Family Matters (Gravity Falls)

Chapter 5

As She expected High school wasn't like they were shown in the movies. It was mostly a blur. Before Isabel realized it, she was already in the last month of her junior year. When she wasn't studying, or trying to upgrade something in the shack, she would spend her time working - or helping the creature of Gravity Falls while searching for the other journals.
Then Soon the end of her senior year was just around the corner. She knew she could have a full ride to any college of her choice, but she wasn't sure if she want to go.

One evening while closing up Stan decided that he'd asked Isabel about the brochures he saw that very morning. "So have you figured out where you're going to college?"
Isabel stopped stocking looking at him confused "Who said anything about college?"
"You uh...left the brochures on the kitchen counter this morning."
"Oh, you weren't supposed to see those. I don't know if I want to go. I just thought that since the school was passing them out I'd take them."
"I say you want to go, go. You're very smart, sweetheart. You can do anything you put your mind to Bella."
Isabel smiled then sighed "thanks but what about you though?"
Stan raised a brow at her "What about me?"
"Well if I go to college, you'll be here all alone."
"Bella honey don't worry about me. I'll be fine I'd manage. If You want to go to college I'll support your decision. Besides College seems like a place for someone smart like you."
She smiled "I know, but I'm sure if I wanna go to a stuffy college. Gravity Falls is my home. I also like working here at the shack."
"Like I said it's your choice, just please don't let me be the reason you aren't going."

~

Isabel thought about it and she decided that college was not for her. So she now spends her days either working in the Mystery Shack with Stan or exploring the forest for the journals and sometimes helping the creatures that live there.
Although When the tourist season came around, Isabel would stay helping by either managing the gift shop or sometimes leading tours. During them, she'd add in a few semi-true local legends into her routine. From either the creatures of the forest themselves or from Journal one. She wanted to add some basic magic tricks that she thinks the crowd would love. However Stan told her that she didn't need to jazz up her routine and that it was fine the way it was. So she deiced to hold off on the tricks for now.

~

One day on her way home from her search. She found that a baby goat seemed to be lost was following her. She decided she'd take him home and show her uncle what she found. but Stan was not too happy to see her so-called new friend.
"Aw come on uncle Stanley please."
"Oh no. Bella, I've told you no more animals."
"But Gompers only a baby. I can't just abandon him."
"Sweet Moses." Stan sighs rubbing his eyes "you named the dumb thing"
Isabel smiled doing her best-begging face
"Come on honey you're in your twenties. I'm not caving this time."

~

Later that week while working in the gift shop she saw a familiar twelve-year-old examining the wires on the lighting at the Shack. She decided after closing to talk to her uncle about it later during dinner "Uncle Stanley why was there a kid trying to fix the lighting?"
"He wandered in and was carrying one of our screwdrivers, so I hired him. Hey, he'd probably do a better job than the last person- you remember them?" Stan replied as he sets the food down.
"You seriously hire a kid to work as our handyman?!"
"Who says he's a kid? He could just be a short adult. Who's also probably a bit slow, I'll give you that."
"I know for a fact his. You can't have a kid working as our handyman. That goes against so many laws."
"You work here," Stan pointed out. "Also, if you cared about any of the laws we broke, you'd put a stop to it years ago."
"That's not my point." Isabel sighed. "I mean, it's one thing that I work here, but it's another thing when it's someone else's kid."
"That's fine and dandy, but I'm going to have to start finding help? You're not here every day and things in the shack are starting to break down." Stan argued.
"Well, I could stop going into the forest. I haven't had any luck." She sighed playing with her food "I mean I've been looking for almost four years and haven't found a trace of the journals. maybe I'm too dumb to be able to find them."
Stan puts his fork down and looked at Isabel. "Now, don't say that Bella, you're a very smart person. You're also Stanford Pines daughter remember."
She chuckled "You mean you as him or himself?"
"All right smart-aleck, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, sorry." She smirks "Thank you."
"Anytime honey." Stan smiles pointing at her plate "Now eat your food. It's getting cold. I didn't cook this for you not to eat."
Isabel shakes her head chuckling as they begin eating again in comfortable silence.