Only Emptiness Remains

Under Pressure

Next thing Brittany knew, she felt a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around her. She immediately recognized them as Alvin's arms. But she was not sure why he was holding her. The last thing she remembered was starting the steps for her new dance routine to The Boys and Girls of Rock N Roll. She remembered the song starting, but not much after that.

Was the song over already? She then noticed her sisters and friends all gathered around her and Alvin. Everyone seemed so worried. What exactly had happened?

"Brittany!" Jeanette shrieked in a panic-stricken voice. "Are you all right?"

"Mmm... yeah... I think so." The eldest Chipette replied in a weak voice, as if struggling to get the words out. "I guess I just got a little dizzy. No big deal."

She was starting to snap back to reality, much to her relief.

"That looked like more than a little dizziness..." Simon cautiously commented.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys I'm fine?" Brittany huffed, still sounding a little weak. "I think I was just dehydrated or something."

Jeanette gazed directly into the eyes of the Chipmunk who was still holding her older sister.

"She should be sitting down." The middle sister informed the red-clad Chipmunk.

Alvin nodded his head and motioned for Jeanette to come over opposite of the side where he was holding onto Brittany. Together, the two of them helped the pink-clad Chipette over to a nearby chair as Alvin put one of her arms around him, while Jeanette placed Brittany's other arm around her and then both walked the fallen Chipette over to the chair. Brittany was literally leaning on her younger sister and ex-boyfriend for support.

The rest of the group had followed as Alvin and Jeanette both eased Brittany down into the chair. She still seemed very out of it and was significantly much paler than anyone had ever seen her before.

Simon then glanced at Theodore, who was standing right next to him.

"We should get some fluids in her if she thinks dehydration is the cause. Do you have a water bottle you can spare?" The bespeckled Chipmunk asked his younger brother.

The green-clad Chipmunk nodded his head and raced over to his green backpack that was sitting right near the door to the music room. He pulled out a fresh, unopened bottle of Aquafina water. Fortunately, Theodore always carried at least two extra water bottles in his backpack with him in addition to the two in his lunchbox.

The youngest Seville brother then made his way back to the now seated Brittany and handed her the water bottle, sincerely hoping it would help her. Brittany gingerly took the bottle of water, twisted the cap off and slowly took small sips.

As Brittany sat in the silver metal folding chair while taking sips of water periodically, the five standing chipmunks all exchanged concerned glances with one another. They had all seen what happened. Right in the middle of working on her choreography, Brittany started to dangerously sway during what should've been a simple move for her. It was painfully obvious she was about to collapse.

Luckily, Alvin had instinctively caught his former girlfriend right before she hit the ground. Thank God the oldest Chipmunk had such fast reflexes! At least they didn't have to worry about her hitting her head and getting a concussion on top of her already fragile state.

By this point, they all knew that something was definitely off about Brittany. Even Simon and Theodore could see it. When they would go over to the Miller house to spend time with their own girlfriends, Brittany was nowhere to be seen these days.