In The Pines

Chapter 7

Pacifica gazed past the trees into the vast woods. She had lived her whole life in Gravity Falls yet she had spent so little of it in the town. She always imagined it as some rundown hick village thanks to her parents, but there was so much beauty in nature she never would have found on her own.

Her and Mabel were taking the pets for a walk. In one hand Mabel held Waddles' s leash and in the other Coconut's. The two kept trying to go in other directions making Mabel rock back and forth. Pacifica tried to hide her amusement, but she wasn't doing a very good job at it.

They came back to the shack and had hoped Dipper would want to do something, but he was in the basement with Ford. Neither of them got to see him all day. They sat on the porch together. Pacifica saw the look of disappointment in Mabel's eyes.

"At least we'll see him at dinner."

"Will we? Paz he's been spending days in the basement with Ford. Two days ago I didn't see him, yesterday I only saw him at dinner, and who knows for today. It's not fair. I mean I'm excited to spend time with Great Uncle Ford to but I'm still his sister. he should want to see me..."

Pacifica wanted to find fault in what Mabel said, but she couldn't. Dipper had practically become a stranger the past few days. The front door from the shack opened and a voice came from behind.

"What are you two pouting about?"

Mabel perked up. "Wendy I just had a great idea!"

"Ok shoot."

"Since Dipper wants to spend all his time in the basement and ignore his favorite sister, we should all hang out without him to remind him what he's missing out on!"

Wendy shrugged. "Sounds good, I don't have anything going on today."

Mabel turned to Pacifica. "You up for it?"

Pacifica looked at Mabel and then Wendy. She was nervous, but meeting Grenda went well, and Soos has been nice to her the entire time she's lived at the shack. This was just another necessary step in leaving behind the shackles of her parents. "Yeah. It sounds like fun."

"Sounds good." Wendy started walking towards the woods. "Follow me, I know a good spot we can hang out at."

The two trailed close behind. Mabel gave Pacifica a small nudge. "Don't worry." She whispered. "Wendy's cool." Pacifica gave a meek nod and the pair continued walking. After a few minutes Wendy stopped. Logs were arranged in a circle around a dirty fire pit. "My friends and I come out here every now and then." The three each sat on a log. "At the end of the night we think of a funny way to make Thompson put out the fire."

"What's the funniest?" Mabel asked.

"We had him pick up the burning logs and stop drop and roll."

Pacifica looked at the charred wood in the pit. "That's kinda harsh..."

Wendy perked up, suprised to hear Pacifica speak. "He can say no. He does dumb stuff cuz he loves us. And we do stuff for him because we love him."

Pacifica looked up at her. "Like what?"

"Lee stole a cheat sheet for one of his tests, Tambry helped find him a date to homecoming, and Robbie and I spray painted the house of some kids who were giving him a hard time. Ya know, the normal kind of stuff friends do. Don't your friends-"