IMPORTANT: VOTERS! IF YOU COMMENT SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF "Well gee, either option x or y, just not z" YOUR VOTE WILL NOT COUNT. THIS IS THE FINAL TIME I WILL SAY IT TO ANYONE. YOUR VOTE WILL BE DISCARDED AND YOU WILL HAVE NO EFFECT ON WHAT DECISION WILL BE TAKEN FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.

I'm not saying whether you all chose one of the good options or not. All I'm saying is that I would be complaining if it was the bad one.

Last chapter's tally of votes:

Option 1: What are you doing? - 11 votes (8 on AO3 and 3 on FFN)

Option 2: Can I trust you with my secret? - 27 votes (11 on AO3 and 16 on FFN)

Option 3: nothing. - 5 votes (3 on AO3 and 2 on FFN)

ENJOY!

Pine Tree wouldn't even look at him. The most eye contact they had shared had been upon arriving at school; when Bill was walking through the crowded hall ways, heading for his ancient history course. He had stumbled upon the brunet with his sister at their lockers. Shooting Star had grinned widely and sent him a wave whereas Pine Tree had looked away almost as soon as their eyes met. Bill gave an awkward smile – though he had spent the rest of the weekend following the party practicing, he was still having trouble mastering what should have otherwise been a simple gesture. Her face turned inexplicably red and the demon just opted to move on. He went to class and sat at his typical seat in the far back. A part of him was expecting Pine Tree to come sit next to him but when the brunet walked into class; he took the seat nearest the front door.

The weekend had been a restless one for Bill since that incident back at the party. He had passed the days waiting tensely for the other shoe to drop. He hadn't known if each passing day where nothing happened meant that Pine Tree had kept his mouth shut or that he and the others were plotting against him. He had elected to think that no news was good news, but it didn't make him feel any less nervous. To make matters worse, Timothy's annoying body had been impossibly jittery. He had felt as though he was trembling but every time the demon looked down to verify, he had found his limbs perfectly still. The feeling had persevered no matter what he did and kept him from sleeping properly at night.

Bill felt terrible and suffered a nasty headache which had likely stemmed from his sleep deprivation. He leaned against his desk chair with his arms folded neatly against his chest as he watched the teacher scribble things on the chalk board and walk around the front of the class. His eye lids felt heavy and at some point he had to force himself not to blink because he could hardly muster the strength to keep himself from falling asleep. The demon tried to focus on what she was saying. She was discussing the ancient society of Sumer found in southern Mesopotamia. She walked about Babylonia and King Hammurabi who Bill remembered to be a far too serious guy for his liking. Seriously, it was like he had had a stick up his ass. Needless to say, Bill hadn't spent too much time with him after he had created his code – he had just gotten too boring for his tastes. As he indulged in the memories of a long bygone time, Bill accidentally dozed off to sleep. The only thing that brought him back to the realm of the conscious was the piercing bell that marked the end of class. He jolted awake violently and nearly toppled out of his chair.

"Is everything alright, Mister Smith?" The teacher asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"U-uh…yeah, sorry." He mumbled sheepishly in response and noticed Pine Tree peeking in his direction before leaving.

With a heavy sigh, he stood and walked out of the class, heading to biology. He looked for Pine Tree amidst the sea of students heading to their next class, but couldn't find him. Maybe he should talk to him? He hesitated to do so. That party's outcome had been less than favourable. Upon having asked Pine Tree whether or not he could be trusted with his secret, the brunet had pinched his lips together and bolted out of the room without providing an answer. For all he knew, his true identity was still in danger of being unraveled. A part of him had feared being ambushed by the Pines at school and he had taken a long time to consider whether he should attend come Monday or not. In the end, he decided to go seeing as the area was too public and significantly safer than Timothy's mansion. The building had multiple cameras and a plethora of students frolicking around. If the Pines tried anything, someone would see and report them to the police. Hopefully.

Bill thus walked into class and headed for the seat he typically took in the far back. Pine Tree had already arrived and was sitting next to Glasses. The latter paused upon seeing him walk into the room and shifter her gaze to the ground as her face turned red. It was suspicious behaviour seeing as Bill hadn't smiled or anything – not to mention Pine Tree was sitting next to her. What had he told her? Rather than question him, he sat himself down and sighed heavily as more students poured in. he hadn't been sitting still for more than a minute when he noticed Glasses rise from her seat and walk to him. She stopped just next to him and stood awkwardly for a moment, her face practically glowing.

"Uh…" Bill uttered shortly.

"I-I would like to apologize to you, Bill." She said and lowered her head, "My actions at the party were…inappropriate."

"Do you…" Bill started slowly, shocked by the insinuation of her words, "Do you remember…?"

Could some humans actually remember things that had taken place when they had been drunk once they were sober? Had the TV gotten something wrong? If it did, he would need to stop basing himself on what it was spouting. One Tree Hill had seemed like such a credible source too…

"Not…most of it." Glasses admitted, "The pictures Grenda took are what helped me remember some of it…"

"Oh." Bill said and he was somewhat relieved. He made a mental note of that fact. If he were ever to get away with something in the presence of drunk people, he had to make sure there was no evidence left behind that could job their memories the following day.

"Anyways, I am very sorry." Glasses apologized, "I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's…it's fine." Bill lied and forced a smile. Honestly, he wanted to her never to touch him again but Pine Tree was watching and such harsh words might tip him off in regards to his true nature. He had to be normal and human which meant being kind and forgiving.

How dreadful.

Glasses seemed surprised by his response all the same. "You are so forgiving…" She said in awe and smiled back, "Thank you."

Then she retreated back to her seat just as Blondie and her squad walked in. they laughed loudly as the girl with the electric blue hair finished her story. From what he could hear, they seemed to be recalling some drunken things they had done during the party. If they had no pictures to explain how they managed to remember such events, Bill was for sure going to have to find a new source of information – One Tree Hill and Days of Our Lives be damned! They stood amidst the desks at the center of the classroom for a moment to finish up their conversation. Then, Blondie retreated to the back and took a seat next to Bill.

"So," She said and grinned at him, "Someone was a bit of a player at the party."

"What are you talking about?" He asked – he literally had no idea what she was alluding to.

"Well, first you kissed me," Blondie enumerated, and Bill wanted to correct said fact because she had been the one to kiss him; not the other way around, "Then you apparently got busy with Candy – or so everyone says, and finally some drunk guy with a bleeding face was saying he had sex with you before someone else came in and kicked him out, presumably for some more 'fun'."

Bill groaned and slapped a hand over his face. The TV was a lie. He should have known better. He knew there was something that seemed impossibly unrealistic about Lucas and Nathan Scott. Nonetheless, drunk people, as it seemed, could remember the shenanigans they had been up to in their inebriated state.

"Ha! So it's true!" Blondie exclaimed with an excited laugh before shoving his shoulder playfully, "You dog!"

"No, it's not!" Bill sighed in annoyance. He didn't need rumours to circulate around without his control. It could seriously damage his position in the school's social hierarchy and he already didn't have the best reputation considering his association to Pine Tree. "I mean, the only truth there was in what you said was that you kissed me and that I was in a room with two different people."

"Alone?"

"Yeah."

Should he mention the second person was Pine Tree? Bearing in mind Pine Tree did fall in the category of 'nerd' – Blondie's words – perhaps it was best not to say anything.

"Oh? And nothing happened?" Blondie teased.

"Nothing happened." Bill affirmed and he thought back on how he had beaten up the drunken meat sack that had first pulled him into the room. "Nothing at all."

He opted not to mention how he had been the one to beat said intoxicated fool into submission as well. Violence was mostly frowned upon in human society.

"Hm, I guess I believe that the Candy thing isn't real." Blondie mused, "I mean, you two were only hugging in those Instagram pictures."

Instagram? Bill wondered. Another word he would have to research. Curse those teenagers and their strange lingo.

"But I don't buy that you didn't do anything with either of those guys." Blondie challenged with a wide grin.

"Why?" Bill frowned.

"Because look at you." Blondie said and gestured him up and down with her hands. "No way could either of them have kept their hands off you!"

"But they're guys…" Bill said.

Seeing as what he had learned from the TV was likely false, there was a strong chance homosexuality wasn't as big of a deal as he thought it was. Heck, as far as he knew it, it might easily be accepted by society. He would have to pour more research into that.

"So you're straight, then?" Blondie asked.

What a strange question. Bill didn't understand what she was asking at all. He supposed he was straight enough for a freakishly pale and bony meat sack, but he was currently sitting down. His given position wasn't particularly straight. Why did his posture even matter anyways? What did it have to do with what they had been speaking about?

"I mean, I guess not…" He answered awkwardly.

"Oh, so you're in that grey zone." She concluded and Bill was utterly lost, "Or questioning."

What in the hell was she talking about?

Before he could ask, McGucket walked in and ushered everyone to be quiet. He was late as per usual; the bell ringing as soon as he stepped into the class. He hurriedly threw his briefcase on his desk and turned on the projector to begin the first lesson. They continued from where they had left off last week; discussing the reproductive system of cells and the compositions of DNA. The students were taught about the transmissions of physical characteristics – which were most common, which were not, and why. Bill hardly listened. Excluding the computer programming class he was taking, biology was his easiest course. He hardly had to be present and sometimes he had half a mind to skip the class entirely and frolic elsewhere – however, he opted to follow one of his targets instead. Not that he could get close to Pine Tree considering how the party had ended. Perhaps he shouldn't have accused Sixer of murder.

When the class ended, signalling the start of lunch, Pine Tree was one of the first students out of the door. Bill sighed heavily as he watched him go. He really had to think of something to do concerning the kid. He needed to know if he had reason to fear his false-secret identity would be exposed or not. And yet, what if speaking to Pine Tree made things worse? Should he really risk it?

"So you want to hang out today?" Blondie asked as they left the class together. "It's pretty nice outside, we can go out to eat. My treat."

Bill didn't see a reason not to. Pine Tree clearly wanted nothing to do with him at the moment so it wasn't like he could go eat lunch with him like he always had the previous week. He was just about to accept the offer when he bumped into someone as he walked out the classroom's door, hitting his forehead pretty hard against what felt like a nose. He winced and reached to rub the sore spot, looking up to find none other than Pine Tree cradling his aching nose with both hands.

"Timo – Bill…" He said seriously, "I need to talk with you."

Option 1: Go with Dipper.

Option 2: Go with Pacifica.

Option 3: Go with neither.