Broken memories | Gravity Falls

2 Days Before The Disappearance

The night hadn't gone too well for Dipper. His sister was snoring loudly, keeping him awake. Then the pen he used to write in his journal with was empty. He crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Mabel and went through his backpack. There was way too much stuff in it. With slow movements, his fingers slid around each of the objects inside, eventually making out another pen.

In bed, he put the blanket over his head, to keep the flashlight from lighting up the whole room. Even though they had only been here for about a week, docents of pages were filled with questions, theories and experiences from his stay in Gravity Falls. The scent of fresh ink was soothing to Dipper. It was definitely better than the taste. When he was too deep in his thoughts, it could happen that he was biting around on the end of his pen and then sometimes he'd bite down too hard and it would explode. It had happened more times than he would ever admit to. Once he had to go to the sick room in school while he was having an exam. He still got a B on it though, so he didn't mind too much.

He once again turned the pages for some new space to fill. No new evidence found, I have no choice but to follow the tracks, he wrote before closing the journal and turning off the lights. There was a plan on his mind, and for the sake of one of his closest friends, he swore to himself not to be such a coward anymore and follow through with it.

...

Getting up was hell. He had barely gotten any sleep but the adrenaline eventually pulled him out of his misery. The enthusiasm he showed while having breakfast with the others was scary. Melody and Soos exchanged worried looks but knew better than to ask about it. They wouldn't get an understandable answer anyway. It wasn't a simple "I'm just having a good day." Dipper couldn't possibly lie. Even when he tried to, redness on his face would expose him. Instead he talked in riddles, not quite stating the facts, but by far no lies.

Today, the twins were free to do whatever they wanted. It was an incredible hot day and staying anywhere but the swimming pool would be a diagnosis for insanity. 

With bags under their arms, they strolled along the side of the pool, looking for a place to put everything down. Mabel was wearing a big purple-ish pair of clear sun glasses, that barely spared any protection. But they looked fancy and that's all they were for. Dipper on the other hand was already lightly sunburned when they arrived. They'd bought the most effective sunscreen but nothing worked well enough to keep the light skin from turning red.

White Sun loungers were more or less neatly placed in rows around the pool. Mostly older folks had taking it as their quest to lay down on them sizzle in the sun and only get up, once the public pool closes. So usually, you had to be lucky to find one that wasn't decorated with colorful towels.

Mabel took a look around. No familiar faces so far. Fortunately there were lockers and after putting away their stuff, she entered the cold but extremely refreshing water. Dipper stayed on his search for a shadowy cool place on land. Splashing around with the water felt too silly and he wasn't too keen to meet new people. Something didn't make sense at all. How could it be, that everything here felt so extremely normal. Everyone who was ever part of their crew against- no. He couldn't finish that thought. The name of their former enermy struck a nerve in him, so painful even thinking it brought great discomfort. All of them were gone, driven away by life OR some other unknown force. Except for Soos, keeper of the Mystery Shack and undoubtedly he was acting somewhat strange. Dipper refused to believe that all of this was simply a coincidence. Something in this town was suppressing the usual awkwardness. 

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" As Dipper looked up, a blonde girl about his age was standing above him, peeking into his journal. She wore a purple swimsuit. Purple had always been her color. Now, she didn't wear make up and it was the first time he'd seen her without any. Her bare face looked so sweet, so pretty. He blushed hard, but barely noticeable as a sunburn had spread across his face already. For a moment all air was sucked out of his lungs. "You're still here?" His mind went blank. How of all the friends he had made that summer, she was the only one that was still here? She looked so different now. Much more... normal. Oh god.

"Yes? I guess my parents left, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. After all, I've made so made great memories here. Is it that surprising?" Pacifica said, her arms crossed in front of her cheast. Though she tried to look sceptical, her face was soft. She was just too happy to see him again. A smile formed on her face. Dipper found back to his words, his heart still  fluttering.

"I believe we have some catching up to do."