In mid-December, as the three kids finish their last day of school of the year, they stand in front of the school in spite of the cold.
"Finally, new vacations!" Mabel shows her usual excitement at this prospect, causing both boys to feel a little amused.
"Haven't you overplaying it just a tiny bit?" Samuel asks. "School isn't that bad, is it?"
Dipper claims. "No, it's not!"
She answers. "School itself is alright, I'm just glad to be able to spend some time home. I'm also glad to get a break from something else..."
Her friend gets a little confused. "Uh? From what...?"
Before she can answer, a playful "Oh, Mabel..." is heard by the group.
Hearing that, she grits her teeth a bit before turning around, faking a smile. "Hey, Alan...!" She tries her best to sound like her usual cheerful self while she faces a boy that looks taller than her. "Got any good vacation plans?"
The guy's tone is full of confidence and condescendance. "Obviously, sweetie!"
Dipper frowns while Mabel tries to control her feelings. "I already asked you to stop calling me that, please..."
Alan just brushes away the annoyance with a smile. "I'm gonna spend my vacation at a ski resort for the end of the year with my parents, at a luxury hotel that has great food!"
"Okay, good for you, then..." She reacts a bit annoyed while trying not to sound bothered.
"You have nothing like that planned, do you...?" He says that tauntingly and provocatively.
"No, but I don't mind, my family is all I need to spend a happy holidays!" She answers with honesty, not being the slightest bit envious.
"Sure, sure... Either way, gonna miss ya. See you next year, sweetie!" Alan starts leaving.
"I said..." She starts raising her voice, but just sighs.
Dipper looks at his sister, speaking seriously out of concern. "You did good, Sis... But I don't know how you can handle this... Eventually, you'll have to learn to fend for yourself better..."
"I know, I know..." She says, a bit regretful.
"So uh..." Samuel breaks the silence after a little bit. "... Who was this guy...?"
"Oh, I never told you about him...?" Mabel seems regretful. "Well, Alan is a classmate who, if you can't tell, is being really painful..."
"Yeah, I could tell that..." Sammy recognizes. "Since when, though?"
Dipper says "How about we stop by your house? So we can talk without staying in the cold..."
"Good call!" Mabel nods while rubbing her jacket, even though she's not particularly cold.
"Sure!"
And so, Samuel leads the way followed by his friends, where they comfortably set inside to talk.
Mabel starts explaining to her friend... "It all started on the first day of school..."
After learning she wouldn't be in the same class as her brother and her friend, Mabel enters the classroom, a little disappointed, but she's determined to remain positive. As she looks for the place to sit, she spots a boy looking worried and goes to him naturally. "Hey, anything wrong?"
The boy answers with a concerned tone. "I'm kinda worried about this year... You see, I'm actually repeating this grade and I'm worried because of how unfair and unpredictable school can be..."
Mabel gasps. "Oh, I can understand you about that..." She sits next to him, trying to be optimistic. "How about we help each other, uh?"
Suddenly, the boy grows a little smile. "I'd be very thankful! My name's Alan, what's yours?"
"Mabel!" She answers, thinking she just made a friend. Little did she know...
As the first week of school progresses, Alan is asking favors to Mabel regarding the school work. At first she doesn't mind, thinking she can afford being nice. But as time passes, she realizes he's being more and more demanding for test answers and help for homework, without ever repaying the favor.
Eventually, she confronts him about it.
"Alan, this isn't right! I can't keep helping you with your work, especially if you're not gonna repay me. That's not how it works!"
This is when the boy shows his more uncaring side. "So what? You're gonna tell on me?"
She does think about it, but realizes it might be petty to do. "No...?"
"I knew it! You can't do it, sweetie!" Alan says that with a provocative tone.
"... Please don't call me that, I don't like it..." She's frowning a bit.
"You telling me that just make me wanna do it more, sweetie!" He smirks.
She gets a little angry inside, but controls it. "Anyway, please stop depending on me so much. This isn't nice to have someone do things for you without repaying, and it counts as cheating."
"Cheating?" Alan giggles a bit. "Why should I care? Rules are for chumps!" He immediately follows that. "Speaking of, I'm gonna skip school next Monday, I'm counting on you to make a good excuse."
Mabel feels like yelling at him. "You can't do that! I'll..."
"You'll what? Admit it, sweetie, you won't and can't do anything against me!" He smirks at her before leaving her alone with her feelings.
"Wow, he really is like an absolute jerk..." Samuel feels shocked.
Dipper nods. "Yeah... I suggested her to stop and try to fend for herself more, but..."
Mabel looks away. "... I can never go through with it..."
"But surely there are people to call him out to, right?" Sammy asks, really concerned.
"You'd think so..." She says, solemnly. "But it's not like that... You see..."
Mabel is trying to talk to her other classmates, asking their opinion on him. She doesn't get the answers she expected, though.
"Alan? You mean the cool kid of the class?"
"I love Alan! He's such a funny guy to be around! He always got great jokes to tell!"
"He's so kind! He often brings treats for the class!"
"He's really cool! Being the oldest due to repeating a grade is worthy of admiration!"
No one else in the class has seen was she's seen, and because of that, she just gives up on trying to convince anyone.
She finishes saying... "The only one to believe me when I told them is Dipper. And hopefully you too..."
"... This is horrible..." Sammy feels some despair inside him, feeling bad that he didn't manage to help his friend before. "I'm sorry I didn't know that..."
"Hey hey, you have nothing to be guilty about!" Mabel reassures him with her smile.
"Oh... Well I just share your frustration, I guess..."
"So do I..." Adds Dipper. "But we're here for you, Sis! We'll help you to get out of this!"
"Thanks..." She seems very thankful before saying. "How about we speak about something else now? I don't want us to spend our last time together speaking about this!"
"Right... we'll be apart this holiday..." Samuel seems sad about it. "But that's okay. The holidays is a busy time period for everyone."
"And we know we'll reunite as soon as school starts again." Dipper completes.
"Let's not think about it and make the most out of our last time of the year together!" Mabel brings the positive in spite of her situation and explanations. After that, the three continue to hang out until the twins have to leave for home in the evening.
"And we're off..." Dipper says, grabbing his backpack.
"See you after the holidays, Sammy!" She gives a short hug. "Have a nice holiday!"
"Thanks, you two!" Samuel smiles as he sees his friends leave and he closes the door, being determined to make the most out of his family time during the vacation.
Author notes: Here I am introducing something I've hinted at a couple of chapters ago. Trying my best to make it good enough of an introduction and backstory, because I'm aware it could've used a stronger and better foreshadowing.
Sorry if this chapter is on the short/uneventful side like the previous one. Just a side effect of trying to not rush each month. But there's some heavy stuff coming on next.
Thanks for reading.