The Lost and Found (A Sequel to Change of Identity)

Chapter 14 The Plan

Caitlyn stared at me blankly, then looked around the room. "Uh..."

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say something intelligent.

Finally, she turned back to me. Holding up the sketchbook, still turned to the drawing, she said, "So you're implying this is a picture of you three years ago?"

I nodded slowly. "That would be what I am implying."

She laughed. "Honey, this is a picture of a guy."

Through gritted teeth, I replied, "Yes. I am very much aware of that."

Caitlyn shook her head. "Nice try. Like I would believe that, right?" She looked around the room for confirmation, but only seriously faces stared back. She turned back to me. "Th-this is a joke, right?"

I shook my head.

She looked up, appearing to reconsider every weird thing any of us had said, refitting them into that great jigsaw puzzle. Then she looked back at me. "So...you aren't joking?"

I shook my head again.

She but her lip, then uttered one word so quietly it almost couldn't hear it. "How?"

I sighed. "Well-"

Mabel interrupted me, talking faster than a speeding car. "I was being a terrible sibling and I was also being stupid and I had this little plan that I thought was a great idea! But then it failed because I didn't double check everything, also I left a sticker on the page which was kinda evidence, and then three years later, we're here!" She threw her arms out wide to emphasize "here", grinning madly. She glanced at me. "Close enough?"

I laughed. "Close enough."

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, then pointed at Mabel. "So what I got is it's her fault?"

"Yes!" Mabel screamed, leaping on top of me before I could say anything.

I laughed and pushed off, an almost impossible task. "Geez, Mabel. What was that for?"

"It was for..." Mabel faked a drumroll on my nightstand. "Sisterly pillow fight!"

She pulled out a pillow from behind her back, and swung at me. Laughing, I ducked and she missed, then I grabbed the pillow off my bed and rolled (literally) off, hitting Mabel in the shins. She leapt onto my bed, which Caitlyn had quickly vacated, and threw her pillow, which hit me in the face, temporarily blinding me, so I couldn't see when she leapt off my bed and onto me.

"Ow." I muttered.

"Victory is mine! Alpha twin! Alpha twin!" Mabel screamed, hopping off.

I laughed as I pulled the pillow off my face and got up. "Good game." I told Mabel, reaching out for a handshake. She took it, and instead of shaking her hand, I flung her to ground. "Who's the alpha twin now?"

She laughed. "Still me." And then she pulled me down by the ankles.

I landed next to her and sighed. "Seriously. We're done now."

"Yeah." Mabel agreed.

I sat up and glanced at Caitlyn, who was now next to Pacifica, and had been watching us intently. Looking over at her, I suddenly realized something.

"Uh, Caitlyn?" I asked. "How badly did you want to get out of that place?"

"Oh, really badly. Why?" She replied.

"Had you tried to get out before?" I asked.

"Yeah, duh." She looked confused.

"What stopped you?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Bill. Every time." She replied slowly.

"Why didn't he stop you this time?" I finally said what had been bothering me.

"I...don't know." She said.

"It doesn't make sense!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. "He lets Caitlyn go this time. He sneaks into the shack only to give her the sketchbook. What is he planning?"

"It's 9:00, Dip." Mabel said. "Sleep on it. We are going to school tomorrow."

"Yeah. Okay." I nodded. "I will." I turned to Pacifica. "Can you stay here for the night? What about your parents?"

She laughed. "I've been in foster families for a while after my parents were deemed 'abusive'. The one thing money can't get you out of."

"Okay!" I nodded.

So Pacifica and Caitlyn slept in sleeping bags on the floor and Mabel and I in our respective beds. We all fell asleep relatively quickly. We had to be ready for the morning.

~ ~ ~

Ring ring! Ring ring!

I slammed my hand on the snooze button of my alarm clock. I'd set it so we could all be up and ready in time.

I looked around. Everyone was getting up and yawning.

"Alright, use the bathroom to get dressed, one at a time." I commanded.

Pacifica went first, coming out in a simple blue t-shirt and white plaited skirt, then Caitlyn, who borrowed some of my clothes, a black long sleeved shirt and khaki shorts. Mabel came out in a sweater I hadn't seen. It was made to resemble Van Gogh's "Starry Night", with a light blue miniskirt and knee-high lavender boots. She'd braided her hair and tied it with a lavender bow, too.

I went last, just putting on a light blue t-shirt and black jeans, along with an old brown leather jacket (not the biker kind) and gray sneakers. I braided my hair, once again managing to braid it first try, then left the bathroom.

We all headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Stan had some cereal out.

"You got two friends on the first day of school?" He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

Everyone sat down, and we all had corn flakes, mostly because they were the only cereal Stan had set out. After we finished, Mabel and I grabbed our backpacks (Caitlyn borrowed one from our old stash of attic things and Pacifica decided to as well), and we all set out.

We caught a bus, just like we had the first day, and got off at the school.

"Well, here we go." I took a deep breath and led us in.

Almost immediately I noticed something I guessed had something to do with Bill's plan. Everyone was glaring at us. A lot of the glares were directed straight at me though.

"What's going on?" I whispered, nervous.

A girl I didn't recognize laughed. "What's going on? Don't you even use social media?"

"No." I muttered.

The laughing girl continued on.

"Wait!" Mabel said. "I have Instagram, and I followed everyone in school in advance."

She cheerily turned on her phone, then tapped some things. And then her face paled. "Uh, Dipper..." She whispered. "You might wanna see this."

She handed me her jewel-covered phone, and then I saw what she's been looking at. Some kid, username @coolpants100, had posted a picture that literally filled the feed. No selfies. No pictures of food. Just this one picture.

It was obviously edited together, but that didn't really matter. Someone had posted a picture going on and on about how three years ago a boy named Dipper Pines disappeared, and now a girl named Dipper Pines shows up at the school, and a list of comparisons that went on and on and on.

I almost dropped the phone, but it was Mabel's, so I just handed it back to her, hand shaking.

So this was Bill's plan.

((Woah, long chapter! It's exactly 1200 words long, cool right?))