Chapter 2.

Jimmy's head was still reeling from the events that transpired in the astro car shortly after landing. It was 8:00am the next morning and Jimmy decided to finish his toast and juice in the lab. He was trying to analyze what series of actions on his part could've triggered Cindy to romantic attack mode. That was the best way he could describe it, since she easily swooped in while he was preoccupied with falling backwards. And as he suspected, he was powerless to stop a very determined Cindy Vortex from ultimately getting her way. He had been "conveniently interrupted" on all past occasions when it came to the first real kiss with Cindy, but now with all her emotional barriers out of the way he wasn't likely to be so lucky in the future. The events on Mars left Jimmy in a bind, Cindy knew that he liked her now and there was no turning back. When reviewing Cindy's behavior towards him recently, she seemed genuinely nicer and eager to contribute to whatever project he was currently engaged in. Her hostility was only triggered by his lack of consideration and being a bit condescending as a whole. This was a pattern he could easily break. The events that lead to the Mars trip taught Jimmy to be more receptive to input from others. Truth be told, Carl and Sheen made good participants in his experiments but offered little in the way of real input. Cindy didn't always have the most valid conclusions, but at least she had put considerable thought into it and offered a fresh perspective. It seemed that Cindy only wanted to have her fair say and to be included in general. She had no intention to best Jimmy at his own game.

Then there was this whole matter of mutual attraction. Cindy apparently had other needs that she wanted Jimmy to fulfill. He was naturally conflicted about his feelings for Cindy and he had to get a hold of what was going on. His head would tell him, "Ack! Flirtatious behavior with girl…Bad! Bad! Abort!" but his heart was saying, "Wow! That's what I'm talking about baby!" Lately his first instinct was to listen to his heart when dealing with Cindy, but he wasn't exactly sure when this change occurred. Furthermore, he would need to figure out what kind of interaction girls craved if he were to associate with Cindy in the arena of genuine friendship. Cindy was slowly melting away their past hostilities and he had not been fully aware of the change until now.

Jimmy thrashed through spools of Internet info that seemed a set of random and illogical ramblings, but he was able to pick out some sense of where it was all going. The question at hand was, of course, "What do girls want from boys?" He was able to break it down into three basic "wants" and outlined them.

They want to feel attractive.

They want to feel special.

They want to feel appreciated and genuinely regarded.

Cindy's behavior seemed to fit this theorem quite well. The perfume, makeup, and outfit fell on to the first item in the list. Jimmy's confession that she's smart and distracting made her feel special, which immediately defused her hostility towards him. Finally her efforts in the Mars observation showed that she wants to contribute and be taken seriously. Meeting even one of these needs could turn Cindy into a soft demure kitten becoming much more receptive socially.

Jimmy would need to test his new theorem but before he could, he needed to bounce it off Carl and Sheen. Of course, this was a "blind leading the blind" scenario but Sheen had actually made progress with Libby in a round about kind of way by fulfilling at least one of the "wants." He would need to also hold his theorem up to Sheen's "How to Impress the Ladies" book to see how things added up. He wasted no time and got on the phone to Carl and Sheen.

Later that morning in Cindy's room Libby had just arrived and immediately gave Cindy an inquisitive look.

"What?" said Cindy looking back at Libby from her desk chair.

"What do you mean what? You gonna tell me you were just trying to assist Jimmy in a breathing exercise, or did you just want him to taste test your lip gloss?" Grinned Libby.

"Libby Folfax, I have now idea what you're talking about!" Laughed Cindy blushing slightly.

"Yeah right! Just tell me what he said to hit your game trigger?"

Cindy could see that Libby wasn't going to let her play dumb on this one. She sat back in her chair looking up at the ceiling with a pondering look on her face.

"Hmmm, it really wasn't what he said or didn't say….He was just being really funny, shy, and very cute. I just wanted to talk a little more about what was said on the Mars trip but…." Cindy paused blushing with a big smile on her face.

"But what?" Growled Libby.

"Just chalk it up to opportunity and that's all I'm gonna say." Grinned Cindy. "Do you think I scared him though?"

"Hmmm nah! But you did give him something to think about!" Laughed Libby. "So was this a one time opportunity, or should I expect this kind behavior from now on?"

"Oh heck yeah! If I can pry him away from Carl and Sheen long enough I'll heat things up again!"

"Keeping the pressure on huh?"

"Hey, I got the green light from Betty Quinlin herself! I stay out of her face; she leaves Jimmy alone. So I need to direct his attention to me and away from Quinlin."

Cindy grimaces a bit putting her hand up to her throat.

"What's wrong?" Asked Libby.

"Oh, I'm starting to get a soar throat, I must be getting a cold or something. Great! I'm finally getting positive feedback from Neutron, and then I start to get sick."

Cindy looked up at Libby, "Don't forget to take you zinc you don't want to get this!" She chimed.

"So what's the plan for the time being?" Asked Libby.

"Well, I definitely need to get a lot friendlier with the Jimmy cake, but I don't know how exactly to go about it." Cindy looked back at Libby who was at the brink of hysterics.

"Jimmy cake?" Libby burst into laughter.

"Ah-hem, any suggestions would be appreciated when you're done!" Said Cindy raising her voice to get over Libby's laughter.

"Ohh man! Maybe I can find out what he's working on from…. hold on…let me think...Sheen Muffin..Ha!" Libby continues now rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Come on this is important! I need to get him in a situation where he's relaxed and not threatened by anything." Pleaded Cindy.

"Oh, well girl that's an easy one!"

"How do you figure that?"

"Listen, Jimmy is a gadget minded, fix it, I have the solution kind of guy. All you have to do is approach him with some technical problem that you're trying to solve and you're automatically in his happy place."

"Hmmm, I think that could work and I have just the techno problem that would be intriguing for him."

"What did you have in mind?"

Cindy opened her side desk drawer and pulled out a folder that was labeled "Rocket Project."

"Remember the model rocket contest for the Buttercup Girl Science Merit Badge?" Cindy said with a slight eye roll.

"You're kidding right? You're still going to do that?" Frowned Libby.

"My mom wants me to.." Cindy makes quotes with her fingers, "Finish the program!"

"Oh you poor girl! So what's your thinking on this?"

"Well, they're having a special prize for the rocket that gains the highest altitude. I could have Jimmy help optimize my design for that purpose!"

"Hmmm, sounds like you're on the right track girl!"

"I get closer to Jimmy, I win the contest, earn the merit badge, and get my mom off my back! This works out on so many levels!"

"Brilliant!"

Cindy pauses and looks sheepishly at Libby.

"Do you think he'd really help me?" Cindy said causiously.

"Girl, has there ever been a time when Jimmy hasn't been willing to help anybody with anything? Believe it or not, he is actually a nice guy!" Exclaimed Libby. "Besides, you're definitely going to the source with this rocket stuff!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean; this is a guy who straps rockets to his back for fun. If he had all the money in the world, he'd buy NASA. He even named his dog Goddard for Pete's sake!"

"Good point! Time to put operation 'Distract and Conquer' in action, but now I think I need a throat drop."

Cindy and Libby continued to discuss their plans.

To be continued…..