I think I'm Dumb or Maybe Just Happy (Invader Zim x Reader)

2. Back In School, Back In Chains

You decided to wake up early this morning. You were still impressed that you've been productive. If you had to guess, you would've said you'd be dead by now. Instead, you were walking down the stores in the city after half an hour of singing in the streets.

You had already eaten breakfast. Now you were buying some lunch for school. The food there was terrible. You thought you remembered it moving in one episode. You, once again, did not want to take any risks. You bought some new clothes since there weren't any uniforms for the school. By the end, you still had a lot of money left over.

You bought an umbrella since all the Invader Zim fanfics seem to have some form of the cliché. It might be nice to befriend the alien boy. Zim had his 'advanced Irken technology' after all. It could help get you back home. The same goes for Dib.
Earth didn't have the technology to build spaceships. Still, his dad is the best scientist on Earth and Dib is a pretty good engineer. It would probably be easier to get Dib to help. Both boys only want a friend and to make their parents proud. The only difference is that Dib wouldn't be in denial.

The scenery isn't as bad as you'd imagined it would be. It was nice. There were plenty of trees and you think the pathway on the left might lead to a forest. It wasn't as crowded and the overwhelming movement from the big city didn't seem to be an issue here.

You calmly pace down the sidewalk, taking into account how beautifully the sun highlighted parts of plants and houses. As an artist, you liked to admire the contrast between shadows and lighting. You appreciated the colors and the calming silence. If not for the chirping of the birds, the only sound would be that of your humming. Or it would be if you didn't count the imagined sound of your thoughts.

You somehow managed to carry all the bags to the front of your apartment without dropping anything. You attempted to pull down the front door's handle with your elbows since your hands were busy. Failing that, you placed the bags and umbrella by your side and opened the door with your hands. You grabbed your things and walked inside. You pushed the door closed with your back and half-ran up the stairs. You opened a second door to the entrance of your living room and kitchen.

You dropped the bags in the corner of the room, not bothering to put things back, picked out an outfit, and changed into it. Now that you were living alone, you didn't mind changing outside the bathroom.
You walked towards the bathroom anyway to look at yourself in the mirror. You had to stand on the toilet to get a better look. You briefly smiled at your reflection, feeling good about yourself for once. It wasn't uncommon to feel that, but you didn't get to express yourself visually very often. For some reason, you felt freer to do that here.

You walked back into the living room and checked the time on your phone. You looked out the window. You didn't mind going back outside. You put the things you needed along with your sketchbook into your schoolbag. It was almost time for school. Although you were terrible with directions, you felt eager at the thought of walking there.

There was a cool gentle breeze outside. You closed your eyes for a moment and let yourself enjoy the feeling of the wind on your skin. Then you let yourself enjoy the sun's heat instead. It was a nice day. The sky was mostly clear and blue but lined with clouds.

You had walked about halfway to school while you imagined yourself in the third person in your treasured memories. You remembered when you laid beside your friend in the grass and stared at the sky. The two of you just talked about hypothetical scenarios. We talked about it for days, each of us adding ideas.

It begun in P.E. class when you said that it would be much more fun if we played laser tag instead of sports. We ended up adapting the game so much that we had to rename it. It was an entirely different thing at that point. By the end, laser tag had somehow turned into advanced military training to prepare for a war against hyper-intelligent crow spies and soldiers from the future. You laughed affectionately at the thought.

You stopped walking when you realized you'd passed the school a few steps ago. You walked back and hoped nobody noticed.

The sight of the 'Skool' sent a shiver down your spine. You walked towards the entrance and thought of all the horrible things that had happened here. You were aware that you were dramatizing it to fit the mood, yet your thoughts weren't so far-fetched.
Students carried hall passes that threatened to explode them, the teacher was bitter, and the school had lots of bullies. These thoughts became progressively milder as you listed them. It would have been better for dramatic effect to list them in the opposite order. But at least it helped ease your anxiety slightly.

Regardless, you still had to find the class and introduce yourself in front of everyone. Because of your interest in psychology, you had read somewhere that it only takes about 4 seconds for someone to decide whether or not they like you. First impressions are crucial. Besides, it takes 4 seconds for silence to become awkward, sometimes less.

You can't even stop to think when you're standing there if you want to avoid being made fun of. That thought didn't help with your stage fright. The schoolchildren walked into the building and you did the same. You did not want to upset Ms. Bitters.

.- -..-. -.

Title's lyrics:
Mother Mother - Back In School (Official Audio)

Song I thought of while writing this:
Strawberry Blond (Lyrics) - Mitski