Okay, I'm not much of a disclaimer person, but I'm going to put one up now.
Disclaimer: If I owned Gravity Falls, do you think I would put everybody through that hiatus?
And thanks to everybody for rating and reviewing; I'm just getting started!
One more thing: this story takes place sometime during June of the same summer that Dipper and Mabel got here, during Season 1 somewhere after Summerween, but before any of the "season-ending-cliffhanger" stuff. Autumn moves to Gravity Falls a few weeks after Dipper and Mabel do. Basically, this story takes place during that stretch of time where normal episodes take place.
The house is empty. My dad left for the forest a few hours ago; he said his boss's daughter Wendy would be by soon to meet me before she goes to work. Either way, I'm alone, with nobody in at least a mile radius.
The entire town seems really small from up here in my room. I haven't gotten to explore the forest yet. Maybe I'll find one of those creatures that seem to be here.
How do you prepare for a creature hunt, anyway? I'm searching for a flashlight in the millions of boxes when I hear the front door open.
"Anybody home?" The voice of a teenage girl echoes through the house.
"Up here!" I yell.
A minute later, a tall girl with red hair and muddy boots appears in my doorway.
"Hey," she smiles. "I guess you're Autumn. I'm Wendy."
"Hi." I turn back to the box and grope around in it for the flashlight.
"So, you're dad's working for mine now." I hear Wendy sit down on my bed. The springs creak, along with the frame and the floor.
"Yeah, and that means I'm stuck here." My hand closes around something warm and rubbery.
"You get used to it," she shrugs. "A couple of new kids moved here earlier this summer."
I nod, pulling out the warm, rubbery object. It falls on the floor to reveal a bottle of warm, curdled milk leaking on my hands.
I scream and jump back.
Wendy looks surprised. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry." I wipe my hand off on a towel from the top of one of the boxes. "Keep going."
"Anyway, I've seen some pretty weird stuff. I work at the Mystery Shack. It's a museum about the crazy stuff going on in this town- the log cabin with a huge glittery sign on top of it. I actually have to get going soon."
My eyes widen when she mentions the Mystery Shack. "Can I come? I love fantasy stuff."
"Most of it is fake," she says, rolling her eyes. "But I think you would like Dipper and Mabel. They work there. How old are you?"
"I'm twelve," I admit. ((Author's note: Autumn doesn't really feel like she's any age- she's sort of lost in time, so it feels weird when she talks about being twelve.))
"You're the same age as them." She stands up. "Let's go."
"Are we walking?" I ask. The path leading down the rock formation that the house sits and the bridge over the river would take up about a mile. Then comes the forest, which is a couple of miles long before we get to the shack. It would take a half an hour if we walked.
"No, I came in the golf cart. It'll take five minutes."
"Cool." I grab my book bag.
"Hey, you're new in town." She tosses me the keys. "Do you drive?"
The golf cart comes to a shaky stop in a dusty parking lot. I step out, still feeling shaken, mentally and physically.
"That was mentally traumatizing," I stutter, grabbing a totem pole for support.
"Are you kidding?" Wendy claps her hand on my back. "That rocked!"
"Rocked," I clarify. "As in, we ran into several rocks. Huge ones. Boulders!"
"You get used to it. The boulders are the best part." She presses the button on the keys, making the traditional 'beep beep' sound.
"I didn't think golf carts did that."
"This is Gravity Falls. Everything is different here." Wendy sits on the edge of the building's porch. "For example, the soda has peach pits in it, the candy makes you high, and if you dance for the pizza man, he'll put peanut butter on your order."
"Seriously?" I ask. "I've tried peanut butter on my pizza. It's actually pretty good."
She laughs. "The part about the soda and the candy was true, but one time my friend Thompson danced for the pizza man, and the pizza guy threw a flowerpot at him to make him stop."
"That must have hurt."
"He was knocked out for two hours. I think he's okay," She frowns, "But sometimes we catch him muttering to himself."
Her confused expression disappears, and she gestures for me to come inside. "Come on, I want you to meet Dipper and Mabel."
The inside of the shack is no more supernatural than the outside. There are oddities, but most of them are just glued together stuffed animals.
A boy and a girl my age are sitting at the counter. They're deep in conversation, but the conversation isn't deep.
"Mabel, I was not watching Twilight!" The boy goes slightly red. "I was…making sure it was appropriate for you to watch."
"Keep telling yourself that, Dipstick." The girl pokes him. "But I know that you're a Team Jacob."
"Really?" Wendy laughs. "I would've taken you as a Team Edward."
"Oh, h-hey Wendy." The boy says nervously. "W-who's this?"
"Guys, meet Autumn. She just moved her, and her dad works for my dad." She turns around and faces me. "Autumn, this is-"
"Let me guess." I point at the girl, who flashes me a brace-face grin. "Mabel, and…Dipstick?" I raise an eyebrow curiously, waiting for an explanation.
"Dipper Pines." He corrects. "We moved here recently, too."
"But not too recently to think the stuff here is real," Mabel adds. "Nobody's here. Do you guys want to go into the den?"
"Ugh, I've gotta man the register." Wendy grabs a magazine marked Indie Fuzz. "But you guys have fun."
Dipper opens a door with an 'Employees Only' sign on it to reveal a living room with a huge yellow chair in the center. An old man in a fez, a tank top, and boxers is sitting on it, scratching his (extremely hairy) butt.
"Kids, who's this?" The man asks. My eyes widen and I back away slowly. "Aw, no! I'm scaring away money- I mean, a customer!"
The man throws a smoke bomb and disappears. I cough. My eyes water.
Mabel shoots me a sympathetic look. "I'm really sorry you had to see that."
The man shows up in the doorway a minute later, this time wearing a suit and an eye patch.
"I'm Stan Pines, the owner of this establishment." He throws his arms out. "Welcome to a world of mystery!"
Dipper rolls his eyes. "Don't waste your money. Let's go up to the attic."
They lead me up the stairs to a sloped-ceiling room with two beds. It's not hard to tell who gets each side of the room- one side is extremely messy, with posters plastering the walls and glitter everywhere, and the other side is nearly empty, and the blue bedspread is neatly made.
"Nice place," I comment.
"Thanks!" Mabel flashes another grin. "I decorated it."
"Clearly." Dipper adds.
"You guys should see the view from my house. It's so cool."
That led to a lot of talking about the town. Mabel and Dipper said that they hadn't been here long, but they've already learned a lot about what goes on here. A few hours pass, including a personal tour of the Mystery Shack's 'oddities'. Everybody was right- everything in the building is fake, but the twins assured me that there are plenty of real things in this town.
"I should probably get going," I admit around six. "My dad will be getting home soon. But it was great to meet you guys. I can come back tomorrow."
"Bye!" Mabel grinned.
"See you later, Autumn." Dipper says.
Days went by with the same routine- Wendy would come pick me up; I'd almost barf on the golf cart ride; Dipper, Mabel, and I would spend all day in the attic; and I'd leave at six. It seemed like it would be the same thing all summer- until one faithful day. (Ha ha. Get it? That's a line from the first episode.)