n0t as l0ng as the last 0ne, but its still imp0rtant. 0n a side n0te: i really need t0 st0p with the alice c00per references...


Last year's freshman filed into the building and chatted with their friends about what might happen in this new year. Dib and Gaz entered the building and went straight to the tables where schedules were being handed out. Dib had no friends to stop and chat with and he wanted to get to class before his bullies arrived and administered his first beating of the year, equivalent to all the beatings he'd missed over the summer combined. It wasn't that he was weak and couldn't defend himself. That wasn't it at all. Should he remove his jacket you'd be able to see the lean muscles of his arms and if he were to remove his t-shirt you's see toned abs. He wasn't weak in any sense of the word. Even so, the bullies were twice as strong as he was and they would pulverize him.

Gaz was a freshman this year. The two got to the tables and she was ushered off to the freshman orientation by a teacher. Dib looked at his schedule and locker number. He was about to head to class when the lady at the table spoke to him.

"Dib Membrane?"

He looked up from his paper at her, "Yeah?"

"The school councilor would like to see you." she told him. He nodded and went to the office to find out what this was about.

The councilor's off was actually a room that was connected to the main office, which was actually and room that branched off into other rooms. As you entered the doors there was a secretary at a desk to your left, a small waiting area to your right, and several doors on front of you that lead to the various offices with their names on plaques above the door. The secretary didn't even look up as Dib entered and walked in the door with the plaque reading "School Councilor".

The councilor was actually somebody that Dib knew, Gaz's old teacher, Mr. Elliot. Dib hadn't spoken to the man much during the year Gaz was in his class and he didn't really know him, but from the few times he'd seen Mr. Elliot he'd seemed like a nice guy. The blond teacher had taken the job of councilor at the end of last year when the last one quit.

Dib walked into to bright room and took a seat in front of the desk.

"Well, hello, Dib!" Mr. Elliot greeted him happily.

"Yeah. Hey." Dib responded unenthusiastically. He wasn't angry or anything, he just wasn't happy to be in skool and it show in his expression and voice, "So... Why did you want to see me?"

Mr. Elliot gave him a sad look and said, "I wanted to talk about a few things."

"Like what?" Dib asked, raising a eyebrow.

"I would like to see how you're getting along at school, with the other students." the man said, but the tone of his voice said that this was only a prelude to what he was actually aiming to discuss.

Dib crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow at the mention of the other teens. He snorted, "Terribly. They all think I'm weird and crazy. I'm not crazy!"

That had come out sounding a little defensive, but it wasn't intended to.

"I see..." He said, then he cleared his throat and began cautiously, "How are you getting along with Zim?"

The black haired teen raised a quizzical eyebrow and asked, "...Why?"

Elliot coughed into his fist and chose his words carefully before continuing, "Dib... We've received a few reports of you stalking Zim. Several students said that they've seen you standing outside his home and taking photos through the windows."

"What?! What students?!" Dib asked in surprise and shock, and some anger.

"I can't tell you that, Dib." He said, "Please. We're all just concerned about you, Dib. We only want to look out for your safety and well-being. Let's talk about this so that I can try to help."

Dib crossed his arms over his chest and tun his gaze away. Help? HELP? Mr. Elliot wanted to HELP him?! He knew exactly what he'd been implying by that and had no desire for a weekly therapy session with the school councilor. He wasn't crazy! What he needed was for somebody to actually believe him for once and the kind of help he needed was help getting Zim to a lab to be autopsied!

"Dib..." The genuine concern in Mr. Elliot's voice pulled him from his mental ranting.

He was probably going to regret it but he groaned and said, "Fine."

"Thank you. Now let's talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Dib asked as if he didn't know.

Mr. Elliot avoided his gaze like the question he was about to ask might cause an outburst from Dib.

"Let's start with why you've bee stalking Zim. Dib, do you... like him?"

"What?!" Dib's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he almost choked. That wasn't what he'd expected at all.

Elliot tried to calm Dib down, saying, "It's alright if you do, Dib. I'm not going to judge you."

Dib shook his head frantically, "You have it all wrong! I don't like Zim! I hate him!"

"Oh..." was the only response his frantic denials was given. Mr. Elliot seemed confused and was quiet as he contemplated this new information.

Eventually he spoke, "I see... Then why do you stalk him?"

"He's my worst enemy! Zim's an alien! An ALIEN! He wants to take over the Earth and I always have to be one step ahead so I can stop him!" Dib shot up, knocking over his chair and throwing his arm up in frustration.

Elliot looked shocked. The boiling in Dib's blood fizzled out and he crossed his arms over his chest, turning away.

"But you think I'm insane like everybody else..."

The man sighed, "I don't think you're insane, Dib. I just think you're confused."

Dib furrowed his brow and Elliot continued, "Let's pick this up next week. It'll give you some time to think about things."

Dib picked up his backpack, which he'd dropped to the floor when he'd knocked over his chair, and stormed out of the room without a word. He was seething.

CONFUSED?! I'm not the one that's confused! It's everybody else on this damn planet! They're all blind idiots! His thoughts shouted angrily, none of his rage being voiced.

The scythe haired boy stomped down the hall until he realized that it was empty and everybody was in class. He had no idea were he was even going. As he pulled his schedule from his pocket to find what class he had he spotted a black clap figure walk through the front doors.

The person wore a long black jacket that came down to his knees with a hood that oddly came to a long point at the back, a black shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and some black boots. The hood was up and pulled down to cover half of the teen's face, leaving Dib to question who this mysterious person was.

In a moment he got his answer.

The person had his head down staring at the floor, but as he walked past Dib he turned a cold glare on him. A familiar cold glare. One he'd recognize anywhere.