Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.
A slow, methodical beat emanated from the wall, its unwavering rhythm ticked by almost in a mockery of those who waited for its hands to move. Put in more simple terms, the clock was ticking on the wall…
"And its moving so damn slow." Jimmy muttered to himself. Now 12, James Neutron was in seventh grade and to him, everything moved slower. The clocks, the classes, the people. Maybe he was just exaggerating.
Jimmy gazed longingly at the blonde haired girl in front of him; Cindy Vortex. Their long standing hatred for each other had seemed to have melted away and is now more of a mutual respect that they both silently agreed on. Better put, she keeps to herself, he keeps to himself and everyone's happy…right?
"WRONG" screeched Dr. Hannon, her voice sliced through the air like a knife right into
Sheen's ear as he answered the same question wrong three times in a row.
"Aw come on, I was kinda close, wasn't i?" Sheen asked out of desperation.
Dr. Hannon sighed knowing all to well it had been a mistake to call on Sheen in the first place.
"No Sheen, Shakespeare's greatest play wasn't Ultra lord episode 35,36,37 or any other one of those damn numbers!" yelled the scraggily teacher who drew strange looks from the class on her choice of words.
Jimmy's gaze shifted between the back of Cindy's head and the clock which had only moved about 3 minutes since he last looked.
"Come on, come on move you fag" uttered Jimmy under his breath, begging the clock to move faster. He hated English class especially when it's the last class of the day on Friday of all days.
After about another 30 seconds, having lost hope that he could somehow make the clock move faster with his mind, Jimmy focused his stare on Cindy who was busy writing down the notes the teacher was dishing out on the board.
"Wow" Jimmy thought to himself "she's amazing, everything about her is just…ahh who am I kidding. Just cause we stopped fighting doesn't mean she likes me any better than before, well, maybe a little but still, we don't talk a lot anymore"
Jimmy sighed to himself. Lately he had given up hope that he and Cindy could ever become something more than mutually respectful friends. He saw how other blossoming couples in school walked around all happy without a care in the world. Jimmy saw something in them that he could never achieve, and that, more than anything pissed him off.
While Jimmy trailed off in his thoughts, a distinct whisper could be heard in front of him
"I'm telling you Libs, there's a kid coming to our school who is way hotter than Nick." Cindy excitedly whispered to her best friend Libby who was sitting next to her.
"Girl come on now, you know your talkin' nonsense" Libby stated in more of a calm tone while constantly glancing up towards the front of the room to check if the teacher was looking. She had become more aware of when teachers where looking at her since her constant cell phone rings during class had netted her in more trouble than she thought. Just a part of growing up.
"Libby, seriously, I saw him. His family bought the house next to mine. We're gonna be neighbors!" Cindy squealed a bit too loud.
"Ms. Vortex" started Dr. Hannon. Cindy waited for the bomb to be dropped on her. "Would you care to…"
"Um, Dr. Hannon I need to use the bathroom, like really bad" Jimmy stammered as everyone turned around to look at him, half way out of his seat already.
"Well…I suppose you can" said Dr. Hannon with a now surprised tone in her voice "Just hurry back. I'm expecting someone new to join our class and I expect you to greet him."
Jimmy paid no attention to her rants while heading the door at the front of the room. He slowed down a bit as he moved passed Cindy since he could hear more whispers coming from her direction.
"Oh man I got lucky with that one" exclaimed Cindy who was now facing Libby. Jimmy hung his head a bit lower at hearing that comment. He had hoped his little intervention would have made Cindy appreciate him a bit more, maybe she would be grateful, understanding. The thoughts were dismissed as quickly as they came into his head and Jimmy continued his trek towards the door, the seemingly vast distance covered in the shortest time possible as his legs moved quicker.
Before he could reach the door, several knocks could be heard coming from it.
"Mr. Neutron, could you get that please" said Dr. Hannon between copying notes from the textbook to the board.
"Sure, why not" muttered Jimmy "Not like I care who it is though" stating the last part as quietly as possible.
"Excuse me?" inquired Dr. Hannon her gaze shifting from the board.
"N-nothing" Jimmy stammered as he quickly turned the knob and opened the door wide.
Several muffled squeals of delight could be heard from the girls in the room as they starred intently at the figure now occupying the door frame.
"Is this room, um, 2…34?" asked the mysterious boy looking at his schedule in hand. More whispers and excited voices could be heard in the room.
"Who the hell are you?" managed Jimmy who now had locked eyes with the boy standing in the door.
"Watch it kid" said the boy coldly. Jimmy could sense something wasn't right with this new guy.
"Why yes it is!" Cindy stated, her voice slicing the awkward silence that had fallen over the entire room. She hurriedly moved towards the door, practically tripping over her own feet in excitement and nervousness. When she neared the boy she latched onto his arm as though an emergency flotation device in the middle of the ocean and led him towards her desk.
"Well..." stammered Dr. Hannon "it looks as if you'll adjust quite well"
Jimmy slowly walked out of the room but stopped as he was half way down the hall. He faced the white cinderblock wall and a thump could be heard as his forehead was pressed against it. Thoughts flooded his mind, calculating what he had just seen, Cindy's affection for this new guy he had never seen, his cold stare, it all moved so fast.
"It's gonna be a looong year" Jimmy said to himself as he trudged down the remaining length of the hallway, hoping the bell would ring while he was out.
