A/N: So Cindy's actually singing this she changed some words, the song is italicized and the bold are the lyrics she changed. Whatever is not italicized is the actual story, I apologize it's kind of jumbled up so bear with me.

White Houses

Ch. 6

"Thank you Taylor for that beautiful karate demonstration," The unknown announcer guy stated, "Next up is Cindy Vortex," Jimmy, sitting in the middle of the auditorium, kept his eyes locked to the floor. Sheen and Carl, who were sitting together but leaning away from each other, weren't paying attention but they looked up slightly as they saw Cindy enter the stage. "She will be singing White Houses by Vanessa Carlton." Now Jimmy looked up, he knew that song very well his mother would not stop singing it and now reluctantly he knew all the words by heart.

Cindy continued shuffling onstage sure that everyone could see her shaking. She handed the note sheet to the person who was playing the piano for all the singing acts, which happen to be Libby. Without looking into her eyes Libby emotionlessly took the sheet from Cindy and set it up.

Walking up to the microphone, Cindy grazed the crowd with her eyes to trying to find Jimmy, Sheen and Carl. When she found them her heart sunk when she realized Jimmy was not sitting near his two best friends Carl and Sheen, because she knew it was her fault. She took one deep breath, took the mike from the stand and finally opened her mouth to begin.

Crashed on the floor when he moved in,
This little bungalow with some strange new friends,
We always fight to see who'll win,

Jimmy looked up at Cindy with curiosity when he realized that these weren't the real words. Libby, who had the real lyrics on the note sheet noticed it too but didn't think much of it.

We promise each other it's 'til the end,
Now we're spinning empty bottles,
It's the five of us,
With pretty eyed boys girls die to trust,
I can't resist the day,
No, I can't resist the day,

Libby jams out and it's no pose,

The four friends' eyes widen as they heard Libby's name, that's when they all realized she wasn't just singing a song, she was actually trying to say something. So they all listened intensely to the lyrics.

'Cause when she dances she goes and goes,

Libby and Cindy turned around slightly for a second to catch a quick glimpse at each other.

Smoothies through the nose on an inside joke,
And I'm so excited, I haven't spoken,

Cindy turned to look at Libby for the next few lines.

And she's so pretty, and she's so sure,
Thought I was more clever than a girl like her,

Libby noticed her looking but didn't look back.

Summer's all in bloom,
Summer is ending soon,

It's alright and it's nice not to be so alone,
But I hold on to my secrets in white houses,

Cindy subconsciously began staring at Jimmy as she sang.

Maybe I'm a little bit over my head,
I come undone at the things he said,
And he's so smart in his bright red shirt,

Jimmy looked down at his shirt and raised his eyebrows, 'what is she saying?'

We were all in love and we all got hurt,
I sneak into his rocket's cracked leather seat,
The smell of fun fuel in the summer heat,
Boy, we're going way too fast,
It's all too sweet to last,

It's alright,
And I put myself in his hands,

Cindy realized she was staring to much at Jimmy and began looking around the crowd again.

But I hold on to my secrets in white houses,
Love, or something ignites in my veins,
And I pray it never fades in white houses,

My first

love, hard to explain,
Rush of blood, oh, and a little bit of pain,
Dreamt of him today, it's more common than you think,
He's my first mistake,

Cindy looked directly at Jimmy as she sang "mistake", and Jimmy began to wonder, 'Does she mean she regrets losing me? Is this an apology?' Jimmy and Cindy continued to look at each other for the entire instrumental break.

Maybe you were all faster than me,
We gave each other up so easily,

All five felt a twinge of guilt with the truth from the last line.

These silly little wounds will never mend,
I feel so far from where I've been,
So we go, and I hope we'll be back here again,
It's gone as the day is fading on white houses,
I lied, wrote my injuries all in the dust,
In my heart is the five of us,

The four smiled and silently agreed to that line.

In white houses,

Libby felt a tear fall on the piano, Jimmy and Cindy locked eyes and Carl and Sheen looked at each other and grabbed hands as Cindy continued singing.

And you, maybe you'll remember me,
What I gave is yours to keep,
In white houses,

In white houses,

In white houses.

Cindy put the mike back on the stand, put her head down and quickly walked down the middle isle of the auditorium. She stopped when she noticed someone was standing in front on her, she looked up and saw Jimmy standing there. "You know, those aren't the real words." He said smoothly.

"Of course I know!" She said trying to replace her sadness with rage; still she felt her eyes tear up. "I changed them to-" Cindy had no idea what she was going to say next.

"To fit into your situation?" Jimmy continued.

"What makes you think I was singing about a real situation!"

"Bright red shirt?" He said pointing to his red atom shirt that he wore every day.

"That was actually part of the song Neutron!"

"Yet you didn't change it." Cindy felt like she was going to scream, or cry, whatever came first. Then Jimmy did something unexpected, he kissed her cheek, "You know Vanessa Carlton was right about one thing," He said sadly looking into her eyes, "'We gave each other up so easily.'" Cindy didn't now know what to say next so the was a few moments of silence. Jimmy looked behind Cindy, "And I think the name in the song was Jenny, not Libby." He gestured behind her.

Cindy turned around and faced Libby, she closed her eyes and let the waiting tears free, Libby opened her mouth to say something but Cindy beat her to it. "Libby I'm so sorry, this was all my fault, you have every reason to be mad at me! Everything you said was true, I should have listened to you, am so sorry I too you for granted, I didn't mean to I swear. I'm a horrible person, the worst friend in the world, please forgive me?" The words came out of Cindy so fast she wasn't sure if Libby caught them.

Libby came closer to her friend and hugged her saying the two simplest words, "Of course." Cindy sigh in relief and happiness at those simple words as she tightly hugged her friend, not wanting to let go of her again.

"Ahem!" Sheen coughed loudly. "I'm not a mathemagician*, but you said five of us and there's three of you and two of us." He said pointing to him and Carl.

"Yeah and that's," Carl paused to count his fingers. "Five!" Jimmy smiled at his two best friends and put his hands on their shoulders.

Cindy looked over at the three friends, "I'm sorry guys," She said rubbing the back of her neck, "I guess I never really noticed how much you guys meant to my life. Forgive me?" She pleaded knowing she would hate herself later. All three of them nodded as to say 'yes'.

"Awwww! Group hug! Carl announced.

"Wait! Wai-" Cindy tried to protest but was stuck in the middle of the four when they interlocked arms for a hug.

"Awwwwww!" The crowd cheered.

"This year's talent show trophy goes to Cindy Vortex doing a wonderful job singing and putting on a fabulous show!" The principal announced. "And for showing us how important friendship is!" Everybody clapped as Cindy accepted her award and walked out of the auditorium with her four best friends.

THE END

*Sheen's way of saying mathematician.

A/N: Aww what a fluffy ending! Hope you enjoyed this, the idea was in my head for a while now and I finally wrote it! Yay! Anyways R&R I need feedback on my first real story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or White Houses by Vanessa Carlton.