A/N: I'm back! Sort of… I actually wrote this story a long long time ago and forgot about it, this is actually the fourth story I've ever written (fun fact that nobody cares about) but don't worry I just got done revamping it so it's better now.
For those who don't know, I have a very strange writing style apparently; I completely write a story then subdivide it into chapters then I post the chapters one by one as to not overwhelm my audience. I've been told this is strange but it's the way I like it, the last time I tried writing a story chapter by chapter and posting it, was "AATC 3: The Story of Us" my more dedicated readers saw what happened with that one… it only took me 3 years to write that last chapter. When I write them this way I can guarantee you guys will get a full story because it's already done. Anyhow, I'll try to update this one once a week unless you guys want me to update more? What do you think? Is a week good or would you rather see every other day? Three times a week? You tell me. Ok that's enough of me blabbering on go ahead and enjoy the chapter and please review.
As an FYI this is written in 80's style animation.
"You're such a jerk Alvin!" Brittany shouted at the red clad chipmunk before stomping down the upstairs hallway of the Seville house. Alvin who was thoroughly entertained watched still laughing as the black ink continued to drip off the chipette as she angrily stalked away from the chipmunk.
Brittany stormed down the stairs and towards the front door only to be stopped by Simon who was just leaving the living room, "Brittany?... what happened to you?" the bespectacled chipmunk asked. Brittany turned around sharply, "Alvin happened!" she replied sharply before stomping out the front door. Simon stood in the doorway and watched Brittany walk away for a moment before slowly shutting the door, shaking his head Simon headed up the stairs and found Alvin still standing in the doorway of his bedroom laughing about his great prank.
"Ink bottle on top of the door?" Simon asked knowing most of Alvin's common pranks.
Alvin shook his head as he began to control his laughter, "better, bag of ink taped to the door but hanging over the top so when the door is shut the bag bursts".
Simon shrugged lightly, when it came to elaborate pranks Alvin could out think anybody, "clever" his younger brother said shaking his head. Alvin nodded in reply, "you should have seen the look on her face… it was priceless".
"You better hope she can get that stuff out of her hair or I'll be laughing at the priceless look on your face when she's killing you" Simon replied with a chuckle as he continued into his bedroom.
Alvin shrugged off the thought as he walked down the hallway still chuckling to himself.
"I hate him!" Brittany shouted as she dried her hair in front of the bathroom mirror, pausing she began to inspect her soft auburn hair to find several darker spots caused by the ink.
"It won't be permanent Brittany" Eleanor said from behind her sister, her arms crossed as she leaned on the doorframe.
"I don't care!" Brittany shouted, "it'll still be there for several weeks maybe even a month".
"Brittany, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?" Eleanor asked.
"No" Brittany retorted, "he poured ink in my hair".
Eleanor thought about this a moment before agreeing with her older sister, "you're right… you're not overreacting".
"Of course I'm not… I never overreact" the older chipette retorted putting her hands on her hips.
"That's stretching it quite a bit" Eleanor said with an honest grin, gaining a glare from her sister.
Brittany was about to retort but groaned in slight pain instead as she pressed her palm against her forehead, "I'm getting a headache" she mumbled. For the last couple of weeks she had been getting very painful throbbing headaches that would last for anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours.
"Again?" Eleanor asked curiously, "it's not like you to get so many headaches… maybe you're coming down sick?"
"I hope not" Brittany said softly, "I hate being sick".
Eleanor shook her head as she followed her sister out of the bathroom and down to the living room.
The next day the chipettes walked to school with the chipmunks just like every day but today was quieter than usual. Alvin like usual walked in the front but Brittany who usually would take lead with Alvin hung in the back because she had no intention of talking to or going near the chipmunk in red that she despised at the current point in time.
"I wonder if Brittany is still mad at me?" Alvin asked Simon with a grin, hushing his voice so she couldn't hear him. Simon glanced back over his shoulder towards Brittany then turned back to Alvin, "in my opinion, mad is an extreme understatement of her current attitude towards you" Simon replied after seeing the cold hard death stares the chipette was giving the back of Alvin's head.
"Do you think she'll try to get revenge?" Alvin asked hopeful that the answer would be yes so he could embark on a full-fledged prank war with someone.
Simon didn't have to think long before he came up with the obvious answer, "almost definitely" he replied.
"Good" Alvin replied rubbing his hands together deviously.
"You actually want her to attack back?" Simon asked curiously not all that surprised by his brother's response.
"Yeah" Alvin replied as if it was obvious, "if she attacks back it gives me a reason to prank her again, whereas if I just set her up again with another prank it'll make me look like a bully or something".
"Alvin… your logic is terribly flawed" Simon replied picking up his pace to get away from his brother.
"Whatever" Alvin mumbled under his breath letting a smile creep across his face, as he began to scheme his next move against new chipette rival in his imaginary prank war.
"You aren't planning revenge on Alvin are you?" Jeanette asked her older sister as she walked just behind her.
"Me?" Brittany asked innocently causing Jeanette to pick up her pace to walk beside her and stare at her for a moment. Jeanette's questioning stare was enough to quickly break her older sister, "ok… I was thinking about it".
Jeanette shook her head sadly, "Brittany… getting revenge on him won't help anything it'll only give him a reason to attack back then you will want revenge on him for that and it'll turn into an endless cycle, just let it go this time and call it quits when you're ahead".
"Are you kidding?" Brittany retorted, "someone has to teach him a lesson".
"And it isn't doesn't have to be you" Jeanette interjected.
"Relax Jeanette, I'm only going to give him a small taste of his own medicine" Brittany replied patting her sister on the shoulder making her sigh in defeat as she pushed her hand up between her glasses and her face.
School passed by that day just like every other day slow and tedious for some and quick and educational for others. The later afternoon hours however found the chipmunks and chipettes in their respective homes attempting to do their homework. Well most of them anyway… Alvin laid on his bed thinking not about his homework but about his new war efforts against Brittany, "how should I get back at her?" he asked himself out loud.
The youngest chipmunk lifted his head from his homework and looked at his brother curiously, "get back at who?" Theodore asked from his bed where he was reading from one of his textbooks.
"Brittany" Alvin replied.
"She hasn't even done anything to you yet" Simon responded the annoyance for his brother's actions very clear in his voice.
"But she's planning to… I just know it, and I want to be ready when she does do something" Alvin said tossing his cap into the air and catching it again.
Physically face palming at his brother's statement Simon readjusted his glasses, "Alvin" the bespectacled chipmunk said addressing his brother before pausing thoughtfully as he thought about exactly what he wanted to say.
After a moment Alvin grew annoyed by this long pause, "well out with it Simon".
The bespectacled chipmunk shook his head, "never mind… you wouldn't understand anyway" Simon said getting up and leaving the room.
Alvin groaned to himself as he stood up, he knew his younger brother all too well, he could tell by the sound in his voice that what his brother had to say was important and he had peaked the chipmunks curiosity. "Simon" Alvin called out after his brother softly leaving the room.
Simon who had stopped at the top of the stairs, upon hearing his name turned to face his brother, "what do you want Alvin?" he asked irritated by his brother.
"What were you going to tell me… it sounded like it might have been important" Alvin said curious as to what his brother could have wanted to say to him. "Oh it was nothing too important… I was only going to tell you how wrong you are".
Alvin looked at him with a blank look prompting him on, "just a few seconds ago you were sitting in our bedroom plotting how to get revenge on someone before they even did done anything to you, you should be thinking about how to apologize to her for what you did".
"Apologize?" Alvin asked as if his brother was crazy, "you've got to be kidding? All I did was pour a little ink in her hair".
Simon shook his head briefly, "you did more than that Alvin, sure physically all you did was put some ink in her hair, but more importantly you broke her trust".
Alvin was silent for a long while as he thought about the deeper harms of his small and insignificant action. "I honestly never looked at it that way…" he said slowly letting his voice trail off.
"Now what are you going to do to rectify the situation?" Simon asked curious if their little discussion had made any progress.
Thinking fast on how to remove himself from this discussion before it went any further Alvin replied with "I'm going to go do my homework", with that stated the red clad chipmunk darted back into his bedroom to complete his homework.
Simon sighed softy as he began walking towards their bedroom as well, "it's a start I suppose" the tall chipmunk mumbled to himself.
After school the next day Brittany spent most of her afternoon rigging the door of her bedroom with a booby trap to ensnare Alvin and teach him a lesson. "How do you know he's gonna come over here today?" Eleanor asked as she watched her older sister run a string from the door knob to the top of the door frame.
"I know he's coming over today because if he doesn't come over by himself for whatever reason, I'll call him and ask him to come over" Brittany replied as she tied the string off.
"I don't know Brittany… somehow this just doesn't feel right" Eleanor replied.
"Of course it's right… he poured ink in in my hair so I'm just going to give it back to him" Brittany said turning to face her sister.
"Just leave me out of this then" Eleanor said walking through the open door leaving Brittany alone to finish her trap.
"Brittany… I'm sorry" Alvin said softly looking at the mirror in his bathroom, shaking his head he took a deep breath, "I'm kinda sorry for dumping ink in your hair", he said trying a different approach. "Why does apologizing have to be so hard?" he asked not expecting an answer.
But an answer was provided for him, "It's not" Simon replied from the doorway causing Alvin to jump.
"It is too" Alvin shot back as he recovered from the shock of Simon coming in from out of nowhere.
"Not really, just go over there and say, 'Brittany I'm sorry for dumping ink in your hair the other day', it's as simple as that, she'll more than likely forgive you then you come home and you might be able to live with your conscience for a while" Simon replied with a slight smile.
"You think I should go over right now?" Alvin asked skeptically hoping Simon would advise waiting at least a week or maybe two.
To Alvin's dismay Simon said nearly the exact opposite, "no better time than the present" Simon replied leading his older brother out of the bathroom.
"I don't know Simon… apologizing to Brittany… it just isn't my style" Alvin said as they walked down the stairs.
"Obviously… you would rather dump more ink in her hair and call it even" Simon said shaking his head.
Once at the front door Simon opened it for him and motioned for him to go out, "it's getting dark out Simon" Alvin said looking out into the gathering dusk.
Looking at his older brother with a 'really? That's the best excuse you've got' expression Simon pointed outside, "she lives two blocks away, you'll be fine… now get going" the taller chipmunk replied pushing Alvin out the front door.
Alvin quickly turned to go back inside when Simon slammed the door shut; "fine…" the red clad chipmunk muttered then started walking towards his friend's house at a sluggishly slow speed. "This isn't that hard" he said to himself as he began to walk towards the chipette's house, "I've had to apologize for worse things, like the time we dropped the pudding filled piano down the stairs… or the time I accidently blew up Simon's lab and put a good sized hole in the living room floor… this was nothing, a little ink, no big deal".
Finding himself in front of the Miller's house he strode up to the front door and knocked lightly hoping nobody would answer but Miss Miller promptly came to the door, what Alvin thought was the fastest she had ever answered the door before. "Why hello Alvin" Miss Miller greeted cheerfully.
"Hi Miss Miller… I came to see Brittany, is she here?" Alvin asked hoping for a no but he couldn't be that lucky.
"She's upstairs" the older woman said before leading Alvin into the living room.
Taking a deep breath at the foot of the stairs Alvin began walking up the old Victorian's creaky old stairs. Reaching the top of the stairs Alvin turned right down the hall and knocked on the open door frame of the chipette's bedroom's open door. Brittany who was sitting at a small desk at the far side of the room turned around quickly upon hearing the knock. Seeing he had her attention the chipmunk swallowed hard, "hey" Alvin greeted with a smile, "you got most of the ink out of your hair… that's good".
"Yeah it is" Brittany said gritting her teeth as she stood up crossing her arms.
"I just came by to say hi…mostly" Alvin said walking into the bedroom, his hands placed shyly behind his back.
Brittany watched him for a few seconds as he walked around then said, "well you said hi… so now you can leave" Brittany said pulling the door open more arming her trap that was set up over the bedroom doorframe.
Alvin stopped pacing the room, and looked at her for a second before adverting his gaze to the floor; "I-I'm…I'm sorry for spilling the ink in your hair..." he said quickly then turned hastily to leave.
Taken by surprise by what he had said Brittany quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving through the bedroom door, "wait… you're sorry?" she asked somewhat surprised.
"Yeah" he replied hotly noting her surprised tone as he jerked his arm from her grasp "is it that hard to believe I would apologize to someone?"
"No" Brittany replied quickly "but-".
Alvin however quickly cut her off, "it wasn't even meant for you… Simon was supposed to walk through the door next, I didn't even know you were in the house" Alvin replied as he continued to walk to the door.
Brittany stood in a thoughtful silence for a few seconds before she noticed Alvin stepping towards the thin wire strung across the doorframe opening a mere few inches from the floor making it impossible to see. "Alvin, wait! Don't go!" she shrieked but her warning was too late, Alvin stepped through the door catching his foot on the string causing the can of paint to tip drenching the chipmunk in bright pink paint. Turning around slowly he saw Brittany standing a few feet off, grimacing with a guilty expression plastered on her face.
Ignoring her facial expressions the chipmunk took a few steps towards her which she reacted to by backing away, "I come over here to apologize to you and this is what I get!" he shouted at her, Brittany didn't know what to say. "I hate you… and if I never see you again it'll still be too soon" Alvin said before running down the stairs and out of the Miller's house.
Frozen in place the chipette tried to mentally process what had just happened "what have I done?!" Brittany cried out as the realization of what just happened began to sink in. Hearing her sister from another room Jeanette slowly walked into the room being careful to avoid the small puddle of paint on the floor, "what happened… your plan backfire?" Jeanette asked finding her sister on her knees a few feet from the door.
"He came to apologize!" Brittany shouted, "and to show my gratitude I covered him in paint!"
"I would say I told you this was a bad idea… but I feel that wouldn't do any good right now" Jeanette said walking towards her sister who looked very upset over the events that had just unfolded.
A/N: Well there you have it. That's chapter one, this chapter and the next couple are mostly build up material for the plot that is still developing so stay tuned and watch for chapter 2. Which you guys will decide when I post or I'll just post in a week if I don't hear back from you guys. So go ahead and tell me when you want chapter 2 via review or PM, majority rules so cast your vote!
~Jake Miller