Tears wailed in Dipper's eyes as he gives his twin a tight hug, trying to savor the moment before he had to get onto the shuttle. After years together, they finally decided it was time to all themselves to go after their dream jobs. Unfortunately, that means they will be pursuing their degrees in separate colleges.
"Remember to call me every weekend," Mable cheered as happily as she could, pulling away with a sad smile on her face.
"I will," Dipper responded, wiping the built up tears. "I promise."
Mable watched as her brother got into the shuttle, bags in hand. "Don't summon the dead again while you're there!" she called out, just before the doors shut. Of course, Dipper heard. He chuckled to himself and shook his head while shuffling to his assigned seat.
Truthfully, Dipper already had an associate's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in technology and media production but decided to go to a special writing college. His dreams of hosting his own ghost hunting show gone down the drain while he was at his first college. An ex of his made him feel shameful for any of his likes and wants, causing Dipper to have to go through a year of therapy to accept himself again. During that time, he started to write creatively. This triggered his new goal, to become a journalist and author of fictional stories.
A new college opened up two years prior in Gravity Falls called Gravity Fall's Art Academy. Funded by authors and artists, this school was opened to look specifically at certain arts and creative writing history classes. The classes consist of movie media production, stage production, live action, voice acting, along with acting classes and animation and many more. Dipper was more interested in the writing part of the college though due to the history classes. Each topic was a new class so he was only taking the topics he'll enjoy writing about, which was the supernatural and science fiction.
The location for the college ended up being on purpose; thanks to more people visiting the odd town, the supernatural creatures in the forest are the biggest attractions. Some classes even state that field trips into the forest will be required to make sure their stories are accurate. Although some of the original residents don't like the new traffic thanks to the college, Stan loved it. That's where he would be staying for college so he didn't have to get a dorm with someone random.
While on the train, Dipper pulled out his laptop to read more about the school and its' teachers out of boredom. Excitement ran through his heart for the new experience. To have such a specific school in the town Dipper always wanted to move up to really made everything so much easier in deciding what school to go to. A smile crept onto Dipper's lips while he watched his laptop boot up. After a few minutes, the school's site was up along with Dipper's schedule.
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Science Fiction History – Warder, Angelica – Building A Rm 235
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Supernatural History Introduction – TBA – Building C Rm 326
Dipper let out a huff of air, biting his lip a bit. 'Still to be announced?' he thought to himself, feeling a little deflated. 'Class starts in a few days, is it going to get canceled?' Sighing softly, he clicked away and pulled up Professor Angelica's bio. Although Dipper received an email stating a professor hasn't been finalized for the second class after he signed up for the college over a few months ago, he still felt disappointed that he won't be able to read up about that teacher before starting school.
The ride went by smoothly but long. Thankfully, Dipper passed the time by writing on his laptop for fun. He thought of writing a book but felt insecure about putting any kind of special character in it. Of course, he knows a lot about the supernatural just from his first trip to Gravity Falls, but that was just one trip. Plus, he already learned not to trust the internet for information due to how much he, himself was able to prove. Therefore, seeing a class that talks about it is his next best thing. Gravity Falls is the perfect place to show everyone that the internet cannot be trusted.
Once he exited the shuttle, he quickly looked around the station while walking to the exit. This was a new system, built just for the students and school. The school sat just across the station with the building for dorms just next to it, making it easy for students to get to their new rooms. Although, due to that, the shuttle only runs on certain days and to certain areas. Only one of these went to California and it wasn't even close to the town he had lived in, causing Mable and him to travel a bit. The area looked very clean and lots of students were on the platform exiting and entering the shuttle. Once he was able to exit the station, he immediately saw his Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford standing next to a newer truck with a sign that read "DIPPER" on the front. He smiled brightly and walked towards them.
"Dipper!" Stan waved happily to him. "Over here!"
"I see you!" Dipper called, waving back. Once he was close enough to his Grunkles, they both gave him a hug.
"Welcome back, buddy!" Stan said cheerfully.
"You grew!" Ford added, ruffling his hair.
"That's what aging does," Dipper laughed.
"How long has it been since you were here?" Ford asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to remanence.
"11 years," Dipper responded, shaking his head as he looked around them. "It feels so weird to be back!"
"Well, it didn't change so," Stan started, grabbing one of Dipper's bags. "You didn't miss much!"
"How have you guys been?" Dipper asked curiously.
"Why don't we get to the Shack," Ford suggested. "Then we can talk all we want."
The ride back was short, roughly about 15 minutes from the school. Once inside, Stan went to the kitchen to get some coffee. Ford and Dipper sat at the table after dropping his bags off in the attic.
"So," Dipper started. "How have you guys been?"
"So-so," Ford responded honestly. "Age is hitting us a little harder than we expected."
"Really?" Dipper scrunched his eyebrows together, voice full of concern.
"Yeah," Ford sighed. "We got a cleaner but I think we should get a cook too. We just can't afford it right now."
"Why not get a house caretaker?" Dipper suggested. "They can take care of everything and it shouldn't be as expensive as having both cleaner and cook."
"I said that," Stan responded before Ford could, setting down coffee in front of both Dipper and Ford. "But this little pansy won't allow anyone else in."
"Not true," Ford argued. "I have a specific hiring process. If they can't handle it, it's their fault."
"Your 'hiring process' is what drives people away!" Stan stated, waving one of his arms towards the door. Dipper signed contently, watching the brothers argue. Nothing's changed between the two.
"What's your hiring process?" Dipper asked.
"I make them take a lie detector test," Ford responded rather quickly. "How else am I supposed to believe it isn't another demon trying to get in? We can't have another Bill event."
"That one-eyed demon is gone!" Stan practically yelled. "Learn to trust!"
Dipper started to chew on his bottom lip again. He understands it's a bit much to do just for a simple job, but he can also understand the paranoia. While the two continued to debate their sides back and forth, Dipper's mind drifted off to when he was 12 again. Although they got out in one piece, it took years for Dipper to not freak out every time he saw a triangle in person. It's crazy to realize how popular the shape was in real life.
Once the two brothers realized Dipper went quiet, Stan cleared his throat and went to get the phone, announcing he was going to order pizza. Ford looked at Dipper and gave an apologetic smile.
"Don't worry about us," he said, ruffling Dipper's hair. "Why don't you go get comfortable?"
"Sure," Dipper nodded, getting to his feet. "I'll be back down though!"
"When do your classes start?" Ford asked quickly.
"Two days from now," he responded easily. "Just enough time to get settled and start."
With that, Dipper excused himself and made his way to the attic. Once inside, he let out a soft sigh before unpacking his bags. He glanced over to the second bed in the room, feeling lonely at the site of the empty bed.
"It's okay," Dipper spoke softly to himself, looking back to his bag as he took his laptop out. "I'll be okay."
The two days came and went rather quickly, leaving Dipper feeling jittery over his first day of school. He arrived early to the school, going to the area for new students to get a printed schedule. The site still didn't have a teacher listed for the second class so he was hoping that getting the printed schedule would provide an update with the professor's name. He never got an email stating they were unable to find one so he assumed they did but just didn't update it on the school's site.
He was in line for a few minutes before feeling a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted with a wide, cheeky grin. The person had short, white hair with freckles on his cheeks but his looks screamed familiar. It didn't take long to remember who was standing in front of him.
"Pines!" he greeted cheerfully. "Oh my god, it's actually you!" He started to look around rather quickly. "Where's Mabel? I haven't seen my love in so long!"
"Nice to see you too, Gideon," Dipper greeted, rolling his eyes. "Mabel didn't want to come back to school, we already got our degrees."
Confusion crossed over Gideon's face. "Then what are you doing here?"
"Really?" Dipper crossed his arms. "You greet me, asked about my sister, and now you don't want me here?" An amused chuckle left Gideon's lips.
"I'm shocked to see you two separate," Gideon explained. A quick thought came to Gideon and he got excited for a moment. "That means she's alone and you can't stop me now!" An exaggerated gasp came from him. "I have a chance!"
Before Dipper could argue or ask anything else, he watched Gideon turn around and jog away. Grunting a bit, he decided to let it go. It's not like he knew where Mable lived anyways, seeing that she moved in with a friend after Dipper left. Oh well, Gideon wasn't patient enough to learn that.
After getting his printed schedule, he looked at it and smiled happily as he read the paper.
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Science Fiction History – Warder, Angelica – Building A Rm 235
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Supernatural History Introduction – Cider, William – Building C Rm 326
'Yes!' he thought to himself happily. He started to walk towards the school's library, wanting to read all about Professor Cider before he entered his class. On his way there, he spotted a few other people he knew from 11 years ago. Turns out, a lot of the residents go to the school to have something to do. A lot of them took music classes like dancing or singing and songwriting, just to give themselves something to do in the rather boring town. The school's music program was pretty popular, tons of students had musical instruments and he even saw some groups of students singing on the grass together. Unfortunately, with so many people stopping him, he didn't have the time to go to the library without being late to his first class. Sighing in frustrating, he told himself he would go after the first class.
His first class went smoothly, just simple introductions to the school, class, then each other. Pacifica was in this class, sitting right next to Dipper before the class began. Dipper was thrown off a bit but she quickly explained that she remembered him and Mable and didn't want to sit next to complete strangers. They exchanged numbers along with handing over Mable's number to the blonde. Once class was over, they sat with each other in the cafeteria, while waiting for 1:30 to roll around.
"So how are you and your sister?" Pacifica asked, sitting up straight in her chair.
'Damn,' Dipper thought to himself, watching her place her arms properly on her lap. 'She even sits like she's rich.' Internally rolling his eyes, he smiled to the blonde.
"We're good," he responded. "Mable got a degree in sales and business. She also took a bunch of design and art classes to start up her sweater business. Speaking of-" Dipper reached into his bag and pulled his wallet out. Within seconds, he had a business card in his hand that was decorated in unicorns, ice cream, and dinosaurs. "This is her site, she designs and sells her sweaters now and even takes custom orders."
Pacifica smiled sweetly and took the card, staring at the card with an unreadable expression. "I hope she responds to me," she admitted, her voice low, hoping Dipper wouldn't hear.
"She's probably just on a sales pitch if she's not responding," Dipper responded, placing his wallet back into his bag.
They continued to chat and catch up until Dipper had to leave. Once 1:15 PM rolled around, he stood and said his goodbyes before leaving. It didn't take long to find the classroom because the class was practically there already waiting outside. Feeling a little nervous, he went up to one of the students.
"Hey," he greeted softly. The boy looked at him weirdly and didn't respond. "I-is this Professor Cider's class?"
Without speaking, the student nodded and looked away from him. Dipper nodded a bit then backed away from the student who clearly didn't want to be spoken to. Feeling awkward, he stood there with his arms crossed and eyes locked on the closed classroom door. Realization dawned on him that he never went to the library to read about the teacher. Rubbing his face, Dipper started to feel frustrated over his forgetfulness.
A few minutes passed before the door opened and students filed out of the classroom. Once the last of the students were out, Dipper and his class went inside. While most students saw in the mid to upper rows, Dipper walked happily towards the front of the classroom and sat down in the middle of the front row. In front of the students was a desk where Dipper assumed was Professor Cider but he was packing up his things for some reason. Once the students settled down, the teacher gathered his bags and smiled at the class as he silently left the room.
'Uh…' Dipper thought as he watched the teacher leave. 'Guess not?' He looked back ahead of himself and slumped back against the seat.
Several minutes passed before two people walked into the classroom. Once they entered, all the students turned and watched them reach the front of the classroom and placed their stuff down. One of the men turned and smiled at the class.
"We apologize for the delay," he held his hands to his sides. "My name is Andrew Stern, just the helper of the teacher." With that, he moved and sat on at a desk to the side of the classroom. He was a tall man with dark hair with kind brown eyes. Both men were wearing suits but the actual Professor's looked more casual than formal. Once the other man was seated, the Professor turned around and smiled at the classroom.
"Good afternoon!" he greeted, placing his hands on his thighs. "I'm sure you all know who I am by now, considering you all should have picked up a schedule this morning." As he said that, Dipper heard other students shuffle around to pull their papers out. The Professor Cider was tall as well, just not as tall as Helper Stern. Instead of dark hair and eyes, Professor Cider had a blonde mop on his head with honey eyes. His hair was brushed but not styled at all. "Welcome to Supernatural History Introduction. In this class, we will go over the history of authors that wrote about the supernatural in novels and plays along with the reality of how those creatures are. We'll go over what is real and what is fake. Any questions so far about the class or anything with the school? I can tell there are some new students with us."
A few students raised their hands along with Dipper. The Professor called on a few different students before getting to him. Once Professor Cider's eyes landed on Dipper, the boy felt his heart drop to his stomach. His striking eyes pierced right though Dipper, making him feel small. While he was stuck in his stare down with the teacher, he didn't realize that the teacher hesitated before asking him what his question was.
"Have you ever experienced anything from the supernatural?" Dipper forced himself to ask, trying to calm his beating heart. Why was this teacher so good looking?
"More than you'll know," he answered quickly before looking for another student to answer questions from. Dipper's heart started to beat faster as the professor's voice reached his ears. He told himself it was because that meant they got a good teacher for the class, not because the hot professor had such a warm voice when answering questions.
Once all the questions were answered, he had everyone go around and introduce themselves. As each student spoke, the professor pulled out a seating chart and began to jot the names of the student's down in the chairs they were already in. He kept his eyes down the whole time until it got to Dipper. Once it was his turn, he cleared his throat quietly before standing as the other students had. Dipper kept his eyes on the professor and as soon as he stood up, the professor let his eyes raise from the seating chart and locked with the student's eyes.
"My name is Dipper Pines," he started. Dipper watched as the professor visibly froze. Heart beating hard in his chest, Dipper sat back down and fiddled with his fingers. The students continued to introduce themselves. It took a few moments before Professor Cider went back to writing the names down.
After the students were done, the professor shifted the topic to what to expect in the classroom. At the end of class, Dipper watched as a few different students go up to the professor greeting him and even giving him a hug. The helper was already by the professor's side getting greeted by the same students. Biting his lip again, Dipper gathered his things before slowly walking up to the professor. As the students were talking to Professor Cider, he was also packing up his items, possibly to go to the next class he will be teaching.
Once he was done getting his items, he noticed Dipper's presence and his smile faltered a bit. He almost looked flustered to Dipper, which in turn caused his own heart start to race again. He stood there quietly, seeing another student talking to him about another class she has with him. After a few moments of talking back with her, he looked at a couple of students that were in front of them.
"I'm really sorry guys," he started, picking up his bags. "We have to get to our next class, it's across campus." The students forgave him quickly and he glanced at Dipper for a moment before walking around the group of students and leaving the classroom with the helper.
Dipper couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed. Sighing softly, he walked in front of the other students, not that far from the professor and helper. He could tell they were talking to each other but was too far to hear anything. It was obvious to Dipper that the professor still seemed stiffer than he did when he entered the class.
"Dipper!" a female voice called suddenly. Dipper stopped walking and tore his eyes away from the professor's back in search of the mysterious voice. A tall redhead that was waving to him from a ways away, walking over to him. Dipper smiled brightly and looked back at the professor's back once more before going up to his friend. As soon as he looked at him though, he noticed the professor looking back and at Dipper as he continued walking. Professor Cider looked back in front of himself quickly once they locked eyes. Dipper felt his ears ringing but ignored the feeling, jogging to catch up with Wendy.
"Hey!" he greeted, immediately bringing her into a hug. Wendy hugged back and laughed softly.
"It's crazy to see you!" she peered up to him. "Look who hit a growth spurt!" Wendy and Dipper laughed together cheerfully.
"Purity," Dipper laughed. "Am I right?" Looking at his old friend, Dipper felt warm but not like before. When he was a child, he was head over heels for this woman. But now, Dipper was happy and bi-sexual. He came out to everyone when he turned 18-years-old, in fear of being rejected and kicked out. Thankfully, his family did the exact opposite.
"Oh man," she crossed her arms and checked him out. "It did a number on you, that's for sure! I bet you're already in a long term relationship with that face."
Dipper shook his head and scratched the back of his neck, chuckling softly. "Nope, still forever alone."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "I bet you'll find yourself an awesome lover at this school, there are hotties everywhere."
Dipper laughed nervously. "I actually have a really hot professor for my Supernatural class."
Wendy cocked her eyebrow. "Oh, really? I have a really hot teacher for my Music Theory class! You know the best part of college?" Dipper tilted his head and shook his head. "You can date your teachers!"
Thank you very much for reading! Any reviews/opinions would be greatly appreciated! 3