Author's Notes: Oh boy, I had this chapter all laid out in my head, and then once I finally got the time to sit down and write it I couldn't think of how to actually write it! I hate it when an idea won't take word form! I think I ended up dropping a few parts because this chapter was getting too long (longest chapter so far). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, cuz it was really hard to write for some reason.

Chapter 9: Brilliant but Lazy

Fall of 2011 seemed to be as normal a start to the school year as any. Dr. Pines' physics class was full of a variety of students, some interested in learning about science, some not. Stanford could easily pick out who was going to do well just by looking at how they sat in their chairs. That boy there in the front row, his books were stacked neatly beside him, but he was slumped into his chair tiredly, and his gaze glazed over. B- student if he ever saw one. Another girl in the front row, however, already had her papers spread all over her desk and was watching him intently. Promising. And another girl, sitting dead-center in the middle of the room, with her feet up on the desk and a bag of chips in her hand. Textbook slacker. In fact, her posture was a dead-ringer for how his brother used to sit in class…

Ford shook the thought from his mind and got on with introducing himself to the class. This was not the time to think about such things. As he took role, he learned the slacker girl's name was Wendy Corduroy. Wow, he could still remember hiring her father to build his house. And now he was teaching the guy's daughter. That certainly made him feel old.

Of course, many things made Ford feel old these days.


Dr. Pines' least favorite thing about being a teacher was grading papers. It was more than just checking that each question had the right answers; it was checking to make sure that they used the right equations and actually did the calculations, and didn't just look up the answer on Wolfram Alpha.

He paused after quickly glancing over one student's homework. 100%. No one else had gotten every question right on this assignment, at least not that he'd graded. Stanford looked at the name scrawled at the top of the page. Wendy Corduroy. Wait, really? The slacker girl? He set the paper aside and looked at the scores on all the others. No one else had 100%. Perhaps she'd copied work from multiple sources? No… her work didn't look like anyone else's. In fact, it looked like the simple shorthand of someone who was doing most of the calculations in their head.

It could be possible that the girl was much smarter than she'd originally let on.


"Wendy, could I speak with you after class?" Dr. Pines asked as the bell rang the next day. A chorus of 'ooooh's rang through the students. One boy held back at the door as the rest of his classmates left.

"You don't have to wait for me, Robbie." Wendy said with an annoyed eye-roll. The boy's eyes widened and he left in a hurry.

She stood in front of his desk, looking as disinterested as she did during the lesson.

"Now, about your first homework assignment…" Stanford began.

"Let me guess, you think I cheated." She interrupted.

"I didn't say that."

"Whatever, I know how it goes." the redhead said impatiently. "Just, give me a warning or write a note to my dad or whatever. This'll just be another class I won't even have to bother with the homework…" She muttered under her breath.

"Wendy, relax, I don't think you cheated." The teacher assured her. "I was going to ask if it wasn't challenging enough for you."

"...What?" The teen asked, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"You seem bored in class, and this homework is all done in shorthand." Ford explained. "It seems like you already know all this stuff."

"Nah, I'm just a fast learner." She shrugged.

"Well, ideally I'd advance you to the AP Physics class, but since I can't teach that class anymore, budget cuts," He grumbled, "I thought I'd give you supplementary material with your homework."

"Uh, Dr. Pines, I appreciate what you're trying to do and all," Wendy said apprehensively, "But I like being able to get all my homework done in half-an-hour."

"It wouldn't necessarily be homework." She still didn't look convinced. "You could read it in class instead of paying attention to lecture."

"Ok, I guess I'll give it a shot."


At first it seemed to be going well. Stanford would give her an extra, advanced question to go with Wendy's advanced reading, and she would work it out with little to no problem. So Ford upped the difficulty even more, until he could tell from the many notes and scribbles on her worksheets that she was actually putting real effort into solving the problems.

But there was no enthusiasm in Wendy's work. One day Ford spied a corner of colorful paper sticking up between the pages of the scientific journal he'd given her. While the other students were working, he walked over to check on her.

"So Wendy, how's the reading on magnetic fields?" He asked casually.

"Oh, it's good." She replied, equally casual.

"Really?" Ford reached down and pulled out a copy of Indie Fuzz out from between the pages.

"Oh-ho, girl genius got busted!" One of her friends chuckled beside her.

"Mind your own business, Nate." Dr. Pines reprimanded him. The teacher turned back to Wendy. "What's the matter, you don't like magnets?"

She simply shrugged and went back to reading the article on magnetic fields like nothing had even happened.


"I don't understand, you've got talent, you could be doing college-level problems, but you seem content just to coast along!" Stanford ranted to her after class. Wendy, as usual, just shrugged it off.

"Just cuz I'm good at it doesn't mean I'm passionate about it like you, alright? Geez, you're just like my dad!"

"Well what can I do to make it more interesting for you?"

"I dunno." She shrugged again "Maybe a monetary reward or something."

"Don't push your luck, kid."


That weekend, Stanford explained the situation to Soos.

"Soos, I need your help. I don't know what kids these days are interested in! What can I do to make her care about science?"

"Hmmm, have you tried telling her to watch The Science Guy?" His friend suggested.

"I'm afraid she may think herself above that."

"I dunno dude, it's different for everyone." Soos said. "Like, I got into mechanics cuz I wanted to build my own videogames and help fix things up at home. Does she like videogames?"

"I honestly have no idea." Ford admitted.

"Well, I know movies with explosions and stuff are pretty cool right now. Maybe show her how to make firecrackers or something?" The young mechanic reasoned.

Considering Wendy's troublemaking nature, teaching her how to make firecrackers probably wasn't a good idea. Stanford thought back to the magazine he'd found her reading. "She likes music, I think."

"Cool, sound is physics stuff!"

"She's bored with just the theoretical equations and work problems, I need something more exciting!" Ford exclaimed. Not for the first time, he wished he could show Wendy, show Soos, show anyone the supernatural phenomena around Gravity Falls. One monster hunt and she'd be hooked.

"I think I have an idea for that." Soos assured him.


The first day back from Thanksgiving break, Dr. Pines found Wendy before class. He had a YouTube video pulled up on his phone.

"Look at this!" He showed her excitedly.

The teen watched the video with a smile. "Oh yeah, musical Tesla coil, I've seen these kinda videos."

"How would you like to make one?"

"What, seriously?" Wendy asked, a spark of interest in her eye.

"Yes!" Ford exclaimed. "For this year's science fair, you could build one!"

"Woah, wait, I thought you hated the science fair." She pointed out.

"Oh… well… hate's a strong word." Ford said awkwardly. "Anyway, this isn't about me, it's about you. Do you want to make your own musical Tesla coil?"

"Heck yeah dude, that sounds awesome!"


The three of them made a good team. Wendy looked up a design they could use online and did all the calculations. Soos built everything they needed. Dr. Pines provided the equipment and parts, as well as going over all of their work to make sure no one accidentally blew up the garage.

Once the coil was finished, they had to manipulate the frequency of the sparks it created in order to create tones. While Wendy was experimenting with the charge output, Soos was suggesting what songs they should use.

"Oooh, how about You've Got a Nice Butt by He/She?" He said.

"Uhg, no!" the redhead groaned. "No rap! Beside the fact that the lyrics are dumb and repetitive, we need something with a lot of changing notes to show off what this baby can do!"

"Hmmm, maybe the theme from Fight Fighters?" Soos postulated.

"Heh, yeah, that could work. I think videogame music would go good with the electrical sound. Kinda retro, but cool and fun." Wendy agreed.

"Why don't you kids do an Electric Light Orchestra song?" Ford suggested with a chuckle.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Ok, that's too retro."

"Nice pun though." Soos complimented the scientist.

"Not really." the girl groaned. She opened her web browser and looked up the frequency of all the notes on the chromatic scale, then began to write a program for her electrical output to translate to different notes.

"We're going to have to set it up outside to test it." Stanford said after looking it over. "Soos, do you think it'd fit in the back of your truck?"

"Proooooobably?" The mechanic said, his voice very unsure.

"We could fit it on one of my dad's logging trucks, easy."

"Good, because we're going to have to move it to the school parking lot eventually." Ford reminded them.

"Could probably get my brothers to help move it too." Wendy said.

Ford gave her a funny look. He'd heard her complain about how destructive her brothers were. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Dude, this thing weighs a ton, we're gonna need all the help we can get." She reasoned.

"Right… of course." Stanford nodded. He was being paranoid, as usual. It'd probably be fine… probably.


The 2012 Gravity Falls School District Science Fair finally rolled around, and things were looking good so far. The tests they'd run last night had all gone off without a hitch, and now all that was left to do was transport it over to the school and get all the wiring set up.

Dr. Pines had arrived at the school very early that morning to do last-minute work for the science fair, but once he had a spare moment, he slipped outside to see how things were going. There was Manly Dan, backing his truck up to the parking spaces nearest the gymnasium doors. Soos, Wendy, and her three brothers were all waving directions. Ford's brilliant mind was now imagining all the millions of ways this could go wrong.

I can't watch. He thought. And yet he couldn't look away. It was like a trainwreck.

The truck was stopped and the three redheaded boys climbed up on the truck bed to lift the Tesla coil up. Ford clenched his teeth. One of those kids wasn't even 10 years old!

"Guys, wait for dad to come help!" Wendy shouted up to them.

"Nah, we got it!" The oldest boy assured his sister.

"It's no big deal for us." The middle child agreed.

"I can do it! I'm strong like dad!" The youngest insisted.

The three boys lifted the great column of steel and wires and slowly tried to walk it down the ramp. Suddenly the youngest dropped his end to blow on his sore hands. The oldest tried to pull back on his end to compensate, but ended up over-correcting. He lost his balance, and tripped over the edge of the ramp, carrying the coil and his two younger brothers with him.

"Oh my gosh, are you guys ok?" Wendy yelped, running to check on the boys. The all gave affirmative groans. "Good." She sighed, then whacked all three upside the head. "What the heck were you guys thinking, I told you to wait for dad!"

Speaking of Dan, the commotion had drawn him away from trying to fix the Sev'ral Times sticker in his window. "What happened here?" he shouted.

"These crazy dorks couldn't wait two minutes and nearly got themselves crushed!" Wendy explained.

As Manly Dan chewed out the three kids, Stanford could only watch in silence. He couldn't believe this was happening. What were the chances? It was just like-

"Hey, Dr. Pines, you ok dude?" Soos asked him. "You look like you got, like, a major headache." Ford hadn't even realized that he was holding his hands up to his temples. He tried to reply, but he was still shocked speechless.

"Maybe you needa sit down for a minute." Soos took the teacher by the arm and led him back into the gymnasium.

By the time the scientist had regained his wits, it was time for him to start judging the other students' projects. Ford always seemed a bit dazed during the science fair, but this year was especially bad. He left the most rehearsed and unhelpful comments on each evaluation form, and he accidentally came back to booths he'd already judged at least twice. At the end of the day there was only one project left to judge. The one he'd been avoiding all day. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the school parking lot.

They had managed to get the Tesla coil standing again, at least, but there was a huge dent in the side, and it looked like Soos had duct-taped the head of the column back on. Wendy was standing a ways back with the controls, trying to get it to work. From the frustrated look on her face, it wasn't going well.

"Can you at least get it to turn on?" Dr. Pines asked as he approached. A highschooler building their own Tesla coil was still pretty impressive, even if it couldn't make music like they'd planned.

"No." Wendy groaned. "Uhg, I we missed a broken circuit when we tried to put it back together. I don't have time to find it though!"

"I've seen it working. I'll give you top marks." The teacher tried to reassure her. "It won't do any good with the judge from the state fair though."

"Yeah, he already came by. Said I should try again next year."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Wendy's three brothers. She rolled her eyes. "Geez, you guys don't-"

"Wendy, we're really sorry!" The oldest said desperately. The two others nodded. Wendy opened her mouth to reply, but Stanford beat her to it.

"Sorry!?" He snapped, "You ruin six months of hard work in a couple of seconds, and all you can say is sorry!? She could have easily made it to state science fair with this, maybe even nationals! Scholarships to the best engineering schools in the country-"

"Woah, lay off them!" She yelled at the teacher. "It was just an accident! What makes you think you can tell off my family like that!?"

Ford froze. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me…" He stammered, and quickly left the scene. As he walked away, he could hear Wendy talking to the boys.

"Look, Barry, Stuart, Dean, you guys don't have to keep apologizing to me. These thing happen. There's nothing we can do about it now, so just don't worry about it..."


The next day Wendy found Dr. Pines in his classroom, looking even more disheveled than usual.

"Hey, you doin' alright?" She asked.

"Wendy, I am so sorry about yesterday-" He started.

"Man, I am so sick of people apologizing to me!" She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it ok? You were super stressed and just had to let it out sometime. I get it. It's fine, my brothers are used to getting yelled at."

"It was still uncalled for."

"Yeeeeah." The teen agreed. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm kinda glad I won't have to worry about state science fair." Wendy chuckled.

"You would have been great." Ford assured her. It hurt to think about what might have been.

"Why do you even care so much?" The redhead asked. "Not just about the science fair, but about me? None of my other teachers have cared so much about… well, about me caring."

"You have a lot of potential." Stanford said. It was true. It was only part of the whole truth.

"Pch, really, that tired line?"

"I suppose… you remind me of myself at your age." Again, true, but only part of it. More than himself, she reminded him so much of Stanley. Her laid-back demeanor. Her feisty attitude. Her troublemaking antics. Even some of her mannerisms. "I just don't want you to end up making the same mistakes."

"Hey, I think you're doing pretty good as you are." She assured him.

Ford gave a humorless laugh. "You have no clue all the stupid, terrible things I've done. You're already a better person than me."

"Wait, what?" Wendy gave a confused and incredulous laugh in return.

"You forgave your brothers right away."

"Dude, they're my family. I kinda have to." She shrugged. "I know they seem like terrible little scuzzballs, but they're my terrible little scuzzballs, y'know?"

This conversation wasn't making Stanford feel any better. "I wish I did."


Author's notes: One of my favorite things in Gravity Falls is the friendship between Wendy and Grunkle Stan. Since I can't really show that in this fic (yet) I slipped it in here in pointing out that Stan and Wendy share a lot in common, and I think she'd remind Ford a lot of his brother.

And yeah, in this AU Wendy is an unrecognized Gifted and Talented kid. I hope no one finds that out-of-character for her. Honestly, for all we know, it could be true in canon. She strikes me as the type that would coast through school and not even care until a teacher came along and MADE her care.

"You've got a nice Butt" by HE/SHE is a reference to the song Starlord listens to in the How It Should Have Ended for Guardians of the Galaxy. (HE/SHE = HISHE, get it?)

Also, small reference to Peanutbuttergamer's Hardcore series with the names I gave Wendy's brothers. I'll go back and change their names if we ever get them in canon.