Hey there everyone, thanks for coming back for the second chapter! Sorry the update took so long… normally I'm pretty good about updating, but these past few weeks have been hectic with Christmas and my birthday and so on. Anyway, I'm going to take a little of your time before I start this chapter to thank all my reviewers; I personally think that I got some of the best out there, just because I got a ton of feedback from you all. (Well, maybe not a ton, but I'd say that writing a paragraph is a lot more feedback than a sentence… but not to say I'm complaining! I love getting long reviews! So keep them coming!)

Anyway, to answer some questions: WL&K stands for Win, Lose, or Kaboom! Which is the title of the most recent tv movie thing. I liked it, even though I thought Jimmy was out of character, as he's never the type to go and be "I'm the only one who can save us!" At least those are my thoughts on it. And to sheryl, what I do to prep for my writing is I essentially immerse myself in the world of Jimmy Neutron and I try to think about each character's perspective. Hope that helps! (And I'm sorry I didn't respond to your email, mine has been going nuts lately! I can receive stuff, but I never can send any out…)

And now before I truly start: standard Disclaimer still applies. I own nothing JN related and most likely never will…

To Cross the Rubicon
By: pottergal

Chapter Two: A Fool Proof Project?

It was Wednesday afternoon by the time the severity of her hasty bet with Neutron had finally sunken into Cindy's skull. Natesa had called the night before but hadn't been able to say much aside from giving Cindy the time of their group meeting, and all through class Jimmy had been especially annoying, dropping hints every chance he got about the brilliant project he had cooked up. Cindy had tried talking to Libby about her problem, but her best friend had been curiously absent though lunch, leaving Cindy to pick at her mashed potatoes alone.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried calling Libby the night before and they couldn't exactly talk during class. Sitting right in front of Miss Fowl had its definite drawbacks, especially when she couldn't hope to pass notes back and forth without getting caught.

Besides, she reasoned, knowing Neutron and the way they lived to torture each other, he would probably take great delight in squealing on her.

"See you tomorrow, Vortex!"

She looked up from her notebooks to see Jimmy waving cheekily at her from the doorway of the classroom.

"Good luck at your group meeting; maybe you can cobble together something using your painfully ordinary imagination!" he called, his tone swimming in gleeful mirth and Cindy glowered at him.

"You wouldn't know imagination if it came up and bit you in the face!" she retorted, wrapping her arms around her books and heading for the door. "Besides, I'm sure whatever you're planning is going to get messed up one way or another. None of your so-called pioneering inventions ever work right." Laughter from the remaining students accompanied her quip and she smirked down at him as she exited, heading for her locker.

"So if worse comes to worse, I'll just win by default!" she called over her shoulder, and grinned when she heard his growl of frustration. All too easy. Now to find Libby…

Libby, in fact, found her first, along with Nissa and Natesa, who appeared to be waiting for her at the front of the school. And so, with backpacks and books in tow, the four girls set out for Natesa's house, which turned out to be only a few blocks from school.

"So what's this I hear about a bet between you and Jimmy?" Libby asked, fixing Cindy with an incredulous stare. "Don't tell me that you've gone and done something stupid again… have you?"

"Um… heh…" Cindy looked away sheepishly, a small nervous laugh escaping from her.

"Cindy, I don't believe you!" Libby exclaimed, her brow knitting when she frowned.

"Hey, it depends on your idea of stupid!" she shot back defensively. "So yeah, I made a bet with Neutron over the projects. And when I win, we get to watch as he humiliates himself for a month by dressing in drag."

"Big deal, you already did that once," Libby said, rolling her eyes, and Cindy frowned a little. "Remember? When the two of you accidentally switched bodies?"

"Don't remind me, please," Cindy said, a shudder running through her. "But trust me Libs, it gets better."

"Do tell," Libby said with another eye roll, her tone dripping in sarcasm.

"Well, I also made it so he has to shave his head…"

"You mean no more of that stupid sundae style hair?" Libby asked, lifting one of her eyebrows in disbelief. "I can't believe he agreed to that. He must've been pretty angry when he did so; I can't think of any other time when his judgment lapses." Libby paused then, giving Cindy a piercing look over. "You didn't agree to something similar… did you?"

"Not at all," Cindy replied as they crossed the street, entering the residential section. "If that big-brained doofus manages to pull off a win, then I…" She took a deep breath, feeling Libby's apprehensive gaze upon her. "Well, I have to be his personal servant for a month."

"WHAT?!"

Cindy winced at Libby's shriek before giving her a severe frown, but Libby didn't notice. She was too busy muttering to herself about Cindy's clear lack of good judgement.

"What's the big deal? There's no way I'm going to let him win," Cindy told her, earning another look of disbelief from Libby. "I don't care what he's planning; something always goes wrong with his ideas, so there's no way I can lose."

"Well…"

Libby's tone made Cindy pause and she turned to her best friend.

"Okay, spill. What do you know that I clearly don't?" she demanded and Libby winced before looking at her shoes. "You know what Neutron is planning, don't you?" Another wince from Libby told her she was right.

"Libby, listen to me. I don't care what he made you swear on, but you've got to tell me what that little nitwit is planning. We're best friends, and that bond over rules everything," Cindy said, her tone steely and a touch desperate. Whatever Jimmy had up his sleeve must be big if Libby was acting so strangely.

"All right, all right," she said at last, hanging her head. "But if he finds out…"

"How could he? He hasn't bugged you, has he?"

"It's highly unlikely, but I wouldn't put it past him," Libby said, looking around anxiously. "He seemed to think that his idea was absolutely perfect."

"So what is it already?"

"Well, you know why I was missing at lunch today?" Libby began and Cindy nodded. "Jimmy convinced me to go back to that lost tomb we found so we could film some stuff for National Geographic, which he's going to use to make a 3-D, interactive replica for a museum somewhere. I think he's making it so you feel like you're actually in the tomb; he's got a plan for a sweet sound system and everything."

Cindy stared at Libby, her mouth hanging open.

"THAT is his project?"

As Libby nodded, a sinking feeling filled Cindy.

Unless Natesa's idea is the best thing ever... I'm doomed.

"Just put your things in the kitchen and then meet me in the basement. My mother is waiting for us down there," Natesa said as they entered her house, gesturing to the room on her left before racing up the stairwell on her right. "I need to go change and I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Cindy frowned at the girl's retreating back; maybe it was due to the fact she was in comfortable territory, but Natesa had dropped her quiet nature. After shrugging inwardly, she followed Libby and Nissa into the kitchen to find a plate of cookies and several empty glasses resting on the table.

"Ooh, these look like Natesa's mother's cookies," Nissa cooed before grabbing two from the plate. "They're the best chocolate chip that I've ever had! You guys have to try them!"

"I can't ever say no to free snacks," Libby said as she helped herself to one and nibbled at the corner curiously. Cindy watched as her face lit up with joy and she popped the rest of the cookie into her waiting mouth.

"Cindy, have one! They're delicious!"

"Um, that's all right…" she said as she set her things beside Nissa's. "I'm really not all that hungry." Libby gave her a strange look at that, but didn't press the issue. Cindy wasn't going to tell her why she wasn't hungry… it was due to her growing dread about the project.

What could they possibly come up with to rival Neutron's suave documentary? It seemed the numbskull had finally managed to think up something cool for a project, and with National Geographic behind the planning and the filming, there was no way things were going to get messed up.

Come on, Vortex! Quit thinking like that! She told herself sternly, looking up to see Nissa and Libby heading down a flight of stairs that branched off from the kitchen. Cindy could only assume that it lead to the basement.

"Funny, this doesn't look like the way to a typical basement…" Libby's voice trailed up the staircase and Cindy heard Nissa laugh a little.

"That's because it's not a typical basement. Natesa's family converted it to a dance studio a long time ago," Nissa said and Cindy heard Libby's gasp of delight. Not wanting to be left in the dark any longer, Cindy hurried after the two of them and found herself in a modern type studio, complete with polished pinewood floors and floor-to-ceiling mirrors that covered the walls.

"Whoa…" she whispered, looking around with wide eyes. "Does her family teach dance lessons or something?"

"Sort of," a new voice said, and Cindy looked up to find a rather petite woman smiling at them from across the room. She looked similar enough to Natesa that Cindy felt safe enough to assume that this was her mother, but the woman had creamy skin where Natesa's was bronze. Her deep blue eyes sparkled at them mischievously and her long brown hair had been tied up in a pony tail.

"Welcome to The Studio," the woman said warmly as the three girls approached, and Cindy watched her gaze flick downwards to their feet. "I suppose my daughter forgot to mention our rule. We don't wear shoes down here; it helps save the floor."

"Oh!"

All three girls stammered a quick apology and tugged off their sneakers before placing them in a corner. Nissa was blushing heavily, and when Libby questioned her, she told them that Mrs. Ojufemi was always reminding her to take off her shoes before coming downstairs.

"I always forget; it never fails," Nissa said sadly, but a soft shimmering sound interrupted her and Cindy looked at the stairway.

"Natesa?!"

"Yup," the girl said happily as both Libby and Cindy stared. "What do you think of my costume? My grandma and my mom helped me make it." She did a little spin as she spoke, causing all the tiny bells sewn into her costume to jingle in that unique shimmering whisper.

"It's gorgeous," Cindy said, as it certainly was. Natesa was clothed in something Cindy had long typically associated with belly dancers; she wore a pair of flowing pants made from some soft, sheer material. The bottoms had been synched around her ankles and the pants sat low on her hips. Beneath the pants was a pair of spandex shorts along with a pair of gold fabric slippers. Her upper torso was clothed in what looked like a sports bra, but she'd attached sleeves made from the same sheer material as the pants, and they flowed gently to her elbows. Everything had been made in a deep blue, and it accented her coloring beautifully.

"Most of the jewelry is my mom's, but she said she'd let us borrow almost anything we need," Natesa said as she stepped into the room, her anklets, wristlets, belly chain, and necklaces jangling as she walked. "She even has finger cymbals, but those take a lot of time to master, and we might not have enough."

"Wait a second," Libby said, and everyone looked at her. "We're going to be doing what exactly?" Cindy decided she looked faintly incredulous.

"Well, it's a little known fact that one of the roots of belly dancing is in Egypt. So I talked things over with my mom last night, and she agreed to choreograph a traditional Egyptian belly dance for us," Natesa said, beaming at them and Libby's jaw dropped.

"But would Miss Fowl honestly agree to something like this? Isn't it a little too unconventional?" Libby asked, her eyebrows quirking slightly, and Natesa shrugged, her jewelry jingling softly.

"I don't see why not," the girl said, looking from person to person. "All Miss Fowl said was that we had to present an aspect of Egypt, and this is certainly one of them."

"Then it's settled!"

Heads instantly turned to Cindy, who felt like she was grinning like a madman.

"This idea is perfect! It's just the thing we need!" she crowed and Natesa began leaping for joy. "Libby and I are excellent dancers so we shouldn't have any problems learning a routine… but we're going to have to work extra hard on this! I want it to be perfect so we can knock the socks right off the class!"

"Cindy…" Libby began, a warning tone to her voice, and Cindy grabbed her best friend before dragging her into a corner.

"Come on, Libby, you have to admit that this sounds like fun! And it's just the thing to beat Neutron! All the guys can't resist a good belly dance and the girls will fall head over heels for our costumes!" Cindy explained, finding it difficult to keep her voice below a whisper from the amount of excitement she felt. "You don't want to see me chained to Neutron's will for a month, do you?"

Libby gave her a look at that. "But you do realize that this is going to be difficult, right? Belly dancing has always looked so complicated, with those wigglin' tummies and stuff. And then what about the oral part of the project? To top it all off, what if Miss Fowl disapproves of it, or makes us wear other costumes? Then where's your perfect idea?"

"You heard Natesa, and it sounds like that between her and her mother, we've got more information than we could possibly imagine, so the oral part is covered as far as I'm concerned," Cindy whispered back, her eyes locked onto her best friend. "And if you're so worried about it, we'll go first thing tomorrow morning and talk to Miss Fowl about it."

After a few moments and another look, Libby finally sighed. "All right, all right, we'll do this!"

"YES!"

So Cindy now has her perfect plan to beat Jimmy. But will it go off as planned? Or will she fail miserably? Tune in to the next chapter, and find out…