Chapter 13: The Fall Festival Dance-Off
September 21st, 2006, 4:45pm
Retroville, TX
"I suppose this is it," Jimmy whispered to himself as he finished putting his sapphire colored tuxedo on. The Fall Festival was about to start and everyone was informed to dress formally for the first evening. As there would be a dance off to see who the best dancer would be. This would be sort of a double treat, since he can feed Goddard the soda cans on top of the tasty drink that he and his dance partner would potentially share. "How do I look Goddard?" His dog barked and showed Jimmy's reflection. "Hmm… not bad."
"James!" Judy Neutron called out. "It's time to go!"
"Wish me luck boy," Jimmy petted Goddard before rushing downstairs. He was about to open the door when suddenly the doorbell rang. Jimmy opened the door a tad nervously to see Cindy in an emerald colored dress. She also let her hair down (which was a first). It was obvious that she also had some makeup on to drown out the freckles on her cheeks and a certain bewitching scent was now in the room. Humana Humana- Wait, I need to say something… Jimmy thought before speaking as he was scratching the back of his head. "Hey, I was gonna go pick you up, but I guess you beat me to the punch, eh Vortex?"
"What can I say Neutron?" Cindy quipped with a smile she couldn't contain. "What ten minutes early to most is what the Vortex family considers to be on time," she finished with a shrug. "So you ready to knock the others out of the park at this thing?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Jimmy said a tad nervously, even if I'm not much of a good dancer.
"Now hold on Jimbo," Hugh interjected. "We still gotta take your picture," he said while holding a camera.
"I don't know…" Jimmy said, feeling embarrassed.
"Come on, it'll be fun. A few pictures can't hurt," Cindy encouraged.
"Alright," Jimmy agreed. "Where should we go?"
"Right in front of the door," Judy chimed in. Hugh got the camera turned on and the two kids got in position.
"Say macaroni," Hugh said as he took the picture.
"I think it's cheese dear," Judy corrected.
"Nah, it's macaroni." Hugh attempted to justify his claim. "That way, you get some funny faces before the end of the picture."
"Give me that," Judy said. "Okay, do a funny photo." Jimmy put the "bunny ears" behind Cindy's face and in return, she posed as if she was about to attack him. Jimmy would move his eyes in her direction out of fake fear just in time for the camera to shutter. "Alright now do a genuine one." They both wrapped an arm around each other and both pulled a genuine smile. "Excellent. Definitely one for the Christmas cards!"
"But mom-" Jimmy interjected.
"No buts. Now we must get in the car if we are to make it in time for the festival to start," Judy said. The four of them got into the car with the kids in the back seat. As the car was heading to the festival, there was a bit of small talk but they were a bit nervous to say too much.
"You know, for a nerd Neutron," Cindy started to say shyly. "You don't look half bad for the event tonight."
"Thank you," Jimmy responded in the same manner. "You look very nice too,"
"Hehe, thanks." They both genuinely smiled to each other and held hands (albeit discreetly), until they arrived at the park. They both ran out of the car to meet up with their friends. Judy and Hugh looked at them from a distance. "Look at those two. It's crazy how things change in the span of a few months," Judy commented.
"Only a matter of time before Jimbo and the others have grown up," Hugh said. "Their arguments gave me headaches, but it looks like it might turn into something better."
"Here's hoping. They're more alike than they realize." They both then decided to walk towards where the other parents might've been.
"HEYO!" Sheen called loudly from a distance. A few people nearby glared at him as he was waving his arm as highly as he could.
"Hey Sheen!" Jimmy and Cindy ran towards him and found Libby, Carl, Elkie, Nick, Betty and a few other students wearing fancy clothes in the area. "So this is what you guys were working on all week." Jimmy processed. The sun was on the brink of setting as he looked at all the stands, consisting of a snack stand run by Sam, various festival minigames, and a central area where the dancing competition was gonna be. All of it had trees and lampposts strung up with streamers of warm white lights. "You guys did a great job putting all this together!" Jimmy congratulated them. "I'd ask how, but something tells me I don't wanna know."
"Thanks, and probably for the best." Nick chuckled.
"Gotta say girl," Libby chimed in with one of her hands on her hip. "You both are looking snazzy."
"I could say the same to you Libs," Cindy responded. "Where'd you get that outfit?"
"One never reveals her secrets…" Libby then pondered for a moment, then signaled Cindy to lean closer to whisper it out. Cindy gasped and then immediately changed the subject.
"So who's that Carl?" Cindy asked curiously.
"My name is Elkie," She answered. "I met Carl when I visited here for the first time. I'm from Sweden."
"Wow," Cindy pondered. "Welcome to Retroville, I'm Cindy."
"Nice to meet you," she said as they shook hands.
"You guys did prepare to dance right?" Jimmy asked Carl and Sheen. "I don't want you guys to repeat history and make giant 'bubbles'." (See Battle of the Band)
"Oh no Jim." Carl reassured Jimmy. "She was teaching me some moves, so I'm ready to groove."
"I…" Sheen stuttered. "I got nothing planned, except maybe do the crazy porpose."
"What's that?" Libby asked curiously.
"I'm looking forward to this." Betty said. "I had some practice weeks ago that could possibly fit with today's session."
"I think it will blow your minds," Nick smirked.
"We'll see about that-" Cindy was about to say until the mic was turned on for everyone to hear.
"1, 2, 3 testing, testing." The mayor spoke which got everyone's attention to the mic near the dance floor. "I'd like to welcome everyone here tonight to the first night of our first annual Retroville Fall Festival. Tonight, we will start things off with a dance off with everyone in groups of two competing to win. The winning group would get a year's supply of Purple Flurp, so you better give it your best, and enjoy it to the max. So everyone that's participating, get on the dance floor and dance to the beat!"
Jimmy and Cindy ran first. "I guess this is it," Jimmy said, feeling a tad nervous.
"Let's give it our best Neutron!" Cindy responded smiling. She was looking forward to this ever since the announcement. A time to be free.
Libby then grabbed Sheen's hand as they both ran to the floor. "Hey Libby, I'm not much of a dancer." He said apologetically.
"Don't worry," Libby reassured him. "Just follow my lead and you'll be fine." Sheen smiled and nodded.
"You ready Elkie?" Carl asked with a grin.
"You bet Carl," Elkie smiled. "Let's do this!"
"You okay with this?" Nick asked.
Betty responded. "What do you mean? We already agreed to it."
"That's true," Nick said "Let's go!" Before long all of the contestants were on. Aside from the previously mentioned, a dozen other students were joining in including Bolbi and his sister Ignishka, Ike and Tina as well as Brittany and Nissa.
The music started to play as everyone started to dance with their respective partner. Carl and Elkie danced a little clumsily, but still made the most of it by doing some spins and a bit of the cliche dancing moves with both of them laughing all the way. However it ended with a dip and a certain cracking sound can be heard.
"There goes my scapula," Carl said sadly.
Elkie then grabbed his hand and smiled nervously. "Let's go sit down and get you better. Okay?"
"So, do you remember anything from the tango we did at the talent show?"
"Sure do Libbykins," Sheen said.
"Nicknames…" Libby glared. "Follow my lead and we can try to do that again." They both started off a bit awkwardly, but as the song was continuing, they kept going almost to the point that it was second nature all throughout the song, effectively ending in a dip with Libby hanging. Both were nearly breathless at the end of it. "Whoa… That was amazing!" Libby said with Sheen having his thumbs up.
Nick and Betty didn't do too much of the typical dancing, but they were synchronized. They started off with both of them snapping their fingers low near the floor as they both marched on. Their dance moves were more akin to what you'd see in old fashion Broadway musicals. Once they were finished, they both smiled. "I guess those nights of dance practice really paid off," Nick quipped.
"Yeah, great job!" Betty smiled.
"Same to you."
Jimmy and Cindy got a lot of people's attention. "$20 says this will end well!" One voice said. "You're on, I know something will end up in flames." Another spoke. Then like a ripple effect of people making bets started to happen. Cindy was feeling a mix of emotions ultimately averaging out between anger and embarrassment. Jimmy felt this way too but quickly regained composure.
"Just ignore them," Jimmy said confidently. Then he began to smile as Everytime We Touch by Cascada began to play. "Let's dance the night away!" Cindy was for the first time in recent history in awe and both decided to rid themselves of any distractions and began to dance. They both felt free and alive as they both danced to what was essentially a ballet. Similar to Sheen, Jimmy was a tad awkward at first but then proceeded to dance to the beat. They both spun around and for the brief moment they were apart, Cindy jumped up on the stage where the mayor was and proceeded to do her "Triple Axel Mid-Air Betsy flip" (See Crouching Jimmy, Hidden Sheen). Jimmy then caught her in his arms and they both did a dip and the dance ended with them pulling each other, having their faces 3 centimeters away from each other with. The music stopped and everyone applauded causing both of them to blush immensely, but neither could stop smiling. Not even after letting go. In the background, people were handing money over to the winners of the bet.
"Wish I made bank on that bet…" Sheen said to himself which caught a facepalm from Libby.
"Alrighty, let's get the top five contestants up on the stage," The mayor said happily. "Fifth place, Brittney Tenelli and Nissa Kapadopolus." People applauded as they went up. Their prize was two "golden" necklaces which they put on. "Fourth place, Libby Folfax and Sheen Estevez!" Jimmy and the others cheered and their prize was an Ultra-Lord themed record player. "YESSS!" Sheen screamed. "Well it's a radio, so I can pop in some tunes." Libby happily thought as they hugged.
"The bronze medal goes to Betty Quinlan and Nicholas Dean for their synchronized performance!" The two went up and got some cheers. They also got a five dollar gift card to the Candy Bar. "Think this will restore my cool status?" Nick suggested.
"Only until you break your leg again," Betty jabbed at him.
"The silver medal goes to Retroville's biggest school rivals, Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex for their stunning choreography!" Cheering can be heard from all over, but especially from Carl, Sheen, Libby and Judy. They both hugged but then immediately ran up to get a $25 gift card that was exchangeable with any store or restaurant in the Retroville area. It will expire in 5 years time, but they'll likely use it soon. "Wait, who's in first place?" Jimmy wondered.
"Last and certainly best, goes to none other than…" Everyone looked in anticipation for a few seconds with a drum rolling in the background. "The Stroganovsky twins for their amazing performance doing the famous slap dance!" There was some clapping, but mostly confusion. Bolbi and his sister got up and got their pass towards a year's supply of Purple Flurp.
"Huh?" Jimmy and the others processed this.
"Now everyone join us in our dance, okay?!" Bolbi shouted from across the stage. "Slap! Slap! Slap! Clap! Clap! Clap!" Everyone then shrugged and followed suit. "This festival will certainly be memorable," Cindy said with a smirk.
"You're telling me," Betty responded and then they all were ironically having a blast to this peculiar dance.
Meanwhile in BTSO HQ a few hours later, A blinking light was showing up from the Cassini Satellite, which was making an orbit near Saturn.
"What is that?" One of the members said. "Zoom and enhance," Commander Baker ordered. It was revealed to be a small UFO of some kind with a Yolkian ship seeming to follow it minutes later. Baker's eyes widened at the sight. "We need to call the general!"
To Be Continued...
