SEPTEMBER

Dipper Pines stood in the bathroom, considering his reflection. He'd grown a bit since he'd left home. Not much, but every little counts when you think you're too short. He was still roughly the same height as Mabel, though her millimetre had now stretched to a whole centimetre of vertical superiority. Which bugged him more than he wanted people to know, and he probably didn't hide it as well as he wanted to. People kept telling him to wait, that he'd outgrow her in no time, but he couldn't help thinking of Wendy and her brothers.

True, Marcus was barely a head shorter than her now, and there was a two year gap between them as opposed to the five minute difference between him and Mabel...but anxiety tended to throw logical comparisons out the window in its desperation to ruin everything.

He decided to give up on a growth spurt for now and searched for a positive body change somewhere else, rolling up his sleeve and critically considered his arm. He hoped against hope that the boxing lessons his great-uncles had been giving him and his sister had helped develop something even slightly akin to muscle and gave a tentative flex.

The soft, pale lump of flesh between his elbow and shoulder quivered.

He shook his head and sighed. His bicep actually moved, so that was…something. He decided to cut his losses and pulled his jacket on, thankful the long sleeves hid his thin physique, even if he still wasn't quite used to the feel of fabric on his arms.

Or maybe it felt weird because he was wearing something different from the shorts, shirt and jacket he loved so much he'd requested several sets to wear. Though Mabel, Pacifica, and literally everyone else had said it was a needed change. Not that he'd had much choice considering almost all his clothes had been ruined when Leaderaur had kidnapped him at the start of the summer and destroyed their bus in the process. He should have been grateful his sister and friends had bought the new clothes for him but, again, he hadn't had much choice.

He heard his father calling and took one last glance at his reflection. He wasn't really happy with his appearance but when was the last time he was? He took a moment to fix his hair with water, trying to make it seem less messy whilst still hiding his birthmark and silently cursing Phillip Pink once again for getting it cut so short. Then he firmly placed his ushanka over his head as he made his way downstairs, making the whole attempt pointless.

Mabel was already buzzing with excitement at their first day as high schoolers, looking forward to seeing her old friends, making new ones, finding potential boyfriends or matches for her other friends, and so much more. She was so happy she hadn't even bothered to argue as her father checked her backpack and removed the glue, stickers, photo albums, yarn, and assortment of tooth-rotting snacks in favour of more practical things like notebooks and pens that were actually designed for readable writing.

"Didn't even try to hide either pet in it this time!" Mabel boasted as the pig snuffled at the items curiously. Their cat, Chairman Meow, eyed the bag warily, having much more experience and far less patience than Waddles when it came to being taken to class. "See how much I'm maturing with age?"

"Uh-huh," her mother grunted, patting her daughter down expertly to make sure she wasn't bringing knitting-needles or her infamous grappling-hook to school. They'd received a pre-emptive warning letter specifically about both. "Okay, you're clean."

"See?" Mabel said smugly. "That means I've either learned not to bring potentially dangerous items to school or I've figured out a way to hide them from you. Either way, you should be proud."

"Not exactly how it works," her mother told her with a faint smile, patting her daughter's head affectionately until she saw her son out the corner of her eye. "Dipper! Go wash!"

"I did wash!" Dipper protested, annoyed by the automatic response despite receiving it almost every school day before. "And I changed my clothes from yesterday too!"

His mother and father stared at him for a moment. Then they walked over to inspect him closer.

"Huh," said his father, rolling up the boy's sleeves and pulling at the neck of his T-shirt to make sure he hadn't just washed what was visible. "He looks...clean."

"And he smells...normal?" his mother noted, pulling his hat off to sniff his hair cautiously.

"Teenage boy normal or Dipper normal?"

"Teenage boy."

"Wow," said Mr Pines father, staring at his son in awe. "I feared this day would never come."

"Another sign of maturity!" Mabel agreed, snatching her camera from her father's discard pile and snapping a quick shot of her annoyed brother between their surprised parents. "One for the scrapbook!"

"I put the camera in that pile for a reason, Mabel."

"And I forgive you for it," she replied, happily returning it to her backpack.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, but no more pictures of every teacher, student, class, etcetera. That's what school albums are for."

"Pfft! They're always so cold and sterile. Where's the pizazz you get when you take them in real-time?"

"I'll take cold and sterile if it means we don't have another talk with the principal about inappropriate photos," her mother muttered before addressing her son. "So what brought this on? Not that I'm complaining, but I've read Mabel's letters and this seems sudden."

Dipper looked away, turning red. "I...had a talk with someone who said I should try and work on my hygiene. Yeah, they were blunt and I was annoyed at the time but...I thought about it and they were only trying to help."

"It was a girl, wasn't it?" their father grinned, remembering when he used to turn that shade.

"What girl?" his wife snapped, unable to hide her critical and dangerously high standards for their son's romantic interests.

"It's...no one I've told you about," Dipper answered with technical honesty. "She was only in town for a couple of days. But she gave me some good advice about a lot of things. And I figured that if she was right about the rest, then maybe I could try and follow the parts about showering more too." His mouth twitched and he looked at the floor. "I miss her," he said, softly.

"Aww!" his dad and sister said as one, tilting their heads in the same way.

"Shut up!" Dipper and his mom said together, glaring.

"At least someone's finally talked you into it," Mrs Pines said, also glad she wouldn't have to add another name to the spreadsheet she'd made to tally Dipper's potential matches. "Took you long enough but at least you're starting high school relatively clean."

"Speaking of which, we'd better go," Mr Pines added, pushing Mabel away from the pile of items he'd pulled from her bag and towards the door. "Onward, into the future! And my car."

"HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT!" Mabel screamed, leaping out of the door with her arms spread wide, announcing it to the whole world.

"Not technically a student yet," her father said with a smile. "I don't think you really count until-"

"ALMOST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT!"

Dipper and his mother both let out a sigh, already worried about what problems Mabel might cause in her excitement. Or, as Mrs Pines called it, her problematic enthusiasm.

"Hey," she told her son, noting he was even less excited about going to school than usual. "You'll be fine. Think of it as a new start. Whole new environment, different classmates. You've changed a lot so maybe they have too. You might make some new friends in class."

That'd be a first, he thought but forced a smile. "Thanks, Mom. I'll try."

And he allowed himself to hope that maybe she was right. He was very different from the young boy who'd struggled to look his classmates in the eye and lunches spent alone, shunned and excluded by everyone except his sister.

He'd found friends and a sense of self-worth in Gravity Falls, and there would be different kids in each class now, who wouldn't know his history as the paranoid loser to avoid. Maybe, just maybe, those days were over. The smile became a little more sincere as he stepped outside and into a new chapter of his life.


Pacifica Northwest let out a deep breath as she considered herself in one of several full-body mirrors. Keeping up appearances was a balancing act these days. She wanted to look good but she had to take great care not to look too good.

When she'd attended her wealthy, private middle school, appearances had been more important than the curriculum. The wealth of your family had to show, even if everyone wore a uniform. She painfully remembered all those times she'd mocked other kids, boasting she could tell at a glance who were the children of billionaires and who were only millionaires, even playing games of guessing how many generations their wealth went and giving out scores like it was some joke as she mocked them.

Guess the joke's on me, she thought miserably, hoping the other kids wouldn't be able to guess how much her makeup was or how long she'd spent looking for a jacket that didn't cost as much as most people made in a week but still looked good to her eyes.

A part of her knew she shouldn't care so much about her appearance or what people thought of her, but old habits and insecurities were hard to break, especially as a teenager on her first day of high school.

Deciding she wasn't going to become any happier with whatever changes she might make, she went downstairs, surprised to see her parents waiting by the door.

"Oh, doesn't she look lovely, Preston?" Priscilla purred, staring at her daughter with a broad smile and wet eyes.

"Thanks, Mom," Pacifica replied, succeeding in smiling despite the butterflies in her stomach.

"Hmph," said Preston, looking far more critical than his wife. "Is that really what you're wearing? I thought you'd want to make a better impression on your first day."

"This is about making a good impression, Dad," Pacifica sighed. "I don't want to dress like I think I'm better than all the other kids."

Preston's brow furrowed. "But you are better than them."

"That's not tr– it's about trying not to stand out too much," she said, changing her argument to avoid a fight. "I'm going to their school, they have different rules and I want to do my best to fit in."

Preston's brow creased further, struggling to understand. "Is this a…commoner thing?"

No, it's a human thing, she thought. "Something like that."

"Oh." He considered this, obviously struggling to get his head round it. "I see," he lied in the end.

"Right," Pacifica sighed, knowing he didn't. She looked outside and saw Phil waiting for her by the car, the butterflies fluttering faster. "I'd better go. Don't want to be late for my first day. Any words of wisdom before I go?" she asked hopefully.

"We love you and we hope you'll have a great day!" her mother said clasping her hands in anxious affection. "Make us proud!"

Cliché but still a lot better than what she used to say. She smiled warmly at her mother, her belly settling ever-so-slightly. "Thanks, Mom. I'll do my best."

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good," Preston began, taking a knee and putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "But the most important thing to remember is who you are. You may be spending your school days with the riff-raff but you are not one of them. You have a family name to uphold and live up to. You are a Northwest, which means you are simply better. Never forget that. More importantly, never let them forget that. Now, go out there and show them what it means to be a winner in a world of losers."

She looked back at her father's stern face. Well, her irritation was distracting her from the nerves at least. "Sure, Dad," she said, giving a nod to show she knew exactly what he meant as she shrugged her bag on and walked to the car.

"Nervous?" Phil asked, opening the door for her.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak and wondering what normal fathers said to their daughters to encourage them.

"Understandable," he said, beginning the long drive to school. "I had plenty of first days since Da was stationed at so many places. Don't think it got any better, really. But I remember Mary's first day. Boy was she nervous!"

Pacifica stopped listening shortly after, suddenly deciding she'd rather not know what the average father said to their daughter on days like this since it was only making her jealous. She instead looked out the window, trying to distract herself with the lovely day as her stomach twisted more and more.

She miserably watched the townsfolk as they passed, most of them giving funny looks to the long, black car with tinted windows. She hated those windows. Most people thought they were designed to hide who was inside but that was ridiculous - who else in town could afford a car like this? No one except McGucket, and she doubted he'd bother with something so narcissistic.

The truth was, the tinted black was a status symbol, a way to add a bit of mystery to the rich, letting them leer at the poor all they wanted without being seen themselves, another way of showing off. Look at me! I'm so much richer than you that even the inside of my car is something you'll only get to see when I allow it!

She sunk a little lower in her seat as she felt the stares intensify as they got closer to school, recalling her first day at a public middle school.

She'd arrived in a car like this, a driver they could barely afford opening the door for her as she marched to the front doors with her head held high, a lifetime of discipline and superiority telling her not to let them see how desperately she was trying to hide how afraid and self-conscious she truly felt. It hadn't taken long for that mask to crack under the hard stares, judgemental whispers, and snide remarks as everyone remembered the girl who used to do the same to them.

"There we go," Phil announced, bringing the vehicle to a halt. "Not so bad, eh? I won't get out and open the door for you – I'm not that bad. And I won't be standing outside waiting for you with the door open when I pick you up, either. How does that sound?"

He frowned when further silence greeted him. He had noticed the quiet early on and was already suspecting it wasn't just due to first day nerves when he adjusted the rear view mirror to look at her. Seeing how low she was in her seat as she stared straight ahead confirmed it. He let out a sigh as he saw her peek out the window and then duck back down again as a group passed. An unnecessary action, considering the tinted windows.

"You do remember you were the one who asked for this, right?" he asked, his voice gentle yet firm. "Your Ma told me you practically begged them to let you come here instead of that fancy private place."

"That was before I knew you'd be driving me in this every day," she muttered darkly.

"And whose fault is that?" he asked, turning his body to face her. "Or have you forgotten why I'm keeping an eye on you?"

"No," she admitted, glancing away from his stern expression as she guiltily recalled the days before Soos and Melody's wedding and how much worse that could have went. "It's just – I want to be normal. Leave the selfish, two dimensional valley-girl stereotype behind. That's going to be a lot harder now with a first impression like this."

"True. But I wouldn't bother trying to be normal. Doesn't exist in this town."

"You know what I mean," she grumbled, sinking even lower.

Phil rolled his eyes. "And you should know what I mean. Name one 'normal' friend you have. Try it. Mabel, Dipper, that annoying Gleeful kid, Grenda, hell, even Candy's too adorable to be normal. They're all freaks. Like you. It's one of the reasons I like you so much. And I hate most people! So, if you can make a bitter idiot like me put up with you, I think you'll convince a couple these kids too."

"You make it sound so easy," she said, rolling her eyes.

He scoffed. "Are you kidding me? It's going to take ages to change anyone's opinion. If you think today's bad, just you wait. High school is hell, kid, especially in this country and century. You're going to hate me for taking you here before we're through."

"Wow, thanks for cheering me up."

"Just being honest," he shrugged, returning to face the front. "Besides – I don't think you're as alone as you think you are."

She looked up, wondering what he was talking about and saw him pointing. She followed his finger to where Candy and Grenda stood, watching the car and looking as anxious as she was as they chatted nervously.

It took her a moment to realise they must be waiting for her, her relief and gratitude conflicting with another pang of guilt at how she used to treat them to make herself feel better.

"It's…good to have friends," she admitted quietly.

"And they're lucky to have a friend like you," Phil told her, making her blush. "Now get out there and talk to them. I think they need you as much as you need them."

Pacifica muttered something under her breath but finally sat up straight, quickly checking in her handheld that she looked good but not too good and swallowed thickly as she reached for the door.

"Hey." Phil turned to face her again and gave a warm smile. "I hope you have a good day. And if you don't – talk to someone about it. Candy, Grenda, Mabel, me, your Ma, it doesn't matter. It's what we're here for. Okay?"

"I…thanks, Phil," she muttered, turning red again and looking away, still not used to people showing real concern for her wellbeing. Then she strode out the door and towards her friends before he could say anything else to embarrass her.

He watched them with a nostalgic smile. He was tempted to keep an eye on them for a little bit longer, partially to make sure they went in without issue, partially to make a memory of the occasion, like he had with his own daughter. But he only considered it for a moment before driving away, deciding Pacifica didn't need to be embraced further on what would already be a stressful day.

"Ugh, so many big people!" Grenda groaned, her head swivelling back and forth. "Why do they make us the smallest again right after we finally get to be the big kids? It's not fair!"

"You'll be the big kid again in no time," Pacifica assured her, noting that hardly any of the boys there age were taller, and none more muscular.

"I've never been the big kid," Candy mumbled, looking down. "Now I'm just the smallest again."

"No, I'm sure there's someone here…who's…" Pacifica trailed off, trying to find someone shorter than her friend. "There! See, that guy's smaller than you! And he's gotta be way older with that facial hair!"

"That's a gnome, Pacifica."

"Still counts!"

Candy let out small breath, and shook her head, still staring at the ground and not properly looking where she was going, walking right into someone.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Candy quickly mumbled, trying to walk around them, only for the person to step in front of her.

"Wait a minute. I know you." Candy winced. The voice was new but the tone was familiar, one of hostility, arrogance and superiority. She finally risked glance up but was surprised to see that the much taller girl wasn't looking at her, she had her eyes on Pacifica. "You're the Northwest girl. What are doing here?"

"I going to school here," Pacifica answered, also recognising the familiar tone of a bully, though for most of her life it had come from her own mouth. Not that that made her feel better about it. "It's my first day," she shrugged, trying to keep her answers simple in the hopes it wouldn't give her more ammunition.

"Oh, wow, first day, who would have guessed?" the girl asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What I meant was, why here? Thought Daddy was getting rich again and you'd go to some private millionaire school. What, still too many debts from trying to sell out the town?"

Pacifica flinched inside. Even with the long list of terrible things she knew her father had done, trying to become Bill's supposed 'Horseman of the Apocalypse' and then get rich from the chaos with his Weirdness Bonds had been a pretty low thing to do.

"Look, Dad's a jerk, he deserved way worse than losing money, and if you want to insult him go ahead because he's probably worse than you think," she began, trying not to let her shame show as a small crowd gathered. "But I'm not him. I'm just here to go to class with my friends."

"You don't have any friends," the older girl told her. "I heard those two wannabes you hung out with left as soon as you sold your yacht."

"I-" Pacifica faltered, the insult hitting harder than she'd expected. It was only made worse as she felt the stares of everyone around her.

"Pacifica does have friends," Candy said, still quiet, but now raising her head to look directly at the older girl. "We're her friends."

"Yeah!" Grenda boasted, pointing a thumb at her chest. "And we don't care how rich and/or poor she is or was!"

The girl let out a laugh, the two girls and boy behind her joining in, giving Pacifica unpleasant flashbacks to her old life and wondering if this what she would have ended up as if she hadn't met the Pines twins.

"Oh, wow, you really have sunk to new lows if you're friends with these losers," she smirked, nodding at Grenda and Candy. "I'd never imagine you'd get this desperate for company. I mean, the dork in glasses is one thing, but hanging out with the man-beast is a whole other level of-"

"Hey," a stern voice said behind her as a hand fell on her shoulder. "Leave them alone."

The girl frowned and turned to face the owner of the hand, not noticing the ripple of alarm and excitement that went through the crowd until she saw the tall redhead glaring at her.

"Seriously? You're so insecure you have to start picking on Freshmen?" Wendy asked. "Here's an idea – how about letting them find out how much high school sucks on their own. They don't need people like you helping."

"Wh-what do you care?" the girl asked, her eyes darting about nervously as her clique suddenly pretended not to know her.

"Those two you called losers are friends of mine," Wendy told her with narrow eyes. "Blondie's more of a friend of a friend. But even if they weren't, I don't like people picking on anyone smaller than them. So back. Off."

"Since when did you start caring what people say about your friends?" the girl demanded. She pointed at Wendy's gang; Robbie and Tambry trying to look uninterested in the whole situation, Lee and Nate trying to look casually cool, and Thompson standing awkwardly beside them and waving as he sweated from the attention. "You guys get called out every day, why are you suddenly interested in these three? What, is her daddy paying you to be her in-school bodyguard like that other ginger?"

Pacifica's cheeks burned as that earned a few chuckles, the girl smirking now she seemed to be getting support.

"You want to insult me and my other pals, you go right ahead," Wendy told her, sounding indifferent. "We're used to it. But you've got to be real pathetic to pick on kids on their first day." She stepped forward, the crowd rippling in anticipation as she brought their faces close together. "Now why don't you try picking on someone your own size?"

The bully said nothing, not used to dealing with someone a full head higher and clearly unafraid. She mustered her best glare to counter the pounding of her heart and actually succeeded in not looking too afraid as she tried to think of a retort. Then she saw a tall, muscular boy standing a little away from them, chatting to a group of similarly built young men. "Honey!"

She pushed through the other students to reach him, making a show of giving him a huge hug and a tender kiss. "Baby, you wouldn't believe what someone just said to me! So mean!"

"What?" the mass of muscles growled, turning to glare. "Who's disrespecting my girl? What kind of moron wants to die and – oh." He stopped his testosterone fuelled rant as he saw the tall redhead standing casually with her hands in her pockets and watching his girlfriend. "Uh, what – what's the-"

"Your girlfriend was mean to two people I like and one I tolerate, so I called her out for it," Wendy explained. Her steely gaze drifted to him. "That a problem?"

The dumb jock stereotype hesitated, having flashbacks to a night during the summer where he and several friends had been brainwashed into going to a Motel on the outskirts of town, still remembering the ferocious onslaught of the sixteen year-old, all because someone threatened one friend. "Uh. No. No, we're good," he decided quickly.

"You WHAT!?" his girlfriend screamed.

"Babe, you're hot," the jock stereotype found in every high school told her. "But I've got to focus on my sports and I can't risk getting an injury defending your honour or whatever. You understand, right?"

"No! Aren't I more important than any stupid sport? Besides, she's a girl! You can take her!"

Her boyfriend frowned since, yes, she was still a girl and he was a big guy, which should have made it an easy fight. He turned to a younger boy to check. "Can I take her?"

Marcus Corduroy let out a snort. "Is that a joke? You can't even beat me, no way could you handle my sister."

"See?" The jock said, turning to his enraged girlfriend. "You get it. But hey," he added, flashing her the same smile that had won her over. "Forget them, they're just kids. Why don't I make this up to you, take you to that sweet place in Portland where made out?"

"But!" The cliché TV cheerleader-type looked between him and Wendy, unable to believe he wasn't defending her. "But she basically threatened me! You should be – wait." Her eyes narrowed suddenly. "You never took me to Portland."

"Uhh," her boyfriend said, realising how much trouble he was in and hoping the morning wouldn't get any worse.

"Cheating on your girlfriend," Marcus sighed, cracking his knuckles loudly and destroying those hopes. "Might have to beat you up."

"This is not how I imagined my first day," Candy said.

"Eh, you get used to it," Nate shrugged as he and the others joined them, the onlookers now turning away from the new students to focus on the screaming former couple.

"She'll probably say some more crap about you but try not to rise to it and avoid them from now on if you can," Lee advised.

"But if you can't, just remember her breakup's already over social media and now it'll never be forgotten, ready to rear its ugly head again whenever she misbehaves," Tambry added, showing the list of mocking memes and comments that were already trending.

"Wow! How'd you make so many so fast?" Grenda asked in amazement.

Tambry smirked. "It's what I do."

"And if anyone else gives you trouble, go to a teacher," Wendy said. "If that still doesn't work, come to us. If Tambry can't scare them off, I will. Okay?"

"E-even me?" Pacifica asked quietly, aware of the conflict her jealously had caused throughout the summer, almost ruining the wedding, something only a handful knew, including the lumberjill.

Wendy looked at her. "Yeah. Even you."

"Sooo does this mean we can hang out with you cool kids sometimes?" Grenda asked hopefully.

The older teens looked at each other, exchanging looks and shrugs, communicating silently in the half-hearted language of teenagers.

"I guess," Robbie said, with one final shrug. "I mean, we hang out with Mabel and the dork in the summer, what's wrong with babysitting some more in here too?"

"Sweet! We get to hang out with the cool kids!" Grenda shouted, high-fiving Candy.

"But only when you want," Wendy told them. "We can get a bit, er, intense at times with our pranks and stuff and it's totally cool if you're not cool with that. You don't need to do everything we want or join everything we do."

"Yeah, otherwise you'd be some loser yes-man," Robbie added. "Like Thompson!"

"And you don't want that," Thompson told them, shaking his head gravely.

"Uh, right," Pacifica said, surprised to have received such a relatively warm welcome from a bunch of supposed ne'er-do-wells. "Thanks for the advice?"

"Anytime," Wendy shrugged as the bell rang. "Heck, here's some more: don't be like us and actually try and do well in class. It sucks but it's better to do the work now than have to make up for it when you could be having fun."

"That was nice," Candy noted as the older teens made their way to their classes, the freshmen gathering at the steps as a teacher called on them to take them to their classes and give a brief tour of the school. "I'm glad we already have friends to help us out."

Pacifica nodded, the nerves from this morning fluctuating as they joined their new classmates and were given a brief tour of the school. She supposed it had went better than she'd expected so far. Even the confrontation had ended without too much issue.

But she still caught the occasional stare or whisper from people and knew she'd receive a lot more before people got used to seeing her here. If they ever did.

She slumped in her chair as the teacher called out their names, knowing that she'd only get more attention when school ended and Phil would collect her again, drawing more attention to her family's wealth.

She was brought out of her unhappy mulling by a commotion at the front, someone, the Principal she assumed, coming in and having a quick, whispered conversation with the teacher, who stood up and fixed her glasses to address her students.

"Okay, class, we have a, er, somewhat sudden addition. Um, a student who's paperwork seemed to have taken a bit longer due to the unique circumstances of having skipped, well, several grades. Please welcome…Gideon Gleeful."

Pacifica blinked as the students whispered, only Candy and Grenda clapping, the former only momentarily before turning red when she realised practically no one else was, the later continuing without a care.

Gideon waltzed in, whistling happily and waving as he passed by, somehow not needing any direction as he walked up the aisles to take the one empty seat in class, one directly next to Pacifica, Grenda and Candy. "Howdy," he greeted the girls, jumping into his seat with a little difficulty.

Pacifica stared at him, wondering why this was as much a surprise to her as anyone else. She felt a bit of irritation at being left in the dark considering how close they'd gotten over the summer and suddenly recalled a moment after the wedding, when he'd made a remark about taking homework home to her, meaning he'd known this would happen since at least then. Her annoyance only grew when he answered her questioning glare with a little smile and a happy wave before sitting straight with his hands clasped, like a model student. Then she thought about his entrance, and started to get suspicious.

"So, you never told me you'd be skipping grades," she said a little later, keeping her voice low as the teacher spoke with her back turned, writing on the board.

"Must've slipped my mind," he said, his words barely audible.

"Uh-huh. Funny you knew exactly where to sit before the teacher showed you. And I can't help but notice the four of us are sitting together."

"Mighty fortunate on our part," Gideon agreed, his face not giving anything away.

"Sure. And it's weird that this the paperwork wasn't sorted until now, especially as I don't recall seeing your Dad drop you off."

Gideon shrugged. "Traffic and administration issues."

"Right. And, just taking a guess here, I don't suppose the Principal suddenly got a new car from your dad's dealership at a remarkably low price?"

The boy turned to her, flashing a distractingly innocent smile. "What can I say? I wanted to make it a surprise."

"Always got to make an entrance," Pacifica sighed, shaking her head and returning to taking notes.

He smirked. "If you liked this, wait until school ends when a bunch of bikers pick me up."

Pacifica stopped. That would be quite a scene. So much so, she doubted anyone would notice the expensive car with a driver waiting for her. She grinned.

"It's good to have you here, Gideon," she finally told him, and decided her school year might be tolerable after all.

Which was all anyone could ask for, really.


"And this is our friend Soos and his wife Melody – only got married last month and boy what a wedding that was! There was wedding cake, so much food, plenty of cute boys, cake, dancing, cute boys, and cake! Did I mention the cute boys and cake?"

"I think you did," laughed a boy Mabel had known since the start of middle school, well-versed in her excitable nature.

"I went to my older sister's wedding," said a girl, a new friend Mabel had met within five minutes of leaving the car, pulling out her phone. "Here's her dress – that's me beside her – and there's her husband – really nice guy – and-"

"Whoa, hottie alert," Mabel purred, fanning herself. "Does he have a brother or nephew or hang out with a boy our age in a non-creepy way like Soos does with us?"

"Uh, I don't-" the girl began with a frown, not quite used to Mabel's attitude quite yet.

"It's fine, she's always like this," laughed another girl, who'd known her for much longer. "I didn't go to a wedding but we did visit some relatives in Canada. Here's some pictures I took."

Dipper nodded along with the conversation, not quite in the group but not outside of it either. Mabel had occasionally tried to include him in some of her descriptions or stories of Gravity Falls, but her friends didn't seem as interested whenever he spoke. Now he was giving fairly basic answers or agreements, preferring to let her lead.

"Aw, I always go through these too quick," Mabel grunted, shaking a now empty can of Pitt Cola she'd taken from the Gravity Falls. "Okay ladies, girls-only party in the bathroom! First one as high schoolers so let the gossiping commence! See you boys in a sec."

Dipper waved as they got up, leaving him alone with the only other boy, who cleared his throat awkwardly, clearly unsure of what to do.

"Sooo…like any sports?"

Wow, is he barking up the wrong tree, Dipper thought. "Er…no. Do you…like to read?"

"Uh, not really."

Well this is a great start. How does Mabel make it look so easy? he thought for what felt like the thousandth time but was probably more. "So, uh, did you do anything fun during the summer? Cause Mabel and I went to this town called Gravity Falls where our relatives and friends stay and that was pretty cool. One of our Grunk – our Great Uncles is a scientist and he researches all of these weird things and events like different creatures and anomalies and-"

"Yeah, Mabel mentioned him," the boy cut in, seeing the excitement start to creep into Dipper's voice and remembering the long-winded speeches about science and paranormal and the conspiracy theories he'd been notorious for giving since kindergarten. "Um, I think I see someone so if it's alright?"

"What? Oh. Y-yeah, okay," Dipper said, sagging a little as the other boy left. He looked around the cafeteria, searching for another familiar face and wondered why he bothered. Most of those who knew him from middle school hadn't acknowledged him then, why would that change now?

Of course, there were one or two who did, but they did so with unpleasant smirks. He also noticed a few unfamiliar faces doing the same, a couple nodding or pointing in his direction, and could almost feel the comments being made about his ushanka alone.

He resisted the urge to pull the hat down, telling himself his birthmark was hidden and that the hat was too important to swap for something else, however many people made fun of him for it. He prodded his meal with a fork and sighed as a dull, familiar ache built inside as he sat alone in a crowded hall.

"Some things never change."


Author's note: This will be a bit different from my previous works; no real story, just glances into the lives of the cast until the next set of adventures, covering little character developments, conversations, and minor stories I wanted to cover but never really found the place for in my main work. Mostly slice of life, a mixture of comedy, drama, and universe building.

I'm currently moving house – which will take a lot of time and work – so who knows how frequently this will be updated? Enjoy!