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Dipper got caught watching through the peephole of his and Wendy's apartment, staring intently at the door opposite theirs. He could see Bill watching him, waiting for him to step outside. Dipper had run into him the day before and that had resulted in a rather embarrassing conversation (or lack thereof).
“Hey, cuteness,” Bill had said, leaning casually on his frame as the door slid open subtly. Dipper had sputtered out a few syllables before Bill had asked, “Wanna play hookie with me?”
The sly grin and shady gaze had made Dipper give the oh so eloquent response, “Sorrycan'tmissclassbye!” Then he'd run straight for the elevator just in time to jump in with his other neighbor Jack Frost.
At first he was afraid Jack would ask. Then Jack had simply said, “Dude's an epic creeper.”
“Yeah,” Dipper had agreed. That had been the end of the discussion.
Then one day Dipper got a job offer. He had an interview at a local restaurant to get to, and he really couldn't afford for Bill to make him any more nervous than he already was. He'd checked the peephole, then promptly forgot how to tell if Bill was watching or not. He started to sweat as he watched the crack under the opposing door, struggling to tell if there was a shadow or not. Swallowing, he figured that the longer he stared the more he would think it was moving and therefore he was only psyching himself out. Stepping outside his apartment, he fumbled to lock the door. To his horror, when he turned around, there stood Bill.
“You're looking spiffy,” the man crooned. “Dress up like that often enough, you're gonna be battin' the people away like flies.”
“Uh . . .,” how the hell did he respond to that? How the hell did he respond to anything the man said?
Bill's gaze and smirk intensified. “Better get to your interview. Don't wanna be late,” he teased.
“Uh . . . kaythanksbye!” And Dipper ran for the elevator again. As he stepped out of the elevator onto the first floor and was walking past the overly cheerful receptionist Cecil, he suddenly asked aloud, “How the hell did he know?”
He turned and looked at Cecil, who stared blankly at him before grinning and shrugging as if he knew what Dipper was talking about. Whether or not he did, Dipper doubted it. The few times he'd met Cecil, the tattooed Native American had done a very good job convincing him that he knew a lot when in fact he readily admitted he knew little about the goings-on of those upstairs.
The next time this happened, Dipper didn't have anywhere to be for hours. However he was stuck staring out of the peephole. Bill was watching. He knew he was watching, could see the shadow shifting beneath the door. What was the fascination? Why did he have to scare the hell out of Dipper every time Dipper left the apartment? He wished Wendy were here, then maybe he could ask her what to do.
Speaking of which, he could just text her. Pulling out his phone, he was surprised to find that he already had a message waiting for him. Strange. He hadn't felt the phone vibrate at all. And it was an unknown number, too. Opening it up, he almost threw the device when he read the words, if we're gonna stare at each other awkwardly, we may as well do it over dinner ;).
Panic rose up in Dipper and he was horrified to answer the message. His creepy neighbor had his number. How the hell had he gotten his number? And he swore he could hear a snicker through the doors and across the hall. His fingers shook as he texted back, how'd you get my number?
It didn't take long to get an answer. He could almost hear the man's smooth, teasing tone. i'm a busy man. Was that supposed to be an answer? What kind of answer was that? His phone buzzed as he received another message. so how about it then?
how about what?
8pm Tuesday?
Dipper stared at the message, dumbstruck and unsure if this was actually happening. This man scared the hell out of him, and now he had his number and was propositioning him for a date. He dropped his phone in his lap, grabbing handfuls of the hair sticking out of his hat. How should he respond to this? He was half-tempted to call Mabel and ask her what she thought, but he knew what she would say. She'd say go for it, tell someone he was going on a date, celebrate! The celebration part was mostly to make sure people knew where he was at so if he went missing, the person he'd been with was a suspect. He had to admit, Bill did seem like the kind of guy who'd make him disappear just for fun. In a frightened huff, he texted back, okay what do you really want?
whatever do you mean? I'm trying to ask you on a date here.
all you've done is freak me out man, what do you want?
i'm bored & you're hilarious
Dipper stared at that. “No I'm not,” he said aloud. He definitely heard a laugh then. Flustered, he texted back, i'll think about it okay.
There was a long moment of silence in which he thought he'd angered Bill. The silence was broken by a final text that read, sounds promising ;).
Oh boy, Dipper thought. He wasn't just dead sure about what he was getting into.