It was the next day – and the first day we would be spending on shore. Our group would be leaving ship at 8 am and we had to eat something before departure so the grunckles woke us at 6:30 am, knowing how long it usually took Mabel to get ready.

We were all still yawning when we finally walked down the footbridge that led us off of the ship and I had to shut my eyes for a moment since it was suddenly so light.

"Care for a pair?" Dipper extended his arm towards me, holding an extra pair of sunglasses.

I smiled at him, "Thank you!"

When Mabel noticed his gesture she was visibly annoyed. She grabbed his arm and held him back so that they ended up behind us, obviously she wanted to give him a scolding. It made me sad she was still angry at me but it was to be expected. Mabel could hold grudges if she wanted to and apparently she was nowhere near forgiving me.

Absently I began playing with the number "12" with the MSC-logo that had been attached to my shirt. This was our first stop and I wanted it to be a nice, relaxing day. This was Jamaica after all! You don't visit here every day! But looks like I had messed everything up again.

Aww... Don't blame it all on yourself, Moonstone, it was my fault as well, you know!

Just shut up Bill, I know it was your fault as well and since when do you even care if I blame it on myself or not?

He seemed to be the only one enjoying himself. Great.

Because I care about long faces just about as much as you do. He patted my head lightly. When it comes to wanting this trip to be fun, I can agree with you.

How very nice of him.

What do you say, care for some advice on how to deal with Shooting Star's grudge?

If it's free, sure, go ahead.

He laughed. What a stingy little girl you are. But alright, just this once sweetie. Now listen up would you...

"Mabel, we need to talk."

We had just arrived at the beach we were supposed to spend the day at, a little quiet and shady place with lots of trees and very little people, apart from our group. We had just settled down and when I saw Mabel wandering off to get herself and Dipper a drink at a neighbouring bar I had spotted my chance.

Bill's plan was pretty bold and I didn't like it at all but he was right – something had to be done about the bad mood and if the plan was anything, it was fool-proof.

"What is it?"

She was obviously not very eager to talk. Well, I couldn't afford to care right now.

"There's a reason I avoided the party last night."

"Oh and that reason would be?"

I gulped and forced myself to say the following words. "Well, do you think it was a coincidence it was Will who busted me last night?"

Mabel stopped so abruptly she almost dropped her wallet. Then she slowly turned around. Her eyes were wide. "Was it not?" She asked, her eyes were suddenly glowing with anticipation.

I gulped again. "Not at all. We were... we had agreed on a... a meet- I mean, date-sort-of-thing... The party was not really... quiet enough, I guess?"

All anger had suddenly vanished from her eyes as she non-verbally begged me for more information.

"But, you know, we had a fight and... that's why he busted me... out of revenge..."

She had apparently forgotten about the drinks because Mabel grabbed me by the hand and lead me to a few empty deck chairs, far away from the others.

"I wanted to tell you all along but Will wouldn't let me... he said it was more exciting to meet in secret but now that we had that argument I don't see why I shouldn't go around telling people what a JERK he actually is..."

That was the part of Bill's plan that had convinced me to agree on it. I was finally able to rant about him without giving his real identity away.

Mabel of course pressed me for details but I said I didn't want to talk about the good part of the date. Instead I went on about what a jerkface he was and how glad I was to finally be rid of him.

We ended up even laughing together again, complaining about men in generally and how dumb they were sometimes. I had to leave it to Bill, this time he really saved me.

But when we were about to return to the others I suddenly remembered I told Dipper an entirely different story last night! If Mabel told him the one I just told her I would end up in even bigger trouble!

"Listen up, Mabel, that thing with the date and Will is a secret okay? Don't tell anyone, please, it's so embarrassing, you know, ditching a nice party for a stupid guy..."

Mabel suddenly smiled knowingly. "You mean because of Dipper? Of course, I won't tell him or anyone about your little escapade..."

"What? What do you mean, because of Dipper?" I was honestly confused.

She winked at me. "Oh come on, you don't have to pretend, it took me some time to figure out myself because I had never considered you two would develop any kind of feelings for each other that exceeded friendship but after he bought you that drink yesterday... It was all clear!"

It took me a moment to realize what she was implying. When I finally figured out she was under the impression Dipper and I had a crush on each other she was long gone, leaving me almost as desperate as before.

Why had everything to be this complicated when you were a teenager? Couldn't we just go back to being kids and forget about all that stupid romance stuff? It was ruining my vacation and my entire life!

I went swimming to cool myself off a little. Instead I ended up thinking about how I messed up even more.

I didn't have a crush on Dipper... and Mabel would have to accept that, even if I had to tell her a thousand times. But what about him? I shook my head as I was buried in the water way up to my mouth. There was no way he could be interested in someone like me. He could have so much better!

But then all the nice things he had done for me suddenly came to my mind. All the times he had genuinely cared, smiled, been awkward and shy when I was around... could it actually be he had any feelings for me?