The Cindy Challenges!
The day drew to a close as the warm sun disappeared and the night began. Jimmy Neutron and his mechanical dog Goddard raced to Jimmy's house after a long day of fun. They were just about home, when a voice that was very familiar to Jimmy shouted.
" Hey Neutron how's it going?" Jimmy turned and saw beneath the fading sunlight, Cindy Vortex grinning.
" Hey there Cindy" he shouted back nervously. Goddard barked as he saw a cat and ran off, leaving Cindy and Jimmy alone.
" So Neutron ready for me to beat you in our final projects tomorrow?"
" In your dreams Vortex" he laughed confidently " once again I am going to beat you!" Cindy smiled, their rivalry had become friendly over the last year and they were now almost the best of friends. Jimmy stared at Cindy; she did look beautiful in the sunset. He shook the thoughts out of his head and called for Goddard. He smiled once last time at Cindy and went into his house. Cindy continued to look at the space where Jimmy had been a second longer and said quietly.
" See you later Jimmy." Then she went into her house. Cindy lay there in bed thinking she had used to hate Jimmy Neutron and his dog. Nevertheless, the more time she spent with him, the more a little voice came into her head. Always saying that maybe he was not so bad, maybe she actually liked him. It had started about two years ago and no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, that she hated him, her feelings for Jimmy had grown stronger and stronger. However, he sometimes it seemed to her that he treated her as if she did not even exist. Therefore, she had been mean to him to disguise her true feelings. Why didn't he notice her? Then she had a brain blast! The end of year dance was coming up if Jimmy invited her, she would know he liked her. She smiled now she was sure Jimmy would invite her. After all they had been through, how could he not? They had been through so much together though, they had fought so many crazed supervillains together she had lost count.
(A.N: If anyone does know how many they have fought please say.)
Cindy was sure now that Jimmy would invite her to the dance. Wouldn't he?
Little did Cindy know that Jimmy did like her, and that he did notice her, and that he intend to take her to the dance. He was also lying in his bed wondering about these matters; he looked at Goddard.
" Goddard project the Cindy photos" he said. Goddard looked up and projected some photos. Jimmy stared for a while; there was him and Cindy laughing, him and Cindy at Retroland together on a ride, him and Cindy giving a science presentation, and, many more but the final three were the ones Jimmy loved. They were ones from the time he and Cindy had been stuck on an Island together, and they had really bonded. Jimmy looked at them longer than the rest. " Goddard end slide show." Jimmy said sleepily and he went to sleep. The next day everyone was presenting his or her projects. Cindy finished her project and the bell rang for break. Jimmy was next; he walked around the playground and heard Cindy talking to Mrs Fowl and Libby. "How long did it take you to do your project Cindy?" Miss Fowl asked her.
" It took me about three weeks Miss Fowl" Cindy said modestly " It has been quite time consuming." Jimmy felt guilty, all that time Cindy had spent on her project and he would be beat her. He looked at his own research and folded it up. He opened his bag and took out a folder marked emergency research. He replaced his real project with the other project and prepared to go into class. Jimmy began his project he talked for ten minutes, then sat down again. Mrs Fowl looked at him for a second then addressed the class.
"Now class" she squawked "The winner of the final project competition is Cindy Vortex." The class cheered and began to chatter to Cindy. Jimmy smiled at her and congratulated her like everyone else. Libby sat down watching Jimmy and noticed a sheet of paper fall from his bag. She picked it up curiously and gasped at what she read.
" Class" Mrs Fowl shouted " don't forget the end of year dance is only two weeks away!" The bell rang and the class was dismissed.
Libby ran up to Jimmy and cornered him.
" Missing something Neutron?" She said, smiling knowingly.
" What are you on about Libby?" Jimmy muttered. She waved the piece of paper in front of him and snatched it back quickly. " Hey that's mine" Jimmy shouted.
"But why does it say Jimmy's science project on it?" Libby asked him. " You have already done your project unless I don't know you replaced the good project with a bad one so Cindy would win?" Jimmy began to sweat.
" Why would I do anything like that?" He stuttered.
" Oh I don't know" she replied grinning " maybe because you knew how much effort she put in to her project; and your feelings for her couldn't bare for Cindy to be disappointed." Jimmy looked at her for a second before conceding defeat.
" Don't tell her Libby" he pleaded " please don't tell Cindy the truth" She stared at him for a second and smiled at him reassuringly.
" Don't worry Neutron," She said, "my lips are sealed." She walked away humming loudly. Jimmy sat down in his room after dinner and thought about he could ask Cindy to the dance. He looked at Goddard's monitor it said.
" You must really like Cindy to swap your science projects"
" Nonsense Goddard" Jimmy replied quietly. The monitor blazed into life again.
" You love her don't you?" Jimmy turned red.
" Of course not" Jimmy said. The monitor came on again
" You have been looking at the Cindy photos a lot recently." Jimmy became annoyed.
" Goodnight Goddard" He said. The robotic dog powered down. " I hate it when he's right" Jimmy said.
The next day Cindy and Nick met up on the way to school. Nick was the coolest and best looking boy in school, and Cindy was surprised to see him alone. Nick cleared his throat.
" Uh Cindy this may sound strange but uh well how would you like to come to the dance with me"
Cindy gave a gasp of shock; Nick never said anything like that to any girl. If she accepted, Jimmy would become jealous and have to ask her to the dance.
"Okay Nick I will come to the dance with you." Cindy said. By break it was all over, the school that Nick was going to the dance with Cindy. Patrick Trundle was rich, well super rich. He had joined school a year ago and had now heard the news about Cindy. He walked over to Cindy and asked her whether he could speak to her alone. She granted him his wish. Ten minutes later she ran back to Libby, and told her some horrible news Patrick had asked her to go to the dance and she had accepted!
" Slow down Cindy" Libby said calmly.
" Slow down" she screamed " slow down I'm already going to the dance with two boys and neither of them are the one I wanted to go …" She stopped herself before she finished the sentence.
" Ah yes," Libby smiled" and how is Jimmy?" Cindy looked at her in shock.
The day ended with the entire school talking of Cindy's decisions that morning. Jimmy caught up to her before she went into her house.
" Well Cindy" he began to stutter and become nervous like he did whenever he and Cindy were alone." I was wondering I mean its gone sound stupid now, but how would you like to come to the dance with me?" Cindy felt joy rush through her body, but she of course managed to control herself.
" I don't know Neutron" she smiled " you are facing tough competition" and she slammed the door. Cindy had never been so happy in her life. Who would have thought it? Jimmy Neutron asking her to the dance. However suddenly she felt sad for the others who had asked her, it was not fair to not give them a chance. On the other hand, how could she just cancel on Jimmy after she had waited so long for him to say something like this? Cindy sat for a moment contemplating it all and again had a brain blast! If she made up two challenges and one of them won both, he could take her to the dance. She emailed all three at once telling them that they had a day to get her a great present. The best present would win the challenge. Jimmy received the email and smiled, the Cindy challenges had begun!
Jimmy, Nick and Patrick were all lined outside Cindy's house the following day with gifts. Nick presented his first.
"It's a medallion," he said. He held it up to the light of the sun, it shone brightly it was not gold, but the untrained eye would not be able to tell the difference. Jimmy gave his gift next, she opened it up there was a machine inside it.
" It's a hair styling machine" he explained " it will give you any style of hair you want." Cindy gave him a smile, she should have known Jimmy would give a custom built machine. Finally, Patrick opened a box in it was a diamond. It sparkled in the light of the sun even more than Nick's medallion. Cindy was shocked, what a gift! For a second she was quite flustered, but she managed to regain her composure.
" I am sure all of you have figured out which is the best gift" she said. Jimmy and Nick nodded; it was obvious that their gifts did not compare to Patrick's present. Cindy looked at them for a second and began to speak again. " The next challenge is to prove how much you care you about me." The boys nodded and Nick and Patrick left.
" Hey Cindy" Jimmy said " so it's money and diamonds that win challenges is it?" Cindy looked at him dangerously.
" What is that supposed to mean? Neutron" Jimmy looked at her and said.
"I think you know what that is supposed to mean Vortex." Cindy gave Jimmy a malicious look.
" Are you saying I am shallow enough to let Patrick win challenges because he can give me amazing riches." Cindy went red in the face with anger. " Well that is not true, just because he cares more than you Neutron! In fact don't bother showing me how much you care, you don't at all!" " Fine" shouted Jimmy " I don't like you that much anyway!" He walked up to his house annoyed. Soon his anger turned to sadness. How could he have said that to Cindy?
" Goddard project the photos" Jimmy said quietly the photos came on. There it was again always him and Cindy enjoying being in each other company .A tear dripped from Jimmy's eye as he gave Goddard a single order.
" Delete". The dog was surprised, but did as his master ordered him. All the pictures began to disappear. Until three were left, the pictures of Cindy and Jimmy on the island. Jimmy looked at them one last time. " Delete them Goddard." The pictures vanished until nothing was left of Cindy and Jimmy's relationship…
That night Cindy was again lying on her bed wondering about what she had said to Jimmy. How could Neutron of not caring? However, he had never shown her that he did care she began to cry. How could she be with Jimmy now?
Cindy was explaining what had happened to Libby the next day, when Jimmy himself walked over to them with a look of intense dislike etched onto his face.
"I don't care do I? Well why don't you ask Libby? Libby I give you full permission to tell her what I did!" Cindy looked at her best friend puzzled as Jimmy stormed off towards class.
"What did Neutron mean when he said to tell me what he did?" Libby became nervous.
" Well you know how you beat Neutron at the final projects?" Cindy stared at her.
" Yeah…"
" You didn't" Cindy gazed blankly at her best friend. Libby sighed.
" Neutron didn't want to hurt your feelings, so he swapped his project for a worse one. That meant your pride survived. Cindy he lost on purpose, Jimmy sacrificed an science award for you." Cindy looked blankly at Libby's face trying to absorb the information that she was not the best that Jimmy was her intellectual superior.
" He sacrificed the award for me…" Cindy whispered. He did care, she had accused him of not caring about her and all the while he had allowed himself to lose, and be treated as if he was inferior to her. She had treated him like rubbish as if she was better… Then it hit her; she had to apologise to him, to tell Jimmy how she really felt before it was to late. The bell rang and all through class, Cindy kept on trying to catch Jimmy's eye but to no avail; he was ignoring her. However that was not only thing he was doing by ignoring her, he was breaking Cindy's heart. Lunch came.
" Neutron." Silence. " Neutron please" Jimmy did not even look at her. Cindy felt tears in her eyes.
" Please Jimmy." Jimmy turned around paying attention to her rare use of his first name.
" What do you want? Vortex" Cindy looked him in the eyes and tried to see the feelings she had for him in those blue puddles. However, there was nothing there. Jimmy looked at her coldly, with icy eyes.
" Get away from me now Cindy." The comment was cruel and nasty, and it made Cindy run off crying.
Jimmy gasped, had he just said that? Why had he been so horrible? The anger he had been feeling evaporated instantly, and just as it had done with Cindy, it hit him. He had to tell Cindy he was sorry, and how he felt about her. He rushed out of the dinner hall. Cindy was crying on a bench, he hated her. She looked up her tears glistening in the sunlight and saw Jimmy standing over her smiling.
" Hey there Vortex," he grinned " how would you like a ice cream?" She looked at him, searching for a trick. Jimmy grabbed her hand and she felt a spark of electricity run up her arm.
" But… But what about." He looked her straight in the eye and said.
" Consider it all forgotten." Cindy's heart soared, she knew he still had to win the challenges. However, what did that matter to Cindy? She smiled. That night three boys were lined outside Cindy Vortex's house. She looked at all of them and smiled at Jimmy.
" Nick you go first, how much do you care?" Nick looked at Cindy's face.
" I care so much I will give you my first skateboard." Cindy's face lit up with glee.
" A thoughtful gift." Cindy sighed, she would be called insane for this, but there you go. " Nevertheless it is not thoughtful enough" Nick looked at her and nodded. He knew that Jimmy and Cindy were meant to be, and took his defeat with great dignity. He did not cry or complain he just walked away. Patrick gazed at him before offering his show of affection.
" I have paid for a new hospital wing and named it the Vortex wing." He pulled out a contract, which showed he had done as he had said. Cindy was surprised but in her heart, she knew it did not compare to what Jimmy had done. Patrick and Nick had given her gifts, but that did not mean they cared.
" I'm afraid Jimmy wins this round Patrick" Cindy said. Patrick like Nick accepted it, he was aware of Cindy's bond with Neutron. Jimmy felt happy he had still had a chance!
" So that leaves a tiebreaker," He said " what's the challenge this time Cind?" She looked for a second before speaking.
" This time I want you to show me the time of my life" She announced to them both. Patrick nodded and then spoke.
" Yes Cindy I unfortunately cannot be with you for more than a day so Jimmy here will have the pleasure of entertaining you for two days." Jimmy grinned. Then they all went into their houses.
But Jimmy was soon at Cindy's door asking her a favour.
" I was wondering if you could look after Goddard?" Cindy was shocked Goddard always went with Jimmy everywhere. However, she agreed to look after him. They went in and proceeded to Cindy's room. Goddard sat there not saying anything and Cindy likewise. She was imagining what it would be like to dance with Jimmy. Goddard was imagining what it would be like to have a can of oil all to himself. They both sighed dreamily.
" Goddard does Jimmy talk about me?" The dogs monitor flipped open with the reply.
" Yes." Cindy smiled.
" Does he mention whether I'm pretty?" The monitor came on again with a reply.
" Yes he does." Cindy felt like she was on cloud nine but she had to have one last thing confirmed.
" Goddard does Jimmy really like me?" An answer appeared.
" No he does not like you." Cindy felt tears rushing into her eyes and excused herself. The monitor came up with another comment.
" He does not like you he loves you." But Cindy did not see that remark on his monitor. She fell asleep dreaming of dancing with a boy genius, and the genius laughing at her shouting.
" I don't really like you Vortex how could you be that stupid!" Cindy woke up sweating it had only been a dream, but dreams can come true she reminded herself. She checked her alarm it read one in the morning. Cindy fell back asleep, back into her dreams, and did not wake again to morning.
The next day Patrick took Cindy to the movies, to Retroland, he took her to the most expensive restaurant in Retroville. She had a great time and knew that Patrick liked her a lot. For the first time in weeks she got her mind off Jimmy and concentrated on enjoying herself. The day passed all to quickly for Cindy's liking and she felt genuinely sorry that he had to leave. She went upstairs and fed Goddard some oil. She looked at her computer it was an email from Jimmy. She read it quickly and was puzzled, why had he told to pack some spare clothes? Perplexed though she was Cindy did as she had been told and packed some spare clothes. That night she dreamt of Jimmy again, once again they were dancing together and Cindy was just beginning to relax. The thrill of the music, the speed of which they were dancing, the depth of Jimmy's sea blue eyes. She continued to look at him, never taking her jade eyes away from the blue of his own. Lost in the moment she said.
" Jimmy I like you a lot" He didn't stop looking at her " in fact I think that I lov…" A twelve year old girl woke up terrified. Had she just dreamt that? She had always known she had feelings for Jimmy, but never love. Could it be? Could she be in love with her greatest rival? The boy who for so long she had forced herself to hate. The boy who the very sight she could not stand yet, she could not bare to take her eyes off him. It was just a dream she said to herself, but again she found herself thinking that dreams could come true. The next morning her and Jimmy were in his hovercar travelling into the unknown. They both stayed silent during the journey, Cindy because of her dream, and Jimmy because whenever he was alone with Cindy he always stuttered and became nervous. Except for in one place. They landed on an island near the equator.
" Is this it Neutron?" Jimmy smiled at her and said.
" Take a look round Cindy don't you recognise this place?" Cindy began to walk around examining her surroundings. Then she saw it, a tree, with the words. J C 4 EVER, etched into the trunk. She gave a gasp, it all came flooding back. She saw herself writing those words in the tree, she her and Jimmy together alone. This was the island that they had been stranded on together two years previously. She turned and saw Jimmy looking at her grinning. That entire day was like paradise to Cindy her and Jimmy laughed, they played games and relaxed around each other. It was as if an invisible barrier between them had vanished, here on the island the friction between them was non-existent. Jimmy had set up two tents for them next to his fire. He had brought his revolutionary camping technology with which they could have all the privileges of modern life. Yet still be in the middle of nowhere.
" Goodnight Cindy." Jimmy shouted, the reply came back and soon both of them were fast asleep.
The morning was fresh and Cindy was greeted by the smell of a traditional English breakfast. Slipping into her clothes, she went outside and saw Jimmy cracking an egg into a pan, whilst keeping an eye on his toaster. Two glasses of fruit juice lay on the laid out table.
" Fruit juice?" Jimmy looked at her and nodded.
" Yep, made with completely natural ingredients." He pointed towards a tree, which Cindy could see had been stripped of some fruit. " Sorry I didn't wake you" he said " I thought I might as well get breakfast cooking." She smiled at the boy genius.
" You thought right, I'm starving." Soon both of them were enjoying a lovely breakfast. Jimmy stared at her thinking about beautiful she looked. However soon it was time to leave the island again, they had to get home to prepare for the dance. Not before they found who had won the final challenge though. For the final time, boys were lined outside Cindy Vortex's house.
" I have considered both of you, " she said slowly " for this honour but my choice is…" She looked at Jimmy who was smiling, then Patrick. She turned again to Jimmy who looked at her the smile disappearing as she hesitated. " Patrick." The smile vanished off Jimmy's face and he walked away glumly. Cindy watched him. " Patrick;" she began again " as I was saying a second ago. I'm really sorry but your not the one for me," she looked Jimmy walking away from them both, " you have never been the one for me." Patrick looked into her eyes and saw the truth. He did not grovel or beg her to reconsider instead he wished her luck and was driven away. She ran to catch up with Jimmy. " Hurry up Jimmy" she shouted, " The dance is in two hours!" Jimmy's eyes opened wide in shock
" You mean?" he said, pleasantly surprised.
" How could I pick anyone else?" Jimmy looked her in the eys and smiled and sure enough two hours later, one boy genius and the second smartest kid in town were dancing together. Cindy was just beginning to relax. The thrill of the music, the speed of which they were dancing, the depth of Jimmy's sea blue eyes. She continued to look at him, never taking her jade eyes away from the blue of his own. Lost in the moment she said.
" Jimmy I love you" Jimmy looked at her and whispered.
" I love you to Cindy" This time a twelve year girl did not wake up terrified.
( A.N: I hope you liked this story. Soon I will publish a new story that will be more action packed than this one called Revenge of the billionaire dollar boy. Which will see the return of the evil Eustace Strych.)