**Introduction**
I'm Rem, Remliss Nadie… I wasn't always called that, however. Before, I was Remliss Salvatore. No, I didn't get married, or go into the witness protection program. 9_9 It all started…
With an alien.
I think I should start at the beginning for this to make any sense… I started creating and writing stories of "myself" about a year ago. The stories I would write were about the Almighty Tallests' sister, Rem, who just happened to grow taller than the both of them while they were away. Of course, Red and Purple didn't want their sister to be the Almighty Tallest, so they locked her in a dungeon for four years, just to get her out of the way. (Eh, how nice.)
Sometime durring the end of those 4 years, back on earth, Dib infiltrates Zim's lab during a blackout and destroys everything, including Gir, and gets very close to destroying Zim.
And all with a wooden baseball bat. Dib just never ceases to amaze, doesn't he?
So, Zim grabs the broken Gir and runs away to the city where he finds shelter working as a Chicky Licky employee, sending regular help signals to Red and Purple for backup.
Anyway, Red and Purple finally get really annoyed by Zim's all-too-frequent help calls, so they get this great idea to "help" Zim AND get rid of the lurking Rem by sending Rem to earth to help Zim with his little dilemma. The Tallest give Rem a Sir unit, a Voot Runner and send her away to Earth.
To put the rest in an even bigger blur, Rem gets to earth, helps Zim battle Dib (who doesn't really get defeated, just seems to, but then "gets better."), helps Zim fix his base and is Zim's new roommate. By that time Rem's feeling pretty good about her "huge accomplishment," but of course she soon realizes that she was also tricked by Red and Purple, and was only sent to Earth as permanent banishment from Irk.
And then she goes kind of insane.
The rest is just various episodes of Zim and Rem - doin' STUFF!!
Can you tell it's totally fake yet? I mean think about it - There is no WAY that Rem could be the Tallest's sister, because Irkens are born in mass spawning labs, and none of them have any real parents or direct relatives…
Anyway, I am Rem.
The real Rem, not the one I write about in stories. Those stories are nothing but me lying to myself. Simply nothing more than the ways I wish my life were. Or would have been.
You may be wondering to yourself, "Wait a minute, why would you want her life? Didn't you just tell me how horrible Rem's life was? You're crazy."
Well, maybe I am. You'll just have to decide that for yourself.
It's true, in my stories Rem does lead a fairly tragic life. However, compared to my real life, it's nothing.
Nothing at all.
You want to hear the real story?
Fine.
I am Rem.
And this is my story.
**(the great assigning)**
Somewhere in The galaxies, somewhere billions and billions of miles away from Earth, lay a planet.
Planet Conventia.
On this planet the fate of the universe is being given out to the 18 invaders of Irk, each with their own assignment. The invaders were to go to their assigned planets and discover its weaknesses. Then, the Armada would come to do an "organic sweep", destroying all life on that planet. The planet's inhabitants would either be either enslaved or killed, and the planet would be claimed as Irken property and rebuilt to fit whatever purpose Irk had set aside for it.
This method of conquest was what made Irk such a powerful empire. It always worked, and the planet they were invading never suspected a thing.
However, somewhere in this meeting on Conventia, this "Great Assigning" as it was called, something went wrong. One Irken who shouldn't have come showed up and demanded his own planet to conquer.
Zim.
Zim, who was banished from Irk years ago for attempting to destroy his own planet with a Frontline BattleMech. He was sent to Foodcourtia for this, but he "quit" being banished when he heard about the Great Assigning.
Obviously, the Almighty Tallest didn't approve of this, so they sent Zim to Earth, a useless space-rock with stupid inhabitants incapable of interplanetary communication.
All Zim was given was an idiot SIR unit, called Gir, and a cheap Voot Runner. Nevertheless, Zim took want he was given and set out to conquer Earth.
Back on Earth, safe in my own room, I had no clue how much impact this little Irken would have on my life.
**Chapter 1**
**(when Rem met Zim)**
"Have you seen the new kid?"
"What new kid?"
"The one in Ms. Bitters class. Good LORD, you wouldn't believe how weird lookin' he is!!"
I half smiled at my friend 15. "Hey, that's not cool… But what's he look like?" I asked.
"He's all green! And he doesn't have a nose OR ears!"
"Really?" I asked skeptically "Okay, that IS weird!"
"And ya know what? He says it's a skin condition," said 15.
"Ugh, I hope it's not contagious! I'd just die if I was all green!" I scrunched up my eyes and stuck out my tongue at 15 in partial disgust.
"So, what's his name?" I asked 15, my expression changing suddenly.
"Zim." he replied
"Zim? That's a weird name…" I stated.
"Your'e one to talk, Rem!" 15 said playfully.
"At least I'm not named after a number!" I said. At that we both burst out laughing. Sometimes, It seemed, 15 went LOOKING for me to ridicule him. 15 and I were best friends, but if you didn't know that, you'd think we were perhaps worst enemies. We loved to make fun of each other and play practical jokes on one another. Sometimes… Well, lots of times we would get together and do the same things to other people. Sometimes it was really funny, but other times we got in a lot of trouble.
After a few seconds the laughter died down and we were left sitting there in silence. I looked down at the other children playing on the blacktop below us. Some children were playing with jump ropes or sports equipment, while others just sat around and talked. There were always the odd ones though, like the "rejects" that sat under this dead tree and sulked, or Torque Smacky who just stood around and lifted stuff. (Unless he was busy beating up some smaller kid)
And then there was 15 and me. We sat on this huge stone windowsill way above the playground and watched the other kids, or just talked. And yes, I DID say windowsill. Every lunch period we would climb up there using an old fire escape ladder that led up to the roof, but passed our windowsill along the way. It was one of those ladders that had the big metal guard-door thingy on the front, but all we had to do was climb up until we got to the guard and then just switch around so we were climbing on the back of the ladder, behind the guard. Then all we had to do was climb all the way up and hop off at the windowsill.
That windowsill was our place, and no one else could have it. None of the teachers made us leave, mostly because they didn't care whatever the heck us kids were doing out here. The other children didn't dare even touch the windowsill, for fear that we'd get back at them. Now, if you just looked at 15 and me for the first time, you'd think we were just harmless kids. A little creepy looking maybe, but harmless.
I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.
How should I explain this?… Let's just say that if the whole school was a jungle and all the kids were animals, the popular people would be peacocks, the rejects would be slugs, (Whee! slugs!) and 15 and I would be the black widows.
Just tiny, insignificant, harmless looking things that sat in their windowsill web and usually kept to themselves. But never prod at a black widow.
If you ever did something nasty to us, we'd come back at you with ten times as much venom. Spider venom. We would find some way to get revenge, but never violently. It would be sneakily, done in some way that the victim would never forget.
For example, one time in third grade a girl named Mary Marinson told me that the pet lizard I had brought to skool was the ugliest thing alive. At recess that day, 15 and I got together and slipped the lizard down the back of Mary's frilly little pink dress.
It was a day to remember.
Suddenly, 15 nudged me, interrupting my thoughts. "There, that's him," he said. "Right there." He pointed a finger out toward the playground, directly to the back chain-link fence where a green kid seemed to be arguing heavily with a boy named Dib.
"Yeah, that's Zim. I saw him for the first time yesterday after skool, getting chased by Dib." said 15.
I squinted the tiniest bit. "Why, what's Dib got against Zim?" I asked.
15 smiled ever so slightly, never taking his eyes off Zim or Dib. "Well… Dib thinks Zim's an alien," he said.
I glanced at 15 out of the corner of my eye, then looked back to Zim and Dib (still arguing).
"Really?" I asked.
"Really. Man, that Dib's so insane!" said 15, leaning back against the window and chuckling lightly.
I looked up at the grayish sky and laughed as well. I had to agree with 15, Dib was pretty crazy, but maybe that was why I liked him.
Crazy Dib, the paranormal junkie. That was how everyone knew him.
I've gotta confess, though, my one true weakness is anything fantasy, so I love the paranormal as well. Not nearly as much as Dib, however. Dragons and magic were more my thing.
Dib was always fun to chat with, though. If you gave him the chance, he would go on and on about the theories of the unknown.
Some people called it annoying. I called it amazing.
But I never told anyone that I thought Dib was kinda cool. Think about it, if you were even seen with the insane kid for two days in a row, people would start to wonder if you were insane. And true insanity is not a good quality in junior high.
So, even though I somewhat wanted to, I never got to learn what Dib was really like. Never got to be a friend to the smart, sad-looking boy who sat alone, ate lunch alone, wondered the mysteries of the universe alone. Never got to learn what he really knew…
So there he was. Dib, the insane one, cornering the new kid and yelling at him, inches away from his little green face.
"Hm…" I said, "I think now would be a good time to send out the welcome wagon, don't you?" I said to 15, with a sly grin.
"Oh yeah… I almost forget about that." 15 said. "After you." He pointed his hand out towards the fire escape ladder, grinning the whole time.
I nodded slightly, I'm not sure if 15 even noticed, and grabbed the edge of the ladder. With one thrust, I swung onto the ladder and grabbed hold of the edges. My feet scrambled for a second, then found their way to the edge of the ladder as well. I slid down the ladder, all the way down over the metal guard, landing with a thump.
15 reached his head over the edge of the windowsill. "You're really graceful, did 'cha know? You should take ballet," he said, oozing with sarcasm. He was still grinning as he slid down, much more gracefully than I had. Show off.
I smirked at him. "I did, when I was about seven"
"What happened?" 15 asked.
"Um, they kicked me out foe attempting to tie-die my rental tutu, since I had just learned how, and for -- well, having no balance or coordination whatsoever." I said, then I smirked again.
"I kinda figured that, Klutzy. C'mon, looks like Dib's about to eat Zim." 15 said.
I followed close behind 15's quick pace, and looked over at the battling Dib and Zim. When we got right next to them, I poked Dib in the back. "Hey Dib, what's up?" I asked.
Dib glanced at us then immediately turned back to Zim, not really caring that we were there. "Not now, Rem, I--"
Suddenly Dib's eyes snapped open as wide as they would go, and he whirled around to face us.
"15!! Oh, um… Rem, 15, h-hi." Dib smiled at 15 nervously, then glanced at me and gave me one of those "what the heck are you doing?!?" looks, then instantly went back to grinning at 15 uneasily.
"Wha- what's up?" Dib asked to me mostly, glancing over to 15 at regular intervals.
"Ah, nothing'," 15 answered "But what's up with you Dib, you look kind of nervous." 15 grinned at Dib, knowing exactly why Dib was so jittery around him.
I jabbed 15 in the ribs. "Cut it out 15," I muttered. "Dib, you don't still think that 15's a vampire, do you?" I said to Dib
"Of course he is! Just look at his horrible fangs!!" Dib squealed, pointing at 15's grin (which grew wider.)
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Dib! Those are natural teeth that just grew in over his canines! Get over it! Honestly, sometimes you -- Hey where're YOU going?"
I had noticed out of the corner of my eye that Zim was slowly making his way away from us while Dib was distracted my 15's pointy teeth.
"I'm Rem, and that's 15..." Zim stopped in his tracks and whirled around, looking me directly in the eyes. That strong gaze surprised me, it was so forceful. He squinted slightly, obviously sizing me up.
"Well, um, I guess you already met Dib…" I stammered.
Zim's eyes softened slightly, and one of his patented false grins spread across his unusually green face.
"Ah yes, the Dib." Said Zim. "I'm afraid I have met him…"
"Well, if ya want us to show ya around --" I began, but was suddenly cut off by Zim.
"Your feeble attempt at communication is flattering, however I am quite capable at navigating this "skool" on my own. Seeya!" he said. With a flick of the wrist, he whirled around and marched off.
"Oh. Well, if you ever just… y'know… want to talk, I'm up in the abandoned windowsill pat the fire escape. Stop by sometime."
Zim slowed down his pace slightly, then stopped. He turned his head and glanced at me over his shoulder. "Perhaps… I'll do that someday Rem. Perhaps so." He turned back around, snickering slightly, a look of… superiority on his face. As he walked off, I tilted my head slightly, wondering about this utter stranger.
Suddenly, Dib practically jumped on me. "Do you have any IDEA what you just did?!? I KNOW that look he just gave you! He's planning something now, thanks to you! GAAH, We're all doomed!"
Dib ran off in the direction that Zim walked away, and I was left standing there in disbelieving silence with 15.
~*~
"What were you thinking?!?" 15 hissed at me as we walked to class together. "You just invited him to our windowsill?"
"Please, 15, you don't think Zim's an alien too, do you? And besides, I didn't really invite him, I just --"
"That windowsill is ours Rem! You start inviting total freakos, and pretty soon the whole place is CRAWLING with creepies!" 15 yelled at me, causing much of the students in the crowded hallway to glance over at us oddly.
"Jeez, c'mon 15 I was just -- Tsk, I don't know!"
"Just WHAT Rem, Just WHAT?!? 15 screamed at me.
"I…" I saw my classroom door out of the corner of my eye and I swung toward it. "I've gotta go!" I said hurriedly at 15, rushing through the door as quickly as I could. I closed the door swiftly behind me, and peeking out through the tiny window on the door I could see 15 walking away, looking over at the door in disgust.
I turned away from the door just as the bell rang and took my seat. Leaning back in my chair that I had chosen in the far left corner, I watched as my monotone teacher, Mr. Cazorp, got up from his desk and began to drawl out some instructions to the class. I watched the kids get out their math papers and books, watched them scribble away… but I didn't really see any of it.
15 had never gotten so mad at me before. We had little squabbles before, but never like what just happened…
Mr. Cazorp got up from his desk and walked out, instantly sending the class into pandemonium. Kids were talking and walking around, not caring at all about what they were supposed to be doing.
I was still seated, still zoning, when I realized something. I sprung up from my desk and walked a few paces forward. I scrunched down and tapped three times on a tiny, almost unnoticeable dot I had put on the wall, and waited for a reply.
*tap tap tap…* "Rem, that you?" I heard the muffled, faint whispering voice of Zita from the other side of the wall.
"Yeah." I answered. " Hey, where's Zim sitting? He's in your class, right?"
"Yeah, he is. He's sitting right in front of me, unfortunately. Why?"
"Um, no reason. Talk to ya later." I quickly ended out conversation and skooched up a bit, to about where Zim should be sitting. I marked the area with another tiny dot from a pencil I was holding and sauntered back to my seat.
I plopped in my chair, staring at the classroom door where Mr. Cazorp had exited a few minutes before…
*SLAM!*
The classroom door swung open and slammed against the wall, making me jump so hard, I banged my elbow on the edge of the desk. While I was muttering in pain, I noticed that the other kids had zoomed back to their desks before our teacher (off in his own little morbid world in his mind) noticed we were even up.
I shot my hand up into the air the second Mr. Cazorp got to his desk. He looked over to my raised hand and his face drooped, obviously not rejoicing at the fact that he had to actually speak to one of his students.
"Hmm… Yes, Remliss?" He asked in his unmatchable sleepy drawl.
I cringed a bit at the mention of my full name, but I bared with it. I had some conning to do.
"Yeah… Mr. Cazorp? It's kinda hard to see all the way back here, so could I maybe move a bit closer? I don't want to miss any important stuff, you know."
I smiled innocently, trying to be as annoying as possible.
Mr. Cazorp is one of those teachers with the "leave me alone kid, I don't want to deal with you now" attitude. I knew that if I was persistent enough…
"Yes, Remliss. Just as long as you can see." Mr. Cazorp leaned back in his chair and watched me with sleepy eyes.
I quickly rose from my seat and scooped up my backpack, smiling ever so slightly. "Hey, thanks, Mr. Caz, I --"
"Just take your seat, Miss Salvatore."
I stopped talking and plopped in an open desk just three seats ahead of my old one -- Right next to the tiny dot I had put on the wall where Zim was supposed to be.
As I was sitting down, I noticed the kid in back of me scoot back a few inches. I leaned my head back as far as it could go, until it was almost upside down. I looked the kid in the eyes. "Don't worry, I don't bite." I whispered to him, following this with a maniacal grin.
I love being spooky.
I leaned back up to a normal position, and just sat there for a second or two, staring at the wall… Thinking about the boy on the other side. Then I began to wonder: "Why the heck did I move up here? I liked my old seat in the back. It was quiet, and no one bugged me… What's so special about Zim anyway?"
And then -- BOOM! I remembered that look he had given me outside earlier…. There was just something about those eyes… I was never looked at like that before. Never! The way he just pierced -- Pierced! -- right into me…
It was scary.
And yet… I knew there was more to Zim than a powerful glance. And that was exactly why I had moved up next to him on the other side of the wall. I had to know what that something was about Zim.
I leaned onto the wall and put my ear up to it, listening…
I had to know.
I'm Rem, Remliss Nadie… I wasn't always called that, however. Before, I was Remliss Salvatore. No, I didn't get married, or go into the witness protection program. 9_9 It all started…
With an alien.
I think I should start at the beginning for this to make any sense… I started creating and writing stories of "myself" about a year ago. The stories I would write were about the Almighty Tallests' sister, Rem, who just happened to grow taller than the both of them while they were away. Of course, Red and Purple didn't want their sister to be the Almighty Tallest, so they locked her in a dungeon for four years, just to get her out of the way. (Eh, how nice.)
Sometime durring the end of those 4 years, back on earth, Dib infiltrates Zim's lab during a blackout and destroys everything, including Gir, and gets very close to destroying Zim.
And all with a wooden baseball bat. Dib just never ceases to amaze, doesn't he?
So, Zim grabs the broken Gir and runs away to the city where he finds shelter working as a Chicky Licky employee, sending regular help signals to Red and Purple for backup.
Anyway, Red and Purple finally get really annoyed by Zim's all-too-frequent help calls, so they get this great idea to "help" Zim AND get rid of the lurking Rem by sending Rem to earth to help Zim with his little dilemma. The Tallest give Rem a Sir unit, a Voot Runner and send her away to Earth.
To put the rest in an even bigger blur, Rem gets to earth, helps Zim battle Dib (who doesn't really get defeated, just seems to, but then "gets better."), helps Zim fix his base and is Zim's new roommate. By that time Rem's feeling pretty good about her "huge accomplishment," but of course she soon realizes that she was also tricked by Red and Purple, and was only sent to Earth as permanent banishment from Irk.
And then she goes kind of insane.
The rest is just various episodes of Zim and Rem - doin' STUFF!!
Can you tell it's totally fake yet? I mean think about it - There is no WAY that Rem could be the Tallest's sister, because Irkens are born in mass spawning labs, and none of them have any real parents or direct relatives…
Anyway, I am Rem.
The real Rem, not the one I write about in stories. Those stories are nothing but me lying to myself. Simply nothing more than the ways I wish my life were. Or would have been.
You may be wondering to yourself, "Wait a minute, why would you want her life? Didn't you just tell me how horrible Rem's life was? You're crazy."
Well, maybe I am. You'll just have to decide that for yourself.
It's true, in my stories Rem does lead a fairly tragic life. However, compared to my real life, it's nothing.
Nothing at all.
You want to hear the real story?
Fine.
I am Rem.
And this is my story.
**(the great assigning)**
Somewhere in The galaxies, somewhere billions and billions of miles away from Earth, lay a planet.
Planet Conventia.
On this planet the fate of the universe is being given out to the 18 invaders of Irk, each with their own assignment. The invaders were to go to their assigned planets and discover its weaknesses. Then, the Armada would come to do an "organic sweep", destroying all life on that planet. The planet's inhabitants would either be either enslaved or killed, and the planet would be claimed as Irken property and rebuilt to fit whatever purpose Irk had set aside for it.
This method of conquest was what made Irk such a powerful empire. It always worked, and the planet they were invading never suspected a thing.
However, somewhere in this meeting on Conventia, this "Great Assigning" as it was called, something went wrong. One Irken who shouldn't have come showed up and demanded his own planet to conquer.
Zim.
Zim, who was banished from Irk years ago for attempting to destroy his own planet with a Frontline BattleMech. He was sent to Foodcourtia for this, but he "quit" being banished when he heard about the Great Assigning.
Obviously, the Almighty Tallest didn't approve of this, so they sent Zim to Earth, a useless space-rock with stupid inhabitants incapable of interplanetary communication.
All Zim was given was an idiot SIR unit, called Gir, and a cheap Voot Runner. Nevertheless, Zim took want he was given and set out to conquer Earth.
Back on Earth, safe in my own room, I had no clue how much impact this little Irken would have on my life.
**Chapter 1**
**(when Rem met Zim)**
"Have you seen the new kid?"
"What new kid?"
"The one in Ms. Bitters class. Good LORD, you wouldn't believe how weird lookin' he is!!"
I half smiled at my friend 15. "Hey, that's not cool… But what's he look like?" I asked.
"He's all green! And he doesn't have a nose OR ears!"
"Really?" I asked skeptically "Okay, that IS weird!"
"And ya know what? He says it's a skin condition," said 15.
"Ugh, I hope it's not contagious! I'd just die if I was all green!" I scrunched up my eyes and stuck out my tongue at 15 in partial disgust.
"So, what's his name?" I asked 15, my expression changing suddenly.
"Zim." he replied
"Zim? That's a weird name…" I stated.
"Your'e one to talk, Rem!" 15 said playfully.
"At least I'm not named after a number!" I said. At that we both burst out laughing. Sometimes, It seemed, 15 went LOOKING for me to ridicule him. 15 and I were best friends, but if you didn't know that, you'd think we were perhaps worst enemies. We loved to make fun of each other and play practical jokes on one another. Sometimes… Well, lots of times we would get together and do the same things to other people. Sometimes it was really funny, but other times we got in a lot of trouble.
After a few seconds the laughter died down and we were left sitting there in silence. I looked down at the other children playing on the blacktop below us. Some children were playing with jump ropes or sports equipment, while others just sat around and talked. There were always the odd ones though, like the "rejects" that sat under this dead tree and sulked, or Torque Smacky who just stood around and lifted stuff. (Unless he was busy beating up some smaller kid)
And then there was 15 and me. We sat on this huge stone windowsill way above the playground and watched the other kids, or just talked. And yes, I DID say windowsill. Every lunch period we would climb up there using an old fire escape ladder that led up to the roof, but passed our windowsill along the way. It was one of those ladders that had the big metal guard-door thingy on the front, but all we had to do was climb up until we got to the guard and then just switch around so we were climbing on the back of the ladder, behind the guard. Then all we had to do was climb all the way up and hop off at the windowsill.
That windowsill was our place, and no one else could have it. None of the teachers made us leave, mostly because they didn't care whatever the heck us kids were doing out here. The other children didn't dare even touch the windowsill, for fear that we'd get back at them. Now, if you just looked at 15 and me for the first time, you'd think we were just harmless kids. A little creepy looking maybe, but harmless.
I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.
How should I explain this?… Let's just say that if the whole school was a jungle and all the kids were animals, the popular people would be peacocks, the rejects would be slugs, (Whee! slugs!) and 15 and I would be the black widows.
Just tiny, insignificant, harmless looking things that sat in their windowsill web and usually kept to themselves. But never prod at a black widow.
If you ever did something nasty to us, we'd come back at you with ten times as much venom. Spider venom. We would find some way to get revenge, but never violently. It would be sneakily, done in some way that the victim would never forget.
For example, one time in third grade a girl named Mary Marinson told me that the pet lizard I had brought to skool was the ugliest thing alive. At recess that day, 15 and I got together and slipped the lizard down the back of Mary's frilly little pink dress.
It was a day to remember.
Suddenly, 15 nudged me, interrupting my thoughts. "There, that's him," he said. "Right there." He pointed a finger out toward the playground, directly to the back chain-link fence where a green kid seemed to be arguing heavily with a boy named Dib.
"Yeah, that's Zim. I saw him for the first time yesterday after skool, getting chased by Dib." said 15.
I squinted the tiniest bit. "Why, what's Dib got against Zim?" I asked.
15 smiled ever so slightly, never taking his eyes off Zim or Dib. "Well… Dib thinks Zim's an alien," he said.
I glanced at 15 out of the corner of my eye, then looked back to Zim and Dib (still arguing).
"Really?" I asked.
"Really. Man, that Dib's so insane!" said 15, leaning back against the window and chuckling lightly.
I looked up at the grayish sky and laughed as well. I had to agree with 15, Dib was pretty crazy, but maybe that was why I liked him.
Crazy Dib, the paranormal junkie. That was how everyone knew him.
I've gotta confess, though, my one true weakness is anything fantasy, so I love the paranormal as well. Not nearly as much as Dib, however. Dragons and magic were more my thing.
Dib was always fun to chat with, though. If you gave him the chance, he would go on and on about the theories of the unknown.
Some people called it annoying. I called it amazing.
But I never told anyone that I thought Dib was kinda cool. Think about it, if you were even seen with the insane kid for two days in a row, people would start to wonder if you were insane. And true insanity is not a good quality in junior high.
So, even though I somewhat wanted to, I never got to learn what Dib was really like. Never got to be a friend to the smart, sad-looking boy who sat alone, ate lunch alone, wondered the mysteries of the universe alone. Never got to learn what he really knew…
So there he was. Dib, the insane one, cornering the new kid and yelling at him, inches away from his little green face.
"Hm…" I said, "I think now would be a good time to send out the welcome wagon, don't you?" I said to 15, with a sly grin.
"Oh yeah… I almost forget about that." 15 said. "After you." He pointed his hand out towards the fire escape ladder, grinning the whole time.
I nodded slightly, I'm not sure if 15 even noticed, and grabbed the edge of the ladder. With one thrust, I swung onto the ladder and grabbed hold of the edges. My feet scrambled for a second, then found their way to the edge of the ladder as well. I slid down the ladder, all the way down over the metal guard, landing with a thump.
15 reached his head over the edge of the windowsill. "You're really graceful, did 'cha know? You should take ballet," he said, oozing with sarcasm. He was still grinning as he slid down, much more gracefully than I had. Show off.
I smirked at him. "I did, when I was about seven"
"What happened?" 15 asked.
"Um, they kicked me out foe attempting to tie-die my rental tutu, since I had just learned how, and for -- well, having no balance or coordination whatsoever." I said, then I smirked again.
"I kinda figured that, Klutzy. C'mon, looks like Dib's about to eat Zim." 15 said.
I followed close behind 15's quick pace, and looked over at the battling Dib and Zim. When we got right next to them, I poked Dib in the back. "Hey Dib, what's up?" I asked.
Dib glanced at us then immediately turned back to Zim, not really caring that we were there. "Not now, Rem, I--"
Suddenly Dib's eyes snapped open as wide as they would go, and he whirled around to face us.
"15!! Oh, um… Rem, 15, h-hi." Dib smiled at 15 nervously, then glanced at me and gave me one of those "what the heck are you doing?!?" looks, then instantly went back to grinning at 15 uneasily.
"Wha- what's up?" Dib asked to me mostly, glancing over to 15 at regular intervals.
"Ah, nothing'," 15 answered "But what's up with you Dib, you look kind of nervous." 15 grinned at Dib, knowing exactly why Dib was so jittery around him.
I jabbed 15 in the ribs. "Cut it out 15," I muttered. "Dib, you don't still think that 15's a vampire, do you?" I said to Dib
"Of course he is! Just look at his horrible fangs!!" Dib squealed, pointing at 15's grin (which grew wider.)
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Dib! Those are natural teeth that just grew in over his canines! Get over it! Honestly, sometimes you -- Hey where're YOU going?"
I had noticed out of the corner of my eye that Zim was slowly making his way away from us while Dib was distracted my 15's pointy teeth.
"I'm Rem, and that's 15..." Zim stopped in his tracks and whirled around, looking me directly in the eyes. That strong gaze surprised me, it was so forceful. He squinted slightly, obviously sizing me up.
"Well, um, I guess you already met Dib…" I stammered.
Zim's eyes softened slightly, and one of his patented false grins spread across his unusually green face.
"Ah yes, the Dib." Said Zim. "I'm afraid I have met him…"
"Well, if ya want us to show ya around --" I began, but was suddenly cut off by Zim.
"Your feeble attempt at communication is flattering, however I am quite capable at navigating this "skool" on my own. Seeya!" he said. With a flick of the wrist, he whirled around and marched off.
"Oh. Well, if you ever just… y'know… want to talk, I'm up in the abandoned windowsill pat the fire escape. Stop by sometime."
Zim slowed down his pace slightly, then stopped. He turned his head and glanced at me over his shoulder. "Perhaps… I'll do that someday Rem. Perhaps so." He turned back around, snickering slightly, a look of… superiority on his face. As he walked off, I tilted my head slightly, wondering about this utter stranger.
Suddenly, Dib practically jumped on me. "Do you have any IDEA what you just did?!? I KNOW that look he just gave you! He's planning something now, thanks to you! GAAH, We're all doomed!"
Dib ran off in the direction that Zim walked away, and I was left standing there in disbelieving silence with 15.
"What were you thinking?!?" 15 hissed at me as we walked to class together. "You just invited him to our windowsill?"
"Please, 15, you don't think Zim's an alien too, do you? And besides, I didn't really invite him, I just --"
"That windowsill is ours Rem! You start inviting total freakos, and pretty soon the whole place is CRAWLING with creepies!" 15 yelled at me, causing much of the students in the crowded hallway to glance over at us oddly.
"Jeez, c'mon 15 I was just -- Tsk, I don't know!"
"Just WHAT Rem, Just WHAT?!? 15 screamed at me.
"I…" I saw my classroom door out of the corner of my eye and I swung toward it. "I've gotta go!" I said hurriedly at 15, rushing through the door as quickly as I could. I closed the door swiftly behind me, and peeking out through the tiny window on the door I could see 15 walking away, looking over at the door in disgust.
I turned away from the door just as the bell rang and took my seat. Leaning back in my chair that I had chosen in the far left corner, I watched as my monotone teacher, Mr. Cazorp, got up from his desk and began to drawl out some instructions to the class. I watched the kids get out their math papers and books, watched them scribble away… but I didn't really see any of it.
15 had never gotten so mad at me before. We had little squabbles before, but never like what just happened…
Mr. Cazorp got up from his desk and walked out, instantly sending the class into pandemonium. Kids were talking and walking around, not caring at all about what they were supposed to be doing.
I was still seated, still zoning, when I realized something. I sprung up from my desk and walked a few paces forward. I scrunched down and tapped three times on a tiny, almost unnoticeable dot I had put on the wall, and waited for a reply.
*tap tap tap…* "Rem, that you?" I heard the muffled, faint whispering voice of Zita from the other side of the wall.
"Yeah." I answered. " Hey, where's Zim sitting? He's in your class, right?"
"Yeah, he is. He's sitting right in front of me, unfortunately. Why?"
"Um, no reason. Talk to ya later." I quickly ended out conversation and skooched up a bit, to about where Zim should be sitting. I marked the area with another tiny dot from a pencil I was holding and sauntered back to my seat.
I plopped in my chair, staring at the classroom door where Mr. Cazorp had exited a few minutes before…
*SLAM!*
The classroom door swung open and slammed against the wall, making me jump so hard, I banged my elbow on the edge of the desk. While I was muttering in pain, I noticed that the other kids had zoomed back to their desks before our teacher (off in his own little morbid world in his mind) noticed we were even up.
I shot my hand up into the air the second Mr. Cazorp got to his desk. He looked over to my raised hand and his face drooped, obviously not rejoicing at the fact that he had to actually speak to one of his students.
"Hmm… Yes, Remliss?" He asked in his unmatchable sleepy drawl.
I cringed a bit at the mention of my full name, but I bared with it. I had some conning to do.
"Yeah… Mr. Cazorp? It's kinda hard to see all the way back here, so could I maybe move a bit closer? I don't want to miss any important stuff, you know."
I smiled innocently, trying to be as annoying as possible.
Mr. Cazorp is one of those teachers with the "leave me alone kid, I don't want to deal with you now" attitude. I knew that if I was persistent enough…
"Yes, Remliss. Just as long as you can see." Mr. Cazorp leaned back in his chair and watched me with sleepy eyes.
I quickly rose from my seat and scooped up my backpack, smiling ever so slightly. "Hey, thanks, Mr. Caz, I --"
"Just take your seat, Miss Salvatore."
I stopped talking and plopped in an open desk just three seats ahead of my old one -- Right next to the tiny dot I had put on the wall where Zim was supposed to be.
As I was sitting down, I noticed the kid in back of me scoot back a few inches. I leaned my head back as far as it could go, until it was almost upside down. I looked the kid in the eyes. "Don't worry, I don't bite." I whispered to him, following this with a maniacal grin.
I love being spooky.
I leaned back up to a normal position, and just sat there for a second or two, staring at the wall… Thinking about the boy on the other side. Then I began to wonder: "Why the heck did I move up here? I liked my old seat in the back. It was quiet, and no one bugged me… What's so special about Zim anyway?"
And then -- BOOM! I remembered that look he had given me outside earlier…. There was just something about those eyes… I was never looked at like that before. Never! The way he just pierced -- Pierced! -- right into me…
It was scary.
And yet… I knew there was more to Zim than a powerful glance. And that was exactly why I had moved up next to him on the other side of the wall. I had to know what that something was about Zim.
I leaned onto the wall and put my ear up to it, listening…
I had to know.