Dib came home one day after a having a very bad day at school. This particular day had been worse than most. Normally, his classmates would call him weird, crazy, or make fun of his huge head and stuff like that.
But this time around, one of his tormentors, Torque Smackey, had been angrier than usual, but Dib couldn't figure out why, no matter how hard he thought about it. None of his other classmates did anything to help him. Why would they? They probably hated him just as much as Torque did.
Then Dib's thoughts turned to Zim. He had been there, too, amongst the crowd, watching his rival get beaten up and spit upon. For some strange reason, Dib had thought that Zim would help him. It was stupid of him to think that, of course, since Zim hated Dib more than anyone else in his school.
Flashback: Dib was working on an invention to try and stop Zim from taking over the world. He hoped it worked this time. Last time it had almost exploded. He had fiddled with it for a while and managed to fix it at the last second, but still had to test it again to make sure everything was working properly.
As he began to test it, Torque and a few other kids walked up to him. Just by looking at them Dib knew they had malicious intentions. Dib tried to ignore them, hoping they'd go away. "Hey, freak. Whatcha working on?" Torque asked rather loudly. Dib stayed quiet. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Torque smacked the device out of Dib's hands, breaking it when it hit the ground.
Dib looked up at him. "I don't want any trouble, Torque." He muttered. The kids surrounding him laughed, as did Torque. "Well, trouble seems to have found you." He grabbed Dib and slammed him against the wall, making him see stars for a second. "Next time, answer me when I speak to you. Got that, freak?"
Dib nodded slowly. Torque smiled. "Good. I think we're done here. Don't forget what I said." As a final insult to his prey, Torque spit on him. The kids laughed again, then departed. Dib wiped the slivia from his face, balling his hands into fists as he mumbled, "You don't scare me."
Hearing the response, Torque stopped walking and turned around. Trotting back over to Dib, he snarled, "You wanna say that again?" Dib remained silent again, not wanting to provoke him any further. Torque eventually walked off, leaving Dib alone for the moment.
Dib tried not to cry, not here, in front of everyone. He had to be tough, had to be strong. The truth was, he was scared of Torque and his friends. He wished his tormentors would just die. He hated them so much! Then, to make matters even worse, Zim decided to show up. Laughing, Zim said, "Well, Stink-Meat, it looks like you finally got what you deserved for crossing the Almighty ZIIIM!"
Pocking up the shattered remains of his invention, Dib looked up at him from the ground. "This has nothing to do with you, Zim. Just go away. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." Zim walked off after spouting a few more insults in Dib's direction. After the bus arrived, Dib sat away from the others, by himself, as he always did after school. –End of flashback.
Dib went to his room and shut the door. He let himself cry freely, overwhelmed by the days events. He eventually fell asleep, knowing that tomorrow would go the same way as today. But he didn't know that a certain someone was going to help him get through tomorrow.
A/N: This story is based upon my own experiences of being bullied in school, before I graduated. Also, sorry if I didn't do the flashback sequence right. This is my first attempt at a story with flashbacks. Anyway, what did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story!