Zim grasped his stomach and glared up at the clock. The history teacher was giving a long, boring lecture about the Civil War and lunch was about 15 minutes away. Zim had been going to this high school in New York for almost a week now. He took all of the same classes, but at different times because of the transfer. The humans at this school weren't any better, or any worse, than those at his old school. At lunch he would sit next to Peter and his friends Harry, Mary Jane, and a few other kids. Obviously they were all curious about his skin color and he told them the 'glucose intolerance' crap and they all believed it. He looked up at the clock again and it read 11:51. "Great, only fourteen minutes till lunch", Zim mumbled to himself. The teacher looked over at Zim and said cunningly, "Do you have something to add to our lecture, Zim?" Zim smirked and said, "As a matter of fact I do. I just noticed that the day the Civil War officially started was the exact same day that France occupied a part of China, which is now Vietnam." The teacher was silent, and Zim was satisfied with himself.
After a few minutes the teacher resumed his lecture and Zim glared up at the clock once more. It read 12:03. Just two more minutes and he could go pretend to eat food with Peter's friends. Zim looked down at his notebook with only two things written on the current page. They read: 'This school has about 47 cameras, be extremely cautious' and 'Teachers leave you alone when you look like you're taking notes.' He smiled after reading the last one. He then drew a stick doodle of a teacher with a big head yelling. Zim then drew another doodle below it of Spider-man webbing the teacher's mouth shut. Suddenly the bell rang and Zim quickly packed up everything he had and ran out the door faster than you could spell pizza backwards.
He made his way through the hallway until he saw Peter and Harry talking. Zim approached them and Peter said, "Hey, Zim, it looks like you survived the lecture." Zim, "Just barely." Peter smiled and Harry rolled his eyes. Zim could tell Harry wasn't too fond of him, especially since Harry and Peter were best friends. Maybe he was jealous? Or maybe he just plainly didn't like Zim. Harry, "We'd better get to the cafeteria, Mary Jane is probably waiting for us." Peter, "Okay, Harry." They all began to walk to the cafeteria with Zim hanging in the back and Peter and Harry walking side by side in the front. Peter, "Did you hear about that rogue robot chasing Spider-man last week?" Harry, "Yeah, I saw it on TV. I almost thought that robot was gonna win." Peter, "What?! You can't be serious. A stupid little robot beating up a super-hero like Spider-man?" Harry, "Well it would've been fun to watch for a while." They both continued laughing and talking about useless things while Zim lingered behind them, remembering that battle between Spider-man and a machine. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something strange going on. Something didn't feel right, like trying to jam two pieces of a puzzle together yet they just wouldn't fit. He shook it off and caught up with Peter and Harry.
Peter, "Oh, that reminds me. I have to give Danny his coat back." Harry, "Did I leave my coat at your house too?" Peter, "No just Danny, Sam, Ava, and Luke left their coats at my house." Harry, "Well that makes sense since they left first. Oh, my dad isn't going to be home tonight. Do you and your friends want to come over? It would be nice to have a party and get to hang out somewhere not at school." Peter, "Sure. Do you want to go to a really awesome party, Zim?" Zim thought for a moment then nodded. Zim, "Sure, I'm not doing anything tonight anyways." Peter smiled. Peter, "Yes, this is gonna be an awesome party, Zim. Harry's house is huge. We can rock out to cool music, and play video games and we can eat all the pizza we want…oh, you can't eat pizza. Sorry." Zim rolled his eyes out of Peter's sight and replied, "That's okay, and even if I could eat it I wouldn't. Cheese is just…just disgusting." Harry, "Hey, Mary Jane has a table saved for us."
They instantly raced each other for the table, but Zim continued walking. He saw another group of kids sitting at the table that he'd met before, but he didn't remember their names. Peter pointed to a boy with pale skin and slightly long blonde hair and said, "Zim, this is Danny, he's into meditating and Zen stuff…" then he pointed to a short boy with tan skin and brown hair "…and this is Sam, he loves his video games…" then he pointed to a girl with darkish skin and brown hair "…and this is Ava, don't ever get between her and studying…" and lastly he pointed to a muscular boy with black hair and dark skin "…and this is Luke, and as you can tell he's physically fit." They all waved at Zim, except for Sam who was yelling at his video game, and smiled. Zim sat down and Peter said, "Guys, this is Zim. He is visiting our school on an exchange program so he can study Spider-Man." Luke, "Spider-Man?" Ava, "You're studying him? Do you have to write a paper or a report or something?" Zim felt a bit awkward, but took a deep breath and let confidence consume him. Zim, "Yes, I have to study him and write a paper. I was 'misbehaving' at my old school so I have to study a role-model." Harry, "A role-model? I'm not sure Spider-Man exactly fits that role." Peter, "Ah come on Harry, Spider-Man is awesome! Besides didn't he save your dad before?" Harry, "Yeah, but he just…I don't know. I just wouldn't consider him a role model." Mary Jane, "It's okay. That's why everybody has different role models. Mine is J. Jonah Jameson, Peter's is Spider-Man, and...well I don't know what yours is Harry." Harry, "Maybe my dad."
Harry started to eat his food and Zim looked at everyone. Danny is blonde, Sam is a short brunette, Ava is a brunette, and Luke is tall, muscular, and has black hair. Good thing none of them are really similar. Mary Jane, "So who's your role model Zim? Is it Spider-Man or was he assigned to you." Zim, "He was assigned to me. I don't think I have a role model. I never really needed one." Mary Jane, "Oh." She took a bite of her apple and continued looking at her smart phone. Peter, "I can't wait for this party, Zim. You are going to love it!" 'No, you're going to love it while I sit in the corner and plot how I'm going to destroy humanity, dumb ass', Zim thought to himself. "Oh, yeah I'm sure it will be great", Zim said slightly sarcastically.