Remember - reviews make the world go round :) I love to read your thoughts so if you leave a review of any kind, I will most likely take the time to reply - so go ahead with any questions, too. One of my favorite things to do is give reviewers a few hints towards what might happen in future chapters!

This chapter starts out with Cindy's POV. You may notice her feelings starting to develop slowly...and she hates it. Enjoy!

Dangerous

After a busy - yet uneventful - weekend of working at The Vibe and catching up on schoolwork, I lay in bed late Sunday night, unable to sleep. Tomorrow would be when I found out if I made the cheerleading squad. My entire stomach felt like it was made of knots, so naturally I found myself to be wide awake and with nothing to do other than think a million thoughts that up until right now, I'd successfully pushed to a hidden corner of my brain.

I was surprised at how well the dinner with William had went on Friday night. His wife, Rebecca, was extremely nice to me, asking about school and my future plans and about my friends. Of course I'd held small conversations with her before but I hadn't realized how vastly different she was from my own mother: warm, caring, and generous. For a few moments during dinner, I'd felt like the situation I have found myself in was completely normal. I was just having dinner with my dad and stepmom - but then I remembered that he wasn't really my dad, and it was all just a show - covering up a lifelong lie.

Then, I ran into the last person I had wanted to see in that moment - Jimmy Neutron. I hadn't realized that he was there with Betty. Luckily, I didn't have to interact with Quinzilla herself, but I had managed to catch a glance of them just before they left the restaurant. Watching them sitting closely, talking to each other and seemingly having a good time set alight a spark of anger inside of me but I had squashed it down.

It wasn't until I had returned home after walking Humphrey at the end of the night that I realized I had been wearing Jimmy's jacket all damn night. In a hurry after tryouts to get ready for dinner, I had just thrown it on. Knowing that I was just casually wearing his jacket in public and he had caught me was more than a little embarrassing. In the back of mind, I knew it wasn't mine and I needed to return it like I had returned his other jacket. But it was comfortable, smelled good, and was just big enough on me to make me feel cozy. Since Jimmy never said anything, I figured it couldn't hurt to keep it for a little while longer.

I turned over on my side and gazed out the window, noticing that a light was on upstairs at the Neutron household. Jimmy's room - he must still be awake, probably up late in his lab working on something and was just now going to sleep.

As if he could hear my thoughts, the light turned off suddenly, but the memory of it behind my eyes still burned brightly. It reminded me of the aftermath of the bright flash of a camera.

Humphrey snuggled up behind my legs, taking up most of the bed with his sizable weight. He let out a contented, tired dog-sigh and I couldn't help but smile. I was glad that my dog and my neighbor - that I couldn't stop thinking about - were both able to sleep soundly.

I thought again about cheerleading tryouts and tried to reassure myself about the results. They had gone well, this I knew. I had practiced so much that the routines were surely ingrained in my brain forever. Knowing that Betty Quinlan had mentioned to Jimmy that I was a cheerleader-hopeful made nervous and angry at the same time. I hadn't told anyone but Libby I was trying out for a reason. I wasn't sure how people would react, and that included Jimmy and his little friends.

The thought of Jimmy's reaction, though, made me smile. He hadn't been judgmental or condescending in the slightest. Not that Jimmy was usually outright cruel or mean - lately his insults were more playful than anything else - but I had expected something. A joke, laughter, or maybe even just surprise, but there was nothing except calm acceptance. The annoying genius that was already plaguing my thoughts on a daily basis was now starting to do things that made me feel warm and happy on the inside - something that I wasn't exactly used to feeling.

I tried squashing those feelings down, too, but it was useless. I fell asleep feeling like I was on a cloud.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Even though I woke up absolutely exhausted on Monday morning, I still went to school with my head held high and a massive amount of concealer on my face to hide the tiredness. I was still anxious, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. It would all be over in a while anyway, after I knew what my fate was.

I stopped at my locker but was interrupted by an excited Libby clutching my arm. "Well?!" She asked, holding my arm so tightly that her knuckles were practically white.

I shook her off and just smiled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "I don't know yet. I mean, I did just walk into the building about thirty seconds ago."

She rolled her eyes at me, but her eyes widened as she looked at something that was behind me. "Looks like you're about to find out," she stage-whispered, and I turned around to look.

Coach Kathy was just a few feet down the hallway, holding what looked like a stack of stiff, clean cheerleader uniforms. My heart lept up to my throat and I tried to calm myself down - I didn't actually want to be a cheerleader. I wanted money for school and this was just one way to get it. No big deal.

Kathy was stopping at a locker here and there, bellowing out names she was reading from a list, or would directly stop a girl as she was walking, and I recognized them all from tryouts on Friday. She was being followed by Betty and a few other cheerleaders. I noticed that she would signal Betty, who would either hand them a uniform without a word, or she would say something to them and shake her head. She was nearly to my locker when she stopped another girl, who was looking at her hopefully. Kathy just shook her head and the girl ran off, looking devastated.

I glanced at Libby, who looked a little bemused. "She must be a tough lady," she commented and I nodded.

Kathy swung her head and looked directly at me. She looked down at the paper in her hands, briefly and opened her mouth, "Cindy Vortex!"

I jumped, even though I knew exactly what was coming. She grabbed the remaining uniform from Betty's hand and shoved it towards me. I grabbed it quickly to keep it from dropping onto the ground ungracefully.

"I gotta admit, Vortex, you seemed really spunky at tryouts on Friday. I can see a real future for you within my squad," she said.

I practically dropped the uniform in shock. "Really?"

She didn't say anything in response and I had a feeling she wasn't used to being questioned. She just glanced at Betty, who handed me a large packet holding several papers.

"Those are our practice schedules, team handbook and rules, and of course the game schedule," Betty said, smiling at me. All I could do was nod, feeling a little overwhelmed. "If you have any questions, you can always ask me. I'm going to be team captain this year-"

Kathy held a hand up, stopping Betty mid sentence. "Wait one second there, buttercup. I haven't chosen team captain yet. In fact, I wouldn't get too comfortable," she put her hands her hips and smacked her gum, looking at me thoughtfully. "You might have yourself some competition here."

She winked at me and started walking away, yelling, "Welcome to the squad!" over her shoulder. I looked over at Betty, who had a completely blank expression on her face. Her body language said a completely different story, however; her hands were clutching the rest of her packets tightly, crumpling the papers within them. Her shoulders looked tense and her eyes were glaring at me fiercely.

After a moment, she shot a tight smile, insincere smile and walked off in the same direction as Kathy had.

I let out a deep breath that I hadn't realized I was holding, relief flooding over me like a wave. I stared at the crisp white and blue uniform in my hands in disbelief. I'd made it.

Libby nudged me and I looked at her.

"That's one scary bitch. Did you see the look she gave you?" I knew she was talking about Betty.

I carefully placed the uniform and papers in my locker, shutting it firmly. "Yeah, I saw that. I don't know what her problem is," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well I knew that already, but aren't you a little worried that she's gonna take her anger out on you?" Libby replied while lifting a brow.

I hefted my backpack over my shoulder and we set off for class. I had a new spring in my step and couldn't wait to get home to tell my mom that I'd made the squad. She would be so happy. Quinzilla and her sudden anger issues couldn't touch what I was feeling right now.

"I'm not scared of Betty Quinlan."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jimmy

I was sitting in my first period classroom, talking to Sheen as we waited for class to start, when Libby and Cindy walked in together. Sheen immediately stopped talking and waved to Libby, who just smiled at him and waved back, looking slightly embarrassed.

I glanced up at Cindy as she walked by my desk and saw she looked the happiest I'd seen her in awhile. I was pretty sure she was actually smiling. She took her now-usual seat behind Betty's and caught my eye for a split second, the happy look on her face unfaltering.

The tardy bell rang and the room was filled with the sounds of everyone shuffling their books and papers. It wasn't until a few moments later that I realized that Betty still wasn't in class.

I couldn't help but watch the clock during the whole class period while wondering where Betty was. I had concluded quickly that the reason Cindy looked so happy was because she had made the cheerleading squad.

I had spent all weekend juggling thinking about Betty and trying to figure out what was going on with Cindy but I had no solid ideas. Whatever reason she had for joining the squad - she was apparently damn happy about it. Her joy, even though while sitting behind me, felt palpable and contagious. I was a little worried about Betty but more than that, I was happy that Cindy was happy.

Betty still wasn't at school just before lunch and it was obvious that she wasn't going to be showing up anytime soon. I used my phone to send a quick text to her while I stood at my locker. Phones weren't allowed to be used by students during school hours, but that rule was only strictly enforced during class times.

She texted me back almost immediately: Not feeling too well today so I went home. You're so sweet to worry about me, I'll be back tomorrow! This was followed with a few of those heart-eyed and kissy-face emojis she loved to use.

I walked to lunch with Sheen and Carl. Sheen was raving about a new Ultra Lord special that was supposed to be airing this weekend and Carl was musing about how Ultra Lord was still popular enough to warrant yet another television special. I tried to stay out of the argument.

Cindy and Libby were already seated at our table when we sat down, but Cindy was only drinking coffee as Libby ate her lunch.

"Everyone needs to congratulate Cindy on her big news today," Libby said immediately as we sat down, and Cindy shot her a glare without any real heat behind it.

"Shut your trap, Libby," she said.

"What good news?" Sheen asked loudly, and Cindy sighed.

Libby clapped her hands together excitedly, "She made the cheerleading squad!"

Sheen and Carl started clapping along with Libby and Cindy buried her face in her hand, her cheeks turning slightly pink. She glanced at me and I grinned at her.

"Okay, but I'm confused. How is the meanest girl in school going to be a cheerleader? Aren't they supposed to be nice?" Sheen exclaimed, and I elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. He yelped. "What was that for?"

"I hate to admit this because we all know her ego is pretty big already, but I'm sure Vortex will be a great cheerleader," I said, and she shot me a grateful look.

"Yeah," Carl agreed. "Cheerleaders just have to be pretty and loud. You're both of those, Cindy."

"Well...thanks, Carl," Cindy said, looking surprised.

"Carl, I think you meant loud and obnoxious," Sheen said while laughing. Cindy quickly slid Carl's food off of his tray and onto the table safely, before picking up the tray and proceeding to smack Sheen with it repeatedly. It took a few moments for me to wrangle the tray out of her hands and for Libby to quiet Sheen's screams of The devil cheerleader is killing me but everything quieted down fairly quickly, and our lunch hour ended without many more issues. All of the faculty members in the cafeteria ignored us, knowing this was a regular occurrence.

I ended up next to Cindy as she dumped her empty coffee cup in the trash as I was emptying my tray. "Congratulations, by the way. I told you you'd make it," I told her as we walked out of the cafeteria.

"For once you were right, Nerdtron," she quipped, but her happy expression betrayed her words. "Thank you." She was smiling at me beautifully, green eyes shining brighter than usual. She playfully bumped my arm with mine as we walked down the hallway towards our lockers and I had to admit that I could get used to this version of Cindy.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Cindy

The high of achieving something I had wanted was intense but short lived; in fact, it only lasted up until the moment I got home Monday afternoon. I wasn't sure if the day could get any better. I didn't have to work that night, I'd made the cheerleading squad, and Betty Quinlan had mysteriously disappeared after our brief interaction before first period. I could only hope that she had decided to move to Mexico and leave me alone forever.

I burst into my house after school, delighted to see that my mom was already home. I didn't even try to hide my excitement as I slid into the kitchen ungracefully. She was unloading groceries into the refrigerator as I loudly made my announcement.

She didn't say anything right away and I wondered if maybe she hadn't heard me with the way her head was stuck inside the fridge door. After a few seconds, she turned around. "Of course you made the squad, dear. I knew you would," she said matter-of-factly. "That's why I went shopping. You'll need lots of low-fat goodies to maintain your figure." She smiled at me serenely.

She continued to empty her grocery bags at the kitchen island and didn't say another word. No congratulations. No hug, not even a stupid high-five. She didn't even stop what she was doing to pretend to be interested in what I was saying.

I went up the stairs to my room and dropped my heavy backpack on the floor, relishing in the thud it made as it landed on the carpet. I sat down on my bed with a sigh and tried to reassure myself that I wasn't doing any of this for my mother. Her approval, acceptance, and attention weren't things that I needed. I knew exactly what I needed, and that was to get as far away from Retroville and my broken family as I could.

Instead of starting this week's homework right away like I usually would, I texted Libby and asked if she wanted to meet up and study together. I had a feeling we wouldn't actually be getting much work done but I definitely needed the distraction.

My mom was vacuuming the floors when I went downstairs again, and just waved to me as I left the house. Even though I was at The Vibe much more often now that I worked there, Libby had picked the place for us to meet so I agreed. I was fine with going anywhere as long as it got me away from the house and I was able to get my caffeine fix there.

I was standing at the counter waiting for the coffee I had ordered when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to see who it was, expecting to find Libby. I was wrong.

Bryan.

I hadn't seen or thought much about him since Betty's party and I didn't really know all that much about him either - just the fact that he used to date Betty and was apparently set out to annoy the hell out of me.

He was smiling at me contentedly, as if he'd just found something he had been looking for. "Hey blondie, fancy seeing you here," he said casually.

"Small world," I muttered before turning back around, taking my coffee from the counter it had just been placed on. Bryan just laughed.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't be too happy to see me, but hey - I helped you out the other night didn't I?" he said. "The least you can do is buy me a coffee."

I turned around to fully face him and looked longingly at the door, wishing for Libby to walk in and save me from this awkward encounter. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Not in a million years. Can you get out of my way now?"

"Damn, you are mean," he laughed. I was sort of surprised he was still standing there trying to talk to me when I was using best efforts to get him to leave me alone. "Luckily for you, I was kidding. On a more serious note, you should let me take you out this weekend."

He said that statement lightly, as if he were commenting about the weather or something. I just stared at him, unsure whether I should laugh or maybe dump some coffee all over him. That would be a waste of good coffee, so I chose the former.

"You've got to be kidding me," I replied.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm not kidding," he said, all signs of joking and laughter leaving his face. "You're cute and funny and keep me on my toes. Most girls aren't like that. I just want to get to know you better."

A light jingling noise rang throughout the coffee shop, signaling that the door had just opened. I glanced over and saw Libby. I immediately waved at her to get her to see me and realized I probably looked like a lunatic - but I didn't care. I currently had Betty Quinlan's ex-boyfriend asking me on a date and I was full-out panicking.

I turned back to at Bryan as Libby made her way towards us with a curious expression on her face and he was looking at me, smiling again. "Look, I'm really busy with school and work-" I started to say, but he interrupted me.

"I understand. Just think about it, okay?" He handed me a small slip of paper that I could only assume held his phone number. I wondered absently when he would've had the time to do that. "One dinner, Cindy. That's all I'm asking for."

He winked at me and walked away, leaving the shop. Libby took his place in front of me. "What was that all about?"

I just looked down at the slip of paper I was holding gingerly between two of my fingers. Libby snatched it away from me and opened it. "Oh my god! Did he give this to you? Did he ask you out?!" She exclaimed, but I was once again distracted by the jingling noise of the door opening.

Jimmy Neutron, with his nerd squad in tow, walked in and started walking towards us without any hesitation. I looked at Libby for an explanation and she just shrugged.

"I told them they could study with us."

Great.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Jimmy

Sheen and Carl were already waiting for me at my locker when the last bell of the day rang, but I was texting Betty and didn't say much as we were leaving the building. I wanted to make sure she was still okay, or if she needed anything. I still wasn't paying much attention when we got into the car and Sheen took off. When I looked up and realized we weren't at my house and instead we were parked across the street from The Vibe, I was a little confused.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

Sheen turned around and scoffed at me. "Pay attention, Jim! Libby told us to meet her here so we can study, or something."

"Sheen, you didn't bring any of your books with you," Carl said, but Sheen ignored him and got out of the car, running across the street ahead of us.

The two of them started bickering again as we got up to the building, so I walked inside first instead of waiting on them to stop. I spotted Libby standing near the front counter and she was talking to Cindy. They seemed to be deep into a conversation and barely glanced our way, so I started walking over to them with Sheen and Carl following.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I read the text that had just come in from Betty: Call me later and you can catch me up on everything that happened at school today! And again, there was an overuse of hearts and flowers. It was cute, though. I replied and told her I would call her after dinner.

"What's going on?" Sheen directed the questions towards Libby as we found a table for all five of us to sit at comfortably.

Libby had a slip of paper in her hand and waved it around mischievously, side-eyeing Cindy in the process. Cindy reached for the paper but Libby held it away from her. "Cindy's got herself a secret admirer," Libby said on a laugh.

"WHO IS IT?" Sheen asked excitedly.

Libby was distracted by Sheen's outburst, and Cindy used the opportunity to grab the paper from her hand, shoving it into her bag. "It's no one," she said while glaring at Libby.

"C'mon Vortex, tell us," I piped up, and she turned her icy gaze towards me but ignored my comment.

"It's Bryan. He was here when I got here," Libby explained and Cindy exhaled loudly. "You never finished telling me the story. How did you end up with his number?"

"Wait - is this the same Bryan who was at the party last weekend?" Carl asked.

"Yes, Carl, it's the same guy," Libby answered.

Cindy started to unpack her backpack in jerky manner, slamming books onto the table with nearly enough force to cause a crack. "We are not going to talk about this," she said.

Libby just shrugged and followed suit, unpacking her things too. The table was quiet for several long moments as everyone started in on their homework. I stared down at the extra credit formula sheets my physics teacher had given me but I suddenly couldn't concentrate.

"Did he ask you out?" Libby broke the silence abruptly, and I could hear the laughter in her voice. Sheen started to snicker along with her and Cindy pushed her chair back from the table with a loud scraping sound. She grabbed her coffee cup and stood up.

"I'm getting a refill."

Libby nudged Sheen to get him to stop laughing but she couldn't hide her smile. I shook my head at them and watched as Cindy talked with barista at the counter.

I knew I didn't like that Bryan guy even though I didn't know anything about him. Obviously Betty knew him somehow considering he had been the "alcohol supplier" for her party. That meant he was at least twenty-one years old, or he knew older people to buy alcohol for him. Either way, he seemed to be a little old to be hanging around girls that were seventeen. I had interacted with him at the party very little, but I remembered how I found Cindy in the bathroom and that he was already there with her. Something had seemed...off about him.

The good thing about it, though, was that it seemed that Cindy didn't like Bryan. But maybe I was interpreting her reaction to Libby's teasing wrong - she could just be embarrassed. She hadn't thrown his number away; she had put it in her bag.

I shook my head and tried to think about science instead of Cindy Vortex. It didn't matter who she went out with. She could kick anyone's ass that messed with her. Not only that, but Bryan was probably harmless.

Cindy returned to our table and Libby gave her a smile that promised she would keep her mouth shut from now on.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A few unproductive hours later, my stomach was grumbling and I was itching to talk to Betty. Cindy was packing her things up, but Libby and Sheen had their heads close together, ignoring the rest of us. By the way they were giggling, I could tell they weren't talking about school at all.

"I'm going home," Cindy said as she stood, heaving her bag over her shoulder.

"You better call me later," Libby said in a fake-threatening voice, and Cindy just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, uh, would you mind giving me a ride home? My parents wanted me home for dinner tonight," I asked her. Neither Sheen or Carl were paying much attention to me, so the half-lie of an excuse I gave was unnecessary.

She shrugged. "I'll be waiting outside."

I quickly gathered my things, partially afraid she would leave me and I would be stuck at the coffee shop for several more hours watching Libby and Sheen make googly-eyes at each other. Cindy was sitting in her car staring at her phone as I opened the door, but she quickly put it down as I settled in the seat.

Not much was said during the short trip to our houses, and I struggled with finding a non controversial topic. She didn't seem to be in a good mood after Libby's teasing. But the questions were bubbling up inside me, and I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little prodding of my own.

"So...Bryan, huh?"

Cindy's grip on the steering got a little tighter, but other than that, she didn't have much of a reaction to my question. "What about him?"

"Did he ask you out?"

Her eyes slid over to mine. "What's it to you, Nerdtron?"

I had expected the overly defensive response. I lifted my hands up to show that I didn't mean any harm - trying to tame the snake. "Nothing, nothing. It just seems like he's a little old for you, is all."

She snorted out a laugh and shook her head. "You're dating someone that's older."

"Only by a year."

"I'm not even dating him! And I don't understand why it would be a big deal if I did!" She exclaimed.

"Forget it, Vortex. Date whoever you want, but he seems like a sketchy character to me. I was just trying to warn you," I said, and she full-out laughed this time as she pulled up to my house. She put the car in park and turned slightly to face me.

"Okay, dad. I'll certainly be careful with who I interact with in the future," she said sarcastically. I just shook my head at her and started to gather my things.

Cindy's suddenly uncertain sounding voice stopped me, "Did Betty mention anything to you today about me making the squad?" She was looking down at her hands, which were playing with a loose string on the hem of her shirt.

"No, I didn't even see Betty today. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

I stared at her for a moment. Clearly she was asking me that for a reason, but I knew I wouldn't get it out of her very easily. It was getting late, I was starving, and I wanted to call Betty. I didn't really have the mental or physical energy to get into yet another battle of the wits with Cindy Vortex tonight.

"I'll...uh, let you know if she says anything?" I asked, opening the car door.

"Don't worry about it, Neutron," she said lightly, and I got out of the car. Before I could even thank her for the ride, she was putting the car into drive and gave me a slight wave as she pulled into her own driveway.

I cursed myself as I walked into my house - I hadn't even done any digging as to why Cindy was acting so strange. Not to mention that things were getting even stranger by the day. I tried to think about why Betty would say anything about Cindy being a cheerleader, but couldn't come up with anything. Suddenly, I remembered the way Betty acted during our date when the topic of tryouts had come up - and how unhappy she seemed. She mentioned that Cindy and the coach had gotten along really well. But why would Betty be upset about that?

I bypassed dinner for the moment and went upstairs to my room, not wanting to wait any longer to call Betty.

I cursed myself again - but this time for a different reason. I couldn't believe I was acting so obsessed about anything that Cindy Vortex did or said. Sure, I had an undying curiosity about most unsolved things - scientific or not - but maybe I was overdoing it. Spending so much of my spare time thinking about a certain blonde neighbor of mine probably wasn't healthy.

I punched Betty's number in and listened to it ring as I looked out the window in my room; and as if on cue, as if she could hear me thinking about her, I saw Cindy walk out of house with Humphrey's leash in hand. He was bouncing around the yard excitedly and she was trying and failing to attach the leash to his collar. She had a jacket on now. I knew without further inspection that it was my jacket. I had a small flashback to the other night - with her standing in my yard and hugging me, her body pressed against mine.

When Betty answered the phone, I could barely concentrate on what she was saying for the first few moments. I was too busy watching Cindy walk down the street with Humphrey until her image got smaller and smaller before disappearing completely. I continued to stare at the spot in the distance she had vacated, half-listening to Betty, until she reappeared again and went inside.

What do y'all think about Bryan? ;) Don't worry if you don't like him… and this might be weird - but I'm one hundred percent for a Carl/Cindy friendship. I love it and I don't know why. Sometimes these ideas I have just write themselves. This chapter was somewhat uneventful but let's just say it's the calm before the storm!

Next week I'll have my house all to myself with not much else to do but work and write. I'm hoping to get at least two or three chapters done so I can keep up a good posting schedule during the upcoming holiday!

Thank you for reading!