Huh… you smell that? Smells like...no wait it's gone...Anyway, welcome back! Took a little longer, but I definitely am glad i took some extra time on this one. Hopefully it shows through in the product.
"No way." The tall canine crossed her arms and turned back to her, shuffling some papers. They had finally gotten a new filing cabinet and she was determined to get at least the documents organized.
"Please, please please please!" Webby, practically kneeling at her feet, begged desperately.
"Webby. I. Hate. Parties. Besides, I have a ton of stuff to do here!" she gestured to all of the scattered manilla folders and papers. All of the cardboard boxes were empty, their contents strewn about in circles. This was the mind of a stressed and obsessed madwoman.
"I can help!" she grabbed a pile of papers from the ground. "How are you organizing them, alphabetically, are there numbered codes, types of documents-"
"No no I got it, i got it." She grabbed the papers from her hand protectively. " It's a lot of things that I only know how to organize and it would take more time explaining to you than just doing it myself."
"Untrue! Just tell me to put stuff into piles and then you can organize and file from there!"
Sara rolled her eyes. "You've only been here a couple of days, how do you even know anyone throwing a party?" She stopped sifting, a suspicion growing in her mind. "Who's hosting this party anyway?"
"Oh, well you know the guy in the Bentley?"
"Dewey Duck…" she gave a quick nod.
"How do you know him?"
"Uh,I don't. Not exactly." she shook off her other thoughts for a moment. "Just, you know, uber rich and all that, word gets around."
"Well, he's the one! I haven't ever been invited to a party before so I thought this would be the best opportunity to go." Sara's heart sank guiltily at that. Sure, she wasn't one for parties, but that shouldn't mean that everyone should avoid them. Webby seemed to have missed out on so many things already, and if left alone, who knows what would happen to her...or better yet, to anyone else. Plus, there was something else she wanted to look into, and this might be one of her only chances to do it.
She sighed and plopped a random pile of papers into her hands, "file now, discussion later."
She squealed with delight, hopping around the room.
"Ok ok," she took a deep breath, "how do you want me to order this?"
For most of the afternoon, while they both organized and filed and filed and organized, Sara gradually realized how much easier it was working with someone else. Filing didn't take nearly as long, heck, she could actually see the floor, and Webby was actually pretty cool. Mastered 3 different forms of self defense, played field hockey, and the extensive trivia she somehow memorized about ancient civilizations basically guaranteed her to be awesome in Sara's book.
"I wanted to do ice hockey- oop, tax stuff-" She passed the paper over to Sara, "- but the stadium was too far out of the way and all the ice hockey teams were involved with schools. Not too great at ice skating anyway."
"I wonder if we ever had a game against each other." Sara wondered.
Reminiscing on their old sports teams and Sara recounting old stories from high school, the work got finished quickly.
"Woo-oo! Finished!" Webby cheered, throwing her hands up in the air, Sara hi-fived her.
"Wow, you are an organizing machine!" Sara smiled slyly, "can you do my house next?"
"Not unless you pay me, no." Webby laughed. "So…" Sara looked around the room at all of the space freed up, she had definitely helped. Who knows, there had to be something she could gain from this, even as just an experience.
"Alright," She agreed reluctantly as Webby cheered and bounced around the office. "One night of not working on summer work won't do any harm," She looked worriedly for reassurance "I could just make it up tomorrow, right?"
Webby was grinning so hard it was a wonder she didn't pull a face muscle "Of course!"
"So, where is this shindig? What's the attire? When does it start?"
"Well… it's today…" Sara looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to give more details.
"You have no clue, do you?"
"Uhh, sure I do, just give me one minute…"Webby started furiously typing on her phone
"one...second…" she opened the messages app and saw that Dewey had responded.
Nice! For sure, you can bring someone else. How did you manage to convince her how to let you out?
Anyway, party is at 8:30 or so, not on the dot or anything. You don't have to wear anything nice, just something cas'. Here is the google link to where my place is.
The third message was a link to the address on google, lush, extravagant, and definitely on the rich side of town.
Demonios! How is he so rich!? I bet he has a billion bentleys! Webby suddenly grinned to herself and rubbed her hands together. This would be the perfect occasion to gather some intel on his bent- I mean...Dewey Duck…
"What are you doing?"
"Huh? What?" she snapped back into reality
"You put your phone in your pocket and turned into some dramatic villain." Webby flushed a little as she looked at her suspiciously.
"Oh sorry, lost in thought."An awkward pause. " Aaanyway, the party has a loose time of eight thirty, semi formal...I think? And I'm guessing this is where he lives." She pulled out her phone again to see the map.
"Woah! Central Pointe!? I knew he was rich but he can't be serious about actually living in Central Pointe Luxury apartments!"
"Well, you can ask him about it when we arrive…" Webby frowned " a bajillion hours from now…"
"Actually, its best to arrive a little late to a…" Sara began before seeing Webby's pitiful look. "Sorry." She thought for a moment and clapped her hands together.
"What we could do is, since I don't have any nice clothes...Do you have cash on you?"
Webby nodded, Granny always made sure that she had cash at all times, as well as she had money she had saved from work but never got around to spending. "We can go get some lunch at the mall? I know a pretty good burger joint there." Webby's face went blank on shock. One of her dormant child fantasies had come true.
"You mean real hamburgers?"
"Uh...hopefully they're real? Or else Duckburg citizens are going to have a lot of health complications later on."
"Real hamburgers…" Webby repeated.
"Alright, I'm going to take that as -OH" she was almost knocked over by the force. "OK! you're hugging me! This is happening!" Sara was lifted up off the ground with webby's freakish strength.
"You. You are now my favorite being." Sara, still a bit uncomfortable with the sudden embrace.
"Well, you're favorite being would like you to not crack all of her ribs!" she squeaked
"Oh don't worry, I know how much pressure it would take to crack all of your ribs. It's nearly impossible." She set her down, Sara gaining back her freedom.
"Ah…" She said weakly and hugging her ribcage protectively, "good to know…"
" Webbigail Vanderquack, welcome to Sunset Mall, home to moody teenagers swarming Hot Topic and greasy floors that you can crack a hip on." Sara seemed to speak from experience.
"Ooh! You guys have Hot Topic?" Webby exclaimed excitedly.
She immediately shut her down, "Don't even think about it…"
"What! That place is actually really-."
"Nope."
"Wh-"
"Ooooh I can almost smell the burgers cooking already." Sara looked over at her, praying that that would change the subject.
"Burgers!" Webby quickly forgot about the Hot Topic, to Sara's luck. Webby's target was locked, and nothing was going to stop her from obtaining a circular meat patty sandwich of goodness. One bite of that Sunset Mall Feather Rocket Burger and she was in heaven. It had been years since she had had a burger, the last time being when her team won state championship.
"So, I'm guessing it's pretty good?" Sara chuckled. Webby looked starstruck.
"Good? This burger is amazing!" She pointed catty corner from their table, back towards the register. "You people are amazing!" the employees looked unmoved by her yelling. "This place is amazing!"
"Shhhzhh! Please don't make a scene!" Sara laughed nervously. "Deep breaths…" Webby exhaled out and breathed in again. "Lets go get some stuff."
"Mark my words Sara Juleka Dane!" She pointed her index finger down at the table intensely, her voice just as loud as before. "We shall return!"
"Juleka?"
She waved off her question. "Sounds better with a middle name" She got ahold of her wrist and pulled her along. "Come on let's get moving!"
They made their way from the food court, which was the lowest level of the mall, up to the next floor, which was the cheap general brand clothing stores. Even with their lowered prices for summer, the stores were still expensive. Since they had limited cash to spend, they did what any regular customer would do. Act sophisticated and like they had money and grab a bunch of clothes from different racks. Then, proceed to buy none of it and put them back in random spots and leave before disgruntled staff got a good look at their faces.
"Sara Sara Sara!" Webby tore open the curtain, revealing the most exaggerated "may I speak to your manager" outfit she had ever seen.
"Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato and make it snappy." She followed with a couple expectant snaps, "I have a kid's soccer game to drive to."
Sara snorted, "Webby what the heck is that!" she gestured to the entire outfit. "Actually, what is any of that!"
She flipped on three different pairs of maui jim seven pools sunglasses.
"Oh! What horrid manners! I definitely won't see you laughing when I give a review on Yolp!" Sara almost completely lost it when Webby flipped the scarf over her head, blocking her vision, and waddled back into the dressing room awkwardly.
Fortunately for their own pride, they again didn't get anything from the shop. Though they were wasting a lot of time, the search for decent clothes was unfruitful, until…
" Saraaa…" Webby backed away from her, closer to the store to their right. When she came back from her thoughts, it was already too late.
"Webby, no!" Sara reached out to her, webby had already crossed the dark, brooding threshold to angst and teenage dreams.
"Sara.. I never had a choice" Webby shrugged, as if her conscious decision was inevitable. She then bolted deeper inside to the very back.
"No! Not the Hot Topic!" She ran in after her. And ironically enough, that was one of the two stores they ended up buying from the entire trip. The other being something that actually fit the dress code of the party . Going their separate ways, they decided to meet up at webby's place as proof that they were going somewhere. Sara would drive them there since she knew the city like the back of her hand. Eventually they got there, five minutes after the written time, Webby insisting that that was late enough.
Central Pointe in photos was really something. Massive with landscape lighting in all the right places to make the building pop in a romantic way, despite it being a more modern looking building. In real life, you had best better believe some small town up and coming architect would have fallen to their knees.
"You have got to be kidding me." Sara gawked. Webby was speechless. She hadn't seen anything like it. Her mind wandered all of the historical monuments of the world and how much more spectacular they must look like in reality. They walked into the entrance hall, where a large party was being held in the main area. Formal, posh and definitely not what they were dressed for.
"Webby! I thought this was semi formal! Not extravagant!" Sara tried to cover herself with her bag, which was barely the size of her face.
"Well that's what he said!"
"Hi, excuse me?" the lady at the front looked at them with slight pity. "You must be looking for the Duck brothers.
Webby's brow furrowed. Brothers? She tried to remember if Dewey had said anything about having a brother. Sara looked surprised only at the fact that she knew why they were there.
"He usually throws his parties in his apartment, much to everyone's disdain. They must have forgotten to tell you the room number." she rolled her eyes "Again…"
Webby pulled out her phone. Luckily since they were only five minutes early, there were only a few people there, and he texted back quickly with the room number, apologizing. Webby exhaled, glad that the misunderstanding was dealt with. Thanking the woman they headed towards the elevator. Her chest immediately began to tighten when the door closed, she couldn't tell if it was from excitement or nerves. She'd always wanted to go to parties now, why was she having mixed feelings now? Before they had gotten to three floors three people got in, apparently going to the same floor that they were. Then there were more, and more at the next floor, until the entire elevator was filled to the brim with people about their age, laughing and talking.
Woah was all that Webby could even think in response to this amount of people in one space.
Somehow, she felt better with all of the people, it gave her no time to think about her own worries. They all gushed out of the elevator like a wave pool, down the same hallway to the same exact address. The penthouse of the Central Pointe Luxury apartments. Sara only stared blankly when she walked in, as if she was in a sort of trance.
"This is insane!" Webby bounced on the balls of her feet. There was a DJ booth set up to the left of the living room, some EDM blasting from the speakers. The setup for the music would've been strange, if there wasn't an entrance dead ahead to the patio area with both an outside hot tub and pool. Two people had already opened the door and lunged for the pool straight upon entering in. there were two hallways n the left and right side of the room, one next to the living space, and one between the DJ stand and kitchen.
"Ladies aaand gentlemen! How is everyone Deweying tonight," He grinned at his own joke shooting finger guns across the crowd. Everyone began to cheer and scream.
"Oh my god," Webby and Sara said at once. "That was so bad."
"Today we are celebrating the end of an era. The Dewey Dew-night show will be uploading its very last video on viewtube tonight." There were a couple awws from the crowd. " But we had a good run," Webby gave a confused look. She thought that his viewtube channel had failed early on. Maybe what he had meant to say was that his channel was ending, or something like that. "And with every end, there is a new beginning. Like the beginning of Summer vacation, who is hyped for that!" a loud roar came from the crowd "And to kick off our celebration of new beginnings, i'd like to play a song a dear friend just released. So give it up for Caramelo's "Way Back Home! DJ! Dew that thang!" Everyone cheered as the track began to play. Caramelo was an up and coming artist that got her start in the very town of Duckburg. Webby had only hear of her but never got around to listening to any of her stuff. She stood at the sidelines looking in as everybody danced. Looking back at Dewey, putting the microphone back on the stand, he was wearing a nice polo shirt with shorts, and looked like he was straight out of a country club. Drastically different from what he was wearing when she first met him, a blue shirt and dark jeans.
"Look at him." Cindy appeared between Webby and Sara like an apparition. "Like Gatsby himself."
"Ah!" Sara jumped "What the heck!"
"Yeah" Webby agreed, unphased, she could tell she was approaching. She turned to her. "I didn't take you as much of a reader, Cindy."
"Had to read it in high school." She popped her gum. "I liked the end I guess. Lord of the Flies is better though." Webby nodded avidly in agreement. Sara, clearly third wheeling on their discussion, worried about Webby's strange affinity for things involving violence.
"Cindy and Webby!" Dewey jogged down to them with a show host smile. "Glad you could come."
"Dewey." Cindy rolled her eyes at him. At least when he was around the arcade he wasn't this fake. "Looking faker than usual I see. Dial it back a little there, you have new guests." He gave her a look to be quiet, talking through his teeth.
"You're one to talk..."
"Hi Dewey!" Webby smiled back, trying to be courteous, ignoring Cindy's comment. "This is the friend I mentioned, Sara." He didn't seem to recognize her from the other night, or at least didn't let anyone else know that he did.
"Nice to meet you." She gave him a bit too firm of a handshake. "Dewey" His expression never wavered.
"Glad you could come." the group fell silent for a long second "Well, as you can see, the pool is in back, and refreshments in the fridge and coolers." He gestured towards the kitchen island, now being swarmed by hungry young adults. " There are also some racing in on the GameCube over there, and I will be riding the party wave." He made a wave motion with his arm that Webby mirrored back.
"Guess i'll 'sea' you later" He made finger guns and mimicked gun noises before backing away.
"Wow, impressive Sara. You almost made him crack." Cindy patted her on the shoulder, an unwelcome gesture by her as she brushed her hand off.
" I'm getting some soda," Sara made her way through the crowd to the coolers, leaving Cindy and Webby alone.
"Do you know Sara, Cindy?"
"Yeah," She said cooly, not missing a beat "soccer in high school. But I doubt she remembers me, I started skipping after the first week."
"Wow, it's a small world." Cindy was intently looking across the room, blowing the biggest bubble of them all.
"Too small." pop went her gum, " Later." Cindy abruptly off to the other side of the party, not even letting Webby respond. All alone, she thought about how everyone was acting so different from when she first met them. Sara was more aggressive, maybe nerves, she couldn't tell. Cindy seemed more sociable, but she was at work the first time she met her so, go figure. But Dewey? He was charismatic, but... She saw him chatting it up with some guys smiling and laughing… something wasn't right, and she was going to figure out what.
"Webby, do you want cork or pep?" Sara yelled from within the crowd. Webby tried to wade out of her thoughts to respond."They also have Deetos over here!" Yep, that did it.
"I'll just come to you!" She waded in, following her voice.
She'd figure it out... after she got some chips.
Hey everyone, Dewey's back! And mentions of other characters as well (ooooooh). As you know, for the titles of the chapters I was following the pattern of the theme song, but stopped around chapter 5 or "Chapter 3". I may or may not return back to that pattern, ~~~you may never know~~~ anyway I'm bored and sad because Sundays suck! And writing about summer doesn't help! Hope your Monday goes alright and see you next time!
