Six Summers Ch. 1
Mabel and Dipper pines ride together in the front seat of an old blue car. The road is paved with dirt and pine trees soar above them on either side. They roll down a bumpy hill and sing 'Babba' songs at the top of their lungs. If someone were to hear them, it's possible that they wouldn't even care. The Song ends and Dipper reaches a hand over to skip to the next song on his iPod, but Mabel snatches the device away from him.
"No way broseph," she scolds, "my turn to pick a song."
Dipper chuckles, "Alright Mabel."
He taps his fingers on the steering wheel as she fiddles with the touch screen. He continues humming disco girl in the relative silence of the car.
"Don't you have anything other than Swedish pop music?" Mabel asks sarcastically.
"Of course I do." Dipper lowers his eyebrows but keeps smiling. "Just keep scrolling."
Mabel groans and flicks her thumb across the surface of the MP3 player a few more times. Dipper checks his mirrors and sees a pickup truck following along behind at some distance. He glances out the front window again and spots a green sign: 'Gravity Falls 5 miles' and beneath it, 'Bend XX miles' where the second number is scratched out. Dipper shrugs. He knows perfectly well where Bend is. He's been coming to Oregon every summer for six years. He usually goes back. This time, he's staying.
Dipper and Mabel Pines are eighteen years old. They have brown curly hair and big blue eyes. They are both almost 6 feet tall, though Mabel is at least a millimeter taller. They graduated from High-school last month. It was a teary farewell, but Dipper and Mabel always loved gravity falls and had made up their minds about where they would be going once school was over. Dipper wants to go to college, though he's pretty sure he can get all the classes he needs online. Mabel isn't sure about school. At the moment, she's just enjoying being free.
"Find anything?" Dipper says.
"How about…." Mabel clicks a button and a heavy metal starts blasting out of the car speakers.
Dipper flinches and Mabel starts rocking out on an air guitar.
"Maybe a little warning next time, huh?" Dipper groans, in a voice that still hasn't really stopped cracking.
Mabel blows a raspberry and keeps rocking out. Dipper sighs and straightens his hat, glancing in the mirror again. The road behind them is empty now. Huh? Dipper shakes his head.
That's Gravity Falls, He reminds himself.
Dipper fishes his phone out of his pocket and struggles to keep his steering wheel straight. Mabel doesn't notice, her eyes are closed and she flails her fingers wildly along with the music. Dipper glances down to the phone and checks his texts. There are three of them: two from his parents, and one from a friend.
Mom: We love you both. Please be safe and please show this to Mabel.
Dipper smiles and clicks the next message.
Dad: Shouldn't you be at uncle Stan's house by now? If you're broken down, just call him to let him know.
Dipper frowns a bit at that. They are running a little bit behind schedule. Right near the state border, they had almost run over a werewolf, who had insisted that Dipper hand over his insurance information. Dipper pointed out to him that it was a deer crossing and not a lycanthrope crossing, but this just prompted the werewolf to begin chanting at them. Eventually Dipper wrote the information down on a piece of paper, at which point the werewolf swallowed both pen and paper and ran off into the tree-line screaming about 'the glow cloud.' Dipper had driven away as fast as the law would allow.
The final message is the one from Dipper's friend. He's been Dipper's friend since he was around 13. He's a few years older than Dipper, but they get along pretty well.
Robbie: DUDE. She's back.
Dipper squeezes the steering wheel with his left hand and shoves the phone back into his pocket with his right. His breath catches and a bead of sweat breaks out across his brow. He wipes it away and obsessively straightens the brim of his hat. Mabel does notice this.
"Hey Dipper, what's wrong?" Mabel reaches out and cranks the music down to a dull throb.
"Nothing. Nothing... Nothing." Dipper says unconvincingly.
Mabel narrows her eyes and lowers her eyebrows. "Not cool Dip Hop." she scolds. Her puns get lamer when she's upset.
"It's... I got a text from Robbie." Dipper admits.
"Robbie? Bleh." Mabel flops her head back against the head rest.
"Don't be like that. We're cool now." Dipper grimaces. "Maybe..."
"Maybe?" Mabel whirls her head towards Dipper.
"Oh look!" Dipper exclaims with a bit too much enthusiasm. "Water tower!"
Mabel presses her face to the passenger side window as they catch sight of the filthy lot behind the water tower. As they drive past it, the road slopes downwards and they begin a slow, curved descent into Gravity Falls. They can see the whole town from here. They both sigh in happiness. Dipper is mostly just glad that he successfully distracted Mabel from their conversation and that it was now over.
"This conversation isn't over." Mabel wags a finger at him and gives him a stern look that is only slightly joking.
Dipper curses under his breath. If Mabel notices, she doesn't say anything. They spot the mystery shack sign in the far distance. Their smiles are barely contained by their faces. Dipper feels the urge to speed up, but the speed limit is crawling downwards as they enter the city limits. Mabel's stomach growls.
"I wonder if we can stop for lunch..." she says, rubbing her stomach under her paint-splattered sun-dress.
"I think we need to get to the shack before we go anywhere. Dad's already sending me worried texts now that that werewolf slowed us down." Dipper says, scratching his goatee.
"What a weirdo." Mabel says.
"Dad or the werewolf?" Dipper clarifies.
"Yes." Mabel says with a distracted look out the window.
Dipper is silent for a while. But he catches sight of the various stores in the middle of town. "Maybe I can call Stan and get him to meet us in town for lunch."
Mabel's face brightens instantly. "Ooh! Do it!"
Dipper smiles and pulls his phone out. The phone emits a series of artificial tapping sounds as he types the number in. The phone only rings once, before an old a scratchy voice comes to Dipper's ears.
"We don't want any." Gruncle grumbles.
"Oh? Well I guess we might as well just turn around," Dipper says with mock sadness.
"Kid? Oh man, sorry." Gruncle Stan says hurriedly
"It's alright gruncle Stan." Dipper says with a smile.
"Where'd you guys get off to? Did you break down?" Stan demands without much real force.
"We're just now in town." Dipper explains.
Mabel's nose is pressed against the glass. She lets out soft cooing sounds as she takes in the familiar sights. The window is fogged up and she stares intently through the condensation. Dipper shakes his head.
"Mabel's getting kind of hungry, you think you can come out and meet us in town?" Dipper asks.
"Sure thing, kid." Stan says. "You guys stay put somewhere and We'll be right over. We can go to the diner together. Pancakes on me!"
"Really?" Dipper asks, skeptically.
"Well... you should try the manliness tester first. Just to be safe." Gruncle Stan reasons.
"Of course." Dipper smiles. He's been scoring better on the manliness tester every summer. He's still hoping for a high score.
"We'll be in town." Dipper thinks for a moment, "Meet us at the-"
"OOH OOH!" Mabel interrupts, "THRIFT SHOP! THRIFT SHOP! LOOK, LOOK, DIPPER LOOK, THRIFT SHOP, DIPPER!"
Dipper winces. "The thrift store, we'll be at the thrift store."
Stan winces as well. "Yeah. You kids have fun." he hangs up the phone.
Dipper sighs and turns the wheel slowly towards the thrift store parking lot. Mabel springs out of her seat as soon as Dipper pulls the car into park. She shoves the door open and starts jumping for joy. "Mabel, MABEL!" Dipper shouts.
Mabel whirls around, "Yeah, Dip stick?" she asks with a wide and straight-toothed smile.
"I'm gonna head down to the gas station, alright? I'll be right back." He assures her.
Mabel nods hurriedly and heads back towards the store. Dipper spots a large pile of wool in the passenger seat.
He grabs the pile off the seat and waves it out her open door, "Wait Mabel, your sweater!" Dipper calls out.
"Hold onto it!" she says and she ducks inside the beige, glass front building.
Dipper holds the sweater out in dumbfounded silence for about five whole seconds before he silently pulls his arm back inside the car. He places the sweater on the seat and reaches across it to pull the door back closed. He pulls the car back into drive and turns out into the street.
Mabel is practically skipping as she searches through the aisles of the thrift store. She hums a tune as she ducks in and out of the racks. Mabel hardly even stops when some of the women in the store greet her by name. They know her well by now. She has been coming here every summer for the past six years. It is one of her favorite places in Gravity Falls, but of course the whole town is pretty great.
"Yo... that's fifty dollars for a t-shirt." she sings to herself as she runs her hands along the racks. Mabel stops dead in her tracks. "It smells like old ladies." she says. Mabel sighs blissfully and keeps searching.
She stops at the rack that holds her size. "Ooh," she coos. Her eyes widen as she takes in the glorious sight of a thousand mismatched articles of discarded clothing. She grins and begins plucking bits of clothing off the rack. She hums to herself some more, though now it is just an aimless and happy tune with no words to back it up.
Mabel twirls around with an armful of clothes and floats down the aisle towards an disused shopping cart. She drops the clothes into the cart and lets out a satisfied sigh. She turns on her heels and catches sight of a shelf full of preowned jewelry. She squeals.
"Stay here, cart." she instructs the faithful holder of her precious clothing.
She scurries over to the shelf and begins shopping for accessories. She pulls on a few necklaces and then trades them out for a few more. She mixes and matches earrings and continues her musical accompaniment. A few dozen minutes and a few dozen earrings later, she puts back the ones she doesn't want this time and rushes back to her cart.
She whistles a Babba song and pushes the cart towards the cash register. Her cart comes to a halt as a feminine hand with lavender nail polish grabs a hold of it and pulls it to the side. Mabel's head whips to the right side, in search of the hand's owner. The woman is Mabel's age. She beautiful, and blonde, and not quite as tall as Mabel. She wears a white tank top over a denim miniskirt. Her shoes are heeled and her earrings are gleaming and elegant. Mabel is terrified.
"New in town?" Pacifica northwest says with a sly and dangerous smile.
"Pa- Pacifica?" Mabel squeaks.
Pacifica looks pleased. "Not as new as I thought, I suppose."
"Yeah, no, I've um... been around... here..." Mabel is confused. She hasn't seen Pacifica in almost three years. She's changed, but not in a way that's unexpected. She has only grown more radiant and elegant as time has gone by. That can't bode well. Mabel is certain that this will only increase Pacifica's arrogance.
"Really? Well that would explain how you know who I am. Everyone here knows who I am." She keeps smiling that smile and keeps her eyes half-lidded.
"Uh... huh..." Does she not remember? Does she really not know who Mabel is? If that's the case, Mabel certainly isn't going to remind her.
"But I think I might as well introduce my self personally." Pacifica extends a soft and manicured hand in Mabel's direction. "My name is Pacifica Mabel Northwest."
Mabel chokes. "Huh?"
Pacifica keeps her smile wide and her hand extended. "I'm Pacifica."
"Um... right." Mabel squeaks. She puts a hand out carefully to shake the smaller girl's.
Pacifica looks at Mabel expectantly.
Crap. Mabel knows what Pacifica wants. A name. Mabel is scared, and hesitant.
"M." Mabel croaks out.
Pacifica shake's Mabel's hand, but keeps their fingers entwined as she keeps speaking. "Em, huh. Short for Emma."
Mabel shakes her head and remains silent.
Pacifica releases Mabel's hand and gives her a smug, yet strangely warm smile. "I know we're gonna be good friends Em."
Mabel nods hesitantly. Pacifica takes a step closer. She keeps her wide smile on her face and she looks briefly devious. She reaches a soft and delicate hand up to Mabel's cheek. She runs her index finger down to Mabel's chin and steps even closer. Mabel stops breathing. Pacifica's body is almost touching her own. She cranes her neck and whispers into her ear.
"See ya' round, cutie." Pacifica purrs. She takes swift steps past Mabel and saunters down the aisle.
Mabel watches Pacifica go. Her heart pounds in her chest and her eyes study Pacifica's figure harder than she had ever studied it. She blushed.
What was that? What just happened? What was she even doing here? WHAT?
Dipper grabs his wallet from the pocket of his cargo pants and reaches into the pocket he keeps his money in. Most of it is from the job he had delivering pizzas back in California. A bit of it is from his parents though, for the trip. He pushes open the glass door to the new Dusk 2 Dawn and steps through with a chime of the bell above the door. He steps across the stick on tile and turns down the candy aisle. He narrows his eyes at a display of Smile Dip, which he wasn't sure was actually legal. He reaches down and snatches a pack of airheads off of the bottom shelf. His phone vibrates again. He grimaces.
Dipper flips the phone back open and reads the text message.
Robbie: We aren't gonna be weird about this, are we?
Dipper grimaces even more. He really wasn't sure. He decided to think hard about the question before answering it. Ever since he had become friends with Robbie, Wendy had been a sore subject for the both of them. They had intentionally avoided discussing her at all, and especially avoided talking about what would happen when she finally came back.
Dipper tugs nervously at the candy wrapper in his hands and starts on a path towards the cash register. The bell above the door rings once more and a woman a few inches shorter than Dipper steps through. Dipper curses in his violently exploding mind. The woman flips her long red hair over her shoulder. Her shirt is green flannel, and she wears a pair of skinny jeans with a pair of sturdy work boots. Her hat is the same one she always wears. She hasn't changed a bit.
Dipper takes on the visage of a deer caught in headlights. Crapcrapcrap, he repeats in his mind, over and over again. Oh god, I'm gonna be weird about this. Dipper looks at the wall-length mirror to his right and looks at himself. This is really not the time! I'm not ready for this! He says in a panic. Why am I even looking in the mirror? I look the same as I always do. Same clothes, same face, same... hat. The gears in Dipper's mind turn quickly. I haven't seen her in two years. The only way she'd recognize me is if I was wearing this hat! Dipper snatches his blue pine-tree trucker hat from the top of his head and crams it into the right hand pocket of his dark blue polyester coat. He looks back into the mirror and is satisfied that he's rid himself of distinguishing qualities. Good, now I can just hang out back here until she leaves. Just stay inconspicuous, look busy, and just don't make eye contact.
A finger taps Dipper's shoulder and he jumps almost a foot backwards. Wendy blinks at his reaction. "Whoa, sorry dude. You were blocking the airheads."
Dipper bites his lip and tries to shove the hat farther into his pocket. He takes a step backwards and gives her a silent nod. Wendy gives him a smile and crouches down to pick up some candy. Dipper turns on his heel and hurries over to the counter. By now, a line has formed. He curses under his breath. He taps his foot impatiently. Peering over his shoulder, he sees Wendy standing about a foot behind him, glancing down at her phone. As she looks up, Dipper looks forwards and ducks his head down. He feels a tap on his shoulder again and his blood freezes cold. He turns his head slowly and gives a nervous smile.
Wendy has a puzzled expression. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
Dipper swallows. "Um…. Yes." He says finally.
Wendy looks at him expectantly.
Well, not like this could last. He thinks mournfully. It would have just ended up super awkward and generally a bad idea. He sighs and reaches into his coat pocket. He wraps his fingers around his the bill of his hat and quickly pulls it out and onto his head. Wendy's eyes widen and her face breaks out into a grin.
"Dipper! Oh my god!" She exclaims. "You're so tall now!"
Dipper laughs nervously. "Yeah, it's great to see you." The line grows shorter and he inches towards the counter, eager to escape. "I um… heard you were back in town."
Wendy smiles a little less. "Who told you?"
Dipper clenches his teeth. "Robbie?" he says hesitantly.
Wendy's eyebrows lower. "Ugh, why would you be talking to that guy."
Dipper winces. "We're friends now." He is only two people away from the counter now.
"How did that happen?" she asks incredulously.
"Oh that's… a long story." He forces a smile. "Maybe I'll tell it to you some time." Dipper turns around and puts his airheads on the counter. He digs through his wallet for a five dollar bill.
"I've got time." Wendy says with a smile.
Dipper's mouth becomes a hard line. He grabs his candy, his change, and his receipt, then turns back to Wendy. "I… don't. Really."
Wendy looks confused and slightly hurt.
Dipper rubs the back of his head. "I just got into town, I left Mabel at the thrift store, We're meeting Stan for lunch, it's…"
Wendy gives him a strange look. "Alright then. I'll swing by later on."
Dipper feels his phone in his pocket. "Um… yeah. Sure. I've gotta go."
Without waiting for her answer, he takes a few hurried steps backwards and pushes open the exit. He takes quick steps, hoping Wendy isn't too angry at him for leaving, and gets back to his car. He turns back briefly to see Wendy watching him go. Her face is a bit confused, and sad. Dipper forces himself to jump into the driver's seat and not go back inside. He turns the key in the ignition and pulls out into the street. He is so distracted that he almost drives straight past the thrift store. He grimaces and pulls into the parking space.
He's about to get out and drag Mabel out of the store when she pulls open the door. Her hands are full of bags, which she clutches a bit too tightly. She has a haunted look on her face.
"Mabel?" Dipper asks quietly. "You alright?"
Mabel nods. "I just… ran into someone."
Dipper nods. "Yeah… me too."