Chapter 5 - A Bit of Friendly Advice

Throughout the night, Jimmy was struggling to sleep. Leaping leptons! What the hell is going on? He thought to himself. Why can't I get her out of my head? That previous day with Cindy between her startling him, the teasing at the library, staying at her place for a few hours and all that ensued there was all he could think about. All this was with his childhood rival, and he wasn't sure how to process that. All he knew was that the vibe with her is completely different from before. As Jimmy finally managed to get some sleep, he came to the conclusion to seek out help.

The next afternoon, Jimmy made plans to meet up with Carl and Sheen to go to Retroland. "Gotta say Jim, I'm surprised you actually made plans to hang out with us."

"Ditto," Sheen agreed. "You've been here a month already and we barely see you!"

"I know and I wanted to make up for that," Jimmy explained as they walked through the entrance gate. "So that's why I invited you out here."

Carl and Sheen looked at each other and then back at Jimmy in excitement.

"What is it?" Jimmy wondered.

"Did you hear about the recent renovation?" Carl asked.

"Wha-?" Jimmy tried to ask.

"I don't think he did." Sheen said quietly.

"Why don't we show him?" Carl offered.

"Good idea, Carl!" Sheen raised his fist.

"Show me what?" Jimmy asked, feeling annoyed that they were beating around the bush.

"You'll see!" Carl and Sheen said in unison as they each grabbed one of his arms to what they were talking about. Next thing they knew, they were on the line for the Bat Outta Heck attraction.

"So was this "renovation" for this ride?" Jimmy asked as he looked around the queue. "It looks the way I remembered."

"Oh the line is the same," Carl answered. "The ride on the other hand…"

"Ooh! It gets me pumped just thinking about it!" Sheen was so excited, he was practically shadowboxing. This kinda made Jimmy nervous since it's been awhile since he's last been on a roller-coaster, let alone this one. However, this thought left as soon as it came since he reminded himself that he's been to space. The thrills of that would far outweigh anything this ride would pull, even with a renovation. It was their turn to hop in the ride, with Jimmy in the front, Sheen in the back and Carl in the middle. Once the ride started, they were having a blast and further down the ride, Jimmy found out what the renovation was. Instead of one loop, it was a second one right after with a corkscrew right before it ended. While he definitely got more thrills from his adventures from yesteryears, this was certainly a close contender. Carl and Jimmy were screaming while Sheen was laughing maniacally.

After the ride ended, they started walking to the next ride that caught their interest. Carl asked for his thoughts. "So… what did ya think?"

"Amazing right?!" Sheen added

Jimmy shook his head with a chuckle and a shrug. "I'll admit. That was a lot more than I expected… It was pretty fun!" He then asked Carl, "When did you start liking roller coasters though?"

"I was scared and nauseous at first, but eventually, Sheen and Cindy decided to "train" me to get more used to going on thrill rides," Carl explained.

"It was a long and brutal process," Sheen dramatically added.

"Yeah, but it paid off!" He said happily. "I can't wait to try places like Six Flags or Universal when I get the chance!"

"We should do that sometime when we have more saved up," Jimmy offered.

"Man! I'm so glad the three amigops are back together!" Sheen put his fist out. The other two did the same as they fist bumped each other with excitement saying "Three amigops!"

After a few more rides, they sat down at a bench near the exit to catch their breath. Eventually, throughout the day, they noticed something was on Jimmy's mind. "Hey Jim," Carl started.

"What is it?" Jimmy asks.

"Every now and then we noticed you acting kinda…"

"Spaced out?" Sheen finished the sentence to which Carl nodded.

"We're not boring you… are we?" Carl asked reluctantly.

"What? No!" Jimmy immediately denied. "Today was the most fun I had with you guys since we were younger!" He then nervously added. "It's just… there was another reason I wanted to meet up with you both, but I didn't want to get too into it at the start."

"Well thats explains the sudden meetup." Sheen understood.

Carl added, "And why we met here!"

"Don't get it twisted though." Jimmy clarified. "I did want to see you guys more."

"Yeah, we get it," Carl gave a thumbs up.

"SPILL!" Sheen demanded.

I can tell Sheen adapted some of Libby's qualities, Jimmy thought to himself. "Alright so… There's this girl I haven't seen in awhile-"

"Is it Cindy?" Carl interrupted.

Before Jimmy could say no, he was cut off by Sheen. "Carl! Let him finish!" He then motioned to Jimmy. "Continue."

"Anyway," he shook his head. "This person was someone I thought to be rivals with. She and I have competed against each other countless times. But now that we're older, we still do that but it's different from before. I get nervous when I'm around her. The way she teases me and how I react to it is less hostile but it evokes some kind of new feeling. I just don't know how to handle it if I'm being honest."

Carl and Sheen gave each other a knowing look as Sheen "whispers" to Carl. "Alright, he's definitely talking about Cindy."

"I knew it!" Carl laughed.

"Sheen!" Jimmy retorted. "It could've been… anyone else…"

"Not like anyone else here matches that description," Sheen shrugged and then put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "Could it be that you're in love with her?" he half-teased.

"That's preposterous!"

"Sadly, you're out of luck," Carl responded. "She's got a boyfriend right now."

"What?!" Jimmy was shocked at the news as his heart sank. Realizing how he reacted, he attempted to play it cool. "I-I mean that's cool. Why-why would I care?"

Carl laughed. "Gotcha! That was just a test. She's single, but there's no denying that you love her now!"

"Why you little-!" Jimmy got up and marched towards Carl.

"Setting that aside," Sheen interjected. "Have you dated someone before?"

Jimmy stopped as he looked down. "Once and it didn't end well."

"Do tell!" Sheen and Carl said in unison.

Jimmy sat back down as he briefly explained. "Back in high school, about three years ago, I had just hit puberty, and coincidentally this pretty lady I once knew would go out of her way to see me, even though hardly anyone else hardly noticed me. So I was flattered by that and gave it a shot. However, as time went on, I found out she cheated on me and several other guys. The reason I was on her list was because she knew I was at the top of the class when it came to grades. So study sessions/dates were mostly instances of her copying my homework. I was invited to a party and provided a ride to and from. I figured out her game once I saw her making out with another guy. I approached her about it, and from there that night isn't one I look back on fondly. I blamed her for what she did and I blame myself for letting my guard down. From that point on, I only really saw relationships as a burden."

"Sorry to hear that man," Sheen and Carl gave him a comforting hug to which Jimmy returned. "We're here for you man."

He let a single tear fall. "I missed you guys."

Carl reassured him. "We missed you too. And if you're worried about history repeating itself with Cindy, I don't think that will be an issue. We've known her for over a decade now and while she teases, she's an honest woman who has her wits about her. I think it's worth a shot to ask her out to see how things play out."

"Yeah!" Sheen cheered. "We can even be your wingmen to steer you in the right course!"

"Even if I do… like her; hypothetically speaking," Jimmy said looking away. "I think it's a bit too soon to jump into a relationship since I only moved down here not too long ago. I need some time to figure things out."

"Hmm…" After a couple seconds, Carl came up with an idea. "Why not test it out then? See, if you ask her out on a date, have it be as simple as that, you could probably get an idea for yourself if she's someone to consider going out with. It doesn't even have to be right away, you can take some time until you think you're ready."

"And once you are, we'll be right with you buddy!" Sheen slapped Jimmy's back to which he recoiled.

"Maybe you're right!" Jimmy pondered. "Thanks guys!"

"Anytime!" The day had ended for them and they had parted ways. Between his high school relationship, and his history with his childhood rival, a lot of thoughts had been swirling through his head. However, in a slightly ironic sense, Carl and Sheen were able to help organize the chaos in his mind. He'll need some time to sort things out to fully move on and forward to whatever life throws at him next.