Amber's POV
Seven years. It had been seven years since I had gotten adopted and went home with Dipper. Seven years of being the quirky family we were. I smiled at the memory running through my head, letting it slowly continue. I was packing up all my books… all of my little stuffed animals scattered across the bed. Checking and double checking that I had them all… to make sure I left nothing that I deemed important behind in my little room.
I flinched as our car hit a rocky bump, snapping me right out of the memory. I looked over to Dipper, seeing him resting his head on the window sill as he re-read a book, a favorite of ours - The Blood of Olympus. I groaned, and shook my head, trying to recall the memory clearly. I was just dreaming… and it had suddenly come to me in all of it's former glory. Too bad I couldn't remember half of it now that I was back in the waking world.
I thought to myself, sighing as I looked out the window, toward the dark mass of pine trees that we were speeding past. Nothing interesting in sight. The car gently hit another bump in the road, and I sat up straighter, more alert before I face-palmed. We were never going to get any sleep if Dad kept driving all night, making the moving car behind us trail simply behind us.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we were moving to a whole new town that me and my brother had never even stepped foot in.
"Dad?" I called softly to the front of the car. No answer. "Dad?" I said, a bit louder this time as I leaned forward against my seatbelt. Still, no response. Frowning, I moved my head to try to peer over the seat at the dashboard mirror. What I saw made me let out a tiny gasp in surprise. "Dad!"
No wonder we kept hitting things - Dad's eyes were both narrowed, almost closed, as if he was focusing on something else entirely.. I hadn't even noticed that we were almost swerving to the lane next to us. Thank goodness that the road had been completely empty except for our singular car. How we had managed not to crash the car, I had no clue. It was crazy dangerous - at least that's what I thought at the time. I knew the dangers way too well.
"Dad… dad… dad?" I said, trying to keep my voice calm - so I wouldn't start losing it there and then. While I knew my Dad could be irresponsible at times (that was an understatement), he was supposed to know I hated this - anything that does not follow the safety of the rules of the rode. Though my voice did rise to an octave I didn't even know I had the muster to use. Despite my best efforts, I was getting worked up, my hands grasping the door handle tightly to keep a handle on my emotions.
"Wha-" The car got back into the middle of the lane as Dad noticed what exactly was going on here.. I flinched, pressing my back against the seat, teeth clenched. My fingers looked to claw anything that was in reach - sadly, that was my now empty water bottle, which quickly got crushed.
"Amber, are you alright?" Dipper. God, when he got caught up in a book, he got caught up. I was surprised he hadn't noticed the car start to swerve. He was usually the observant one. I would have scoffed at him, but right then… I was scared. Really, really scared. Terrified, even. Not something that was one of my favorite things to be. I noticed he had a worried look, though at that point, it did little to the comfort the terror racing through my body.
"D-Dad," I said, though my clenched teeth.
"C-Can we please stop at a motel or something? I don't think we're going to live through the night if we keep this up." I murmured the last part, closing my eyes tightly. To shut out the images of what could have happened. Just to shut them out. My stomach swirled unsteadily at the thoughts of what-ifs.
"Come on, Amber, it's fine." Dad stated casually, though that did nothing to stop my heavy breathing. "You got to stop worrying so much! This is supposed to be fun!" Dad smirked as he looked through the dashboard mirror, and but then his bright eyes met my own dark. And that was when he realized he had went too far. For a moment, Dad was silent, before he finally replied to me. "Fine- we'll stop at the next motel we see. That good for you two?"
I gave a slight nod before I slowly released the armrest of my unrelenting grip and leaned back in my seat as my heartbeat started to return to normal. My stomach however, was still unsteady, so I closed my eyes as I lay my head upon the head-rest. "S-Sorry that I had a panic-attack there…" I muttered, shaking my head. I couldn't even recall the last time I had been that fearful of something. If I had been, it had only been from the possible scary things that I read in my books.
"Hey, it happens to the best of us," Dipper said as he gave me a half-smile, before he cracked open his novel again, nose drive in the book again. Shifting uncomfortably, I lean against the headrest, turning my eyes onto the moon-lit empty road again. To daydream. And to make sure we don't accidentally swerve again.
So, I suppose you noticed we weren't the most normal family. Well, wouldn't that be a bit boring if we were just like any other family out there? At least that's what my Dad used to told me. And I took it to heart. So, I didn't have a mom. So, I was kind of a nerd. So my dad always wore things that most people would ridicule him for, and he was a bit of a psycho at times.. So what, I had thought?
Sure, it was a bit hard for me to get used to the idea of not having a Mom. But that didn't mean I couldn't try to get him to date, even against Dipper's better warning.s. Or having a dad who always complained the history books were wrong, and how it 'really' must have happened. That was a bit weird too get used too, also. But he was my Dad - I couldn't judge him for that.
Dipper and me met each other when we were adopted - we didn't go to the same orphanage, so it was a bit strange to see each other around all the time at first. For the first few days, it worked out after the adoption. After all, we both had the experience of not knowing our real parents that well. But he also took better to me at first before I too to him. He, for almost his whole life, had already been in the orphanage - no one was sure what happened to his parents, but he was only about one when he was found.
For me… not so much. I had been lucky… in a sense, anyways. I was put into the orphanage only about a year before Dad adopted me and Dipper. I was an only child before that. I was not used to sharing. I tried to make friends, but I guess my enthusiasm scared them away. Anyone who was actually my 'friend' seemed to only wanted to use me. I was pretty naive back then - that was something living with Dipper and Dad easily beat out of me later in life. And everyone wanted to look and touch my things back at the orphanage. That was something I hated about the orphanage. The caretakers always used to encourage us to share our books, our stuffed animals, everything pretty much since so much of us had lost so much.
I have to admit I was not a sharer though. At all. Whenever someone asked to play with my stuffed animals, I said no - and I wasn't always that polite about it. The caretakers often encouraged me to share, but I resolutely refused. My stuffed animals and my books were one of the few things they had been able to let me keep. I was not about to let it go. Some things that other kids shared never got given back - I couldn't let that happen. Kids eventually began to ignore me due to that bad habit of mine. And I ignored them, choosing to read the books my parents - my real parents, mind you - used to read to me before they died. It comforted me in a way.
So, back to the point. Not too long after our first week together as official siblings, I suppose Dipper began to notice that I always read aloud my books. So, he decided to ask me if he could read one of my books. At first, I was horrified. I thought that had all ended when I left the orphanage. I soon had put all my things back in my trunk, to try to hide them from Dipper. God, it is a bit embarrassing the lengths I went back then to protect my belongings.
Soon though, Dad noticed that I wasn't talking to Dipper. For a whole two days that had went on - and, I know, I know. Two days does not sound like a long time, right? Well, for kids, it is. Especially when you live under the same roof. Soon, Dad was pushing me to talk to Dipper. Reluctantly, I did. And was delighted when I did. Dipper offered to lend me one of his books if I lended him one of mine. And that's how we really started our friendship. From books.
Not exactly how most people would do it, but hey, I did tell you we weren't normal.
"Here's one!" Dad's voice shook me from my thoughts, and I let out a small yawn. I had been drifting off right there and then, so I was glad we finally found one. It must have taken twenty miles at the least to find a motel finally.
Slowly, we pulled over into the desolate parking lot, empty except for a grand total of three cars besides our own. Well, at least we'd probably have the pick of the best room. Probably. Hopefully.
"Where's the truck? Last time I looked it was behind us." I said, frowning as looked out the window. Had I really been out that long?
"They're probably going to meet us tomorrow at Gravity Falls tomorrow. Don't worry about it.. Soon we'll be unpacking all our stuff at our new home." Dad said, waving his hand in the air to dismiss it.
New home. I felt my heart sink a bit. Dad just had to remind me, yet unintentionally. Of us moving all the way from California to Dad's hometown - a boring town named Gravity Falls. When Dad had first told us that we were going to be visiting Dad's hometown, I was intrigued to see a new place - the place where Dad had grown up. Until he told us the details. Then, you could say I was less thrilled.
That had been whole month before - I had calmed down my anger at Dad from then. Even though I was still ticked, he didn't let me and Dipper have a stay in it. Thank goodness it was the beginning of summer. And not to mention, we were going to be freshmen when we entered school. It would have been a literal nightmare to come in the middle of eighth grade - Dad had said he had planned for us to move earlier, though he held out for us. That didn't excuse this in my opinion. But Dipper had pointed out I couldn't stay mad at Dad forever - though I countered by saying I could be annoyed by him forever. And with the car incident, Dad was going nowhere from the current position he held in my mind.
But still, I had to miss my friends. While we were almost all going to different high schools, we had promised to visit each other often. How could I do that now that I lived a whole state away from them all. Not to mention I had gotten accepted into a good high school. But Dad had convinced me Gravity Falls had one of the best high schools in Oregon - I still was going to doubt that fact until I came face-to-face with it anyway. It had been on the list of best - but so was a few other ones I considered dumpy.
I had hoped to get there tonight, so I could start getting acquainted in wherever I was sleeping - I had never been the greatest person to try to sleep somewhere outside my own room - but that wish apparently wasn't meant to come true when Dad had turned off the highway. And now here we were, at an hotel with a rating of who knew what. It was better than driving, though. My stomach still swirled unsteadily, so as soon a we got out, I was going straight to the bathroom.
Sighing, I unbuckled myself, opened the door, and jumped out of the car, before slamming the door shut behind me. As Dad opened the back door of the car, I asked Dad casually, hiding the undertone of my annoyance beneath the slight pleading I mustered up in my voice. "Can we read for a while, before going to bed?'
"Don't blame me if you're dead in the morning," Dad simply said, as he gave me his usual smirk. That was Dad's style of responsibility - let us do what we want, at least before we cross a certain line, and let us take the consequences. Sometimes, this didn't work. But usually, surprisingly, it did for him. Staying up at four am reading and getting up at seven am was something I did one time. That was just one of his various life lessons.
"'Kay," I said casually once more, grinning before I heaved my suitcase out of the trunk.. Most of my books were still in the moving truck, but I was sure I packed one or two in there with me. It would keep me busy, at any rate.
As Dipper grabbed his own suitcase, I quickly extended the handle, and began walking toward the hotel door. "Come on slow-pokes!' I teased lightly, as I reached the doors, and turned around, seeing Dad struggle to close the backdoor.
"Yeah, yeah laugh all you want Amber... " Dipper said as he stopped beside me, raising an eyebrow at me. I pushed over the swinging doors to the small motel, holding it open for Dipper and Dad.
As Dad moved to check us in at the desk. So far… I was simply not impressed. Honestly, it was just another one of those 'Ma' and 'Pa' motels you see around California - except this one was on the road to Gravity Falls in Oregon. Figures. But whatever, while it might not he have been a four star hotel, it could have been worse - hopefully. I still preferred it to driving out on the road right now.
"So… what do you think of it?" I asked, turning my head to incline my head towards Dipper. He had been unusually quiet, even for him. Usually, we always talked about everything - probably because we shared most of the same interests. But on the car ride from California, it had been… weird, unnatural conversations. Like we were just awkward friends instead of close siblings. Maybe it was because we both had differing opinions about the move.
"Moving? The fact that we almost swerved off the road? Or this hotel?" I just gave Dipper a surprised, but slightly annoyed glance at him, rolling my eyes playfully.
"You want to talk about everything now? Well, you already know my clear opinion on us moving all the way out here in the middle of nowhere land. And god Dipper, don't remind me of that… I nearly had a heart attack today. No, genius, I was talking about the hotel here." I said, gently sticking out my tongue at him. I know, that may seem a bit childish to you. But it's a habit I have when I want to annoy Dipper, but letting him know I'm not really saying those things. It was just our little funny quirks.
"Well, it's definitely no hotel we've ever been to like in California... " Dipper said, shaking his head slightly as he looked it over. "But it could be worse, right?"
"It definitely could be, couldn't it?" I agreed, letting out a tiny sigh. "God, this is the kinds of hotels we try to when we go to San Diego... " I said, eyes narrowing as I scoped out the decor - barely nothing. Plain. "I just hope it's not crawling with bed bugs, that's all."
"Don't even say that, Amber." Dipper said as he shuddered. I didn't blame him, after all that happened with one incident we had together… it took us forever to get rid of those kind of nightmares.
"Dipper! Amber! C'mon, we're going up to the room!" Dad called, and I turned to look over at him. "Time to see what it's like."
Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been. It was about… low, maybe moderate rooms as the guidebooks I read every year tells me about. Beds weren't falling apart, and they had a television. Not the worst you could do in a ma and pa hotel. Even the bathroom wasn't that bad, I investigated while relieving myself.
"I call this bed!" I said, as I jumped onto one of the beds, the one right by the windows and TV. After all, it had the best view. Not to mention a view of the tree line on the sides of the rode.
'You'll have to share that bed with your brother," Dad said, as he laid his own suitcase on the floor, a smirk lighting up his face as he sat on the other bed.
"Aww… I call the side by the window!" I say, as I gave a successful grin in the direction of Dipper. If I had to choose, I might as well have the light from the window to read, even if I hadn't felt like it then - I was literally exhausted from what, I had no idea. Sitting in the car wasn't exactly what someone would call a workout. Maybe I was just exhausted from the panic attack I had - that was most likely it.
"Fine," I heard Dipper groan, before climbing onto the bed next to me. It was a big enough bed without making it awkward - that was something that I could be grateful about.. Quickly, Dad flicked the light off.
"Now you guys get to sleep soon - after all, we have you-know-what coming up tomorrow!"
"Dad," I groaned, as I pulled out my book - Fablehaven, one of my personal favourites. "Don't remind me of that yet. I am NOT prepared, I hope you know."
"I know!" Dad said in his bright cheerful voice, and I simply groaned again and pulled the pillow over my head. Sometimes, dad could be a real pain in the butt. Even at the most serious of times. I both had loved him and hated him for that. "Night Pinetree, Night Bright Moon."
"Night," I mumbled, acknowledging the old nicknames Dad had give to us when we were younger, before squirming as I picked the pillow up from off my face and slowly rest my head on it, turning away from Dipper so I could face the small beam of light streaming out of the window - perfect.
As a similar night sounds from my brothers, I immediately open up the pages again, a small smile creeping up on my face. It was almost to the point where Seth was going to go meet the witch - finally. This was where things picked up again!
But soon, I realized that I just couldn't do it - I had barely gotten through one page, and my mind was already wandering. To things that I just wanted to cram into the back of my mind - moving, my friends, and finally, the car incident earlier.. And that made me think of my parents. Not my dad, but my real parents. Something that I hadn't thought of in months.
I closed my eyes, trying to block it out. But apparently my subconscious wasn't going to pull those thoughts back out of my mind. I breathed out through my nose, irritated. I had known them - more than Dipper knew his own, anyway. I had been ripped away from my parents while I was only on the precipice of knowing them. And I had not other relatives to go to apparently - my grandparents were dead, and my aunts and uncle, for whatever reason, couldn't raise me at the time. So, I got booted to the closest orphanage - and most of my parent's belongings were sold. There was such a limit to what I could keep, it frustrated me to no end - everything would have been fine if only for that hit and run. That stupid incident. Lately, I never really thought of them - I had my own family again now.
But right now, the thoughts… the images kept flashing in my mind, and slowly, a headache started to slowly build. It always happened when I tried to remember what happened on that day. Everytime. They said my mind tries to block what I saw, what happened. But why? I barely have memories of my parents, and it would have been nice at least to know the last day I spent with them. I have photos of them and me, and they help make it a bit clearer, but not what I would like. More memories would have been so, so much better.
I slam my book shut, frustration pouring through me. I shouldn't even be thinking about this - Dad was well, a great dad. For the most part. A pit in my stomach twists at that, and I close my eyes, leaning my head back on the pillow as I let my book drop to the floor beside me.
I heard a shuffling in the bed, and turned my head to see Dipper facing me, a worried expression set on his face again. I figured I woke him up when I dropped the book on the ground. "You okay, sis?" He whispered, black eyes shining with worry.
"Yeah," I whispered back, trying to give my best smile - but slowly it faded a bit. "Just thinking bout' stuff - such as us moving, our friends, and…." My voice drifted off from a whisper to complete silence as I fidgeted a bit.
"And?" Dipper prompted, raising one of his eyebrows slightly.
"You know… my… parents," I said, before closing my eyes tightly so I wouldn't see Dipper's reaction. "I know - I know, it's stupid… but after what happened today…"
"I know how you feel," I slowly open my eyes up to see Dipper looking away awkwardly. "I mean, I don't even honestly know what happened to my parents an-"
"Okay, sibling talk is over," I say, as I stick out my tongue and 'boop' Dipper on his nose before giving him a bright but fake smile. "Thanks, 'Pinetree', but maybe sleep is the best cure for this. If I'm still thinking about them in the morning, then we'll talk.. alright?."
For a moment, Dipper seems to hesitate. "Alright, 'Bright Moon', whatever you say. He says, giving me one more smile, before turning over to face the stand. I did the same with the window.
While it might not have worked totally… I did have to admit I did feel a bit better to know I had a brother like Dipper.