The next day felt....different. The atmosphere had changed, no doubt. Torque Smackey, along with 4 other young men were missing. They never returned home the night before. The media assumed that the cause of it was from a suicide pact. However, only Zim would know the truth.

He expected himself to feel guilty about what he had done, but instead he felt kind of proud. Thanks to him, Torque wouldn't cause anymore trouble. He did what humans called a "good deed". Still, he decided not to tell anyone, since his act would be considered "illegal" or something. Earlier that day, he had decided to walk to school early, mostly to avoid Dib. He was smarter than most of the teens in his HiSkool, making Zim worried that he would figure out what he had done. If he did, he would most likely have a negative reaction, and Zim didn't want that. He didn't want to lose his only friend.

Half an hour after Zim had left, Dib arrived at his house to pick him up. "Zim! I'm here!" He yelled, standing near the front door. There was no response. "Zim?!" He yelled again. Still no response. He opened the door, since the alien never bothered to lock it, and walked inside to look for him. "Hey Gir, is Zim here?" Dib asked the robot who was laying on the couch. "Nope! Master left a looooooonnnnggggg time ago! He didn't even eat his wafflez!" Gir screeched as he pointed to a plate full of them. "Did he tell you why?" Dib questioned with a hint of concern. The alien wasn't completely mentally healthy, so he could've left for a number of negative reasons. Gir shook his head vigorously. "Nuh-uh!" Then, he started randomly giggling, giving Dib his cue to leave. "How odd..." he muttered.

It felt weird to walk to skool alone. He had only started walking with Zim a week ago, yet it felt so comfortable. He was the only one who would actually listen to him rant about ghosts and vampire-bees. The only one who wasn't friends with him just because his father was rich and famous. The only other genuine friend he had was Gretchen. But, even so, he couldn't really hang out with her without feeling awkward. They didn't have much in common, and he felt like she was more into the friendship than he was. He couldn't even remember how they had met. Still, she wasn't a bad person, so he had no reason to end their friendship.

Eventually, Dib arrived at his HiSkool and noticed something wasn't right. Everyone seemed to be distancing themselves from eachother and exchanging suspicious looks. The kids who once sat with one another in large groups were now scattered within the hallways, avoiding contact at all costs. He tried asking a few people what was going on, but as soon as he got too close they ran away. "Wow," he muttered. "It's not even ketchup and rice day, what's the deal?"

Just as he was thinking about chasing a kid down for answers, he spotted Gretchen walking down the hall in a calm manner. Somehow, what everyone else was doing didn't faze her at all. "Oh thank God, you're here!" He exclaimed as he caught up to her. "Oh, hi Dib. What's got you so excited?" She asked. Dib crossed his arms. "I just wanted to ask you why everyone is acting so... different today. I mean, they're acting like someone got murdered or something! I've tried asking them what the issue is, but they keep running away!" He complained. Gretchen responded with a giggle.

"Oh silly! Someone did get murdered! Or, five, actually. The details aren't very clear as to what happened, the authorities just found five bodies in an alleyway. That, and a pink puddle of an unknown substance next to them. They think it's a suicide pact or something," she explained nonchalantly. "Everyone's just paranoid that there is a murderer among us, but it'll blow over soon enough." She played off the situation as if if was just regular old drama. But Dib couldn't relate. He couldn't relate at all.

"Wait, what?! You're telling me that five people died in one night?!" He yelled. A few students glared at him as they passed by, but he could care less in that moment. "Did they identify who they were?" He inquired, still a bit shaken up about the news. "Yup! They were Torque Smackey, Brian Carroll, and Timothy Lakewell. The other two couldn't be identified since they almost completely disfigured," she replied with that same happy tone. Dib found it strange how she could remain happy despite talking about such a horrible topic. It was almost admirable.

"Oh my God, Torque's dead? Do you think Poonchy killed them or...?" Gretchen shook her head. "Don't you remember? Poonchy was out sick with the flu yesterday, so he couldn't have killed them. Plus, I don't think he would have the ability to anyways. That guy is built like a twig," she remarked. Dib couldn't help but chuckle, despite the situation. "Yeah, you're right." He looked at his watch. Class started in 3 minutes. "Hey uh, Dib?" He turned to face Gretchen. "You know how my elective is theater? Well, we're doing this end-of-the-year play thing and I was wondering if you wanted to join," she asked shyly, which was a first. She was usually confident all of the time, so that took him by surprise.

"Sure, what's the play?" He asked, not knowing what he was getting himself into. "Oh, it's Romeo and Juliet!" She exclaimed happily. Dib's face flushed red. "So, is it-" "A romance? Yup!" She interrupted. "We've been trying to get an actor for Romeo for a while, but nobody's accepted, so thank you Dib! Remember to come to today's rehearsal! It's at 3 PM!" And before he could protest, she left. Oh Gosh. What did he just sign up for?

First period played out like it normally did, the only difference being that Dib didn't get any homework, which was a surprise. Ms. Kaholic always gave out homework, even on holiday breaks. So, it was very strange that she didn't give out a worksheet that they had to accomplish, or a chapter that they needed to read out of their textbooks. Very strange.

When arriving to second period, Dib noticed that Zim was acting more quiet than usual. He chose to sit in the back of the class, instead of the front where he usually did. He assumed that he was just as spooked about the murderer as everyone else, so he sat next to him to make him feel more...secure. When he waved at him, the Irken flinched, confusing him. "Zim, are you ok?" Dib questioned him. "Eh, yeah. Zim feels great! W-Why are you asking?!" He responded in a shaky voice. This confused the human even more. Zim, the most confident and brave person he knew, was acting timid. This must've really been affecting him, huh? He put his hand on Zim's shoulder. "Hey, everything's going to be alright. I'm sure the authorities will catch the person responsible for the deaths. You have nothing to fear." Something about those words made Zim even feel worse.

Eventually, second period ended. Zim had no idea what the lesson was about, because all he could think of was the fact that the earth authorities would be after him now. And, not only that, but now he would definitely lose his only friend. He knew that humans reacted to situations based on their emotions, so it didn't matter what the facts were, Dib would most likely lash out. But, there was also the chance that he would be on his side. He could support him and see how justified his decision was. Yes, he could see that they deserved to die anyways. Afterall, they hurt him, right?

"Zim, are you sure you're okay?" Ah, speak of the devil. Dib stood in front of Zim's desk with a concerned look. The alien had been sitting there for a solid minute, despite class being over. This was another strange thing that he did today, and Dib wanted answers. He wanted to know what was bugging Zim, so that he could help him. That's what friends were for, right?

"Well, Dib-friend," Zim started as he stood up from his seat. "I...haven't been feeling the greatest as of now. You see..." the Irken stopped talking when he noticed Dib's horrified expression. He followed his gaze to see that he was staring at his sweater. "Is...is that human blood?" He asked, pointing towards a small stain near the collar. "Yup." Dib tried searching for an answer to how that would make sense. And then it hit him.

"You're the one who murdered those guys." He took a step forward. "Dib, let Zim explain-" "You killed them, all because of a little fight that took place in the halls," he continued. Zim took a few steps back and felt his back against the wall. "Zim, I trusted you. I thought that you had changed! I thought that maybe you realizing that your Tallest don't actually care about you would change how you were!" He was about to go on, but Zim interrupted him. "The Tallest do care about Zim! Maybe the mission they gave me was a fake, but I'm sure that if I prove that I am-" "That you're what? A defect?!"

Zim went silent. "You said it yourself, Zim. Your leaders sent you to this planet to die, and I can see why." Dib glared at the alien. "All you ever do is cause harm to everyone around you. I tried giving you a chance, Zim, I really did. But you really are just an alien. A defective alien, at that," the human snarled. He then glared at the Irken again and left the room.

At any moment, Zim could've stood up for himself. He could've told Dib the reason why he killed his attackers. He could've gotten him to join his side, or give him another one of those 'hug' things. But, what he had said startled him. And, although he didn't want to believe it, he knew that all of his words were true. He really was a defect. He really did destroy everything around him. He wasn't worthy of being praised.

He wasn't even worthy of being his friend.

For the rest of the school day, Dib ignored Zim's existence. During lunch he sat with Gaz instead of him, and during all of their shared classes he avoided him like the plague. He thought about telling everyone about what Zim had done, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was like his conscience was telling him that it wasn't the right thing to do. None of what he was doing was. But that couldn't be true. Zim was a murderer. He deserved to be ridiculed. He deserved to go to prison. And yet, despite thinking all of this, he never ratted him out.

Time passed quickly, and next thing he knew it, it was 3pm. Dib made his way to the theatre room nervously. He had never participated in a play before, much less a romantic one. It wasn't the fact that he would be the center of attention that scared him. No, he had wanted that for years. What scared him was the fact that he would have to act lovey-dovey towards a girl. Even if it was just acting, something about it made him feel...uncomfortable. Most guys in his grade would love for this to happen to them, but somehow the feeling wasn't mutual. He never understood why he wasn't attracted to girls, if anything he just assumed that he hadn't met 'the one'. However, now he was starting to doubt that.

"Dib! You made it!" Gretchen exclaimed from the theatre room's doorway. She then grabbed his arm and lead him to the front of the room where a tall man stood. "Sir, he's here!" The man nodded in response. "That's great!" He turned to face Dib. "We still have a few auditions to go through, so I would recommend that you take a seat over there," he pointed towards the back of the room where a multitude of chairs were placed. "Wait, so I don't need to audition?" Dib asked, puzzled. Everyone else was auditioning, so wasn't he supposed to as well? The theatre teacher merely chuckled. "There really wouldn't be a need for that, considering nobody else auditioned for the role."

Dib nodded and sat down where he was told to. His action was followed by Gretchen doing the same thing. "So, how's your friendship with Zim going?" She inquired. Dib could've sworn there was a hint of jealously in her voice, but he wasn't completely sure. It could've been his mind messing with him. "Well, I wouldn't say that we're 'friends'," he muttered. "Really? What happened?" Gretchen scooted next to him a little more. "It's...personal," Dib responded vaguely. "Aww come on, you can tell me!" She put a hand on his shoulder. "Aren't we besties?"

Dib felt conflicted. A part of him wanted to tell her all about what Zim had done. How he had caused the school-wide panic. Yet... a much larger part of him was telling him not to. That same part was telling him that Gretchen couldn't be trusted with this information. And, for some reason, he actually believed it.

"Gretchen, I just don't want to talk about it," he said as he took her arm off of his shoulder. "And please, give me some personal space. I'm...not in the mood today." The girl sighed. "Alright," she said in a defeated tone of voice. Then, she started talking to another girl who was sitting close to them.

Why?

Why did he refuse to tell her about Zim's deed? Why did he refuse to tell anyone about it? The alien had taken the lives of his classmates, and yet, he couldn't tell a soul about it. Saying that it annoyed him would be an understatement. He could've been known as a hero among his peers. As the person who had solved the school's paranoia. All he had to do was tell the truth. But somehow, he couldn't do something as simple as that.

Then, that got him thinking. What caused Zim to kill them in the first place? At first, he had thought that it was the fight earlier that day that had made him do it. But... that couldn't be right. Torque was the only victim that had participated in the fight. So, it wouldn't make sense for Zim to attack all of them. He couldn't have just killed them randomly either, because there would be no point to it. And Zim usually did things for a reason. Plus, he would've hid the evidence, instead of just leaving it there if it was planned.

Wait.

He recalled Gretchen telling him about the evidence found. There was blood, 5 corpses, and... a pink puddle.

Oh.

That was Zim's blood, wasn't it? He thought about how Zim looked when he arrived to class. Besides the human blood on his sweater, his face looked kind of bruised. His arms as well. So, there was the possibility that he didn't start the fight, and instead, only killed them in self defense. And, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that....that's probably what happened. Great, now he felt bad. The alien had defended himself, and he got yelled at for it.

Dib winced when he remembered what he said to him. He really didn't hold back. At all. He should've listened to Zim. He should've listened to what he had to say before lashing out. Now, he had to set things right. He had to apologize and comfort him. It was the right thing to do.

He tapped Gretchen's shoulder, causing her to look at him. "What's up?" She asked. Then, she noticed Dib's worried expression. "Hey, are you feeling ok? You look upset," she stated. "Well, you see, my dad called me and said that he needed my help urgently. So, I was wondering if I could skip this rehearsal," he fibbed. He knew that going to Zim's house wouldn't be a good reason to skip, so he did the next best thing and lied. It's not like there were any negative consequences that would affect him anyways.

"Oh, sure! If it's important!" She gave him a quick hug, and then waved to him as he left the room. Once he was out the door, Dib started running towards Zim's house. Rehearsals ended in 15 minutes, and his father had told him to come home right afterwards, so he had to get there as soon as possible.

Eventually, he arrived at Zim's house. He expected the robotic gnomes to start attacking him as soon as he got close, but they didn't. In fact, there was nothing stopping him from knocking on that door. Nothing but his pride. He wanted to back down, but it was too late. He was already there, so he might as well try to fix everything. Or, at least, try to fix their friendship. He took a deep breath, and knocked. There was no response, as expected. So, he tried opening the door. And to his suprise, it worked. Zim must've left the door unlocked, but why? Did he not value his safety? There were so many questions swarming in his head from that alone.

But nothing could prepare him for what he saw next.