All We Have To Fear
by Gary D. Snyder
Chapter 2:
The following morning Miss Fowl and the students from her class arrived at the school by twos and threes to construct the haunted house. The first task was to decide where to raise the structure. Some, like Cindy, felt that the traditional location on the athletic field would be best, while others, like Libby, favored the front lawn of the school. After some spirited debate it was agreed that the front lawn offered two significant advantages. The first was that the front lawn offered much greater visibility and had the best chance of attracting any casual passers-by. The second was that it was significantly closer to the storage room in the school basement and made transporting the necessary components far easier. Even so it took most of the morning to haul the various parts outside and organize them, and it wasn't until after lunch that the first supports began to go up.
During the afternoon activities Jimmy supervised the others, which irritated Cindy no end. Like most of the others he had been through the haunted house before, but his photographic memory made him the best candidate for putting it together in the shortest amount of time. Even so taking orders from Jimmy irked her, and she took every opportunity she could to insult him.
"Hey, Nerd-tron," she called out as she and Libby fitted a panel into place. "What are you going to do to advertise that this is a haunted house? Tell people you've moved here?"
"Actually, Vortex," Jimmy shot back as Cindy and Libby were laughing, "I thought I'd just paint your face on the front of it. I'm assuming that most people could figure it out from that."
Cindy growled and hammered with a vengeance as Libby tried not to snicker at Jimmy's comeback. "You just watch it, Neutron," she warned. "If you think that this place is scary, just remember that I can be your worst nightmare."
Jimmy couldn't resist. "Isn't that what I just said?"
Cindy drew back with the hammer but as she hesitated, wondering whether or not to actually throw it, Sheen pulled it from her hand. "Thanks, Cindy," he said as he headed back to where he and Carl were putting up another section. "Hey, Jimmy!" he called. "Where did you want us to put that?" He walked over to a red wagon on which something the size and shape of a microwave oven was covered with a tarpaulin and he poked curiously at it with the handle of the hammer. The other students had noticed it before but had been kept too busy to wonder what it might be.
"Uh…" Jimmy seemed unusually evasive. "Don't worry about that thing, Sheen. I'll install that myself when we're ready to go."
"But –" Sheen began.
"Don't argue, Sheen," Libby told him. "It'll be that much less work for us."
Sheen sighed. "Fine." He surveyed the progress of the work before rejoining Carl. "I'd guess another hour and we'll be good to go."
"That's about what I figure," agreed Jimmy. "Once the walls are up all that's left is to install the props and effects and put the canvas roof on. Then we'll be ready to open for business."
"How many people do you figure will come?" Carl asked as he struggled to help Sheen put up another section.
Jimmy considered it. "Well, for the first night I figure mostly just our parents and relatives, so maybe fifty or sixty. But between the posters we'll put up tomorrow and word of mouth I'd say we'll easily triple that tomorrow."
"You seem awfully certain about how successful this place is going to be," Cindy commented. She looked suspiciously at Jimmy. "Why?"
"Why?" Jimmy repeated innocently.
Cindy left where she had been working with Libby and planted herself in front of him. "Why?" she demanded.
Jimmy looked to both sides before gesturing for her to lean closer. "Can you keep a secret?" he whispered.
Still suspicious but intrigued in spite of herself, Cindy nodded. "Yes," she whispered back.
"Well," Jimmy answered quietly, looking both mysterious and mischievous, "then that makes two of us."
Feeling tormented beyond all endurance, Cindy grabbed Jimmy by the neck with both hands just as Nick walked by with another load of support members. "Hey, guys, get a room," he commented as he passed them.
Nick's opinion of her was one of the few that actually mattered to Cindy and she instinctively released her hold on Jimmy as she turned and tried to explain. "But Nick… it wasn't…we weren't…he…I was just…" she tried feebly as Nick passed from view around a corner of the partially completed structure. She turned back to Jimmy, who was lying on the ground and laughing uncontrollably. Libby proved to be no help. Although her back was turned to Cindy her shoulders were shaking and every now and then a small squeak escaped her.
"I'm sorry, Cindy," Libby apologized as she finally turned around and wiped her eyes. "But you have to admit it was kind of funny."
Cindy stood there, gritting her teeth. "Not funny," she managed to get out between grinding molars. She walked stiffly over to Libby and resumed helping her install sections of the house, albeit in icy silence this time.
After Jimmy had regained his composure he watched her for a few minutes and reluctantly decided that he had gone too far. He walked up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Cindy –"
Cindy angrily shook his hand off, but said nothing.
"Come on, Cindy," Jimmy tried again. "It was just a joke. Don't be mad."
"Mad?" Cindy replied in a voice that would liquefy nitrogen. "I'm not mad." To emphasize the point she re-appropriated her hammer and pounded viciously. "Why do you think I'm mad?"
"Well, for one thing, you're trying to use a hammer instead of a wrench to get the nut onto that bolt."
"Oh, joyous day," Cindy gushed as she let the hammer drop. "He not only knows how to keep secrets, he dispenses wisdom as well. How ever were we so lucky to have someone like you in our school?"
Jimmy looked puzzled. "Come on, Cindy. You're blowing this all out of proportion. Why are you so mad at me?"
"I told you," Cindy said evenly. "I'm not mad."
"But –"
"I'M – NOT – MAD!" she yelled, so loudly that everyone stopped what they were doing. Miss Fowl appeared from the other side of the partially assembled haunted house and headed towards her.
"What is going o-o-on here?" she clucked.
Cindy stood silently for a long moment, her face red with anger and her chest heaving. With a great effort she mastered herself and managed to unclench her tightly balled fists. "Nothing," she finally said looking from Jimmy to Miss Fowl. "Nothing at all." She turned and walked quickly away. "I just need a break, is all."
Miss Fowl watched her walk off and then cocked an eyebrow at Jimmy. He squirmed uncomfortably beneath her silent gaze. "I suppose," he said slowly, "that I might have been teasing her. But just a little," he added quickly. "It's nothing that I haven't done before. But she's never blown up like this before." He looked in the direction Cindy had gone and concern crept into his voice. "I'm worried. This just isn't like her."
Libby, Sheen, and Carl had been listening to Jimmy's . "No, it isn't," Libby agreed. "I mean, Jimmy can really get on Cindy's nerves, but she's never reacted like this."
Sheen nodded. "I'll say. Usually when she gets upset she just threatens to pound Jimmy into tapioca and then everything is back to normal again with them irritating the heck out of each other."
"Yeah," put in Carl, "except for when they get all lovey-dovey and –"
"What? We never do that!" Jimmy protested.
"Save it," said Libby, as the others rolled their eyes. "You can go into denial later."
Miss Fowl nodded in agreement. "Yes," she agreed. "Right now we have a haunted house to finish. I'm sure that Ci-i-indy will cool off and be back soon. I hope," she added uncertainly. "Back to work!" She wandered back around the house, shaking her head. Pre-teens and their hormones, she thought to herself. They'll be the death of me yet.
Carl, Sheen, and Libby returned to work but Jimmy continued to stare in the direction Cindy had gone as he futilely sought answers. Was Cindy really as angry at him as she had seemed? If so, why? And why wouldn't she have told him why? In all the years he had known her Cindy had always been blunt – often painfully so – when detailing his shortcomings. Something was terribly wrong, he was certain, but just what was beyond him. As with most boys his age girls were a mystery to him at the best of times, much less times like this.
"Earth to Neutron!" he heard someone call.
"What?" He resurfaced from the depths of his thoughts. "What's that?"
"Are you supervising us, or what?" Butch asked. "How are we supposed to put this entryway together?"
Reluctantly Jimmy went to oversee the fabrication of the gabled entrance to the haunted house. "No problems, Butch," he said. "Everything here makes perfect sense if you think about it." Well, he corrected himself, almost everything.
End of Chapter 2
Author's Notes:
Some readers have commented on the atypical beginning in Chapter 1 of this story in which I elaborated on the identity of the major characters. I actually have done so in other stories I've written for a couple reasons, although some readers may not remember it. The first reason is that much of the Jimmy Neutron fan fiction seems to take place in the future or (occasionally) in the past and I want to definitely establish that the stories I write are more or less in synch with the television show. The second reason is that I assume that once in a while the fan of another show might be reading these stories and needs a little orientation. In any case I hope the start-up doesn't drag too much when I do this.
In this chapter some may be rather curious about what is going on with Cindy's atypical behavior. As time goes on this should clear up…eventually.
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