Disclaimer: Nickelodeon can have Jimmy Neutron so long as I get Carl. LLAMAS RULE!
A/N: I'M SO SORRY! I finished this WEEKS ago and ment to post it, but it got stored onto some floppy that was packed away and I only just found it! I hope you aren't too upset and/or dissapointed with this chapter.
The disgruntledteenager lifted his head from the desk as the bell rang, just in time to see the last of the students filter into the classroom. He muttered under his breath at the tactlessness of his class as he ran his hands through his hair, sighing and staring around the room. It was their grades and he couldn't do anything to change their habits…well, he supposed he could…no. They just weren't worth the materials.
He was rummaging about in his bag, looking for his notebook, when a young man about his age walked up to his desk.
"Hello!" he said brightly. Then, looking into Jimmy's face, asked sympathetically, "Rough morning?"
Jimmy could only grunt in response. The young man laughed.
"Yeah, I've had those days. We all have." He said in an understanding tone. "Thank God it's Friday, right?"
"Ah, yes," Jimmy drawled sarcastically. "Friday. No longer can I sit in the peace and quiet, getting work done like we all should be," – he paused to stare pointedly at the student in front of him - "I am now able to do it in the midst of a six dozen partying college students. Indeed, there is nothing more I look forward to than a Friday night."
The young man only smiled at the spiteful look that had appeared on Jimmy's face when he had spat out the last few words and shrugged. "You should try joining us some time. It's really not as bad as you make it out to be."
Jimmy snorted in disbelief, but said nothing more on the matter.
"Anyways," the young man continued. "I have a few questions on the lesson we had the other day. Do y'think you could help me out?"
Jimmy looked up at him defeatedlywith half closed eyes and a sigh. "Isn't that all I'm here for, Cody?" he asked the young man dryly, running a hand through his hair again, making it stand on end.
Cody mearly smiled down at him hopefully. Jimmy shook his head and leaned over the paper Cody had put on his desk to see what damage could be repaired.
Of course, he didn't really do the work for Cody, but mearly helped him "understand the meaning". Nevertheless, it gave Jimmy the same impression, and, he might add, it was one he had never really been fond of before. College made no difference.
A form of understanding was reached at Cody's part before the class began. And a rather interesting class it was; deep discussions and debates between the students were being ricocheted back and forth, a rather unusual turn of events, but Jimmy was glad his class was in the mood to put forth participation. End of the semester, he thought to himself. Finally realizing applying yourself actually works. But he was, by no means, going to complain. The stress he had been under as of late was enough to leave even a genius buckling. He too was looking forward to the end of the semester, no matter how much he denied it to Cody.
Jimmy got through the session only having to put forth minimal effort. Still, he let out a sigh of relief when the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. A good lunch might just be enough to revive him for his final two classes of the day. Of course…
Isn't it so interesting, Jimmy thought angrily to himself, that the world insists on doing whatever it can to contradict your plans?
He hurried down the front steps and to the shade of a tall, unoccupied pine tree, plopping down underneath it with relief. Ok, so perhaps he was exaggerating a bit.
No, he thought. Certainly not.
He had encountered several more students on his way out. Normally, he welcomed this interaction, but today he wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Why was he in such an aweful mood?
He pulled out his laptop and flipped it open with abeholden sigh and noticed the small flashing mail icon. He clicked it open, the smile he had put on when reading it was from Carl vanished when he read deeper in. Oh, yes. That's why. . .
Inside was information about the graduation at Retroville High School, taking place that very night. Jimmy sighed and leaned back against the tree, running his hands through his hair, a subconcious habit he had formed. No matter how much he would deny it to himself or any one, he missed it back home, and he would give anything to be there with his old friends and join them as they walked side by side in the graduation. He missed them all. Even – well…yes, he even missed Cindy. The lack of competition without her was very dull. No one had nearly the same fire Cindy always had in her eyes. He sighed and stood, gathering up his things and heading back towards the school.
He breezed through the final two hours of his day almost effortlessly, a stiacciato of hope kindled by the though of finishing Goddard's moderations when he returned home. When he finally slid into the driver's seat of his car, he sighed exhaustedly. The weekend….how fabulous. He drove the short distance to his apartment as quickly as the law would allow him, where he was greeted upon entering by Goddard.
"Hey boy!" Jimmy said happily, dropping his things and kneeling down to pet him. Reeves -- quite literally --popped up beside him.
"May I take your things, sir?" he asked in his proper British accent, not waiting for an answer before picking up the items that had been abandoned by Jimmy upon his arrival.
"Thanks," Jimmy said, standing with Goddard in his arms.
"Is there anything I can get you, sir?" Reeves asked politly.
"I could use a Purple Flurp, if I have any," he said. The prototype hologram nodded and dissapeared. Jimmy smiled. Reeves certainly was more up to date than the holographic butler his father had blown up on a very eventful camping trip…
Jimmy frowned at the memory. Although the trip hadn't been a particularily unhappy one, remembering his friends and the fact they would be experiencing graduation without him in only a few hours him made his small apartment seem even emptier.
Goddard barked in his arms. Jimmy looked down at him and smiled again. Out of all his experiments, Goddard was, by far, his greatest. (Not to mention, one of the few that worked properly, did not cause explosions, invasions of pants, mutations of the cells, creating death-inflicting super powers, or eat girls.)
Jimmy rolled his eyes as he walked tohis over-stuffedsofa, his smile dwindling to a small scowl. He sounded just like Cindy…
But he didn't want to think about Cindy. Why would he? She was a dozen state-lines away and probably gloating at the easy valedictorian position she had obtained, coming up with as many ways as possible to insult him in the speech she would be giving very soon. Oh, how he would love to see the look on her face if he were to be there. That would teach her a thing or two…
Goddard jumped off Jimmy's lap as he stood with a sudden and strange determination. He rushed out of his apartment with Reeves calling after, "Will you be needing anything, sir?"
The door slammed behind him as he rushed out and came to a near collision with a pair of people in the hallway walking the opposite way as him. One of the two young ladies called after him as he continued his rush past, "Hey Jimmy! We're going over to Tony's to hang. Care to join?" Jimmy slowed his quick pace only the slightest as he called over his shoulder, "Maybe later, Sky. I've really got to be somewhere!"
"You always do!" Sky's companion called after him. Both girls giggled and entered a room farther down the hall, loud rock music pouring out before they closed the door behind them and cut it off. Jimmy rolled his eyes and punched the elevator button impatiantly several more times. Honestly…why hadn't he thought of it before? He lept into the elevator as the doors opened and jabbed the button for the lobby. It seemed to take an eternity as it rattled down slowly, opening with a soft ping! when it finally reached the ground level. Jimmy bolted out, nearly running into several more people attempting to enter.
"Sorry!" he called back over his shoulder, not stopping hismad-dash for the door, across the parking lot, and to his garage.
"Hah!" he cried out in triumph as he opened the door. "And who ever said nano-technology couldn't be perfected into a 875-horsepower turbine jet-booster to create travle the speed of sound by hovercraft?" He ripped the dust covering off his hover car and shoved it in a drawer. He vaulted himself into his seat and was reaching for the key when he paused.
Why in the world was he doing this? He didn't have to prove anything to anybody. Cindy's life was her own, and he didn't care in the slightest…..
Hah, Jimmy thought to himself, the winds ripping through his hair. Don't flatter Cindy into thinking this is for her. I can go see my friends if I want…
His last trip back had been over 4 months ago; it would be good to see them again. Yes…that's it…
He landed his hover car in the old park behind a small grove of trees. He smiled and walked down the path, hands in his pockets andhumming a tunelessly. It didn't take him long to find his way to Retroville High School. (The blaring music and ceaseless talking and shoutingcould be heard from half a mile away.)
Jimmy weaved his way through the crowds, several people turning to stare at him as he passed, many of them students he knew in elementary school. He smiled and winked at a young girl in her graduation gown who was staring at him as he approached. She and her friends giggled loudly and scuttled away. Jimmy rolled his eyes heavenwards at the ridiculous immaturities of high school students. Although, he was their exact age, perhaps even younger than quite a number of them. It was odd how the responsibility of college had changed him.
"Hey Jimmy!" a voice shouted from behind him. Jimmy spun around, a grin stretching fom ear to ear, to see his two best friends running up to him.
"Hey guys!" he said jovially. "How are you?"
"Oh, man!" Sheen shouted, his left eye twitching uncontrolably. "This is like, the most amazing expeience of my young life!"
"Hyeah! Tell me about it!" Carl said, blowing a stray curl out of his eyes. "We totally weren't expecting you to be here! This will only enhance the wonderful experience of the literal steps we take from our old life into a new and amazing one."
"Whatever, Carl," Sheen said, throwing an arm around Jimmy's shoulders in a brotherly way. "I'm just glad he's here to flash that college i.d. when we stop by the liquor store!"
Jimmy ducked out from under Sheen's arm and gave him a scolding look. Sheen however, had no time to look abashed as Libby walked up to the trio looking very frazzled and as though she were going to give her boyfriend a sound peice of her mind.
"Sheen, come on, we gotta go get in line before you hurt – " she stopped when she spotted Jimmy. Her mouth hung open for a second or two before she squealed happily and pulled him into a hug.
"Lord, Jimmy! How are you! Ooh, I havn't seen you in fo'eva! How've you been? And what are you doing here?" She said this all in one breath and very quickly. She pulled back and smiled up at him with a questioning look.
Jimmy laughed and smiled back at her. "Thought I'd just stop by again. It's been a while –"
"What do you mean 'again'? I havn't seen you since you left!" She glared over at Sheen and Carl. "Did you two know about this?"
Sheen sighed and shook his head. "So young, so naïve. What other lives shall be wasted in the days of our generation?" He cried the question into the heavens, throwing his head back and arms out.
Calr punched his arm. "Oh, come on, Sheen. It's not her fault that she spends every waking moment with Cindy, causing her to waste endless hours in shopping malls and amusement parks and there-by missing all moments Jimmy spent visiting."
Jimmy, his smile having grown impossibly larger as his two best friends spoke, glanced back at Libby. She only rolled her eyes and shook her head, the long braids in her ponytail swinging back and forth. An announcement over a loud-speaker boomed that the ceremony would begin momentarily.
"Let's go!" Libby cried. She grabbed Sheen by the wrist and began walking off, calling her goodbyes to Jimmy over her shoulder.
"See ya later, Jim," Carl waved, also following Libby, "You'll be coming with us to the party afterwards?"
"Maybe," Jimmy called, waving back and walking off sadly to find a place to observe the cerimony with being seen. He settled for standing under the shade of an oak tree off behind all the seats in front of the pavilion the graduationg was to take place under, just off to the right. He watched everyone scramble for their proper places forlornly. Ever since he had begun his first day of kindergarten, he had dreamed of this day: to graduate among all his friends and their families, his parents sitting in the front row with perhaps a younger sister or brother with them as he gave his speech. Of course, he had been the valedictorian at his school, but his speech was to dozens of people he hardley or did not know.
His reminisceings were cut short as the principal of Retroville High School stepped up to the microphone and announced the start of the ceremony. The speakers began scratchily emiting the graduation march as the students were called forward, four at a time. Jimmy smiled as each of his friends entered; he also sacrificed the muscle use for a frown as Nick Dean was called, still looking and acting the part of the cool, suave guy. Idiot, Jimmy thought, wasting even more energy than was worth it on the absolute moron. . .
When each of them had taken their seats, the principal stepped up to the microphone and announced in a bland, wearisome voice, "We now recognize our valedictorian of the year: Miss Cynthia Vortex!"
Cindy stood and walked to the microphone with an odd smile as the audience clapped and cheered. The smile faltered slightly as someone whistled at her. Nick, Jimmy thought to himself. That's odd… but he clapped and cheered along with the rest, a large smile plastered on his face. However, the look on Cindy's face irked some small point in the back of his mind. What was wrong? He tried to shrug it off as she began talking.
"Thank you," she said softly into the microphone. She sounded and looked so much older; so much more mature.
She stared off to her right for some time, her smile completely gone by now. Jimmy's smile was also dwindling. Something was definatly wrong. She looks almost sick, he thought . Cindy continued.
"I won't say much to you today, as I don't rightfully think I deserve this position." Several students in the audience laughed. Cindy gavethe fleeting ghost of agrim smile that did not last long.
"I could tell you I am here because my parents pushed me forward. I could tell you I have the highest standing grade because I had amazing teachers that helped me to 'be all that I could be'. I could even say I am here because I had a role model that motivated me in such a way I felt it was inadequate to give anything but my best. However, I won't, because I don't think highly of lies."
All the students were silent, many of them, including many teachers, were staring at her with a mixture of suprise and curiosity. Cindy didn't seem to take notice and continued to stare at a spot somwhere to Jimmy's left, her right.
"I also won't try to say anything to 'motivate you' to 'be all that you can be'. That's not my place. If you havn't already motivated yourselves, how in the world do you expect me to do it?"
The tension was thick enough to feel in the air. She sounded so melancholy it tore at Jimmy. He raised his shoulder off the tree and leaned forward in growing anxiety, that small spot in the back of his mind sending off little warnings again. Cindy stared at each of the students in turn before going on, each word drawn out like honey being blown through a straw.
"I found something within my world that drove me on. It was not anybody telling me how to live my life, or what my standards were, or what I should strive for…at least, not out loud. They were my solace, my support, what dorve me on…and they didn't even realize it. I wish now that I could express how greatly I am thankful for that bit of my life, but it would be impossible. It lead me to a greater and stronger life than I could ever hope for – one beyond words.
"No, Iwon't say to listen to the voices telling you what to live up to. Instead, find your own inner drive. Tell yourself how you should live your own life. Find your own solace, and let it take you…well, whever it may go. There are no paths, save for the ones we create in our journeys. It's up to you where to go. You simply have to go."
Cindy bowed her head, her face almost dissapearing behind her curtain of hair, with another small "Thank you" and backed into her seat. There was awed silence for a lingering moment before the crowd burst into cheers and applause. Cindy gave a weak smile, but no other recognition to the hoots and hollers she was receiving.
Jimmy waspaying rapt attenition toCindy with his mouth hanging open slightly.He shook his head. Good Lord…she's good. Had he not been in his own state of a trance as he walked out of the courtyard, he would have seen the lone tear running down Cindy's cheek and known exactly what was wrong.
A/N: Another post, another headache. Perhaps it was just the whole load of wonderful reveiws that got me going. You really love me!
fearthewind: I had no idea you liked Jimmy Neutron. Cool! . . .or are you just sucking up to me with a review to get me going on LooL:glares suspiciously:
fanjimmy: Why, thank you. You know, you are a person of very little words. In every fic I read, you have reveiwed with one or two words, not much, but in every single fic. I feel some sense of pride in the fact that you reviewed mine.
Bubba343: Thanks so muchs! That's so nice of you to say.
Manuel's Beanie: Hola, y un cumpleaños muy feliz, tardío a usted. Thanks for the review. As soon as I read it and fixed the ending of the first chapter, (going back and reading it, I realized it was rather confusing. So sorry.) I continued, just for you. Enjoy.
Racheal West: Thanks for reviewing. And I'm so glad you appreciate the oddities of Sheen. I really don't think the show would be the same without him.
11111: I'm so glad!
cherry2hil: I'm so glad you read it, then. Hope you like this chapter!
Neutron Phantom: Thankee kindly! Glad you like it so far.
EL CHUPACABRA: :holds up restraining order: Sorry! It's here, it's here! I've always enjoyed your work, so I was really thrilled that you reveiwed mine and liked it so much. Hope you didn't mind this chapter being from Jimmy's POV. When I thought about where I wanted to go with this, I realized I would need to do it from more than Cindy's – but I'm rambling, and you will see eventually.
Angela Jewell: Omigsh, I feel the same way! I decided I need to write this just because of that. Cindy's no push-over! Hope you liked this chapter. You could always tell me in review….:wink wink:
Halfa-Goddess: Aww! That's so nice of you! Hope you liked this chapter.
ChoFrog09: Sorry if you found it too unobvious. I just hate it when stories give EVERYTHING away in the first few paragraphs, so I steered away from that.
pokey: Thanks so much! I really tried. I'm not all that thrilled with Sheen yet, but he's much better now than he was the first draft.