Jacklynn advanced towards the direction of the school with Zim at her side. As weird as he was, he didn't seem all that unpleasant. She was contemplating asking Zim if he'd like to make this an every day thing. The company was something that she sorely missed. Once since she was emancipated, her classmates had thought that meant her apartment would be rule free. No parents meant parties right?

WRONG.

Jacklynn embraced the popularity for a whole two days before she found people doing drugs in her apartment. Due to her having to have regular check ins with advocates, gaurdian ad lietems, social workers...she couldn't afford to risk that. If any one of the people looking over her saw someone bad going on, shed be sent into foster care.

Since then, she'd been labeled a narc, and no one would talk to her. Good riddance...but the loneliness was hard. This walk with Zim was proving to be a mild balm for that. They chatted a little disjointedly thanks to Zim lacking fluency. He had actually attempted to crack a joke at a point, which was funnier then the joke would have been.

~~~~~~~~~Dib

Dib looked over his shoulder again, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"She's not there dingus" His younger sister groaned, purple hair falling around her face as she stared at the screen of her game.

Dib worried his lip between his teeth.

"What if something happened? She's never not on time"... something was wrong. Jacklynn was like clockwork. He practically knew her every move by now...no, not because he stalked her...that would be creepy. "What if she got abducted?"

Gaz rolled her eyes and scoffed. "By what? aLiEnS!?...Dib, when will you take the hint? Jack doesnt like you. This obsession of yours is creepy. If you ever want to procreate, you need to get a grip and cool it. No woman is going to want you if you don't learn how to act."

Dib scowled at his sister and adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose.

"That... wasn't nice Gaz."

"The truth hurts Dib. And quite frankly, Im sick of you running off the one person that I can actually hang out with."

"You hang out with Dad all the time Gaz!"

" Yeah, and what kid wants to hang out with just their parent Dib? You'd get it if you had any friends."

"Again...not nice..."

Gaz groaned and sped up a bit so that she was ahead of Dib. With the audio of his sister's video game a bit quieter thanks to the distance, Dib picked up the sound of laughter...but not just any laugh, that was Jacklynn's laugh...He looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere...

There it was again, just to his left...he looked as he walked, peering into the gaps between the houses. He could catch a glimpse of two people walking but couldn't see who they were.

"I think she's on the next street over..."

"Probably avoiding you then... idiot."

"It sounds like she's with someone... she's never with anyone..."

"Yeah, partly thanks to you. You do realize that you following her around has contributed to everyone avoiding her right?"

"I'm going to check it out."

"The hell you are Dib!"

Gaz reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat. He struggled against her, but she was stronger than him.

"HEY JACK! IF THAT'S YOU OVER THERE, GET GOING! DIB IS TRYING TO GET TO YOU!"

Dib looked at his sister, shocked.

"Why would you do that!?"

"Because I like Jack, and seeing you embarrassed is one of the things that gets me through the day. Now c'mon, Im not going to be late."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jacklynn

Jacklynn heard Gaz's warning and grabbed Zim by the hand. She took him without thinking and booked it. Truthfully, saving Zim from Dib was only second on her mind. If there was anything that she didn't want right now, it was Dib ruining her walk. The commute to school was one of her very few chances at "me time"...Dib was not allowed to be a part of that.

She sprinted two blocks, and went down another alley, coming out two streets away. They were a little farther from the school from this route, but a quick check of her phone told her that they would still make it in time for breakfast.

Panting a bit, and her heart racing, she turned to Zim. There was that alert look on his face again. when they came to a full stop, she was surprised as she suddenly found herself being yanked behind him. He held her back with one arm, while he took a defensive stance, glaring around to see whatever threat they had ran from.

Being jammed into his back, his...metal? backpack had collided with her breast. Hard. She winced and held it trying to soothe the pain. It wasnt enough to distract her from a weird whirring sound coming from within it. She straightened up once Zim let go of her, seemingly satisfied that the threat had gone.

"Jack Lynn, what kind of creature is this Dib? Why we hide again?"

Jacklynn sighed and gestured for Zim to keep walking with her.

" Like I said Zim. He's a weirdo. He has no respect for personal boundaries or just oroper social etiquette. He's mostly harmless, the main issue with him is that he's annoying. But between you and I, if he hangs around you too much, he will kill your reputation or a chance at a social life. I still have no clue why he likes me so much. Probably because I tried to be nice to him before I couldn't anymore."

"Pity."

Jacklynn huffed a humorless laugh.

"Yeah, it was out of pity. I felt bad for the guy."

"No, but yes, Jack Lynn pity the Dib, makes sense that. Pity Jack Lynn." He adjusted his pace to walk level with her and she looked to see him checking his smart watch, casually speaking as if these words weren't hitting her right in the gut.

"Pity Jack Lynn does not see reason the Dib pursues."

" Ok, I'll bite...what is the reason you think?"

He looked at her as if he were surprised that she didn't know. An eyebrow cocked as if he thought she were playing dumb.

"What? You said that like you had a theory. If you know something I don't I'd appreciate you filling me in."

Zim shook his head slightly and looked into his watch again.

"The Dib pursues because Jacklynn is attractive female."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zim

Zim continued walking a few strides before he realized that Jack Lynn was not with him. He was still looking at his scanner, he'd been monitering her vitals, taking note in how they seemed to change due to her emotional state as well as physical activity. These occurances with this Dib were already prooving annoying like she said...but they were also effecting his specimen.

He stopped and looked back to Jack Lynn. He couldn't quite read the look on her face. It seemed Irken and human facial expressions were similar enough thankfully, so he'd gotten by until now. She looked...shocked? Embarrassed?

"Jack Lynn?"

She shook herself slightly and her cheeks darkened to a red...so humans blushed too? Another similarity. She continued walking and huffed a laugh.

"Sorry Zim. You caught me off gaurd with that."

She sniffled and wiped an eye with her sleeve. Was that an emotional response?

"Jack Lynn is inkimpa?...Smet!'

She turned to him and looked puzzled. Zim hastily thumbed through his watch...somehow the translator was malfunctioning. Damn.

"Ink eem pah? What does that mean? And smet, is that a curse?"

"Ah...yyes. Tongue...ov Zim. Inkimpa, mean...the o and the K. Smet is shhit"

Jack Lynn processed a second, then nodded and smiled.

" You mean Ok...Well your language sounds really interesting. Smet sounds really similar to shit too. Maybe we can teach each other. What language is that anyway?"

Zim managed yo fix the translator and sighed.

"Eh...Irkis Jack Lynn. From far away."

"Never heard of it. Do you miss your home land?"

Zim looked at her, reading her face. She seemed genuine and not seeking to gather information...like he was.

"Many travel. Have not been since when I was new"

"Sorry to hear that Zim... traveling could be nice though. I'd travel off the planet if I could."

Zim definitely took note of that.