Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jeanette winced at the sound of the bell ringing. It was her first day of high school and to say she was nervous was an understatement. She’d barely slept last night due to anxiety so she was extra jumpy today. She pulled out her textbook for her first class of the day, Biology Honors, and went to close her locker.  

In pure ‘Jeanette fashion’ (as her sisters liked to call it) Jeanette accidentally closed the door on her hand. She yelped and dropped the book, clutching her hand to her chest, before bumping into someone behind her and stumbling forward again.   

Before she could fall face-first into the lockers she felt a hand steady her by grabbing onto her arm.  

“Shit I’m so sorry. I didn't hurt you did I?”  

Jeanette couldn’t speak. She was currently staring into the most beautiful pair of grey eyes she’d ever seen. They were so… expressive, like she was seeing almost directly into the person's soul. She watched as they scrunched up in confusion and realized the person had asked her a question.  

“Oh um…” She tried, but in all honesty, she had completely missed what he asked her. Jeanette took in more of his face. He was wearing glasses with wireframes that she thought complimented his eyes spectacularly. He had beautiful long lashes and dark brows, his hair was a chestnut brown and styled to near perfection. Even his clothes were sharp and pristine. Jeanette was sure this kid was secretly a male model or something.  

He must have mistaken her response as a sign of discomfort cause he gently removed his hand.  

“Sorry, I didn't mean to grab you inappropriately or make you uncomfortable” He coughed, taking a step back. Jeanette immediately wished he was closer again.   

“N-no! I-I mean you didn’t, make me uncomfortable that is.” She tried to reassure him.   

“Oh, ok” He paused, “I’m Simon,” he said, holding out his hand.  

“Jeanette,” She said, taking his hand before wincing again. She’d forgotten about her incident with her locker.  

Simon frowned and followed her gaze, looking down at their intertwined hands, or more specifically, her hand that was now turning a concerning shade of red.   

“I-I accidentally hit it with my locker” She confessed, not looking him in the eyes. She could feel her face heating up.   

“O-oh, did you need to go to the nurses office?” He asked.  

“N-no I’m okay really. I’m used to it”   

Simon raised an eyebrow. “You’re… used to slamming your hand in locker doors?”  

Jeanette was pretty sure her face was as red as her sister's favorite lipstick.  

“No, that's not- I mean- I’m just clumsy I guess”  

He must have deemed that an acceptable answer cause he didn't address it further.   

“So” he began, “Did you need any help finding Mr. Heartman’s class?”   

“How did you know-”  

“Your textbook. “ He explained. “Mr. Heartman is the only teacher who actually makes us use it”  

Jeanette felt like an idiot. Of course, he noticed her textbook! In the words of her older sister ‘Can someone please just kill me now’ she thought.  

“Yea sure, thank you.”  

“It’s no problem,” He said, giving her a small (and adorable) smile.  

****  

Jeanette was an idiot. Well, she actually wasn’t, she was extremely intellectual and one of the brightest kids in her class, but right now she certainly didn't feel like a smart kid. It had nothing to do with the coursework but instead with the boy sitting right next to her.  

Simon Seville. She couldn’t believe she didn't recognize him sooner. It wasn't like the whole reason she and her sisters had become famous was to be marketed as their rivals or anything. Hey, singing triplets were rare okay? The whole reason they had been signed by Ian was so that they could get revenge on his behalf for what the chipmunks had done to him.   

From afar, the boys had seemed exactly as Ian described them, stuck up and ungrateful for all the work Ian had put in. Now? She couldn't possibly imagine this boy as shallow or stuck up. He’d been nothing but sweet and kind to her, letting her borrow his notes so she could understand what they were currently learning (even though she really didn't need it) and explaining stuff under his breath.  

Would someone this stuck up and shallow really go out of his way to help her? Jeanette honestly didn’t know and by the time she’d left that class, she was more confused than ever.  

*****  

Simon knew he was in trouble. He’d heard about how other people described what it was like to have a crush, (his brother had a new one just about every week) but this was completely new territory for him.   

Her eyes were a beautiful Turquoise and framed by little pieces of hair that had fallen out of her bun. She was wearing a lilac purple sweater with faded blue jeans and a matching lilac bow. Her glasses, if anything, seemed to magnify her eyes, drawing you into them.   

To put it frankly, she was perfect. Undoubtably so.   

Except for one thing. She was a member of the rival girl group that their ex-manager/foster dad had put together. They’d even gone as far as to call themselves the Chipettes, an obvious play on their name, Alvin and the Chipmunks. He couldn't help the bubble of anger he felt when he thought of their band name. Calling themselves the chipmunks wasn't some random gimmick they’d come up with. The name had significance, it had gotten them through some very tough times.   

Simon was mentally banging his head against a wall because he had let himself get completely distracted by this girl. He’d even gone as far as to share his notes with her! He didn't even let Alvin see his notes unless the situation was dire.   

Sighing, Simon closed his locker door and made his way to his next class. He was halfway down the hall when he heard someone call out his name.   

“Yo Si! You’ll never BELIEVE who I just bumped into”   

“Oh yeah?” Simon grumbled as Alvin caught up with him. “Please do share with the rest of the class”  

“First of all, no need to get snippy,” Alvin said, rolling his eyes. “And I'm assuming based on your tone, you saw them too?”  

“Yep,” Simon replied.  

“Greeaaat, just great. Stealing our brand and name wasn't enough? Now they gotta steal our school too?”  

Chapter Text

The next few weeks had been interesting to say the least. Simon couldn’t seem to bring himself to fully hate this girl. In fact, he couldn’t seem to get her out of his head. The way her hair fell into her eyes, the confused pouty expression she made whenever she concentrated on something, her big, soft green eyes that were so…stop it, he mentally scolded himself. 

Stop thinking about her like that.

She was Ian’s client for christ sake. The same man who was currently responsible for his own family's suffering, his brothers suffering. Simon wasn’t an idiot, he could see how much it bothered his brothers that the girls were here, and it bothered him too. 

Ian was a smart man, there was always a trick up his sleeve. He was also extremely persuasive, he knew how to get to people, how to offer them exactly what they want in a way that makes it impossible for them to refuse him. Part of him feared that's what happened to these girls, that they were swindled by Ian somehow. The other part of him had a hard time believing that, especially when Alvin ranted one day the entire way home about how he tried warning Brittany about the type of man Ian was, only to have her completely disregard him. Simon wasn’t too keen on the details though because his brother had been very busy calling the eldest girl some choice names. 

Honestly, what were the odds that not even a full year after they had freed themselves from the man's clutches would he come across another group of singing triplets that he could manipulate? 

Maybe that's why Simon found himself currently waiting outside of Mr. Gundas’s classroom. He knew that she would be one of the last students out of the room. 

Sure enough, after everyone had finally departed, Jeanette walked out of the room. 

Simon cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Jeanette, may I speak with you for a moment?”

The poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him. Simon felt a twinge of guilt at the reaction. He hadn’t meant to startle her and the last thing he wanted was to scare her or make her uncomfortable. 

Simon watched as Jeanette finally managed to gather her composure a bit. She pushed her glasses up on her nose with one finger and looked down at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes right away. 

“U-um, s-s-sure” She stuttered out. “M-may I ask w-why?”

Simon tried to swallow around the lump of cotton that was forming in his throat. For some reason, he was extremely bothered by this weird and timid response he seemed to be getting from her. He didn’t want Jeanette to feel pressured into talking to him if she didn’t want to. 

“It’s about Ian,” he explained, trying to keep his voice calm and level. Jeanette was about to say something but he cut her off. “Please? I just want to inform you of some things. Just some friendly advice.” 

Jeanette bit her lip and glanced away from him (and he made an extreme effort to keep his eyes on her face), before sighing. “O-ok” 

Simon was slightly shocked at how quickly she agreed. He had been expecting her to be a bit more resistant when it came to talking to him and his brothers. A selfish part of him was glad that she wasn’t. 

“O-ok then” he said dumbly, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck (a nervous tic of his). 

They both stood there awkwardly glancing away from the other for a couple of minutes before Jeanette finally spoke up. 

“W-we should h-hurry. D-don't want to k-keep my s-sisters waiting.” 

“Right! Yes of c-course.” He replied, WAY too enthusiastically. 

stupid, of course her sisters would be worried about her, they probably eat lunch together.

Simon led her down the hall to a more quiet and secluded part of the school. There was a small built-in bench next to a window. The bench had a soft cushion built into it and some of the best natural lighting in the school. It was one of his favorite places to go during the day, especially to avoid the chaos of the other students. 

He set his stuff down and took a seat and Jeanette followed his lead. 

“So, about Ian” he began, trying to keep his voice level and his tone calm. “He’s not the person you think he is. I don't know what he told you and your sisters, but he's not the kind of person you should be putting all your faith in, especially in this industry.” He chanced a glance at her, and found her already looking at him with rapt attention. Her big green eyes imploring him to continue. 

Huh, he thought, how come I never noticed that none of her sisters have the same eye color? How peculiar? 

Simon realized he was staring and cleared his throat again, tearing his eyes away from her and praying that his face wasn’t as red as it felt. 

“He overworked my brothers and I. He forced us to attend a bunch of celebrity events without any sort of protection from said celebrities. He left us alone with a lot of bad people just for the sake of partying or to “make connections”. He didn’t care for our wellbeing at all and offered us virtually no structure or support, which isn’t a good thing for any kid. Ian is a very powerful person, he will try to manipulate you in every way he can, and he’s good at it too.” Simon paused to take a deep breath, trying to regain some control over the anger he had unintentionally let slip into his voice. He nearly let out a surprised yelp when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

He turned to see Jeanette looking at him and whatever he was about to say next got stuck in his throat. God she was even more beautiful up close. This close to her face, Simon could see the small pattering of freckles that dusted over her nose and cheeks. They were mesmerizing. He could have spent hours staring at them, the same way people gazed at the stars on a moonless night. They were just so enchanting, she was so enchanting. 

“And then, there's the issue of the name,” Simon began. He refocused on his hands in his lap, not trusting himself to speak in clear and concise sentences if he continued to look at her for much longer. He was having enough trouble trying to think with her hand on his shoulder, her thumb soothingly stroking his back. “The, um, the name Chipmunk is more than just some gimmick, at least to us. It's based on an old story our moth-brother used to tell us” he explained, correcting that small slipup. “We, um, we had a bit of a rough childhood, not that I expected you or anyone else really, to know that.” he quickly assured her. “It's not something we like to talk about a lot. Anyways, that story was what inspired us to use the name Chipmunk when we first got famous. Ian loved it because he thought it was an excellent marketing gimmick, but it was always so much more than that for us. So you can see why it came as a huge shock to my brothers and I that Ian, who knew the story behind why we chose the name, would use it as a way to get back at us, as some sort of petty revenge.” 

Jeanette was quiet for a moment before she finally spoke up. “So that’s what this is about? You want us to change our name?” 

Simon considered this for a moment, before replying. “No, I guess not. You guys have already built up your own platform of success under the name. I was merely showing you how Ian doesn’t have any regard for personal boundaries, how he can and will use whatever he can to manipulate you.”

The two of them were quiet for an uncomfortable moment. Simon feared that she would end up totally disregarding what he was saying, similar to how his brother had described his own interaction with her elder sister. 

Instead, he was surprised when she spoke again, her tone gentle and understanding. 

“I’m so sorry, Simon. No one deserves to go through what you or your brothers went through with Ian, you guys were just kids, still are.” 

And dammit if those words didn’t do something to him, didn’t make him want to break down into tears right then and there. 

Because he realized, no one has ever believed us about Ian before, let alone tell him that it's not his fault.

“I’ll talk to my sisters about what you told me, ok? But I can't promise any sort of change right away. Ian has been nothing but kind to us, he’s looked out for us, he gave us a roof over our heads and he made our dreams come true. I’m not trying to invalidate your story or what you’ve said, but unfortunately that's just not been our experience with him. And from what we can tell, he was heartbroken that you guys left him, and I can kind of see why.” 

Simon could physically feel his heart sinking. It wasn’t enough, he thought. He’d bared part of his trauma out for her and it still wasn’t enough to convince her of the kind of person Ian was. 

“The name thing however, is a bit weird, especially if what you’re saying is true” she admitted, “like i said, promise ill try and talk to my sisters about it ok?”

Unfortunately for Jeanette, whatever she was saying had gone in one ear and out the other. Simon could feel himself shutting down, closing himself off from the girl next to him. Suddenly, she didn’t seem so bright, so perfect. Because shouldn’t someone that angelic be able to see just how much that man had hurt him and his family? The logical part of him knew he was being unfair, the reasons she had listed were perfectly valid, as far as why she and her sisters still trusted Ian. But Simon was still angry, and unable to fully rationalize his thinking at that moment. 

“Yeah, ok” Simon said, shrugging her hand off of his shoulder and grabbing his stuff. “Sorry for keeping from your sisters for so long” he said, in a voice devoid of any emotion. 

“W-wait!” Jeanette called. 

Simon turned just in time to see her pull her hand back, almost as she had been attempting to physically reach out to him. No, he mentally scolded himself, that's just your own wishful thinking at work.

“I-I w-was just, y-you d-didn’t-” She paused, closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I-I was h-hoping w-we could be f-f-friends?” She asked. She refused to look at him, her own eyes staring pointedly at the ground in front of her. “I j-just, I h-hate the thought of u-us just blindly h-hating each other without e-ever having g-gotten to know one another.” She pleaded. 

“I don’t hate you, or your sisters for that matter” Simon carefully responded, ignoring the way his heart clenched at the look of hope that crossed her face. 

“But I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be friends at the moment.” 

It took everything he had not to take back his previous statement at the look of absolute devastation in her eyes. Part of him wanted to give in and agree to be friends with her, and just maybe, be a bit more. It was so easy for him to imagine too. Her warm presence, her kind eyes, her smile, he could be privy to it all day and every day if he just gave into her right then and there. 

But the other part of Simon knew better. He couldn’t risk being friends with someone who was that involved with Ian, someone who didn’t believe him when he tried to warn her. Simon hated himself for it, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling of utter betrayal he was experiencing at the moment. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to be friends with this girl, she wasn’t worth letting that monster back into their lives. He had his own peace to think about and protect. 

So, with a heavy heart, Simon muttered a final “I’m sorry Jeanette” before turning and walking away from her. 

************************************************************************************************************

“Yo Si, where have you been dude?” Alvin asked as he sat down next to him. “We tried to save you some food but someone ate your pizza slice” Alvin shot a pointed glare at Theodore. 

Theodore smiled sheepishly at Simon before turning to glare right back at Alvin. “And you promised not to tell him!” “I did not-“  “Don’t worry Simon, I’ll make sure to make you your favorite dessert tonight after dinner.”

“HEY NO FAIR IT'S MY DESERT NIGHT THEO, YOU SAID SO LAST NIGHT” 

Theodore gave Alvin a look that was the picture of innocence. “Did I?” 

“Ugh, you see what you left me to deal with here?” Alvin asked, turning to him. 

“Hello, earth to Simon, you okay bro?” 

Simon sighed, mentally shaking off the interaction he just had with Jeanette. 

“Yes I’m okay, and if anything, you have corrupted our dear brother.”

Theodore and Simon both chuckled at Alvins cries of indignation and how his “stupid brothers were always ganging up on him” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Simon saw Jeanette enter the lunchroom, completely hunched in on herself as she approached her sister at their table. 

Simon was once again hit with the overwhelming urge to go over there and apologize to her for what he had said earlier, until he looked at his brothers, who were currently trying to see who could catch the most grapes in their mouths. Simon knew from the sound of their laughter that he’d made the right decision. He would do anything to protect his brother's happiness, and no girl was worth sacrificing their laughter for.