Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-Alvin's POV- 

"Give it up for Alvin and the Chipmunks!"

Everyone cheered loudly and applauded even louder, so much I almost couldn't hear myself think. Thousands of eyes were on us, on ME, yet I didn't let that deter me away from the task at hand. To play the best damn set these people have ever heard in their whole life.

I gripped my guitar harder as I heard the counting from behind me accompanied by the sound of drumsticks striking simultaneously. Every bone in my body began to shake... in a good way though. It was fun to perform at home with my brothers for our friends and family, but playing for a huge crowd? Nothing matched that feeling. Like the world could end and begin all at the same time. Did it make me nervous to play in front of so many people knowing I could mess up at any minute and everyone would see? No... okay maybe a little. But it could never compare to the thrill and excitement of being on a stage. It was invigorating. And not just any stage at that, a huge concert hall the size of a stadium! I strummed the first chord of the song as my brothers followed with the bass and drums. I could feel my hands play on their own while I basked in the brightness of the spotlight. Man did I feel alive. At the peak of the song I jumped head on into the crowd, waiting as I expected for them to catch my fall. But I didn't feel the multitude of hands hold me as I dove straight to them, instead I was met face first with the painful reality of the cold hardwood floor.

My alarm blasted through my ear, although I was more focused on the pain from falling off the bed and on my face. 

"Ow..." I groaned, still flat on the floor.

"Hey, you're finally awake. Good, I thought you would never wake up." said Simon dismissively while he picked up his school bag and filled it with books.

"Good morning Alvin!" Theodore chippered. He was always in a good mood.

"Ughh, how long was I asleep for?" I asked.

"Oh, just until 7:30." Simon replied dryly. "So you better hurry cause Dave's taking us to school in 20 minutes."

"WHAT!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME!?" I blurted as I ran out the room.

"I don't know Alvin, maybe because you were asleep?..." Simon asked. Don't think he was expecting an answer. Well, I was out of the room anyway.

I rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dave didn't seem amused by this.

"Alvin, you were supposed to be up an hour ago!" Dave reprimanded.

"I know, I know, I just-" I stumbled on my words as I stuffed my mouth full of cereal.

"Didn't think I'd sleep through my alarm this time." At least that's what I tried to say. He understood all that, right?

"Alvin, don't speak with your mouth full." replied Dave.

I couldn't finish my breakfast though, I was running out of time. I rushed back upstairs leaving my bowl on the counter.

"And wash your dishes!" Dave yelled back at me.

I zoomed all around the house brushing my teeth, taking my things, grabbing my- did I grab my phone? Yes I did. "Okay!" I said to myself outloud, I was ready to go. I mean there was still my bed that needed to be made and the dishes washed but it's not like I did those regularly anyways so it didn't matter.

And thankfully I made it to the car on time, otherwise they would've left without me... like last time. I was so late the bus didn't even pass by, I had to walk to school. Normally I wouldn't mind it, it's not like I like school, soo.. means less class for me. But Dave made me walk home too. He said 'if you can be late to school, then you can be late home too'. So ideally I’d rather be on time to the car.

Halfway there, Theodore asks "Alvin, what about your skateboard?"

"And your homework." Simon retorted under a cough.

DAMN IT! I knew I forgot something important. Never mind the homework, my sweet ride!!! Welp, there was no way we were turning back now. Guess today had to be a boring lunch period too.

School was a drag, like always. The teacher yelling at me about the homework then leaving more, like what's her deal? Sloppy lunch food and an hour of detention. But at least it was Friday. Ah the weekend, what a wonderful time to do nothing productive and just stay inside all day. As our car reached the driveway, something caught my eye. It was the neighbor's house next door. I'd gotten used to seeing the big red sign that said 'FOR SALE' with bold white letters that was adorned on the lawn to our right hand side. But it was gone.

"Oh, I heard the new neighbors moved in today." Dave said with a smile.

Chapter Text

-Alvin’s POV-

It wasn’t everyday you see people move into the house next door, so I couldn’t help but be nosey. I peered around to look if anybody was going in or out of the home. No one seemed to come out the front door though. I stepped closer to the new neighbor’s yard. Still nothing. Turning around to finally go back inside my own home I suddenly heard a thud.

“Ah-!” accompanied the loud noise by what sounded like a female voice.

Then more footsteps followed behind it.

“Jeanette! Be more careful, that box has my things in it!” I overheard a voice say. Another girl.

I turned back around to see the commotion. A redheaded girl stood looking down at the brunette who had just tripped with boxes laying in front of her. Then came a blond girl to help her up.

“Brittany don’t be mean! Are you okay Jean?” said the blond one.

“D-don’t worry, I’m okay. Thanks Ellie.” replied the brunette.

Maybe it was the gossip in me, but I wanted to go introduce myself. And I’ve always been the kind to think with my feet instead of my head. Suddenly, I was standing at their front door staring at them.

“Hey, you girls new in town?” I said trying to sound suave.

“Who are you?” asked the redhead dryly.

Ouch, that was cold.

“Don’t mind Brittany, she’s in a bad mood. Moving isn’t her ‘favorite activity’. Hi, I’m Eleanor and these are my sisters, Brittany and Jeanette.”

“O-oh, hi.” greeted Jeanette. She seemed a bit shy.

Brittany only huffed, I guess she didn’t like company.

“We just arrived today, it’s our first time in California.” Eleanor answered my question from earlier.

“Well, the neighborhood’s nice, just as long as you don’t leave your shoes outside, believe me you’ll never see them again. Name’s Alvin by the way.” I replied. “So, what school are you going to?”

“We just enrolled in Santa Barbara High School.” Jeanette spoke up.

“Hey, that’s the school I go to!” I said with excitement, until I realized and decided to keep my cool. “You start this week?”

“Yeah, we start this Monday.” she responded

“Cool, guess I’ll see you girls around.” I said as I headed back to my house again.

That went well I think. They were nice... mostly. Wonder what Brittany’s deal was. Maybe I just need to get to know them first. Something tells me I’ll find out this upcoming Monday. All this thinking I barely even realized I had already reached the front of my house. As I walked in the door, an all too familiar sarcastic tone greeted me.

“Done peeping on the neighbors?”

“Shut up Simon, it wasn’t like that. I just went over to say hi.” I rebuked

“Sure, the same way you never get involved in my business.” I decided to ignore that last comment. Again with the snark Simon, jeez.

I made it to my room and immediately threw my bag on my bed and turned on the tv and Xbox. My plans were simple and I liked it like that.

The weekend felt too short every time and all I did was play video games, skateboard and swim in our pool. Though I usually spent it that way. I woke up bright and early, or well early for me. Luckily I heard my alarm this time. I managed to do some of the homework that was left this weekend, well I copied it from Simon’s textbook until he came back in the room so I left it unfinished. But at least I did something, right? I’d say that’s still impressive. Simon and Theodore already seemed to be ready before me. Even when I woke up early I couldn’t get ahead of them. Dave came into the room.

“Hey Alvin, are you almost ready?” he asked.

“Yeah yeah, I just can’t find my phone.” I scrambled around the room.

“Well, we will be waiting in the car.” said Dave as he left.

“Okay,” I answered dismissively “Ugh why can’t I- Aha! Here it is.” I exclaimed to myself.

I slinged my backpack on, ran down the stairs, grabbed my skateboard and I was out the door. Simon shimmied to the side and made room for me to sit beside him in the car. See? He was nice when he wanted to be. The drive talk wasn’t very interesting so I tuned it out until we got to the school. When we arrived I saw three familiar girls. They were the girls from last Friday. I approached them, my brothers followed along.

“Hey Eleanor!” I said, trying to get their attention.

“Oh, hey Alvin,” greeted Eleanor back.

“Sy, Theo, these are the new neighbors I was telling you about.” I commented, “Girls, these are my brothers.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Simon”

“Hi, I’m Theodore!”

Eleanor and Jeanette introduced themselves and started idle chit chat with them as Brittany just glared at us.

“So do you girls need help getting around?” I asked.

“No thank you, I think we can find our way just fine.” Brittany quipped back.

“Actually, I-”

Brittany shushed Jeanette and pulled her away before she could finish, “No. Thanks.” she answered begrudgingly.

“Okaaay then.” I said cautiously.

Simon, Theodore and I walked to each of our lockers respectively. As I was fiddling with my lock, the principal came from around the corner. She seemed to be looking for someone at a nearby locker. Mine so happened to be next to the principal’s office.

“Good morning Alvin. Would you mind giving our three new classmates a tour around the school?” the principal asked, though I don’t think she would take no as an answer. Eleanor, Jeanette and Brittany followed not far behind her.

“Sure thing.” I accepted.

She sighed in relief. “Alright ladies, I’ll leave you with Alvin, he can guide you to your next classes.” She gestured towards my direction.

“Huh? What was that about not needing my help?” I retorted.

“Whatever.” Brittany scowled as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

I gestured for Simon and Theodore to come over.

“Here, one of you can go with Simon, one with Theodore and one with me. How’s that?”

“Oh, okay” replied Jeanette. “ I guess I’ll go with Theodore.”

“I can go with Simon.” offered Eleanor.

“Guess that leaves you with me Brittany.” I said pesteringly. Clearly it bothered her cause she did not seem amused.

Everybody separated and went their own way for their personal tour. We walked around the cafeteria and then I showed her the school yard, the only parts of the school I cared about.

“Aaand this is where I go everyday for detention, but I don’t think you’ll be seeing it as much as me.” I said trying to crack a joke but it still didn’t phase her. “So now if-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. Can you please stop now? Your voice is giving me a headache.” she interrupted.

“Hey, what’s your deal? I haven’t done anything to you and yet you're being a jerk to me for no reason.” I snapped.

“Look, I know what kind of guy you are. You’re only talking to my sisters to get close to me because you think you have a chance. Thought you were being discreet? You can’t fool me ‘buddy’.” Brittany sneered.

“Woah! I’m not doing anything like that! I’m just trying to be nice to you, that’s all!” I exclaimed defensively.

“Yeah like I’d fall for that.” she scoffed.

“Honestly, I’m not interested in you like that but whatever I don’t have to take this crap from you.” I replied, clearly very annoyed. “Good luck finding your next class.” The sarcasm seeped through my words. I started to walk away when suddenly a hand stopped me.

“Wait. I’m sorry I assumed that. It’s just, sigh, it’s been hard getting to know new people.” she said apologetically. “Guys who were supposed to be my sisters’ friends flirted with me all the time and when I rejected them they completely stopped talking to them, like they were just a ‘means to an end’. I guess I’ve been on edge since our last school and got carried away by my own thoughts.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“You talk A LOT.” I responded exaggeratedly while holding back my laughter.

“HEY!” she hollered.

“It’s fine, just don’t assume the whole world is bad. You never know what you could be pushing away.” I said poetically. Someone should write this stuff down.

“I guess you're right…” she said in a coy manner. Who knew I could be right sometimes?

“Wanna continue the tour?" I offered.

“Sure.”

-Jeanette’s POV-

The new school was big, really big. There were so many spots in this building, from a softball field to tennis courts, and an indoor theater. Every other door was another classroom for some extracurricular like music or calculus. But the most exciting room for me was the library. So many books to read, I was so elated to see all the options. Theodore showed me around all the book aisles, I got to see every genre they carried and part of me couldn’t wait to check out everything they had in store. We walked around the campus a bit longer until he guided me to my next class and lucky for me we shared this one, it was English. The teacher greeted me and waited for me to introduce myself to the class.

“H-hi, m-my name is Jeanette, and I- um I just moved to Santa Barbara a c-couple days ago.” I said shakingly as I froze in my words. I was never good at public speaking.

“Very nice, you can sit down over there next to the window.” the teacher gestured toward my seat.

The subject was never too hard for me, I’ve always been a fan of literature, but I could see Theodore was struggling with the first activity, even if it was just a warm up. I tried getting his attention and pointed my English book in his direction so he could ‘borrow’ a few answers. He started writing it down and silently thanked me. I wasn't one to cheat, but he looked so lost I couldn't help but try to aid him a bit. Fortunately, we didn't get caught. After that we had History which also wasn't too hard since all we did was read. Being quiet and reading was something I was always good at, so classes were never really a hassle for me. The next period was lunch so we decided to reunite with our siblings in the cafeteria.

“Hey Simon! Have you seen Alvin?” asked Theo.

“He's probably outside skateboarding, you know him.” he responded.

“What about Brittany?” I questioned as I noticed her absence.

“She went to eat with some girls she met in class.” Eleanor informed me.

We started talking about how every one's day had gone so far. There were some good remarks and some bad but mostly a normal first day. We shared some anecdotes while getting to know each other better until we got to the topic of hobbies.

“...and I like to play soccer. Also I do some cooking in my free time.” said Eleanor.

“Oh cool! I like cooking too!” Theo chimed in with excitement.

“What about you Jeanette?” Simon questioned.

“O-oh um I like reading and writing, I-I guess I enjoy watching movies t-too.” I answered, trying to cover the nervousness that seeped through my words.

“And what do you like to read?” he asked.

“I've been reading ‘The Space Between Us ’, it's an autobiography of the author with his child,” I realized I was starting to ramble. “although I don't know i-if you've heard of it.”

“That's a good read, I really like the relationship between the dad and the daughter. I definitely recommend you finish it.” he commented.

“Oh! O-okay!” I said excitedly, I couldn't believe he had heard of it, let alone read it all.

We continued talking about different books and series that we liked. He seemed to be particularly interested in stories based on real events. It had been so long since I was able to rave on about my interests with someone.

As the school day came to an end, I started reminiscing on everything. Never has it been so easy for me to make new friends, especially on the first day. I couldn't wait to talk more with Simon, he was really nice. My sisters and I talked the entire way back home about how it went for us and what we thought of the boys. We chatted about it until it was too late for us to stay awake. Tomorrow awaited another day and, for me, it couldn't come any sooner.

Chapter Text

-Eleanor’s POV-

Moving to a new place was never easy, but now? I barely even felt how three weeks passed by. Me and my sisters got into some extracurriculars, just to pass the time. Jean transferred into AP English and Science, Brittany started ballet with Jean and I joined Britt in hip hop classes. As for me, I became part of the school's soccer and volleyball team. Things are going pretty smooth for us. Plus we share a lot of hobbies with the boys. Me and Alvin started hanging out since I got into the soccer team, Jeanette seems to spend a lot of time with Simon, and I go see Theo for cooking sessions twice a week. We like to try new recipes together. Britt mostly spends time with her new friends and going out, but Alvin is in the same friend group so they've also hung out a bit.

“Ellie, you ready to go?” Britt asked as she came downstairs.

“Yeah, just tying my shoes. Do you think we'll finish the routine today?” I questioned.

“God I hope so, I'm so tired of hearing the same song over and over again.” she remarked.

Dance classes were fun, but also arduous. I personally enjoyed the workout, it helps release tension. But Britt didn't feel the same, she hated the feeling of being sticky and covered in sweat. Still, she kept going ‘cause she was genuinely passionate about dancing. And she was good at it too, like REAL good. Rhythm flowed through her veins or something, I mean really, she moved as if she had been dancing for years.

Class went well, we still didn’t finish our routine for ‘Bust A Move’ but we were going at a fast pace, just a few details that needed to be perfected. After hip hop class, I met up with Alvin in the skatepark close to our neighborhood. We usually went there to practice some tricks and gossip a bit about random stuff.

“So how was dance today?” Alvin casually asked to start conversation.

“Eh, the usual. But I think next class we'll move onto a different routine.” I responded.

“Cool, now that the formalities are done, let's get to the nitty gritty. What's the deal with Brittany?” Alvin questioned as he rested his chin on his hand, now seeming very interested in my answer.

“What do you mean with ‘her deal’?” I asked, not really sure where this was going.

“You know, her situation?” he insisted on his previous question.

“I still don't know what you mean.” I answered, still confused.

“Is she seeing someone or not?” he asked dryly.

“Ooh I see, interested in Brittany are you?” I asked in a suggestive tone while raising my brow.

“Tch,” he scoffed, “as if, I’m just curious, that’s all. Anyway, what about you and Theo, huh?” he interrogated, catching me off guard. It was obvious he was trying to avoid my previous question, but I let it slide.

“What? Nooo, Theo and I are just friends.” I answered a little stunned.

“Come on, you guys have been spending a lot of time alone, and I've heard the way he talks about you. He clearly likes you.” he remarked.

Honestly, dating has never been my strong suit, Brittany was more of the “boy crazy” type and I hadn't really thought about it before… guess now was time to do so.

-Jeanette’s POV-

I’ve always liked being ahead of my work, so, when classes were over, I decided to go to the library with Simon to finish the homework that had been assigned that day. Usually I was very quick with assignments but this time it was difficult for me to focus. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my eyes on the book in front of me. It’s as if talking with Simon was more engaging than reading, but how could that be? I enjoyed literature, yet I felt myself getting carried away in conversation with him. He asked me about my life before California, the movies I liked, the music I listened to. I couldn’t help but notice how he observed my words as I spoke. He was always so attentive. And the way he adjusted his glasses while we talked.

I found myself getting lost in time with him for what felt like hours. We continued doing the assigned school work until it became night and the library was reaching its closing time.

“It’s getting late, maybe we should get going.” he said, “Wouldn’t want our families to worry.” he smiled, offering his hand to help me up.

“Y-yeah, that’s true.” I took his hand to stand up, collected our notes, and put them away in our respective bags. We checked out a few books and headed for the library doors.

“I’ll walk you home.” he said.

“Oh you d-don’t have to!” I answered, feeling my cheeks getting a little red.

“It’s okay, we live next door so It won’t take long at all.” he reaffirmed.

“O-oh right.” I responded, feeling a little embarrassed.

The library was only a few blocks away, but it felt like an eternity had passed as we walked in silence. I stared up at the night sky, admiring the stars as they glistened. Suddenly, I felt my feet trip on a small crack in the pavement.

“Ah!-”

However I wasn’t met with the disappointing floor I was so familiar with, but the hands of Simon as they wrapped around my waist, catching my fall.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes filled with compassion and concern.

“I-I’m good..” I answered nervously, the thought of his hands around me making me blush and the realization making me jolt back on my feet.

His gaze softened, “I’m glad.” he released a gentle laugh, “You seem to like the stars, huh?”

“I’ve a-always been into s-space, I’d e-even love to study a-astronomy.” I tried to regain my composure but I couldn’t stop the blushing on my face.

“You know, I have a telescope in my room. You could come over and use it anytime.” he offered enthusiastically, “I-If you’d like to of course.” he said diffidently.

“Ye-yeah! That sounds great!” I answered with excitement.

We spent the rest of the walk home talking about the museum in town and the planetarium it had inside, he mentioned how we could go one day soon. We reached our street and as he dropped me off at my door, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. I stood on my doorstep watching as he headed home, seeing how he tucked his shirt and fixed his hair, then he glanced back and gave me a soft smile as he reached his house. I smiled back and waved. I couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow.