A Weekend Ruse (Older!AU)

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ②

After classes, Dipper got a text from Jean saying he and Ann were going to swing by the dorm just two minutes before they waltz in.

Ann gives her boyfriend a look before gazing over at Dipper, sitting alone on the couch re-reading a murder mystery novel (his own notes written in the margins).

She gives Jean a light shove, before disappearing into Jean's room to pick out his clothes for the night.

"Hey Dipper, why don't you join us?" Jean asks halfheartedly, standing awkwardly in the tiny space joining the kitchenette and the common area. "It'll be fun."

Dipper glances over his friend.

When did he cut his hair? He didn't even look like the same guy that Dipper spent hours playing Nort and Fight Fighters with.

In his Polo shirt and khakis, hair perfectly trimmed and in place, Jean didn't even look capable of an epic light saber battle over the last slice of pizza...

Where's the guy Dipper moved in with last year? The guy with the messy black hair, and an over sized R2-D2 shirt?

The guy that read mangas (Japanese comics), and had a poster of white haired girl with dragons on his wall? Where's the guy that Dipper considered to be his friend?
Can someone really look and be that different over only a few weeks?

Apparently so.

"I'm good."

And he is. Dipper's totally fine.

"Dipper, we haven't really hanged in forever. Come out with us."

Dipper isn't certain how Jean made it sound like it was Dipper's fault that they didn't hang out as much now. But Dipper sighs, closing his book and placing it on the little coffee table.

Maybe it is his fault. Maybe Ann isn't as horrible as he's making her out to be. Maybe he's just being a baby, just upset that she took his friend away.

Maybe Ann's friend will be nice. And though he still doesn't think he needs a girlfriend by any means, maybe he does want one. If not just a little.

Maybe he'll have fun tonight.
But he doesn't.

It's definitely a 'lame' party.
Dipper blinks, adjusting his eyes to the dim lighting. The music's so loud; he can feel the bass vibrating his pulse.

The smell of sweat and alcohol is only over powered by the light haze floating from a circle of people passing a cigarette. Only, of course, it's not really a cigarette.

And that's kind of surprising, cause isn't this a party Ann wanted to go to?

Bewildered, Dipper glares at the back of her head as she grabs his wrist. Ann always gave off a vibe like she.

Well, like she wouldn't be into parties that had pot circles.

He holds his breathe as he, Ann, and Jean squeeze their way through the crowd of dancers and loungers filling the room. When he inhales again, he can still smell the weed in the air.

They're far enough away from the circle though, so he doesn't worry about embarrassing himself by coughing slightly on the smoke.

Somewhere along the way, Ann's grip on his wrist transitioned into her holding his hand. Ann is still holding his hand, even though they've stopped walking for almost half a minute now (He knows, he's counting).

He eases his hand free, and suddenly a bottle finds its way into Dipper's hands. He isn't even sure who gave it to him. He tries to inspect the label, but it's been peeled off.