A One of Us oneshot! Happy V-Day everyone! Recommended listening: Walking in the Air, Celtic Woman. Love you all. Please read and review.
P.S. I might also have a special surprise for you all if I finish it! XD
Walking in the Air
A lady was coughing across the aisle from her. Some guy was eating a bag full of chips and burped loudly. Cindy Vortex sighed and turned up her IPod just a little bit louder as bus jumped back and forth and the lights in the front flickered. She pulled a hangnail loose and barely even felt the pain. How had she lost to a beige belt on CRUTCHES? She should've won! But the Refs had felt badly for her opponent. Then she discovered that her favorite pair of shoes had been stolen sometime during her most recent match. Her mother would be so disappointed. Then again her mother had refused to take her to the competition forcing her to go all by herself. She had claimed that she was just too busy to take her so she didn't really have a say at all. Overall it had been a terrible weekend and she still had homework to do.
As the bus pulled into Retroville she grabbed the bags that sat on the seat next to her. The bus driver smiled at her as she wished him a good night. The door opened and she began to drag her first suitcase down the stairs. She put it near the curb then went back up into the bus to get her other bag. She had finally gotten it all the way out when Jimmy Neutron's face was right next to hers. She was about to yell at him when they fell to the ground with a thud.
In the next second her brain processed four things. His cheek was wonderfully warm, he was practically lying on top of her, and his arm was around her. Butterflies started to flutter in her stomach.
She glared at him.
"NEUTRON, will you watch where you're going?" She shouted as she pushed him off of her.
"Cindy, you're not happy!" He exclaimed.
He had just figured this out now? Sometimes she really wondered if all the genius talk was just bogus.
"No, but I'm filthy! And I lost at the Karate Competition to a six year old beige belt on CRUTCHES!" She angrily kicked one of her own luggage bags aside.
"That's great!"
Now in addition to her frustration and anger there was also a hint of confusion. "What?" She assumed an attack position, her arms outstretched.
"No, you don't understand! Mindless zombies, Grandma Taters, TV, mass hypnosis!"
Okay, she had to admit that this was getting a little weird even for Neutron. "Neutron, that big head of yours has finally blown a gasket!" She retorted as she walked a little closer to him. The cement was cold beneath her feet but she ignored it.
"We've got to get out of here before they get us!" He encouraged, looking around nervously.
"Oh, someone's riding the paranoid express!"
"GET THEM!" A shout came from behind them. Cindy's eyes widened as she turned to see that indeed there was large group of people apparently chasing after Jimmy.
"See, like I was saying!"
"Okay! I believe you, give me the details later!" She turned and they began to run, the group of people hard on their heels. Her heart was beating wildly as her all ready sore feet were cut up by the various stones on the sidewalk. The footsteps of the people behind them were getting closer!
She had to face the truth that she was going to be killed a mindless group of zombies. Then Jimmy's arm shot out and grabbed her pulled her close to him as he initiated his jet pack. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. A few second later her feet left the ground and they were in the air.
"I figure the best way to escape them is to fly as far as we can without going beyond the city limits."
She watched the buildings fly by beneath them as they rose higher into the night sky. She had been in a plane a few times, and she had been in his hovercar. But this was new. There was positively nothing solid beneath her feet. She could see the twinkling of the street lamps like diamonds littered on the ground. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Instinctively she reached out and grabbed onto his jetpack strap with her free hand.
"Are you scared, Cindy?" He chuckled and she tried to think of a witty retort but got distracted by how close his face was to hers. She could count every eyelash, see every freckle. She had rarely been this close to him, just the few times when they had been close to kissing. She flushed at the memory.
"The only thing holding me up here is you, Neutron," she replied smartly.
"Don't worry it's perfectly safe."
"You designed this jetpack to hold the weight of two people?"
"No, but-"
"Neutron now is not the time for buts!"
"Just relax okay? The more you fight me, the more chance there is of me dropping you. Do you want that?"
"Tell me what is going on."
"It all started the other day at school. Sheen was acting weirder than usual."
Cindy looked at as he talked. His lips were moving at a thousand miles an hour. Her face and neck warmed uncomfortably. She really hoped that they would get where Jimmy was taking them before she did something insane, like kiss him.
"I went over to Betty's house to investigate further."
This immediately broke through her trance.
"BETTY?"
"That is when I figured out that Grandma Taters was using her show to hypnotize people into being happy zombies! I ran to my house only to discover that my parents were also hypnotized! I was running away when I bumped into you."
She noticed that he had oh-so- cleverly avoided the Betty topic, but nodded anyway. She could grill him about it later. They began to descend and were near the ground when his jetpack sputtered out and they fell the rest of the way. Cindy tossed her bangs out of her face as Jimmy offered her his hand to help her up. "And that's what happened. The entire town is happy zombies and the world may be next!"
"So, uh, why were you at Betty Quinlan's house?" She nervously asked.
"Research," he responded.
As soon as Jimmy went into explaining where to find the source, Cindy pictured Jimmy and Betty sitting together on a couch. Her insides churned.
"Cindy, it's up to us to stop this thing together!'
"So, um, what did you do at Betty's house?"
"Nothing," he replied.
"Good," her eyes widened. Crap, had she really said that out loud? "I mean go- let's go!"
Jimmy pulled her close again and they rose into the air. She gripped onto Jimmy's strap biting down on her lip nervously. She felt reassured as his chest moved up and down beneath her hand. As the warm wind blew in her face she almost felt peaceful.
"Cindy, are you okay?"
She looked up into his eyes and it sent her heartbeat racing. Wait just a moment! She was not some simpering fan girl. She was Cindy Vortex! But she had to admit that being up here with him was kind of romantic.
"Why?"
"You are being so quiet."
She chuckled. Chuckled? She was supposed to scold him! "What is that supposed to mean?" Now that was the right response!
"You are always saying something, in fact, the trick is to get you to stop talking," he smirked in satisfaction.
"Neutron," she hissed. "Now is not the time to mess with me. I've had a terrible weekend!"
"Because you lost the Karate competition to a six year old beige belt on crutches, right?"
"The Refs were sympathetic. Then someone stole my shoes," she gestured to her bare feet which were red and one of her toes was bleeding.
His gaze softened. "I'm sorry, Cindy."
"There is always next year."
"You will beat her."
"You think so?"
"I'm sure of it," he smiled at her. She returned the smile warmly then moved a little closer to him. Their lips were only inches away and she had closed her eyes bracing herself for contact. Then his watch beeped. Cindy felt a deep pang of disappointment and tried to hide it. A moment later she was silently cursing herself for her moment of weakness.
"That's where the signal is coming from!" He pointed to a building not far from them. They began to descend then all too soon her feet hit the concrete.
In the end, it was a piece of cake. They defeated Grandma Taters and she had disappeared on her spaceship into the black oblivion of space. As soon as they were alone, Cindy decided to bring up the Betty thing which she had been obsessing about ever since he had mentioned it.
"So, um, what were you doing at Betty's house again?"
"I told you-nothing!"
"So why were you going there?"
"Why are you cross-examining me?"
"Oh, so you admit you had a reason!" She teased.
"Cindy! You don't know anything!"
"I- I don't? It's really simple! I don't know why you can't answer the question!"
"Why won't you leave it alone?"
"Why won't you answer my questions?"
"It's none of your business!"
"Are you guys going out now?"
He growled and flushed. "Cindy! How about we just drop it?"
"Yeah sure, whatever you want, Neutron."
"You aren't going to let this go are you?"
She burst out laughing to cover the fact that she was furious. "Nope, I'm not!"
"You are so annoying, Vortex!"
"I'm annoying? Have you ever thought how annoying it is when you go and on about stupid Betty?"
"I don't go on and on! You are the one who is poking your nose where it didn't belong!"
After several more round of this they arrived at their respective houses. Cindy had never been happier to see her house in her life.
"Good night!" He exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Good night!" She hurried into the house slamming the door behind her.
For a few moments she leaned up against the door. Her hands were still clenched into fists at her sides. She took a few deep breaths and she looked down to see that she had no bags. Not only had she lost the competition, but she'd lost her bags! Her mother would kill her! Not only that, Jimmy had been to Betty's house.
Would her life never cease in disappointing her?
She walked up into her room and instantly crawled into bed. She stared at the ceiling and unwilling began to recall the soft touch of his warm cheek, the ground far beneath her feet, his arm around her. It had all been so wonderful, like a dream.
She would never forget the night she had gone walking in the air with Jimmy Neutron.
-x-
Did anyone else notice Cindy's lack of shoes in One of Us? Odd.
Walking in the Air-
We're walking in the air..
Floating in the sky.
Floating in the air.
We're walking in the air,
we're floating in the moonlit sky.
The people far below are sleeping as we fly.
We're holding very tight
I'm riding in the midnight blue
and finding I can fly so high above with you.
All across the world, the villages go by like dreams.
The rivers and the hills, the forests and the streams.
Children gaze open mouthed, taken by surprise,
nobody down below believes their eyes.
We're surfing in the air,
we're swimming in the frozen sky,
we're drifting over icy mountains floating by.
Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep,
rising up a mighty monster from his sleep.
We're walking in the air,
we're dancing in the midnight sky,
and everyone who sees us greets us as we fly.
-x-