Hey everyone! Sorry for such a long wait. I was really really sick and wasn't allowed to be on the computer. But whatever, i'm fine now :) YAY so here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and please read and review!!
The next morning at school didn't go so smoothly. First of all, breakfast didn't go so well. Brittany was in a bad mood, Alvin woke up 15 minutes after their alarm went, and Dave spilled coffee all over his tie. Jeanette, Simon, Theodore and Eleanor were already done their project, obviously getting a high mark as usual. What really pissed Brittany off was the fact that Alvin had done nothing. Brittany had spent so much time researching and stuff, and all Alvin did was annoy the living daylights outta her.
"See you guys after school." Dave said, waving to the 6 chipmunks and then drove away.
They walked inside the school and went straight to their lockers. While turning her lock to put her jacket away, Jeanette said to Brittany, "Britt. The project is due in two days! How are you guys gonna finish it?"
Brittany turned to look at her sister. "Please don't remind me Jeanette."
Jeanette looked at her sister, "Something's bugging you, right?"
Brittany rolled her eyes, "The project is, obviously. I just wanna get it over with." She stopped and looked at her sister, who was staring at the floor. "Unless..."
Jeanette looked at her in a confused way. "Unless what?"
Brittany tried to put on an innocent smile. "Unless you can do the project for me."
Jeanette stepped back, hands out in front of her in defense. "No no no no no. That won't be fair, and besides, it won't be your work. That's not taking responsibility Brittany."
Brittany sighed out loud. "Do you want me to fail?"
"No..." Jeanette said. "I just want you to do your own work."
Brittany put her hands on her hips. "Because?"
Jeanette sighed. "BECAUSE, I want you to learn how to manage your school work."
"Why?" Brittany demanded.
"Because...I don't want you to fail!" Jeanette said.
Brittany threw her hands in the air. "So why can't you do my homework?"
"It's not my responsibility Brittany. It's yours and Alvin's." Jeanette told her, which made her sister roll her eyes.
"I don't care who's responsibility it is! I just wanna get this project over with, get a good grade, and pass this whole freaking course!" Brittany complained.
"Jeez, you sound like Alvin." Jeanette muttered.
"UGH!" Brittany groaned.
"And Brittany, if you and Alvin just put your differences aside for just one second and work on the project, I bet that you two will get at least a B." Jeanette told her sister, trying to make her feel better.
"Hello? This is Alvin Seville. The guy would rather drown than do homework. Jeanette, why can't you just be Alvin for a day and help me with this project?" Brittany pleaded.
"No, Britt!" Jeanette said.
"WHY?" Brittany asked her. She was tired of arguing, and she always, well mostly, gets what she wants. But hardly ever when she's arguing with Jeanette.
"Because...it's just not right." Jeanette confessed.
Brittany's mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me?"
"Okay Brittany, not EVERYONE in the world has to be a 'bad girl' like you." Jeanette said, making air quotes. "It doesn't seem right to do someone else's homework."
Brittany crossed her arms. "You help Simon on his homework."
Jeanette felt her cheeks warm up. "That's because he's actually doing something useful."
Brittany stared at her sister, with an evil grin. "No, that's because you're in love with him." she teased.
Jeanette rolled her eyes. "Just because I work with someone, doesn't mean I'm in love with them." She said, even though her sister was partially right. She wasn't IN LOVE but it was pretty obvious that she had gained a big crush on Simon.
"Oh really?" Brittany rolled her eyes.
"I helped Alvin on his homework once. Does that mean that I'm in love with him?" Jeanette asked, obviously trying to talk some sense into her sister.
Jeanette expected Brittany's reaction to be overly dramatic like, 'Excuse me? He's mine.' But instead Brittany giggled at Jeanette and said, "Wait, are you?"
Jeanette groaned as she rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. No wonder she and Alvin were counterparts. "Stop changing the subject Brittany."
Brittany raised an eyebrow and said, "Me?" in her most innocent voice.
"I'm not doing your homework, and that's final!" Jeanette said.
"Aww! Please Jeanette. You don't have to do all of it, just some...or most." She began to plead and plead some more.
Jeanette tried to block Brittany's voice out of her head. Jeanette shut her locker and turned to Alvin. "Alvin, please control your girlfriend."
That shut Brittany up. Alvin laughed and closed his locker. "Hey, she's your sister."
Jeanette's eyes narrowed. "Gee, thanks."
Alvin walked over and shut Brittany's locker for her and pulled her by the arm. "Come on Britt. I think you've already done enough damage to peoples brain today."
"What?" Brittany asked, a bit pissed.
Alvin turned to their siblings. "See you guys in class. I need to take her on a 'walk' to calm her senses." He waved, then pulled Brittany along with him. Jeanette and Eleanor laughed at Alvin's statement.
"Britt looks mad at Alvin." Eleanor said.
"Isn't she always?" Answered Theodore.
Eleanor laughed. "Yeah, true."
"I'll be surprised if we see them in class alive." Simon joked.
As they walked, Brittany pulled free from his grasp and matched her pace with his. "What was that?"
"What was what?" He asked
"That! The 'damage to your brain' thing?" She asked him.
Alvin shrugged. "Just a true fact."
"Fine." Brittany said, she started to walk the other way. Alvin suddenly grabbed her arm, and gently pulled her back to him.
"Where are you going now?" Alvin asked. "Class is this way."
"I'll take the long way, if you don't mind." Brittany said, trying to get free from his grasp, but luckily for Alvin, she failed.
"Oh Brittany. You're adorable when you're mad." Alvin cooed.
"Ha ha." Brittany said sarcastically. "No need to suck up."
Suddenly the school bell rang.
"Still wanna take the long way?" He asked
Brittany looked down the hallway. People started to go in all directions getting to their class. She sighed and gave in. "You win this time Alvin Seville." The two of them began their way to their first class.
Alvin laughed to himself. "I always win."
In class...
Everyone took their seats as Miss Rollings started class.
"Okay class, please work on the following textbook pages." Miss Rollings said, pointing to the things she wrote on the board. Everyone groaned, but still did what they were told to do.
Simon looked at the page. "Ancient Rome? We're learning about Ancient Rome?"
Miss Rollings nodded her head. "Yup. It's part of the curriculum. Now get to work everyone."
Simon looked over to Jeanette, who seemed as interested as he was. "This is so cool!" Jeanette said, scanning the pages.
Brittany looked at the tiny print covering the page. "Are you serious?" She mumbled. This day was not going well for her so far.
Eleanor began to read quietly until something caught her attention. "Wow, read this." She said, pointing to a spot on the page. "It says that 'To become an emperor or empress, you had to cut your left pinky off'. Ouch!" Eleanor shuddered at the thought. (Yes, it's a true fact.)
Alvin leaned over to Brittany and said, "Hear that Britt? You said you wanted to become queen or whatever, right? Well it looks like you have to cut your finger off." he teased.
Brittany rolled her eyes. "I didn't say I wanted to be a queen or an empress. I was joking when I said I wanted to be a princess."
"A princess, queen. Pssh. Same thing" He said.
"No they aren't." Brittany said
"Yes they are!" Alvin answered
"How are you so sure?" Brittany asked, confident that Alvin would find the real answer. Of course she was right. A princess and a queen were two totally DIFFERENT people.
"Because I'm Alvin Seville. That's why." Alvin said, flashing a smile at her.
"And that relates to this because...?" She asked, giving him a sarcastic look.
"I dunno. What were we talking about again?" Alvin asked.
"How annoying you are?" Brittany said, giving him the same smile, except hers was fake.
Alvin laughed. "You should see how you are."
Brittany rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just get back on topic."
Alvin said, "Right. We were discussing how awesome I am, right?"
"Alvin, you're so immature sometimes." Brittany told him.
"Why, thank you." He replied
"That wasn't a compliment." Brittany said.
"It kinda was." Alvin said
"How?" Brittany asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"You called me 'Immature'. But if you think about it, 'immature' actually spells out 'im-mature'. So technically speaking, you called me mature." Alvin said casually.
Brittany gave him an awkward stare before saying, "Then can I call you abnoxious?"
"Now you're just being mean." Alvin said
"You started it." Brittany said.
"No, actually Eleanor did." Alvin said.
Eleanor's head shot up when she heard her name. "What? Did someone say my name?"
Brittany shot a cold glare at Alvin. She turned to her sister and said, "No one did Ellie. Just get back to work."
Eleanor noticed that Brittany nor Alvin had started working. "And what were you two doing? I don't see any school work evidence."
"No need to get all Sherlock Holmes on us." Alvin told her.
"Shut up Alvin." Brittany said.
"Fine, sorry. Don't worry Ellie. We were just discussing things." Alvin said.
"Like what?" Eleanor asked.
"That Brittany is way too obsessed with herself." Alvin joked, well, half-joked.
Brittany rolled her eyes. "You should see how you are." She mimicked.
Eleanor rolled her eyes. She went back to her work, knowing that this could go on forever.
"Did I mention that you have a huge ego?" Brittany asked Alvin.
"No, because it's not true." Alvin said.
"Yes it is. You are so arrogant. That's what makes you so annoying." Brittany said.
"But you like it." Alvin said, making it sound dirty.
"There you go again! Annoying!" Brittany complained.
Alvin smiled in a devilish way. "Oh really? Are you sure it's annoying? Or is it one of your guilty pleasures?"
Brittany laughed an are-you-kidding-me laugh. "My guilty pleasure is how annoying you are? Puh-leez."
"Don't deny it Brittany. Everyone can see how much you enjoy it." Alvin said, trying to make it sound dirty again.
"Oh sure. You're so right. Whenever I stress out, and yell at you, I'm having so much fun." Brittany said, putting on a fake smile.
"See! You finally admitted it." Alvin said, obviously enjoying Brittany's reaction.
Brittany sighed, rolled her eyes and shook her head. Maybe if I ignore him, he'll finally shut up.
Brittany stopped talking and started to read the textbook. After 5 seconds, she got so bored. The thing that was bothering her the most was the fact that Alvin's eyes were glued to her. He was watching her, and it made her super uncomfortable. After 5 minutes of fake textbook reading, Brittany was getting annoyed so she stared Alvin in the eyes.
"What's your problem?" She asked
"My what? What did I do now?" He said
"Stop staring at me!" She whined.
"Hey, how did you know I was staring at you? Because I wasn't. Maybe YOU were staring at ME." Alvin said.
Brittany turned to face him. "I wasn't staring at you, genius." She rolled her eyes. "I felt your eyes on my back, and it made me really uncomfortable." She crossed her arms.
"So what's your point?" Alvin asked.
"Just stop staring at me, and do your freaking work!" Brittany said in a half shouting, half whisper voice.
"Nah. I can't do that." Alvin said.
"And why not?" Brittany asked in a demanding tone.
"You're just too pretty." He cooed. He knew Brittany couldn't turn that down. He knew one of her weaknesses. Brittany loved it when Alvin praised her like that. But not today...
She rolled her eyes. Brittany didn't want to answer him because when she does, Alvin would come up with a smartass comment, making her feel like a total idiot, even though Alvin was the one acting like one. Brittany loved Alvin, but sometimes they acted like brother and sister. The ones that have a huge rivalry against each other. But they weren't brother and sister. They were girlfriend and boyfriend. The ones that would make small things into huge deals. They were that kind of pair. Brittany felt lucky in a weird way.
"So now you're ignoring me Brittany? Why? Why?" Alvin acted as if he was desperate.
"Alvin, stop it. You're gonna get us in trouble." Brittany snapped.
"So what?" He said. See? That was a smartass comment. It peeved Brittany off a bit. Or a lot...
Brittany threw her head back as she groaned out loud. "You are so mentally challenged!" Alvin muttered something that pissed Brittany off some more. They started to bicker, again.
Simon looked up. "You guys, be quiet! Some people are actually trying to do their work."
"And some people, obviously me, are trying to kill time until this class is over!" Alvin said to his brother.
Simon looked at the clock. "Uh, yeah. Good luck with that. We have another hour in here, for your information." Alvin didn't respond. He just rolled his eyes and turned away from Simon and looked at Brittany.
"So..." He said.
Brittany looked up. She only had one sentence down on her piece of paper so far. "I swear Alvin, I'm gonna duct tape you together in your sleep and fed-ex you to Alaska if you continue to bother me." She threatened. But of course, Alvin couldn't keep it in. He fell on his back, laughing his head off.
Miss Rollings heard Alvin's laughter across the classroom. She looked over at them and saw Alvin on his back laughing, and Brittany staring at him, arms crossed, mumbling something to herself. Miss Rollings sighed out loud. "Alvin? Brittany? Come up to my desk please."
Alvin stopped laughing and sat up. "What did we do now?"
"Something that obviously didn't please the teacher." Brittany said. "And it's all your fault."
"Sure. Blame it on the innocent chipmunk." Alvin said
"Innocent?" Brittany laughed. "Oh Alvin. You're so cute when you lie." She said, changing his little quote he had said to her earlier.
Simon looked up from his work. "Ooh, you guys are in deep trouble, again."
Alvin gave his brother a dirty look. Then he sighed and said, "Come on." He and Brittany ran up to the front desk and climbed up on it then sat down.
"Gosh. Sometimes I think Alvin and Brittany are more like brother and sister than actually a real couple." Jeanette said.
"I know what you mean. But hey, it's Alvin and Brittany. You never know what can happen between those two." Simon said.
Eleanor spoke up. "And it would be funny if they'd go back to their lovey-dovey mood again."
"Then they'd go back to arguing again." Theodore said.
Jeanette sighed. "I will never understand those two."
"Nobody will. Even Dave and Claire don't understand those two." Theodore said.
Miss Rollings looked at them. "Well?"
"Well what?" Alvin asked.
"What have you two gotten down so far?" Miss Rollings asked.
"Uh, not much..." Brittany said.
"And why not?" The teacher asked
"Because Alvin-" Brittany started to say, pointing a finger at her boyfriend, but lowered it when Miss Rollings opened her mouth.
Miss Rollings cut her off. "I don't want to hear anyone blaming the other person. Now you two both know that I talked to Dave and Claire yesterday, am I correct?"
Brittany nodded her head and Alvin said, "Yeah, I guess."
"And did they tell you everything that I told them?" Miss Rollings asked the two chipmunks, who nodded their heads. Then she started to go over things like, 'It's your responsibility to finish your project, do you work, manage your time' and all that stuff.' After that, she sent them back to their seats. Her last words were 'If I look at you two again and see you off task, I can make the project due tomorrow, or after school today. Am I making myself clear?'
Brittany sat down and looked at Alvin. "Alvin, you heard her. Do you want her to talk to Dave again?"
Alvin shrugged. "No, but I'm not scared of the teacher. What's she gonna do? Put me in jail?" He laughed.
"No, but she can give you a failing grade." Brittany stated.
"Brittany, I'm Alvin Seville." He said as if he were making an important speech. It made Britt roll her eyes.
"Here we go again." Brittany mumbled.
"I'm an international rock star sensation, and not to mention heartthrob." He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "If I get out of school, my life is on the road, and I love that. I'd rather do another worldwide tour then to go to school."
Brittany sighed. "Alvin, I don't care, honestly. I don't want you to fail, that's all."
Miss Rollings cleared her throat, loud enough that Brittany and Alvin could hear it. "Brittany, Alvin? What did I just tell you two?"
Brittany sighed and looked at Alvin. "We'll talk about this later."
------------
After school, back at their house...
Simon, Alvin and Theodore were out with Dave getting some groceries, Eleanor and Jeanette was helping Claire in the kitchen, while Brittany was sitting on the couch with lots of things on her mind. Suddenly the air was filled with a yummy scent of spices and sauces.
"Oh, that smells so good!" Jeanette said.
"Here, taste it." Claire said, taking a spoon, dipping it in the sauce and letting Jeanette and Eleanor have a taste.
"And it taste even better!" Jeanette said.
"Britt honey? Want to try?" Claire said, looking over at her.
Brittany looked up. "Huh? Oh, no thanks. I'll just wait till dinner." Then she layed on her back.
Eleanor, Jeanette and Claire gave each other a look. Claire sighed.
"She's in a bad mood." Ellie said.
"Something about Alvin?" Claire asked her.
"I don't think so. They were okay in school today. But I don't know why she's in a bad mood." Eleanor said.
"Yeah, the only times when she's in a bad mood is when she's stressing over her music, or stressing over Alvin." Jeanette said.
Claire put the spoon down and turned the heat on the stove down to low. "I'm gonna go talk to her and see what's wrong. Just keep stirring the pot girls, okay?" She handed the wooden spoon to Jeanette, who kinda struggled a bit.
"Um, Claire? Hate to break it to you, but I'm only 7 inches tall. I can't reach the pot, and the spoon is kinda heavy." Jeanette said.
"Oh, sorry." Claire took the spoon out of Jeanette's hand. "Then can you two check on the cake in the fridge?" Eleanor looked excited and nodded her head. "But no taste-testing okay? We have to save some for the boys."
"Don't worry Claire." Ellie said, before hopping off the counter with Jeanette and running over to the fridge.
Claire put the spoon in a clean bowl and walked into the living room and sat beside Brittany. "Hi Brittany. You feeling okay?" She put a finger to her forehead. "Hmm, no fever. What's wrong?"
Brittany sat up. "It's kinda embarrassing to say..."
"You can tell me anything." Claire smiled.
"Well, I'm dealing with school issues." Brittany said, looking at Claire, who had a blank expression on her face. "Yeah, I know. I'm not usually the one who stresses about school because that's what Jeanette does."
Claire laughed. "Is this about the writing assignment? Aren't you done? I thought you'd be."
Brittany said, "Well, kinda. I have the information but I need Alvin to do some work. It kinda annoys me that he has done nothing so far."
Claire nodded her head. "I see...so what have you done so far?"
"Well, you helped me on the researching part and I just picked out the things we needed. And I already wrote the paragraph on 'The Notebook' and all we need to do now is write the paragraph for 'Transformers', and that's Alvin's job." Brittany explained to her.
Claire nodded her head. "I understand what you're going through Britt."
Brittany looked at Claire with a confused expression. "You do?"
"Mhmm. Let me tell you a story. Dave and I have known each other for a long time. I mean, like a really long time, since grade school, to high school, to college and now. But I remember this one time in high school where Dave and I were partnered up together for an English assignment, just like yours. I was horrified that I was partnered up with him." Claire said before Brittany politely interrupted.
"Why? You didn't like Dave before?" She asked.
Claire shook her head and laughed. "No. We weren't dating that time. In fact, I hated Dave. He was annoying, he was a goofball and he was teacher's pet, which made me incredibly jealous."
"Annoying and a goofball? Gee, sounds like someone I know." Brittany huffed.
Claire laughed again. "Anyway, we had at least a week to work on this project. And let me tell you that Dave was not a good partner. You know why? Because all he did was focus on music. Yup, he was a real music junkie, and he still is now. But before, he didn't have you girls, and the boys. And you and me are the same Britt. Dave did nothing, just like Alvin."
"Sounds exactly like Alvin. How did it work out in the end?" Brittany asked.
"Well, in the end, Dave actually helped me. But he hardly did anything, I did most the work, but he still did a pretty good job, and it earned us an A+ for our grade." Claire said.
Brittany groaned. "But Claire, this is Alvin. He's not gonna suddenly come to his senses and work on this thing with me! At least Dave did, but Alvin won't. The project is due in less than two days, and I don't know what to do! I don't wanna fail school..." She said the last sentence in a soft, demanding tone.
Claire was quiet for a minute or two. She felt bad for Brittany, but she was trying to do her very best to cheer her up. Claire sighed and crossed her legs. She knew Alvin too well, and she knew Brittany was right. Alvin probably wouldn't end up like Dave had, but hopefully he can realize something soon.
"Brittany, that's what I thought would happen to us. I thought we'd get a C- or something. But you never know what's gonna happen. And I bet Alvin will soon realize that he needs to start working." Claire said.
"I hope so, but I doubt it. You know that feeling you get when you forgot you had homework and you begin rushing to try to finish it before the teacher wants it handed in?" Brittany asked and Claire nodded. "Well, that's the feeling I'm getting."
"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Claire said.
"Ugh, I never knew working on something for school with your boyfriend is so difficult. Especially when your boyfriend is Alvin Seville." Brittany sighed.
"Believe me Brittany, everything will work out just fine." Claire repeated. Of course she wasn't sure about that herself, but she didn't want to see Brittany like this.
Brittany smiled. "Thanks Claire. You always know how to make people happy."
Claire stroked Brittany's cheek. "No problem sweetheart."
Then Eleanor and Jeanette came running in the living room.
"Claire! Claire! Ellie-" Jeanette tried saying.
Her sister cut her off. "I didn't mean to! I couldn't help myself! I'm sorry!"
"Whoa, girls, girls! Clam down!" Claire laughed. "What happened?"
Jeanette pointed at Eleanor. "Eleanor ate the cake!"
"WHAT?" Claire shrieked.
"WHAT?" Eleanor shrieked. "That's not true! Well, partly..."
Claire looked at the youngest chipette. "Eleanor?"
Eleanor looked down. "It looked so good, and smelled really good too. I didn't mean it, but I ate some of the icing, and ate a couple of the cherries too."
Claire smiled. She couldn't stand getting mad at the girls. Claire laughed. "Oh Eleanor, don't worry. It's fine."
Ellie looked up. "It is? So can I eat more?"
"No, we just have to wait till the boys get home so we can eat dinner. I'm starving." Claire said.
"Me too." Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor said at the same time. Jeanette and Eleanor sat beside Brittany.
"So, is everything okay here?" Jeanette asked.
Claire nodded. "Everything is just fine."
"Are you sure? Britt still looks a little...blue." Jeanette said, trying to find the right word.
"I'm fine." She half-lied. "I'm just so hungry, it kinda puts me in a bad mood."
Eleanor laughed. "So, that means you're always hungry? You know, since you're almost always in a bad mood." Brittany glared at her sister. "Just kidding!" Eleanor said. It made Claire and Jeanette laugh, and Brittany started to laugh at it too.
"Okay fine. I admit that I am a bit stubborn sometimes." Brittany said.
"Sometimes?" Eleanor asked.
Brittany glared at her little sister again. "Don't push it."
Eleanor giggled. "Okay, sorry, sorry."
Then they heard the door unlock and Dave and the boys came in. Dave was carrying two shopping bags in his hand. Claire got up and walked over to Dave. "Oh, let me help you." She said, taking a bag from him and putting it on the counter.
Dave put the bag he was carrying and put it on the counter too. "Thanks." He inhaled the scent from the room and sighed. "Wow, that smells amazing."
"And wait till you taste it too!" Jeanette said, walking over to them, followed by Eleanor and Brittany.
"Ah. So did you girls have a little 'girl bonding time'?" Dave asked.
"Of course we did. We also shared a couple stories too." Claire said, winking at Brittany.
Dave noticed the wink and was up to something. "About what?"
"Oh, nothing Dave. Just girly stuff, that's all." Claire said, before walking into the kitchen.
Alvin made a face. "Not interested."
"Good, you shouldn't be. Because it was about you." Brittany smirked, walking to the dinner table.
"Oh...Wait, WHAT?" Alvin exclaimed. "Did you say it was about me??"
Simon pulled his brother to the dinner table where everyone else was. "Just drop it Alvin."
"No! They were GOSSIPING about ME, Simon!" Alvin said.
"Good for you, now come on! Everyone's waiting." Simon said.
"Fine. But I bet you'd care if they were talking about you." Alvin mumbled.
Claire walked into the room, carrying a plate of food. She smiled at Brittany. Hopefully she had given her good advice. "Dinner is served." Claire said.