Chapter Text
"I have a date."
It was exactly 6 in the afternoon, he was low one of the lamp posts near the cinema, there weren't many people like on the weekends, so he wouldn't have to wait long to get a ticket. But that was not what worried him.
Popcorn exploded behind him and he felt his skin crawl when he heard some footsteps approaching, only to later realize that he was just another citizen of this little nameless city, he looked away from the person and continued with the wait.
From time to time he wondered again how he had ended up like this... in this situation.
"I have an appointment," he repeated like a mantra, with a lost look and a chill that rose slowly up his spine, "oh, God."
This should have been a happy situation, he should have been eager and excited for it to begin, not like now, anxious that it will end.
And that was because he had a date.
With Zin.
¿Why was he so unlucky?
“Psst.”
He was startled for the fourth time that day, seized with nervousness and fear, he turned to both sides of the street, but did not see anyone. Which was partly a relief. Maybe Zin wasn't even coming.
"¡Psst!, Gregory, here" they called him again.
He jump back into place and look around nervously. It was there when he noticed a trash can where two beautiful amber eyes were poking out of the small grid.
Her heart skipped a beat and she screamed.
“¡Do not scream!”, Drina snapped coming out from the trash can. "¡No, calm down! ¡It's me, Drina!"
He covered his mouth as soon as he recognized her, his hair was covered in debris and his gargabine was dirty, but those amber eyes were still as bright and determined as ever.
He had almost forgotten that Drina would come here too, oh what a good day, her presence would bring him that calm and happiness that in the morning he thought he had lost.
His eyes were the sun of this sad day and he was grateful to be able to see them again before starting this nightmare.
"H-Hi", he stammer in an awkward greeting.
"I'm sorry for the delay, but my presence could arouse Zin's suspicions," Drina replied, stuffed in the trash can.
He smile tenderly.
She looked so cute when she insisted on making him believe that Zin was a threat to her safety.
He liked that she cared.
"W-Well... ahm, maybe it is not n-necessary" he stuttered, his cheeks flushed at her attention, he gulped and continued. "I thought that... if she didn't come..."
"It would mean that, ¡she is planning another attempt to conquer Earth!" Exclaimed Drina, interrupting him loudly. “¡For Mercury! ¡Maybe this was a setup! ¡I knew it would come! ¡Oh no! ¡Maybe she’s already started her plan!”
"Uh… D-Drina…" he stammer awkwardly.
“¡The safety of the planet is in danger! ¡¿Why didn't I see it coming?!”
“Drina... it's not...”
“¡And I'm hiding here in a trash can!”, Drina yelled coming out of her hiding place and shaking him by the shoulders. “¡¿Do you know what this means?! ¡¿You know?! ¡¿Eh?! ¡¿EH?!”
"Ah... n-no," he stutter nervously at their sudden closeness.
“¡THE END OF THE EARTH! ¡THE END!”
He was speechless, his ability to speak faded at having her so close, he swallowed thickly at her gaze crazed with paranoia. He was not prepared to have her so close. It almost felt like their noses were touching.
He thought he was going to pass out from the overload of emotions, when suddenly something caught Drina's attention and she hid back inside the garbage can.
"¿D-Drina?" He stammered in dismay and with his heart beating like crazy.
“¡It's Zin!” A voice snapped at his side, “and Zin was about to offer his big apologies for arriving later, ¡but it was you human with metal teeth who arrived earlier than Zin! ¡Offer your apologies to Zin!"
The change of scenery stunned him, from that beautiful amber to an enraged violet, he blinked a couple of times to recognize that the person now in front of him was Zin.
That little green-skinned girl had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot on the ground waiting for him to say something. At first glance, she hadn't put on anything different from her usual uniform, only a withered flower was attached to her hair, but even so the detail was minimal for those who did not know how to look.
Zin was looking at him with a frown and clasped his hands nervously.
“¿Sorry?”
His gaze seemed a little daunted, but it was hard to tell if his strange smile was better than his frown. According to him.
He sighed to himself.
“¿And what things do you do on a disgusting date?”
He blink in confusion at Zin.
“¿Have you never been on a date?” He asked, beginning to feel guilty.
This was probably their first date.
Zim stared at him in silence, in an uncomfortable and humiliating silence, he began to think that he should not have asked him that. Until she said:
“¡HA! ¡The great Zin has had a lot of those disgusting dates!” Zin answered with a forced laugh, “Zin has had so many that your weak human stomach would it never resist it.”
And Zin laughed out loud. He wasn't sure if it was from him or herself or the countless dates that she affirmed have had.
“But... you asked me what is done in a...”
“¡Zin was testing you, disgusting larva!” She cut him pointing a finger at him. “¡Zin is a teacher of the dates! ¡One most amazing and surprisingly savvy goddess of disgusting sticky dates!”
He looked at her in dismay. ¿How far could her ego go?
However, he sighed with resignation, it was not worth discussing this with her. He had invited her after all, and whether she knew it was a date or not was one thing she was going to find out as the night wore on.
He looked at the cinema behind him and sighed again in resignation.
“Ah, well… then” He speaked pointing towards the cinema entrance, “¿shall we go in?”
Zin kepted telling how great their "dates" were while they waited for their tickets, apparently she had come out with cobs and cow beasts, making it clear that Zin didn't even have the slightest idea what she was talking about.
This would be a long night.
"¡And those cow beasts flew through the air and crashed on the moon!" Continued Zin who had already changed the subject a few minutes ago. “¡And Zin won all the asparagus in the filthy lake!
"I'm sure asparagus doesn't grow in lagoons…" He murmured in a low voice. Somewhat confused by the strange turn of the conversation.
"And that was the last bait Zin found," Zin continued without paying much attention to it, "and that was Zin's disgusting date... ¡Zin wants that with butter!"
He almost died of fright when Zin yelled that, they were in one of the rooms and although the movie had not started yet, some people looked at them annoyed by so much scandal.
Zin was pointing down the popcorn he had bought for both of them.
"This already… has it," He stammer in confusion.
“¡You lie!” Zin exclaimed, stamping the popcorn in his face. “¡The delicious taste of corn flakes is not complete without that edible fat of the cow beast! ¡Smell it and you will see, stupid earthling, that does not have that smell! ¡Smell it! ¡Smell it! ¡SMELL IT!
“¡Shut up your girlfriend! ¡The movie is about to start!” Someone complained.
The lights in the room began to dim. He look at Zin who insisted that he smell the popcorn, if they didn't shut up now, they could be taken out of the place.
"Okay," he whispered, standing up and managing to remove the popcorn, "I'll buy another..."
“¡With butter!” Zin replied.
“¡Shut up!”
He nodded shamefaced and left the room, hoping that Zin wouldn't make a fuss in his absence, he went out into the hall of the cinema. Heading to the small snack stand.
And he was startled when suddenly the tapestry on the wall began to come to life.
“¡Ahh!”
“¡Take it easy! It's me” It spoke the apparition before removing the tapestry from her face and revealing Drina. “¿Zin hasn't done anything weird yet?”
He breathe in and out slowly before answering. The surprises did not end for him.
“N-No...”
"Don't forget that he will," Drina warned him, "depending on how much fun he has, Zin could still put your life in danger if he gets bored."
"Ahm… I-I doubt "The Invasion III" will… bore her," he replied awkwardly.
Drina stared at him wide-eyed, then laughed. He felt his cheeks flush at the sweet sound of her laughter.
"Ironic," Drina laughed looking at him with a big smile. She felt her heart racing with happiness. “It's a good choice… although she will never get over the first one.”
“Y-Yes,… right”, he smiled shyly before remembering the popcorn, “ah…. I think I should come back... Zin might...”
“¡By Mercury!" Drina exclaimed suddenly alarmed. “¡She could come up with a plan with that movie! ¡You never know with that fool”, he made a gesture for her to leave, “¡go!”
He nodded awkwardly and staggering a bit, nervous from having had a real conversation with her for the first time, ordered another bucket of buttered popcorn and hurried back to the living room.
The room was completely dark, the loud sound from the screen scared him where the movie was just beginning.
He groped between the seats until he found her place, he was impressed to see Zin so calm, she seemed to be so enthralled with the movie that she did not notice him arrive.
He had made a good choice in choosing fiction over romance. He couldn't imagine sitting in a darkened room, while on the screen a couple professed eternal love for each other and be aware that the person next to him had no sympathy for him beyond giving him orders.
He put the bucket between them and Zin began to put large amounts of popcorn in his mouth, he did not bother to take it, something told him that his companion did not like to share.
And soon he too got so caught up in the movie's story that for a moment he forgot he was next to Zin.
It was his mistake.
Because almost in the middle of the film, whose climax in the plot had exploded when the aliens began to explode the cities and the protagonist's son died in one of those attacks.
“ “Remember me… when all is lost”, the little one spoke weakly, “… remember me…”
"Please, David, please resist," his father begged desperately, raising his head from the rubble, beginning to panic. "¡Help! ¡I need medical attention! ¡Help! ¡Please!”
“Dad, the light... is so beautiful...”
“No David, please, be strong… don't abandon me”, the father cried seeing how his son lost his strength.
"Mom is there..." David whispered, fading, "... everyone... is there."
“¡Please resist! ¡Help! ¡Help!” He shaked him feeling the death of his son closer and closer. “¡David! ¡¿Do you hear me?! ¡David!”
“Save us… save them…”, whispered David closing his eyes, “… father…”
“¡David! ¡NO!” ”
Most of the room was in tears at the emotional scene. Gregory even felt his eyes water. The scene continued when the firefighters arrived to tell him what the protagonist already knew.
“ “We lament your loss.”
The protagonist looked at the sky, plagued with a deceptive threat, now they knew that there was something else hiding out there. Something that wanted to destroy them.
“I will annihilate them, ¡I swear I will!”
And then the protagonist fall to my knees and cry, for all that he had lost, for what I could lose now. He cried what he wanted, because this would be the only time he would allow himself to do so.
“They were going to pay.” ”
The atmosphere in the room had become wrapped in the melancholy of the protagonist, of the hero who in the film had lost everything, the scene was so full of pain that no one was saved from tears.
“¡HA! ¡HAHAHAHAHA! ¡Dreamer! ¡HAHA!”
Zin's laugh broke the atmosphere in the room and caused all eyes to be directed at them.
“¡¿Can you believe it?!”, Zin elbowed him dead with laughter, “a... a stupid and deluded human... haha... wants... ha... ¡wants to face a kind of higher level! ¡You stupid human!” She laughed aloud. “¡MORON HUMAN!”
“¡Shut up now!” A voice in the third row yelled, "¡you are an insensitive girl! ¡Shut! ¡You ruin the movie!
Zin next to him began to frown, Gregory recovered the chill from hours ago, and a mixture of discomfort and fear hung over his chest when Zin stood on top of the armchair and yelled at one of the onlookers.
“¡Zin does not respond to any order from a dirty earthling! ¡Nobody gives orders to Zin! And if Zin says that nauseating protagonist is stupid... ¡THAT'S BECAUSE HE IS!”
“¡Be quiet! ¡They don’t let hear!” Complains a woman behind them.
He didn't notice, but before he did, Zin grabbed the popcorn bucket from his seat and tossed it to the lady.
“¡Shut up! ¡You stupid human!”
And that was where chaos broke out.
The quiet theater room was filled with screams, food being thrown into the air as they insulted each other. Zin was one of the loudest voices in the room.
At one point no one was paying attention to the movie and it seemed more like the battle that was happening on the screen had passed to the room.
The uproar continued until security came in and put order.
But Gregory didn't find out about it until one of them found him hiding under one of the armchairs.
He was somewhat blinded when the light of the flashlight hit him in the face, the room was still dark and the curses had been silenced.
“¿This is yours?” The guard asked, lifting Zin, who was twisting in midair demanding to be released.
With a barely audible groan, he nodded.
Minutes later they were taken out of the room and Zin, along with him for a change, they were banned from the cinema until further notice. A warning that he took very seriously, he was grateful that they did not try to call his parents because otherwise... he would have had to give a few explanations.
He looked at Zin at his side, who hadn't stopped cursing and complaining, threatening to destroy the place.
“Stupid humans, earthling trash, ¡they'll know about Zin!” Zin yelled, frowning and clenching his teeth. "¡No one leaves Zin out! ¡¿How dare they do that to the great Zin?! ¡Inferior garbage! ¡Zin curses them all!”
He rubbed his hands nervously as he watched the guards at the Cinema glare at him. Zin kept ranting. And Gregory began to feel that if they stayed here nothing good would surely happen.
"At least... yes there was... butter in your popcorn, heh," He whisper in a nervous voice.
Zin looked up at him and he paled, with how loud her voice was he thought she would yell at him when she raised his hands up and opened his mouth as if to scream, Gregory closed his eyes preparing for the impact.
“Certain.”
“¿Eh?” He opened his eyes cautiously.
“The consistency was greasy planned and melted like boiling lava on popped the corn.” Zin smiled thoughtfully. “Even in unconsciousness Zin could taste its tasty flavor.”
He blinked in confusion.
He had expected a scream, a claim, and how much she would blame him. Which he would have agreed, but Zin seemed to smile as he told him of the deliciousness of butter on his popcorn.
“¡Well!” Zin said suddenly with his hands on his hips and I look at him demandingly. “Zin is hungry, so I demand that he take me to try foods that are at my level so that I can finish this dirty thing-date soon.”
He looked at her gullible.
“¡Now!” Zin exclaimed, not hearing a quick response from him.
He nodded, shocked and slightly offended. ¿Had she insulted him?
But it didn't matter. If there was something he had in common with Zin, it was that they both wanted this disastrous date to end.
¿So why wait?
"I know a place," he replied.
They left the cinema and went to a nearby coffee shop, it was their favorite, it had delicious sweets and there was a small platform at the back where people could count poems or sing, it was a very relaxing and quiet place. Just what he needed.
They arrived at the front of the cafe, remembering her manners, Gregory took the handle of the glass door and opened it before Zin who looked at him confused.
"Ladies first," he invite her to enter with her best smile.
"Zin doesn't need your poor flattery, braces boy," Zin scoffed as he walked through the door.
They sat at a table near the window, a waitress approached them, handing them the menus. Apparently there was a new special on the menu.
“¿First date?” Asked the waitress with an amused expression.
Gregory felt the shame creep up her neck and sighed with resignation when he glanced at Zin, who was eating the salt the table while looking for what to order.
He sighed with resignation.
“Yes…” He replied without much emotion.
“¡How sweet!” The waitress smiled. “¡Well I'll let you choose, call me if you need anything!”
He nodded, smiling uncomfortably at her, while she was laughing, looked down at the menu in his hands. But the sight of the chocolate cake and the lemon pie didn't stop a wave of disappointment from washing over his thoughts.
Their first date was supposed there would been with Drina and not with Zin who was present here. He would have liked to bring Drina here instead, he would have wanted her to sit with him at the same table while they chatted about the movie over ice cream or a milkshake.
And not like that, him with Zin and Drina in who knows where.
The bell at the entrance of the cafe opened, attracting his attention a little. He look puzzled at a little man with a gray beard, a large winter coat and a hat that covered his entire head and eyes.
When the man noticed, he lifted his hat a little and a pair of amber eyes gleamed in his direction.
Drina.
He had to bite his lip to keep him from laughing.
Drina gave her a wink and went to a table near theirs, a waiter approached her and mistook her for a man, again he had to make an effort not to laugh when she imitated the deep voice of an older man.
Zin looked at him suspiciously.
“¿What's so funny, human?”
Gregory coughed falsely and returned his gaze to the menu, hiding his smile behind it.
"Nothing," he answered smiling.
Zin looked at him for a few more moments, doubting his words and finally downplaying it and looking at the letter.
“¡Hey you! Coffee slave!” Zin called the waitress holding up the menú. “¡Zin wants this cone of pink cold cream!”
He raised his head towards her and looked at her as if he were being serious, behind him he heard Drina stifle a laugh.
The waitress looked at her confused seeing the chosen image.
“¿A strawberry ice cream?”
"¡That's what Zin said!" Zin exclaimed without acknowledging his mistake.
The waitress looked at him and saw a look of pity in his eyes, he smiled at her with a nod. Now he understood him.
"I want a lemon cake, please" he said.
The waitress nodded and went for her order.
"I hope that coffee slave is quick," Zin growled, tapping his fingers on the table. "Zin is hungry now."
"Ahm, those things take a little time," he told her.
“It's not Zin's problem, ¡Zin wants it now!”
There was an awkward silence, one in which Zin looked menacingly at the waitress who was busy preparing the ice cream, he sighed a little so as to be aware that if he did nothing this time they could end up being thrown out of the cafe.
Or worse.
“Ehm, ¿Zin?” He started awkwardly, brushing off some strands of her face forcing a small smile. "Do you know what dating is for?"
“To smear yourself with sticky affection between saliva, sweets and ice cream? Those things Zin already knows, naive human”, Zin responded aggressively and obviously impatient.
“Ah, yes… something like that” He continuous a bit uncomfortable. “But they are also to get to know each other better, a way to know more about the other.”
Zin's grumpy look seems to disappear giving way to a state of alert, he only interpreted it as nervousness, assuming that Zin could get nervous about these things. Since most of the time she seemed to love talking about herself.
“¿Exchange data?” Zin stammered, looking him up and down suspiciously.
“Yes, it's simple” He agreed smiling a little more naturally. “I ask you something about you and you about me.”
“¿Why would Zin be interested in knowing about your pathetic life?” Zin remonstrated suspiciously.
"Well, it's a way to pass the time," he says patiently, "besides, if there's something you don't want to tell me, that's fine, I won't force you."
“That's what you say now and later Zin finds herself in the middle of a dissection table, surrounded by a bunch of human scientists, ¡Zin won't fall for that game!” Zin yelled, hitting the table hard.
Some people looked at them and she heard Drina pull something out from under her disguise, maybe those weird handcuffs she always threatened Zin with, assuming that if she left things like that they could get out of hand.
"So... you," He speak quickly before Zin could say anything else, "¿where are you from?"
Zin looked at him like he was a worm, squinting his eyes and mouth a little harder than the previous times, he was aware that he had ignored his refusal or threat to answer any question.
But she had nothing better to say, so she would abstain from the consequences if that prevented a fight between her and Drina.
"¡Zin said he won't answer any of your hideous questions!"
“Ah yes… but… ¿did I have to try?”
He smiled nervously at Zin's scrutinizing gaze, he thought he would yell at him something else but she sat with her arms crossed, raising her feet on the table with an indifferent and annoyed gesture.
“Zin does not admit questions from his surprising personal life, earthworm, if Zin detects questions as deep as the core of this stinking Earth, ¡Zin will melt your face!” Zin threatened with a fury look before looking away to the waitress as if the sight of her presence did not matter to him. “¡First question!”
Gregory sigh a little relieved, although still tense, but considering that if he agreed to his small risk it was better to continue with that if he wanted to stay calm at his table and the problems away.
Or at least until they finish their appointment.
“¿Good where are you from?” He started sitting correctly. “I know you are new, but as far as I remember, you never said where you were coming from.”
“Stupid larva as if you didn't know that Zin is from Iiiiirrrrrrrrr…” Answered Zin before being aware of his presence and coughing before speaking again. “¡Iiirkland! ¡Zin comes from that stinking country called Irkland!”
“¿Are you Irish? Woah, it doesn't show much in your accent though.”
Zin looked at him blankly before shaking his head and looking away from him, shrugging his shoulders.
“Next question.”
“¿Uhm, do you have any hobbies?” Zin looked at him incredulously. “I mean, ¿is there something you like to do for fun?”
“What a stupid question”, Zin huffed with an arrogant smile. “Zin likes to make plans malevo-...”
As soon as she started Zin stopped, looking at him a bit as if acknowledging him and pursed his mouth in a clear gesture of nervousness.
“¿Malevo...?” He look at her doubtfully.
“¡MARSHMALLOWS!” Zin snapped suddenly. “¡Ah Zin likes to make marshmallows! ¡Zin loves making marshmallows!”
He looked at her confused and thought he heard a giggle behind him.
“¿Marshmallows?”
“¡Yes! ¡That soft, fluffy white stuff, full of candy that melts on fire! ¡So soft!... ¡Next question!” Zin cut himself hugging his knees and cursing in a dialect he couldn't understand.
“Okey...” He said a little puzzled by how he changed his answers in the middle of the sentence, that was a little weird. “So, ¿your family…?”
“¡Zin's family is a completely normal human family!” Zin yelled sharply and hitting the table with his hands again. “¡Human and perfectly normal! ¡Who told you otherwise lie! ¡LIE! ¡LIE!”
He stared at her for a minute, she felt a little tense and judging by the tic in one of her eyes, she was.
Maybe it was time to stop.
“Excuse me.”
“¡¿WHAT?!”, Zin yelled, suddenly startling him.
He looked to his side to notice the waitress who had come, she was holding a metal tray with his order.
"Their order... is here," replied the young lady.
He watched as Zin puffed out his cheeks with a frown, he clenched his hands into two fists, she was getting angry. She was going to explode.
“Ah, ¡thank you very much!” He answered taking their order before Zin or the waitress said something. “Thank you very much, look at Zin, you already have your ice cream.”
It worked.
Zin still glared at him with all his contained anger, but he didn't scream, instead he snatched the strawberry ice cream cone from him and began to eat in silence.
The waitress looked at him with a relieved smile.
“¿Would they like something else?”
"No, thanks", he answered quickly with the intention that he would leave soon.
“¡Zin wants his candy bar!”
They both looked at her, Zin scowling back at them, slapping his hands on the table. With an impatient expression.
Gregory sighed for the third or fifth time this day.
“¿Could you bring us a candy bar too?”, he whispered slowly and the waitress nodded, “thank you.”
As soon as the waitress left Zin began to eat his strawberry ice cream too quickly, Gregory no longer tried to make conversation, it was clear that the girl with the skin disease was not willing to talk anymore.
“¿Are you going to eat that, human?” Zin pointed, with his mouth full, at his lemon pie.
He sighed and push the plate toward her.
"No… it's all yours", he said without much appetite.
Zin didn't seem to mind and with his other hand he grabbed a piece and popped it into a mouth full of strawberry ice cream.
His stomach turned a little.
"I'll go to the bathroom..." he murmured to Zin, getting up from the table "... I'll be back in a bit.”
Zin paid attention to him and seized his plate eating as if he had not eaten in weeks, his stomach turned again and he ran to the bathroom of the premises.
This date couldn't be more awkward.
"What manners", thought.
He ended up escaping to the men's bathroom and locked himself in one of the cubicles, sighed and remembered the food spilling from Zin's mouth, his stomach turned and there was no longer any need to convince himself that he was in the bathroom to hide from his undesirable date.
He let everything go.
He could only wish it was all over now.
Then the door to his cubicle opened.
“¡¿What the hell…?!” He screamed, tugged at his shirt down with a strong red color on his face, stunned with humiliation and shame.
It was no better when he recognized, again, to the amber-eyed girl.
He at that moment... wanted to die.
"Drina," he murmured, looking down, unable to see her.
Drina closed the door behind her.
“I apologize…” Mumbled Drina and when I finally looked up at her, I noticed that she was using her coat to cover her face. “I needed to know if you were okay, I got distracted…”
She sounded uncomfortable.
He looked down feeling worse and more embarrassed.
"D-Don't worry… I'm fine," he stammered as fast as he found his tongue to speak, "I just… needed to go."
"I see," Drina whispered and looked up at him, their gazes connected and she hid it again, blushing. "This... was not my best idea."
"Don't worry," he smiled at the ground, red up to his ears.
But it was clearly not his best idea.
And he was holding on.
“¿Drina?” He looked at her embarrassed.
“¿Oh yeah?” She didn't even look at him.
“I'm still... busy...”
It took Drina a moment and then she opened the door and walked out.
He was never more relieved that she go away.
“Sorry… for Mercury” He heard her apologize behind the door.
He shook his head, embarrassed, red.
"She must be very worried", He try to remember.
"Okay…", He murmur.
“Sorry”, Drina's voice became smaller, “... I better go.”
And he heard the sound of his footsteps moving away and he sigh.
Despite that embarrassing situation… she thought it was cute.
"Oh God" He lamented again. "¿Why didn't I invite her?"
He sigh heavily before pulling the lever and exiting the cubicle.
Only to find that their date had just gotten worse.
“¡AAAHH! ¡GET AWAY! ¡GET AWAY OF ZIN!”
His eyes shot to the table where moments before he was sitting next to Zin, who was screeching furiously as a squirrel fought his raven hair, trying to take away the candy bar that Zin had ordered for her.
"Oh boy."
“¡Zin!” He ran up to her, he couldn't get too close, apparently not only was Zin furious. “¡Just give him the candy bar and he'll leave you alone!”
“¡THAT CANDY BAR IS FROM ZIIIIIN!” She yelled, getting up from the table and fighting the squirrel, with his hair disheveled and his bites.
They were attracting the attention of most of the clientele.
“¿Need help?” Asked one of the employees.
"Don't worry," he apologized before turning to Zin, "please, it's just a candy bar... I... I bought you another."
“¡THIS IS ZIN'S CANDY BAR!” She yelled stubbornly.
Suddenly the squirrel bit Zin's hand, she screamed again, the rodent ran away with the candy bar between its legs. It was very fast.
He looked at Zin, she was furious with his hair disheveled and one of his strands was standing up disorderly, he narrowed his eyes when he realized that that strand seemed to move by itself.
But he did not have much time to think about it, because from one moment to another a strange cable came out of Zin's backpack, and she began to shout things at her interlocutor.
“¡GIRI! ¡COME HERE NOW!”
He was about to ask who Giri was, when a strange green dog in a pink tutu flew into the door of the premises. Breaking it into a thousand pieces.
"No filthy squirrel will go unpunished from Zin's wrath!" Zin exclaimed, getting on the one that appeared was his dog, he turned to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “¡You come with human Zin with braces! ¡We will carry this disgusting date against the wretched rodent!”
“B-But... the bill...” Was the only thing he could say because the words didn't come out.
He look at the dog again noting that it had thrusters sticking out of its hind legs and that it was singing that we were all going to die.
¿Was this is real? ¿Wasn't it a joke or a bad dream? ¡¿Were they really going to chase a squirrel on top of their flying dog?!
Gregory wanted to back off, to go back to Drina, because something was wrong here and if someone could clear the doubt that the hell was happening here, it was her.
But he had no chance.
“¡REVENGE!” Zin barked unceremoniously and pulling him behind her, they shot out of the shop.
He had never screamed in such terror before, but hey, there was a first time for everything.
They were thrown like a cork, they did not even wait for he to settle well, it clung to the back of the dog, pulling the pink tutu. Zin was only targeting the happy squirrel that was running away from them.
It was the start of a terrifying chase in which he believed he would not make it out alive, he saw everything around him move too fast and so madly. And when they rose to catch up with the squirrel in the treetop, the dog's thrusters went off and for a moment he thought he would die.
Just to rise up in the last minute in a way that surpassed the most extreme of roller coasters, he almost hallucinated that a flash had captured that moment, he could almost swear that I had cried in fear before being quickly lifted into the sky.
He couldn't help but wonder why Zin wasn't screaming in fear, why this was so normal for her, ¿was this an everyday thing?
"Ah, we lost her", Zin growled after an hour of mad chase.
“¡¿What?!” He scream of fear, clinging to the dog with all his might to the dog, which apparently was Giri. “¡Zin come down now! ¡I slipped! ¡Zin!”
Zin looked at him as if he were insignificant and stupid, and to be honest with himself, maybe he was if he had agreed to go out with her.
“¡DON'T GIVE ORDERS TO ZIN, YOU FEARABLE EARTH SLUG!” She yelled at him pointing her finger at him, leaving the flight at the discretion of the dog. And he was beginning to suspect, that the dog had none.
“Zin... please...” He begged already feeling the tears return.
“This is the pathetic thing about humans, ¡they are crybabies!” Zin shouted before pulling his dog's ears that squealed with joy and quickly began to descend. “¡Zin will be able to end this disgusting date now!
He was never more grateful to her than he was at the time.
And maybe it's the only moment of sympathy he shared with her, because after this nightmare, he would never get close to her again.
They landed near the garden of Zin's house, a house whose door looked like a bathroom door and whose garden decorations were a pink flamingo and a flag that read "I love the Earth".
When he touched down, the first thing he did was jump away from Zin's green dog and Zin herself, as if from one moment to the next they were flying back to the sky, without a belt and in where he could feel death as close as the wind in his face.
I will not do this again.
“¡Finally this disgusting date is over!” Zin exclaimed, smiling proudly as if he had won some kind of prize.
He couldn't help but look at her and think, perhaps not for the first time today, how terrible her company was.
"Yes, I'm finally done..." He sighed, getting up, not wanting to think about it any more.
I'd had enough for today. Today and the rest of his life.
“If you expect the great Zin to acknowledge your pathetic Earthlings attempts to make this disgusting date, disgustingly not disgusting, ¡Zin will tell you that you failed!” Zin yelled suddenly.
He turned to look at her, surprised by the sudden scream, Zin pushed it with his hands as if it were a hindrance.
And it started.
“¡There was no butter in the popcorn! ¡The cinema was horrible!” She complained pushing him again. “¡Zin hate the movie! ¡The bad company and that they will unfairly remove her from the room!”
“B-But... it was because you made a mess...”
“¡SHUT UP!” She cut him raising his voice. “You are a despicable and disgusting human ally of the squirrels stealing sweets... ¡THIS WAS ZIN'S WORST DATE!”
He looks at her and feels a wave of annoyance and that's when all his frustration creeps down his throat and he (¡Oh, my God!) wants to scream.
“¡Well!” He replies with another cry. “¡It was also the worst date of my life!”
“¡Zin didn't ask you!” Zin yelled again and then crossed his arms looking at him like she was the victim here. “And because of this kind of thing Zin will never go out with you again.”
"Well, I wasn't thinking of going out with you again", he grunted, crossing his arms and looking at her the same way.
"Don't flood Zin's perfectly normal lawn" She cut him, turning her back, apparently ignoring his previous answer.
He took a deep breath, he was already tired of pretending he had infinite patience, and it would be ridiculous to be outraged by that.
The thing had already finished and he no longer had to do anything else here.
“¿And who would cry for you?” He whispered as he turned around, back to his house.
Back to the tranquility that this strange green skinned foreign girl had been depriving him all day.
¡BOOM!
He turned around only to turn around again, started running away.
Suddenly the garden gnomes, which he hadn't been able to notice on his landing, were starting to shoot. That was something completely insane and unhinged.
For not forgetting anything normal.
But he wasn't going to stay to find out.
And less when she saw a familiar person running out of the garden, before lightning struck her and pushed her against the garbage containers in the front house.
“Ah, ¡¿Drina are you okay?!” He exclaimed as stunned as he was scared, still running in the opposite direction.
He saw a staggering hand rise over the pile of trash and sighed in relief when she raised her thumb.
If there was one thing he could be sure of, it was that he was not the only one who had had a heavy day.
And luckily for both of them, they might not have to go through that again.
That was what he, sweet and innocent Gregory Spolar, had thought that Monday morning.
If only it had been possible to stay in that minute, that precious minute, in which I arrive at school on my way to the entrance thinking that last Saturday would be in the past. And that it would end as a memory that sooner or later he would begin to forget.
That Monday morning was going to make a new day.
But the trouble with his luck was that he was never lucky. And that morning he saw again how much the world despised him.
Zin and Gregory sitting in the tree
¡K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
That was the beginning of the nightmare.