Mabel and I had agreed: spend winter break with our parents and then confront them once we got back to California. Somehow, she'd managed to keep crying without being caught by our parents. Recently, Wendy's been writing letters to us about how super scary things have been happening at Gravity Falls, and everyone is noticing it. That's extremely weird and creepy, and my parents said that Gravity Falls isn't good to be around at this time of year. I don't know what they're deal is, but I didn't even know I was adopted.
After security and all of that airport stuff, Mabel and I were doing rock, paper, scissors to determine who got the window seat. And because I have rotten luck, she won. To my left, my parents were just staring at us, looking extremely nervous. It was difficult to think happy thought when your so-called parents are sweating like hippos. "Hey Dipper, can we talk to you?" my dad asks when Mabel is doing her victory dance. I nod and walk five steps away from Mabel.
"During security, the officials told us that our tickets weren't purchased, but you two can still go," my mom sputters out. I look at her as if she suggested we run over our grandma. "Wh-hat? This was a family vacation!" I yell a little loud and attract the attention of nearby passengers. "I'm sorry Dipper, but we just called a friend of ours that is going to pick you up at the airport there. His name is Mr. Brunner. He was one of my teachers in college," my dad explains. So that's it? They save all of this money planning things and now, Mabel and I were going alone? I breathe in and out and don't even hug or say bye to my parents. They call for flight 218, and I grab my carry on and Mabel's hand. She waves bye to our parents, probably thinking that we were on first class and they had to wait for economy. We sit down and Mabel started playing with the barf bags.
"My bag just barfed all over you, Dipper!" Mabel laughs. I take a deep breath and explain about how the tickets got mixed up and how we weren't going to be with our parents as quickly as possible. Mabel starts laughing as says, "I see what you did there! You're trying to trick me, aren't you?" I put on a super serious face and tell her again. She just sits there and stares out the window.
Mabel hasn't moved for six hours- she has been sitting in the same position for six hours! No food, water, bathroom break, sleep, nothing! When the plane lands, she comes out of her state of shock and becomes all happy again. She never ceases to surprise me.
After we get our luggage, I scan the pick up area. There. A man in a wheelchair is sitting nearby holding a sign with our names on it. How is her going to drive us wherever we're going? Mabel and I slowly walk over to Mr. Brunner.
"So you must be the children that Leo was talking about," he greets us. Leo? That was my dad's nickname- only a few close friends new it. Just like mine. Leo was the constellation stuck on my dad's forearm. It looked like a tattoo, but it was a birthmark. I nod and introduce ourselves.
"Hi. I'm Dipper and this is Mabel. My parent told me you were going to pick us up," I explain. He looks confused and replies with, "Your parents? Oh yes, your situation is much different than most of the campers." Campers? Where are we going? He calls a man over- I can't catch his name- and the guy grabs our bags. It may be my imagination, but the guy either has shimmery tattoos or a bunch of eyeballs. It's hard to tell. Mabel begins talking to Mr. Brunner about unicorns and sweaters and how she misses her pet pig, Waddles. I didn't want Mr. Brunner to get a bad impression of us, but he was liking Mabel fine. We got into the back of a strawberry truck and the tattooed guy took off.
Although New York is known for its traffic, the truck just seemed to fly over the cars. Literally fly over. Mabel was laughing, for some unknown reason. Soon, we were looking at the Atlantic Ocean. Why were we leaving the city? No one said anything the entire ride until we stopped at a farm. Farm? We were in New York! Why stop at a farm?
"I'm surprised you're both still alive," Mr. Brunner comments. Well sure, we were attacked by things in Gravity Falls, but how does he know about that? Without hesitation, Mabel skips up a hill to a single tree. "Woah, Dipper! Check this out!" she gestures. I reluctantly follow but then look at Mr. Brunner for an explanation.
"Dipper and Mabel Pines, welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
