Thrills of life...

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy picked at a small box of popcorn half-heartedly, wishing dearly he hadn't left that sample of triethylaluminum out of its storage containment while he had been at school. (His lab always crept to above-average temperatures when it was not in use, causing the over-sensitive chemical to combust, filling his lab with a nasty screen of aluminum oxide dust, and -- quite obviously -- ruining his afternoon plans of squandering away a few life-less hours inventing.)

He had left VOX with instructions to keep the ventilation fans on full blast, vents wide open, and a small departing word to his mother that he would be wasting time at the cinema if anyone bothered to care. As he sullenly flicked a burnt kernel onto the sticky, unkempt floor, he realized he could have called someone and been bitter with company rather than alone.

Thinking further, he realized that someone could have been Cindy, who might have had some capabilities of turning his sour disappointment into something else. Something more... productive, perhaps.

Sighing, he flicked another scorched piece of popcorn onto the ground at his feet, ignoring the scathing glare shot in his direction from a pimply teen employee that had just finished a meticulous sweeping of the steps beside him. He slouched down further in his seat, resting his chin on a loose fist and feeling far too lazy to press the few required buttons on his watch and contact anybody.

Tuesday afternoon after a stupendously boring day of school, watching a blank screen because it was a half-hour wait for the soonest showing (he hadn't even bothered to glance at his ticket and confirm the movie he was attending,) only there in the first place because he had failed to follow security procedures on a side experiment. He could practically feel his "cool and popular" points rising. Save for the extreme lack of ducks, Jimmy was beginning to see the teenage life his father often raved about.

{I'm sorry, Halfa! My dad's a poo-head and took up the computer until nearly 10:30. And doing what? Bills! Pff, who needs this "electricity" you speak of? And had I not shot out of bed this morning with the horrible realization that I hadn't done my math homework, I would have put it up this morning for you. I did think of you as I was scrambling to finish all my radical and quadradic functions, though! ;D Each square root was whispering, "Allison...Allison..." (I swear, they were. My neighbor in math kept looking at me funny, wondering why I would giggle sardonically each time my teacher wrote a square root sign up on the board.) Anyways, rip it apart!}

[Cindy Vortex]

Cindy Vortex was certainly... bored. This was a rare happening, yes, but monumental. She supposed that, perhaps, she should write it down, as to remember that she had indeed been bored at some point in her life, just to remind herself when she was off on some crazy adventure with Jimmy and the gang. Every other day, in other words. At the moment, she stood in front of the Retroville Cinema, loosely debating whether or not she should go in. She almost didn’t want to spend the money, but she would fancy sitting in a cool movie theater in front of a movie she’d been entertaining seeing for a while now, especially today. It was rather... warm out, to provide a vast understatement.

“One please.” she told the ticket man as she shoved a ten under the window. Collecting her ticket and change, she sauntered inside to the snack bar, where she respectively bought a bag of Skittles before heading over to theater seven.

The cold sensation a movie theater always provided to one was quite welcome. She glanced around the theater nonchalantly, a bored glint in her eyes... until they fell on the only person in the theater. The back of that head was all too familiar. She twirled a Skittle between her fingers, smirking, before she threw it at him, catching him right on target.

Taking a brief moment to enjoy the small victory, she strode lazily over and sat herself next to him. “Fancy meeting you here, hmm?”

{ o o c : *pats* It's okay! Square roots... don't haunt Shandon any more! I'm never going to look at them the same. Hah. Well, I hope this is ripped apart enough for you! And I'm glad you enjoyed the tampon story! }

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy had just placed a piece of calorie-laden, heavily buttered and just as heavily salted popcorn in his mouth when he was attacked. Inhaling in surprise, the popcorn flew to the back of his throat and stuck there.

He had not expected the over-price movie snack to kill him so quickly. The highest threat he had considered it to have was to perhaps add a thin coating to his arteries, maybe becoming a fraction of the cause of the heart attack he was almost certain to have in much later years if he continued to eat the ridiculous amounts of junk food that created the majority of his diet.

With great difficulty, he swallowed, forcing the life-threatening piece of popcorn down his throat. How many faulty invention mishaps, and a roasted vegetable nearly kills me?

He continued to cough, still unable to breath properly, as Cindy appeared at his side and plopped herself into the neighboring seat. Glancing down at the package of Skittles in her hand and, after confirming his suspicions by twisting in his seat and spotting the offending item -- a little green chew -- on the floor behind him, he wheezed, "Was that really necessary?"

{Baha, enjoyed. Hahaha! The fantastic understatement of the week. That's almost as ridiculous as math homework...enjoy... hahaha. Well, anyways...there it is. Isn't it beautiful? (Not as beautiful as the horrors witnessed through a simple tampon, of course, but who could beat that?) And all thanks to conversation about nothing at all. Boy oh boy do I love AIM.}

[Cindy Vortex]

It couldn't have been over a span of more than five seconds in which Cindy's face manipulated itself to show everything she felt within said time: first, a smug smile; next, a slight frown of concern for the choking boy beside her, a rare slip; lastly, a conscious yet exasperated smirk, accompanied by an eye-roll as a reply to his snappy inquiry. Fortunately, she was too content at having found company on this dull, dull day to want to get into a battle of wits. This, of course, did not mean she wouldn't tease him.

"Certainly it was." she purred, obviously mocking him; her voice was far too sweet and sugar-coated for her personality to be anything but such. "As is this." Wasting no more time, she leaned over and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. For once, height was not an issue, most likely because he was already slumped down in his seat. A proper greeting, she thought as she pulled away after a few pleasant seconds.

Her arm slipped from it's place around his shoulders and she sat comfortably back in her chair, propping her feet up on the seat in front of her. She grinned impishly at him, her loose hair hanging coquettishly over her right eye. "Come to think of it, I should have known you'd be so clumsy. By now, I'm expecting it." reaching over, she snatched a few pieces of popcorn from his bag and popped them into her mouth casually, chewing and swallowing before flashing him another flirtatious grin.

{ o o c : Haha, of course. My Libby enjoyed it, too. Very happiness for everyone. The Tampon Legacy will live forever, I believe. Lovely, lovely stuff. It is beautiful. Jimmy is a clod. We all knew that. But Cindy gets to point it out because she kisses him, therefore has somewhat more control over him than most people. How many times has she kissed away his anger now? Ah, we'll never know. I remember reading old strings like that over the past few days and laughing my butt off. I think... the dance string and the dance studio string. Yes, that's right. Classic. }

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy bristled, highly irritated at the near-death state she had insinuated, and was about to speak in protest when Cindy leaned over the arm rest separating them and kissed him. Too irked at the teasing that had taken place already, he stiffened and did not allow himself to be won over so easily -- again.

It was unbelievably hard, especially when she insisted upon flirtatiously grinning at him, letting her fringe lay carelessly in her line of vision. Gas planets, why was he so weak to her little quirks!

Most fortunately, his irritation was refreshed when she blatantly insulted his choking episode, though there was much embarrassment at the idiot he must have portrayed himself to be mixed in.

"'Clumsy?!', he cried indignantly, throwing the small handful of airy popcorn he was about to eat at her. (Much of it was blown off course, not making as dramatic of a revengeful reaction as he had hoped it to be.) "I do believe it was you, madam, and your incapability to withhold your bullying urges that caused that!" He stuck his tongue out, doing nothing for his already damaged image and pride.

{And here it (finally) is! I had it nearly finished earlier this afternoon when the phone rang; I promptly forgot about it after that. It was sitting open for like, three hours until my aunt came over and was clicking around my stuff and asked, "What's this?" Why, that's the last remaining piece of my memory and sanity, Sarah!...BEWARE!}

[Cindy Vortex]

It took a moment for Cindy to process how Jimmy had just responded. One thing was for sure; she certainly hadn't expected exactly that. Perhaps she would simply have to get used to not so readily assuming. But their relationshhhip had always been unpredictable; why should it stop now? Still, in her thirst for good company, she was indeed a bit miffed that the circumstances hadn't changed. Although admittedly disappointed at the kiss (or lack there of), she was never one to turn down a Neutron challenge.

Especially when he threw passes--and popcorn--like that at her.

Her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened, after a moment of an annoyedly shocked expression. "Excuse me?" she snapped, pegging him in the forehead with a red Skittle indignantly. "Bullying?! I hardly call a Skittle in the back of the head bullying! Maybe a ploy to get your attention, but I didn't even throw it hard! You're over-reacting, dorkwad!" Her voice certainly reflected her irritation at him, as did her face.

The expression she retained was nothing short of a snarl. Honestly, even in her most amiable moods, she took this sort of thing from no one, even her boyfriend; well, come to think of it, she especially didn't take it from her boyfriend. He was Jimmy Neutron and she Cindy Vortex. Would she be expected to take it?

"Perhaps," she said as she popped a candy into her mouth, "if your oversized head was not such a tempting target, this sort of thing wouldn't happen. You bring these things on yourself you know. Don't you think it a bit unfair to blame them on those who don't deserve it?" And though a glare remained on her face, a glint of arrogance resided somewhere in her eyes.

{ o o c : Haha, sounds like me. Easily sidetracked? I think so! ^_^ Well, this is crap since I wrote it last night when I was totally out of it, but I decided to go for irrational Cindy. Fun stuff. Hah. }

[Jimmy Neutron]

Not expecting a retaliation from the blond next to him in the form of another Skittle, Jimmy started, upsetting his popcorn and spilling a good amount on his lap. He rubbed the spot where the makeshift missile had sharply made contact, glaring furiously at Cindy as she hypocritically accused him of histrionics.

"I fail to see how I brought a superfluous first assailing upon myself when I had done nothing but sit here," he growled, snatching up the candy his dear love had assaulted him with around a fistful of his fallen popcorn and hurling it back in her direction. "You certainly do know how to create a friendly atmosphere between yourself and someone you've crushed over for the past five years."

Thinking back to minutes previous, he scoffed dubiously at himself. He had actually considered inviting this young woman to join him? He shuddered to imagine what irrationalities she would pin against him when she could have had a partial right.

{Ugh... why am I such a horrible person!?! I can't follow through ANYTHING, can I? Bah, well I hope you can forgive me and accept this... er, "post".}

[Cindy Vortex]

Cindy continued the furious hail of junk food, hurling a few Skittles with a "recycled" handful of popcorn back at Jimmy. "I see the arrogance level is as high as ever. You speak as if I'm the only one of us who's trapped in that state of mind." she hissed dangerously, looking very much like an enraged cat with her nose pulled back in an expression of acrimony.

"The question I so frequently ask myself is why! You're not so benevolent yourself, if I have the right to it!" she continued fiercely, animatedly angered hand gestures vividly illustrating her point. "And yet, it is so. Such a tragic burden is bestowed upon us. I will never understand how it came to be. How can a person come to be fond of someone who treats them so horrifically?"

Certainly she had gone off on a tangent. At this point, though, she was anything but fond of the boy. She was frustrated, irritated... downright outraged. She was being irrational, yes. And she couldn't understand quite what had set him off. It was a damn Skittle. It wasn't that big of a deal! She had to wonder why he was so worked up about it, and partially why he insisted on getting her worked up, too.

"So, what put you in such a mood? What invention--or perhaps inventions--went awry today?" she asked, no less angrily than before. She took an accusatory tone, which, she decided after a moment, was probably a bad idea, but it was too late now. The deed had been done.

{ o o c : Yes, I can forgive you, m'dear! Don't worry! You're not a horrible person! You're just not obsessively over-zealous like me, which, trust me, is a good thing. This itself is a horrific post, but writing out fancy wording was rather fun. I had to follow through, whether it's out of character or not. It was too tempting. Probably because I'm reading both "King Lear" and "Much Ado". Fun! }

[Jimmy Neutron]

Between the pellets of nutritionally-stripped food raining upon him and casting back his own retribution around Cindy's violent hand gestures, Jimmy snarled, "Says the girl who daily pulled juvenile and mortifying pranks on me well into middle school! On what basis do you have accusing me of anything more than justified self defense?"

It was absolutely ridiculous that no matter how loose or binding their relationship was -- both emotionally and physically -- Jimmy could not go a solid week without some form of irrationality ruining a possible good day, whether initiated on his part or Cindy's (though he was not at all about to admit any grievances on his part this time.) Neither members of their party seemed to possess abilities to contain themselves. If Jimmy wasn't spouting out the 101 Reasons I Hate Cindy after another one of her humiliating pranks, she would take up the peaceful down-time and turn it into another public beratement about his head size, attire, intelligence -- or inventions.

He stiffened furiously at Cindy's final low blow. Enraged, he cast about for an equally stinging insult. It was perhaps a good thing the pimply youth had returned and interrupted Jimmy with outraged inquiries toward the mess they had created, broom and dustpan waving wildly in the air.

Jimmy stood abruptly, black dotting his vision in the sudden rush of blood. The back of his throat was practically itching in his strong yearning to spit out something in distasteful parting to the girl sitting before him. Retaining the urge, he turned on the spot, brushed past the rambling and scandalized theater employee, and stomped out.

{ ...ugh. A dead smiley would be more appropriate. With little waves of stinkiness coming off him. Yeah... *goes off to find such a smiley icon* It was a lot better a few days ago. And I was going to add more, but quit while your behind, right?}

[Cindy Vortex]

It was in the moment Jimmy stiffened that Cindy knew she had hit a soft spot without giving it a second thought. She certainly hadn't considered how much more the snide comment would mean now taht they were... involved. Obviously Jimmy had. Part of her wondered if she was only noticing it more now that they were lately squandering their energy with things other than fighting. Through his eyes, she coudl see that the gears in his brain were working to come up with a retaliation equally as wounding as hers before the pimply teen interrupted, looking about ready to murder the both of them. His annoyance, though, was not where Cindy's attention was.

She watched, mentally wincing, as Jimmy abruptly stood up and stormed out. "Oh shit..." she muttered sourly at herself. "Now I've done it." She hadn't even considered the reaction, or ever what she was saying or what the effect would be. And the mistake might as well have slapped her in the face. She stared after him, chewing the inside of her cheek thoughtfully.

She could fight back to his cold shoulder, feign anger, ignore him in the way he was certain to ignore her. She could pretend as if she didn't care about the current status of their relationship or act as if she wasn't concerned about the thoughts he could be having around terminating it. She could make-believe she didn't regret anything she said or wasn't at all frightened of her words' effect on him.

But she had been done living a lie a month-and-a-half ago and she had no intention of slipping back into that rut. It would be a long road for them, but Cindy would do anything to travel it start to finish. She knew at that moment that the road hadn't ended. With that thought in her mind, she made her decision.

Cindy had hardly paid attention in the last few moments of intense thought to the theater employee , who had continued to gripe, despite Jimmy's departure. Standing up herself, she faced the teen, hands on her hips, and interrupted him sharply. "Listen, I don't mean to sound cocky or anything, but I'm a first-degree karate black belt, so I suggest you shut up before I make you. I don't have time for this." He complied, glaring toxically at her and muttering something about disrespect. "Oh, shove off!" she snapped loudly, turning and sprinting out of the theater.

She paused outside the door, glacing around, wondering how long she'd pondered the situation, something desperate in her eyes. After a moment of frantic searching, she caught sight of Jimmy's retreating back and, with a sigh of relief, she jogged after him. "Jimmy, wait!" she yelled after him. When she reached him, she reached out nervously to grab his hand and tug him back gently. "Wait, please." She enclosed her bottom lip between her teeth sheepishly. She didn't know how he'd react, what he'd do, whether he'd listen. At the moment, she didn't care. Because for the first time, she'd realized she was wrong.

{ o o c : Don't know how on-character that was, but there's your reconciling Cindy... the one that cares. Luckily it was a boring day at school and I used up the first three periods writing this. It was fun. I must have written at least four copies though. It's still horrid (the last paragraph anyway) but oh well. I did like your post, though! It gave me something to work with! Not that that's rare, but I actually wasn't expecting him to stomp out... fun to reply to, though. Wheee! Eagerly awaiting the next post, I shall gawk at Peter Pan. Mine, anyway. ^_* }

[Jimmy Neutron]

He could feel his hand being tugged. He could momentarily feel the smooth, cool skin of Cindy's hand in his before he shoved it away. He could hear her apologizing, the same apology that had been repeated dozens of times before from both parties' mouths. He could smell the light waft of her perfume as she hurried up to him.

But he didn't care.

He didn't feel her, didn't retain any emotions to each of the familiar and once-welcomed senses.

He didn't see her bite her lower lip, but it would not have made a penetrating difference toward either side of Jimmy's teetering sentiments: they had finally picked a side to stay on.

"Cindy, I know, because we're just like that," he sighed heavily, slowing his pace just slightly to finish his thought. "But I'm tired of it. And I really don't want it right now. Give me a moment's peace; hopefully we can find some maturity in that breath!"

He continued to skulk away, no less angry and no closer to caring about the present or aftermath.

{Pff, Merry freaking Christmas. This is what you wanted... though probably not what you expected: way late and... very odd.}

[Cindy Vortex]

The emotion Cindy's chest retained as Jimmy pushed her away was just about as alien as the fact that they were having a fight; she was used to the pang of guilt and regret that usually came about in such a situation as this. Withdrawing slowly, listening acutely to his iron-plated reply, she held the hand that had so recently been in his, the entwined fingers pressed up against her collarbone and she tried to think of something, anything, to stop him. But as he finished his thought, all that passed her parted lips was a desperate, forced "Ahh".

She couldn't put her finger on what she was feeling anymore. Her mind couldn't seem to wrap itself around the concept that he was walking away from her, even when she'd summoned the courage - and more importantly the will - to say she was sorry. What had she done wrong? But then, she knew perfectly well that it was not her attempts at reconciliation that had driven him away, it was the mistakes she was attempting to gain forgiveness for.

Time seemed to stand still for Cindy as she stepped backward, then turned to plop herself defeatedly on a bench to her left, beside the bathrooms. The light cut through the fog. She knew what she was feeling at this exact moment. The emotion had been labled rejection by the authors and poets of days before their own, and the word seemed to entirely fit the strange emptiness about her right now. It was a different sort of rejection, though, than she had experienced with him yet, most obviously. It was rejection while they were together, while they were supposed to be exhibiting affection instead of loathing.

And yet, she refused to believe that it was all her fault. She wasn't the only one to blame, even if she held most of it.

For a moment, she watched his retreating back, her vocal cords finally becoming in tune with her thoughts. She opened her mouth, finally. "And I suppose accepting an apology would not in any way be a step in changing the way we are?" she said, as loud as she could muster, though it wasn't much. It was a statement that was supposed to be sarcastic, but did not come out that way, in any case.

Cindy turned from him, trying so hard not to care what he would say, how he would reply. She extracted her cell phone from her pocket and, with shaking fingers, dialed an all-too-familiar number. And an all-too-familiar voice answered. "Hey, girl."

"Libby, are you busy?" asked Cindy in a low voice, moderating what would come spilling from her lips in time.

A pause. Either party pondered for a moment before Libby said, "No, so you bring your "stupid boy" problems over here, alright?" Cindy nearly groaned. Libby knew her too well.

Normally, this would have been a time for Cindy to scoff, but she refrained and replied, "Okay. I'll be there in fifteen." She flipped the phone closed. Not only was she out of those wretched Skittles, she had gotten in a big fight with her boyfriend and wasted eight bucks on a movie. Charming. It was not a good day.

{Are you going to reply to this or not? Or shall we continue tragically brawling Cindy and Jimmy somewhere else? Dammit, this is depressing. I blame you. Haha, much love.}

[Jimmy Neutron]

{Hahaha, I think we should move the pity-party. And I don't know what you're talking about; this is fun! You described the intended feelings very well, and a little angst is good for the soul. I sure need some right now. I wish I had a Sheen or Carl to complain to.}

[Cindy Vortex]

{Today or tomorrow, I'm going to post a much needed, well, POST at Libby's house. It'll probably end up hanging in space because it's pointless -- I'm still going to write it! -- but we can discuss what we want to do on LJ or email or something, since I promise I won't be on AIM until the weekend after this one. Sad, isn't it? That's what I get for mediocre grades...}