After Poetry, Mabel wasn't going to see Robbie again for another four periods. She arrived early to her next class, and used the spare time to take a closer look at Mason's notes.

She flipped through the pages of her Poetry textbook until she found the one that had caught her attention in class. She wrote down all the words that were underlined, then the words Mason had traced over in pen. She stared at the words scribbled on the page and read them over in her head.

Three planks from the flooring of the chamber. Midnight. Open it. The window.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a student who dropped his textbooks on his desk. He sat down with a loud thud. The legs of the chair squealed against the floor.

Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she immediately recognized the white hair and piercing blue eyes. Gideon Gleeful. The name was the most odd one she had studied. It didn't seem to fit the way he carried himself with narrowed eyes and lips set in a straight line.

Mabel realized she had been caught when his Mona Lisa smile broke into a smirk.

"Glad to see you finally made it to school."

Mabel kept her head down but continued to stare like a deer in the headlights. She wanted to make a snarky comment, but stopped herself when she remembered that the reason why Gideon was attending Pines Academy was because his family was one of the richest in town. Well, besides Pacifica NorthWest. The NorthWests were by far the richest family in the state.

"I'm throwing a little get together by the lake tonight, if you're interested."

Mabel glanced at the teacher's desk, which was still empty. She looked back at Gideon.

"But the lake is too far from the dorms. It's practically off campus-"

"-yeah. And?"

She hesitated. Mabel knew the lake was off limits to begin with. Who knows how much trouble a student would get into if they were caught outside their dorms past curfew? Besides the rules in the handbook, something about the invitation didn't feel right. She knew enough about Gideon to carry the conversation, but she had no idea what Dipper thought about him. She couldn't take such a risk.

"Robbie and Wendy said they're going," Gideon continued. He almost sang it under his breath.
"You'd better answer before I change my mind."

Mabel's heartbeat was suddenly amplified in her ears. "I'm in," she mumbled through clenched teeth.

The conversation ended as soon as the teacher walked in. Gideon smirked to himself in satisfaction before straightening his posture and opening his notebook.

Mabel stared down at her own notes. She quickly tore out the page, folded it and placed it in the pocket of her blazer to examine later.

• • •

"What did Gideon tell you about going to the lake?" she asked Robbie as they walked down the hall.

He shrugged. "He said we were going to meet up around midnight and that we should try to leave through the window to avoid the security cameras. That's pretty much it."

"It sounded kind of fishy."

Robbie snorted. "Was that a pun?"

Mabel's face went pink with frustration. "Do you trust Gideon or not?"

"Pfft. Of course I don't. I doubt there's a single person in this school who doesn't have a bone to pick with him."

"Then why are you going to the lake?"

"Come on Mason, he's loaded."

Mabel didn't like how he said it. His tone sounded like a school teacher reviewing something as simple as the alphabet.

"Just being on his good side has it's perks. Imagine being friends with him."

"Even if I tried, I could never imagine enjoying his presence. Just seeing his face makes me want to puke." Mabel pointed a finger down her throat and fake-gagged.

"Who said anyone enjoys being in his presence?" Robbie laughed.

Mabel rolled her eyes. She stopped walking once she realized Robbie had paused a few steps behind her.

"What is up with you?"

"Nothing," she replied with a shrug.

"On your period?"

Mabel felt a bead of sweat form on her neck before trickling down her back.

"My what?"

"Ugh. Learn to take a joke, man." Robbie slumped his shoulders and shoved past her. He continued down the hall before entering a classroom on his right.

Mabel stared after him with her fingers gripped anxiously onto the strap of her messenger bag. She stared at her shoes until she steadied her breathing, then continued walking to her next class. While doing so, her attention was drawn to the wall that had been vandalized.

A janitor was vigorously scrubbing at the red substance. Half of the message had been washed away into bright pink suds that dripped onto the floor.

Mabel paused to stare at the scene one last time before entering the classroom.

• • •

Later that night, Mabel found her hands covered in ink from her now ruined fountain pen. Chewing pens was definitely not one of her common habits, but one most associated with Mason. In fact, the mug on his desk was filled with an assortment of chewed up pens and pencils.

She dropped the pen into the waste basket before running to the bathroom to rinse the blue ink from her hands. The water was freezing, so badly that she flinched when it came in contact with her fingers. She quickly turned off the faucet and turned on the opposite opposite tap. The hot water did a much better job and strangely released some tension that Mabel didn't know she had.

She dried her hands, left the bathroom, collapsed back into the chair, and spun around on its wheels to face the desk once again. Her notes from Mason's poetry book were now splattered with dark blue ink. She let out a frustrated huff and promptly buried her head in her folded arms.

After a minute of tapping her fingers on the desk, Mabel sat up once more to try and read what was still visible in her notebook.

The floorboards
Midnight
The window
Open it

Mabel squinted at the ink-splatters, but she still couldn't decipher what the underlined text could've meant.

She glanced at the window. The moonlight that filtered through the crimson glass casted a purplish glow throughout the dorm.

She spun around in her chair and scooted towards the windowsill. She unlocked the hatch and pushed against the glass. The rusted hinges squealed as the window slowly swung open. Mabel squinted through the moonlight and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. She scanned the area below, but found nothing that stuck out. She felt against the bricks that lined the window in hopes of discovering a secret hiding place but still found nothing.

She fell back into her chair and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:46. The notes said something about midnight. Maybe that was the key. Maybe something was supposed to happen when the clock struck 12.

Mabel sat up in her seat when she heard a knock at the door.

"Pssst. Mason," Robbie's muffled voice whispered. "Let me in before somebody sees me."

She jumped to her feet and rushed forward. She nearly tripped and ended up falling against the door before finally turning the knob to let Robbie in.

He had changed into dark wash jeans, a black hoodie and faded black sneakers. The outfit was much more casual than the uniforms Mabel had gotten used to seeing around campus.

"Are you okay?"

Mabel pushed her shoulder against the door to close it, then turned the lock, which let out a satisfying click.

"Never better." She brushed her hair back, but then remembered her brother's birthmark on his forehead. She quickly brushed her bangs downward again, then nervously stuck her hands to her sides.

"Come on. Let's go."

Mabel was surprised at how confident he was in sneaking out. No stuttering or hesitating. Not a hint of anxiety.

Robbie approached the window, unlatched it and pushed it open. He paused after swinging a leg over the edge of the sill to stare at Mabel in amusement as she hopped up and down, trying to slip on her sneakers. He continued crawling outside, then disappeared.

Mabel rushed forward, poked her head out of the window and stared down to see Robbie standing on the fire escape with arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Oh thank goodness I didn't know- I mean I, uh, forgot there was a fire escape."

"What, you thought I was about to fling myself off a building to hang out with Gideon?"

Mabel laughed before lifting herself up and over the edge. She followed Robbie down the steps, which ended at the edge of a flowerbed that surrounded the perimeter of the building. She winced when she realized she was crushing some carefully maintained flowers under her shoes, but that was much less important compared to the stakes they were facing by sneaking out.

Robbie was running a yard or two ahead of her. Normally, Mabel could outrun anyone without breaking a sweat, but in this case she had no idea where they were going. She had decided she was in no way capable of navigating the rough terrain anyways.

They were now stepping into the edge of the woods that surrounded the academy. The darkness that blanketed the canopy of leaves made the evergreens appear much more intimidating than Mabel had anticipated. She found herself slowing down in hesitation and stopping before setting another door down onto the nettle-covered floor.

Robbie paused and glanced over his shoulder. "You're not chickening out now, are you?"

"No. I'm just. . . taking a moment to admire nature at its finest."

Robbie tucked his hands into his armpits and flapped his arms up and down. "Bock bock bock!! Chicken!"

Mabel let out a huff before brushing off the bad feeling her stomach and continuing into the forest.

Robbie continued making chicken noises but stopped when he received a punch in the shoulder. From that point on, all was silent in the woods.