instincts about the switchover were right. She also saw salads as an option. That's right! She had completely forgotten that fast food restaurants did occasionally offer healthy options.
This was perfect. Maybe if she simply ate something that was low in calories, she would not feel the need to force herself to throw it up after. She could do this. She could eat a nice, healthy meal and actually allow herself to digest it.
Not only had the menu changed from breakfast to lunch, but there was a different attendant working this shift as well. This one was a guy who was about a decade younger than the last cashier. Probably college-aged. His name tag read "Dan".
"Welcome to Wendy's." He greeted a lot more nonchalantly than the last cashier did, though he still maintained a friendly tone. "What can I get you?"
Brittany actually found the fact that Dan was not as over-the-top cheery as most of the cashiers she had been greeted by recently to be refreshing. She really wasn't interested in chatting with anyone these days. Especially when she was purchasing any kind of food. She just wanted to buy her items without any judgment or questions. All she needed from the people working at the cash registers was to ring her up and take her money with no engagement whatsoever.
"I'll... um... I'll just get a salad." The auburn-haired Chipette stated.
She wasn't even thinking that much about her order. She just really wanted to try to eat healthy for the first time in a while.
"Sure, what kind would you like?" Dan asked, patiently waiting for the teenager to respond to his question.
"Uh..." She hesitated for a minute while looking over the menu. "The Caesar salad."
"All right." Dan replied as he entered it into the system. "Anything else?"
She took another second to look.
"Yeah, I'll get a Diet Coke too."
Again, she was mainly thinking about how she could eat, yet still keep the calories down. But then the small display case that was on the opposite side of where the cash register was caught her eye. She saw different types of cookies lined up in it.
The blue-eyed teenager bit her lip. She knew she really shouldn't. She was trying to break away from the dangerous habits she had formed.
But then again, it was not like she never indulged in sweet treats before all this started. She just didn't usually do it in front of anyone who wasn't family. She would still have junk food as a treat once in a while, though. Truth is, she always did have a soft spot for chocolate.
Maybe she could just buy one now and eat it later? Maybe she could reward herself for being able to finally break free from this dangerous cycle of binging and purging once and for all. She should be fine eating sweets, as long as it was done in moderation and not followed by the act of purging.
"I'll have a chocolate chip cookie as well." She added with more confidence than she had been displaying in a long time.
"To stay or to go?" The cashier asked as he punched Brittany's last requested item into the register.
"To stay."
After she paid for her food and Dan brought her tray out to her, Brittany once more tried to look for a relatively private area to sit in. It was a little harder this time around since more people showed up at the restaurant for lunch now. And for some reason, she still didn't feel comfortable eating in front of anyone.
When she finally found a place that was secluded enough (though not perfect, as there was still a mother and her preschool-aged son sitting nearby), she sat down and immediately started digging into her salad. Despite the Chipette's best efforts, she still found herself scarfing down her Caesar salad and Diet Coke way too fast. Not even taking the time to taste anything entering her mouth. She had just become so used to doing this by now.
When Brittany finished her lunch (or was this more of a continuation of breakfast? Brunch? She just didn't know anymore!), she looked at the tray in alarm. The only food remaining there were a few cookie crumbs. And the cookie was gone!
What the hell? She wasn't supposed to eat that now! She was saving it for later. And now she found herself thinking about all the calories from that cookie she had just put into her body. A wave of panic began washing over the teen in pink. Her hands were trembling and her stomach was churning in anticipation.
The teenage girl didn't even bother to clean up her table this time. She just bolted toward the bathroom so fast, she nearly bumped into someone she didn't even get a chance to see. While she thought she heard some person angrily shout, "Watch it!", she refused to look back, or apologize, or engage in any niceties that she knew she should. She just felt this urgent need to get rid of all the food she had just consumed again.
She was relieved when she made it back to the restroom and thanked God it was empty once again. She didn't even bother scoping out which stall was the cleanest this time. There was no time for that. She just went to an empty stall and purged.
When she emptied her stomach of all its contents for the second time that day, she just stayed in her crouched down position by the toilet bowl. She was feeling a mix of horror, disappointment, and confusion. What had just happened? She wasn't supposed to do this again.
This was supposed to be her opportunity to end this pattern once and for all. But somehow... she just couldn't. It was like she was addicted or something. She just couldn't stop.
Was everyone right? Was therapy really her only option? It was starting to look like it was true that she couldn't just stop being bulimic on her own. Wow, that might have been the first time she actually admitted to herself that she was bulimic. Even though she was fully aware she was binging and purging, she didn't like thinking of herself as actually having an eating disorder.
But the eldest Miller girl was just as stubborn as always, naturally. She might have finally been able to admit the truth to herself. But to the rest of the world? No, she refused to be seen as being weak. Especially not to those closest to her. She had a certain image to uphold, after all.
She was just going to have to find a way to beat this on her own. It might take her some time, but she believed she could do it. She was Brittany Miller. What couldn't she do?
She sighed as she looked into the toilet. While there was not as much blood as before, there was still some. Her chest tightened as her heart was racing faster and faster. This was deeply concerning. If Eleanor or Jeanette had known about this, she would be in an ambulance right now. She knew they would have called 911 on her, despite how much she would protest.
She cleaned up and flushed. She was just going to have to remember she was now puking up blood and use that as motivation to stop. Simple enough. Right?
It had to be. Failure wasn't an option here. And neither was letting anyone else help. She had to do this on her own. Question was, would she die trying?
Back at the Seville home, Theodore and Simon were in the bedroom that the three Chipmunks had shared since they were all little boys. The two younger brothers were sitting on Theodore's bed. The younger Chipmunk sniffed as he wiped a few tears away, while his older brother patted his back in an attempt to comfort him.
Simon had just finished explaining what bulimia was to Theodore and informed him that they were all fairly certain this is what Brittany had been suffering from. It was Alvin's request that he did so.
Simon initially felt a little uneasy sharing something so personal with Theodore about Brittany that he was pretty sure even he was not supposed to know. But Alvin insisted that he had a plan to help her and he needed both of his brothers to be involved in it. This meant the youngest Seville boy needed to be filled in. They had to tell him everything they knew so far.
But being as sensitive as he was, Theodore was taking it pretty hard. While it did explain the recent incident where Eleanor needed his help because Brittany ate an entire tray of muffins that was supposed to be for the bake sale, he couldn't understand why she would do that to herself. Why would anyone do that? It just sounded so awful! But what really got to the green-clad Chipmunk was when Simon explained that this condition was life-threatening.
"Poor Brittany!" was all Theodore could manage to get out in barely a whisper before he broke down into tears.
An empty box of tissues now sat between the two boys. Theodore had gone through the entire box already. Simon didn't really know how to reassure him that Brittany was going to get through this. While he wanted to believe she would accept professional help, which was really her only chance at recovery, he also knew how stubborn she could be.
But still, the blue-clad Chipmunk knew he shouldn't just voice his doubts. That would definitely not help with anything. But the middle Seville brother was also a realist and knew the harsh reality about how dangerous this particular eating disorder was. And if Brittany refused to get help just as he suspected she would, he was afraid her chance of surviving this was looking grim.
Still, he hoped he was wrong in this case. If Brittany lost her life to this terrible disorder, it would hurt a lot of people. Even him.
Sure, he might not have been as close to her as her sisters or even Alvin. And he often was annoyed by her vanity, self-centeredness, and constant need to be in the spotlight (traits that he noticed she shared with his own older brother). But still, she was his friend too. And he had known her since they were both eight.
He would miss her if she died. The whole group would. The loss of the eldest Chipette would affect every single one of them.
But this was one of the few times he was actually going to trust his typically reckless elder brother. He knew how much Brittany meant to Alvin, no matter how much he would try to deny it. And he actually seemed to be taking the news of Brittany's condition seriously for once. So he decided to go along with anything Alvin told him for this. He just hoped it would work.
Just then, the red-clad Chipmunk entered the room with a box of tissues in his hands and an unusually gloomy look on his face. There was silence for the next few minutes as he handed the tissue box to the boy in green. Theodore accepted it and quickly opened the box up, pulling out another tissue. He was prepared to catch more tears as needed.
Alvin's blue eyes shifted all over the room. Seeing the normally confident and boisterous Chipmunk look so nervous was a pretty rare and unsettling sight. But it seemed this was just something he was completely unequipped to handle.
Alvin twisted his hat momentarily before shoving both his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He then cleared his throat and finally spoke.
"So... uh... I just got off the phone with Jeanette. She's coming over with Eleanor. Then we can all talk about how we're gonna deal with this as a group."
Simon and Theodore both nodded somberly as Simon cleaned his glasses with the hem of his blue t-shirt and Theodore continued to dab his glistening green eyes with a crumpled up tissue.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, the baby of the Seville family finally piped up.
"Simon said if Brittany doesn't stop.. doing what she's doing, she might... you know..." Theodore said with a sniffle.
He couldn't even bring himself to actually say it out loud. Just the mere thought of it was far too devastating.
"Don't worry," Alvin reassured his youngest brother as some of the confidence returned to his voice and he stood taller. "I won't let that happen."
He then stood there and thought about it for a minute and then corrected himself.
"We won't let that happen." He boldly stated as he pointed around to all three of them. "Jeanette and Eleanor won't either. Trust me, this plan will work."
He then let out a small sigh as he tried very hard to force himself to believe what he just promised his brother. This had to work. They needed to save Brittany. Based on everything he had learned about bulimia, every second she spent refusing help was putting her life at risk. And they were running out of options.
A/N: And that was chapter 24! I know it might have started off a bit slow in the beginning, but you could see I set it up for a big twist! So hope you guys still enjoyed this chapter.
And OMG! Brittany threw up blood. Did anyone see that coming?
Poor girl is in really bad shape now. :( The stakes just got a lot higher. And now the other five chipmunks will have to act fast in order to save our girl before it's too late.
But as you can see from Brittany's reaction, she's still being as stubborn as ever, despite knowing how serious this is. She may now be admitting she's bulimic to herself, but she thinks she can "cure" her eating disorder all by herself. But I think we all know that can't end well.
Can the other Chipettes/Chipmunks all successfully convince Brittany she needs professional help? Will she finally give in and agree to seek it? Or is she going to let bulimia destroy her to the point of no return?
As you can see from the last scene that took place in the boys' bedroom, I've already laid out the groundwork for where the next chapter will pick up. So now you know Alvin's plan to save Brittany involves all five of them! What do you think will happen in the next chapter? And will it work?
As always, I will do my best to have the chapter up late next month. October has been a crazy busy month for me and I expect to get even busier with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. But the next chapter has another big scene that I've been planning out since the beginning! So I'm excited I'll finally get to share that one with you guys.
Thank you to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, following, PMing, and adding this story to your favorites list. You guys inspire me to continue and keep this story updated each month, no matter how busy I get. Seriously, I'm grateful for every single one of my readers!
Feedback has always been the biggest motivation for me though. So please consider dropping a review on this chapter. I love reading every single review I get! I'm super eager to hear what you thought of this chapter and what you think will happen next.
Happy Halloween for those of you celebrating it tomorrow!