Pacifica opened her door slightly and poked her head out. She scanned the hallways for any lights. Nothing. Satisfied, she quietly closed the door and crept towards the TV in her room. She reached behind the stand until she felt the game controller in her hand. She tilted her head so that she could see behind the TV and began retrieving the gaming console. Pacifica glanced at the door as she plugged in the system. Her parents would definitely not approve of this. She turned on the TV and made sure the volume was on mute before turning on the game.

The screen lit up, and Bloodcraft: Overdeath illuminated the room. Pacifica checked the time on her phone - 2:14 am. Enough time to play a few rounds. Pacifica pressed the start button and PlatinumPaz took over. The game was a simple first-player shooter, with hidden patterns that weren't easy to crack. But they weren't impossible, which is how PlatinumPaz managed to become a level 100 Deathslayer only a short while after starting the game. It was almost impossible for anyone to even get close to killing her, and it was even harder to kill her.

PlatinumPaz ran between the trees, following a player with a valuable weapon in their hands. She aimed the gun at the player's head and fired. A message appeared at the bottom of the screen. "You killed FixinIt1". PlatinumPaz smiled and took the weapon. There were four players left on the map, as the leaderboard showed. PlatinumPaz made her way towards the town, where most low-level players resided. She saw something leap from one building to another - there was a player here.

PlatinumPaz was fairly confident that she would win this round, considering the map would start raining in the next twenty seconds. Hidden patterns. PlatinumPaz made sure that she had waterproof armour from the beginning just in case the game lasted this long. The armour wasn't very helpful when it wasn't raining on the map, but it would make the grip better for the player, and less likely to take critical damage from Elementals, in storms.

She was on the rooftops now, which made her an easier target. She crouched so that she was less visible. The other player that was on the rooftop was jumping from roof to roof, probably searching for other players. There were only three players left on the map: herself, the jumping man, and some other player that had not identified themselves. She could find them later.

PlatinumPaz watched the jumping player and tried to figure out the pattern. Unfortunately, it was clearly an amateur, which meant most of their moves were random and spontaneous. Rolling her eyes, she aimed in the general direction of the player and followed the movements. She moved slightly ahead of the player and fired. The jumping player fell to the ground and PlatinumPaz glanced at the bottom of the screen, expecting a "You killed..." message. However, nothing appeared. PlatinumPaz frowned. What happened?

Before she could figure it out, her screen flashed red. She had been hit. PlatinumPaz snapped back into action and moved. She had no idea what hit her. It was raining now, which might be useful if the player isn't an Elemental. PlatinumPaz groaned. She never needed healing supplies before. Overconfidence got the best of her. She hesitated before entering a building. She was much more vulnerable in a closed space, especially if the other player knew where she was. She quickly opened a few chests, but none of them had any healing potion, just weak weapons.

She turned around and saw the silhouette of an elf run past the window. An Elemental. PlatinumPaz made sure that she had equipped a sniper rifle before stepping outside. She quickly turned to face the direction where the elf ran and fired. The elf was gone. Her screen flashed red again and she turned around to see the elf throwing lightning at her. She fired back and moved side-to-side.

The elf started moving forward, which was incredibly stupid considering she had waterproof armour and it was raining. Still, she kept firing. But she realised her mistake too late. The rain began to give way and it became sunny again. Her armour was practically useless. The elf fired another lightning bolt and her screen flashed red.

PlatinumPaz would not lose. After all, winning is everything. In a final attempt to save herself, PlatinumPaz through a grenade at the elf and fired at it. The elf was too close to withstand the blast, but she was damaged too. PlatinumPaz looked at the screen. "You won!"

She looked at her HP and moved back in shock. For the first time in a while, someone had brought her down to 4 HP. She checked the leaderboard and saw, in second place, a username she had never seen before. SirDippingsauce. What a dorky nickname.

Looks like she had a new rival.

"Northwest?"

"Here."

Pacifica rubbed her eyes as Professor Pines took the register. She listened to the rhythmic call and response of teacher and student. In many ways, the register was almost therapeutic. Within the first few weeks of school, every student could basically tell you what order the register would go in. The call and response was simple and continuous. At least, until Professor Pines called out his own surname. "Pines?"

Nobody answered. Pacifica turned, shocked that Dipper, the nerdiest person in the school, didn't respond to the call of a teacher. "Dipper?" Professor Pines asked, slightly louder. Dipper shifted slightly but didn't wake up. "What a loser," said Tiffany, who was trying to take a good photo of him. Pacifica blocked the camera with her hand. "Leave him alone."

"Why? It's the perfect opportunity to make even more of a joke out of him." Tiffany and her friend laughed.

"He's not worth it." At that moment, Dipper slipped and slammed his head onto the desk. He sat up straight. Everyone started laughing. Pacifica turned back to face the front to hide her grin. She could tell that Dipper was probably blushing furiously. "Dipper, you can't fall asleep in class."

"Sorry, Professor."

Seemingly satisfied, the professor returned to the front of the classroom and resumed the register. Pacifica glanced back a few times throughout the class to look at Dipper, who was constantly yawning and rubbing his eyes. Why was he so tired? The nerd was probably staying up all night reading history books or something. Pacifica shook her head and began working on Professor Pines' lesson on electromagnetic waves.

While she didn't want to admit it, Ford Pines was definitely the most interesting teacher at the school. Apart from McGucket, he was the only person that seemed genuinely interested in what he was teaching. Not to mention his nerdy jokes that only she and Dipper ever understood, though Pacifica made sure she never laughed at them.

"Right," said Professor Pines, standing up from his seat. "So I hate to tell you this, but Principal Befufftlefumpter has decided that we should take exams more often." The class groaned in response. "I know, I know. I don't want to stay up marking these papers. But I don't want to be fired, so I'm giving you a week's warning. Revise the topic of electromagnetic waves, including the different ways each is used. I will be putting at least two 6 mark questions!"

Professor Pines sat back down at his desk, ignoring the quiet protests of the class. Pacifica looked back down at her work and kept writing. Tiffany elbowed her. "What?" Pacifica snapped.

"Nothing, it's just... you're working."

"Yeah, and?"

"We need to talk about the guestlist for the party."

"Tiffany, it's not for another three months. Let me do my work."

"But we need to inv-"

"Shut uuup," Pacifica said in a sing-song voice.

Tiffany blushed and turned to her friend and started chatting with her. Pacifica glanced back at Dipper, who was now staring at his desk. Pacifica smirked. He must be stuck on a question. Pacifica easily finished her work and shot back a smug grin at Dipper, as if they were having a competition, and she had just won. Dipper didn't even notice her.

For the first time in a long time, the cafeteria was almost empty at lunch.

Apart from a few people that Pacifica had never noticed before, the whole school seemed to have disappeared. Pacifica sat down at her table, but before she could start eating, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. "Well, if it ain't my least favourite cousin. How's being popular for ya?" Gideon plopped down next to her.

Pacifica glared at him. "What do you want, Gideon?"

"Lil' ol' me? Nothing. Just got a couple questions."

"What?"

"True or false: you've been looking at Dipper Pines an awful lot lately?"

"What?" Pacifica exclaimed. "Absolutely false!"

"Right, right. Second question, do you have hair spray? Ghost-Eyes forgot to pack it into my bag this mornin'."

Pacifica rolled her eyes and handed him a can from her purse. Gideon sprayed about half the can onto his hair. Pacifica coughed and waved the spray away from herself. "Ugh, you put way too much hair gel in that pompadour."

Gideon giggled. "As if I'm the only one here preoccupied with their looks! Remember that time you tried to find the black market because of that one wrinkle?" Pacifica's face burned. "Oh, you do remember! Now then, final question and I'll be outta yer hair: you have a test comin' up anytime soon?"

"A physics one next week. Why?"

"Oh, nothin'. It's just, it would be a shame if someone happened to tell Mr and Mrs Northwest about their daughter's test."

"What? Go ahead, I don't care. They never pay any attention in my life anyway."

Gideon grinned. "Oh, you don't know, do ya? They've found a new business partner, from Cipher Industries. And word has it the heir to the company is quite a genius!"

Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Well, let's think about it for a second, shall we? The Northwests, a family that has prided themselves on always coming first. Always. Now they've partnered with a small, but quickly growing company where another child is always first. Don't you think that would make your parents conscious of their only daughter's grades?"

Pacifica paled. Her parents might not actively play a part in her life, but she knew that they would be disappointed if she was not first in absolutely everything. "What do you want, Gideon?"

"I recently found out that Mabel joined your cheerleadin' team. I was hoping you could put in a good word for me?"

Pacifica shook her head in disbelief. "You know what? Fine. Just go away."

Gideon winked and left.

It was only at the end of the day when Pacifica realised why the cafeteria was so empty. On her way to the limo, she saw Dipper and the weirdos standing in a corner. Dipper was wincing and holding his arm. "What happened to him?" Pacifica asked Marius, who was standing next to her.

"Oh, haven't you heard? Pines won a competition for intelligent people."

"The G-lympics? That's nerdy of him. But still, what happened?"

"Well, Blandin wanted to... um... congratulate him."

"Oh." Pacifica knew what that meant. Blendin's gang were always playing harsh pranks on others. They were almost like younger versions of Gideon's servants. Pacifica flicked her hair. "It doesn't matter. He'll be alright." She began walking towards her limo. Marius hesitated slightly before following.

Pacifica reached the limo and opened the door. She kissed Marius on the cheek before getting in and watching the school disappear from view. She turned to face the front and sat, thinking. Too much happened in one day. First, Dipper wasn't awake during the lesson, then he got bullied by Blendin's gang. Not that she cared or anything, but even poor people like Pines don't deserve hardships like that.

Anyway, Pacifica had her own hardships to endure at the moment. Gideon was using her as a way to get to Mabel Pines, a girl that was too enthusiastic for her own good. If Pacifica had her way, Mabel wouldn't be in the cheerleading team, but there was no denying her skill. Which made it just that much harder to like the Pines twins. They were unpredictable and never seemed to regard Pacifica as superior to them.

Pacifica's train of thought was interrupted by a phone call. "Ma'am," said the driver. "Mr. Northwest wishes to talk to you." Pacifica felt her heart drop. Did Gideon tell them about the test? She picked up her phone. "Dad?"

"Hello, Pacifica. I just wanted to call you because your mother and I will be out late for a meeting with a new business client. Do you want to join us?"

Pacifica's eyebrows shot up. "Why? You've never asked me to join you before."

"Yes, well, we realised that you will one day own our businesses, so I think you should get some experience in the field."

"Oh, that's... thoughtful. But I have a test next week that I need to revise for." She smacked her forehead. She shouldn't have said that.

"A test? Well, then it's better if you revise. Remember, winning is everything... and looks, your mother says. Winning and looks. I'll let you go home and revise."

"Okay, dad."

"And Pacifica?"

"Yes?"

"Remember: you're a Northwest. Don't lose."

The call ended there.

Sorry, I published this a little late. I was pretty busy this week and didn't have much time to work on the chapter. The story is getting close to the point where Dipper will start tutoring Pacifica, three or four chapters away at most. However, there is a lot of stuff in the story that I've planned, so I want to give you a proper build-up. But hey, now you've seen Pacifica's incredible gaming skills. And it's not hard to figure out who SirDippingsauce is.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on the story so far. You guys are all so supportive and some of you guys have made some awesome suggestions which I'm definitely thinking about including. Side note: I think SVTFOE is a good, light show. And I'm totally shipping Starco, despite Tom and Star's history.

Until next time!