Chapter One

(Bill)

"Look over there," the teenage boy in a grey sports jacket said, pointing to my left. I glanced over, uninterested, to see a tall boy with dark green eyes and shaggy black hair leaning over the table Mabel Pines was sitting at. She looked up from talking with her friends to beam at him, practically exuding friendliness. I shrugged. "What about her?" I questioned, taking a sip of my Pitt Cola. The grinning teen rolled his eyes, pointing once again in the other corner of the cafeteria. "That's what," he responded snidely, flicking my shoulder. I looked over, still not quite following his logic. Then I smirked, realizing what he was getting at.

Mabel's brother had stood up from where he'd been sitting next to Pacifica. He strode over to the table Mabel and the unidentified male were chatting, then stopped right beside him. The boy with black hair spun around to face him, scowling. I was pretty sure his name was Derek, or something. It didn't really matter, though, as Dipper had only needed to say a few words, and Derek's eyes widened. He then scurried off, face flushed of any color. I snickered, watching Dipper go back and forth with an amused Mabel for a moment before turning and heading back towards his own table.

He sat down in his seat and picked up the book he'd left sitting there. Pacifica said something, which made the brunette laugh good-naturedly, and she went right back to leaning over his shoulder and talking as he read whatever was in his hands. I turned to my friends, somewhat interested. "What's that about?" I asked, leaning my head on my hand. The teen in the gray jacket, Henry, grinned happily, as if he'd been waiting for me to ask. "How oblivious can you get, Bill? You've lived here your entire life and you've never heard of the Pines challenge?" he countered, an eyebrow cocked upwards quizzically.

I shrugged. "Ya' got me. What's that?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Henry waved a hand, delighted that I wanted to know. "Everyone wants a piece of Mabel, but you have to get through her stick-in-the-mud brother first," he explained, tilting his head towards the cute girl with a purple kitten sweater on. "She's really nothing special, in all honesty. What makes it really fun is the cred you get from everyone in the school once it spreads around."

I hummed in understanding, watching Mabel as she placed sparkly stickers all over her shorter friend, Candy's, face. "I see. And people really enjoy that? It seems to me that everyone that tries fails," I said, taking another swig of my soda.

Henry nodded. "That's because her prude of a brother shoots down every guy that comes near her. If it weren't for him, it'd probably be easy to get her on her knees, if you know what I mean," he went on with a lopsided sneer.

I was very intrigued at that point. I turned yet again to look at Dipper, who had taken his eyes off of the book he was reading to speak with Pacifica. "Pretty boring guy, isn't he?" I asked, glancing at my friend across the table.

Henry nodded, a devious look in his eyes. "You see, the only reason anyone even gives a damn what he says is because he's part of the challenge. And of course, he's really tight with Northwest. On his own, though... he's nothing. Just another geek with a creepy obsession with ghosts and spookums," he said, sniggering at the end. "But because of Mabel, we've come up with another challenge. Specifically for you, actually."

I leaned forward, both hands used to hold my head up. "And what would that be?" I asked.

"Well, we all know that without Northwest backing him up all the time, he would've already gotten his teeth kicked in for walking around acting all high and mighty the way he does. So..." Henry paused dramatically, pointing his index finger towards me. "I want to make a bet with you. I bet even you can't get him to let down his guard."

I shrugged. "So basically you want me to get on his good side so you can pounce on Mabel," I said matter-of-factly. Henry nodded slyly. "Alright. What's in it for me?" I questioned, eyebrow raised.

Henry's eyes glittered mischeviously. "Not so fast, Bill. I have a few rules for you to follow," he went on, shaking his mostly empty can of soda. The tan-skinned teen beside him laughed condescendingly. Something told me I knew where this was going, and frankly, I didn't really care. "I don't want you to just get on the kid's good side. You have to earn his unconditional trust. No short cuts, man. Hell, you might as well make him fall in love with you," he went on, snorting at the effort it took not to laugh. Bingo, I thought to myself. Something told me that's where this was headed. After all, it wasn't that long ago I had come to realize I had zero interest in girls, and like the great friend Henry was, he took any chance he was given to rub it in my face.

Little did he know, I was up for the challenge. "Hundred bucks and you're on," I agreed, absentmindedly tearing the pop tab off of my Pitt Cola can. Henry seemed taken aback for a second, but soon recovered. "Pfft, are you kidding? I'm rich. That's chump change. If you can pull off something like that, I'll give you a thousand," he replied snarkily, holding out a hand. I nodded, reaching out to take it. "Deal," I said, finalizing the conditions of our bet. I then brought my hand back wordlessly, dropping the tab inside my empty can and sitting it on Henry's tray. I stood up, giving him a salute before walking off towards Dipper's table.

It seemed that Pacifica had left for a moment, so I took that chance to slide into the spot next to him. Dipper didn't look up from the book he was reading, which I then noticed was some sort of mystery novel. "That seat's taken," he said coldly, turning the page. I brought a hand up to my chest, feigning a hurt expression. "Geez, someone's a bit moody," I responded, scooting closer to look over his shoulder. Dipper slammed the book shut, sitting it down on the table in front of him. My eyes widened, surprised by the loud noise and the quick movement. I felt eyes from people at tables nearby come to rest on us, but I was unfazed.

Dipper turned his head towards me, bright sea foam green eyes filled to the brim with hostility as he glowered at me. "Alright, let's get this out of the way. You're either here to A) ridicule me on my interests and choices of literature, or B) attempt to get my permission to fuck my sister. And based on the fact that you and your airhead friends over there have been staring between Mabel and I for the past ten minutes, I'd say it's the latter. So, if that's what you're here for, then the answer is no and you are free to leave. If I'm wrong, which I doubt considering the stunned look on your face, then you should just tell me what you're up to now and quit beating around the bush. I don't have time for people like you," he snarled, crossing his arms and shooting me a glare.

Boy... If looks could kill.

I forced myself to keep calm, despite the slight nervousness that had crept up on me during his little speech. "Damn, Pine Tree. I'm wounded, really I am. I mean, good-looking, quick-witted, observant, and sharp tongued. If it weren't for the quiet, overprotective older brother thing you've got going on, I'll bet you'd have girls just knocking on your doors," I pointed out, sliding an arm over his shoulders. Dipper shrugged me off, chuckling humorlessly. "Actually, Mabel's older than me," he replied, eyebrows furrowed. "And don't call me that." There was venom in his voice.

I grit my teeth. This kid was really difficult to get past, wasn't he? I guess that's why Henry had been so quick to wager a thousand dollars on my ability to befriend him. Oh, well. People never resisted my charms for long. "Oh yeah? How much older is she?" I asked, settling for small talk to get past his barriers. Dipper shrugged, looking half surprised I didn't know. Were they really that big a deal to everyone that it was such a shock I didn't know? "Like, five minutes. We're twins," he said almost questioningly, as if it were obvious. "You know, most guys know these things when they walk up to me trying to impress Mabel. You need to bring a lot more to the table if you want even a shot of getting by me," Dipper went on, eyes piercing into my own like daggers.

God, those eyes. It's like he's trying to look through me or something... I thought, fidgeting somewhat. "Well, actually, I'm not after Mabel," I said truthfully, but he didn't seem to believe me. He just snorted, as if it were blasphemous to be talked to by someone without ulterior motives. And I mean, I had mine, but it still stung a bit. "I have no interest in women. But someone else has caught my eye," I went on in a suave tone, sliding a hand towards him. Dipper paid my advances no mind, however, and stood up from where he'd been sitting. He picked up his book and stepped away from the table. I looked back where he was headed to see that Pacifica was behind me, waiting for me to move so she'd have her spot back.

Dipper shoved his book into the backpack hanging from his shoulder and zipped it back up. "Nice try, man, but I'm not naive," he said blandly, placing a hand on the blonde's wrist. "You wanna' wander the halls for a bit? The bell's going to ring soon anyway," he went on, beaming as soon as his gaze turned towards Pacifica. I immediately realized the only way to get to Dipper would be to go through his sister or Pacifica, who smiled and nodded at his offer. The both of them walked off, leaving me to consider my options. Give up and take Henry's teasing, or be stubborn and persistent.

It was an obvious choice.

Sitting at my desk, I scribbled away on the paper in front of me. I was probably supposed to be taking notes, but this was more important. I glanced over at the opposite corner of the classroom, where Dipper was sitting with a pen in hand, scrawling down everything the teacher said. Pacifica sat directly behind him, clearly bored out of her mind as she toyed carelessly with his hair. At first glance, anyone would assume they were dating, but I had learned from Henry that they were just really close. Like, unnaturally close.

"Mr. Cipher, that corner of the room must be very interesting for you to be staring so intently at it. But I'd like to point out that's not where your eyes should be," the history teacher said in annoyance, waving a hand in front of me. I snapped out of my trance, looking up at her in shock. "You haven't even written the notes down!" she exclaimed, hands on her hips. I tried to pull off my best innocent smile, but hung my head when her glare didn't let up. "Sorry..." I muttered, picking up my pencil to erase the ramblings I had written down on the page. Thankfully she hadn't taken the time to read them.

She sighed, turning around and striding back to the blackboard, moving forward with the lesson. I ignored the stares from everyone in the room, including Dipper, as I forced myself to focus on what was being taught. A few moments passed and I couldn't resist glancing over at him. Electric blue met deep evergreen as our eyes locked with one another. Dipper raised an eyebrow questioningly, as if I was some sort of mystery for him to solve. Something told me getting him of all people to like me would be like asking a cat to enjoy swimming. Difficult, to say the least. But there was something interesting about him, so I decided I'd continue forward with my plan to be stubborn. Who knew, maybe I could get a little bit more out of this than just a some of Henry's money.

Dipper looked away, bringing his attention back where it belonged and writing down whatever had just been said. I looked back up at our teacher as well. "We'll be starting a new project tomorrow, and I'll be letting you pick partners," she said, passing a paper to everyone in the class. I smirked, taking mine without a word. I looked down at it, eyes skimming over the words. "I won't assign homework for the next month, but I expect everyone to take this very seriously. If you decide to spend this class period goofing off instead of doing your work, then I will give you extra," she said sternly, taking her place at the front of the room once more.

Grinning, I cast a glance towards Dipper. Perfect, I thought, forging a plan to win him over.