Y'all, it's my new story. Welcome!

The title was inspired by the song Normal Girl by sza. It's one of my favorites. Listen if you want, but don't feel obligated to.

Longer author's note is at the bottom. I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any familiar characters you read about here. I hope you all enjoy!

Normal Girl

It became completely clear three weeks, four days, and approximately thirty-five minutes into the first semester of Cindy Vortex's freshman year of college that she had made a huge mistake.

Maybe it wasn't a huge mistake, but several smaller ones that just felt like something astronomical. The wrong university, the wrong classes, the wrong major - they all added up to equal one big fucking mess that she didn't know how to fix.

She'd been so sure of what her future would hold the moment she found out she'd been accepted to Harvard. She was going to be attending her dream school before eventually going on to medical school and be as successful as she'd always planned on being ever since she could remember her mother drilling the idea into her head. Cindy could hardly believe that achieving the first part of her dream had been so easy.

At first it had been hard to put her finger on just what it was about her new life that felt so...off. For the first couple of weeks, she chalked it up to general homesickness. She not only missed her childhood home and Retroville itself, but she also missed Libby and her mother, no matter how overbearing the latter may be.

Slowly, things started to go from feeling 'off' to 'awful' no matter her best efforts at trying to act normal. Every classroom, dining hall, and corner at the library felt lonely despite how beautiful the campus was. Her roommate, Annabelle, had thwarted Cindy's every attempt at becoming friends and was rarely ever in the room. Her classwork was more hands-on and harder than she'd imagined. Sure, she had been in every AP class in high school and had achieved a 4.0, but she'd also fought tooth and nail for everything. It had been exhausting. When she had graduated, she thought that she would be able to relax a little, but she certainly didn't feel relaxed at Harvard.

Now she wasn't so sure what she was doing. She felt like she was floating in a sea of strangers, none of them worth her time and she wasn't worth theirs, either.

Never the one to accept defeat even when it was staring her in the face, Cindy just straightened her shoulders and told herself that none of this mattered. So what if it took time to adjust? She had nearly four years at this school ahead of her. That was plenty of time. All she really had to do was make good grades and do a little networking until it came time to graduate and move on to the next phase in her life plan. In the grand scheme of things, she was lucky. She was going to an ivy league. Others would kill to be where she was now, and she'd be damned if she didn't take advantage of the position she was in.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A few days later, the pep talk she'd given herself was losing its magic. She talked to Libby on the phone every other day - they swore to each other that their friendship wouldn't suffer just because Cindy was in Boston and Libby happened to be attending school in Florida. Usually a chat with her best friend would raise her spirits but lately she was feeling more and more envious. Libby had already made a few new friends and loved her classes. It was hard to keep an upbeat attitude when in reality she was feeling pretty glum. She didn't dare tell Libby the truth; the truth being that she felt like a huge loser for sitting alone for all her meals, not having made a single friend yet.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. That meant the only other person she could turn to was her mother.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she dialed the familiar number and it only rang once before her mother answered. "Cynthia!" She exclaimed loudly, nearly bursting the blonde's eardrum. "Why are you calling me in the middle of the day? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Cindy said quickly.. "I just have a break between classes and thought I'd...check in."

Her voice couldn't be very assuring at all. In fact, she felt a little like crying from the moment she'd heard her mother's voice.

"How is school?"

The last thing she wanted to talk about was the state of her life with her overbearing mother, but she retold the details of her classes and promised that she was doing well. She knew her mother considered bragging an art form; it was to be done as humbly and smoothly as possible. Over the years Cindy had perfected it to suit her mother's needs.

"I'm so happy to hear that you're doing well in all your classes," she said warmly when Cindy finished speaking. "But we had this exact same conversation last week. I'm going to ask you again and I want a real answer this time. Is everything okay?"

Damn. She'd been caught. She'd always been a bad liar, especially to those who knew her pretty well.

"I told you everything is fine, mom. I just...I miss you, I guess," Cindy said a little awkwardly. Emotions weren't her forte; neither was the skill of expressing them appropriately. That was another trait she'd gotten from her mother, after all. "I feel so far away."

There was silence on the other end of the line and she even pulled the phone back from her ear to see if they were still connected when the quiet stretched on for too long.

"I know it must be hard, especially with everything that happened in the past year," her mother said quietly, causing Cindy to wince at the reminder. The worst part was that her mom didn't know the half of it. "But I know you, you're my daughter. You're strong and capable."

"Thank you," she replied. "I guess I just needed to hear that. I feel better already."

That part was true, she did feel a little better. More grounded. That feeling was ruined by the next thing that popped out of Sasha Vortex's mouth.

"Oh good! And if you ever feel homesick again, maybe you should give that Neutron boy a call. I heard from his mother that he's going to school up there, too."

Cindy took a deep breath as she tried to keep from shrieking. It wouldn't be conducive to her friend-search if she was scaring away everyone around her. But the Harvard campus, which had seemed so vast and unfamiliar just a few minutes ago, was suddenly closing in on her.

"It's such a small world," her mother was saying.

That was an understatement.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Of all the places he could go and the schools that were throwing money and scholarships his way, Jimmy Neutron just had to choose the same city that Cindy was now living in. She hung up the phone after promising her mother that she'd call Jimmy if she felt so inclined - but that had been a lie. She didn't intend on having any sort of interaction with the genius. She was also pretty sure she had deleted his number from her phone months ago.

The fact that she'd gone so long without seeing him anywhere on campus meant that 1) he was either so far ahead of her that he was in advanced classes already or 2) he wasn't actually attending Harvard undergrad. There were other schools around. Her mother hadn't exactly been specific when she'd said 'up there.' Either way, Cindy was grateful. She could've gone the rest of her life without anyone mentioning his name in her presence.

Senior year and the summer before it hadn't been the most pleasant for Cindy. She supposed that's why she felt so bummed out by her less than magical Harvard experience thus far; she'd been expecting it to be better than the life she had left behind, and so far it was severely lacking.

Jimmy had graduated a whole year early after deciding to accept an internship with the research team at NASA. It was the offer of a lifetime - everyone (well, almost everyone) agreed that he'd be an idiot to turn it down. It meant that he'd have to leave home and high school earlier than he'd probably planned, but he would be doing what he had dreamed of doing without even needing a college degree first. He had proved himself to others already.

Cindy cursed her mother for bringing Jimmy up in conversation. Now she'd undoubtedly be thinking of him the rest of the day if not longer. She wondered why he was already leaving his position at NASA. She had assumed that his year long internship would turn into a lifelong career. But, she should've known better than to assume anything when it came to him.

Maybe he felt the same way I do, she thought. Dreams aren't all they are cracked up to be.

That train of thought was ridiculous and she shut it down immediately. The last thing she needed was to be relating to - even in her own mind - to someone who didn't give a shit about her existence at all.

-0-0-0-0-0-
Flashback

The last week of July had always felt like a goodbye in Cindy's mind with or without the going away party she was currently getting ready for. School was merely a couple weeks away and this year would feel different just because it was the last. She had college applications to perfect and a valedictorian speech to prepare. With Jimmy graduating early, that meant she was technically the current number one spot holder for their class. She'd won. But the school board insisted that he come back for the graduation ceremony and he'd likely be giving his own speech, which would outshine hers in the long run. Victory had been so sweet but too short for her liking.

The weather was miserably hot, which called for skimpy outfits if Libby and Cindy were going to be fighting their way through a sweaty mass of teenage bodies at Jimmy's party. It was bound to be the party of the year - the genius' popularity had risen over recent years, and his peers were sad to see him go. They also loved an excuse to listen to loud music and take jello shots on a Saturday night.

Cindy felt a little uncomfortable in the tight, black dress that was a few inches shorter than she preferred, especially since it was strapless, too. Nearly a dozen scars that varied in shades of color - from fading white to healing pink - littered her tanned skin; on her shoulders, forearms, the backs of her hands. They were hard to hide in the Texan summer and right now she felt as if she were walking scar tissue on display.

"That dress is hot!" Libby exclaimed as she watched her friend look in the mirror with sad eyes. "Do you want me to do your hair? I'm all done."

Cindy agreed and sat down as Libby turned a curling iron on. She was content to watch her previously stick-straight hair turn into waves right before her eyes.

"Man, life is not going to be the same without you and Jimmy fighting like cats and dogs in every class," Libby commented suddenly.

"Life might be peaceful for once," Cindy replied.

Libby snorted at that. "Sure, but you know you'll be bored as hell with no one to compete with."

Cindy was actually afraid that Libby was right about that, but didn't speak her thoughts on the matter. She'd done her best so far to keep from thinking about Jimmy leaving. Life would be different without him, indeed. She guessed she would soon find out if it would be a good or bad kind of different.

By the time the two girls arrived at the location of the party - right across the street from Cindy's house, of course - it was already dark outside. The Neutron house was nearly vibrating from the loud music playing inside of it.

They had to fight their way through the throng of people in the living room, just as they'd expected, to get to the promise of drinks and more familiar faces in the kitchen. Sheen and Carl were there, looking as if they were taking their jobs as drink and food handlers a little too seriously.

"Drink, m'lady?" Sheen said to Libby, delicately pouring her a cup of liquor-laced punch from the bowl as she giggled. Cindy rolled her eyes. She kept waiting for the disgusting flirtation for the two of them to end, but it had been over two years of dating for the couple and the honeymoon phase was still going strong.

She got tired of waiting and grabbed a cup, not even bothering with the ladle that Sheen wouldn't let go of for anything. She just dipped the cup inside the bowl, not caring about the mess she was bound to make.

"I did not just see you do that," the guest-of-honor drawled as he came to stand beside her at the kitchen counter.

"See me do what, Neutron?" She asked innocently, wiping the cup off with a questionably clean napkin. He just sent her a playful grimace in response. "How's your party treating you? Everything you dreamed of and more?"

He shrugged. "There's a lot of people here that I don't know. I'm not really sure how the party got so big so fast, either."

"Want me to scare them off?" She asked mischievously.

"Are you offering to be my security guard, Vortex?" He asked, quirking a brow and grabbing a cup from the stack and pouring himself a drink since Sheen was now distracted with Libby's presence.

"Well, I don't know who else is fit for the job. You've got dumb and dumber over there working the snack table so I figured I would offer," she replied.

When they weren't fighting even over the smallest things, this is how most of their interactions would go - a subtle flirting match with plenty of underlying tension that may or may not be of the sexual nature. Or maybe it was just regular old anger, Cindy wasn't sure.

She couldn't lie and convince herself that she wasn't attracted to him. He'd grown up nicely over the years; taller and more muscular that most boys her age. He was no longer the annoying, shorter-than-her boy she knew when she was twelve. She made herself feel better by thinking about how wrong it would be for the two of them to be anything but friendly rivals. They were too much alike.

Besides, she was only two days away from missing her chance. He was leaving on Monday for California and their lives wouldn't cross paths again for almost a year when graduation came. A lot could happen between now and then. There was no need to bring up any sort of feelings to him that she might have. She would just have to get over it.

She'd told Libby this a million times. Her friend always replied slyly, maybe you should get under him instead of over him and Cindy would just change the subject entirely.

A sudden burst of noise caused the gang to look towards the entryway to the kitchen, where a newly graduated Betty Quinlan was being ushered into the room with one of her friends.

Betty and Jimmy had a rocky past. They'd been in an on and off relationship for the better of two years, and they were currently in an off stage - this one was seemingly permanent with both parties leaving town indefinitely.

Cindy recognized the panicked look in Jimmy's eye as soon as he saw it was his ex-girlfriend in the room with them. Luckily, Betty seemed pretty drunk and hadn't noticed there was anyone else in the room with them. Yet.

"If you're still having doubts about my talents as your security detail, then you should see me in action," Cindy said to Jimmy quietly. She slammed the rest of her drink in the most classy manner she could before turning her attention to the girls across the room.

"Alright, Quinzilla, party's over."

It didn't take much to get the angry brunette out of the kitchen and all the way out to the front porch. Surprisingly, the unknown friend thanked Cindy for her help and the two of them left the party.

"That was impressive," Jimmy told her as she went back into the kitchen. They all clapped for her politely and she curtsied.

"Am I hired?" she asked as he poured her another drink.

"Oh, definitely. We can talk about payment later," he winked at her, and she nearly dropped the cup he handed her. She ignored the curious look she received from Libby from a few feet away.

The rest of the night was uneventful in terms of drunk ex-girlfriend's showing up to ruin parties. Everyone was getting increasingly rambunctious as the night went on, and Cindy sought solace from the rising temperatures inside in favor of sneaking out to Jimmy's backyard, which was mostly empty except for the genius himself.

"I don't think you're supposed to be skipping out on your own party," she said, finding it harder to speak clearly thanks to the sickly-sweet concoction she was still drinking.

He jumped at the sound of voice, clearly not knowing she was behind him as he sat on a bench that was on the porch. "I needed a breather," he replied.

"Everyone is so enthusiastic. It's sickening."

He laughed at her pessimistic tone. She sat down next to him on the bench and they both stared into the darkness that stretched out behind the Neutron house. Cindy kept stealing glances at him - he was acting oddly and she didn't think alcohol was completely at fault.

"Are you excited?" She asked. "To leave, I mean."

"For the most part. It'll be a new experience, that's for sure," he said, but his words lacked strength behind them and so they fell flat, making him sound like a bad actor that had memorized the lines of script but couldn't deliver them.

"Uh, yeah. Okay. Let's try this again, and this time I'll ask a better question. Why aren't you excited?"

He turned to look at her, finally, and his eyes were intense. "I really am looking forward to going. It's just that leaving will be hard, you know? I won't be able to see my family every day. Or you guys."

"Aw, Neutron is going to miss us," she teased him, nudging him with her elbow until he cracked a smile. "You know we'll miss you too, right?"

She was uncomfortable admitting it, even though the liquor was giving her confidence to say what she was feeling. She didn't like talking about sappy stuff, and everyone knew it. It was Jimmy's turn to tease her now. He leaned back a little, stretching his arm on the back of the bench behind her, the tips of his fingers just barely grazing her arm. She shivered from the contact anyway.

"Careful, Vortex. You might just convince me that you have feelings."

"Even if you ran me over with a truck I'd never admit to missing you, but you can imagine that the feeling is there somehow."

"I have a good imagination," he said quietly, giving her an intense look said more than what he was willing to say aloud. Cindy cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

"Besides, you'll be back to give a speech at graduation. Just don't upstage mine, please."

"The principal didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"I talked to him weeks ago about graduation. I told him I'm not giving a speech like they want."

"Oh my god, Nerdtron, what's wrong with you?"

"It's exactly what you said. You're the valedictorian and I don't want to upstage you," he said with a smirk.

She huffed and nudged him in the ribs. The hand that had barely been touching her was fully grabbing her arm now, pushing her closer to him on the bench. "Kidding, of course. Then he came up with the idea of us giving our speeches together."

"Like...sharing?"

"I told him you'd hate that idea. Unless you agree to it, I'm not giving one."

"You're being awfully generous," she said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. He just looked away.

"I realize that I haven't been the most gracious person over the years. Think of it as a long overdue apology for all the shit I put you through over the years. If anyone actually deserves the speech, it's you."

That was enough to make up Cindy's mind. She wasn't sure if the close proximity or the alcohol or the combination of both was messing with her mind, but she was about to go off the deep end. She'd deal with the consequence of regret later.

"Let's just do it together then."

He looked at her in alarm. "Say again?"

"You deserve the speech too, no matter how badly I don't want to admit it. Plus I'm pretty sure your parents would be devastated if you didn't give one."

"You might have a point with that. But you're okay with this?"

"If I have to share it with someone, at least it's you," she said without thinking, and immediately regretted it. He had that intense look in his eyes again, and he didn't look interested in letting the comment go.

"What does that mean?" He asked. She busied herself by taking a huge gulp of her drink and not looking at him. He poked her in the arm but she ignored it.

"What?" she asked after a minute, and by that time the moment had been ruined. He just laughed in half-disbelief and half-frustration.

"I should probably go inside now. You coming?"

She nodded and followed him through the sliding door, dreading the humid air that would hit her once she was inside. Her sandal got caught on the doorway, causing her to trip slightly much to her embarrassment. She was able to save herself from falling over completely, only landing one one hand and knee. As she landed, she felt a crunch and searing pain underneath her hand.

Glass.

Pain shot up her arm, dulled from shock and the alcohol in her system. She raised the hand slowly, almost scared to see what damage was done. There was a long cut in the palm of her hand that was oozing blood steadily, but it didn't seem too deep. She could only focus on the blood, though - it was warm and sticky and just looking at it made her feel a little lightheaded. It was a familiar feeling, and all she could think about was the sound of crunching glass over and over again.

"Damn it!" She could hear Jimmy curse from somewhere. "Who the fuck drops a bottle and doesn't do anything about it?"

If she could, she would've snapped out of it. She would've stood up and laughed it off, or yelled at the person to blame for dropping the bottle. But the blood was there, and it was giving her deja vu. Everything around her felt far away, like she wasn't really there.

She distantly felt Jimmy helping her stand and could hear Libby's voice - she was following them as Jimmy lead her upstairs.

"You need to make sure there's no glass in the cut before you wrap it," she was saying. "Clean all the blood off, Jimmy. I'm serious. The blood freaks her out."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Thank you, Libby." He ushered her into the bathroom and shut the door, blocking out Libby's words. Cindy finally seemed to snap out of her reverie then, looking at him curiously. "She was crowding you a little."

"She means well."

"You know, we hadn't even talked about payment yet. I was going to add you to my special security guard insurance plan but you already hurt yourself on the job. I don't really want you to sue me," he rambled, all the while inspecting her hand for any signs of a tiny glint of a glass shard in the cut.

"Too bad. I want workman's compensation."

"My insurance rates are going to go through the roof," he muttered, turning on the water and testing the temperature before urging her to put her hand underneath. The warm water stung but she didn't flinch. She could hear Jimmy rummaging through a closet behind her, but she just watched the blood swirl around the sink until it went down the drain. The new cut on her palm was a sharp contrast to one of the white and pink lines just above it on her forearm.

"Hey," Jimmy said loudly, touching a hand to her jaw, forcing her to look at him. "I don't know where you keep going but it's starting to scare me. Did you hit your head? I can take you to the hospital. Just say the word."

She didn't expect him to understand. "No, I'm fine. I probably just drank too much."

He didn't seem to believe that but didn't say anything else. He dropped some supplies onto the counter and in one sudden move, he had lifted her onto the counter like she was a little kid with a scraped knee from a bicycle accident.

She watched as he wet a rag and she took it from him, not liking how helpless she felt. The cut was still bleeding steadily and she knew that it should probably wait to be cleaned and bandaged until it slowed down. The pain from it was starting to settle into mind, and she winced slightly as she closed her hand around the towel.

"Here, let me help you," he said quietly, taking the wet rag from her hand. Cindy was unnerved with having him so close to her all of a sudden. She watched as he pressed on the cut on her palm firmly, waiting until the bleeding slowed.

Turning her arm over, he looked curiously at the scars that blazed a trail up her arm in a random pattern. Everyone was aware of what happened to her earlier that year. No one ever talked about it or brought it up, not even Libby. Not even her mother. Cindy had made it perfectly clear months ago that it wasn't allowed to be a topic of casual conversation. She especially didn't want to talk about it now, while she was drunk and bleeding all over his bathroom.

He surprised her by running a finger over one of the lines, and her first instinct was to pull away, feeling embarrassed. Past experience told her that being vulnerable in front of the boy genius usually ended badly. He kept holding onto her hand, though, refusing to let her turn into herself as a form of defense. She was used to doing that.

"Do they hurt?" he asked. He was so close to her now that she could see every shade of blue in his eyes.

"S-sometimes. Not too bad," she replied, feeling a little breathless. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently to one, and then another. He kept his touch soft but firm. Her heart was threatening to beat right out of her chest. He abandoned her arm only to look straight at her. The look in his eyes was a serious one, but there was a touch of fondness to them as he brushed her hair behind her ear on the same side a long, thin scar sat on her temple. He ran his finger down that one, too. "Jimmy-"

She didn't know what she was going to say to him, but it didn't matter. He didn't let her get the words out.

Jimmy kissed the same way he argued and talked about science. He was passionate and put everything he had toward the cause. His hands were everywhere, never settling on one place for too long; flitting over her thighs, waist, coming to rest on her back before starting the rotation over again. Sneaking dangerously close to spots and places that Cindy had never let anyone else touch before. Enough of a graze to make her gasp, making him smile deviously against her lips, but not solid enough to be completely satisfying.

He could sense when she needed to breathe and his lips trailed from hers down her neck instead, sucking on her pulse point lazily. At some point she'd dropped the rag in her hand, and she hoped that she wasn't bleeding again.

"Why did it take so long for us to do this?" He murmured against her neck, and Cindy couldn't find her voice to answer. He didn't seem to want one anyway. There were a lot of things she could reply with; Betty Quinlan, their shared stubbornness, denial.

Cindy tried not to get left behind, doing her best to make him gasp the same way he'd done to her by pulling his lips back up to hers, catching his bottom lip in her teeth. Judging by the nearly undetectable shudder that went through his body, he approved.

He put a hand on each one of her knees, moving them apart so he could get closer. Cindy wrapped her legs around him instinctively, finally able to feel his hard body pressed against hers. He was somehow taller this way too, having to lean down even more to press his lips to hers as she wrapped her arms around him, splaying her hands wide against his back.

Her breath hitched even further as he slid a hand up one of her thighs slowly. As one of his fingers touched the edge of the panties she was wearing, she jumped slightly. He breathed a laugh at her against her lips, and she realized that this was yet another area of life that he would have the upper hand if she wasn't careful. She boldly pressed a hand to the front of his jeans, and she could tell how hard he was even through the fabric. He pulled back from her lips slightly and made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. She couldn't help the sly smile that slid across her face. He caught the look and just sent her a playful glare.

"You're evil, Vortex, you know that?" He said, his voice rougher than usual. He slid a hand down the front of her body slowly with the intent to torture her, just brushing past her breasts and sneaking under her hiked up dress, into her underwear and oh my god, he's the evil one, she thought to herself. He kissed her again, and she grabbed ahold of his other arm which was leaning on the counter as a means of support. The movement put pressure against her the cut on her palm painfully, and she could tell that she was bleeding again - the thought of that flipped a switch in her brain immediately.

She wanted to keep going, but something inside of her felt uneasy, broken. It wasn't as if Jimmy was the problem; in fact she liked the feel of his strong hands and how they touched her, and how his kisses had a touch of desperation to them, like she was going to disappear into thin air. But she didn't feel like herself and deep down she knew it wasn't the alcohol at fault - she hadn't felt normal in quite awhile. It was like her mind wanted to disconnect from her body and it was easier to let it happen rather than fight it. A thick fog threatened to wrap around her brain and threatened to cut her off from the rest of the world. Sure, she'd lose the ability to feel emotions that way, but she'd also learned to utilize it as a coping skill rather than treat it as a nasty side effect of trauma-induced horror. This was one of the few times that she didn't want it to happen though. She wanted to experience what could possibly happen with him, but she couldn't. Not when it felt like there was a glass cage separating her from her emotions. Her from the rest of the world.

Besides, he was leaving in two days and they couldn't do this. It was too late for them.

She used both of her hands against his chest to push him away gently and he stopped kissing her, giving her a confused look. The fact that it hadn't even occurred to him how bad of an idea this was truly spoke to how much he'd drank throughout the evening, and that further justified her decision to stop what they were doing.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing," she replied out of habit, even though there was something wrong. She scrambled for something to say that wouldn't be weird. "It's just...we're in your bathroom, Neutron. Maybe this isn't the place."

He wrapped his hands around her waist, not picking up on what she was saying. "We can go to my room."

"No, Jimmy, that's not what I meant," she said, dodging his kiss. "This isn't really the right time, either."

She also wanted to tell him that she was slightly fucked up. She wanted to say all the things she was feeling, but none of it made sense to her. She felt like a stranger to herself, nothing felt real. There was no way he would understand that.

"The place I understand, but the time? C'mon Vortex, give me a break," he replied, and she was taken aback by the touch of anger in his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you really going to sit there after all of that and tell me you don't have feelings for me?" His voice was growing louder with each word.

"Can you stop yelling? What the fuck is wrong with you?" She retorted, finally thinking to straighten her dress out and hop off the counter.

"Are you not even going to answer my question?" He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it with frustration.

"I'm not having this discussion with you. You're clearly wasted, and you don't know what you're doing."

"You'll say whatever you think will make you feel better, huh?" He laughed humorlessly. "I'm not Nick, Cindy. This wouldn't have happened if you didn't want it to. I know you have feelings for me too."

When she didn't reply right away, he shook his head and left the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Just like that, they leapt back over the line they'd crossed, falling back into the familiar pattern of fighting or nothing at all. Cindy clenched her hands and flinched when she felt the blood oozing out of the cut on her palm.

She just hoped that this one wouldn't leave a mark.

End flashback

-0-0-0-

It's okay to be confused! I'm sort of intending this story to be a little confusing/mysterious for the first few chapters. It'll make sense (hopefully) the more you read, but if you have any questions please feel free to ask me in a review or message.

Flashbacks will be featured in every chapter (for the first several ones) but they will NOT go in chronological order. I know that doesn't make sense right now but as long you pay attention to the smaller details, I promise you won't be too confused about the plot.

A few disclaimers: take all the guesses you want about how Cindy got the scars mentioned. The only thing I'll say is that they are not from self-harm. I know NASA is technically based in Texas (I think) but there is definitely a research center in California. I know because I looked it up, haha. This story might be dark at times, especially in the upcoming chapters. It features content focused around mental illnesses, alcohol abuse, traumatic events, sexual scenes, etc. The rating will go up to M eventually.

PLEASE leave a review if you read this. I would really appreciate it. And if you want to read more from me, go to my profile and read the shorter stories I have or my other longer ones :) Thank you!