Author's note: Thank-you to those who followed and reviewed this story. It made me feel really good to get readers the same day I posted. Normally, it seems like my stories go forever without reviews. Anyway, I tried to keep the story true to the characters and universe while also maturing it up to the level that is needed to do a hurt/comfort fic. A lot of stories seem to get super extreme when dealing with touchy subjects. Please enjoy :)
Jimmy slouched back into his computer chair after she left, sitting in stunned silence for a long while. Despite what she said, the whole thing sort of did feel like one of those PSA skits the kids were made to watch in health class. This was way out of his territory.
The following morning, the entire 6th grade was gathered in the gymnasium. Schedules for the following year were handed out and the children excitedly compared classes with one another. This would be the first year that the students had class periods in preparation for high school in two years.
Jimmy was not surprised to learn that neither of his best friends would be sharing many classes with him. As much as he liked Sheen and Carl, they weren't exactly bright. Getting a gym class together was the best he could have hoped for.
He spotted her the moment she entered the gym. Beside her were Libby and Brittany, who were much chattier today than Cindy was. He couldn't make out what she was thinking and wished he had his moodective with him. The girls made their way over toward Jimmy and his friends.
"Hey Jimmy," Libby said, "Go easy on my girl, alright? You only beat her by a few points."
"What?"
"Oh don't pretend you aren't all excited to make her look like an ass in front of the whole school," Libby said with trademark sass. Jimmy's head reeled for a few seconds before realizing that Cindy must not have told Libby anything about the night before. He wondered if Libby knew anything at all about Cindy's situation.
"Ummm," Cindy muttered, forgetting just how many witnesses their bet had had.
Thinking fast, Jimmy responded, "Ah. We made … um other ah… arrangements," but unfortunately for him, the way he said arrangements sounded quite suggestive, causing the other two girls to join in on teasing the pair.
"Ooooo," Brittany chimed in, "Jimmy and Cindy, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Libby giggled.
Cindy and Jimmy both turned red before shouting in unison "Not those kind of arrangements!"
Libby and Brittany continued to laugh. Carl, who wasn't paying attention, joined in.
"You know with the way you two fight, it's a miracle you haven't already hooked up," Brittany said, earning her a glare from Cindy. Finding this even more amusing she added, "your babies will be smart AND obnoxious."
"Ugh, Cindy, can't you get your friends to be less weird?"
"Ooh, ohh! Can I be the flower girl at your wedding?" Sheen asked, clasping his hands together and batting his eyes. Cindy shoved him out of her personal space.
"No fair, I already called dibs. I look great in a dress," Carl said.
"My friends aren't the weird ones," Cindy said, "What is wrong with those two?"
"It's called character, Cindy."
"Oh, is THAT what they are calling it these days?" She quipped.
"I'll have you know that-"
"Just kiss each other or shut up already!" the others shouted in unison.
"Me? Kiss Neutron? No way, I'd rather -"
"You don't have to worry, Cindy, I'd never wanna kiss you," he said, poking a finger in her collar bones, wholly unconvincing as his eyes darted to her lips.
"Yeah well the feeling's mutual, brain breath. I definitely don't want to kiss yo-"
"We get it. You can't stand each other almost as much as we can't stand this bickering," Libby interjected.
"Well, you're the one who brought it up-"
"Whatever you say," Libby added, and seeing her friend's crimson blush, mercifully change the subject, "Hey, Sheen."
Sheen waved awkwardly at her. Dorky, but cute.
"Let me see your schedule. I'm hoping to find someone I have some classes with. Miss brainiac over there is taking a bunch of honors classes and I'm buggin'." Sheen simply smiled and blinked as Libby snatched his schedule from his hands.
With the schedule swapping taking the focus off of them, Cindy pulled Jimmy aside. Both their cheeks were still pink and warm from their argument.
"Neutron, I thought you said I was off the hook with this whole bet thing…."
"You are," he whispered doing a quick scan to make sure their conversation was unheard, "But my reputation isn't. We'll just tell people you agreed to be the test subject for one of my experiments. And that way nobody will question it." It wasn't actually what he had planned, but it was the perfect idea.
"Oh, yeah. That's smart."
"Yeah, well I am the smart one," Jimmy teased, trying to sound as normal as possible. If she detected pity on him, she'd probably yell at him or worse, get all sad again. He definitely didn't want that.
Cindy looked around to see if anyone was watching them now but nobody was.
"You know, if you want, you can actually test the latest …. whatever on me. It's the least I could do for … you know."
Jimmy smirked at her. She was rubbing her foot in the ground and avoiding his gaze. It was kind of cute and if he wasn't mistaken, the body language was a little flirtatious. It occurred to him that taking her up on that offer meant having her in his lab, alone. Plus, she'd do whatever he wanted. The smirk grew until he had a dopey grin on his face but she didn't notice.
"It beats sitting at home…" she whispered hopefully, making him realize that he was just staring at her without saying anything. He felt that uncomfortable pity for her again, making efforts not to show it on his face.
"Right. Well. . . I could use someone with a little more intelligence to test some of my new gadgets on. It'd be the perfect start to the summer. Alright, Vortex. You're hired!" He smiled, offering her a hand for a business-like handshake.
"Nerd," she said, bypassing his handshake and punching his shoulder. It was like many of their exchanges, except that this time, the punch had no force behind it. She smiled back at him.
Their conversation was brought to a close by the principal's boom voicing telling all the 6th graders to take their seats and prepare for the awards ceremony. Parents began filing in, taking seats in the bleachers, many holding balloons, flowers and cameras. The 8th grade cheer squad bounced in from the locker rooms and music started playing as the girls clapped and danced. It was a bit much considering their classes wouldn't even been in a new building, just a different wing.
Jimmy cautiously eyed Cindy's parents as they took seats among the audience. Her mom didn't look any different than she always had. Neither did her dad. Jimmy wasn't sure why he had expected them to suddenly look like villains but he /had/ expected that. The two were bickering a bit, in a hushed manner. But, now that he thought about it, they always did. It occurred to him that Cindy's dad might not even be aware of what had happened between his daughter and wife.
He saw his own parents not too far away, blissfully unaware. His dad sported a goofy grin and waved animatedly. They had balloons and among the bunch was a comically large duck. Jimmy waved back with a smile. His mom looked slightly embarrassed, no doubt by the duck balloon. Another parent complained loudly about the view and she shielded her face a little.
The rest of the ceremony was unremarkable. Afterwards, the new 'graduates' gathered for punch and cake.
"So, what shall we do with our new found freedom this summer?" Sheen asked.
"I say we adopt a Llama, and feed the Llama and pet the Llama and love the Llama -"
"Carl will you shut up? You are being Ultra-UNCOOL!"
"I am not. Llamas are very cool. Aren't they Jimmy?"
"Jimmy?"
"Earth to Jimmy - earth to Jimmy - This is your Ultra-friend saying EARTH to-" And then without warning, Sheen decided to smack the back of Jimmy's head.
"Sheen! What the hell?" Jimmy rubbed the back of his head.
"Jimmy - you are the genius, we need your help in planning our supercool summer."
"Sheen, don't you have to take summer classes?"
"I was hoping you'd take them for me," he said mouthing the word 'duh.'
"I'm not going to help you cheat. It's best to just learn the material the old fashion way. Through study and careful consideration, Sheen. Intellectual integrity is the cornerstone of civilization and-"
"Bor-ing! Besides, Jimmy, weren't you the one who suggested that we chew our books instead of reading them? That doesn't seem at all like the drinks my father likes…."
"Sheen, you're a genius! Well, I'm a genius," he said smugly, "but you have great taste in friends. I'd love to try a textbook gum..."
"Are you sure about my great taste in friends?" Sheen asked, pointing to Carl who was now talking to a stuffed Llama.
"Uhh…" But, Jimmy was saved by his approaching parents, who were joined by Carl's parents and Sheen's dad.
"Jimbo," Hugh laid a hearty slap on his son's back, "We're proud of you son."
"Thanks, Dad," Jimmy said with a smile.
"Hi, Judy," Carl waved with a wink. Jimmy's mom gave him an uncomfortable smile.
"Let's go home guys. I've got some science to do! To the- "
"Lab!" All three boys shouted together.
