Chapter 1

After walking so deep into the fog that he could not see where he entered, and the darkness surrounded him in the bleak landmark-less haze, Dipper, fraught with worry, followed the steps of the enigmatic caretaker, Eve. He wondered what ran through her thoughts, if she even had any at all. Was she genuinely as caring as she made out to be? Was it all a bluff? Was she Cipher in the flesh? Even as all these accusatory thoughts crossed his mind, he never for a moment considered leaving her side. His quick glances to her face, which was never obscured, no matter how dense the fog was, had a warm affection he had only gotten from one person in his life, as if she need be named. What was somewhat unsettling though was that she'd always turn to face him at the exact points when he sought her glance. Dipper almost felt like reciprocating her smile, but whenever he considered, the reality of the situation struck him on the temple, and he refocused his efforts.

"Dipper," said Eve, "We're just about here."

"Where?"

"Where you were always at your most vulnerable."

The fog began to clear on it's own, and an intense sunlight cracked the haze. As Dipper looked to the ground to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness, he saw a sidewalk perfectly materialize at his feet, like the ones of his own world. Barely processing it, he looked up to see something he certainly didn't think he was going to see; autumn colours falling, the sight of children laughing, and a slightly battered sign, which read "Piedmont Middle School." He was back in class.

He looked back to see what had happened to Mabel's stylized world, but though he looked in every direction, he could not see a trace of the Bubble. Every nook and cranny was exactly how he'd remembered it at home, down to the smell of the air, the bumps of the road, and the cracks on the pavement. It was as real as the real world. The fog had long since disappeared, and the direction they had come was an impassable marathon of trees and buildings. His mind boggled at this paradox, and only the ringing of the bell snapped back a semblance of control.

Eve gazed appreciatively around the school, as the children cleared the yard, and then looked back to Dipper. "Isn't it just like you remembered it?"

"School is my deepest desire?" asked Dipper in a unique mixture of anxiousness and disappointment. "Aw man, that is lame."

The caretaker gave a rosy laugh. "No, no no! There are plenty of things I need you to see before we reach that point, so that you can understand the sort of person you really are."

Dipper matched the pace she drifted into the deserted courtyard, a pace slow enough so he could consume all the minor details around him; the full pallet of fall colors on the trees, the strong, white chalk on the ground, and the soothing winds. Dipper's senses were enlivened, and the silence of all but the wind left a meditative bliss that lowered his guard.

As they reached the main doors, Eve kept walking, and the doors opened by themselves. Dipper felt he should have been more concerned about it than he was, but the surroundings had taken most of his fears away. In the distance he could hear the familiar masses of anonymous sounds, echoing down the hallway; the friends laughing together, and the cliques plotting together. He was reminded him of his failings: Where was his friendship group? What crazy stories could he tell his children about his time in school? Why couldn't he have fun like they did? Dipper did not like existing on an entirely different plane in school; one where the popular kids seemed to exist, and the one where he would grind every day. Even the not so popular kids seemed to have some semblance of recognition. Dipper started the day at home, went to school, and went home again, almost entirely without exception. No sleepovers with friends, no adventures, not even sports; nothing. All of these old demons raced through his mind as he and the caretaker walked to the door of his classroom, the noises coming from there now having faces to place to the sounds; Natalie, Susie, Amy and many others.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Dipper asked Eve. "You know I hated most of my time in school…or, I guess you do?"

She looked at the tinted glass of the window, and looked back to Dipper again. She was pleased by how inquisitive he was. "Dipper, I know you had a hard time at school. I can feel it inside you. What I want you to do is open that door."

Dipper was confused at the curtness of the demand, suspecting a ruse of some kind. But as he slowly opened the door, repeatedly looking back to Eve to see if she had any tricks up her sleeve, it opened into the classroom, and to Dipper's horror, all talking immediately stopped. It was going to be one of these awkward moments when everyone looked at him entering late, rather than a smooth, stealth entrance as preferred. So he cringed, and walked inside, glancing briefly at the class, who, to his further horror were all looking in his direction. This was certainly a confusing concept of desire, but Dipper gutted it out. He pulled his hat down to cover his eyes, and walked briskly to the back of the room, where his desk was; his desk wasn't there. He flicked his hat back up to look around, but he still couldn't see it.

At this point, he thought he had it worked out: The reason they were all so conscious of Dipper was because they had pranked him by stealing his desk. Dipper gritted his teeth, and looked around. "Okay, where's my desk?" he asked peevishly.

The class looked at him with confused, but admiring eyes. It was an expression he was not used to getting, but he did understand pointing, and he saw a slow stream of hands rising, and pointing towards the teacher's desk. Dipper squinted and looked at each of the people pointing, thinking they were mocking him further, but as he looked up again, the caretaker herself was standing beside the desk.

"Don't you want to start teaching your class?" she smiled.

Dipper's jaw dropped. "I'm the teacher?!"

"Why, yes!" she said rosily. "You've seen that dope of a teacher grind through every lesson like a somnambulist, and you were screaming for a chance to get up there, and prove yourself to your classmates. You were never really cut out for any of this 'party at eight' nonsense. You felt you had to prove yourself academically to make people like you, and you fantasized about being that dream teacher who everyone liked, and everyone looked up to. You liked that idea."

Dipper started sweating, and walked towards her. "B-but what do I even teach?"

Eve gestured to the chalk on the desk, which Dipper slowly picked up. "Whatever you want, Dipper. It's your fantasy."

She walked out of the way, giving Dipper a free view of the blank chalkboard; a whole world of imagination open to him. Here was a chance to touch his once-fellow students in a way he could never do before. His hand trembled as the chalk neared the board. He looked back to his class, all staring at him in genuine admiration, a concept entirely foreign to Dipper, who was blown away by its effect. He turned to Eve, who was standing near the door, beaming appreciatively, like a mother to a son.

Then Dipper saw something that shook him out of this delusion. He put the chalk down, and rushed towards Eve, or more specifically, the pictures behind her. He looked at the collection of photos in stunned disbelief, and stared at them to no end. They were from second-grade photo day. He looked for his name, and there he was, smiling in his beanie, with a confidence that was alien to him. Then he looked for his sister, bracing himself for what he found, but there was Mabel, and her hair as perfect as she always wanted it. The whole class was smiling brightly and optimistically, as one, harmonic unit.

"What's the matter?" asked Eve calmly.

"This didn't happen," Dipper growled.

"Did it not?"

"No! Mabel had gum put in her hair, and her photo day was ruined! Neither of us were allowed in."

"Not in this world Dipper. Here, no one in your class would have dared hurt you or Mabel on such an important day. Your photo went perfect, and then you went out for ice cream. You two had a wonderful time together."

"But that's not what happened!"

"But isn't it what you wanted to happen?"

"Who cares? It happened!"

Eve knelt down, with a sombre look, and said in a whisper, "Look in your desk, second drawer on the right."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at her tone, a much more serious one than he was used to from her, and paced over to 'his' desk, mentally preparing himself for whatever came at him. He put his hand to the rail, and pulled back, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. The sight alone paralysed him, and he froze beneath a stream of terrible memories, flooding back to haunt him. He didn't even hear Eve coming from behind him to monitor his reaction. If the 82nd Airborne had burst through the door, he still wouldn't have paid attention. His shaking hands entered the drawer, and, with trembling fingers, lifted them out on to the desk; they were his fourth-grade Valentine's Day cards, or rather, the cards he never got. Each card had it's own colour, it's own unique handwriting, and it's own unique message:

"Hey Dipper! :) I think you're the cutest boy in the whole class! You are so amazing, I'd love for you to be my Valentine! XOXO - Amy"

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, there's nothing I'd like more, than spend a lifetime with you. –Susie"

"Happy Valentine's Day Dipper! You are so smart, brave and talented! I love everything about you! That pink nose, curly hair, and that cool birthmark! Will you be my Valentine? :):):) –Natalie"

Dipper read every one, his jaw gaping further as he let each little detail sink in, each little compliment, and each person's name. He clutched his hands against their very real texture, and stared back at their writers with astonished eyes; they all replied with thankful, loving looks, the sort of looks that Dipper had never received in his whole life. He could feel tears welling up behind his eyes. Putting them all down on his table, he stared at them, and turned to Eve, who was already perched in waiting.

"Dipper," she said, "You know how unfair school's been to you. You were the nicest boy in that class, the smartest, most talented, and yet, every girl treated you like garbage. You held open the door, and they never even said 'thank you.' Why did they all move towards the lowlifes? The ones who spat on you, and called you names? They knew they were no good, but they keep falling at their feet anyway, because they're bad, and they're cool. And they know deep down that they're going to cheat on them, and they're going to leave them, but they keep on doing it, and while you were always there, they'll just forget you even existed. All the grades in the world won't make up for not being loved. Nobody wants you to be like this Dipper; not me, you…not Mabel."

Dipper shot an anxious glance back, the final word piercing a deep emotional wound.

She moved in for the kill. She knelt to eye-level, and delivered a hypnotically intense gaze. She gave him a smile that communicated an eternal affection. "That birthmark on your head? You used to pray every night for it go away, but it never did. Why? Because deep down, you still loved it. What you should have prayed for was that other people would. Here, love is fair, it's returned, and it's more wonderful than you can imagine. Silly things like a birthmark can't hold that love back. Just let go, Dipper. You know you've always wanted this to come true. You matter, Dipper. Have life treat you right…for once."

Dipper looked deep into her eyes, then to the ground, then to the class, and then to the ground again. He thought, and he thought, until he sighed. His fists clenched as painful memories brought themselves to the fore. "Look, I always wanted people to like me. I didn't want to be the most popular, I didn't want to have everything, just more than what I had…I had nothing. Apart from the grades, yeah, school sucked, I can't deny it. I didn't like the teacher, most of the other kids wouldn't accept me, because I was so…different. I spent a lot of time by myself at the end of the playground. I was miserable most of the time, and I wished things could have been different."

He straightened upright, and looked the caretaker in the face. "But you know who was there, every time? Mabel was. Mabel could never go a moment if she thought I was sad. Every time I felt down, she was right there beside me, to make me smile, to make me laugh, to make me happy. With girlfriends, you know, there's plenty of fish in the sea…but I only have one sister, and Mabel is the coolest sister in the world. I'll be damned if I won't do for her what she did every time I was in trouble."

He paused. "I love Mabel; I'll go to heck and back to save her, and I'll go through this Bubble too. Sorry, but not interested."

Eve discreetly bit her lip, just about holding her smile, but Dipper could sense that he had hurt her. Soon, he heard an eerie whooshing, and a cold blast of wind at his back. He spun around to where he assumed the door was, to find that an impenetrable fog had taken its place. He looked back to the class, to find they had vanished from their seats. He jumped in shock, before he remembered that they were merely figments of imagination. He realized with a chill how quickly he had come to accept the concept of them as living beings.

Eve's voice maintained that gentle cheer, as she stood back up, and walked towards the once-door. She turned around at the precipice, and stared back at Dipper. "Alright then, if you care so much about your sister, why don't we see what she thinks?

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