bite the bullet – wait for Pine Tree and try your luck.

Bill clenched his hands into fists and tensed. He tried to relax by breathing deeply but it was difficult. He was admittedly nervous. Pine Tree was unfortunately not an idiot – far from it, actually. He was rather perceptive and his imaginative mind could potentially ruin Bill's plans for ****. The demon had to act like a normal teenage boy in his senior year and he had to do so flawlessly. He didn't quite understand what "normal" exactly consisted of aside from the tendencies he had noticed when watching TV in an attempt to educate himself. Right – it was time to put his limited knowledge on human culture to the test.

The first thing he did was shove his hands into his pockets and try to look relaxed. Bill leaned back a bit but not too much and kept his head slightly tilted upwards. He had practiced expressions in the mirror and tried to look casual. What even was casual? He shook his head and scratched out the idea. The demon would settle on expressing boredom. He hoped his facial features conveyed just that. Next was thinking of excuses he could give Pine Tree as to why he had ignored him when he called out his name and fled the class. The initial few reasons he conjured he found were too crazy. No one would ever believe he had gone temporarily deaf for a few seconds. As far as Bill was concerned, such a thing wasn't actually possible. No, he had to think of something better.

Bill grasped the paper in his pocket and pulled it out. He was already anxious about lying convincingly in a way a teenager would to Pine Tree but what was worse was that he had no idea where the stupid history class would be. Where the hell was classroom P9? The establishment only had two floors and none of them were labelled with letters. Was there a secret floor P? But then an idea dawned on Bill and just in the nick of time too because Pine Tree suddenly tapped his shoulder. The demon turned around to face the other and found, much to his displeasure, that Pine Tree was taller than him.

Stupid Timothy.

Why did he have to be so short?

"Um…hi." Bill said meekly. He decided it would be best to keep his answers short. The less he said, the less he risked screwing up.

"Yeah, uh, hi." Dipper said sheepishly and he fidgeted nervously as he played with his fingers. Bill worried he was already suspicious of his true identity. Why else would he act in such a way? "I, um…it's just, I called after you and you sort of…"

Bill waited for him to finish his sentence for a moment. It took him a bit of time to realise Pine Tree was going to leave it at that and was expecting a response likely in regards to his actions. "Oh! Right, well…I just…" Bill stumbled stupidly and glimpsed at the paper he held, "I just…have no idea where P9 is…so…" Bill **** himself not to gag or vomit when he concluded with: "Sorry." At least he had found a decent excuse.

God, he just wanted to jump off a cliff. He couldn't believe he actually apologised to Pine Tree. It didn't matter that he didn't mean it, he still said it and he hated it.

"P9?" Dipper asked and peered at the demon's schedule, "Ancient European history?"

"Yeah." Bill said and he wasn't sure why but he tried to smile.

Pine Tree's face went red just like Blondie's and Bill mentally cursed himself for having attempted a smile again only to fail. He would need more practice. All he hoped now was that Pine Tree disregarded the action and didn't become more guarded.

"W-well—" Pine Tree stammered and his voice cracked. Bill couldn't help but snicker. The brunet cleared his throat and before speaking again, "I have the same class, I can show you the way…if you want."

"Um…sure." Bill agreed and he awkwardly followed Pine Tree through the halls, easily weaving through the chaotic gathering of students.

"So…" Pine Tree said and glanced at Bill, "I wanted to talk about the project really quick…if you don't mind…I know it's early but, you know, head starts and whatever…"

Bill frowned at the boy. He was acting so strange. During their previous encounters, Pine Tree exuberated confidence and authority. He held his ground and responded to Bill's teases with surprising wit. Now he was a stuttered mess and could barely finish a sentence. He wasn't the Pine Tree Bill was used to. Why? Was it because Timothy was, apparently, hot? Speaking of—

"Do you think I'm hot?" Bill asked bluntly.

If someone was going to be truthful with him it would be Pine Tree. The latter did have those weird little things called 'morals'.

Pine Tree flinched and his face went red again. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape. His lips moved but he emitted no sound – like he didn't know what to say. Curious.

"I-I-I…well—"

"Dipper!" Shooting Star shouted and approached them. Pine Tree sighed in relief and turned to his sister effectively dodging the question. Bill frowned at that.

"Mabel." He said and smiled at her.

Bill wondered how the two managed to curve their mouths in such a way. Why was it so easy for them to smile prettily?

Pine Tree turned back towards him and gestured Shooting Star, "Bill, this is my twin sister Mabel." He said and then looked at his sister, "Mabel, this is Bill."

"Bill?" Shooting Star asked and glanced at Pine Tree.

The look she gave him made Bill tense. She was suspicious – her tone of voice conveyed it. "Y-yeah?" Bill said in a feeble attempt to dissolve the situation.

This had all been a terrible idea. He should have found a different way to get his ****.

"Oh, sorry, it's nothing." Shooting Star grinned widely. The demon wasn't sure he could stretch Timothy's mouth like that. "We just knew a Bill once, from years ago. Your name reminded me of him."

"Oh…okay." Bill said and left it at that.

Short answers.

Short answers were key.

"What class do you have?" Pine Tree asked her.

"Nothing. I have a spare." Shooting Star said, "Grenda has one too so we'll probably be in the atrium or go to Grunkle Ford's office."

"Six—" Bill uttered before he could stop himself. The twins' gazes fell upon him, watching him curiously – waiting for him to fail, it seemed. "Six…six minutes have passed." He said instead and hoped it came out naturally.

"That's right." Pine Tree huffed, "We better get to class. See you later."

Shooting Star smiled again and waved them off before heading down the hall. Bill followed Pine Tree to P9 which, apparently, stood for portable 9. He kept his head down for the rest of their short walk and chewed his lower lip. It was one thing dealing with teenagers and Old Man McGucket but another to have Sixer on his hands. He was smart. He knew Bill personally. They had spent so many years together when the demon pretended to be his friend. Sixer would be onto him the moment he set eyes on him or heard his name. And his eyes, Bill realized in horror. While Timothy eyes wasn't split like his normal possessed victims were, because of Bill's current weakned state. His pupils is definitely not round, settling in a more oval shape.
Something most meat bag's wouldn't notice, unless they where directly looking into his eyes for some strange reason.

If his acting slipped up, if Sixer checked his eyes he would be found out!

He had to avoid him at all costs.

"Are you okay?" Pine Tree asked and nudged Bill as they walked into the portable.

"Hun? Uh…yeah." He lied.

The demon went to the far end of the class and sat at the desk with the least chewed gum covering the surface. He would never understand why teenagers preferred to stick that disgusting paste anywhere other than in the trash can. What had been the point of inventing trash cans if they were to go unused? What was even the point of sticking their gum everywhere? Was it a way to mark their territory? In the long run, it wouldn't matter. Bill would destroy them all.

Pine Tree took the desk next to him. He set his bag in the space between them and pulled out an orange binder filled with lined papers. "We've still got a few minutes before class starts." He said as he fished through his bag for more things, "So I wanted to know if you had any preferences on the topics we could choose from?"

"Oh, um…I wasn't really paying attention." Bill said and he hoped it wasn't alarming. Teenagers never listened in class. They were always whispering and passing notes – or, at least, they did on TV. Most of them had been rather quiet and well-behaved during the class. Perhaps TV had gotten it wrong?

Pine Tree flinched at the comment and his face went red. The demon immediately started panicking, thinking he had said the wrong thing again and that his cover was in another compromising situation. It was still only the first day; how could everything be going so terribly?

"I-I don't really care though!" Bill added hastily, "We can do whatever you want!"

"Really?" Pine Tree frowned and tilted his head to the side inquisitively. "You sure?"

"Yeah!" Bill insisted with a **** laugh he hoped didn't sound too crazy, "You're a smart guy—" he mentally smacked himself for the comment. Short. He had to be short but he had gone and mucked it up. He was supposed to have just met Pine Tree, how could he know he was smart? He needed to fix it– "I-I mean, that's what Blondie—Pacifica told me. She said you're smart."

"She…she did?" Pine Tree asked with an astonished expression. "Wow, well…okay."

Bill tried smiling again and he wasn't sure why especially after his two recent failures. It almost seemed like a natural response. Maybe it was something Timothy always did when he found himself in awkward situations. Stupid Timothy. Regardless, Pine Tree's reaction was the same and it left the demon to wonder what exactly he was doing wrong. Smiling shouldn't be as difficult as it was.

"But yeah, the project…" Pine Tree continued, clearing his throat, "I was thinking we could do it on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. We could talk about his research technique and the public's response to his findings once they were published."

"Sure." Bill agreed. He honestly didn't care.

Just then the second bell rang. The class was hardly filled to capacity. They were twelve in total – including Bill himself and Pine Tree. The teacher was also nowhere to be found. It was strange and the other students seemed to share his concerns as well. Just then, the portable's door swung open and Bill wished the ground would just swallow him whole.

"Hello class! Miss Melody couldn't make it so I'll be taking over but just for today."

It was Stanford fucking Pines.