On a blazing hot summer day of August 31st, 1999 in the Piedmont Hospital, two loud screams and cries were heard across the hallways, bouncing off walls and echoing through the whole building. Those screams would be the screams of two newborn kids. A girl and a boy, born at the same time and everything. And ironically, the two different parents who had the kids had no idea that it was the same time on same date. They didn't even know each other. Two separate nurses rushed into the room, bringing each parent their own child. Of course both sets of parents were thrilled. One had an oddly weird 'Big Dipper' birthmark plastered on his head, hence his name. He was to be named Dipper. The other one didn't have any weird birthmarks, but she sure was energetic and happy. Always giggling and smiling. Those parents gave her the name Mabel due to her lovable personality. Later on both sets of parents left(at different times) and brought them home.
For several years that's how it went. The two families living apart and not any knowledge that the two kids had been born on the same day. As the two grew older they were looking more similar somehow. Then finally, the day came. The one both had been waiting for. School. The first time when they went to kindergarten, they were both excited and nervous but they found out that it wasn't all so bad. They went on to 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade then 4th grade. This year they had each other in the same classes unlike the years before. They'd seen each other on the playground every once in a while but never actually interacted with one another.
Then it happened. The day Dipper disliked the most. February 14th...Valentines Day. It was his worst holiday for the longest time. Maybe it's because he never got any valentines or just because he wasn't a fan of all the pink. Either way, that dreaded day was today..and there was no escaping it in class today. Dipper sat in his desk, holding his breath as soon as he finished passing out his own valentines. He hoped someone got him something. Someone. Anyone. It didn't matter, he just wanted something. As soon as everyone was in their seats, the teacher allowed everyone to look at what they got. Everyone grinned and stuck their hands into their paper bags, the sound of rustling paper heard all around the room. Dipper, excited and hopeful, dug into his bag with a grin, hoping to find millions, if not ONE valentine in his bag...but...the only thing he felt was the paper at the bottom. He turned the bag over and upside down and shook it, but the only thing that fell out was a small crumb from something someone probably dropped.
"Oh, hey, haha! Dipper didn't get any! Oh, man, I thought I was the class loser!" A boy with blonde hair and a black t-shirt said with a laugh before turning to everyone in the classroom, already speaking loud enough. "Hey, everyone! Dipstick didn't get any!"
The 9-year-old boy let out a gasp and looked at everyone, who was chanting the same word. "DIPSTICK! DIPSTICK! DIPSTICK!" They said with a laugh, everyone pointing their index finger at him. The kid swallowed the huge lump he had in his throat and let his eyes water, not being able to hold it back. Everyone kept chanting and soon he ran away from his desk towards the door. On the way he knocked over a trashcan with his leg, letting crumpled papers spill all over the floor. His classmates kept chanting and laughing so he ran to the door and slammed it open, stumbling out the door with his elbow covering his face as he let out a small cry.
"Heh, man, what a loser." The blonde haired boy said while elbowing a girl who was wearing pink and had a ponytail in. She had tons of valentines on her desk.
"I...I don't think so." She announced, standing up from her desk. "Maybe he's just misunderstood?"
"Where're you going?" He asked while looking at her as she gathered up some cards on her desk and taped them together.
"Going to give him something." She said promptly and looked at everyone, who were staring at her. She felt everyone's eyes watching her as she knocked on the closet door. She heard a small sniffle. "Hey, can I come in..? I wanted to talk to you." She quietly spoke. It took a moment but the sound of the closet door was heard unlocking. With that, she turned the door knob and walked in, closing the door behind. What she saw was the boy in the corner of the closet with his heads in his knees and quietly sobbing. She let a sympathetic frown cross her face as she walked over and sat beside. "Hey...it's okay...I brought something for you!"
That got his attention. Dipper's top half of his face poked up from his arms as he saw her offer a giant pink heart with small touches of glitter on it. He looked at her confused before sitting up and letting his legs slide down to the ground as he sat up all the way. He gave her one last confused look before letting his hands take ahold of the gigantic piece of craftwork. He stared at it for a moment before quietly speaking. "...H-how...how come you did this for me?"
"Well...I kind of know how it feels to be in that boat you are. And you seem like a nice guy!"
"Well everyone thinks i'm a loser.." He spoke quietly and rubbed his eyes.
"Forget them!" She waved her hand in dismissal. "By the way, name's Mabel!" She stuck out her hand with a grin.
He let out a small smile after staring at her hand and taking it. "I'm Dipper."
"Oooh! That's a cool name!" She grinned again. "What were you named after? My parents said they named me because of my personality and the definition of my name is lovable!"
The boy paused and pushed down his hat a little bit more. "You're going to laugh..."
Mabel looked at him with a small, understanding, comforting smile. "No I won't."
"You...you promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
"...I'm assuming that's a yes." He sighed and bit his lip before taking off his hat and revealing the 'Big Dipper' mark on his forehead. He was biting his lip as if he was assuming something bad was about to happen.
"WOAH! That's SO cool!" Mabel let out a gasp in astonishment with the biggest grin he's seen from her by far.
He was shocked, stunned if you will. "Wait...you really think so..?"
"You bet I do! Who wouldn't want a famous constellation on their forehead! I know I would!"
"Well...if you could take it, I would let you have it, because I don't want it. People just make fun of me for it all the time.." The boy looked down and put his head in his knees again.
She looked over at him. "Hey...Dipper, cheer up! I think it's cool! And i'm sure i'm not the only one who thinks so!"
He looked over, his head rising from his knees again. Then, he gave a small smile and rubbed his eyes one last time. "Thanks, Mabel."
"No problem! Anything for a friend!" She chimed with a grin on her face.
He blinked. "...I'm...we're friends?"
"Well, yeah! I mean, if that's okay with you."
"Nono! It's perfectly fine!" He replied back with a small smile.
"GREAT!" She grinned and hugged him, making him freeze. As soon as she let go, he let out an awkward cough. "...I feel like we used to hug a lot...even though I don't know you...it's weird.."
"...I guess i'm not the only one then." He paused and put a finger to his chin while thinking. "When's your birthday?"
"August 31st, why?"
"Mine's August 31st too..."
"...Woahh...okay...what year then?"
"1999. You?"
"...Mine's 1999 too!"
"Woah..this is creepy...like creepy-cool." Dipper paused again and looked at her straight in the eye. "..You look kind of like me too."
"I'm not the only one who thinks that now!" She sighed in relief. "I thought I was going crazy because I thought that or something."
"I don't see how it's possible...we're not genetically siblings or relatives...and we just met."
"Say what now?"
"I mean we're not related. But...I guess people can and do look similar to other people sometimes."
"Right!" She smiled and stood up from the concrete floor, offering her hand for her new friend to get up. When he took it, he rose up from the floor with his new and only valentine in his hand.
"Thanks again for this." He made a gesture to the glittery pink heart valentine. "It was really nice of you to even think about me like that."
"It never hurts to help." She gave a smile and opened the door from the closet. They both stepped out and saw everyone's faces. It was an assorted mix of laughing and giggling between rolling eyes and snickers. With only 5 minutes 'til the bell rang for the end of school, everyone was grabbing their bags and backpacks, waiting patiently for time to pass by. When those 5 minutes passed, Mabel ran through crowds to catch up with her new friend. "HEY! Dipper!" She shouted as she saw him walking along the sidewalk.
He turned his head to face her. "Oh, hey Mabel. You walk this way too?"
"Sort've! But I walk alone usually anyways, so having some company will be good for me. Do you usually walk alone too?" He shuffled his feet quietly and nodded. "See? Now we won't be alone anymore!"
Dipper gave a smile and looked at her for a moment. "Hey, how long are you planning on being friends..?"
"I was thinkingggg forever!"
"Forever and ever?"
"AND INFINITY AND BEYOND!"
Her friend giggled. "That would be good."
She smiled back at him. "I think so too."
When they reached a nice-looking neighborhood with a lot of houses and trees that provided shade, he stopped at a white house. "This is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow at school?"
"Yes!"
"Definitely?"
"ABSOLUTELY!" Mabel grinned and they both laughed.
"See ya then, Mabel." He waved and walked into his house where he was greeted with a hug, like every day. He showed his parents the gigantic heart Mabel had made him when nobody else gave him anything.
Years went on, and the two were still best friends. They went through 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade together. 4 years of a great friendship with no big arguments whatsoever. His life was all great...until one day just a couple weeks before summer vacation Dipper's father was getting ready to go home, driving in his car..but then a gigantic truck was going too fast and struck the poor innocent man, leaving him dead. Him and his mother were devastated completely. Dipper could hold his tears back sometimes, but other times he would just let it all out because that small lump in his throat turned into a huge lump, causing him to cry. His mom would leave the 12-year-old in charge of the house for a couple hours and she would come back woozy. One day it just got too crazy. She had a huge bottle and wasn't stopping no matter how much her son told her to stop. She kept saying crazy things. Hurtful things. And Dipper couldn't take it anymore. For at least a week or two he had been trying to put up with it but he just couldn't. That was the last straw.
With tears in his eyes, he grabbed his backpack and dumped every school supply on the floor that was inside. He started to stuff supplies he would need into his pack such as clothes, toothbrush, some food, cash and a flashlight. Some extra things he put inside was a pen along with a book to keep him busy when he maybe stopped for rests and his stuffed giraffe he had since he was a little kid. He gave the room he lived in currently a good look. It was full of memories...he didn't want to leave the place, but he had no other choice. If he ever got homesick or he wanted to come back, he had his phone in his pocket. It would be fine. The kid took a deep breath before opening his window and sneaking out of it, dropping into a bush down below with a 'oof'. Taking one last look at his old house, he rubbed his eyes and ran down the street as fast as his noodle legs could carry him.
The only sounds he could hear was the sound of his shoes stomping across the concrete and his heavy breathing. Tears dropped and flew as he ran as fast as he could. His first stop would be Mabel's house. When he reached the familiar house, he snuck around the back and ran over to Mabel's window to her bedroom, throwing something at the side of her house to get her attention. No less than a minute later did her head poke out...and boy, was she surprised to see Dipper standing there with his backpack on.
"Dipper...?" She rubbed her eyes a bit. Well, it was 10PM. "What're you doing out here so late..?"
"I'm...running away from home..." He replied quietly.
"WHAT?! Why?!"
"Why? Are you kidding me?" He frowned before looking around and shaking his head. "Look, nevermind. I just need to know something."
"What is it?"
"Are you coming with me?"
She stood there in shock, her eyes wide. "That's...this is a huge commitment..."
"If you don't want to, i'll just go on my own. It's fine."
"Nono!" She replied back, biting her lip and looking around. "I-i'll go with you. Just let me grab my stuff first." And with that, she stuck her head back into the window. It took a couple minutes, 10 or 15 before she hopped down from her window with her backpack on her back. "I got sweaters, money, scrapbook, plushies and cellphone chargers." She said with a small smile.
"I got the useful stuff. We'll be good then."
"Useful? What do you mean plushies aren't useful?" She scoffed with a small smile, showing she was playing around. After a moment of silence, she broke it. "..So...why are you running away?"
The preteen took a deep breath in before he started to explain everything while they started off down the sidewalk with Dipper leading the way. It was going to be a long night and next couple days...and from now on the two best friends would be taking on the world.