The day was sunny. A few beams of light shone in through the blinds in the classroom. Through cracks and crevices in them, to brighten the room as minimally as possible and keep the sun's heated rays out. A few teenagers waved at themselves in a vain attempt to cool down. Others took off articles of clothing such as jerseys or doubled shirts, and some went so far as to actually remove their shirt and hide in the back of the classroom. Not that the teacher was paying much attention, she was too busy being sprawled out on her desk, ranting at the children about the school's budget.

"...and those Goddamn cameras. Ha! If a kid wants to skip or some shit, who cares? It's their future!" and on she went. Her blonde hair clung to her face in sweaty clumps, and her mascara was running. Dib Membrane smirked as it ran into her lipstick. Why on earth would she wear make up that wasn't waterproof on such a hot day? It made no sense to him, especially since the air conditioning had been broken since last October.

The classroom didn't really have any choice but to listen to her ramblings until the end of the day. It was final period, the day almost over, the big hand creeping along to the eight. Almost there, eight minutes left, seven, six.

Dib wasn't watching the clock like every other student in the room. He was preoccupied with the papers in front of him. Homework. He was trying to get it all done before the end of the day so he wouldn't have to do much when he got home. He wanted to have some free time so he could go on IRC later with the Swollen Eyeballs and discuss the findings he had on some recent sightings of a monster at Lake Spooky. His pencil ran along the page swiftly as he scrambled to finish before the final bell. He only had a few math problems left to do, and he was positive that he could finish before class was over-

The bell rang loudly. Kids scrambled to pull back on clothing, others tore out of the classroom while the teacher waved them off apathetically, sighing when nearly everyone was gone. Dib took his time putting things back into his bag. Despite how hot it was in the classroom, it was even hotter outside. He was not looking forward to the walk home and cursed himself silently for opting to take his driving classes next session.

"Hey Dib," he glanced up to see the teacher squinting at him tiredly. The boy sighed silently and walked over to her desk as the last few stragglers left the classroom.

"Ma'am?"

"Can you do me a favor tomorrow?" she asked, looking at the blinds. He frowned. Of course he'd get stuck with something like this. He couldn't really refuse, and he wouldn't anyway. It's not like he had anything better to do...Oh, wait.

"What is it?" he asked, and her eyes traveled back to him. She made a noise and slid off her desk.

"I can't trust anyone else to do this, they'd probably just fuck it up," she said and circled her desk, sitting in her chair and assuming a professional visage, "A new student came in today and registered, but he can't start until tomorrow. He was very insistent about that," she made a face, and Dib could guess this student annoyed her somehow, "Anyway, I was told to find someone to show him around tomorrow morning. Can you do this for me? You'll miss your first hour if you drag it out, you know," she smiled conspiratorially and he smiled back. She was by far his favorite teacher.

"Yeah, sure," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he spoke, "What do I do?"

"See me tomorrow morning to get a note," she picked up her own bag, sliding a few notebooks into it and what looked like her lesson plan, "and then head to the office. When you get there show them the note and then just give the kid a tour. Take him to get his ID. Take your time. It's a big school."

She shrugged and grabbed her keys, grinning tiredly at him through her running make-up. He wondered briefly if she'd gotten much sleep the night before.

"Alright, sounds good," They started for the door but Dib stopped, back-tracking and grabbing a few tissues. He turned back to her inquisitive look and handed them over, "I'd stop by the bathroom first and, uh, fix your make-up."

She laughed, thanked him, and the two left the classroom, him trudging to the front doors and she to the woman's bathroom.

The sun was even worse outside. He walked through the crowds of people, feeling sick with what might have been heat stroke. Dib spotted a nice shady tree and crossed the grounds to it, plopping down beneath it, groaning. He hated this time of year. It was only spring, but it was as hot as summer. And summer was even worse than this. He never ventured outside during the summer unless it was at night. And even then the nights were boiling hot.

"I hate this time of year," he muttered quietly, and heard a snort near him. Starting, he glanced around, but saw no one near him. He assumed it was just his imagination and leaned back once more, watching some kids who were walking by in silence.

"I hate it too," said a nasal voice. Dib sat up straight, looking around wildly once again, and then-incredulously-up. There he spotted a boy perched in the tree, frowning unpleasantly down at him. The boy had on a bright red shirt that was striped thinly with black. His sleeves were pink and flared at the top in a weird, futuristic way. Or how future was thought to be in the seventies. The neck of the shirt was pink too, and jutted up to cover his neck and chin partially. His pants were black and form-fitting. He wore black boots and gloves that matched his raven hair, which fell haphazardly over his head. Piercing violet eyes stared (glared) down at Dib.

"How are you not cooking in those clothes?" Dib asked, shocked. This brought a smirk out of the other, though it didn't make him look any friendlier. He didn't answer, instead leaning back on the branch and studying Dib. The boy on the ground studied the one in the tree too, taking in his green skin and nose-less face. Spotting something off about his hands and realizing he only had three fingers on each. Dib gulped, his heart beating a little faster than before. The green-skinned boy's smile faded slowly as he eyed Dib, and he spoke after a moment.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Dib had nearly forgotten that he had asked a question, focused as he was at trying not to stare at the teenager's obvious disfigurements.

"Oh-oh..." he glanced away and back, also noting how very thin the other was. The shadows under his purple eyes. How very little of his skin he showed, as if careful to hide himself from the world. Even his hair covered most of his face. Dib imagined that if he saw the other walking from behind, he would think nothing of him, assuming the other's hands were safely tucked away in his pockets.

"I don't appreciate you staring at me either," the boy in the tree said, glancing away this time angrily. Dib caught himself and face-palmed.

"I'm-I'm sorry," he said, clearing his throat. For a moment he forgot that it was boiling outside and looked up again at the other boy, "I, uh, haven't seen you around school," he said. I would have remembered, he didn't say.

"I'm new. I was waiting to see what the creatures that infect this building look like before leaving. The days are long, but not as long as they should be, in my opinion," he scoffed, "I've been to "school" that runs for days at a time and is much harsher than this one. Both in teaching and in the conditions it is set in."

"Uh," Dib frowned up at the other, who was glaring off into space now. It looked like everything he saw displeased him. Dib wasn't really sure what to say to him after that, and decided to wing it with the first thing that popped into his head, "But you haven't even been here yet," he pointed out.

"I've done my research, human," he said, sneering down at Dib. Something clicked into place then and he blurted what he was thinking before he had a chance to stop and realize what he was saying.

"Are you an alien?" he exclaimed, and then turned bright pink. The other's eyes widened almost comically, and he simply stared at Dib for a moment, eyes wide and face blank. Dib's mouth was open, just hanging there in the silence. Nobody spoke for a long time, but the other's left hand twitched in the direction of his right wrist, "I'm so sorry!" Dib said loudly. If he were a child he wouldn't have been sorry. He probably would have been nothing but paranoid. He wasn't a kid anymore, though, and it wasn't good to go around shouting those types of things at people, "I didn't mean to... Please don't hold this against me... I have to go!"

He quickly gathered his bag and stood, walking away from the scene of yet another embarrassment swiftly. When would he stop making an ass out of himself?

A/N: Just an experiment, I guess. I don't really like how this turned out, but I'll see how it goes... I have the rest of this vaguely planned out. If this gets a positive reaction, I'll continue it. I'll also get to work on finishing that Bully fic sometime soon. Anyway, please review.