.. surf's up

[Cindy Vortex]

{ o o c : Again, bored with too much time on my hands. Plus I need to get rid of the writer's block I have on a short story due in class on Monday. *sigh* Hey, but it won't be that way for long; my new horse is coming tomorrow! Kind of excited, just thought I'd mention it... *blush* }

Cindy Vortex was quite content at the moment. The annual Beachside Picnic was today, her mother had been unable to attend, and she had gotten here early enough to squeeze in some boogie boarding without the crowds. She currently floated on the waves about forty feet out from shore, casually hanging onto her boogie board as she searched for something rideable. Admittedly, the surf hadn't been all that great today, but she'd gotten a couple of good rides.

She smiled as she watched a nice wave rise up and she turned around, kicking and paddling furiously as she tried to gain speed with which to catch it. She'd heard this was much easier on a surfboard, but she questioned this logic as it picked her up and she flew out toward shore, smiling all the way.

It couldn't have brought her more than ten feet farther toward the beach, but Cindy couldn't have cared less at the moment. She stood up, boogie board under her arm, deciding that she was done for the moment, though thinking it might be a good idea to pick up the activity again later.

She propped the board up against the tree, beside which she had placed her things. She picked up a pink sarong from inside of her duffle bag and wrapped it around herself, tying two of the corners at the back of her neck as a halter top. Something this comfortable should be illegal. she thought with a smile as she zipped her bag back up. Looking up, her eyes searched the beach, but to no avail. None of her friends, in her line of vision, had yet arrived.

[Sheen Estevez]

(ooc: well, dangit, someone's gotta reply to this thing! come on, we gotta get the ball rolling..sorry if this post is bad..)

Normally, Sheen wasn't much of a "beach" person (he was more of a "stay inside on a sunny day with the lights off and play video games" person) but even he couldn't NOT go to the annual Community Beachside Picnic. Everybody went. If you didn't go, when you went back to school you wouldn't have anything to talk about, since that was the only thing people seemed to want to talk about for a while afterwards. Oh, and plus, a free chance to see girls in bikinis! In fact, that's what really motivated Sheen to go in the first place.

He had gone by himself, but he wasn't planning on staying that way for long. As he walked toward the beach, he could feel his stomach twisting in knots. Libby was finally back from vacation. He had been pretty lonely lately - ever since Jimmy got a girlfriend (which was still really weird for him to think about) they hadn't been hanging out as much as they used to. He knew Jimmy was coming today, and so he was planning on hanging out with him (that is, if he could tear himself away from Cindy for two seconds) but he also knew Libby planned on being there. He was nervous. They hadn't talked in a while...

He sighed dreamily to himself as he advanced further towards the beach. Just thinking about her made him feel like the happiest man alive. It was amazing, really, what she did to him. No one else had ever been able to make him feel that way before, and she wasn't even trying.

He looked around. It was pretty early; there wasn't a TON of people there yet. He looked around for a familiar face, and spotted Cindy by herself near the water. Well, that was good, if Cindy was there everyone else couldn't be too far behind...

Feeling a random burst of energy at the sight of the waves, he abandonded all grace and ran the rest of the length of the beach into the water, yelled "WOOOO-HOOOOO!" and leaped into the waves, proubably splashing all those nearby, he realized too late.

[Libby Folfax]

Libby Folfax had been looking forward to this day for a few weeks. She knew everyone would be there, just as they always were, every year. She was quite glad to have come back from the south side of the Gulf to find herself, once again, at the beach, though this time with all of her friends.

The problem was... where were her friends? She had missed a lot during vacation and she had to catch up with quite a few things, especially with one Cindy Vortex. She'd just returned home the night before and had only talked to Cindy over IM, therefore hadn't gotten the whole story. Well, thank goodness, was all Libby could say. It was about time.

It wasn't long before she spied Cindy and made her way over to her best friend, smiling widely. "Hey Cin! What's up, girl?" said LIbby excitedly, giving her a hug.

Cindy hugged her back, grinning as well as she looked back at her friend. "Hey, Libs. Missed you!" she replied, shaking her wet hair out of her face. "Things haven't been as fun without you."

Libby raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I've heard. You seem like you've had plenty of fun." she said suggestively.

"Well..." Cindy bit her lip as a larger smile threatened to engulf her face. "That's different."

"Uh-huh." But that's all Libby had time to say before they were suddenly splashed by a generous amount of water from a nearby source. She gave a snort of annoyance before turning around to see who it was. When she did, she rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile gently. "Watch out, Sheen!"

{ o o c : Cruddy. Oh well. Really not in the mood to write, amazingly. I decided to be lazy and have them have a conversation on one post instead of switching back and forth (and being lame, lol). }

[Sheen Estevez]

Sheen heard someone calling him as his head resurfaced above the water, and he recognized the voice immediently..but at first didn't think anything of it. "Sorry, Libby!" He called automatically. Then, suddenly, he whipped his head around and realized who he was talking to. "LIBBY!" He yelled excitedly, splashing out of the water, knocking some little boy over in the process.

"You're finally back!" He yelled, and suddenly, he had his arms around her and was giving her a huge embrace. As it was with most of his actions, he hadn't even realized what he was going to do until it was too late. Awkwardly, he pulled away, suddenly feeling a lot less confident then he had when he first came.

"So..." he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "How was it...at....wherever it was you went?"

[Libby Folfax]

By the time both friends had embraced her, Libby was already soaking wet... without having to even have gotten in the water. Sheen's hug, though, had surprised her far more than Cindy's and she'd stumbled backward slightly, half-chuckling. "Hello to you too, Sheen." she replied, cocking an eyebrow as he pulled away, though a small smile had commendeered her lips. "The south side of the Gulf was awesome... and the water's a lot warmer over there." Her last comment was added more as an afterthought than anything else as she looked down at her wet clothes.

Cindy smirked at the pair of them, leaning against the tree. But then, through her amusement she had to remind herself that she knew how it felt. She dared not interrupt them... then again dare wasn't exactly the word. Cindy would dare to do anything, wouldn't she? 'Courtasy to her best friend' would be a more appropriate term.

Libby, on the other hand, had innitiated further conversation with the boy (which she was fairly sure would excite him) with a short "How's it been?" before noticing the little boy in the water, who was now crying and banging his fists. The mother had hurried over and picked him up, glaring at Sheen's back. She couldn't help but laugh, though she tried to restrain it just slightly by placing her hand over her mouth. "Smooth move." she said sarcastically. "Poor kid."

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy looked up from the book that was his current absorption at the loud, joyful, and familiarly-grating shout of joy that was followed by a large splash of water just in time to see Cindy and Libby receive the bad end of Sheen's sudden -- but expected -- burst of hyperactivity.

He sighed as he marked his page with a slip of paper, his happiness at friend interaction overshadowed by the requirement of leaving his book behind. (And he was just getting into the finer, relishing details of Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae, Newton's personal journal in which he had recorded his thoughts.)

"I'll see you later, Mom," he said over his shoulder as he stood and left the shade of the tree his parents had settled themselves under, dropping his book onto the checked blanket.

It seemed like it had been so long since he had seen his friends all together, what with Libby on vacation and recent doors being thrown wide open between Cindy and himself -- and he hadn't even seen Carl! It was refreshing to watch Sheen and his antics at it again, but he did pity the child that was knocked to the ground in the process.

Jimmy came up behind Libby and Cindy, able to hear the former comment lightly on the difference in water temperature and look down at her drenched clothing. He chuckled, already feeling as though a part of him had been completed. All they needed was a life-threatening adventure.

{And cue Carl!.... Oh, that's right. Just kidding. Ah, well, life and its disheartening issues. Not such a fab post, but it's something.}

[Sheen Estevez]

"Huh?" Sheen turned around to see what Libby was talking about and saw the little boy he had knocked over being carried away by his angry-looking mother. "Oh..heh heh..oops.." He turned back around, not really feeling sorry for the kid, his priorities on the girl in front of him. Besides, the kid had been in his way, anyway.

"I've just been chillin'. Been kinda lonely, though. I don't know where Carl's been, you've been gone, and Jimmy's been busy smacking lips with Cindy...did you know they're a couple now?! You were right about them.." Sheen suddenly noticed his best friend approaching them. "Hey, there he is now! Hey, Jimmy! Over here, dude!" Sheen yelled at the approaching figure of his best friend, waving his arm as if he couldn't see them.

[Cindy Vortex]

{ o o c : I was on my Cindy account. Meh. ^.* Don't expect much out of this post. Tired from homecoming dress shopping. Anyway... onto evil Libby, embarressing the crap out of Cindy. Fweee! }

Libby snorted comically at Sheen's analogy of the pair of their best friends' activities. "So I've heard." she said, turning her head to raise an eyebrow at Cindy, who grinned bashfully and tucked her hands behind her uncharacteristically. It may have been a full two weeks (ooc: I think?) since the dance studio incident (which Libby had still not weasled full details from Cindy about), but the blond was obviously still a bit shy about the entire thing. Well... perhaps "shy" wasn't the word. "Resounding happiness" sounded more correct. Libby couldn't remember a time when her best friend had seemed so... un-bitter.

"And of course I was right, Sheen! Still can't believe you didn't believe me! In your face!" she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "S'okay, Sheen, Cin didn't believe me either. I hope they can resist sucking face with each other long enough to hang with us."

"Libby!" Cindy hissed, her face pinkening. Perhaps she was getting a bit more used to this "her and Neutron" thing, but that sort of comment was bound to embarress her. Quickly, she recovered herself, her eyes flitting from Libby to Sheen and back to Libby suggestively. It was all Libby could do to hope Sheen hadn't seen... though knowing Sheen, that was a very distinct probability. Libby immediately shut up, narrowing her eyes at Cindy, who was now grinning smugly and leaning up against the tree beside her.

The girls turned around as Sheen announced Jimmy's presence in his usual obnoxious manner. "Hey, Jimmy! What up?" greeted Libby, waving and grinning.

Cindy, on the other hand, merely smiled discreetly and crossed her arm as she continued to lean against the tree. "Neutron." she said cooly, a fond glint in her emerald eyes.

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy blinked at Cindy's greeting, shocked that he had already become accustomed to a kiss in place of the standard muttered surname. But never one to back down from a challenge -- new or an old one renewed -- Jimmy mimicked Cindy's actions and crossed his arms across his chest and said with a smirk, "Vortex."

Almost involuntarily, his eyes flicked up and down her form once or twice, taking in the exact curve her hip made as she leaned against a tree, the long bare legs showing beneath a soft sarong, the slight upward turn her lips made in a small smirk, the bright -- and all too familiar -- friendly competitive glint in her eyes.

Oh, those eyes. As his own connected with them, he couldn't stop his smirk from growing into a full-on grin. He shook his head, chuckling airly once before looking over at her friend.

"Hey Libs," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "It's been rather boring without you around. Nothing to do but 'suck face'."

[Cindy Vortex]

Libby nearly snorted with laughter, but refrained and recovered, and answered. "Jimmy, don't even try to tell me you don't enjoy it as much as Cindy does." she scolded, a strong dose of sarcasm obvious in her voice. "But I'm glad you two have finally figred out that your problems are better solved with a fierce gave of tonsil hockey than with one of your guys's stupid little fights. Am I right or am I right, Sheen?" She smirked, eyes flitting to Cindy to catch her best friend's priceless reaction.

Cindy, though, was far too busy making faces at Jimmy behind his back to notice any sort of smart remark Libby had most recently made. What was... when she... how could he... his duty as her boyfriend... stupid male ego... was all that was running through her head. To be frank, she was rather infuriated with the boy's response. Just because she hadn't been the one to fling herself at him today didn't mean he had to follow suit! So what if she was being shamelessly flirty? Then again, a voice in the back of her head reminded her, I shouldn't even care. This is how things between us are, and besides, don't I get enough kisses to satisfy me enough as it is? We can't seem to keep away from one another! Just let it go!

But Cindy certainly was not one to simply "let it go", and she was not satisfied. (Ignoring the fact that she never would be.) Neither, for that matter, did she see the look Libby cast at her that obviously said "you are certifiably insane" as she regained suave composure and cut into the conversation smoothly.

"Or perhaps Nerdtron is laboring under a far less optomistic perception of the time you've been gone, Libs. I, for one, find watching people stumble over themselves one way or another on a regular basis quite amusing." she commented wickedly, drumming her fingers against her arm as she righted herself, no longer using the tree as support. Perhaps she shouldn't be so harsh, she thought. IT's not as if she had missed him obviously--whether or not voluntarily--"checking her out". (This was hard for Cindy to imagine--it was Neutron, after all, whether or not she was dating him--but she had to remind herself that he was a male and he did, as was mandatory for all teenagers, especially guys, have hormones. Plus she was wearing a bikini and sarong, which was bound to catch his eye anyway.)

Nah. She felt like teasing him, whether or not it was a hidden flirting technique, as it always had been.

Libby stepped back and glanced at Sheen, already exasperated as she sensed the approaching conflict. Those two... they would never learn, would they?

[Jimmy Neutron]

Jimmy could practically hear Cindy seething behind his turned back. When Libby finished her accusingly sarcastic -- but entirely true -- statement, Jimmy was again unable to contain a shameless grin. It fell instantly as Cindy cut in.

200-plus IQ points and he couldn't retain the fact that Cindy would always find some way to snap back? He pivoted on the spot, placing himself directly in front of Cindy, but found himself unable to retort back. He opened and closed his mouth several times stupidly, no sound coming out.

He was attempting to understand when angry-Cindy had suddenly become so... unintimidating. Perhaps it was the fact that she was much more curvy, more feminine than she had been in years past. Maybe the potency of her glares wore off after four or five inches of height difference, and with their eight they were not as effective. And then there was the way that everything seemed to be relating back to her lips: were they always so cute and pouty?

He looked back into her emerald eyes which were currently narrowed wickedly at him and waiting for a response. With a careless, one-shouldered shrug, he said, "Yeah... maybe that's it." Leaning down with his own wicked smirk, he added in a low under-tone, "But Libby's right: tonsil hockey is much more fun."

He unfolded and straightened his posture. Turning to his friend, he asked in a normal voice, "How's it been going, Sheen?"

{I couldn't bring myself to write an angry argument post. I'm still too high off of J/C goodness! And, as you can see, this is lacking in goodness. Bleh, well, you asked for it, Halfa.}

[Cindy Vortex]

{ o o c : *leaps up and down* I'M SORRY! I could not resist a chance to frustrate flirty/angry/lusting Cindy further. So I'm jacking this reply because I spent some time on this post today during class when I was bored and it turned out okay, I think. Long, yes, but mostly Cindy feuding with herself. Dang you, Nomia... you got me into an even fiercer J/C mood than I'm usually in. }

To her dismay (due to the fact she was quite frustrated with the boy before her) Cindy felt that stab of pleasurable desire in her abdomen as Jimmy muttered pleasantly into her ear. Needless to say, she nearly had the insentive to pounce on him right then and there, but she was far too stubborn for that. Unfortunately she still couldn’t help that flirtatious grin as it flashed across her face for a few fleeting moments.

After a few seconds of collecting her thoughts, though, and she realized (or more crudely assumed) his motive. There he was, indulging in hormone-induced urges with his eyes as opposed to an activity far more enjoyable for both of them. (Namely, yes, “tonsil hockey”.) And then he’d simply turn around and leave her in a state, which was in all cases pissed and frustrated. He would have to be entirely stupid (which, no matter how much she protested to the contrary, was not the case.) to not know that this would be her reaction. They knew each other far too well and they knew how to push each other’s buttons in any way. Honestly, if someone had tolder her she’d actually be lusting, however mildly (perhaps), for the resident boy genius--not to mention fallen completely head-over-heels for the kid--when she’d first laid eyes on him, she’d probably have socked them and given them a verbal piece of her mind to think over while nursing a nasty bruise. But now...

She bit her lip. Now...

Well, the point was, all aside, that he was teasing her. And she was not happy about it.

If she hadn’t been hell-bent determined not to touch him, she would have used his shoulder as a lever to push herself up the eight inches of height difference to murmer a reply in his ear. Instead, though, she stood awkwardly on her tiptoes, swaying slightly as she tried to stay upright on the uneven sand. (Thank god for ballet balence.) “Tut, tut, your blatently oversized ego is showing. You still haven’t grown into it, I see.” she hissed, yet a playful tone was obvious through the bitter facade. She paused for a moment before adding in a delightful voice, “All’s fair in love and war.” She had to ask herself though... why in hell was she being so weak?! She was supposed to act angry when she was angry, not flirty! What was wrong with her?!

All the same, she lowered herself onto the soles of her bare feet again, placing her hands on her hips impudently, her lips pursed and tight in a challenging fashion, her brow furrowed as she exhibited her frustration, her chin slightly tucking in a pouty fashion.

Libby stared at her friend, raising an eyebrow and shaking her head hopelessly. Even when they were frequently keeping to themselves to make up for all the lost time on their records, they still coudln’t keep from snipping at one another... or Cindy couldn’t, anyway. Jimmy seemed to be letting go of Cindy’s battle kindling much easier than she was. Well, what else was new?

She was seriously considering pulling the “blond bombshell” (in a very literal sense) away to give her a good and meaningful talk about the dynamics of a relationship--namely the fact that if you pick fights as much as she did, she’d be dumped before she could protest. But it was Jimmy. Libby wouldn’t even bother; he knew far too well how Cindy was, especially since he was usually the target of her wrath. (Though over the past couple weeks, he had obviously been the target of something else.) She knew he could handle the girl... to a certain extent. Otherwise, Cindy could handle him.

Libby turned around to say something to Sheen, though she realized he still had Jimmy’s inquiry to reply to. She somehow wondered how long that would last, depending on what Cindy had said. They’d probably be occupied in a moment, one way or another, which would give her a chance to speak to another friend she’d missed over the time she was gone...

...Perhaps more than her others combined, though she’d never let on.

[Sheen Estevez]

Sheen's whole face lit up as Libby mentioned the term "tonsil hockey". "You're right, all right!" He said excitedly. Focusing now on this new and exciting thought, he was the only one out of the four who seemed to be somewhat oblivious to Jimmy and Cindy's subtle competition. It was hard for him to really notice they were fighting unless they were screaming in each other's faces...which they hadn't been doing a lot of lately. They'd been in each other's faces, but for a much..different reason.

Sheen snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Jimmy direct the conversation toward him. "It's been good, dude!" He said, his usual enthusiasm in his voice. "I've just been chillin'..." Sheen was going to comment more, but he had a strange feeling, he could sort of sense it, that Jimmy's attention wasn't really focused on him, but on the girl behind him. And suddenly and randomly, as so many things were for Sheen, he felt rather nostalgic as he thought about the good old days when they were little kids and hormones hadn't come into the picture yet (except for him, as he had still been obsessed with Libby). "I kinda miss coming into your lab every day and watching you work on all your life-threatening inventions, though." He commented as this feeling of reminiscing overtook him.

He glanced over at the girl standing next to him before looking back at Jimmy. If one thing was still the same over the course of all the years, it was that his feelings for her hadn't changed at all. In fact, if anything, they had gotten stronger. Maybe growing up wasn't ALL bad.

[Jimmy Neutron]

So intent was his focus on the girl behind him, so paralyzingly fatastic was the close proximity they shared while she murmered a waspish retort, so completely out of his mind with ridiculously fluffy high school romance, Jimmy almost missed Sheen’s last comment.

He grinned, casually edging away from Cindy (Damn that girl and her tantalizing ways! Was she purposfully not touching him, yet remaining close enough for her body heat to mingle with his?) removing her as further distraction from nostaligic conversation, as he responded to Sheen, “You know, I do too. Retroville has had it safe for far too long.”

Were the idea of flying out to the moon not so entirely cliché and boring, he would have suggested aloud they go on a little trip. Instead, unable to name anything specific, he said, “Why don’t we all meet up in my lab later, find something dangerous and life-threatening to do?”

If anything, that would assure that he and Cindy had semi-responsible chaperones – though the fact that they encouraged passionate displays was rather paradoxical.

{I LIVE! My writing... not so much. A nice finishing transition, though, I think, hmm?}

[Cindy Vortex]

{ o o c : *high-speed tackle* OMGLEIKWOAH!! YOU'RE HERE!! YOU POSTED!! I FRIGGIN' LOVE YOU!! MEEEEEEHHHHH!! SHHHHAAAAANNNNDDDDOOOONNNN!!! *cough* Am I over excited? I think I may be. Hmm. Distressing. Eh, whatever, I'm Drama Queen Extraordinaire, so there. But I'm so totally happy you posted!! And made me laugh!! OMG, you're amazing!!

In further news, I'm back, too!! And seriously, not just on weekends anymore! My grades are totally awesome now; all As and one B. My 'rents are happy to the point that my stepdad gave me my computer password, and I got a nifty awesome amazing new jacket. I'm a very happy person. Anyway, so just as an update, I'm not completely grounded anymore. ^_^

BUT YOU'RE BACK!!

You know what I think? I think you should get on AIM sometime this week and talk to poor ol' me. Because I'm FREAKING BORED. Much love!

LOVE the siggy, BTW. }