Six summers

Summer 3

So cool

Candy Chiu lurked in the threshold between the living room and the gift shop. The shack was not quiet. Scenes of action and violence blared from the TV behind her. Her friends Mabel and Grenda were cheering and laughing in equal measures. But Candy strained against those noises to listen to the conversation taking place in the front room.

"So…. Um, is. That a new issue?" Dipper Pines, aged 14, asked nervously.

"Yup." Wendy Corduroy, aged 17, replied casually.

Candy Chiu, also aged 14, stayed silent and unobtrusive, glancing back towards her friends to make sure they weren't getting curious. Satisfied, she turned back to the task at hand.

"I was listening to some of that stuff you recommended. It's pretty good!" Dipper said with a grin.

Wendy sat forwards and raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"

Dipper gave a nod and a sheepish grin, "I mean I don't –get- all of it but yeah it was really great!"

Wendy looked amused. "Cool, man." She lowered her gaze back to the magazine in her hands and flipped a few pages.

Dipper stood awkwardly in front of the counter and shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. He raised his hand and opened his mouth a few times, as if trying to find words to say. A voice floated up the stairs that lead down into the museum.

"Hey kid, get down here. This mermaid isn't gonna stitch itself together." Gruncle Stan, aged dirt, shouted from somewhere amongst the exhibits.

Dipper groaned loudly and looked up at Wendy. Without looking up, she waved a hand at him and gave a slight smile. Dipper frowned and hurried down towards his great uncle. Candy let out a sigh of relief and stepped out into the gift shop. Her steps were small and quiet. She came up to the counter and leaned against it, only just tall enough to rest her arms on the counter.

"Ehm… hello Wendy." Candy said in a small, accented voice.

Wendy turned a page and looks over the edge of her magazine. "Candy, hey." She smiled at the younger girl. "Taking a break from Mabel and Grenda?"

Candy laughed nervously. "Yeah, they are pretty intense."

Wendy kept reading, kept smiling. "Yeah, you guys are pretty rad."

Candy laughed nervously again. "Yeah…"

They would have sat in relative silence, all noises either being that of the turning of pages or coming from other rooms, for a very long time, if Candy weren't acutely aware of her time limit. She had to ask her questions before Mabel started wondering where she went, and especially before Dipper got back in the room.

"Hello Wendy." Candy said sheepishly.

"You said that already." Wendy nodded and kept her nose buried in the magazine.

"Um… Yes." Candy confirmed.

Wendy sat up straighter and lowered the magazine slightly. "What's up, kid?"

Candy straightened her glasses, though in truth they weren't crooked to begin with. "I um… you're very cool."

Wendy smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"It's just… I wanted some…" Candy paused, trying to find the right word, "advice." She ground the toe of her shoe into the wooden floor of the Mystery Shack gift shop.

Wendy frowns at this. "I'm not exactly a sage over here." Wendy concedes, "But I'll do what I can."

"Well it's about… boys…" Candy admits.

Wendy laughs. "Oh. Well maybe I can help after all." She smiles widely. "I've got some experience."

Candy nods in agreement. "I just needed to know… How do you get boys to like you?"

Wendy turns a page and lets out a sigh. "That's not an easy one." She begins. "There's all kinds of boys. No two are alike, but they all have stuff in common. What works for me is being incredibly cool and acting sort of bored and distant. But I don't have to try for that. That's just how I am. One thing that helps is being good looking." She looks down at Candy and smiles kindly. "And if that's what you're worried about you really don't have to."

Candy blushed. "I… see."

"I'm sorry if that's not much help." Wendy said.

"I just…" Candy looks up at Wendy. "How did you get Dipper to like you?"

The room was cold then. Candy and Wendy's hearts both seemed to stop. Wendy put her magazine down on the counter and squeezed her eyes shut, massaging her temples. Candy takes a step back in retreat, worried that she has asked the worst possible question.

Wendy raises a hand to stop Candy. She lets out a sigh and leaned on the counter. She seems older now, tired. "That's not something I ever tried for." She said.

Candy was insistent. "But you still did it."

Wendy sighed again. "Yeah. Yeah I did." She gave Candy a stern look. "So is this all you really wanted to know?"

Candy looked guilty, then nodded.

Wendy sighed for a third time. "Look Candy." She commanded. "I know what you're after. You've got your first crush. Everyone gets one. A lot of times, it's someone who would never want to date you." she looked down at the counter and tapped her fingernail on it a few times. "And then you get it in your head that that's your fault and not theirs, and you start making all kinds of crazy changes to yourself so they'll notice you. You find other people to be instead of yourself."

Wendy leaned forwards and stared hard into Candy's eyes. "Knock it off. Right. Now."

Candy looked hurt, and she was about to protest before Wendy raised her hand again to stop her.

"I'm gonna tell you something, Candy." Wendy said as she rubbed her forehead. "I haven't told very many people. I've told my dad, I've told Stan, I haven't told Dipper."

Candy was very still. She stayed silent and took a hesitant step closer to the counter.

Wendy frowned and leaned towards Candy. "I'm going to college. Next summer. Before the twins get back."

Candy looked shocked. "But Dipper-"

Wendy cut her off with a nod. "Yeah. I know. He won't be happy. But look," she said with a small, sad smile, "it's better this way. I don't think either of us need Dipper to stay hung up on me."

Candy smiled slightly and nodded.

"Stan's gonna need some extra employees to make up for the work I don't do." Wendy said with a wry smile. "If you're interested, I can put in a good word for you."

Candy gave Wendy a confused look.

Wendy leaned forwards and looked conspiratorial, "You can spend more time around Dipper and get paid for it."

Candy blushed. "I will do it." She stood up straighter.

Wendy chuckled again and retrieved her magazine from the countertop, trying to find her page. "If you're serious about this, I need you to promise that you aren't gonna change just because of a boy. Don't try to be me. Just be yourself."

Candy swallowed and gave a small smile. "There are worse boys to change for…"

Wendy gave her a stern look.

Candy swallowed again. "Yes Ma'am."

Wendy laughed again. "I don't think you have to go that far, but good work kid."

She leaned back into her chair and propped her feet up onto the counter just as Dipper pushed the museum curtain aside and reentered the gift shop. He grumbled and hurriedly began dusting off his pants as he approached the counter. He looked up and saw Candy standing near Wendy.

"Hey Candy, what's up?" he asked.

Candy gave a smile. "Not much man."

Wendy raised an eyebrow at her.

Dipper looked from Wendy to Candy. "So… what were you guys talking about?"

Candy's face turned pale. "I um…." She reached into her sweater and pulled out a strange metal object that seemed to be made out of a toaster. "SMOKE SCREEN, GO!" Candy clicked a switch on the side of it and it began humming loudly. Smoke filled up the gift shop and Dipper started coughing. Luckily Stan didn't believe in fire detectors, or they surely would have been soaked. As Dipper kept coughing, Wendy just smiled and turned the page in her magazine.

Stay cool, kid She thought. Candy was long gone.