"OPEN UP!"
A hand vigorously banged on the door.
From behind it the sound of high pressure water spraying seeped outside and into the hall. Dipper beat his fist against the door again.
"You're not the only one who needs to use the bathroom Mabel!"
Mixed with the sound of water was loud music blasting from a boombox inside.
Mabel sang along to it as she washed and danced. The strong sickeningly sweet scent of her body wash pungent in the humid air.
He knocked again.
"Go outside!" she yelled.
"MABEL!" Dipper seethed, pounding on the door again.
"LA, LA, LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" she smiled, holding her scrub brush like a mic.
"Go, go, go, go shawty!
It's your birthday!
We gonna party like it's your birthday!
We gonna sip Bacardi like it's your birthday!
I know you better give a" she quickly paused to censor, since cursing always made her feel dirty, "cause it's my birthday!" she yelled.
"MABEL I'M SERIOUS!"
She giggled. "I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
She twirled around. Losing her footing with a squeak, she slipped, arms flailing in the air, grasping for anything. Her hand gripped the curtains and the rungs snapped one by one. She hit the tub hard. "OW!"
Dipper rushed to his room and returned with a simple rectangular card. Getting on one knee he eyed the meeting of the door and wall then slid the card in between them. Maneuvering it around the latch gave a click then he turned the knob, pushing open the door.
The shower curtains were half draping from the rungs and Mabel laid half covered by it inside tub. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" She held her head. When she saw her brother she screamed. "EW!"
Her hands flew over her breasts and she pulled up her knees. "What are you doing in here? Get out!"
Dipper turned his back to her, angling his body so as to hide his private then pulled down his pants to pee.
With a horrified face Mabel saw his bare butt before she shut her eyes.
"AH!" he loudly sighed, closing his eyes, and farting.
"EW! MOM! DAD!" Mabel yelled.
"Should have just let me go first. I would have just peed in the shower."
Mabel scrambled up from the tub screaming and turned off the water. Dipper chuckled.
"URGH! You're disgusting Dipper!"
"You're disgusting Dipper!" he sang as he pulled up his pants and flushed. He went over to the sink to wash his hands.
"Get out of here!" Mabel grabbed a loofa, throwing it at him. He barely dodged it in time. "Wash your hands in the kitchen sink!"
Dipper continued to laugh running out of the room.
Mabel bounded down the half steps of their suburban home dressed in a form fitting neon pink sweater dress that settled high on her thighs, rainbow knee high socks, and wedge sneakers and rushed into the kitchen.
"MOM YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT DIPPER DID!"
Mr. and Mrs. Pines sighed. Mr. Pines looked away from his newspaper and frowned.
"Mabel are you wearing shorts underneath that sweater?"
Mabel raised an eye brow."This is a dress."
"Oh. I thought it was a really long shirt. In that case, that dress is too short."
"I remember when people used to say good morning," said their mother by the stove, she chuckled to herself.
"Seriously!" Mabel sat down in a chair and her mother dumped a hot stack of confetti pancakes on to her plate.
"Happy birthday Mabel" she said.
"Thank you." Mabel poured syrup on her pancakes then started to eat. "But-" she said, mouth full.
"Happy birthday Mabel" said her father.
"Thank you" she said finally swallowing, "but-"
"Good morning Dipper" said their mother.
"Happy birthday son" said their father.
Dipper took his time coming down the steps, wearing a simple white V-neck shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, smiling. Their parents beamed back at him. Mabel rolled her eyes, shoving more food into her mouth.
He took a seat and their mom started to give him pancakes. "Mom you know I don't eat stuff like that."
Their mother laughed. "Sorry. I forgot my young man has more sophisticated tastes."
Mabel frowned and with another mouth full of food said, "Are you saying I'm not sophisticated?"
"Yes" said Dipper.
Their mother slid an omelet onto his plate along with sausages. She put her hands on her hips. "Now would you like orange juice or coffee with that?"
With his mouth full he said, "coffee."
"MOM! DAD! Dipper came into the bathroom while I was in the shower!"
"I'm sure it was a mistake" said their father, "you did lock the door, didn't you Mabel?"
Mabel groaned. "Yes! But he still came in!"
"How?" said their mother, sitting down toa plate of food herself.
Dipper sheepishly smiled, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I may have picked the lock."
"Dipper?" said their mother looking in disbelief. "Did you really do that?"
"Of course he did! He just confessed" said Mabel, rolling her eyes and throwing her arms up in the air.
Their dad grunted, drinking his coffee. "You know you can't do that son. You and Mabel are seventeen now. Your sister's not a little girl anymore."
"That's right Dipper. I'm a woman" she said, sticking out her medium sized breasts and blinking with her sparkling colored eyelids. Dipper scoffed.
Their mother smirked. "Not quite" she said. "But you both need to start acting your age."
Mabel looked at Dipper and Dipper at Mabel. She stuck out her tongue revealing rainbow colors. He blew and slurped on his coffee then burped. Their father drove his fist onto the table. Plates and glasses rattled. Everyone looked to him.
"Come on Dipper, Mabel!" You're mom's being serious! We're tired of you acting like children! You're almost adults and you need to start acting like it. Your mom and I won't be here forever and the world won't hold your hand. You're not doing yourselves any favors acting this way."
Silence followed after him. Their father sighed but their mother smiled and said, "Do you know what you to want to do for your birthday?"
"PARTAY!" said Mabel, throwing up her arms in the air and moving them from side to side. They all gave her a look. She coughed, putting them down. "I mean, I would like to party mother."
"And you Dipper?" said their mother.
"I don't know."
"Well you both have to agree on something."
Mabel groaned. "Do we have to have them together? Dipper's such a party pooper."
"I'm sorry if I'm not into the whole teenage social hierarchy scene" he said, drinking from his mug.
"URGH!" said Mabel looking up to the ceiling.
Waddles nuzzled against Mabel's leg and she piled some food onto her plate, giving it to him.
"You do realize we are the only people in the neighborhood with a pig right?" said Dipper. "Do any of you think that's normal?" He looked at his parents.
"Well actually Dipper, pigs are said to be smarter than dogs" said their mother. She drank some orange juice.
"Still doesn't make it normal" he muttered. Waddles snorted at Dipper then trotted away.
"Speaking of normal" said their father, "everything been okay lately?" He and his wife exchanged looks before looking at him again.
"Normal?" said Dipper.
"They're talking about our uncles" said Mabel.
"Great uncles, yes" said their mother, "they haven't contacted you in any shape or form have they?"
Dipper looked at Mabel then his parents and back down at his food. "No."
"Good" said their father. "The more we stay away from them the better. They're trouble Dipper, and no good can come of being connected to them."
"But we are connected to them" said Mabel, looking at her father, "by blood" then at her mother, "and marriage."
"And that's all it will ever be" said their father, taking his dish to the sink.
"Here in Weatherly we are safe Evergreen's. Not Pines" said their mother.
"And remember to keep your mouth shut and head down" said their father.
If their family crest had a slogan it would be that.
Together Dipper and Mabel stood at the bus stop of their suburban neighborhood where every house looked nearly identical. The same went for the children who all looked as if they had either stepped out of a hipster's coffee shop or country club.
Everything was very homogeneous and boring. Mabel missed her old school in the city. Her old friends. She sighed, wearing her neon sunglasses.
"I guess we're gonna have to invite these lame-o's" she said to Dipper as they stood at a distance in the back of the crowd.
"You're one to talk" said Dipper.
"Seriously Dip, they're so boring!"
Dipper's mind seemed to be elsewhere. Mabel nudged him in the arm.
"Huh, what?"
"You were lying weren't you?" asked Mabel, pulling her sunglasses down lower on her nose.
He feigned a laugh. "What? What are you talking about?" He looked away from her.
"HA! I KNEW IT! YOU WERE LYING!" She poked him in the shoulder.
The other kids looked back at them, talking, and whispering. A few laughed. Dipper pulled Mabel close and hissed in her ear. "Shut up!"
"Tell me" she hissed back.
"No." He hit her in the arm.
"Yes." She hit him back.
"Okay, okay."
The bus was driving up in the distance. Huddling close together Dipper said, "So I got this package a few days ago." Mabel nodded. "And inside it was a letter and a" he paused, swallowing, "...gun."
"I knew it!" exclaimed Mabel. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"
Dipper groaned. "If you knew why'd you ask?"
"Just so you could confirm my suspicions."
"Happy now?" he asked.
Mabel raised her head with a high smirk. "Yes, Harry Potter, I am."
"I don't know why they would send me something like that though. The only thing the letter says is that 'A man takes responsibility and protects his own'."
"Ooooh mysterious" said Mabel. But Dipper frowned. Mabel stopped smiling.
"What?"
"It's just. They know where we live. They've contacted us and I don't know how. I-just... don't want anything bad to happen you know?"
Mabel nodded then said, "I know something that will turn that frown upside down!"
"Huh?"
Mabel walked closer to the other group of teens. "Guess what everybody? We are having a birthday party, and it's going to be the bomb!" she shouted.
Hitting a song on her playlist she started dancing. A lot of the others stared then started laughing. Dipper pulled his hat further over his face.
"And a lucky few of you might even be invited."
The other teens laughed even harder at this. "As if we'd want to be invited to your party" said a rail thin girl with a high blond pony tail and uniform like attire.
Another girl similar in appearance flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah look at you" she said.
"Huh?" Mabel turned off her music.
"Honey we've never told you this, cause we didn't want to be rude, but" said the first girl biting her lip smiling.
"You dress like a prostitute," said the second girl.
"Don't be harsh Clarissa" said yet another girl with a brown bob and square glasses, holding a latte. "You dress like a prostitute from the 80's."
Dipper pushed up his hat. "A man takes responsibility and protects his own." He could hear his uncle's voice in his head and stepped forward. "Okay that's enough. So my sister's a little weird."
Mabel gasped, putting her hands on her hips.
"It still doesn't mean she deserves to be treated like this, and anyway you girls have no room to judge her!"
A few guys moved in front of the girls. Most of them were around Dipper's height or taller, at least two were larger than average. Four in all, stepped up to him. "Dipper" said Mabel looking worriedly.
The girls smirked. She frowned then moved to stand by her brother.
"Mabel get back" said Dipper, holding his arm out to block her. Mabel pushed his arm away and stepped up to all of them.
One of the guys pushed Dipper. Dipper moved forward drawing back a fist and hitting the boy in the face. When the other boys quickly swarmed in. Mabel dove in as well, punching a guy in the jaw. Gasps rang out through the crowd. The same guy drew back his fist and connected it to her head. Sunglasses flying off, color flashed before her eyes. Mabel backed up then fell down to sit on the ground.
Dipper growled, throwing off his back pack off and swinging mercilessly. The by-standards backed away. Dipper punched a guy in the stomach and then another in the throat. Though there were four against one. Where they had numbers he had endurance, charging on, jabbing and punching.
Guys fell to the ground. Dipper spit blood out of his mouth and a tooth. He head butted a boy who fell out onto the street. Lots of people had come out of their houses in curiosity and shock.
Mabel watched, wanting to get up but her head was pounding. She could hear an oinking, snort, and grunting. Something wet and soft brushed against her arm.
She looked around to see Waddles who was nudging her frantically.
"Waddles?" she said, reaching out a hand to pet her pig but brought it to her head at the stabbing pain.
The bus drove up slowly stopping early because of the teens that had poured into the street. Mabel and Dipper's front door opened, and that's when it happened.
Dipper and Mabel looked to their house with the white brick, manicured green lawn, and flowers. The next it was a plume of flame and smoke. The
sound rocked the neighborhood, shattering glass and shrapnel flew out into the air, raining down from the sky. The brilliant flames reflected in their wide eyes.
Dipper's skin was already bruising, blood flowed from his nose, mouth, and hands, but he couldn't feel a thing, or hear.
Just like Mabel, all he could do was watch the life he had known burn to ash.