Author's Note: I've tried to write this a few months ago, but something stopped me. Then the computer crashed and I lost all my data, so I have to rewrite it. Shit.
Anyway, this is very first story I've ever written for Invader Zim. It's weird, but I like weird. And Tia is NOT a Mary-Sue. She's anything but.
No flaming, or I'll have Zim send you to a room with a moose!
I don't own Invader Zim, just Tia and her affiliates.
===LINE BREAK OF DOOM===
I hate this. I hate it so much.
I stack several boxes up on my arms and carry them inside the house. Most of the boxes are mine. I'm careful with them as I place them in my room on my bare matteress.
We moved. Why to this backwater town with no name, I can't figure out. Something about my dad getting stationed here or some such nonsense. Sometimes I wish he wasn't a cop, and by sometimes, I mean most of the time.
Huffing in annoyance, I gently unpack my things; my stereo first and foremost. I set it up on my dresser and put in an Evanescence CD as I continue to set my room up. The only good thing I can see in this is that I finally get my own room, and I can make sure those drooling, moronic brats I have to call step-siblings stay far, far away from my door. Except perhaps my half-sister.
The walls of my new room are deep violet, the carpet black like the rest of the house. I have a ceiling fan and a large window with a window seat under it, the cushions on it a soft, leathery gray. My father and step-mother decided to give me the canopy bed and bought me white curtains, which I had previously dyed black. I hang my window curtains, also pitch black and somewhat see-through, up and set up some violet and black pillows on the seat. I throw my bedspread on, a purple silken, puffy comforter blanket with elegant black swirled designs everywhere.
By the time I finish setting up my room, it's nearly midnight. I can hear banging and yelling in the next room over. Why on Earth are those idiots still up? Shouldn't they be in bed by now? I pound with my fist on the wall where the shouts are coming from. "Keep it down in there!" I scream through the wall, vainly hoping they'd hear me. I suppose they do a little, because the ruckus calms and I can hear my music again. Nonetheless, I turn up my stereo and sit at the window.
This might be a disgusting little town, but the stars are still visible at least. I can make out a few constellations from my window, but I know that I'll see them a lot better on my roof.
"Tia!" comes my father's voice through the door. I growl ever-so-lightly and open the door. Dad hands me my guitar case. "You forgot this in the van," he says. He hates the fact that I play guitar, because he doesn't have any music abilities and neither did my mother. Still, after years of begging he bought me a guitar.
"Thanks," I say, and I close the door as he leaves. I sit back down by the window and stare at the night sky. The stars twinkle brilliantly and I can see a breeze blow through the tree in the front yard. I curl up behind the curtain and daydream of home.
I don't realize I've fallen asleep until I jolt awake at the sound of my door opening. It's my baby sister, Raemi. "Tia? I had a bad dream!" she whimpers quietly. I give the four-year-old one of my rare, kind smiles and turn off my stereo.
"What, you wanna sleep with me tonight?" I ask her. She nods, looking up at me innocently with those big blue eyes, and I feel my heart melt as she hugs me. I scoop her up in her pink Minnie Mouse pajamas and turn off my light as she rests her head on my shoulder and sighs tiredly.
I place her in my bed and pull the cover over us both. Light from the hallway floods into my room, and the yellow light reflects off Raemi's hair as she lays, her eyes closed and her breathing slow. I take a lock of the silky golden hair and twirl it around my finger.
Of all my family, Raemi is my favorite. I practically raised her and she's just such a sweetheart, even though she can be annoying when she's overly tired. We have more of a mother-daughter relationship than sister-sister. Most people thought I would be jealous of her when she was born, because she's so perfect. Blonde hair, blue eyes, everything any girl wants to be, and I'm very plain Jane, brown hair and brown eyes and a face full of freckles that I despise. The truth is, I fell in love with her. Raemi is the main reason I never ran away.
I peck her forehead and whisper, "Nighty-night, Babers."
The next day at Skool, which by the way is such a stupid name for a school, I find myself being led to a classroom by a staff member who obviously doesn't want to be here. I think of knocking as the staff leaves me to my entrance, but decide against it and turn the doorknob a little timidly. I wipe all emotion from my face and step inside.
All eyes are on me. Respectively. I should probably say something, but my lips feel like they're glued together. So I just stare back at the crowd of students for a moment.
The teacher, a hunched old hag by the name of Bitters if my memory serves me right, points at a purple-haired girl behind a thing with green skin and no ears or nose and barks something at her. The desk sinks into the ground, and returns quickly with the girl missing. I sit in the now empty seat and pull out my iPod. Bitters goes on about doom and I turn up the music in my ears.
As a habit, I stare around at the class, scanning everyone in sight. I realize that I'm the only one here who doesn't have strangely colored hair or some other physical attribute that's odd. I smile inwardly.
My gaze turns to the green thing in front of me. His shiny black hair is so fake it isn't even funny, and he wears a metal backpack. Though I think that's cool, I still find it curious. Suddenly inspired by the obvious alien, I take out my notebook and pencil and begin writing.
The lunch bell rings, and I've already written almost three pages.
I enter the cafeteria. The line for lunch is a little long, and the rows of tables are filling up with kids. I try not to gag as the odor of the food fills my nose. Not like I would've eaten anyway, I think as I pass by the line and sit at a table that's almost empty. Sitting at the end away from me, playing a Game Slave 2, is a short girl with stiff violet hair. She squints at the screen as her finger fly across the control panel. She wears a black dress and a skull necklace. I want to smile at her, but she's not looking at me and my mouth is frozen in an indifferent line. I start to write again, another idea coming to mind.
I hardly notice a boy sitting down next to the girl. It isn't until I feel his stare that I look up at him. His golden brown eyes are locked on me, and I give him a slight glare of irritation. I'm used to people staring at me, but this was ridiculous. "Why aren't you eating?" he asks me, his tone suspicious. I roll my eyes.
"Not hungry," I mutter, returning to my writings. He continues to gaze at me. I can feel his eyes searing into my skull, and I can't take it for very long. "It reeks over here. I'm going by the window," I announce bitterly, shutting my notebook and storming off to another empty table by the back. I sit down facing the windows. The red sky seems to mock me and I frown angrily at it, then slam my notebook down and restart writing. I put my earbuds in my ears and turn it up so that my head throbs with the beat. It hurts my eardrums, but I don't care.
After some time, I feel someone start to pull the bud out of my ear. Reflexively I catch the hand that has a hold on the wire and squeeze it tightly. Nobody touches my iPod. I release the hand and pull an earbud out. "What," I growl, now pissed, "do you want?"
"Leave Zim's table!" It was the green alien thing from class. I blinked, thinking.
"I don't think I will," I say, suddenly calm. I return to my notebook, but the alien slammed his hand on my paper.
"Move NOW, filthy stink-worm!" he demanded. "Zim demands it!"
"Oh yeah?" I snort. "Zim and what army?" I pop the earbuds back in and ignore him for the rest of lunch.
During the rest of school, I sit quietly and listen to my iPod. I lost my divine inspiration for writing after I got to a point, so now I just stay still, eyes closed, and I whisper silently along with the song. "I will not make the same mistakes that you did, I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery," I murmur as quietly as I can.
I feel a sudden chill come over me as a shadow covers me. I send a dark glare up at the person blocking the light. It's the teacher, Bitters. "Yea?" I say nonchlantly. She glowers at me, her eyes seeming to glow.
"No singing in class!" she snaps. I look around. Everyone has their eyes on me, even the alien. Was I really singing that loudly? Being me, I have to give an unkind answer.
"I like to sing," I retort grumpily, returning to my song. "Don't bother me."
I hear gasping from everyone in the room. Bitters growls at my not-so-fearful reaction to her and slithers back to the desk.
"Well, if you like to sing so much, come up here and sing that song to everyone!" she snarls. I freeze. I have terrible stage fright. I can't even sing in front of my parents. But I love singing. And I really don't want to get in any more trouble-it's the first day! So I slowly get to my feet and march up to the front of the class. I restart to the song my iPod and wait for the intro to finish. I stare at the class. Every single one of them is gazing back, and I feel a strange creeping in my stomach.
The words start, and I open my mouth, but nothing comes. I clear my throat and start again, but it's scratchy and quiet so I can barely it. My mouth is sudden dry, so I swallow and try again, but this time my voice breaks and I squeak the words out. I feel heat come to my cheeks. "Um..." I've forgotten the words to my favorite song! My knees shake and I want to go and hide, but my feet feel like they're frozen to the tile floor. The creeping in my stomach has turned to violent churning and I feel something come up my throat. My mouth starts to water and I unglue my feet from the floor to make a mad dash for the trash can.
I vomit up stomach acid, since I haven't eaten today, and it tastes nastier than when there's food mixed in. It burns my tongue and the roof of my mouth and I shudder when I'm finished. Man, I hate puking!
"Dib!" Bitters shouts at the black-haired boy from lunch. "Take her to the nurse's office!" I'd rather the alien take me, but Dib obeys her and helps me to my trembling feet.
"That was mortifying," I whisper to myself as I wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my hoodie. Dib leads me down the hall in silence. Maybe he understands how embaressed I am.
"What's your name?" he asks me after a few moments. I want to ignore him, but my head is pounding and he's just going to keep asking if I don't answer him.
"Tia," I say in a small, raspy whisper. I stop by a fountain and take a drink. At least the water isn't too bad. My mouth and throat feel like they're on fire, even when I swallow the water, and I sigh. I'm shivering everywhere. I want to go home.
Dib tilts his head to the left. "You okay?" he asks. I cast a half-hearted look of annoyance at him.
"Do I look okay to you? I just puked!" I huff. I lean on the wall and close my eyes in pain. I hurt everywhere. My stomach feels like it's eating itself, I can't stop shaking, and I can feel a migrane coming on. I feel like I'm dying, but I don't want to go to the nurse. I hate nurse's offices. It's as close to a psych ward as a drug rehab, plus it smells like sick people.
I don't remember sliding down the wall to the floor, but somehow I'm here. "God, I hate stage fright," I whimper to my hands. I sigh again. "I just wanna ditch." This is why I don't perform.
Dib is at my side. "You wanna go to the nurse?" he asks me, almost kindly. I shake my head, but the world spins around me when I do. My temples throb, but I can't do anything about it. I don't have any meds on me. And even if I did, I wouldn't take them.
"I want outta here," I whisper. I force myself to stand up, which makes everything sway for a moment, and I stumble to the front doors of the building. I turn to Dib, who followed me. "Where's the closest park?" I demand. I'll feel much better in a tree. Dib points northwest and I follow his finger.
It's a small park, but it's got trees and monkeybars and a running track, so I'm happy. It kind of reminds me of my park at home. I find a sturdy tree with low-reaching branches and scramble up, already feeling better. At the top, I see the city in the distance. Besides that, there's nothing on the horizon. No mountains, no mesas, no rivers. Nothing.
I miss New Mexico.
===LINE BREAK OF DOOM===
Okay, it's kind of a ramble. I got bored, alright?
Review or eat a bulimic.