A/N: Right, well, I had this idea at two in the morning yesterday, and I liked it. So now it is a story. In this, Dipper is 12, and obviously so is Mabel. Bill is 14. Dipper and Mabel aren't very close, because Mabel is OOC and kind of embarrassed by Dipper. This story probably won't have much romance in it because Dipper is a bit too young for that, I think. There might be some fluff towards the end, though. And yeah, it will be BillDip if anything.

Enjoy-

Kaigo

"There he is!"

"I see him!"

Dipper ran harder, even though they always caught up in the end. It was an endless game of cat and mouse. Or cats and mouse. And Dipper was always the mouse.

Dipper's heartbeat was now much faster than normal, and his breath came in small bursts though his mouth. Crap, he thought, as he reached the fence. He took a sharp turn and kept running, even though he knew it was too late. A sharp pain in his back, and he was face-first in the dirt.

Rock, he thought miserably. They threw a rock at me!

Dipper squeezed is eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable. This was a process that had happened every other day since his parents had died two years ago. The other kids would pick on him, although maybe "pick" wasn't quite the right word. Torture? Dipper thought. Yeah, that's more accurate.

Grubby hands shoved him onto his back, and he sat up shakily on his knees. He knew the kids, of course. The orphanage was small, as far as he could tell, and everybody knew everybody else. They were Lance, Elliot, and Alissa, and they were quite horrible in Dipper's opinion. They certainly looked the part, anyways.

Lance had hair so blonde it was almost white. When it was clean, of course. Now, in the middle of the week, it was a gritty shade of mud. Elliot had stringy brown hair and pointy ears, like a ferret's. Alissa was raven haired, and it was almost at her elbows. Along with her freckles and cute nose, Dipper might have thought she was pretty if her hair wasn't so badly tangled it looked like she had walked thought the entire forest on her head. And if, you know, she hadn't just nailed him with a baseball-sized rock.

"Hello, Dipper. Nice to see you again," Lance commented placidly. He was obviously the leader of the trio, although he hardly ever beat anyone up. He was hardly the scariest, either.

Dipper just glared as he got to his feet, prepared to run, even though it wouldn't do much good. They'd be able to catch up no matter what. Dipper silently cursed his short legs.

"Hm, how rude. No answer, huh?" Lance feigned insult for a moment, and then grinned. "I know! Let's force a reply, then!"

He pointed at Dipper, and Elliot ran forward. Dipper turned and ran towards the cover of the trees, barely avoiding Alissa's second rock. He gripped his hat to his head, and ducked under the leafy branches. He heard lance and the others behind him and ran faster. Recess should be almost over. All he had to do was get to the orphanage director and start some kind of conversation. He should be safe then.

Dipper actually felt a bit optimistic for a moment, before he tripped. "No!" He moaned quietly. His foot was lodged under a tree root, and it was not moving. He twisted his foot sideways and pulled. His foot came loose, along with a couple layers of skin, too. He limped towards the orphanage as fast as possible, but it was too late. He made it past the last tree just as Elliot grabbed him from behind.

"Where you going, Dipper?" Lance asked. "You scared or something?"

He grinned like it wasn't obvious. "Don't worry, you're safe with us. Right guys?" He said, looking at his companions. Elliot punched him a couple times in answer. Alissa finally got to throw her rock at his back.

"See? Perfectly fine!"

They cackled as they ran off. Dipper stayed on the ground for around ten minutes, and forcibly dragged himself up when the kids started walking back inside. Dipper groaned as he dusted his hat and shirt off. He couldn't wait for laundry day.

"Hurry up, Dipper!" The other kids called. Dipper scowled as he ran as fast as his pained body would carry him.

He was silent as the others filed back to their desolate classroom. It was for 12-14 year-olds, and they all learned the same things because of low staff. Dipper took the last seat open, in the back, as always. Not that he minded. If he was in the back, there was less chance of being noticed.

Dipper tried to look busy as he scribbled drawings onto the backs of his old papers. Everyone else usually took this time to finish their homework, and Dipper hated being the one to stand out.

"Pine Tree! Number 12!"

Dipper almost smiled. He recognized the voice of the one person in the entire orphanage that didn't seem to hate his guts and want to roast them on a spittle. Looking up, he saw Bill Cipher, one of the most interesting (and peculiar) people Dipper had ever met. He had long, golden-blonde hair, a dark brown eye, and an eyepatch. When Dipper had first arrived, he had asked the other children what happened to Bill's eye. No one knew. However, there was an abundance of rumors.

"There was an accident on kitchen duty, I think. He lost it to a salad fork."

"He was born that way. Mel told me."

"Bear attack."

Dipper had always been a curious kid, and this enigma piqued his interest. One day, he told himself to just ask. The worst Bill could do was refuse to answer. He tried to muster up his courage at dinner, but only ended up spilling his water down his front.

"1865," Dipper replied.

"Thanks, man." Bill grinned and turned back around.

Dipper smiled down at his paper. Bill's smile was huge and white, and like, shiny. And contagious, definitely contagious. Sometimes Dipper found himself thinking about the science behind it during particularly boring lessons.

By now, Mrs. Hasse had finally shown up, and was taking up papers. Dipper handed her his without looking at her face. He had found that the less you interacted with a teacher, the less likely she was to call on you. It wasn't that Dipper couldn't handle it. He really was quite smart. But the other children were quite unmerciful with their names and beatings, so Dipper went out of his way to avoid it.

The exact opposite of Mabel, Dipper thought, somewhat jealously.

He glanced over at Mabel, who was sitting in her usual spot at the front, surrounded by friends. Everyone seemed to love Mabel, and why not? She was exactly what Dipper could never hope to be. Cute, popular, and a complete people-person. She had long, auburn hair that never seemed to tangle, a real gift for the children in the orphanage. The naturally pretty ones always got adopted first.

Although they had many differences, Dipper dreaded the day he'd watch his twin sister get adopted. And that day would come. How could it not? Everything about Mabel was impeccable! Once summer came around, (the main time of adoption due to the lack of school) she'd probably be the first one chosen.

With a sigh, Dipper forced himself to focus on Mrs. Hasse's lecture. He heard only a few sentences about photosynthesis before his eyes drooped and he fell asleep.

Dipper awoke at the sound of the bell.

"Hey hey! Pine Tree!" Bill grinned. "Thanks for the homework help! Without you I'd be so screwed! One more wrong and I'd have failed!"

Bill laughed like it was the most comical thing ever to happen to mankind. His hair flipped into him good eye and he brushed it away impatiently.

Dipper could feel an awkward silence coming on, and he felt like he should say something, so he asked, "When did we get the homework back?"

"Sometime in the 2 and a half hours you were sleeping, Pine Tree! Try to pay attention!" He grinned and pushed Dipper's hat over his eyes.

"You know you're the only one who calls me that, right?" Dipper asked, straightening his hat.

"Maybe someday it'll catch on. See ya later, Pine Tree!"

As Dipper gathered his things, he found himself missing Bill's presence. Had this room always been so dark?

He dragged his feet all the way to his room, which wasn't really his, per say. He shared it with 13 other boys, from the ages of 12 to 15. If you were still here after that, you only had to share with one other person, and you even got to pick who. Wouldn't that be great, Dipper thought longingly.

He sat on the ground and shoved his stuff under the bed, growling as he discovered someone had deposited a half eaten bologna and mayonnaise sandwich there.

He heard footsteps and went rigid, holding his breath and watching the door.

He grinned when he saw who it was. "Bill!" He said.

"Pine Tree? Ha! Fancy meeting you here!"

"We both live here, Bill," Dipper replied, rolling his eyes.

"Is that a sandwich?" Bill asked, cleverly changing the subject.

"Yeah. Someone put it under my bed," Dipper said in disgust, holding the offending food item with two fingers.

Bill strode across the room and in one motion swapped the sandwich with a piece of paper and had made it to the back of the room.

"That's the lesson you missed during nap-time," He said as he put the sandwich under Lance's pillow. "Keep it; I'm already done with the homework."

"Catch ya later, Pine Tree. Tell me if Lance messes with you again. I'll beat him up for you." Bill left with a grin

Dipper smiled back, but somewhat sadly. He'd never be able to let Bill fight Lance for him. He just didn't know Bill that well. If they were better friends, maybe, but now…they were like good acquaintances, if that.

With a heavy sigh, Dipper trudged off to lunch.

Dipper thought himself as a likable enough person. He didn't try to be unpleasant. In fact, he tried his hardest to be pleasant. However, life is cruel, and so are children. So Dipper dealt.

He sat at the very end of the table and watched the people around him. It helped him focus and kept him from going paranoid. There were six tables in the meal room. The one closest to the entry door was for the babies, and had high chairs. The next one over was for 3-5 year-olds. There were less of those, so it was always fairly quiet around them.

The other tables were 6-8 year-olds, 9-11 year-olds, 12-14 year-olds, and 15-everybody else. Dipper's group was the second largest, which was not a comforting thought. For him, it was a lucky day if he actually got to eat his own potatoes.

Dipper stabbed his pork chop and chewed it furiously. It tasted awful and had the consistency of rubber.

A laugh arose from the middle of the table, and Dipper craned his neck to try and see exactly what had happened. Why am I not surprised, he thought.

Bill and his two 14-year old friends had upturned their milk on Elliot and Alissa, and had got up intercept Lance before he could escape. They cornered him into a wall and were just about to drench him, when a whistle sounded, and every single person in the room turned to the orphanage matron.

"Bill Cipher, come with me. You have detention. You two get warnings." She said to Bill's friends sternly. "Go sit down. Come on, Bill."

"Yes, ma'am!" Bill said cheerfully, and poured the milk on Lance anyway.

He strolled back through the tables, over to the matron, and pulled her though the doors.

The second she was gone, everyone laughed and hollered. Lance's hair was sticking to his forehead, and Elliot had slipped and fallen across the 9-11 year-old table, where they gladly coated him with peas.

Dipper laughed along with the rest, albeit a little worriedly. He hoped Bill hadn't not waited for an answer and messed with Lance anyway. It seemed like something he would do.

Dipper finished his now-cold meal and left the room before anyone could notice. He decided to take advantage of the empty room and do his homework in silence.

The homework was easy with Bill's notes, and Dipper soon just focused on the style of Bill's writing. It was odd, unlike anything Dipper had ever seen before, in a book or on paper. His capital letters were double the size of a normal letter, and they all slanted slightly to the right. Inside of every capitol O, Bill had drawn a picture. They were weird little doodles, and Dipper frowned as he tried to figure them out. Was that an eye? And a bird?

He quickly stashed his work under the blankets when the first two boys walked in. They were nice enough people, but still didn't associate with Dipper. With a glance around the room, Dipper grabbed his toothbrush, got up, and walked towards the bathroom. It was large, and quite a ways away. It had five sinks and five stalls all lined up in a row.

The paint was peeling of the walls, and tiles had chipped away in places. The formerly white walls had turned yellowish with age and wear. Dipper frowned in disgust. The whole orphanage was basically falling apart. He finished brushing his teeth just as the door swung open. Dipper tensed and dove into the nearest stall, hoping with everything he had that it wasn't Lance.

Dipper listened closely, and decided that it was just some 9 or 10-year-olds. He flushed the toilet and washed his hands before walking out and down the hall.

The matron was standing guard between the girl's and boy's bathrooms. Dipper ducked his head as he passed, and thought about what might be happening to Bill right now in detention. It was with Hasse, and she was nice, so it couldn't be that bad right?