Bullied

"Look at him over there," Chunk said, nudging Torque and pointing at Dib. The teenager was leaning close to his desk, extremely focused on writing something. "The report's not even due for a week… what a nerd."

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Torque replied. He stopped lifting weights for a second and put them on his desk. "We should beat him up after class."

"Hmm… well, it's been a while since I slammed a nerd's face into a locker," Chunk commented, nodding.

"Class is over in ten minutes. We'll get him on the way to lunch." Torque chose a ten-pound weight and started lifting that in one hand, watching Dib with distaste.

Dib finished writing, looked over the paper, and nodded, taking out his laptop to start writing the final draft.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom, Zim was leaning back in his seat with his feet propped up on the desk and a notebook on his knees, mostly doodling instead of writing like he was supposed to be. He glanced at the teacher, but she was ignoring the class, letting them do whatever work they wanted to until the end of the period. He smirked and went back to drawing. He was designing his next invention. He wasn't sure what it would do yet… but it would certainly be something amazing and mankind-destroying.

Soon, the bell was ringing. Zim put the notebook in his backpack and pulled it onto his back, in no hurry to go to lunch. The food at the Hi-Skool was considerably better than what he's had to eat in previous years… but it was still pretty unimpressive.

Dib shut his laptop down and slid it into his backpack.

Chunk and Torque quickly got up to leave the class ahead of him so they could ambush him in the hall.

A few moments later, Dib put his backpack on and walked out.

The two boys were waiting for him. They grabbed him, one to each arm, and pushed him into the nearest row of lockers.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to pull free.

"We were bored and decided to pick on a scrawny nerd," Chunk replied. "In other words, you."

Dib sighed; he was far too used to this. He nimbly twisted sideways in their grip, kicking Torque in the stomach. The boy's grip faltered as he doubled over slightly, allowing Dib to yank that arm free and shove at Chunk. Chunk punched him in the face so hard that one of his teeth chipped.

He didn't make a sound, though, pulling his other arm away and trying to walk away. But by then, Torque had recovered. He put him in a headlock and held him still while Chunk kicked his legs out from under him.

By now, other students had crowded around to watch. They always enjoyed seeing people get beat up… and since it was Dib, the crazy, paranormal-obsessed freak, it was even better.

Dib struggled; one bully, he could handle. But when it was two, he had trouble. Torque's hold was unrelenting, and Chunk's blows weren't lessening. He was just starting to consider calling for a teacher when a familiar voice said, "Hey, get your filthy hands off him!"

"Zim?" Dib asked, trying to turn his head far enough to see him.

A second later, though, he didn't have to.

There was a shout of pain and the punches to his face and shoulders abruptly stopped. Then Zim ran into Dib's field of view, delivered a swift uppercut to Torque's jaw, and yanked Dib out of his grip. He pushed him aside and held his fists up, ready to fight.

"Forget this," Chunk said, picking himself up off the ground and wiping blood from his mouth. "Let's get out of here." He and Torque ran, pushing through the ring of spectators.

Zim hissed after them. "Yeah, you better run!" He stalked over to Dib and grabbed his shirt, shaking him roughly. "Only I am allowed to hurt you, understand?"

"Oh, I understand," Dib replied, smirking at him. "I just didn't know you cared so much."

"I don't care about you!"

"Well, you did just save me from those two… that kinda means you care. You could have just left me to get beat up."

Zim couldn't really think of a good response, so he settled with, "Well, your face is stupid!" He let go of him and started off down the hall.

Dib waited until the other students had cleared off before chasing after him and grabbing his shoulders, spinning him around to face him. "Hey, space-boy."

Zim clenched his fists and glared up at him. "What?"

Dib leaned down to give him a tight hug. "Thanks."

Zim shoved him away, baring his teeth. Then his look softened and he turned away. "It was nothing. No one touches my enemy."

"And I know how much you secretly like me, so I just wanted to say, I'm fine with that."

"I don't like you!"

"Denial!"

"Shut up!" Zim headed for the cafeteria.

Dib grinned and walked behind him. "Aw, looks like the alien scum has some feelings for a lowly human."

"I do not!"

"Come on, admit it."

"No!"

"You're so cute when you're in denial."

Zim growled in frustration and broke into a run. Dib let him go, laughing as he followed at his own pace. It was so easy to annoy him. He knew that deep down, Zim cared about him… but getting him to admit it seemed to be impossible. Still, it was good for some laughs.

He gingerly touched the bruises on his face where Chunk had punched him. He knew Zim had saved him for selfish reasons, but he couldn't help feeling grateful toward him. Maybe that irken wasn't so bad after all.