FUNNY BUNNY

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finally, the grammar on this story's checked by my new beta-reader Jean (thanks Mum!). Here's another weird story from me to you, my dear friends. This one is actually dedicated to Karin-oneesan, and it's supposed to be for her birthday but it's been months since it passed. This can pass off as a very belated Christmas present for her (she told me so) but I'll still write for you folks.

This weird drabble is inspired by the song also entitled Funny Bunny by The Pillows.

DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I don't own JN. How sad.

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9: 34 P.M.

She stared at the red blinking numbers beside her, and eyed it angrily. She wanted to sleep already but she couldn't. She clutched at her stuffed panda more tightly. She rolled onto the other side of the bed, ignoring the bedside clock she'd just looked into seconds ago. She now faced a pink Hello Kitty lamp that was turned off, and there was a stack of books as well. Those thick novels she was supposed to read never got the chance to be read, leaving them to gather dust beside her lamp. She now placed her back flatly on the soft cushion and she was staring at her ceiling decorated with glow-in-the-dark heavenly bodies. She started to count the stars she placed there so that she could fall asleep but it still didn't work for her. Why was it like this? Why couldn't she sleep even though she had a rough and tiring day?

Recapping on the events that happened awhile ago, it was just another typical day for her. She failed to submit requirements for the school paper because her computer died on her and hadn't even tried to revive it. Well, she tried to fix it all by herself but it was something too difficult for her to do. She also failed on her Physics long test, her carelessness reigning over her paper. She shuddered upon remembering the large red D on her paper. She got spilled on her brand new white shirt by some freshman who was in a hurry. She shut her eyes in exasperation as she remembered how the Purple Flurp spilled on her shirt, and how the freshman student looked so aghast at that moment, all in slow motion. This happened to be typical for her nowadays, considering she lost her luck and she was doomed to fail in everything and be spilled on every white shirt she wears.

Well, those her were words. No one really knew whether it's just for the meantime or for the rest of your life. Besides, if one's really curious to know what the future held for him or her, maybe they should try having their fortune read…but Cindy Vortex didn't really believe all that crap. All she would say is, Que sera sera.

Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see.

Out of the blue, she jumped off her bed and threw on a pair of slippers. She decided that she would take a little walk and clear her mind about the things she just recalled. She grabbed the jacket sitting on her chair and dashed downstairs.

***

"Is it already that late, Goddard?"

Jimmy Neutron asked his robotic pet dog, who was ready to doze off in just about a minute. Goddard whined and gave off a metallic bark. The teenage genius stood up from his seat and left his latest invention on the table. "I'll just come back to this one tomorrow. Let's go get some sleep, boy." He bent down to pat his dog's cold metal head and the dog slowly moved out of its current position. They walked slowly out of the lab, drowsiness slowly taking them in. Jimmy just finished inventing another gadget, and he wasn't sure what would he name it. He also began to consider the events that happened earlier in the day. It was good, but there was something that didn't quite make it. As usual, he topped the class by getting the highest score on the tests that they had. He was a little stirred when it came to him that when he presented another invention of his, everyone listened to him and no one mocked him of it. He now stood a little straight, a tiny smile seen on his features. He could still see how his classmates looked as he discussed his invention, how they looked interested and how their eyes glimmered. He felt happy that no one gave off a negative comment on any of his stuff again…not even Cindy.

As he was about to open the door, he froze. Cindy wasn't her usual self today. Maybe she's not her usual self anymore. His mind frowned at the thought of Cindy changing into someone he didn't know. He didn't want that to happen, especially when he had already made up his mind that he liked her and was about to tell her what he really felt when suddenly, she acted unlike herself.

She became quiet, passive and distant from other people, including Libby. When he asked Libby of Cindy's sudden change, the dark-skinned girl just smiled and told him that she just wanted to think about things and be left alone for a moment.

"And aren't you afraid that she might leave you alone for good?"

"Nope. She would never do that, and I could feel that she's on her way to clear up her mind on thinking about so many things. She'll be back to her old self soon, that's for sure."

He still remembered that short conversation he had with Libby, and it made him hopeful that she'd be back to bicker with him and they would resolve it at the end of the day. He crossed his fingers at the thought of that.

"Oh Cindy…what happened to you? I want to know what's causing all of this permanent change…which is so far from what people know about you. I wish I could---"

He was whispering those words to himself as he pushed the door open, and saw the person he was talking about.

***

She didn't even know why she was standing at the sidewalk near Jimmy's house. She just bolted out of her house as quietly as she could, with her keys tucked in her pajama bottom's pocket and jacket wrapped around her slightly shivering body. She let her feet walk to wherever she wanted to stay, but was suddenly stopped when she noticed that she was standing near the Neutrons' residence. Had she really wanted to talk to Jimmy about the things going on with her life? Had she wanted to tell him what she was feeling about him now? Of all people to talk to, why him?

Of course, there would always be Libby to talk about her problems and other stuff under the sun. But why did she have that strange feeling that it was time for her to give Jimmy a piece of her mind? Was it because of the feeling she always had for him ever since and by giving him an idea of what she truly felt, she may be able to achieve what she was longing from him? Was that really it?

She shook her head to clear up the building thoughts in her mind. She took a moment to take a deep breath, and decided she wanted to talk to Jimmy, since she hasn't talked to him for months. She wrapped her arms around her and walked towards the lab. She knew that by this time, Jimmy wasn't even getting ready to go to bed yet, since he liked to create some cool things in his lab even if the dawn was already painting the skies with its rich and vibrant colors. She looked at the tiny clubhouse steadily, like a bull ready to run through the red fabric a matador waves in front of him.

***

Jimmy was still at the doorway of his lab, staring at her figure coming closer. He didn't know what to do as she was getting closer, and remained still. He would just welcome her into his lab with open arms, or even ask her to walk around the town with him if she wanted to. He became aware that his drowsiness drifted away when he thought of her, and now he was widely awake that she was now staring at his face funnily.

"Boo."

She gave him a small punch on the shoulder and he was out of his trance. "I'm sorry if I drifted off…" He rubbed his arm out of embarrassment. They stood still at the doorway to the lab. "Mind if we take a walk around town tonight? You know, just to look how things look at night?" Cindy broke off the awkward silence and offered a hand to him. He looked at her hand, then at her face. She smiled at him, and he could tell that it was genuine. He felt butterflies settle into his stomach as he gave his hand to her and found himself walking side-by-side with her, Goddard behind him. Their hands clasped and soon they felt each other's hand gripping on the other.

***

Few minutes had passed and they were now walking inside the park. Their hands were still interlocked with each other and they had silence accompanying them (and Goddard still trotting behind their backs). They wanted to say a lot of things to each other, but couldn't find a point where to start. She wanted to tell him how her life had been, how she had run out of luck and how unlucky she was nowadays. He wanted to talk to her about her problem and the way she was acting now, and even help her to fix it. They just couldn't find the words to say.

They soon settled on the bench, sitting on it as they faced the large tree that was main piece of the park. "Uhm, Cindy…there's something I want to talk about." This time, Jimmy broke off the silence overshadowing them. She looked at him sadly, though she did not completely express it. Her eyes wholly sparked of her true feeling of misery, yet her mouth repudiated to frown and she bit it instead. "Let me guess: is it about the way I act around you now?"

He chuckled at her guess. "You always get it right on the first try."

"Well, as if I couldn't help it. It was written all over your face."

"Really? But why is it that I'm not able to read your face when there's a look written all over it?"

"Maybe it's because you don't really know me at all."

He felt a sharp pain in his heart. He was taken aback at what she said. Not that he really knew her, but he felt that he was somehow close to getting to know the real her. He felt hurt when those words came out of her mouth. He looked at his own palms and tried to think of something to say.

"Well, I'm sorry for saying that, it's just that…I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to speak to you about anything, and knowing from you that you can't read what's written all over me makes me think that you don't know me well enough, but it's true." She tilted his chin to look up at her and he saw tears coming out of her eyes. His face creased with worry and he began to wrap his arms around her waist. She buried her face in his chest and began to cry. He used his other arm to caress her back and let the other one wrap her in a warm embrace. After a few minutes, she slowly broke off from his hug and looked at his face. "Jimmy, I'm so sorry if I distanced myself away from you that you never got the chance to know me better. It's just that…I have so many issues that I wanted to think about it and sort it out, but I never fixed it just by thinking of it alone. This time, I want to tell you all of it, and I don't need you to help me with this, I just want you to listen."

***

After of what could be half an hour, she told him of the things he missed out on her and what he wanted to hear from her. They were now in a warm embrace, her head leaning on his chest and his arms snugly wrapped around her. "Aw Cind, I missed talking to you." He whispered, stroking strands of her golden mane from falling into her face. "Don't you mean arguing with me? We never had a decent talk like this before. No badmouthing and just talking like ordinary people." She moved her arms from his neck down to his waist. She buried her face into his chest again and mumbled something.

"What?" Jimmy lowered his head to hear her incoherent words.

"I wish that we'd just be like this forever. I mean, we're in good terms and we're not arguing anymore. As they had said, our arguing is just a mask we're putting on to mask our true feelings for each other. Maybe it's about time to take it off of our faces." She looked up at his face this time, her eyes twinkling and her mouth forming a happy curve. "I think I get what you mean. Well, I don't mind taking off that mask and reveal my true self to you…or reveal my true feelings for you, for that matter." He moved his face closer to hers, and took in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and felt his being pressed on her completely.

"I love you, Cindy."

At first, she was touched, but by the time she had taken into account of what happened to them awhile ago, it made her giggle, and now she found herself laughing. She took her arms off his waist and her body moved freely as her laughter shook her lithe body. He stared at her with a contemptuous look in his eye as she continued to laugh. "Hey, I thought that we should take off our masksand show our true selves or feelings to each other and here you are, laughing as I told you how I really felt!" He felt his temper rise and his cheeks turned bright red. She stopped laughing and looked at him smiling. "Yes, I know that but…it just makes me thishappy to know that the person I've been in love with also loves me. Aw Jim, don't take this negatively, it's just that I'm really happy. Sorry if I acted really weird like that, suddenly laughing after a confession."

"Well, it's not my fault you turned into this weirdo…but weirdo or not, I'll still like you. You don't even know how concerned I was about you when you suddenly changed. But now, I feel relieved to know what your problems were and I can finally sleep well tonight."

"You can't sleep well with the thought of me and my issues? Neutron, are you really trying to make me go nuts? Now that is funny!"

She burst out into laughter again, and this time Jimmy silenced her by kissing her on the lips. Her body went still as his arms tightened around her waist. Her arms were back around on his neck again and their lips pressed harder. They savored each other for a moment, their lips making up for the lost time.

Goddard watched the scene and barked in delight. His screen popped up with a message saying, "FINALLY!".

Ah, indeed it was.

***

They were now on their way back to their houses. It was already 11: 33 in the evening and if they don't come back by midnight, then they had to face consequences their parents might have prepared for them, if ever they were still awake. Their arms were slung on each other's shoulders and their faces were closely pressed to the side. They were looking down on the pavement as they walked; silence once again taking charge of the situation. This time, the silence they had wasn't anymore awkward, it was more of a silence that was meant to build more harmony and bring them closer together. They looked at each other's feet as they crossed the road. "What the heck are you wearing on your feet? It's hideous."

Jimmy's eyes twitched at her pink fluffy slippers. "It's actually a pair of bunny slippers, dude. What does it look like to you?" Cindy glared at him, feeling a little hurt as he mocked her slippers. "Really? Those are bunnies? It kind of looks like a dog to me. The creators of those slippers didn't get those ears right, you know. A bunny's ears should be long and upright, not droopy."

"What do you care about their ears? It's just a pair of bunny slippers and it shouldn't mean that it should look exactly like it! But if you want to create the perfect pair of bunny slippers, then you should cut off two bunny heads and stick them on your fluffy slippers if you're that SPECIFIC!"

Ah, as Libby said, she'll be back to her old self in no time.

The Cindy who always got infuriated easily, talked loudly and was really annoying...isnow back into the scene.

"But your bunny slippers really look like dogs to me! Maybe I should go to where your slippers were manufactured and have them corrected!"

"UGHHH! You don't have to do that! I'm perfectly contented with them and what do you care about making slippers anyway?"

"If I were to make a pair of slippers, I'd made them comfortable to walk to and look cute both at the same time. But your slippers? It's the most repugnant thing I've ever seen in the history of slippers."

"Can we stop talking about slippers? It's not much of a topic to talk about, you know."

"Aw, come on! Are you giving up on me? Ran out of things to say? Then it means you can't really finish off a good argument with me. How sad."

Cindy gritted her teeth and stopped walking. She took one of her slippers and smacked him on the head. "I hope the dirt on the soles of my slipper would be stuck on your stupid, gargantuan head!" But before she could say anything else, he scooped her up in his arms and he carried her bridal-style. She still held on the slipper she used to smack him on her hand and the other one was wrapped around his neck. She was quite dazed at what he did and remained soundless as he traipsed on their way home. A smug smile was seen on his face as she looked at him. She grimaced and smacked him again with her slipper. "I'm going to get you someday, Neutron. I'm going to finish a good argument with you, you'll see."

His smile got bigger and he let out a tiny laugh. "I'll wait for that."

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Reviews, please?