Chapter 3

Trixie hadn't expected Dipper to change his mind so fast, but she was fine with it. He seemed like an interesting kid. The kind of kid that spent a lot of time alone, doing something no one else would really care about.

Trixie could relate to that. Jake and Spud had never really been into blogs, so it was a solo thing for her.

Mabel led them down the stairs to the bizarre living room again. In fact, it was one of the weirdest places Trixie had ever seen, and she had seen some weird places. Especially after she had discovered Jake's secret.

That had been a weird day for Trixie. "Oh, by the way, I'm kind of a dragon. Yeah. Forgot to mention that." That day, Spud had said, "After today, nothing will surprise me ever again," which pretty much summed it all up. Trolls? I gotta lock up my house real quick. Chimeras? Wait, I'm almost done uploading my blog. Dragons gone bad? Yeah, just let me finish my homework first. It was fun, actually.

Trixie started to go back to the gift shop, but Spud tapped her shoulder and pointed at Mabel, who was going out another exit that apparently went out to the back of the Shack.

Trixie followed Mabel outside, then heard a thud and turned around. Dipper was lying facedown on the ground.

"Thanks," he said when she helped him up. "There should be a welcome mat here, so it always trips me up. Literally."

She smiled. "Don't mention it."

The other three had walked up ahead, leaving the two of them alone. Trixie looked around at the town closely for the first time. It was very rundown and old-timey, with several unique buildings. She saw a beat up arcade, and a diner built in a railroad car, and... was that a giant tent? With a star on top? Huh. She'd have to check it out sometime.

"So what do you do around here?" Trixie decided to make some friendly conversation.

He put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I just work Grunckle Stan's shop most of the time. You guys are going to have to work there too."

"Oh, well," she said. "I've worked Jake's Grandpa's shop before. The difference is that you guys probably actually get customers, huh?"

"Oh, yeah." He frowned. "You don't get customers?"

"Nope... Well, there was this one guy... but turns out he had fallen off a Saint Patty's Day float and was in need of medical attention."

Dipper frowned contemplatively, then burst out laughing.

Trixie laughed too. Soon she was laughing as hard as Dipper. It felt strange, to laugh like this. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun- just hanging out, without a care in the world. It had been dragon emergency after dragon emergency during the school year.

And it felt good to make someone else laugh. Dipper didn't seem like the kind of person who had fun often.

"Yeah, that is funny," she said. She finally stopped laughing. "But back to my question. I meant what do you do in your free time? Your free time?"

Dipper stopped smiling. "Uh, not much, really."

She looked at him sideways. "Nothing? Ain't you got any friends here?"

He shook his head solemnly. "Mabel does, and they're pretty cool. But I don't have any personal friends here."

She frowned. "Huh. Well, we're going to have to change that. We're your friends, Dipper! We have to live together. We might as well get to know each other."

He held up a finger like he was about to say something, but he put it down and sighed. "I don't know. I just met you guys, I don't know you yet."

Trixie smirked. "Well, that's another thing we'll have to change. We should write this down, make a list, you know?"

It was Dipper's turn to shrug. "Maybe."

They kept walking, and were so distracted that they didn't notice that the others had stopped. Trixie bumped into Spud, and Dipper bumped into Mabel, who accidentally tripped Jake, so they all fell over.

Trixie heard laughing as she stood up again. Not joyful laughing, like the kind Dipper and she had shared moments ago, but mocking laughter.

She helped Spud to his feet, then looked at the mocker. The girl, who looked about Mabel and Dipper's age- had long blond hair and wore a purple jacket with a short lavender dress, along with a purple belt. She also wore black leggings with cream boots, along with heavy purple eyeshadow and lavender hoop earrings.

"Hi, Pacifica!" Mabel called as she helped Spud to his feet. "These are my cousins and their friends!"

The girl, Pacifica, put a hand on her hip and tossed her hair. "Why would anyone with anything to do with you have friends?"

Trixie decided that she didn't like this girl very much.

"I mean," Pacifica continued, "look at the people you call friends. Your brother has no friends here at all."

Trixie noticed that she didn't use Dipper's name.

"Your uncle tried to take out Lazy Susan." Pacifica closed one eye and hunched her back. "Hi! Call me! Meow!" She stood up again. "That weirdo Wendy dated Sir Emo. And that fat idiot Soos has no one. Nice choice of friends."

Dipper stepped forward, crossed his arms, and glared at Pacifica. "Go tell it to fancy Great-Great-Gramps, Pacifica. Oh, wait! Manure isn't fancy, is it?"

"Shut up, dork!"

"Make me, cowgirl!"

They started aimlessly yelling at each other, and Trixie didn't know what to do. It wasn't until she heard Pacifica's last remark when she'd had enough.

"If you're such a big boy," Pacifica taunted, "then where are your parents?"

Dipper stopped yelling. Pacifica started slowly walking toward him.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy? Had enough time with weirdos for twelve years? Shipped you up north for some peace and quiet for once?"

Dipper started shaking slightly. Trixie realized that this was a sore subject for Dipper, and that she had to intervene.

Just before Pacifica reached him completely, it happened.

Trixie snapped.

She charged between the two kids. "Enough!"

Pacifica stepped back, and Trixie stepped forward.

"What it is witchu!" she exclaimed. "Raggin' on two kids you met a month ago! Just because you can't ever feel good about yourself doesn't mean you can bring others down with you!" She took another step forward, and Pacifica kept her distance. "What's with your clothes, girl? Thrift shop's 3000 miles that way, hon!" She was on a roll now. "Nice boots. Which kids did you ridicule out of those, huh? Or did you get them on one of Daddy's credit cards?" And for the final touch... "And what's with the eyeshadow? The pad is supposed to last you more than a day!"

Pacifica blinked, then again, then again and again. Finally, she burst out crying, and her mascara ran. She dashed away, tripped and dirtied her boots, then continued.

Trixie turned around to five grins.

"Way to go, Trixie!" Spud yelled.

She shrugged modestly. "I guess those cheerleaders rubbed off on me."

Jake beamed. "Yeah they did!"

The twins stepped forward slowly.

"Thanks, Trixie," Mabel said. "Pacifica needed that."

"Yeah," Dipper agreed. "You could say that again."

Trixie high-fived Mabel, then ruffled Dipper's hat. "Anytime, babies. Mama Trixie's got your back."

Well, that was refreshing to write! Chapter 4 will be up soon! Thank you!