Another Language

Isaac Guerrero wasn't really extraordinary in any way. Despite that, he tended to stand out. At school, it was his caramel skin tone and accent; at home, it was his height and lack of "manliness" (according to his five younger hermanas).

And while he was used to the kind of attention he garnered – lots of low-key stares and lots of dodged conversations – he wasn't expecting the attention he happened to garner on an average Wednesday afternoon.

It came out of nowhere.

A girl sidled up to his side in the lunch line, blinding smile permanently fixed on her face. She was batting her eyelashes way more than what was necessary, and it was making him kinda dizzy. To top it off, her tray was so close to his that their arms touched, sending shivers up his spine.

"Hi." She said breathlessly, "I'm Mabel. But you can just call me 'Made For You'!"

She winked.

"Um…" he stammered, scooting farther down the line and bypassing the mac n' cheese he'd been looking forward to in his haste.

"Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you, I smile."

Now, the fact that this Mabel girl had just dropped a pick-up-line on him was not lost on Isaac. The problem was that his brain wasn't supplying him with anything except static and a few key observations: her hair was long and soft, her cheeks were rosy and pink, her eyes glittered in a way that indicated she was in on a joke one-hundred percent of the time. Now how was that more important than a response!?

"Um…" he echoed, reminding him of his amigo, Will. He missed the carton of chocolate milk he'd been aiming for; a carton of orange juice was what made it onto his tray instead.

Mabel seemed oblivious to his plight as she pressed on, "Do you know what this sweater is made of?" He shook his head and she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Girlfriend material."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Unfocused, he mumbled an excuse and tried to get away. "Perdòname. Necesito comer almuerzo ahora." He just didn't realize he'd said it in Spanish until Mabel pointed it out… sorta.

"Ooooooo! You speak Mermish!" she squealed as she followed behind him, "That's so cool! My friend Mermando taught me some. Here, let me give it a shot. Uh… eres adorable y me haces sonreìr. Ha! I nailed it, didn't I?"

"Sure." Isaac whispered hoarsely, feeling his face heat up and his ears burn bright red. A few more steps and he made it to his table, promptly collapsing into a seat and burying his head in his hands. He could feel the quizzical stare Will was giving him. And unfortunately, he could still feel the sunny disposition that was this Mabel girl, standing beside him.

Mabel pulled up a plastic chair and plopped into it, "I think my lunch is going to be plentiful in vitamin U today."

Isaac groaned, but Mabel didn't seem to get the message.

"Are you a banana? Because I find you a-peeling!"

There seemed to be no escape.

"Mabel." A voice called sharply, making Isaac turn around and peek through his fingers to see who had spoken.

Dipper Pines was standing behind them, his eyes fixed on Mabel as he said with some exasperation, "Tia told me to come and get you before you embarrass yourself for the duration of your high school career, or something like that. She stole my book so…"

He trailed off, and a moment of cold silence passed. Only then did Dipper seem to notice who all was present. Isaac noticed that Dipper visibly cringed while Will shrank back. And it made his blood boil to see his shy friend look so guilty when he hadn't even done anything wrong!

Mabel broke the rising tension, "Bro-bro! I still had a bunch of lines left to use!"

Isaac raised an eyebrow, the familial similarities between the two sharpening.

"I don't think it's appreciated," Dipper had lost his assertive tone. His words were barely audible over the din of the lunch room.

Isaac fixed Dipper with a heated glare, "It's amazing you would realize when something's not appreciated."

Dipper looked down at his sneakers and shuffled his feet, not saying anything.

Will piped up, "Isaac…"

"No, this needs to be said!" Isaac snapped, feeling slightly guilty when Will suddenly found the cafeteria table more interesting than the conversation.

"What needs to be said?" Mabel asked, innocent curiosity.

Returning his glare to Dipper, Isaac growled, "I know you were the one that wrecked Will's locker."

Dipper didn't deny it, just shrugged, still staring at his sneakers.

"There wasn't any evidence." Mabel butted in, "Our uncle…"

"You uncle lied!" Isaac cut her off.

This time, it was Mabel's turn to shrug, "He didn't lie. But he didn't tell the truth. That's what Grunkle Stan does; it's his language."

Isaac felt like shouting, but he kept his tone low and forceful, "That's almost as dumb as saying I speak Mermish or whatever. How can you admit to something and still get away with it!?"

"Sorry." Dipper whispered to the floor.

Mabel stood up forcefully, her chair making a racket as it skidded back with the sudden motion, "No, Dip, you don't need to apologize for anything." Furious brown eyes locked with Isaac's, "Look here, amigo. Will is a nice kid; what happened isn't his fault; and we're not blaming him. But incriminating someone for their reaction to a trigger, that's just…" she seemed to run out of the right words to express herself.

Her fists clenched at her sides, Mabel heaved a deep breath. "You don't have the whole story."

"Mabel…" Dipper said cautiously. He put a consoling hand on his sister's shoulder, but she still didn't break eye contact with Isaac.

"I'm usually a pretty good judge of character." All Mabel's anger was gone, leaving raw emotion in its wake, "I'd thought you'd have a little more empathy." To Will, she smiled apologetically, "Sorry about having to duke it out in front of you. Some things just had to be said."

"No prob." Will squeaked, blushing and waving it off.

Isaac watched speechless as Mabel herded her brother back to their table. He saw a small, African-American girl hand a thick book back to Dipper and he promptly flipped it open, presumably to resume where he had left off when it had been stolen. A pasty, white girl clapped Mabel on the back and began describing something with all the exaggerated gestures it seemed to require. And while Mabel chattered with the other girls, she constantly shot concerned looks at Dipper.

Kinda like what he did when he was looking out for Will or his younger sisters. Defensive, protective, wanting to keep someone who'd already been damaged from harm. It was achingly familiar.

A sigh from Will interrupted Isaac's thoughts and he glanced over to give the quiet boy a quizzical look.

"She's cute." He said, before filling his mouth with his sandwich as if to halt further comments.

"Yeah, she is." Isaac agreed, remembering how his heart had pounded at her complements without his permission. But it wasn't enough to compensate for the considerable tongue lashing she'd given him. He shot a sneaky smirk at his friend, "You going to ask her out?"

Will choked and spewed Isaac with half-chewed bits of sandwich. Isaac guessed that, at this point, he probably deserved it – karma and all that.

So if his language was Mermish and Mabel's language was pick-up-lines, Isaac wondered what Dipper's was.

A sorta continuation of Good Neighbor for SophiaCrutchfeild, her friends that fell out of their seats laughing, and Malica15. It makes happy to know that you're thoroughly enjoying the story.

I really like Isaac, don't get me wrong. So please don't hate him! In my imagination he's not good with girls and a total cutie ^.^ He's just very defensive of his friends (read: those he takes under his wings *coughWillcough*) and in this case it led to some venting on Dipper, but Mabel set him straight.

In case you were wondering, Isaac's excuse to get away is: Excuse me, I need to eat my lunch now. Mabel's response: You are cute and make me smile (cause I feel like it's something Mermando would say to her ;)

Thank you all the reviewers who gave suggestions. I have some ideas and they will be in the works for the next few updates. Thanks for reading!