Chapter 3: Unforeseen Attention
They arrived at the address on the posters that their classmate had hung around the school an hour later. It was only 9PM by then but there was several other vehicles already parked outside and the music could be heard booming from the house. It was slightly out of town on an acreage so there was lots of room for their peers to meet up and party. From the flyers, everyone was allowed to stay the night if they had been drinking and they just need to bring blankets and a tent. The party was to last the whole weekend since the parents would not be home until Sunday evening. Those who stayed just had to help clean up and nothing was to be damaged. The parents knew that there was going to be a party and had allowed it, just so long as their home was not destroyed while they were on vacation. The three boys had only planned on staying the one night and, if possible and were not too drunk, head back to Dib's instead of staying the night. It would not be a good idea to chance someone stumbling into their tent and finding Skoodge without his disguise on. Though, after all these years, they probably could just claim it as a skin condition like Zim does and that Skoodge just covers his up since he is self-conscience about it. Their classmates were basically conditioned to it after all this time and not too bright to begin with.
Keef decided to send Dib ahead to find a spot for their tent and announce that they had arrived while he unpacked the car of their drinks and explain to Skoodge what the party was about. This would be the first big party that the alien had attended, second one for Dib, and Keef just wanted to give the alien a bit of a heads up on what might happen and what to expect with a hi-skool party. Dib wandered up the sidewalk and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves before having to deal with people from his skool. He would much rather be at home handing out candy and watching movies with his friends instead of here and dealing with the idiots that he saw five days a week already. Hopefully no one would recognize him in this costume and he could just get through the night in peace then go back home to his peace and quiet. He took another deep breath, looked over his shoulder to see what was taking the other two, and knocked on the door. After another moment of waiting, there was no answer so he knocked loudly to be heard over the music inside. At that, he could hear someone from within the house calling out for someone to get the door. In the next moment he was eye to eye with one of Lug's followers who was eyeing him up with no recognition before letting him through.
The boy turned away and led him into the house. Dib let out another heavy sigh in relief since the lackey had not recognized him at all. He followed the other boy further into the house and told that drinks were in the kitchen, music and dancing were outside on the patio, pool and other games were downstairs, and there was a keg in the back yard as well. If he brought a tent, it was first come, first serve on where to put it so he better set it up soon before more people showed up. As Dib listened to the other boy ramble, he started to get a bad idea of just who the house belonged to. His suspicions were confirmed when they got to the living room where a projection screen was playing a some recent bump and grind style music video. His guide stepped forward towards another boy their age that was surrounded by a group of their classmates. He was in the middle of trying to impress several of the scantily clad girls on just how he had ended up with his latest shiner. The boy announced his presence to Lug and the other turned to greet his new guest. When he saw Dib, he paused and studied him.
"Who are you? I think I know you but I can't figure out where I seen you before. You from one of the other schools?"
Just as Dib was about to come up with a story about being one of his fans from a nearby rival school, Keef and Skoodge walked into the room. They had been searching for him and had just come in since no one had answered the door for them. They wanted to know where Dib wanted to set up the tent or if they should just leave it in the car.
"Dib! There you are buddy! We wanted to ask you what the plan...oh…umm….hi there Lug. How is your eye? It looks better than when we saw you at skool."
Dib could only groan and cover his face with his palm. He had really wished he could have made up a story and then tracked down his companions to leave before Lug ever found out that they were there. Now that was out of the question as Lug looked between him and the other two that were standing nervously to the side and watching the rest of the interaction. Recognition dawned on the jocks face as Dib shifted under his gaze and the scar on his shoulder was revealed from underneath the edge of his cloak. The look that Lug gave him as he looked Dib from head to foot was practically devious and Dib shuddered at the odd look. He had not seen that look before and it scared him. This was the first time, aside from in the locker room earlier, that anyone had seen him with so little clothes on and, after scanning the rest of the crowd that had gathered, he felt naked under their collective gaze. It felt like they were all studying him like his father would study one of his experiments.
"Well Dib, did not expect to see you here. Never would have recognized you either if your friends had not come by. You clean up good when not being all emo."
Lug had placed an arm around Dib's shoulders and began to lead him to the back yard as if they were old friends. Keef, Skoodge, and the rest of the people in the room followed behind. Some were expecting to see Dib get beat up as usual while others were just interested in what was going on. No one had expected Dib of all people to come to Lug's house unless he had a death wish. They were all still reeling at how different Dib looked as well. The boy that was being half dragged out the back doors looked nothing at all like the paranormal loving freak that they had all gotten used to over the years. Yes, he was dressed even darker than his usual attire, wearing makeup even, but all of them collectively agreed that the change in his appearance was an improvement.
As Lug got to the back where the keg was set up, everyone that he had passed while going through the house had followed along behind wondering who the boy was that was with him. Some had gone either up or downstairs to tell the people in the other rooms that something was about to happen in the back yard. He stopped with Dib at the edge of the railing overlooking the yard where the rest of people who had arrived were gathered and waited a moment until he had everyone's attention. Dib's eyes shifted about to all the student's watching him. He really really should not have let Keef talk him into this. He saw his friends out of the corner of his eye, looking just as nervous as he was. Down near the trees where people were setting up their tents, he could just make out his sister and Tak near one of the tents. They were watching the proceedings as well. Their presence actually relieved him a bit. He knew that, if anything, his sister would step in before they killed him at least and Tak would help her. Those two were feared even more than Zim since even he had lost a fight to them. Gaz would not stop his regular beatings, he deserved those for not defending himself according to her, but she still cared for him in her way and would not let them go too far.
"Hey guys, look who decided to come out and play! Doesn't our little Dib look all grown up tonight? Let's make sure he has a good time and show him how the grownups party."
With that last comment, he dragged Dib over to the keg and instructed a couple of his cronies to lift Dib up for a keg stand. Even with Dib trying to politely excuse himself from the group, Keef and Skoodge watched on from outside the people who had gathered around as Dib was raised up by two of the bigger guys from the football team and the hose placed in his mouth. Dib had enough time for a final thought on how they at least had the decency to hold his toga in place before another one of the partygoers began to pump cheap beer into his mouth. He was really glad that Keef had once dared him to try drinking upside down otherwise he would have spit the whole thing out after the first couple pumps and made even more of a fool of himself than usual. Lug would not drag him down tonight, he was tired of the bullying so far today. As it was, he had to stop from becoming light headed before actually choking. He gave a few kicks and the two guys holding him set him down, only to hoist him back up onto their shoulders. Dib was greatly confused, until he heard the crowd cheering for him. He must have impressed them with actually being able to do the keg stand.
Dib attempted to take a bow from his perch on the two jocks shoulders but realized too late that he had drank much more than he had thought. The grass suddenly rushed up at him as the jocks lost their grip and he began to fall to the ground. His reflexes from years of fighting with Zim saved him at the last moment as he tucked into a roll that had him coming back up on his feet, though a bit more unsteady than he normally would thanks to the beer playing havoc on his system. He swayed a few times on his feet before steadying himself and, only seeing Keef and Skoodge ahead of him, gave a slight bow to them and allowing a slight grin to show on his face before adjusting his crown haphazardly back on his head.
Keef could only facepalm at Dib's antics and turn to Skoodge for assistance on how to handle the situation. Skoodge just shrugged at the boy, he had no idea how to handle a human interaction as this and, from the smile on Dib's face, their friend seemed to be having fun. Keef watched as Dib was quickly surrounded by their classmates all wanting to clap him on the back and ask him how he learned to drink and move like that. After a moment of watching the gangly teen become even more embarrassed and sending them pleading looks, Keef decided to go rescue him so that he did not feel so alone anymore. He grabs Skoodge's hand and makes his way through the crowd to the now awkward teen, giggling as he watches several people trying to hand Dib drinks even though he already has one in each hand. Gaz watched the scene for a few moments to make sure all was well before turning back to the tent that Tak was in the middle of setting up. The irken could have easily done it on her own with the use of her Pak legs now that everyone was distracted but Gaz would rather she not take the risk.
Unknown to them, Lug watched from the sidelines as Dib was made the center of popular attention for what was probably the first time in his life. Lug sneered at the boy before grabbing a drink out of the hands of one of his cronies, a plan starting to form in his already intoxicated mind. He gestured to his followers and made his way back towards Dib, muscling his way through the crowd and grabbing another drink on the way to the normally introverted boy. He plastered a smile onto his face just before reaching Dib and threw an arm around the other boy's shoulder to put him into a friendly headlock."
"Dib! Man, that was so cool! You're just full of surprises today. First in gym with you showing us that you actually don't suck at sports and have been half-assing it this whole time and now this? You really have to tell me where you learned moves like that."
Dib was caught off guard and had not heard Lug approach until he was suddenly in the other boy's grip. Lug was slightly shorter than him so the hold around his neck had Dib bending over slightly. His body tensed as soon he felt the other boy touching him but was taken off guard when he heard the other speak. Shifting slightly to balance better in his intoxicated state, he realized that Lug did not have as tight a hold on him like usual and he turned his head to look up at the other. The smile that Lug was giving him further threw him off, it did not hold any of the usual malicious intent that was typically focused on him. There was still something off about the look that he was receiving but, at that moment, he just could not bring his mind to focus on it properly.
Adjusting his crown, yet again, he stood back up and accepted the drink the other boy offered him. Dib rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, an embarrassed smile tugging at his lips from all the praise he had been receiving from his classmates. He had only ever received praise from his teachers and his two friends. Not even his father was known to give him praise unless it happened to be on things such as his grades in the sciences, and those always ended in an insult on how he could do even better if focused more instead of playing around with his little friends. Gaz would offhandedly praise him at times in her own way but he was used to that from her and knew that she meant it. Never had he been complimented by his peers before and it was throwing off his sense of normality. Even Zim had complimented him a few times over the years in his own Zim-like way and it did not through him off as much as the attention he was now receiving.
"Been fighting with Zim for years now. You've seen him, he goes all out when he gets mad and doesn't hold back. Been learning different ways to fight since he first came to school. He likes to fight and I have been sparring with him this whole time. With gym, I find it boring and just never felt like joining in, get enough exercise fighting with Zim almost every day. If Coach had us doing more than just weights, laps, or stuff like football and dodgeball then that would be a different story. If we had some martial arts classes or even archery the maybe I would do more."
Several of the other students agreed with him that they needed a bit more variety in their gym class than always doing the same thing year after year. A few of the kids on the track team commented that Dib should join them, that he would make a great addition to the team from what they saw in class earlier that day. One even went so far as to say that they may finally make championships if he joined up with them. Two girls, one the head cheerleader and the other from the gymnastics team, began arguing with each other over which of their groups Dib should join. Keef was of no help, he only snickered as Dib flushed from all the attention and told him to go ahead and have fun visiting while he and Skoodge set up their tent before leading the alien off towards the trees to find a spot for them to set up for the night.
Dib decided to do as his friend said and, for the next few hours, he could be found with different people wanting to talk with him. At one point during the night, Gretchen was even able to gather enough courage and asked Dib to dance with her. Not knowing how to properly refuse her request, he was pressured by the others to join her on the dance floor even though he kept telling them that he had never danced before. No one would listen to his excuses, not even Keef who had had rejoined him on the couch and was waiting on Skoodge to bring them another drink. Keef leaned in to whisper in Dib's ear that if he tried to use some of the moves they were doing together before the party then he would be great at dancing. Dib blushed and tried to return with a comeback but was dragged off to the dance floor before his mind could think of anything to say. As it turned out, dancing was not as hard as he had first thought it would be. After watching the others around him, he slowly began to copy some of the moves the others were doing until he found a rhythm that suited his own movements. By the end of the dance, there was a very flushed Gretchen in his arms and several other girls asking him to dance with them next.
Throughout the whole night, Lug had stayed near Dib to ply him with questions and have drinks brought for him when I saw that Dib had finished his. While Dib was distracted with dancing, he excused himself from the others sitting around with him, saying he wanted to check on the other guests to see if everyone was having fun. While walking away, he called his three closest followers to join him since he needed their help with a few things. On his way back into the house, Skoodge saw the group enter one of the spare rooms that had been marked as off limits being as it was Lug's mother's office. The only other rooms that no one was allowed to enter was his parent's bedroom, his bedroom, and his father's workshop. To be sure that no one wandered into those rooms while drunk, Lug had made sure they were locked. He did not want his folks to take away his party privileges after all. They left the room a short time later and made a quick round of the property, checking up on people to see how everyone was enjoying themselves. Lug went back to his room to grab a bottle of Captain Morgan's that he kept there for himself before returning to the seating area. Dib had also returned from dancing and was sitting next to Keef once again. Noticing that Dib's drink was once again low, Lug offered to share his own drink with the boy and continued to share it with him throughout the night.
Close to 4am, Keef announced that he was tired and that he was heading to their tent. Dib said that he would help him back but Lug told him to stay longer since he did not seem tired and he still wanted to chat. Skoodge decided to assist their friend back to the tent, he had not had much to drink as most human alcohol did not sit well with him. His body did not like all the chemicals that humans put into their food and drinks. He had finished the few irken drinks they had brought earlier and spent the last few hours making sure that Keef and Dib did not get into too much trouble.
"Niiiiiiight Dib! See ya in the morning! Told you this would be a good night didn't I?"
Skoodge just shook his head at their drunk friend and waved goodnight to Dib as he mostly carried the redhead through the house and out to their tent. Once they were gone, Dib realized that it was just himself as well as Lug and his cohorts that were left in the room. It seemed as if everyone else had gone to bed at some point. He became rather nervous suddenly, these were the people who had tormented him for several years after all, but his inebriated mind soon pushed that thought aside as Lug offered him yet another drink. In his current state, he only recognized them as the people he had been talking with all night and who had shared their drinks with him and made him feel welcome for the first time in years.
"Hey Dib, you like building things hey? Want to go see my dad's workshop? Might not be as cool as your dad's lab though."
"Sure Lug, that would be really cool. Think we can check it out in the morning? I'm pretty tired and think I should get to bed too."
"Nah Dib, we gotta do it tonight. Don't want anyone else in there since they might break stuff and if we wait until later them everyone will be up and want to come too. Won't take too long, we want to catch some zees too before everyone wakes up."
Lug wrapped his arm around Dib's shoulder and guided him out of the house and to the back where the workshop was situated, his three constant shadows following behind. It was off to the side of the yard away from the house and where most of the people had set up their tents. A driveway led from the front of the house to the garage style doors. There was a path that led from the patio to the side door and Lug explained that his dad had built it away from the house so that all the noise would not disturb his mom while she was working. He unlocked the door and stepped in to turn on the light, Dib followed right after since he was curious to see what kind of work his classmate's father did. He had heard that his dad did woodwork before but had never really cared too much to pay attention to the lives of his classmates, having focused so much of his own life on Zim and Zim alone. Now that Zim was no longer considered a threat, maybe he should get to know the others more.
The workshop felt crowded and cramped with all of the machines and tools in such a small space yet very organized. Unlike his father's labs, the whole place was made of wood and earthy tones instead of bright glaring white. Most of the shop was filled with different larger machines that Dib figured was for cutting and sanding. The wall next to the door was covered in racks where some of the smaller tools were hanging and shelves that held bins full of different smaller pieces such as nails, screws, and bolts of varying sizes. Each of the bins were labeled and in what Dib assumed to be some kind of order. To the right was the garage doors that took up nearly the whole side. Near the front of those doors was what Dib assumed to be a custom bench that Lug's father was working on. Along the opposite wall was piles of different kinds of wood from planks to full tree trunks piled up. Wandering around, Dib found another door at the back of the shop with a work bench that ran the length of the wall next to it. Above the work bench was a blueprint pinned to a corkboard of the bench that was currently being worked on. Dib's mind faintly registered the sound of a door closing but he was too busy admiring the blueprints in front of him. He looked over as Lug stood next to him and opened the door beside the workbench to reveal a darkened room with an office desk with an office chair seated behind it, two more plush chairs in front of the desk, and several shelves and cabinets lining the walls. There was one window along the right side facing away from the house and towards the forested area surrounding the property.
"Pretty cool hey? My dad has his office in here where he plans out all his projects and clients come in to go over their ideas for what they want made. Most of the stuff in our house was made by him too. Come check out some of the other ones he's done. He told me he's drawing out something for the Membrane Labs waiting area next. I don't get any of it by watching him work is really cool."
Lug gestured for Dib to step into the room so that he could have a better look at the different blueprints that were pinned on the wall next to the door and laid out on the desk. There was a small stack of papers on the desk and, as Dib stepped closer, he took a better look at the top paper and found it to be a basic quick sketch of a coffee table with not much detail to it yet. He faintly remembered his father mentioning that they were renovating the labs but, as with most things his dad spoke to him about, he tuned out most of it. After years of being called crazy and neglected unless he happened to do something his father approved of, Dib had decided that he did not need to listen to his father if his father would not listen to him. After finding out that he was actually one of his father's experiments and a clone of the scientist himself had not helped their relationship much either. Dib respected his parental unit, he was a brilliant scientist after all, but they could never seem to see eye to eye on things or handle being in the same room as each other for long unless there was a project they could work on together. The fact that his father was never around and he and Gaz had had to fend for themselves from a young age as well did not help the relationship between him and his children either.
As Dib reached out to pick up the top sheet, he was suddenly shoved forwards and landed on the desk, barely catching himself but still had his head crack into the desktop enough stun him slightly.
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