Dlbn: Hello, everyone, and happy New Year!

Nbld: We have exciting news.

Dlbn: As of last night, I'm engaged :D

Nbld: Without further ado, let's get to the Review Corner! Thank you to Zim'sMostLoyalServant and Invader Johnny for your reviews! Cake for you both!

Zim'sMostLoyalServant: That's mostly what they did at my high school, really. Preach to come to them for help and then not help when you went to them. Zayena is a fun character to write with. You never know what she's up to.

Invader Johnny: He's a precious cinnamon roll that must be protected, as some of my convention friends would say.

Disclaimer: I own the OCs that you know are my OCs. Everything Invader Zim that is canon to Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen Vasquez. I make NO money off this.

Dedication: Happy new year to all!

Dedication 2: To my fiancé. Thank you for making last night magical and memorable. I love you. And to his parents and my sister and brother in law for being there with us.

000

"I think I sort of expect it, you know?" Lahna asked, flopping down sideways on the school counselor's couch.

She'd been told to go once a day during study hall by the Principal, since he thought she seemed rather shaken by the whole locker thing compared to the others. She hadn't wanted to at first, but there was something comforting about the wannabe mother figure in front of her listening to her every word like her parents never bothered to do.

"Expect what?" She asked.

"Being treated like shit." Lahna laughed. "My parents did it, my ex did it, hell, some of my old teachers did it. Torque and his friends picking on me and my friends doesn't really bother me as much as it probably should, you know?" She raised her arms and inspected them as she flipped them back and forth above her in boredom. "I'm used to being the butt of the bullshit. But Zim…" She sighed, dropping one arm to cover her eyes and the other to dangle off the couch. "I don't know. He's used to it, too, I think. But it's that its these guys doing it that pisses him off and pushes him over the edge, you know? If someone back home did it, he'd glare at them and they'd just piss themselves and never do it again. If it was parents, he'd just roll his eyes, say something rude, and walk off. But here? Man, I've never seen him as mad as he was that day he and Dib almost got into it." She laughed. "The boy seriously betrayed him, in one of the worst ways possible, and he just doesn't get it!" She threw her arms up again and looked at the counselor, dropping her arms so she could fold her hands over her chest. "He thinks he did nothing wrong and that Zim should be happy for him. Happy, can you believe it?! Happy he moved up from the bottom rung, so to speak. Happy he's got a girlfriend and cool, popular friends. Cool, popular friends that just a week before were pulling his underwear over his head and tossing Melvin into the trash can. It's laughable. How can Zim be happy for someone who's gone from being his best friend to being the one to make his life a living hell? With Caleb and Shraela, he just shrugs it off because he's used to them being assholes. He's used to the four of them-I'm including Sila here-hating one another. No one really stood up to him before like Torque does. I don't think it scares him, but it's something new. Same for Torque. He was top dog around here; everyone was afraid of him before Zim came around and shook things up. Our friends grew backbones and didn't put up with their crap. People who were afraid of him now looked at him as a minor annoyance. And he can't stand that someone has taught them not to."

"You're rather insightful, Lahna." The counselor stated. "I don't even need to meet with the other students when I've got you telling it like it is."

"Like Coach said, it's just Zim and Torque vying for territory and to be top dog." Lahna shrugged. "It's not really all that hard to figure out. Dib is something else entirely. I never knew him as a kid, but Gaz said his past is part of what makes what he did so believable. I feel like she expected him to one day up and ditch everyone for a shred of popularity. And for a girl to give him attention that wasn't negative?" She snorted. "If he'd paid closer attention, he'd know that Gretch used to look at him ten times better than Dee ever did. Once Dee and her friends are done with him, they're going to throw Dib to the wolves; make him their scapegoat. No one will take him in. No one wants the popular kids' rejects, and his old friends? Well, that bridge was burned, and the government can't afford to put it back together. Then where is he left? A broken kid with a broken heart and no home to go back to." She sighed. "Much like us…"

"Us?"

"Zim and me? And Sila? None of us have parents that give a damn about us. All we got is one another." She sighed. "I mean, living with them is one thing, but feeling the love is another. And Zim's going to be eighteen soon. He can just leave, bum off friends for a while until he gets back on his feet, so he'll never have to resort to slinking on home again." She pressed her palms into her eyes. "The entire world is falling to pieces right in front of us, and some of the key players are too wrapped up in themselves to notice. It's…it's sad." She opened her eyes and looked directly at the counselor. "It's not the action that bothered me, you know. About the lockers? It's the shock. I mean, I sort of expected to get hit since everyone else did, but still. I didn't expect me to be one of the first. Sila and I are closest to Zim. It would make sense for us to be the last two before him. And they didn't even hit him."

"You were surprised to be attacked earlier than you anticipated?"

"Hm, when you put it that way, maybe it's not that either." She sighed. "I don't think being bullied bothered me. Zim would go to war for me; I know that. Sila would, too. And Gaz, and Iggins, and Keef, and the rest of them. We're like family."

"Then what do you think it was? How it was done? Perhaps memory you'd like to suppress?"

"Lady, the worse trauma I've ever felt is something I've never suppressed. I don't think anything like this would be worth the willpower." She snorted.

"Worst trauma? Might I ask…?"

"Where we're from, something happened…it hurt…" She wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't think anything Torque or his friends could ever do would even begin to compare to that…"

"Lahna…?" She set down her clipboard and gave the teen a level-headed gaze. "I know this will be uncomfortable for you, even embarrassing. But I have to ask."

"If you're asking if I was raped, I think you already know the answer, or you wouldn't be asking me."

She nodded, biting on her bottom lip.

"Please don't report this. It's been handled, people were punished, and we moved here to start over." A lie. "I swear."

"I believe you. I won't say anything." She shook her head. "Most rapists are violent. Could he have…I don't know, hit you in such a way that could correlate to being hit with the Jell-O?"

"No." She shook her head. "Jell-O doesn't hurt. I swear, I'm fine, but they think I'm rattled. Maybe I am. Maybe…"

"Maybe what, Lahna?"

"Back home, when shit would go down, Zim or Sila would intervene. They'd save my backside from destruction as much as they could; shelter me from harm. But in that prison, Zim and Sila weren't there. In that prison, Zim and Sila couldn't save me; no one could. In that prison, Zim and Sila couldn't have done a damn thing even if they were there…" She caught another lump in her throat while swallowing. "And when the Jell-O thing happened, I was all alone again…they weren't there to pull me out of the way or take the hit like Zim did for Sila. They weren't there to help me, to protect me. And if they were, maybe, maybe they couldn't have helped anyway. I spent…I spent so long on my own, I spent so long without Zim around…" She pulled at her shirt and rubbed at one teary eye. "I don't resent him for it. I know why he wasn't around; I understand. I understand now more that I've heard his side of things. He had no choice. None of them did. Not Coach, not Sila, not Caleb or Shraela, not me…none of us had a choice…but before that, he was always there. Always comforting me when they fought, always defending me when I was upset, and people were arguing in front of me, always hid the worst of everything around town from me. But that prison…for the first time…big brother wasn't coming to save me…no one was…and the same with the Jell-O…he couldn't stop it…"

"Big brother?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Might I ask, Lahna, are you and Zim related?"

She nodded. "Siblings…he changed his name…"

"I see…" She nodded. "That certainly explains the closeness." She wrote on her clipboard. "Does anyone know this?"

"Sila, Coach, Mr. Sangre, Shraela, Caleb, Zayena…anyone who grew up where we did know." Lahna stated. "But I'd prefer others not to know. It would make me an easier target."

"You said Zayena, Caleb, and Shraela all know you're related to Zim? You don't think they'd say anything?"

"Caleb is afraid of him, Shraela doesn't care enough about their politics to get involved, and Zayena…well…"

"Yes?"

"To be honest, she's been our go between." Lahna shrugged. "She and Zim used to date, and when she hears anything, she thinks we should know, she tells us."

"And she didn't know about the incident a few days ago?"

Lahna shrugged. "She claims she didn't, and since she's been a source of information for us thus far, I don't think she's lying." She stated. "But…we all had a long chat about it the other day. Coach, Mr. Sangre, Zim, Sila, and I. We all grew up on the same street, so we all know one another. We were talking about it and, honestly, there's a chance that she's going to betray us in the end. If she values her new friends just a bit more than she values her old crew, values my brother, then she'll turn when she has to, to save face. I don't want that to happen, and I don't want to think badly about her, but we can't ignore the chance and then get left looking like fools when she takes her chance and proves us wrong. According to my brother, she's already admitted she'll turn to save face, but that we would know she is first, so we won't have to worry. She'd go along with what they planned. She's just trying to rebuild her life since she moved here; same as us. I can't fault her for it, but if she doesn't tell us and turns on us for real and not for show, then I don't know if any of us will ever forgive ourselves for letting her close again. Especially Zim. He loves her."

"He does? That's a strong word."

"Oh, we all knew." She waved her hand. "He had a reputation with women back home. Never liked to be in a relationship, didn't like being tied down. But with Zayena, he was willing to give this whole dating thing a try. Fell in love the moment he met her and hasn't looked back. He hasn't been with anyone since they split, you know. And I don't think he'd be with anyone if they split again."

"They're back together, then? That's an interesting dynamic, with her being friends with the others."

"I don't know if' I'd say back together, but they hang out sometimes." And fuck like rabbits, but she didn't need to know that. "But you know what I meant."

"I do." The counselor nodded. "Well, it seems we've gotten to the root of what was bothering you."

"Yeah, I guess…does this mean I don't have to come here anymore?"

"Only if you want to."

"As if." Lahna laughed, standing. "Thanks for the talk. Got things off my chest I didn't realize were festering in there." She walked to the door and started to open it. "Miss?"

"Yes?"

"See you tomorrow."

The door opened and slammed as the counselor slunk down in her chair and sighed. Who knew her student was going through so much, and that there was so much going on under the conflict that the staff didn't knew about. Confidentiality meant she couldn't say anything, but it did give her a new light on the subject. Now if only the other students could get a grasp on it like Lahna did. Then, just maybe, the drama would stop.

000

As Gretchen and Zayena had predicted, about a week and a half went by before something happened from Torque's group again. Zim was more than a little confused as to why his desk was upside down with the legs removed when he got to homeroom. His teacher, however, was just frustrated.

"What the hell?" He wondered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Smackey, Ms. Aie, please put the legs back on his desk…"

"We don't have them." Torque put up his hands in a defenseless manner.

"Of course, you don't." Zim stated. "They gave them to someone else. No worries." He flipped his desk over and put his bag down on top of it, sitting Indian style on the floor behind it. "The Japanese do sit on the floor because it's better for their back. Thanks for the lumbar stretch, guys. Ah, feels like it's working already."

Other students were laughing, but it was faint and driven to silence as Jessica glared around the room.

"You get shorter, Zim?" Caleb wondered.

"I lost as much height as you lost brains with that question."

People laughed harder at that, likely not taking Caleb to seriously or thinking he was a threat because he was relatively new.

"Alright, enough." Their teacher scolded. "I'd expect you kids to know better. Vandalizing school property, as well?"

"We didn't do anything." Torque protested. "Maybe ants did it."

"Ants." Their teacher deadpanned.

"Yeah, aunts. Eating wood."

"Termites." Zim corrected. "And the legs were made of metal."

"So?"

Zim rolled his eyes. "I like it down here, you know. Gives me a better look at things."

"Yeah, like showing you exactly where you belong." Caleb snorted.

He and Torque bumped fists. Zim felt anger bubble up in him, but he didn't act on it. This was just Caleb. He could beat the snot out of him later if he wanted to, when no one was watching. Caleb and Shraela wouldn't rat on him out of Caleb's veiled fear of him, and he knew Sila and Lahna wouldn't because they were his family. Hell, even Chase and Ense wouldn't report it.

"Enough." Their teacher snapped. "Do I need to send you to the Principal's office?"

"No need for that." Shraela walked in and plopped down at her desk next to Zim. "It's cooler on the floor, isn't it? When the warm weather hits, he'll be thanking them."

"I want the desk legs, kids."

"Alright, alright." Shraela fished them out of her bag and handed them to Zim. "Here you go. Now you have a weapon if you wanna bash in some skulls."

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Caleb asked.

She glared over her shoulder. "As I told you, I don't care much for the politics of Riot and Covert, let alone the politics of these privileged fools." She told him. "Where it fits, I'll give Junior a handout." She winked at Caleb, who rolled his eyes.

They probably set that up to make it look like there was discord between the popular kids and get Zim and his friends' guards down.

"Yeah, sure you will." Zim rolled his eyes. "I know how you two work. You either flirt with me to piss him off when you're pissed off at him, or you fake fighting one another so we'll let our guards down. I'm not dumb."

"Sure about that?" Torque wondered.

"Mr. Smackey, Principal's Office. I'm not listening to this nonsense anymore." Their teacher ordered, grabbing the classroom phone to make a call.

Torque grumbled under his breath as he gathered his stuff and left.

"You know that's pointless." Zim stated. "They won't do anything about it or he'll get kicked off the team. I don't care about the whole 'we don't care who it is, they will be punished' thing. We all know it's a load."

"I'm calling the janitorial office to get your desk fixed. Perhaps you'd like to wait with Mr. Smackey while they do so?"

"No."

The man nodded. By the end of the day, Zim learned Torque's fate; 'don't do it again' and a metaphorical slap on the wrist. Figures.