Candy and I bumped into each other shortly after Gideon and I departed, which was just as well. I couldn't have someone like her see me with someone like... Gideon. He's a real dork, that boy, and knowing him on a first-name bases is dangerous in itself. Candy's really sweet, but if she knew I even talked him, my whole fib about being rich and low-key famous would go right out the window. I have to keep this up, just until the end of the summer. Luckily, Candy didn't even seem to notice Gideon was at the party. Her mind was elsewhere at the moment. "Have you seen Dipper? I saw him in the crowd a second ago, but he disappeared." She complained, gripping my shoulders as a way to emphasize her frustration.

In a moment of realization, I was met with a shock of remembrance. Dipper. He was at this party.... After what had happened this afternoon, I didn't know how I felt about being in the same room as him. He seemed a little unstable at the time, angry even, to the point where he might actually be hateful towards me. I'm sure it was all in my head, but it still felt so... real. Like he had actually said it, even though everyone in the room knew he hadn't. No one heard it. His lips didn't even move, so how could he possibly-

Gideon... He told me something about them once. They were... Dangerous? Surely, at this point, I could conclude that they had some weird connection with strange things in this town. But, then again, all I had seen was a pack of gnomes, which could have just as easily been a couple of short old men. Maybe this town was normal and they were just scams. It would make a fair amount of sense. But... Something still bugs me. It's a fuzzy feeling really, that feeling of being just out of reach of something. A word you can't quite remember, though you may have a vague idea of what it starts with. The mumbled lyrics to a song you heard once or twice on the radio which you filled in with free-styled poetry. The name of a historical figure or artist who's name eludes you.

I felt like I could grasp it, I was so close. A lost memory long forgotten. A dream I had had a night or two ago. What was it about? I can see a forest when I squint my eyes shut, strands of blue string littering the tree's branches. I feel something, as if a warmth wrapped around my waist, tugging at my heart strings. I strain every muscle in my brain to create some... explanation for it. The warmth that wraps around me like a womb of soft silk and a scent... Like flowers. Roses? Poppies? Daisies? Daisies... I had daisies... Someone gave me daisies... Who...?

I close my eyes for a moment, getting the full picture for a mere millisecond before it splashes to a white page again. I can see it, and then I loose it. It feels like trying to grip onto sand, but it keeps slipping through the palms of my hands.... Huh. That rhymed... Kinda like a... poem. I feel like someone recited a poem to me before.... How did it go...? I press my eye lids together, building up pressure behind them as my brain works on over-time for the first time since summer break began. Forest. Poetry... Daisies.

Dipper. The forest. It was all coming back to me. There was something... a Gobremlin or Gremgrooblim. Maybe both. Maybe neither. I had seen one. In the forest. Dipper was there. We ran. We beat it with... I think it was a stuffed dolphin...? Nonetheless, we beat it. And after that... he... did something. Knocked me out, I think, with some kind of powder. No, a smoke. He... created it... from himself. His breath made some kind of gas... I remember it now. It was blue. He was blue. His eyes... were blue. What had he done to me? What had he done... to himself? Was Dipper... could he be... Magic?

"PACIFICA!!!!" Candy shrieked, shaking me vigorously as she spat venom at me. "LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" She continued angrily. I hadn't even noticed how spaced out I was. How long had I been- "Come on! You're helping me find Dipper! He's at this party, I know it!" She stated in a stern tone, grabbing my wrist with force, as if she were my father or something. I didn't resist her advances, continuing to follow her blindly. How could I not? She was a dear friend in need of assistance and I was her dumb sheep, ready to jump into action at any time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wendy hadn't changed a bit. Still the same head strong, loud mouthed, emo-driven monster we knew and loved. Mabel seemed to clinger to her arm just as she had when we first met her, back when she was still our "nanny". It didn't last long. A couple of months at best. She was soon fired though for back talking and, if I may be honest, several accounts of stealing. But we couldn't help but love her whole-heartedly. She was like a big sister to us. A monstrously one, I may add, but still there. She taught Mabel how to manipulate people into doing what she wanted, though it created a heavy sense of ownership towards everything she wanted, giving Mabel her world famous temper. She taught me how to pretty much not care about anything people said or did to me, which led to me being distant and disconnected.

But, nonetheless, we loved her all the same. "You guys grew again." Wendy said, measuring herself up to us as she always did in a teasing manner. Though I had grown far past her height, she still found it funny to treat me like I still had a long way to go. Which was just fine for me. Mabel didn't mind either, resting her head in the crest of Wendy's neck as she did when we were still 12. When Wendy still carried Mabel up the steps because our preteen legs got tired after half the steps had been climbed. When I was still big-headed and close-minded to the possibility of magic. When she would urge me to stand up to Stan, though I never did. Back when I sat up on a stool while she styled my hair for the morning routine, telling me how 'handsome' and 'chill' my birthmark was.

She was someone we could count on. Even after the stealing and the lying and the jail time and the vandalism and the alcohol she slipped out of Stan's secret stash, we still loved her like family. And she did too. "How are you guys making it now-a-days, since your favorite care-taker left the town?" She questioned, which I couldn't help but reply with a snarky remark, as we often did after Mabel and I turned thirteen, old enough to visit her in jail or on the streets. Whichever it ended up being. "You were gone for like a second. Didn't you get kicked out for prostitution or something?" I joke with a snicker.

As usual, Mabel's the first to burst into laughter, followed by Wendy and soon her awkward new boyfriend, Ruby. I mean Rambo. Ro....... ROBBIE. That's it. Her awkward new boyfriend Robbie. "You bet. Right after selling marijuana and forged license plates." Wendy quipped right back at me. A stream of laughter followed after her statement, and this continued for what felt like hours. Just the group (+ Robbie) hanging out like we always did. A couple of statements, a couple of laughs, a lot of meme jokes. Just like always. It was perfect.

And then, without warning, I felt a tug at my sleeve. "Dipper! I found you! What are you doing?" Candy screeched, as if she was trying to cause a scene. I twisted my body around in a jolt of surprise, seeing her in a state of masked anger, cloaked by a smile and glimmering eyes. "Who are your friends?" She asked me nonchalantly, eyeing Wendy up and down, Wendy modeling only the finest of her rabid-dog glares. She looked close to barking, as a matter of fact, and so did Mabel. I saw it, Mabel popping up on her tippy-toes to whisper into Wendy's ear, not once breaking eye contact with Chui once. And she knew she was being talked about.

Within a good fifteen seconds, Wendy's eyes lit up with new found knowledge that made her teeth grind together. "So...." She hissed out, trying with every muscle in her body to keep the little bit of composure she had. "You're throwing this party?" She mustered up, her teeth just barely parting to allow the words passage. Candy straightened up, touching up her hair just slightly as she replied, "Yah, I did. Grenda and Paz helped, I guess. But my vision was what really drove it to success." She boasted, as if her party was some kind of celebration of her greatness. Wendy wasn't even slightly impressed, rolling her eyes and picking at her nails as Candy continued, talking about how much money it cost to pay for crap and how expensive her dress is and how it's designer and how she did her hair and makeup and got new shoes and everyone loved her for it and blah blah blah blah blah.

And, just like Wendy always does, she interrups her. "I was told this was Grenda's party. Where is she?" Wendy asked, crossing her arm. Candy was slightly taken back by her statement, but she hadn't quite finished talking about herself, I suppose. "Um, sorry. I was talking. Save questions for after the story." She stated promptly. "Yah, well you're boring everyone to tears with your jaw dropping tale of shoes. Who the Hell do you even think you are, really?" And that was it. I had officially taken flight out of this conversation. I didn't need any part in this, and saying something might get Candy a little... ticked. Who knows what that would make Stan if she decided to dump me? I could see it, her red eyes burning with hatred as Wendy continued. I couldn't even listen to half the stuff she was saying, it was so bad.

Half way through it though, Candy broke. "SECURITY!!!!" Candy shrieked, not caring what kind of attention she got from her guests. Instantly, a hand full of football player-sized men where in the area. Grabbing Wendy by the shoulder, they began to rip her outta the house, Mabel barking at the men to let go. I would've helped too, but it wasn't Candy or Stan that stopped me. It was Wendy. She looked at me funny, like she knew I shouldn't... couldn't go after her and help. I saw her hand lift slightly as I was about to rip away from Candy and attack the guards. She motioned with a hand a signal to lay low almost. A weak patting motion with her hand like 'sit down man'. She smiled her typical half smile, which she only had to do when things were really bad for me. Which, in a way, they were.