Blahhhrghh. I promised myself I would finish this story… so here's the last chapter. Even though it's been way too long since I started and I now naturally think this story is crap, crap, megacrap. For some reason my mind is just programmed to hate everything I do after a month or two. fudge monkeys

And shout out to my old tenth grade world history teacher, dr. erikson. You said the word 'um' way too many times during your lectures. Trust me. I counted. You also confiscated my avatar drawings in class and wouldn't give them back. Little did you know that 5 years later I would write you into my Alvin and the chipmunks fanfic. Take that.

Also I think I may have written Alvin as kind of a douche in the beginning of the chapter, but honestly when I think about it, teenage Alvin would probably actually be kind of a douche.

WELL on that note, enjoy the last chapter!

By lunch that day, the stinging feeling of rejection had formed a pit in Simon's stomach, one that only seemed to ache more as the school day dragged on. Usually he reveled in Monday morning chemistry and trig. But today, the teenaged chipmunk was nothing more than a zoned-out blob, which his teachers had noticed and lectured him for. To be Simon Seville and scolded in front of the whole class for not paying attention... it was highly embarrassing. Highly.

Needless to say, he was not himself.

Not unlike a zombie, he trudged through the lunch line, pulled who knows what onto his tray, and made his way to the chipmunks and chipettes' usual table, hearing his joints pop as he sat down. For once, Simon was happy to be the first one there. It was a short-lived happiness however, as he spotted his brothers walking toward him with their lunches, Brittany and Eleanor a few steps behind them. And what a surprise. Jeanette wasn't with them.

He stared off to the left and forced a bite of creamed corn into his mouth as the others dropped their trays on the table.

"Jeez Si, what's with you? Ya look like hell." Alvin remarked, plopping down next to him with a big annoying grin on his face. A split second passed before Brittany cuffed the red hat right off his head. "Hey! What was that for?"

The eldest chipette gave no indication that she'd heard Alvin, instead turning to address Simon. She bit her lip. "Jeanette wanted us to tell you that she's sick today," Brittany blurted quickly.

"Um… okay. Hope she feels better, then," Simon mumbled, not quite meeting her eyes. Somehow, he wasn't buying the whole sick routine.

"But she really is!" Interjected Eleanor, who'd picked up on Simon's skepticism. Her outburst came out a little loud, and the table grew silent and awkward. At this point everybody knew about the 'incident' from yesterday, but they also knew that for some reason, things weren't going very well.

The group dynamic was at stake here, and the girls plus Theodore were determined to fix it. Eleanor collected herself and looked to her boyfriend for help; he patted her shoulder. "She really is," she said in a quieter voice. "S-she's been throwing up and everything."

Brittany elbowed her sister and Ellie blushed, realizing she'd probably given too much information.

Alvin, who didn't possess as much tact as the others, laughed and slung a patronizing arm around his taller brother's shoulders. "Well there ya have it folks," he sang, "We finally know what happens to a girl after she's been besmooched by ol' Si here. She hurls."

His proceeding laughter was only met by glares from the rest of the table. Simon, who'd turned red, shook off Alvin's arm and narrowed his eyes. "Ha. Ha. You're hilarious."

"Don't listen to him, he's an idiot," Brittany declared, reaching across to smack Alvin upside the head again.

"Trust me, I'm already quite aware of that fact." Simon let his fork clatter to his tray. "I'm going to get some napkins." He stood up and began to walk away before anyone could say anything else to him.

Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten far enough away from the table to miss Brittany continue the conversation in a low voice: "Honestly guys, I don't know what to think. Like, I thought Jen liked Simon, but last night she didn't even want to call him! I mean she was all freaked out. Hate to say it but I think things may get awkward with our little group. Seriously, we might have to—"

Simon stuffed his hands in his pockets, finally out of hearing range. Whispering never really had been Brittany's strong suit.

It seemed like there was only one option left at this point, and he let out a breath, positively dreading it.

"Miss Miller!"

Jeanette jumped from her stupor. Neither of her sisters had this class with her—world history, the last class of the day—so the exasperatingly strict teacher, Dr. Erikson, must have been addressing her.

"Erm, yes?" She sat up, adjusting her glasses, which had fallen sideways during the daydream she'd been having.

"'Yes' is not a sufficient answer to what year the Qin dynasty fell, so I strongly suggest that you either pay attention or leave," the elderly woman snapped. Jeanette fought the urge to roll her eyes. How could she be expected to pay attention just 5 minutes before the final bell? Especially during a horrible week like this? Instead, the ever obedient Jeanette sunk low in her chair.

"Sorry, Ms. Erikson." She replied meekly.

When the teacher had turned her attention back to a particularly long PowerPoint, Jeanette sighed and returned to staring out the window. She twisted her pencil on her fingertips, thinking about what would happen in a few minutes, after the bell rang.

It was Wednesday. On Wednesdays, neither she nor Simon had any after school activities to go to. The rest of the week it was chess club or national honor society or something or other. Not Wednesdays. Usually the two would meet up at his locker, then walk home together, sometimes stopping for a snack at the gas station on the way home. But today, the brunette really doubted the usual was going to happen. She could bank on the fact that when she got to his locker, no matter how fast she ran, he wasn't going to be there.

It was an easy deduction to make, because for the past 3 days, her best friend Simon had been blatantly avoiding her.

On Monday evening, when she'd finally felt like she'd gotten over the terrible 24-hour stomach bug, Brittany had forced the fuzzy pink phone back in her hand. And as nervous as she was to talk about the kiss, Jeanette had bravely dialed the number, only to have Dave tell her that Simon wasn't at home, and could he take a message? She didn't leave one.

Tuesday, she'd steeled herself for school, now more excited than nervous. But when she'd looked for him at his locker, he wasn't there. Later, when she walked into chem, her usually punctual friend hadn't even arrived yet. He managed to walk in right as the bell rang, so there was no chance to talk, as it was test day. He'd finished first and walked out without so much as a glance in her direction. She remembered the prickling tears she'd felt as she tried to finish her own test.

Then Simon hadn't shown up to lunch, and the other 2 classes they shared were the same as the first. No words. No eye contact. No acknowledgement whatsoever. Barely any chance for acknowledgement, for that matter.

By the end of Tuesday, Jeanette wanted to cry. What did she do to deserve this?

That night, her sisters had been no help. She suspected they were only telling her what she wanted to hear—crap like, 'tomorrow will be better, you'll see.' Sure enough, she was proven right; it was Wednesday, school was almost out, and the only word she'd gotten out of Simon today was a halfhearted, 'hi' right before the teacher started talking in second period stats class.

The future of their relationship was starting to look pretty bleak.

Funny how 3 days ago, Jeanette had been convinced that maybe he did like her back, and that things were finally going to happen between them. Because, well, that kiss—what else could it have meant? How giddy she'd felt! The giddy feeling lasted right up until she'd felt nauseous, but that was only because of the questionable leftover meatloaf she'd eaten for lunch that day.

Now, she was being brushed off, and why exactly? Her brain couldn't come up with an answer that made sense. Simon certainly didn't act like someone who had feelings for her. He didn't act like someone who liked her at all. It didn't even feel like they were friends anymore.

He hates me.

Jeanette had spent all day trying to muster up some form of anger at him (after all, he deserved it!), but it wasn't working. Anger just wasn't in her nature, sometimes. The only emotions she could really pinpoint were confusion and hurt.

Finally the bell rang, and the quiet, gangly girl neatly put away her history supplies and ducked out of the classroom, wiping at her eyes when she was sure no one was looking.

Jeanette decided to just bypass the lockers altogether, wanting to get home as soon as possible. All the negative emotions that had been plaguing her the past few days were sapping her energy, and the chipette longed for nothing more than to flop down on her bed and take a nap.

She pushed out of the front double doors of the high school, plodding down the sidewalk for a ways before turning the first corner on the way home.

And there he was.

Simon was a few paces ahead of her, his head tilted towards the ground as he shouldered a fat backpack that appeared overloaded with books. Looked like he'd skipped a trip to his locker, too. Probably to avoid her.

Should she… call out to him? No. If he was going out of his way to ignore her, why would he want to walk with her? But she didn't want be walking a few yards behind him the entire way home; what if he turned around? That would definitely make things more awkward than they already were.

Jeanette swallowed, pausing one more long second before lifting a cautious hand.

"Simon! W-wait up!"

She watched as he froze for a split second and then spun around to give her a smile that looked a tad bit forced. "Oh- er- Jeanette. How are you?"

At last she caught up to him, and pushed her glasses back up her nose; they'd fallen askew during her run to catch up to him. She finally had him in a place where he couldn't run away from her. And now she had no idea what to say. "Um… I'm alright, I guess. How about you?"

"Good, I'm pretty good."

"That's… good."

Silence blanketed the two best friends as they continued to walk home. It felt… unnatural, for them. Finally Jeanette swallowed and broke it.

"Simon, can I ask you something?"

He turned to look at her apprehensively. "Uh, sure, what is it?"

She hesitated. Confrontational conversations were really not her thing. They were more like the complete the opposite of her thing. But the brunette chipette knew that Simon would never bring up this particular topic himself, so it was up to her to hopefully set things right. She took a deep breath and put on a brave face.

"Are we still friends?"

The question seemed to take him by surprise. "Of course we are! At least, I hope we are. Are we?"

Jeanette narrowed her eyes. How could he be asking her that? Hewas the one who'd been ignoring her for the past few days! You can't just kiss a girl and then go and ignore them!

But… he was looking at her so earnestly now, like he was actually unsure of her answer. He was being so, so… confusing. When had Simon gone from her best friend to this confusing and mystifying, er—for lack of a better term—boy? For a split second she wished Brittany were there with her; Brittany had loads of experience with deciphering the mysteries of boys, while she herself had, well, none.

Come on Jeanette, this is Simon Seville we're talking about! She scolded herself. You've known him since you were 8 years old! Just talk to the guy!

She sighed.

"Well, we always are in my book, but lately… I don't know, it feels like you don't want anything to do with me anymore."

"No, that's not it at all! I just… I-I thought that you might want some space from me, after, erm, after I made things so…awkward a few days ago." The bespectacled chipmunk's cheeks were turning red and he would no longer meet her eyes.

Even though she was blushing herself a little at the memory of that disastrous incident with Miss Miller, Jeanette couldn't help but dawn a pleased smile. He didn't hate her! No matter how much she wanted a romance between them to work out, their friendship came first and foremost in her mind. Imagining a life without being friends with Simon seemed almost impossible.

Filled with happiness and relief, she lifted a comforting hand to the taller boy's shoulder. "Si, what happened the other night wasn't your fault! Miss Miller just lost her marbles for a second, that's all. Can we just put it behind us?" She dropped her hand and rubbed her arm shyly. "I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too." He was smiling now, but still looked unsure about something. The blushing chipmunk brought his hand to the back of his neck and looked at his shoes. Jeanette felt for him, she really did. Something told her that that boy in front of her was as uncomfortable with talking about this sort of thing as she was. "Jeanette, I…"

"Yes?" Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Could this be the moment?

"I just want to apologize for, uh, kissing you the other day."

Oh. Her shoulders slumped visibly. But her eyebrows quirked upwards when Simon began to do something he almost never did—babble.

"It's just, well, Alvin kept advising me to make some sort of move—not that I did it just because of what Alvin told me of course! B-but, I, I thought that maybe you might—but it wasn't fair of me to assume without—" At this point Simon had turned as red as a tomato and seemed to realize that he was wasn't making much sense; he groaned in humiliation and hung his head. "Look, would it be possible to just forget that I ever did it? I don't want to lose you, Jen."

She was floored. He thought she didn't like him that way. That she didn't like the kiss—no, it was worse than that. He was making it sound as if he thought she was revolted by the entire idea of them together!

How could someone so intelligent get it all so utterly wrong?

"Simon… you could never lose me." She was trying to catch his gaze but the boy was intent on examining the ground thoroughly. "And… what makes you think I want to forget that it ever happened? That's probably the last thing I want to do."

His confused face reappeared. "But… after it happened you told Miss Miller that we were just friends." He kicked a rock down the sidewalk. "And you seemed pretty adamant about it. Then when you didn't show up for school the next day, I thought—uh—I thought that maybe you didn't want to see me anymore."

Jeanette couldn't help it, she laughed. She really shouldn't have, because Simon looked heartbroken when she did, but truthfully, she couldn't help it. The fact that this whole stupid drama between them could've been avoided with a little communication was just plain funny.

"Oh Simon, I only said that to Miss Miller because she was about to hit you with an umbrella! Only, she did anyway, so I'm not sure the comment helped much… and I really was just feeling sick Monday. Had a stomach bug." She chuckled and smiled up at him. His face was suddenly lit up, and it was this hopeful expression that gave her the courage to say what she'd longed to say to him for ages. "The... truth is, I really like you Simon. A lot more than a friend."

The urge to run and hide after her confession welled up inside her, but Jeanette fought it down, because she didn't want to miss a second of the blissful expression that had just spread over the face of the boy in front of her. Simon, who was usually very conservative and levelheaded when it came to his emotions, couldn't seem to contain the grin that was taking over his face.

"You—o-oh." He said simply, in a dazed voice.

Jeanette only giggled. The awkward, stifling tension between them had finally dispersed, now that everything they'd been keeping to themselves forever was out in the open. Now the only things that remained were the good kind of butterflies, and she felt lighter than air. If only they'd done this sooner!

"So," Simon cleared his throat in his hand, "You like me, and well, obviously I like you…" He trailed off.

"Looks like it," she agreed, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Both of them were still very red in the face. As happy as they both were, taking this step forward was more than a little intimidating, since they'd harbored such a strong friendship for so many years. She peered up at him, slightly surprised, when he reached out to take one of her hands in his.

"Will you go out with me? This Friday, maybe?" He sounded so deeply sincere. "We could go to the science museum and see that new Imax film on the Cretaceous period—I've heard it's as exciting as it is informative-" Looking like he was suddenly thinking his own suggestion was too nerdy and unromantic for a first date, the scholarly chipmunk swallowed and tried to backtrack quickly. "O-or we could do dinner and a movie. Whatever you'd like."

His lovely brunette companion squeezed his hand and beamed. "Actually, I think that Imax film sounds great," she said, pulling him along with her to resume their trek home.

It wasn't long before Jeanette saw her house coming into view. Simon still held her hand firmly in his, almost like he didn't want to let go. And, she was completely okay with that. A silence had drifted over the pair during the last minute or so of their walk, but for her at least, it was a comfortable one. Honestly, she was just enjoying the feel of being close to him again. One of her worst days had quickly turned into one of her best; that giddy feeling in her chest had come back ten fold.

The two teenagers turned into her driveway and Jeanette spied Simon scratching his nose out of the corner of her eye—a clear tell of his that usually meant something was on his mind. Playfully, she nudged him with her elbow without dropping their hands.

"What's up?"

He met her eyes, and they stopped right before the front porch steps, turning until they were facing one another. In a silent agreement, the two dropped their heavy backpacks on the first step. Simon looked happy, and yet there was also that telltale thoughtful expression on his face. Suddenly her palm felt like it was pouring sweat again, and she finally let go of his hand.

"I was just… wondering…" He cleared his throat. "I-I wasn't sure if I was supposed to formally ask you to be my girlfriend, or…?" A nervous chuckle escaped him, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, yeah. I'm kind of a novice at this, as you can see."

This caused her to giggle. And what, he thought she was some sort of an expert? "Don't worry, I am too. And I think you got your point across, so, yes," Jeanette wrung her hands, smiling shyly, "I hope we can safely say you're my boyfriend now."

At the mention of 'boyfriend,' the boy in question blinked, almost as if the word itself amazed him. His face broke out into a wide grin. "Oh. Okay, yes, we can definitely say that. Cool."

Jeanette quirked an amused eyebrow—Simon Seville almost never said 'cool' like a normal teenager. He'd been struck dumb... because of her.

It was becoming hard to contain the squeals of excitement welling up in her throat.

"So," she began in what she hoped was a casual tone, "just curious… how long have you liked me, anyway?"

"A while," he responded after a moment. "You?"

She laughed and bobbed her head. "Same. A while."

Then the conversation dissipated and they were just simply staring and smiling at each other, just like old times. Except now, Jeanette thought, they were a couple. So it wouldn't be weird to kiss him right now, would it?

For a moment or two she simply studied his face—the black-rimmed, round glasses, the boyish, slightly messy haircut, the soft, yet intelligent grey eyes. She wanted to do it. She was going to do it. Swiftly grabbing ahold of his upper arm, Jeanette leaned upwards to give him a quick peck on the lips, pulling back just as quickly.

She dared to look him in the eye after. His cheeks were pink, and he was smiling; she couldn't help but smile back before averting her eyes.. "I, uh…" Her arms grasped behind her back on their own accord. "The other day… I never got a chance to return the favor."

A second later, warm hands held her waist, pulling her close. She glanced up in time to see him leaning toward her again, just like he'd done 3 days ago—only this time, she was ready. She closed her eyes and parted her lips and they met in the middle. Her hands lifted to firmly grasp his shoulders, and he hugged her closer.

This kiss was different than the other two; it was slow, it was heartfelt, and finally, it was mutual. Not to mention it had 3 days worth of pent up emotion thrown in there. Jeanette's heart threatened to burst out her chest and just float away. She decided, then and there, that this was her first real kiss with Simon.

After a few moments, they pulled apart, sufficiently flushed. They shared a smile before Simon let go of her waist and stooped to pick up his backpack, and Jeanette followed suit.

"I suppose this means you'll have to return the favor again sometime," He joked, standing back up and adjusting his glasses. She blushed, letting out a laugh.

"I'd be okay with that." She leaned forward to peck his cheek before ascending the first step. "See you tomorrow?"

"Definitely." He nodded happily, turning to make the trek across the street to the Seville house.

Halfway through her front yard, the boy spun around and called out to her. "By the way, how'd you fare on the chem test?"

Jeanette took her hand off the knob of her front door and grinned before calling back: "Pretty sure I aced it. You?"

Simon's face sported a satisfied and yet amused expression; probably because he'd heard the answer he'd been expecting. "Same. See you, Jen!" She waved and watched him jog, exhilarated, across the street, finally disappearing inside his front door.

Entering her house, Jeanette let her bag fall to the floor and put a hand to her chest. Her heart showed no signs of slowing down yet. She was pretty sure there would be a stupid, dreamy look on her face for the rest of the day, one that Brittany would surely point out and scoff at. And who cared? Not her.

She closed her eyes and smiled.

Hallelujah, they hooked up! I know, totally unexpected. So, the end. My random chipmunk fandom excursion can now rest in peace. Thanks for reading!

(simon I would totally go see an imax film on the cretaceous period with you)