Mrs. Robinson hummed softly to herself as her latest batch of students filed into the classroom. The start of the school year was always such an exciting time, and this year promised to be as wonderful as any before. The sun was shining through the classroom windows, maintenance had fixed the room's unreliable clock over the summer break, and the administration had made a deal with the gnomes that had been stealing from the school dumpsters for years to ensure that class time would not be disrupted by their activities. Yes, everything was certainly looking up.

She glanced up at the clock, still feeling a rush of joy upon seeing that it was no longer stuck at 5:37. Over the years, she had learned to appreciate the simple things in life. A working clock was, admittedly, a small blessing in the greater scheme of things, but it was a blessing nonetheless. And, right now, that very timepiece was telling her that she still had almost a minute left to wait before her first teaching session of the school year would begin.

Mrs. Robinson looked around the classroom, examining the students that she would be teaching at this time of day. They all looked so energetic for this time of day, and at least half of them had their pens and paper out already and everything! And the classroom was just about full, though there was still time left for new arrivals; the teacher could only spot one empty seat remaining among the neat rows of desks that lined the room. Her beloved classroom. Soon it would be their classroom- though even her current optimism wasn't enough to convince her that all of the students would grow to know and love her classroom in the same way that she herself did.

And look, there came the last of the students now, with over thirty seconds to spare before the bell! How wonderful was that?

She glanced over at the student and quickly noticed that something was awry, though it wasn't quite enough to erase the smile off her face.

"I'm sorry, but you aren't allowed to wear hats in the classroom here. Can you just stow that away in your backpack or under your desk for me?" Technically, school policy said that even minor dress code violations automatically sent students to the principal's office and would require them to change into their gym uniform immediately or be sent home. Technically, school policy said a lot of things that Mrs. Robinson had grown to disagree with. It was the first class of the first day of school, and she didn't want her students to see her act as a strict disciplinarian before acting as a loving teacher. And really, it's not like wearing a hat in school ever harmed anybody.

"Sorry, Mrs. Robinson. I'll take care of that for you right away." The new boy murmured in response.

Mrs. Robinson looked at the whiteboard that dominated the front of her classroom, half-wondering if she had written her name on it already and simply forgotten about it. No, right now the whiteboard was clean, perfectly, beautifully clean, momentarily lacking the dust and marks that always managed to accumulate during the year no matter how hard she tried to clear them away. But him knowing her name wasn't really that unusual. The Gravity Falls school district was a small one, and even if she hadn't met the boy personally before, there was a good chance that she'd had the pleasure of teaching one of his siblings or other family members in years past. And indeed, there was something about the child's features that looked quite familiar, though she couldn't quite place it.

"Thank you very much."

She watched as the boy headed over to his spot at the one remaining empty desk, waiting for him to take off his top hat as she had so kindly requested, but instead, the hat just… vanished. One moment it was there, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone, as if it had never been.

Mrs. Robinson's pulse quickened as it began to dawn on her where, exactly, she'd seen that face before.

She looked him in the eyes… the eerie, black and yellow eyes.

"…Alcor?"

The boy- no, the demon- no, the student, her student now- nodded enthusiastically and gave her a wide grin. "Long time no see, Mrs. Robinson! I have to say, I'm really looking forward to taking this class with you!"

And, as the bell rang and Alcor slid into his chair, Mrs. Robinson could tell that it was going to be a long school year.