Sweater Town
Chapter 4 – The Laptop
By Starwin
Darn it! DARN IT, DARN IT, DARN IT! Mabel smooshed her hands into her face in frustration. When she pulled her hands away she hoped everything would be how she expected. A blank white ceiling - not a sweater - greeted her as she uncovered her eyes and blinked. Crisscrossing overhead were strings of Christmas lights, although they weren't on at the moment. She had replaced the green and red bulbs with an assortment of custom ones. There were reindeer, unicorns, snowmen, hearts, icicles, cakes and even a sweater shaped one.
They were there to cheer her up, something to comfort her in the dark, to remind her of joyous times. Each point of light was a memory of where she was, and where she had been. Now of course, they all too blatantly shouted where she wasn't. She was in the wrong room, her room.
She couldn't keep her eyes open for just a few more minutes, she'd just had to take a nap. And now, here she was. Back in her stupid bed, back in her stupid room, back in her stupid world.
She turned her head to look at the non-existent bed on the far side of the room. Obviously there was going to be no Dipper over there. Yet, beyond all hope she wished for just a fading glimpse of her brother. Alas, it was simply her wall, covered in boy band posters, hand paintings she'd made, sweater ideas, pictures of her with her pig, her friends… her brother. He was sort of there in a small way.
Mabel turned back over, pulling a pillow over her head. She never wanted to get out of bed ever again!
Her body on the other hand protested loudly. Oh come on! That just wasn't fair! Her bladder disagreed with her about fairness. Strongly disagreed.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she rolled out of bed and trotted unhappily to the bathroom. She let her body do what it needed to do then trudged half awake back out into the hall. She was ready to crawl back into bed and never leave it again.
"Mabel, are you up?" called her mother from downstairs. Mabel groaned inwardly. Of course her mother knew she was up. Mabel didn't respond, how could she anyhow? "Your appointment's in an hour. Take a shower and get ready."
Mabel groaned outwardly, the sound escaping as a louder than she intended, "Diiiipppppeeerrrrr..." She clamped a hand over her mouth. There was a pause and she wondered what her mother had heard.
"No arguments," came her mother's voice, with only the slightest note of uncertainty. "You've been up in your room for three days. You need to take a shower before you go out in public, young lady." Mabel groaned again, turned right around and marched back into the bathroom.
She didn't have the same aversion to water as her brother. She liked showers, she loved baths! Especially bubble baths! The bathroom sadly only had a shower. So, baths were very rare, as she had to request the use of her parent's on-suite bathroom to take one.
A quick sniff of herself told Mabel that she really should take a shower, she was getting kinda gross. She paused in front of the mirror as she saw her thirteen-year-old self staring back at her. She was still wearing her shooting star sweater over her nightshirt, the same nightshirt she had been wearing for days.
Something else caught her attention. On her shoulder. She moved closer to the mirror. YOU HAD TO BE FUDGING KIDDING! She poked at the new hole that had torn open in the sweater's shoulder. Another hole! What the heck was going on? She tugged off her sweater so she could see it better.
Yep, a second hole, she confirmed. There were now two rips in her sweater. Well, that was just great. And if it was anything like the first one, she wouldn't be able to fix it.
Mabel tossed her sweater onto the floor then tugged off her nightshirt. She paused, holding the garment in front of her chest, wrapped around her hands. Slowly she lowered it, looking at her strangely young body once more. A body with a mostly flat chest. A body that had old bandages covering her cuts and bruises. A body that felt familiar and unnatural at the same time. She tossed the nightshirt aside and began peeling off the bandages.
Normally she would be fascinated by what was underneath, peeling away each one to see the secrets below. However, she wasn't in the mood and didn't really have the time. So, she just tugged them off, wincing as they came away and tossing them into the bin.
She turned the hot all the way up and waited for the steam to come. She stripped off the last bit of her clothing (icky, three days without an underwear change) before turning to look at herself once more in the mirror. She looked pretty banged up. There was a long red gash across her forehead. One of her shoulders was colored yellow and purple. Both elbows and knees were starting to scab over. Several dozen other little cuts and scrapes were peppered all over her body.
She also looked thinner. Her eyes seemed more hollow than she was able to recall. Even her hair, which hadn't suffered any damage, was less bouncy. Yes, she needed a wash.
Steam billowing out at last, Mabel climbed into the small shower and pulled the curtain closed. Scalding hot water blasted against her skin and she let out a contented sigh. There were two things she loved about this shower. First, was its water pressure, it was amazing! If she had been covered in paint it could have stripped it off her. The other thing was how hot she could make it. She could make it boiling, just how she liked it. It was hot enough that her skin would be bright red, almost like she was sunburned.
Dipper on the other hand, liked his showers cold for some odd reason. Okay, not cold-cold, more like lukewarm. It might as well been cold though. That was fine with her, more hot water for her.
The smile that had been on her lips frowned as the hot water blasted her in the face. She had thought about Dipper again like he was still here. Like he would come banging at the door any second begging for her to finish because he really needed to go, right now. And she would take her sweet time and sing as loudly as she could. This would let him know she could hear him and would make him wait his turn.
Her voice hummed out the perfect song to annoy her brother, lyrics all replaced with his name. It also didn't help that she started crying halfway through the first verse. Thankfully there was a wall to support her.
She was finally able to pull herself together long enough to soap up, scrub down and let the water wash some of her filth away. But just the stuff on the surface. All the junked up feelings inside her were still there, the water couldn't get rid of that.
She shut off the tap, wrapped a towel around her, gathered up her clothing and hurried down the hall to her room. She found clean clothes and pulled on her warmest, fluffiest sweater she had. It was a thick blue one with sparkling silver stars (her hair covered the Big Dipper constellation she had sewn into the back). Once dressed she made her way downstairs where her mother was waiting.
A very quick breakfast of oatmeal, with milk and honey (sadly no sugar) and orange slices waited for her. Mabel ate quickly while her mother kept looking at her watch. Mabel thought about slowing down and deliberately taking as long as possible to eat. But, she really wasn't up for a fight with her mom right now.
"Ready to go?" asked her mother, it wasn't a question, just a statement of the obvious. Mabel nodded but her mom was already moving towards the front door. Mabel followed but stopped at the threshold. This - this was going to be the first time she would ever be outside her house without her brother. There was going to be a lot more firsts of that…
She took a deep breath and stepped outside. It didn't feel any different. She let out a sigh and heard a car door close forcefully. Her mother was looking at her perhaps a bit impatiently. Mabel pulled the front door to the house closed behind her and hurried to the car. She thought very briefly about sitting up front. Dipper and her often did verbal battle for the right to sit up front, calling shotgun loudly over each other. She sat in back, on the opposite side of the car from her mom.
They made the drive in silence. Her mother unable to think of anything to say. Or, perhaps taking Mabel's absence of chatter that she didn't want to talk. Either way, Mabel was oddly fine with it. Usually a silent car was an unhappy car, it needed to be filled with singing, or giggling, or chatting. She stayed quiet the whole way.
She hardly remembered the drive beyond its silence. Soon enough they were in an underground parking structure. Her mom was leading her over to a stairwell that would take them up into the building above. A few flights of stairs and they were in the lobby. Her mom was reading the directory board on where to go. Then they were in an elevator and then an office and then Mabel was sitting, waiting.
It looked a lot like a doctor's waiting room, mostly because it was. But it was more friendly somehow, not sterile disinfected white. Her mother picked up a magazine and browsed through it but Mabel just sat there. She didn't feel nervous, or excited, or really anything. She was just there, like an empty lump. She just wanted this to be over so she could crawl back into bed, pull her sweater over her head and drift back into her dream world.
That brought a sad little smile to her face. She wondered what adventures she and her brother would go on today? Maybe fighting dragons? Oh, that sounded like fun, they had never done that! Or hunt down some cute vampires! Also a good time. That one might be just for her though.
She looked down at her sweater. Why hadn't she brought her shooting star sweater with her? She could have already escaped back into her fantasy world! Instead, she was trapped in this stupid office about to talk to some stupid person that was just going to make her feel all icky inside.
"And you must be Mabel," said a soft female voice. Mabel blinked, only now just realizing there was someone standing in front of her. The person had been talking but until she had said Mabel's name, none of it had registered. She was a dark haired woman with olive colored skin and soft brown eyes. She was dressed in semi casual attire and smiled in a way that Mabel found strangely comforting. She held out a hand to Mabel. "My name is Rebecca, it's nice to meet you." Somewhat automatically more than anything else, Mabel took the woman's hand and shook it.
"Do you think you're up to having a chat with me?" Mabel shrugged. Not, really? This was going to be pretty one sided. Rebecca's smile didn't waver. "I'll take that as a maybe from Mabel. Why don't we step into my office." She looked at her mother. "She's welcome to come along if you like." She shook her head and there was the slightest frown on her mother's mouth but she didn't say anything. "Alright. She can always come in later if you need her."
Rebecca, stood back up and waited for Mabel to do the same. After a long moment she slid out of her chair. Rebecca didn't lead the way but instead held out a hand towards the open door at the end of the room. Mabel took another deep breath then started towards it. This, was probably going to go badly. But she just had to get done with it and than she could go home.
The office on the other side was not exactly what she had been expecting. She had imagined a big desk and fancy degrees plastered on the walls. This, looked closer to a kindergarten classroom. One side had a shelf full of toys of all shapes and sizes, from blocks to stuffed animals. There was a play mat over there as well. In the center there were a couple of very comfy looking beanbag chairs. There were also some nice looking armchairs against the far wall, near a large-ish bookshelf.
Mabel didn't know where she was supposed to go or what she was supposed to do. She looked behind her as Rebecca stepped into the room. The woman closed the door and said, "The door is for your privacy, if at any time you want to leave you can. But I ask that you try and stay until the end." Mabel nodded, not sure what else to do. Rebecca motioned to the rest of the room. "You can pick the area most suited to you, or even mix and match, whatever makes you the most comfortable. Take your time."
Mabel turned back to the room, her eyes sweeping over it once more. A stuffed animal actually sounded pretty good right now. She went over to the toy shelf and found exactly what she was looking for. The perfect thing. She pulled a large, stuffed pig off the shelf and cuddled it in her arms. She looked at Rebecca for approval.
"Mr. Pigington, a good choice," said Rebecca with an approving nod and smile. "Now, where would you like to sit?" Mabel looked around, she had initially thought there were only two seating arrangements, beanbags or recliners. But it turned out there were even more scattered around. There was some kind of half sofa things she thought she was meant to lie down on. There were also folding chairs, pillows they could spread out on the floor, a couch, even a camp bed in one corner that reminded her of the Mystery Shack. Not that one. She didn't need to feel that way right now.
She picked the beanbags. They were soft and squishy and hugged her body as she fowamped down into one. To her surprise, Rebecca did the same, taking the one across from her. The woman smiled at her with perfect white teeth and Mabel smiled back.
"I used to have braces too," said Rebecca. "I hated them so much!" Mabel nodded her agreement. "They'll be gone before you know it. Then you'll have an even more beautiful smile." Mabel had to admit she was starting to like this lady a lot. Stuffed pigs, beanbag chairs, disliking braces!
"Let me go first, if you don't mind," continued Rebecca. Mabel was all for letting her go 100% of the time. That didn't seem like it was going to happen. "Mabel, this is a safe environment for you to talk about what you're going through. Everything you tell me is confidential, meaning I won't tell anyone any of it, not even your parents." She looked serious for a moment. "But just because I can't tell them the details, doesn't mean I won't be telling them what I think can help you. For this to work, for me to help you, you need to be honest with me and you need to trust me. Something that's hard to do with a stranger.
"So, today, we're just going to talk, about whatever you want," said Rebecca. "I don't have any questions for you. I just want you to talk about anything that's on your mind. About school, about things you're working on, any sports or games you're playing. Anything you want. Can you do that?" For a long moment Mabel didn't respond. At last, she shook her head. She wanted to do that, she would have really enjoyed doing that. Sharing her hobbies was one of her favorite things to do. But she couldn't. Rebecca's smile fell ever so slightly at this head shake.
"You don't want to talk to me?" she asked. Mabel shook her head. "You haven't said a word since I met you. Are you afraid to talk to me?" Again, she shook her head. "Mabel… can you talk to me?" Shake. "Can… can you say anything at all?" Mabel closed her eyes and took another deep breath.
"Dipper," she whispered, then stared at Rebecca. The woman paused for a moment.
"Your brother's nickname?" she confirmed. Mabel nodded. "Can you say anything else at all?" She shook her head. She guessed she could say 'boop' as well but only when she had stickers. Trying to communicate that would be difficult. Plus, she had only done that in sweater town, she didn't even know if she could do it here. "I see." Rebecca looked at her with an unreadable expression for a long moment.
"I like your sweater," commented Rebecca. Mabel looked down at it automatically, pulling aside the stuffed pig she had been crushing to her chest. The stars were sequins. They flickered and sparkled as she moved around. There wasn't a pattern on the front and she wasn't going to show off the back. "Did you make that yourself?" Mabel nodded. "Your mother tells me you are quite the crafter." Mabel shrugged, she could certainly be when she was in the mood. "I have painting supplies if you would like?"
She wasn't really up for painting but... she shrugged. What else was she supposed to do. Rebecca got up and motioned for her to come back to the toy cabinet. From the bottom drawers, Rebecca pulled out paper and paint and glitter and stickers. Okay, so maybe she was kind of in the mood to do some painting, maybe just a little.
"Brushes or fingers?" asked Rebecca, producing a set of brushes and holding them out. Mabel wiggled her fingers with a smile. Painting was best left to fingers. Rebecca smiled. "Fingers it is."
Much to her surprise, as Rebecca laid out the paper, she took some sheets for herself. Before Mabel could even get started, Rebecca, a full grown adult, a therapist, was dipping her fingers into the paint and started working on her own picture.
"What," asked Rebecca with a smile. "I like finger painting too."
The two of them spent the rest of the time painting away. Mabel worked on several different drawings. One was of dolphin-acorns that shot rainbows from their blowholes. Another was of the sweater sky she kept seeing, it was weird to look it on paper. She thought it was less a sweater and more pink swirls. She was finishing up her masterpiece of the Mystery Shack, complete with both her Uncles, Soos, Melody, Wendy, Candy, Grenda, Waddles and her brother, when there was a soft chirp from Rebecca's pocket.
Rebecca wiped her hands on a cloth and pulled out a smartphone. She smiled at Mabel.
"Just about done there Mabel?" she asked, looking at the drawing. Mabel nodded, putting the last touches on Waddles. "Is that you and your brother," asked Rebecca pointing to the two people in the center of her finger painting. "You look older here."
Mabel looked back at the picture and realized that she had indeed made them both older. Dipper had the peach fuzz around his chin and she had… boobs. Darn it. Why had she drawn those in? Why had she made them older at all?
"I think it's a great drawing," said Rebecca seeing Mabel's scowl. "I think they're all great. You don't mind if I keep them do you?" Mabel shrugged. She might have liked to keep this one, until it was pointed out how she had drawn it. "Thank you, why don't you go clean up at the sink?" Rebecca motioned to a wash area in the back. Mabel trotted over and rinsed off her hands. Luckily she hadn't gotten any paint on her sweater. Years of painting in sweaters had prepared her for this.
When Mabel finished and came back, the floor had been cleaned up, the paint put away, the drawings collected and set on a shelf to dry.
"I'm going to have you wait outside for just a moment while I speak to your mother, alright?" asked Rebecca, guiding Mabel to the door. Mabel nodded. Rebecca took her back to the seat where she had started then asked for Mabel's mom to come with her. She had thought it would only take a minute or two - they obviously hadn't talked about very much - but as the minutes dragged on, she started to worry. What could they be talking about in there?
At last the door reopened, and Rebecca emerged once more, along with her very worried looking mother. Rebecca smiled at Mabel and gave her a little wave goodbye. Mabel waved back. Then her mother took her hand and led her back towards the car.
The ride home was just as silent as the ride there. This time though it was almost unbearable. What had Rebecca said to her mom? What had she told her that Mabel wasn't aloud to hear? Why wasn't her mom saying anything? Mabel looked determinedly out the window trying to free herself of the strange sensation radiating from her mother.
Not soon enough they were back home, the silence between them still strange and awkward. The moment they were at the house, Mabel went right up to her room. She was ready not to be in this reality anymore. However, she paused at the top of the stairs. She heard her mother picking up the phone and dialing someone.
She wasn't really into all that eavesdropping stuff. Okay, no, that was a total lie, she loved to listen in on conversations not meant for her. Somehow, she knew this one wasn't just not meant for her, it was going to be about her.
"Hey, it's me," said her Mom. "Call me back when you get this, we need to talk about Mabel." Darn it, stupid voice mail! There was a click downstairs and she could hear the soft sobs of her mother crying. Mabel felt like kind of a jerk listening in on that part, so she tiptoed softly the rest of the way to her room.
Her shooting star sweater was waiting for her on her bed as she came in. She couldn't climb into it fast enough. She'd had too much of this stupid world. This time, she had no intention of ever coming back from sweater town.
Entering sweater town was almost instant. It took only the briefest recollection of that most terrible moment. However, the tumble down into it felt like it took longer this time. She couldn't explain it, but she wasn't just falling she was soaring. It as such a strange sensation.
Just when she thought she was never going to reach the ground, her fall ended with the usual thud. She was so glad to be anywhere other than her house right now. She didn't need her mom's drama, she didn't want to know what things that Rebecca woman had said about her. And most of all, she didn't need to be in a house without her brother anymore.
Her brother was fine. He would be right here like he had been the last three times she had visited. There was a clank of something metallic falling to the ground. Mabel felt her leg and foot get sprayed with something cool and sticky. She looked down to find a spilled can of Pitt rolling up against her foot.
"Mabel!" cried her brother's familiar squeaky voice, although, slightly deeper than last time. And, maybe a bit more panicked? She felt herself smile as she turned towards him but that smile turned into confusion as she saw his face. "What- when did you get here? How did you get here?" She tilted her head at her brother in confusion. "Agh! No! I don't want to talk to you right now! I thought you were staying home this summer! Why are you even here!"
"Dipper?" Mabel asked. He was tugging down on his blue ball cap as hard as he could, trying to hide himself but he released his death grip as she spoke.
"Wait," whispered Dipper, "Blueberry muffins." She licked her lips and nodded. That sounded amazing right now, she could totally go for one of those. Sweater town was already really delivering on this trip! She hoped there was honey for those muffins, cuze she was gonna eat them all. "Mabel, remember, this is important: Blue. Berry. Muffins." Dipper repeated emphasizing each word as he said it. She nodded again, indicating that she did indeed want some blueberry muffins, why was he being so weird? "Other Mabel," whispered Dipper to himself. She raised an eyebrow, not understanding why they weren't getting muffins right now and shoving them into their faces.
Dipper fished in his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. It was the latest Roboto D6, it looked very sleek in his hands. Quickly he tapped his fingers across it and held it up to his ear. He was calling someone, that was kind of rude...
She felt a buzz in the pocket of her skirt and music began to play.
Space Unicorn
Flying through the stars
Delivering the rainbows all around the world!
The color drained out of Dipper's face. His gaze moved from staring pointedly away, to her ringing pocket. She reached into the folds of her skirt and pulled out a glossy pink Pear 5 πPhone. It was currently ringing and had the face - startled and squinting against a bright flash, clearly caught by surprise - and name of her brother on the screen. She pressed answer and lifted it up to her ear.
"Dipper?" she said with a smile. Dipper let out a yelp and dropped his phone. Frantically, he tried to catch it again before it hit the floor. It slipped through his hands and hit the wood with a clatter.
"This isn't possible, how do you have Mabel's phone? And how did you get here from California! She was just there this morning!" said Dipper, scooping up his phone from the floor. She shrugged, not really sure what he was on about. Dipper hung up the call.
"The house!" he exclaimed excitedly and pressed something else on his phone. It began to ring but no one seemed to answer. "Come on Mabel, pick up the phone! Please!" She shook her head in confusion, Dipper had really lost it, how was she supposed to pick up the house phone from here? What was wrong with him. After many rings it rolled to the answering machine. "Mabel, call me the moment you get this, it happened again! She's here, right now! Call me!"
Dipper hung up and Mabel finally understood. Dipper,finally understood. She chewed her lip. The gig was up. He knew she wasn't really his sister. Well, okay, she was. But, only sort of. The two of them stood awkwardly in the hallway, neither one talking. Mabel, because she couldn't really say very much, and Dipper, because he was apparently weirded out by what was going on.
She lifted her foot out of the puddle of the spilled soda. Well, if her brother was going to be weird, at least she could clean up a bit. She made to go to the kitchen and get some paper towels but Dipper moved quickly to block her path.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going?" said Dipper, eyeing her up and down. She gestured to the floor, Dipper glanced at the spill. "Oh, right, of course, I'll get that, you just - you wait here, and... you know... don't move." He backed out of the room, holding up his hands in a gesture of her not moving. She rolled her eyes. "Don't move," he repeated before vanishing into the kitchen.
He was out of view a brief instant before his head reappeared, checking that she had indeed not moved. She rolled her eyes again. However, this time as his head vanished, she took a few steps forward and put her back against the side of the doorframe. When Dipper checked on her again, she would appear to have vanished. She didn't have to wait long.
"Mabel! MABEL!" Dipper shouted in a panic as he re-entered the hallway, walking right past her. She struck like lightning, wrapping her hands around his eyes from behind and holding him hostage, "Ahhh! Mabel! No fair! Let me go!" but she didn't release him, instead, she made him pay for letting down his guard and licked the back of his neck.
"EWWW, MABEL, gross!" he complained, trying and failing to struggle free of her grip. She didn't let up, she was having too much fun. She attacked his most vulnerable spot, his side, with a raspberry. Dipper squealed like a little girl as his sister blew into his side. Even with his shirt in the way, he nearly collapsed, giggling uncontrollably at the tickling attack. "Stop! Stop! Mabel! STOP!"
This last plea for mercy was what made her finally relent. It had been an angry shout rather than a good natured, having fun cry. She finally let him go and Dipper pulled roughly away from her. He took a few steps away before turning to face her, rubbing the side of his arm.
"Look, we need to talk, you and me, seriously," said Dipper looking at her, his face very serious. She nodded slowly. Although, she knew it was going to be more him talking than her. "Why don't you go wait upstairs in our – in the attic. I'll be up in just a minute, okay?" She nodded again then walked past her brother and up the stairs leading to their shared room.
This was the first time she hadn't arrived in their room. Maybe her arrival had to do with Dipper, and where he was. That sort of made sense. She had always arrived near him. After all, this whole place was for him, to see him, to be with him here...
Her thoughts trailed off as she climbed the stairs. She shook her head. No. This whole place was for her because he… he was…
She shook her head again. She was not going to think about anything outside of sweater town right now. Never in sweater town. This was her time and the real world could go suck a lemon. If she had it her way, she would never go back home. She was never going back home. She would stay here. Forever.
She opened the door to their room and stopped. She blinked, not really understanding what she was seeing. Dipper's half of the room was much like it had been the last time but a few things had changed. The mystery board he had been shuffled around with a new puzzle to solve. He had also put up some different posters, and his clothing was, as always, spread across most of the floor. However, it was not Dipper's side that had really caught her attention. It was her side. It was empty.
The bed was completely bare, without even sheets on it. No posters, no stuffed animals, no stickers, no scrap book, no sweaters, no Mabel. She felt herself start to panic. Where was her stuff? Where was she? She took halting steps into the room towards her bed, touching it to make sure it was real. It was. It was also empty and unused.
"She isn't here," said Dipper's voice from behind her. She spun to see him leaning on the doorframe watching her. "She's in California. She didn't want to come this year. She didn't want..." he looked away and took a deep breath before coming into the room and closing the door behind him.
She watched him as he crossed to his bed and sat on the edge. He motioned for her to take a seat on her own, unused, bed across from him. Instead, she took two strides to his bed and sat right next to him. Dipper looked slightly uncomfortable but just shook his head, seeing an argument he wasn't going to win. She looked at him, willing him to continue.
"We, we had a fight," said Dipper at last. She blew a 'pfft' sound through her lips, that was it? A fight? So what? "A bad one. A big one, Mabel. Worse than any we've ever had..." he trailed off, looking down at his feet, not seeming to want to continue. She scooted over closer to him and wrapped him in a one armed hug. She smiled encouragingly. He had the tiniest smile back.
"Okay... so, this was our junior year," explained Dipper, "you know, in high school." She nodded, some quick math meant that she was at least sixteen. Her body didn't seem to have changed that much from last time, but, really she wasn't super focused on it right now. "So we're looking at colleges, trying to figure out where we're going to go, you know." Again she nodded and gave her brother an encouraging squeeze to continue.
"You want – I mean, Mabel wants to go to the California School of Fine Arts and Artistry, down in San Diego." That sounded like a place she would like. Dipper frowned. "But I have my eye on the Pennsylvania Institute of Transferable Technology, in, you know Pennsylvania, on the other side of the country." She nodded, that sounded like a place he would go, although, her geography wasn't good enough to confirm other side of the country. Dipper looked at her, uncertainty and worry on his face. "Mabel, we would be separated from each other! Apart for the first time for a long time! And I know we would have SeeMyFaceVideo chat, but, it won't be the same..."
He trailed off, searching her face for something, anything to let him know what she was feeling about this. However, she didn't know how to feel. Both schools sounded like things they would each like. There were things they both enjoyed for sure. But their similar interests only went so far. And, when it came to careers, their school choices would be fairly different, wouldn't they? Of course, maybe they could each settle on something less than their first choices, find schools closer together or something... She looked back at Dipper, unable to really give him an answer. So she shrugged. He still hadn't told her why the argument had been so bad.
"You're siding with her, aren't you?" asked Dipper, narrowing his eyes. She gave him an exasperated look.
"Dippppeerrrr," she groaned. He seemed to snap out of it.
"Right, darn it, I keep forgetting, you look... you act – you're so much like her, minus the words thing, my Mabel never shuts up," said Dipper, his last words were playful.
She gave him an indignant shove then she launched a second tickle attack on him. Soon his eyes were watering and he was once more begging for mercy but she could tell he enjoyed it. Once he had regained some semblance of himself, he sat upright again. Mabel gestured for him to get on with it.
"Right, right... We had a fight," he repeated. She gave him a look that said, 'and?' "We had a fight because you want us to give up on our college dreams and - " Dipper broke off looking away from her.
Mabel raised her hands as if to say, 'what?'
"Mabel! I don't want us to just settle on something! We have great things ahead of us," cried Dipper. "CSFAA is an opportunity for you! Do you know how many great artists come out of that school? I mean, they already accepted you! Scholarship and all! You can't just give up on that so that it's easier for us to chat sometimes!" She frowned at him. She knew that if she had her acceptance letter here and now, she would rip it in half. "And you ripped your acceptance letter in half!" Oh, well, that made sense.
"I haven't been accepted yet, but you – I mean, my Mabel, Original Mabel," she gave him a sour look at the name, "Yes, you've – darn it, she's said it's a terrible name, but I'm not calling you – her, cute Mabel, and you, adorable Mabel!" odd, that was what she had been thinking would be perfect names for them, just the other way around, she was obviously the cute one. "For now, you're other Mabel and she's just Mabel or Original Mabel if I really need to differentiate." Well those were just plain dumb names.
She knew she could do better than that. It was easy to think of herself as Mabel, she just needed a different name for her counterpart. Well, actually that was easy too. She could just think of her other self as Bel. It was a sort of cute nickname her father had used for her when she was younger but he hadn't called her that in years.
"Look, names aren't the point!" cried Dipper in frustration, pulling her back into the conversation. "Mabel found a school here in Oregon, not more than an hour from Gravity Falls that we could both attend!" Finished Dipper at last.
Well that was even better! They could keep going to the same school, maybe even have some of the same classes. That sounded perfect. Dipper however just looked flustered and upset.
"You – You think it's a good idea too, don't you? To give up on our chances and force ourselves into this, just to stay together?" She took a long moment before she answered, trying to give the appearance of at least thinking it over, then nodded.
"Of course. Of course you would take her side," Dipper said, shaking his head. "I mean, you are kind of her, aren't you?" She shrugged at this. She had never met Bel before, so, she could only guess what she was like. Dipper put his head in his hands. "You have no idea how hard it's been without her." He said. "It's only been a few days since I left her behind in California, but it feels like she has been out of my life for weeks now. It's like I've lost her forever just because I won't... agree with her."
Mabel didn't answer. She might even have laughed out loud at this. Then her brain filtered out the reason it was so morbidly funny to her. Dipper was here, right beside her, in her one armed hug. He was fine, he wasn't gone.
"The worst part of all this is I think she's right," said Dipper. "About everything she wants. I don't think I could continue to do this without her in my life. The last time we almost parted ways it was nearly the end of the world! She's my sister, my best friend, my twin! It's like I would be leaving a part of myself behind. I would do anything for you - for her. No matter what it is." She nodded again but felt like she had lost the thread somewhat.
"That's why she stayed in California," continued Dipper softly. "She said if I wanted to be far away from her, I could spend a summer on my own to discover how much I liked being alone." Dipper looked back down at the floor. "And... I hate it. I hate feeling like this." He looked at the empty bed across the way. "I hate not having her here." He looked at her. "I miss you sis." She smiled weakly back at him, feeling that his words were only partly meant for her. He took a deep breath. "So...
"So I guess we should talk about the elephant in the room," said Dipper, his eyes still locked on her. "I, don't have an elephant prop ready for a joke." Her excitement diminished a little. She would have had at least an elephant sticker at the ready. "You, Other Mabel." She stuck out her tongue at the name, he really could do better! Okay, maybe he couldn't but she could! She just hoped Bel could come up with something as equally cute as she had and convince Dipper to use it. "Do you want me to call you Mabel number 2?" She shook her head, absolutely not! That was even worse! "Right, so, Other Mabel it is, at least for now.
"It took me a while to figure it out," explained Dipper. "And, I mean, I still don't have all of it figured out. It would be really helpful if you could somehow tell me..." he looked at her hoping for her to launch into an explanation.
"Dipper," she said apologetically shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Dipper with a nod. "I went through several theories..." and here, he pulled a blue leather bound journal out from under its hiding place beneath his pillow.
Mabel smiled. Under the pillow was the same place her Dipper like to hide his journal. At first, she thought it was the same book she had brought with her but it wasn't, not exactly. This one was the same blue color and it still had a silver pine tree on the front but it was labeled with a black number '2' instead. A moment later he pulled out a second, nearly identical book, except with the number '1' on it. Dipper smiled.
"Do you like it? You - I mean - Original Mabel made another one for me when we filled the first journal. She gave it to me on our last birthday..." his face fell as he ran his hand over it, seeming to get lost in his own thoughts. She gave him a squeeze and he snapped back. "Right, sorry," He pushed book two back under his pillow before he flipped book one open, flying past most of the book. Some pages were dated and she watched November and January and March quickly flip by as he landed in June. At the top was a heading, The Other Mabel. In cute pink handwriting below was (Adorable Mabel).
She began to scan the page, not waiting for Dipper to read it to her.
She showed up again this year, I'm sure of it. For a whole day Mabel wasn't able to say anything except my name! Even still, she acted just like herself in every other way. We even ended up going on an adventure together into that hidden cave under the waterfall. We barely made it out of there and Mabel got scratched up in the process. She doesn't know it but she left my camera recording after she made her video. At midnight, for just a moment, I caught a frame of something incredible!
Here, a still image had been pasted into the book. She found it slightly creepy that her brother had a video of her sleeping. She found it even more creepy that in the image she could see two of herself. One lying blissfully asleep in bed, the other, a ghostly apparition floating up in silver wisps. All she remembered was falling asleep.
When I talked to her the next morning, Mabel was fuzzy on the details of the previous day. It was like it had all been a dream for her. She agreed there was something in the video, although neither of us are sure what it is. Great Uncle Ford seems to think it might be some kind of possession. Like how Bill took over my body.
Additionally, all of the scratches she suffered are still there! She wouldn't let me check all of them, but after having the room to herself. She confirmed there were scratches on her she didn't remember having before. The ones that were visible matched up with the video I took on our adventure.
This seems to answer one of my big questions about whose body is here. It appears to be Original(Cute) Mabel's body. but Other (Adorable) Mabel's mind. This opens up even more questions, what happens if she isn't in Gravity Falls? What if something really bad happens when Other (Adorable) Mabel is here? Where does my sister go when Other (Adorable) Mabel is here?
"So," said Dipper with a cough. Mabel lost her place and looked up at her brother, he had been watching her read. "We come to the problem of who you are, or what you are." She pulled back from her brother. She was Mabel! She was his sister! His twin!... right? She looked away and subconsciously pulled a lock of hair into her mouth to chew on it. "You act like my sister," continued Dipper. "I mean, except for the whole, only able to say my name thing. There's no way I would've been able to tell you apart. And you don't seem to mean either her or me any harm." Mabel turned back to him, shaking her head, eyes wide. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him! Dipper took a long breath.
"Are you my sister?" he asked again. Slowly, she shrugged, trying to give her best expression of 'maybe?' "You - you don't know?" asked Dipper. She shook her head sadly. "Are you..." he paused to think if his words made sense. "Are you Mabel Pines?" She nodded. "Am I your brother?" again, the maybe shrug. "What's with that shrug? If you're Mabel then I'm your brother, right?" Shrug. "Gahhh!" Dipper groaned, rubbing his face. "If only you could just tell me!" He shook his head. "Okay, wait, I have something for this. I didn't think I would actually use it, because it's a silly idea," he shot a sideways glance at her as he said it.
He flipped back through the journal and she got a glimpse of a few pages as they fluttered past. They caught her eye because instead of the normal blue ink Dipper liked to use, these pages had pink and purple and green and red handwriting on them. Much to her surprise, he stopped on one such page. She felt her eyes widen as she recognized her own neat handwriting and choice of multi-colored writing implements, and stickers, lots of stickers. "I can't believe I'm going to even try this," muttered Dipper. She started to read the pages but Dipper pulled the journal away so she couldn't see it.
"Okay, are you an alien?" asked Dipper. She blinked then slowly shook her head. "A ghost?" Shake. "A Vampire?" A frowning shake. "A zombie?" A very frowning shake. "A bunch of gnomes in an overcoat?"
"Dipper," asked Mabel in annoyance. She had no idea where he was going with this
"Look, just, humor... yourself? I guess?" said Dipper. "You wrote a list of questions for me to ask to you. Ouch, my head just hurts saying it. Just let me ask them, alright?" He waited for her to respond, she nodded. "Okay, which do you like better kitties or puppies. Oh, come on Mabel, I said yes or no questions only, hold on," Dipper muttered to himself. "Do you like puppies better than kitties?" That was a tricky question. Yes, kitties were cuter but puppies, how could you say no to them? She nodded but with a gesture that said she liked them both equally. There was the slightest hint of surprise in Dipper's eyes but he continued.
She listened to each question. A couple times he had to pause to rephrase so that she could nod or shake her head. Each time, he made a tick mark in his book but he didn't comment on her answers. At last, they reached what seemed to be the final set of questions. "Would you put mustard on a turkey sandwich?" obviously yes, "and mananas?" again yes, "And, yuck, peanut butter, really?" She licked her lips, peanut butter went well on everything! Maybe a little honey too! "And honey?" She smiled at being ahead of the question and nodded. That actually sounded really good right now. "I'll never understand your weird food combination obsession thing.
"Anyhow," said Dipper with a cough. He straightened up and so did Mabel. She was excited to hear how she did. "Every question," said Dipper. "You got every question right, even the ones where there was no right answer!" She beamed at him. "So that either means you can read her thoughts, or you really are Mabel." She blew a raspberry at him. "I'm leaning towards the second option... The question remains though, who are you really? Why are you here, how did you get here? And what do you want?"
Dipper paused, "Can you answer any of that?" She thought for a second then gave her 'maybe shrug.' However, it didn't seem like Dipper was expecting an answer, "and what is going to happen to Mabel when you leave, is she just going to reappear in California, or will she be here and still - uh, will we still be fighting?" Again, a shrug. Dipper groaned in frustration and they sat in silence for a while after that.
Cautiously, she put her arm back around her brother and gave him a gentle hug. He leaned against her shoulder and they just sat like that for a long while.
"You know, you remind me a lot of how we were when stuff was simpler. Back when we were thirteen, you remember what that was like?" asked Dipper. She nodded, yes. Yes she did.
"What... what do you think I should do?" he asked her softly. "Do you think we - me and Mabel, my Mabel, I mean - should try and stay together as long as we can, or is college the point where our lives part? Should I give up everything for her? Should I - should I put how I feel about P - about other people aside?" He looked up at her for reassurance, for an answer. And she had an answer. She knew exactly what she wanted to say to him!
"Dipper," she said confidently, then groaned. That wasn't fair! She closed her eyes, willing her words forward, "Dipppppeerrrr, Dipper." GAH this stupid brain and stupid mouth. She just needed it to work for once. Dipper was still watching her.
"Should... should we stay together?" he asked, watching her open and close her mouth, trying to make words. YES! Mabel nodded vigorously. DEFINITELY. She hugged him harder, never wanting to let him go. ABSOLUTELY.
There was no adventure planned for today. In fact, Dipper was hesitant for her to even leave the room because she wasn't even supposed to be here. Her brother spent a fair amount of time trying to get a hold of someone in California but no one was answering the home phone. Both their parents phones kept rolling to voice mail.
Mabel lay on her back on the end of Dipper's bed. She hung her head upside down over the side watching him pace back and forth. He was muttering to himself and kept shooting uncertain glances at her. Finally he stopped and marched over.
"Look, I can't take you just staring at me," said Dipper. He glanced around the room, trying to find something to occupy her. But, of course, none of her things were here. A light-bulb seemed to come on in his head. He pulled something small, flat, black and rectangular up from next to his bed. As he opened it, she realized it was a laptop. He offered it to her. "Look, if you want something to do while I figure out, what we should do with you, why don't you check out our UsTube channel."
She felt her eyes light up. That was something she really wanted to see. Dipper sat next to her once more, having been hesitant to do so up until this point. He typed in his password, which she noticed seemed to be his default 'D1pperisgr3at99'.
"Uh, just the channel though," he said pointedly. She 'pfft'd' at him, it wasn't like she hadn't seen his internet history before, then teased him mercilessly about it ever since. Although, he was a lot older now, maybe she didn't want to stray too far and find something she couldn't unsee. Her body might be sixteen but she wasn't.
The laptop lock screen vanished and Mabel caught the quickest glimpse of an open folder, filled with images. She smiled inwardly at herself. Her brother must have forgotten to close down all his 'personal fun time material' before shutting off his computer.
However, something gave her pause as he quickly scrambled to close the folder, the name, both at the top of the window and and some of the images, had her name. There weren't any thumbnails, so, she had no idea what they were. And she only got the briefest of glances but it had been right there in front of her. 'Mabel' What the hay?
Dipper clicked into the browser for her and it opened to UsTube. It started on a page that declared it was the MysteryPinesAdventureTwins, without spaces. He handed her the laptop as a video started to play.
"This is Mabel!" said the video version of Dipper, looking a year or so younger than he was now. He was pointing at the girl standing beside him, wearing her shooting star sweater. Mabel glanced up, reaffirming the sweater ceiling. She looked back down to find herself wearing a purple sweater with hearts on it that she didn't recognize. Her attention refocused on the video.
"This is Dipper!" said the girl that Mabel recognized to be her younger - older? - self, depending on how you looked at it. She was pointing at younger Dipper, who was wearing his trademark red shirt and blue vest and pine tree hat on his head.
"And we're the Mystery Pines Adventure Twins!" they said together.
"Come with us as we explore the unknown!" said Dipper's voice over. The shot changed to a misty woods, before shifting again into a creepy looking abandon town.
"Hunting for ghosts," continued Mabel's voice. Something flitted by the camera too fast to see. "Trolls!" Two glowing yellow eyes appeared against a black background. "Vampires!" A bat, clearly held up by a rope on a stick bounced across the frame, "I'm still hoping we find vampires."
"And all sorts of other mysteries and oddities!" chimed in Dipper. "Stay a while, look around! And be sure to Like, Share, Subscribe, Suggest, Comment, Reblog, Hashtag, Favorite, Bookmark and Watch again!"
Both twins reappeared on screen along with several dozen buttons around them. Mabel felt slightly confused and overwhelmed.
"That's the intro video," commented Dipper. "It's for people to get a little taste of what we're like. The other videos are, well, more about stuff. Scroll down, find one you like."
Mabel scrolled down and clicked the very first video in the list of recently uploaded. The page changed and it began to play.
"Adventure 16-22," said Mabel's voice from off camera. No, this was Bel's voice, Mabel reminded herself. "The mystery of my brother picking his nose!" Mabel felt a fit of giggles building up inside her. She watched the mostly guerrilla style camera work of her other self secretly filming her brother, picking his nose.
"Oh come on Mabel, you promised you weren't going to upload that one," groaned Dipper from beside her. He tried to yank the laptop away, but she easily kept it out of his reach and stuck her tongue out at him. The camera changed back to her face.
"What does he do with it? No one knows, hehe, nose. But we're about to find out!" It switched back to Dipper, who was looking at the thing on the end of his finger, trying to decide what to do, at last he flicked it away. "EWWWW! DIPPER, GROSS!" shouted Bel. He suddenly looked up, just noticing her, panic in his eyes.
"Mabel! You didn't see anything, I didn't... give me that camera!" shouted Dipper, "Don't you dare upload this!" He ran towards her and the picture cut out.
"In conclusion," said Bel reappearing with the camera close to her face. There seemed to be shirts or something hanging behind her. "Dipperie-dos nose gems appear to vanish into the unknown!"
"I'll make you vanish into the unknown if you upload that video!" shouted Dipper from the other side of the door that Bel was clearly holding closed with her body weight.
"That concludes Adventure 16-22, this is Dipper and," said Bel.
"I'm not doing the bit! Don't publish this!" cried Dipper.
"Signing off! See you next adventure!" shouted Bel. And the video ended with her beaming into the camera. Mabel was beaming herself. That... that had been pretty good. And apparently, holy moly, other people thought so too! Three and a half million views! And a lot of approves! Also a lot of disapproves. Mabel frowned at that, who would disapprove her videos.
She was just about to scroll down and read some of the comments. However, Dipper snatched the laptop out of her grasp.
"I can't believe she did that to me!" said Dipper angrily. "She put it up today! I've got to take it down!" His fingers began to move over the keyboard, but Mabel grabbed both his hands, stopping him. "Mabel let go!" She pointed to the views and he stopped, his eyes widening. "Wait, not three thousand, that's, that's three million?" Dipper seemed at a loss for words.
Her brother fell into some kind of comatose state. Either three million views had broken his brain, or the video of him picking his nose seen by three million viewers had destroyed him.
Mabel set the laptop aside, and poked him. He didn't respond. She booped him in the nose. Still he sat motionless. Drastic measures were needed here. She leaned in super close to the side of his face, so that her nose was almost touching his cheek. She licked him, from fuzzy jaw line to just below the eye.
"EEWWW MABEL!" cried Dipper, finally snapped out of whatever had happened to him. "Twice! Twice you've done that to me! I never thought I would prefer you to go back to punching so badly!" She smiled at him, he wiped the side of his face with his shirt. "Seriously…" he muttered. His eyes widened again. "Mabel, that video had three million views on it! That's more than all our other videos combine! You realize what this means right? We have our first viral video… of me… picking my nose…" He looked a little unhappy with her but she shrugged and stuck out her tongue.
Mabel picked the laptop back up, indicating that she wanted to watch more and that he should watch with her. Dipper only seemed to be able to nod.
With a few clicks she was back on their channel. Mabel browsed for other videos to was a plethora of stuff, most with her or Dipper's face on them instead of title cards. The ones on this page seemed to be in several categories. There was Adventures with Mabel! Videos that had names like Cats in Top Hats!, and Finger Painting Everything! And most importantly of all Finger Painting Cats in Top Hats on Everything!
Most of the videos had lots of extra exclamation points in their titles, indicating, at least in her mind, how awesome they were. She noticed none of them had three million views (or more than a hundred in most cases). That made her frown a little. Still, a hundred was nothing to sneeze at.
There were other videos too. Some were clearly Dipper's with titles like, a Deeper Look Into the Unexplained, and review of the Caper of the Capers. And of course, making up most of the videos on their channel was Mystery Pines Adventure Twins. These were all labeled with that funny code, 15-something or, 14-something else. Mabel wasn't sure what it meant but a few of them sounded super interesting. They also by far had the most views, in the thousands on average and up into the hundreds of thousands on some.
She clicked on one labeled Adventure 14-35: Independent Time Pendant. It started with an intro from Dipper, talking about a strange pendant he had in his hands. He declared it to be a pendant capable of traveling through time. While it didn't appear to do that, it did swing faster or slower on its own. Not a super exciting video. She could see why it didn't have a lot of views.
She browsed some more and found the video marked Adventure 15-88 and saw the half million views on it. The Waterfall Loop Cave. Mabel pressed play and watched as she and her brother explored the waterfall cave. The one they had been in, at least from her perspective, yesterday.
Much to her surprise, she was talking in the video. She looked at Dipper in confusion.
"You, other you, I mean, Original Mabel, did voice over for it. A lot of the audio didn't come out, and people expect us both to be talking in our videos, about the two of us, having adventures together," stressed Dipper. She shrugged, that made sense, in a strange way. She wondered what Bel had thought about seeing herself on camera but not remembering doing any of it. Not for the first time, she wished she could talk to herself somehow.
She also noticed that the ceiling in the video looked just like a normal cave ceiling. It wasn't like the ceiling above her right now which - with a quick glance up to re-confirm - was sweater town wrapped above her.
She returned her focus to the video. It was pretty well edited. The pacing was fast, the thrill of discovery building in every shot. And it was over before she even knew it, with the exciting climax of them bursting out of the cave. Dipper was declaring they were back where they had started, before showing that the exit they had come out of had vanished. It didn't feel like the adventure she'd had at all, which had been slow and intimate and with more ceilings made of sweaters. She guessed that was the magic of editing though.
Mabel started to scroll down into the comments again. It was Dipper's turn to put his hands over hers and stop her.
"You, uh, you probably don't want to read the comments," he said. She noticed his face turn slightly red. She gave him a puzzled look. "UsTubers are all pervs and trolls. It's either just mean things or… trust me, you don't want to read them." Mabel rolled her eyes and shooed her brother's hands off. She was a big girl, how bad could - She didn't even make it past the first one.
She totally isn't wearing a bra! Go to 3:55 and you can see her nipples!
Mabel felt her face go red. Below there were several replies, each more vulgar than the previous one. That was only some of them, Mabel noticed this one comment had over three hundred replies alone. And twice as many up votes.
She closed the laptop. Yep, that was enough of the internet for a lifetime.
"I did try to warn you," said Dipper, pulling the laptop out of her hands. "You - Original Mabel, has comments hidden. Also," and Dipper seemed to falter here. He muttered something under his breath. Mabel gave him a puzzled look. Dipper sighed. "She asked me to remind you not to take your bra off in public." There was a long awkward pause between them then Mabel began to laugh. Dipper smiled at her, not really seeming to know what else to say.
They spent the rest of the day up in the room, moving from one normal activity to another. It wasn't a day filled with high adventure or excitement, it was just a day filled with her brother. And that was perfectly fine.
Currently they were playing a card game - Mabel wasn't sure which one - but she kept winning at it, so, what did it matter. She beamed again as she laid her cards out on the floor. Dipper groaned.
"How do you keep doing that?" he asked in frustration. "I don't think you even know what game we're playing!" Mabel just smiled, scooping up the candy they had decided to use as currency. She was glad that she was winning too, she was starting to get pretty hungry and that candy was making her mouth water slightly.
"Hey dude!" came Soos' voice from downstairs. "Dinner is ready!" Mabel started to get up, but, Dipper put a hand on her knee and stopped her.
"They, uh, don't know you're here, remember?" said Dipper. Mabel shrugged as if to say, 'so what?' But Dipper frowned. "Look, just wait here, I'll grab a plate to go, tell them I'm working on something important, which I am, and be right back, okay?" Mabel shrugged again, then nodded. She guessed that was acceptable. "Great, I'll be back in just a minute. Wait here."
The way he said it, the way he looked at her, made Mabel feel that same uncomfortable way from earlier, like he didn't trust her. She realized that, as he was backing out the door, watching her with every step, he didn't trust her. At first she felt a little hurt by this. They had always trusted each other, how could they not. But the more her thoughts lingered on it, the more sense it made.
Dipper, this Dipper in this place, whatever it really was, didn't know her. Just like she didn't really know him. She eyed his laptop still sitting on the bed. Maybe she really should watch more of their videos, see what they were really like in this place.
Just, don't read the comments, she thought to herself. She shivered.
However, there wasn't a lot of time for her to consider it as Dipper reappeared with food in hand. They shared the meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. Dipper had also brought along two cans of Pitt soda for them. Mabel briefly wondered if anyone had asked why he had two cans.
After dinner Dipper opened his laptop once more. Mabel was still feeling weary of the internet but her brother launched ComFlix, a movie streaming service. Before she could ask what they were going to watch, not that she actually could have anyhow, Dipper cued up the movie. High School Boy SingSong Two: The Reschooling. Mabel let out a delighted squeal. She thought her brother hated this movie! No, she knew her brother hated this movie! She looked at Dipper in confusion but he just smiled at her and shrugged.
They cuddled up on the floor, leaning against his bed and watching the extremely cheesy, filled with pop songs, badly written, musical adventure. Mabel enjoyed every minute of it, even if she couldn't sing along to any of the super catchy songs. It wasn't so much the movie she enjoyed though. It was the fact she was watching it with her brother, that he had picked it for her. That he was enduring the forced relationship between new girl Kristina and super hot man meat Keven.
At last the movie ended and Mabel let out a huge yawn. Dipper closed the application and powered down his laptop. He gave his tired sister a squeeze.
"We should get ready for bed. You want to use the bathroom first?" asked Dipper. Mabel sat upright, he never asked her that! There were rules against it! They had to, THEY HAD TO, rock paper scissors for it!
With a practiced hand she held up her closed fist. Dipper raised an eyebrow.
"Mabel, we haven't done that in years…" said Dipper. She looked determinedly at him. It was tradition, one that had served them well. She insistently beat her hand against her open palm. "Alright, if that's what you want."
He raised his own fist. Together they lightly tapped their bottom hand three times than cast their rolls. Both Scissors. They cast again. Both Rock. They cast again. Dipper threw Scissors but Mabel did paper. She could see his face light up.
"I won?" he asked in confusion, he almost never won at it. "I won!" he cried excitedly, then he calmed down. "I mean, look, I really don't mind if you go first." Mabel started to nod but then shook her head, not actually sure what her answer was supposed to be. He won fair and square, he got the bathroom first.
"Was, that a yes?" he asked. Mabel shook her head. "You're really letting me go first?" Mabel nodded. "You sure, I mean, I don't mind. We don't have to follow the rules. I know you like to take long showers, I don't mind waiting." Mabel booped him on the nose then held out her arms in a gesture of 'after you.' "Alright, I'll be back in a bit."
Mabel watched him gather up his nightwear, only slightly aware that without her things here, she didn't have any clothing to change into. A problem she would solve when she got to it. The moment Dipper was out the door, she grabbed up his laptop and powered it back on. Her hands hovered over the keyboard. She really shouldn't be doing this. This was a huge invasion of his privacy. But that folder with her name on it… she had to see.
And of course, invading other people's personal lives was what she did best. Her fingers flew across the keys and a moment later the computer unlocked. She paused, listening for the sounds of returning footsteps beyond the door. If she was lucky, she would have ten, maybe fifteen minutes to snoop around.
It wasn't hard to find the folder, it was right on his nearly spotless desktop, right in the middle in fact. It's Label read 'Mabel.' She hovered over it, debating if this was really such a good idea. What if she stumbled on something really, really bad.
Was there anything her brother could do that would really be enough for her to hate him? To never forgive him? Mabel didn't think so. Her hand clicked and the folder opened. It contained thousands of pictures, with dates going back years and years. She clicked one at random and the image viewer launched. She felt a sort of sad joy flitted through her as a perfectly normal picture of herself appeared on the screen.
The Mabel in the image was waving and smiling, out some place in the woods carrying the piggyback-backpack. She clicked forward, her again, gluing something together on the floor. She kept clicking next. They were all of her, all smiling, all happy. Sometimes Dipper was in the pictures too, sometimes one of their Uncles or Soos, sometimes all of them. But every picture contained her.
She suddenly realized why he had this open. Dipper missed her. This was like her scrapbook, a way to look back on happier times and memories of the person most important to him in the entire world.
She missed him. Oh how she missed him! She missed him so much it hurt. Drops of water splashed onto her arms and Mabel realized that she was crying. She touched her face to find large wet trails along her cheeks.
"Dipper," she moaned softly, her hand still clicking through the images of her. "Dipper, Dipper, Dipper, Dipper!" Faster and faster she clicked. The screen went dark. The world went dark.
