Chapter 14:

Dipper and Candy walked on the trail and entered the mummy museum. They ended finding an open bench and sitting on it in the main room. An awkward silence fell between them as both of them looked around desperately for a conversation topic.

"This place is so enchanting," Candy finally said, looking at all the different mummies.

"I'm sort of confused by the phrase 'New Mummies Daily' though," Dipper replied, studying the banner above them. "I mean… how does that even work?"

It was confusing and a little concerning. Was this the mystery Bill was hinting at? Was there something that was causing the mummies to appear? Dipper was startled from his thoughts by the weight of Candy's head resting on his shoulder. Dipper glanced at her nervously, unsure what to do. On one hand, it was kind of nice that Candy liked him. But on the other, he didn't feel the same way and was worried that no matter what he did he would end up hurting her. The situation only got worse when someone else came into the room.

"Hey Dipper!" A girl called, waving at Dipper.

"Corn Maze Girl!" Dipper said in a panic as she approached.

"I was wondering when you'd call," the girl said as she sat on Dipper's other side.

"Dipper? Who is this?" Candy asked, glaring slightly at the intruder.

"Nobody!" Dipper replied quickly but then tried to amend it at seeing Corn Girl's look of annoyance. "I mean.. Somebody! I mean…"

"Dipper!" A second girl called as she came in. "I didn't recognize you right side up. You'll never guess where my mom gave birth… Hey, who are these girls?"

"Dipper?" Came a third, slightly more angry girl. "Why haven't you called? Did our romantic log ride mean nothing to you?"

"I can't believe it," Candy scowled, crossing her arms. "You agreed to go on a date with me while you were seeing all these other girls?"

"Yeah tell us," Corn Girl agreed, narrowing her eyes. "Just which of us do you like?"

"You've certainly got yourself into a mess Pine Tree!" Bill's laughter echoed through Dipper's head. Dipper ignored him in favor of trying to survive the wrath of the girls around him.

"I…" Dipper began, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. "You're are very nice and I enjoyed the time we spent together, but I'm not interested in starting a relationship right now. Mostly I was trying to learn how to talk to girls."

The three girls walked off in anger, grumbling insults against Dipper. Dipper just sighed and looked over at Candy to see her reaction.

"Dipper Pines, I thought you were a nice guy," Candy said slowly, wiping away a tear. "But I guess you only care about yourself."

"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings Candy," Dipper replied softly. "But I agreed to go on this date so you wouldn't get hurt, but obviously that failed. I hope you can forgive me one day."

Candy didn't reply as she got up and walked away, leaving Dipper alone. Dipper let her leave, knowing going after was only going to make things worse. It certainly wasn't an ideal way for things to have gone, but he supposed it was for the best that Candy now knew where he stood. Dipper was startled out of his thoughts by Stan's voice coming through the walkie-talkie he had given Dipper.

"Hey Buddy boy," Stan began, sounding a little stressed. "Remember how we talked about my technique? Well, sometimes it leads to unexpected consequences."

"You've got that right," Dipper grimaced, thinking over what just happened. "So where are you?"

"Well good news is, I've solved the mystery of where Oregon's mummies come from," Stan replied, fear slowly creeping into his voice. "The bad news is I'm about to become one. Turns out Darlene is one of those spider people, but beyond the date's been okay."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dipper said, trying to process what Stan just said. "Darlene's a spider person? How's that even possible?"

"I don't know," Stan replied, sounding genuinely shocked a girl was trying to kill him. "One minute, we're having a perfect date and the next she's growing legs and encasing me in webbing. Women, right?"

"You couldn't tell she was a spider!?" Dipper said in exasperation, waving his free hand around in disbelief.

"I was blinded by flatter!" Stan said in defense. "Also this acid she spit in my face. I'm up the mountain at Widow's Peak."

"Alright, I'll come and find you," Dipper replied, moving out of the museum. "Just stay put!"

"You've got it," Stan agreed before the signal cut out.

"I told you this mountain was full of surprise," Bill added smugly.

"No kidding, and now I've got to save Stan," Dipper scoffed as he moved along the mountain paths to find the girls. In all honesty, Dipper probably had a better chance saving Stan by himself using the things Bill taught him. But there was also the chance that there were more spider people around and he didn't want to risk the girls getting caught either. Better that they stick together to just to be safe. He came across the girls sitting together, trying to comfort Candy.

"Girls!" Dipper said as he ran up to them. "There you are!"

"Betrayer!" Mabel shouted at Dipper, glaring at him along with the others. Dipper felt a flash of frustration and anger at his sister for that accusation. Mabel didn't know Dippers feelings and thoughts on the situation and wasn't even trying to understand where he was coming from. She didn't even ask his opinion before trying to set him up with Candy and yet he was the bad guy for not being interested! Mabel was his sister, she was supposed to be on his side when no one else was. But lately, it seemed like she was against him more and more often. Who did that leave Dipper with if Mabel wasn't on his side?

"You've always got me Pine Tree," Bill replied, comforting Dipper.

"Oh, what do you want?" Candy asked coldly, adjusting her glasses.

"I need your help!" Dipper answered, shoving his feelings aside for now though sending Bill a silent thank you.

"With what?" Candy scoffed. "With some sick jealousy trap."

"Yeah! Stick to him, Candy!" Mabel added, high-fiving her.

"Testify!" Grenda agreed, shaking her fist in the air.

"Look, I'm so sorry about everything," Dipper replied, hiding the hurt he felt that Mabel wasn't even trying to defend him. "But Stan's in trouble. You can kill me later, but right now he needs us. I'll explain on the way!"

The girls looked at each other before nodding at Dipper. Relieved, Dipper began to make his way up the mountain with the girls following close behind.