Dipper felt an awfully sinister feeling that racked his whole body. It started from a slight discomfort, but it grew until it woke him from his sleep. He sat up straight, his body hot yet his skin in a cold sweat. He was shaking and his breathing was unnecessarily fast. He removed his shirt and turned on his ceiling fan to try and cool himself down, but the off feeling wouldn't leave. A sudden urge to look out his window came over him and as he did, a dark shadow quickly past by his open window and he knew exactly what it was. Dipper turned on his lamp to dim and he got up and shut the window before closing the curtains. He knew that monster had been watching his bedroom, he knew it must have followed him or watched from a distance to his house. Dipper looked at his clock and notice it was nearly three in the morning, but he was in no way ready to fall back asleep, so he pulled his laptop up onto the bed and comforted himself with good music and movies.
The sound of birds told him that it was close to sunrise and he parted his curtains slightly to see the yellow beginning of the morning sky painted delicately above the distant hills. He knew what morning awaited him and his bruised body throbbed, reminding him that he was going to have a difficult time. The time was nearly five thirty so he got up and clumsily pulled his socks and shorts off, grabbing his towel off the door to have an early morning shower. Once he was refreshed and fully awake, he came downstairs quietly to get some food. The only real light in the house being the fridge light. He was just about to take his sandwich back upstairs when a sound at the door made him freeze. He glanced over to see a familiar silhouette turning the door handle and slipping into the house. Immediately Dipper relaxed and walked over to Mabel.
"Dad's going to throw a fit! Where the fuck were you?" Dipper said in amusement.
"I was with Oscar, but to dad I was always in bed. Got it?" She threatened.
"Yeah yeah yeah I got it, I'm not going to pull you out sis." he chuckled.
"Why are you up so early anyway?"
"Oh, I have to help dad help the new neighbours move."
"We have new neighbours?" Mabel said in surprise. She was speaking in the loudest whisper he had ever heard.
"Yeah, the Babcocks or something… Apparently there is a brother and a sister and their mom."he said.
"Oh okay," Mabel said before walking towards the stairs. "Well I'm going to bed, and if Dad asks you if you knew where I was, say no."
"Right."
Mabel had met this guys named Oscar, she had been sneaking out to see him a couple of nights already, and like always Dipper had to cover for her. Dipper shook his head and walked back up to his bedroom. He pulled on a T-shirt and opened his curtains again, quickly checking the view outside for any lingering creature that was watching the house. About an hour later he heard the shower going and he knew his dad was up and not far after him would be mom so he came downstairs to have breakfast with her before being forced to suffer physical labor. She had already started the bacon and eggs and as he said good morning and poured himself a glass of orange juice he began to butter the toast and bring the plates to the table.
It was nearly Eighty thirty and Mabel and finally come back out of her room. She had done an excellent job at making her pajamas and hair resemble a homeless girl who had just sat in the middle of a tornado to convince everyone she had been sleeping all night. She yawned good morning before pulling out a chair at the table and 'struggled' to keep her eyes open. Mr. Piness began to clear his throat and Dipper knew the exact words he was about to say. Word for word.
"So, Where were you last night Mabel?" He said, looking up to Mabel.
"I didn't feel well yesterday, so I went up to my room and I fell asleep." She said, pouring herself a glass of juice and sipping from the glass.
"So is that why your car was gone until I came out this morning?" He questioned.
"Oh, no I let Oscar borrow it yesterday. He must have come back this morning to return it." She lied once more.
Mr. Piness looked at her a little before nodding and finishing his breakfast. Dipper groaned at the pain his muscles felt, but Mr. Pines insisted he come and help. He put his plate at the sink, kissed his mother's cheek before dragging his feet out of the house for a day of torturous work.
Dipper stood behind his father as he was speaking with Mr. Babcock offering our help which was, unfortunately for Dipper, happily accepted. The family had moved in last night, but the moving truck wouldn't arrive until Ten so Dipper and his father were invited into the house to meet the family. The house was fairly empty, the only things they brought were mattresses and boxes that didn't fit in the moving truck.
"Hey, I'm Sandra. You're our neighbors?" A blonde woman with a subtle smell of perfume greeted us in the kitchen.
"Yes, I'm Mr. Piness and this is my son Dipper. We've offered to help unload your moving truck for you." Mr. Piness said.
"Oh you didn't have to! But thankyou, I'm sure we'll get it done a lot faster with extra hands." She said. So, how old are you Dipper?" She said looking at Dipper.
"I just turned 16 about a week ago." Dipper said shuffling his feet uncomfortably on the hardwood floor.
"Oh okay, my son Norman's turning 16 this month. He's upstairs if you want to introduce yourself?" She said.
Dipper felt his fathers hand push him forward almost as an answer to Dipper's 'Do I have to?' look he gave him. He reluctantly walked up the stairs to find a bedroom on his right, and to his left another bedroom with a closed door. He peered inside the open door to see a girl sitting on her mattress typing quickly away on her laptop, not noticing Dipper awkwardly pulling himself away. He slowly walked up to the closed door and knock three times and pulled back, looking to his side biting his lip. He heard some movement before the wooden door opened revealing a boy of his age and height sticking his head out. Once the boy realised it was a guess he opened the door fully. The boy was wearing a red hoodie and black jeans with white socks, but the most intriguing feature was his jet black hair that stood in an updo seemingly on it's own.
"Oh, hi." The boy said, smiling slightly.
"Hey," Dipper replied. "My dad and I offered to help you guys with the moving truck?"
"Oh yeah, you're our neighbors?" He said. "Come in, I'm Norman by the way."
"Dipper." He said while stepping into a room with white walls and black carpet.
Norman sat down on his mattress and Dipper sat next to it on the carpet hugging his knees. Norman pulled a box that was sitting near by up onto the mattress and he tore the packing tape with a razor blade.
"So, why Gravity Falls?" Dipper asked. He knew that this town was hardly known for it's tourist attraction and climbing population.
"Oh, I guess we just had to get away from the old city, start fresh somewhere else." Norman said as he pulled out some of his belongings from the box. He stood up and went over to a desk already in the room.
"Are you thirsty?" Norman said pouring water from a glass jug into a cup placed on the desk.
"I'm fine thankyou." Dipper replied. This boy was a lot different to what he expected.
Dipper relaxed a little, relieved that he didn't feel a manliness contest vibe from the boy and he almost felt they could get along too which helped his nerves. He was curious to know what Norman was into, what his interests were as he seemed to be one to dislike sports like he did.
"So, Norman. What are you into?" Dipper asked after clearing his throat. The boy shrugged looking at the floor.
"I don't know, I know what don't like though. Sports and early mornings. Well mornings in general."
"I know, wouldn't it be great if it was just always night?" Dipper said earning a laugh from Norman.
"Yeah, I hate sunlight. As you can probably tell, I'm probably the most tan person you'll ever meet." Norman joked about his pale skin.
"Yeah." Dipper laughed. There was a silence before Norman shifted from his standing position leaning against his desk to the floor in front of Dipper.
"So, what are you interested in?" Norman asked. Dipper being not one to hide his passions, told the whole truth.
"Well actually, I want to become a paranormal investigator or more likely a Cryptozoologist when I'm older so I spend most of my time studying mythical creatures. Nothing childish, more like Loch ness Monster and stuff like that," Dipper said. "My sister, Mabel, sometimes helps me and I go out looking through the forests around here. I've found some pretty unbelievable things!"
Norman's eyes widened.
"Really? That's cool. I've actually got a bit of a… Paranormal secret for lack of a better word." Norman said.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Dipper said, his full attention payed on the boy.
"Okay, do you believe in ghosts?" Norman said.
"Yeah, of course. Have you got one?"
"Well," Norman shifted uncomfortably on the carpet, his legs crossed as he hugged his knees. "Ever since I was little, I've been able to see and communicate with the spirit world. I constantly can see spirits and entities without having to 'Call upon' them or anything. I was just born with it."
"Oh my god! That's awesome!" Dipper said excitedly.
"Well yeah, it has it's good parts. But sometimes I wish I didn't have it. It can get hard to sleep at night sometimes!" Norman laughed a little.
The two talked and laughed together for about half an hour before Normans dad entered the room.
"Boys, the moving truck has arrived. Mr. Piness and I will bring furniture and boxes inside and you'll take your stuff in here and set your own rooms up. We'll take care of everything else."
Dipper nodded and Norman stood up and began pulling blankets off of his mattress and throwing them in the corner before standing the mattress up on it's end against the wall.
"I'll just make a bit more room to have stuff in here." Norman said as he pushed his desk back against the wall.
Norman and Dipper walked out into the kitchen and both picked up relatively large boxes with the word 'NORMAN' written in thick black sharpie across the top and took it back up the stairs into his room. The boys took about ten boxes in before deciding to bring in his furniture.
It took some time, but both the boys managed to pull up the parts for Normans bed frame and put it together. They had his cupboards and drawers up and the last boxes stacked in the middle of Normans room just in time for a lunch break. Sandra had brought a plate of pizza and two glasses of fizzing soda and the two boys sat leaning against the wall, talking and eating their food. For reasons Dipper didn't understand, he felt very comfortable around Norman, almost enough that he could come into his room only wrapped in a towel looking for clothes and he wouldn't feel the slightest bit awkward. Whether that was the same for Norman wasn't evident, but Dipper could tell just by body language and the way they talked that Norman liked him and that they had just become friends.
Hours passed and the house had been completely, or almost completely, furnished and all boxes were unpacked. Norman, Sandra and Norman's father began talking about dinner when Mr. Pines offered again for them to stay for dinner at their house as a sort of welcome.
"You guys have already done so much! You're very kind, thank you." Sandra said. And with that, Norman, Dipper and Mr. Pines walked back to their house to bring news of the guests that would be staying for dinner.