Chapter 11

A/N: This chapter includes prep-bashing. If you're a prep, or like preps, don't read. Mm, yeah. PREP VIOLENCE! WOO! I mean, uh..bad. Very bad. Yes.

"Hey...If you can drive, how come you rode the bus home?"

"I was trying to spot Zim," she said simply.

"You're creepy," Zim informed her.

"So are you," she told him brightly, and took a right.

We were in the parking lot, and she drove around looking for a spot. Gak found one and promptly and pulled in.

We all got out of the car, though Zim had a problem. I opened it for him and he gave me a glance as his thank you.

I sneezed.

"Ugh," I said, "I think I'm getting sick." Zim looked horrified.

"Sick? As in...germs and..." he stopped, as if it were too disgusting to comprehend.

"Yeah."

Zim scrambled out of the car after this, and looked determined to stay away from me and my germs. I shut the door.

Gak was eyeing Zim, and looked glad he was closer to her than me. I felt my forehead and felt I was a bit too hot.

"I think I'm getting a fever," I mumbled, not really caring if nobody cared.

Gak looked at me and said, "Just don't give it to me."

My eye twitched. The love. It burned.

As we walked to the store, I didn't even check to see what store it was. Just as long as Gak and Zim weren't...being Zim and Gak, I think I'd be fine...I blinked as I saw a heat wave across the cars.

Whoa, everything's fuzzy...

I remember reading once that fevers were body heat boiling its own liquids. Great. I didn't feel too good after that thought...

We walked through the doors, and Zim had some trouble with the revolving of it, as it was one of those large glass things where it was powered mechanically. He kept looking behind him as the door got closer and I finally had to grab him before it hit him. He'd probably be screaming for hours after it if it hit him, anyways.

"Why does everybody have to touch Zim?" he complained.

I didn't really have an answer for that, I was trying to figure out where Hot Topic was and where to avoid it. I knew Hot Topic had a lot of Zimness in it, and if Zim went in there and saw all that...all hell would break lose. Especially since a lot of people in there probably liked Zim, and...fangirls. (And guys.)

"Oooh," Gak squealed as she saw something she liked and ran towards a store. Zim stared at her.

"Am I supposed to follow her?"

"No," I groaned and leaned up against a wall, closing my eyes.

"Zim is a leader. LEADER! Zim follows NO one!"

"I said—"

"NO ONE! Especially a huuuman!" he hissed.

"Sure."

"Are you..."

"What?" I opened one eye and stared at him.

"Eh, never mind," Zim said. "Why would I care?" He waved a gloved hand around nonchalantly.

"Care about what?" I asked, confused.

"Wait a sec..." I thought. "Were you going to ask me if I was all right?" I grinned.

"NO!" Zim said, looking around him as if people were eavesdropping.

I closed my eyes and waited.

Zim was muttering nondistinguishable things under his breath, so I paid no attention.

Gak came out a few minutes later, a happy grin on her face and her hands full of bags. "There's good stuff in there..."

"You know you guys, maybe we should go—"

"No!" Gak interrupted me. "This is awesome. Shopping with Zim. Wow."

Zim's eye twitched a couple times. "Be glad you have a posse," I told him.

"What is a 'posse'?"

"Peeps," I told him, loving I confused him even more.

"Oh. My. God. Look who it is," Gak said, pointing with one arm full of bags.

My eyes followed the invisible line and I practically gasped. Though it was real life. Seriously, in movies people gasped way too much...

It was a group of popular girls, all with bags. They were all around one store: Abercrombie & Fitch. (A/N: Okay, if this offends anybody...haha I don't care.)

But that wasn't all. The "leader" of the group, wearing the shortest skirt of them all, was of course, Carl's "on-break" girlfriend. She was on her cell phone, and when she saw me, she did not look too happy. Snapping it shut and putting it in her purse, she started walking towards me.

Her movements and her friend's movements were a little weird, as the fever was getting to my brain. I just closed one eye as I waited for her to come to a complete stop. (A/N: This reminds me of a bus.) She finally did, her friends around her looking pretty huffy. "So," she said, flipping one blonde curled hair over her shoulder and glaring at me.

"Wha?" I asked.

"Is she drunk or something?" an annoying high-pitched voice came from behind the "leader".

"No," snarled Gak. Ah, she was a good friend...I think.

I sneezed, and the blonde girl backed up, looking disgusted. So did Zim.

"Ha, look! Her friends don't even like her. How pathetic," another voice said.

Now this was really pissing me off.

Zim snarled right back, "I believe it is you, pathetic worm-baby, who is the pathetic one. Following after..." he pointed, "this one. Ha! Following. If you were independent enough, maybe you could lead yourself, like a real soldier."

Wow, Zim sticking up for me.

The leader eyed Zim. "This is none of your business...whoever you are—"

"I am ZIM!"

"Yeah, whatever. I'm, like, here for, like, Avi. Not, like, you."

"Why?" I asked through my haze. I felt like sitting down.

"Because you, like, hit on my bf."

It took me a while to figure out the abbreviation. I hated this fever...

"First of all," I started, "You should really start talking like a real person. Second of all"—I ignored their bursts of "hmpf!" and hip shifts and continued—"I did NOT hit on your boyfriend! He hit on me, and I already filed him for sexual harassment. Some boyfriend you have." I snorted, to show this.

"You slutty bitch!" she said, pointing at me, "You just can't, like, keep your hands off of other people's boyfriends, can you?"

I didn't expect the expletives till later, but I was prepared. I knew this group of girls always ganged up on people, using the amount of people they had in their group as their advantage to poor unsuspecting people just randomly doing something a public place.

I started laughing, because of how stupid it was.

"She's insane," one of the girls said. A couple nodded.

I didn't really know where Gak and Zim were anymore, though I knew they hadn't ditched me. I just couldn't see them, I was too focused on the group in front of me. Insane? Me? Though, maybe insane was wearing a lot of pink, too short of skirts and being totally fake...As if you'd want to put yourself through that. That was insane: being fake.

Yes, that's it, I told myself. I looked at them. I don't feel good, and I'm being harassed and insulted, for something I didn't do...I thought this over, once, twice, and after that I knew what I was going to do. I nodded.

No regrets! I told myself.

"What's your name?"

Though a little surprised, she replied, "Alyssa. Alyssa Gelagio."

"Mmm, yeah. Well, I've been wanting to do this for a while, Alyssa...To you, and your little..." I grinned at them. "Group. Tell your boyfriend I said hi."

And, with that said, I did a high kick and smacked her nose. She went down pretty hard, if I do say so myself...

That felt good, I idly thought.