Reverse Falls: Welcome to the Show

8] Raiding the Dressing Room

"Why did you do that?!" Gideon exclaimed. He stood in the center of the room, his legs quaking and threatening to buckle at any second. He grabbed hold of a nearby chair for support.

"It was the best I could think of." Pacifica crossed her arms defensively. "They would've seen us if I hadn't pulled us in here."

"Okay, okay, let's not panic. We can just leave. Yeah, let's just leave and pretend this never happened so we don't potentially get arrested for trespassing!"

"Gideon, calm down, you're being hysterical."

"YOU THINK I'M BEING HYSTERICAL?!" Gideon exclaimed. "THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT?!"

Pacifica rolled her eyes and examined a bottle of perfume by the vanity. She spritzed a portion on her wrist and gave it a whiff. "Ooh this smells nice."

"While you peruse the Pines' private property, I'm going to get out of here before we get caught." Gideon turned on his heel and reached for the door.

"Come on, don't you wanna look around? Maybe we could even grab a souvenir if you get what I'm saying?" Pacifica smiled and playfully elbowed Gideon as she slipped the bottle of perfume into her pocket.

"You did not just-"

"-what?" Pacifica said innocently. She batted her eyelashes while she scavenged the rest of the makeup table and picked out a few pieces of jewelry and hair clips.

"Stop stealing their stuff! This is wrong!"

Pacifica whipped around and frowned at him. "Lighten up for a change, would ya? I'm just joking. . ." She slowly emptied her pockets, though it was obvious that she originally had no intention of doing so.

"But still, let's just look around for a while longer. This is a once in a life time chance to explore a dressing room. This might be the closest we'll get to meeting celebrities," Pacifica pointed out.

Gideon considered this, but shook his head.
"No. We're leaving." He pointed towards the door and waited for Pacifica to do as he said.

"Hey, look at these old books. You like books!" Pacifica walked toward a small shelf of books over by an old, moth eaten chair. She picked one up and thumbed through the pages. "Gross. . . these pages are super old and they smell like my grandma's house."

"No way," Gideon gasped. "Those aren't just any old books- these are original copies of The Sibling Brothers, my favorite book series!" He took a copy off the shelf and carefully leafed through the pages. "Are these Dipper's? I never really thought of him as a bookworm."

Pacifica rolled her eyes. "Congrats. You probably just found the only other person in town as nerdy as you." She laughed and tousled Gideon's hair before returning the book she had taken back to its shelf.
"Before you get too attached to those books, we better get out of here like you said."

Gideon nodded and quickly turned away from the shelf. "Let's go." He waited for Pacifica to walk ahead of him before he snatched a book from the shelf and stuffed it inside his jacket.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

"Where've you been?" Bud asked Gideon when they had returned to the lobby of the theatre.

"Bathroom. Emergency. . . er- we couldn't find the restrooms," Gideon sputtered. He immediately hated himself for being such a terrible liar, but it seemed to be just enough to convince his dad.

"Can you do your old man a solid and head up to Mr. Pines' office to thank him? He didn't seem to be in a good mood after you two got to sit through rehearsal."