...parental technicalities

[Cindy Vortex]

Anything could have annoyed Cynthia Aurora Vortex to the point of a full-blown rage today. She was in one of those moods in which she could be far more easily likened to a rampaging rhynocerous than a 15-year-old girl. Not that these moods were all that rare, in Cindy’s case, but they were usually triggered by something, like one of Neutron’s rash, impuslive, and downright foolish actions. Today, her state simply existed with no rational reason. PMS? School and peer pressure? Frankly she didn’t much care for what or why. She was isolating herself.

She had been slient (well... as silent as Cindy Vortex could be) throughout the day and hadn’t bothered stopping home at all after school. Now here she was, precariously perched on the hill overlooking the lake. Her canvas shoulderbag was sprawled a few feet from her, its contents spilled messily about a one-foot radius around it. She was in too much of a “mood” to care, to be entirely frank, although on any average day, she would surely have been scuttling about on her hands and knees in a panicked hurry to save her homework from being, god forbid, grass-stained.

Today, on the other hand, she was contemplating her current state of mind. As perplexing as it was that it hadn’t been initiated in any way, shape, or form by Neutron, she figured she knew exactly where the foul emotions had originated: Her mother. One day after the next, Cindy was as inadequete to her mother as a speck of dust. She wasn’t good enough; she wasn’t pretty enough; she needed to work herself harder no matter how over-worked she already was. And Cindy had been sick of it... for the last three years. What was she going to do, stand up to the person who probably wouldn’t hesitate to boot her unworthy daughter out of the house?

But it didn’t matter. In two-and-a-half years, she’d be off to college and on her own. That would be a welcome blessing. For now what she need to do was vent, no matter what unfortunate soul it was that decided to talk to her. No matter how much she tried to deny it, Cindy did need to talk.



{ o o c : I know, I know... cliched... but come on, guys, I wrote it at midnight last night. Anyway... carry on! Reply... *nudgenudge* }

[Libby Folfax]

She walked down the concrete sidewalk and past the fountain. Her friend hadn't talked to anyone all day, not even her, and that worried her. She hadn't even answered her many phone calls. Usually, Cindy was really good at returning calls, but the phone just rang and rang. So she had assumed one thing: Cindy had gotten into another fight with Jimmy. This wasn't out of the ordinary, and she knew that Cindy would get over it, but nonetheless, she continued on her way to her destination.

There was one place that she knew her best friend went everytime she was distressed, and that was the hill overlooking the lake. It's tranquility was perfect for sifting through one's thoughts until you had found a solution to whatever problem. The best feature about it was that only two people in Retroville really visited it; Liberty Folfax and her best friend Cynthia Vortex. She turned down a cleared path in the forested area and began to climb up the grassy hillside. With trees on both sides of her, she was pretty much hidden from anyone. The hill, being the tallest inclination in Retroville, took a gruelling few minutes to ascend.

When she arrived at the top, she watched as the back of the head of her best friend stared of into the distance, obviously deep in thought. Either this was a really big fight with Jimmy, or there was something seriously wrong with her. Afraid that if she disturbed her she would detonate like a bomb, Libby decided it best to just to quietly and slowly approach the blonde.

{o.o.c.: Well, what did you think? I know, it wasn't that great, but I tried. Tell me if I seem too out of character.}

[Cindy Vortex]

It was 100 percent factual that Cindy had a tendancy to detonate like a bomb. Fortunately, that tendancy tended to be nurtured by a feud with her neighbor, the infamous boy genius Jimmy Neutron. Today she was simply lamenting over what seemed to be a very lost cause. She wasn’t quite sure why she lamented over it so much, as no amount of sighing and rolling of the eyes was ever going to change the fact that she’d never be good enough. It’s this kind of thing, Cindy thought mournfully, that ends up scarring people for life.

She glanced over at her spilled backpack and groaned, beginning to push everything back into the bag. Today’s homework would now have to be rewritten; the damp grass had caused the ink to run. And her notebook... oh no! That was ruined too, along with every poem and short story she’d written in the past month. She sighed heavily, that feeling of hopelessness causing her to go, once more, light-headed.

As she shoved everything back into her canvas bag, she glanced over at the lake, grinning at the glimmering tips of the tiny waves forming from the breeze’s gentle path over the smooth surface of the water. It honestly was quite beautiful, if she could say so herself. Then again, Cindy had always been a dreamer beneath her rough exterior. What girl like her wasn’t? It was simply the way of things. There were many things she wanted. For example, a family that cared about her, acceptance into the world around her, Neutron...

Woah, where did that come from? Shaking her head, she ignored it and shut her bag, setting it carefully beside her.

It was then that her keen ears caught the soft sound of the grass being tread beneath a pair of sneakers. Cindy turned around slowly, neither surprised nor alarmed as her eyes fell on her best friend, Libby Folfax. Her face melted into the first smile of the day and she beckoned for the dark-haired girl to take the seat beside her. “Hey Libs, what’s up?”



{ o o c : I don't think you sound out of character at all! You write Libby like me; she knows everything. She's really observant about other people's feelings. Hehe, I had to add something J/C in here because it fit. *squeal* Erm... I mean... *cough* }

[Libby Folfax]

"What's up?" Libby asked incredilously. "You haven't said a word to me all day, and I called your cell phone fifty times but you didn't pick up. Is everything alright?"

Cindy just looked out across the lake and sighed. The sunlight that streamed through the leaves of the trees cast a wonderful glow upon her. Libby had always known that Cindy was quite a pretty girl before, but this was a different view of her. Her hair was down(which was odd, as it was always up), and her clothes were wrinkled as if they had been left in the dryer for way too long. This side of her actually looked vunerable.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She leaned towards her and put a hand warily on her shoulder.

Cindy just shook her hand off and turned around to face her, still silently debating as to whether or not to tell Libby about her troubles or not, as Libby could tell.

"C'mon, Cin, I'm you're best friend. You can trust me," Libby faced her friend, determination spread across her face.

Libby had a certain way of knowing exactly how to get someone to console their problems or irritations in her. Cindy sighed and opened her mouth...

{o.o.c.:Ok, that's good. I just wanted to make sure, because to be honest I haven't really written from Libby's point of view before...That's sad, come to think of it....I understand. If I were you, I would be goin' crazy with the J/C-ness!}

[Cindy Vortex]

“It’s my mother, what else?” Cindy muttered, the words rolling off her tongue in a bitter manner at another thought of the woman with which she so unfortunately shared a household. “She keeps expecting me to give more and more... even when I don’t have anything left to give. It’s so... so...”

But she couldn’t seem to find the word to explain exactly what it was. Instead she sighed and momentarily closed her eyes. The fight she’d had with her mother the previous night had been beyond legendary. Why, one might ask? There was one simple, blantant answer for that question.

Mrs. Vortex had dug up and read her daughter’s journal.

She’d read everything, everything from how much she disliked Nick (which Mrs. Vortex said was “appalling”, seeing as she’d badly wanted Cindy to date Nick since fifth grade) to how much she hated her mother. Somewhere in between, it had many an entry having to do with Libby and Cindy ditching school for one reason or another, usually to tromp off with King Cranium and his loyal subjects on some great adventure. Hey, it was better than school, right?

Mrs. Vortex had been infuriated. She had yelled at Cindy about everything. “I’ve given you everything, you should be greatful!... You don’t have enough respect!... How dare you spurn such a nice boy as Nick?... I can’t believe you can stand the dishonor of liking that Neutron boy!... If you ever ditch school again, young lady, you’re going to be grounded until you’re out of college!...” It had gone on and on until finally, after an hour-and-a-half-long lecture, Mrs. Vortex had ceased and gone to bed.

It took a moment for Cindy to realize that she was still sitting in the park beside Libby, and not back in her house being chewed out by her mother. How dare she sit there and tell Cindy she should be “greatful”? What was there to be greatful for? Perhaps food and lodging, but love? No, she’d never been good enough for her mother’s love. She always had to be better than she was, but that wasn’t ever going to happen, as she was already pushed to her limit and beyond.

The blond girl sighed and turned toward Libby. “My mom found my journal last night... and she read every word before I got home.” Her eyes were rather pitiful at the moment, something quite strange when it came to Cindy. She wasn’t a pitiful person on any level.



{ o o c : Yes, I'm the biggest sucker ever for J/C... Anyway, just one nit-picky thing... I wouldn't really have cared much, seeing as it wasn't anything big, but I know other people will care at some point and I really don't want anything to start over something small. When roleplaying, you can only control your character's actions, not anyone else's, no matter how small. It took me a few posts to get used to that when I first started (two years ago, lol). And I didn't really care, and I don't want to sound all godly because I'm not, but that's one thing most roleplayers get up on your butt about (trust me... I know... *shudders*). Don't want you to have to deal with that. I'm just pointing it out that you were kind of half-playing Cindy's actions in that last post, and there's a lot of people who would make a huge deal out of it were it their character. Personally, as I said, I didn't mind, but there are some real sticklers. }

[Libby Folfax]

"Oh..." Libby replied, now understanding the source of her friend's angst.

Cindy's mother had caused Cindy about as many problems as "Neutron" had and next to Jimmy, Cindy's mother was the most hated person in Cindy's life. Libby recalled countless memories when Cindy had called her up to vent about her mother. And there were numerous times when Cindy had interrupted Libby's conversations with Sheen and Libby, havng a generous nature, had told Sheen goodbye just to help her friend.

She pondered this until she noticed that it was awkwardly silent. It was a wonder her friend didn't go gothic, considering all the fights she had had with her mother. Some even got physical, as was obvious from some of the bruises she had gathered.

Libby turned to Cindy. Knowing Cindy's mother well enough, she knew that her mother probably yelled at her when she had found the diary, so the question, "Did you get in trouble?" was a dumb one.

"Well, are you okay?" Libby asked with a caring sense about her.

{o.o.c.: Oh, ok. Sorry. I kinda did feel like I was controlling Cindy too much. Thanks for pointing that out!}

[Cindy Vortex]

Cindy shrugged lightly, her expression one of mental conflict. “I guess I’m alright... she didn’t hit me or anything this time.” she reasoned, smoothing a hand through her tangled hair and pushing her bag behind her so she could lean back against it.

A cool breeze blew by and ruffled the girl’s hair as she did this, feeling quite tired from staying up so late the night before. Not that it was her fault she hadn’t gotten to bed at a reasonable hour, but it didn’t matter much who’s fault it was. Dark bags resided under her eyes, as they had for the past two weeks since school started. Somehow it should not have been this difficult at the beginning of the year; Cindy didn’t even want to think of how bad it was going to get. The only class she was actually able to enjoy was Drama, which wasn’t too uncharacteristic; she kind of liked acting, and singing as well, even if only to herself.

It was a bit strange that she hadn’t gone goth, as could have been expected out of someone with her lifestyle and parenting, but Cindy was strong and would stay herself until the bitter end. That was herself; steadfast and unmoving.

Cindy thought for a brief moment after her first comment, then continued. “She got really mad about what I wrote about Neu-” She stopped herself, pausing as she realized what she was about to say. Whether it was obvious or not (either way unknowest to Cindy), she didn’t like to admit what she referred to as an imperfection. “-Nick.” she finished blandly, glancing up at her friend again. “You know, about how I don’t like him. She was really angry about that. I’m surprised she doesn’t just marry him herself, geez.”



{ o o c : Ah, no problem! Here to help! }

[Libby Folfax]

"Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, my parents don't really approve of my feelings either..." Libby hesitated, thinking. If she said anything wrong, Cindy would go insane, and there was no one around to witness a murder. "Well, what I mean is that they don't approve of my taste in boys." Then she mumbled to herself, "But, they support me nonetheless..."

At this, a pair of big brown eyes that belonged to Sheen pushed themselves into her mind. Before her mind wandered too far, she forced the image back out of her head.

'Right now is not the time!' Libby's conscience yelled at her.

Libby shook her head and looked at the ground. "Anyways, how'd the conversation go?"

Libby looked at her best friend, ready to hear a long monologue full of anger.

{o.o.c.: Ok, thanks again!}

[Cindy Vortex]

Cindy frowned, her long, slender fingers picking at the bright green grass beside her. “She wouldn’t shut up for nearly two hours. She knows how many times I’ve skipped school now...” Faltering for a moment, she glanced at Libby; her best friend nearly always came on the excursions that frequently resulted from Jimmy-Cindy brawls. “She accused me of ‘fraternizing with the enemy’ when she found out I was skipping school with Neutron... even though I told her I didn’t want to, and that he annoyed me into it.” She scowled at the thought, something in her mind knowing for a fact that she wasn’t convincing herself, or Libby, she was sure, of anything. She hadn’t convinced her mother either. Then again, that woman had read every page.

“And when she found out that I didn’t really like Nick and I was just using-” She stopped for the umpteenth time this conversation, thinking what she wasn’t saying. Using him to make Neutron jealous, Cindy thought nastily, which would work if it wasn’t for Betty Quinlin, Miss I’m-So-Beautiful-and-Perfect... “And you know what she thinks about him. When she found out I turned him down last year...” She sighed, looking away from Libby and out toward the lake once more. “I never told her about that. I knew she’d be mad, and she was. She almost made me walk to his house and apologize to him, even though it was an entire year ago.

“Then she went on about how I should be trying harder to compete with Neutron instead of-” Biting her lip, Cindy searched for the words to cover what she liked to refer to as her ‘secret’. Yes, she was totally oblivious to everyone’s suspicions, why do you ask? “-skipping... school with him.”

Cindy threw a piece of grass to the ground in frustration. Instead of giving her the reward of quickly hitting the ground, the breeze caught it carefully and blew it away, much to her dismay. “That’s all she cares about. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I’m sure she’s got plenty of other things to worry about. Why read my journal and criticize me on liking or not liking a guy?”

[Libby Folfax]

"Well, my parents don't go as far as to read my diary, but my little brother does..." Libby put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, only to let it drop back to the ground to mimick Cindy's motions. They had picked at the grass so much on those summer days when neither had had anything to do, it was a surprise that the grass still grew there.

Libby took her cell phone out, realizing that she had to get ready for a date with Sheen that she had planned that night. "Oh my God! Cindy, I'm so sorry, but I have to go get ready for..something tonight," A blush creep onto her face. She knew that her friend had long suspected her secret romance with Sheen, ever since they were in fifth grade they 'didn't like boys yet.' Nevertheless, Libby had liked Sheen, and Cindy had liked...someone... "I'll call you sometime later, ok?"

Libby grabbed her purple bookbag and ran as fast as her legs could carry her back down the path, not waiting for a reply from Cindy. She should've been home twenty minutes ago!