Alas, here it is. After two years, here is the final chapter of Poetry and Coffee. I know that no one is probably reading this right now, but I host to whoever is still interested, you will enjoy this. There might be a bonus episode coming after this so stayed tune.
Once again, the glorious fudge-shaped-hair boy named Jimmy Neutron does not belong to me.
Cindy did not really know what to expect when she went to class that day. It was almost like everything was telling her to go for it and to control herself at the same time. She did not really want to deal with Neutron right now, but it was not because of what he did.
It was because of how he made her feel.
"Earth to Cind! Come on, we gotta go to class. The final class is coming up in less than twenty minutes." Zoe put her black-manicured hand up to her forehead in exasperation and sighed out, "You would've thought that we learned our lesson at least when it comes to arriving on time to class."
Adam came up next to her and replied, "Give her a rest, love. She had to go through quite a lot this morning with us and Professor Neutron."
Cindy looked at the British boy in gratitude and quickly started to put on her boots in the doorway of her room. She had slept for most of the day since she was completely wiped out from the morning. She was lucky that she had completed her final assignment a week in advance so that she was not struggling.
Well, not struggling as much.
Grabbing her trusting laptop and her bag, she smoothed down her black sweater (because she was feeling dead inside) and rushed out the apartment with her friends trailing behind her. She really did not know what to expect from this last class, but she knew that it was sort of bittersweet. This was the class that had caused her the most emotional stress during the semester, so it was nice to be almost done and spend her winter break as she saw fit.
Yet, this was a class that she had actually enjoyed taking. Neutron made the content interesting for the class and did his best to make everyone think more about themselves as well as the world around them. She enjoyed it because it did not force any terms or formulas down her throat, but she was able to get the most out of the class.
Plus, there was Jimmy. He was a little petal that had flew out of her life only to remerge later in her young college years. They definitely had some chemistry, but she was not really sure if she wanted to tamper with that.
Did she like him? Did he like her?
The kiss last night made her feel something entirely different that before. She had thought that they were just flirty friends, but now she was not so sure. They defiantly had something going on that was more than just casual teasing.
Don't get Cindy wrong, she has dated plenty of guys (or she likes to think that). However, none of the other guys she has dated has made her feel this way. The feeling that is making her consider taking a chance and going against everything that she has ever thought was right in the world.
Maybe Zoe was right. Maybe she really was the blonde heroine of this story.
All three of them had walked into class with some snowflakes still clinging onto their clothes. Cindy shook out her hair and took a seat near the front of the class with Zoe and Adam on either side of her. She looked up to the teacher's desk where there was no sign of Neutron to be seen.
That was not really surprising in the sense that he usually did not tend to show until five minutes after class was supposed to start.
Cindy put her bad down on the floor and rested her chin in her hand as she waited for the class to begin.
Zoe poked her side with a pencil and said in a lower voice, "Cind, this is the last class of the semester."
Cindy looked over at her and replied, "Yeah, so?"
"Well, that means that after this class, you could technically get with Neutron if you wanted to."
She narrowed her eyes and responded, "What makes you think that I really want to be with Jimmy?"
Zoe rolled her eyes and replied, "Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that you guys are always flirting with each other and that he was at your house at like two in the morning."
Cindy groaned and put her head down on the table.
After a few brief minutes, Zoe lowered her voice gently and added, "There is also the fact that whenever he walks into the room, you always kind of perk up and have this like puppy-dog look. I have never really seen you more happy or excited before. I think that this guy of yours is good for you. I'm only saying this because I care about you."
Cindy felt a little whack on her back and Adam talking with gusto, "Cindy! You have nuthin to worry about! If you like this lad and he like you, what's there stopping you guys?"
Rising her head and looking at them both, she said in a weak voice, "I just don't know if this is the right decision. I don't want to have it all end up blowing up in my face."
The sound of the door opening up behind them made them guess that their professor was here. Cindy stretched out her arms awaited his arrival to the front of the class.
Here goes nothing.
When she saw the figure approach to the front, she felt taken aback.
For once, it was not Neutron.
Instead it was an older man with grey hair and spectacles that had gone in front of the class. Zoe turned to look at Cindy with a raised eyebrow at the absence of their usual teacher. The entire class was murmuring to themselves on where their teacher was as well.
The stranger cleared his throat and the class fell silent to his words, "I am sorry to inform you that there has been a change of plans for the final lecture today. Your professor is unable to make the final class because of some complications and would like it you all would email your final assignment to him."
Some of the students cheered that they were able to have more time for their final assignments.
Cindy frowned.
The stranger added, "Oh, and the assignment is due no later than eight o'clock sharp tonight."
The class groaned.
"Well that was a total waste of time and energy." Zoe complained as they all started to walk out of class.
Adam shrugged and replied, "At least I have another hour to get shite done. The work that I have is not at it's best quality, he."
Cindy remained fairly quiet as she was contemplating the situation. She never really took the impression that Jimmy would not show up to the last class. He literally had told her that he would see her in the final class.
So where was he?
Stopping dead in her tracks, Cindy said out loud, "I-I have to go do something!"
Zoe and Adam glanced at each other before giving her an understanding smile.
Zoe put her arm on Cindy and said softly, "Go get him, Cind."
Giving back a weak smile, Cindy ran down the hall in the opposite direction.
"What do you mean that he resigned?"
"I am sorry, Miss Vortex. Professor Neutron decided that he needed to leave university. Apparently, his plans for his corporation came through today and it needed his immediate attention. There was nothing that we could do."
Cindy placed her hand on her forehead in annoyance. She had thought that if she came to the front office, she would be able to figure out where he was.
This was much worse than that. She couldn't believe that he was running away from her life again.
But then again, why should she care? Shouldn't she feel relieved that this annoying teacher that always popped up at the most random places was finally out of her life? She could really care less about what he was doing or why he was leaving her without saying good bye.
Starting to walk outside in the snow, Cindy frowned and crossed her arms in her own stubbornness.
Who was she kidding?
She sighed to herself and let her arms drop to her sides in defeat. No matter how many times that she tries to tell herself, she knew that she was screwed the first minute that she saw Neutron in her class. The first time that she saw him in
She did care.
Things seemed to blur themselves together at that point in time. Cindy went to different locations to try and see where her former teacher was. All of them ended up leaving her right where she feared: alone.
She walked down the streets of New York and sighed into her maroon scarf that she has grabbed from her bag earlier. The one time that she tried to act on her emotions rather than logic just all ended up blowing up in her face. It does not even make sense to her why she was doing what she was doing, but that it just felt right.
That she was doing something right for the first time in a while.
She turned the street corner and walked into the direction of her job. Dee had called her in for a later shift because the other girl had quit the other day and there was no one else to call in. Dee also called her his "best worker that would always be there is his time of need", so there was really not much room to get out of it.
Cindy walked up to the front of the store and pulled open the glass doors to the same shop that she has been in a thousand times. She knew the entire operation in and out and was practically second-in-command after Dee.
If she had a child, it would probably be this shop.
However, as she entered the store that night, all the lights were off.
Cindy rolled her eyes. She really did not need another power outage crisis right now. That was the last thing she needed. She looked around some more and was shocked to see that there weren't any customers or waitresses in the shop.
Huh.
She went into the back room into Dee's office in hopes of finding people to tell her what the heck was going on. When she reached the room she dropped her bag that she was carrying and put her hands to her mouth.
The cabinet files were gone and replaced with mounds of scattered rose petals and lighted candles on the entire floor. Flowers of every type and assortment were in elegant vases that were placed all over the office to make the room seem as if it was actually an outside garden. On the ceiling, there was an advanced projection showing real-life stars with valid constellations and patterns.
At the desk of the office, the leather arm chair was turned away from Cindy as she approached it slowly. All at once, the chair turned around and there he sat looking at her as if she was everything in the world.
Was she really even surprised at this point?
Neutron gave her a small smile and stood up to walk around the desk. He came up cautiously to her.
Cindy looked up to his face and saw it right there.
This was why it made sense.
This is why she was fighting so hard for something that she thought was completely wrong.
She smiled back at him and reached for his hands.
They were welcoming and fit right into her own.
Jimmy's eyes widened in surprise but said nothing as she gave them a gentle squeeze. He cleared his throat shyly before speaking slowly, "Cindy, I know that you do not wish for me to have any romantic feelings for you and that you would not want to do anything that would jeopardize your academic life. However, I really just want you to know that I am crazy about you. In every way, shape, and form. Ever since we were kids.
Back when we were even just in elementary school, I already became aware of how infatuated I was with you. You were everything to me and I thought that this would get in the way of my future goals and career. So, I did what every hormonal kid did when things got to be too difficult: I ran away. I thought that if I put some distance between you and me that things would get better. I thought that if I did not contact anyone from home that you guys would forget me and never be bothered with my crazy, life-threatening antics that could potentially harm us all. I thought that it would be better for everyone and that I would be more driven and happy. Yet, I was alone."
Cindy was in complete and utter shock as she saw him stumble over his words and avoid eye contact with her out of embarrassment. She smiled gently at his words and moved her hand to his rough chin to look back at her.
"I am here."
And there we go! Sorry if the ending is kind of abrupt, but I just like how simple and pure the idea was of a short ending. There will most likely be a bonus chapter coming up so yeah. Please rate and review!
-Mir