I don't think I've ever seen this done before so I decided to go for it. I guess the concept was kind of there in the Science Fair Affair episode but not exactly.
It began on a Monday.
He slid into his seat next to Cindy, set his textbook down with a thud on the worn wooden desk, and awaited the start of class.
Mr. Carson walked in looking incredibly baffled.
After a moment, their teacher faced everyone and announced that he had graded their unit tests.
After fishing for them in his messenger bag, he began to hand them back, saving Jimmy and Cindy's for last.
He set Jimmy's face down. "Excellent job as always, Mr. Neutron, but for once, you did not receive the highest mark, I'm afraid."
The class let out a collective gasp. He then handed back Cindy's. "That honor goes to Miss Vortex, who received a perfect score."
The look on Cindy's face was priceless. Jimmy wished he could engrave it in his mind forever. The pride in her smug smile, the light in her piercing green eyes.
"Let's keep the taunting to a minimum, you two?" Mr. Carson requested.
"Not a chance." She mumbled under her breath.
After the bell rung, the expected barrage of insults began.
"What'd you get wrong, Neutron? Your name? The date?" She snickered. "Mix up the two World Wars after a late night in the lab?"
"I made a perfectly plausible mistake." He shrugged as he exchanged his history textbook for his English reader.
"You're slipping,genius."
He maintained his composure despite her attempts at provoking the usual verbal sparring match.
"Happens sometimes. No big deal." He shrugged. Then, unable to resist, added, "I still have a 4.0."
"Not for long." She was positively gleaming.
Two days later, in their AP Lit class, it happened again.
He lost two points on a test because he missed a detail in his analysis of one of the short stories they had gone over in class.
"Prepare to lose valedictorian if you keep to this path, Neutron."
He looked at her, self-assured. "There are more important things."
She stared after him, bewildered. "Did you inhale fumes while working on an invention or something?"
He let out a laugh. "I'mtouchedby your concern, Vortex, but that's definitely not it."
When it happened athirdtime in their Calculus class, she confronted him.
"What the fuck is going on, Nerdtron?"
"What do you mean?" He feigned innocence.
"There is no way thatyouwouldeverjust," she put up quotes for emphasis, "forgetL'Hopital's Rule."
"It may come as a surprise to you, Cindy, but I am human."
"You have an eidetic memory." She challenged. "You don'tforgetshit. More importantly, youhateadmitting when you've made a mistake and you've been so blasé lately. So don't try it with me. What is this about?"
"Why is it any of your business? Shouldn't you just be celebrating the fact you're winning at academics for once?"
"Are you even putting up a fight anymore?"
"Again, I ask, Vortex, why does it bother you so much?"
"Because it does, okay?" She shuffled her feet awkwardly, and then looked back up at him. "I'm not used to a world where you aren't resting on your laurels and rubbing it in my face every three minutes that you're better than me."
"I never said I was better than you."
"Hello? Do you have amnesia? Did you create some potion that induces brain fog?"
He sighed. "I didn't create anything. Just let it go, will you?"
She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Did you...write down the wrong answerson purpose?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Jimmy, are youlettingme win?"
"Again, I ask why in the name of Einstein would I do that?"
She was growing frustrated. "I don't know. But I do know that you've spent a decade trying to prove your intellectual superiority, and that our whole shtick is trying to best each other when it comes to grades. And I'm thrown by this. So is half the school." She pointed out.
"Because I lost a few points on some tests? Jeez, half the school needs to get a life, then." He tried to make a joke out of it.
"Jimmy." She looked at him beseechingly. There was a softness, a vulnerability to her gaze that made him buckle.
"I did it on purpose." He conceded quietly.
"What?"Her shock was palpable.
"I did it on purpose."
"I heard you the first time, idiot." She snapped. "Why?"
It was his turn to look pained.
"It was meant to be a kind gesture. Perhaps it backfired."
"A kind gesture? Neutron, what the hell is going on?"
"You're not going to beat me up, are you?" He sounded genuinely scared.
"If I wanted to I would have by now. But obviously I haven't and never would."
"Should we continue this conversation somewhere a little less...public?" He scanned the halls nervously.
"Seriously, I'm worried about you." She shook her head. "What is this all about?"
A couple minutes later, they were in the janitor's closet.
Cindy looked down at her watch. "You have exactly ninety seconds to explain, King Cranium."
"I overheard my mom talking about your mom on the phone with a friend. She was telling someone that she thought it was terrible your mother expected you to compete with me. And that it was ridiculous to punish you for not being first rank at Retroville High. And I also heard her say," he paused, "you wouldn't have to deal with any of this if you just lived in another town or if we hadn't moved here. And I don't think my mom meant it in the sense that she doesn't care for me. Nor did she give any indication of wanting to move. But I guess I just couldn't stop fixating on the fact that my brain is the cause of so many of your problems. Hell, my brain is the cause ofmanypeople's problems."
For once in her life, Cindy was speechless.
He chuckled. "Now the world isreallyupside down. I've never seen you at a loss for words."
Another moment passed before she finally spoke. "Jimmy, do you remember back in the fifth grade, when you gave me that pearl?"
A blush rose to his cheeks. "Yeah, I remember. You said it was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for you."
"Scratch that.Thisis the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. And for what it's worth, despite the constant gibes, I am in constant awe of your brain. I don't see you as a problem."
"But Cindy," he protested. "do you really get penalized for not matching up to me? Doesn't your mother realize you surpass me in many areas?"
"Neutron, Ilikeour rivalry. You keep me on my toes. And one thing my mom will never get," she drew closer to him, setting a hand on his chest, "is that your heart is as big as your brain."
She leaned in to kiss him on the lips.
"It was incredibly sweet of you to do this but you better notletme win ever again, got it? I want to taste victory on my own merits. And I'm more than capable."
"That you are." He smiled at her affectionately. "Whether your mom sees it or not."
"Good. Now that we've got that sorted, shall we give the whole school a heart attack and walk into AP Chem together?"
He took her hand in his. "Gladly."