Wow, I'm so glad people liked this! Sorry I haven't been updated it yet; to be honest, I don't actually know where this story is going, long-term. I don't know why Dipper's best friends/family vanished, and I haven't quite decided who wrote the note (but it's definitely either Stan, Wendy, Soos, or Mabel, if that wasn't clear).

I think I thanked the people I could message, but to the guests: Thanks a ton!

I'm gonna continue the story, that's for sure. So if anyone has ideas they don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear what you think happened. Why is Dipper the only one left, like one of the reviews said? Who- or what- is the problem here?

I've decided that if an entire paragraph is in italics, it's gonna be a flashback. I'll probably have a lot of those. I really liked writing about the other characters- hopefully, I did a decent job of making them funny- but I don't want to actually have them enter the story. Not yet, at least.

For some reason, I've realized I don't use the characters' names much. Seriously, in the first chapter, I think there were maybe two names. I think I like to see how clear I can make it without referencing names every five seconds. If that bugs you guys, let me know and I'll try to do better.

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The phone is ringing, and this is a bad idea.

"Hello?"

Yeah, this is definitely a bad idea.

"Hey, who is this?"

She's sneering, lip curled up. "Yeah, that's right. You need your brother to stand up for you, of course." She laughs. "Why don't you go home, where you won't embarrass anyone else?"

"Stop it!" I yell angrily. "Leave her alone- what'd she ever do to you?!"

"Dip. Please." My sister puts her hand on my shoulder, smiling. "Don't worry about it." She looks up at her tormentor. "I hope you have a really nice weekend, Pacifica."

My jaw drops. The other girl blinks, confused. "Yeah- well- same to you!" she exclaims, not noticing that it wasn't even an insult. Turning on her heel, she saunters away.

"What?" Mabel's grinning at me. "You've got that I-dunno-what's-going-on face!"

"How..." I throw up my hands. "How do you do that?"

"I know, right?" She laughs, pumping her fists in the air. "It's like I'm beating up anger monsters with kindness explosions! Ba-BOOM!"

"Mabel, I'm serious!" But she got to me, and I grin without realizing it.

"Haha, there it is!" She pokes my face, and I reach up to swipe her hand away, but we're both laughing. "There's the elusive Dippersmile!"

"Really, though. How do you keep smiling and being... y'know... Mabel to everyone, even when they don't like you? Isn't Pacifica like your nemesis or something?"

Her smile softens for a moment. "Well, yeah... it's tough sometimes. But I think when people are being mean to everyone else, maybe they just need someone to be nice to them. I'm pretty sure it cancels out the meanness." She pauses, thoughtful. "Like... when Soos covered those gross nachos with chocolate. I couldn't even taste the bad flavors anymore!"

"I could." I make a face. "But this isn't some after-school special, Mabel. Have you seen her parents? They're constantly telling her how great she is. She's got it pretty good."

"Huh." She tilts her head. "So that means I should be mean to her, right?"

"What? No, I mean-"

She grabs my hat. "Gotcha!"

"Mabel!" I grab for it, but she's already hiding it behind her back.

"Nope!" She's using her 'stern' expression, which looks more like she's making a face to make a baby laugh. "You don't get it back until you promise to be nicer to Pacifica!"

My mouth is hanging open again. This is NOT how I thought she would react. If anything, I thought I would end up telling Pacifica to be nicer to my sister.

When exactly did I become the bad guy here? "I promise," I offer lamely.

She flips the hat back to me. "Yes! Victory!" She starts spinning in a circle, still cheering. "Everyone's gonna be friends thanks to Mabel!"

A face springs up in my mind. It isn't Pacifica.

Oh no.

I swallow hard, but don't hang up. It's time to make good on a promise. "This is Dipper."

The other end is silent for a moment. "Whaddya want, kid?"

The Mystery Shack telephone nearly slips out of my hands. "I- I gotta ask you something."

A heavy sigh, like he's really bored. "Fire away."

"Have you heard from Wendy since yesterday?"

He's gonna kill me. I shouldn't have said that, I shouldn't have said that, I-

"You've got some nerve, you know that?" His voice is low. Dangerous. "You think you can ask stuff like that? After that stunt you pulled with the backwards song?"

"I know, but-"

He cuts in. "Look, kid. She hates me because of you. Stay out of my life."

"She's missing," I blurt out.

Nothing. I keep going. "This morning, everyone was gone. My sister, Stan, Soos- they're all missing."

Still, just silence. "Look, I don't know what to do, alright?" My voice is getting higher, and I can't stop it. "I need your-" I stop before I say 'help'.

I hear him cough. "Kid, if this is some kind of joke-"

I violently shake my head, then remember he can't see me. "No. No, of course not."

"Alright. Did you call the police?"

"Yeah. They're on their way over; I don't-" I stop again. No. NO. I will not say that. It's the most childish, scared-little-kid idea I can think of.

"Don't what?"

It tumbles out before I realize it. "I don't want to be alone when they get here."

I can't believe it. If he thought I was just a stupid kid before...

I wince, waiting for him to laugh. Instead, when his voice comes back, it sounds different. Strained. Worried. Like he's just as afraid as I am.

"I'll be right there." He hangs up.

Taking a deep breath, I put the phone back on the hook. I just... confided in my worst enemy. Not only that, but with everyone at the Shack gone, he was the first person I thought of for help.

I would laugh if I wasn't so worried. Maybe my sister was rubbing off on me more than I thought.