A restless night almost always means there's a one shot brewing in my head. Do enjoy. =)
I do NOT own I Love You, Beth Cooper. Or, Jimmy. Please excuse the fact that what Jim does is extremely out of character. =)
An Unforgettable Graduation Speech
Today was the day. It was graduation, the bitter sweet ritual that Cindy had been dreading for weeks. The gymnasium was going to be stuffed with her 200 classmates and their parents and families. She put her cap on her head adjusting it carefully. And not only that, but it was supposed to be at least 70 degrees, which meant it would be a hundred degrees in that stupid gym, and their graduation robes were BLACK. She sighed and glanced down at her speech. Of course, she had not been chosen for Valedictorian, but she was a close second and Neutron knew it. That was more than enough for her. But for some reason their school decided that it would be okay if both of them presented a short speech. She was pretty comfortable talking in front of people, so it was all good. And who really remembered High School Graduation speeches anyway? No one! Because they were all pretty much the same, they all seemed to be about success in the future which no one really could guarantee or promise. Or at least, that's what she heard anyway, and that's what hers was about.
She stole a glance at Jimmy's house and briefly pondered what he would talk about. He'd probably use big words and shove his intellect in the audience's faces, which would be a total JIMMY thing to do. She despised that quality of his, and yet she loved it, and more specifically she loved him. She had since the fifth grade, and she always would be. Or at least, that's the way it felt. Of course she'd gone through the entirety of High School without admitting these feelings. Not that was necessarily a good thing, but it was just how things were. She fixed her hair one last time and bounded downstairs to greet Libby and travel to the school were they were to be lining up in exactly ten minutes. She smiled confidently at herself in the mirror and grabbed her notes.
Libby was standing in her living room impatiently checking her watch
"Let's go please," Libby scolded.
"Oh all right," she said and kissed her mother on the cheek goodbye.
"See you at the graduation ceremony mom."
"Yes dear!"
Cindy followed Libby out the door. Sheen was standing there waiting for them as well.
"Hi Sheen," Cindy said with a smile.
As she hopped into the back seat she sighed. She was going to miss riding to school with Sheen and Libby every day.
"I'm going to miss you guys, you know."
"Cindy, we still have all summer!"
"I know, but still, High School is ending today, and it makes me realize, I'm going to miss us."
Sheen nodded in agreement. Cindy looked out the windows and sighed. The sun was shining brightly and the heat was all ready beginning to build in the atmosphere.
"It's going to be SO hot in the gym," she whined, changing the topic freely.
"Oh, I know, and these robes! Talk about a fashion disaster! I thought High School graduation was somethin' you were supposed to have good memories about."
Cindy laughed at this comment and automatically the mood lifted in the car. Perhaps today was not going to be so bad after all. They arrived at the school and Cindy felt her nerves rise a little bit. She took a deep breath and walked inside the school. There were bunches of people starting to gather in the Old Auditorium to line up. There was a certain amount of happiness, joy, and sadness all mixing together to create a sort of bubbling anticipation that you could almost taste. Cindy breathed it in, for some reason the odd mixture of the noise of her classmates and the smell of the old sweaty gym mats soothed her.
Just then, Libby came up to her with a program of the day's events, and she was smiling broadly.
"I didn't know Jimmy was speaking first," she said quietly.
"Well, he is valedictorian," she replied. Libby glanced at her quickly almost as if asking silently if she was okay with this. "And rightly so," she added. Libby smirked.
"I wonder what his speech will be about," she mumbled quietly.
"Who knows, my guess no one will be able to understand a word of what he's saying."
"Do you happen to be talking about me Vortex?"
Cindy turned around to see Jimmy standing there with his robe still unzipped showing a beautiful blue silk shirt and a pair of black trousers. And Cindy had to admit he looked more than cute, or hot, he looked handsome. He shined his beautiful smile at her.
"Yes," she responded simply. "I was just telling Libby that no one will be able to understand what you'll be saying in your speech."
He smiled even brighter.
"Perhaps, or perhaps you will regret the fact that they WILL be able to understand what I'm saying," he responded quickly.
She raised an eyebrow and he winked at her as she walked away.
"What was that about?" She asked Libby, but Libby looked almost as confused as she felt.
"All right, attention students!" The principle called them into attention, and they began to assemble in their right order. As soon as they were in line he was congratulating them. But Cindy's attention was locked on Jimmy who was a few people in front of her. A shining sapphire blue V was running down his robe. Of course, it was exactly the color of his eyes. She sighed deeply. They had gone over walking into the graduation march thousands of times, but all of a sudden she was very nervous about all the eyes that would be watching. Even more then the stupid speech she had to present, all her mind could think was, don't trip, don't trip, DON'T TRIP!!!! Pomp and Circumstance began to be played by the band. Cindy's heart began to race slightly. Finally it was her turn to walk in with her partner, and she did so, walking up to the stage. Jimmy was smiling confidently at his mother. She was still puzzled by his odd comment that he had made earlier. She found her seat as the graduation march stopped. They were told to sit.
The first item on the program was a song by the choir. Cindy was studying her notes carefully. The song concluded, any moment now they were going to call Jimmy up to the stage.
"And now, we present our valedictorian, James Neutron!"
Cindy's head snapped up at the use of his full name.
Jimmy turned towards her and smirked and Cindy just smiled back. He smiled mischievously. Something weird was going on. He stepped up to the microphone and started to speak.
"Firstly, I would like to assure you all that I took into careful consideration what I was going to say today. I planned and planned, but to no avail. All of my ideas were either completely juvenile or just plain over used," he paused. "And so, I decided I was going to do something a little bit different."
The audience was hanging on his every word.
"This is the turning point of my life. I'm leaving Retroville, and not planning to come back. I decided that this is the time of our lives, and that we are only going to get older and so," he paused again and cleared his throat. "It can be summed up in a sentence."
He took a deep breath.
"I love you, Cindy Vortex," his voice said surely into the microphone.
Cindy's mouth fell open. Libby was staring at her, with wide eyes. She looked up at Jimmy who was blushing and was smiling at her. In fact, every eye in the audience was on HER. She blushed deeply in response.
"Well now that I've got that out into the open, congratulations class of 2010!"
Cindy was still staring at him as he took his seat and adjusted himself in his chair so that he was more comfortable. The principle stood up, obviously taken aback as everyone else by Jimmy's odd actions.
"All right then," the principle said cheerily. "Cynthia Vortex!"
The crowd was still silent, obviously waiting for her response.
Jimmy was sitting in his seat, smiling grimly. Her heart was fluttering crazily. What was his game? Why did he embarrass her like that? It made her furious, and yet oddly excited.
"Hello my fellow classmates," she started rather timidly. She took a deep breath, the audience was still staring at her, and Jimmy was beaming. "How does one follow up such a speech?" She asked and the audience laughed lightheartedly. This may not be as hard as she thought.
"Welcome to our graduation," she started her speech with confidence.
-x-
Her speech went very well overall, and she received a pretty good response. When she finished as she walked back to her seat she glared at Jimmy who had not made it easy for her. The ceremony went pretty fast… Finally it was her turn to walk across the stage. She was so nervous that she could hear her heart beating in her ears like a drum.
"Cynthia Vortex," the principle announced. Jimmy was standing in front of his chair, still beaming from ear to ear. She shook his hand, took the diploma and went back to her chair.
"Congratulations class of 2010!" The principle announced, and the black hats flew up in the air in jubilee. Finally they were all dismissed and allowed to find their families. Cindy found Libby immediately who was giggling.
"That was hilarious! I'll never forget that speech!" Libby laughed. Cindy blushed deeply.
"I'm going to pound that NERD!"
Libby just smiled smartly.
"If you say so Cind," she responded.
Just then a few people walked past them staring and pointing.
"Oh this is so humiliating."
Libby just smiled softly.
"But you have to admit, it was cute."
She stole a glance at Jimmy who was talking animatedly with his mother and father. And her toes tingled.
"Oh yeah, it was cute all right," she snapped sarcastically. "I'm sure it was just his idea of a joke."
"Cindy, he just made a fool of himself in front of everyone! Have you considered the possibility that he actually does LOVE you?"
"No, it can't be," she said quietly.
"Yes it can girl! You just need to go over there and talk to him!"
Cindy scowled.
"I will do no such thing, it wasn't that cute."
Libby frowned knowingly.
"There is Cindy Vortex!" A few people laughed and she scowled.
"Not cool," she breathed.
Just then Cindy's mom appeared, her arms crossed over her chest.
"All right Cynthia, do you want to give me a clue that was about?" Her mother asked.
"I have no idea mother," she replied honestly. "But did I do okay?"
"You did great baby," she responded and hugged her daughter tightly. "All right then, well picture time!"
Libby came closer to Cindy, and they smiled for the camera.
"Cute!" her mother reassured her. Jimmy was taking pictures with the Mayor, and they were laughing really hard about something.
"All right Cind, I'll see you in about half an hour at Sheen's grad party."
Oh yeah, she had about a thousand grad parties to go today. She nodded.
"Do you want pictures with anybody else Cynthia?"
An elderly couple walked by, pointing at her and she scowled again. She honestly could not decide if what Neutron did was cute, or if it was just plain idiotic.
"Actually mom, I kind of want to get out of here."
"No more pictures of your little friends?"
She sighed and quickly found Carl; Nick, Brittany, just to appease her mother.
"Okay mom, I am leaving now," she said curtly as another person stopped and stared at her as they passed. Her mother nodded. "I have a few more things to grab from my locker, I'll meet you outside in a few," she said and then she finally left the gymnasium.
She sighed as she opened her locker to collect the last bag left filled with her makeup bag and a change of clothes.
"So, what did you think of my speech Vortex?"
She froze, Jimmy. She closed her locker, and their eyes met.
"I think it was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard," she snapped. He smiled widely and she couldn't help but let a small smile cross her features. "But, I suppose it was sort of sweet," she whispered.
"What do you think?" He asked nervously.
The world seemed to slow down and everything seemed to be hanging on this moment. It was so silent all she could hear was the beating of her own heart.
"I think I'll give you a chance Neutron, but if this is a trick," she whispered.
"I'll wish I'd never been born," he finished. "It's not a trick Cindy, I really do love you."
She laughed.
"Why did you have to do it now?"
He smiled.
"I knew of no better time," he said quietly, his arms snaking around her waist. "I take this to mean that you'll have no objection if I kiss you…"
"None at all Neutron," she whispered.
And then his lips touched hers gently. Her heart was growing wings, the warmth sparking from her lips was spreading through her whole body. As she gently returned the kiss she knew one thing was for certain, this would be a graduation speech she would never forget.
-x-