I Walk The Line

Props and Mayhem

A/N: Wow its been a long long time, its almost 2020 now... sorry for the wait and hopefully I can keep up the motivation to write.

--- 1166 words of stuff, hope you all are ready! ---

I woke up at seven in the morning and realized that Mabel was already downstairs. I hopped in the shower quickly, trying not to catch view of myself in the mirror. I rushed to get dressed and ran down the stairs.

"Woah, bag check for Dipper's eyes" says Grunkle Stan. Everyone laughed quietly, except me. He used that joke often and only on me. It was starting to get old.

I shoved a piece of bread in the toaster and grabbed the jar peanut butter. I left to put on my shoes and grab my bag, but by the time I was back, my toast was starting to burn. Great. What a wonderful start to the day. I huffed and slathered the peanut butter onto my toast. My fingers began to burn slightly, and I decided I didn't need anymore peanut butter. I begrudgingly ate my burnt toast as Mabel began to talk loudly and quickly about how she was going to a movie with her friends after school. 

"What time will you be back?" Grunkle Stan asks from behind his large cup of coffee, slowly taking a sip.

"Oh, I don't know, we were going to hang out after..." she mumbles. Grunkle Stan raises his eyebrow slightly.

"No later than ten, got it?" he states. I throw my bag on my shoulder and walk to the front door as I hear Mabel promising Grunkle Stan that she'll be on time, even though she's almost always late.

I see Grunkle Ford passed out on the couch, he was probably up late messing around with his latest inventions. Turning back to the door, I begin walking to school and put my headphones in. What would it be today? Angsty? Depressing? Slow? Fast? I shuffled a playlist and Yeah Right by Joji started to play.

As I continued trudging along, Mabel began to catch up.  I looked over at her as she bounced along, singing some upbeat pop song, I assume. She never seemed to let anything bother her, and when it did, she'd cry for a few minutes and then, BAM! she would be better.

Mabel must have seen her friends as she hurried over to the school. I walked in and went immediately to my first class, not bothering to talk to anyone. With ten minutes before class, I decided to draw. As I was sketching, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but only myself and the teacher who sat at his desk, drowning in coffee and papers, were in the room. I shrugged it off and finished my sketch of a kid wearing a mask. I don't know why I drew it, but it just kind of came to me.

The bell rang and class began. I drifted in and out of the lectures of each teacher and created a few more sketches.  When lunch came, I went to the library seeking silence and peace.  There was a corner which no one ever went to; The back corner of the non-fiction section.  I sat down against a bookcase and pulled out my water bottle and a book. Reading fantasy books kept me distracted and helped me forget about everything that bothered me. But sometimes, it hurt, knowing that I would never be like the characters in these books. I would continue to drone on throughout this miserable life, and they would continue to face excitement and fall in love. 

Everything that needed to be done, was.  We had faced all the excitement that was left in Gravity Falls two years ago. The town was almost completely recovered by now and we all just continued on with our lives.  The chaos was gone, the excitement was gone, the mystery was gone... Bill was gone.

The bell rang abruptly, startling me from my thoughts. I packed up my stuff and carried on throughout the day.

When the end of school approached, I was grateful, but it didn't last long.  As I began my walk home I spotted a group of kids talking, pointing over at me.  A kid who I didn't recognize walked toward me. I just kept walking, until he stepped in front of me. I looked up at him and took out an earbud.

"What do you want?" I asked, unimpressed. I scanned over his appearance quickly. He was tall. Taller than me by three inches or so. Blonde, with light hazel eyes. If his smug expression didn't make him look like a douche bag, I'd say he wasn't that bad looking, attractive I daresay. Murmurs of the name Travis were floating around the past few weeks, this must be him.

"That's quite a rude way to greet the new student, don't you think?" he says, a mischievous smirk playing across his face. I rolled my eyes, he wasn't that new, we just hadn't met yet. And I can say, I'm not upset that we hadn't met sooner.

"Listen man, I'm just trying to go home..." I started, trying to walk away.

He huffs in annoyance. "Whatever," he spits, "See you around, loser."

I managed to make it home and was surprised that my interaction with Travis hadn't escalated. He seemed to hang around the popular crowd. The bullies.

I shook it off and went up to my room. Laying on my bed, I looked at the ceiling. Broken by Lund plays quietly in my headphones as I start to think about the upcoming summer. Mabel and her friends would probably be out doing stuff all the time. What would I do? Would I hang out with anyone? I didn't really have any friends. Wendy and Mabel were always busy, so I spent most of my time alone as is.

Dinner time approached and I made my way downstairs to make a sandwich. Both Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford were in the kitchen. I grabbed the foods to make a ham and cheese sandwich and quickly threw it together.

As I was about leave I heard Grunkle Stan say, "Hey, kiddo. What are you doing tonight?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably just going to eat and then go upstairs. I'm exhausted." I looked up at him, but when I did I could have sworn I saw another shadow flash by the window.

"Okay," he said, "well your Grunkle Ford and I are going to watch some TV if you want to join us...." He offered a smile while Grunkle Ford tinkered with some metal pieces.

"I'm okay, I just want to lay down. Maybe later this week?" I felt bad for not spending time with them, but I really just wanted to be alone.

"Alright, well we'll be here," he says.

I walk up to my room and begin to eat my sandwich. I put on some light music and put my measly half of a sandwich down. I lay down and slowly drift off to a much needed sleep, unprepared for the dreams that were to come.