Hey guys! Figured I'd go ahead and upload another chapter tonight, kinda get things rollin. The first chapter was mainly just talking about past events so you haven't really gotten a good feel for the story yet. I'll probably go ahead and upload another one tomorrow, help the story to progress and make things more interesting! Anyways, there's nothing really to say about this chapter, no trigger warnings or anything. So without further or do, I hope you all enjoy the second chapter of "Remember Me"!

Chapter 2: Sleepy Little Oregon Town

It'd been years since all of that happened, six to be exact. Mabel and I went back to Gravity Falls each year for the summer, and each time without incident. Well, as "without incident" as Gravity Falls can be. What I mean is that there were no signs of Bill. Well…for the most part. After our 13th birthday party, which everyone in town attended, I might add, Mabel and I hopped a bus back home to the sunny town of Piedmont, California. We met back up with all of our hometown friends, went about our normal lives, finished our last year of middle school and made our way into high school. High school, of course, had its ups and downs, but we survived, just as we always did. We made friends, got into trouble on occasion, made lives for ourselves. But each year there was something that I knew deep down: I yearned for the life of Gravity Falls. The last week of school was always the worst, because while all of the excitement and longing came to its peak, time seemed to move in slow motion.

It was nearing time for graduation, and Mabel knew exactly what she was going to do right down to the clubs she wanted to join. She was going to the University of Los Angeles for a double major in fashion design and photography, and a minor in art history. Neither of our parents argued; we all knew that Mabel was destined for the arts, and there wasn't anything that was going to stop her from doing what she loved. I, on the other hand, wasn't really sure what I wanted to do after high school. Yeah I still kept the ghost hunting thing on the table, but my mind always seemed to wander back to Ford's apprenticeship offer. It was true that Mabel and I were still extremely close, of course, but we both had our own lives now, too. Not only that, but Mabel and I both knew that I wouldn't be going to UCLA. It wasn't because I didn't have the grades, in fact my grades were above average, and I was going to be graduating 2nd in my class. No, it was because regular college life just wasn't for me. I was book smart, yeah, but I was always much more of a hands-on learner. Sitting in a classroom for over an hour as a professor lectured at me just wasn't my style.

The week finally came to a close, and our parents threw us a big graduation party after the ceremony. It was also a kind of going away party, as we planned to leave for Gravity Falls the next morning. That night, however, was strange. I had a dreamless sleep, something that wasn't very uncommon on its own, but all throughout the night I was in a weird state of limbo. It was as if I hit that point right when you drift off, but I could neither go deeper than that nor wake up. And I had this eerie feeling that I wasn't alone, like someone was there. Watching me. It was strange and restless, as you can probably image, and I woke up feeling as if I hadn't slept at all. Mabel suggested we put the trip off for another day, as driving on a lack of sleep could be pretty dangerous, but I just really didn't want to wait. It felt as though I couldn't, for some reason. Like my entire center of gravity had been shifted by some strange force, one that was pulling me towards that sleepy little town in Oregon.

So regardless of all of her and our parents' protesting, we made the trip as scheduled. Both Mabel and I drove now, and we each had our own cars, so we made the trip separately. Me in my custom black 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, and Mabel in her violet 2016 Prius. It was about a 9 and a half hour drive to get there from Piedmont, so in order to get there at a decent time we had to leave at like 9 am. We'd made the drive twice so far and it wasn't really that bad, just long. Plus Mable liked to stop at pretty much every antique store and roadside attraction she saw, so we normally didn't end up getting in until night time anyways. Which is exactly what happened. 600 miles and about 10 stops later, we finally made it to the Mystery Shack. It was true that Soos and Melody were running the shack now, but they didn't actually live there. Soos lived there for a while back when he first took ownership, but when he and Melody decided to move in together they got a really nice, two story house out in town. We'd gone there a few times to have dinner with them, and it seemed like they were both really happy together. It was nice. Soos deserved to be happy. Anyways, without the two (or three, with Abuelita) of them living there, it meant that Stan and Ford still lived there when they weren't out sailing the seas and adventuring. They were both so close now, nearly inseparable, which made both Mabel and I really happy to see, considering how they used to be.

So we made it in around 9 pm. The entire ride had felt much longer than normal, as I'd had this intense feeling of both anticipation and agitation the entire way, almost like I literally could not wait to get there. It got stronger and stronger the closer we came, and strangely enough, as soon as we passed over the town boarder a huge wave of relief just washed over me. Yeah it was true that I was normally pretty excited to come back, but something about this was different. It wasn't like I just wanted to come back, it was like I needed to. Like something was compelling me to. I, of course, just brushed it off, telling myself that it was just the lack of sleep. Soos and Melody had already gone home for the day, and Stan and Ford weren't expected back from Greece (where their latest adventure had taken them) until tomorrow, so it looked like it was just Mabel and I there for the night. Or that's what I thought, until she told me she'd promised to go to a party with Pacifica and probably wouldn't be back until morning. Looked like it was just going to be me for the night. She of course asked if I wanted to join her, but I told her I was still all partied out from graduation. That's what I said, at least; in reality something was just really telling me to stay back at the shack. I still couldn't quite put my finger on it, this weird feeling. It was as if there was something in the back of my mind, like a whispering almost, that just wouldn't go away no matter what I did. Once again, I brushed it off as sleep deprivation.

As soon as Mabel left I made the trek up to the attic, tossing my bags aside and not even bothering to unpack before falling onto the bed. Since Mabel and I were older now, much older, we were obviously no longer comfortable staying in the same room; we both need our privacy, after all. So, the summer we turned 16 was finally when we decided to call it quits. Since Ford never really slept in his room anyways, and with Soos not using it as his break room anymore, Mabel decide to stay down there. Stan was also kind enough to switch out the twin beds for doubles instead, mainly because we both outgrew the old ones pretty quickly. So instead of the twin beds on either side of the room like it used to be, there was now one full bed where mine used to be on the left, and a proper desk where Mabel's used to be. I liked staying up there. It was nostalgic, yeah, but the temperature was also much cooler, which I enjoyed. That and it felt more secluded, more private, so I could read and write in peace. But I wasn't interested in reading or writing at the moment; all I wanted to do was sleep. So that's what I did.