"Hurry up Mabel! We're gonna be late!" Dipper said. He paced back and forth down the hallway. Mabel was always like this. She always needed to get herself ready just so, even for a three-hour car trip. Dipper compulsively twirled his thumbs, and ground his teeth together.
"I'm almost done, one second!" said Mabel. Dipper looked towards the bathroom door and wagged a finger at it.
"You said that ten minutes ago!" said Dipper.
"You put that finger away mister," said Mabel. Dipper raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know I was wagging my finger at you?" asked Dipper. The bathroom door opened and a burst of steam rushed out. Mabel followed after it, a smile on her face.
"Because we're twins, Dipper. I know what you're going to do before you do it," said Mabel.
"Whatever," said Dipper. "Let's get out of here."
"I knew you were gonna say that," said Mabel.
"Oh would you shut up!" the twins shouted at each other. Dipper growled and walked off in a huff while Mabel just giggled.
"I'm about to leave you here," said Dipper. He walked to the front door, peeled his coat off a nearby rack, and tried to get it on. It was to small for him, and he struggled with it. Mabel began to giggle even harder.
"You wouldn't do that," said Mabel.
"And why the hell not?" asked Dipper. He forced his hands through the sleeves and sucked his gut in. He tried to zip himself up but the zipper kept getting jammed.
"Because as much as you hate to admit it, you love me," said Mabel. She walked over to Dipper and helped him get the zipper unstuck. She ran the zipper up the jacket and gave Dipper a smile and a wink.
"Thanks," said Dipper begrudgingly. Mabel nodded.
"Now let's get out of here," said Mabel. She got her own jacket, a sparkly pink thing, and put it on with one smooth motion. She opened the front door and gestured for Dipper to walk out first. Dipper complied.
"Make sure you lock the door behind you," said Dipper.
"I'm not dumb, dummy," said Mabel. She closed the door and skipped over to the car. Dipper waited a second, backed up, and tried the door. It opened. Dipper shook his head, locked the door, and walked over to his car. It was a beat up old station wagon. Dipper's father had inherited it from his father, and then stuck Dipper with it. It was mostly green, but some paint had flecked off over time. It revealed the original color, a dark red. The strange mix made the wagon look like a rusty mess. Dipper did his best to take care of it, but there was only so much he could do. Dipper sighed and opened the driver side door. He got in and flipped Mabel's lock. Mabel scrambled into the car and Dipper started it up.
"I'm so excited!" said Mabel. She wiggled in her seat, bouncing like supercharged tennis ball. Dipper slumped over the steering wheel, his face stuck in a frown of worry. He backed the van out of the driveway, and pulled up to the road. He knew the path he would take by heart, even after all these years. It was one of those weird things you just don't forget.
"It might be fun," said Dipper.
"Might be fun? Come on Dipper, it's gonna be amazing," said Mabel.
"I don't know about all that," said Dipper.
"Why are you being such a grouchypants?" Mabel asked. Dipper shrugged.
"I'm just saying, it wasn't all fun and games that summer," said Dipper. "We went through some weird stuff."
"I wish I could remember what it was," sighed Mabel. She had just echoed a sentiment both twins had felt for years now. They had started to forget about a year in. Both Mabel and Dipper tried to write the memories down, but the paper they wrote it on kept vanishing. By year two, much of what they had experienced was a complete blur. Five years later they had forgotten it almost completely. They had wanted to go back before now but their parents had stopped them from going. It was always some stupid excuse. A super long vacation, Grunkle Stan was feeling sick, Dad was going to another country and the kids needed to keep Mom company. It was like some strange force was conspiring to keep them from going back to Gravity Falls. But there was nothing anybody could do now. They were adults, sort of. They were both still seventeen, but they had graduated from high school. Bot were accepted into college, so this was their last real summer vacation. They had known for years they would spend it at Gravity Falls. "But what I do remember about Gravity Falls is really nice," said Mabel. "I know I made a couple of friends."
"I wish my memories were as good," said Dipper. He remembered some dark-haired, mean-spirited kid tormenting him. Spending long days in the summer heat working at Grunkle Stan's crappy shop. And there was some strange memory deep in his heart. Whenever he thought on it, he got the mental image of red hair. It made him feel like something hard and sad was tugging at his heart.
"Well, we'll just have to make some better memories for you," said Mabel.
"Let's hope. I'd hate for our lat summer to be a shitty one," said Dipper. Mabel nodded.
"Yeah, that would suck. But I think we kind of need this," said Mabel.
"For sure," said Dipper. "We're not leaving a whole lot behind." Both Mabel and Dipper had been relatively popular in school, but they hadn't made too many close friends. Both had also had a series of short, meaningless relationships. They couldn't seem to find any sort of lasting happiness.
"The exit's coming up on the right," said Mabel.
"I know Mabel," said Dipper.
"I know you knew. I just like bugging you," said Mabel.
"This is gonna be a long summer," sighed Dipper.