A/N: Alright, picture this. An Invader Zim story that doesn't quite follow the show. Keep up with me people. Taking total creative leeway here, making it my own. I see a bunch of stories where Zim finds out his mission was a lie, but in here he doesn't. I take a lot of liberties with this. And Rik's name is pronounced like Rick. I hope you like it!

Chapter One:

The cruiser skidded to a stop, just short of some trees and shrubs. Despite the slight bumps and bruises from the abrupt halt, she felt fine. Great, even. The signal was coming from close by, she could hear her scanners going berserk in the dashboard of her vessel. Unfortunately, she would have to leave her tracking device behind along with her ship, hoping nobody would happen to stumble upon it in its hiding spot. After hastily throwing some branches around the cruiser, she climbed up a small rock structure and looked out over the town. "Hm. Not a very big town is it?" she asked of no one in particular. A grin crossed her face. "Maybe you'll be easier to find."

Zim awoke to an unknown sound. It was horrible, loud, obnoxious, and most likely coming from two feet away from him. Still groggy from his unexpected nap, he looked around his living room for Gir. When the robot was nowhere to be found, Zim reluctantly wandered into the kitchen. "Gir?" his voice cracked. "Gir! Where are you?" After a few moments of half-heartedly searching, he gave p and sat at the kitchen table, where he was suddenly greeted by a large silver platter with an equally large silver cover. "Gir? Did you try to cook yourself again? I told you. You're not very tasty…" Zim trailed off as he lifted the cover.

Atop the platter, sat an enormous stack of dry waffles and a side of toast. A small card was placed on the toast. It read : "HI SKOOL!" Zim was washed with a feeling of appreciation. He stashed a few of the waffles in his backpack so that Gir's intentions weren't wasted. He glanced at the clock he had placed next to the refrigerator. He had a little more than an hour before his first day of school. He was a senior this year, and he regretted it. He had been wasting his precious time on Earth, sent many years ago to conquer it. He failed time and time again, due to his sworn enemy, the big headed Dib.

Zim sighed and laced up his boots, glancing around at his failed experiments now used as entertainment for Gir. It was all broken now, as was expected from his inept robot. He sighed again as he inserted his human contacts, making his natural red eyes look like blue human ones. As much as it pained him to admit it, he grew quite accustomed to Earthly ways and long abandoned his original mission.

The walk to school was a quiet, uneventful one, as he did not run into Dib, who had made a habit of following Zim around since grade school to foil all of Zim's plans. It amused Zim that Dib had not figured out that he was no longer trying to invade the planet. He reached homeroom before the rest of the class, as usual. Instead of taking a seat in the front, he trekked to the back row and threw his bag on the desk as a pillow. He heard the other students file in over the next few minutes, predictably avoiding the seats around him. He propped his head up on his arm, watching the students interact with one another. He was slightly jealous. The entire time he spent on Earth, he never gained a friend. He wondered why nobody wanted to be friends with the all powerful Zim, Irken Invader as a child. He learned since then that the only way to have friends on this planet was to conform to their ways, which he refused to do. Although he may not be planning to take over, he certainly was not going to assimilate himself into this culture.

As the last bell rang, their new homeroom teacher strode into the classroom. He was a tall, lanky man with bright red hair. Unlike the rest of the teachers he's had, this one was young, appearing barely out of college or perhaps still enrolled. He slammed himself into his chair and swiveled, staring at the class menacingly. "My name is Mr. C." He continued staring.

The students shuffled uncomfortably and began whispering amongst themselves. A girl sitting near Zim was giggling about how cute Mr. C. was to one of her friends. He rolled his eyes and turned to the creaking door out of reflex. Once it was fully opened, a teenage girl entered the room. She had astonishing pink hair with black bangs that she wore in pigtails and bright, oddly purple colored eyes. Zim, along with the other boys in the class, couldn't look away from her. Unlike the other boys, Zim did not think she was "hot," as was the human term. Although she was attractive, Zim merely stared because something about her seemed unnatural.

Mr. C. swiveled sharply towards the new comer and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He asked, tapping steel toed boots on the desk.

The girl thrust a paper into his hands. Without waiting for any prompt she stated, "My name's Rik!" Some of the boys mumbled, "Hi, Rik…" Mr. C. grunted as he handed the paper back and pointed at the only seat available in the classroom. Rik skipped to the desk next to Dib.

Dib couldn't believe his luck. Not only did he sit next to the prettiest girl in homeroom, he had a class with her. A science class. He couldn't help but grin to himself as she took the seat next to him yet again, knowing he'd get a chance to show off. She returned his grin with a small, yet extremely warm smile. Dib could feel his heart melt. "So… uh, science. Cool, huh?" Rik giggled and turned towards the blackboard at the front of the class. He smacked himself with his text book. "Stupid! What a great first thing to say to someone! Why have an enormous brain if you're not going to use it? Think, moron! THINK!"

He spent all of class thinking of a way to talk to Rik. He needed to sound cool, suave and less Dib-like. He was in the middle of his imaginary first date with her when Mrs. Adams called his name. "Dib, honey… We're in science class here. You need to pay attention. I'm sure you're father wouldn't approve of this." She clucked, shaking her head in dismay. Again, Dib's forehead met with the text book.

"If you have trouble in science, I could help you." Dib turned to his right and locked eyes with Rik, she had an impish look on her face.

"I don't know how to say this…" Dib started, feeling his face blush slightly. He stopped. She was offering to tutor him. Not the way he imagined, but he'd take it. "Yeah. I have a lot of problems in science. Never really been good at it." He chuckled. Her smile grew. "I didn't realize you had an accent."

"Hm? Yeah. Australian." Rik answered, rolling her eyes. "Don't want to talk about it. So, how about we meet at lunch and we'll set up study dates?" Dib's face turned a darker red at the word "dates." He nodded in response.

"Oh yeah. That conversation went way better. Good job, Dib."

Zim tapped his pencil in an annoyed fashion. Halfway through English class, Mr. Wright shouted, "Zim! Knock of that irritating racket!" Zim looked up from his desk to find the entire class glaring at him and the teacher with his arms across his jelly-like belly.

Zim looked around at their faces before replying quietly, "Victory for Zim." He slouched in his chair, crossed his arms and threw his legs over the desk. Mr. Wright didn't seem to mind as long as he wasn't tapping a pencil.

Throughout the rest of class, the students took turns reading Romeo and Juliet in it's original play form. It almost seemed intentional that Zim be excluded, but he didn't care. He had already read the play years before hand out of boredom. The second the bell rang for lunch, Zim bolted out the door. He didn't know why, but he had to find Rik. He had to talk to her. Immediately after leaving the A building, he ran into fluffy pink thing. "You're in Zim's way!" He shouted instinctively.

"Well, maybe you're in my way." Rik yelled back, crossing her arms huffily. Zim couldn't help but notice her full chest.

He shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry. I did not see you there." Rik cheered right up and shot him a smile. Now was his chance to talk. "Would you care to join me for lunch?" She grinned again and took his arm.

Dib walked into the cafeteria, looking for Rik. He was shocked to see her sitting with his nemesis, Zim. What's worse, they were laughing. Genuinely laughing. She sat close to him and appeared to be actually enjoying his company. Angry and confused, Dib marched over to their table and slammed his hands upon it. "Hello, Zim." He spat.

"Dib." Zim replied.

"Hey, Dib. What's up?" Rik asked cheerfully.

"Well, I just stopped by to set up that date." He lowered himself onto the bench and leaned on his elbow. "Nice."

"Well, I was thinking we could meet at your house." Rik replied.

"No." Dib said curtly. "Not my house. Uh… my sister is such a distraction."

Zim laughed. "Oh yeah. Big time."

Dib glared at him. "How about yours?"

"Hm. Parents are hippies. We won't be able to concentrate." Rik stated. "Library? Say, five o'clock?"

"See you there."