Wybie Lovat stared at the pouring rain through the hotel room window, deep in thought. A television was on behind him in the room, playing something on the Discovery Channel. His roommate, a girl named Coraline Jones, was watching the program intently as she combed her sapphire hair. The sound of the television program mixed with the gentle pattering of the rain against the roof, providing the perfect background noise for Wybie's reverie.
A week ago, he would have been commenting on the content of the program. Perhaps he would have complained about the shakiness of the cinematographer's hands, or the monotonous droning of the narrator's voice. Coraline might have thrown her comb at him and told him to be quiet. He would have done so. For a while. He was a talkative person by nature.
That was before Gravity Falls, before Dr. Loboto. Wybie was no stranger to the paranormal. He remembered the night that he had gone to the secret well back home, only to see Coraline being dragged along by a spidery hand made of wickedly sharp needles. He remembered charging into battle on his dirt bike like a knight astride a mechanical horse. He had felt like a hero. . . until he found himself dangling into the mouth of the old well. Wybie rubbed the fingers of his right hand. He still had scars where the fingers of the Beldam's severed hand had pricked him. And then, Coraline had come to his rescue, just as he had come to hers. She had been his first friend, and they both knew that their fates would be intertwined from that moment onward.
Since his arrival in Gravity Falls, however, Wybie had learned that the Beldam wasn't the only monster out there. Similarly, Coraline was no longer his only friend. He had six others now, and he knew that they were all bound by their shared experience. These thoughts weighed heavily on his mind lately. Wybie had always been that troublemaking boy on a dirt bike, born and raised in Ashland, Oregon. He never thought he would be anything else. Now, for better or worse, he was a part of something greater. It amazed him, but it also terrified him.
Behind him, Coraline cleared her throat.
"Whatcha thinkin'?"
Wybie allowed himself a slight smile.
"I'm thinking," he replied softly, "that I want to hit up the diner for some lunch."
The sound of the television program stopped. Wybie heard footsteps behind him as Coraline approached. He saw her reflection in the glass: she stood with her hands clasped in front of her and gently rested her chin in his curly brown hair.
"Your mouth is saying one thing," she replied in a knowing tone that she had picked up from his grandmother, "but your eyes are telling me another."
Wybie sighed. As headstrong as Coraline could be, he often forgot just how wise she was. Outsmarting a fiendish spider-witch had that effect, he reckoned.
"I. . . I've got a lot on my mind is all, Jonesy," he admitted.
Coraline nodded into his scalp.
"That's to be expected, all things considered," she answered, stepping away and taking a seat in the corner chair. "A lot has happened this past week."
Wybie nodded, looking away from the window and into the brown eyes of his oldest friend. "It's been a long week," he said with another sigh.
"It's about to get longer," said a voice from the doorway into the next room. Wybie and Coraline turned to see Norman stroll in, hands in his pockets and the trademark half-smile on his face. "Turns out the carburetor has been outmoded for three years. They don't even make the parts for Dad's model anymore."
Wybie's head dipped lower than it usually rested.
"Which means. . ."
"That our little vacation just got extended," said Coraline with a smirk, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair. "Good. I'm not ready to leave this place just yet."
Wybie twiddled his thumbs awkwardly. "Just exactly how big of an extension are we talking about?" he asked Norman. He wasn't able to hide the apprehension that crept into his voice.
Norman gave Wybie an are-you-sure-you-want-me-to-answer-that face before answering.
"At least three weeks."
Coraline pumped her arms.
"Heck yeah! This party isn't over just yet!"
Wybie smiled. Coraline liked Gravity Falls, he knew. Whether it was because of the town's lively atmosphere or her own brush with the mysterious, she felt at home here. It was gratifying to see her happy. However, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they stayed any longer. Coraline had almost died to the Beldam. So had Wybie. And Dr. Loboto had nearly made mincemeat out of him, Coraline, and the other six kids. What if the next horror they encountered was more competent?
"Hooray," mumbled Wybie. "Well, if we are going to be stuck here for a while, we might as well get acquainted with the place. Besides, I wasn't kidding about the diner. I don't know about you, but the continental breakfast here sucked."
"I thought it was pretty good," said a new voice as Neil ambled in from the next room. "Did someone say 'diner'?"
Wybie held up his hand, grateful that his attempt to change the subject was proving successful.
"Guilty as charged," he said. "But there's only room on my dirtbike for two, and I left the sidecar at home."
"You don't even have a sidecar," snickered Coraline.
"I was working on one," Wybie countered defensively. "Point is, with no car, it's a long walk from here to-"
Wybie was interrupted by the sound of an air horn from the outside. Neil looked past Wybie and gasped, running to the window. Wybie turned to look over his shoulder, and his mouth fell open. In the parking space outside was a golf cart with two other kids inside. The driver was a boy in a baseball cap and a blue vest. Next to him was a girl with braces and a sweater covered with enough sequins to blind a bat. The Pines twins looked through the window expectantly at their peers. Mabel was waving her arms wildly through the air, and Dipper saluted with two fingers.
"Well, look at that," remarked Coraline. "Twins ex machina. Looks like we might be going to the diner after all." She stood up from her seat, patted Wybie's shoulder, and walked past him to the outside door. Wybie watched her leave, followed closely behind by Neil and Norman. He collapsed backwards into the chair and heaved a long sigh.
Get a grip, Wyborn, he chided himself. They aren't the monsters. They're your friends. Stop being such a worrywart. Is that a thing people still say?
His stomach growled, adding to his motivation to get up and go spend some time in the company of friends. Friends. He was still getting used to having more than one. But, as he looked out the window at the ones he had come to call friends, his trepidation melted a little.
Get off your rump and get out there, Wyborn, he told himself in his grandmother's voice. Wybie stood to his feet, leaned backwards until his spine popped once, then walked outside and closed the hotel room door behind him.
"Well, if it isn't Hermes, the god of invention!" called Dipper from the golf cart.
"I love what you've done with your hair!" called Mabel cheerfully, clapping her hands together in what was, no doubt, sugar-induced jubilation.
Wybie rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Please," he scoffed, "I woke up this way."
"And nobody rocks bedhead like Wyborn Lovat," countered Mabel, pointing a finger gun at him and giving him a wink. He allowed his smile to spread a little further. Mabel had one of the most colorful personalities Wybie had ever encountered. After the Loboto incident, Coraline had told Wybie that Mabel talked more than he ever had.
"Thanks," he answered. "Nice sweater. Did you get a part-time job as a disco ball?"
"He got you," said Dipper.
"He got me," agreed Mabel.
"How did you know we wanted to get out?" asked Norman curiously. Dipper shrugged.
"It's almost lunchtime, it's a rainy day, the wifi at the hotel is garbage, and-"
"- and your Dad's a total blowhard!" Mabel cut in.
Just then a door opened, and an overweight middle-aged man with an uneven goatee poked his head out through the opening.
"This blowhard is trying to make a phone call," said Perry Babcock, Norman's father. "What are you kids doing out in the rain?"
Six pairs of eyes looked back at Perry, each clearly not keen on being the one to reply. Finally, Norman sacrificed himself.
"We're going to the diner to get some food, and then maybe have a look around the town. See what happens. That kind of thing."
Perry studied the children with narrowed eyes, then finally shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, fine. Just stay together, and stay out of trouble. Try to be back before dark. And, uh. . . have fun."
With that, Perry retreated back inside the hotel room to resume dealing with auto parts salesmen. The six Mystery Kids looked at one another with wide grins.
"Road trip?" asked Coraline. "Before we get soaked?"
"Road trip!" said the Pines twins in unison.
"Road trip!" called the rest.
Neil and Norman piled into the back of the golf cart.
"Full steam ahead," called Neil. Dipper looked at Wybie.
"Follow us?" he asked.
Wybie crossed his arms, smirking at Dipper with his head cocked to the side.
"I'll beat you there," he replied. Mabel gasped.
"You're on, Bedhead!" She reached over and grabbed her brother by the collar. "Step on it, Dipper!"
As the golf cart took off, Wybie and Coraline could hear Dipper's response.
"Which part of 'it's a golf cart' do you not get?"
Wybie chuckled and turned around to get his dirt bike. Behind him stood Coraline, fastening the strap on her studded biking helmet.
"Ready to go?" she asked him.
Wybie chuckled yet again.
"I was born ready."
So the pair took off on Wybie's dirt bike, tearing across the dirt roads of Gravity Falls.
Being a humble soul, Wybie never told who arrived at Greasy's Diner first. But if you ask Coraline, the look on Dipper's face as the dirt bike whizzed past the golf cart was worth Dipper's weight in gold.