CHAPTER 17 - "Telling parents and friends"
Judy and Hugh, Jimmy's parents, were in home, watching TV until their heard a door close. They turned their heads to find Jimmy safe.
"Hi, mom! Hi, dad!" Jimmy greeted.
Goddard barked, greeting also.
"Jimbo! Son! Congratulations!" Hugh said, as he palmed his son's back. "I heard you defeated a bully! Well done!".
"Oh, my little baby!" Judy said, as she hugged him tight. "I'm so proud of you! Your friend must have taught you well, didn't she?".
"Actually... errr..." Jimmy said, scratching his head. "Mom, she's more than a friend to me...". He giggled, and blushed furiously.
"Oh, I get it! Jimbo's in love, huh?" Hugh said.
Jimmy blushed more. "Dad! Don't exaggerate!".
"Ohh... I guess then my little baby is not a baby anymore..." Judy said, a little down.
Hugh laughed and patted Jimmy's head. "Jimmy, you little rascal! What are you going to do with her? What's in your plans?".
"She will come to my lab tomorrow after school, and we're going to watch some movies" he explained.
"Do you want me to be there so I can sing a ballad song? How about-" Hugh suggested, but he was interrumpted.
"No, thanks, dad! And we'll be in the lab, which has plastic windows, so I guess we will not be hearing you anyway...".
"Oh, that's ok, I understand" Hugh said. He paused. "But I was going to sing 'Duck's revenge'!".
Jimmy shook his head. He rushed upstairswith Goddard to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, in Cindy's house...
"Night, mom!" Cindy greeted, as she started to walk upstairs to her room. "Oh, by the way, tomorrow after school I'm going to Jimmy's house".
"Jimmy? You mean the dirty kid from accross the street?" Mrs. Vortex asked, making a face of disgust.
"What? No! He's notdirty! He came like that because of a bully!" Cindy explained. "Now that he defeated that bully..." she said, as she sighed dreamily, "he invited me to a date!".
"Didn't you had this situation before? Remember when you told me he was once by the effects of a love potion that he invented..." Mrs. Vortex asked, concerned.
Cindy walked downstairs slowly, realizing that her mother had a point.
"B-but this time is different, mom, I-I swear!" she said.
Mrs. Vortex walked over to talk to her.
"How sure are you this time?" she asked.
"Well, because we... like each other... and that day we exactly... didn't" Cindy replied.
"You know I'm not going to stop you, dear, but I don't want you to come here tomorrow with your heart broken again" her mother said.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll be ok" she said.
Mrs. Vortex patted her daughter's head, and she gave her an approval smile. Both mother and daughter gave a hug, and Cindy rushed upstairs to her room.
The next day in Linbergh Elementary. Things were practically normal, except maybe for Jimmy and Butch. While Jimmy was still being congratulated by his buddies, Butch received only jokes and the laugh of his classmates.
Jimmy walked inside the school, and he opened his locker with the cornerofhis eye, like in a normal day, literally,when Sheen ran over to him, desperated.
"Jimmy! Jimmy! All the school is talking about you and Cindy" he told him.
"What? H-how did they know?" Jimmy asked, surprised.
"Well... I... huh..." Sheen muttered, as he looked down at his feet.
Jimmy rolled his eyes and he sighed heavily. "Sheen! This was supposed to be a secret! Now all the school knows that I'm having a date with Cindy?".
"It wasn't my fault, ok? Carl has it!" Sheen yelled.
"Carl isn't here and-" Jimmy yelled.
Suddenly, Cindy appeared from behind, interrumpting both of them.
"Hi, Nerdtron!" she said, as she winked at Jimmy. "Hey, can I talk you for a second?" she whispered to his ear.
"Yeah, sure! Bye, Sheen!" he nodded, and he waved at Sheen.
"Bye, Jimmy...!" Sheen waved, with a big knowinggrin on his face.
Jimmy and Cindy both hid in a classroom. The room was partially dark. They made sure no one was actually seeing them.
"I thought about what you said" Cindy began. "Do you remember that day you invited me to your lab the first time?".
"Yeah..." Jimmy replied, as he looked at the floor, embarrased.
Cindy looked sad. Tears fell from her eyes. "You didn't love me...".
"But... but... that day I was by the effects of my Love Potion!" Jimmy said, as he put a hand on Cindy's shoulder. "Don't worry, this time... I don't".
Cindy eyes widened and she smiled. "Oh! I had to make sure!" she said, as she gave him a hug. "Then I'll go to your house after school after all?".
"Hey, does your mom agree with that? Remember? Quasimodo and stuff?" Jimmy asked.
"Of course, silly!" she laughed.
She pulled him closely to her. Jimmy blushed, but that couldn't be noticed because of the dark.
"C-Cindy... I... I must confess that Sheen told everyone about us..." he said.
He could feel her more closely to his body.
Cindy sighed. "Yeah, I know that. Libby told everyone, too. That big mouth of hers!".
"Libby!" he asked suprised. Then, he sighed peacefully. "I see... Well, I guess we have nothing to worry about then".
"What do you mean?" she asked, also surprised.
"Everyone knows! Let's just act like everyone knows" he suggested.
"But what about all the jokes and stuff?" she asked.
"I got everything under control, remember? I'm a hero and a tough Karate fighter!" he explained.
"You're right!" she squealed.
Jimmy and Cindy both got out of the classroom, they took hands and they walked through the hall. All the kids around looked in shock for a while. But then, they returned on their own business, like nothing happened.
"See? That's what I was talking about" Jimmy said.
Cindy smiled and he returned her the smile.
"Bye, Jimmy!" she said, as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
Jimmy sighed dreamily. "Bye, Cindy!" he waved, sheepishly.