'I hate you all,' Gaz thought as she glared at the teenagers loitering in the hallways. She couldn't stand High Skool. It was worse now that Dib was getting accepted into one clique or another, and the one time she had gone to see Zim had not turned into a repeat performance. She turned the volume up on her iPod as she headed for the parking lot. Glancing around quickly, she sprinted past the high chain link fence that surrounded the skool premises to the sidewalk. She turned the corner and her personal hell was soon out of sight.

The sun blazed in the sky, baking the earth, but Gaz didn't mind. Everything normally seemed cold so the exceptional heat was welcomed. She chuckled darkly at the thought of summer arriving. Dib and Zim nearly killed each other since there was nothing to do but see who could be the most annoying while skool was not in session. Her chuckles died as she felt a sharp pang in her side.

Gaz looked up and saw her old elementary skool. It was closed, as there was a teacher work day, so the playground was empty. She decided to sit there for a bit. She crossed the asphalt-and-mulch yard that had once seemed so big and stared at the jungle gym. 'Looks as though someone decided to build a clubhouse or something,' the girl mused silently. There was a lopsided shack-type structure somehow anchored to the top of the jungle gym. It looked stable enough though.

Shrugging, she hoisted the strap to her bag higher up on her shoulder and began the moderate climb to the top. She pushed open the sad little door and threw her bag in first, following several seconds later. Gaz closed the door and sat with her back against a wall. She would have to make a note to come here more often. It filled her with a sense of peace. She retrieved her notebook and a pen and began to write.

Zim hated lunchtime. The food, the people, the insufferable noise from inane babbling…it was almost too much for the mighty invader. Scanning the cafeteria, it seemed as though today would be a bit worse than usual. The Dib-monkey was busy chatting it up with some oddly dressed teens in the corner. And Gaz was nowhere to be seen either.

Well, if neither of his so-called allies were available, then he would simply leave. Perhaps that was what the Gaz-human had done. He was well aware that she ditched class every so often, even if her big-headed brother was too stupid to realize such a thing.

A well-timed glance out of the window caused the alien to see a flash of violet and black dart beyond the fence. His curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed his books, intent on following whatever that had been.

Five minutes later found him headed toward their old skool. His suspicions that he was following Gaz were probably more accurate than not. Especially considering the fact that muddy prints on the sidewalk looked like the soles of the boots she normally wore. One may find it odd that he would notice such a detail, but being an invader caused perpetual awareness to be almost imperative.

The tracks led him to the playground and the jungle gym after that. "Someone must have been incredibly bored to build something like that," Zim noted. With a smirk plastered on his lips, he used his PAK to help him be lazy, using the metal spider-like legs to get him closer to the shack.

. He was about to open the tiny door when he heard Gaz mumbling to herself. Not one to eavesdrop, he opened the door and made his loud entrance. "Greet me, Gaz-human, for I am the incredible Zim! I have tracked you from the pitiful human torture device your filthy kind like to call High Skool because I am all-knowing and—" he cut off abruptly when he caught sight of her face.

She was seething.

"What are you doing here, Zim?" she demanded. She wiped hurriedly at her face and slammed her notebook shut, a renegade leaf of paper falling to the floor.

"I could ask you the same," he replied evenly and snatched the paper before she could react. As he read the writing he couldn't keep from snickering. "What is this?" he asked, slumping against the wall when he couldn't support himself any longer. What he had just read was too much. "You are quite…what is the word? Humorous, at times, little Gaz-earthling."

The paper read as follows:

How to make my life better:

Plan A: Doom all humans

Plan B: Kill all humans

Plan C: Kill all humans painfully

Plan D: Kill all humans on alternate Thursdays

Plan E: Kill all humans with orbital laser (borrow said laser from Zim)

Environment friendly (?) plan: Compress all humans into bricks, build giant wall

"It made me feel better to have some sort of plans to end my misery that didn't include self-mutilation or suicide in writing," she muttered. "Besides, I got the idea from an online comic." She stretched her arm out toward her now-sober companion, a clear indication that she wanted her master plans back. He handed it over wordlessly, frowning as he scrutinized the expression on her face.

"You are upset," he stated after several moments of silence. She looked up at him sharply, hugging her knees to her chest.

"You're insane, Zim. I look like this all the time." Gaz sighed and fiddled with her headphones.

"Lies! Your eyes are not usually so…puffy. And your cheeks are streaked with some sort of liquid. Not to mention your frown is not the same as the normal one you adorn your face with."

She stood and gathered her things. Before leaving the dilapidated shack she turned her head to look at Zim. "I don't see why you care anyway. You and my brother pretty much seem to think that I like being ignored." With that she was gone. Zim followed her quickly.

"Gaz-human, I am not understanding what you mean. Why should I not care?" he shouted after her. She stomped her foot and turned to face him.

"Because you don't know me!" she shouted back. "And you've never tried to know me! The only one you pay attention to is Dib! That should be plenty of reason for you not to care!" She paused, looking at the alien thoughtfully. "Don't beat yourself up about it though; you're not the only one to do that." She headed home, pulling out her Game Slave IV.