Intern

Settling In

Excitement coursed through Dipper like a shock of electricity. He was absolutely dumbfounded. He was actually here, at Fenton Works!

The preteen ecstatically booted up the old computer that sat on the desk in his room. The monitor gradually whirred into existence, showing outdated graphics on screen. Dipper entered the password written on a Post-it note next to the machine, tapping at the clunky keys on the keyboard. He dragged the mouse across the rubbery mouse mat and opened the browser, watching it ever so slowly load up the search engine. Everyone on the paranormal forum were going to be very jealous of him...but then again he might be called out for photoshopping like other users...he needed credible evidence. Dipper typed in the URL of the forum page and sat there staring at the post sharing part.

As he did so, a thought crossed his mind, Danny is upstairs...I can explore the house a bit whilst he's distracted, take some photos...it'll make my forum post more believable...

Exhaling deeply, he opened the door to his room with a quiet creak. The house seemed empty and void, even though Danny was also home. Pines tiptoed quietly out into the vacuous hallway, attempting to dodge the many uneven floorboards. His mind was rushing wildly, his body trembling slightly with anxiety. Phone in hand, he rounded the corner of the hall into the living room. It was a large space with an out of place 60s style couch and chair set, a poxy little television and various gadgets strewn around the place.

Dipper's finger hovered over the camera icon, only for him to change his mind and open up the forum's app on his phone. He was livestreaming this, that's a better idea, right? He gulped and lightly pressed to start streaming, watching his view count jump from 0 to 25 in mere milliseconds.

"Hey everyone, this is pinetree618 here and I'm somewhere super cool right now! You guys would not believe it if I told you!" he whispered into his camera.

Comments began to pour in as his watch count started to rise. It so far seemed to be the same four commentors as on all his streams/posts:

WingardiumLeviNoSir: omg where u at @pinetree618?
ghostzero: Yes, tell us where you are.
ViolentViolet: ooo lemme guess you're at some spooky old house? Lol whatevs
keahitheauthor: I'm just here for fun

Dipper glanced at them and continued speaking in a hushed tone, "I'm in a dream destination. Home to Amity Park's infamous ghost boy and the world renowned ghost hunting family, the Fentons, I am currently in Amity Park at the one and only FentonWorks!"

The comments continued:

ghostzero: For real?
keahitheauthor: Sweet dude
WingardiumLeviNoSir: what no way omg
ViolentViolet: You guys, this kid's a poser. As if he's actually at FentonWorks, I call bs.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Violet drove him mad, he really hated her. With bated breath he spoke once again, his tone a little louder out of anger, "Yes, I'm here. Not sure what else you want to hear, hm Violet?"

Another few comments popped up:

keahitheauthor: HA! Get served Violet lol nice one @pinetree618
WingardiumLeviNoSir: ikr nice burn
ghostzero: BRB guys, I gotta wash the dishes, keep me updated.
keahitheauthor: That sucks man, see you round @ghostzero
ghostzero: See ya 👋
ViolentViolet is typing...

Watching with growing frustration, Dipper waited on Violet's answer. Then his phone pinged as a new comment slid in:

ViolentViolet: K then, prove it. Properly.

Feeling put on the spot, Dipper immediately made a beeline for the staircase and whispered loudly, "Fine, I will prove it. I'll show you one of the Fenton family members, right now!"

He sprinted up the stairs on his spindly noodle legs and found what he presumed was Danny's room, as it was the only room with light peeking from under the door. Holding his breath, Dipper knocked, concealing the phone in his pocket, camera pointing at the door.

There was a series of bangs, crashes and frustrated yelling, before a flash of blue light, followed by Danny begrudgingly answering the door. He looked very worse for wear. He was very scratched and scuffed up, a black eye forming too. His room wasn't in any better state. Clothes, paperwork, books and stationery were littering the floor whilst smoking scorch marks were burned into the plaster walls.

"Hey, what's the problem?" Danny asked, his voice sounding a little out of breath.

"Oh, um...I just wanted to say hi...and ask where the kitchen was. I wanted to ask permission to grab a glass of water before I just went in there." Dipper replied, muting the pings on his phone.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

"What happened in here?"

"Teen anger and stuff, I guess."