Author's Note: Be gentle with me, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction in many years. Visit my profile for more info about me and this story, if you'd like! Please review if you like the story and feel free to message me with any questions. I don't own anything or any character in this story.

Dangerous

If I would have realized that my summer activities would impact my junior year so much, I would have fought my mom harder when she started pressuring me into being more...social. My mother wasn't too keen on me spending another three months creating new inventions in my lab and possibly causing havoc on the city of Retroville with Carl and Sheen. The first weekend after school let out in May, she was begging me over breakfast to find something else to do that didn't involve science or academics. It was during this discussion that she had slyly slid the classifieds section of the newspaper to me, with a few helpful "suggestions" circled in red. "Let's lay off of the space travel for just awhile, dear," she had quipped while cheerily pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

At the time I knew better than to argue, so I begrudgingly picked one of the circled areas without really looking. I instantly regretted doing this when I was awoken the next morning at 7 am by my mother, insisting I get down to the community pool for my first day of lifeguard training.

I was more than a little surprised when I saw that Betty Quinlan was also training to be a lifeguard, and I was even more surprised by how friendly she was towards me. I hadn't been around Betty much besides occasionally seeing her at school. We'd had a few classes together in the previous years and most of our communication involved Betty asking me for help with the homework. It was always the same routine: she would sit next to me, smile beautifully and make small talk while eventually turning her questions about the homework until I would cave and help her. Not that it took much convincing.

-0-0-0-0-0-

I was sitting in English class on a Thursday when Betty Quinlan sat in the seat next to me and smiled brilliantly. "Hey swimming partner! I can see your tan didn't wear off completely these past few weeks like mine did," she laughed, glancing down not-so-subtly at my arms that were resting on my desk.

I had to choke back a nervous combination of a laugh and cough so I didn't completely embarrass myself, and instead mustered up a smile and response. "Well, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Betty giggled and reached into her backpack for a notebook. It was around that moment that the classroom door opened and in walked Cindy and Libby. Immediately, I felt uneasy. It was still the first week of school and while there technically were no seating assignments in this class, Cindy was known for being territorial over things she considered hers - in particular, the seat that Betty was currently sitting in.

Betty, however, was like a shark. She was terrifying, fascinating, and ruthless. She didn't take no for an answer and always got her way. She wasn't going to be intimidated by Cindy, the short blonde girl that Betty could easily tower over.

But if I'm comparing Betty to a shark, then Cindy Vortex is like a venomous snake; cruel and cold. Cindy doesn't hate me as much as she did in the 6th grade and we sort of have a civil agreement to tolerate each other. It only makes sense considering we are neighbors, attend the same school, and share mutual friends. This unspoken agreement we have doesn't stop her from calling me Nerdtron but she doesn't yell at me anymore. Not usually, anyway.

You can always tell what kind of day Cindy is having by the expression on her face and the way she carries herself. For example - this morning, she's walking in barely one minute before the last bell with a pissed off look on her face, so something must have made her angry. This is a tell-tale sign for me and everyone else around her to stay out of her path, unless you want to get verbally reamed. I had made that mistake a few times. If you catch Cindy on an off day and say anything to her that she doesn't like she could flip your entire day upside down with just one insulting comment.

So I knew instantly that Cindy would be unhappy about Betty taking "her" seat. Sheen, who was on my other side, nudged my arm, "What's up with Queen Bee talking to you?" he stage-whispered, and I glanced at Betty to see if she heard. Many people, including Sheen of course, call Betty Queen Bee when she's not around and I had a feeling she wouldn't like hearing it. Luckily, Betty seemed occupied with the pissed off blonde that was now standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.

"You're in my seat."

Betty's expression remained neutral, almost serene. I didn't know how she managed to not crack under the extreme pressure. I could nearly feel Sheen vibrating with excitement next to me, "Oh man I hope we get to see a cat fight. I haven't seen one of those since...well, I've never seen a real catfight before. I guess today would be a good day to start-" I took this opportunity to poke him roughly in the ribs, effectively shutting him up.

"A seat is just a seat Cindy, no need to get in a fit over it," Betty shrugged, smiling up at Cindy pleasantly. Her tone and expression were kind but her words revealed that she wasn't completely unaffected by the exchange.

Libby, who had been standing behind Cindy this entire time, sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay let's all take a chill pill and sit down so we can get this school day over with already." She gently pushed Cindy's shoulder, encouraging her to keep walking and find a different seat. Cindy's expression completely cleared to a nonchalant one, but not before glancing down at me and glaring. She moved on and found a seat that was close behind Betty's.

I was more than little shocked that Cindy had given up so quickly, but I was secretly relieved. I sort of...wanted Betty to sit next to me. She was pretty and nice and smelled good and so what if she was only sitting next to me because she wanted help with the homework? We had common ground now. We had both been lifeguards this past summer at the same pool, and she seemed to enjoy my company. I glanced back at Cindy for a moment. It felt a little strange that she wasn't sitting next to me. I had already begun thinking of the desk next to mine as hers. I shook my head and turned back to Sheen, who was now sighing, "Well, that was the most disappointing catfight I've seen in my entire life."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Later on, I was at my locker when I could suddenly feel a presence next to me. Then, I felt a light tap on my arm. I turned around, and it was Betty. I was almost relieved but instantly nervous at the same time.

"Hey, Jimmy," she said, almost shyly. "I know you and I haven't talked much since the pool closed a few weeks ago, and I'm sorry about that."

I just smiled and shrugged lightly. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you were just busy. We probably both were with school getting ready to start. I know I'm trying to think of what colleges I really want to apply for." If I could kick myself for supplying way too much unneeded information without looking stupid, I would have in that moment.

Luckily, Betty just laughed. "Such an overachiever aren't you? Why don't you take a night off this Saturday and come to the party I'm having at my house?" She clasped her hands together in front of her cutely and looked up at me under her bangs.

To say I was shocked was a little bit of an understatement.

"Oh...uh, yeah! Sure. I would love to come. If that's that you want," I stuttered out.

"Of course! And you can invite your friends if you want. The more the merrier! But I would love if it we can talk some one-on-one at the party, too, though. I've missed talking to you."

I was definitely confused now. Betty and I had been pretty close this summer, but I assumed it was temporary. And I definitely didn't think that us working together would warrant a party invite or anything else.

"Thank you for the invite, Betty. I, uh, missed talked to you too. I'll definitely be there." I didn't want to mention that parties were more of Sheen or Cindy's thing and not mine. I also didn't want to mention that I was nearly having a full on panic attack at the idea of what "one-on-one" time with Betty meant.

"Great! I'll see you Saturday then!" With a brilliant smile that showed her perfectly white teeth, she flounced away down the hall, several people moving quickly to get out of her way - distinctly reminding me of a documentary I had seen once. It had been about sharks and how they nonchalantly take hold of a helpless swimmer and tear a limb off. I had to look down at my body to make sure I was still intact.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Alright, you gotta tell us what the hell is going on," Sheen exclaimed as he set down his lunch tray with a clang. Carl winced slightly as mystery meat debris flew off of the plate.

I knew he was talking about this morning in first period when Betty sat next to me, but I pretended not to know. "What are you talking about?"

"Sheen mentioned earlier that Betty was flirting with you, is that true?" Carl spoke up, dabbing at the mess Sheen had made on the table.

"She was full on making out with you with her EYES, dude! I didn't think she liked to interact with boy geniuses anymore!" Sheen seemed to be really fired up, which is just what I wanted to avoid. I rolled my eyes.

"I told you guys she was a lifeguard the same time I was. We got along pretty well. I guess we're...friends now." I felt sort of awkward even saying that. Maybe we weren't friends. Maybe we were just acquaintances and former coworkers and classmates. But she did invite me to her party…

I shook myself out of my thoughts in time to catch Sheen and Carl both staring at me suspiciously. Sheen was the first to speak up, "Friends, huh? Well I think Little Jimmy has gotten himself a GIRLFRIEND!"

I looked around to make sure no one, especially Betty, could hear Sheen practically scream from where she was sitting across the cafeteria. She caught my eye and smiled at me. I smiled back but quickly turned around out of panic. I hoped she didn't think I was being creepy.

I was startled to see Cindy plop herself down right across from me, elbowing both Sheen and Carlin the process. Sheen wrapped a protective arm around his tray as if Cindy was there to steal his food, "Hey Blondezilla, what do you think you're doing here interrupting our manly talk?!" Carl just rubbbed his ribs cautiously and side eyed Cindy.

Cindy rolls her eyes, "Don't call me Blondezilla. And don't give me that crap about manly talk - what kind of manly things would you three ever talk about? Playing with those stupid dolls and the latest llama documentary?" Carl starts to protest by surely mentioning how he wants to protect the reputation of his dear llamas but I decide to cut them both off.

"Cindy, what do you want?"

She just shrugs. "Libby has a dentist appointment this afternoon so I decided to grace you nerds with my presence."

I know deep down Cindy probably feels a little lost without her best friend, especially during the first few days of junior year, so I don't make fun of her for having no one else to sit with. I don't even acknowledge her rude nerd comment even though I want to.

Sheen huffs angrily, "Okay, shut up. Jimmy here was about to tell us all about his new girlfriend."

Cindy raises her eyebrows and looks at me square in the eyes, "New girlfriend? This wouldn't be the same brat that took my seat this morning, would it?"

Sheen starts to cackle and Carl slyly slides Cindy's mystery meat off her tray. It goes unnoticed by her. I can feel a headache starting to form. "Betty is not my girlfriend. And I can't believe you got so angry about a dumb seat earlier-" I stopped speaking when I realized that Cindy was giving me a death glare. "Fine, we won't talk about the seat thing."

"Whatever, Nerdtron. Next time your girlfriend wants to sit in my seat, just tell her to sit in the one that's shoved up her-"

I had to interrupt, "Enough about the seat! I was actually going to tell you guys about the party she invited me to this weekend." Everyone at the table was instantly silent. I was going to tell Sheen and Carl about the party, but not Cindy. Part of me thinks that when Betty said I could invite my friends, she didn't mean Cindy Vortex.

Sheen had gasped the moment I said the word party. "This is amazing! I mean I'm happy that you got yourself a new girlfriend and all, but I'm even more excited that we get to go this party!" He rubbed his hands together like he was scheming something.

Carl looked uneasy. "Guys, I'm not sure if going to this party is such a good idea…" Sheen immediately shushed him.

I was more focused on Cindy. Instead of looking pissed off like I expected, she looked intrigued. "Are you inviting me to the party, too, Jimmy?"

Wait...did she just call me Jimmy? I was automatically suspicious. Cindy wasn't usually nice to me unless she wanted something from me. This time, it obviously seemed to be an invitation to the party she wanted. I studied her more closely to detect any signs of mischief or deceit but there were no clear ones. She just looked curious and maybe a little...hesitant.

"Uh...yeah, of course you can come."

She looked surprised by my answer, but smiled. She reached out and patted my cheek lightly. I feel frozen by the bold move. Cindy doesn't usually make it a habit to touch me on purpose. Her hand is surprisingly warm and I can smell her sweet perfume.

"Looks like we're going to a party, Little Jimmy."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Cindy's POV

Thursday morning was already off to a bad start the second I opened my eyes. I glanced at the clock and realized I had slept through my alarm and was going to be late to school if I didn't hurry. Just great. I could hear my mom making noises in the kitchen and hurried to get ready.

I bounded down the stairs the same moment she was looking ready to walk up them and come get me. "You're going to be late for school!" She exclaims and hands me my backpack.

I sigh and put it on. "I just won't eat breakfast. Did you get a chance to look at that pamphlet I gave you? About Princeton and financial aid-"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "Cindy, we don't have time to talk about that right now."

"But it's really important that you at least look at it."

"And I will. But you need to go to school now."

She started shuffling me out the door and I knew she wouldn't say anything else about it, at least not right now. I could practically feel the small knot of anxiety starting to form in my stomach. Princeton is the place I plan to be at in less than two years, but in order for that to happen, I needed both of my parents to cooperate with me. Neither of them were. My parents were divorced and for the past six years, they had trouble even being in the same room together, much less trying to come to an agreement about how to pay for my schooling.

I was the second smartest person in my grade, maybe even the whole school. That I was sure of. I was also sure that being second would only get me a free ride to the local community college, maybe even to a nearby university, but that's not what I wanted. I had worked hard my entire high school career to get the best grades possible but I could finally admit to myself what I had trouble even thinking about when I was younger: Jimmy Neutron would always be number one. He was a boy genius after all. And I was...mostly fine with that. But if for some reason my parents couldn't pay for school, I needed a back up. I was starting to think that maybe I needed something other than academics to focus on.

Libby met me at my locker as I was rapidly pulling out the books I needed for my first few classes. "Guuurl you didn't tell me you were about to be late today. I almost went to class without you."

"Well thank you for waiting on me. I haven't had a great start to the day." I sighed and we started walking to our class.

"You can tell me all about it later. The last bell is about to ring. Except you can't tell me at lunch, because I have a dentist appointment-"

"LIBBY. Do you know what this means? I'm going to have to sit with Nerdtron and his nerd squad all alone at lunch and I might die." She just rolled her eyes at me and gestured for me to open the classroom door.

The first thing I noticed was Jimmy. He looked happy, and was smiling. I immediately started to feel annoyed. How could someone be this happy so early in the day? I glanced to my seat that was next to his - I loathe the fact that he chose a seat next to mine on the first day, therefore meaning I was stuck sitting next to his big head the rest of the year - and realized something. It wasn't empty. Betty fucking Quinlan was sitting in it.

Most days, I don't let perfect Betty Quinlan ruin my mood. Sure, she runs the school and does most things flawlessly but I am confident in the fact that I am smarter and wittier than she is...not that it's a competition. I'm not entirely sure what we would be competing for anyway. Her constant smiling, good mood, and general self annoys me but she's easy to ignore.

But how am I supposed to ignore her when she's sitting in my damn seat?

I don't put up much of a fight when she refuses to get up. I can see out of the corner of my eye that idiotic Sheen is gearing up for a possible fight and I don't feel like putting in the energy today. Not only that, but I can see Jimmy looking between us uneasily and it makes me feel surprisingly ashamed. There has to be a reason Betty chose to sit there anyway, so I decide to shut up and let it slide for now.

I can feel Jimmy's eyes on me when I sit down and make a mental note to yell at him during lunch about this little situation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

While walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria, I pause for a moment at the cluttered bulletin board on the wall. Most of the flyers for clubs, shows, and events were still from last school year, with a few new ones posted in the middle of the board. A bright blue paper in the corner catches my eye. I roll my eyes when I see that it's for cheerleading and pom squad tryouts. The cheerleading squad was actually not completely untalented, but the team was full of air-headed girls that wore their uniforms all day every day. I was about to walk away when I noticed the fine print at the bottom that described competitions the team took part in - First place team winners of the Dallas Cheerleading Competition gets $25,000 scholarship! Each member included!

Suddenly I was more interested in cheerleading. It definitely had its merits. Looking around cautiously, I pulled out a pen from my backpack and scribbled my name on the tryout sheet.

It couldn't hurt have a back-up plan.