Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron.

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Jimmy

I can't believe Vortex would say no to me. I had given our relationship so much thought last night, I could barely even sleep. I should have stuck with my instincts and not my hormones. She didn't want to go steady with me, so it's rather obvious that she still wants to see other people, even though I'm her boyfriend! I wasn't planning on ever seeing anyone else, but having Cindy go steady with me would have finally made it official that we cared about each other. She just had to shake her head no and run off – after I helped with her homework for over an hour this morning. Can you believe that?

I really felt betrayed. I wanted to be with her more than anyone else in the entire galaxy, and she didn't seem to feel the same way I do. For all I knew, she was faking it whenever I made out with her. The nerve of her using me like that.

I could definitely take a hint when I wasn't wanted. She could get herself a new math tutor and a new boyfriend. I didn't need her.

It was difficult to avoid Cindy knowing I had to sit with her in class all day, but at least she didn't say anything to me. Lunch, however, was another matter altogether.

Today was pizza day. I decided to buy my lunch rather than bring it from home. The line moved relatively quick and I was in and out of line in less than five minutes. As I was walking towards my usual table where I sat with Sheen and Carl, I heard someone call my name. Naturally, I stopped for half a second to see who it was. It was Cindy. She was trying to smile at me again, but I wouldn't have any of it. I scowled at her and kept walking. I could see a few tears in her eyes. I didn't care about that, either. I was furious with her.

Cindy was not going to take silence as an answer. Once I sat down and started eating, she marched right up to our table.

"Neutron, we need to talk. Right now."

"Begone, Vortex. I have nothing to say to you," I replied angrily, taking another bite of my pizza.

"This is real mature. You ask me a question I had absolutely no time to answer and then you get mad at me for not giving you the answer you wanted to hear. You're coming with me whether you like it or not."

Cindy grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me half-way out of my chair. This further enraged me since I did not want to talk to her.

"This is preposterous. Put me down, Vortex!"

Of course Cindy being the strong-willed person she could be at times, ignored my protests and yanked me out of my chair, leaving a stunned Carl and Sheen behind. I could only hope they wouldn't find out later what was going on.

She pulled me outside and led me back to the tree we were sitting under earlier this morning. Finally, after several painful minutes, (she held my arm so tightly that it hurt) she let me go.

"All right, Neutron. You said you wanted to go steady with me and I shook my head no. You know why? Because that was a very serious question you asked me. I needed to think about it. I hate it when you get angry at me over something like this."

I sighed. She had a point. It was a very serious question to ask. Her reasoning did not convince me at all.

"Do you even know what going steady means, Vortex?"

Cindy bit her lip and paced for a minute or two. "Yes, I do."

I ignored her answer. "Well, in case you might not, let me refresh your memory. It means you no longer date other people because you care about the person you are with."

"I said I know what it means, King Cranium! You don't need to quote me verbatim from a dictionary!"

"Actually, I think I do, because you obviously want to shop around some more before you make up your mind about us!"

"I never said that!" she exclaimed, glaring at me heatedly.

"You sure had me fooled when we were making out the last couple of times."

"Cut it out, Neutron!"

"And the math tutoring gag. Real clever. I won't get an A in math without your help, Jimmy! Oh, woe is me! Please help me!"

"Neutron…" she growled warningly.

"Please forgive me," I hissed, "I completely forgot to mention the whole 'keeping our relationship a secret from your mother' trick. As if I couldn't see right through that façade. For all I know she's probably telling you to go out with me so you'll find out all of the secrets I have. Then when you're done with me, you'd just toss me aside and laugh about how you used Jimmy Neutron and he fell for it. Maybe you'd even tell the entire school about it so EVERYONE would laugh at me. Wouldn't that be a sight to see?"

Cindy finally had enough at that point, and smacked me hard across my face. It stung a great deal and I could tell my face was probably quite red where she hit me. It shut me up.

"You know, I gave your question a lot of thought this morning and was about to change my mind about going steady with you, but you're clearly not ready for a meaningful relationship. I most certainly made the right decision this morning. I wouldn't want to go steady with you now, or ever. We are so over, Neutron."

She ran back to the school building, leaving me standing there alone to nurse my swollen face.

Pukin' Pluto, what have I done?

I knew I'd gone too far, but I was livid. I didn't have any evidence to prove that all of these hypotheses were true and I probably overreacted.

I couldn't understand why Cindy wouldn't want to go steady with me. I liked her so much that I was beginning to fall in love with her, and I couldn't help it, either. She was attractive (what I wouldn't give to see her in that space suit again), smart, and sensitive. Cindy was amazing! I was dating the most beautiful girl in my entire class.

Me and my big mouth. I messed up big time. Arguing was taking us two giant steps backwards, and that's not where I wanted to go with our relationship.

I trudged back into Miss Fowl's classroom feeling awful. Luckily, everyone else was coming back in from recess (our recess usually followed lunch) so I wasn't late. The redness on my face had now subsided and wasn't as obvious, but that was due to the fact that I spent a good ten minutes in the boy's restroom sticking my face under cold water.

Cindy refrained from speaking to me the rest of the afternoon. I didn't blame her. I wouldn't speak to me either after how I acted towards her. I deserved it.

The final hours of school dragged on until the bell finally rang. I wrote my homework assignments down in my agenda, and went to my locker to collect my things.

Cindy was not waiting for me when I left the premises. Instead, I saw a fuming Libby standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Cindy told me what happened. How could you?"

A lone tear fell down my cheek. "I asked Cindy if she wanted to go steady with me and she turned me down. I was mad at her because I didn't think she cared about me."

I broke down and started crying. I felt so horrible about the things I said. Things I would never be able to take back. Libby's face instantly softened as she sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulders.

"I didn't mean it, Libby," I wept, "I should have respected Cindy's wishes. She doesn't have to go steady with me if she doesn't want to. I'm so sorry."

Libby rubbed my back and tried to console me as best she could. "I know you didn't mean it. But you do owe Cindy one heck of an apology if you ever want to see her again. She's really hurt. She was in tears when she left a few minutes ago."

I sniveled the last of my remaining tears and looked up at her. If I couldn't get through to Cindy, Libby had to know how I really felt about Cindy so that maybe she could get through to her.

"I'm falling in love with her. Einstein knows I've tried to ignore my feelings by pretending I didn't feel as strongly about Cindy as I do, but I can't hide them anymore. That's why I wanted to go steady with her. I don't want to see other people anymore…not that I have. I only want Cindy. Society can tell me I'm too young to fall in love if it wants to. I don't care anymore."

Libby smiled. "Cindy likes you a lot more than you think. Going steady is a very big commitment, especially for an eleven-year-old. I bet if you apologized she would accept your request to go steady with her."

Libby handed me a tissue so I could wipe the last few years from my eyes. I returned her smile. "You're right. I need to apologize to her."

"She's probably half-way to Madame Jones' house for her piano lesson by now. If you don't want to wait until tomorrow to make an apology, you'd better get going."

I remembered that I brought a spare jetpack with me just in case. It was in my locker.

"I'll be right back."

I dashed back into school and grabbed the jet pack from my locker. I strapped the device on me and came back outside. Libby grinned.

"Jimmy, you are so good. I hope you make it!"

I waved to her and took to the skies to look for Cindy. Taking into account everything that transpired today, I hoped she would want to see me.