Valentines Day Rush: Part 1

The New Adventures of Alvin and the Chipmunks
Episode 2:  Valentines Day Rush!

Hi!  Now hold on a second, this isn’t the start to the Fan-fic yet, first you have to read the instructions!  Yeah I know, what’s the deal with instructions you ask?  Well, its because I love music, and believe that reading music is boring.  So I decided to add a music track with this fic, now obviously I couldn’t add it to the story itself, so I had to enlist Youtube’s services to assist me.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a-0R0…

The link provided above is to the music track, But wait don’t listen to it yet!  You have to wait for the boys to actually start singing before you can listen to it!  As you read, you will stumble across the song lyrics, right above them will be your key to play the video and start the music.  And when your done with that song, you can stop the video and keep on reading until the next song!  Now I apologize that the songs aren’t actually sung by our squeaky stars, but I don’t have the ability to do something like that.  So until I can do that, I guess you’ll just have to use your imagination.  I know this is different, but I’m sure you will get used to it as my fics are released.  Enjoy!


Alvin, Simon and Theodore Seville, to some considered the biggest influence in the music world today, were bored out of their skulls.  They sat in something of a clump on the living room couch, Alvin in the middle with the remote in his hand.  Flipping through the over 500 channels they had for about the 10th time, Alvin still couldn’t find anything to watch on their huge plasma screen TV.  Simon had pulled his feet up onto the couch, and was reading an old issue of Popular Science.  He had read through this same magazine about 4 times in the past week, read every article and was about half way through the advertisements now.  Theodore was kicking his feet lightly as he dug around in a bag of chips, going all the way to the bottom, he pulled out nothing but a few burnt crumb’s.

“Ohh man!  I’m so bored!”  Alvin said as he tossed the remote over his back, fed up with channel surfing, “I thought weekends were suppose to be filled with fun and excitement!”

“Maybe we just need to find something else to do?”  Theodore suggested as he stuck his face into the bag to try and find another chip.

“Like what Theodore?”  Simon asked looking up from his magazine, “There’s nothing on TV, we’ve read all the books and magazines in the house, and Dave is too busy working on our latest song to play with us.”

Theodore’s shoulders drooped as he made a funny face, trying to think of something to keep him and his two brothers from dying of boredom, “Oh oh!  I’ve got an idea!  Why don’t we play pretend?”

“Pretend?  Theodore please, we’re too old for that kinda stuff,” Alvin said as he rolled his eyes and jumped off the couch.

“Yeah Theodore, playing pretend was fine back in kindergarten,” Simon said as he closed his magazine and set it too the side, “Besides, there has to be something we can do around here.  I’ll even read Dave’s Better Home and Garden magazines if I have to.”

Theodore watched as Simon got up and fallowed after Alvin who had gone into the kitchen, again letting his shoulders droop he pondered the subject again before finally getting up and fallowing after his brothers.

The refrigerator light flipped on as Alvin opened the door and peered inside, looking around for a second he reached in a pulled out a soda.  Turning around and shutting the door all in one motion, Alvin proceeded to crack his soda open.

“You know, we could always go outside and do something,” Simon said as he jumped up onto the bench seats that sat behind the table.

“And do what, my football is flat and we still can’t find the baseball bat,” Alvin said after taking a sip, “I still think the neighbor kid took it.”

“Alvin, he’s 3,” Simon informed his brother yet again as Alvin hopped up across from him at the kitchen table.

“So, he can walk can’t he,” Alvin said as he played around with an apple he pulled from the fruit dish.

Simon just rolled his eyes and leaned back, Alvin was right, there was nothing to do outside either.  This had to have been the single most boring weekends they’ve ever had, and it was all because Dave was cooped up in his office writing that new song.  Just as Theodore walked into the kitchen after he had disposed of the empty chip’s bag, Alvin jumped up again.

“That’s it,” He said as he stormed off towards the living room again, “I’m going to go see Dave.”

“Uh oh,” Simon said as he scurried after his irrate brother, “Hold on a second Alvin, you know Dave will get mad if you just burst in on him.”

“Yeah yeah Simon I know, trust me okay,” Alvin said as he grabbed Theodore on the way by.

“Oh like I haven’t heard that before.”

Dave was alone in his recording studio, a pair of headphones on as he played out the melody to his latest song on his old piano.  With his eye’s closed, he played this music he had put down on paper earlier, only peering over at his scribbled sheet music on occasion to make sure he was hitting the right note.  The high def microphones recording every note and tune and digitally recording it into the computer.  Than replaying it back into Dave’s headphones.

As Dave went about recording, Alvin slowly opened the door that led into the small recording booth.  Peaking his head in, he watched Dave for a minute as he played the piano.  Bobbing his head back and fourth to the tune, Alvin grinned and very quietly walked into the room.  With a little bounce to his step, Alvin slowly and nonchalantly walked up behind the unsuspecting Dave.  Stopping again to watch him only for a second as Dave, his eyes closed, swayed a little to the music he was playing.  Simon and Theodore, who Alvin had abruptly out paced in order to get here before either of them could stop him, peered inside through the door.
Clearing his throat quietly, Alvin grabbed a hold of a microphone that was hanging from the ceiling, it was the one that Dave used to record their voices for new songs.  Bringing the mic down to the perfect height, Alvin stopped again, took in a deep breath and...

“HI DAVE!!!”

“Arghhh!!”

Dave jumped out of his seat and ripped his earphones off, clutching his chest he spun around to look down at Alvin, who was simply standing there and smiling.

“Alvin!  Why did you do that!”  Dave shouted as he stamped his foot.

“Do what Dave?”  Alvin asked innocently.

“Don’t you play dumb with me Alvin,” Dave warned loudly.

“Hehehehehe, that was kinda funny,” Theodore said as he came through the door.

“Theodore, hold on,” Simon said running after him.

Dave sighed as the two other boys filed into the recording booth, so much for his peaceful afternoon recording session.

“Alright guys, what do you want?” Dave asked.

“Will you play with us?”  Alvin asked kindly as he rocked on his heels.

“No.”

“Well we have nothing to do!”  Alvin pouted.

“Then go outside and do something,” Dave said as he turned around and sat back at his piano.

“You got it Dad!,” Theodore said as he turned to walk out the door.

“Not so fast short stuff,” Alvin whispered as he grabbed Theodore and pulled him back in, “What Dave?”

“What do ya mean what?”  Dave asked looking back at Alvin as he hung onto Theodore.

“What can we do?”  Alvin asked again.

“I don’t know, just do something,” Dave grumbled, “But do it outside!”

“What?”  Alvin asked one last time.

“Alllvinnn,” Dave said in a low roar.

Simon quickly came around and put a hand over Alvin’s mouth before he could cause any more trouble.

“What Alvin’s trying to say Dave, is that we truly have nothing to do.  And we were wondering if you could give us some ideas?”  Simon said as Alvin struggled to get out of Simons oddly strong grip.

“Hmmm, well if that’s the case and you truly have nothing to do,” Dave said as he scratched his chin in thought, “You could go to the corner store for me and pick up a few things I had planned to get later.”

“Grocery shopping!?”  Alvin shouted as he got his mouth free for a second.

“Ahheheheh, we’d love to,” Simon said getting Alvin in a head lock and covering his mouth again.

“Excellent, let me write you down a list of the things I need,” Dave said as he spun around on his piano stool.

Alvin finally pulled away from Simon and took a gasp of air, glaring up at his older brother and straitening out his cap.  Alvin was about ready to protest, when Dave added a single perk to his chore.

“And if you want, you can take the go cart,” Dave said as he scribbled on a piece of scrap paper.

“Awsome!”  Theodore shouted.

“You really mean it Dave?” Alvin asked when this chore seemed to change into more something he could get into.

“Sure, But!  You have to promise to keep it on the side walk and stay out of trouble,” Dave said as he turned around and handed Simon the list and a $50.00 bill, “And don’t go to fast either, I don’t want to take anyone to the hospital today.”

“You got it Dave!”

Alvin grabbed a hold of Simon as he was sticking the list and money in his pocket, as he started to run out the door he nabbed Theodore as well.  And just like that they were gone, leaving Dave to his recording once again.

“Ahhh, now that’s more like it,” Dave said of the silence that fallowed the boys departure.

It didn’t take long for the boys to grab their helmets from their room and run back down to the garage where the go cart was.  It was a little dusty, the last time it was used being the stink bomb attack on the chipettes last summer.  Because it was only a two seater, Simon and Theodore attached their old big wheeled wagon to the back with some rope and a couple zip ties.  That was where Theodore was going to sit with the groceries on the way back.

“You guys ready yet?”  Alvin asked as he stood by the garage door opener.

“Almost, you can go ahead and open the door,” Simon said as he checked over his knots one last time.

Taking the cue Alvin hit the garage door opener, the old wooden door creaking as it rose up letting the sunlight into the garage and onto the go cart.  Walking back over to his beloved machine, Alvin wiped what dust he could off the driver seat.  Jumping in, Alvin checked over all the controls once before to make sure he remembered them all.

“Okay then lets see,” Alvin said as he reached for a switch with a red safety cover over it, “Battery on!”

Alvin lifted the safety cover flicked the switch and a small red light came on next to the ignition, moving over to the next switch he lifted that cover and flipped the gas on.  Alvin could hear something working behind him where the motor was, that told him things were ready to go.  The light next to the ignition switch turned green, letting Alvin know it was ready to start.

“Ready Simon?”  Alvin asked as he put his helmet on.

“Ready Alvin,” Simon said as he finished helping Theodore into the wagon.

“Alright then, lets get this party started!”  Alvin reached over and held the ignition switch up, the motor started to turn over and spewed out a little smoke from the exhaust.  Then with one big blast of blue smoke, the engine roared to life.  Simon quickly ran up and jumped into his seat next to Alvin, throwing his helmet on quickly and buckling in.

“Simon, give us some tunes,” Alvin said as he put his hands up on the steering wheel.

“You got it,” Simon said as he reached into his pocket.  Pulling out an iPod, Simon unhooked his earphones and clipped the iPod into a base station that Alvin had jerry rigged to the dash of the go cart.  Booting it up, Simon quickly scanned through the songs in search of the perfect one.

“This one should do the trick,” Simon said as he pressed play.
The sweet sounds of an electric guitar soon started to echo from the speakers both in front and behind them, the song was perfect.

[Revvin' up your engine
Listen to her howlin' roar
Metal under tension
Beggin' you to touch and go....]

“Danger Zone,” Alvin said as he grinned, “Awesome.”

Alvin reached down and threw the go cart into drive, putting his foot down on the gas the go cart crept out of the garage and onto the driveway.  Picking up speed Alvin headed for the street, pressing down on the gas a little harder as he got closer.  Theodore in the back, held onto the sides of the wagon as he turned his head to look forward.  He knew that Alvin wasn’t going to keep this slow pace very long, and he was right.  As soon as Alvin hit asphalt, he pushed the peddle down as far as it would go.  The motor screamed as the go cart and wagon shot out into the middle of the street and started tearing away.  Alvin cranked up the volume on the iPod when the wind blowing past them became louder than song.

“Alvin,” Simon said nudging his brother, “Sidewalk!”

Alvin rolled his eyes, the sidewalk was boring, he wanted to get up some real speed and there was no way he would be able to do that on the sidewalk.

“How about a compromise,” Alvin said as he cranked the steering wheel to the right.

Almost throwing Theodore out when he suddenly turned, Alvin drove the go cart over the very edge of the road, keeping them out of traffic but still on level ground so Alvin could keep his speed up.  Simon grabbed a hold of the role cage over him as he almost was thrown out when Alvin cranked the wheel back to straiten out.

“Alvin,” Simon grumbled.

“Lighten up Simon and have some fun,” Alvin said laughing, “At least I haven’t hit anything yet.”

“Ohhhh, Alvin!”  Simon shouted when the thought of an accident crossed his mind.

The go cart sped off down the side of the road, Alvin not letting up on the gas for a second.  People on the side walk turned their heads quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the speeding object as it passed by them.  Making a turn onto another street, Alvin slowly let his foot off the gas.  A busy four way intersection was ahead of them, and he knew enough to slow way down and get up onto the sidewalk for that part.  Stepping on the brakes for the first time, Alvin slowly turned up onto the sidewalk at the next driveway.  Hitting the curb, Theodore was tossed around in the wagon as it bounced around.

“Ouch...” Theodore said to himself as he lay on the bottom of the wagon.

“Hey Alvin, you wanna try that again.  I don’t think we’ve broken the sound barrier,” Simon said loosening his grip on the role cage.

“Nah, maybe some other time,” Alvin said as his leveled his speed out.
Simon sighed and sat back in his seat, the four way intersection just ahead.

A State Highway Patrol cruiser sat idling just before the four way intersection, the two Troopers inside taking a quick break from the days work.  The Trooper at the wheel doing up some paper work while the other read the news paper, the only sound to be heard was the occasional car passing by or a bird singing.  That was until the sound a screeching tires caught both of their attentions, looking around for the source neither of them could see the car that made the noise.

“Hiya Trooper Decker!”

The Trooper at the wheel heard the shout and looked over and out his window at Alvin, Simon and Theodore waiving at him from the sidewalk.  The go cart idling quietly.

“Boys, long time no see,” Trooper Decker said with a smile as he put his work down.

“Yeah its been such a long time, we were starting to wonder if you had gotten fired or something,” Alvin said as Theodore giggled.

“Fired huh?”  Trooper Decker said letting out a little laugh, “No not quite, but I gotta ask boys, what on earth are you doing out here on that thing?”

“Going to the store for groceries!”  Theodore shouted excitedly.

“Groceries huh, wow I wish my kids would do stuff like that for me,” Trooper Decker said getting a kick out of the three of them and their go cart wagon mix, “Well you three be careful out here okay, people like to speed on this road.”

“Don’t worry Trooper Decker, I’m the best go cart driver in this whole neighborhood,” Alvin gloated, “I could probably outrun even you!”

“Haha!  Is that so?”  Trooper Decker asked bursting out in laughter, “Well lets hope it never comes down to that, okay Alvin?”

“You got it!”  Alvin said as he took his foot off the break.

Stomping on the gas peddle, Alvin made a quick traffic check before he peeled away from Trooper Decker and his partner.  The go cart caught a little air when he left the sidewalk to cross the road, knocking Theodore around a little more.  Getting across the road safely, Alvin made a sharp left and quickly disappeared from Trooper Decker’s sight.

“Huh, crazy kids,” Decker said as he looked back down at his paper work.

“Hey Sarge?  Were those the Chipmunks?  Or was I seeing things?”  Decker’s partner asked looking away from his paper.

“Yep, they live a couple blocks down from here.  Great kids, though that Alvin has a bit of a wild streak in him,” Trooper Decker said as he filled out his paper work.

“Oh, well that sucks, I should of asked for an autograph.  My daughter love’s their music,” The partner said picking his paper back up.

“You’ll get another chance soon, they’re usually out running a muck every weekend.”

“Cool, Katie will love that.”

The go cart sat in front of the corner store, a bike lock wrapped around the frame and a light pole while the boys were going about their chores.  Inside the small corner store, Alvin, Simon and Theodore had split up to get the shopping done quickly so they could get back on the go cart again.  Alvin had gone over to get the milk and butter, while Simon was getting the bread and some pasta for dinner.  Theodore, who was suppose to be picking out a couple boxes of cereal for the morning had been sidetracked by the candy isle.

“Hmmm, 2% or Skim?”  Alvin asked himself as he looked at his choices inside the cooler, “I’m thinking...2%”

Alvin grabbed a hold of the handle to open the cooler, but when he pulled to open it the door wouldn’t budge.  Stopping for a second to scowl at the door, Alvin tried again but pulled much harder.  It still wouldn’t open.

“Come on what’s with this stupid door?”  Alvin growled as he put his feet up underneath the handle and pulled as hard as he could.

“Those are sliding doors, Alvin,” Simon stated as he walked past with a loaf of bread in hand.

Alvin stopped pulling for a second and looked around, the door slowly slid sideways with Alvin still hanging on.  Slowly getting down, Alvin reached in a pulled out a gallon of milk.

“Those are sliding doors Alvin, ne ne ne,” Alvin mocked as he quickly slid the door shut.

“Hey Theodore!  Are you all done?”  Simon shouted to his brother from the other side of the store.

Theodore looked up from his candy stuffed hand basket, a candy bar sticking out of his mouth.  Looking around quickly, he ran over and grabbed a box of cereal off the shelf, not bothering to look at the label.

“Yeah, I’m all done,” Theodore said, the candy bar almost falling out of his mouth.

The trio met up at the counter and started to pile up all the items they had collected, when it came time for Theodore to put his items up, he set a box of Bran Flakes on the counter along with a basket full of assorted candies.  Simon sighed and pointed back to the candy isle, “Put it back Theodore.”

“But I like Bran Flakes?”  Theodore said innocently.
“No Theodore, the candy,” Simon said while Alvin laughed to himself.

Theodore pouted as he grabbed his basket full of candy and the Bran Flakes and walked back over to the isle he had got it from, Simon stood there and tapped his foot while he waited for Theodore to come back.  The youngest brother eventually wondered back, this time with a box of Lucky Charms in hand.

“Here,” Theodore said still pouting as he put the new cereal on the counter.
The cashier behind the counter giggled a little as she finished checking out the boys, Alvin had taken the opportunity while Theodore was putting the candy back to throw up a couple bottles of Pepsi.  Before Simon could notice them the cashier had bagged them and handed the bag to Alvin.

“The total comes to $32.43,” The cashier said looking at the register.

“Here you go,” Simon said as he dug the $50.00 bill out of his pocket.

Theodore helped Alvin gather up the four bags of groceries and carry them out to the go cart while Simon paid the cashier.  As Theodore crawled up into the wagon, Alvin handed him the bags to set in there.  Once they were all loaded up Simon came out of the store, sticking the change into his sweatshirt pocket.

“Well that wasn’t all that bad,” Simon said as he walked back over to the cart.

“Yeah, but that’s only because we had my mad driving skills to get us here,” Alvin said as he jumped into his seat.

“Well at least you got the mad part right,” Simon said as he unhooked the go cart from the light pole.

“Your just jealous,” Alvin said as he turned the go cart on.

“Hardly.”

The go cart once again roared to life, Alvin and Simon were starting to buckle into the harnesses, unaware of what was approaching them from behind.  Simon had started to put his helmet on when something suddenly flew past him and his brothers in the go cart, the wind from the passing vehicle knocking the helmet out of his hands.  Taken by surprise Simon looked up just in time to see another go cart come to a sliding sideways stop.

“What the?”  Alvin said to himself not sure exactly where they had just come from.
The go cart that had just stopped in front of them was brand new, its polished chrome wheels glistening in the sun, the spotless two stroke turbo 5000 sports engine roaring even as it idled.

“Wow,” Theodore said as he stood up in the wagon.

The driver and two other passengers unbuckled themselves, their skirts flapping lightly in the wind.  The driver was the first to get out, looking at Alvin through her tinted helmet visor.

“No, it can’t be,” Alvin said as he got up out of his seat and onto the curb.

The driver slowly pulled her helmet off, waiving her light brown hair from side to side as it fell loose form the helmet.

“Hey there boys,” Brittany said as she tucked her helmet under her arm.

“Brittany!?”  Alvin said in complete disbelief.

Eleanor and Jeanette both pulled their helmets off and walked around and stood next to Brittany, they’re rand new 4 seat go cart in the background.

“What’s the matter Alvin?” Brittany asked as she walked towards Alvin, “Did we scare you?”

“No!  You didn’t scare us!”  Alvin shouted when his wits returned.

“Speak for yourself,” Theodore said as he tried to crawl out of the wagon.

“Quiet Theodore!”  Alvin shouted looking back at his younger brother.

“Oh Alvin, don’t be so harsh,” Brittany said as she grabbed a hold of Alvin’s jaw and turned his head around so he would look back at her, “Its alright if you were a little scared.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Alvin said grabbing Brittany’s wrist and pulling her hand away from his face.

“If you insist,” Brittany said as she shrugged and walked past him.

“Where did you guys get this thing?”  Simon asked Jeanette as he walked up to her and their new go cart.

“Mrs Miller bought it for us as a special Valentines Day gift,” Jeanette said as she watched Simon check over the go cart.

“Valentines Day gift?  Who gives out Valentines Day gifts?” Alvin huffed folding his arms.

“No way!  This is the new Turbo Cart Sport 2500,” Simon suddenly shouted as he was looking the go cart over, “They’re said to be the fastest and most powerful go carts on the market.  I didn’t even know they were available yet?”

“Mrs Miller has a friend who works down at the ATV dealership, she was able to get a really great deal on it,” Jeanette added as she joined Simon in his inspection of the go cart.

“So what,” Alvin said as he leaned up against his cart, “I could still outrun that piece of junk no problem.”

“Maybe in your dreams,” Brittany said as she walked back past Alvin.

“You wanna make a bet to that affect?”  Alvin asked poking Brittany in the shoulder.

“Do you?”  Brittany asked as she looked Alvin dead in the eye.
Simon heard the wager in progress and quickly moved to intercept Alvin before he could make any fool hearty deals.  With cat like prowess Simon darted around both go carts and slipped in between Brittany and Alvin before things could get out of hand.

“Now hold on just a second,” Simon said as nicely as he could, “There’s no doubt in my mind that your go cart is much faster than ours.”

“Simon!”  Alvin shouted.

“Be quiet Alvin,” Simon whispered back through the corner of his mouth, “But uh, Alvin has been driving our cart much longer than you.  So it really wouldn’t be all that fair to you.”

Simon smiled as best he could as Brittany starred him down, hoping that maybe that would talk her out of any race.

“Fine,” Brittany said as she turned around and started to walk off.

Brittany signaled her two sisters to get back in the go cart as she put her helmet on, Simon took a deep breath, he had thwarted the deal before it was made.  The chipettes all jumped back into the go cart, but before any of them could even get buckled in Brittany threw the cart into drive and stepped on the gas, cranking the wheel all the way to the left the go cart did a full 360 before she wiped the wheel around the other way and sped right up to Alvin and Simon.  Slamming on the breaks she came to a violent stop right next to the boys, smoke from the tires floating past them.

“I could outrace you any day,” Brittany said as she flipped up her visor.

“Not a chance!”  Alvin shouted back.

Brittany glared at Alvin, and Alvin right back at Brittany.  Simon stuck in the middle not sure what to say to try and stop this, even before he could think about it Alvin had his helmet on and was crawling back into the go cart.

“Alvin!  Wait,” Simon said as he ran around the front of the go cart.

Simon grabbed his helmet off the ground and quickly jumped back in, Theodore had already crawled back into the wagon and was holding on for dear life as he saw Alvin punch the go cart into drive.  Like a flash Brittany had put the peddle to the floor and was off down the street like lightning.  Alvin hit the gas and made a hard left in order to get on her tail.

“Alllviinnn!”  Simon shouted as he was thrown back into his seat.

The Chipettes had a good lead, but Alvin had the peddle all the way to the floor and was gaining quickly.  Driving down the luckily empty side street, Alvin quickly got his go cart up to 40 miles an hour.  He was almost at his top speed, but he was still gaining quickly on the girls.  As Theodore actually laid down in the wagon to keep from being thrown out, Simon tried to talk Alvin down.

“Alvin please slow down!”  Simon shouted, “Its not worth it, they are faster than us on a straightaway.

“Clam it Simon I’m trying to drive,” Alvin said as he focused on the road in front of him.

Brittany looked into her rearview mirror, Alvin was closing in fast, only about 20 feet behind her now.  She grinned happily as Alvin quickly closed that gap.

“Almost there,” Alvin said as he ground his teeth together.

Alvin’s front right tire was right besides the Chipettes rear tire, he had caught up to them, now he could win this thing if he just....

“Wait what’s going on!?”  Alvin shouted at the chipettes started to pull away.

“Sorry Alvin!  Better luck next time!”  Brittany shouted back to them as they started to pull away.

Brittany floored it, and left Alvin in the dust.  Quickly gaining a commanding lead, the girls soon disappeared over the top of a hill.  Leaving a flabbergasted Alvin behind in their contrail.  Alvin let his foot off the gas and the go cart started to slow, Simon was able to let up on his grip a little.  About another 100 feet down the road, the go cart rolled to a slow stop.

“You see Alvin, I tried to warn you,” Simon said as he looked over at his distraught brother, “Their go cart is just plain faster than ours.”

Alvin didn’t respond, he didn’t know what just happened.  He lost, but he couldn’t loose he was Alvin Seville, the best go cart driver in the neighborhood.

“How could I have lost,” Alvin said as he looked up to the empty road in front of him.

“I’ve been trying to tell you that Alvin!  We were too slow!”  Simon almost shouted.

Alvin clenched down on the steering wheel, he wasn’t about to let this slide.  He was going to go and find the chipettes and really beat them now!  Throwing the go cart back into drive Alvin hit the gas, the wheels spun and then the engine sputtered.  And with one last puff of smoke, the engine stopped.  A little red light turned on underneath the gas switch.

“Out of gas,” Simon said rolling his eyes, “Great job making sure we had enough before we left Alvin.”

“Hey lay off, it wasn’t my job to fill the tank,” Alvin said slamming the steering wheel.

“What do you mean it wasn’t your job!  You’re the driver,” Simon yelled back.

“Whatever,” Alvin said as he unbuckled himself and jumped out of the go cart.

“Wait Alvin, where are you going,” Simon said as he jumped out to fallow him.

Alvin walked around to the back of the go cart, Theodore looking on quietly from the wagon.  Using all his might Alvin put his body against the back of the go cart and began to push.  

“Well what are you to waiting for, help me push this thing back,” Alvin said as the go cart started to roll slowly down the street.

Simon sighed and leaned against the other side of the go cart and began to push, Theodore jumped out of his wagon and began to push the back of it.  And slowly, the boys made their way home.

About an hour later, the door to the Seville residence flew open, and the trio of very tired boys dragged themselves in.  Groceries in they’re hands, they dropped them at the entrance and walked over to the couch where they just flew themselves down.

“That....was hard work...”  Theodore said as he huffed and puffed.

“Yeah...I never want to do that again,” Simon said as he tried to catch his breath.

As the boys sat there and tried to rest a little, Dave came in from the other room.  His finished sheet music in hand.

“Hey fellas,” Dave said when he saw his kids sitting on the couch, “That took a little longer than I thought it would, everything go okay?”

“Yeah wonderful,” Alvin said as he tilted his head over the back of the couch to look at Dave.

“Good,” Dave said with a nod, “And I see you managed to at least get the groceries inside the door.”

Dave smiled as he walked over to the four bags that were sitting in front of the door and picked them up.  Looking inside he made sure that everything he had put on the list was in there, and to his surprise not only was everything in there, but there were only 3 extra items in there.

“Great job guys, I only have 3 things in here I didn’t have on my list,” Dave said as he walked towards the kitchen.

The boys didn’t respond, they just sat on the couch.  Theodore was so tired he was about ready to fall asleep.  Alvin however was still thinking about how he just got beaten by Brittany in something that he thought he was really good at.  It was almost burning at him, he never lost at anything.

“Hey boys, you mind coming in here for a second?”  Dave shouted from the kitchen.

The boys moaned in protest, but got up anyways and lopsidedly walked into the kitchen.  Dave was taking the groceries from the bags and putting them up into the cupboards, when Alvin Simon and Theodore walked in and jumped up onto the bench, only to lay their heads down on the table.  Dave turned around, leaned against the counter and smiled.

“Well, I have some good news,” Dave said his arms folded.

“That’s great Dave, happy to hear it,” Alvin said giving Dave a thumbs up with his head still planted on the table.

“If you’d wait for just a second more, so I can tell you the news I’m sure you’ll be even happier,” Dave said walking over to Alvin and pulling back on his shoulders to lift his head up, “Mr Gallangine called me earlier today, and said that he got all four of tickets to the next Chevelle Concert.  Isn’t that great!”

“CHEVELLE!!!”  The boys shouted in unison, suddenly none of them tired anymore.

“Yeah, I was just as surprised to hear it as you are,” Dave said with a big smile, “But I guess from what Mr Gallangine said, they want to do a concert with you guys this coming summer, so they sent Mr Gallangine some tickets in the mail the other day.  And want you to attend so they can meet you”

“They want to do a concert with us!?”  Theodore asked pointing at himself.
“Yup,” Dave said with a nod.

“Awesome!”

“Alright!”

The boys stood up on the booth and started to dance around, this was awesome for the boys.  All three of them were huge Chevelle fans, especially Simon as odd as it sounded.

“So when is the concert Dave?”  Alvin asked quite excited.

“Haha, its this coming Friday,” Dave said as Alvin grabbed a hold of his shirt in excitement.

Again shouts of excitement came from the boys, well except for Simon.  For some reason he suddenly had this horrified look on his face, like Dave had told him some horrible news.

“What’s the matter Simon?”  Dave asked as he set Alvin up on his shoulders to celebrate.

“Oh Nothing Dave...Its just that ummm,” Simon said looking around frantically.

“Its okay Simon, what is it?”  Dave asked as Alvin sat on Dave’s shoulders and looked down at the oddly depressed Simon.

“Well you see, uhhhh...Friday night is the Valentines Day dance at the school and uhhh,”  Simon didn’t really finish as he twisted the tip of his foot into the cheap leather of the bench seat.

“Oh, well there is always next year Simon,” Dave said of the Valentines Day dance.

“I know but, there is ummm....Someone special that I uh...”

“Simons got a girlfriend!!  Hahaha,” Alvin shouted from atop Dave’s shoulders.

“Hehehehe, who is it Simon!”  Theodore asked tugging on his brothers shirt.

“Now Alvin be nice to Simon, and Theodore that’s very rude of you to ask,” Dave said looking to his two boys and the back to Simon, “In that case Simon, I can call Mr Gallangine back and...”

“Woah woah hang on a second there big guy,” Alvin said tapping his father on the top of the head, “Your not thinking about telling him we can’t go are you?”

“Well Alvin its not exactly fair to Simon if we make him go,” Dave said as he reached up and grabbed Alvin.

“Okay that’s fine, then he can go to the dance and we will go to the concert,” Alvin said shrugging his shoulders.

“No Alvin, that’s not going to work either, “Dave said as he held Alvin in his arm.

“Why not!”  Alvin asked beginning to pout.

“Now Alvin don’t be like that,” Dave scolded, “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Why don’t you just bring your date to the concert with us Simon,” Theodore suggested.

Dave shook his head again, Dave only had 4 tickets and the concert was sold out.  So there were no chances to get another.

“No its okay Dave, I don’t have to go to the dance,” Simon said shaking his head.

“Simon, you don’t have to do that,” Dave said looking to his eldest son.

“Yes he does,” Alvin said nodding quickly.

“Alvin cut that out,” Dave scolded once more, “Now Simon...”

“Its really fine Dave, I don’t mind,” Simon said as he hopped down from the bench, “I’ll just go next year that’s all.”

Simon slowly walked out of the kitchen and then turned to go upstairs, pausing for a minute before he did, Simon sighed and seemed to rethink his decision again.  But he eventually just went upstairs and into his room, hearing the door shut Dave looked down at Alvin and gave him a funny look.

“Well that solves that problem,” Alvin said smiling.

“Alvin?”  Dave sighed as he put his young son down.

“What?”  Alvin asked innocently.

Dave just turned around and went back to putting the groceries away, leaving Alvin to ponder his previous actions.  Not wanting to be neutral in this, Theodore hopped down from the bench and ran upstairs to talk to Simon.  Maybe he could help him come up with a solution, so that everyone would be happy.  Walking up to his closed bedroom door, Theodore was reaching for the doorknob when he suddenly stopped.  Listening closely he could hear something coming from the room.  Pressing his ear against the door, Theodore listened.

Jeanette opened the door to her and her sisters room, tossing her new helmet onto her bed, Jeanette went about finding a change of clothes now that the ones he had on had gotten all dirty after tinkering with the go cart.  As she pulled her sweater off and started to reach for her top dresser drawer, the phone rang, reaching over she knocked a few items off the top of it and picked it up.

“Hello?”  Jeanette said as she put the phone to her ear, “....Oh hi Simon!”
“Hi Jeanette,” Simon said as he sat on the edge of his bed, cordless phone to his ear.

“I was wondering if I would hear from you,” Jeanette said as she laid down on her bed to talk, “Sorry about earlier today by the way, Brittany got a little out of hand again.”

“No don’t worry about it, Alvin was half the problem...again,” Simon said as he rested his head on his hand.

“So umm, what else is going on?”  Jeanette asked kicking her feet in the air as she laid on her stomach.

“Actually Jeanette, there is something I really wanted to talk to you about,” Simon said with a sigh.

“What is it Simon?  Is everything okay?”  Jeanette asked, stopping from kicking her feet.

“Not really,” Simon said as he rubbed his hand across his head, “Its about the dance on Friday night, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it.”

“Your not?  But why Simon?” Jeanette asked surprised and disappointed.

“Something kinda came up, and uh...”  Simon really strained to tell her why, but there was a big lump stuck in his throat.”

“What Simon?  What came up?”  Jeanette asked as she sat up.

“Ummm, it’s a uh...A uhhh...Concert,” Simon said finally deciding the truth was the best route.

“A Concert?  But why would Dave schedule a concert for you guys during the school year?” Jeanette asked confused, “I thought you only toured during the summer?”

“No, we aren’t going to be in the concert, we are going to a Chevelle concert,” Simon said knowing exactly what was going to fallow.

“A Chevelle concert!?”  Jeanette said getting flustered, “Your going to go see a concert on our big date night!?”

“Yeah, its kinda work related,” Simon said holding the phone away from his ear a little in anticipation.

“Work related!  How can going to a concert be work related!”  Jeanette screamed now quite angry.

“Well they want to do a concert with us this summer and so they sent us ticket’s...”

“I don’t care Simon!  This was going to be our first official date Simon!  I thought you really cared!?”  Jeanette said tears welling up in her eyes and catching at the bottom of her glasses.

“I do care Jeanette,” Simon said as he got to his feet and began to pace, “Its just that Alvin and....”

“Alvin is not the boss of you Simon!”  Jeanette said yelling less and crying more now.

“I know he’s not,” Simon said as he held the bridge of his nose, his glasses almost falling off, “Please don’t cry, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know you didn’t Simon, I’m just upset that’s all,” Jeanette said as she stopped yelling completely and started to sob, “I really thought that you and I, we connected so well.”

“I’ll make it up Jeanette I promise,” Simon said wiping away one of his own tears, “I’m not sure how but I will.”

“I’ve gotta go Simon,” Jeanette said as she pulled the phone away from her ear and hanging up.

“Okay I....”

Jeanette hung up before Simon could say goodbye, he had never felt quite this horrible in his life.  Hanging up the phone, Simon walked over to the window in his room and looked outside at the darkening afternoon sky.  Letting his head fall, he put his hands on the window sill and just stood there.  He knew he was still young, but he really did like Jeanette a lot, and having made her cry like that...That made him feel like a horrible person.

“Move outa the way Theodore!”  Alvin’s muffled voice shouted from outside the door, catching Simons attention.

“No Alvin, leave him alone!”  Theodore shouted back as something slammed against the door.

“I said let...me...in!”

With that last push Alvin burst through the door and did something of a somersault into the room, Theodore stumbling over and falling on top of him.  Rubbing the top of his head as he got up, Alvin looked in front of him and saw Simon looking out the window.  Grinning Alvin jumped to his feet knocking Theodore over again he ran over to his Simon.

“So casanova!  Who’s the lucky lady?”  Alvin asked as he patted Simon on the back.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Simon said as he turned away and started to walk over to his bed.

“Don’t want to talk about it?”  Alvin asked himself, “What do you mean you don’t want to talk about it!  You should be gloating to me and...I mean to just Theodore about how you have a new GF!”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it Alvin,” Simon said as he crawled onto his bed and laid down.

“Oh come on bro!  I want to know all the details,” Alvin said as he jumped onto the edge of Simons bed.

“No,” Simon said as he turned over.

“Oh come on your killing me here!”  Alvin begged, “At least tell me her name?”

“Alvin can’t you just leave Simon alone?”  Theodore asked walking up next to Alvin.

“Is that suppose to be a trick question or something?”  Alvin asked Theodore sarcastically.

Simon didn’t say anything or move, but Alvin let the question brew for a bit, he knew that Simon caved in easily when you bugged him enough.  So it was only a matter of time before he cracked.

“Jeanette,” Simon finally said quietly.

“Jeanette?  You mean Brittany and Eleanor’s sister Jeanette?  Or that creepy girl from English class?”  Alvin asked egging Simon along.

Instead of an answer, Simon chucked his glasses case at Alvin who luckily ducked and avoided it.  Taking that as a hint, Alvin decided it was time to take his leave.  Having the information he wanted, he just wandered out of the room leaving Simon and Theodore alone.  When Theodore was sure Alvin was gone, he walked over to Simon.

“Hey Simon,” Theodore said sheepishly.

“What Theodore?” Simon asked not moving.

“I overheard your conversation with Jeanette,” Theodore said as he poked his index fingers together.

“You mean you were eases dropping on me,” Simon pointed out as he rolled over and sat up.

“Yeah,” Theodore said kinda ashamed of himself, “But I didn’t really mean to, I just wanted to make sure you were okay and everything.  But ummm, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about it?”

Theodore smiled and looked up at his brother as he sat on his bed, Simon really did want someone to talk to about it.  So with a sigh Simon nodded his head.

“Yeah,” Simon said.

“Okay,” Theodore said as he jumped up next to his brother.