Chapter 3 - Footsie in the Library

Ah well, rock-paper-scissors is purely luck based so I'm not gonna lose sleep over this loss, Jimmy reassured himself.

"Given the look on your face, I'm willing to bet that you're coping with your latest defeat," Cindy chuckled.

"So what if I am? I'll get plenty of other chances to prove myself," Jimmy proudly stated.

They finally made it to the library. The crowds are relatively steady, but there are a few open tables. They found one near the back and took it, sitting across from each other. Cindy got her textbook, laptop and some paper and a pen out. Jimmy noticed the textbook was for calculus. That class is considered difficult for most people. Most wait until college to take it, if at all. I was one of few that did it in high school. Even though I have her beat in math and science, I do wonder how she handles this class. Jimmy thought. That said, if she asks me for help, then she's basically admitting that once again, but I guess we'll see. Several minutes passed and she seemed to be laser focused on her work, only batting an eye at Jimmy once in a while, sometimes smiling at him while he wasn't looking.

I guess I underestimated her a little bit, he thought disappointingly. He decided to get his Switch out as well as an earbud to hear the game without disturbing anyone. I don't really see why I needed to study with her. She seems to be doing fine on her own and I have nothing to do. As he was playing he tested some mods to see if his experience can be enhanced, and he was able to do this with little difficulty. After a few more minutes, Jimmy readjusted himself on his chair and in doing so, accidentally bumped Cindy's foot. She immediately faced him and before she could say anything, he pulled his leg away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that! I was just-"

"You're fine," she spoke with a neutral expression. Once she turned to her studies, unbeknownst to Jimmy, she started blushing a little bit. Does that Neutron really think he's fooling anybody? I'll have to get back at him for that, she thought to herself. Then an idea popped in her head.

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. I better be careful not to do that again. Would've been a bad misunderstanding. He then turned back to his game for a little longer. A few minutes later, he felt a tap on his foot. Jimmy blushed immediately as he turned to her who had a teasing smile on her face. "V-vortex? Why did you do that?"

"Sorry, my mistake," she shrugged, smiling.

"No problem," he said quietly. Not even a minute later, he felt another tap. No way this is now an accident! Fine, I'll just have to pretend it didn't happen!

Nice try Neutron, she thought. I'm not gonna give up that easily. She then tapped him a few more times. Even though Jimmy attempted a poker face, it was crumbling down with how much he was blushing. What's with this girl?! He saw Cindy smiling and beginning to laugh but she was looking away, trying in vain to act like nothing was happening. He decided then and there that there was no other option. Fine, I'll have to give her a taste of her own medicine! He began to tap her back which was only met with her tapping his foot excessively. She proceeded to blush just a little bit more. Before they knew it, they were playing footsie for a solid minute. Both saw it as a game that one had to win, but since both were stubborn, there was only one other way to stop it.

"Both of you quit it!" The librarian warned them. "This is no place to engage in such tomfoolery! Save it for home!"

Both moved their legs close to their chairs while blushing intensely. "We're sorry," both said simultaneously. Neither of them said a word for another hour.

Eventually one would speak, so Cindy spoke first. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Jimmy asked. "What is it?"

"Can you check this paper real quick?" She motioned to the paper. "I need to make sure I showed all my work."

"Sure, I'll take a look," Jimmy put a hand out, expecting to take it. Thanks to the previous interaction, the thought of her asking him for help didn't even cross his mind at the moment.

"How am I supposed to see when the paper is over there?" Cindy argued. "Come here!"

"Alright," he shrugged and got up to sit next to her. She almost immediately leaned closer on his side, something he failed to notice. "So it looks like all of this is mostly correct, but it's missing something."

"What's that?" she asked as she got even closer.

Jimmy pointed out the problem. "See you were computing the partial derivative, but to do so with respect to x, you needed to hold the other variables constant, rather than-" he turned to see her face inches away from him with the signature smirk. "WHOA!" he immediately scooted away, almost tripping in the process, this was met with her laughing as loudly as she could get away with. "Wh-why were you so close to my face?!" He managed to spit out.

"I had to see what you were talking about." She halfheartedly explained as she was chuckling.

"But why were you looking at me then?" he wondered.

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "Maybe I was just glancing at that exact moment."

"I guess that's a fair point," Jimmy's blush would slowly fade after that. In an attempt to change the subject, "So did you need anymore help on the problem or…?"

"Nah, I'm good," Cindy gave thumbs up after closing her textbook. "Thanks for the help!"

"Sure thing!" Jimmy smiled to himself as he got up. "Guess that means I still have the advantage when it comes to math, huh Vortex?" They both began to walk out of the library.

"Eh, you can believe that if you want Neutron. There's just one thing."

"And what is that?" Jimmy turned to her.

"I wrote that mistake on purpose," Cindy shot him another smirk.

This stopped Jimmy in his tracks, perplexing him. "Puking Pluto Vortex! Why would you do that?!"

She turned fully to him looking him in the eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know, Nerdtron?"