"Haunted House" by DeloresLovesJimmy. Just a short piece of fluffy happiness from me to you.
Disclaimer: if Jimmy were my little blue eyed meat puppet, I'd be a happy, happy girl. But instead I'm here writing fanfics.
The five of them stood on the steps of Lindbergh Elementary as a crowd of their classmates streamed past. "You want to what?" Cindy shrieked as Jimmy looked around and held up a hand to hush her.
"I want to prove once and for all that there is no such thing as ghosts!" At the word, Carl shuddered, while Cindy and Libby rolled their eyes.
"Everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts, Nerdtron. Only you would have to be so pedantic to have to prove it scientifically!"
"No, that's not true Cindy. Ghosts are real. I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy who once met the ghost of Abraham Lincoln!" Sheen exclaimed.
"Uh huh. And what did our former president have to tell him?"
"He said, don't go to the theater!" At this, Libby elbowed Sheen in the ribs.
"Look, Jimmy, you can go on your ghost hunting expedition without me! Ya'll can find yourself some spooky ooky but this girl has got better things to do! The Boys Who Want to Be Men are playing a concert tonight and I'm watching it on Pay-Per-View!"
Jimmy nodded. "Sheen, Carl, I'll need you to meet me at the clubhouse at...".
Carl interjected, "No way! I'm sorry Jim but my mom doesn't allow me to play with dead people."
"And there's a six hour UltraLord special on tonight, dude! You're going to have to fly solo, amigo!"
Jimmy sighed and looked at Cindy. "Do you want to go with me, Vortex?"
"Why, afraid you'll be eaten by a ghost?" Cindy and Libby laughed and slapped five.
"No! I just need someone to...help me with my equipment, that's all."
Cindy looked at him and her face softened. "Alright, I'll go with you Neutron, but I'm warning you, if this is another of your 'adventures' that gets me into mortal peril in a parallel dimension, I'm going to hit you so hard in the head it will wake up your barber!"
He waved her words away. "Just meet me at the clubhouse at six o'clock, Vortex. Oh," he added with a smirk, "try to remember your courage!"
The sun was just beginning to set when Cindy arrived in the Neutron's backyard, where she found Jimmy surrounded by electronic equipment. "When you said you needed help with your equipment I didn't realize you were bringing the entire lab!"
He glanced up at her and smiled. "All of this is going into the Hypercube. All I need you to do is man the camera". With this he handed her a digital camcorder imprinted with the Neutron emblem.
"Jimmy!" Judy called, and both children turned. "Please, be careful in that haunted mansion! I don't want anything to happen to you, sweetie!"
"Now sugar-booger, our boy can take care of himself," Hugh added, flicking the end of Jimmy's whippy-dip curl. Almost as an aside, he added, "But if you do have trouble, Jimbo, you know your old man will be here for you!"
Jimmy rolled his eyes at Cindy and she giggled. "We'll be fine, Mom and Dad. There's nothing to worry about! Cindy and I are just going to spend the night alone together in an abandoned, decrepit mansion on the outskirts of town, with no one around for miles."
Judy and Hugh looked at each other, and back at Jimmy. "That's kind of what we're worried about, son," Hugh said, with a glance at Cindy, who offered a brave smile.
Jimmy hopped down from the hovercar and offered hand up to Cindy. She accepted it and gracefully slid to the ground, dropping his hand quickly as she alit. They both looked away and Jimmy cleared his throat. "Um, here, you can carry this bag for me..." he said, handing over a black backpack.
"I thought you put your equipment in the Hypercube" she replied, her tone caustic.
"I did, Vortex. This is food and blankets. You do plan on eating and sleeping tonight, don't you?"
She grabbed the pack and turned towards the house, which stood menacing over them. She glanced back at Jimmy. "Um...why are we doing this again?"
Jimmy replied, mirroring her worried tone, "To prove there's nothing to be afraid of."
"Right."
They trudged into the house and unloaded their gear on to the dusty floor of the livingroom. Sheeted furniture surrounded them and somewhere in the house they could hear the slamming of a loose shutter. The room brightened as Jimmy removed an electronic lantern from the Hypercube. "First things first, we should explore the house and set up the equipment," Jimmy said, handing another lantern to Cindy.
She followed him closely around the dark rooms, occasionally bumping into him as he stopped. The stairs creaked as they worked their way up. At the top they found a large mirror, covered with the grim and dust of years. Peering in, they saw a pretty blonde girl and a cute brown haired boy standing together in a halo of yellowish light. Cindy blushed as Jimmy looked away.
"Let's start in the back," Jimmy said, reaching for Cindy's hand. She let him take it and followed him, her cheeks burning.
It was fully night by the time they finished investigating the house and setting up their equipment. Jimmy lit a holographic fire and heated some Neutronic Ready to Eat Meals, which they shared as they talked.
Cindy laughed as Jimmy recounted a recent adventure to Jupiter, where he'd met the Mush People, who, he said, vaguely resembled what the school cafeteria had served on Friday. The house was silent around them.
"Well, Neutron, it doesn't look like anything is going to happen", Cindy said once they'd cleaned up from their meal and changed into their pajamas. "Maybe we should just turn in for the night?"
Jimmy agreed and pulled two small cylinders from his backpack. Pressing a button on each, they sprung into air matreses, fully made up as beds with blankets and pillows. He positioned a lantern at the head of each bed and gestured to one for Cindy. "Good night, Cindy," he said as they dimmed their lanterns. "And um...thanks for coming with me."
She smiled into the darkness. "Thanks for asking me, Jimmy".
Jimmy bolted awake and looked at his watch. It read 1:42 am. He glanced over and saw Cindy was still asleep, a curl of blonde hair falling over her face. He remained looking at her until he heard a loud thump above his head. Leaning over, he shook Cindy's shoulder and gestured her to be quiet.
Crawling from their beds, they each grabbed a lantern and Jimmy lead the way up the stairs. "Neutron!" Cindy whispered.
"What is it?"
"Why is it whenever people hear a noise in a haunted house, they always go and investigate?"
Jimmy stopped on the stairs and turned to her. "What?" he asked.
Cindy twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "Well in horror movies, it's always after investigating a noise that the pretty girl gets cut into pieces. I just think, maybe, it would be better to let the thumping noise go..."
Jimmy grabbed her hand and said, "There's nothing up there that can hurt us." He smirked as he turned back to the stairs. "Besides, you said it's the pretty girl who gets it. You're safe."
Cindy pulled her hand from his and cuffed him on the back of the head.
Upstairs they found the rooms empty and silent. The thumping came again, and they clutched each other close for a second before Cindy pushed Jimmy away. He lead the way to a broom closet where a cupboard door was swinging in a faint breeze, making the thump they'd heard. Just as they stepped into the closet to secure the cupboard, the door swung shut behind them and latched tight.
"Oh, gas planets!" Jimmy exclaimed, pushing the door with all his might.
"Can't you just blast it with your watch or something?" Cindy said, biting her lip.
"This house is structurally unsound. A blast of that magnitude could bring the roof in on us, or worse. We're trapped here."
They both slid to the floor, looking at each other. "Why is it that I always end up trapped or lost or ship wrecked when I go out with you, Neutron?" Cindy said with a sigh.
"Who said we're going out, Vortex?" Jimmy asked.
"No, no that's not what I meant! I mean..." Cindy trailed off, her face burning again.
Jimmy turned his attention to his watch. "If I can just get a message to Goddard, I can tell him to get the guys to come rescue us." He pushed a few more buttons. "There! They should be here within an hour".
"Uh, Earth to King Cranium! It's the middle of the night! Even if Goddard can get to Carl or Sheen right now, it's not like their parents are going to let them come up here right now! We're probably locked in here until morning!"
Jimmy sighed. "You're right."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Well what should we do?" Cindy asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't really feel like sitting here for the next six hours staring at my feet. Can we talk or something?"
"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Well how about Betty Quinlan for starters?"
Jimmy leaned his head back against the wall and sighed to the ceiling. "What do you have against her anyway, Vortex? She's really nice if you get to know her."
"Yea, I'm sure you've gotten to know her really well. Little Miss Perfect!"
"She's not perfect."
"Oh, so you do know her really well!"
Jimmy balled his hands into fists and said, "Look! I'm not any happier about being stuck in this closet than you are, but can we please not spend our time in here bickering about Betty Quinlan?"
Cindy was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry." She pulled her knees up to her chin and rested her head, hiding her face from Jimmy.
After a short silence Jimmy said, "Are you okay, Cindy?"
She shook her head, not look at him. "I'm sorry, Jimmy. I don't mean to always fight with you." Her voice was muffled and choked.
Jimmy slid over next to her and put his arm on her shoulders. "It's okay, you don't have to cry. I'm not mad."
"No, it's not okay!" Cindy looked up at him and he could see the tears reflecting the dulling light of the lanterns on her face. He reached up and wiped them from her cheek. She caught his hand in hers and held it. "It's not okay. I shouldn't treat you like this. You don't deserve it. You deserve to be happy."
Jimmy looked into her green eyes. She still held his hand and he realized how very close they were. He could smell the lilacs of her shampoo and feel her warmth beneath her thin tank top. "I am happy, Cindy. I'm happy every time I'm with you."
She looked into his eyes and he kissed her, brushing his lips on hers. She pulled her hand from his and reached around, running her fingers into his thick hair and pulling him closer. Cindy whispered, "I'm happy every time I'm with you, too, Jimmy."