The new girl in Gravity Falls; by Joona Irene

Now you listen

By Joona Irene

        "Of course!" Mabel said, not waiting for Dipper to answer. Dipper didn't look at me.
         "Yeah, okay." he mumbled. I smiled brightly.
        "Fantastic!" I said. I grabbed Dipper's wrist and started walking towards the forest. "Let's go." Mabel followed, skipping.

I took them to my tree, the one I'd been staying in for the past couple days. Dipper still didn't seem glad or happy to see me, and I realized he must be awfully conflicted and tired. I'll put your mind at rest. I don't know why I wanted to help, but I felt it was my obligation. Probably due to that oath I took, swearing to protect all humanity. I mentally shrugged.
        "Okay, here's the game." I explained, letting go of his wrist. "I've hidden something special to me inside this tree. Whichever one of you finds it first, I'll tell you a secret."
        Dipper seemed to perk up at my mentioning of a secret. Mabel too. They both now seemed equally ready to play. Excellent.
        "I'm totally going to find it first." Mabel claimed, smiling wide. "I'm a tree-climbing expert!"
        "Yeah, well, I'm the best at finding hiding spots." Dipper countered. I smiled.
        "Good luck." I said. "And GO!"
        Mabel immediately jumped and grabbed the lowest branch, pulling herself up and scaling the tree with ease. Dipper started at the base, inspecting questionable spots and things like that. I sat on the ground, crossing my legs, and watched.
        Mabel was halfway up the tree by the time Dipper started climbing. But unlike Mabel, he had a location in mind. I knew he was heading for it when Mabel asked me if my special item was the super huge pinecone.
        But, still, Dipper looked like he could use some help in climbing. I could see his face was red and I heard him panting. He wasn't even halfway there, and Mabel had reached the top.
        "It isn't here Lilac!" she called down, her voice far away.
        "Yes, it is!" I yelled back. "You just have to look harder!" I think I heard her say something else but she was too far away. She started to go back down, but slower this time, really trying to search.
        Dipper, on the other hand, had finally reached the spot. He was balancing with trouble on my favorite branch, and feeling the trunk. Then I saw his hand slide into the tree and pull something out. His face lit up with joy and he shouted happily. No, no! Dipper wavered, lost his balance and fell.
        I raced to where he was going to hit the ground. I jumped up and caught him in my arms, landing on the ground with a roll.
        "You should be more careful." I said teasingly, sitting up.
        "You should find a better hiding spot." he said back, smiling. In his fist was my special thing.
        "Mabel!" I called to her. "Come down, Dipper won!"
        "Aw, man!" she said, starting down. Dipper opened his fist, revealing my item. I didn't get to see his reaction though, because in the very far away distance I could see a trace of the mysterious Triangle aura. So very far away...how strange.
        "What is this thing?" Dipper asked. He held it in his hand, analyzing it as best he could.
        "You wouldn't know." I explained to him, taking it and holding it myself. Mabel had finally reached the ground.
        "So? What is it?" she asked, slightly out of breath. I held it up for her to see.
        "It's...a piece of glass? No, a broken mirror?" she asked.
        "Well, kind of." I said, holding it longingly. "It's a piece of the mirror I first looked in."
That was a lie. In truth I did carry the piece of the first mirror I looked into, but what I was holding wasn't it. The thing in my hands was the same mysterious material the rest of my body was made of. This one just happened to be identical to my special item because I wanted to keep my item safe. This was like a fake, a trap, for whoever wanted my magic mirror shard. I blinked and handed it over to Dipper.
        "You won it fair and square." I said. He took it carefully, trying not to touch the edges. I chuckled.
        "You can't cut yourself on it." I said.
        "But it's broken glass..." he argued. "Of course I can!"
        "No, you can't, see?" I took it and ran it across his arm quickly. He flinched, but stared when it didn't draw blood.
Yeah, a piece of me. I myself was quite startled when I found out I was made of pieces. Not in fact one solid thing, but tiny little pieces, shards, of a whole. And I could tear myself apart, or assemble myself, at will. In a way it was romantic that I was literally offering a part of myself to him, but he had no idea to its significance. Maybe one day I would tell him, but for now it was easier for him to believe it was just reflective glass.
        "...So, are you going to tell me that secret?" Dipper asked. I nodded.
        "But not here." I said. I looked for the Triangle aura, and noticed it had gotten closer. I stood. "C'mon, let's go back to Mystery Shack." I said. So we left the forest.

        "Okay, Mabel is with Candy and Grenda, Stan is with customers, Soos is probably fixing something, and Wendy is at the cash register." Dipper reported. I rubbed his head.
        "That's a good boy." I teased. "Good boy! Do you want a secret? Do you?" he playfully barked with enthusiasm. I laughed.
        "Okay but seriously," he said, laughing, "What is it?"
I looked for the Triangle aura. Nowhere to be seen. I sighed heavily.
        "Okay..." I said softly. "The secret I'm going to tell you it...I live in that tree."
        "What?"
        "I live in that tree. The pine tree you guys climbed...that's where I sleep at night. "
        "You live in a tree?" Dipper scoffed. "That's your big secret."
        "Well, it's pretty important to me." I said, lifting my chin. "I think that being alone in the world is a significant fact in a persons life."
        "Being alone? What do you mean?"
        "Just that. Alone. No friends, no family, nobody to depend on but myself and that tree. ♪ Just the tree and me ♪" I sang.
        "So what you're telling me is," Dipper looked nervous, "You don't have parents? Or even any siblings?"
        "Yup." I said.
        "Oh..." Dipper trailed off.
        "Yeah." I said, looking at my hands. "It's not so bad. I get to travel the world with nothing to hold me down. Who needs friends, right?" I tried to laugh. "I mean, one day they've got your back and you play, and the next they hate you. And that just isn't something I need to deal with; nobody does."
        Dipper looked really concerned, and I knew I was getting to where I was going. He didn't trust me? Well, that's fixed now.
        "Lilac..."
        "Yes Dipper?"
        "I-I'm sorry."
        "What for?" I asked innocently. "You haven't done anything to me."
        "Well," Dipper coughed. "I thought you, I mean, I didn't notice that...well, what I'm trying to say is that, uh, I couldn't have, I didn't, no I need...I thought you were weird." I sat still and looked at him, hoping he'd continue. He did. "Your hair, for example. It's so long and pure white. I've never seen anything like it. And when we first met, the way you climbed down that tree was incredible! I thought you were some kind of animal-human hybrid or something. And I guess I was scared of you because I didn't know you."
        I stood and he looked like he was going through something rough inside.
        "Dipper, you don't have to apologize." I said, taking his hand in mine. "Lot's of people think I'm strange. I mean, I do live like a squirrel." I grinned. He grinned too, and he didn't let go of my hand.