secret life

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or it's characters.

Chapter 14,

Cindy sat on her front porch for a moment while she stared at Jimmy's house. She wondered what he was doing right now. Probably messing with some new invention. She looked at her watch and it read 2:15. His parents will soon leave for the Dance-a-thon and there is a good chance that he will go with them. So there isn't much chance for him to work on their book report tonight, which was fine.

After all, it's not like Jimmy has much to hide from. Sure I pick on him about his parents but that's more of a show for Libby than anything else. I bet he hated Mrs. Fowl for pairing us up together. Although, he wouldn't be as mad as Libby was. I hope she doesn't do anything to Mrs. Fowl. But she wouldn't do that, right? After all, Mrs. Fowl is a adult, a teacher, an authority figure. If Libby hurt her then she would get in serious trouble. Wouldn't she?

Cindy decided that it was time for her to talk to her oldest friend. She stood up and she walked into her house.

"Jack, I'm home." Cindy said and Jack poked his head out of the kitchen and smiled at her.

"Hey, Cindy, how are you today?" He asked and Cindy walked to him.

"Uh, well, it's not the worst day of my life, but it wasn't good." She said and Jack hesitated.

"Something happen between you and Libby?" He said and Cindy shrugged.

"Kinda, maybe, but I wanna talk to Humphrey first." She said and Jack's eyes filled with sorrow.

"That bad huh? Ok, well, that's fine. I did make my famous Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes for the people at the dry cleaners, and the appliance repair shop, and the hair salon; basically all the places that have to deal with your parents and their unpleasant attitude in life. The next batch will come out in a few minutes, so you can have one that's really hot." Jack said with a smile. He was good to Cindy, always trying to make her smile.

"I'll eat in a little while, I really wanna talk to Humphrey now." Cindy said and she started walking towards the back door.

"You know Cindy, I don't have to deliver these cupcakes now. I'm sure that there are lots of people in town who like cold cupcakes." Jack said and Cindy paused and sighed a little. With a smile on her face she turned towards Jack.

"Jack, I love your cupcakes as much as the next person, but like all cupcakes, they taste better hot. Even though you do manage to create flavors as crazy as Chocolate Covered Cherry, that doesn't change that simple fact. Just tell me when you leave." Cindy said and Jack sighed.

"Ok, but then you will tell me what happened with Libby when I get back." Jack said, though it sounded more like an order.

"Alright, I will tell you everything." She said and Jack gave her a sad smile, but otherwise said nothing. Cindy dropped her back beside the door and then she walked into the backyard. She recalled the times she had spent back here. Training for karate tournaments, playing catch with Humphrey, swimming in the pool, and even spying on Jimmy through the little hole in her fence. Cindy walked over to a skinny but tall tree the was close to the pool. She stared at the engraving and she lovingly outlined the words with sadness and a little anger.

Here lies Humphrey Vortex. The hairiest Vortex in the family.

I wish that I never allowed my parents to be in charge of this task. To think that I actually thought that they would actually respect it. I really should have seen it coming.

Cindy sat on the ground and gently placed her back on the tree.

"Hi boy. Today's reason, that I wish you were here, is that I really wanted you to chew up Libby's pocket knife. Or at least something she loves, like her old CD player. I don't know, things just haven't been right since mom and dad put you down. And I think that you would be glad that I a blaming me parents instead of Goddard. It's not like Goddard knew that your survival was depended on you winning dog competitions. I did manage to get you a few more months of life when I told the town that Goddard shouldn't be allowed to participate. I knew that you were doomed when they changed the rules to allow Goddard to compete anyways. But you saw how hard I tried to convince my parents that you were still winning. Forging award documents, replacing the covering stories of the contest, and every once in a while, bringing home a medal. Or at least convince Goddard that I wanted to borrow it for a few hours. I bet that bonehead, Jimmy, didn't even notice. I mean why would he? I never really took it for a long amount of time. Although I still could never figure out why Goddard trusted me like that. I mean Jimmy pretty much hates me and Goddard is his faithful companion. And likely his own companion." Cindy paused as she remembered watching Jimmy work in his lab while she tried to talk to him about Libby's first signs of abuse, but he completely ignored her.

"You listen to me Humphrey. Although, in a hole in the ground, you don't really have much of a choice. But you would still let me vent even when you were alive. Now, here I am, talking to a ghost because I don't really have anyone anymore. I... I..." Cindy had to swallow to stop herself from crying, and it's a good thing she did. Jack popped his head out of the door and waved slightly.

"I'm going to go now. I left you a couple of cupcakes on the dining room table for when you feel peckish." Jack said and Cindy nodded.

"Thanks, Jack. I appreciate that." She said and Jack paused.

"You know, maybe you could invite someone over. I mean, well... So that you won't be alone. Do you still have your phone on you?" Jack asked and Cindy produced the phone from her pocket.

"Fully charged too." She said and Jack nodded.

"Ok, well, hopefully I will be back in an hour. That is if the gossip group doesn't talk my ear off. I will text you if anything changes." Jack said and Cindy smiled a little.

"Thanks Jack, but remember, if one of those ladies does talk your ear off, just tape it back on." She said and Jack laughed a little before exiting the scene. Right about that time she heard a garage open up, so the went over to her little pep-hole and saw that the Neutron's were getting ready to leave. The three of them were piled into the car and were without a doubt on their way to the school for a fun filled night of dancing. Cindy sighed as she saw Jimmy in the backseat, his head shaking as if he couldn't believe when his father said. Knowing Mr. Neutron, it was most likely something about wanted to do the chicken dance, er duck dance. When Cindy could no longer see their car, she went back and sat next to Humphrey again.

"Sorry, boy. Libby is becoming a total dictator. I thought that Jimmy, Carl and Sheen had prevented that from happening. Or maybe they just saved that world, and I'm the only one that gets tortured. I mean, obviously if Jimmy had the choice to sacrifice me in order to save the planet, the I know he had no reason to object. After all, Jimmy... oh, Jimmy. I wish I knew how to tell him. But do you think that he would care? After all this time, he may even laugh if I showed him my cuts, my shocking piano, or some of my spiked dummies for karate. And all of this so that I can find a man and start having kids right away. You remember how my parents try to set me up with the kids of investors or even other companies. Well, this morning they were actually talking about me getting pregnant so that they can give my children away to couples that know. The only reason they had me was to make themselves look good. Now that I'm old they just want me to make them grandparents. The night before the Neutrons had dinner with us, I overheard my parents talking about me getting pregnant and then they would show the picture of my child and claim that it was theirs. How rude... But what can I do? You know, boy sometimes I have dreams of me running across the street and living with the Neutrons. They would be kind to me until night comes and my parents burst in. They drag me off while the Neutrons laugh at me, like some hideous cow." Cindy paused and thought for a serious moment, what it would be like to live with the Neutrons.

They tolerate Jimmy and his inventions, which is a lot more then the Vortex's had to deal with. Cindy imagined cooking in the kitchen with Judy, and polishing ducks with Hugh, and maybe convincing Jimmy to help her build her own lab. And she hoped that she would still see Jack, because right now, he really is her best friend. Suddenly Cindy felt a buzz in her pocket, and she was confused. Because how did Jack get so dragged into conversation that he would be texting her now? She looked at her phone and was shocked to see a text message from Jimmy.

Why would Jimmy be texting me? He must be in some kind of trouble. He is at the school, so maybe it's on fire. No Goddard has a fire hydrant. Maybe he left Goddard at home. But they should have fire hydrants at the school, not to mention the fire department's number on speed dial.

Cindy opened the text message, which simply said 'Hi' and nothing more. Perhaps Jimmy didn't mean to text her, but did so by accident. Well, she had many question, and there was only one way to get the answers. Simply text him back and hope that Libby never sees the conversation.