Dipper banged around the bottom of this stupid car, trying to locate the plug up, the leak, anything to make sense of the guys failing ignition. But so far he had nothing.
"Times like these call for a seat and cold drink, mijo. C'mon, take a break."
"Wise words of wisdom, Julio", Dipper sighed as he rolled out from under the passenger seat. "Is there an Orange Crush or is this day gonna get worse?"
"Try your luck with the fridge out back, and take 10 while your at it. You work too hard hombre", Julio said absentmindedly as Dipper hauled himself up.
"Hey, you have a family to feed, and I have a bank account to fill," Dipper joked as he walked out back to the fridge.
He snagged a can of soda and sank down into the ancient recliner that occupied the corner of the office. He could see the whole garage and the north end of the Piedmont strip mall, so basically 3 banks and the play structure at the park. What a view.
Dipper cracked open the can, took a swig and decided to just relax. He knew he'd eventually find the problem with this car but there was no use rushing it. Meditating was no good, he just needed to revisit it later.
But of course, his mind just moved to the next worrying item on his list: Grad. He was set to graduate in 4 months, and past that nothing was looking too clear. He had money saved up, a good amount, but nothing to do with it. He wanted to do something with his life, but past that he had no concrete ideas. Not even a crappy one, or an unacheivable dream. He had zilch.
At least Mabel had her entire life planned out, just waiting for her. She applied to all her top colleges, had a good chance of getting in, and an internship ready for the new school year. Dipper didn't have to worry about her at all, which should've given his anxiety a break. But instead it just drove him to worry about literally everything else. Like how Grunkle Stan needed his cane for real now, not for tripping tourists. Like how Dipper couldn't seem to stay awake for any of his classes (except for English, courtesy of Mabel's crazy sharp nails). Like how he had about 2 friends, and that was a stretch. Lots of little sprinkles of anxiety of the grand cupcake of life.
But one of those sprinkles was that godforsaken car, and Dipper had to do something about it. He tossed the now empty can in the recycling bin and walked into the main shop. He hauled open the hood and started to take another look
"There was a problem with the flywheel gear and the STG, and with that oil leak you mentioned it was virtually impossible to notice or find", Dipper explained after a good 3 hours of grimy work. "It's working like brand new though, so you can head over to Julio and figure out your payment"
And with that /dippers job was done, he was satisfied and walked to the back room to grab his things. All in all, a good day. He fixed the car, made a good profit, and found the old wrench he had lost a week back. To end his already pretty good Tuesday, he leaned on the window, quietly watching a car full of soccer kids roll down the street, probably giddy from their win, heading to dinner, maybe ice cream after….
Dinner.
Dinner.
Shit.
Dipper was so fucked.