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It was just a trick, she thought. A Goddamn trick!

Criss was laughing. "Where is it? I wonder .. "

"I don't care," she said, softly, rubbing her arms. She looked away, biting her lip as Criss kept guffawing.

Criss finally stopped. He was still close to her, so she felt his arm move as he reached up to touch her face. "What's the matter?"

She shook her head.

"Oh, come on, don't get all bent out of shape. I know where the bike is! I didn't lose it, don't worry - "

"I don't care about the Goddamn bike!" she yelled, looking at him. "What the fuck were you trying to pull just now?"

He took a step back. "What?"

"Are you deaf? Jesus Christ, you're a Goddamn mind-reader or some shit. Can't you figure out what I mean?" When she got no response, she placed her hand on his cheek and slid her fingers down. "That! The fuck's wrong with you? And then moving closer to me? What the hell's your problem?!"

Criss stared at her, then laughed. That infuriated her even more. "You think .. you thought I was seducing you or something?" He laughed again. "How old are you? I'd probably get arrested if I tried to seduce you."

"I'm twenty-seven, you dickhead." Danielle's eyes began to twitch as he laughed harder. "You really fooled me." Her eyes glazed over, and began to shake. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You know, I thought you really - ugh, never mind." She sniffled, wrapping her eyes around herself. "Just forget it."

Criss stopped laughing and looked at her. "Danielle, I - " He sighed heavily. "I guess I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on .. if I did, I mean."

"You did."

"Well, then I'm sorry." He stepped up to her again, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Tell you what, come get some dinner with me tonight. It was my mom's idea. She came into Las Vegas last night with JoAnn and I was busy, so I didn't get to spend any time with her. She wants to have dinner tonight; come with me."

"No, no, I can't. You need to spend time with your mom."

"I want you to be there."

"Your mom will think I'm your - "

"No. No, she won't. In fact, she'll know you aren't." Criss patted her shoulder softly. "Please?"

Danielle wiped away a few tears that slipped down her face. "Okay. As long as you don't do anything to make me feel .. like you like me, or something. Okay?"

Criss smiled. "Deal."

Criss left right after he invited Danielle to dinner. He left without complications. Just a solid, "See you later", and then walked out the door.

Since then, Danielle sat at the counter, idly twirling a pencil between her fingers. She sighed, laying the side of her head on her forearm, watching the pencil spin on the surface now.

"Bitch please!"

Danielle closed her eyes as Derek and Amy burst through the door. They were laughing and giggling like school-girls.

"Dani, guess what!" Amy squealed, running up and jumping onto the counter.

Danielle didn't even put her head up. "What?"

"I met Criss Angel! He was walking down the street and I got his autograph and a picture and - "

"He just came from here." Danielle sat back, looking straight into her friend's greenish gray eyes. "He was just here a little while ago. We were back there" - Danielle pointed through the open door - "and he was showing me a magic trick."

Amy's mouth gaped. "He was not!" When Danielle's facial expression said it all, Amy screamed. "That's insane! You're so lucky! Is this the first time?"

"No. We met him at the Aladdin, right, Dani?" Derek said, pushing Amy's shoulder. "I told you I knew him personally."

"Oh, Derek, whenever you say that, you mean you've dated them at one time or another. And I knew you have never dated Criss fucking Angel."

"But he's right. We did meet him at the Aladdin."

"Yeah! And Dani was a real bitch to him, too," Derek said.

"Are you serious? Danielle Nikolla, how could you do that?!" Amy slapped her forehead. "It's Criss Angel."

"Oh, like I knew who he was!" Danielle cried. "I thought he was just another dickhead who wanted to make fun of Derek's crying."

"Shut up!" Derek whined.

"Anyways," Amy cut in, sitting Indian-style on the counter top, "what happened after that?"

"He came to the shop yesterday. He bought us lunch - "

"He forgot to pay the delivery guy! Who was quite sexy, if I do say so myself."

" - and showed us a magic trick," Danielle said, ignoring Derek's comment.

"And then he kissed Dani!" he shouted.

Amy's mouth dropped. "He kissed you? You son of a bitch!"

"I'd just like to point out, Derek, that if you ever made a move on the delivery boy, you'd probably be arrested. The kid looked sixteen."

"Don't change the subject!" Amy yelled. "He kissed you .. wow. That's fucking awesome .. "

"He did not kiss me. We made a bet that if he could do this one trick - "

"What trick?"

"Not important, Amy," Derek hissed. "Now, shush."

" - that I had to give him a kiss on the cheek. Turns out he tricked me, so I still had to kiss him. When I went to do it, he turned his face and gave me a smack on the lips."

"Jesus Christ!" she cried, laughing. "You little whore! Did you have sex with him?"

Danielle stared at her. "Yes, Amy. After that, Criss ripped off his shirt in one swift movement, pulled me over to him and fucked me on the counter. No, you asshole! We didn't have sex. Jesus H."

"Well, did you today? We were gone for a good hour or so." Derek raised his eyebrows at Amy and nudged her side with his elbow.

"No. We didn't. He actually made me feel like an asshole because I thought he liked me or something."

" .. he doesn't?" Derek asked. "Oh, come on, Dani. He's not going to be open about it - "

"Derek, he doesn't. I thought he did, too, but apparently, he doesn't. When I said something to him - he was doing something very .. seductively - he said that he'd get arrested if he did anything. That's how young he thought I was."

"Doing something seductively?!" Derek and Amy screamed at the same time. "What in the fuck would that be?!"

"He just ran his hand down my cheek. And his face was really close to mine. But it turned out he was just doing a Goddamn trick."

"Jackass .. " Amy muttered. "Why couldn't he just screw you? I mean, it could just be a one time thing, ya know?"

"Amy. Stop making me look like a slut."

"To who? Derek? Okay." Amy turned to him and put a hand on his arm. "Just so you know, she's not really a slut."

Derek snorted a laugh.

"You're both bitches." Danielle pushed off her chair and went into the back, determined to fix up her bike. She needed to work off her anger. "Stupid friends .. inconsiderate jerks. They make it all seem like I'm just going to fuck him. Stupid jackasses .. "

All she needed was her bike. She just needed to ignore them, work on her bike, and then -

Danielle screamed at the top of her lungs.

Derek and Amy came rushing in. "What's the matter?" Derek asked.

Danielle wheeled around, her eyes spitting fire. "He never made my Goddamn bike re-appear!"

Danielle stormed into her apartment, ripped off her helmet, and hurled it at the couch. She was so pissed! Why the hell didn't he bring back her bike?!

"At least it wasn't my chopper," she muttered, stalking over to the windows. She angrily pulled at the shades a little, to let some light into the room. "I would've killed him if it was."