Chapter four- The plague.

Gaz tried to avoid Zim for the rest of the day. It wasn't often the young girl felt embarrassment, but then, the Irken had tried to call her out in public. She sighed and slid down the wall of the bathroom. It was the only place she would be safe from him.

There had been a few girls in there, but they'd ditched as soon as they saw her coming. And who in their right mind wouldn't? Gaz truly lived up to her reputation quite nicely.

The normal girl would have given into frustrated tears. But Gazlene Membrane wasn't the type of girl to cry, period. She knew better than that. Her pale fist found its way to the floor, pounding her frustration out in physical action. "I hate you, Zim!" She growled at nothing.

The pale teen forced herself to her feet and slumped over to the sink. She only truly felt awake when the water found its way onto her face. Not even bothering to wipe the liquid off, she stepped back out onto the dangerous grounds. "Something wrong?" A voice asked her calmly from behind. "I heard things I'd rather not question in there."

Gaz whipped around to face her "boyfriend." Her teeth gritted and her fists clenched. "No!" She spat at him. "Don't follow me, Zim."

The Irken pushed himself off the wall and followed behind her as she started walking away. She glared at him warningly. "Don't bother me."

Zim, being the stubborn Irken he was, refused to listen altogether. "Gaz-Human, Zim is your favorite earth slug, is he not? You are his Love-pig. Be my Love-pig!"

"No, go away!"

He grabbed her wrist before she could move. "You belong to the Almighty Zim! Command runs through my genes. Do not deny the genes!"

People were looking and Gaz had an agreement with this lunatic. Sugary sweetness spread through her lips as she forced a gentle simper onto her face.

"Of course not. There's no way I could ever compete with your almighty genes." The words were draped with poison as they came out of her mouth. Needless to say, any passerby was shocked to hear this from GAZ.

Gaz continued her charade with the perfect pokerface. A laugh exploded into the air- not a malicious gale, but rather a honey-coated chuckle.

Zim's eyes widened and his breathe hitched. What. The. Heck. "Gaz-Human, are you feeling alright?" Asked the very perplexed Irken Invader.

Now for the finishing touch. Gaz threw her arms around Zim and held him. "Of course!" She chittered. "I've never been happier, my love!"

Zim stared down at the bully who held him around the waist. She had her face buried into the front of his shirt. "I love you, Zim!" She cried again, the clothe only muffling her declaration.

He twitched uncomfortably and stared at her in the ultimate amazement. Have I done it? He thought. Have I tamed the beast?

And that's when his kneecap exploded into a tormenting pain. Gaz really did beam up at him this time. "Like I said, how could I ever compete with your genes? You BREATHE the title of idiot."

Zim didn't even try to go after her when she stalked triumphantly off.

The people around him ceased their panic. Gaz was still normal Gaz, thank God! Anything else would breed trouble. Zim almost smiled.

What a troublesome girl I have, he mused to himself.

The undeniable stares still stuck with him. He glared them off. "Quit staring, you filthy humans! Zim's business is not your's."

He stomped off towards his next class without so much as a glance at Dib, who'd seen the entire act. Gaz's older brother could only smirk at how all his hard work had paid off.

I did a good job of raising her, he decided. She knows better than to spend time with alien scum. Zim's obviously forcing her to act as his girlfriend. I bet she's scared out of her poor mind. I must save her!

Poor, poor deluded Dib had no clue what was really going on. Gaz was pulling all the strings, and Zim was just her puppet. Zim didn't quite know it either. A silly little goose chase that ends up nowhere.