Chapter Text
Your phone rings.
God it’s like 5 in the morning!
You mumble hoarsely with a tiring wince, your hand reaches the phone to turn off the ringtone.
You arrived in Gravity Falls last night but all of the traveling drained you so bad that you have slept since you got here and now you just want to sleep for another 12 hours.
The phone still rings persistently, its loud vibration threatens to shake you out of your precious sleep as the bright screen lights your whole room.
“Who the hell would ca-”, your voice trails off, finally tilting the phone to glance at the waiting screen.
“Mom”
A big word laid across the screen reads as your eyes reluctantly open. Your thoughts about cursing whoever is calling you disappear immediately and your mind snaps back to consciousness, making you almost drop your phone.
Shit. Now you remember, before you made your way up to your aunt’s house, your parents were worried sick so in order to reassure them, you promised to call them right after your arrival.
The thing is that you forgot and went straight to bed last night.
“Oh no” is all you can manage to think before hastily picking up the call.
“Hi mom… It’s me”, the other end explodes with questions, not even waiting for you to answer most of them.
“What!? No, I'm okay, I'm not sick, you just call me at 7 on a Sunday morning, that’s all!”
Your mom’s voice feels a bit tense, scolding you for your annoying reaction to the fact that they have tried to contact you since last night but apparently you didn’t answer any of their 26 missed calls and they are so close to reporting a missing person to the police.
To your surprise, you were not the only person who didn’t catch a call last night.
“Aunt Marge said she left her phone somewhere she went, the mystery something…”, you wander your eyes around the ceiling, trying to remember what your aunt said when you first got here.
“I can’t remember.” as you exhale, deciding to give up.
“Yeah mom, I’m sorry for not calling back, it’s just that I was exhausted yesterday that I went straight to bed! You guys must have worried about me”. Now you feel guilty. The other voice speaks softly, telling you to rest for a bit more and eat something, your parents just want to make sure that you’re fine.
Hang up the phone call, you sigh loudly while falling back into bed. It’s only 7 AM after all. You shut your eyes and let you doze off a bit.
You hazily wake up as a streak of sunlight slips through one of the cracks on the window blinds and lands on your face. Checking the clock on the wall, it’s 8 now and you should probably start your day so you could organize your belongings and clean up the absolute mess of a bedroom later.
You get out of bed and open the blinds and window to let some light in. The sun is up high in the sky now, warm and not too harsh. You inhale deeply, taking all of the fresh air while resting your heavy eyes on the green forest in front of the house. It hits you that it has been a while since you lived this close to nature.
Maybe the idea of spending the summer break in this place isn’t so bad after all, you can use some free time treating yourself without stressing out about college and what you should do after graduation. For the past 2 years, tons of assignments and last-minute deadlines have taken up all your time and energy, make you spiral like crazy and you’re positive that last night was the first night you got an 8-hour sleep after who knows how long.
You were, in fact, so tired last night that you haven’t eyed most of the house just yet.
Aunt Marge’s house is still nice like the last time you visited, somehow cozy and makes you feel like home already. The interior design is chic and the furniture seems pretty new while the wall holds many framed pictures of her various trips to multiple countries, her friends and old colleagues. Your eyes curiously wander and finally fix on a picture of her and your family.
“Oh hey! You’re awake!”
Aunt Marge suddenly emerges from the kitchen, looking like she just got ready to go somewhere and you’re so sure that she almost gave you a heart attack. A “good morning” slips out of your mouth while you’re actively trying to hide a yawn.
“You too sweetie…” - She raises her eyebrow.
“Oh honey, you look like hell! Want some coffee?”
“Thanks for reminding me and no thanks, water is fine. Drinking coffee first thing in the morning makes me sick”.
As she opens the cabinet to find some cup, you sit on the closest chair while admiring her well-organized kitchen. You have to admit you’re pretty jealous since it looks so nice and spacious compared to your apartment’s shitty one.
“Where are you going all dressed up like that?”, you jokingly ask.
“The casino, of course!”, she casually answers before bursting out laughing at this very dry joke.
“You are just as funny as I remembered”, you quietly chuckle.
“Oh yeah that reminds me, how are your parents and the restaurant doing? Still good?”, as she hands you a full glass of plain water.
“Yeah, they’re fine! But I think they have aged 10 years just waiting for you or me to answer their calls since yesterday, but I sorted that out first thing this morning”, you sip some water before continuing, thinking it might be a good idea to catch some fresh air after breakfast.
“You told me you left your purse somewhere, right?…”, you hesitate, frowning and trying to take a guess, “Uhhh… the mystery house or something? Wait! No no let me remember”.
“You mean the Mystery Shack?”, she saves you from the confusion you’re creating for yourself right now. Your eyes widen in realization as you snap your fingers as if to say “that’s right!”.
“Maybe I can go there and get your purse back after breakfast! You just need to give me a map or maybe some directions…”, your aunt waves her hand, trying to reject your offer because you obviously need more rest than you thought.
“I have plenty of time to rest later, it’s just that you helped me with all my stuff yesterday and I can help you back so it’s fair…”, you nervously add.
Your aunt opens her mouth, about to say something, you assume she’s about to turn down your offer once again because you’re new here, you shouldn’t go around without her, the fact that the woods are nearby and you can get lost pretty easily, especially for someone who has lived all their lives in a bustling city like you. Bla bla bla, you feel like you’re a 8-year old who just asks your overbearing mom’s permission to play kick the can with some random kids in your neighborhood and her answer is clearly going to be a brief “no”.
She glances over the clock and she knows she was supposed to leave the house 10 minutes ago so there’s no need to argue with her grown-up adult niece about this.
She pauses for a beat before giving in.
“Alright fine and just for the record, I only let you go because I'm late! And you need to be careful, your parents will kill me if you’re in some trouble the first day you’re here. The map is on the bookshelf in the living room and I think I already showed you my house yesterday so make yourself at home!”
She hurriedly carries her bag and keys while practically running to the door but you luckily call her back on time.
“Wait! Is there any place that serves breakfast or something like that? I’M STARVI-”, you yell out.
“Greasy’s Diner is downtown, walk straight forward down this road and you will see it there, they serve amazing pancakes. Oh and say hi to the waitress for me, I will visit them tomorrow like usual!”
She adjusts her running shoes and throws in one final goodbye before disappearing behind the closed door, “See ya later! The walking group can’t start without me.”
“Thanks auntie and have fun…”
Your voice fades and now that you’re alone, you realize you haven’t showered for 2 days now.
A quick and refreshing shower is all you need right now to wake you up completely. You throw your old clothes in the laundry basket next to huge piles of luggages you will absolutely definitely sort through later.
I will deal with this later…
Putting on a comfortable pair of jeans and a t-shirt you bought, you decide to bring your earbuds and an old book you bought a long time ago but never read. This should be enough to entertain yourself while you eat.
Eagerly reaching the front door’s knob with your bag hanging on your shoulder, you are so ready to find where the hell that diner is and treat yourself a nice meal.
But then you think, again.
Maybe you feel a bit self-conscious and anxious about going somewhere public in a foreign town you last visited 20 years ago, not to mention this time alone. But hey, what is the worst thing that can happen in this small town, right? You already got ready for this and now you’re going to chicken out?
Maybe a self date with fresh pancakes paired with some light reading and music is worth a try today.
You confide in yourself about this decision and finally open the door, letting the fresh air in a moment before locking it with the spare key your aunt gave you last night.
One final thought crosses your mind as you locate your way downtown on the map and start moving your feet toward the main road accordingly.
How bad can this summer be?