"Someone is speaking."
'Someone is quoting something.'
Someone is thinking.
Do you know that falling feeling that you sometimes have at the end of a nightmare? The one where you are just falling helplessly? That's me right now.
I was just casually walking home from just another day of Junior year in high school when everything started to fade away out of nowhere. Of I did what any sane person would do, panic. I tried to run back to where I came from, ironically back to school, but I couldn't, as the same thing was happening behind me. Unfortunately, my favorite song playing through my earbuds was not helping, giving the situation a twisted sense of fear. Eventually, everything around me was white, including the ground I was standing on. I tried to scream as I started to fall, but nothing would escape my throat.
To cushion my inevitable impact, I unstrapped my backpack, brought it out in front of me, and held it tight to my torso. Terrified, I shut my eyes in anticipation, waiting for my rib cage to shatter, but nothing came. Confused because the wind was howling in my ears, my eyes slowly opened, and I realized I was hurtling toward a large canopy of green trees. Finding my voice this time, I yelled as I hit the treeline, and even though it slowed my fall, I still hit the ground pretty hard. Thankfully, my backpack cushioned my body, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. I rolled onto my back off the flattened bag with a loud grunt of pain. I winced and shut my eyes, trying to breathe and comprehend what just happened.
After a few seconds, blood started to trickle out of my nose, forcing my eyes open. I wiped the back of my hand under my nose, clearing it away for moments, but fresh blood immediately replaced it. My gaze lifted from my bloody hand, and I almost passed out at what I saw. In front of me, there was a building that I loved and cherished. The building was a shack, and red-painted wood letters with a yellow backdrop made the darker color letters pop out on the side of its triangle roof. Two words were displayed proudly with those letters, and they read: 'MYSTERY SHACK.'
My jaw dropped, eyes glued to the rundown building. This was not possible. Gravity Falls is a cartoon. It's not real. It can't be real! I slowly stood on my feet, completely disregarding my bag, fallen-out earbuds, and my current nosebleed, and walked up to what I believed was the gift shop entrance. Shakily grabbing the wooden handrail, I made my way up the rickety steps to the door, stumbling a little when I had to let go of the rail to get to the door. Sloppily wiping the blood off my face one final time, I took a big breath and pushed open the door. My legs nearly gave out due to surprise when my eyes fell upon the establishment's cashier. She had red hair, just like me, and I knew it must be Wendy Corduroy.
She had her feet propped up on the countertop and was reading a magazine with a lifeless expression. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, or whatever." She said in a bored tone when she heard the bell ring as the door opened. I was utterly appalled. She looked real. The tangles in her hair were noticeable, and so were her sporadic freckles. The green flannel she was wearing hung loosely to her torso, her boots were all muddy, probably making a mess on the table, and on top of it all was her lumberjack hat. She looked like a real person, not some animated character. If that isn't scary enough, her voice sounded identical to the one she has in the show.
I tried to step further into the room but once again stumbled forward, knocking down a metal stand of postcards while trying to regain my lost balance. My eyes flew over to Wendy as she said, "Watch it, buddy! Stuff here is expensive, you know!" When she said this, the magazine she was reading was still blocking her view, so when the other redhead heard no reply from me, she lowered her chosen literature, and shock spread across her face. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Even when she talked, she looked natural. Her mouth matched perfectly with the words coming out of it.
She brought her feet to the ground and ran over to me, where I was clinging to a shelf for support so I could stand. So she looks real, big deal! That doesn't mean she IS real. I have to be hallucinating. When she reached me, she put her hand on my shoulder, which widened my eyes. My arms went limp from physical exhaustion and the overwhelming fact that I was in Gravity Falls. I collapsed on the floor, and the last thing I remembered was Wendy yelping at my loss of consciousness.
#
A few hours later, I woke up. I had a gauze pad under my nose that stopped the bleeding, my arms had damp, cool towels on them, and below that, I had a rather large ice pack on my stomach. Wincing at the pain, I tried to sit up to examine my legs. They were in the same condition my arms were in, covered with wet rags in different places. Slowly, I brought my body back down into a resting position, but I closed my eyes and began to cough, discomfort growing in my chest. I must have grabbed someone's attention because I heard footsteps approaching me. Barely opening my eyes, I tried to identify who the footsteps belonged to, but all I saw was a fuzzy outline of a man coming closer.
I allowed my eyes to fully open and gaze upon who was in my presence, and I freaked out, to say the least. Standing near my legs was a man. He wore a dark suit with a white undershirt. His face supported rectangular framed glasses, and a flipped-up eyepatch was above one of the frames. A red fez with a golden symbol in the center was placed proudly on his head, tucking away his gray hair. I jumped back closer to the arm of the sofa in complete surprise, and the man's profound stature quickly became alarmed by my reaction.
His voice was gruff and deep but friendly, indicating he had spoken to many strangers in his time.
"Whoa, easy there, kid. By the looks of it, you've been through a lot. Take it easy." Take it easy!? How can I take it easy when a real-life Stanley Pines is standing above me? My heart was beating so fast that I heard it in my ears. First Wendy, now Stan? Is there anyone not here? What is Soos here too?
As if on cue, a lumbering large man walked up to Stan.
"Mr. Pines, I kicked out all the tourists. I had to use the hose on a few because of the cut tour, but they all ran out pretty quick." The new man noticed my disheveled demeanor. "Hey, the mystery dude is up."I could all help but stare at him. Soos looked real, too, albeit a little more recognizable than the other two, but real nonetheless. He wore his question mark shirt over his large stomach, cargo shorts covering his legs, and on his head, he had a dark baseball cap.
Stan rolled his eyes at the handyman, "Yup, the kid just came around now." My gaze quickly switched to the old man's face. Even his large nose was spot on! "What's your name?" Stan asked, resuming the serious expression he had held before. I couldn't respond. This was all so much to take in. I loved Gravity Falls, but being here literally out of nowhere was too crazy for me. I often daydreamed about being here, but now that I was in this backwoods town, it didn't feel as amazing as I thought it would. It mostly just hurt, not just physically too. What about my friends and my family? Was I the only one that got "flashed?" Were there hundreds of people crawling and stumbling around like I had?
Stan snapped his fingers, pulling my attention to him.
"Kid, I closed shop so that we could properly fix you up. The least you could do is tell us who you are." His tone was straightforward, impatient, a little rude, and rightfully so. He had no idea who I was and how I appeared on his doorstep. Then again, I didn't know either. However, I did know my name, but I couldn't tell them because I had no idea if a version of me even existed in this world. He would, without a doubt, try to find my parents, and then he'll realize they likely don't exist. To add insult to injury, even if they did exist, I live in New Jersey, and I bet a version of me would reside there too. Stan would freak out if he found out about that. How would a kid get across the country by himself? I couldn't risk giving any information.
I sat up with a small grunt and looked right at Stan.
"My name is Matt. Matt…" It needed to seem like I had some form of memory loss so they wouldn't question me for my last name. I brought my left hand to my forehead to make it look more convincing. "I can't quite remember." As I spoke, my hand slid down and over my face. Stan is a professional con man, and I'm willing to wager that he can detect small facial cues of lies, so I hid my face. When I returned my hand to my side, I tried to find an emotion on his face. I couldn't find a single one.
"What year is it?" Stan asked nonchalantly.
I squinted slightly at the odd question, "What?"
"You heard me. What year is it?" He asked again in an irritated tone.
"Um, 2020?"
Stan scoffed at my answer, "Yeesh, kid. You must have hit your head on something hard. It's 2012, the beginning of summer, meaning…" He seemed lost in thought as his eyes drifted away from mine. His face suddenly lit up, and he shouted, causing me to flinch a little. "My niece and nephew are coming here tomorrow!" He slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot! I have to set up their bedroom!" He quickly walked out of the room and up the stairwell nearby. His footsteps stopped, and I heard him come back down, prompting me to turn my body slightly to look at him. His head and shoulders peeked out from behind the wall as he said, "This doesn't mean our conversation is over. Don't go anywhere." I glanced down at my body, examining my condition.
"I don't think I'm going anywhere."
Stan scoffed in response, and with that, he walked right back up the stairs, prompting me to lay back down again.
"So what happened to you anyway, dude?" Soos asked, which startled me a little, having completely forgotten he was in the room.
"Man, you can blend in pretty well for a big guy." He beamed at the comment, which wasn't a compliment, but that's Soos for you. I didn't like lying to someone like Soos, but I knew he had a big mouth, so I had to. "I don't really know how I wound up here, man. I just kinda woke up right on the edge of the woods, I guess, with all these injuries too." I glanced at my towel-covered limbs and then back to him. "I never got your name." God, playing dumb hurts.
"Oh, the name's Soos!" He said with a small tip of his cap. "And that old guy was Mr. Stanford Pines, my boss." His smile didn't cease, and the way Soos stated Stan's name showed how much he cared for him.
"He's not, like, going to kick me out, right?" I genuinely asked, hiding my concern with a chuckle that made me cough a little.
Soos raised his eyebrows slightly, responding, "No, of course not, dude. Sure, Mr. Pines looks scary and mean, but he wouldn't kick you out of the shack." He looked off to the side. "I hope." I ignored the last part, smiled, and tried to change the subject.
"What about that redhead handling the cash register? The one I probably scared half to death." I clarified with a slight chuckle that hurt a little.
Instantly, and I mean instantly, Soos's face became excited again as he responded. "Oh, that's Wendy. She's the only girl in a family full of lumberjacks, and she's super cool." Despite Soos's grand smile while talking about his friend, I couldn't help but frown slightly. I had never considered that she was the only girl in her family, but it made sense as we never saw her mother in the show. I heard the front door open, shaking me from my thoughts. Walking in was the female lumberjack. She was texting someone on her phone and had a plastic bag over her shoulder. She looked up from her phone and looked at Soos and me while putting her device away.
"My fellow ginger has awoken. How ya feeling?"
I smiled at the comment.
"To be honest, everything hurts. Hopefully, I should be able to get around tomorrow easier. Sorry for freaking you out earlier."
She waved a hand through the air with a smile, "Pssh, I've seen more freaky things. One time I caught this kid trying to steal my moisturizer." I laughed in response, picturing the kid I knew to be Gideon attempting to snatch the product.
"What's in the bag?" I asked after my laughter subsided.
"This stuff is for you, man," She replied, bringing the bag out before her.
I raised an eyebrow, "Wait, for me?"
"Yeah, dude," Soos said while walking to a nearby table and grabbing a chair. "I don't know if you've noticed, but your clothes are pretty jacked up." He brought the chair a few feet from the couch and sat down. "Wendy and I put some money together to buy you this stuff." He extended his hands for the bag, Wendy placed it in his grasp, and Soos sorted through it. "We got you some extra clothes, a hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste, and shampoo. Stan's got that old man's hair wash, do not want to put you through that." He said with a chuckle.
"You guys didn't need to do that. I have an extra set of clothes in...my...backpack…."
"Ah, that was your bag outside. I'll go get it for you." Wendy offered politely, but I didn't respond. My backpack had my first and last name imprinted on it. She couldn't see that. If she did, then I was screwed. I was about to call out and say that it wasn't necessary, I'd get it in the morning, but she was already gone. I hope she is as carefree as I think she is.
A few seconds later, Wendy returned to the shack and closed the door. She had my bag slung over one of her shoulders and had something small in her free hand.
"Nice color choice with the bag, red like the fiery hair." She nodded in approval as she put the bag beside the couch, allowing me to exhale a breath I didn't know I was keeping in. "Never seen these before, though. Are these yours too?"
She held my wireless earbuds close to me so I could see them. Since this was 2012 and not 2020, those earbuds were not invented yet. I didn't know how to explain what they were, so I just nodded. Luckily, she didn't ask any further questions and put them in the mesh pocket on the side of my bag. The room fell into silence afterward, and a question entered my mind that, given my knowledge of the people I was around, I probably already knew the answer to.
"I can't help but ask," I started, grabbing Soos and Wendy's attention, "why am I in some shack and not a hospital right now?"
Wendy and Soos exchanged a slight glance, and the lumber jane turned back to me with a serious face.
"You seem like a chill guy, so I'll tell you this, but you cannot tell anyone else." I nodded in response which prompted her to continue. "Okay, Stan isn't exactly the cleanest guy out there, so if the police or an ambulance came here with you looking like this, he might get into some trouble." Yup, that's pretty much the answer I was expecting.
"Well, as long as he allows me to stay here for a few days, then we're straight," I said with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, we better be straight, kid," Stan said, walking into the room, surprising me with his quiet descent down the stairs. "I'll let you stay the night, but tomorrow I'm bringing you back home to your folks, alright? Do you live in Gravity Falls?" Stan asked, and I put on the best innocent act I had ever done. Once again, I knew full well that Gravity Falls was in Oregon, meaning I was on the other side of the country, about three thousand miles away from my hometown.
"I don't live in this town, Mr. Pines," I said quickly. "I don't quite remember where I live, but I can tell you right now that it is not Gravity Falls." Stan let out a sigh. "I mean, what kind of name is 'Gravity Falls?'" I inwardly cringed at my statement, believing the name to be quite clever.
"At least you remember how to breathe," Stan muttered. He was silent for a few seconds, pondering in thought, but then spoke up. "Tell you what, until a missing person's report matches your description, you get to stay here. That could take a while to get out to the public, so if you're okay with staying in a shack with an old man and a pair of twelve-year-old twins, you can." I nodded. Man, I'm going to be here for a while. "That doesn't mean that you won't have responsibilities. You will watch over my niece and nephew whenever I can't. If they are working in the shack, then so are you. And if they decide to go out into town, you are going with em." I honestly couldn't tell if this was good or bad. On the one hand, I have an opportunity to spend the foreseeable future with the Pines family and go on all of their adventures, but on the other hand, my family might have no idea where I am right now and could be worried sick, so I should try and get home as soon as possible. Then again, I didn't know how to do that, so my best bet was to stay here until I could figure that out.
"I'll do it, ," I responded, and out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Soos and Wendy smile at my choice.
"Alright then," Stan concluded and was about to walk away. He then halted his movement. "But if you remember anything about your background, you tell me immediately. I don't want people to think that I kidnapped a teenager. Got it?"
I nodded once again, "Got it, Mr. Pines."
"And, if you're staying here, just call me Stan."
"That makes things easier," I acknowledged. I was honestly surprised that I hadn't called him Grunkle Stan yet.
"You're going to sleep down here tonight. I don't want you falling down the steps. Tomorrow I'll show you around, so don't go snooping where your nose doesn't belong." Stan pointed a finger at me, and I smiled. Too bad I already know everything that he is trying to hide. "As for you two-" Stan turned to his employees, "-You can go home now. You've done your part, and it's getting late." Soos stood up and brought his chair back to where he got it while Wendy turned to me and gave a thumbs up.
"I'll see you around, Matt," She said, turning my blood cold. She must have read my name off my bag since I never told her my name.
"See ya later, dude!" Soos exclaimed as he followed his co-worker out the door. It took all that I had in me to put on a smile for him, and it disappeared once he walked out the door.
Stan turned to me once they were gone, reaching for the light switch near the door, "Welcome to Gravity Falls, kid. I know it's probably still early by a teenager's standards but try to get some sleep. You're probably going to need it." And with that, the room plunged into darkness, and I heard the man walk down the hall to his room. At least Stan didn't realize that my bag had my name on it, but one thing's for sure, I have to talk to Wendy and make her promise that she won't tell anyone my last name. The last thing I need right now is Stan Pines, the con man, to find out I just lied to his face, especially after he had been quite generous with his hospitality. I adjusted my head so I was looking at the ceiling and closed my eyes as I said to myself,
"At least at home, it's not a school night."
#
When I woke up, irritation was the first thing on my mind. I raised my head to look at my arms and quickly noticed, despite the dark lighting, that my limbs had white towels on them. Wondering how they got there, I removed them but not without a jolt of unexpected pain. I brought my hand to my face and felt a multitude of cuts embedded into my skin. "Okay, what happened last night," I said to myself, sitting up now. Craning my head to the left, I looked around the room. It seemed so familiar. Then it clicked, and just like a flood, everything that happened yesterday came back to me.
As much as I love Gravity Falls, I hoped it was a vivid dream. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, surprised that the screen was not absolutely shattered from yesterday's events. Turning my device on, I quickly noted that the time was 6:58 am which meant that Stan would start to get ready for his tourists. And probably rudely make me get up for work, despite my injuries.
When I unlocked my phone, I sighed in disappointment that there was no service. I might have to switch to GRAVIT&T to use my phone. I still can't believe that's an actual thing. Putting my phone away in dissatisfaction, I brought my feet over and to the ground with yet another wince of pain. I needed to hype myself up to get the courage to stand up. With a few deep short breaths, I got to my feet—bad idea. The quick added weight to my legs was unbearable, and I let myself fall back onto the couch. I should have thought that through more. Then, the lights were turned on out of nowhere, prompting me to shield my eyes.
"Rise and shine, kid," I heard Stan say.
I rubbed my eyes and slowly adjusted to the new lighting. "First, you don't tell me where the bathroom is. Then, you tell me to go to sleep without feeding me, and now you turn on the lights in a dark room where you know I'm sleeping," I stated angrily, to which Stan just shrugged. "If you're going to be a caretaker, you may want to work on the care part."
"Stan turned and walked out of the room, saying, "The only work that's going to be happening starts when the shack opens for business." I rolled my eyes at his response. He is definitely Stanley Pines. "Get your butt over here."
I groaned in reply, slowly stood up on my feet with minimal pain, and lightly limped over to the room Stan had walked into. I stopped in the door frame and leaned there to take some weight off my legs. The space before me was the kitchen, which was just as underwhelming as the one in the show. Guess that's what happens when a man lives by himself for thirty years.
"As you can tell, this is the grub room. If you eat anything that has my name on it, I'll put you right back into those woods," Stan said while pointing out the window.
"Understood." I rolled my eyes once again. "By the way, when are those kids coming today?"
"They'll be here around two in the afternoon. It's about an eight-and-a-half-hour drive," Stan said in response. "You already want to ditch me, huh." I gave a shrug with the same energy as the one he gave me moments ago. I savored the scowl that he gave me. Stan walked past me back out of the room and stood impatiently at the foot of the stairs. He gestured for me to walk down the hall next to the base of the stairs. When I walked past him, I noticed that I was actually a few inches taller than him. I wasn't expecting that. The first door on the right led into the parlor, where Wax Stan's funeral was held, or I guess, will be held. The next door was Stan's room. He made it very clear not to go in there. Oh well, no fully clothed women for me or other sorts of contraband. The one after that was his office. I wasn't supposed to go in there, either. The last door led to the bathroom. It was inconvenient for the people that lived in the shack but convenient for the tourists because the museum was placed right at the end of the hall down a small staircase.
"You should probably go take a shower. I don't want anyone thinking that one of my attractions came to life," Stan told me after the small showroom tour.
"Oh yeah, good thinking Mr. Pines," I replied sarcastically. "Wouldn't want to deduct the amount of scams you pull today." Stan scoffed, and my tone became serious. "How does anyone believe that stuff?"
"Beats me, kid, but seriously though, wash up and then go eat something," Stan said as he walked into the gift shop. I grabbed the bag that Wendy and Soos had given me and walked back down the hall to the bathroom.
I got a good look at my face and the rest of my body. It was as bad as it felt. There were indeed multiple minor scratches on my face, so shaving would be a problem. I need to go out and buy a razor at some point. On the back of my left wrist, I had a big bruise that was turning black and blue; on my right forearm, there was a similar bruise. The shirt I was wearing was totaled entirely. It had holes on the sides and upper body, probably from the branches I whipped past yesterday. I took off the wrecked article of clothing and turned to examine my back—nothing out of the ordinary, which was a huge relief.
My legs had cuts and scratches up and down, but the worst were my knees. They had marks covering their top halves and hurt to the touch. Believe me, it was a joy to find out that information. To top everything off, I had dirt and dried blood everywhere. I grabbed my new shampoo out of the bag while making sure that there was an actual towel in the room and body wash, which, to my delight, there were. I was in the shower for about twenty minutes, mainly because the shower itself wasn't mine, and I had no idea how to use it. Trying to get the temperature right was a pain, but being extremely dirty also affected the time.
Once I got out, I felt much better, and after I dried myself off, I looked at what clothes that had been provided for me. I first pulled out a red flannel, definitely Wendy's idea, and put it to the side. Next, a plain black T-shirt would look good with the flannel. Then again, I'm a guy with no fashion sense and could never quite get a proper set of clothes. I pulled out another T-shirt, and when I opened it, I was happy to see that it had a giant question mark on it—okay, never getting rid of this. I put that to the side along with the others, and after that, I pulled out a maroon sweatshirt that looked comfortable. At the bottom of the bag were a pair of jeans, definitely Wendy again, and a couple of regular gray pants. Underneath that, there were a few pairs of socks and underwear.
I put on what I'm sure Soos had given me, mostly because I would not pass on the opportunity to wear a Mystery Shack Uniform. Then I brushed my teeth and then my hair. I used the brush to part my hair to the right and smother any loose strands. There were many of those. After I was done, I didn't know where to put my toiletries, so I just kept them on the right side of the sink on the counter. I walked out feeling refreshed, the sweatshirt in one hand and the bag in the other with all my clothes. I'm not about to be a slob in the Mystery Shack. I don't know what could happen to me if I was.
I returned to where I had my backpack and put my dirty clothes into the front pouch after I took out a thermos of water. I didn't realize I was thirsty until I saw it. I hadn't had anything to drink since yesterday and chugged the whole thing in just a few seconds.
"Jeez, kid, relax. That water isn't going anywhere." Stan said as he walked into the room. I gave no reply, putting the flask back into my bag. "Let me show you where you'll be sleeping." I grabbed the two bags, ensuring that an article of clothing was sticking out of the pocket and covering my name. He led me up the stairs and into a room with two twin beds on either side of it and an oversized nightstand in the middle.
Wait a minute.
"I'm staying in the same room as your niece and nephew?"
Stan shrugged. That stupid shrug. "I don't see why not, nor the problem."
"Maybe the fact that I'm a teenager and they're twelve?" I fired back.
Stan gave a small laugh in response, the first time I had heard him laugh since I arrived. "Look, kid, If you haven't noticed, there aren't a lot of places for you to stay. It's either this room or the museum, and you'll actually be an attraction if you stay there." Then I heard him start to say under his breath, "Come to think of it…" No way I'm letting him humor the idea of people throwing money at me.
"Fine, I'll stay here, but where am I going to sleep," I asked, praying he didn't say the floor.
"Oh yeah, help me move the spare mattress in here," Stan replied, and he walked past me. The mattress was just outside the room, leaning on the wall. "I know you're hurt, so let's do this nice and slow," He said, which surprised me. Maybe he did care.
We got the bed, well it wasn't even a bed, just a mattress, into the room pretty quickly, and I put my bags beside it. "Alright, kid, get situated, and then come down and eat something like I said earlier," Stan said. "Sheets and blankets are in there." He pointed to the closest in the front left corner of the room and then walked out, not bothering to close the door.
I got right to work by making my mattress. That sounds weird. Next, I needed a place to put my bag and new clothes, so I opened the closet where I got the sheets, and then I remembered something. According to Ford's third journal, the invisible wizard in this closet that Mabel made up was an actual thing. I closed the door slowly and backed away. I expected something to jump out at me, but nothing happened, making me sigh in relief, and I looked for another spot. Under the beds? No, there would be glitter and pen ink all over my clothes if I put them there in a matter of days. My gaze hit the shelves. No way either of the twins could reach up there, or anything for that matter, so that's where they went. Now the only problem was my bag.
There didn't seem to be anything sharp in the attic. Maybe I could grab a knife from the kitchen and cut the fabric housing my name. I was hungry anyway. So, with that in mind, I made my way down the stairs extra carefully and hoped that my legs wouldn't give out like they did yesterday. After the successful descent, I walked straight into the kitchen and found Stan sitting by himself at the table by the window, reading the morning paper or trying to avoid eye contact. I'm not really sure.
"You like cereal, kid," He asked, looking at me now. I nodded in reply. "It's in the cabinet behind ya, bowls too." I grabbed a bowl, and next to it, I saw some off-brand cornflakes. Beggars can't be choosers. Placing the bowl on the table, I took the cereal off the shelf and guessed where the spoons, and hopefully knives, were. My first guess was correct. They were in the drawer right underneath the cabinet. I looked back at Stan to make sure he wasn't looking at me, the paper hid his face, and I quickly pocketed a knife. This is most certainly a safety hazard. I then pulled out a spoon and then closed the drawer. I grabbed the box of cereal as well. I hesitated to grab the milk from the fridge, probably a few hours from its expiration. My hunger won over my concern.
Sitting at the table, I poured the cereal and milk into the bowl and asked, "What are the kids' names anyway?" Yeah, it still totally hurts to ask questions like that.
"Dylan and Rowena." And responses like that hurt even more. "Wait, no, no, Dipper and Mabel." How could he get those names mixed up? Speaking of which, what would their reaction be when they find out they have to share a room with me? I was very excited to see the twins, but would they think highly of me as I think highly of them? Mabel, I wasn't too worried about it, but Dipper? Gaining his trust, even his friendship, would be a task and a half. And what about after I, hopefully, gain his trust? Would I tell him who I am? There will most likely be slip-ups from me down the line, that I am sure of, and there is no way that his curious and paranoid personality won't pick up on them. My best bet was going along with what happened in the show, even if my presence slightly altered it. At least the time I spend here will be exhilarating.
"I'm sorry about all this, Stan," I sighed. He brought down the paper that he was "reading" and looked at me. "I don't want to be a problem to you or your business, and I can't do much to repay you because I'm only a kid that can't even remember his full name. But even with that in account, you've taken exceptional care of me, so thank you." Stan studied my face with slightly squinted eyes as if looking for something.
"Are you sure you're a teenager," he said at last. "Kids never show gratitude these days." He looked away for a second. "That's why I was hesitant to hire Wendy." He then looked back at me. "But you," he pointed a finger at me, "I like you. You've got a good character, don't lose that."
I smiled slightly, "Thank you, Stan."
"Alright, let's save the sap," he said, fixing his bowtie and standing up. "Wendy and Soos should be here any minute, and so should the tourists." A second later, the gift shop bell rang. "Duty calls." And with that, Stan walked out of the room. I stood up soon after, putting everything back where it belonged, and patted my pocket to ensure the knife was still there. It was.
I quickly walked upstairs to the attic bedroom, opened the door, and stepped inside, making sure to lock it when it was closed. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the blade and did a small twirl with it in my hand. Now sitting on one of the beds, I dragged my bag to my feet and brought it onto my lap, ensuring my name was facing me. With some effort, I got the entire blade of the knife inside the thick backpack fabric and began to cut at it. I made sure that there were jagged edges of the cut and even scratched the internal materials of the bag, and I ripped out the name once I could grasp it so there would be loose threads everywhere. It needed to look as natural as possible. With that in mind, I added extra cuts and holes throughout the bag's surface to make it even more convincing.
Grabbing the cutout pieces and the knife, I stuffed them into my pocket and stood up. I kicked my bag to the right corner of the room, made my way over to the door, unlocked it, and stepped through it to the stairs, where I heard light chatter. Peeking my head around the corner and down the staircase, I spotted Wendy and Soos conversing near the foot of the steps and sighed in relief that it was just them and not some government agents. I started to make my way down, and they instantly spotted me.
"What's up, Matt? Me and Soos were just about to come and get you," Wendy called.
I raised an eyebrow in response, "What were you getting me for exactly?"
"We are going to help you start working here, like us!" Soos said excitedly.
They both started walking to the gift shop as Wendy said, "Get your keister over here, newbie. You've got a lot to learn." I gave a small smile as I followed suit. Soos held the door open for me as we walked into the iconic gift shop. Wendy turned to me and put her hands on her hips. "First order of business, clean up your mess from yesterday." She grabbed a broom from the corner of the room and handed it to me.
I took a deep breath, "Fair enough." I went to the collapsed postcard stand while Wendy and Soos approached the cash register. I placed the broom so that it was leaning against a shelf. I picked the rack off the ground and set it up properly. I glanced over to the pair on the other side of the room. I needed to learn more about them. "So, how old are you two anyway?" I asked as I knelt and started picking up scattered postcards. I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but Wendy looked much older than she actually was, especially in the show, while Soos looked his age. He certainly didn't act like it, though.
"Fifteen," Wendy replied as she leaned against the desk.
They both looked in my direction. "Twenty-two," Soos said proudly. "What about you, dawg?"
"I'm sixteen," I stated, looking smugly at Wendy.
"Boo, of course, you're older than me. I should have known. You're pretty tall." Wendy responded. She was a few inches shorter than me, so I guess I was pretty tall to her. On the other hand, Soos was at least four inches taller than me, around six foot four. He was a big dude.
"Don't let that put you down, Wendy," I said. "You have more experience here than I do."
She snapped and gave me a finger gun motion, "That's true." Wendy smiled, and I gave a small chuckle and returned the postcards to their proper place. Just then, Stan came bolting into the room, panting heavily.
All three of us snapped our attention to him. "Woah, Mr. Pines, are you all right?" Soos asked as Stan ran right past him.
Stan exclaimed, "I read the kids' parent's email wrong. They're coming at 12!" I checked my phone to see the time. My eyes widened when I saw it. It was 11:47. Okay, I was definitely in that shower for over twenty minutes and lost track of time. I hate when that happens!
Wendy spoke up, a bit frantic, "What?! How can you misread an email?!"
Stan glared at her, "I don't know! I'm still getting used to this whole technology thing!"
"Technology doesn't change the way numbers look, ya codger!" I think she meant boomer. Is that even remotely close to a trend yet?
I couldn't help but smile at the classic Pines family mayhem.
"Alright, whatever, you made a mistake. Just go get them right now." I said reassuringly.
Stan's gaze switched to me. He did not calm down like I thought he would. "I can't! I have a tour at the same time!" My face fell. Yep, that's a problem.
"Okay then, we'll cover for you," I said. "We'll let the brain-dead tourists check out all the merchandise while you're gone." Wendy snickered at the suggestion.
Stan facepalmed and then looked at me while saying, "That's not good for business, kid. Those tourists are going to be way more interested in the gift shop after the tour."
I held a blank expression, "Do you have a choice?" He was about to reply with a raised finger, but he stopped midway through and muttered to himself, seeming to come up with a plan.
He walked over to the door and opened it. "If anything goes wrong while I'm gone, you're all responsible, even if you didn't do nothin'!" He slammed the door behind him as he ran out to his car, started it, and gunned it so hard down the road that he recklessly destroyed a sign that said 'BE AMAZED,' making Wendy lose it, doubling over in laughter.
Soos only sighed in response and said, "I'll go get the spare." That's when I lost it too. The fact that Stan probably did something like that regularly is hilarious. Our laughter subsided when Soos walked outside with the spare sign and some tools. I glanced at Wendy and remembered what I needed to do.
"Hey, um, Wendy," I cleared my throat, and she looked at me. "Do you know my last name, by any chance?"
She leaned back on the desk. "I have seen my fair share of last names, but I must say yours is kinda cool. I thought it was a nickname." She wasn't wrong. Almost all of my friends call me by my last name. It's been a little hard getting used to only being called by my first name and not my last.
I smirked, "It is kinda weird, isn't it?" She nodded in reply. "Okay, this is a huge favor to ask, but can we keep it a secret ginger to ginger? I'm not from around here, and if Stan finds out my last name, he could probably track me back to my hometown, and I do not want him freaking out." She nodded again in understanding, which alleviated a lot of stress that was building up. Wendy looked like she was about to bring something up, but Soos walking back into the building cut her off.
"Mr. Pines really needs to work on his driving," Soos stated after the door closed behind him. "This is the fourth time this year that he has broken one of his own signs." He shook his head.
"Do you guys know anything about those twins anyway?" I needed to seem like I had no idea who they were. A few seconds later, I heard a loud screech from outside, and Stan's car came barreling into view.
"Hehe, looks like we'll find out soon, dude," Soos chuckled.
Soos and Wendy seemed utterly calm and relaxed, but I was confused.
"Okay, am I the only one that noticed that he probably did a ten-minute drive in about two?" They both shook their heads. "How many road safety laws did he break?!" I looked back and forth between the two, and they just simply shrugged.
"That's Stan for ya," Wendy answered with a smile. I turned around and looked out the window to see two kids get out of the back seat of Stan's car, one full of energy and excitement and the other visibly disheveled. Stan was a few feet ahead as he turned to face the two stepping out of the car.
He declared loudly," Welcome to the Mystery Shack!"
A/N
If you enjoyed the story, please leave a review. It seriously encourages me to write more often, which means more frequent updates. It's a win-win!