Chapter 1 : Forgein Countries
HipHoppBaby has signed on at 6:40 PM.

HipHoppBaby: Yo, Neutron!

WackyInventor23: Hey, Libby. What's up?

HipHoppBaby: I've got good news and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?

WackyInventor23: Tell me how bad the bad news is, first..

HipHoppBaby: Well.. if you've got any feelings for Cindy at all in that black heart o' yours, pretty bad.

WackyInventor23: Good news.. plz.

HipHoppBaby: Cindy's parents are getting a divorce...

WackyInventor23: How is that GOOD!

HipHoppBaby: U know they're always fighting over silly little things. Now they'll be apart. And Cindy gets to stay in Retroville with her mom.

WackyInventor23: Whats the bad news?

HipHoppBaby: Well. the whole reason they're getting a divorce is because they're cheating on eachother and all, and so..

HipHoppBaby: I'm just going to say it.. Mrs. Vortex has a drinking problem now. she comes home drunk every night...

WackyInventor23: I might sound entirely gay when I say this, but, omg..!

HipHoppBaby: lol, you don't sound gay. but you're right, it's totally an OMG situation... I only told you because I know you'd be concerned for Cind, and all... I'm not blind, ya know?

WackyInventor23: Well, she is a "friend" of mine, so of course I would be concerned.

HipHoppBaby: lmao. friends.

WackyInventor23: I see Cindy as.. a friend.. and I know that Cindy sees me in that way as well.HipHoppBaby: Don't try to cover it up with that bimbo Betty gal. You know you don't like that little.. bad.. person.. lol

WackyInventor23: No one said I did! Why does everyone always assume you've got to like someone every waking minute of your life...?

HipHoppBaby: Well. I already know for a fact you do. Good enough for me!

WackyInventor23: Keep on believe what you want to believe, Libby... neway, did u talk to sheen or carl? are they coming?

HipHoppBaby: Yup. Cindy is too. But don't mention her mom.. or else.

WackyInventor23: and cause a humongous fight between us..? NO TU!

HipHoppBaby: A'ight that's what I thought. See you in 5? Lata!

WackyInventor23: Uh-huh.. bye

HipHoppBaby has signed off at 6:56 PM

Tossing his long (and newly dyed) raven black bangs out of his vision, he closed the conversation and glanced out the window, across the street to the Vortex household. Mind racing, Jimmy wondered what Cindy was feeling right now... Not having the slightest clue, he turned away from the laptop, shutting the screen. The golden atom atop it shone as the sinking sunset's rays hit it, illuminating the whole room. Dashing downstairs quickly, he raided the fridge for Purple flurp and shoved a bag of kettle corn into the microwave, running his fingers through his black hair, imagining the shock on his friend's faces at his new 'do. The whippy-dip hair reminded him too much of his childhood, and made him feel too "juvenile". Jimmy smirked at that thought, for in almost four years he'd grown taller than even Sheen, who was still two years ahead in age...

With a sharp wrap of his knuckles, Sheen announced his and Libby's arrival, allowing himself inside. "Hey, Jimbo boy!" He said cheerfully, walking into the kitchen to sample a bit of the kettle corn. Libby grinned and held up a new, still wrapped movie. "I just grabbed it," she said sheepishly, "But It will be good, hopefully... It's rated R.. sshh." She winked at the boys, before looking back to the t!tle. It read, "Retro-Vile" -- she read the back to find that it had indeed been filmed here in Retroville, and it was about some kinds of zombies coming alive and attacking anything and anyone in sight.. She grimaced at the gory pictures on the back that surrounded it's summary. Not one for scary movies, she handed it to Sheen quickly just as the doorbell rang, rushing off to greet Carl.

Smiling, the plump Carl slipped into the Neutron's kitchen to grab a Purple Flurp and a bit of kettle corn. "Hey Jim," he murmured as well as possible, mouth filled with popcorn. Laughing, Jimmy waved to him and turned to Sheen. "Can I see that movie, for a sec?" without looking at him, Sheen handed it to him and shrugged. "Doesn't sound--," Caught in midsentence, he was interrupted by the doorbell, and rushed forward to answer it and find a puffy-eyed (yet still amazingly beautiful-looking) Cindy. Her bright emerald eyes had no shine, and stared at him dully. Pushing the door open wider to allow the teary-eyed girl in, he sent her a look of pure sympathy. Sniffling a bit, she halfheartedly smiled and went to stand beside Libby, who immediately wrapped her arms around her, and Jimmy caught the exact look of sympathy in Libby's sienna eyes. No one had noticed his hair at all? He frowned and beckoned them all into the living room, turning off the lights as he went.

Popping the disc into the DVD player, Jimmy took the remote in hand, and began pressing buttons left and right. "It takes that much pressing to play this thing?" Sheen asked, watching as the screen flashed blue, and words began to creep across the screen. Libby muttered something about the opening credits to Cindy, who sat almost limply, head hung, on the rug before the carpet. He sighed, shrugged, and took a seat next to her. The teenaged blonde wore a dodger blue "American Eagle" tee, and ripped up, "Abercrombie" blue jeans. Around her neck she wore a white necklace with beads that closely resembled pearls, and her hair was down in messy curls. Her tear-stained face revealed that she'd cried off all her makeup, and her eyes were pink from crying constantly. "Hey.. Cindy.." He stammered, clearly at unease talking to her -- after all, he'd just used her first name. Creepy. "Nerdtron," she muttered cooly in reply.

"I'm sorry," he said softly without thinking. He raised a hand and touched his lips, grimacing as if he'd just said a 'forbidden word', but Cindy just gave him some sort of smile that had "thanks.. it means a lot to me" written all over it. Jim wondered if he should be happy or sickened, because quite frankly he was feeling a little of both. It was odd, how a growing child's mind works. Those early stages, they seem to attack you from out of nowhere, and all the while you want absolutely nothing to do with them.. but once you get past puberty they're all over you, and you're actually enjoying it! Although he was a fifteen-year-old genius, he'd found out that there was no way to avoid the horrid things life would bring to you - and puberty was one life served on a silver platter... You just couldn't get away from it.

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy. How she'd matured in the last four years was a mystery to Jimmy... She had been so careless to him ever since he was a little kid, but once they turned thirteen something snapped and Cindy had been different ever since.. But enough about Cindy. He was wasting his time, because it was obvious she had a big thing for Nick and his oversized ego - and it was even more obvious Nick liked her back in the same exact way. Girls, and the way their minds worked, were forever to be a mystery to him. Shrugging, and not realizing he'd done so, Cindy shot him an odd look, pressing her eyebrows together, before turning back to the movie, which Mr. Neutron had forgotten entirely about. Leaning back against the couch, he took some popcorn out of the bowl on the table, as a zombie slinked across the screen, nearer and nearer an unsuspecting "citizen" - which was big-time-movie lingo for "hired-and-well-paid-really-good-actors".

Smirking, Jimmy watched intently as the zombie attacked the person's head (which he had no idea why, even, since he'd been so focused on thinking on CINDY), sending guts and blood flying in every direction. Frowning with disgust, he stiffled a laugh as Carl practically shrieked in horror. Caught off-guard watching the zombie devour this guy's head, Cindy was staring hard at the screen, knees pulled to her chest, gripping a pillow... and nearly had a heart-attack when the same zombie's face suddenly appeared on the screen, it's broken jaw set into a vicious scowl. Screaming, terrified, she lunged for the nearest person -- which just so happened to be Jimmy -- and pushed her face into his shirt.

Surprised, he stiffened and sat upright, arms raised nervously.. He shot a glance at Libby who shrugged, and made a "shoo" motion.. that probably meant "go on, hold her" and such. But what if she freaked out and pulled away? He shook his head, why did he even care so much? C'mon, it's your worst enemy, since you were in second grade! Grimacing, he practically shuddered but put his arm around her in a.. friendly.. hug, peering down at her through nervous sky-blue eyes. Her blonde curls bounced and she looked up before releasing her death grip and scooting away a little, to watch the rest of the movie uneasily. An hour later, the freakish movie had finished, and everyone in the room had the jitters, and Libby had fallen asleep on Sheen's shoulder. Jimmy glanced to Cindy, and back to the couple on his couch. Sheen looked belated, and Libby appeared to be knocked out, or just a very good actress. How could Sheen do that! He sighed and almost slapped his forehead. Love was like a forgein country to him -- he could not understand the language, let alone speak it.

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