Repost! Originally posted Feburary 2011.
Cindy Vortex, the talk of the town, the genius girl. Everyone would come to her piano recitals, dance recitals, they would watch her perform in the Christmas Play every year. Her parents were full of pride.
Well, that was before the Neutrons came to town.
Look where he's gotten her, that arrogant, smug, boy that lives across the street from her. He stripped her of her fame, and she was reduced to second best, leaving her family in shame.
The Vortex name was instantly replaced by Neutron. 'Jimmy Neutron Saves The Day Again' or 'Boy Genius Invents Flying Car' or some other story that filled the place that Cindy's name had once occupied.
Cindy wouldn't hate him so much if he parents would accept that she had an A instead of an A+, that she was better than him in some ways, and he in others. But of course, they didn't.
Her mother drilled her, forcing information to stick in her brain, hoping that she could somehow excel over a certified genius. She pressured her to be the best, even though they both knew she'd never beat Jimmy deep down. She grew a deep hatred for her mother, and hated herself for it. She's supposed to love her mother; but its hard to love someone who doesn't feel the same.
Cindy's father was never around anymore, always working, or was busy with something else. Cindy couldn't help reminisce about the days he'd take her out for ice cream and tell her how wonderful she was.
She felt like she was balancing on thin ice that was just about to crack.
She would tease and harass Jimmy to try and please someone. She became popular, and teasing him would gain that popularity—that is, until he saved everyone's parents from the Yolkians. Then, everyone stopped. He was a hero yet again, and she was a nonentity in everyone's eyes.
She would act tough and keep her head up, when in truth, she was unraveling inside.
The fought and fought, they hated each other; but somewhere along the line… she fell for him. She would use Libby and Sheen's relationship as an excuse to go on adventures with him. "Oh, if Libby has to go, I might as well not make her suffer you dorks by herself."
Then came the island. The blessed island, the place she felt she belonged. It was the first time she felt wanted. He searched over 300 mollusks to give her a pearl, for God's sakes. She found herself disappointed yet again, though. He rejected her plea to stay forever in the one place she ever really called a home.
She could feel herself slipping.
Small innocent touches, infantile jealous wraths, and the looks. She knew she loved him.
She regained her balance.
Then came the day in the library, close to the end of the fifth grade, that an innocent game of footsie soon lead up to a kiss in an alley after a news show. For once, she felt wanted, desired, she felt like she had finally reached the other side of the frozen ocean she'd stood in the middle of for years.
Then he broke her heart, and didn't seem to care at all.
She always knew no one could be trusted. Not even her best friends. She found him and Libby kissing behind the bleachers. He blamed it on his teenage boy hormones, he said she should understand. "You know almost as much about this as I do, hormones can cause a lapse of judgment!" It wasn't even satisfying that Sheen had given Jimmy a black eye.
The ice cracked beneath her, and the freezing water felt like a sea of razor blades.