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The party began to wind down, after a few hours of loud music, birthday pie, and awesome gifts from his friends and family. It wasn't everyday that Jimmy Neutron turned thirteen. But he still appreciated the day, nonetheless.
Carl had gifted him a t-shirt with an interesting looking rocket on the front, while Sheen had given him the first three seasons of Ultra Lord, insisting they watch it together at some point. Jimmy smiled weakly and said, "Sure, Sheen, I can set it up sometime in the Lab." His friends meant well of course.
And of course there was Libby's gift, which was a CD of all techno hip hop. She sampled it at the party, and he had to admit; the synthesizer sounds actually sounded pretty decent coming from the speakers. Another gift he promised to utilize in his spare time.
Of course his parents gifted him with some money and a gift card to ”Invent.com”, where he could find all the spare metal he needed that wasn't available at his local junk yard. Among the pile of goodies he received were some pretty ordinary things: a new pair of sneakers, some galaxy looking bed-sheets and poster of the Periodic Table. He of course already had one, but his plans to replace the one in his Lab would make good use for the new one.
Judy began to clean up around, while Hugh snuck off with the rest of the birthday pie to "put away". Jimmy smiled as he began to say goodbye to his friends that dispersed. Just as he was about to head back into the house, someone had called out to him.
"Neutron, wait!" A young voice called from behind.
A young, blonde voice.
Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, he turned to face her. "Cindy?" He cocked his head. "What are you still doing here?" He asked innocently.
She shuffled forward, quite awkwardly, he noticed, as she held something behind her back. "I, uh, wanted to wait until everyone was gone to give you this." She pulled a small long blue box out from behind her, as she looked away. She tried to roll her eyes, but her blush gave away her poker face.
His eyes studied her for a moment, as he gingerly reached out to accept her present.
"You got me a gift?" He asked softly, as a slight smile tugged at his lips.
"No, it's for the other birthday boy, Brainiac." She scoffed impatiently. "Of course I got you a gift. It is your birthday." She crossed her arms, explaining as if it were way more simple than it was.
Except when it came to Jimmy Neutron, nothing was ever just simple.
Jimmy's smile faded as he shot her a deadpanned stare. "Still have to berate me on my birthday, I see."
"Oh, just quit whining and open it." She dismissed his quip. Her voice tenderized after a moment when she added, "I think you'll like it. Well, at least I hope you do."
Forgetting his annoyance at the girl momentarily, he nodded slightly and began to unravel the box. When he opened the top, a long, black object sat in a matching blue cushion. It appeared to be a pen of some sort, but what intrigued him the most, was the small, golden atom insignia that was engraved on the top, next to the pen clip.
His atom insignia.
His curiosity got the better of him, as he slowly pulled it out of the box. He studied the object carefully, as he questioned his gift giver.
"You... got me a pen?" His tone wasn't degrading as it was confused.
Her face fell for a split second, as if he had hurt her feelings somehow, as he quickly retracted.
"I mean, it's a cool pen," he modeled it for her. "I'm sure, I'll get lots of use out of it." He offered her an awkward smile.
She shook her in disbelief, watching him in frustration. "You mean you don't know what that is?"
Jimmy's face turned serious, as he commented bewildered. "Of course, it's a pen. You know, like the instruments we use everyday in class?" He waved the pen around aimlessly, but Cindy perked up cautiously.
"I'd be careful, Neutron." She warned suddenly. "It's not just any kind of pen."
Jimmy scrunched his brow in disbelief, as he questioned, absentmindedly clicking the top of the pen. "What do you mean it's not-"
PEWISH!
In that exact moment, a small lineal laser blast emitted from the end of the pen and burned a small hole in his yard. Jimmy almost dropped it, as Cindy caught it before it hit the ground. "Holy Heisenberg!" His eyes widened in shock at the pen's new discovered feature.
"It's a real working, direct energy laser source." He mumbled in awe. "But how?" He questioned, looking up to the girl in front of him with the most confounded expression.
She smirked with a knowing look, as she gently handed it back to him.
"Cindy, where did you get something like this?" The birthday boy held up his gift. "I haven't seen anything remotely close to this since, well, my own." He remembered distantly when he actually lost his previous laser pen in their space travel mission to Mars.
"Well, you should because it's yours." She said as if it were the most simplistic answer in the world.
Her answers weren't making any sense.
"But, that's impossible," he protested. "I lost that laser pen in the middle of space traveling, when-"
"I know, we went to Mars, you lost it." She recounted for him. "I was there, remember?"
How could he forget? That was also the trip they took in spite of her, trying to see what configurations were new on Mars, when his arch nemesis Eustace Strych showed up. He had been so angry with her when she betrayed them to Strych at the time, just to prove how… distracting she could be.
He shook his head of all memories of her illuminating makeup and glowing blonde hair under the space hue.
"Uh," he cleared his throat nervously, as he mumbled. "I might recall, yeah."
"Okay," she pointed to the object at hand. "Then you know where that came from."
Before he could open his mouth to ask for the umpteenth time about its whereabouts and her credibility for it, she reached in beneath the box and pulled out a folded piece of paper. While it was similar to a receipt, it was quite the opposite.
Jimmy's eyes scanned the paper, as she instructed, simply. "Read that."
He only became more confused when he read the title. “Invent.com?" He quirked up an eyebrow, with a slight smirk. "You purchased me an invention?"
"Not just any invention." She shook her head with an exhausted smile.
"Cindy," he moved forward with the invention in tow. "While I appreciate the gesture being what day it is, you know I could have just invented another one." He shrugged confidently.
Cindy shook her head once more and chuckled dryly. "You know, for a genius, you can be pretty clueless sometimes, Neutron."
He frowned. "Okay, Vortex. What are you getting at? And will you please stop talking in riddles?"
Cindy let out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh!" She exclaimed in frustration. Pulling out the paper of his hands, she barked. "Read it again, Nerdtron!"
She shoved the paper back into his chest. Of course she would still find a way to be hostile to him, and on his birthday, no less. It wouldn't be like Cindy Vortex to not give him a hard time, no matter what day it was.
Neutron snatched the paper up to his face as he mumbled. "Fine, if you insist." His eyes began to reread the script, as he continued. "I'll do us both a favor and put whatever ridiculous theory you claim to prove to rest."
But as his eyes scanned over the words... the actual real part of his gift, his words died in his throat, and the solemn look on his face disappeared.
His eyes widened with wonder, as he just looked up to face the blonde haired vixen with all awe.
Her face relaxed as she gauged his reaction.
He stepped closer with the paper in hand, gesturing to his new found glory.
"Is... this a joke?" He quietly asked, sheepish of her grand gesture.
Cindy sighed, rolling her eyes. "No, it's not a joke." She shook her head. "I mean, it's just the prototype, technically so, u-um," she stuttered nervously. "They still have to approve it... with your permission, of course." She let out a soft apprehensive chuckle. She was so worried that he hated it, she didn't even realize when he swooped her up in a big hug.
"Oh!" She was stunned at his touch.
She hugged him back, breathing in his scent of clean soap and metallic cologne.
Pulling back, Jimmy beamed at her, putting an appreciative hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Cindy." He said earnestly. "This is by far...the best present I've ever gotten."
Cindy smiled at him sweetly. "You're welcome."
"How did- I mean, when did you-" He tried to question her but the inquiries died on his tongue. How was it that she could be so amazing and so frustrating at the same time?
"Well, I saw the blueprints in the Lab one day, and I-"
"Stole them?" Jimmy crossed his arms with an unamused smirk.
"Gently borrowed," She corrected. "And, I remember how bummed you were that you lost the old one, so I-I might have mailed them into the Science Advances, and-"
"Wait a Neutronic, minute." His eyes grew wide with excitement. "You mean the American Association for the Advancement of Science?" His voice carried. "The AAAS?!"
She looked panicked. "Is that bad?" She yelled back.
"Cindy!" He exclaimed. "That's terrific!" He began to pace wildly. "Think of the possibilities! It starts with my laser pen, and could end up resulting in any one of my other greater inventions!" He grinned. "This is amazing!"
He turned to Cindy and grabbed her hand. "The AAAS is the reason that wants me to patent my Neutron Laser Pen." He grinned at her.
Cindy blushed. "Well, I-"
"And it wouldn't have happened without you." He looked at her softly, his blue eyes shining into hers like stars picked right out from one of his space travels.
"Happy birthday, Jimmy." She shyly smiled.
"Thank you, Cindy." His smile grew as he became lost in thought. She thought for a split second he was leaning forward, when a voice called out into the yard.
"Jimmy, dear! It's almost time for dinner!" Judy called out. Her voice was close by, no doubt in watching distance.
Jimmy coughed, stepping back slightly, turning red, as he called over his shoulder. "Just a second, mom!"
His eyes never left Cindy's as the blush took over his face. "Well, I uh, I better-"
"Yeah, go, I get it." She waved at him, nodding in agreement.
"Um, well thanks, again, for the…" He was a certified genius. And yet simple words in that moment seemed to escape him.
He nodded. "Awesome present." He smiled.
"Yeah, don't mention it." She smiled sadly, like she had more to say but they had run out of time.
He watched her curiously for a second when she began to turn away.
Suddenly, he called out to her.
"Hey, Cindy?"
She turned. "Yeah?"
"Please forgive me for seeming completely ignorant and unappreciative here, because I assure you I'm not." He paused. "But, what compelled you to do this in the first place?"
Before she could respond he quickly added, "Besides me just losing one of my gadgets?"
She gave him a look. "Well, like I said, it is your birthday. What better way to spend it than to get one of your crazy inventions on the map?" She smiled.
"But, you usually hate everything that I invent. Your constant criticism on a daily basis proves that fact." He wasn't trying to argue, he just wanted to know why.
Suddenly, she crossed her arms with a narrowed look. "Well, I can certainly take it back."
"No!" He cried out, holding up his hand with the gift in the other. "It's great, really." He sheepishly smirked.
"Jimmy!" His mothers tone settled into a warning.
"That's my cue." He pointed behind him as he returned the paper and his pen to its rightful place. "But thanks, Cindy. It really is the best gift."
Before he could lose his nerve once more, he stepped forward and kissed her cheek.
Sparks flew in her heart as she stumbled over her words. "Y-yeah well, just don't let your new claim to fame get to your head, Neutron. We all know it's already too big for its kind already."
Jimmy rolled his eyes with a playful smirk. "You mean much similar to the attributes of your mouth." He snarked back walking away, grinning from ear to ear.
Cindy sneered at him. "Just don't forget who brought you there, Nerdtron!"
He walked away, and turned just in time to see her face him with a blushed annoyed gaze.
She was expecting some half backward response about him being his own success.
But he surprised her, however, when he looked at her with a warm grin, and said, "Trust me, I won't."
He watched her cheeks burn with fire as he chuckled. "I'll call you later."
It wasn't a question, but more of a promise.
She smirked, nodding dumbly as she stuttered. "O-okay." She called back.
As she watched him disappear into the house, all she could think of was one thing.
How interesting it was that on his birthday, it was her that somehow received the best present of all.
Jimmy's happiness.