Business was unusually slow at the Mystery Shack and its gift shop. For Wendy Corduroy, having nothing to do was a frustrating issue. The young slacker would give anything to leave her position and goof around with her friends, but at the end of the day her weekly paycheck and avoiding work at her cousin's logging camp was more important to her. Although it didn't make her job as cashier any easier.
Leaning over on the counter, she glanced around the store in search of something interesting to look at. She already read through the most recent issue of Avoid Eye-Contact Monthly and she needed to at least give off the appearance that she was working. Among the abundance of cheaply made merchandise (some of which were modeled after Stan Pines, no doubt boosting the conman's ego), she spotted the Pines Family eagerly chatting amongst themselves.
"Remember that time I fought off fifty zombies to save you kids?" The old conman recalled in an unusually enthusiastic tone. His eager face dropped into a melancholic expression as he continued to speak."So maybe you can help me out by taking out the trash for once, huh?"
Dipper and Mabel looked at each other in bewilderment at their Grunkle's request.
"Nice try Grunkle Stan." The boy deadpanned. "You may be a professional shyster, but you cannot pull off a decent 'puppy face' to save your life."
"Yeah, and there's no time to talk about the trash! Not when we have more Gemulets to collect!" Mabel posed in dramatic fashion, raising her fist in the air.
Unbeknownst to the young twins, Wendy smiled at them with fondness. Back in early June, the Corduroy girl thought that her summer vacation was going to be super boring working at the Mystery Shack. But once she crossed paths with Dipper and Mabel Pines, she immediately hit it off with the two.
Wendy and Dipper forged a special kind of bond, something beyond a regular friendship. The two goofed around together, whether they were pulling pranks on other people, performing stupid stunts on the golf cart or binge-watching cheesy horror movies. Despite gently letting him down after professing his crush on her, there was no hard feelings and the two continued to hang out with each other. The two have experienced many life-threatening situations together, but they managed to survive the weirdness Gravity Falls had thrown at them and their friendship grew stronger as well. Mabel was the little sister Wendy never had, but always wanted. She enjoyed listening to what the energetic girl had to say as well as engaging in random dance parties in the gift shop. They even shared an important moment during their encounter with the Society of the Blind Eye. Even as they both had memories they wanted to forget, it was still better to have their bad experiences so they could learn from them.
Dipper and Mabel were definitely the coolest people Wendy had known, bar none. The redhead did not have any friends outside of the small group of teens she chilled with on the occasion. But the Pines twins had something special that set them apart from her peers. That being said, Wendy was definitely going to miss their presence once they leave Gravity Falls at the end of the summer. Sure she was already dreading the day she would have to go back to high school where she would have to survive challenging classes, teachers mispronouncing her last name and being at the bottom of her grade's social ladder. But he thought of not seeing the twins again until next summer was a somber reality she would inevitably have to live with during the school year.
Not wanting her bummer musings to cloud her mind, Wendy looked back at the eager kids as they laughed with each other. They must be having a good time on their adventure, though she hoped that this quest was not as life-threatening as their previous ones. She wished that she could join the kids, but work got in the way of spending time with her favorite twins.
Wendy soon heard two pairs of feet running towards the counter. She forced the stress that festered inside her mind on the back burner as she put up her laid-back facade for the Pines kids.
"Hey Wendy!" Dipper and Mabel greeted happily in near unison.
"'Sup you guys?" Wendy replied with a smile.
"We're on the hunt for legendary gnome Gemulets!" Mabel exclaimed.
"And we've been retrieving some lost items for our friends." Dipper added. "Did you know that Robbie writes ridiculously emo songs about hormones?"
"I was unaware of that until now." Wendy chuckled. "Sounds like you guys are having a blast." The teen's smile slightly faltered at the thought of not participating on their adventure due to her job.
Her struggle to uphold her affront was immediately detected by Dipper. "You look like something's eating you up," The boy stated concernedly. "Well figuratively speaking anyway."
Wendy looked at the twins and sighed wistfully. "I have somethin' to confess: I'm gonna miss you kids when the summer is over. I might just have to drive down and visit you in California."
"Oh Wendy…" Mabel responded worriedly as she looked up to her friend with soulful brown eyes. "We'll miss you too."
"Same here. But if it helps, we could always stay in contact by phone or email." He reasoned hopefully.
Wendy gave a sad smile at their consolation. It was going to be tough once they leave, but that didn't mean that they can't still be friends. Not wanting to see her friends feel upset, she offered a hopeful bit of news. "But on the bright side, Grunkle Stan's been teaching me to hotwire cars. Don't tell my dad."
Dipper immediately responded with their secret message, moving his finger across his lips and flicking away the imaginary key. Wendy smiled at Dipper remembering their unspoken code.
"You think Grunkle Stan would teach us how to do that when we're older?" Mabel asked her brother.
"Considering how Stan's showed us the ins and outs of his illegal hobbies, I wouldn't be surprised if he taught us that before we're of age to drive." Dipper spoke.
"What about the trash?" Stan bellowed. "I need that garbage thrown out before I give you knuckleheads a personal lesson on how to hot-wire a car!"
"Maybe later Grunkle Stan!" Mabel responded before she sprinted towards the exit.
Dipper looked over to Wendy. "I gotta get going. I'll see you soon Wendy!"
"Have fun!" She hollered playfully at the twins.
Within seconds Dipper and Mabel bolted out of the gift shop before their great uncle could say another word.
Stan walked over toward the counter. "Can you believe these two, goin' on their crazy monster hunts and such?"
Wendy looked outside the window, noting the excited twins running into the woods. She smiled fondly. "I can believe it." She then turned over to her boss to ask him a serious inquiry.
"Can you give me a couple more hot-wiring lessons before the summer's up?"
A/N: This fic is based on a scene from the Legend of the Gnome Gemulets game in which Wendy sadly tells Dipper and Mabel that she'll miss them after the summer is over. She also tells them that Grunkle Stan had been teaching her how to hot wire a car. So she applies all this knowledge when she plans on making a weekend visit to Piedmont, California to see the twins during the fall.
This fic is a two shot, and I am currently working on the second and final chapter.