My Enemy's Brother

Chapter 4: Not So Bad After All

Hi guys sorry it took so long, but I'm here now and thanks for waiting! [Special thanks to my AMAZING EDITOR who helped me through my writer's block and this totally isn't her writing this part right now ;)] Lets get it onnnnn!

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I couldn't convince myself what had happened was just Mandy's usual, erratic behavior. Somehow, I knew that it wasn't, and that upset me. Her words were still echoing inside of my head. I couldn't even look back at the diner, because of how she had affected me. I trusted her, but for a reason that I couldn't even understand, I felt betrayed.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that when I felt a strong tug on the back of my shirt, I jumped, then turned to face the cause of it. I was more than a little surprised to find Anastasia looking at me, her eyes wild with concern.

"How --" I started, but she cut me off.

"I'm sorry, Pacifica, but you need to slow down, and tell me what's wrong." Her voice was filled with so many emotions, but the strongest one was definitely worry.

My head hung low, feeling shameful, since I didn't even know exactly what was wrong. Mandy had done worse things before, but I felt lost, drowning in anger directed at her. Anger that I didn't even know I had. It was then that I came to a realization.

"Anastasia, you just broke two rules in a row," I pointed out, and watched her face drop. "Touching me without permission, and interrupting me while I was talking."

The fear spread across her face was obvious. Several times, she opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words. I could tell she was about to apologize, so I stopped her before she could say anything.

"Do you realize what just happened?" I asked, taking a step towards her.

"Oh my, I apologi-" she finally began, but I cut her off again.

"What happened was, I just found myself a new favourite employee."

All of the fear on her face disappeared. Her eyebrows furrowed, replacing the feeling with confusion. "I -- I don't understand."

A smirk settled on my face as I began to explain what I meant. "All my life, people have been treating me like I'm sooo special. Like somehow, I am above them. Like I'm some kind of god." I took in a deep breath, holding Anastasia's gaze before continuing. "People forget that I'm just a person. And all I want to do is be treated like one." I took one large stride, standing directly in front of the servant. "So I'm going to ask you a question, and I want an honest answer. Can you do that?"

There was some kind of pity on her face -- a look I had given many times, but had never received. "Of course I can, Pacifica." She smiled at me genuinely, and I knew that she understood that I wanted her to be my friend, and not my unofficial nanny, as Mandy had been.

"Good," I said, returning the grin. "Now where do you want to go while we have our day of freedom?"

She placed a finger on her chin, and looked up in concentration. When she had come up with and an answer, she looked ecstatic. "Well, there's this cute little place near the woods that gives these tours about the mysteries of Gravity Falls. I've wanted to go check it out for a long time, but I don't have much free time." She looked at me, asking with her eyes if it was a good recommendation.

"That sounds great, Anastasia," I assured her. "What's it called?"

"The Mystery Shack, I think."

"Well, let's call Sebastian to see if he can give us a ride," I suggested, reaching for the cell phone in my pocket."

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The Mystery Shack was just as the name promised it would be; a mystery.  It had been the home of the owner before it was transformed into the tourist trap. Now the family lived above the shop. Peculiar attractions littered the whole place. Some even looked like they'd been thrown together out of the contents of a garbage can. However, the place was just crazy enough to be fun, and it captivated all of the tourists that were visiting with us.

When we finished our tour of the place, led by the owner, a strange man called Stan, I turned to Anastasia.

"See? Doesn't it feel good to do something you actually want to do for a change?" I laughed when we entered into the portion of the home that was turned into a gift shop.

"Yeah . . . actually, did you enjoy it though?" She glanced over at me hopefully while I checked out a snow globe.

"Of course I enjoyed it." As soon as I uttered the words I heard my name being uttered by a familiar voice.

"Pacifica, is that you?"

I spun around, only to find the boy from the diner looking back at me, the girl who was with him not far behind. Both of them had chestnut brown hair, and dark eyes. Only now did I notice the unmistakeable similarities between the two of them. They looked almost identical, and I could only assume that they were twin siblings.

"Uh," I stammered, looking down at my feet as they shuffled along the floor nervously. "Yeah, that's me."

As he glanced behind me at Anastasia, his sister spoke. "The mean girl isn't with you," she observed.

The boy's eyes immediately widened, and he slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry! She didn't mean --"

"N -- no, it's okay, Dipper," I reassured him. Even though I was still looking down, I saw the surprised look on his face.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that." He stepped forward, away from his sister, and leaned in close to me. I finally met his eyes, and I hoped they didn't give away how nervous I felt. "How did you know my name?"

As I processed his words, my body instinctively caused me to jump backwards. I slammed into Anastasia, almost making us fall over.

"Um -- uh -- uh -- " I sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence. "Didn't you -- didn't you say your name -- uh -- at the diner?" My face was red hot, since I didn't have an answer to his question, and I could sense his eyes on my flushed face.

"No, I never told you my name. After you stopped the altercation with the woman, you just kind of said it." By then, he had begun to blush too.

"Huh," I huffed out anxiously. "Inter -- esting." My voice cracked, not allowing me to get out of our conversation without becoming even more embarrassed than I already was. "I'm s -- ure I heard it around somewh -- wh -- where." As my words began to get drowned out by my hyperventilation, I turned to my maid, who looked concerned for my health. "Ah -- ah -- Anastasia, don't you th -- think we should go home now?" I waited for her approval with pleading eyes.

"Well, we just got here, but . . . " She looked down at Dipper and I's red faces, seemingly for the first time. "Yeah, we should go now, definitely." She leaned down to my height with a smug smirk on her face and whispered in my ear. "And you can trust I won't report this little crush of yours to your parents."

My face grew even hotter, and I couldn't look at Dipper again. Instead, I opted out, rushing out of the shack like a bullet, Anastasia close behind. Running away just like the diner, except this time I did look back, to see the twins chasing me.

'This is going to be a wild ride,' I thought to myself before pulling out my phone to tell Sebastian to pick up Anastasia and I outside the newspaper stand.

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Well, well, well, I hope this chapter doesn't suck, cause idk, isn't that what every author wants? xP well, thanks for reading, and as always Live Long and Shippppp Onnnnnn!!!!!!

Status: Edited