**Note: Mmk, soo… I hope you guys like the cover page (if you saw it)…. And I'm still happy people like this story. Thank you!

Chapter 5—Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Alike in Someway

Zim calmly walked to the student center. His next class wasn't until twelve, so he had two hours to spare. He sat down at a corner table and opened his Chemistry book. He pretends to read it, when in reality his mind was elsewhere. He was remembering Irk, the home planet he was banned from and the place he missed the most. He also remembered his leaders, Tallest Red and Tallest Purple… he wasn't sure if they continued to live, it had been years since he last saw them. He let out a sigh, as he remembered that there had been a time when he might have looked up to them… but now, thinking of them made his stomach turn and his blood boil with hate. He hated them with a passion… he hated them more than he hated Dib…

"Hi, Zim…"

The Irken was caught by surprise by the sound of a female voice. He looked up and saw a smiling human girl… and she was the same human girl he had seen with Nira the day before. "Um… hello…"

"Can I join you?"

"I guess…"

Kate pulled a chair and sat across from Zim. She sat her bag on the floor next to her and looked at Zim firmly. Zim began to look around as he noticed the girl's weird stare, "What?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"I rather you didn't."

Kate took in a deep breath, "Why are you green?"

She had asked anyway.

Zim let out an aggravated sigh and crossed his arms, "It's a skin condition."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"You know, it's rude to ask personal questions when you haven't introduced yourself."

She blinked twice before touching her forehead and shook her head. She smiled, "Right… I'm Kate."

"Zim."

Kate gave him a nod then looked at the book he was reading, "Are you studying?"

"No."

"Then why is your book open?"

"I was reading it."

Kate rolled her eyes, "But why?"

"It's interesting."

"Wow. You must like science."

"I do."

Zim was amazed at the fact he wasn't vey annoyed with the human's company. He had been on earth for a few days now, surrounded by humans most of the time and they all annoyed him. All but Nira, she was above the 'okay' level. "Kate, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How well do you know Nira?"

That caught her by surprise. She gave him a confused look; she was curious why he had asked that.

"Well enough… we've been friends for a long time."

"I see…"

"Why?"

Zim closed his book, "She has been nice to Zim, even though she doesn't know him."

Kate gave him a smile, "That's Nira's personality. She's nice to people she believes are good."

"Really?"

"Yep."

The Irken began to tap on the table, "Could you tell me a bit about her?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

"I want to hear your version."

"Oh."

This was new.

Kate rested back on her seat and locked eyes with Zim. Why did he want to know more about Nira? What were his intentions?

"I'm not going to hurt her or…. What's that you call it… um… stalk her. If that's what you're thinking."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Well, it's a long story."

"I have two hours."

Kate laughed and Zim rolled his eyes. He didn't know what he had said that seemed to be so amusing to the human girl but he decided to be calm and waited patiently. Once Kate stopped laughing, she began to tell Zim about Nira.

XXXX

Nira had finally finished fixing her apartment and now she wanted to rest. She walked towards the living room, sat down on her couch, and rested back letting out a long sigh. All she had left to do now was throw the empty boxes away or place them in the closet.

Letting out a yawn, she began to doze off. Her eyes were nearly closed when the phone rang. Nira opened her left eye and looked at the phone that rested on a small table by the door. She thought of ignoring it but the ringing seemed to get louder and didn't seem to end; she let out a sigh, got up and walked towards the phone. As she picked up, she couldn't help but to let out a yawn, "Hm…?"

"Hello? Nira?" a man's voice said.

Nira remained silent for a moment. She didn't want to hang up but she didn't want to talk to him either.

"Hello?"

She took in a deep breath, "H-Hello, dad."

XXXX

"And just recently, her dad kicked her out."

"Kicked out? What do you mean?"

Kate began to move her hand in circles, "You know… when you're… um… banned from a place."

"You mean… she can't go back?"

Kate nodded, "Pretty much…"

The Irken rested back and crossed his arms, "Why?"

Kate shrugged, "My guess is that she had problems with her step-mom."

"Step-mom? What is that?"

Kate gave him a very surprised look, "Um… it's like a substitute parent."

"There's such thing?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh, "Yes… my guess is that your parents are still together?"

He looked away, "I don't have parents."

Kate looked down at her hands, "Oh… I'm sorry…"

Zim just shrugged, "Its fine. I had… um… 'family members' raise me."

"That's good. You live with them?"

"No."

"Do you have any contact with them?"

Zim shook his head, "They don't know where I am."

Kate let out a gasp, "You ran away?"

He looked at her, his eyes full of rage. "NO! THEY LIED AND BANNED ME!"

The student center became silent; the students that were in there looked over at Zim and Kate, wondering what they had been talking about. Kate was speechless, she felt sorry for Zim… and she wondered why they had done that.

Zim looked around and glared at the humans that were staring at them, "WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT? MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"

Kate flinched and so did all the other students. Zim just shook his head and looked up at the clock, "I have to go." He rose from his chair.

Kate gave him a puzzled look, "You still have an hour left."

"I'm not feeling good. I'm going home."

Kate didn't argue with him, she just gave him a nod and watched him walk out of the student center.

XXXX

"Do you need anything?"

"No."

There was a long pause.

Nira could hear her father's breathing; she could tell he was containing himself from crying. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Nira… I'm sorry."

She clinched her fist, "For kicking me out or for believing a stranger instead of your own daughter?"

"She's not a stranger, she's—"

"Yes, I know." She interrupted, "She's your new wife and all…. Why did you call?"

"I just wanted to tell you that if you are in need of anything… just tell me."

'I'm in need of a father…' She thought. "Nothing now…. Bye."

She hung up and returned to the couch. She could feel tears on the back of her eyes but she refused to let them out. Her neck then began to itch again; she got up and walked towards her room. She was sure she had a First Aid Kit and that it had some antibiotic cream. She looked through it and finally found it. She then went to the bathroom and applied the cream.

Nira bit her lower lip.

It burned a little but she hoped it would heal soon. After applying it, she returned to the couch and laid on it.

XXXX

"GIR, I'm home."

The little SIR Unit was sitting on the couch watching a human cartoon. After Zim closed the door behind him, GIR looked in his direction and gave him a big smile, "HI!"

"What are you doing?"

"Watching TV!"

Zim rolled his eyes. "You want to go for a walk?"

"YAAAAY!"

"Put your disguise on."

The little robot saluted, "Yes, sir!"

As soon as GIR was in his green dog costume, Zim put the leash on him and the two of them walked out. Zim looked up, the clouds were grey. He frowned, wanting to return inside but chose not to. The pain the rain could give him was nothing compared to the pain he felt as he remembered the Tallest and his exile from his home planet.

**Oook. So how was it?**