Pacifica sat across from her parents, her test on the table between them. Everything was perfectly still. The number 94 written in red ink on the top of the page. "Ninety-four," her father mused. Pacifica nodded but didn't allow herself to open her mouth. "That's a good score." Again, she merely nodded. Her father sighed and looked away from the paper and at his daughter. "Pacifica, you're hiding something."

Pacifica forced herself to breathe. Her father was smart, but she never expected him to read her thoughts. She couldn't deny her father's claims; he would see through that as well. So she sat there, staring at a test in which she was beaten by Dipper Pines. She felt a cold hand touch hers. Her mother looked at her with worrying eyes. "Pacifica. We want what is best for you. We cannot help you if you don't tell us what's wrong."

Pacifica looked between her mother, her father, and the test. Her parents were busy people, it was rare for all three of them to be sitting together. If she told them that she was the second-best in her class, would that ruin the family? More than it already has been? Maybe it could help. It's a sign that she trusts her parents, after all. She looked at her parents, who were looking back at her expectantly. "I came second," she blurted out. "Somebody beat me in the test."

Her parents were frozen for a second. But in that short moment, she saw several emotions pass through their eyes: anger, fear, guilt, sorrow. Then, as quickly as the feelings flashed by, her father sat up straight and laughed. "My dear, Pacifica. That's alright. Perfectly fine!"

"It is?"

"Of course." her mother joined in. Pacifica looked between the two of them to make sure they were serious. Why were they surprisingly calm? There was definitely something wrong. Her father leaned forward slightly. "There's a business," he began. "It's run by a very peculiar person. This person seems to take orders from their son, a young man named Bill. While I never got to meet him, his ideas are quite astonishing." Pacifica remembered what Gideon mentioned. A new, fast-growing company with a smart boy. Her father continued. "Bill told his parents that to be the best, you have to steal from the best. Obviously, he was referring to knowledge. That's why we offered a deal with their company. We are teaching their company how we, the Northwests, became successful. In exchange, they give us part of their profit."

Pacifica looked at her father, trying to make sense of what he was trying to say. "What are you trying to say?"

"What your father is trying to say," he mother answered, "is that sometimes you have to look at the people ahead of you and use what they have to propel yourself forward. Who beat you in the test?"

"You won't know them."

"Who was it?" Priscilla asked again, this time more forcefully.

"Dipper Pines." Her father made a noise when she said that.

"The G-lympics one? The one who lives in the hut in the woods? With his two great-uncles?" Pacifica nodded slowly, suddenly ashamed that of all people, she lost to Dipper Pines.

Her father sighed. "Very well. We will do what we must. Pacifica, ask this boy to teach you physics. Not for long, just until you catch up with him."

There was no way that she would admit that she needed Dipper's help. "Isn't there anyone else I can ask?"

"No," her father instantly replied. "This boy, while I hate to admit it, has proven to be incredibly intellectual. You could use some of his knowledge." Pacifica realised that there was no winning this. If it made her parents happier, she could at least try.

"Alright," she said. How hard could it be?

It was surprisingly difficult to get Dipper's attention. And it was even harder to get his attention without attracting other people's attention. She didn't want people knowing that she needed Pines' help. Why would Pacifica Northwest need the help of a boy who lives in the woods? Her reputation was at stake. She looked at him at lunch, sitting on his own. If she walked past him and dropped a paper on the floor, he might notice it. "Marius?" She elbowed her boyfriend. "Do you have a pen or paper or something?"

"Yes, I have it in my bag." He took out a small paper and a pen from his bag and handed it to her. "Why?"

She brushed aside his question. "Doesn't matter." She quickly scribbled a message onto the paper and walked in Dipper's direction. She scrunched up the paper and dropped it next to Dipper and kept walking. She reached the bin, pretended to throw something in, then wheeled back around and sat down. She watched Dipper from the corner of her eyes. He was looking at her. She pretended not to notice him. He rolled his eyes, picked up the paper and...

threw it in the bin. Pacifica smacked her head. What an idiot. She turned to look at him, to try and signal that the paper had a message, but he didn't look at her. He ate his food and left. She needed to find another way to get to him.

Pacifica's best shot was when she almost walked into him in the hallway. She turned a corner and there he was. Luckily, Dipper noticed just before she did and sidestepped out of the way. She stopped in shock at how close she was to almost bumping into the person she was trying to talk to. Unfortunately, she happened to be with Tiffany, and she wouldn't dare let Tiffany see her talk to the boy who lives in the woods. She walked straight past Dipper, not even bothering to respond to his quiet apology.

Pacifica watched as Dipper put things back in his locker. Soon, the hallway would be empty, so she could finally talk to him. The bell rang, and people started disappearing, occasionally saying goodbye to Pacifica. Pacifica muttered back a response, still focusing on Dipper, who's bag was stuck in the locker door. Eventually, it was just her watching Dipper struggling to get his bag out of the locker. She started walking towards him when she felt someone grabbed her arm. She spun around. "What?" she snapped.

"Hi, sorry. Are you okay?" It was Marius.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, a lot going on."

"It is alright. Do you want to see a movie tonight? My father can rent a cinema."

Pacifica heard a locker slam. She turned to see Dipper leaving. Damn it! She was so close! "Sorry, Marius. I've got cheer practice, then my parents need me to do something. I don't think I have time."

"Do not worry. You have been very busy recently. We barely get to spend time together." Pacifica looked away from Marius when he said that. To be completely honest to herself, she had been avoiding dates with Marius for a while. She felt like she had lost the spark that she felt when she first met him at the Northwest international party four years ago.

"Yeah," Pacifica said. "I guess I've been busy." The two stood awkwardly in the hallway before Pacifica suddenly realised that she had to be at cheer practice. "I'll be late! I'll talk to you later." She ran to the changing rooms for practice without looking back.

Pacifica's last chance was after cheer practice. Dipper always waited for cheer practice to finish to pick up Mabel. A part of Pacifica was jealous of the strong friendship between the twins. She never had anything like that. Pacifica was also slow to warm up to the new addition to the cheerleaders. Mabel Pines was energetic, friendly and over-optimistic. That became even more of a problem when people in the cheerleading team started paying more attention to Mabel instead of her, the best looking cheerleader.

After another hour of cheerleading and watching Mabel Pines, Pacifica changed her clothes quickly and made her way to the library. Dipper was reading a book. As she neared, Pacifica could make out the title: The Sibling Brothers and the Case of the Caper-Case Caper. Pacifica read that once, but she never figured out who stole the capers. The ending wasn't very clear.

Pacifica slowly made her way to Dipper, trying not to bring attention to herself. No mean feat when you're wearing a bright pink jacket. "Mabel, I know you're there." Pacifica stopped. Did Dipper think she was Mabel? Pacifica was about to open her mouth when she heard a laugh coming from a shelf. Mabel jumped out and slapped her brother with her sweater. "How did you guess?"

Pacifica darted behind a bookshelf. "You smell like sweat, Mabel." Pacifica checked her armpits to make sure she didn't stink. A waft of lavender entered her nostrils. It was fine, the sweat was from Mabel.

"Pfft! Shush! Let's just go. Grunkle Stan says we need to start help with stocking the gift shop when we get home." Pacifica watched as the twins left the library. There was only one option left - she would have to go into the woods.

The limo pulled up a few metres away from a hovel. Pacifica wouldn't be surprised if she found out that the Pines built it themselves. She stepped out of the car and strutted towards the house. She listened to the birds chirping in the trees and felt the wind brush against her. It was soothing to feel so close to nature. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live out here. She shook away her thoughts and instead focused on the door in front of her.

She held up her hand to knock on the door but hesitated. She could wait until tomorrow. She didn't want to talk to Dipper now, especially in this place. Still, she had come all this way, and it isn't easy to talk to Dipper at school. This was probably the easiest way to do it. She held her breath and knocked. Noises were coming from inside, then the door opened and Dipper stood there, looking at her.

"I need your help," she stated.

"You're the worst." Dipper slammed the door in her face. Pacifica blinked. What a stubborn, little... Pacifica angrily waved off some flies, then knocked again and placed her hands on her hips. Dipper opened the door again, this time looking more frustrated. "Look, you think it's easy for me to come here? I don't want to be seen in this hovel!" Pacifica brushed away some more flies. "But I need you to tutor me, or else I won't be the perfect girl that I clearly am!"

Dipper rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. "And why should I help you? All you've ever done is humiliate me and Mabel."

"Just name your price, okay? I'll give you anything!"

At that moment, Mabel appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a sweater, which looked admittedly cute, not that Pacifica would ever say that out loud. "Hi, Pacifica! Excuse us." Mabel grabbed Dipper and dragged him back into the house. Pacifica peered through the door and saw Candy and Grenda staring at her. She focused her attention on Dipper and Mabel's conversation. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Candy and Grenda were looking at the twins too.

"Dipper! Don't you see what this means? You help Pacifica, you could get us invites to the greatest party of all time!" Pacifica's eyes widened. The party! Her parents let Pacifica invite her friends over during Christmas for a huge party. But she doubted they would let people like the Pines twins in the mansion. Still, they wanted her to get Dipper to tutor her. Would her parents let the Pines in?

"What? Mabel, this is Pacifica we're talking about." Pacifica's eyebrows drew together. What was that supposed to mean?

"But this is Candy and Grenda's dream!" Pacifica couldn't believe her ears. The other two weirdos as well? She was about to interrupt and tell Dipper not to worry about it when she was the look on Candy's and Grenda's faces. They looked so hopeful. Who was Pacifica to stop someone's dreams from becoming a reality? Dipper sighed and leaned on the doorway. "Fine. I'll tutor you." He held out his hand and Pacifica went to shake it, but he swiped it back up. "But in exchange, I'll need three tickets to the party."

Pacifica groaned. "You're just lucky I'm desperate." Pacifica shook Dipper's hand and walked away from the house in the woods, the sound of three girls chanting "desperate" following her to the limo. Why did she have to get involved with the Pines?

Finally! The question has been asked! Also, yes. Bill is a part of a business. But is that the only role he plays in this story? I guess you'll have to wait to find out.

Thanks again to everyone who has been reading this story and commenting along! I'm really glad that you guys enjoy it. Now that we've finally got the ball rolling with Dipper and Pacifica, this story can really start to grow. I hope you guys are ready for a super long-winded storyline.

Until next time!