Monday June 12th, 2017
Mystery Shack
"Ok, would you be so kind as to tell me again why I'm covering you at the front counter. I mean why are you sitting out here waiting on Stu?" Gideon asked as he came out to the front porch of the Shack.
"Well, I'm waiting on a letter from Grandview University. Mom and dad were pushing for me to go to one of their alma maters but that would take me all way across the country. I rally want to stay near home and Grandview has an excellent Cryptography and Mythology departments." I say as I continue to watch the drive up to Shack.
"And what about you?" Gideon said as he turned towards Mabel.
"Nunya," Mabel said before taking a sip out of her can of Pitt.
"Oh, come on. You can tell lil ol' me, for old times sake." He said as he tried to ply his old charm. The problem is my sister and I are two of the people who have been able to see through his malarkey.
"You know what, I'll tell you why I'm out here if you tell us where you disappear to once a month. And don't give me that 'exchange' program excuse. I don't know of any exchange programs that last through the summer months." Mabel shot back, tired of Gideon's attempts to find out about her business. He had gotten over his crush on her a couple years ago, but he still is nosey about her life.
"Uhm, well I think I heard a customer. I better get back to the register." Gideon said as he quickly dodged the issue. One of these days I'm gonna have to look into that, I already would have but Grunkle Ford said to left him have a few secrets.
Once I was certain that he was gone I turned to my twin and asked, "So what are you actually waiting for?"
"Pacifica is having some paperwork delivered from her lawyer and I'm one of people she has authorized to be able to accept it for her. She can't have her parents know she's doing this." Mabel said as she went back to work on the sweater she was knitting. It was a little sweater for Stacey, and she has an applique of a cartoon heart talking on a phone that she is gonna add when she has it done. "Actually between the two of us we have nearly forty-eight percent bought and she has feelers out to get even more. At the next board… oh hey there's Stu."
I hopped up and met Stu as his truck made it into the lot. "How are you doing today, Stu?"
"Pretty good Dipper," he said in his low gravelly voice, that and his stout body and it's not that hard to see the family resemblance to his niece Grenda. Though he is definitely more hirsute than his sister and niece. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a stack of envelopes and handed them to me, "Here you go."
I glanced through them quickly and saw that none of them were from Grandview. Disappointed I turn and started to head in when Stu called, "Oh, hey Dipper. I have one more. It was in the large mail pile."
He was holding a nine by twelve manila envelope. I rushed back and took ahold it. When I saw it was from Grandview I ripped it open. With a cursory look I saw that it was the acceptance letter I was looking for and quickly reached up and pulled Stu into a hug.
"Well I take it that was good news." Stu remarked as I let him go.
"Yep, college acceptance letter. Thanks." I said before I turned and ran around towards the back of the Shack. Wendy was working on replacing the kitchen door from where someone had tied Waddles to the handle this morning. He was okay with it till a gnome ran by him with a bag of puffed cheese curds that Soos had 'thrown out'. Soos put out a second trash can and started tossing new cans of Wrinkle potato crisps, bags of puffed VegStix, and other non-perishable foods when he learned that some gnomes struggle most of the summer to build up a enough supplies to survive through winter. The old door is now part of the 'I Survived An Attack By A Wereboar' display along with a photo-shopped picture of Wendy's brother Kevin with Waddles head and front hooves.
I turned the corner and was struck by the scene before me. She was there in her tank top, with her flannel tied around her waist. She had her hair pulled back in a braid so that it wouldn't get in her face while she worked. Surrounding her was a group of tools she had borrowed from her dad when she heard what was needed. I was once again struck by how lucky I am that she had chose me. Snapping out of it I strode forward, "Wendy, it's here. I made it. This fall I'll be a freshman at Grandview University."
"Sweet." She said as she prepared to drill the hole into the door so that she would be able to put the handle and lock in. "I knew you could do it, I mean with your grades you could have gotten in anywhere you wanted. Now I know we've had this discussion before, but are you sure you didn't chose Grandview because I'm going there?"
"Nope, that is just an added benefit. I chose it because it has nationally ranked departments in both cryptography and mythology." I said as I braced the door as she pressed the hole saw against the frame, "Also since I got several base credits out of the way with my AP classes, there are a few elective courses I want to take that the combination of which is only offered there."
When she was done drilling, she put down the drill and looked at me. "Well now that I've got the obligatory 'Choose Your School For Yourself And Not For Someone Else' protest out of the way, congratulations."
She pulled me to her and pressed her lips to mine. When we came up for air she said, "We should go out to celebrate."
"Already ahead of you, there's a fairly new Vietnamese place in Schaal Lake that a customer told me about. It's an hour and a half drive to get there but the Banh Mi and the summer rolls are supposed to be worth it. I'll even drive, cause I know you've been working hard today." I said as she went back to work on the door.
"Sounds good to me. Pick me up around six, ok." She said followed by a quick a peck.
Later That Evening
After a shave and a shower I got dressed in jeans and grey flannel. I had made most of my preparations weeks ago and only had to call the restaurant earlier when I got home to make sure they would be open when we get to Schaal Lake. I made sure I had everything I needed and headed down to my Fjord Hauler. Even though it is nearly a decade old, it's a reliable little truck. As I prepared to leave, I shot out a few texts I one to Wendy to let her know I was on the way.
It didn't take long at all to get to Wendy's. She has been staying with her dad since spring session. Dan was having some trouble over the winter season, what with Wendy in college and Marcus getting married and moved out. Though he dotes on little Colin. If it wasn't for Mayor Tyler I think Manly Dan would have accidentally destroyed his house by now. He was over nearly every night cooking dinner and teaching the Kevin and Gus how to care for themselves now that Wendy wasn't there to do things for them. It wouldn't surprise me if the two of them follow Blubs and Durland's example soon. They really aren't hiding it that well.
When I pulled up Wendy was on the porch waiting on me. Since we were going out to eat she seems to have eschewed her hat and instead still had her hair in the braid from earlier. A fresh emerald flannel and some stone washed denim jeans completed her look. I reached over and opened the door as she walked up. She gave me a kiss as she got in. once she fastened her belt we were off.
During the trip we listened to some music and talked about some of the customers we had today, the music that was playing, Antonio and Stacey's antics, and what courses we planned on taking. That last one lead into talking about how the school's freshman housing regulations didn't require me to live in a dorm like so many movies make you believe just as we entered Schaal Lake. I turned down a side road that by all appearances lead away from the interstate and into town.
"I mean really if we wanted to we could just stay in Gravity Falls and drive to classes every day." Wendy said as we entered into a residential neighborhood.
"Lord no, if I wanted to have a two and a half hour commute I'd have stayed in California." I said as we neared a house with a 'For Rent' sign out in front of it. I stopped in front of it as I continued, "I mean take this house. From here we would have a maybe a half hour to forty-five minute drive to school and still be close enough to the falls that we could be there quickly if there is some sort trouble."
"Yeah and it would still far enough that dad couldn't expect me to drop everything if Tyler couldn't make it over for the night." Wendy added as she looked around the neighborhood.
"Let's take a look at it." I say shutting off the truck. Wendy seemed reluctant at first but when I open the door and gently took her hand she came with me. As we passed the sign I pointed out that it said 'Open House' and 'Hal Forrester Reality Inc.'.
"Maybe we can call for a tour, it says the realtor is based in Gravity Falls. But I can't say that I recognize the name." she said as we reached the front of the house.
Looking around we found all of the windows had their curtains closed. "Alright, I'm gonna look on this side to see if there are any windows where we can peek through the curtains. You check that side."
"You sure?" Wendy asked looking a little apprehensive.
"Ok, who are you what did you do to my Wendy?" I said with a smile so she would know I was kidding.
"Hey this could be serious, the neighbors could call the police on us and neither of us have a juvenile record to fall back behind." She said straight-faced before she started cracking up. "You're right dude. Anyone asks were prospective renters."
She gave me a kiss and then headed her way I started towards the other side but once I knew she had turned the corner I rushed out and grabbed the sign. Then back to the front door. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key and let myself in, leaving the door cracked. Taking a quick look around I saw that everything was in order, so I headed to the to dining room for the next phase of my plan. I flash a thumbs up to the little red light shining from the bookshelf in the room.
I hear the door creak open with a call of "Dipper? Are you in here? Ok, man this isn't funny. Wait a minute, what is Mr. Panduck doing here? And that's one of my axes."
Her voice was getting closer and my nerves were beginning to falter. What if she doesn't like it. Oh man, get it together Pines.
Wendy then walked into the room, Mr. Panduck in one arm and her ax (not the one in the hall) in her other. And she looked ready for combat. Once she saw me and that I was ok she relaxed. Seeing that I said, "Well Wendy how do you like our little house?"
That seemed to shock her, "Our… our house? What are you talking about Dipper?"
"Well, we've been talking for a bit about moving in together once school started and on my last trip out to visit you I came across this house for sale and went through the whole spiel we went through outside by myself. When I talked it over with Grunkle Stan we decided to come check it out. After he finagled a better deal he ended up buying the house. And before you start, we are renting it from him. I hope you don't mind that I took the initiative and found us some where that fit a lot of our requirements." I said as I started to lose all of the bluster I had built up.
"Dip," Wendy started.
"Alright I know I should've waited. I should've asked you first. I shouldn't gotten your dad to help move stuff out here. He also checked the plumbing and fixtures. But it was mainly so he would know it was a two bedroom and I wouldn't be putting any type of pressure on you. And now there is pressure. I screwed up. The whole premise here is screwed up. And now I'm rambling. Why am I rambling? Why can't I stop?" I was saying till Wendy placed a finger on my lips hushing me immediately.
"It's ok man, calm down. While, Yes I would have liked to have been in on the decision, you did good here. So take a slow, deep breath." She said as she helped me calm down. "So dad knew about this huh? I guess that's why he told me to 'Don't worry about being out late' as I was heading out tonight."
She started looking around some, as she continued "You say it has two bedrooms? The living room looked comfortable enough for when we do movie night. The kitchen is a little cozy, but having this pass-through certainly makes up for it. The backyard is big enough that we could host a barbeque if we wanted. So yeah, you did good. But we make the rest of the decisions together, alright?"
While her back was towards me, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my second surprise of the night. When she turned back towards me I was down on one knee with a ring on a simple plaid cloth in my hand. "Sounds good to me, why don't we start with: Wendy Blerble Corduroy, will you marry me?"
She stood there stock still for almost a minute and I began to wonder if I screwed up, before she tackled me with tears in her eyes. "So is this a yes?"
"Yes, you idiot." She said before she pulled me into a searing kiss. Breaking it I placed the ring on her finger. As she was getting ready to plant another one on me both her phone and mine went off signaling that we had texts.
"Ok, I just got three texts. One from Tambry saying 'Congrats', another from Lee saying 'About time' and finally one from Nate that I 'Make an honest man out of you'." Wendy said looking a little perplexed.
Looking up from mine I read, "And I got 'Treat her right or else' from your dad, 'Mazel Tov' from Mabel and Pacifica, and the Stans send their love."
Still perplexed she asked, "How did they know?"
I pointed over towards the red light on the bookcase, "I was streaming. It was the only way to be able to do it with out Mabel being here and making a spectacle of it. Her first suggestion was to have the proposal written out in fireworks."
Wendy chuckled at that and then got up. She walked over to the light and pulling the camera up before saying "That's all folks. Shows over."
Then she followed the cord and turned the computer off when she reached it. She turned back towards me and said, "Now not to complain, but the original reason I thought we were coming out this way was to get some Vietnamese food and I'm hungry."
And as if she spoke it into existence there was a knock on the front door. As I passed her I said, "That's another good thing about living here, they deliver."