"Jamie! Jamie, wake up!" I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me awake.
"Huh?" I said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
Dipper was sitting on the floor next to me. "You're gonna miss breakfast," he said. "And you don't want that, trust me."
"Alright, I'm getting up," I laughed, working my way to my feet. "What time is it?"
"Eight in the morning," he said. "I'm normally not up this early, but Mabel woke me. She's always up before dawn."
"Me too," I said. "I'm surprised I woke up so late."
I followed him down the stairs, to where the Pines family was eating breakfast. There were pancakes on the table , and Dipper followed my gaze.
"Don't," he warned. "Stan made those. Eat cereal."
"What's the matter with them?" I asked.
"Those are what he calls Stan-cakes. He's not a sanitary dude, so there might be some of his hair in it," Dipper explained.
"Ewww," I said. "Cereal it is."
Stan looked up. "Hey, it isn't my problem you don't appreciate my cooking. I work hard, y'know."
"Yeah, to cheat people out of their money," coughed who I assumed was Grunkle Ford, into his cup of coffee.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Stan began, standing up, which rocked the table.
"GRUNKLE STAN NOT NOW!" screeched Mabel.
Ah, the sounds of morning.
I walked into Hoo Haw's to get some food. Dipper had said this place had good prices, despite their lack of good food. He also said that the staff was really nice, so that's why I was in here. Man, I hadn't been in a Hoo Haw's since I was really young.
I sat down at a table and idly watched the kids running around.
Suddenly I heard someone say, "Hi, can I get you anything?"
I looked up to see one of the most physically beautiful people I've ever seen. He was about 5'9", with black hair in a long-ish stylish crew cut. His face was nearly perfectly symmetrical, and his nose was kind of small, which was really cute. He was super pale, with a faint smattering of freckles on his cheeks, and his eyes were a faint yellow. He had a lot of piercings; snakebite lip piercings, piercings all the way up both ears, his right eyebrow was pierced, and he had a really cool looking septum ring. He was wearing skinny jeans, black combat boots. He had on a black hoodie instead of the Hoo Haw's shirt, but he did indeed wear an apron.
"Oh, can I get some pizza?" I asked.
"Sure thing," he said, flashing me a big smile.
Wait a second. Did he have… pointed teeth? I knew people in this town were weird… but getting your teeth filed? That's a bit extreme.
About fifteen minutes later, he came back with my food. "Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome!" he chirped. He turned to walk away.
"Hey wait!" I called. He turned. "I don't know anyone and I feel pathetic eating alone… would you like to sit with me?"
"Sure!" he chirped. "Just let me go take my break!" He ducked into the kitchen, and reappeared moments later. He slid into the seat across from me. "I don't know if I've introduced myself. I'm Greg," he said, extending his hand for me to shake.
"I'm Jamie," I replied, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Greg."
"You too! So, what brings you to Gravity Falls? I can tell you're not from around here," he said.
"Visiting with friends," she said. "The Pines."
"Dipper and Mabel?" he asked, cocking his head. He must've noticed my slightly concerned face, because he said, "Oh, I have a very good memory, and you hear a lot of gossip as a waiter. The Pines family is quite a topic here in Gravity Falls. How did you come to know the younger twins?"
"Oh, we went to high school together," I replied.
Greg nodded. Suddenly, his phone went off. He looked down at his lap, and started laughing.
"What?" I asked, leaning forward.
"It's Todd. He sent me the most hilarious video of my cat," he said, spinning the phone around for me to see. A black cat was climbing super spy style across a sliding screen door. "Hex does that when he wants inside."
"Awe, how cute!" I chirped, taking a bite of my pizza.
Suddenly, I heard a voice from the kitchen call, "GLADE! QUIT FLIRTING WITH THAT GIRL AND GET YER ASS BACK IN THIS KITCHEN! YOUR BREAK IS UP!"
Greg rolled his eyes. "Aaaand that's my cue. I'll hopefully see you later?"
I nodded. "I'll airdrop you my contact info!" I pulled out my phone and proceeded to do just that.
"Thanks! Be seeing you!" he chirped, as he got up and walked back into the kitchen.
I sat back in the booth and finished my pizza. Good God, he was hot.
Out in the forest, a teenager broke away from his tourist group. Wandering through the woods in Gravity Falls alone was risky business, but this kid had ignored all warnings. He didn't believe in the Hide-Behind, he didn't believe in ghosts.
He came upon a small clearing. Towards one side he noticed something that appeared to be a large, oddly shaped stone. He walked closer to find that it was a statue. However, it was unlike any statue the young man had ever seen before. It looked like the triangle thing with the one dollar bill, and had a bow tie and top hat. The statue was extending one hand, as if to shake someone's hand in a greeting.
The kid chuckled and shook the stone triangle's hand. As soon as his skin made contact with the stone, a shockwave went through him. Everything stood still; the trees stopped swishing in the breeze, the birds hung frozen in the air. The color leached out of everything, and when the young man looked down at the stone triangle, it was gone.
All he could hear was maniacal laughter.
