A/N: Chapter 6 is here! Some things feel a little rushed here, but I didn't want to dwell on some b-stories too much, so here we are.

Enjoy!

Jimmy spent the rest of the weekend finishing the project for school. He didn't bother telling Cindy. He was avoiding her, too guilt ridden to face her. So when Monday rolled around, he decided to take his hovercar to school. Since he didn't have to catch the bus, he took some extra time in the morning, actually sitting down to eat breakfast.

He cleaned up his dishes, said bye to his mom, and walked out to get the hovercar. He was pulling the hovercar to the front yard when he saw Cindy run out the front of her house. She looked frazzled, her hair was in a haphazard ponytail, her shoes were untied, and there were papers falling out of her unzipped backpack. He looked at his watch. The bus had left ten minutes ago. He sighed. In his effort to avoid her, he now found himself as her only means to get to school on time.

"Vortex!" He called across the street.

Cindy looked up, stress written all over her face. He gestured for her to come over and she smiled as she made her way to his front yard. "Thanks. I overslept and both my parents had to go in early to work today," Cindy explained as she stopped in front of him.

Jimmy shrugged. "Sure. Get in, or we're going to be late."

Cindy hesitated. "Is it safe?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Yes. I wouldn't drive it if it wasn't."

Cindy was still reluctant.

"Fine, be late for school. Guess that perfect attendance record is going to be mine then."

"Okay, okay," Cindy huffed. She knew her mom would have a meltdown if she was late to school. Cindy zipped up her backpack and set it on the floor of the hovercar before climbing in herself. She pulled the hair tie out of her hair and fixed her ponytail, smoothing down as much of the frizz as she could.

Jimmy stared at her. Even when she looked unkempt, he still found her beautiful. He liked how her hair had a slight curl to it at the ends and how she always seemed to have a little pout to her lips. He liked how her jade colored eyes popped, especially when she wore green, like the sweater she had on. He noticed that her sweater was on inside out, a result of her hurry to get ready for school.

"Hey, super genius, I thought you said we were going to be late," Cindy said as she tied her shoes, interrupting his thoughts.

"Right." Jimmy hopped in the hovercar and turned it on. The car lifted off the ground and Cindy nervously clenched onto his arm. Jimmy laughed. "You never did like this thing. Glad that your instincts are still intact."

"It's jarring," Cindy stated.

"Can I have my arm back please? I need it to drive."

Cindy pulled her hand away quickly. She felt her face heating up. "Sorry." She looked down at her lap.

"Did you know you put your sweater on inside out?" Jimmy asked after several seconds of silence.

Cindy looked down at her sweater and groaned. "Great way to start the week." Jimmy just chuckled and they continued the rest of the ride in silence.

Jimmy parked the hovercar and Cindy got out quickly. "Thanks for the ride. I need to go fix my sweater." She grabbed her backpack and walked quickly toward the school. While it was true she needed to fix her sweater, the real reason Cindy left so quickly was because of something Jimmy had said. He said that her instincts were still intact. Was that what all those weird feelings were whenever she was around him? Her 'Jimmy sense,' the way she just naturally called him Neutron now, the way he irritated her, even though she kind of liked all his smart aleck remarks at the same time? If what she read in her diary was true, then she definitely had a thing for Jimmy Neutron, and even though she had been skeptical that they had actually been dating, she was starting to believe it, and was even beginning to like the idea. That terrified her.

Cindy made her way to the nearest girls' room and fixed her sweater before heading to her locker. Libby was there waiting for her.

"Hey, where were you? I was worried you were going to be late," Libby asked.

"I overslept and missed the bus. I had to get a ride from Neutron," Cindy replied.

"Ooh, how romantic. Did he tell you any more stories about your past?" Libby teased.

Cindy scoffed at Libby's comment. "Please, he wishes. No, we rode in silence actually. I guess he does know how to shut up."

"So what stories has he told you exactly?"

Before Cindy could answer, Sheen came up behind Libby wrapping his arms around her and kissing her on the cheek. "Morning, Beautiful!"

"Hi, baby!" Libby turned and gave Sheen a big kiss.

Cindy rolled her eyes. She was glad her friend had found someone who adored her, but their public make-outs were insufferable.

"Uh oh. Too much PDA for Cindy first thing in the morning." Sheen laughed. "Guess I was hoping that was something you forgot."

"What did you just say?" Cindy asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I, uh, crap," Sheen winced.

"That little weasel." Cindy slammed her locker and stormed off to go find Jimmy.

She made her way to the science hall, she had enough wherewithal to figure out that was where he spent a lot of his time. She saw him talking to a couple of guys from their biology class. She stormed over to him, grabbed his arm and yanked him down the hall.

"Ow! What the crap, Vortex?!"

"You told Ultra-geek?" Cindy questioned as they stopped in an alcove.

Jimmy rubbed his arm. "So? You told Libby."

"Only because I had a genuine reason to. Why does Sheen need to know my business?"

"He was over at my house when I was fixing the memory device. He and Carl asked why I was fixing it," Jimmy explained.

"Carl knows too? Why don't you just tell everybody then?!"

"I don't see what the big deal is."

"No, you don't. Imagine being told your entire life story from other people's points of view. I don't know what details you're leaving out, or which ones you're embellishing. I just have to blindly trust you and that's scary. And now that doofus and freak-boy know, I don't know how I can trust you."

Jimmy hadn't thought about that. It must be really awkward for Cindy to go around pretending to know details about her life. And while he had left some details out of some of the things he told her, he had otherwise been completely honest. He hadn't embellished anything. "I guess I never thought about it that way. I'm really sorry. I promise I haven't exaggerated any details. Everything I've told you is the truth." Liar. Jimmy thought. Liar, liar, liar. She's never going to trust you again.

"Okay then," Cindy said. The bell rang. They both had AP World History. Jimmy looked at her, wondering if their conversation was done. Cindy rolled her eyes and walked away. She ignored him, even though she knew he was behind her, heading to the same class.

At lunch, Cindy sat at her usual table, empty handed. Since she had overslept, she didn't have time to make a lunch and she forgot to grab some cash to buy one. She was reviewing her notes from AP World History, studying for the test they had the next day.

Libby joined the table a few minutes later. "Do you ever take a break from studying?"

"I'm just reviewing my notes from this morning, making sure I remember everything correctly."

"We didn't get to finish our conversation from earlier. What things has Jimmy told you about?" Libby asked.

Cindy sighed as she closed her notebook, clearly not getting a quick study session in. "Just stuff from our childhood I guess. I don't actually remember any of it, even after he tells me. They're just stories to me."

"But specifically, what stories? I'm curious. We spent a lot of time with him as kids."

"He told me about that time we had to save our parents from some aliens. Which seems fake."

"Nope. It's true. We did do that. What else?"

Cindy listed off a bunch of the events Jimmy had shared with her, and Libby confirmed them all. Cindy was pleasantly surprised. She thought for sure Jimmy would have made up some of the stories, but according to Libby, he hadn't.

"Is that it? He hasn't told you anything else?" Libby asked.

"Yeah, that's it. I mean we've only been doing this for a week. Besides I don't know how many more stories we could possibly have."

"He didn't tell you about the time we had super powers?"

"What?"

At that moment, the three boys walked up to their lunch table. Sheen sat down next to Libby, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Carl sat next to Sheen and smiled at Cindy, offering her his apple when he saw she didn't have a lunch. She gladly took it. Jimmy sighed as he took the only seat left next to Cindy. She had ignored him all day, still upset about him telling Carl and Sheen about her memory loss.

"So, do you, like, really not know anything about Jimmy?" Sheen asked, filling the awkward silence.

Cindy smiled menacingly. "I know he's super annoying, and I didn't even need any memories to figure that one out."

"Oh ha ha. Like you're such a delight to be around," Jimmy chimed in.

"That's too weird. It's almost like nothing changed," Carl commented.

"So when exactly were you going to tell me that we had super powers? That seems like a pretty big deal that could have triggered a memory." Cindy ignored Carl's comment and turned to look at Jimmy.

Jimmy's mind raced. That was one of the moments he did not want to share. "Let me guess: Libby told you?" He turned and looked over at Libby. "Do you mind butting out? Cindy doesn't need any outside sources corrupting her memories of what happened."

"God, Jimmy. Take a chill pill. I was just asking her about what you've been telling her."

"It's none of your business, so just stay out of it. I know what I'm doing, you don't."

"Lay off my girl, Jimmy," Sheen threatened.

"I don't need this." Jimmy stood up and walked away. He knew he was being overly dramatic, but he was worried that one of them might bring up something that he wasn't ready to share.

Jimmy found himself in the commons. He sat down on a bench and huffed, crossing his arms. He had no one to blame but himself.

"Hey, Neutron!"

Jimmy looked up and saw Nick walking toward him. Jimmy gave him a nod and a weak smile.

"Got a second?" Nick asked as he sat down.

"I guess," Jimmy replied.

"You and Cindy are pretty good friends, right?" Jimmy just shrugged. He genuinely was not sure how to answer that question. "Anyway, so I took her out on a date on Friday, and I thought things were going really well. But then after we got to the Candy Bar, the mood kinda shifted. Did she say anything to you about it? I'd ask Libby, but she's probably sworn to Girl Code or something and wouldn't tell me anyway."

"You, Nick Dean, are asking me for dating advice? I never thought I'd live to see the day," Jimmy joked.

Nick laughed. "Believe me the irony is not lost on me. But, come on, Neutron. We're friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"And I know you and Cindy are close. So I just wanted to know if she said anything to you. Like, did I do something that made her mad?"

"Cindy didn't tell me anything, sorry."

"Dang. Guess maybe we're just better off as friends. Well, thanks anyway. See ya around, Neutron." Nick stood up and walked away.

Jimmy didn't have much time to reflect on his conversation before Sheen came storming over. "Do you mind telling me what your deal is?"

Jimmy sighed. "I'm sorry I yelled at Libby. But all I asked was that you keep the information I told you a secret, and you couldn't even do that. This is a sensitive matter and needs to be treated as such."

"What's so sensitive about it? Wouldn't any memories be helpful?"

Jimmy couldn't tell Sheen the truth, given his track record for his ability to keep secrets, so he lied. "I'm worried that if Cindy hears details about events that we shared from other people that it could skew the memory. Sure, she might remember it, but it would be some version as seen through someone else's eyes. She needs to remember the memories purely."

"But you telling her things from your point of view isn't skewing the memory? I know I'm no genius, but everyone's memory of the same event would be different. The only way Cindy could get an actual reference from her point of view would be if she, like, had a diary or something."

Jimmy stared at Sheen in utter silence. That actually made a lot of sense. Not to mention that Sheen had basically called Jimmy out for lying.

"What?" Sheen said as Jimmy continued to stare at him.

Jimmy pulled out of his trance. "That was very astute. But to be fair, I'm only trying to trigger a memory for Cindy by telling her about things that we did. The memories are still in her brain, they're just locked up. The hope is that if I share the right details, the memories might get unlocked. At least that's what we're trying to do until I can fix that memory device."

"Which brings us back to, who cares if Libby helps? Maybe she remembers something differently than you do and that could help Cindy."

"Fine, you want to know the truth? I don't want Libby's help because Cindy and I made a deal: If I help her get her memories back, then she promised to go to the science banquet with me," Jimmy confessed.

Sheen smiled. And then he started laughing. "Dude, seriously? Wiping her memory and bribery was the only way you could think of to get her to go out with you? There's a much easier way."

"Shut up. I did not wipe her memory. She did that. And it's not a bribe. It's more of a quid pro quo type situation, although that doesn't sound much better."

"And we're back to, 'there's a much easier way.'"

"And what's that?"

"Grow some balls and ask her! I don't get what's so hard about that."

"It's a lot more complicated than you could understand."

"Whatever. You deal with your weird relationship in your own way, just leave my girl out of it, or we're gonna have a bigger problem."

Jimmy apologized to Libby for snapping at her and made it through the rest of the school day without any more incidents. Cindy was still mad at him for telling Sheen and Carl, in addition to being mad at him for yelling at her best friend, so she refused a ride home, and refused to come over. Jimmy drove the hovercar in bitter silence and when he got home he went into the house instead of to his lab. He didn't feel like fixing the memory device.

He walked into the kitchen and saw his mother pulling a pie out of the oven. "Hi, Jimmy! Not working on your project today?" Mrs. Neutron asked as she set the pie on the counter.

"No, Cindy had some other stuff going on," he said as he opened the fridge to look for a drink. "What's for dinner tonight?"

"Pork chops and green beans, and a blueberry pie for dessert," Mrs. Neutron beamed.

Jimmy slammed the fridge door, remembering his parents' stupid bet. "I still can't believe you and Dad made a bet."

"Sweetie, it doesn't mean anything."

"Is my life just a joke to you?"

"No! Jimmy, you are the most important thing in my life. Your father is eccentric. He gets these silly ideas in his head and I get caught up in them. I'm sorry."

Jimmy said nothing.

"For what it's worth, I'm really glad you did ask Cindy to go with you. I think you two will have a lot of fun," his mom said quietly.

Jimmy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Mrs. Neutron clicked her tongue. "I'm not really enjoying this new moody Jimmy. Adjust the attitude, mister. You know your father didn't mean anything by it."

Jimmy sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I had a rough day at school. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Mrs. Neutron smiled and kissed her son on his temple. "Apology accepted. Why don't you go decompress. Your homework can wait."

Jimmy walked up to his room, feeling a little better. Despite his mother's nosiness, he appreciated that she always supported him.

He turned on his computer so he could work a bit more on his speech. He logged in and checked his email first. He had a reminder from the Science Institute that he needed to confirm his RSVP. He clicked on the link and filled out the information. He paused when it asked for his guest's name. She had already agreed to go, so he wasn't sure why he was hesitant. Maybe it was the officiality of it. Sheen was right when he said that Jimmy was making things way more complicated than they needed to be, even if Sheen didn't know exactly why that was true.

Jimmy took a deep breath and typed Cindy Vortex in the text window. He finished filling out the form and clicked send before shutting his computer off. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out the stardust globe that he had never given Cindy. It wasn't going to fix everything, but it was a start.

"Goddard, call Sheen and Carl. We're going to the Helix Nebula."

A/N: I've been having too much fun writing this story, so plan on it being longer than I anticipated. Lucky you! So many of you are so excited for the banquet/gala/award ceremony/whatever you want to call it, and I am actually nervous because of that. I don't want to disappoint you! I have the general idea of what's going to happen but it needs to be amazing, hence why I keep stalling and writing more chapters lol.

Thanks for reading!