North of Normal

Chapter 4: Exploring the town

                                                               Dipper's Point of View

"Oh, trust me, Peyton. There's plenty to see," I told her. Peyton raised an eyebrow. She whispered something to Mabel. But I didn't hear it. 

"Let's just say he's paranoid in the ol' noggin!" Mabel said. 

I crossed my arms, and said, "HEY! I heard that!" 

Peyton laughed, and Mabel started laughing with her. 

Ugh. Girls! 

I was deep in thought, when Peyton suddenly asked, "What did you mean by 'Plenty to see'?" 

"Oh! Uh . . . well, I'll explain it to you later. Maybe tomorrow. How about we show you and Destiny the town? That way you won't get lost later on," I said.

Peyton groaned with a smile on her face. But by the disagreeing look on her face, I could tell that she REALLY wanted to know what I meant. After the hundredth time of telling her that I promised to tell her the next day, she finally agreed. 

Mabel and I showed the sisters the town, and even introduced them to some of the townsfolk like Manly Dan, Old Man McGucket, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland, Toby Determined, The Pizza guy, etc. 

Peyton put her hand on her tummy. "I'm Starvin Marvin!" she said.

"Yeah, me too," Destiny said. 

"Me three," Mabel said.

I laughed, and said, "Me four! There's a diner not too far from here." 

We went to Greasy's Diner. Mabel sat across from Peyton, and Peyton sat beside the window, and Destiny sat next to Mabel. I blushed bright red, and sat next to Peyton. 

Peyton smiled. "Wow! Look at the forest! It's so pretty!" 

"Dipper and I go out there every day! You should come with us the next time we go!"

Peyton raised an eyebrow at her, and said, "And you guys never got lost? Wow! You must know the woods pretty well, then!" 

Mabel probably noticed that I was still blushing, because the sneakiest smile grew on her face. "You know, I'm not very hungry," she looked at Destiny, "Destiny, can you help me with something?" 

"Sure," Destiny said. She and Mabel left. Me and Peyton were alone. 

Peyton looked confused. "Dang. What was that about? I thought they were hungry," said Peyton. 

I blushed and shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it's just you and me, then."

 "Guess so," Peyton replied. 

Ugh! How could Mabel do this? Why did she leave me alone with Peyton? I really like Peyton, and I don't want to say anything stupid! 

 I tried to find a subject to talk to Peyton about. 

"So, um, how about Texas? You guys sure get less rain than we do!" I said. 

To my surprise, Peyton laughed. "Yeah. It's pretty hot. We were in a drought for several years! The lakes dried up and the drought went up to Stage 5! But because of all that heavy rain we got, the drought was FINALLY over!" Peyton said. 

"Do you guys get a lot of Tornadoes?" 

"Eh . . . not often. But when we do, it usually never hits the ground. The last tornado that hit the ground was on Terrible Tuesday, years ago. One time, when we were in a warning, I said that I had a feeling the tornado would hit the ground." 

"Did it?" I asked.

She laughed again. "Thankfully, no! But I almost jinxed it!" 

I smiled at her. "In California, we get a lot of earthquakes! There was this one time when I was asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and I felt the house shake. It was crazy." 

Peyton smiled and said, "Something similar happened to me!"

The waitress, Lazy Susan, came and put our food on the table. Peyton smiled politely and said, "Thank you."

As we ate, we talked about things we liked to do. Peyton enjoyed acting at a theater near where she lived. 

"And you were in four plays? Wow! You'll need to give me your autograph, so when you're famous, I'll be able to say, 'I know this girl!'" I told her. 

Peyton smiled at me, and said, "Why does everyone say that?" But she laughed. 

I told her that I liked solving mysteries, and she said she did, too. 

"I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, though. But I certainly do like mysteries," Peyton said.  

I was surprised. She didn't look like the kind of person who'd be into all that stuff. "Wow! Really?" I said. 

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, dude. I watch Mystery shows, like, all the time! House of Anubis is one of my favorites," Peyton said. 

When we got done eating, we left the diner and headed back home. I had a feeling Mabel was going be asking us how it went.