--Previously--

Dad knew I was safe. And for once, he was happy to see that Zim was there to help. With open arms, I leaped into his and hugged him tightly. I could just make out the sadness in his voice, as it would crack every so often. This hug lasted longer than usual, until I finally spoke,
"I'm sorry..." I cried.
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Despite my apology, and me explaining why he should just leave this case be, he never left it there. Did I know that? No. Not only had I been lied to, but I was also on the verge of losing a friend if Dad were to ever get the photo evidence he needed. Really, I shouldn't care. This was my Dad's career; Zim was someone who I'd only met for a little while. In a couple of weeks, nearing the end of this month (November), I'd be moving house again. I wouldn't see him again. I wouldn't contact him again - it was just Dib, Gaz and Professor Membrane from the area that I'd be talking to. 
With Zim, I didn't want it to end with us on a bad note. I'd grown to care about him, yes. Actually, he was one of the very few people I'd ever want to leave on a good note. As stated, I'd never actually befriended many - but I was never lonely either! And to those I was friends with, I never wanted it to end, especially when it came to Zim.

Speaking of Zim, I'd hanged out with him today - alongside Gaz. She was eager to spend a little time with me today, not so much Zim, but she didn't mind him. It was lucky for us to manage keeping this a secret from Dib, it wouldn't be fair on him otherwise. We all knew how he felt about Zim so we weren't going to invite them both together. Plus, we'd hang out with Dib another day.
Right now, we all stood in a skate park. Neither I, nor Zim had any experience with skating (though I do remember once trying it out, then getting off the board as a sign of discomfort), Gaz was a decent skater too. She wouldn't do it often - usually, she'd be cooped up in her room - today was one of those rare days she'd come down here. Normally, when she'd decide to skate here, it was simply because she wanted to get away from the house. 
Anyway, me and Zim merely watched Gaz and a few older teenagers skate around the place. Gaz had offered if we wanted to try skating, but I shook my head implying that I wasn't ready yet. Zim did the same, stating that it looks weird and he'd rather watch before he'd even dare to step foot on a skateboard. So me and him felt near enough the same way; it made me understand him better too. As I mentioned, Gaz was a decent skater - I found her tricks to be impressive. It seemed that Zim could pinpoint that she was quite nervous (still) about skating as sometimes the board would get a little wobbly and she'd panic. I reassured her that she was doing just fine.

About half an hour later, when the sun started to set (bear in mind that it's currently November so the sun sets at around 4 pm), Gaz had once again asked if one of us wanted to skate. Now, Zim felt confident enough to nod and try it out for himself. I admit, it was funny; the way he struggled to even step foot onto the board indicated that he wasn't exactly feeling up to the task. But of course he'd agree! He'd want it to be known that he can just about do anything. He's just that kind of bloke. 
Zim started off with Gaz giving him a little push - he just stood there awkwardly with a weird posture as the board slowly moved forward. Seeing as he wasn't doing anything but standing there, frozen, Gaz slapped her forehead in disbelief. I was certainly interested.
"You're supposed to actually move the board. It's not rocket science..." Gaz grumbled before inching up to the alien.
"Of course I knew that!" Zim huffed, trying to keep up the well-known act. Again, Gaz nudged him even further and he didn't budge. When the board slowed, Zim carefully removed one leg from the board before stopping himself on the floor. Zim got a little wobbly at first; it reminded me of the time I first went on a skate board. Even now, I'm not so confident with it. I clapped at the alien. He'd finally pushed himself forward a little before saying: "See, Gaz? I'm superior!"
By now, the little groups of teenagers at the park couldn't contain themselves and started laughing uncontrollably. Zim only smirked at this, amused - it was clear he didn't fully understand the situation.
"Look, I have an audience!" Zim grinned, pointing to himself, almost even forgetting he was on the board. He only realised this upon almost falling off. And to that, he stopped there, took the board and handed it to me. "You're so confident, you try." Zim tested me.
Obviously, I was nowhere near confident. But Zim insisted, knowing this. The only reason he stated that was so that he could see what I was like and mock me. I knew this behaviour and saw it coming from miles away. Anxiously, I stepped onto the board before giving it a little push. 
For my second try, I was okay. I decided to take things slowly, still managing to go quicker than Zim did. Confidently, I added more pressure to the push, going faster than what I begun with. Lucky for me, no ramps were near - just a clean, flat surface. It was hard to find those nowadays.
Maybe I was a little 'too' confident, because I ended up skating faster and faster. As you've probably guessed, I skated way too fast for my liking and ended up crashing onto the ground. It didn't hurt as much as you'd expect though, even I found it funny. By now, I looked and saw most of the elder teenagers staring and laughing at me. Some meant it in a mean way whilst others merely thought the act was funny. While I agreed, the fall was strikingly hilarious, I was beginning to feel some sort of discomfort. To my relief, I was Gaz and Zim stepping closer to me. Zim took this all as a joke, which I couldn't help but smile at. As long as it boosted his self esteem, I didn't mind the fall. Still, Gaz saw how worried I looked upon seeing all of the older kids laughing their arses off. Kindly, she held out a hand to me and helped me up.
"Not bad," Gaz applauded," next time though, take things slower."
I appreciated the advise, even though it was common sense. Zim couldn't stop laughing at this point in time; it began to annoy me. But right as I was about to say something, I heard something in the distance. It was definitely a camera, having heard a 'click' and being blinded by a flash. At first, I thought it was one of the teenagers trying to capture my embarrassment (which still isn't okay) but no one I saw held any camera or phone on them. From there, I worried...

After that incident, we didn't want any more attention being drawn to ourselves, so we left the park. By then, we thought it was over. I never bothered to ask whether Gaz or Zim noticed the obvious flash, as I'd assumed they did. However, it wasn't until later that they found out. Upon walking into an alley, Zim complained about his wig being itchy. I don't see why it's a big problem - if it bugged him that much, wouldn't he have bought a different one? Or maybe the Irken didn't even buy it in the first place. Come to think of it, what machinery created Zim and Gir's disguise? Surely they hadn't gone to the shop beforehand - they would've been spotted right away!
That thought was on my mind for quite a bit, while I was also halfway down to earth since I remember seeing Zim readjust his wig from the corner of my eye. But there was another thing I recollected. Only now - minutes later - had I realised that we were all being photographed. Another flash blinded us, and not just me this time.

We were in trouble...
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Word count: 1430 words

Amberzoeheart~