Scream

Bill didn't exactly know what it was that pushed him to do what he did. Perhaps it was just the difficulty of having to manage with such an ugly and stupid human body. Perhaps it was the hardships of having to exist without his magic – or most of it, anyways. Perhaps it was the exasperation linked with trying in vain to understand humans and teenage culture in all its complications and senselessness. Perhaps it was the hormones of his current teenage body, which is messing with his mind.
Or perhaps it was the fact he had briefly caught himself staring at Pine Tree's ass. Maybe it had to do with how nothing was really going according to plan; not that he had a clear idea of how he wanted things to go. That being said, he had wanted some degree of control but, apparently, even the smallest amount was impossible to attain. Maybe that's what it was, lack of control over the unfolding situations. Whatever it was, Bill just screamed.

It was a mix of despair, shock, frustration and many more things. He had just learned Sixer, against all odds, had found himself a job at Pine Tree and Shooting Star's high school and had just decided to avoid him at all costs lest his true identity be discovered. It was simple, it shouldn't have been too difficult to accomplish but no. No. Whoever the Ancient European history teacher was, she just had to be absent and someone just had to assign Sixer of all teachers to take over. It just had to happen.

It took Bill a moment to realise all eyes had fallen on him. Pine Tree gave him a curious look but nothing matched the confusion painting Sixer's face. The demon suddenly felt stupid. If just existing wasn't going to tip off Sixer or Pine Tree than screaming likely was. It hadn't even been the first day – it wasn't even noon – but Bill had still managed to screw up. However, he didn't want to blame himself so he blamed Timothy. Stupid Timothy. It was probably actually his fault to some degree. Bill reckoned he had become more 'emotional' ever since he had been sealed away in the rich kid's comatose body. Had he been his usual self, he likely wouldn't have messed everything up – or, at least, maybe not as quickly.

"Is…is, uh, something wrong?" Sixer asked awkwardly.

Bill stiffened. How in the world was he going to get out of this one? He knew next to nothing about humans and their weaknesses aside from the obvious physical ones. Was there something he could say to dispel suspicion? The answer, he concluded, was probably not. Sixer wasn't an idiot and neither was Pine Tree. They would probably still figure it out no matter what he said but Bill wasn't one to go down quietly. He would go down swinging or, in this case, lying.

"I just…I…" He stuttered nervously, "I don't react well to…change. Or, you know, anything unexpected."

"Oh." Sixer responded meekly. Then, a spark ignited in his eyes and it was like he suddenly understood the subtle meaning of what Bill had said – which was weird because there hadn't been one. "Oh!" he said in a more illuminated tone. If he had figured out Bill's identity, it wasn't the response he had been expecting. Knowing Sixer the blond figured he had likely come to a different conclusion. "I remember reading about this! Yes, I'm so, so sorry!"

"Uh…" Bill started and he tried to mask his confusion, "It's…it's okay?"

"No, no, it really isn't." Sixer assured hastily, "You know, I always thought this was a problem with educational institutions. They'll make accommodations for students – or just people suffering from physical troubles, but give no regard for the ones with mental illnesses."

What the hell…? Bill thought but he bit his tongue to keep from actually saying it.

"Right, well, forgive me, I'm so sorry." Sixer insisted again, "I'll just leave it at this so we can move on. I don't want to put you on the spot more than I already have. That being said, I would really like to speak with you at the end of class."

"U-um…okay." Bill agreed sheepishly.

"Good." Sixer said and gave him a strangely kind smile before addressing the class again, "Now, as I was saying, I'll be taking over the class, just for today. I'm not actually a history teacher – honestly, I just don't get the point of history but—"

Sixer continued teaching. He walked from one end of the class to another, occasionally writing things on the chalk board like important dates for tests and whatnot. Bill recognized he knew next to nothing about the history of humans, Other than the parts he has caused of course, his knowledge on ancient Egypt was unrivaled.
But he found their history was rather interesting from what little exerts Sixer gave. There seemed to be a lot of **** and chaos. He would give the meat sacks just that, they had an appetite for war. Bill enjoyed it very much. There was nothing he loved better than bloodshed.

"Hey." Pine Tree whispered and it took Bill a moment to realise he was talking to him.

"What?" He whispered back.

Everything was starting to resemble more of what he had seen on TV.

"Are you sure you're okay…?" Pine Tree asked and he seemed strangely concerned.

"Hun, uh, yes." Bill answered.

Pine Tree seemed unconvinced by the answer but left it at that. He glanced away and back at the demon briefly and Bill tried to smile again. Pine Tree's face went red and he stiffened as he darted his gaze away. Again. He really needed to stop. Tonight, he would practice in front of the mirror until he figured it out. Smiling couldn't be that difficult.

Soon, the bell rang and the ten other students in class gathered their things. It was lunch time and Bill remembered seeing how that specific time was a big deal in most movies depicting high school life. Apparently, where one sat determined the social group in which they would find themselves until graduation. Bill had to make his pick carefully so as to wind up in the one with the most attributes. He was stressing himself out when he suddenly remembered how Sixer had wanted to talk to him. For a moment, the demon considered bolting out of the class and not looking back. He opted to just go with it and talk to him. Maybe he would say something useful.

Pine Tree was standing by the door, seemingly waiting for him, when he got to the desk. Ford sat on the chair and offered him the same type of smile he had given him before. It made Bill feel…weird, to say the least.

"Hi, I don't want to take much of your time," Sixer assured kindly. He spoke gently, almost like he once had back when Bill was busy tricking him into building a portal. Ah. The good ol' days. "I just wanted to talk more about your condition."

"Yes. My condition." Bill said vaguely.

"You do have anxiety, correct?" He asked bluntly and Bill had no idea if it was what he thought it was. Was it something different? Or was Sixer referring to the habit of feeling nervous in stressful positions? "Because, if you do, I want you to know it's okay."

"Um…yes." Bill simply agreed.

Anxiety? Humans got special treatment for feeling something as silly as anxiety?

"Then I really don't want to step out of your comfort zone and I'll keep this brief," Sixer assured, "I know this isn't easy to deal with and sometimes it can be scary, but if you need to talk to someone, you can come to me at any time. My office is on the second floor in room 211. Don't worry about getting a tardy slip or something if you ever get overwhelmed, I'll take care of it."

"Uh…thank you." Bill said and he was awed.

Perhaps pretending to have anxiety wasn't so bad. If he didn't fall into the proper social group and attain the perks he wanted, he would at least have whatever Sixer was offering him.

"Have a good lunch." Sixer concluded.

Bill nodded and stumbled away from the desk. He didn't quite understand what had just happened aside from how he had inexplicably escaped his previously awkward situation and now had to pretend to have anxiety. Oh well. At least his cover was still intact.

"So, uh…" Pine Tree said and Bill had almost forgotten the brunet was still following him around. "I overheard a bit…I'm sorry if that bothers you."

"No, it's fine." Bill said and that much was true. He didn't actually suffer from anxiety as far as he was concerned – He was insane, he knew that much. But at this point what was another diagnosis to that list.

"I didn't know you suffered from anxiety…" Pine Tree started, "I'll shut up if you want me to, it's just…if there's anything I can do to help…please tell me."

Bill regarded Pine Tree curiously. What was it about anxiety that had people suddenly concerned for him and willing to go out of their way to make him happy? It wasn't that he was complaining as much as he was expressing his confusion. Humans were so perplexing.

"Grunkle Ford," he continued, "The stand-in history teacher – that's my great uncle – he's also a really good guy. So if you need anything, you can trust him."

"Thanks…" Bill answered meekly.

They walked into the school and it didn't take long until they were met with other people. Up ahead, by the senior lockers, Shooting Star and Blondie were talking. Blondie's group was strangely absent but Bill didn't wonder about it too much. He didn't care about them, Blondie was the only useful one. Without knowing what else to do, Bill followed Pine Tree's lead and walked up to them.

"Hey." He said.

"Dipper!" Shooting Star exclaimed, "You brought Bill too! How was class?"

"It was fine." Pine Tree answered a bit stiffly and Bill wondered if it was because he had screamed. "We didn't do anything. Grunkle Ford was our sub."

"I was wondering why he wasn't at his office." Shooting Star said, "Especially after he told me he wasn't teaching during my spare."

"So what are you two doing?" Pine Tree asked and turned his gaze to Blondie.

"I was waiting for Bill." Blondie answered and the demon jolted a bit, "I said I would show him around."

Bill noticed how the twins both stilled. He wondered why.

"I mean, I was going to do it because we have two classes together." Pine Tree said.

"That's cool but he already said I could do it." Blondie stated and reached for Bill's arm. She hooked hers around his. The twins didn't look too pleased with her actions.

Well, this was awkward.