•2•
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chapter playlist
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•think of me - sierra boggess
•coolest girl - bonnie gruesen
•sing - my chemical romance
"do you hear that samson? beautiful"
(Y/N) stopped getting pre-show jitters ever since her first major role. Dance recitals and music festivals were a little nerve raking, but after performing "Castle on a Cloud" in front of large crowds for four shows within a week, (Y/N) felt like she could do anything.
Every show—including this one—after Les Misérables, (Y/N) approached it confidently and calmly. Sure she'd get the occasional butterfly flutter in her squiddly-spooch, but she was rather serene this time around.
She stood backstage, inhaling deeply and quietly singing "No One is Alone" from Into the Woods, as she waited for red head Keef to finish his eye swapping act.
In a matter of moments, slow awkward applause reigned throughout the auditorium.
Keef proudly skipped off stage and caught (Y/N). "I'm sure you'll do great, (Y/N)! Tell Zim I say hi!" he exclaimed. (Y/N) flashed a gawky, toothy grin at the boy as he left backstage.
She inhaled and exhaled a few more times as she closed her uncomfortable, plastic eyes. The tension in her shoulders released as she began walking up to the stage.
"Please give a half-hearted welcome to the pathetic excuse (Y/N), singing...some stupid song," Miss Bitters announced, her voice level monotone and her face expressionless.
Muted applause once again erupted.
"Whoooo! (Y/N)!" cried the squeaky high pitched voice which belonged to GIR. He sat in the front of the auditorium beside Zim, who nudged his pretend dog, causing him to shut up.
Dib, who was seated in the back beside his little sister Gaz, was finally taking interest in this dumb show. His applause wasn't as loud as GIR's but it was less muted and he was now smiling.
Gaz couldn't care less. She was too focused on her video game which she managed to sneak past teachers to care about the action up on stage.
(Y/N) walked to centre-stage, the numerous spotlights in front of her, blinded her view of the audience.
She picked the black microphone off the tall stand as the familiar piano accompaniment to "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera began. She closed her eyes, took a breath from her organ, lifted the mic to her under her mouth, and began to sing.
As she moved through the song, the familiar feeling she got when she had performed many other times, had returned. All other sound had been blocked out. No thought of missing a note, or screwing up had entered her brain.
The music was lifting her up above the clouds and into a far and empty galaxy.
She kept a romantic and peaceful smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes as she waltzed through the song.
Dib's attention was kept throughout the whole performance. (Y/N) had always been beautiful. But her voice was something else. It was the most soulful and lovely sound he had ever heard. It was powerful like a strong werewolf, but also soft and sweet much like the strawberries that his mother used to put on top of his pancakes.
His already big brown eyes dilated as he listened to her song, getting hit with waves of nostalgia with every note. As if he were out into a powerful siren's trance, and he was loving every minute of it.
The song came to a close with a big bombastic high note. This time, the applause was less muted, but still deadpan.
Dib stood up, aggressively throwing his hands together in acclaim, a toothy grin stuck on his lips.
"Hear that Gaz? Wasn't that wonderful?" the excited boy asked enthusiastically. "Whatever," groaned Gaz as her focus remained on her game screen.
Zim and GIR stood up as well. Zim cheered calmly with a sincere smile. He locked eyes with (Y/N), as if telling her she did a good job from afar. No matter what she did, it always made Zim's heart flutter with delight, similar to the feeling an older brother or a father would get for his child. "The Tallests better be proud of her," Zim thought.
(Y/N) finished her performance with a satisfying and thankful bow, only to then run off stage.
After a few more boring and non-sensical acts like children breaking wood over each others' heads, pogo stick hopping trumpet players, and horrid stand-up comics, the show came to a close.
(Y/N) ran up to Zim as he engulfed her into an embrace. Well, an Irken embrace where they stood PAK to PAK, allowing them to touch.
"You were wonderful," Zim complimented as their embrace finished. "Thanks," (Y/N) replied.
Zim raised an eyebrow, confused. (Y/N) asked, "What?"
"No monologue about how you screwed up?" he inquired, jokingly. The Irken shook her head. "No, I'm pretty proud of how I performed that song."
Zim nodded, placing his arm around her.
"Hey so, I'm taking a different route home," the princess informed.
Zim's plastic violet eyes enlarged as he let go of her. "Y-you, ar-r-re?" (Y/N)'s guardian stammered.
(Y/N) frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "Zim, we talked about this," she reminded him. "I know," Zim nodded slowly. "If it makes you feel any better, someone's coming with me."
Zim's wide eyes narrowed sharply as he scowled. "Who?"
(Y/N) gulped. "Dib," she blurted out, immediately shocked at what she had just told her guardian.
The Invader's eyes grew once again, almost as if they were going to burst out of their sockets. "Dib?" he exclaimed. "That little worm is going to walk you home?"
"I mean, I was confused too when he asked me," she replied.
With every word, Zim's eyes proceeded to pop more.
"You're not going with Dib!" Zim snapped. "Don't you remember what he did?"
"I know Zim, but you have to start trusting me to be around other people. I mean," the girl paused for a second as she cracked a small smile. "What if he's the one?" she muttered.
"Don't ever say that!" he hissed.
"Zim please!"
Zim then sighed as GIR interlocked his pleading hand with his Master's. "Master and (Y/N) can't fight!" GIR cried.
Zim shut his eyes, calming himself. "I mean, at least you'll be with someone," he whispered. Zim still felt on edge. Sure Dib never tried to hut (Y/N), but he was still awful and had given Zim physical and metaphorical scars.
The alien tapped on his PAK, allowing it to release a grey metal can with small pink indents. The top of the bottle had a handle with a pink button on top and a squirt hole at the front. He handed it to (Y/N).
As she stared at the bottle, her antennae perked upwards underneath her wig of (h/l) (h/c) hair and her irises expanded. "What the Rat-People Zim?" she demanded. "I'm not going to use reppep spray on him!"
"It's just in case. And it's either the spray or the dart gun, missy!" her guardian scolded, about to draw his dart gun from his PAK.
The princess shook her head in protest. She lifted the can for dramatic effect. "Fine, I'll take the spray," she decided. "Good," Zim smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"I'll see you at home," (Y/N) imparted as she began to walk out of the auditorium. Zim waved back to her as she walked away. He then took GIR's hand and made his way to the exit.
(Y/N) exited the school after grabbing her bag from her locker. She stood outside the mildly cloudy yet vibrant Earthen sky and environment.
As her eyes focused on children of all sizes and colours walking away from the school, she spied the spiky haired, trench coat wearing boy in the grassy field right beside the building. He was frantically looking for a flower in the dead grass. The boy forgot to buy the girl flowers to congratulate her.
"Dib?" (Y/N) called, as she walked closer to him. The investigator jumped at her voice. He hastily picked the first wild flower he saw and rapidly stood up, slightly stumbling over himself as he did so.
"Hey," he waved awkwardly. He held the flower out to her. "This is for you. Sorry, I forgot to buy flowers and I jus-"
(Y/N) took the flower from his hand. She cut his rambling off when she assured, "Dib it's lovely."
Dib exhaled, tension washing away. He smiled sincerely, excited to be spending time with the space girl.
"You were wonderful, by the way," he blurted out. "Thanks," (Y/N) replied. "I've never heard someone sing like that," the boy added, twiddling his thumbs. (Y/N) chuckled. "Clearly you haven't heard many people sing."
Dib nodded. "Well I normally don't hear people sing. The music I listen to is all instrumental."
She smiled and nodded in approval.
"You have a favourite composer?'
He nodded passionately. "I might sound a little basic, but I've gotta go with Richard Wagner. "'Rise of the Valkyries' is amazing," he detailed. "Oh yeah it is," she agreed.
"So are we going to your place?" Dib inquired, hopefulness in his voice. (Y/N) nodded. "Yeah, I have this forest route that we can take," she gestured to the path at the back entrance. She then tilted her head towards the path, motioning the boy to follow her. They began walking towards the forest, their hearts beginning to beat in sync.
Hey y'all!
So, yeah this is basically a filler chapter. It was supposed to be a full chapter with the "date" between you and Dib included. But then this turned out to be too long so i split it. So part two/chapter three will be coming up...soonish. Whenever I have the chance to update.
I hope y'all are enjoying this book so far. Trust me, it's gonna get better. Build up and establishment is important, but can get a tad boring. I'm excited to get through the boring stuff and into the ✨romance✨.
Don't forget to vote, comment, share with your buddies who may enjoy this, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Bye!