Hi everyone! Thank you for checking out this little story here. If you've read my story "The Neutron-Vortex Rules for a Mutually Beneficial Friendship" and it's currently in-progress sequel, thank you! I really appreciate the support. And now know that this story has absolutely nothing to do with those two. It totally stands on its own. So I hope that means we can all give it a chance.

I'm not crazy about the summary so now that you're here I'll tell you that this is about Jimmy and Cindy never having known each other as kids and instead meeting for the very first time as young adults at college. I've always wanted to write an alternate version of how these two met, so this idea worked out perfectly.

Enough of me. Enjoy!

If there's one thing James Neutron had in common with the rest of his fellow students, it's how much he needed to get some assignments done. A slightly different factor was how much he desperately needed an electrical outlet.

It explained his presence in the campus library, somewhere he doesn't make a habit of going. If not for his dorm room which, thanks to his roommate is currently filled with rowdy campus athletes, he'd be in the physics lab. Today, it isn't an option however, as electricians are still working on getting the power back due to a blackout caused by a thunderstorm a few days ago.

That left the library, a place where, despite being a student of the sciences, he has entered only a handful of times. What's more it that it never really was his chosen place to study and he only really went it for quick research or the convenient bathroom by the main entrance when he wasn't able to hold it in anymore.

But today, that changed as he looked for a table that was not only unoccupied but also located by an outlet. His computer's battery was dying and while he was quick to grab the power cord before leaving his room, the same couldn't be said for his ability to be able to charge it.

Finally, after a seemingly endless search between columns of books and encountering various unavailable tables, he found an unused outlet close to a nearly empty set of tables. While he would have preferred as much privacy as possible, seeing how crowded the library was, regardless of proximity to an outlet, he knew that would be easier said than done.

The sole person at the large circular table was a girl with long blonde hair, looking down and writing intensely into a notebook. She was surrounded by four stacks of books with no less than three in each stack. Two other books were opened and propped up against two of the piles. A yellow highlighter lay near her notebook and a disposable cup of coffee was on the table too but he assumed it was empty due to how out of reach it was from everything else.

The best part was that on the wall behind her, open and inviting, was an outlet with both sockets free.

Still, not wanting to be rude and also not really noticing how invested the girl was in her note taking, he decided to ask if joining her at the table would be accepted.

"Uh, hi. Do you mind if I sit here?" There was a sense of immediate regret in asking when he noticed the annoyed look on her face once she looked up.

"Whatever." She hastily replied and continued to scribble away as if nothing had happened.

James, or Jimmy, as he's more commonly known, even if it is within the science department, lay his heavy backpack down on the wooden table, unzipped it, and removed his laptop and power cord. He walked the couple of steps to connect the plug to the socket and upon walking back, inserted the other end into the computer, causing the blinking warning light on the side of the machine to turn off. At ease that his computer wouldn't fail him, he opened it up and typed his password.

Apart from the familiar hum of his computer, the only other sound around was that of the girl mumbling (unsuccessfully) under her breath and rustling between pages. While it may have been distracting, there was something entertaining about it. A smile cracked onto his face and considering nothing else really could have caused it, he hoped she didn't notice. If she had, there was no sign of it.

It only took about fifteen minutes for the roles to reverse. Jimmy was now slouched in front of the computer, reading the screen intensely and the girl, previously looking like she would never get her head out of her books, now leaned back in her chair, her thumb scrolling the screen of her cell phone. Something on it made her laugh out loud, disturbing the recurring quiet.

Immediately, Jimmy glanced over.

"Sorry." She apologized. "My friend just posted something funny."

Instead of saying anything, he gave a small smile and looked at her book piles, deciding it was now safe to make a comment about them.

"That's a lot of books you got there."

"Yeah. Took long enough to get them." She replied. "My stupid computer's not working so I had to go the old fashioned way."

Curiosity, as always, got the better of him.

"What's wrong with it?"

Looking up from her phone, understandably thinking he was a little forward, she gave him a look but did not seem like she wouldn't answer.

"It hasn't been connecting to the WiFi for a few days. The IT department is working on it now but I'm not just going to sit around and wait for them to finish so…." She ended by gesturing to all that was in front of her.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He commented as he read what he could make out of the books' spines. "Poli Sci?" He gauged, regarding her major.

"How did you guess?" She laughed, noticing that he was reading the books. "You?"

"Physics."

"Ahh. Looks like we both have a hefty workload then."

At this, Jimmy would normally defend the priority of the scientific study since he's never really believed anything else is of greater importance. It is the study of the universe after all.

But seeing that it may not be the best way to make a good impression to someone he's meeting for the first time, he didn't say anything.

"Yeah. Looks like it."

With a closed lipped smile, she spoke again.

"I'm Cindy, by the way. Cynthia, but I don't really go by that." She shrugged.

"Jimmy."

"Cool. It's nice to meet you."

"You as well." A glance back at his computer indicated to her that he needed to be getting back to work and she took the signal well, looking at her phone one final time. Neither student said much else as they now both continued studying for a few minutes until the harsh vibration of Jimmy's phone against their table made the two jump in surprise.

"Sorry." He mumbled as his thumb swiped in the proper direction to accept the call. "Hi…. I'm fine… yeah…" Either forgetting or ignoring the fact that he's in a library, he made no effort to lower the volume of his voice. "I'm just getting some work done…. Yeah, I'll call tonight….Okay, love you too… bye."

Not being able to stay out of the loop, a problem she's had since childhood, Cindy addressed the conversation.

"Was that your girlfriend?" She asked, thinking of no other alternative.

Smiling and chuckling, he replied.

"My mom actually."

Cindy instantly felt like an idiot and the rising red in her cheeks showed it.

"Right. I guess that makes sense too." She replied, not really apologizing for her blunder.

"It's alright. Given my side of the conversation, I can see why you would think that." He forgave anyway. "Your boyfriend hasn't called to check up on you?" He asked even though he knew -and hoped that she too- knew what he was doing.

"I don't have a boyfriend." Cindy replied the answer that Jimmy was expecting. "And if I did, I wouldn't answer. I'm…busy." She defended, although it didn't really seem like she was talking about her schoolwork.

"Fair enough." Jimmy replied, with a growing smile.

She wasn't entirely sure why but this slight smugness of his bothered her. Normally, she wouldn't care much for that sort of person and even excuse herself from the situation if she needed to. But something about this case, not just the fact that she was studying for an upcoming test, made her stay seated.

Jimmy on the other hand, seemed to enjoy watching her get flustered and he hoped that she knew that he was really only playing around with her. But seeing as she had yet to angrily get up and walk away, which if he's being honest seems to be exactly the kind of thing someone like her would do, he decided that she can't be entirely offended.

The two of them continued on a quiet trance as each worked intently once more. Even though each of them had work vastly different than the other, their focus on it was something they had on common. Still, that's not to say their work was all they were giving attention to.

Their interest on what, or rather, who, was in front of them may be the reason why they would cautiously glance at each other when they thought the other was not looking. Even though he knew he probably shouldn't be doing it, he couldn't help but smile to himself after getting away with it a second time. As for her, the faint red in her cheeks indicated that she too was happy about not getting caught.

Amazingly, apart from each of their phones, they had gone undisturbed this whole time, particularly by fellow schoolmates. That was a custom that went on for about another fifteen minutes. The interruption ultimately came in the form of Cindy's cell phone lighting up, signaling a notification.

"Oh that's awesome." She muttered under her breath while she read what the message said. Jimmy, of course, looked up. "That was IT. My computer's ready." She explained as if she owed him that.

"That was fast."

"I brought it in yesterday morning. They did say it might been done by now." She got up out of her seat as she started closing the books and gathering her belongings.

"Is that really the time?" His gaze just left the analog clock that was a wall a few feet away from where they sat. To confirm the time, he turned on his phone screen to look. "I actually told a friend I'd meet him at that coffee shop in Rio Hall at six."

"Oh." She replied, slightly surprised and noticing the coincidence that the coffee shop he was referring to was right next to the building where the IT department is.

"D'you mind if I walk with you?" Without waiting for an answer, he got up and followed the same pattern she had of putting her things away with the addition of walking around her, getting very close, and unplugging his computer.

"N-no. That'd be fine." They both walked and headed out of the library, him holding open every door they walked through.

Normally, their destination would only be about a five-minute walk away. However, the two of them, with their slow walking and easy-going banter, seemed to extend the trip for as long as possible.

This made reaching their destinations, while inevitable, seem like a misfortune.

"So good luck with your computer. Hope it works now." He turned to her and said as they stood outside both buildings.

"Thanks." She replied. "I guess I'll…see you around?"

"Yeah. Of course." And then for a reason that the afternoon's events should have been able to explain, he smiled. "Have a good night."

"You too." She nodded, trying, and failing to hide her growing grin.

There's a very high chance I will not be writing a second chapter or especially make a story out of this. It's really just a cute little encounter I've always wanted to write.

If you're interested in more of my writing, feel free to check out my profile or if you'd like more info on in-progress and future works, you can follow me on Twitter ( D13Tribute). Thanks for reading and leave a review if you can!