The next day comes, and Wendy is headed to her shift while whistling a tune. She opens the door and sees Dipper, Mabel, and Soos laughing around the clerk's desk.
"Good morning every-"Wendy cut herself off as she saw a new face in the shack. She saw a girl about her age with long brunette hair, and a light complexion. She was wearing a blue and white beanie with a puffball on top. She had a green sweater too large for her with yellow on the cuffs, neck, and bottom of her shirt. The girl stood up from her seat.
"Hi, I'm Mendi." Mendi put her arm in front of Wendy.
"Oh, hey. I'm Wendy" Wendy said.
"I look forward to working with you guys." The two girls shook hands. Wendy took notice of Mendi's tight grip. At that moment, Wendy had a nasty feeling in her stomach and back of her throat. She had never felt this paranoia before from simply meeting someone.
"I'm sorry did you say your name was 'Mendi'?" Wendy asked. Mendi became a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, my parents wanted a unique name, and they went with that one." Mendi said timidly.
"Hey, it's a great name! You're more than welcomed to the M name club!" Mabel grabbed her brother over his shoulder and pulled him in.
"And also, the mystery team. Mendi is our new hire! Also, Wendy and Mendi, it's like a tag team name. You guys will be great together." Soos told Wendy.
"Oh, awesome." Wendy smiled at her new coworker, who still put an unnerving feeling in Wendy's head.
The day continued as the shack accumulated customers from time to time. Wendy and Mabel were showing the new girl everything she would need to know.
"And this is the snack machine. Here's a little trick if you ever want a free treat." Mabel said, then hitting the vending machine three times with a rhythm. Three snacks dropped from the machine.
"Woah! You guys get free snacks?" Mendi asked. Mabel nodded.
"And you get to work with the cutest pig in the world! C'mere Waddles!" Mabel called her pig from the next room. He waddled his way to Mabel's feet.
"Awww he's adorable." Mendi squatted down and patted Waddles' head, giving him a big grin on his face.
"So, Mendi, how long have you been in Gravity Falls?" Mabel asked.
Mendi explained how she barely moved into town several weeks ago after she finished her school semester from her old town. She only lived with her mom, who got a career teaching at the community college and is currently teaching summer classes. Mabel explained how her mom is an office worker for some financing company.
"What about you Wendy, what does your mom do?" Mendi asked. Wendy's eyes darted up fast from her cell phone. She put her phone in her pocket.
"My... uh... My mom... isn't with us anymore." Wendy said, Mendi was barely able to hear her. Mendi's hands rushed to her mouth.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked." Mendi said. Wendy told her it was okay, that there was no way of her knowing. The girls bonded during their shared shift, light customer flow, light enough for them to share interest, things they always wanted to do. Wendy found that her and Mendi had a lot in common when it came to music, movies, snacks, and for a moment they talked about boys and what they found attractive. With all that, Wendy still didn't like the feeling that Mendi brought with her. To Wendy, it covered the floor like a shadow, and creeped on the wall behind you if you weren't on guard. Mendi would sometimes make eye contact with Wendy, forcing a smile from her whenever they did. From Wendy's peripheral vision, she saw a DIpper and Soos with backpacks and canteens hanging from their sides. Dipper was wearing Wendy's former ushanka.
"You ready Soos?"
"You know it dude! That owl won't know what hit them." Soos punched his fist into his palm.
"Where are you guys off to?" Wendy asked. Dipper pulled out a notebook from his backpack.
"On our way into town, I saw an abnormally sized owl. It looked almost as big as the bus we came in on." Dipper said. He pulls out a notebook page with a very blurry photo stappled to it he printed it from his point and shoot. The page also had writings of details and theories pointing at the photo. "It was asleep when I saw it. We're going to try to get a glimpse of it before it wakes up." Dipper put his book away.
"I don't know bro, going after a giant bird sounds like you're inviting trouble." Mabel said.
"I know it's a tad risky, but I had to convince Soos to drive me out to find it because today was slow. This will probably be the only chance I get." Dipper said.
"You good to go?" Soos asked.
"Ready." Dipper answered. The two headed for the door.
"Don't get eaten." Wendy playfully suggested. Soos instructed Wendy to lock up when the day ends. Dipper and Soos walked out and took off in Soos' truck. The second that Soos was out of sight, Wendy began to close.
"Welp, Soos left me in charge. And I say we deserved to get out early for the day." Wendy locked the front door and switched the open sign to close. Mabel suggested showing Mendi the rooftop where they would sometimes relax after work. The three girls made their way to the shack roof, seeing all the tourists leave the parking lot.
"So, what do you guys usually do up here?" Mendi asked.
"This." Wendy picked up a pinecone from a bucket and chucked it at the target taped to the totem pole. Wendy hit a bullseye. Mabel soon followed her lead, as did Mendi. The three chatted for a while whilst throwing pinecones.
"So, Mabel, that was your brother who just left?" Mendi asked.
"Yeah, he's really into supernatural stuff and nerdy hobbies. He's really nice to hang around though. Right, Wendy?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah, Dipper's cool, it's always nice to see him at work." Wendy said.
"So, is he... Seeing anyone?" Mendi hesitantly asked. Wendy and Mabel's heads directed their attention to Mendi.
"Wha- is my brother seeing anyone?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah, like does he have an interest, or a girlfriend?" Mendi asked. Mabel squealed with joy.
"Oh my god! Do you like my brother?" Mendi's cheeks flushed red as Mabel asked. Mendi admitted that she thought he was cute. Wendy's grip on her pinecone noticeably tightened. Mabel gasped with her hands to her cheeks.
"No, he isn't seeing anyone! You should totally drop hints that you like him! I'm sure you too would get along great! Don't you, Wendy?" Mabel and Mendi turned to a Wendy with a slightly furrowed brow. Wendy quickly changed her facial expression and casually agreed with Mabel's question.
"It's getting pretty late; we should get off here before Soos and Dipper get back." Wendy suggested. Mabel and Mendi made their way down to the shop. Before Wendy went down, she looked at the slightly crushed pinecone in her hand. She took a small step forward and threw her pinecone at full force at the target. The hit was strong enough to rip the paper off the totem pole, then ricochet off, hitting a passing bird. Wendy and Mendi waited for Soos and DIpper to get back so Mabel wouldn't be at the shack alone. Once they made their return, Wendy and Mendi decided to head home. The two girls said their goodbyes and walked in opposite directions. Wendy pulled out her cell and placed it against her ear.
"Hey Tambry, are you busy right now? I need a favor." Wendy said.