Chapter Three – School with the Pines Twins Part I [1]

Mabel messed with the dial on the CD player in the bathroom. She turned up the volume and began to sing along to the song that was playing as she got ready for the day. She was half way through the song and hadn't been paying much attention to the time.

"When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you- !" [2]

"Mable are done in there?" Dippers voice spoke up from behind the bathroom door as he lightly knocked on it.

Mabel's eyes widen and she quickly dropped the comb she was using as a microphone "Y-yeah!" she replied, turning off the radio and throwing on a sweater. She exited the bathroom, a nervous smile on her face "It's all yours, bro-bro," she said. Dipper raised an eyebrow "You stole one of Stan's old CD's didn't you?" he asked. Mabel shrugged "Maybe… How did you know?" she asked "Because whenever you do that you lose track of time, to focused on the music," he explained. Mabel rubbed the back of her head sheepishly "Really?" she asked. Dipper nodded "Yep. Who was it this time?" he asked. Mabel sighed dreamily at the thought of the band members "All American Rejects." Dipper shook his head "At least it wasn't Fountains of Wayne this time…" he mumbled. Mabel rolled her eyes "Make fun of me all you want bro, but Stacy's Mom is a good song," she said "And besides, you listen to girly music," she added. Dipper blushed lightly "Hey! Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne are great singers! So are Pink and Kesha!" [3] he quickly said, defensively.

"Olly Murs is the best out of all of them!" Ford shouted from downstairs. He must have heard the two twins arguing.

"He's still not as awesome as Halsey!" Mabel yelled back as a reply. There was a moment of silence before Ford replied with "Alright, I'll give you that."

This was a normal thing in the house of the Pines family. Stan would sometimes counter everyone by saying "Set it Off wins all," but today he seemed side tracked. He was on the phone in the kitchen, putting together lunches for Dipper and Mabel so they didn't have to eat the stuff that they call "food" at Gravity Falls High School.

Mabel ran downstairs into the kitchen "Hey, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel greeted, a smile on her face. She had her hair tied back into a ponytail [4], wearing a light blue sweater that had a strawberry on it. Stan smiled and ruffled her hair "Hey, sweetie," he greeted, quickly turning back to get everything ready for them while still talking on the phone with someone.

Ford entered the kitchen, a smile on his face. He greeted Mabel with a nod and placed a bowl of cereal on the table "Here," he said. Mabel took a seat and began to eat. Ford took a seat at the table, looking over the newspaper. Mabel, absentmindedly, began to listen to Stan's conversation on the phone.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is, give the kid a breather. It's not like she's going to be with you for long. You should make the memories she'll have with you good ones."

Mabel raised an eyebrow, curious as to who Stan was talking to.

"Yeah, I know you try, but try a little harder. It's not going to be the end of the world for her to be happy, Pre…" [5]

Mabel squinted "Who is Grunkle Stan talking to?" she thought.

"Yes, I know you're a busy guy, but still… She's just a kid. Make her remember the good times. Not the bad. Don't be the stereotypical dad that neglects his daughter. Alright? Yeah, Ford's doing fine. No, Mabel and Dipper haven't destroyed anything..." Stan sighed "I'll be sure to remind them. Yeah. Okay. Bye." Stan hung up the phone, biting at his cheek, stopping himself from saying "I love you." He was to use to talking to Ford.

Mabel took note of the bitter look Ford had plastered on during the whole conversation on the phone. He looked annoyed [6]. As if the person on the other side of the phone would take Stan away from him. Mabel looked up at Stan "Who was that?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Stan shrugged it off "No one in particular. Just an old friend of mine." Mabel vaguely heard Ford mumble something under his breath. She caught the words "friend" and "laughable." Apparently Stan heard the whole sentence because he shot Ford a glare, which Ford returned. It was pretty rare to see the two men get into a small fight, especially over something Ford had said.

Dipper entered the kitchen, immedialty sensing the atmosphere between Stan and Ford. He looked up at Bill [7], raising an eyebrow, as if asking him what he had missed. Bill rubbed the back of his neck "They got into a small little spat." Dipper looked back at his grunkles "I was only gone for ten minutes," Dipper mumbled so no one but Bill could hear. Bill nodded "Yeah, but, it's just… Um… Stan was talking to an old fling." Dipper let out a small, drawn out "Oh." He had been with Stan and Ford long enough to know that Ford was the jealous type. Stan shook his head, looking over at Dipper "You eat breakfast yet, kid?" he asked. Dipper nodded. He'd eaten while Mabel was in the bathroom. Stan shifted his gaze to Mabel "You finish eatin' then?" he asked. Mabel looked down at her half empty bowl of cereal. She nodded and got up from her spot at the table.

Mabel never finished her bowl of cereal, always leaving the rest for either Ford or Stan to eat because Stan explained that it "Saves food, and saving food means saving money."

"Dip-dop and I will go wait in the car," said Mabel, tugging her brother out of the kitchen.

Stan sighed, and looked over at Ford "Don't talk about him like that. You know that's not what happened." Ford pouted, looked down at the wooden table "Yeah, yeah… I just… I'm sorry." Stan gave Ford a reassuring smile "Don't worry. I'm guessing it's that time of the month [8]?" Stan asked, raising an eyebrow "I'm not a…" Ford trailed off as the word's registered "Oh… Yeah…" He ran a hand through his gray locks, guilt forming in his eyes. Stan frowned, taking a step towards Ford and placing a hand on his "Hey… He wouldn't blame you… It wasn't your fault." Ford forced a bitter chuckle to escape his lips "You should go drop off the kids or they'll be late." Stan nodded, placing a quick kiss on Fords temple and exited the shack.

-O-O-O-O-

Mabel hopped out of the car after unbuckling her seat belt "See you kids later!" Stan called, as Dipper and Mabel ran up to the school, waving him goodbye.

Wendy grinned, waving at the two twins "Yo! What up, nerds?!" she greeted. Mabel smiled "Hey, Wendy!" she said. Dipper returned Wendy's grin "Hey Wends [9]. What's up?" he asked. Wendy shrugged "Planned on cutting class, but Robbie [10] doesn't want me to get in trouble with my dad," she said "So I figured I'd just wait for the wonder twins to show up." Dipper rolled his eyes "Don't call us that," he said, a smirk on his face. Mabel giggled "So, how has it been looking for a college?" she asked. Wendy let out a low groan "Dudes, I plan to just skip college and work at my dad's logging camp. I'd rather do that then spend more of my life learning shit that I won't bother to remember." The bell rang, signaling class was about to begin.

Mabel smiled wide "Onward! To the death trap that is called high school!" she cheered, skipping into the school with Dipper and Wendy close behind.

[1] Yes, there is going to be a part two because we're lazy and don't want to make the chapter super long.

[2] We like to think that Mabel listens to old rock music, even if we don't really consider All American Rejects old. She does like listening to old music and modern day music though.

[3] Dipper likes listening to "girly music" because he enjoys the songs. He does also listen to rock like Mabel, but if he had to pick a favorite singer, he'd pick Pink. Mabel listens to those singers to, but she pokes fun at Dipper for it because she likes to see his reaction.

[4] Mabel used to keep her hair down but she likes it tied back and out of her face. Ford had told her to start doing that when he noticed Mabel trying to do homework and her hair kept getting in the way. Also, she usually wears jeans instead of her purple skirt.

[5] Gee… Wonder who Stan was talkin' to on that phone of his… Any guesses?

[6] Here, Ford, eat a snickers.

Ford: Why should I?

Because you get jealous easily when you're hungry.

[7] Bill, in this AU, isn't the bad guy. He was assigned to Dipper (more explained later on), and Dipper is the only one who can see him, unless Bill turns into his human form (in this case, a fifteen-year-old boy's body (again, more explained on that later)) or lets others see him (which he prefers not to do for obvious reasons (Plus bad history with certain people, which will be explained later)). So, Bill follows Dipper around like a lost puppy. This Bill is like a combination of Bill and our own little version of Bill.

[8] No, it's not a period joke. It's actually pretty depressing, and we're not revealing why just yet.

[9] "Wends" is a nickname Dipper gave Wendy when they were still kids. At first Wendy was a little iffy on having a nickname, but its grown on her and a few of her friends even refer to her has "Wends." Also, Wendy is eighteen. We did the math and everything. Wendy also wears red flannel instead of her usual green flannel, and she cut her hair into a bob when she was sixteen. She's had the hair cut ever since.

[10] Robbie is a responsible person in this AU. His hoodie his actually a shirt, he prefers to wear shorts when it's hot out, but he does wear blue jeans if it's cold enough out. He's still dating Tambry (more on her later). Robbie keeps his hair slicked back.