In spite of not having spent the night downing drinks, I had awoken the next morning to a massive headache and an unexplained case of brain fog. After leaving Dib's house, I could only recall so many of last night's events. Meeting Tak and her eccentric college buddies who in a strangely ambitious way were studying various subjects that all seemed to be based on astronomy.
Other than that, everything else that happened after just seemed so hazy. Jeez, if that was kind of effect night clubs had on people
when sober, I hated to imagine what it would be like for those boozing it up every night. I'm sure it would only be fun while it lasted.

Head feeling like cement, I rolled onto my side an looked towards the clock. "Oh...great." I was supposed have left for school twenty minutes ago. With an agitated groan, I groggily climbed out of bed and headed for the
bathroom at a zombie's pace. I figured that since I was already late that I might as well ought to shower to
wake me up some before I left.

The steaming hot water worked wonders for me as it cascaded over my tired skin. Even though I was still slightly drowsy due to my lack of sleep, I thankfully at least no longer felt like an old lady. Nothing like citrus body wash to snap you out of your morning grog. I also made a mental note to grab a strong cup of coffee on the way out.
"Good morning Wendy!" A brightly familiar voice suddenly exclaimed.
"Jesus!" The shampoo bottle slipped out of my grasp, clattering loudly against the tub as I whirled around towards the source. I then grabbed the shower curtain, immediately wrapping it around myself as a carrot topped head poked through the open window. "Keef!" I scolded as I gripped the peach colored vinyl tightly. "Are you crazy? What are you doing up there?"
Keef only greeted my annoyed glare with a friendly smile, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was creeping in on a naked girl showering. "I was waiting for you outside your house so we could walk to school together but you never came out. I tried the doorbell but there was no answer so when I had gone around to the back, I heard the shower running and thought I'd climb up the tree outside your bathroom window and let you know I was here."
What. The. Hell.
"Okay," I tried to reply casually, despite being freaked out. "Tell you what, I'm just going to um, finish up here and I'll be out in a minute." "Sure, sure!" he said. "Take your time." He carefully started his way down the tree. "And Keef?" I said, stopping him.
"Yes, Wendy?"
"Next time maybe just wait for me outside?"
"Okay, no problem," he smiled pleasantly before continuing his way down.
"Oh! And that's a nice dress by the way!"
I sighed as his final words called out to me from below the window.

I was sitting in class when my cell phone vibrated. Extracting it from my pocket, I held it below my desk to view the text so Ms. Bitters wouldn't see.
Wendy Doll,
Can you meet up with me as soon as your school lets out?
Got an important horticulture project I need to attend to
and could really use the help. Oh and had a great time with you last night btw.
xoxo
Tak
 As quietly as I could, I began texting my reply.
Hey Tak,
Yes, that sounds like fun. My school lets out around 3.
Had a great time hanging out last night too.
Wendy

Just as I hit 'send' there was suddenly an ear splitting sound on my desk similar to wood snapping. In spite of my growing fear, I glanced up. Ms. Bitters loomed over me, the splintered remains of a ruler in hand as she glared down at me like the Red Queen ready to behead someone. "No texting in my classroom Wendy!" she hissed. "I will assign you detention, should I catch you doing it again, and I will see that it is one like you've never endured."
"Sorry Ms. Bitters." was all I could muster in a mousey voice.
She gave a tight smile of satisfactory that really looked more like a grimace before resuming her lesson.
I could hear Zita and a group of kids sniggering from behind while Dib sat watching me with condolence.

Finally, the last period was over and everyone spilled out into the halls to enjoy their few hours of freedom. "Hey Wendy, wait up!" I turned to see Dib striding to catch up with me. A knot of dread formed in the pit of my stomach when I saw Gaz dawdling not far behind. "Hey." I said nervously once they were within earshot. "Hey," he said pleasantly. "So did you make it home
okay last night? I noticed you arrived at school kind of late." "Oh," For a moment, I dropped my gaze to the floor
to avoid Gaz's detesting glare. "Um, yeah I did. Thanks for asking. I just got home late so I ended up sleeping in was all."
He nodded. "I get it. So are you walking home with us today? The Swollen Eyeballs have requested that we check in
with them." "Oh. Well, actually I have to meet up with a friend right now. Could I maybe stop by later? I shouldn't
be more than a couple of hours." "She probably has someone else's hair to stroke." Gaz chimed in.
Dib gave his sister a puzzled look. "What?" I rolled my eyes. "Ignore her. So would that be okay? I don't want it to be
an inconvenience if we have urgent business to attend to." "No, that's fine. You just come over when you're done and
we'll continue with the Zim stuff from there, okay?"
"Okay great," I waved goodbye to them as we parted ways. "Catch you later."

The halls were already deserted by the time I reached my locker. Spinning the combination lock, I pulled it open and threw in some books before shutting it again. I then turned to see a green face only inches from mine.
"You know," I said. "If you're going to go around stalking people, you should pick up some tips from Keef. At least he's charming."
Minus the shower scenario.
"Don't flatter yourself, loathsome little earth wretch," sneered Zim. "I have no desire to charm you although I must
admit stalking you has been quite an entertaining pastime these last few days. The fear and discomfort you've exhibited
in my presence has been a thrill, yes well it will be even more rewarding once I have you ensnared and pleading
for your life."

"Yeah, okay," I said sarcastically. "So when are you actually planning on destroying me Zim? Really, the suspense is
killing me." He gave a sadistic smile that made my blood boil. "Oh believe me. That won't be the only thing killing you.
I swear it. You'll find out soon enough, earthling. Promise."
Casually, he reached up to scratch his neck and my eyes grew wide as they fixated on the cluster of boils there.
"Hey," I started. "What's wrong with your neck?" "Oh this?" He said, pointing to the affected area. "It's nothing. Just a minor case of acne is all. Nothing you haven't seen before." He continued to scratch at his irritated skin causing a few of the pimples to erupt with green and yellow pus. "Ughhh!" I cringed as some of it splashed onto my bare arm. "Gross Zim! Get some Acne Blast for that before it spreads to everyone else in the school!" I rummaged in my book bag for a sanitizing wipe. Finally, I located one but before it could touch my arm, the pus had suddenly absorbed into my skin and I gasped. Zim stood there, a smug grin on his face
as my panic grew. In frustration, I wadded up the unused wipe and chucked it at him. "I'm out of here."
My footsteps echoed loudly as I stormed down the empty hall toward the exit. Wrenching open one of the double doors, I let myself out, shutting it behind me with a massive bang.

As soon as I met up with Tak, she seemed happy to see me, even greeted me with a hug. Afterwards, we drove
towards our destination in silence for some reason. I sat in the passenger's seat, looking out the window most of the way as the surroundings changed from urban civilization to rural farm life. Dawn of Ashes emitted from the radio.
Tearing my eyes from the pastures of cows and dilapidated barns, I looked over at Tak. She gripped the stirring wheel tightly, her blue hair dramatically framed her face as she focused on the road, her jaw set determinedly.
"Hey," I started, breaking the silence. "You okay?" "Huh?" At the sudden sound of my voice, she turned to me
with a bewildered glance. "Oh yes, I was just...thinking." "About what?" I asked.
"About where we're going to do this. There should be a spot coming up here any moment now."

"So why are we going all the way to the outskirts of town to do this?" "Because there's more vacant space out here than in the city,"
explained Tak. "And besides, this place could use a bit of plant life." "I guess you're right," I said, looking out at the dead trees
and grass. The land was definitely bereft of greenery.

We parked just outside a field that was large enough to play football in. There, we opened up the trunk of Tak's unusual looking car where we took out several even more unusual looking plants. They looked to be a greenish fungi emitting an offensive odor that smelled strongly of sulphur and rotting fruit. "Sorry about the smell," said Tak. "They get like that when they're fertile. All the more reason to get them in the ground." "What are these things?" I choked. "They smell awful!"
"They're just a rare type of mushroom is all. Fortunately for you they don't grow all year round."
"Ugh, I really hope not."

Thirty minutes later, we were finished and on our way home to the city. "I have to meet a friend when we get back,"
I said. "Do you think you could drop me off at his house?"
"Sure thing sweetie," said Tak. "And thank you again for helping me out with this. I know it was no picnic for you
but you were the only one who I could enlist. My classmates all refused to do this kind of dirty work but now
thanks to you, I should be passing the class while they most likely will have to repeat it."
"I'll admit it was horrible," I laughed. "But I'm glad I could help you get it done. So hey, do you maybe want to hang out
with us tonight? I could text my friend and ask him if it's okay."
Tak gave an appreciative half smile. "Thank you for the invite, Wendy but I really must get back to my dorm and
continue with my studies." "Don't you ever get a break? It seems like you're always studying. You should have
some fun once in a while." "Yes, I know but not tonight, dearie. I'll let you know when I'm free again but in the meantime,
I'll get you over to your friend's house."

"So my mom wants you to come over for dinner sometime," I told Dib later that evening. We were on his rooftop, where we had been instructed by the Swollen Eyeballs to patrol for further signs of extraterrestrial activity. "Does she?" Dib replied not looking away from the telescope. "If you don't want to," I said. "Then that's cool. I just thought I'd bring it up."
"No, no. I'd love to meet your mom. When would you like to like to do it?" I shrugged. "I don't know, Friday?"
"Yeah, sure Friday's great. Other than delving into my paranormal research I don't have much of a schedule planned."

"Okay, cool. I'll let my mom know we've decided on Friday then. I should probably warn you though that we're a couple
of crazy vegans so you might have to settle for rabbit food."
"I'm sure I'll like it," Dib said with a laugh. "I'm not that finicky when it comes to eating." I laughed too. "Well, that's good.
So are you seeing anything yet?" "Zilch," Dib replied miserably. "I don't even know why we're wasting our time on this
when there's a real alien walking around at our school and living right here in our city. I suspect it's just the Swollen Eyeballs' way of telling me they're sick of my rants about Zim." "At least it's a pretty night though." I reassured him as I lay back
to look up at the stars. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, stepping back from the telescope to look to the sky himself.
"I seem to get so wrapped up in finding the truth out there that I take the beauty of the surrounding universe for granted at times.
It's not very often I stop to embrace the simple things out there like the stars for example and the constellations they
make up and how each one tells a story. I really would like to become more aware of things like this."

"Well you already have," I acknowledged. "So be grateful you still have that ability to take in that feeling. Some people aren't so lucky." "Sounds kind of like my dad," Dib lamented. There was a moment of silence before I decided it was time to ask him
the question that stayed with me since the night we first snuck into Zim's base together.
"Dib? What happened to your mom?" He turned to me, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "Wendy, don't start." he whispered hoarsely. "Please," I begged. "I want to know! I want you to feel like you can trust me. I'm not your dad or like any of those people who ridicule you. You've already shared so much with me. You can talk to me about these kinds of things."
His back was to me again as he breathed a long grieving sigh that fell with his shoulders.
At that moment, I could tell there were some scars of the past that were reopening as the fresh pain surfaced.

"She um...she was sick for a while. Brain cancer. We didn't realize she had it for the longest time. When she eventually
began showing symptoms, we took her to the hospital and the doctor said that it was already too late and she was given only six months to live. Afterwards we brought her home and my dad spent every day and night down in his lab searching for some kind of a miracle cure. He tried everything but in the end...she didn't make it."
"Oh god...Dib," I could feel my eyes begin to well up at the sound of sorrow and hurt in his voice. "I had no idea...I'm so sorry.
How old were you when that happened?" "I was about eight," Dib replied dully. "Gaz was only six. After it happened, we pretty
much all changed as a family. We grew apart. Dad became a lot colder and more distant, using science as a distraction against
the pain of losing his wife. Gaz locked herself up in her room all day and stopped having friends over, became more antisocial
and angry and me, well I was alone. It was as though that warmth and shelter she had once provided for our home was gone, but I just continued to follow the advice my mother had given me ever since I was really little. She said, 'Always stand up for what you believe in and don't let anyone tell you different' The very same advice you had given me the night we officially met.
As soon as you spoke those words to me, Wendy, it was then that I realized that I was not crazy."

By that time, hot tears had spilled down my cheeks and I clumsily mopped them up with my sleeve before Dib could see.
Climbing shakily to me feet, I joined him over by the telescope and threw my arms around him.
"I know it was hard," I whispered. "But you did it. You opened up and you shared your emotions. How do you feel now?"
Dib returned the hug gratefully as I struggled to contain my sobs. "I feel a whole lot better, actually. Ever since she died,
neither of us had ever spoken about her again. We all just wanted to forget, but after a while it was difficult for me to
keep everything inside. Thank you Wendy for getting it out of me. I've never told anyone else about this until I met you."

For the longest time, we stood there hugging beneath the swirling clouds and silver stars. At that moment, I felt as though I could fly. "What is that?" I asked as a strange whit light suddenly filled the sky. Dib broke away as his gaze followed mine.
"Could that be a meteor?" "I think it is," Dib said rushing to the edge of the roof. "And it looks like it's heading for our atmosphere!" "It's not going to hit us is it?" I asked worriedly. Together, we watched as the giant celestial rock came hurling overhead before crash landing over the hills somewhere. "Nope," Dib replied with relief. "It didn't hit us but now we can
tell the Swollen Eyeballs we have officially sighted a 'paranormal' meteor." We laughed.
"Well," Dib said, glancing at his watch. "It's already nine. Do you need to get home?" "Yeah," I conceded sulkily. "Can't afford to exceed my curfew again." "I understand. I'm going to head over to Zim's tonight and try to install that last spy cam if that's alright with you." "Sounds good. Just be careful, alright?" "I will. Goodnight Wendy and thanks for talking to me. Really."
I gave him a warm smile before descending the latter.

Back in my room, I slipped into my pajamas and climbed into bed. I turned my head towards the window as I smiled out at the starry night. How magical it looked and so much more than ever before. I closed my eyes and drifted off into what would have been a pleasant sleep if it hadn't been for my itching arm.