Jimmy was running through the nearly empty halls. He couldn't be late for Mrs. Marsh's class again or he'd get detention. And detention was not something he wanted.

He sprinted through the door as the bell rang and Mrs. Marsh was standing by the chalk board glaring at him.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr. Neutron. Take your seat, please." She said. Her hands were poised on her hips. She was a short, pudgy woman who was well into her 70s. She always said she wouldn't retire because she loved working with kids, but Jimmy thought her real reason was because she loves to make him miserable.

"Yes, ma'am." Jimmy sighed and took his front row seat between Sheen and Cindy. In the seat behind Cindy, Libby was gently bobbing her head; Jimmy could see the wireless ear buds he gave her for her last birthday shining in her ears.

Sheen was doodling on his notebook page. Jimmy couldn't see what he had drawn, but he was sure it had something to do with Ultra Lord. Carl was behind Sheen, and he was reading a book about llamas.

Cindy was very attentive. Her hair was pulled back into a wispy pony-tail on the back of her head and some strands fell down in her face, which she continually tucked behind her ears. Her pencil was scribbling the notes on the board in her note book.

"Alright class, who can tell me what this picture is?" Mrs. Marsh pulled down the screen at the front of the classroom and hit a button on a tiny black remote. Jimmy could hear the projector whir to life above of him. A picture of armies marching behind a dark figure with his back to the camera was displayed.

Jimmy and Cindy raised their hands immediately while the rest of the class sat mute.

"Anyone besides Mr. Neutron and Ms. Vortex?" Mrs. Marsh sighed. After a few moments of silence, no one else spoke up.

"Fine, Ms. Vortex?" She lazily pointed to Cindy who smirked slightly with triumph.

"That's Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army." She said, gently folding her hands back on her desk.

"Correct. Because today, we'll be learning about World War Two." Mrs. Marsh hit another button and the powerpoint moved to the next slide.

Jimmy paid minimal attention, as did Cindy; though she tried to at least look interested, unlike Jimmy. He couldn't be bothered to learn about WWII again.

Jimmy was struggling to stay awake when he heard someone cough around him. He looked over at Cindy and saw her notebook pushed towards the end of her desk. He waited until Mrs. Marsh turned around to write something on the board before he leaned over to read it.

Why so late?

Jimmy glanced back at Mrs. Marsh before scribbling his own response on his notebook page.

Overslept. I was up late working.

Cindy rolled her eyes and smiled.

You need better time management skills

Jimmy scowled. He had been working on something for her birthday coming up soon, but he would make her feel guilty later.

I need a device that allows me to not sleep

Cindy giggled quietly. She was in the middle of writing something else and Jimmy was watching her intently when someone cleared their throat. The pair looked up to see Mrs. Marsh standing between them with her arms crossed.

"Something funny, Ms. Vortex?" Mrs. Marsh asked.

"No, ma'am." She mumbled, eyes downcast.

"Mr. Neutron? Anything you would like to share with the class?"

"No, ma'am." Jimmy echoed.

"Well, then I would appreciate it if you two would not disrupt the class." Mrs. Marsh turned back to her desk and sat down as she continued through the lecture.

The pair dared one more glace at each other before trying to focus on the lecture.

After the first class, the group of five students exited the room and split off in their own smaller groups, saying goodbye until lunch. Cindy and Jimmy were headed to AP Triganometry while the others were split between chemistry and English.

"Thanks for getting me in trouble, Nerdtron." Cindy said, reaching for the combination lock on her locker.

"Me? You're the one who wrote to me in the first place." Jimmy reached for his own locker two down.

"I still blame you." Cindy shuffled some books around in her neurotically neat locker before grabbing her math book.

"Thanks, Vortex." Jimmy dead-panned. He opened his locker and a few papers fell out and fluttered to the floor.

"You need to clean out your locker." Cindy said, picking up one of the pages that landed at her feet.

"It's organized. I know where everything is." Jimmy defended. He took the paper from Cindy's hand and stuffed it back in his locker.

"But it's a mess." Cindy pointed out.

"It's organized chaos." Jimmy repeated.

"Whatever." Cindy shrugged as Jimmy slammed his locker shut.

"So, hey, are you free after school?" Jimmy asked, taking her book from her arms. He had lost a bet with her last week and agreed to carry her stuff to math for two weeks.

"Libby and I were going to go to the mall. Why?" Cindy asked, pausing at the water fountain.

"I was hoping we could work on that science project today." Jimmy shifted the books in his arms.

"Oh. Well, Libby and I could go another day." Cindy shrugged.

"I'm sure Sheen would go with her. He'd follow her around and carry her bags and stuff." Jimmy shrugged as well.

"Maybe. I'll talk to her at lunch." Cindy turned down a hall, headed for the math hallway.

"Cool." Jimmy nodded. They had to run some chemical tests on a few different samples and he had been wanting to get it done.

The pair reached their class and took a seat at the table in the center. Jimmy divided up their belonging, passing the neat and decorated binder and pristine text book to his table-mate and keeping the beat up book full of papers for himself.

"I like your shirt by the way." Jimmy commented. Cindy looked surprised before she checked which shirt she was wearing. When she got dressed this morning, she saw red in her closet and threw it on without thinking about it. It matched the red that her shoes were. Upon further inspection, it was a V-neck shirt with a pale yellow atom on it. She had bought it last time she and Libby went shopping. It reminded her of one of her favorite shows about a bunch of scientists.

She hadn't realized Jimmy had a favorite shirt that was almost identical to it until he commented on it.

"Thanks." She said, looking up at the desk in the front of the room. The bell rang and the teacher bounced out of her seat. She was in her mid-twenties, petite, and was referred to by most male students as 'Mrs. Milf.' She was back this year after she had been on maternity leave up until Christmas break.

"Alright, guys. I didn't get to grade your exams last night because I value sleep, so we're just moving on to the next chapter. Turn to page 284." Mrs. Jean turned around and started drawing a diagram on the chalk board. She went across the board drawing graphs until there were four. "Kim, Cindy, Charles, Jimmy. Problems one through four." She gestured to the board before heading back to her desk.

Cindy waltzed up to the board with her text book in hand. Jimmy watched as she picked up the piece of purple chalk and began to work out the problem beside the blank graph.

"Jimmy. Problem four." Mrs. Jean called to him. A few students giggled as Jimmy scrambled up to the board and flipped through his text book to find the right page. He used the yellow chalk to scribble out the problem, watching Cindy out of the corner of his eye. She was focused on her book, her hand moving effortlessly across the graph. He wished the two other students weren't in between them.

She suddenly turned and gracefully went back to their table. Jimmy could feel her eyes on him. She was smug. She had finished hers first.

Jimmy finished up his problem faster than the other two students and returned to his seat, mirroring Cindy's position with his hands folded on the table in front of him.

"Little off your game, Neutron?" Cindy whispered.

"I had a late start to the day. I could still beat you." Jimmy mumbled back. Cindy smirked as the other students finished their problems and retreated back to their seats.

The rest of class went off without an issue, which Jimmy was thankful for. He didn't have the energy to argue today, though he would never admit it. He just focused on taking his notes during the lecture and copying down the list of homework problems.

"Before I forget, I have an extra-credit opportunity for all of you. It's a problem that you have to solve, but you won't learn how to for another few weeks. Just copy this down, I'll give you a week to attempt it, so if by next Friday, you've figured out how to solve it, you'll get five extra credit points." Mrs. Jean wrote a long inequality problem on the board and the rest of the class wrote it down quickly. The bell rang and the room cleared out faster than Jimmy could blink.

He slowly stuck his notes in his book and waited for Cindy to gather her belongings before they also left the room.

"Think you can solve that problem, Vortex?" Jimmy asked, already working out the inequality in his head.

"Of course I can. That's easy." She gloated.

"I bet you get it wrong." Jimmy reached for his locker.

"Loser carries the other's books?" Cindy asked.

"Let's bump it up a notch. Loser buys the other's lunch for a week." Jimmy extended his hand to Cindy. She glared at it for a moment before taking it.

"You're on, Geek." She said, shaking his hand.

"So you're off to choir, right?" Jimmy asked, turning the knob on his locker.

"Yeah. Solo auditions are today, and Libby is so excited." Cindy laughed as her locker clicked open.

"Are you trying out?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, no, I'm only there to support Libby."

"You should try out, Cindy. When it's not insulting me, your voice sounds really nice." Jimmy commented.

Cindy blushed at the compliment. They had stopped being so vicious with each other, and they considered each other good friends, but it was still odd to hear him be nice.

"Thanks. I'll think about it." Cindy nodded and smiled. She grabbed her folder full of choir music. "Have fun in gym." She waved as she shut her locker and sashayed down the hall.

Jimmy sighed and shut his locker. They had to run a mile today and he was not ready for that.

He met Sheen and Carl in the gym. Sheen was bouncing in place. He had gotten tall and actually pretty strong. He was great in gym, and Coach Ferguson always begged him to join a team, any team, but Sheen always said no. He wasn't into competition. But he did love gym class. It gave him a chance to burn off some energy.

Carl was not athletic in the slightest, even though he had slimmed down some. He was more into chess and comic books. He was leaning on the wall, breathing in his inhaler.

"Hey, guys." Jimmy greeted.

"Hey, Jim." Carl called back with a wave.

"Hi Jimmy. Pumped for this mile?" Sheen asked, shuffling his feet.

"Not at all. I'll be walking most of it with Carl. Think coach will believe I'm walking with you so that if you need an ambulance, I can call?" Jimmy asked his shorter friend.

"He did last time." Carl shrugged.

"Alright, boys and girls! Go get changed!" Coach Ferguson's voice boomed through the gymnasium, silencing all conversation. The students parted ways to go change.

Jimmy was quick to change. He hated being in the locker room since it continued to smell like stale sweat and socks. He jogged out wearing a t-shirt and shorts and waited.

Sheen came out next, his shoes squeaking on the floor. He was jogging in a circle around Jimmy.

"Sheen, how much sugar did you have today?" Jimmy asked.

"None. I got morning sex." Sheen smirked widely.

"I swear, we need to pry you two apart with a crowbar." Jimmy shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Gives a guy a lot of energy for the day. It's like coffee but better." He started jogging in place.

Carl came waddling over in a pair of sweatpants and a large sweatshirt, despite the fact that it was in the high 60s today.

"Well, you guys might get to go for it again after school. Cindy and I have a project to do, so she was going to see if you could go with Libby to the mall." Jimmy said, watching Sheen shake out his limbs.

"Awesome. Sexy underwear shopping." Sheen stopped moving and grew a goofy smile on his face.

"You two are too horny for your own good." Jimmy laughed.

"You're just jealous I'm getting some. Still chasing Cindy's tail?" Sheen asked, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Never was. She's my friend." Jimmy shrugged, watching Sheen bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Everyone outside! Let's move!" Coach yelled out and scared everyone into running. They jogged to the track and took their places at the starting line. As soon as Coach said 'go,' Sheen was off like a bullet. Jimmy and Carl took up the rear and jogged slowly.

"Does sex really give you that much energy, Jimmy?" Carl asked, already panting.

"After the initial lull of exhaustion, yeah. It releases endorphins in your brain and that makes you happy." Jimmy explained.

"Is that why you're so cranky and tired?" Carl asked.

"Do you want me to leave you back here by yourself?" Jimmy asked. It had always been a sore subject with him. He didn't like to talk about sex like most of his male classmates.

"Sorry. But you know, we could set you up with someone. I'm sure Sheen and I could find a girl." Carl suggested.

"No offense, but any girl you guys pick out is not going to interest me in the slightest." Jimmy retorted.

"Enough jibber-jabber ladies! Let's pick up the pace!" Coach yelled.

"Hey, slow-pokes. What's up back here?" Sheen caught up to them and slowed his pace.

"Jimmy's cranky because he doesn't have sex." Carl explained. He lifted his inhaler to his mouth.

"I bet Libby could find you someone." Sheen suggested, turning around to run backwards.

"I'm fine, guys. I'm tired and cranky because I don't get nearly enough sleep, not because of my sex life." Jimmy explained with finality.

"Whatever you say, dude. Catch ya on the flipside." Sheen waved before turning back around and sprinting off.

"Can't believe he lapped us." Carl said.

"I can. He really needs an outlet. It's no wonder he and Libby are so sexually active. He has so much energy. If he joined a sport, he wouldn't be as hyper." Jimmy mentioned. Carl wheezed in response.

"Wheezer! Neutron! Let's move it!"

"Carl's having a hard time, Coach." Jimmy explained as they passed him. He made a show of patting Carl on the back while he tried to take a deep breath. "You alright, man?"

"I'll be alright, Jim. " Carl wheezed.

"How was chemistry?" Jimmy asked, pulling his hand back to swing beside him.

"Sheen almost lit the building on fire." Carl explained. "The teacher let us light gasoline bubbles with a lighter and Sheen's singed the ceiling."

"And he wonders why I don't let him touch anything in the lab." Jimmy shook his head. "After the last time I had to take him to the hospital, I should have just banned him all together."

"Well he shouldn't have been mixing chemicals."

"He mixed a deadly gas and had to have his whole system cleaned. And I had to send Goddard in to destroy it and I had to stay out of the lab for days." Jimmy said sourly. "I have important things to do in there."

"Less talk, more run!" Coach Ferguson screamed across the track.

"Hey, Cindy. Where's Libby?" Jimmy asked as he approached the blond girl at lunch. Sheen and Carl flanked him with their lunch trays.

"Sitting with some choir people." Cindy growled.

"Why?" Carl asked, glancing at the table Libby was at. She didn't look very happy.

"She's mad at me."

"What happened?" Jimmy sat down on the bench beside her, straddling it so he could face her better.

"I tried out for the solo like you suggested and I got it." Cindy threw a side glare at him.

"That's great." Jimmy said.

"No, it's not. Libby really wanted it, and now she's mad at me for taking it from her. Thanks for your dumb suggestion, Nerdtron." Cindy angrily got up from her seat and headed for the door.

"I'll go try to get Libby to apologize." Sheen said, heading in his girlfriend's direction.

"Why don't you go with him, Carl? I'm going to go talk to Cindy." Jimmy said, hopping up from his seat with his brown paper bag in hand.

"I'm sure it'll blow over. They can't stay mad for long." Carl said before following after Sheen.

Jimmy had just gotten out of the cafeteria when he saw Cindy sitting on the floor with her tray beside her.

"Go away, Neutron." She glared at him.

"Come on, tell me what happened." Jimmy sat down cross-legged in front of her.

"No. You're the one who got me into this." Cindy angrily stabbed her fork at her salad.

"I didn't force you to do it. I just said you have a nice voice." Jimmy defended himself, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pudding cup.

"I told Libby I was trying out, and she said she thought she told me how badly she wanted this solo. And I told her she did, but I thought I would try out too. And when I got it, Libby stopped talking to me." Cindy explained, taking the pudding cup out of Jimmy's hand. He let it go.

"It'll blow over, Cindy."

"She's really mad at me. But she's being selfish. She can't just expect me to watch her get every solo in choir." Cindy angrily spooned the pudding into her mouth.

"No, you're right. She's being selfish."

"But I did know she really wanted this solo, and I should have respected that and not tried out. She needed my support." Cindy gestured with the spoon in her hand.

"Ok, you're right, you shouldn't have tried out."

"But she gets every solo. She needs to give someone else a turn."

"I don't know whose side you want me to be on." Jimmy watched her eat his snack.

"I want you to tell me Libby's being stupid." Cindy set down the empty pudding cup and reached for the sandwich Jimmy was pulling out of his bag.

"Don't you have a lunch?" He asked.

"Here you go." She forced her foam plate with a slice of cheese pizza on it into his hands.

"This looks awful." Jimmy commented.

"It is." Cindy took a bite of the sandwich.

"You and Libby just need to cool off. I think maybe you were both in the wrong." Jimmy pulled out a can of purple flurp and pulled the tab to open it.

"What should I do?" She asked. She took the can out of Jimmy's hand, took a sip, and then placed it back in his palm.

"Give her a day or two. You two will realize how much you love each other and apologize to each other." Jimmy explained as he took a bite of pizza. It tasted like hot cardboard.

"The concert is next Friday. Want me to save you and Carl tickets?" Cindy asked.

"Sure. But make sure Libby isn't already saving Carl a ticket." Jimmy nodded. When Cindy and Libby fought, Sheen and Jimmy took a side and Carl was always in the middle. Jimmy always listened to both sides, but since Libby had Sheen by her side, he didn't want Cindy to feel alone, even if she was wrong.

"Want to go eat at a table?" Cindy asked.

"They're probably all full. Want to start that math homework in the library?" Jimmy asked, setting the half-eaten pizza on her tray.

"Sure." She shrugged and handed him back half of his sandwich.

"Alright, class, this chemical needs to be moved very slowly. If it moves too fast, it will crystalize and then you won't be able to use it." Mr. Stout wrote a chemical reaction on the board. "I just want you to mix some of these to see what happens. Don't worry, it won't turn to poison."

Jimmy and Cindy sat in the back row with their goggles on and staring at the clear liquids in the test-tubes in front of them. The four were labeled and there was a glass beaker sitting above a Bunsen burner.

"Just mix two at a time and observe what happens."

"Let's start with those two." Jimmy pointed to the furthest right chemical and the one beside it.

"Why?"

"I know what will happen." Jimmy pointed out.

"What if I don't want to use those two?" Cindy reached for the far left one and lifted it.

"Just let me do it, Vortex. It'll be easier." Jimmy reached for a different chemical.

"What? Just because you think you're so smart doesn't mean I'm just going to sit back and have you do all of the work." Cindy gestured with her free hand.

"Be careful." Jimmy reached for the test tube she was holding.

"Don't tell me what to do." Cindy growled. They had finished their math homework and argued for most of lunch about how Jimmy caused her and Libby's feud, and she still wasn't very happy with him. Being lab partners wasn't the best for them right now.

"Would you just listen to me for once, Vortex?" Jimmy asked loudly.

"Get out of my face, Neutron!" Cindy shouted. As she yelled, her test tube tapped the table top, and the bottom broke apart and the chemical spilled onto the table, crystalizing instantly.

"See what you did, Vortex?" Jimmy asked, glaring at her.

"Me? You're the one being an ass!" Cindy glared right back.

"What is going on back here?" Mr. Stout came rushing back to separate the two fuming teenagers.

"It tapped the table and just fell apart, Mr. Stout. I'm sorry." Cindy explained, looking at the now solid chemical stuck to the table.

"I should be mad, but that's really cool looking." He sighed. "Why don't you two just clean up your work station. I'm sure you're both smart enough to know what would happen if you mixed and heated them all."

"Of course." Jimmy smiled smugly at Cindy. They set to work rinsing out the rest of the test tubes and the other equipment while the rest of the class marveled at the colors the clear liquids turned when mixed, reds, blues, purples, and greens. When all four were mixed together in one, the chemical turned back to clear. The students were perplexed.

"Look, maybe I'll just go home after school." Cindy grumbled as she set the test tubes in their holder upside-down to dry.

"No, I'm sorry. We have to finish this project. I apologize for suggesting you compete with Libby." Jimmy sighed as he shut the cold water off.

"It's not all your fault." Cindy sighed.

"She'll come around, Cindy." Jimmy pat her arm.

"Jimmy? Cindy? Could you two go get the janitor?" Mr. Stout asked. The pair looked up to see their teacher with only one shoe on while his other was coated in crystals, as was the floor surrounding it.

"At least I wasn't the only one." Cindy shrugged as they headed out the classroom door.

"The test tubes are weak. Could have happened to anyone." Jimmy shrugged.

"I promise not to break anything in the lab." Cindy mumbled sheepishly.

"I know you won't, Vortex." Jimmy smiled. "You're more careful than that."

"Could you two not do that on my desk?" Jimmy asked as he trudged into his Spanish class. Libby was sitting on his desk and Sheen was standing over her with his tongue down her throat.

"Sorry, Jimmy." Sheen said once they separated for air.

"So is the traitor going to apologize?" Libby asked angrily as she sat in her seat behind Sheen.

"She asked me not to talk to you about it." Jimmy sighed. Cindy had wanted to wait for Libby to approach her.

"Was she saying stuff about me behind my back?" Libby asked, leaning over the isle.

"I really can't say, Libby." Jimmy repeated. Cindy had made him promise.

At one point in time, stirring up trouble for Cindy would have made him the happiest guy in Retroville. But it wasn't that way anymore. For as much as they argued, he valued her as a friend. He and his friends were close, and since Sheen and Libby started dating and seeing less of their group, it was nice to have someone who gave him a break from Carl. Carl is his best friend, but sometimes it was nice to have an intellectual conversation. Sometimes he just got lonely in the lab. Cindy liked to come over and just watch him work. They had gotten comfortable with each other's company, and usually they didn't talk. She just sat somewhere in the lab watching him work. It was also nice to have company who wouldn't break, injure, or kill anything.

"Well, you can tell her to forget about going to the mall after school. I'm not friends with back-stabbers." Libby crossed her arms and slouched in her seat.

"Buenas dias, Clase." Señora Jarvis marched into the room, her heals clicking on the floor. "Como estas?"

A wave of 'bien's, 'cansado's, and 'what's followed. Jimmy rested his head in his hand as he waited for what he anticipated.

"James? You're up first." Señora Jarvis motioned to the front of the room where the screen was pulled down. Jimmy glanced at it and saw his powerpoint presentation on it. They all had to go and take pictures of family and friends and label them.

He sighed and pushed himself up from his desk. He really needed to get more sleep if he was going to do this.

"Ella es mi madre," He started gesturing to the screen as he rattled off names and labels in his flawless Spanish. He and Sheen were top of the class for Spanish, although Sheen had been speaking it for his whole life.

First was his family, and he motioned to pictures of his mom, dad, and Goddard. Goddard was still running in tip-top shape, even if he had a little rust around his face. Judy Neutron was getting on in years, and Jimmy always noticed the wrinkles she tried desperately to hide with make-up. Her hair was turning gray and no longer had the volume it used to.

Hugh had gone completely gray. He blamed his son who put more stress on his parents than he realized, always going off on crazy adventures. His glasses had turned to bifocals and he walked hunched over. He had long ago sustained a back injury.

Next were pictures of his extended family, though he didn't speak to them much since Baby Eddie tried to kill him. And his grandmother had passed away a few years ago.

Finally he had pictures of his friends, starting with Sheen. They were all pictures of them as kids, then older. Jimmy found when he was putting together the project that he had many more pictures of his friends than anyone else. He ignored Sheen as he whistled at his own picture.

Next was Carl. Carl was still his best friend, and the pictures reminded him of why. They were both such terribly awkward people. In the younger picture, Carl was looking over the railing of the llama cage at the zoo. In the recent picture, he was doing the same thing.

After that was Libby, who Sheen made a growling noise at. Jimmy quickly touched his wrist and shot a small, slightly painful, laser burst at Sheen. Libby had changed so much more than the rest of his friends. She had gone from the music-loving tomboy she used to be to a beautiful woman. She was always dressed well and her hair had gone from her braids to a styled bob. She still loved music, but was much more into fashion than she used to be.

Cindy was last, and he had to admit, she changed very little. Her hair was still short and it fell to around her shoulders, but most of the time she had it up in a pony-tail. She was a tiny person with a more petite frame. Jimmy had been elated when he out-grew her around twelve. Her older picture was taken in her lab. It evolved from the angry little girl in the older photo to a graceful girl who was lounging on his couch; Goddard curled into a ball at her side on the floor. She was flipping through a science magazine, and Jimmy had surprised her from behind with a picture. She was looking up at him with an innocently curious face.

"Gracias, James. Sientante, por favor." Señora Jarves motioned to his desk.

Jimmy schlepped back to his seat and flopped down. He was really exhausted. He was up until four and slept through his alarm at six. He woke up at 7:43, and his first class was at 8:00.

He watched as the rest of the class presented, scowling at Sheen for almost his whole presentation. Sheen used a more recent picture of Jimmy with singed hair and burned clothes. Sheen had almost blown up the lab and Jimmy was glaring at him. That was awful He had just grown his hair back to its normal length. He reached up to pay it down, just to be sure.

Libby was nice enough to just use a group picture from their weekend up north over Christmas break. They were all sitting on a couch at the ski lodge, drinking cocoa and warming up by the fire. He remembered he had to find the red sweater in the picture still. He had no clue what happened to it after that trip. Maybe Sheen accidentally packed it in his suitcase.

"Hey, Sheen, Did you accidentally pack my sweater from that trip?" Jimmy whispered.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen it." Sheen shook his head as Libby took her seat.

"I saw it somewhere recently," She pondered, "maybe Carl has it? He was helping me with my history homework last week."

"You went to Carl for homework help?" Jimmy asked, twisting around. Though he didn't enjoy tutoring his friends, he reveled in the fact that he was the smartest one of their group.

"He's really good at history. And you and Cindy were working on your math homework." Libby shrugged. Jimmy flushed. He probably should have guessed that. Carl was surprisingly good at history. He had a knack for it.

"Right. I'll ask him later." Jimmy turned back around in his seat and came face to face with Señora Jarvis.

"Is it alright if I get back to teaching now, Mr. Neutron?" She asked.

"Si, Señora. Lo siento." He mumbled. He was not catching a break with his teachers today. Sheen and Libby giggled and were silenced when Jimmy shot them a glare.

"Libby said the mall trip is off." Jimmy slid into his seat in the AP English classroom.

"Good. I don't want to go to the mall with someone that selfish anyways." Cindy crossed her arms.

"How was art?" Jimmy asked, glancing at the paper she was doodling on.

"Carl can't draw a circle to save his life." She sighed, obviously exhausted. "He kept asking me to show him how, and I drew like 15 circles for him before he decided he'd just change his drawing to something more squarely."

"What were you drawing?" Jimmy asked.

"I drew Goddard." She shrugged. He had noticed that when she was lounging about in the lab, she was working on a drawing. It was more recent. She must have been using him for a shape project. Goddard was pretty square.

"Can I see?" Jimmy leaned over. Cindy flipped a few pages back in her sketch book until she got to a work in progress.

"It's not colored yet." She explained. Jimmy smiled at Goddard's picture. She had captured him perfectly.

"It's great. That's really good." Jimmy sat back in his seat.

"Thanks." She took out her copy of 'A Street Car Named Desire' and began to skim over the chapter he knew she read the night before. "I hate Blanche." She stated.

Jimmy smiled. He knew how much Cindy hated weak female characters. She and Libby never saw chick-flicks together because, while Libby would fawn over the male lead and wish for a man to sweep her off her feet like that, Cindy would scoff. She wasn't one to play the damsel. In fact, she usually tagged along with them to see superhero films and action movies. Libby would begrudgingly join, but Cindy was always pumped to see them.

"I finished it last night. It was an awful play all together." Jimmy explained.

"Is that why you were up so late?" Cindy asked, not looking up from her play.

"Among other reasons." Jimmy glanced at her. She seemed engrossed in the play.

"Stop staring at me, Geek." She said quietly.

"Sorry. I'm not awake." He shook his head and looked up toward the front.

"Alright, kiddos, let's go over our reading." Mr. Pear sat down in a seat, backwards. The class was very small, so he usually just straddled a seat to talk to them.

"Blanche is a terrible example of a woman." Cindy blurted out, setting her book down.

"Alright, any other comments?" He glanced around. Nothing. "Continue, Cindy."

"She's a southern harlot who's obviously lusting for her brother-in-law who's an abusive," She looked to be struggling with her words, "jerk-face."

"Jerk-face?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"I can't swear like I want to." Cindy argued.

"And that's why we choose this book to talk about feminism. This is the example of what not to do as a feminist." Mr. Pear explained.

"Do you need a ride home?" Jimmy asked. He had recently gotten his license and his newest hover-car model was parked in the parking lot.

"Yeah. Libby drove me this morning." Cindy shouldered her bag.

"She'll get over it." Jimmy repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "We can get started right away since I'm driving."

"I don't think I've been in the new hover-car." Cindy pondered.

"You haven't. I just finished it last week. It has the body of a vintage Cadillac."

"Oh, the light blue one that's been sitting in the lab for months." Cindy nodded.

"Yeah, it was killer to finish." Jimmy explained as he slammed his locker shut. The two of them made their way to the front of the school where students were crowded around their circles of friends. Nick waved at them as they passed, as did Betty.

"I hate her." Cindy mumbled.

"Jealous."

"No. She just acts so damn perfect and I can't stand it." Cindy glared at the girl in question. She was in a pink dress that looked perfectly flowy and her hair was pinned back in a curly up-do. Nick was offering her a cigarette, which looked so classy when it was paired with her red lips and polished nails.

"She smokes, that's not perfect." Jimmy pointed out.

"So does Nick. But look at how girls fall all over him." Cindy commented.

"When he does it, it's just gross. I don't know how girls are all over him." Jimmy glared in the direction of the group as well.

"Who's jealous now?" Cindy asked teasingly.

Jimmy didn't say anything as he threw his bag in the back seat of the hover-car.

"Hey, you know I was kidding." Cindy sighed as she got into the car.

"I know. Sorry, I'm just exhausted." Jimmy shook his head as he turned the key.

"Did you want to put this off another day?" Cindy asked, looking over in concern.

"No. I want to do this today. I'll be fine." Jimmy smiled in her direction. "Thanks, though."

"So why did you stop drooling over Betty?" Cindy asked.

"She's not that smart. She used to be, but she's more focused on being pretty now than anything. And she smokes. That's a turn-off for me." Jimmy shrugged. "What about Nick?"

"Oh, I don't know. He's not that smart, and he's kind of dangerous, but he's still damn sexy." Cindy smiled in the side-mirror.

"He's a flunkie who drinks and does drugs." Jimmy was baffled.

"And? He's still got great abs." Cindy smirked. Jimmy knew she was doing this to irritate him.

"You're doing this to irritate me." He glared at her as he slowed to a stop for a stop sign.

"And it's working." Cindy smiled in his face. Jimmy focused on driving the rest of the way. The hover-car was too large to park in the lab, but since it was basically a car, he was able to park it in the street out in front of his house.

"Let's hit the lab. We've got work to do." Jimmy said, looking at his watch.

"Need anything from the house?" Cindy asked as she pulled her bag out of the back seat.

"Nope. Everything I need is in the lab." Jimmy smiled at her as he took the backpack from her hands before she could put it on her shoulder. She smiled back and followed him around the house.

Jimmy reached over and pulled a hair from Cindy's shoulder. He had put her DNA into Vox's system a few months ago when they were working on a large science fair project. It was usually easier since her hair fell out and stuck to her shirt more often.

"Welcome Cindy." Vox chirped.

The teens stepped inside, and no sooner had Cindy shut the door behind her that she felt a hand sliding up the front of her shirt.