Cards Of Clairvoyance (Reverse Falls)

TT: Part Two

The Pines were standing at a stop, waiting for a vehicle to arrive. Pacifica was moving her legs nonstop as she looked at her front with a smile on her face. She turned to Gideon. "Hey, Gid," she said. He turned his head to her. "Mom and dad said that we're getting our own room at the hotel!"

Gideon's eyes went partially wide. "We're staying at a hotel?"

Pacifica nod. "Yep! And we'll have our own room!" she raised her arms. Then lowered them and leaned a bit closer to him. "Isn't that amazing? A hotel room with no one but me and you? We can stay awake until midnight! And play video games! And have sleepovers! Our parents won't dictate us!"

Gideon smiled a bit. "I guess that sounds a bit fun."

Pacifica frowned. "A bit?"

Gideon shrugged. "I mean, maybe they will check on us to make sure we're in bed."

Pacifica looked at the side, thinking. She smiled and turned back to Gideon, approaching him and whispering: "We can pretend to sleep and wait until they're gone." she giggled.

Gideon chuckled. "Alright, alright, but don't draw on my face if I fall asleep." he remembered well the sleepovers he and Pacifica were invited to — or that she made and invited him — and all the times Pacifica took advantage of having more energy than Gideon and drawing on his face while he was asleep. He frowned at the memory of the weird things she drew and wrote on him. The worst part is when she doesn't tell him that she did that and he ends up only noticing once someone else sees it and tells him. One particular day, he ended up going to school with a drawing on his face and some kids messed with him. He and Pacifica had a fight, but they apologised to each other in the end.

"Okie dokie!" Pacifica giggled and turned to her front. "I bet we can meet some cute boys!"

Gideon raised an eyebrow with a frown on his face and looked at her. "Really? This again?"

"What?" she turned her head to him. "Don't you think that it's time to start acting like a teen? To get with the flow of popularity and teenage love?"

Gideon shook his head. "I think it's time for you to stop watching so many cliche movies."

Pacifica gasped in disbelief. "How dare you call my teenage romance and comedy movies cliche?"

Gideon crossed his arms. "Oh, please, Paz," he said. "It's the same plot every time!" he put up a hand and started to count with his fingers. "The protagonist is a recluse nerd, she falls in love with a popular guy, she's bullied by the mean girls, and—"

A kombi pulled up on the stop the Pines waited. The six looked to the kombi before them as the passenger's seat window opened, revealing a teenager with a black flannel shirt and a red visor on his head. His black hair partially covered his right eye, he looked at them with a chill look and a smile on his face. "Hey, are you the Pines?"

Priscilla smiled. "Yes, we are."

The teen's smile grew a bit. "Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Robbie Corduroy."

Gideon raised an eyebrow. Where did his parents, uncle and aunt knew this Robbie from? Is he part of a tourist group or something. He really should have asked more about this when he was on the bus. Bud looked at Preston and Priscilla as if he also was confused. "I'm Preston Pines, this is my wife Priscilla Pines, and over there is my daughter Pacifica."

Pacifica raised her arm and waved. "Hi!"

Robbie waved back at her in a calmer and slower way. "The grumpy man there is my brother Bud,"

Bud frowned. "Hey! I'm not grumpy!"

"Sure you're not." Preston teased. "Next to him is his wife, Victoria," Victoria Pines waved at Robbie and he waved back. "And the one next to my daughter is their children, my nephew, Gideon Pines."