Today was a special day at the Mystery Shack. The shack was entirely cleared out to make room for a really special event. Wendy, Soos, and Sammy were making preparations while Dipper and Mabel were sitting on a couch, playing with cans of silly string.
"Oh no, Mabel. I-I don't feel so good. I– BBBBLLLAAAA!," groaned Dipper, spraying silly string all over Mabel's face while pretending to vomit. "Ohhh, Grunkle Stan, what did you feed us?! BBBBBLLLAAAA!," groaned Mabel, doing the exact same thing to Dipper. The two of them continued spraying silly string at each other's faces until their cans ran out. "Hahaha, barfing!," Mabel giggled. Suddenly, Wendy ran up to them with a serious expression on her face. "Guys, guys, stop! Something terrible just happened!," she said. Dipper and Mabel stared at her with worry, wondering what she meant. "BBBBLLLAAAA!," groaned Wendy, spraying both of the twins with silly string. Everyone started laughing hysterically. "Comedy gold!," cried Mabel as she tossed confetti into the air. Then, Stan swooped in like a hawk and took away their cans of silly string and confetti. "Alright, alright! Party supplies are now off-limits," he said.
"Mr. Pines, whose birthday is it again?," asked Soos. Sammy looked at him in confusion. "Soos, we had a meeting about this only yesterday. Did you already forget?," he asked. "It isn't anyone's birthday, Soos," said Stan, rolling his eyes. "Thought this party might be a good way to get kids to spend money at the Shack." "Nice!," said Soos. "The young people of this town want fun; I'll smother 'em with fun!," Stan said with a slightly maniacal grin on his face.
"Maybe comments like that are why kids don't go to the Mystery Shack," said Dipper, pouring Mabel some soda. "Hey, hey!," said Stan, snatching the cup away and pouring the soda back into the bottle. "Hows about you make yourself useful and copy these flyers?" He handed Dipper and Mabel a bunch of flyers for the party. "Oh boy, a trip to the copier store!," Mabel said excitedly. "Calendars, mugs, t-shirts and more! They got it all at the copier store! That's not their slogan, I just really feel that way about the copier store," said Soos. "That sounded good. Maybe that should be their slogan," Sammy said with a chuckle. "Save the trouble. You know the old copier in my office? I finally fixed the old girl up! Good as new!," Stan said proudly.
"Hold on, you want them to use that old thing?!," Sammy asked in alarm. "Mister Pines, don't you remember when Soos tried to use that copier last week? He got electrocuted so badly that his heart stopped beating! Wendy and I had to give him CPR!" "Oh yeah, I remember that. Heh, that was a good time," said Soos, chuckling fondly. "Dude, you almost died," Wendy said in a deadpan voice. "Yeah… maybe it's best if you don't send two kids to use a copier that has a tendency of electrocuting people, Grunkle Stan?," Dipper asked sarcastically. Stan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Okay, fine! Sammy can come with you and Mabel to make sure nothing bad happens. Geez, kids these days are getting softer and softer…," he grumbled.
Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy went to Stan's office and found the copier, which was covered up by an old, white sheet. Sammy took the sheet off and a couple of moths flew into the air. "Butterflies!," Mabel gasped happily, staring at the moths in wonder. "Does it even work?," asked Dipper, staring at the old, broken down copier. "Only one way to find out," said Sammy. "Stay back, guys. You wouldn't want to get shocked like Soos did." The twins quickly took a step back. Sammy put on a pair of protective gloves, then pressed a button to turn it on, unknowingly scanning his arm in the process. After scanning his arm, the copier printed out a paper with a black and white picture of Sammy's arm on it. "It does work now. Thank goodness," Sammy sighed in relief, taking his gloves off. "I'll be honest, I didn't really believe Stan when he said he fixed the copier. He would slap duct tape on something and consider it to be 'fixed.'"
"Sure looks like a success to me!," said Mabel, picking up the paper. Suddenly, the paper started shaking, as if it had a life of its own. "Whoa!," cried Mabel, quickly dropping it. Everyone stared in shock as the picture of Sammy's arm suddenly regained its color… then tore itself from the paper, turning three-dimensional in the process, and started crawling towards them. "Is… is that my ARM?!," gasped Sammy, shocked by what he was seeing. "Stay back!," yelled Dipper, throwing some soda at the arm. To their surprise, the soda immediately began eating through the arm like acid, quickly disintegrating it. The three of them stared at the puddle that was left behind, a mixture of soda and ink from the copier. "I printed a photo of my arm… and it came to life," Sammy said shakily. "Stan, what the heck did you do to that copier?!" "Oh my gosh! Guys, I think this copier can copy human beings!," gasped Dipper. "Do you realize what this means?," asked Mabel, staring at them. Then, because it was Mabel, she immediately broke the tension by spraying them in their faces with silly string. "BBBBLLLAAAA!," she groaned.
Dipper wiped the silly string from his face and glared at Mabel. "Really, Mabel? Really?," he groaned. "Sorry, guys. I just couldn't resist," Mabel apologized, smiling sheepishly. Sammy also wiped away the silly string, then stared at the copier. "So… we can all agree that this does not leave the room, right?," he asked. The twins nodded in agreement. "Okay… in that case, let's just go to the copier store and print out flyers there," said Sammy. "At least their copiers can't copy human beings… I hope they don't…" After that, the three of them quickly went to the copier store, copied their flyers there, and arrived back at the mystery shack with nobody else being any the wiser. Eventually, Stan called them back for another short meeting.
"Alright party people… and Dipper," said Stan, causing Dipper to frown in irritation. "Let's talk business. Soos, because you'll work for free, and you begged, I'm lettin' you be DJ." "You won't regret it, Mr. Pines," Soos said excitedly, holding up a book that had a picture of a DJ on the front cover. "I got this book to teach me how to DJ R-R-Right!" "Not encouraging. Wendy, you and Mabel are working the ticket stand," said Stan. "What? But Grunkle Stan, this party is my chance to make new friends!," cried Mabel. Seeing an opportunity to get close to Wendy, Dipper quickly seized it. "I… I could work with Wendy," he suggested. Stan rolled his eyes. "You realize if you do, you gotta commit to staying at the ticket stand with Wendy. No getting out of it, just the two of you, alone, all night," he said. Dipper glanced at Wendy, who sprayed some silly string on Soos' belly, then laughed along with Mabel, Soos, and Sammy. Wendy's laugh was possibly the most beautiful thing Dipper had ever heard. "I promise," he said.
Later that night, Dipper was standing in front of a mirror in the attic, adjusting a bow tie that he clipped onto his shirt. Sammy was laying on his bed and reading a book, just passing the time until the party started. "How do I look, Sammy?," asked Dipper. Sammy looked away from his book and looked at Dipper. He wasn't dressed any differently than before, other than that bow tie. "You look great," he said, giving him a thumbs up. Dipper looked at himself in the mirror again. "Hmmm… maybe some body spray will help. What do you think, Sammy? Do you think I should put on some body spray?," he asked. "Sure, but what would you need body spray for?," asked Sammy. "It's a party, not a homecoming dance." "Yeah, but… Wendy's gonna be there," Dipper said dreamily. "And I need everything to be perfect for tonight! You know what, I'll just get the body spray." He turned around to get the spray, then jumped and let out a startled yelp when he saw that Mabel was standing right behind him. "AH!" Sammy also jumped a little, not realizing that Mabel had entered the room. She had a giant grin on her face.
"What?," asked Dipper. "Uh, uh, I could work the counter with you, Wendy! Let's kiss!," Mabel said, poorly imitating Dipper's voice while pretending to kiss someone. "Come on, Mabel. Be nice to your brother," Sammy chided her lightly. "This means a lot to him, you know." "Thank you, Sammy. And you can laugh all you want, Mabel, but I devised a plan to make sure my night with Wendy goes perfect," Dipper said confidently. "Plan? Oh, you're not making one of those overcomplicated listy things, are you?," asked Mabel, cringing a little. Dipper rolled his eyes. "Psh. Over complicated? Let me just…" He took a seemingly small square of paper out of his vest, but when he started unfolding it, it turned out to be a huge list that was even longer than Dipper's height. "...alright, fold that there, kay. Step 1: Getting to know each other with playful banter. Banter is like talking but smarter." "That sounds like a dumb idea for poopheads," said Mabel, frowning. "Yeah, see? This isn't banter. This is what I want to avoid with Wendy," Dipper said crossly. "The final step is to ask her to dance." Then, Dipper went quiet for a moment and looked up at the ceiling with lovestruck eyes. "...is he daydreaming right now?," asked Sammy. "Yep. Dipper's probably imagining himself wooing Wendy with his list. And being taller," Mabel said nonchalantly. Eventually, Dipper snapped out of his daydream and continued.
"If I follow steps 1 through 11, nothing can get in my way!" Even though Sammy liked how confident Dipper was, he still couldn't help but feel that Dipper was really overanalyzing this. "Dipper, I like your enthusiasm, but… don't you think you're depending too much on that list?," he asked. "What do you mean?," asked Dipper, raising an eyebrow. "Well… it's good to have a plan and all, but that's not how romance works in real life," said Sammy. "You can't just check out some boxes and expect everything to go smoothly. There will always be something out of your control, no matter how much you plan ahead. Here's my advice, Dipper. Be yourself. It's very simple advice, but I still think it's pretty valuable nonetheless." "Sammy, I understand why you're worried, but don't be," Dipper said confidently. "I've spent hours working on this list. I've prepared for every possible outcome and every eventuality. I seriously doubt that anything could go wrong tonight, not with a foolproof plan like this!" "Well… if you're sure," said Sammy, shrugging. He still didn't quite agree, but decided to let Dipper give it a try anyway.
"Dipper, why can't you just walk up and talk to her like a normal person?," sighed Mabel. "Step 9, sister!," answered Dipper, pointing at the ninth step on his list, which literally said, talk to her like a normal person. Mabel rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Okay, you do you, bro-bro. And while you're obsessing over your dumb list, meanwhile, I'm gonna get ready for the party tonight! Oh, I can't wait to make some new friends!" Mabel ran out of the room, giggling with excitement. Dipper folded up his list and placed it back into his vest. "Are you sure that nothing will go wrong for you, Dipper?," asked Sammy. "You never know what could happen at a party. Remember last time when we went to Dusk 2 Dawn with Wendy and her friends?"
"Sammy, that was a haunted convenience store. We're at the shack! Trust me, nothing bad is gonna happen. Have some faith in the list," said Dipper. "Kids!," Stan suddenly called from downstairs. "The first customers are already showing up! Get down there and help me take their money!" "Looks like the party's finally started. Ready, Dipper?," asked Sammy, putting his book down. Dipper quickly sprayed himself and straightened his cap. "Ready."
Everyone went downstairs and started letting the customers in. Dipper and Wendy both went outside to man the ticket stand. Soos was already at the DJ stand while trying to figure out how to use the sound FX machine in front of him. Sammy was standing at the back of the room, then Mabel joined him. "You look good, Mabel," Sammy complimented. "I like the bow you put in your hair." "Aw, thank you!," said Mabel, now wearing a red bow in her hair, two triangle shaped earrings, and a large, pink sweater. "You look good too, even though you look exactly the same as before." "I couldn't really decide what clothes to change into," Sammy said with a shrug. He looked around in confusion. "Where's Stan, by the way? He wouldn't miss his own party, would he?" "Did someone call?," said a familiar gruff voice behind them. The two of them turned their heads and saw Stan emerging from behind a nearby curtain. He was wearing a white shirt with the collar popped open, revealing a golden necklace, and brown pants. "Yadda dee, yada doo, yada doo," he sang, dancing over to them. "Can your uncle throw a party or what?"
"The energy, it's electric!," Soos spoke into his microphone, then tried to find the button that made the lightning sound. "Uhh, lightning, lightning, lightning, lightning…"
"Yeah, this is really impressive, Mister Pines," said Sammy. "I wouldn't have expected you to put so much money into this party." "And that's why I'm charging an exit fee of 15 bucks if anyone wants to leave!," said Stan. "Okay, that makes more sense," Sammy chuckled. "Look at all these new people!," gasped Mabel, staring at the large crowd in the room. "I wonder which of them are gonna be my new friends." "Well, you won't figure that out by just standing there and staring at them," said Sammy, nudging her forward. "Go on, Mabel. Have fun."
"Whoo!," cheered Mabel, running onto the dance floor. Sammy chuckled at Mabel's enthusiasm, then noticed that Stan was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?," he asked. "I'm just trying to figure you out, kid," said Stan. "No offense, but you're not like any other teenager I've ever met before. I've never heard you swear or be sarcastic, you like watching The Duchess Approves - and who can blame you, it's a great movie - and not only that, you treat my niece and nephew like they're your own kids. You just act a lot… older than kids your age. You know what I mean?" "Oh! Um… I guess that's just who I am," said Sammy, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get some snacks. See you later, Mister Pines!" He quickly walked away. "Uh, see ya, kid," said Stan, confused.
When Sammy got to the snack table, he let out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one," he whispered, pouring himself some pitt cola. After taking a few sips to calm himself down, he noticed Mabel running towards him with two other girls that he had never seen before. One of them was an asian girl with glasses and forks taped to her fingers. The other girl was very large, with a small ponytail and a lizard on her shoulder. Sammy was surprised that Mabel managed to make two new friends so quickly, but then again, it wasn't really surprising at all.
"Hey, Sammy!," Mabel cried with a huge smile on her face. Sammy gulped down his soda and smiled back. "Hey, Mabel," he said. "It looks like you made some new friends. Do you mind introducing them?" "This is Candy!," said Mabel, gesturing to the small asian girl. "And this is Grenda!" She gestured to the other, much larger girl. "They're both my people!"
"Your… people?," asked Sammy, smiling with amusement. "Yep! My people!," Mabel proclaimed proudly. "Girls, this is one of my best friends, Sammy." "It's a pleasure to meet you both," said Sammy, reaching out to shake their hands. "Awesome! Put er' there!," said Grenda, squeezing his hand so hard that his knuckles made cracking sounds. "Wow. You've got… quite a grip there, Grenda," said Sammy, wincing a little. "But what's wrong with your voice, if you don't mind me asking? Do you have a cold?" "My voice? What do you mean?," asked Grenda, sounding genuinely confused. "Oh, uh, never mind," said Sammy. "You do not want to shake my hand," said Candy, showing off the forks that were taped to her fingers. "I am a wolverine. I will scratch you! Rawr!" She raked the air with her fork fingers. "I'll keep that in mind," said Sammy, chuckling a little. "What are you doing at the snack table, Sammy?," asked Mabel. "You should be out on the dance floor and showing the world your moves! Ooh, or maybe you could enter the party contest that's about to happen soon. The winner gets a party crown!"
Sammy was about to politely decline, when Soos suddenly made an announcement about the party competition. "Remember dudes," he said, reading from his book about DJing, "who ever, um, party hardies, what? Gets the party crown! Most applause at the end of the night wins!" Mabel gasped loudly. "It's starting already! Sammy, please say you'll participate! Me, Candy, and Grenda are gonna enter the contest too. You should totally join us!"
Sammy laughed nervously. "Girls, I'm sorry, but I don't really want to be the center of attention right now," he declined. "Awww!," Candy and Grenda groaned simultaneously. Mabel frowned and was about to ask why when suddenly, a young girl walked up to Soos along with a group of her friends. The girl was blond, had hoop earrings, purple eyeliner, and a bratty smirk on her face. "Party crown? I'll take that, thank you very much!," she said snobbishly.
"Who's that?," asked Mabel. "The most popular girl in town, Pacifica Northwest," said Candy, adjusting her glasses. "I always feel bad about myself around her," Grenda said with a sad look. "Oh. The Northwests," Sammy muttered with some disdain. "I had no idea they were here in Gravity Falls." The three girls looked up at him in confusion. "Wait. You already knew her family?," asked Mabel. Sammy hissed a little, realizing that he may have said too much. "Yeah, you can say something like that," he said hesitantly. "They're not… really pleasant people to be around." The three girls looked at each other with some confusion, then shrugged.
"I can't just give you the crown. It's sort of a competition thing," Soos explained. Pacifica just laughed and rudely snatched his microphone. "Honestly, who's gonna compete against me? Fork girl? Lizard lady?," she asked, pointing at Candy and Grenda. Then, she and her friends started laughing mockingly. "Hold me, Candy!," cried Grenda, hugging Candy tightly. "Our kind isn't welcome here!," cried Candy. Both of them sounded like they were on the verge of tears. While Sammy felt both sadness for the two girls and a deep disappointment in Pacifica acting no better than her parents, all Mabel felt was an indignant rage against the pompous brat who dared to make her new friends cry like that. Hiding her rage behind a happy and carefree mask, she walked up between Soos and Pacifica. "Hey, I'll compete!," she said confidently.
Everyone else at the party gasped at what they heard, and for good reason. After all, the Northwests were the wealthiest and most prestigious family in Gravity Falls, so to hear someone challenging one of them was something none of them expected to happen tonight.
"I'm Mabel," said Mabel, holding out her hand. Instead of shaking it, Pacifica recoiled, as though it was a poisonous snake. "That sounds like a fat old lady's name," she sneered. "I'll take that as a compliment!," Mabel said cheerfully. "May the better partier win," said Pacifica, before walking away menacingly with her friends. "Nice meeting you!," hollered Mabel, waving at her. Then, once Pacifica was out of earshot, Mabel dropped her entire facade. "She's going down," she growled angrily. "Mabel, are you sure this is the right way to do things?," asked Sammy. He would be lying if he said that Pacifica didn't need to be taken down a peg or two, but… well, she was still a Northwest, and Sammy knew how cruel and callous that family could be. Of course, he knew it was unfair to assume that Pacifica was anything like the rest of her family, but he still couldn't help but worry for Mabel. "Sammy, I'm like a bajillion percent sure!," said Mabel. "She just made fun of my new girlfriends. She's not getting away with this!" "YEAH!," yelled Grenda, beating her chest like a gorilla. "You must defend our honor, Mabel Pines," said Candy, the light reflecting from her glasses. "Make her grovel! Make her feel the despair of defeat!"
"Whoa, okay, that's a little much, Candy," said Sammy, quickly calming her down. "You should join us, Sammy!," said Mabel, giving him a pleading look. "You can help us put that big meanie in her place!" "Mabel, I'm not going to enter a contest just to help you get revenge on someone," said Sammy, frowning a little. "And you shouldn't either. This is a party. You should be having fun like any other kid your age. The same goes for Candy and Grenda."
"But we'll never have fun if Pacifica's gonna keep gloating at us!," complained Grenda. "We need to humble her!," Candy said vindictively. "Pleeease?," asked Mabel, looking up at Sammy with wide eyes. Sammy winced and tried to look away. "The puppy dog eyes? Again? You and Dipper really need to stop doing that." But he quickly caved in. "Okay, okay. You can participate in the party contest to take Pacifica down a peg…," he sighed. The three girls started cheering. "But on one condition!," Sammy said sternly, silencing them. "Whatever happens, you will not resort to bullying her yourselves. The last thing I want is for you girls to follow Pacifica's example and start mocking her back. You three have the moral high ground right now, and I want you all to stay there. Is that understood?" Mabel, Candy, and Grenda nodded in unison, and it seemed as though they were taking what he said seriously. "Okay, good," said Sammy, smiling a little. "Other than that, remember to have some fun. This is still a party."
The three girls nodded again and immediately left with looks of excitement on their faces. "Wow, that was really mature of you, dude," said a familiar voice behind him. Jumping a little, he turned around and saw Wendy standing behind him. "Oh. Hey, Wendy," said Sammy. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be outside at the ticket stand with Dipper." "Don't worry, he's covering for me," said Wendy. "Hey, you're not gonna snitch on me to Stan, are you?" "My lips are sealed," chuckled Sammy. He couldn't help but wonder why Dipper agreed to cover for Wendy if his plan was to woo her, though. Was it part of his list?
"Anyway, I just wanted to join in on the party," said Wendy. "Then, I overheard you talking to Mabel and those two other girls. Gotta say, I'm kinda impressed. Any other guy I know would have encouraged them to focus on beating Pacifica, but you told them to just have fun and not worry about beating her." "Of course," said Sammy, turning his head to look at Mabel, who was already dancing like crazy for the party crown while Candy and Grenda cheered her on. "Kids their age shouldn't be focusing on things like pride and petty revenge. That's all adult stuff they can worry about years later. For now, I say let kids be kids." Wendy snickered. "Sorry, but isn't it a little weird for you to say that when you're, you know, technically a kid yourself?"
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that for a moment," Sammy murmured under his breath, though Wendy was barely able to hear him. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering what he could possibly mean by that, but before she could ask any questions, another familiar face showed up. "Oh, hey Robbie!," she greeted. "Hey, Wendy!," said Robbie, his smile vanishing when he saw Sammy. "And hey… you." "Um… hello, Robbie," said Sammy, reaching out for a handshake. "It's nice to see you again." Sammy wasn't so oblivious as to not notice the tension between them, but he tried to remain cordial in hopes of relieving that tension. Considering that Robbie was just standing there and sneering at Sammy's hand, it wasn't working.
"You remember Sammy, right?," asked Wendy. "Back at the convenience store?" "Psh! No," said Robbie, rolling his eyes. "I don't remember him at all." Suddenly, Dipper walked up to them with a happy spring in his step. "Great news, Wendy!," he said. "I got somebody to cover the concessions for me!" "That's awesome. You can hang out with me, Sammy, and Robbie," said Wendy. "Oh, hey Sammy," said Dipper, giving Sammy a friendly wave. "And hey there… R-Robbie?!" Apparently, he hadn't even noticed that Robbie was also with them.
"Robbie, you remember Dipper, right?," asked Wendy. "He was with Sammy back at the convenience store." "Uh, no," Robbie replied disdainfully. "Yo, Wendy, check out my new guitar." He put down his guitar case, took out his new guitar, and started playing it. "Whoa, cool!," said Wendy, seemingly impressed. Even Sammy had to admit that Robbie's guitar skills weren't half bad. "Hey, that sounds pretty good," he complimented. "Were you ever part of a rock band or something?" Robbie stopped playing for a moment and stared at Sammy, taken aback. "...uh, no, not really," he said hesitantly. "It's always been my dream to start a rock band, though. But I gave up on that a while ago. Never really had the time…" "Well, that's a shame," said Sammy. "You could've been pretty successful with guitar skills like that." Robbie suddenly scowled at him. "Whatever," he muttered, going back to playing his guitar. Sammy frowned a little, unsure as to why that just happened. It seemed like they were finally making a connection with each other, and suddenly, it just snapped. Did I say something wrong?, he thought.
Then, Sammy noticed that Dipper was being unusually silent and looked down at him, seeing that he appeared to be in a state of shock. "Hey Dipper, are you okay?," he whispered, tapping him on the shoulder. Dipper snapped out of it and smiled nervously. "I'm okay! Yep, I'm totally okay. Not… having a jealous fantasy about Wendy dancing with Robbie and punching me in the gut." "Um… okay?," asked Sammy. Suddenly, a phone in Dipper's pocket started ringing. "Who's calling you right now?," asked Sammy. For some reason, Dipper appeared even more nervous than before. "Uh, uh, y-you know, just some guy I met earlier today," he said. "W-we exchanged phone numbers. His name's, uh… Tyrone." "Wait. You made a new friend?," asked Sammy, raising an eyebrow. When Dipper nervously nodded, a big smile appeared on Sammy's face. "Well, that's great!," he said happily. "I'm so happy for you, Dipper! When can I meet him?" "You can't!," cried Dipper, causing Sammy to flinch in surprise. "I-I mean… he's really shy. He's really uncomfortable around new people. So you'll probably never see him. Ever."
Sammy stared at Dipper for a while, which made the latter even more nervous. "I'm just gonna… take that call," he said, quickly walking away while answering his phone. Sammy stood there in confusion, wondering what the heck just happened. "Hey, Sammy!," Wendy called over to him. "Me and Robbie are gonna sit on the couch! You can join us anytime you want." "Okay! Thanks, Wendy!," Sammy called back. With not much else to do, he decided to check on Mabel and her new friends. He waded through the crowd and approached the three girls, who were watching Pacifica singing on stage. "So how's the party contest going?," he asked.
"We are watching Pacifica sing right now," answered Candy. "After her, it will be Mabel's turn." As Sammy listened to Pacifica's singing, he had to admit that her singing voice was spot on. "Always means forever, ALWAAAAAYYYSS! Forever," she sang, pointing at the audience as she whispered that last word. At the same time, someone's plastic cup exploded.
"I used to sing like that, before my voice changed," Grenda said glumly. "Pacifica pulls ahead!," Soos announced. Pacifica stepped off the stage, walked towards Mabel, and handed her the microphone. "Try and top that!," she sneered. "Oh, Grenda, by the way, you sound like a professional wrestler." She walked away and laughed at her own "joke." "I WANNA PUT HER IN A HEADLOCK AND MAKE HER FEEL PAIN!," yelled Grenda, only proving Pacifica's point. "Are you ready, Mabel?," asked Sammy. "Ready? I was born ready!," cried Mabel. "And it's not over 'til it's over, sisters! Watch this." She ran onto the stage, ready to perform. "Soos! Give me the 80s-ist, crowd pleasing-ist, rock ballad-y-ist song you got!" Soos changed the music setting on the karaoke machine with a remote so it started playing Don't Start Un-Believing.
"Excellent," Mabel said with a smile, then proceeded to sing her heart out. "Don't start UNBELIEVING! Never don't not feel your feelings!" Everyone, including Sammy, began cheering for her. Mabel was nowhere near as talented as Pacifica when it came to singing, but her song had a heart that more than made up for it. She twirled the microphone around like a cowboy swinging a lasso. "NOW I'M GONNA DO A FLIP!," she yelled, and did exactly that. However, she ended up face planting onto the floor, but that didn't discourage her in the slightest. "THAT WAS FOR YOU GUYS!" Everyone except for Pacifica cheered for her even louder.
Then, Sammy noticed Dipper running up to Soos and whispering something into his ear. Soos nodded, then spoke into his microphone. "Dudes, would the owner of a silver and red dirt bike please report outside. It is being stolen right now." Then, Sammy heard a commotion at the back of the room and turned around just in time to see Robbie running out the door. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Robbie's bike that got stolen, but something about this didn't sit right with Sammy, and it revolved around Dipper. How could Dipper have known that someone's bike was being stolen when he wasn't even outside? Why would he even care enough to tell Soos about it? And what were the chances that it was Robbie's bike that got stolen? Robbie, the same guy who was competing for Wendy's affection against Dipper? Sammy began to wonder if Dipper was plotting something, and if it had anything to do with that "Tyrone" guy…
"Now we're gonna bring it down for a minute. Ladies, dudes, now's the time," said Soos, playing a slow romance song. Everyone immediately started slow-dancing with a partner. Mabel noticed her brother trying to work up the courage to talk to Wendy, and she ran up to him. "Hey goofus, now's your chance to ask Wen–" Dipper quickly covered Mabel's mouth with his hands and moved her away from Wendy. Once they were out of earshot, Dipper uncovered Mabel's mouth. "Now's your chance to ask Wendy to dance! C'mon! Go!," she urged him on.
"Ok, ok," Dipper said nervously, walking back to Wendy. However, he hadn't even taken a few steps before changing his mind. "I– uh. Uh, I'll be right back!," he cried, running out of the room. Mabel was a bit confused, but chalked it up to Dipper being his usual, dorky self and went back to her friends. Sammy, on the other hand, was much more suspicious, and this time, he did not intend on letting Dipper get away. He sneaked after him, away from the party, and followed him up the stairs and towards the attic. After Dipper closed the door behind him, Sammy waited for a while, then walked up and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear Dipper talking, but he couldn't quite make out the words. Finally, Sammy knocked on the door.
Dipper immediately went quiet, which only heightened Sammy's suspicions. "Dipper, what's going on in there? Are you okay?," he asked worriedly. There was no answer. Sammy tried to open the door, but only got it open by a crack before someone ran up to the door and slammed it shut from the other side. "What the–?!," cried Sammy, jumping back in alarm. He tried to open the door again, but it was now locked. "Dipper, I know you're in there! Open the door!," he said irritatedly. "Don't come in here, Sammy! We're, uh, we're changing right now!," said Dipper. Now Sammy was more confused than ever. "Huh? Dipper, why on earth are you changing in there? What–?" His eyes grew wide with fear. "Wait a minute. Did you just say we? Is someone in there with you?! Is it Tyrone?!" Dipper didn't respond, but Sammy could hear a loud commotion coming from inside the attic. His heartbeat skyrocketed. He began to fear for the worst. What if the reason why Dipper was acting so strange lately was because he was in danger? What if Tyrone was actually a total psycho who wanted to hurt Dipper? What if the reason why they're alone in a room together is because Tyrone is about to–?!
Sammy shook, rattled, and slammed his shoulder against the door, but it refused to budge. He took a step back. "Sorry, Stan. I'll pay for the door myself." He gave the door a strong kick. Then, he kicked again. The door started buckling under the force. Finally, Sammy gave the door a third, mighty kick. It was enough to snap the door right off its hinges and cause it to fall flat on the floor. Dipper was inside, all by himself, staring at Sammy in shock.
"Whoa. That was amazing," Dipper murmured. Seeing that the window was open for some reason, Sammy ran over to it, then looked outside. Seeing nothing suspicious, he shut the window, then began checking everywhere around the room, under their beds, inside the closet, etc. Finding nothing, he ran over to Dipper and frantically checked him over for any possible injuries. It was only when he found no visible marks on Dipper that Sammy finally started to calm down. However, he still had many questions that needed to be answered.
"Dipper, I know you're up to something," he said sternly. "I want you to tell me the whole truth. Leave nothing out. You can start by telling me who Tyrone is." Dipper audibly gulped, his face filled with anxiety. "You… you really want to know the truth?," he asked. Sammy nodded and waited for an answer, standing over him with his arms crossed. Dipper took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Okay, here's the truth. The truth is…" He paused for a moment. "The truth is… Tyrone isn't real. I made him up." Sammy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You… made him up?," he asked. "But what about that phone call you received earlier? If Tyrone was never real, then who was calling you?" "It was a wrong number," Dipper said. "I… I saw that Robbie was hanging out with Wendy and I wanted to get away, but I didn't know how to excuse myself. But then I got that phone call from someone who had the wrong number, and I pretended the person calling me was someone I knew so I'd have a reason to leave." "But… no, no. Hold on," Sammy sighed, shaking his head. "This still makes no sense. Dipper, why did you want to get away so badly? Why couldn't you have just excused yourself normally? And why did you lie to me about knowing someone named Tyrone?" He honestly felt a little hurt about the last part.
"B-because I was embarrassed, okay?!," cried Dipper, then covered his own mouth in mortification. Out of all of the lies that he told Sammy just now, this was the only one that had a semblance of truth to it. "I… I was embarrassed. I felt insecure. I had so much confidence when I walked up to Wendy, but when I finally noticed that Robbie was there, all that self-confidence just… shattered. I didn't want Wendy to know, so I tried to get away. That's why I lied to you as well, Sammy. I didn't want you to know either…" As Dipper looked down at his feet in shame, he suddenly felt Sammy lean down and wrap his arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Dipper. I had no idea you were going through that," Sammy whispered. Dipper hugged him back. "It's okay. I shouldn't have lied to you anyway," he said. But that's exactly what you're doing right NOW, is it?, a part of himself hissed viciously. Dipper gulped and hugged Sammy tighter.
Eventually, the two of them separated themselves. "Well, I'm glad that everything's been cleared up, at least," said Sammy. But that wasn't completely true, though. To be honest, there were still some parts of Dipper's story that didn't quite add up. But Sammy still decided to give Dipper the benefit of the doubt and leave this whole situation alone. He was certain that Dipper knew what he was doing. "Hey, the night's still young," said Sammy. "The party's still going on downstairs. Would you like to come?" Dipper briefly glanced at the window. "Actually, I'm gonna stay here for a while," he said. "If you don't mind, I just need some time alone."
"Oh… okay, then," said Sammy, sounding a little disappointed. "Well, come down any time you'd like. Mabel's competing against Pacifica Northwest for the party crown. You, me, and Wendy can watch her compete and cheer her on." He turned around to leave, then saw the attic door laying on the floor. "Oh, the door. I almost forgot about that…," he murmured.
"Yeah, by the way, why did you kick the door down?," asked Dipper. "I mean, it looked awesome, but it was also kind of… extreme?" "Yeah… see, when you refused to open the door and I heard a commotion in here, I started fearing for the worst," said Sammy. "I was afraid that maybe Tyrone was holding you captive and was trying to…" He went very silent.
"...what? Trying to what?," Dipper asked curiously. Sammy remained silent for a while, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "You know what? You don't need to know. I-It's not something kids your age should ever be concerned about." Sammy picked up the door and propped it up against the wall. "I sure hope Stan won't be too mad about the door," he said. "Anyway, I'll see you downstairs, yeah?" Sammy walked out of the attic, down the hallway, and down the stairs. Dipper stood there and waited, carefully listening to Sammy's footsteps until he could no longer hear them. Once he was certain that Sammy wasn't going to come up again, Dipper quickly ran over to the window, opened it, and looked down. Clinging to the bottom of the window frame, hanging just underneath the window, was an exact copy of Dipper, only his hat had the number 2 written on it in marker instead of the usual pine tree symbol. "Hey, you okay, Tyrone?," asked Dipper. "I'll be okay once you finally pull me up!," Tyrone snapped. Dipper reached down and pulled Tyrone through the window and into the attic. Then, he shut the window.
"Whoo! That was a close one, Dipper," said Tyrone, sighing in relief. "Good call getting me to hang beneath the window just before Sammy broke in. Who knows how badly our plan would've been impacted if Sammy found out that you cloned yourself, am I right?"
"Yeah. We were pretty lucky…," said Dipper. "And wow, your acting was top notch just now, Dipper!," Tyrone congratulated him. "Yeah, my… wait, hold on. My acting?," asked Dipper. "Yeah! I was listening in on you guys the whole time, you know," Tyrone said excitedly. "All that stuff you said about being embarrassed and insecure, about wanting to get away? I don't think I could've come up with that on my best day! Though technically, I am you, so I probably could if I put my mind to it. Ha!" "Oh, yeah!," said Dipper, laughing awkwardly. "That was totally something I made up on the spot. It's not… it's not like I actually feel that way. Heh heh…"
Meanwhile, Sammy went back down to see how Mabel was doing in the contest. She seemed to be handling herself quite well, enthusiastically doing the worm while the entire crowd, apart from an angry Pacifica, were cheering for her. "Hey, Sammy," Wendy greeted him. "Glad you could make it back to the party. You know where Dipper is?" "Oh, he's upstairs," answered Sammy. "He's just sorting out some issues. Don't worry, he's fine." "That's good to hear," said Wendy, nodding. "I was a little worried about that little dude, to be honest. He was acting kind of weird around me and Robbie." "Just party jitters. Everyone has them," said Sammy, watching Mabel and Pacifica duke it out with each other. "Wow, these two are really pouring their hearts out into this contest." "Yep, they've been partying non-stop to get that crown. My money's on Mabel, by the way," said Wendy. "Mabel Pines, the queen of partying," chuckled Sammy. "Hey, I'm gonna go use the restroom," Wendy excused herself. "See you in a bit, okay?"
After Wendy left to use the restroom, Sammy continued to watch as Mabel and Pacifica competed against each other for the party crown. Then, he noticed that Soos appeared to be distracted by a red dot moving on the wall. "A laser pointer…?," Sammy murmured, but before he could spot who was using it, out of nowhere, Stan suddenly bumped into him. "Whoa! Sorry about that, kid," the conman quickly apologized. "Say, you haven't happened to see a floating dollar bill around, have ya?" "Uh… no?," said Sammy, shaking his head. Stan groaned and walked away, grumbling under his breath. This is a weird party, Sammy thought.
After a while, Wendy came back. "Hey dude, I just talked to Dipper while I was waiting for the restroom," she said. "Really? That's nice. What did you two talk about?," Sammy asked curiously. Wendy shrugged casually. "Not much. We just talked about who the leader would be if we all got stuck on a desert island. Oh, and I also showed him a photo of me and my brothers back when we were younger. Wanna see?" She took out a photo and showed it to Sammy. It showed herself and a bunch of male redheads, which Sammy recognized as the boys he saw with their father, Manly Dan, in their boat on the lake. In the photo, Wendy was much taller and lankier than her brothers. She had messy pigtails, braces, and an irritated scowl.
"Wow, you were tall for your age," Sammy pointed out. "I'll take that as a compliment," said Wendy, putting the photo away. "Dipper also showed me his birthmark. You're not gonna believe it, but it's on his forehead, hidden under his hair, and it's literally shaped like the Big Dipper! You know, the constellation?" "Wow. I didn't know that," said Sammy, his eyes wide with surprise. "So 'Dipper' isn't even his real name?" "Nope. It's Mason," said Wendy. "That was a pretty cool talk we had earlier. We really learned a lot about each other." "That's… nice," said Sammy, smiling and nodding. On the inside, he couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Dipper never told him about his birthmark or his real name. So why did he tell Wendy instead?
As the contest went on, pretty soon, it was almost finished. "One more song, dudes, and then it's time for the bestowing of the party crown," Soos announced. "It's gonna be the–" He pressed one of the keys on his electric keyboard, which made an explosion sound. "Nailed it." Mabel walked up to Pacifica and held out her hand. "Pacifica, I just wanna say that whoever wins, it's been a super fun party," she said brightly. But once again, instead of shaking her hand, Pacifica proceeded to mock her even further. "Tsk. Awwww, it thinks it's gonna win. Hey, did you hear that? People clapping for the weird girls? Yeah, me neither." As Pacifica walked away, next to Sammy, Wendy groaned and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that spoiled brat," she sighed. "She's like this to everyone in town. The only reason she can do half the things she does now is because of her rich and powerful family." There was venom in Wendy's voice as she said that, which made Sammy wonder if she had some kind of personal grudge against the Northwests. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. "I hope I'm not offending you by saying this, but… what do you have against Pacifica's family?," he dared to ask. And like a switch was flipped, Wendy was no longer her usual, carefree self. Instead, she suddenly seemed angry and sullen.
"It was a really long time ago," she said flatly. "Back then, the Northwests were a group of settlers who wanted to make a name for themselves in Gravity Falls. My family was still living here at that time. Let's just say… the Northwests and the Corduroys have some really bad blood between them…" Sammy suddenly regretted ever bringing up the topic. "I'm sorry, Wendy. You don't have to continue," he said softly. Wendy sighed heavily. "You don't have to apologize," she said, smiling at him. Her smile was definitely a little sadder than before, though.
Suddenly, Robbie walked up to them, sweaty and tired. "Hey, Wendy," he said, breathing heavily. "Sorry I was gone for so long. There were these two kids who tried to steal my bike just now. I couldn't see their faces, but I was able to chase them down until they gave up and left my bike behind." "Cool. I'm glad you could make it, Robbie," said Wendy. "Hey Sammy, it was nice talking to you and all, but I'm gonna hang out with Robbie for a while. You don't mind, do you?" "No, not at all," said Sammy, shaking his head. "Have fun, you two." After Wendy and Robbie went to the other side of the room, Sammy put his attention back to the contest.
"Let the party crown voting commence!," Soos announced, playing a bell sound. "Good luck, Mabel," Pacifica said sarcastically. "Applaud to vote for Mabel," said Soos, holding up both of his arms over Mabel and Pacifica. Everyone in the room, including Sammy, cheered loudly and clapped their hands. As Soos intently listened to the audience, he slowly raised his arm above Mabel, like some kind of measuring meter, until it was at a ninety degree angle. "Let's check the applause meter. Oh, oh, very good," said Soos. Mabel smiled happily. "And the next contestant: Pacifica," said Soos. The cheers for Pacifica were much quieter than they were for Mabel, but all it took was a nasty glare from Pacifica to get a few more people to reluctantly clap. Soos raised his other arm until it was straight up, just like it was for Mabel.
"Uh-oh, a tie! This has like, never happened before," said Soos. But Pacifica refused to let it end like this. She looked around and noticed Old Man McGucket, who was sleeping on a bench in the corner of the room. She ran over to him and held a dollar bill under his nose. The old man sniffed the dollar bill, then woke up, took the money, placed it in his beard, and started clapping for Pacifica, who ran back onto the stage. Sammy sighed and shook his head sadly. It was very likely that McGucket didn't even know what was going on or what he was clapping for. Soos moved his arm above Pacifica just a smidgen, and the smile on his face quickly vanished. It was clear that he really wanted Mabel to win the contest. "Ladies and gentlemen, we–we have a winner. The winner of the contest, is Pacifica Northwest," he said in a disappointed voice as he handed the crown over to Pacifica, who gladly accepted it. "Thank you, Jorge. Thank you everyone! Everyone comes to the after-party at my parents' boat! Woo-hoo!"
"Pacifica! Pacifica! Pacifica!," the crowd cheered as they carried Pacifica out of the shack. The only ones left in the room were Soos, Mabel, Candy, Grenda, Sammy, and Stan, who was too busy counting his money in the corner to notice the recent drama. Wendy was nowhere to be seen, so she most likely left with Robbie. Sammy walked over to Mabel, knelt down beside her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Cheer up, Mabel," he said, trying to comfort her. "At least you did your best. And you still had fun doing it, didn't you?" "I guess…," Mabel sighed. "I just really wanted to win." She turned to face Candy and Grenda.
"Sorry I let you guys down," she sighed, looking down at her feet. "I understand if you wanna leave." "But then, we will miss the sleepover," Candy replied. Mabel looked up at them in surprise. "The what?," she asked. "We want to call our moms and see if we can sleep over here with you. You're like, a total rock star!," said Grenda. "I have magazine boys," Candy said as she held out a magazine. "Really? You GUUYS!," Mabel gushed happily. "Maybe we don't have as many friends as Pacifica, but we have each other, and that is pretty good I think," said Candy. "So what do you think, Mabel? Do you still think you lost?," asked Sammy, smiling down at her. Mabel began vibrating excitedly, a huge grin on her face. "Soos! Play another song! This thing's going all night!," she cried. "Way ahead of you, hambone," said Soos, playing a new song. All the people in the room started dancing. "This is it! This is it!," cheered Mabel. "Dance! Dance! Dance!," chanted Candy. Sammy started dancing along with them, but stopped when he finally realized something. "Hold on. Where's Dipper?," he asked, looking around. "He's missing out on the party." "Beats me, dude," said Soos. "Hm… hey, Mister Pines!," Sammy called over to Stan. "Have you seen Dipper anywhere?" "I dunno. What are you asking me for?," asked Stan, still not taking his eyes off the stack of dollar bills that he was counting in his hands.
"Hey, Mabel. I'm going to go upstairs and look for your brother," said Sammy. "Okay, but hurry up!," said Mabel, still dancing with her new friends. "I don't want you and Dipper to miss out on the fun!" Sammy nodded and went upstairs, then looked in the attic, only to find nobody there. He stood there and scratched his head. "Where are you right now, Dipper?"
Meanwhile, Dipper and Tyrone were sitting on the edge of the roof, drinking pitt cola together. After their big clone battle, they saw Wendy and Robbie together and, realizing that they messed up, decided to hang out on the rooftop. "Some night, huh?," asked Tyrone. As he said that, a shooting star flew across the night sky above them. "Do you think we even have a chance with Wendy? I mean she's 15, we're 12," said Dipper. "I don't know man, I hope so, but we're making zero progress the way we're doin' it. The only good conversation you had with her is when you didn't do anything in that list-stuff," said Tyrone. "I know. Mabel and Sammy were right, I do get in my own way," said Dipper. "Literally!," they said simultaneously, laughing at their little joke. "Wow!," Tyrone chuckled, making an explosion sound. Dipper chuckled as well, but he stopped and looked down with a sad look on his face. "Hey, cheer up," said Tyrone, bumping his shoulder. "You still have a chance with Wendy, dude. You've got the whole summer."
"Thanks Tyrone, but… that's not what's getting me down," sighed Dipper. Tyrone raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation. "...it's about Sammy," Dipper explained. "I can't stop thinking about what went on between me and him back in the attic. He just wanted to know the truth, and I… lied to his face…" "Well, you couldn't exactly have told him what was really going on," said Tyrone. "If Sammy knew that you were cloning yourself, he would've put a stop to it right away, and our plan to get close to Wendy would've been ruined." Dipper sighed heavily. "I know, but I still feel bad about it," he said. "I mean, think about it, man. From the start, Sammy always had my back. He fixed my journal after the gnomes ripped it up. He tried to protect us from those creepy wax figures. He tried to save me and Gideon when we were dangling off a cliff. He stayed around when I was training with the manotaurs to make sure I was safe. And how did I repay him? By calling him a bad friend? By being self-absorbed? By lying right to his face when he was only worried about me? Yeah, real friend material there…"
"Whoa, Dipper, relax," Tyrone said worriedly, seeing that Dipper was on the verge of tears. He quickly opened his can of soda and held it out. "What about a quick drink? Maybe that would calm you down." Dipper wiped his face and nodded. Maybe a sip of cola would calm him down. He opened his own can, and the two of them clinked their cans together before drinking from them. After that, Dipper really did start to calm down. "Hey. I think that worked."
"Oh boy, don't look now," said Tyrone. Confused, Dipper looked at Tyrone, then noticed the large hole that was quickly growing in the clone's stomach. Before he knew it, Tyrone's body was completely melting. "Tyrone!," gasped Dipper, horrified. "It's okay dude, I had a good run," Tyrone reassured him. "Remember what we talked about, okay? Quit being such a wimp around Wendy. For my sake!" "Uh-uh, of course," said Dipper. "And one more thing!," said Tyrone. "Talk to Sammy! He cares about you, okay? Talk… to… him… BLBLBLBLBLBL!" And just like that, a lifeless puddle of ink was all that remained of Tyrone, once a living, sentient being.
"Tyrone! You were the only one who understood," Dipper said sadly, pouring the rest of his soda away out of respect for his lost friend. "Ah! What the heck?," a familiar voice cried from below. Dipper peeked over the edge of the roof and saw Sammy standing below him, drenched in the soda that he had just poured out. "Sammy?," he asked. Sammy wiped the liquid from his face and looked up. "Dipper?," he asked, confused by what was going on. "What are you doing on the roof? And why did you just pour soda on me?" "...Sammy, there's something important I need to tell you," said Dipper. "Well, alright then," said Sammy. "But maybe you should get down first? It's a little dangerous up there." Dipper nodded and carefully hung himself from the edge of the roof, then let go. Sammy caught him in his arms and gently put him down. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Dipper," he said. "So… what exactly do you want to tell me?"
Nervously, Dipper proceeded to tell Sammy the whole truth about what happened, and this time, he didn't hide anything from him. He told him about the clones, about Tyrone, and how the clones turned against him, forcing him to kill all of them with water. As Dipper told his story, he noticed how the smile on Sammy's face slowly vanished and was replaced with a sad and hurt look, which only made Dipper feel even more terrible. Once he finished, Sammy was totally silent. Then, he spoke in a quiet voice. "So back in the attic… what you told me… was that all just another lie?," he asked. Dipper looked down at his feet and nodded, unable to look Sammy in the eye. "But… why?," asked Sammy. "Why do you still feel the need to hide things from me? Don't you trust me, Dipper?" "O-of course I trust you!," said Dipper. "But it's… I… argh! I don't know how to explain it, okay? It's just… for as long as I can remember, I've always been super paranoid around other people. I always keep things close to my chest because I'm afraid that someone might use them against me. I don't trust people easily, and I prefer to avoid them if I could. It's just… it's just who I am. I honestly have no idea what's wrong with me…"
"What? Who gave you that idea?," asked Sammy, his voice suddenly becoming stern and sharp. Dipper looked up at him in surprise. "Dipper, answer my question. Who told you that there's something wrong with you?," asked Sammy. "Because I'll find that guy myself and teach him a lesson he'll never forget." "W-whoa, wait a minute!," said Dipper, taken aback by Sammy's sudden aggression. "Sammy, no one told me that. It's just how I feel about myself."
Sammy's face softened, but his voice remained firm. "Then stop feeling that way," he said. "There is nothing wrong with you, understand? You're perfect, just the way you are." Upon hearing Sammy's kind words, Dipper was so moved that he buried his face in Sammy's sweater and started crying. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, his voice muffled by the sweater. "I'm so sorry for lying to you. I'm sorry for being such a bad friend." "Shhh. You're not a bad friend, Dipper," said Sammy, rubbing Dipper's back. "Yes, I am," Dipper insisted. "No, you're not," said Sammy. "Yes, I am!," cried Dipper. "You're not," said Sammy, hugging Dipper tighter. "And I'll keep repeating those same words over and over again, all night if I have to." As the two of them were hugging, Sammy looked towards the shack and saw everyone, Mabel, Stan, Soos, Candy, and Grenda, standing on the front porch with sadness and worry in their eyes. "It's okay, guys," Sammy said. "Dipper's just going through some things. But he'll be fine." "A-are you sure?," Mabel asked in a small, scared voice. "I'm positive," said Sammy, nodding. "Because he's got me."