My Name is Bill Cipher

Not Goodbye Forever

"Are you excited?" Mabel asks me, holding my hand.
I look at her with all the love in my heart. "Yes..." My face falls suddenly. "But I don't want you to go."
"I know," Mabel responds solemnly. "I don't want to leave either. But I have to go home. Summer's over... but don't worry! We can still visit! It's not like this is goodbye forever or anything!" she adds hastily.
"I sure have a heck of a year ahead of me, don't I?" I sigh, a bit overwhelmed.
"You sure do," Mabel agrees. "But I'm glad it all turned out, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am." Over our last few days of summer, everybody has helped me plan out my next year of life. Stan kept the forged documents of guardianship, just so I could be enrolled in Gravity Falls High and in case I ever need guardian consent. Apart from that, he promised to be no more involved in my life than I want him to be.
As for my living arrangements, well, technically, I'm only sixteen, maybe a little older, so I can't live on my own. So a couple of the members of the zodiac said that I can live with them.
For most of the year, Stan and Melody have offered for me to live with them in the Mystery Shack, to which I gladly accepted. In return, I'll work part time at the gift shop and run shows and tours. The rest of my time will be spent on schoolwork and hopefully the friends that Wendy has promised I'll make. If I ever want to stay with someone else with that person's consent, I am welcome to.
Dipper and Mabel have promised o visit for Christmas, as have Stan and Ford. The only problem is, I haven't experienced a "Christmas" before, as well as this so-called "Thanksgiving" they've mentioned either, so I guess I'll have to see what I'm in for.
"Oh, hey, guys," Dipper greets us after coming down the stairs. He is mostly cleared from his concussion, though he's still been told to take it easy for the next couple weeks. He's had some minor headaches as well, but Ford told us that's normal after a concussion.
"Hi... there's actually something I wanted to talk to the both of you about," I say.
They look at each other, as if they're saying 'Do you know what this is about?'
     I pull out the memory gun from my bulging pocket. Looks of horror pass over the twins's faces. I even see Dipper step slightly in front of his sister. "Drop. That," he growls.
     "Don't worry!" I exclaim. "Fiddleford was able to assemble this, as he has made them before... You told me yourself that you wanted your nightmares to stop, didn't you?" I ask. "I can erase the memory of the event from your minds. Even if I did have the power to take away nightmares now... I can't heal PTSD or anything. I just thought..."
     "No," Mabel states clearly. "No matter how much it hurts me, I never want to forget that moment. Yes, it was the moment you terrorized us, and I don't think I'll ever get over that... but it was also the moment Grunkle Stan saved us. He was willing to lose every memory he ever made to save us, to save his brother, to save everyone! Isn't that wonderful? To know that someone loves you that much..."
     "But I want to do this because I love you," I reply. "I don't want this to hurt you anymore."
     "I love you, too," Mabel smiles sadly, "but can you even imagine the amount of love it would take to be willing to give up every memory you had of the one you loved?"
     "I can't," I respond. In fact, I just believe I witnessed it. The act of Dipper stepping in front of his twin, ready to take the hit of a memory gun... However, I think that, in that situation, the one who would experience more pain would be the one protected. The other would no longer remember. It's pain for one, confused relief for the other. I look down at the memory gun resting in the palm of my hand. "I'm so sorry, you guys. If only I could just..." I look down at the device in my hands. "...forget it myself."
     Before I can even think, Dipper smacks the gun out of my hand and it falls to the floor, its bulb shattering. "I wouldn't even use that once," he tells me sternly. "We've seen how... addicted... a person can get to that."
     "Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay," Mabel reassures me.
     And, for this one time, I am reassured.
                   :::::::::::::::::::
     "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Dipper and Mabel! Happy birthday to you!" The dumb song still resounds in my ears as the twins blow out the sixteen candles on their birthday cake.
     Today is the last day of summer. For all of us, school starts tomorrow. Dipper and Mabel are going home. I'm going to school for the first time.
     It was a big debate on whether I'd enter 10th or 11th grade due to my nonexistent education. After a bunch of persuasion and convincing everyone that I was more educated than all of them and wanted to get this school business over as soon as possible, they agreed to let me in as a junior. The school was fine with this, because according to my forged birth certificate, apparently I was born sometime in the year that Dipper and Mabel were born, maybe a few months before them. Unfortunately, Wendy and her friends have graduated already from high school.  Mabel has encouraged me to try to make some friends, but I'm not so sure how well I'll do with that...
     My thoughts are interrupted by a small, happy voice heavily masked with a southern accent next to me. "Enjoying the party, Bill?" I look down to my side and see Gideon Gleeful, a wide smile across his face full of freckles.
     I do my best to smile back, but I think it comes out looking like a grimace because Gideon cringes. "Yeah," I reply steadily. "I've never been to a party quite like this one before. It's so much less chaotic than-"
     "Chaotic?" Gideon cuts me off, then laughs. "You'll get plenty of chaos at an elementary school boy's birthday party. But parties now are nice. You don't come just to have fun- You come to celebrate!"
    "Celebrate..." the word echoes in my mind. "That's weird. Why are we celebrating Dipper and Mabel managing to stay alive for one more year? Heck, they're even getting rewarded for it!" I gesture to the gifts they're opening.
     "But it's fun, isn't it?"
     "Of course! I would know, I'm the king of fun!" I exclaim. "Though this party could use a little something extra, you know?"
     "Hmm," Gideon ponders for a moment, then grins a toothy smile. "Well, why don't you take this party to another level? I'll bet you can show them how to really party."
     "You got it!" I shout and give a thumbs up. Everyone's just casually chatting now, so this is the perfect time to give this party some lively spunk.
     Trust me, I know how to rile a crowd up. Just sing some popular songs, turn on a karaoke machine, cheer, dance, you name it! I'm sure anyone there could tell you that it was the best party ever thrown.
                      :::::::::::::::::::
     I stand next to Pacifica, Wendy, Soos, Melody, Stanley, and Stanford as we wave our final goodbyes to the twins leaving for Piedmont on the Speedy Beaver bus. To be completely honest, I miss them already. I won't have anyone to talk to from now on. Wendy and her friends are leaving for college and Mabel and Dipper are leaving to their own home. Mabel kept teaching me how to make friends at the school, so I guess I'll try to... but this is Gravity Falls. I'm not sure how exactly I can make friends when people find out I'm Bill Cipher, the one who terrorized their town and families.
     My forged papers say my name is Bill Rehpic, which I'm totally fine with, but that's honestly the most see-through name I've ever heard of. The Pineses said it would be safer for me with a less recognizable name. I'll roll with it for now.
     I yell goodbye one last time to the twins waving back from the bus window. The vehicle begins to drive away.
     I'm standing here on this hot August day, a blank look on my face, sweating in the sweater Mabel knit me. I smile. Perhaps I really do have a bright future ahead of me. Heh. Standing here in 90 degree weather with a sweater on and a stupid look on my face, I must look pathetic.
     But, maybe for the first time in a lifetime, I am really, truly happy.