In the building, Eustace and Sally were standing behind lockers. They arrived before any of the other kids and Eustace had every single picture of Jimmy and Cindy with him. Sally and Eustace couldn't wait to see the humiliated and defeated looks on their faces.
"Attention my fellow school mates!" He said, getting everyone's attention."I have some interesting news to tell you. It's about our friends Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex." He took out some pictures. "Well they have been secretly dating for 9 days now! I have taken pictures for proof."
Kids rushed over and he showed them all the pictures. Kids began to snicker and laugh which caused Eustace and Sally to grin. "Now, now, save the laughter for their arrival." He told the students.
Butch laughed. "I knew they were dating and I wasn't going crazy!"
Jimmy and Cindy just walked up the steps with their friends behind them. The nervous couple drew in deep breaths. This was it. Libby tapped Cindy's shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready for this? We can just turn around right now, fake sick and ditch this joint."
"No Libs, we have to do this. Let's give them something to really laugh about." Cindy replied. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door. She took Jimmy's hand again and they walked in with their friends still behind them.
The kids gasped as they saw Jimmy and Cindy enter; holding hands. Sally and Eustace smiled seeing the nervous looks on their faces and it wasn't long till the kids erupted into laughter and pointed at them.
The only ones who weren't laughing at them were Betty and Nick. Betty felt bad for them and Nick was still shocked but then he started laughing as well causing Betty to elbow him. "Nick!"
"Ow."
"That's right, It's Lindberg Elementary's love birds; Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex!" Eustace exclaimed. "How ridiculous! Who would have even thought possible? Two rivals constantly at each other's throats; falling in love. Laugh with me everyone! Laugh with me!" He began to laugh his insayin laugh and everyone joined in.
Jimmy and Cindy glanced at each other; their cheeks turning red. Their grip on each other's hands tightened. Everyone's attention was on them and it wasn't good attention. They couldn't back out of this now.
The secret was out. Everyone knew about them and it wasn't just about playing footsie in the library. This was more than that and kids would be taunting them for a long time.
"Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree!" Butch taunted as he pointed at them. This time Cindy didn't even bother to knock him down.
What happened next, shocked everyone; especially Eustace and Sally. Betty smiled as she saw what happened. "It's about time." She said to herself. She was happy that they didn't care what others thought anymore.
Jimmy had wrapped his hands around Cindy's waist and in turn; she wrapped hers around his neck; then they shared a long kiss. When their lips touched; it was like the taunts of the students were drowned out, it felt like it was just the two of them and like time had stopped. The nervousness was gone and they felt free and even their friends were shocked seeing them kiss in a place where others were teasing them.
The kiss was seven seconds long; around the same time the bell rang. They pulled apart, shared a smile and held hands as they headed for class not caring about any murmurs or remarks from the other students.
"Maybe this wasn't so bad after all." She told Jimmy.
"Yeah, I'm just glad we don't have to keep things a secret anymore." He replied.
"Me too." She agreed.
Eustace and Sally just stood where they were; completely baffled by what just happened. "What was that?" Sally asked, upset by the unexpected result their taunting had on Cindy and Jimmy.
Students headed for their class. Lots were murmuring confused about Jimmy and Cindy's relationship and others just gossiped.
"No!" Eustace yelled with rage. He began to kick the locker like mad repeatedly yelling "No!" He couldn't believe his plan had backfired.
Sally was very angry and let out a loud piercing scream. Jimmy and Cindy were supposed to be miserable not a happy couple holding hands.
In the class room; Jimmy and Cindy took their seats and students were talking until Miss. Fowl entered the class. "Good morning class. Now stop chattering and let's get started."
Everyone groaned. Miss. Fowl noticed how happy her two smartest students seemed. That was because they had nothing to hide anymore. They even scooted their desks a little closer which confused Miss. Fowl. When she was writing on the black board again; Jimmy and Cindy began to pass notes again.
Wanna go skating again and we could go to the Candy Bar at around 6 my pretty Cindy- Jimmy
She lightly giggled, covering her mouth as she read the pretty Cindy part. She began to write on a piece of paper and put it on his desk.
Of course Hunk muffin. It's not like I have anything better to do anyways- Cindy
He opened it and smiled at her. She smiled back and they got lost in each other's eyes for about a minute until Miss. Fowl's yelling snapped them out of it. "Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex, quit staring into each other's eyes dreamily and answer the question!"
"Huh?" They asked in unison. Their cheeks turned red as the class erupted into laughter.
"What question?" Jimmy asked.
Miss. Fowl sighed. "For the fifth time; what's 12,00142 X 48,00032?"
"Uh, pretty, pretty Cindy." He replied in a goofy love struck tone.
Cindy covered her mouth as she giggled.
Miss. Fowl was confused. "What has gotten into you two?"
"They're love birds!" Butch exclaimed, pointing at them and the others laughed except for Sally and Eustace who were subtly enraged.
Soon it was time for Recess and Jimmy and Cindy left the class; holding hands. In the halls, they were arguing about who's fault it was that the other got distracted. Cindy was the one who started the argument.
She was thinking about how her mother would be disappointed and suspicious if she keeps getting distracted in class. "This is all your fault Neutron!" She blurted out, pointing a finger at his chest accusingly.
He looked completely confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Grades are very important to me and you know it! If my mom ever finds out about how I got distracted like that; she is going to murder me!" She explained panicking.
"This isn't my fault, it's your fault!" He argued.
"My fault! How's it my fault?" She asked.
"Well maybe if you weren't so distracting and didn't have such pretty, gorgeous, vivid; emerald green eyes; I wouldn't have gotten distracted in the first place!"
"Yeah? Well you're the one that had me distracted first by your piercing blue eyes!" She argued back.
"If I remember correctly, I believe it was me who got lost in your eyes first!" He insisted.
"Ugh, you just always have to be right, don't you Neutron? I was there Jimmy, I know exactly what happened!"
"I was there too Cindy!"
"Well you obviously weren't! Anyone could see that it was me who was captivated by your enchanting eyes first!" She got in his face.
"Nu uh!" He got in her face too and they went back and forth.
"Uh huh."
"Nu uh."
"Uh huh!"
"Nu uh!"
"Uh huh!"
They immediately stopped when they realized they were close enough for their lips to touch. "Uh," He began.
She nodded. "Right. I guess it doesn't really matter who distracted who first."
He blushed. "To the playground?" He asked in a goofy tone.
She smiled. "Right behind you."
While they walked outside; the argument started again. "I still say it was me who got lost in your emerald eyes first." He told her, grinning.
"Neutron! You silver sly pointy headed devil! For the last time; you had me distracted first!"
"Nu uh."
"Fine then; why don't we just ask Libby, Carl, Sheen and Elke?" She asked challengingly.
"Fine, let's ask them." He replied.
"What's the matter Neutron? Afraid I'm right?"
"I'm not afraid of anything Vortex! I know I'm right." He insisted.
"Just because you're a big headed genius, doesn't mean that you're always right!" She retorted.
"You know, this whole argument is stupid." He said.
"Well you're the one who resumed it!" She replied.
"It doesn't matter!" He cried out frustrated.
"I think it does." She folded her arms.
Sally had watched them walk outside with jealousy and hatred. She growled and clenched her hands in a fist. Eustace stomped over making angry sounds. "No! No! No! How could my plan just backfire like this!" He kicked a locker with his foot, really hard and yelled with pain. "Ow! My foot! My foot! My foot! Curses! blasted locker! That blasted Neutron! How dare he thwart me!"
He suddenly grinned like he was just thinking of a clever plan. "Hm, I don't think Cynthia's mom would be happy to know that her daughter is dating that blasted Neutron." He clasped his hands looking wicked. He could tell that Cindy was keeping her relationship with Jimmy a secret from her mother. Well that was going to change.
Jimmy and Cindy found their friends on the black top. "Guys!" They shouted out of breath. "Guys."
"Um, Libby, out of curiosity, was it me or Jimmy who got distracted first?" Cindy asked.
"I say it was me who was distracted first. Tell her Carl and Sheen!" Jimmy told them.
"Actually, you were both distracted at the same time." Libby replied.
Jimmy and Cindy's cheeks were red and they glanced at each other, realizing just how pointless their argument really was. "Oh." They said.
"Sorry guys." He apologized rubbing the back of his hair nervously.
She faked a chuckle. "Just carry on with what you were doing." She took his hand and they ran off leaving their friends confused.
"What just happened?" Sheen asked.
Libby shrugged. "I have no idea. Probably just another one of their stupid and pointless arguments."
"But they're a couple now, I don't get it." He was still confused.
"So? How many times have Jimmy and Cindy fought before? Where were you all those times? Just because they're coupled up now doesn't mean it's gonna be all lovey dovey, 24/7. They have like been at each other's throats for two years and they're so used to arguing so much that it's not just gonna stop." She explained.
Sheen scratched his head. "Still not getting it."
The day went by smoothly and Jimmy and Cindy paid no mind to the other students and their taunts. They continued passing notes during class; careful not to get caught or too distracted and they'd share a smile as Fowl lectured the class.
When school was out all the kids rushed out of their classrooms; excited and Jimmy and Cindy left, holding hands.
Eustace and Sally had evil smirks as they watched their victims. "You won't be too happy for long; especially when Mrs. Vortex finds out." He said to himself.
"And Jimmy will go to the dance with me." Sally twirled around happily.
On the bus; Cindy and Jimmy were sitting together, flirting. Once the bus stopped in their neighborhood; they both got off and headed for the skating rink. At six; they went to the Candy Bar, then they went to Retroland at around six forty five.
At seven, Eustace was in his rocket, grinning like mad as he saw Cindy's mom pull into the driveway.
She seemed to be in thought about something. Her daughter was acting different especially last night when she questioned her about what Jimmy wanted. Sasha couldn't ignore her suspicions. Their was something Cindy wasn't telling her. She was hiding something from her and she just wanted to get to the bottom of things.
She sighed as she walked to the door; getting ready to unlock it with her key.
"Excuse me mam, I hope I didn't come at a bad time."
She turned and saw Eustace. "Oh no, I just got home from work. Who are you?"
"How rude of me not to introduce myself especially to a lovely and intelligent woman such as yourself."
She was flattered by his compliments.
"I'm Eustace Strych." He put out a hand for her to shake. "And you must be Mrs. Vortex; mother of one of my fellow classmates; Cynthia Vortex."
She smiled. "Yes I am."
"She's very intelligent." He told her.
"Well she does take after me."
"It saddens me to be the barrier of bad news but their is something your daughter is not telling you and keeping from you."
Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"She's been sneaking around with Neutron." He reached in his pocket and took out some pictures to show her. "See for yourself."
She took the pictures from him. She saw a picture of Jimmy and Cindy's kiss in the alley and gasped. "Oh my gosh!" She was expecting to have a heart attack at any second.
"That one was before they started going out. He's the one that kissed her. I was there. He took her hand and kissed her, then they walked off holding hands. They've been dating for nine days now." Eustace explained.
"Oh my poor mother's soul! My poor soul! My daughter! What has become of her?" Sasha cried out putting a hand over her heart. "What a disgrace!" She looked through the other pictures. "Completely unacceptable! I will not approve of this! Cynthia is in big trouble!"
Eustace was smiling to himself. "I'm really sorry. I guess some people feel the need to be dishonest and sneaky."
She could barely breathe. "Thanks for telling me young man."
She saw Cindy wave bye to Jimmy and he waved back. Cindy turned around and bumped into Sasha. "Oh I'm," She gasped seeing her mother. "Mom."
"I know exactly where you've been young lady. You were with that Neutron boy. You've been sneaking off and going out on your precious little dates." Sasha said.
Cindy's mouth went wide along with her eyes and she felt frozen. "Mom I- I-"
Sasha's arms were folded and she looked deadly serious. "This young man told me everything." She pointed towards Eustace who was smug.
"But I-" Cindy was so shocked that she couldn't even speak.
"Go to your room now!" Sasha yelled angrily.
Jimmy was watching with shock. Sasha's yelling was so loud that his parents could hear from inside and they came out to investigate. "Jimbo what's going on?" Hugh asked.
Jimmy watched as Cindy walked pass her mom and Eustace, stepping on his foot hard before entering the house with her head hanging. Jimmy looked down defeated and his parents wondered what was wrong.
Sasha stormed across the street with her hands in a fist as she walked over to the Neutrons' lawn. Her attention was right on Jimmy and she bent down to his level. "You stay away from my daughter." She then went back to her territory, walked in the house; slamming the door behind her with such force.
Jimmy didn't move a muscle. He just stood where he had been standing. He felt the same way Cindy did. "What was all that about?" Judy asked, not liking the way Sasha spoke to her son.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Jimmy replied bitterly, turning his head, he finally moved away from his frozen spot and they watched as he walked inside the house with his head hanging.
Cindy was in her room, sitting on the bed waiting to be lectured. Sasha just marched right in, kicking the door shut which startled Cindy and made her jump.
"You've got some serious explaining to do young lady! What were you thinking? How could you betray your main goal of being smarter than that Neutron kid and reclaiming your title? He's your rival or have you forgotten that? You're supposed to hate him! He ruined everything for you! How could you fall for him?" Sasha was very upset.
"The only thing he ruined was your high expectations of me!" Cindy retorted, pointing a finger towards her angrily. She was sick of having to be so perfect all the time with everything she does. She just wanted to relax and enjoy being a kid like all the others.
Sasha gasped. "Excuse me young lady? You will not speak to me in that tone!"
"Quite calling me young lady! I am sick and tired of you always pressuring me the way you do and wanting me to be so perfect all the time! I am 11 and a half years old, I am just a kid. Give me a break! I am always working my butt off just to please you but no! It's just not good enough for you! Everything I do is never good enough for you! I just can't live up to your expectations!" She wasn't finished.
She had been wanting to tell her mother off for a long time but was too scared. Well now she was fed up with keeping her true feelings all bottled up. It was time to let the water in the bottle erupt!
"All you do is pressure me and over work me! You don't appreciate me at all! Do you even see me as your daughter or just as a possession you can show off to all of your friends?"
Sasha just stared with disbelief. She couldn't believe her daughter was being so disrespectful.
"As for my rivalry with Neutron; maybe I never even hated him; maybe I just tried to convince myself I did because I know you're upset that he gets better grades than me and beats me in every science fair. I always tried to be what you wanted, always tried to impress you but I failed and I've had it with you!" She finished.
"I will not allow you to date that Neutron kid! and your defiance just earned you an extra week of being grounded. You are not to leave this house after school. You will be right here, studying and to be sure that you won't sneak out; I'm going to hire a baby sitter and some guards to make sure you stay away from Neutron." Sasha explained.
Jimmy was in his room and Hugh walked in. He hated seeing Jimmy so depressed. "Jimbo, your mother and I are very concerned about you."
Jimmy sighed. "Cindy and I have been dating in secret for nine days because we couldn't handle the other kids teasing us and her mother doesn't like me because I stole her daughter's title of being the smartest kid in school. Now I can't see her anymore."
Judy walked in the room and sat next to him. She put an arm around him. "I'm sorry son."
The next day at school; their were a lot of guards Sasha hired, undercover as staff. They did a really good job with their job and if Cindy was even standing next to Jimmy; they'd pull her away and in class; a guard was sitting in the middle of them to make sure they didn't flirt.
It was a miserable day. When school was out, Jimmy was walking with Carl, Sheen and Elke.
Jimmy sighed. "What an awful day. This is horrible, I can't even stand near Cindy and we can't even work on projects together. We can't go out on anymore dates and now we can't even go to the dance together."
"Aw, that sounds really awful." Came Sally's sarcastic voice. "Poor Jimmy Neutron is forbidden to be with his true love and now you have to go to the dance dateless."
"Leave me alone Sally." He replied.
"Things don't have to be awful. You can still go with me to the dance." She said.
"Forget it." Jimmy walked off with his friends following.
Cindy was ranting to Libby. "Can you believe this? My mother actually hired these goons to make sure I don't even stand near Jimmy."
Eustace walked over. "You know it was quite rude of you to step on my foot like that Cynthia." He told her sarcastically. "But I'd still like to escort you to that dance." He tried to put an arm around her but she shoved him away.
Cindy came home and Sasha introduced her to her baby sitter. The baby sitter was a sixteen year old female and she had light brown hair that went to her neck and pink eyes. "Cindy, this is your babysitter Miki; she's very nice and I want you to be on your best behavior."
Miki smiled sweetly. "I'm sure things will be fine Mrs. Vortex. Cynthia and I will become friends."
Sasha left and Cindy turned to Miki and chuckled nervously. "So Miki, you're my baby sitter huh?"
"That's right you little twerp!" Miki yelled right in her face startling her. "Now here are a list of some chores I want you to do!" She threw a very long list of chores right in her face. "Now get to it!"
"Chores?" Cindy asked reading the list with disbelief. "You want me to be your personal slave?"
"That's right and you will do whatever I say or I'll destroy the whole house, call your mom and tell her you did all this cause you're mad at her for grounding you. Now rub my feet until they're smooth and shiny!"
After rubbing Miki's feet; Cindy had to clean all the mildew in the bathroom with her hands and Miki made sure she didn't miss a spot. Next she made Cindy clean the toilet with a tooth brush.
After finishing all the torturous chores; Cindy went in her room.
Jimmy was in his lab, petting Goddard. "This is so unfair boy. Cindy and I can't be together all because of the obstacles that are in our way. Oh why can't things be easy. Is their not one place we can be; just the two of us? A place where their are no guards to separate us."
He suddenly started having flashbacks. It was about when he and Cindy were stranded on a deserted island and the great times they had.
Cindy:"I know I'm not supposed to like you, but being here away from school and grades and peer pressure; it makes me realize how ridiculous that is."
Another flashback...
Cindy: "And to think, we get to do this everyday. No more homework or chores or mean people. Just you and me and all the time in the world.
Another flashback...
Cindy: "Jimmy!"
Jimmy: "What is it?"
Cindy: "We don't have to go."
Jimmy: "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Cindy: We can conquer the spider together, like we did everything else. And we can rebuild our tree houses, avoid the jungle and stay on the island, just the two of us. We don't have to go."
"That's it!" Jimmy exclaimed happily after his flashbacks ended. "Come with me Goddard. I'm going to start packing some of my stuff."
He packed a few tooth brushes, tooth paste, some blankets, two pillows, soap, and a few of his inventions. After that; he left the house and went in his lab to get his hovercraft.
Once he got in the hovercraft with Goddard and his suitcases; he flew over Cindy's balcony and lightly tapped on her window.
"Huh?" She asked herself confused. She got up and walked over to the window. "Jimmy?" She asked surprised. "How did you get here; I'm like a princess guarded in a tower?"
"I used my freeze ray on them." He sighed. "Remember when we were on that island and it was just the two of us and things seemed simple?"
"Yeah." She replied.
"How would you like to go back? and we could live there." He said.
She smiled. "That would be wonderful, can Humphrey come too?"
"Sure and you don't have to worry about packing; I've got everything taken care of." He assured her.
She got in the hovercraft with him and he flew in her backyard to get Humphrey. He was in his dog house with a bowl of colored dog bones. "Come on Humphrey. We're going to go somewhere nice." She told him quietly. Once Jimmy lowered down so Cindy could reach him. She scooped him up and Jimmy grabbed for his bowl and picked up a few of his chew toys.
He took off into the air. Cindy smiled as she looked down at Humphrey who was on her lap. He began to bark angrily when he saw Goddard. He and Goddard were rivals but that had to change.
"So what time does your mom get home?" Jimmy asked. Before they got ready to go to the pacific ocean; he wanted to go back in his lab to type a few letters for their friends.
"Around 8; why?" She asked.
"We have to go to my lab so we can type a letter for our friends and my mom and dad." He explained. "We're not going to tell them our location, we're just gonna explain why we left." He explained.
She nodded. "Okay, I should probably pack some extra stuff though afterwards. Like a bathing suit, flip flops, sunblock, some c-ds, my cell phone and-"
He smiled. "Sounds great and you don't have to bring a charger; Goddard was programmed with one and he also has a c-d player in him."
They went to his lab and walked over towards the monitor. Their was a copy machine plugged into it. "Okay, so what are we going to type?" She asked.
"We'll just write that we need to get away for awhile because of all the stress and drama that was inflicted on us and we don't know when we'll be back." He replied.
She nodded.
After typing the letter; they printed them out, put them in envelopes; went to a post office and dropped them in the mail slot. Jimmy used his freeze ray on more of Sasha's guards who tried to get in their way.
They went to his house and he walked over to the fridge. He was sad about leaving his parents like this but it had to be done. He taped the letter to the fridge and signed Love Jimmy with a pen.
Jimmy flew Cindy back on the balcony so she could go in her room to get what she wanted. She got back in the hovercraft and he took off.
The hours went by and soon they were over the pacific ocean. Cindy looked down a little nervous. "Are you sure this is the spot where we fell?"
"positive."
Jimmy carefully drove on the water until they found a place with dirt. In order to get on the island; they'd have to get through the jungle first and jump over the cliff like last time.
"We have to be careful and aware of our surroundings, their could be giant spiders, venus fly traps and boa constrictors like last time." Cindy explained; shivering.
"We just have to be careful and not make too much noise and we should be fine." He replied.
They continued to walk further into the jungle; very aware of their surroundings. Things seemed quiet so far.
Goddard was driving the hovercraft, careful not to crash into any branches or sharp objects. Humphrey began to bark as a huge boa constrictor wrapped itself around him.
Cindy gasped. "Humphrey!"
"Oh no." Jimmy rushed over and zapped at the boa constrictor several times before it was knocked out.
She rushed over and pulled Humphrey in for a hug. "Humphrey!"
"We have to keep moving before we come across any other problems. Look," Jimmy pointed at the cliff. "We're almost at the cliff."
Once they got near the cliff; Jimmy and Cindy got in the hovercraft and she had her arms wrapped tightly around Humphrey.
Jimmy drove the car over the cliff and they went over the water. "We've made it you guys. Now we have to rebuild our tree houses, build a shack for the hovercraft and dog houses for Goddard and Humphrey."
Jimmy saw the broken pieces of wood and used one of his gadgets that put the pieces back together and their tree houses and elevators were fixed. They found more wood and Jimmy and Cindy built a shack for the hovercraft and two dog houses for Humphrey and Goddard.
Everything was perfect.