The last chapter you guys!

Chapter 10

With all that had happened that year, eighth-grade graduation approached almost unnoticed. Mabel hadn't even made a graduation specific scrapbook or knitted special sweaters for her and Dipper. It didn't feel right. She didn't want to move on to the next part of her life, not because she was scared of growing up because if she had her brother then they could survive growing up. She didn't want to move on to ninth grade because she felt cheated by eighth grade. Most of it had been taken up by liking Ethan, and even if Ethan had fallen for Bill's schemes based on misguided morals he had still badly broken her trust. This was worse than the previous summer's flings because that was just one summer, Ethan had stolen her heart for months and then made a deal with the devil. That wasn't okay.

She was clearly out of it, and everyone recognized it. Everyone wanted to cheer her up and get her back on track for being the fun-loving, confident, and silly person she was normally. But this wasn't an easy fix. Dipper knew what it felt like to have everything taken away from you by Bill. He'd experienced similar sleepless nights. Though he loathed seeing Mabel so disheartened, he knew they now operated on the same level of understanding. The demon had tried them one too many times.

Maybe if they had a chance to look their demon in his one eye and punch it out again, they'd both feel better enough to attend eighth-grade graduation as if it actually mattered. But to them, it really didn't right now. And it didn't seem like they were going to get that chance. Of course, they'd stopped seeing Ethan entirely. Neither of them knew what had happened to him. Mabel still had the bracelet he'd gotten her for Valentine's day, she still wore it too. But she wore it as a reminder to never give her heart away so easily ever again. It wouldn't necessarily work, but she was going to try her best to not be so boy crazy from now on.

"Hey, Mabel, do you want to have a party after our graduation?"

"What's the point? It's not a real graduation anyway. They'll give us a pointless piece of paper that doesn't mean anything."

"Paper is never pointless. It's always good for the scrapbook."

"I'm not keeping a scrapbook for this school year." She said, looking bitter. He sighed.

"Yeah, I get it. Eighth grade sucked. But I'm here for you, Mabel. I always will be."

She smiled at him, the first real smile he'd seen in a while, though her eyes still held hurt.

"I know, Dipper. And I really appreciate that. I'm just out of it right now."

"Yeah... Me too. If you don't want to have a party for graduation, let's just see if we can go back to the Falls early, okay?"

Another genuine smile, "That's a good plan."

"I think Stan and Ford are coming to see us for graduation, anyway, they could take us back and summer could start as soon as we step off the stage." Dipper was getting excited now, even though that was usually her job. He'd just been so homesick for Gravity Falls, and the summer in front of them was full of endless opportunities. He could fill his Journal with the things he discovered this summer, and maybe Bill wouldn't ruin everything- and he'd get to see Pacifica! His smile turned a little sad because the nature of his relationship with Pacifica couldn't help remind him of the reason they were rushing away from Piedmont so quickly. Mabel's eighth-grade relationship had been so brutal that Dipper still felt sick to think about it. Even if Ethan hadn't known what he was doing getting involved with Bill, he'd still broken Mabel.

"That sounds great, Dipper. I need to forget about this school year. High school's supposed to be worse."

"What can be worse than eighth grade?" Dipper asked with a sad laugh.

"I'm afraid to find out. This summer will hopefully be a good distraction."

"Hopefully. But we can't just run from our problems either, you know. We have to face them as well. Forgetting your problems is dangerous, remember Fiddleford?"

"I don't want to forget my problems. There's nothing left to face with Ethan. So I'd just like to get some distance, you know? Go the one place he isn't."

"I get it. Let's just get this graduation done, right?"

"Right."

Dipper was actually excited the day of their graduation, and Mabel had gotten more into the spirit of things. She'd decorated her cap with real working lights that she would turn on during the ceremony. And then they'd head off to the Falls. It was a foolproof plan. It was almost a foolproof plan. But there was no shortage of fools at Piedmont Middle School and the perfect plan almost immediately fell apart.

Mabel was really good at scrapbooking and making sweaters and not as good at electrical engineering. She was learning and had been able to pull off some cool things but her graduation cap was not her finest bit of wiring. As she walked across the stage in front of her brother (Mab comes before Mas) and switched on the lights, something went wrong. Her cap erupted in flames. Mabel screamed and hurled it off her head, setting off the sprinkler system and drenching two hundred eight graders and their families. Dipper rushed forward, grabbing Mabel and their diplomas while everyone else panicked. He knew they'd be in trouble if they stuck around. They weren't the only Pines who realized this, Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford ran forward, each of them grabbing a twin and running out.

"Hey! Stop!" The principal yelled after them.

"Not today, suckers!" Grunkle Stan laughed, throwing a smoke bomb behind them so they could better escape.

"Mabel, I'm so sorry our graduation went like that," Dipper said, handing Mabel a damp diploma. Mabel had seemed a little shocked since the cap had caught on fire and hadn't said anything yet as they sat in the back of Grunkle Stan's car, driving toward their home so they could change and get their stuff before heading to Gravity Falls.

Mabel, all of a sudden, burst out laughing, "It honestly couldn't have gone any better."