A/N: +20 points if you get the other tv show reference in here. :P Also, a little Cindy perspective for you all. Enjoy!
"CYNTHIA! CYNTHIA! GET UP!" Sasha Vortex's voice echoed up the stairs and bombarded the ears of her peacefully sleeping daughter.
Cindy groaned and opened her eyes a smidgen. It was still dark outside. Why did she have to get up this early on a Saturday? She aimed an obscene hand gesture at the door intended for her mother. She then slid back under her comforter, pulling it over her head. Sometimes, she wished she could just stay under the blanket and sleep for a long, long time.
"CYNTHIA! YOU HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH A HARVARD REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! YOU HAVE TO GET UP!"
Cindy shut her eyes tightly, still under the covers. She felt the heat of her own breath in that enclosed space. She would have to get up. This was Harvard after all. Ugh, but why did her mother have to wake her up before dawn? The meeting wasn't until 10:30! To heck with preparing, she needed the sleep! She was out pretty late last night helping stupid Jet Fusion –
Without warning, the face of Jimmy Neutron pervaded her thoughts. She was filled with many different and conflicting emotions – too many – as she recalled the events of the past few days. It was hard to remember details this early; her mind was still so foggy. Why did her mother have to wake her up at this god forsaken hour? Holy Heisenberg, did she hate mornings –
Did she really just say that? Holy Heisenberg?
She definitely needed sleep.
"CYNTHIA! WE NEED TO REHEARSE YOUR RESPONSES!"
"FINE!" she shouted back, punching a pillow.
Cindy threw the blanket off herself angrily. She stomped over to her dresser with her fists clenched in rage while she mumbled about her mother's controlling ways. She got dressed and ready and then descended the stairs to meet her mother. Mrs. Vortex sat at the kitchen table with her hands held together and legs tightly crossed. On the table in front of her lay a paper with various questions that a college interviewer might ask.
"Come sit, Cynthia. Let's begin."
Cindy obediently (but with a very conspicuous pout) went and sat opposite her mother. Okay, she thought to herself as she took a deep breath, just remember, you are a strong, smart girl who is every bit worthy of an Ivy League university. You've got this. You're the best.
"How would your friends describe you?" Mrs. Vortex began.
Angry. Competitive. Loud.
"Well, I would say caring is the first word that comes to mind. I love all my friends dearly, and I've been told I'm a good shoulder to cry on." Lies, lies, lies.
"Not good enough, Cynthia. I want multiple adjectives. You must say your friends perceive you as the leader, as the intelligent one, as the most resourceful! But make sure to retain humility. Now, try again."
Why did it seem like the actual interview would be easier to this one? Maybe because it was FIVE A-FREAKING-M. Her mother glared at her expectantly. She reevaluated her answer. Leader, smart, resourceful…why did this all sound like Jimmy? That stupid, butt faced, idiot. How dare he be so gifted! So intelligent! So infuriating! So talented and…
Oh my god. She had completely forgotten! She had a date with him today! A rush of elation flowed from her toes upward until she could feel her face flush. All alone with James Neutron, scientist extraordinaire… Would there be more kisses? She wouldn't object to that –
"CYNTHIA! What are you smiling about? Answer the question! Correctly, this time."
"Sorry, mother!" She snapped back into college interview mode. However, she couldn't wipe the stupid grin off her face. Stupid Nerdtron.
..^^^..
Jimmy Neutron did not get confused very often. However, he had to admit that he was completely confounded at this particular moment.
In under a week, he has kissed Cindy Vortex thrice. Four times, if you counted her kissing him on the cheek. Jimmy could hardly believe it had happened. The mere fact that he was thinking about this was mind-boggling. And now, on this very day, he had a date with her! What was the world coming to? Had the laws of nature been completely flipped on their heads? Then, the most mystifying part of it all – he was enjoying this! He repeatedly found himself dwelling on their kisses and lately Cindy Vortex had been a frequent visitor to his dreams. He was even excited that they had a date today! Why was he attracted to her? It was inexplicable! She was so…UGH.
He pounded his head on the keyboard in front of him.
"Goddard, what's happening?" He shouted exasperatedly.
Goddard opened his screen display. In flashing, bolded, capital letters, it read:
JIMMY LOVES CINDY
JIMMY LOVES CINDY
JIMMY LOVES CINDY
"GODDARD! BAD DOG!" Jimmy yelled.
Goddard trotted around the room, still displaying the horrifying message. Jimmy chased him furiously.
"GODDARD! I DO NOT! DON'T MAKE ME REWIRE YOUR CIRCUITRY! GODDARD!"
..^^^..
Cindy sat in her room that afternoon. The interview had gone fairly well. She disliked her mother for many reasons, but she supposed she couldn't really begrudge her for this morning. Cindy had been flawlessly prepared. Jimmy was right, though. Getting into college should be easy for them.
Then, the influx of love, hate, and nausea came that followed every one of Cindy's thoughts about the boy genius. She wondered briefly where he wanted to go to college. Not that it mattered. She wouldn't let his location affect her hopes and dreams. No matter what, she was first and foremost her own person.
Still, having him nearby might be nice.
She caught her reflection in the mirror. She was still dressed in business-like clothing for the interview. That probably wasn't normal date attire. She walked over to her closet and skimmed her wardrobe. What exactly did one wear on a date? What about a secret date? In a lab? With a genius? With the boy you'd known for almost ten years?
Cindy decided she wouldn't try too terribly hard. After all, she wasn't about to let Neutron think she liked him that much. She didn't have very many casual clothes, though. Dress for success, her mother always said. She supposed this was no different. But what qualified as success in this situation?
She decided on jeans and a green sweater. Simple, but sophisticated.
What time was she even supposed to go over anyway? Neutron never specified. The idiot. Oh well, she'd let him wait for a while. Build up some suspense. Even on the pretext of a date, she couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with him a little bit.
..^^^..
Jimmy sat in his lab, drumming his fingers.
When was she coming? Was she coming at all? Part of him wished she wouldn't. She was so frustrating. Why wouldn't she just come over already? Seriously. He hated her. Why was he even bothering to do this? She was so rarely nice to him. Why did he even like her, anyway? Did he like her? He wasn't sure. Oh gas planets, when was she coming? She was probably taking her sweet time with no reservations about his feelings. She was such a jerk! He definitely didn't like her! Well, he'd stand her up! How stupid would she feel if she got to the lab and no one let her in? Ha! That'd show her!
Jimmy turned to walk away, mumbling about her lack of punctuality.
"Oncoming visitor." Vox's voice echoed through the lab.
Jimmy's head snapped around to the computer display. Cindy Vortex was approaching the lab warily. She frequently glanced around to make sure no one was watching and she hid behind various trees and bushes. She arrived at the door and started knocking. Jimmy recognized the pattern as Morse code.
L-E-T-M-E-I-N-N-E-R-D-T-R-O-N
Only Cindy would insult him in Morse code. Despite her jibe, he felt his neck heat up at the thought of her knowledge of code. Once again, she had proved herself to be the smartest person he knew. It was so maddening! How dare she be so intelligent! Why did she do this to him?
I-A-M-W-A-I-T-I-N-G
He pushed the button to let her in. She fell to the ground mercilessly.
"Oof!" she exclaimed as she hit the floor. "Still? No mattress?"
Jimmy shrugged as she threw daggers at him with her eyes. She finally gave up and crossed her arms as she glanced around the lab. Jimmy wasn't sure what to say. It probably would have been smart to plan something. He'd been too busy arguing with himself about his stupid feelings to think about what would actually happen when the event occurred. Cindy started tapping her foot and she looked over at him expectantly. He began to panic. There had to be something they could do…
"Well, this is all really fun, King Cranium." She snapped.
"Um, yeah, let me just – we could – maybe I can –" Jimmy stammered.
"Do you seriously not have anything planned?"
"I thought maybe you would –"
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO INVITED ME!"
"YOU PRACTICALLY ORDERED ME TO INVITE YOU!"
"DON'T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH!"
"OH, I DON'T NEED TO! YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT PLENTY TO SAY!"
They were very close again. For a second, they stood there. Jimmy could feel the heat of her breath on his face. He was reminded of their first kiss a few days ago. Ironically, he couldn't bring himself to kiss her this time on their actual date. He backed away and she did the same. They both shifted uncomfortably for a moment.
"You want to watch a movie?" he offered.
"Sure, whatever." She replied jumpily.
Jimmy grabbed his hypercube and set up the couch in front of the big screen display. He went over to his collection of DVDs. The Merits of Euclidean Geometry, String Theory and Other Fascinating Frontiers, The Bill Nye Collection…he seriously doubted Cindy would be interested in any of this. He picked up String Theory, hoping it would be the least objectionable. He inserted it into his modified Blu-ray player. He turned around to see Cindy sitting on the far end of the couch. He froze for a minute.
Where was he supposed to sit? He felt like since this was…well…a date…he should probably sit next to her. Right? But…he really didn't want to. It would be so supremely and enormously awkward. In addition, he was afraid she might punch him.
He grabbed the remote and sat as far away from her as he could while staying on the couch. She glanced over at him, eyebrow raised, but he didn't look up. He hit the play button.
The cheesy background music of the documentary echoed in the lab, highlighting the vast space of the place and the vast space between Jimmy and Cindy. They didn't say a word to each other; they just sat there, staring straight forward at the television.
"ACHOO!" Cindy sneezed.
"Te benedicat." Jimmy responded quickly. Cindy looked over to him in confusion.
"It means 'bless you' in Latin." He informed.
"I know that. You're just such a dweeb." She shook her head.
They went back to anti-social and uncomfortable silence.
About thirty more minutes into the movie, she snatched the remote out of his hand and paused the documentary.
"I'm having a really great time, Jimmy!" she smiled falsely, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Well, I'm sorry about the movie. I don't think I have anything you'd like."
"No, you idiot! I mean, seriously? Sitting here in silence three feet apart? Some date."
"Yeah, like you would know." He rolled his eyes.
"FOR YOUR INFORMATION NEUTRON, I HAVE BEEN ON PLENTY OF DATES." She blushed furiously with the lie.
"SURE, VORTEX!"
"WHAT? AND YOU'VE BEEN ON SO MANY?"
"THAT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"
"I BET YOU'VE HAD FEWER DATES THAN DR. HOFTSTADER ON THE DOCUMENTARY!"
"DR. HOFTSTADER IS AN EXCELLENT RESEARCH PHYSICIST! I'M SURE HE'S HAD PLANTY OF DATES!"
"RIGHT, LIKE SOME BEAUTIFUL GIRL WANTS TO GO OUT WITH HIM ALL THE TIME!"
"YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE FIND INTELLIGENCE ATTRACTIVE!"
Cindy stared angrily at him for a long time after that.
"His exposition on subatomic particle flow was pretty impressive, I suppose." She conceded and broke off the argument.
"Quite impressive? He's making groundbreaking research. If he can isolate the astute properties of quarks, he might be able to officially prove string theory."
"I think Dr. Cooper will come to it first. He seems a bit more driven." Cindy scooted closer to Jimmy. "What are your opinions? Do you believe in String Theory?"
"I find it to be incredibly plausible. There really isn't concrete proof of anything." Jimmy scooted closer as well. "It would really help with the –"
"application of formulas to large and small physics enigmas. I agree." She finished.
Cindy had barely completed her sentence before they we glued to each other. An agreement, for once. Not an argument. As Jimmy's lips moved furiously against hers, all he could think about was her intellect. She was so vastly intelligent – more than he gave her credit for. Just the thought of those ideas racing through her head, the very same ideas that raced through his, was unbelievably powerful. Jimmy often felt alone in his genius. But right now, there was company, warm and soft against his skin.
"I should probably go home." Cindy interjected an hour or so later. Jimmy sat back down on the couch and looked at her.
"You should probably fix your hair." He laughed seeing her disheveled ponytail. She blushed furiously and quickly went to fixing it.
"Your hair always needs fixing, Fudgehead." She retorted. He chuckled for once at her wit. Then he just sat there and smiled at her.
"What the heck are you looking at, Freak Boy?" She glared at him.
"Nothing. It's just that you're as big of a dweeb as I am."
"Please, Frankenhead. Your pinky has more dweeby-ness than I do."
"Whatever you say…" He rolled his eyes.
"I AM WARNING YOU, NERDTRON!" She started yelling, but she broke into a smile. "I really do need to go." She added softly.
"I…are we…do you think we'll do this again?" he asked tentatively.
"We'll see. If I feel like it." She crossed her arms, but Jimmy could tell that was a 'yes'.
"Well then, before you leave, I was thinking we could set up some parameters for Operation S.U.D.S."
"What?"
"Operation S.U.D.S.- Secret Undercover Dating Sequence. It's what I've decided to call these events, or dates if you prefer. This way we can talk about it without others knowing –"
"See, this is you being a dweeb." Cindy snorted.
"Whatever. I was thinking – since you obviously know Morse code – we could have a code knock. That way I know when it's you if I'm visually distracted and you can knock differently when in the company of others. Also, it'll give me more ample warning time if Sheen and Carl are here."
"I guess that's reasonable. What should the code be?"
"I was thinking you could say 'S-U-D-S' –"
"No, I'm not using your stupid name." She thought for a moment. "I'll do 'D-W-E-E-B-T-R-O-N'. And don't try to argue, it's settled." She said, observing his reaction.
"Fine." He forfeited. So typical of Cindy.
For a moment the awkward silence returned.
"Alright, well, I'll see you later, I guess." She mumbled.
"Yeah."
"Bye, Jimmy."
"Bye, Cindy."
And with that, she turned around and exited the lab.
..^^^..
Stupid Nerdtron, Cindy thought as she snuck furtively back to her home. She had a ridiculous grin plastered to her face and it was all his fault! What a goon. What a stupid, moronic, egotistical goon. She tried very hard to keep herself from laughing out loud. Why was she so irrationally happy? All his fault!
She reached the side of her house and used her many years of karate to help her climb up the lattice and into her open bedroom window.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't look half bad for someone who had just covertly gone across the street and had a secret make-out session with the boy there. She smiled at herself. I am too good, she thought. The clothes had worked out perfectly. Dress for success? Mission accomplished. Then again, what was she worried about in the first place? Cindy Vortex always succeeded.
A/N: TA-DA! A date! Man, do I love me some JC. Hopefully, you do too. So review if you liked it, please! Also, I was wondering if you all would give me some input. How many 'episodes' (chapters) should I put in a season of this? I was planning on maybe doing multiple seasons, but having a break every certain amount of episodes. I was thinking around 12. And, if that is right, it means the end of the season is nearing. AND YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! TV MOVIE! I was thinking I could make a separate story with multiple chapters of its own for a tv movie toward the end of each season. So, whaddaya think? :D In addition, I'm open to suggestions on episode ideas. So if you've got one, put your idea in the review! It might just end up being an episode!
Okay, long spiel over. GO. REVIEW. NOW.
