Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Jimmy's face was covered in sweat, his hands trembling slightly. His eyes suddenly fluttered open. His pupils immediately contracted as the bright sunlight filtered into his room. He lay in his bed, lying straight on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about last night.

He had told Nick and the other guys to drop by his lab by five o'clock tonight. He would go over the plan in more detail then. He didn't know exactly when the sleepover would start, and he didn't know how long the girls would be there before Cindy read the journal to them. Worst of all, he didn't know if Cindy had read the journal yet.

Cindy finished her breakfast and ran back upstairs to her bedroom. She jumped onto her computer's chair and rolled across the room. She put a hand out to stop herself as she reached her desk. She smiled devilishly as she began sorting through the backpack on top of the desk.

"Well, what has young Jimmy Neutron written about today?" she whispered to herself while grabbing the journal. She was about to flip it open to the first page when she heard her mother yelling from downstairs.

"Honey! Take Humphrey out for a walk. It looks like he has to go to the bathroom."

Cindy sighed. She flipped through the book quickly. She noticed that he had written quite a bit for only one day. Must be something important. Probably about Little Ms. Perfect, Betty Quinlan. She snarled a little at that thought and threw the journal back down on the desk. Might as well be surprised with the rest of the girls. Less than twelve hours, anyway.

She trudged down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She grabbed the leash that lay strewn across a chair in the living room. "Come on, Humphrey. Here boy!" she shouted while clapping her hands against her knees. Humphrey slowly lumbered over.

"Hey buddy," she whispered while patting his head. The big dog rolled over and began kicking his feet with delight. "Yeah, you always were a bog softie," she mumbled with a smile while rubbing his tummy. "Come on, let's go for a walk," she said while clipping the leash around his collar.

She led the dog outside and closed the door behind her. She looked around. It was a beautiful day, the sun peering over a large white cloud. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too hot. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment until she felt the slack in the leash disappear.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," she happily said while running down the street, Humphrey happily following her.

A short time later Cindy walked into the park. "Let's take a break, ok buddy?" she asked Humphrey. The dog just stared blankly at her as she tied the long leash around a tree. She let out a deep sigh and sat down on a nearby bench. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it boy?" she mumbled while yawning.

"Who you calling boy?" a familiar voice asked.

She opened her eyes to see Jimmy standing over her. She smiled. "Hey Jimmy," she said while patting the bench, "sit down."

Jimmy smiled and shook his head as he took a seat behind her. "You call me boy, you tell me to sit down, I thought we were past the insulting stage."

Cindy looked into his deep blue eyes. "What are you doing here. You following me?"

Jimmy motioned at Humphrey. Goddard was carefully sniffing his canine arch-nemesis. "Just taking him for a walk. I assume you're doing the same."

Cindy just nodded as she watched the two dogs begin to wrestle. "What really brings you here, Jimmy?"

Jimmy turned to stare at her once again. This time his eyes were more serious. "What do you mean?"

Cindy continued staring at the dogs. "You always take Goddard for a walk in the evening. Six o'clock," she stupidly said.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "And I'm following you?"

"So what do you want?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy picked a twig up off the ground and began peeling the bark off of it. "I was just wondering if you read anything, interesting lately." He noticed Cindy's body straighten.

Cindy stared at him for a moment. Her eyes briefly relayed fear. She finally cleared her throat. "No. No I haven't."

Jimmy smiled a little. "Really. That's interesting."

The two kids stared at the other for a moment, trying to figure the other out. "I suppose it is," Cindy whispered after a while. She looked down and noticed that their hands were touching. She stared at their connected hands quizzically. Every time that had happened, she had felt like she had been electrocuted. Lightning always seemed to pass through her.

Jimmy grabbed her cheeks suddenly. A little roughly, too. He pointed her face towards the dogs, who were now wagging their tails and playfully nipping at each other. "Look at them."

Cindy was freaked out. "What the hell are you doing, Neu-?" she began to ask, but Jimmy cut her off.

"They've known each other as long as we have," he said, his tone oddly serious. "They nearly killed each other at first. But slowly, ever so slowly, they began to warm up to each other. Funny how that happens. And not just in dogs."

Cindy remained quiet, not understanding what he was getting at. "As the years went by, they slowly got used to each other. Goddard to Humphrey's boldness and strength, Humphrey to Goddard's intelligence. And plus, Goddard is different. He's metal. He's...special."

"You could say that they're friends now, as far as dogs go. But when they first saw each other this morning, only a couple of minutes ago, they attacked each other. Not as viciously as years ago, but it was still an attack. Because that is their nature. Because of their past, they are naturally hostile towards each other. No matter how close they get, there will always be their past, forcing them to attack."

He turned towards Cindy, who was deathly silent. They stared into each other's eyes. He released his grip on their cheeks. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Cindy had no idea what to do. He obviously knew something about the journal. Or he's just a freak. Cindy slowly shook her head.

Jimmy smiled, he had known that she wouldn't admit it. He leaned forward and stared deeper into her eyes. Their heads were barely inches apart. "I'll see ya, Cind."

He got up and grabbed Goddard. "See ya, Humphrey." He bent down and scratched the dog behind his ears. He started to walk away, but turned around. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. What time is that slumber party of yours tonight?"

Cindy was a little surprised that he knew about it. "Um, it starts about eight. Why?"

Jimmy turned back around to hide his smile. "No reason. Just was wondering what time I should look out my window to see Betty," he said while walking away.