Like usual, thanks for the reviews guys! I really appreciate them!

Just so you know, this chapter mainly deals with Professor Smith instead of Cindy. It might be a little different, but I haven't been writing this story in first person, so it's not really that big of a deal I guess. Wow, those two sentences were probably pointless and so is this one!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!


Chapter 9- Finding Cindy


Over the next month or two, Cindy did her best to avoid Professor Smith before and after class. Like everyone else, she arrived only right before class started and left as soon as he dismissed them. She just couldn't bring herself to talk to him again. He didn't seem to get the message that she was talking about him, so she decided that maybe it was time to just give up. "Maybe Libby was right… I'm going to have to just find someone else." Cindy found herself thinking that quite often.

In class, Professor Smith would always hope that she would arrive early or stay late again so he could talk to her. But of course, she never did. He didn't know how he could get in contact with her any other way, though. He had been to the club since the time they met there, but he never saw her there again. The only thing he could think of was to find out where her dorm was. But wouldn't it be a little awkward to have your professor show up at your dorm room? He decided to save that as a last resort.

By then it was mid-October, where the temperature cools to a tolerable 65 degrees outside. Those days were perfect for taking nice, long, relaxing walks through the park, which Cindy decided to do often with Goddard. They would go for about an hour after her Astronomy class so she could clear her mind a little.

One day, on one of her normal walks through the park with Goddard, she noticed many other people walking their dogs as well. It wasn't uncommon or anything, but one particular person walking their dog got her attention. Professor Smith was walking his similar mechanical canine, Marie, on the same path and they were headed, of course, coincidentally, right toward each other.

"Okay, stay calm, Cindy. Maybe he won't even notice you…" They were approaching one another rather quickly. Just as they were about to pass each other Professor Smith stopped. Cindy knew he must be waiting for her, so she picked up the pace.

"Hello, Miss Vortex. I…"

"Hello, Professor Smith." Cindy interrupted, continuing on walking by him. She knew she must have sounded a little harsh to her professor, but she really didn't want to get any closer to him than she already was. And talking with him in the park would just make things more complicated. Of course she wanted to talk to him. But she just… couldn't. He was her professor and that's the way things were supposed to be.

By now, Professor Smith had figured out she was purposely ignoring him. At first he just thought she just was a busy person. He had no reason to believe she was ignoring him. He didn't do anything to bring that about. Unless, of course, it was about this friend of hers that didn't remember her. Then she might have a somewhat-good reason for ignoring him. But how could he ever talk to her? Whenever he tried, she just kept on walking or wasn't even there to begin with. It was then that desperate times called for desperate measures. He had decided to use his last resort: find out where she lived.

As a professor, one would think that he had all of that information already. Where his students lived, their telephone numbers, everything. But Professor Smith was different, of course. Apparently, the faculty board had specifically kept information of that nature away from him. He even tried to convince them when he was hired that he wouldn't be interested in his students in that way at all. Heck, he even said he wasn't interested in even getting married to anyone. Perhaps ever. So why would he be even the least bit interested in dating one of his students? The board was clearly insane, he decided.

So of course, when he needed a student's information, but not for well… romantic reasons… he did not have access to it. How would he get it then? He was a genius. He'd surely find a way.

The day after Professor Smith and Cindy had a run-in at the park, he headed over to the Office of Residency building, which was located relatively close to the Department of Science main building, where his office was. However, he wasn't going alone. He had Marie with him.

The records office, which kept information on where each student was living, whether in a dorm, apartment, or house, was located on the second floor of the four-story building. He knew the secretary who worked there, however, that only made things worse for him. Every faculty member at the university knew him because of his age, which definitely did not work to his advantage.

"Hello, Mrs. Archer." Mrs. Archer was a plump, middle-aged woman who had worked at the university for 25 years. She didn't like the idea of James Smith working at the university since the moment his name came up as a possibility. So, of course, ever since he started teaching there, she greatly disliked him.

"Hello, James. What can I possibly do for you today?" she said in a rather cold tone.

"I was wondering if I could possibly get some information on a student of mine." He said this rather innocently, but that, of course, wasn't going to get him the information he wanted.

It was a Saturday, so no one else was in the office lobby except him, Mrs. Archer, and Marie. Perfect.

"Now, James, you know you can't have any information of that kind unless you are either 25 or married." She was getting quite annoyed with his presence, so she began to fiddle with something on her computer. While she did that, however, she didn't notice the small, mechanical canine sneak around behind her desk to the filing cabinet that contained the information Professor Smith needed.

"Well… what would you say if I offered you this muffin I just so happen to have in my pocket?" Mrs. Archer was a sucker for food and everyone knew it. However, he knew she wouldn't take the offer because it was him. But that didn't matter at all. He didn't need her to give him the information. While he pretended to try to bribe the secretary, Marie quietly opened the filing cabinet, searching for Cindy's information.

"Is that a bribe, Mr. Smith?" Uh-oh, she used his last name. That wasn't a good sign. She might turn him in for trying to get information on a student. And who knows what they would do to him then! He was just in luck, though. He could see Marie out of the corner of his eye coming out from behind the desk with a small folder.

"Oh… this?… no! I was just wondering if you wanted a muffin! And you know, I was just joking about getting one of my student's information. I was just bored and thought, 'Hey! Why don't I pay my good friend Mrs. Archer a visit?' A little laugh wouldn't hurt either!" He smiled rather nervously. "Hahaha…haha…ha…" She wasn't smiling. "Um… I'll just be going now…" With that, he quietly slipped out of the office with Marie in tow. Mission accomplished.

Once he was finally out of the office, he took the small folder of information from Marie but didn't dare open it until he was in the safety of his own office. He had never brought Marie with him to his office before, so he hoped the other professors with offices near him wouldn't mind. Mrs. Archer didn't even seem to notice her (which was good, of course). So he concluded it wouldn't be a problem.

His office was rather small, with just enough room for his desk, his chair, and a few filing cabinets. He didn't even have the luxury of a window. He was new, young, and not well-liked by many on the faculty board. So, of course, that meant he got the shaft. But hey, it was a job. A rather well-paying one, too.

"Alright… let's see here…" He opened the folder as he sat at his desk so if anyone happened to interrupt him, he'd just say he was working on something. "Cindy Vortex…" he quietly read over the little introduction of the on-campus resident registration form. "Former residence… Retroville, Texas. Hm… Marie… have we ever been there before?" Marie looked up to him and whined a "no". "It sounds familiar… Well, anyway. Let's see… current residence is room 23 in Jester West. That's on the opposite side of the campus if I'm correct. Maybe that's why she seems like she's so busy? Because she lives so far away?" Marie just looked up at him and cocked her head. "Well, now we know where she lives. The next thing to do is to figure out when to go see her!" Marie barked in agreement. He couldn't see her before class… that'd be way too early. Not right after class either… that might seem like he's stalking her. Plus, he didn't know when her other classes were. "I guess I'm just going to have to just go one time and hope she's there!"

James ultimately decided to "attempt" to give her a visit that Monday. It was rather brave of him, though. That only gave him one day, Sunday, to figure out what he was going to say to her, for he knew it would be rather awkward for both himself and Cindy for him to show up at her dorm room. But he knew he had to talk to her again. It could be his only chance, after all.

However, he wasn't overflowing with confidence. If, in fact, she had been ignoring him those past one or two months, she might just slam the door in his face. Though, he highly doubted she had no manners.

On Monday, at around 11:15 (because he didn't have another class until 2:00), he decided to head over to Jester West and locate Cindy. He had no trouble finding the room at all, though. The room was number 23, so it was located on the second floor. As he approached the door, he took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing!" He knocked on the door and waited.


Yay I like being evil sometimes! Haha… just kidding. I just think cliffhangers are what make the story more interesting! Hehe.

Thanks for reading!

-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)