Feelings Come From Your Heart, Not Your Brain
[Taking place two days after Lady Sings The News.]
Jimmy's POV
It's been two whole days since I made the spontaneous decision to kiss my female rival in a dark alley and I can't put together the right words on how I feel about her. Sure, she's smart and she smells nice and she distracts me sometimes, but I'm starting to feel a whole new feeling toward the blonde-haired girl; a feeling much more different than what I've felt toward my long-time crush, Betty Quinlin.
Is it a bad thing that I no longer can feel an attraction to the girl I thought I was in love throughout my entire school year? Is it weird for me to start debating how I feel toward my rival, my enemy, my competition? I always thought we would hate each other for the rest of our lives, competing against who is truly the smartest, more intellectual being in this small town. Yet, something has changed between us. Some sort of invisible force, a force that I cannot battle with any longer, has come between us and has put a halt on our competitive behavior. Well, for the most part.
I've been through more with the blonde-headed demon than I ever thought I would. She's been there through most of my chaotic adventures, has fought by my side against some of my most dangerous enemies, and she's helped me in more ways than I can describe. And still, I can't help but to feel strange about the choice I made to kiss her sweet lips.
"Jimmy, open up!" The words of my hyperactive friend and the loud pounding on the opposite side of my bedroom door shot me back into reality as I opened my eyes to stare at the space mobile hanging over my head. Thinking about my feelings has always exhausted me, considering I'm much more of a logical thinker. I like to contemplate over facts and evidence, not over feelings and emotions. "Come on Jimmy, I bought the new Ultra Lord video game and you got to check it out!"
I let out a large sigh, and slowly lifted my head from my pillow. I glanced over at Goddard who was laying at the edge of my bed. I got up, walked over to the door, and unlocked it. Almost instantly, my bedroom door swung open and my two best friends barged right in. So much for trying to take the alone time to get my head straight.
"It has all sorts of new features and I read on the Ultra Lord fan site that the graphics are amazing!" Sheen shouted, as if I were a mile away.
"The video game would be much better if there were some llamas in it," Carl added.
"Would not!"
"Would so!"
"Guys, can you please not fight about this in my room? I could honestly care less about whether or not llamas should be added into the video game." I moped back over to my bed and threw myself onto its surface, staring back at the mobile.
"Geez, what crawled up your pants and laid grumpy eggs up your butt?" Sheen asked as he took a seat at my desk.
"Ugh, I'm sorry guys." I said. "My head is just a little twisted up right now, that's all."
"I know what you mean, dude." Sheen answered back. "There's no way I'm going to pass tomorrow's English exam. Miss. Fowl might as well fail me now."
"No it's not about the test tomorrow. I'm more than enough prepared for it." I turned over to look at my two friends.
"Then what's the matter?" Carl asked genuinely.
"Oh, oh I know!" Sheen exclaimed before I had the chance to explain myself. "It's because of Cindy isn't it?"
"Is not!" I lied. I shot up, grabbed my pillow, and threw it at Sheen, which nearly knocked him out of my desk chair.
"Ha, I knew that's why you've been locked in your room the past two days!" Sheen shouted. "It's because of that kiss! Jimmy's got a girlfriend!"
I could feel my cheeks warming up and I clenched my fists. This is why I never wanted to figure out my feelings toward her, because of the ridicule I knew I'd face from my peers.
"Sheen, stop teasing Jimmy!" Carl exclaimed. "I think it's nice that those two won't be fighting anymore."
"Well, I don't know about that," I added.
"Why not?" Sheen asked.
"Just because I may have kissed her doesn't mean she isn't my rival anymore. And it doesn't mean anything has changed between us. I'm still the boy genius and she's still the girl who thinks she's smarter than me." I explained.
"That's just crazy." Sheen responded.
"Yeah, I agree with Sheen." Carl added. "Have you talked to Cindy about it? I'm sure she has a different idea of what is going on."
"Why would you say that?" I asked. Sheen and Carl glanced at each other, as if they were trying to communicate with their eyes. "Somebody better say something."
"Sheen, tell him." Carl said.
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"Libby told Sheen yesterday that Cindy was really happy about the kiss and that she thinks this might finally mean that you guys are, you know, official." Carl explained before Sheen could say anything.
"Official? I kissed her and then walked her home. I'm still trying to figure out if I hate her or not." I said. "Oh, this isn't good."
"Well, if you think you hate her, then why did you kiss her?" Carl asked.
"I… I don't know. That's what I was trying to figure out before you guys came over and started going on about Ultra Lord and llamas." I got off my bed and started pacing back and forth. "I mean, it's not like I want to date her or anything, but I just felt this overwhelming force in me and I just… kissed her. Jumping Jupiter, this is going to end in one of two ways. She's going to end up being my girlfriend or she's going to end up beating me to a pulp."
"Dude, just date her already and get it over with." Sheen said, focusing more on the video game in his hands and not looking over at me. "Everybody knows it was bound to happen."
"Maybe you should just talk to her, Jim." Carl suggested. "Maybe that'll help you figure out how you're feeling."
"Ugh, I'm a scientist, Carl. I don't feel feelings. Everything that's implanted in my brain is pure scientific facts."
"But Jimmy, feelings aren't in your brain. They're in your heart." Carl responded.
I stopped pacing and thought about it for a minute. He's right! I've been trying to figure out my feelings by laying out facts but the truth of the matter is that I can't use science or physical evidence to put together the right words of how I feel. The feelings were in my heart and I just thought of the perfect way to get those words out.
"Carl, that's it! You're a genius!" I shouted.
"I am?" Carl asked, with a confusing expression on his face.
"Come on guys, we're heading to the lab!" I ran out my bedroom door, with Carl and Sheen following right behind me.
I ran through my backyard to get to the clubhouse. I was only a few feet away from the small building when I heard Cindy's voice. I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Hey guys, what're doing?" She asked. I sighed and turned around to see the green-eyed beauty and her best friend walking right toward us, both of them were beaming and seemed to be in a decent mood.
"Oh, nothing. We're just heading to lab so Jimmy can figure out how he feels about-" I interrupted Sheen's explanation to the two girls by covering his mouth up with my hand.
"Nothing!" I shouted. "We're not doing anything! We're just going to hang out in the lab!"
"Well, then why don't you invite us in?" Libby asked. "Hey, I know! Why don't we all take the hover car to the beach and do something fun for once? All you boys do is hang out in that stupid lab all the time."
"That sounds like fun!" Carl exclaimed.
"Yeah! I'm in!" Sheen shouted.
"What about you, Neutron?" Cindy asked as she walked closer to me. I glanced over at my best friends who were nodding at me as if they were waiting for me to give everybody permission to take upon this adventure. I sighed in defeat. As much as I'd really love to hang out with my friends, and even the girls, I really needed to work on this new invention I thought of.
"I guess it'd be okay for us to hang out at the beach for a little bit." I instantly heard cheers coming from my peers and they were rushing right over to the clubhouse to get to my hover car. "Guys, we need to get our swim suits and stuff before we go!"
"Already way ahead of you, Neutron!" Cindy exclaimed, as she turned around to show me the bag that I hadn't noticed she was carrying on her shoulder.
"We already packed a bag, just in case we were able to convince you to take us to the beach." Libby explained. "Now let's go!"
As soon as my hover car hit the sand, Carl, Sheen, and Libby hopped right out and started running toward the water. I was left with the girl who made me feel so confused every time I would just think about her.
"Let's go, Neutron," Cindy demanded, as if she waiting for me to get out of the hover car in order for her to leave as well.
"I'll be there in a little while. I have some things I have to figure out first." I pulled out a notepad and pencil, and started writing out the details to my newest, and probably most helpful invention yet.
"What are you doing?" Cindy asked. "Why can't you just have fun with us like a normal kid for one?"
"Cindy, you don't understand. I need to get working on this invention. I had no intention of going to the beach."
"Then why did you take us? You could have just been stubborn like you always are, and said no."
"I don't know, I just wanted to make you happy." I instantly realized what I said and tried to fix my error. "I mean, I just wanted to make you guys happy! Not you! I mean-"
"Forget it, Neutron! You've been acting so weird since the other night. Newsflash Nerdtron, you kissed me! So you have no reason to be acting weird toward me!" Cindy crossed her arms and looked away, a scowl forming on her face. It was as if she knew exactly why I was acting the way I was.
I felt really awkward now that she brought up the kiss. We haven't talked about it. In fact, I haven't even seen her since that night. She hasn't tried to call me, I haven't tried to call her. I almost started to think she forgot that it happened until Carl told me what she's been saying to Libby. Maybe Carl was right, maybe I should talk to her.
"I-I'm not acting weird!" I defended. "…Am I?"
"Weirder than normal, and that's saying something," she replied. She looked over at me and uncrossed her arms. "Are we even going to talk about it or are we just going to pretend it never happened?"
Shoot! There was no turning back from this conversation now. "What is there to talk about?"
"Ugh, about the other night, moron! Am I your girlfriend now, or not?" She bluntly asked, placing her hands on her hips. I could tell by the look on her face is wasn't what she intended to say, yet you can also tell she didn't regret saying it, either.
"Girlfriend? No, of course not!" She was not happy about that response.
"Bye, Nerdtron," she replied as she grabbed her bag and climbed out of the hover car.
"No, Cindy! Wait!" I shouted after her. I climbed out and started to follow her. "I didn't mean it like that!"
She spun around and crept up to me, poking me in the chest with her index finger. "Then what exactly did you mean by it? How many times are we going to play this game, Neutron, because there are plenty of other guys I can pursue if you don't want to date me!"
I moved her index finger away from my chest and backed up a bit so she wasn't so close to my face. "That's what I've been trying to figure out, Vortex! I'm trying to figure out how I feel about… this. About you and I, you know, being more than friends. That's why I needed to work on my new invention."
"How is one of your stupid inventions going to figure all that out for you, by reading your own mind?" She placed her hands back on her hips, waiting for an answer.
"No, by reading my heart," I replied. She looked a little thrown back by that answer.
"What?" She asked, with a puzzled look on her face.
"Ugh, you remember that invention a while back that could take your every thought and change it to music?" I asked.
"And then you started tinkering with it so you could hear what I was thinking, and made us switch bodies? Yeah, how could I forget that?" I replied.
"Well, Carl pointed out that feelings aren't stored in your brain, their felt by your heart; which he was right. So I figured if I could make a device similar to the one that could read your thoughts, but make it read my emotions from my heart, I could figure out once and for all the right words on how I really feel about… you."
"Really?" I literally witnessed her melt right where she stood. "You're going through all the trouble to create an emotion-reading invention, just so you can come up with the words on how you feel about… me?"
"Pretty much," I replied.
"That's got to be the sweetest thing I've ever heard, Jimmy! But… why don't you just talk to me about the kiss? I could have helped you," she said.
"I know, and that was what Carl said. He said you told Libby you were happy that I kissed you. Is that true?" I asked.
Cindy's cheeks grew red and I heard her grumble something along the lines of, "I'm going to kill her."
"Look, Cindy," I started, as I grabbed and held her soft hand. "I'm starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, I don't hate you as much as I've portrayed throughout the years."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah, but I need time to figure it out. I'm sorry if you felt that my kiss misled you in any way."
Cindy grew a disappointed look on her face and stared at the ground. She tried to pull her hand away, but I gripped tighter.
"But it doesn't mean that I don't like you." She lifted her face up a bit when I said that. "There's just… there's something my feelings are trying to tell me about you, and I really need to figure out what it is before we pursue this any further. I hope you understand."
Cindy smiled a little, and looked up at me. "I do understand, Jimmy. Thanks for at least being honest with me."
She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into tight hug. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her little waist. After a few seconds, she pulled away and gave me a tiny kiss on the cheek. "Now let's go have some fun!" She exclaimed and then ran off to meet up with the rest of our friends.
I smiled as I watched her run off, and then I followed right behind her. I guess my invention could wait an extra day.
It took me a few days to create the invention. It was a small, handheld device with a screen, microphone, and speaker. I really wanted to test it out alone, but everybody wanted to be there to try it out. Carl, Sheen, Cindy, and Libby sat on the couch in my lab and awaited the introduction of the newest invention.
"Behold, the Neutron Heart Reader! It has the ability to read how your heart truly feels about anyone or anything," I introduced the device to my four friends.
"Oooh! Do you think it can tell me how my heart feels about Ultra Lord?" Sheen exclaimed, trying to take the invention out of my hands.
"Freakishly obsessed, Sheen," Libby said. "It's going to tell you you're freakishly obsessed." Both of the girls giggled, giving each other a small high five.
"I'm not obsessed with Ultra Lord!" Sheen defended. "I'm just in love! You wouldn't understand!"
"Will it tell me how I truly feel about llamas or about Jimmy's mom?" Carl asked. We all gave him a shocked and horrified look. "I mean, uh-"
"Oh, who cares!" Libby exclaimed. "I want to know what my heart says about my funk!" Libby grabbed the invention from me and held it to her chest. "So, how does it work?"
"You simply talk into the microphone and ask your heart how you feel about a certain thing or person. It'll ding and an answer will pop up on the screen," I explained. I walked over to Libby to be closer to the device. "Neutron Heart Reader, what does Libby's heart say about her funk?"
The device started to shake a little and some smoke came out of it. Libby threw it on the ground. "Jimmy, your invention is defective!" Libby shouted as she choked a little from the smoke. "It could have suffocated me!"
"Nice going, Nerdtron! Yet another invention of yours that's just a complete dud," Cindy said. "Come on, Libby. Let's go to the Candy Bar and get some sundaes."
"Oh, oh I want a sundae!" Sheen shouted as he started to follow the girls out of the lab.
"Me too!" Carl exclaimed. "What about you, Jimmy?"
"Nah, I'll just stay here and work on this invention some more. You guys go ahead, I'll be there in a little bit."
"Suit yourself," Carl said and they all exited the lab.
"Ugh, why aren't you working?" I asked the device as I picked up off the ground. I grabbed a screwdriver and started tinkering with it a little bit. After a little tinkering, I heard a small ding come from the speaker. I looked at the screen, which read, Libby's Funk is Funkalicious.
"It works!" I shouted. I put the device on my chest. "Neutron Heart Reader, how do I feel about Goddard?"
Ding. Man's Best Friend
"Yes! I can't believe it works!" I exclaimed. "Okay, Neutron Heart Reader, now is the most important question yet. How do I feel about Cin-"
I was interrupted by my mom's face that appeared on my computer screen. "Jimmy, I made cookies! Come on out of your clubhouse and have a snack!"
"But mom, I just got my new Neutron Heart Reader to work!" I explained.
"You can play with your invention later. You've been in your lab all day. It's time for a break, dear." The screen then went blanked.
I sighed and put laid my device on my chair. As I started walking out of my lab, I couldn't help but to feel as if I were never going to get my answer if I didn't ask now. "Ugh, I need to know!"
I ran back to my chair, picked up my invention, and held it to my chest. "Neutron Heart Reader, how do I really feel about Cindy Vortex?"
I didn't hear any sort of ding, and the only thing the screen would say was 'Scanning…'
"Oh, maybe Cindy was right. Maybe this is invention is a dud," I mumbled to myself.
I threw it back on the chair and started to leave the lab. Once I got to my door, I heard a small ping from behind me. I perked my head up and ran back to my chair where the invention laid. I picked it up and I couldn't believe what it had said. It gave me every answer I needed to know in just two short words. I knew what I needed to do. I couldn't waste any more time.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and called my mom. "Mom, I need to go to the Candy Bar. It's really important that I talk to Cindy right now."
"Well, alright. As long as you're getting out of that lab for a while," my mother said on the other line.
"Thanks, mom."
I hung up my phone and then called Cindy. "Hey Cindy, are you still at the Candy Bar?"
"Yeah, your friends are trying to see who can eat a whole sundae the fastest without using any utensils or their hands. It's quite disgusting." Cindy said.
"Okay, well just hang tight, I'll be there soon. We need to talk about that kiss from last week."
"Really?!" I could hear the excitement in her voice. "I mean, uh, okay Neutron! I'll see you soon!"
I smiled as I hung up the phone. This was it; the conversation that should have happened between us a long time ago. I looked back at the screen and I couldn't help but to smile from ear to ear at the response I received from this simple invention. I can easily say it was the best invention I had ever came up with.
Those two words were exactly what I needed to see to understand exactly how I felt about my blonde-haired neighbor. It's as if those two little words put everything into perspective for me. It feels so much easier to admit everything I should have admitted already just by knowing exactly how my heart really feels about her.
She's smart, she's pretty, she's always keeping me on my toes. She's strong-willed, she's competitive, she's incredibly insane. She's exactly what my invention says.
She's Perfect.
Hi everybody! I hope you all enjoyed my very first Jimmy/Cindy one-shot! I had so much fun writing this and I plan on writing more! Jimmy/Cindy was my very first favorite TV shipping! I remember watching this show back when I was a kid, just wishing those two would stop their bickering and start dating lol I just wish they made more Jimmy Neutron episodes! It would have been great to see more of their relationship.
Any who, please review and tell me what you think about this story!
~JimmyxCindy976J :)