Prank War
It had been two years since Wendy had last seen Dipper Pines… Well in person anyway. There had been plenty of phone calls and video chats and texting to keep in touch, but in Wendy's opinion, a screen was a poor substitute for actual human contact. For the first time since the Twins first visited Gravity Falls, Dipper had missed the annual trip the previous year due to the opportunity to take a summer intern job that Wendy was instrumental in talking Dipper into accepting. Talking him out of his annual trip to his second home had been no easy task… Nor was it easy for Wendy to give up that time with him to once again force Dipper to do what was in his best interest. This year though, nothing short of a meteor strike or a zombie apocalypse was going to keep Dipper away from Oregon that summer. Wendy herself was fresh out of college, and currently unemployed and looking forward to seeing her old friend again.
It only took a couple of days for Wendy to realize how ill-prepared to reacquaint with him she actually was. Something was different… Not just with Dipper himself but with the two of them collectively. It didn't make any sense… She'd seen that face plenty of times before, in pictures, on facetime chats, but it wasn't until they were face to face without a damn piece of glass between them that she finally noticed she wasn't looking at a kid anymore. That cute baby-face had sharpened into that of a handsome young man… That boyish smirk had transformed into a coy smile that now seemed to send a shiver up Wendy's spine whenever she saw it. The change wasn't just cosmetic either. Dipper appeared to have developed some confidence while away at college… Or at least enough of it to act much more natural and self-assured around her, as opposed to the awestruck kid who always seemed worried he was going to embarrass himself in front of her. It was both kind of sad in one sense, and in another seeing him in this light was… Well… Kind of hot. And thinking that way was beginning to scare her. There had always been buffers between her and Dipper… First his age, and then the miles between Portland and the University Dipper attended in California, but at the moment there was nothing… Not even a possessive girlfriend at home to worry about. Those awkward feelings that began to stir up while she was still attending school near Piedmont, the feelings she pushed aside because he was still too young, were becoming clearer and she was running out of reasons to fight with them.
She ultimately blamed Dipper's impending return to school at the end of August to stifle any thoughts of having 'too' much fun that summer. Dipper wasn't the summer fling type of guy anyway… He was the, she better be damn serious if she was going to get involved with him, type of guy and Wendy wasn't ready for that… Or the risk of losing her friend over stupid overactive hormones just because Dipper suddenly looked good without a shirt on… Yeah, that was a problem now too.
Wendy had other things to worry about on top of the problematic feelings she may or may not be developing for one of her best friends. Her other idiotic friends, mainly Robbie, decided to challenge the entire crew to this asinine prank war. Basically one member of the group would challenge another to perform a prank or joke on another member of the crew. Once the prankster hits their target, the victim is then forced to perform the next prank on another person of the pranksters choosing, and so on and so on… The contest would only end when one of the participants refused to go through with an assigned prank, and then would be forced to admit out loud to the rest of the group that they had gotten old and lame and were no longer edgy enough to be running with their crew. It was a stupid idea that nobody except Robbie seemed to want anything to do with, with equally ridiculous consequences… Still, the group was young enough that nobody wanted to admit they were no longer as cool as they thought they were when they were teenagers. What that led too was a solid week of constantly looking over her shoulder waiting for someone to try and dump paint on her head or let the air out of her tires before challenging her to be a general nuisance to somebody else.
Wendy recognized all the nonsense for what it was… They were all kids in their twenties who had just graduated college, so the proverbial Sword of Damocles that was the real-world was destined to drop on them at any moment. They were about to be thrown into that world whether they liked it or not, and this was Robbie and the boys last desperate gasp to hold onto that rebellious teen spirit that was quickly diminishing, all to stave off reality for at least a little while longer. Wendy herself was of the mind of being too tired to deal with this shit anymore, but she still had one critical weakness… Her pride, which wouldn't allow her to be regarded as lame or a coward by her old gang of friends. How poor Dipper and Mabel got drug into this madness she didn't know… Robbie was oddly insistent.
With a sigh, Wendy decided to emerge from the apartment she shared with Tambry, well sort of since the other girl was gone most of the time out somewhere with Robbie, and face the day…
Wendy didn't make it two steps out the door before a water balloon struck her in the forehead and exploded, soaking her from her head down to the breast of her flannel shirt. "Oh, you have got to be shittin' me!"
Wendy's attention, and ire, was drawn to the parking lot and a raucously laughing group of her so-called friends and one parttime roommate. Robbie, the culprit who'd thrown the balloon, had a tear trickle down his eye as he pointed at her. "Oh Man! You should see the look on your face!"
Wendy growled again, then she got a good whiff of the stench rolling off her clothes… She was starting to suspect it might not have been water in that balloon after all. Of course it wasn't, that wouldn't have been 'edgy' enough for these clowns. She took a sniff of her flannel shirt to confirm her suspicions… Which proved to be accurate and sent her blood to boil. "This smells like… Robbie you son of… Did you seriously just throw a piss balloon at me?!"
Robbie stopped laughing and began fearing for his life. He immediately threw his friend standing next to him under the bus. "Nate was the one who dared me to do it! He wanted me to pee in the balloon and throw it at you!"
Wendy's furious gaze shifted to Nate, who looked equally as concerned for his physical well-being. "Well… Yeah I did, but I didn't think he'd actually be stupid enough to do it! I mean the whole point was to dare each other to do something crazy and stupid enough that they'd give up and lose the contest!"
Wendy was in no mood for excuses. She pulled her axe out from behind her hair. "Ten second head start… Then I start choppin' off limbs."
Neither boy had to be told twice as they took off screaming into the woods behind the apartment complex. Wendy made it to seven before she went in after them, their remaining friends all getting a good chuckle out of the other two's misfortune.
Ten minutes later, a slightly bruised Nate hobbled back into the parking lot, followed by a slightly more bruised Robbie. Wendy soon stormed passed them headed straight for her apartment. "I'm going to take a shower! Please none of you be here when I get out!"
"Not so fast Wendy!" Robbie huffed, still panting a bit. "I still get to pick a prank for you to perform next!"
"Fine…" Wendy growled through gritted teeth. "After I clean somebody's piss out of my hair!"
"Yes Ma'am," Robbie whimper as he cowered closer to his friends. The gang had to wait a good twenty minutes before Wendy reemerged with wet hair and a clean light-blue flannel top.
"Alright Robbie, let's get this over with! Name your stupid prank…"
"It's simple really." Robbie pronounced smugly. "You're going to prank that dork Dipper!"
"Okay…" Wendy wasn't entirely against that. She could deal with Dipper.
"By asking him on a date!" Robbie paused for dramatic effect, but it didn't help. Wendy regarded her pseudo-friend with confusion.
"Seriously? That's your dare? I just have to ask Dip on date?"
"Oh, there's much more to it than that! The catch is, you gotta make it as crumby of a date as you possibly can! Then, once it gets late and you two are all alone… That's when you say 'psyche' and tell him the entire night was nothing but a prank! He'll be so devastated, it'll be hilarious!"
Wendy glared at Robbie as if he'd just ordered her to execute a puppy. "Hell no, I'm not doin' that! That's not a prank, that's just cruel!"
"What's that I hear? You're giving up then? Are you ready to tell the entire crew that you're totally lame now and couldn't handle the pressure?!"
"No, I can handle it! Just, give me another prank! That's gotta be against the rules somehow!"
"Nope! The only rules were, no challenging the person who just pranked you, and that we can't dare each other to do anything potentially life-threatening! So, what's it gona be Wendy? You got the guts to pull off this prank, or are you too worried you might hurt your friends wittle feelings?"
Wendy continued to glare daggers at Robbie who looked ready to waver, but somehow managed not to cave. Wendy wanted nothing to do with this. Robbie had made a frighteningly possible point. If Wendy was wrong and Dipper still harbored some of those old feelings for her, he would be devastated. The mere idea of participating in a stunt like this made Wendy sick to her stomach. If this had been just her and Robbie one-on-one she might've just told him to fuck right off, but the problem was that the rest of her old gang were all staring at her expectantly. Just like she had done when it was their turn, pressuring them into making fools out of themselves or somebody else. She didn't want to look weak in front of them… Or like a hypocrite. "Argh, fine! I'll do it, but I swear to God Robbie, you better pray I don't get you later! You'll be cleanin' at lot worse than urine out of your hair!"
"Ewe, I'm so scared… Well, I've got better places to be so later losers," Robbie shrugged, as he jumped on his motorcycle… Well, his shoddily painted moped that he referred to as his 'hog'. He looked over at his girlfriend expectantly. "Well babe, you coming or not?"
Tambry appeared hesitant. "Umm… Well…"
"Huh? What's wrong?" Robbie tried to stand up only to get pulled back down none too gently. He struggled for about a second before he realized he was stuck. "What the… Who the hell superglued my ride?!"
The boys erupted in laughter, and even Tambry couldn't help but giggle. "Alright Thompson!" Lee cheered, before high fiving his awkward friend.
"Damn it, Thompson! If you ruined the leather, you're paying to have the seat reupholstered!"
"Relax Robbie," Nate snickered. "I'm pretty sure you can still buy a new seat at the bike shop for like ten bucks!"
More laughter ensued, causing Robbie's face to redden in anger. He didn't even notice the person standing directly to his left.
"You seriously stuck to your moped dude?" Wendy asked, no discernible emotion in her voice.
"It's not a Moped! And yes! Gesh, they must've used the… Whoa!" Robbie yelped as Wendy shoved him in the shoulder. Once Robbie snapped back up straight, she shoved him again… Then again, and again until he was wobbling rapidly back and forth like a bop-balloon. "Wendy stop! I'm gona hurl!"
Robbie avoided vomiting but his jeans did not survive the onslaught. The rear-end of his pants remained attached to the seat, as Robbie fell face-first to the pavement, the giant hole in the back of jeans exposing a pair of boxers featuring an anime-style hamster. His alleged friends were practically rolling on the ground in laughter. Robbie gingerly pushed himself up off the asphalt. "I hate all of you…"
"You're welcome…" Wendy deadpanned before marching back to her apartment. She needed to take another shower. For some reason, she felt really, really dirty.
It was early afternoon at the Pines residence, specifically, the time of day the local delivery man made his rounds in that area. Whenever he saw the address for this particular home on one of his packages, it instantly filled him with dread. Not only were many of these packages cumbersome, but others were ultra-delicate or sensitive, requiring special care, and he didn't really want to think about that occasional box with the 'potentially hazardous or explosive substance inside' labels. Rumors of what Gravity Falls resident Mad Scientist actually did in his lab ran rampant around town.
Today, it was another ludicrously heavy box, the distinct sounds of metal rattling around inside. The delivery man struggled up the stairs and relieved himself of his burden on the porch before ringing the doorbell. After a brief wait, the door was answered by a crotchety looking old man in a wifebeater and boxer shorts. The blanche that followed on the man's face as Stan scratched his buttocks said it all.
"Um… Delivery for Dr. Stanford Pines?"
"Oh great, another one!" While Stanley would always adore Mabel, he was beginning to resent her a bit for introducing his brother to online shopping. Once Pointdexter realized he could acquire pretty much anything he wanted for his various experiments at the click of a mouse, he'd almost immediately gotten carried away. "Fine, where do I sign?…"
While Stan signed for the package, the delivery guy couldn't help but stare at his pen, noticing it was in the same hand Stan had used to scratch his arse. Needless to say, that pen was likely to find its way into the bushes.
"Thanks," the delivery guy said before hurrying the hell out of there.
"Hey, what about this one!" Stan asked, noticing the much smaller package on the other side of his porch.
"Not one of mine! It was already here when I arrived!"
"Really.… What do we have here then?" Stan picked up and examined the package, carefully wrapped in generic wrapping paper. He noticed Mabel's name on the tag.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen of the Pines residence. "So Bro, any big plans for the day?"
"Nope," her brother responded dispassionately. "I'm actually thinking about hanging around the house today and being lazy."
"Ah, a noble goal indeed. I suppose that decision has nothing to do with the fact that it'll be much harder for the others to prank you if your walled up indoors?"
"That… May have been a factor. Having a squirrel set loose in my pants was my limit I believe…"
"Well they do enjoy nuts," Mabel giggled.
"He enjoyed mine a little too much, that was the problem…"
"Okay, moving on…" The image of her brother's testicles was more than enough to kill her interest in the current subject. "Think you can survive for an entire day without your head lodged up Wendy's butt?"
"Hey, I've been very good this summer! I've made it a point to just act like one of the guys when I'm around her…" Dipper trailed off as he thought about Wendy. As much fun as they'd had that summer so far, something was still nagging at him. "Hey Mabel… You haven't noticed… Wendy acting a little strange around me this summer have you?"
"Yes," she stated flatly, a small smile on her face.
Dipper appeared caught off guard by the blunt answer. "You don't think it's something I've done do you?"
"Yes."
"But what…" Dipper grunted in frustration. "Maybe you're right about me spending too much time with her… Maybe I'll give her a break for a couple of days, so she doesn't feel like I'm smothering her."
Mabel responded with a snort. "Trust me Broseph, distance is the exact opposite of what she wants from you right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I have faith you'll figure that out on your own eventually Dipper." Mabel actually doubted her brother would without some form of obvious hint to tip him off, but she could hope. It had become a running joke for the last month around the circles the Twins ran in, including their extended family, Wendy's friends, and the general population of the town that the group had frequent contact with. Everyone could see the stolen glances that lingered longer than they should, or the slight role reversal where Wendy would occasionally be rendered as the stammering idiot when her emotions overloaded. Wendy was nowhere near as terrible as Dipper had been at his love-struck best, but it was still noticeable… To everyone but Dipper apparently. Maybe that was a good thing. If Dipper ever realized Wendy had the hots for him, his poor head might explode.
"Hey Pumpkin!" Stan greeted as he walked into the kitchen. He'd brought Ford's box of crap inside the house but left it in the sitting room next to the door. Ford could haul that heavy ass garbage down to his lab himself if he really wanted it. "Somebody sent you a package… Wrapped up like a present. Has somebody at this table been makin' the local boys heads turn?"
"A present! Ewe gimme, gimme!" Mabel nabbed the small square package out of her Grunkle's hand and immediately started to rip it open.
"Present… Mabel wait don't!"
Dipper's warning came too late. Mabel had already opened the top of the box which immediately triggered a small popping sound that sent what amounted to a glitter bomb directly into the girl's face. Confetti streamers floating in the air, Mabel blinked, now caked in a facial mask of glitter and those little letter tiles you'd see grade schoolers use in art class.
Stan gawked at his human craft project of a great-nice and decided, nope. "Well, nothing I can do here. Good luck with that Pumpkin."
"Mabel… Why would you open a box that mysteriously appeared on our porch in the middle of a prank war?"
"My faith in random gifts from strangers is forever shaken…" Mabel looked back down at the box and found a note inside. It was from Tambry, apologizing for the prank and assuring her that the glitter-bomb contents could easily be washed off with water. She also needed to take a picture of herself to send to Tambry to prove the prank had been completed. What Mabel found more interesting however, was Tambry's instructions for the prank she'd have to play next. It was interesting to say the least, exciting even, but she'd file that away for later. "I'm gona go wash this crap off… I never thought I'd live to see the day that glitter would betray me…"
Dipper shook his head, deciding to remain at the dining room table to finish his coffee. For about a minute at least until there was another knock at the door. When it became apparent nobody else was around, Dipper reluctantly went to answer the door. He was pleasantly surprised to find a smiling Wendy waiting on the other side of the door.
"Sup dude? Mind if I come in for a minute?"
"Not at all." Dipper was surprised she even had to ask. Wendy knew she was always welcome at the Pines house, and quite frankly took advantage of the hospitality often, usually by letting herself in whenever she pleased.
"Thanks man… I've only got a few minutes before I have to bolt, but I wanted to ask you somethin' real quick… Do you have any specific plans for tonight?"
"No actually… I think the plan was not to do much of anything."
"Cool… Well, since you're not busy, do you want to hang out with me tonight?"
"You mean like we do pretty much every night?" Dipper chuckled. "Haven't said no to that arrangement yet!"
"Actually… Not quite like what we do most nights." Wendy tried hard to keep any hint of nervousness or reluctance out of her voice. Keeping a straight face was not coming easy. "It'll just be you and me… Goin' out together you know?"
"Just you and me… Wendy, that almost sounds like a date," Dipper laughed, thinking Wendy must be joking. The wry smile on her face told another story. "Wait, that's not actually what you're suggesting is it?"
"Yup… So whaddya say? You in our out? I'm really pressed for time here so…"
"Umm… Yes…" he squeaked. Yes, Dipper actually squeaked.
"I thought so… I'll pick you up at six if that's okay?" Dipper nodded his head that it was, barely registering that Wendy was using his stunned confusion as a smokescreen to slowly back her way towards the exit. "Since I asked you out, I'll worry about all the arrangements kay? Oh, and no need to get fancy in the clothes department. Just dress casually, I sure as hell plan to! See ya tonight Dip!"
Wendy was out the door and closed it behind her before Dipper ever had a chance to recover or respond. You'd imagine there would be a stupid smile on his face at that moment, but it was absent, replaced instead by a very faint frown.
Wendy was nearly hyperventilating by the time she got to her car. She'd barely been in the house three minutes. She didn't really have anywhere she needed to be. She just knew that if she didn't get out that house as soon as possible, her entire façade was going to crumble. She'd actually been hoping Dipper might shoot her down, and this entire ordeal would already be over… It technically wouldn't be considered her fault if Dipper refused to play along, and she would've been completely off the hook. Well, that didn't happen, and the deed had been done so there was no turning back now. She only hoped that Dipper didn't hate her guts by the end of the night.
"OMG Dipper, I just can't believe it! You finally snag a date with Wendy, and she even asked you of all things! Which begs the question… Why aren't you over the moon with excitement right now?!"
"Just nerves I guess Mabel," Dipper lied. "She should be here any minute…"
"You're seriously going dressed like that?" Mabel eyed his choice of clothing critically. He was basically wearing the same crap he wore everyday minus the trucker's hat and vest.
"Wendy said to keep it casual, and when Wendy gives instructions I'm inclined to obey."
"Bro, one of these days you need to learn that sometimes girls tell you they want one thing, when they really want you to figure out that they actually wanted something else entirely… But in this case you're probably right. Just remember to do the thing you're supposed to do at the end of the date!"
"I won't forget!" Dipper insisted gruffly. "I refuse to like it, but I won't forget…"
Wendy was right on time to pick Dipper up for their date… The word just didn't sound right in his head in correlation with the two of them. In fact, she was early, out in front of the house leaning against her car when Dipper walked out the door. "Ready to go dude?"
"Well… I'm having a hard time believing this is actually happening, but I'm as ready for it as I'll ever be." Wendy noticeably winced. Comments and thoughts like that were going to make getting through this fake date absolutely excruciating for her.
"So… What are we going to be doing tonight?" Dipper asked as he buckled in.
"You'll see when we get there," Wendy teased, while it felt like her insides were being ripped apart.
To Dipper's surprise, Wendy hadn't driven them into town. She pulled off the road near the woods and stopped the car. "So Dip, you up for a little evening hike in the woods? Maybe we'll get to watch the sunset on the way to our second stop."
"That actually sounds pretty cool… But isn't there a chance for rain tonight?"
"I think so, but we'll be fine… It's not supposed to rain until later this evening."
The hike was not as cool as Dipper had hoped. Wendy couldn't have picked worse terrain for a hike. There were no trails, thick overbrush, and vines that kept trying to give his limbs free hugs and… He really hoped that wasn't poison ivy he just brushed up against. Worse yet, a gentle but audile roll of thunder had ushered in some ominous grey clouds that looked poised to drop their payload at any moment. "Um Wendy… Not that I'm trying to question you, but this section of forest hardly seems appropriate for hiking."
"Where's the fun in it if it's too easy? Besides, this is the quickest path to get to where we're headed."
"Well, wherever we're going, I hope we get there soon. Otherwise we're gona wind up getting wet."
"What's the big deal? A little water isn't gona kill ya Dip… Besides, I'd figure you'd welcome the opportunity to see me in a wet shirt."
Dipper managed his first smirk since entering the woods. "Well… At risk of sounding like a pervert, you do make a compelling argument."
Wendy actually blushed. Did Dipper just flirt back? It wasn't that long ago that Dipper would've been the one blushing, and probably stuttering like an idiot. Definitely wouldn't have been comfortable enough to tease Wendy right back. She took a glance back at Dipper but immediately regretted the peek when she noticed the red splotches on Dipper's left arm… Clearly caused by some sort of reaction when her friends skin came in contact with some of the local plant life. Wendy turned her head away just as fast… Great, one more thing to feel guilty over. "Anyway… Don't sweat it dude, the terrain isn't as imposing as it looks… You just gotta have the right tools!" Wendy pulled out her axe and started hacking away at any vegetation that might possibly impede them. She took a barehanded swat at a low branch sticking out from one of the trees, too hard to be removed from the trunk without a considerable amount of force, yet soft enough to vibrate on contact. The recoil was enough to smack an apparently distracted Dipper right between the eyes.
"Oh crap, sorry Dude!" Wendy rushed back to check on him… That definitely wasn't part of the plan. "You okay man?"
"Yeah, it stunned me more than anything… We really need to get moving before…" The words hadn't even left his mouth when the first raindrops struck the top of his head. "Never mind…"
As the rainfall intensified, Wendy and Dipper's efforts to escape to more hospitable terrain did as well. What Dipper didn't know, was that Wendy was well aware of an actual trail just a quarter of a mile to the east of the more burdensome path Wendy had purposely taken them down. Within ten minutes, they'd reached a clearing near a thicket of trees that provided some adequate cover from the rain.
"Sorry about this dude. I never would've planned a hike if I knew the weather was goin' to be this bad tonight."
"Well, if we'd found that trail sooner instead of taking the hard way, we probably could've avoided it," Dipper snarked, lightly hinting that he wasn't quite buying Wendy's claims of ignorance. "You were right though. It was kind of worth getting rained on to see you wet."
Dipper received a punch in the arm for his efforts, but Wendy smiled regardless. "I'm actually startin' to agree with you. I'd much rather be dry right now…"
"This place you're taking me… How far is it from here?"
"Not far actually… Probably half a mile or so. You can't miss the place, it's an abandoned mini-mall in the middle of nowhere."
"You're taking me to an abandoned mini-mall?" Dipper asked, eyebrow raised. Not that he was complaining. This was Gravity Falls. Chances were pretty good that there was something weird or strange going on in the area.
"I have my reasons…"
"Well, we have two options then. Either we wait here and hope the rain stops sometime before the night's over… Or we make a run for it straight towards this mysterious mall of yours. Personally, I'm willing to get a little wet if it gets me out of this frickin' forest."
"I dunno dude… I'm okay with gettin' a little wet, but I don't wana be soaked from my head down to my boots. I don't know what it is 'bout the combination of humidity and the rain, but it turns my hair all frizzy."
"Your hair is what you're worried about? Well I have a simple answer for that." Dipper smirked and started to take off his shirt. Completely oblivious to his intentions, Wendy immediately protested.
"Dude, what are you doing?!" She got her answer when Dipper place his red t-shirt atop her head.
"There. It won't keep you completely dry, but that should keep the top of your head from getting wet… Now, which direction would we have to go in order to reach our destination?"
"Well, that way but… I still don't think that's a very good idea Dip."
"Why do ideas always have to be good ones?" Dipper grinned impishly. "Or are you just scared you can't beat dorky old Dipper Pines in a footrace through the rain!"
"Hah! Please Dip, you get clumsy tryin' to walk straight on dry ground. There's no way you…"
Dipper's grin only broadened before he suddenly sprinted off into the rain, pumping his arms in exhilaration. "I'm young, stupid, and reckless, and I'm probably going to catch pneumonia!"
Wendy stared after him in shock, before letting out a laugh at his antics. "Have it your way Dip! But you should never challenge a flippin' Corduroy!"
Despite a sizeable head start, Wendy did manage to overcome Dipper by the time they reached the abandoned mini mall. Both breathing hard, Dipper considerably more than Wendy, neither had yet to realize the rain had stopped. "Victory is mine! I warned you dude!"
"Well… You… Win… I had to try right?"
He was showing off that smile again. The one that used to look so adorable when he was younger, and now somehow had the ability to temporally render Wendy's brain incapable of functioning properly. It didn't help that her eyes were also drawn to his shirtless form. Dipper wasn't particularly muscular, but he wasn't a noodle-armed teenager anymore either. The way the rain-droplets trickled down his chest somehow made it that much harder for Wendy to maintain her cool. Realizing her eyes were about to betray her, she turned her head way, and handed Dipper his shirt. "Here you go dude. Go ahead and put that back on please…."
"Oh come on! I know I'm not much to look at, but I can't be that gross without my shirt on," Dipper joked, after completely misinterpreting Wendy's reaction. His grin fell once he noticed just how drenched the garment was, so he decided to ring the water out.
"You realize that if we'd waited just a few more minutes, we wouldn't have had to run through the rain…"
"True, but where's the fun if it's too easy?" Dipper teased, now trying to shake his shirt dry. Wendy stared at the back of his head kind of impressed Dipper would throw her own barb from earlier right back at her. "So, why exactly is there an abandoned mini-mall all the way out here?"
"Well, if the rumors I heard are true, they were supposed to build a decent sized sub-division in this area, so a few businesses moved in hoping to capitalize on the influx of new people. For one reason or another, the deal fell through. Since none of these businesses had a population nearby to draw customers from, and nobody else in town wanted to come all the way out here when goin' downtown to get whatever you needed was a lot more convenient, so most everything in this part of town dried up and died."
"Yeah, it's never a good idea to establish your amenities first before you actually have customers to patronize them," Dipper said as he finally put his shirt back on, cringing in the process. Even in the humid summer evening, the damp shirt felt cold on his skin eliciting a shiver. "Why are we here then? The only reasons I can come up with are casual vandalism and trespassing, and that's more you and your friend's forte."
"Who said we haven't?" she admitted with a flippant waggle of her eyebrows. "That's not what we're here for though. There is one business still kickin' because the owner is just too stubborn to relocate even though his establishment is technically mobile."
Turns out, Dipper didn't have to ask Wendy to elaborate. They rounded the corner, and Dipper found himself standing in front of a beaten-up looking hotdog cart that looked… Let's be nice and say less than sanitary. Manning the cart was a large unpleasant looking man. Whether his sour expression was due to being wet, the current state of his business, or if he just had permanent resting hard-ass face, was a mystery. "A hotdog cart?"
"Yup! Hope you're hungry because this is our grub for the night. Since I asked you out it's my treat!"
"Ewe, big spender," Dipper teased… Then recognized the name on the cart. He whispered to Wendy. "Wait a minute… Is this 'that' Jerry's? The place that everyone in town says is so gross that Jerry must use roadkill to make his meat?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Wendy said with a knowing smirk that didn't instill Dipper with much confidence.
After a very awkward exchange, Wendy ordered a hotdog for them a piece. Dipper noticed an issue with his almost immediately. "Um… The bun is kind of soggy…" One menacing glare from the vendor later, and Dipper withheld any further complaints. He and Wendy soon found themselves, ironically, leaning up against a wall next to a dumpster to eat their meal… Or perhaps it wasn't all that ironic at this point.
Dipper took a bite of his hotdog, only for his gag reflex to immediately sound the alarm. It was as if a million tiny gremlins had crawled into his mouth and taken a crap on his tongue, while simultaneously vomiting down his throat. To make matters worse, Wendy was eyeing him expectantly, essentially forcing him to swallow. If he didn't know any better, he could almost swear Wendy was trying to torture him. Dipper managed to choke the bite down and offered Wendy a less than convincing smile. "Not bad…"
"You sure dude? Your face isn't normally green," Wendy chuckled. While she absolutely loathed what she was doing, this was the lone part of this fake date idea she was actually looking forward too.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Dipper asked, turning the tables on her. "Aren't you going to eat yours?"
"Oh… Right…" Wendy stared down her demonic frankfurter. It would be so easy to 'accidently' drop it on the ground and be done with it. She felt she owed this to Dipper at the very least for what she was about to put him through at the end of the night. Wendy sucked it up, and took a bite… Where Dipper had succeeded, she failed miserably, expelling the alleged meat product from her mouth almost the second it touched her tongue. "Nasty! It tastes like freakin' hair! Blah!"
"Did you see Jerry's arms? That is Jerry isn't it? I wouldn't be surprised if there was hair on mine too…"
"No dude, I mean the hotdog tastes like it's made of hair! How is that even possible?! Gross, the wet bun was the best part!"
"I appreciate you sharing my pain… I'm not putting this thing anywhere near my mouth again, so should we just toss them?"
"Dude, I think we may have to burn these to properly dispose of them…Actually, let's save 'em. Maybe I can trick Robbie into eatin' them later."
"I can't think of a more noble purpose for these… I'm sorry, I can't call this food…." Dipper wrapped up his hotdog in its alumni foil wrapping, assuming aluminum foil was appropriate for containing such potentially hazardous material, and handed it over to Wendy who stuffed it in her… He wanted to say handbag, but since this was Wendy, of course it resembled something more like any sensible outdoorsperson would carry out into the woods with them. It was the same place she kept her car keys and wallet anyway. "So, we're both wet and hungry now… So what's next?"
"Speak for yourself, I'm not even lookin' at food again for at least a week dude. As for what we're doin' next, I figured we could take in a movie."
"That… Sounds strangely normal. Isn't the theater on the other side of town though? It would probably take an hour just to walk back to your car."
"Probably would, but I had no intention on heading over to the Ragtime. Believe it or not, we technically have a second theater here in Gravity Falls." The look on Dipper's face as he tried to process that information was priceless.
"Gravity Falls has a Drive In!" Dipper shouted several minutes later. There it was though, surrounded by woodlands, the large screen, and even a few sound monitors that had yet to be vandalized by the local teenagers. Stranger yet, there was a familiar car parked in the middle of the lot. "And how the hell did your car get here?"
"I dunno? Magic maybe?" Wendy snorted as she sat up on the hood, patting the empty space next to her, inviting Dipper to join her.
"Well, I have to admit Wendy," Dipper said as he looked around one last time before taking a seat next to her. "This is really cool and all but… I'm pretty sure you know this Drive-In is no longer in business, and it doesn't look like it has been for a long time."
"Oh yeah… Sorry dude, must've slipped my mind. Oh, and I fibbed a bit earlier because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. That mini mall was originally constructed to target the Drive-In's customers. It wasn't until this place went out of business that the rest of the area got boarded up. Gesh, that had to be decades ago… I'm pretty sure the Drive-In had already gone belly-up before I was even born!"
"Neat story… And this place does have a cool creepy vibe too it..." Dipper regarded his date with a questioning eye. "What are we supposed to do now though?"
"Uh… Didn't think that far ahead dude," Wendy lied. Well, half-lied. Nobody specified how long she needed to drag out this farce of a date, and now seemed like the perfect time to confess her sin and beg for forgiveness if she needed too. "Listen man…"
"If I knew we were going to be sitting in front of this huge ass blank screen, I would've brought my film-projector. Watching one of our old horror movies on a screen like this would've been awesome!"
"Yeah, totally! Wait, you have a film-projector?" she asked, almost completely forgetting she was two words into spilling the beans.
"I didn't tell you about that? Yeah, I met a guy in college who's a movie buff. He hooked me up with the projector, and I managed to get my hands on a few film reels… They're not the best quality and the films are mostly crappy, but that's never bothered us before."
"Dude…" Wendy turned her attention to the screen. "We totally need to do that!"
"Hmm… Well, we might not have an actual movie up on the screen, but that doesn't mean we can't make up our own."
"Huh?" Wendy smiled, once she understood what he meant. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well… It's gotta be in black and white of course… And it has to begin in a cemetery with fairly obvious cardboard or Styrofoam headstones. And of course lots and lots of fog, blinding amounts of fog that violate the laws of physics. Maybe a few bats with visible strings attached to 'em."
"Oh, I getcha! I guess some blonde bimbo with an impossibly large rack needs to come runnin' through the fog wearin' high heel shoes for some reason."
"Being chased by a guy with a chainsaw wearing a burlap sack over his head… Or maybe a pig mask or something."
"Ewe, how about a beaver head! Definitely a beaver head."
"Beaver head?"
"Yeah, seriously. No foolin', beavers freak me out with their weird teeth! Oh, and he should have like, hooks for hands! Both of 'em!"
"How is he supposed to hold the chainsaw if his hands are both hooks?"
"Seriously dude," Wendy chided playfully. "We're not two minutes into the movie, and you're already goin' to overanalyze everything?"
For the better part of the next hour, Wendy and Dipper created the best worst movie their imaginations could muster. By this point they were laying on their backs across the hood of Wendy's car, arms brushing against one another's with no compliant or mind from either party.
"So, we're in agreement that if a Vampire bites a Zombie he becomes a Zombie Vampire…" Wendy clarified. "What does a human turn into though if they get bit by a Zombie Vampire? Can you go straight from bein' a person to a Zombie Vampire, or do ya have to work your way up the ladder?"
"I don't know… Why don't we cut out the middleman and say they turn into werewolves?"
"Lazy… But convenient, I like it! Wait, what was goin' on with Godzilla around this time?"
"Resting in the Pacific Ocean after his big fight with the Giant Frankenstein Monster."
"Oh yeah… Why did we make him giant again?"
Dipper shrugged. "Because we could? Honestly I can't remember… Something to do with lightning I believe… That would make sense." On a whim, Dipper checked his watch, which led to Dipper sitting upright in mild astonishment. "9:00pm already? Damn, this is the longest movie I've never watched in my life."
"I know right?" Wendy laughed as she sat up next to him. "Hey dude… Sorry about the crappy date."
"No reason to apologize Wendy… Despite the march through the forest of doom, getting wet, and you trying to poison me with a hotdog, I've had a really good time tonight. Better than most of the dates I've been on hands down."
Wendy had to smile at that… Even if she had tried to remain straight-faced she would've failed… Because she felt almost the exact same way. She'd been on what most would consider far better dates than this, and yet hadn't had near as much fun as she was on the fake date with Dipper she was trying to intentionally make lousy. Passing the time with Dipper just acting like themselves felt comfortable… Dare she say natural. "Could you imagine how much fun we might've had if I'd managed to plan an even half-way decent date?"
"Probably about the same." Dipper peered directly into Wendy's eyes and then spoke with the sincerest smile he could muster. "You know what they say… A lot of times it doesn't really matter what you do, or where the destination is. Sometimes being with the right person is all that matters."
The look on Dipper's face could melt the right girl's heart like butter, and Wendy was that girl at that very moment. It was a look she'd been longing to see for weeks now, one she'd been denied since Dipper had come back into her life at the beginning of summer. A look of genuine affection and dare she say it… Possibly something else. The feeling was fleeting and temporary, replaced by an unpleasant sickening sensation in the pit of her stomach…. Because Wendy Corduroy didn't feel she deserved to be getting that 'look' at the moment. She couldn't meet his gaze. She couldn't even face him. She hung her head with a pained expression that filled Dipper with concern. This wasn't your normal frown or look of disappointment. Wendy appeared almost ready to cry. "Wendy what's wrong?"
"Don't say things like that about me Dipper… I don't deserve it!" she sobbed, before sliding off the hood of her car and retreating inside, slamming the door behind her. Dipper stared at the empty spot Wendy had just vacated before rolling off the hood himself, and entering the car through the passenger seat, which was thankfully left unlocked. Dipper found Wendy with her forearms crossed against the steering wheel, and her forehead resting atop of those arms.
"Wendy? Is everything alright? That was an awfully strange comment to get upset over…"
"You don't get it Dipper… Tonight wasn't supposed to be fun! You see… Damn it, why can't I just come out and say it!"
"Oh!" A moment of clarity shined in Dipper's eyes. "I think I get it… You're upset because your friends forced you to prank me with a fake date?"
Wendy's mouth opened, but no words came out. She glared at Dipper who tried to smile at her reassuringly. "You.. You knew the whole time!"
"Well not the entire time… I had my suspicions though. I mean, you asked me out in the middle of a prank war where literally nobody wants to give an inch. You might as well have been carrying around a red flag with 'I'm pranking you' embordered on it. I have to confess that I wasn't completely sure until we got to the hotdog stand. It was getting pretty obvious that you were intentionally trying to make the date seem lame…"
"I was supposed to tell you at the end of the date that it was all fake too…You're… Not mad at me because of it are you? I wouldn't blame you if you were. I'm disgusted with myself for not telling Robbie where he could stick his stupid prank!"
"Well, I was a bit upset at first for sure. I didn't want to believe you'd play with me like that just for a prank, but I decided to just go along with it… Besides, I was hoping if I forgave you for the fake date, you might forgive me for what I have to do…"
"And what is it you have too…" Wendy got her answer when Dipper abruptly pressed his lips to hers. A shocked Wendy's first instinct was to push him way, but instead she just closed her eyes an accepted it. It was over almost as soon as it started, leaving Wendy wanting more, and blushing to high hell. "That was five seconds right?"
"Five Seconds?..." Wendy frowned not liking the sound of that.
"That was how long Mabel told me I'd have to kiss you at the end of the date… I'm not sure how forcing someone to kiss somebody else constitutes a prank, but I guess the whole point was to make me uncomfortable… So, does this make us even now?"
Dipper did not get a response. Wordlessly, Wendy opened the door and crawled out of the car, slamming the door behind her yet again. A confused, and now slightly irritated Dipper chased after her. "Wendy, wait! What's wrong now?!"
Wendy turned on Dipper in a hurry. "Are you being serious right now?! What's wrong?! You don't just go and kiss a girl for a prank Dipper! That is so, so low! I thought you were differen't than other guys!"
"That's what your mad about?! How is what I did any differen't from what you did?!"
"There's a lot of difference! For one, you knew about my prank the entire time and decided to go along with it! You just sprung yours on me from out of the blue!"
"You didn't know that I knew though, and you still decided to string me along for the entire day anyway! And I did warn you right before I kissed you! At least mine was quick, and I wasn't trying to manipulate your emotions for as long as I possibly could!"
"Make excuses Dipper, go right ahead, but this is differen't! I never planned on takin' things that far! Can you really ever be happy knowin' our first kiss was just because of some stupid prank!"
"I…" Dipper calmed considerably, recognizing the chink in Wendy's armor that the girl herself hadn't realized she let show. "Had no idea a kiss between the two of us would even mean anything to you… Let alone that you'd have ever thought about what the first one would be like at all." He also didn't want to think about how Wendy's wording implied their might have been more than one kiss. First and only was a very important distinction.
Realizing she put her foot in her mouth, Wendy calmed down, but not much. "Of… Of course I've thought about it! Don't get the wrong idea, but of course I've wondered what it would be like if we ever did kiss and what the first time would feel like… Well now I know, it was a meaningless peck on the lips that only happened because of some stupid prank!"
"Well… I can't take it back now… But I do know one way to possibly fix this."
Before Wendy could ask what that was, Dipper had done it again. Only this time it wasn't a peck, but a full-on kiss he put everything he had into. Wendy's first instinct was again to angrily push him away, but instead she used that anger and frustration to kiss him back with as much vigor as she could muster. Without hardly realizing it, she'd pressed his back up against her car assaulting his lips with the combined force of every ounce of desperation, frustration, and longing she'd been feeling these past few weeks and possibly months. Dipper was reaching the point where he desperately needed air, but he wasn't about to be the one to break the kiss. He was in it for the long haul, until Wendy got her fill. When they finally parted, the 'friends' stared at one another in amazement, all other emotions they'd been feeling before replaced by something else entirely.
"Was… That more like you imagined it?" Dipper panted shyly, for a brief moment showing a glimpse of the awkward uncertain boy he used to be. Wendy found it oddly comforting to see that part of him was still in there somewhere.
"Not even close…" Wendy wheezed, an awed and far out glimmer in her eyes. That wasn't an insult, and even Dipper easily picked up on the implication. Enough so for his face to turn red enough to look like he'd been left out in the sun too long.
"Um… Was that enough of an apology to call us even and pretend our transgressions from today never happened?"
"Dude… Why would I want to forget?" She was contradicting herself from earlier, but she didn't care. She hadn't noticed until that moment that her hand was still pressed against his chest, but she made no attempt to move it. She smiled rather wirily as she looked up at him. "As for your apology… I don't forgive all that easy… You might have to try a little harder than that…"
It did take Dipper a moment to process that one. "Um… Kay…" He was still learning how not to be a stuttering idiot around girls. And this wasn't just any girl, this was Wendy flippin' Corduroy.
Before Dipper got the chance to beg for further forgiveness, a bright light was shined on their activities. Literally, in the form of a familiar van that had somehow slipped in undetected by the young adults. That light was accompanied by hoots and hollers from a group of very familiar voices.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Dipper said softly turning white as a ghost. Guiltily, he briefly wondered if this was a part of the prank he may not have been wise too, but the absolutely incensed look on Wendy's face eroded away any of that fear. In fact, she was already thundering over to where her friends had amassed both embarrassed and irritated that their 'moment' had just gotten interrupted.
"Seriously! What the frig guys?!"
"Sorry, but we could only watch you two suck face for so long," Lee snickered.
"Yeah Bro! The deal was for five seconds, not an hour-and-a-half!" Mabel was exaggerating of course, but her point was clear. They'd gotten carried away.
"Forget about all that! Why the hell are you guys here?! You were supposed to drive my car out here for me and then leave!"
"Duh, to make sure you jerks went through with your pranks! Did you really think we were just gona take your word for it?" Robbie feigned disinterest, like he really didn't want to be there, but in reality he was kind of getting a kick out of this too. At least the embarrassing Wendy and Dipper part.
"Hold on… You all knew about both mine and Dip's pranks?" she asked as Dipper finally arrived at her side, passing a glance at his sister who shrugged in response.
"Yeah, that's how it was planned out anyway," Nate laughed, but stopped when he got an elbow in his gut from Lee.
"Dude, they weren't supposed to know that part!"
Wendy and Dipper gave each other looks, neither sure how they felt about their 'moment' being orchestrated by the groups little game. Dipper in particular got a bit more insight as to why Wendy had acted so upset after he first kissed her. There was a difference between knowing you were getting played and having it sprung on you out of the blue. "You guys… Set us up?"
"We had to do something," Tambry said, without looking up from her phone. "The sexual tension between you two was so suffocating the rest of us were having trouble breathing."
"Yeah, and Bro was too much of a wuss and Wendy too stubborn to do anything about it yourselves, so we thought we'd give you two the nudge you needed."
"I… Wasn't that bad…" Wendy protested half-heartedly. She really thought she'd done a good job hiding her intensifying attraction to her friend.
"Oh please," Robbie rolled his eyes. "Even I was saying you two needed to bone already and get it over with…" Now it was Robbie's turn to get an elbow in the side for his crassness, this one from this girlfriend.
"So… Was this entire prank war thing even real?" Dipper asked, struggling to put the pieces together.
"Ah, heck yeah man! Prank war was totally real, and still going!" Nate bragged happily. "This was more of a side-hustle mostly put on by the girls her."
Wendy didn't like the sound of that. She was getting tired of all this childishness. She didn't particularly care for being manipulated either, even if the results of that manipulation lead to… Well, she'd have to wait until the next time she and Dipper were alone again before they analyzed those results. She wanted a stop to this war now and she just might have the perfect ammunition to get the job done. "The war is still on then hey? That would make it our turn to make a couple of you miserable."
Robbie visibly gulped when Wendy's eyes landed on him. He was quick to remind her. "Oh no! Save your super villain stare for somebody else! One of the rules is that you can't challenge someone to a prank who just challenged you!"
"Yeah, that's true for me… But Mabel challenged Dipper to his prank. So for him, you're fair game." Robbie gulped as Wendy grabbed Dipper by the hand and led him away from the group.
"I'm assuming you have something particularly brutal in mind for Robbie?" Dipper guessed once they were out of earshot of the crew.
"Nuclear option… There's only so much gross goo a girl can clean outta her hair before she's had enough… Just listen to everything I have to say before you start freakin' out or protestin' okay?"
Dipper nodded his head in agreement, only momentarily regarding the fact that Wendy had yet to let go of his hand even as she started whispering into his ear.
Robbie watched nervously as Wendy and Dipper plotted against him. At first, Dipper appeared down right appalled by whatever Wendy had suggested, but the more she explained things, the wider Dipper's grin became. The wider that grin got meant the larger Robbie's sense of doom grew. Finally, after a quick check of their phones for whatever reason, the pair walked back over to the group, a grinning Dipper never once taking his eyes off of Robbie.
"Okay then, it looks like it's my turn to challenge somebody to a prank, and I'm picking you Robbie!" Dipper pressed a button on his phone, and Robbie's phone started to light up immediately with a message from Dipper.
Robbie reluctantly checked the message only for his eyes to widen… Perhaps a bit too excitedly considering his girlfriend was standing next to him. It was a picture of Wendy in her undies spread out across her bed very suggestively. Robbie struggled hard not to grin or stare too hard with Tambry right next to him currently staring daggers at the boy. "Uh… Thanks man but… I'm not sure how much of a prank this actually is."
"Oh the picture itself isn't the prank, it's what you need to do with it." Dipper's grin was uncharacteristically evil. "You need to head over to the Corduroy Cabin, show Manly Dan that picture, tell him you took it, and that you've been selling it all over town for twenty dollars a pop."
His jaw hanging open, Robbie managed a couple of intangible squeaks before finding his voice. "Are you insane?! I can't prank Manly Dan! He's not even part of the group!"
"You never specified the victim had to be part of the crew dude, so Dad's technically fair game."
"She's right man!" Lee agreed. "It's not against the rules so you technically have to do it or surrender!"
"But… But… The pranks can't involve anything life-threatening! Showing your dad naughty pictures of his daughter definitely qualifies as life-threatening!"
"Nope, not true dude." Wendy's eyes narrowed. "Trust me, he'll make sure you live to feel whatever he does to you afterward."
Robbie stood paralyzed for several moments, struggling and failing to find any loopholes in Wendy's carefully laid trapped. He ultimately decided self-preservation was the way to go.
"Screw this, I'm out!" Robbie held his arms up in the air as if the proverbial gun being pointed in his direction was real. Dropping his phone in the process, Tambry skillfully plucked it out of mid-air before the phone could hit the ground, determined to delete a certain offending picture as quickly as possible. Robbie began speaking rapidly as he retrieved his moped from the side of Thompson's min-van. Yeah he still had the exact same vehicle. "I've gotten old and lame, and I'm no longer edgy enough to run with his crew, blah, blah, blah, blah! Good night, you people are all nuts!"
Amidst the laughter of his male friends, Robbie rode off into the night. Lee spoke what most of the gang was thinking. "Whew, I'm kind of glad that's over… The pranks were fun for the first day or so, then it just turned into work… Were we really that into this crap when we were teenagers?"
"Yeah man," Nate agreed. "I haven't been to work in like, three days… I'm pretty sure I'm fired."
"Delete that photo from your phone now Dude," Wendy told Dipper who complied immediately, but sill playfully whined about it.
"Even if Tambry deleted the photo, are you really okay with Robbie seeing a picture of you in that state Wen?" Mabel asked with concern. She respected the hell out of the ruthlessness of Wendy's little ploy but still…
"Doesn't bother me," Wendy shrugged. "It was just my face photoshopped onto somebody else's body. If that goof wasn't clearly lookin' where we all knew he was, he probably would've noticed how obvious it was! Guess you could've kept that photo after all Dip, if you really wanted too…"
"Nah, if it wasn't actually your body attached I'm not interested…" Dipper blushed when he realized what he'd just said… He didn't exactly mean for it to sound that way. Wendy just smiled at him non-the-less. It was just the right combination of sweet and mild perversion to come across as cute.
Not long after that, the crew loaded up in Thompson's van and left Wendy and Dipper alone to finish their faux date. Both chose to ignore Mabel's jeers that she wasn't ready to become an aunt yet. Now left alone, Dipper asked, "You are going to give me a ride home right?"
"Why? You don't want to take another hike down that special trail I picked out for ya?"
"You've all but destroyed hiking for me for at least the rest of the summer… Hot dogs maybe for life." Wendy got a chuckle out of that to Dipper's relief. A previous girlfriend of his most certainly would've gotten personally offended by a joke like that. "Say, Wendy… Now that we're alone I wanted to ask you something… How would you feel about going on an actual date? You know, rather than the fake one our friends bamboozled us into."
"Why that's unusually bold of you Dipper Pines… A girl makes out with you a little bit, and you think that opens the door for you to ask her out?"
Dipper knew she was messing with him, but he didn't mind playing along. "Well, it's fine if you don't want too… I guess I could've misinterpreted that tongue I felt in my mouth that wasn't mine but…" He pretended like he was going to walk off, only for Wendy to grab him by the arm, and almost subconsciously slid her hand back into his.
"That wasn't a no…"
Dipper blushed but otherwise kept his composure by saying nothing at all. Eventually, he did have to ask, "That stunt you pulled with Robbie was ruthless. Brilliant but brutal. You must've had that picture in your back pocket for a while."
"Nope… Whipped it up on my computer in about thirty minutes earlier this afternoon. After what he pulled on me this morning, I was payin' him back one way or another…"
"This afternoon?! Wow, what did he do to piss you off enough to sick your dad on him?"
"He challenged me to take you on that stupid prank date," she replied ruefully, her eyes lowered. "Don't misunderstand me Dip, but I was pissed…. I can't even put into words how angry I was that he wanted me to do that to you. Especially considerin' our history and how you used to feel about me… How I'm startin' to feel about you." Wendy felt the boy stiffen through her grip on his hand, bringing a small smile to her face.
Things were starting to make a lot more sense for Dipper now. Why she'd gotten so upset with him after he kissed her… Why she got upset with herself after he accidently started to enjoy the prank date. Going through with all of it had been absolute torture for Wendy. "You might want to lay off of Robbie a bit though… From the sound of things, my sister and Tambry in particular were the ones pulling those strings."
"Robbie didn't have to act like he enjoyed it so much… And it's easier to be mad at him than it is the girls… But trust me, I'll find a way to get back at them somehow. There were far less traumatic ways to set us up." Wendy gave his hand a squeeze before smiling up at him coyly. "For curiosity's sake, what would a 'real' date with you look like?"
Dipper smiled right back. "Oh, I have an idea or two."
The next night, Wendy and Dipper found themselves in the exact same spot as they were the night before. Sitting on the hood of Wendy's car in the abandoned Drive-In staring up at a large white screen. Only this time, Dipper had brought along his film projector, currently displaying a very old monster movie of a very low grainy quality and questionable production budget. In other words, right up their alley. They had handfuls of popcorn in one hand, and their dates hand in the other.
"Um Wendy… Just tell me to shut up if I'm worrying about this crap too soon but… What does all this mean…" He was looking at their linked hands specifically. "Between you and me I mean…"
Wendy looked at him with a mock look of indignation. "Well, I've had three conversations with differen't people today where I referred to you as my boyfriend, so unless your intending on makin' me look stupid…"
"Nope! No complaints from this guy," Dipper chuckled nervously, bringing a bright smile to Wendy's face. As much as she was turned on by the more confident Dipper who'd learned to keep his cool around her, she still adored that bashful dorky charm lingering just below the surface that still came out to play from time-to-time.
"You know… You never did finish apologizin' to me last night…"
Now it was Dipper with the look of mock indignation. "If you want me to kiss you, there's better ways to hint at it… Or just initiate it yourself…" He paused, Wendy's lips already dangerously close to his own.
"No thanks, this way is the most fun for me right now…" Wendy said haughtily, and that was all Dipper could take. His lips were on hers, Wendy sliding her hand behind his head to pull him close.
The film projector was a great idea… It was too bad the movie went largely unwatched that night.
End Chapter 4
I had some fun with this one. I know this prompt probably works better when the characters are younger, heck the fake date angle with Dipper would've been even more impactful on both of them but… I knew as soon as I saw the prompt, this was going to be the 'get together' portion of the story, and I needed them both to be age appropriate for that to happen. As much of a Wendip fan as I am, I do make sure to treat the age difference issue with the sensitivity it deserves.
For those of you who mentioned her, yep Terra is out of the picture. I did my best to try and make her as unlikable as possible without being completely over-the-top. It was necessary, because even though she might be a bitch, she was still a bitch with a point in the sense that you might not take to kindly if you suspected your boyfriend was enamored with another girl. The answer, make her so unlikable that nobody cares. I would've liked to have developed the character a little more to justify why Dipper would stick with her for so long, but two chapters was a much as I was willing to let her get in the way. The contrasts with Pacifica are purely incidentally but not unexpected. Before they developed her character further in season 2, Pacifica was kind of a generic valley mean-girl so the comparison I guess was natural.
I did bring her up for a specific reason… While I don't usually like to giveaway hints, I will say this… Something Wendy says during their dinner conversation in Chapter 1 directly links to why the events at the end of this chapter were allowed to unfold how they did. That's all I'm saying for now, but if you still haven't picked up on it, Dipper's going to make a joke early in the next chapter that gives it away anyhow. See ya tomorrow!