Author's Note: Hey how is everyone doin'? Yep, I'm back! With the long awaited 7th chapter of In Love and Death! I have one week off for spring break! WOOT!...? (God, I hate that word…)shakes head in disappointment Well, on with the story, I'll get chapter 8 up and soon as I can! R/R!
Disclaimer: I DON'T own Jimmy Neutron or any of the bandsor theirsongs that I used in this or any other chapter I write. I do own Mary and Jak, though! Who's Jak? You'll see...
Chapter 7: Mary's Tears
Walking away from that group was the best thing I ever did, and hearing Nick gag clamed me down…a little. 'Damn bastard disserved it!' My mind shouted as silent tears ran down my face. 'Now why didn't you do that earlier?' asked a voice. I looked around to see if anybody was there, but there wasn't. 'I told you he was an asshole.' I quickly recognized the voice as Jimmys.
"Yeah, you did…" I replied to it aloud. "Sorry I didn't believe you." But the voice never replied back. 'Figures…' I thought. 'I must be losing my mind.' Breaking from my train of thought, I could hear Libby's voice in the background.
"Hey girl!" she shouted running to catch up with me. "Why did you do that?"
"Did you even hear what that-that rat said about Jimmy!" I yelled. Clearly shocked at my out burst, she shook her head. "He said that his death was over due and that nobody loved him!"
"He didn't!" She gasped.
"Yeah." I said smiling evilly. "But I showed him…"
"You sure did!" She said laughing. "I heard what you said and then I saw him on the ground." She said after she stopped laughing. "What'd you do, kick him in the nuts?"
"He asked me how I felt about him so I broke a pen in his mouth." I replied simply. Then we both burst out laughing. Just then, Carl and Sheen came running up to us.
"Hey babycakes!" Sheen said, putting his arm around Libby.
"Not again with those damned nicknames!" She yelled at him.
"Yipes, sorry!" He replied backing away slightly.
Um…guys," said a very quiet Carl. "Mary's plane just landed, she'll be in school tomorrow…"
"That soon?" Libby asked. He nodded slowly.
'Damn,' I thought. 'Well, I guess I can't do anything today.' I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the Neutrons number.
"Who ya calling?" Sheen asked looking puzzled.
"Sarah." I replied. "Maybe she would like to see Mary with us after school."
"Oh…" he replied looking down at the mention of Jimmy's little sister. "How is she?"
"As good as she could be at this kind of time…" The phone rang for a few more seconds and then Mrs. Neutron answered.
"Hello?" She said from the other line.
"Mrs. Neutron?" I asked. "It's Cindy. Is Sarah there?"
"Hello Cindy, how's school?" She asked.
"School's pretty…crappy." I said truthfully.
"I'd imagine, and no Sarah's taking a nap." She said a little sadly. "She said she was looking for a recording."
"Any luck?"
"Nope, couldn't find a thing, is it important?"
"Jimmy might've recorded what went on down in the lab the day he died. I might have the killer's voice on it, also."
"I hope you find it."
"Thanks, could you, please, tell Sarah to meet us at the candy bar at three?"
"Sure dear, who's 'us'"
"Libby, Sheen, Carl, Mary, and I," I replied. "Mary just got home and she doesn't know about Jimmy."
"Tell her slowly…" she replied softly.
"I will…" I whispered. "Thanks, Mrs. Neutron."
"Call me Judy, dear, and good luck."
"Thanks Judy, I'll talk to you later."
"Bye."
"Bye." I said and closed my phone.
"How are they?" Libby asked me as we continued to walk down the street.
"Not too bad, but not too good either."
"Kind of like us…" Sheen said.
"Hey guys this is my stop." Said Carl, turning down his drive way. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye!" the three of us said.
"I've got some things to do today so I'll see you guys later, okay?" I said.
"Okay girl, Sheen's staying over tonight so call if ya wanta talk." She replied giving me a giant hug. I returned the hug saying 'thanks' and walked to front door.
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The next day was the day of truth. It started off normal…well, except for being late.
"Ah, Cindy," Mrs. Case said as I walked through door. "Glad to see you could make it. Please sit down and take out yesterday's notes. Oh and Jacob has been moved so Mary will be sitting in front of you from now on."
"Um…sure…" I muttered, see Mary wave at me enthusiastically. She was wearing a white long sleeve shirt with the words 'I Love Llamas!' in bold blue print and a pair of grey pants. Her cat-eye glasses where purple, a change from her old black ones, that went over her jade coloredeyes, and her red hair was in a ponytail. I smiled a fake smile and sat behind her.
"Hey Cindy, what's up?" She whispered to me slightly turning her head.
"Nothing much, you?" I whispered back.
"Same." She replied turning towards me some more. "Where's Jimmy today?" she asked. "He'd be thrilled to see you wearing that bracelet he gave-"
"Would you ladies like to share what you're talking about with the class, or can I continue?" Mrs. Case interrupted.
"Continue…"we said slight embarrassed. While the witch continued to ramble on about God knows what, I scribbled a note down and handed it to Mary.
Meet me atcandy bar at3
She gave me the thumbs up and continuedto pay attention to class.
After school I went to the Neutrons to pick Sarah up and explain to her the plan. When I rung the doorbell, I was greeted by a much better looking Judy Neutron.
"Hello Mrs. Neu- I mean Judy." I said brightly. "You're looking much better today."
"Hello Cindy and thank you." She said smiling. "I figured Jimmy wouldn't want me to mope around all day."
"How's Mr. Neutron?"
"Funny thing," She said giving a little chuckle. "He had the same idea this morning. At least we still have Sarah; I don't know what we'd do without her…"
"Is she here?" I asked stepping in.
"Should be down any minute, dear." She replied kindly.
Just then, little Sarah came hopping down the stairs. She was wearing a pink dress shirt with blue jeans and her hair was in two pigtails going out to the sides of her head, held in with blue bands.
"Mom, I'm going to the- Oh hey Cinny, I thought I was meeting you." She said, noticing me, smiling.
"Nah, I decided we'll walk together." I replied to her smiling back. "And I'll explain what we're going to do."
"Okay." She answered. "Bye, bye Mom, See you later." She said giving Judy a hug.
"Love you, sweetheart."
"Love you, too, Mom."
Ten minutes later, the Candy bar was in sight. "So Mary doesn't know about Jimmy?" The eight year old said as we walked down the road toward the bar.
"Yep and we've go to tell her." I said sadly.
"Leapin' Leptoids this is going to stink!" she exclaimed.
"Actually it's 'Leptons' not 'Leptoids'." I corrected with a smirk as I walked into the glass doors with an 'oof'.
"Open your eyes, Cinny!" she said laughing her head off.
"Yeah, yeah I know." I groggily said slowly getting up. "Just get inside."
"Okay, twinkeltoes." She said stepping in and smiling, but that smile quickly turned to a dreamy look. I, noticing this, looked to see what she was looking at. It wasn't a what, but whom.
Across the bar sat a boy about Sarah's age. He had, medium length, dirty blond hair hanging just over his ears, his bangs reaching right above his hazel eyes. He looked about normal weight, pretty fit for an eight year old, and his skin was a regular tan, like a kid who likes being outside. He was sitting at the table eating his ice cream while reading Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' and he also had 'Trigonometry for beginners' placed to the side with a notebook on top. He was wearing a plain brown shirt with white buttons going down the middle and a pair of white shorts with red and green DC shoes.
"Who's that?" I asked her giving a sly smile.
"Huh? What?" She asked dumbly, wiping the dreamy look off her face.
"The boy you're going goo-goo eyes for?" I teased.
"Oh," she said giving him the look. "That's Jak Saymor. He's a show-offy, smarty pants, nerd, who thinks he's better than me, But he's NOT!"
"Whatever, Sarah!" He retorted, looking up.
"He's not better than me though, we're tied…for now!" She yelled, giving him the look, and he gave it straight back.
I recognized those looks, they were the same looks of fake hatred me and Jimmy gave each other.
"Well, what do you guys compete at, if you not in school, yet?" I asked holding back from laughing.
"Nothing yet. He's just an annoying jerk." She said curtly. "But once we're in school, Saymor, you're going down!"
"What ever you say, Sarah." He replied with the same tone of voice. "What are you doing here anyways?" he asked as we sat in front of him.
Her face fell a bit. "One of Cinny's, this is her, Cindy is her name but I call her Cinny, doesn't know about what happened to Jimmy….if you have to know."
That shut him up right away. "I-I'm sorry, Sarah." He said downcast.
"Yeah, well, you should be." She said softly.
"I'm going to get us some shakes while we wait." I said seeing they needed to be alone for a few. 'Young love…' I sighed inwardly. I walked to the bar, but close enough for me to hear what they were saying and not be seen. "Three vanilla milkshakes, please." I told Sam, he nodded and was off.
"Listen, Sarah…" Jak stared. "I…I really don't like to fight with you. It's boring. And we have nothing to fight about but little stupid things."
"I don't either, Jak…" She replied, still looking at the table. "I guess I overreacted when I met you…you showed me up and I felt…well, threatened by that."
"How?" He asked slightly laughing.
"You're as smart as me." She sighed. "And I don't like being wrong, which I was, the engine blew up, by the way, like you said it would. And I overreacted. I guess you could say I was being arrogant."
"Then, why do we fight?" He asked.
"How would I know?" She said looking up at him.
"Because they like each other." Said a voice beside me. When I looked I saw Libby, Sheen, and Carl sitting next to me. "Just like you and Jimmy, huh girl?"
"I don't think it's going to be that same." I answered smiling and turned my head to keep listening. As I was turning, Blink 182's Asthenia started playing.
Last night it came as a picture Should I go back should I go back should I
With a good reason, a warning sign
This place is void of all passion
If you can imagine it's easy if you try
Believe me I failed this effort
I wrote a reminder this wasn't a vision
This time where are you Houston
Is somebody out there will somebody listen
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back should I go back should I
I hope I won't forget you
"Okay." Jak said sitting up. "What do you say about us being friends?"
"And when we get into school?" She asking, raising an eyebrow.
"We'll see how many times I can beat you." He said smiling brightly.
"Or how many times I can beat you." She said doing the same, but the look quickly changed to one of confusion. "Is it possible to be friend with a rival?"
My head is made up of memories
Most of them useless delusions
This room is bored of rehearsal
And sick of the boundaries
I miss you so much
His expression matched hers and shrugged. "I don't know."
"Hey Cinny?" She yelled turning to me. "Is it possible to be friends with your rival!"
"Yes it is angel eyes." Libby answered smiling. "Your brother and Cindy did it."
"Hello Libby, Sheen, Carl!" He said excitedly. Then her face turned to sadness. "Hello Mary…" she said and turned her attention back to Jak.
Should I go back should I go back should I
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back should I go back should I
This time I don't want to
Should I go back should I go back should I
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back should I go back should I
I hope I won't forget you
"Hey guys!" Mary said walking up to us. "How are you?"
"Pretty good." We said at the same time.
"I missed you, Carl" she said giving him a hug and a kiss.
"Missed you, too, Mary!" He replied smiling.
"Whatcha want to talk about, Cindy?" She asked me.
"We have to wait until Sarah's done…Oh crap, the Milkshakes, be right back!" I said grabbing the two shakes and walking toward their table. "Here you two go." I said placing the shakes down. "Jak…Sarah…hope you guys like vanilla." I said as I walked back to the others.
"Thanks…" the two said in unison.
Should I go back should I go back should I
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back should I go back should I
This time I don't want to
Should I go back should I go back should I
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back should I go back should I
I hope I won't forget you
"How ya gonna handle Mary?" Jak asked Sarah.
She put her head on the table and after a few seconds lifted it and answered "I don't know…" as a single tear slid down her face, she put her head back down.
"I didn't mean to make you cry, Sarah…" Jak said.
"It's not you…" she said lifting her head to take a drink of her milkshake. "It's hard…I don't think I can do this, Jak, but I know I have to." She whimpered as small tears slid down her face. "Cinny's practically a sister to me and Mary's my friend, I…I just…"
"I'll go with you." Jak suggested, scooting closer to his friend. "If you want me to…"
"It would help…" she smiled. "Thank you, Jak…" she whispered, giving him a hug.
"No problem, Sarah…" he replied returning it.
Meanwhile, the five of us were watching, but only Libby and I could hear what was actually being said.
"What are they talking about?" Mary asked straining to hear.
"I don't know, Mary." I lied.
"Who is that, Cindy?" Libby asked.
"Sarah's rival, Jak Saymor." I answered.
"They look more than just rivals." Sheen remarked.
"He's making her cry!" Mary said angrily.
"No…he's not." Libby corrected, watching Jak and Sarah hug and pull away. Sarah then looked towards me and nodded.
'Here we go, Cindy…' my mind said solemnly. Just then, Taking Back Sunday's New American Classic started to play in the background. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. "Okay guys, come on." I said taking a deep breath.
"We've got to get better," I said, "It's all in your head." Just ask the question come untie the knot
We could live through these letters or forget it all together
See the months they don't matter it's the days I can't take
When the hours move to minutes and I'm seconds away
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Retrace the steps as if we forgot
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Try to avoid it but there's not a doubt
And there's one thing I can do nothing about
As I sat down next to Sarah and Jak I saw the worried expression on the two younger kids faces. I smiled warmly at them and they smiled back.
"So," Mary said smiling. "What's up, Sarah?"
"Nothing much." She replied kindly. "This is my friend Jak Saymor!"
"Hey!" Sheen said.
"Hiya!" he replied.
"Cindy," Mary questioned. "Where's Jimmy, I thought you would have invited him?"
I felt Sarah's hand take my own and squeeze it. I squeezed hers back, as a sign of reassurance. "T-that's what we, uh, wanted to talk about." Sarah stuttered, trying to hold back the rain fall of tears at the edge of her eyes.
Seeing this, Mary sat down. As she did, Carl took her hand. "Where's Jimmy?" she asked him.
"He…He was-"
"-Murdered." Sarah and I said at the same time.
"What!" she reacted almost demandingly.
"Jimmy's dead, Mary." Libby said.
"I think I'm going to be sick."
"I know how you feel." I said putting a hand on her shoulder.
When all that we need is just a reaction Just ask the question come untie the knot
It's too much to ask for when there's no attraction anymore
If chasing our dreams is just a distraction
I want to remember when I know that I can't go back
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Retrace the steps as if we forgot
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Try to avoid it (try to avoid it) but there's not a doubt
There's one thing I can do nothing
There's one thing I can do nothing
There's one thing I can do nothing about.
"I'm so sorry," She said as tears ran down her face. "Sarah…Cindy."
"Thanks…" I said giving her a warm smile. I looked toward Sarah to see was crying with her, trying to smile. Jak, seeing this, took her hand in his and whispered "Its okay, let it out…" She placed her head on her friends shoulder and began to sob. He wrapped his arms around her trying his best to comfort her.
'She doesn't act it, but she's only eight, and going through all this…' Jimmy's voice rang into my head. 'She'll get through it just fine, Cindy, don't worry.' "Okay…" I whispered to the voice.
After everyone calmed down, the questions were asked. "How long ago?" Mary asked leaning her head against Carl.
"Two and a half weeks ago…" Sheen said holding Libby.
"How'd it happen?"
"That what Cinny and I are trying to figure out." Sarah said between gulps of her milkshake.
"Police said he killed himself…" I added.
"Yeah right," she scoffed. "Who killed him?"
"We don't know." I answered sadly. "We have no clues…"
"A tape recording is missing, so we're trying to find it." Sarah said finishing off.
"The tape…and Flower." I added.
"I'll bring her over sometime." Libby said.
"Mary, Jimmy left some things for you." Sarah said while digging through her pocket and pulling out a key and a watch. "Keys to the hovercraft and…Roxie, please come into the Candy bar…" She said handing her the key then spoke into the watch. Just then, a yellow dog, much like Goddard, strolled in and walked towards our table. "your own dog." She finished. "Roxie."
Just ask the question (just ask the question) come untie the knot
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Retrace the steps (retrace the steps) as if we forgot
Say you won't care, say you won't care
Try to avoid it (try to avoid it) but there's not a doubt
And there's one thing I can do nothing
There's one thing I can do nothing
"My…my own dog?" she said astonished.
"Yep, Libs got one, too." Sheen answered.
"Goddard's with you, huh, Cindy?" She asked.
"Yep…and I'll take good care of him."
"What'd you get, Sarah?" She asked looking at the little girl.
"The lab." She simply said. Jak looked at her very confused, noticing this, she smirked and said "I'll show you later."
"I want to go see him…" Mary said after a few minutes. "…to say goodbye."
There were few minutes of silence. "Okay…" I said plainly. "Let's go."
There's one thing I can do nothing about.
Kingdom219
