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"Ford, I'm sick of the arguing." Ada stood in front of him, shameless in her homemade dress. "Please just come to this party, for your niece. She's waiting."

Ford unfolded his arms, allowing them to drop at his sides. He let out a large sigh, and turned away from Ada.

"It's awkward enough to be around Mabel. I don't want to socialize with anyone laying beyond that door. I need to stay vigilant. Bill is still coming."

She shook her head. There was no getting Ford out of this, clearly. Her heart sunk and dropped into her stomach, settling like a heavy stone of failure. Ada turned to leave, to go tell his great niece that he wasn't coming because a figment of his imagination is making him stay. She'd understand, she thought. Mabel knows her better than I do.

The door shut behind her. Ford had closed it behind her, and suddenly the lie Ada had attempted to make up seemed to be in vain. Maybe this stuffy old man wasn't worth too much of her time. Well, his family certainly is. God, that's sappy. She was oblivious to what happened just moments later behind her. As Ada walked awkwardly (because her dress was tighter than a wetsuit) down the hallway, Ford opened the door he'd just slammed for a moment, just to watch her disappear out the Shack's screen door before finally closing it.

Ada sighed heavily as she opened the back door of the El Diablo, squeezing in between Candy and Grenda. Mabel beamed at Ada, ready to await good news of her uncle's attendance to the party.

"Ford's not coming," Ada said monotonously. "He's um...just not coming." Her halting voice was only furtherly disappointing the young girl.

Indifference entered Mabel's voice. "Oh. I thought you said he'd be coming."

"Y-yes, I did, but-"

"You said he was coming," she said amplified and crossed we her arms.

Ada and Mabel broke eye contact when Stan began driving. Everyone was silent for the entirety of the car ride, until the car came to a stop when it was parked. The awkward silence broke at the sight of the Northwest's mansion. It was grandiose, but nothing like the last one, according to Mabel's testimony. Yet it was indeed tall and not affordable to middle class citizens, so yes, it was a mansion.

"Hot Belgian waffles," Stan exclaimed once they reached the inside. "Just look at all this decor!"

Mabel and her friends awed at the sights the interior had to offer. Ada had to say, she was impressed with the whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling. The rest of it was just standard rich people things. She had dated someone with a house this big, an interior design like this one. Back then, Rose seemed to have it all. Now, she's just a memory kept secret.

"Ada, you have to meet Pacifica," Mabel exclaimed as she dragged Ada over in the direction of a blonde girl with a bright blue dress.

"Pacifica!"

"Mabel!"

The girls attempted at a hug, but shook hands instead. A hint of a smile appeared on Ada's mouth as she saw a tinge of red on Pacifica's cheeks. Either Pacifica was really embarrassed at the fact that she didn't get a hug or Ada wasn't the only one here with a thing for girls.

"Ada, this is Pacifica. Pacifica, this is Ada!"

"Hi," Pacifica greeted haltingly. "Welcome to the party."

Mabel could obviously sense the discomfort in Pacifica's voice. "Let's go find Candy and Grenda," she said as she took Ada's hand. "I'm sure Grenda's off with...with Marius."

Ada still found their encounter strange with Pacifica. She replayed the events over in her mind, making sure to not get distracted by her dress, which was chafing at her legs. The material was blindingly uncomfortable, and Ada developed a gait from it. She waddled, as if she were a penguin, shifting back and forth on her legs to try and make the harsh fabric not brush so abrasively against her sensitive skin. She could only walk to a certain speed, which caused her to trail far behind Mabel, who was getting faster and faster in the crowd. Eventually though, she stopped. There was a congregation of people in front of the major staircase, directly across from the main entrance. Up at the top of the stairs was a woman, with pale skin and blonde hair to match. She seemed timid, judging by her body language, holding a microphone up to her lips. She spoke uncomfortably, a long rant about how the Northwests were indeed the best citizens in Gravity Falls. Ada studied her. Her appearance, her face, was- how could Ada say it any other way- attractive. Suddenly she stopped trying to adjust the severely uncomfortable material and stood up straight. She became self conscious and listened quite attentively to this near-mesmerizing woman at the top of the staircase. Every word seemed fascinating, though she spoke in very plain terms. Her awestruck demeanor gave way to a realization that Ada would quickly approach- she was in love again.

It almost made her smile, despite her stiff upper lip appearance, to think that she was in love again. In love. With a woman who was shy and awkward, sheepishly trudging through a speech that made her family look good. I don't think she wants to be up there, Ada thought. She's probably wanting to get out of the spotlight and go back to her room. She probably draws or paints in her room, and has a lot of them displayed privately. Or maybe she has a typewriter, and she writes with it. She hadn't even caught herself fantasizing when the speech ended and she was staring airily at where the woman had been a few seconds ago.

"Ada?" It was Mabel who had tugged at her arm, pulling her out of the daydream.

"Who was that," Ada asked too loudly, too quickly. "That woman at the top of the staircase, who was she?"

"Erm..." she thought for a moment. "I think she's related to Pacifica."

"I have to find out her name," Ada exclaimed. "I need to talk to her!"

She abandoned Mabel in the middle of the crowd, navigating it to find her. That blonde hair. It had become iconic in the few minutes she had seen it. Ada was confident that she would recognize it anywhere. Anywhere at all, she would see that blonde hair and assocaite it with that woman.

"There," she nearly exclaimed aloud as she spotted the woman, by the punch bowl. Ada made absolutely no haste to walk over to her. The woman chuckled nervously at her when she got close, and Ada laughed, too loudly, too ostentatiously. She knew she was screwing this up.

"Hi," Ada extended her hand out to her. "I'm Ada."

"Iris," Iris replied as she shook Ada's hand limply.

"Iris," Ada repeated. "I like that name."

The hiatus is over! Sorry if this chapter was a little rushed at the end, I've been dying to introduce Iris for a while now. Thank you all for your patience.