A/N: Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'm glad you all are enjoying it! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too!
III
The teacher instructed Bill to sit wherever there was room, which was pretty much the back row where Avery sat. Avery ducked her head down quickly, silently praying there was a spot available somewhere else. Anywhere but here! I'm begging you, powers that be! Let him sit anywhere but here! Bill smirked and walked over to the seat next to Avery.
"Is this taken?" He asked. Avery sat up straight, ready to lie.
"No." Wrong word. Bill smiled, then took the seat.
"It is now." Frick. Avery tried to ignore the fact that the guy who could fly was sitting next to her. Many questions ran through her mind. Why was he here? How did he get here? Why is he looking at me so smugly? Stop it, dude. That's freaky. She told him, as though he could read her thoughts.
"Miss Bravo?" The teacher spoke up at the near end of class, signaling Avery to her desk. Avery stood, grateful to get away from Bill, and walked over to the teacher's desk.
"Yes, Miss Shanahan?" Avery asked.
"Would you be okay with showing Mister Cipher around the school?" Avery's heart sank. "He said it was a miracle he made it here on time." Avery wanted to say 'no', but she just sighed.
"Sure thing." She forced a smile.
"Are you sure?" Ms. Shanahan gave Avery a suspicious look. "You sighed."
"I just thought you were going to yell at me about something." Avery lied. Ms. Shanahan laughed.
"There's nothing to yell about." She smiled. "Are you okay with showing him around after class?"
"But, he and I have other classes." Avery tried to protest rationally. "I don't want him to be late or miss class."
"I'll let his and your teachers know you two might miss class or be a little late." Ms. Shanahan smiled. "Don't worry, honey. I got'cha covered." Ms. Shanahan was always calling her students names like 'honey', 'sweetie' and even 'boo' at some points.
"I'll do it, then." Avery felt defeated.
"Great." Ms Shanahan smiled. "Bill, sweetie. Avery says she'll show you around."
"Great." Bill grinned as Avery sat back down. The bell rang, but Avery was not free. Bill was already at the door when Avery walked over, her purple backpack hanging off of her right shoulder.
"You ready to go?" Avery asked, trying to sound nice.
"Are you?" He smirked. Avery smiled, if only a little.
"Might as well be." She began walking with Bill next to her. "Hey, uh… Bill? I know this might sound weird, but… were you at a party sometime last week?"
"You're asking if I'm from Gravity Falls." Bill clarified. Avery paused.
"Uh… yeah." She frowned. How did he know that? Well, of course he would know if it really was him, so it definitely was. "How'd you even get here anyways?"
"I can dimension travel!" Bill grinned. "Just something demons can do."
"So Dipper wasn't letting his imagination take over…" Avery frowned as the bell rang. Panic began to fill her stomach. She had never missed class before. What if she missed something important, like a test? She tried to reassure herself that it would be fine, that she could ask Mr. G if she could get whatever it was she missed. Besides, Ms. Shanahan had it under control, right? She jumped as Bill put a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, Eaves." Bill smirked at her surprise. "Everything's gonna be okay. You won't miss anything important."
"I hope you're not lying…" Avery gave Bill a little glare, but it quickly disappeared as she remembered what they were supposed to be doing.
"Don't worry about that!" Bill interjected. "I already know where to go for everything!" Avery took a step away.
"Can you read my thoughts or something?" She glared. "Because that is just creepy."
"That hurts." Bill pouted, despite Avery knowing it was fake.
"So you can…" Avery sighed. "That's just great!" Sarcasm ran through her statement. She sighed. "So, what do you wanna do if you already know everything? Having me go with you was just pointless."
"Not entirely." Bill looked away for a second. "I just wanted to learn more about you."
"Do you have any idea how stalker-like that sentence sounded?" Avery scowled, mostly at herself. She hated how she acted like this, despite wanting to be friends with Bill. She was like that with everyone who attempted to be friends. She became suspicious of possible ulterior motive and became hostile. "I… I'm sorry. You don't hate me right? You're not trying to be friendly as a joke? Tell me honestly, who paid you?"
"Calm down, Eaves." Bill raised his hands defensively. "I'm not trying to make fun of you. I just want to get to know you better." Avery relaxed, if only a little.
"Okay. I'll take your word for it." She sighed, defeated. "Alright, so do you have any place in mind we could go where we won't get in trouble for being out of class?"
"I think I know a place." Bill led Avery outside of the hallway and picked her up. Avery yelped.
"Now what do you think you're doing?" She half yelled.
"You'll see." He smirked. "Hang on tight!" He began floating off the ground, lifting higher into the air. Avery yelped, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck in case he decided it would be a good idea to drop her. As he rose higher, Avery whimpered, looking down, then shutting her eyes.
"Put me down! I hate heights!" Bill laughed.
"It's alright." He said, floating over to the roof of the school. He landed and gently nudged Avery. "We're here." Avery opened one eye, then the other. Bill helped her stand and the two sat down on the ledge. Bill floated slightly above the ledge. Avery tucked her legs underneath her so that she would feel something solid. She hated it if her legs dangled, or if she had to walk on a loose surface, such as gravel or sand.
Bill initiated the conversation first, asking Avery what she liked to do in her free time. He already knew, but he didn't want Avery to know that. After a while, he asked her about her elementary school.
Avery had been hesitant at first, but then told Bill that she had gone to two different ones. She had to leave her first one because she had stood up to a teacher no one liked, and was consequently expelled. Avery claimed she got expelled because that teacher had a grudge against her, for reasons that Avery had long forgotten. Avery explained that after her expulsion, the students at her old school called her a martyr, but then resumed telling rumors that she was possessed by the devil. "I mean, that's just stupid!" Avery exclaimed. "I wasn't possessed, I was on the wrong medicine! This is not hard to understand."
As Avery laughed at a joke Bill had told her a little later, they heard the sound of the lunchtime bell. Avery's laughter died down. "I guess we gotta go back down." She almost felt sad. Almost. Bill only nodded and Avery up again. They floated down, Avery a little less scared, and landed out of sight of anyone who may have been looking out the window. Bill put down Avery and they walked back into the hallway as students began streaming out of the classrooms.
"I'll see you later, Eaves." Bill smiled, waving as he walked down the hallway to the right. Avery smiled and waved back, continuing on to her locker.
She sat on her usual bench and continued her futile hopes that someone would talk to her. Talking to Bill was pretty fun, and it had helped her with her slowly resurfacing depression, if only a little. She wondered if anything would ever help more than a little. Suddenly a girl everyone knew walked up to her. She was Erika. Avery couldn't help but be jealous of Erika. Everyone liked Erika. She had a boyfriend, who was the quarterback of the football team. Cliché to anyone else? Erika was always surrounded by her friends. It was so surreal that she was coming up to Avery. Avery was brought back to reality by Erika angrily ripping out Avery's ear buds.
"What?" Avery glared, upset that her favorite song was so forcefully taken from her.
"Who do you think you are?" Erika growled. Avery picked up her ear buds, stuffing them hastily in her pocket. "You think you can get the new kid all to yourself?"
"What are you talking about?" Avery played dumb. "I was just showing him around. Ms. Shanahan asked me to!"
"Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna believe that!" Erika sneered. A crowd of students had formed on the sidewalk, watching the quarrel eagerly. Lunchtime entertainment… Avery decided. "Where were you two then? No one saw you in the halls!" Someone whispered something in Erika's ear, to which Erika grinned. "Ooh! So that's what you two were doing."
"What?" Avery glared, standing. She noticed Bill somewhere in the back of the crowd.
"You think I'm stupid, don't you!" Erika shouted. Where are teachers when you need them? "You fucking slut!" Avery flinched at the insult, then put two and two together. Erika thought…
"Jesus! No!" Avery shook her head furiously, her hands balling into fists. Erika noticed the action.
"You think you're gonna fight me?" Erika mocked. "Me! Of all the people to pick a fight with!"
"You…" Avery began, lowering her head. "You…" She couldn't find the words. No matter how hard she tried, she knew she deserved it. She deserved the unwarranted hatred. Erika signaled to someone in the crowd. A taller, well-built boy came out of the crowd. He leaned down and Erika whispered something to him. He nodded, then walked menacingly toward Avery. Bill, knowing what would happen, shoved his way through the crowd and stood protectively in front of Avery.
"You'll have to get through me first!" Bill roared in a more demonic voice. Avery looked up quickly, frightened by the voice. She saw that Bill's attire and his hair had turned to a bright red. The first thing Avery thought was. Good glob. He's pissed! Students backed away, afraid of the kid who had suddenly turned red. The taller boy's face twisted into a fearful expression as he slowly backed away. Bill watched, unblinking as the taller boy finally ran, along with some of the smarter students in the crowd, then turned to Erika. "Listen to me and listen well, child." Bill spoke, still in the demonic voice. "You will stay away from Avery, or I'll make sure you never see a joyous dream again!"
Erika, who had lost her smug mannerisms, nodded before running away. Bill was slowly returning to yellow as he glared at the rest of the crowd, who then promptly scattered. "Sorry you had to see that, Eaves." Avery stood there, too frightened to find words. What had just happened? Bill looked at her with slight concern. "You okay?" He sighed. "Yeah, I know. That was kinda scary. I don't really like it when I get mad either. I was just upset that they were gonna hurt you." He gave a comforting smile. "I like you, kid. You don't deserve something like that."
"Thanks…?" Avery paused as the bell rang. Bill smiled.
"Head on off to class, okay?" Bill said. "If you need me again just call!" He then disappeared.
What the hell just happened?
A/N: Sorry I got this uploaded later than I planned! Hope you all enjoyed anyways!