Birthday Weirdness In The Rose City: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Part Eight
Dipper, Wendy and the grapplers began their journey to the arena, which took about an hour. The couple was beside themselves as they really got to know the entertainers that they were huge fans of. To Dipper, it was as if superheroes had jumped out of the comics he had read in his youth and entered the real world. Wendy, meanwhile, was simply star struck. These guys and girls that she saw beat each other up week after week on the TV were now here in the flesh. Arriving at the arena, the young couple parted ways with the grapplers, who were off to do a little last minute workout. Traversing the corridors of the still lightly occupied arena, Wendy had a moment to finally reflect on the whirlwind that the past few hours had brought. "So… Who would have guessed that'd happen?" the young redhead pondered as the pair walked hand in hand. "I know… I figured that I'd have messed it up by falling into the water and destroying the tickets… You know what they say, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good…" the brown haired eighteen year old quipped.
The rest of the evening was full of fun and excitement as the couple watched the grapplers do battle in the squared circle from ringside. Although both of their favorites ended up losing, they had a great time nonetheless. After the final match had ended and the lights came up in the arena, Dipper and Wendy made their way outside, where the cool chill of the early evening met them. "It really does like to cool off at night around here, doesn't it?" a shivering Wendy said as Dipper held her tightly against his body. "Y-Yeah… It sure does…" he replied as he too was quickly becoming cold. Luckily, the Mega rideshare he had ordered arrived at the curb; its headlights cutting a path through the ever encroaching darkness. "Hey guys!" a familiar voice yelled from the car. "Becca!?" Wendy responded. "Yeah… Crazy that we met up again, huh?" she said through the open passenger side window. Dipper opened the door to the white sedan and practically jumped inside; instantly met with the warmth that the cabin contained. Wendy soon joined her boyfriend in the backseat of the vehicle, as she rubbed her hands together furiously in an effort to regain feeling in them. "Cold one out tonight… Sorry you had to wait a little bit, the highway was jammed" the twentysomething woman explained as they took off for the Hearthmen Hotel. "It's fine… We weren't outside long…" the redhead reassured the somewhat frazzled driver. The forty-five minute drive was spent describing their trip to the gardens, the koi pond incident and the chance meeting with the grapplers.
Arriving at the hotel, the couple and the driver exchanged their goodbyes. Just as the white Fjord sedan was pulling away from the curb, Wendy ran back towards it and slapped her open palm on the roof, causing Becca to slam on the brakes. She rolled down the window, not sure of why she was being stopped. "Hey Becca… You know, we're going to a concert tomorrow night… Do you have a number we can reach you at so that we get you again as our driver?" she asked. "Yeah…" Becca said as she took a card and pen from her glovebox and quickly jotted her driver number on it. "Here you go Gwen… See ya tomorrow I guess…" she said as the auburn haired woman took the business card and placed it into her jacket pocket. "Can't wait!" she shouted back as she watched the car drive off into the night. "Did you forget something?" a curious Dipper inquired. "Nah, I just figured that we should have her be our driver again tomorrow since we've kinda built up a rapport with her… Besides, it'll keep us from stumbling drunk through the streets of Portland and seeing things like last night…" she answered; recalling the odd and sudden appearance of the blonde woman and red hoodie clad man the previous evening. "Yeah… Good point…" the teen concurred as they made their way into the hotel lobby. "Good evening Sir and Madam!" a voice greeted with a posh British accent; probably from Chelsea if Dipper had to pinpoint it. He had developed a deep interest in the shows and culture of the island empire from the long running sci-fi program Professor Whom. Once again, Dipper and Wendy gave a polite wave and smile as they walked towards the elevator.
Glancing around the room, the alabaster skinned young woman took in the sight of a woman crying at the hotel bar. A sudden thought raced through her head. With all of the excitement of the last day, the couple had completely forgotten about the hidden message that her tears had uncovered in the journals. "So, what do you wanna do tonight?" asked a curious Dipper. While he had planned out the major events of the weekend, he left things loose so in case they stumbled into some sort of mystery. Surely enough, he had managed to find something supernatural, even while trying to enjoy a vacation. "I was thinking that we take a break from this whole vacation thing and take a look at those journals we got… Besides, I think that we may have our first entry into them" the redhead suggested. "I-I had completely forgot about them! Y-Yeah! I'll look up some possible solutions when we get upstairs!" he practically shouted. Wendy looked on with an adoring expression on her face. She loved when her boyfriend became excited about something. In a way, she envied how he could completely throw himself into a session of research; often falling asleep in the early hours of the morning. She was grateful that he now had the means to purely focus on what he was most passionate about in life.
Reaching the top floor, he sprinted down the hallway while fishing the room key out of his pocket. He was in such a rush that he failed to properly insert the card into the reader a few times. Sensing his frustration, the auburn haired woman placed one calming hand on his shoulder; the other on his hand and helped guide the plastic into the slot. A click was heard and the couple entered the large suite. Although she had now resided in it for a day and a half, it still took her breath away every time she looked around. The freckled woman wondered if this was how Pacifica had lived every day of her life. Dipper caught sight of the two blue tomes sitting on the hardwood table of the dining room. Taking a seat in one of the high-backed chairs, he eagerly opened his phone and began to search furiously for a way to uncover his late sister's message. Was it a friendly greeting? Or perhaps a dire omen? Whatever it was, the brown haired teen was bound and determined to find out. After an hour of fruitless searching, he was becoming frustrated. Wendy, who had learned early on in the relationship to give Dipper his space when he was conducting research, sat upside-down on the large couch in the living room as she FaceChat with Tambry, who was away at the University of California Los Angeles, where she had taken up a major in social media relations. "Ahh! Fucking Damn It!" a familiar voice shouted from the other room. "Was that Dipper?" asked Tambry with a hint of concern in her voice. "Yeah…" Wendy sighed. "I-Is everything alright Wen?" the violet haired teen asked with a hint of concern in her voice. "Yeah…" she tried to reassure her friend, to little avail. "You sure? It doesn't sound like it to me…" her best friend continued. "It's fine… Dipper just gets a little upset when he hits a dead end while trying to figure something out" the young woman tried to reassure her bestie. "So… What kind of mystery did you two stumble upon this time?" the olive skinned woman asked. "Well… We were on our way to Portland and I decided to bring along the journals, you know, in case we saw anything interesting… Which by the way, we did… Anyways, I was re-reading the inscriptions and they brought a tear to my eye. Well… One of them landed on the page and revealed a hidden message written with invisible ink…" she explained. "Well… That figures…" the violet haired woman said as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah… So… Dipper's in there trying to figure out the proper mix of salt and water to uncover the message…" the redhead finished. "You just need to tell him to relax… Maybe crack open one of those overpriced mini fridge beers or something?" the young woman suggested to her best friend. "Maybe… But if I know Dipper… And I do… He won't give up until he passes out from exhaustion…" Wendy said with a defeated voice. "So… In other words… He hasn't changed a bit since we first met him..." the olive skinned twenty year old chuckled. "Nope… Not a bit at all… And I wouldn't have it any other way…" the redhead said as she too snickered.
The pair of friends continued to talk late into the night, until finally Tambry had to call it a night. "Well… It's been fun… But I have class at nine… So we'll pick this up another time… Happy Birthday Wendy!" the purple haired woman said as she ended the call. Wendy walked into the dining room, where sure enough the brown haired man she called her boyfriend had fallen asleep; his head lying on the open journal. While the spirit was willing, his body had given out on him. Kissing her lover, she whispered into his ear, "Come to bed Mason… It'll be there in the morning…" as he began to stir. While he eagerly wanted to uncover the message, he couldn't help but agree with his girlfriend. The pair made their way to the California King bed and climbed under the sheets as Wendy's birthday came to a close in the Rose City.
Author's Note: Sorry about this chapter taking so long, but life's been kinda crazy lately. Between that and me trying to binge both seasons of Star Vs The Forces Of Evil (Which I may start writing FanFics for soon) before the season premiere in a week, I've been putting writing this story off. Never fear though, I will be continuing this story and will try to update it quicker in the future. Thanks for all the views and reviews. It still amazes me that people from around the world take time out of their days to read my work. Thank you very much!
My playlist for this chapter:
Bleached – "Wednesday Night Melody"
Party Favor/Georgia Ku – "In My Head"
Tiesto – "Red Lights"
Bonnie X Clyde – "Bass Jam"
Morgan Page/Angelika Vee – "Safe Till Tomorrow (Bees Knees Remix)
Lorde – "Green Light (Chromeo Remix)