"Mom?"
Jenny burst through the house door as such speeds that the hinges nearly came off. She ran round the house, looking in the kitchen, living room, her mother's bedroom, and halfway through the garden before she heard noises in the lab.
'No surprise there, she practically lives there' Jenny thought with concern, 'maybe I should get her out more, she cannot just stay in the lab for the rest of her life,' she slowly went down the stairs into the lab, preparing what whatever condition her mother was in.
When Jenny reached the bottom of the steps, she was glad to see her mother awake, messing with a bunsen burner and a purple-ish potion. Nora looked very concentrated on it, probably making sure that it stays the right temperature, or something like that, so Jenny to call her from the stairs instead to alarm her and mess everything up that her mother was doing.
"Mother" she called
Nora was startled a bit, but did not drop the potion she had. Carefully Nora put the potion to the side and faced her daughter. "Yes XJ9?".
"I told you before mom call me Jenny" Jenny objected.
"Okay…. Jenny.. there is something you wanted to talk to me about?" Nora questioned in a motherly tone that Jenny rarely hears from her, while walking towards her.
"Am I able to feel love?"
That simple question stopped Nora in her tracks with a blank face, which made Jenny nervous of what she was about to hear.
"Well…." Nora started
"...Well?" Jenny asked
Nora hesitated before eventually continuing " it has been a long time since I had made you, six years ago, and I'm not sure how much of a teenager I programmed you to be. My main concern was to make a crime fighting robot with a teenage personality to keep the world safe, I'd have to look into your original blueprints to see how exactly I made and programmed you, if there is a feature you want Jenny, I'll have to look at it and make it for you"
"THANK YOU MOTHER". Jenny hugged her mother tightly
"Well then, go to your room and clean it now. It's still a pigsty, so I want it all cleaned up in one hour. I'll talk to you about what you want tomorrow."
"...Fine Mom" Jenny grumbled
Jenny dragged herself up to her room, on the way grabbing a black bag to shove all the oil cans in. She opened the door carefully, as she knew her mom would blow a fuse if she broke anymore doors in the house. She lazily dragged herself around the room collecting the oil cans that have been in her room gradually increasing as every day passed, and after five minutes, just threw the black bag out her window for the trashmen to pick up the next day.
Grabbing another can of oil, Jenny plopped down on the bed and began to think to herself ' How much of a teenager am I? I mean I'm built just like all normal teenage girls so I should have feelings, and be able to love, right? How different from a normal teenager am I?' All the questions floating around her robotic brain, but none could be answered yet.
Jenny pulled out her phone a dialled a number.
"Jenny?"
Jenny looked over to her window to see an orange-haired teenager on the tree ready to enter the window
"Oh Brad thanks for coming" chirped Jenny, inviting him in
Brad and Jenny went over to the beanbags at the side of her room, and sat down on each of them."Okay, what's the problem Jen? It sounded urgent from your tone of voice on the phone" Brad sounded worried. 'Worried over nothing' Jenny was thinking.
"Oh Hey Jen"
Jenny and Brad both looked at the window at the same time only to see Tuck climbing into the window after them.
"Tuck, what are you doing here? Jenny only asked me to come round, and only me" Brad cautioned Tuck
Tuck made his way over to Jenny's bed and lied on it. "I heard you on the phone to Jenny, and you suddenly went out, so I decided to follow you"
"Privacy for once?" Brad grumbled
"It's Alright, Brad. He can stay, I'd rather get a third opinion on what I'm about to say, it's kinda personal so can you not tell anyone about it" Jenny pleaded, while Brad just looked at her with his eyebrow raised
"That important, huh?" Brad asked
"Yes do don't tell anyone please" Jenny plainly asked
"Alright Jenny" Brad Started "What's wrong then? Is it popularity issues? Trouble making friends? Mother being tight to you?"
"None of the above, Brad"
"So what is it then?"
"Brad…" Jenny hesitated before continuing " What is it like to feel love?"
Brad stopped what all possibilities of what she was going to say through his head, and rather thought ' can she seriously not feel love, no it cannot be that' "Brad?" Brad was knocked out of his thoughts to answer Jenny. " What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I mean Brad. I don't know what it's like to love anyone, I have never felt what it's like to feel love as there has been nobody to make me love them back" she felt a robotic tear stream out of her eye, which she thought she couldn't do that. 'Learn something new everyday' she thought.
"What about Sheldon?" Brad quizzed
"Sheldon? "She paused" He was not my type from the start and he knew that, but I'm not quite sure how he feels about me now" Jenny sighed
"And why is that?"
"Well.." Jenny Started " Earlier, he decided to come up to me and say how pretty I was, and after the battle and Silver Shells disappearance, again." Jenny lowered her eyes then continued "I had had enough for that time and I just…."
"You just…?" Brad urged her to continue
"I just told him that I never loved him, I won't love him, and I would never love him"
"Wow… harsh" Brad bleated
"Let me finish", Jenny added , " he then said that he didn't know why he went after me in the first place, this, that and other, and said that 'You cannot feel love" which struck deep in me. Making me question if I could even feel love, so that's why I asked you to come over, Brad."
"Okay then soo…." Brad started
"Also" Jenny interrupted, " Sheldon told me that he was the superhero 'Silver Shell' which makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Shelldon, and Silver Shell. I'm honestly surprised that nobody knew about that."
"I did." Forgot Tuck was here.
"You did? Why did you never tell me" Asked Jenny, a bit upset that Tuck didn't say anything about it.
"Well Sheldon asked me not to say anything to you" Tuck replied, slowly backing away, concerned of what Jenny might do next. He didn't need the Future Scope to tell him that Jenny was getting annoyed
Jenny turned to Brad who was right next to him. "Did you know?!" she demanded
Brad put his hands up, " I swear on my brothers life that I did not know anything about Silver Shell"
"Okay then" Jenny confirmed.
"So Silver Shell, Sheldon, whatever, what do you feel about him" Tuck asked
" I didn't love him anyways, he just wasn't my Type" Jenny plainly replied
Brad put an arm around her for comfort. " Don't worry Jenny, you will find someone of your type….. Stop snickering" he directed to Tuck, who saw opportunity in his next few words for his brother.
"So what's your type then?"
"Type?" puzzled Jenny
"The type of person you are looking for" Tuck finished off, then got off the bed, walked over to the bean bags and nudged Brad, which he pushed him gently away, a slight blush appearing on his face.
"Uhhhhh…." Jenny trailed off, crossing her arms "you haven't given me any time to think about it"
Tuck rolled his eyes, "Duh, it's an interrogation" then said fiercely "Now answer the question!"
Jenny looked past the boys in a dreamy state, while her face getting more and more flustered as she thought about it.
Finally, she answered with " I guess, someone who is cute" which Tuck started making pointy fingers at Brad, for which he put Tuck's hand down, as she continued " Someone who is funny, someone who would listen to my stories, who wouldn't care that I was a robot or had powers, and he has to be sweet" Jenny stopped looking into the distance and looked at Tuck, who was going over to her lamp.
Tuck grabbed the lamp by Jenny's Bedside and shone it at Brad "Ta-Da! Brad here is all of those things, but we would have to make-do with his appearance". Tuck proudly announced.
"Tuck" Brad hissed while a blush growing on both Jenny and Brad's faces.
"Cmon Brad, can't you see how easy you two match? We know she likes you, you two are in the same year group, she gets super jealous with you. Remember how she tried to stop your wedding just so you wouldn't leave her? She finds you attractive, she laughs at your poor excuse for humour. And you? You think she is the coolest person in the entire universe" to which Jenny's blush increased "and I've heard you say Jenny's name throughout your dreams as if it's the only word you know, and you are always saying her name out loud whenever you have you door locked, so I cannot come in for some reason. Why is that Brad?"
Brad was redder than a tomato at this point, as he realised that his brother listens to him sleep and Jenny knew enough about human biology to realise what Brad does behind those closed doors.
"XJ9 I have time to do the test now if you want?" Nora opened the door. She looked at Jenny and Brad's flushed faces, and Tuck's grinning face. "Oh hello Brad, hello Tuck. Do you ever want to come through the front door instead of climbing through the window?"
"Mother I told you to knock! Also its Jenny not XJ9!" Jenny fumed
"Okay… Jenny… What were you talking about anyway?" Nora asked
Before Jenny said anything, Brad interrupted her, " She called me round because she said she didn't know what love was"
"Funny.. She asked me the same thing as well, and that's the quick test I want to run. Do you want to do it now Jenny?" Nora waited for her answer.
"Alright then, Brad and Tuck. Come watch."
Down in the lab, Jenny got into her seat for repairs and upgrades, while her mother brought out a projector. As soon as it was plugged in, the screen went blank.
"Is that a good thing?" Brad questioned
"In this case, it is." Nora replied, as she sat down with Tuck and Brad. "Now Jenny, I want you to imagine Brad, all the memories you've had, all the happy times. Every feeling you have had with him. Every feeling you have had without him"
Jenny closed her eyes, and started smiling as on the projector screen popped up thousands and thousands of memories, all quickly replaced by another memory, until the projector started smoking, and burning up.
Jenny opened her eyes and watched upon the projector with pure concern. " was that bad mother?" She asked
"No Jenny that was marvellous, it tells me two things"
"What?" Jenny and Brad said at the same time
"A: It means that you can love and can love anybody you feel like"
"Whoo Hoo" cheered Jenny
"And B" Nora carried on
"B?" worried Jenny
"B.." Nora stopped for a second before continuing. " B, is that the person you love, is Brad"
Brad froze as fireworks went off in his head as the girl he loved, loved him back.
Jenny looked at Brad, walked over to him, and brought him into a firm hug, which Brad returned gracefully.
"So this is a good time as ever to ask you something, Jen" Brad hinted
"What is it Brad?" queried Jenny
"Would you go out with me?"
"Yes, Brad I will"
Tuck looked Overjoyed that his brother was now dating the girl of his dreams, while eventually Nora separated them.
"It's late Brad, isn't it time to go home?"
"But Momm…." Jenny pleaded
"No Excuses, now go on, back home" Nora commanded as she gradually pushed Brad and Tuck to the door. Brad gave one last wave to a blushing Jenny before the door was closed on him.
Brad looked down to his brother, "Come on Tuck, let's go home, this has been too much to handle"
As they were walking, Tuck looked up at Brad. " Are you going to tell me what you do behind your locked doors?"
Brad simply replied, "Maybe when you get older Tuck, for now leave it." They walked into their house, and shut the door.
Jenny slumped over and started walking to her room, "You didn't have to that, mother"
"You two would of never left each other alone, now go to sleep, you can see him tomorrow Jenny" Her mother shouted after her
Jenny thought about it, and the sooner she got to sleep, the sooner she could see Brad again...
She jumped down on her bed, and closed her eyes, eager to see Brad again,
And fell asleep