FicWad

She stomped into the bathroom and took a shower, then brushed her teeth and fell on her way out. She cursed life and society, then grumbled her way into the bedroom.

"What in the fuck am I even going to wear?"

She rummaged through her messy closet, through her messy dresser, through her messy hamper.

"Goddamn it," she mumbled. She began to frantically push hangers aside in her closet, trying to find something nice. Finally, she pulled out a pair of black and white plaid bermuda shorts. "It'll have to do," she muttered.

She found a black beater, then a white one after that. She decided that it'd look kind of casual, yet still elegant like that, so she put on the white one first, then the black one, making sure the hems of the white shirt were noticable.

After putting all of that on, she looked at herself in the mirror. "I look like a punk, or something. Maybe the studded belt's a bit much." She took that off and replaced it with a piano keys belt. "Better. Pretty scene, but what the fuck do I care?"

After she made her hair look "fashionably messy", she put on some black eyeliner and some silver eye shadow, to make her eyes look smoky.

"I need some color," she muttered. She grabbed her red beaded necklace and matching bracelet. "I guess. Goddamn, I'm so scene. Ugh. I'm almost thirty! I can't keep dressing like a fucking teen-ager. This is probably why Criss thinks I'm seventeen or something." After realizing she was talking to herself, she went into the hallway to find shoes.

Since she only had black Doc Martens - which was definitely not appropiate - she had to dig out a pair of black flip flops. Not very classy, but fuck it.

Criss said they were going to be at The Elements at seven. He offered to give her a ride, but she declined, still pissed at him.

She wished she took up that offer. It was a fucking mile from her apartment.

She didn't walk fast. She couldn't walk fast. What would Criss - and his whole family, for that matter - think if she showed up glistening and smelling like sweat?

"Probably'd think I was scummy as shit or something," she muttered, puffing her hair out of her face.

So she walked slowly and steadily, with her hands in her pockets, enjoying the scenery. She had time to kill - she left the house at six-fifteen.

The Elements was a high-class restaurant, located inside the Aladdin Hotel and Casino. Apparently, it served the best seafood and steak; including other meals in that genre as well. The colorful decorations consisted of reds and blues - red for fire, blue for the sea.

Danielle got there a few minutes early, so she just sat on the wall that had so many fucking trees planted on it. She didn't feel like sitting at one of the little tables; if Criss came in with his family and saw her sitting alone, they'd probably think she was a moron.

Danielle could be very self-conscious sometimes.

"Christopher, I still think you underdressed a little," came a heavily accented voice.

"Ma, it's fine. They're just jeans," came the voice of a very sexy New York accented man.

Danielle looked over and smiled when Criss spotted her. She hopped off the wall, and made her way over.

"Christopher, who's this?" the woman asked, giving Danielle a once-over - but not in a bitchy way.

"Ma, this is Danielle." Criss moved behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, pushing her forward a little; he talked to his mother over her shoulder. "She's the girl I met at the Aladdin the other day - the one who had a great temper?"

Danielle died inside. He told his mother about her! And that she had a great temper!

"Oh. Hello, Danielle," Mrs. Angel - was that really Criss' last name? - said, shaking Dani's hand.

"Very nice to meet you, Mrs .. " She craned her neck to look at Criss. "Your last name really isn't Angel, is it?"

Criss' quick burst of laughter exploded against Danielle's cheek. It smelled minty again. "No. It's Sarantakos."

Danielle looked at Criss' mother with a smile spread across her face. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sarantakos. I apologize for not knowing your last name prior to this. Your boy is full of secrets."

"That's why he's a mindfreak," she said, smiling at her son.

While the three of them talked, three other people walked up behind them.

"JD! This is Danielle. Remember, I told you about her?" Criss said, waving his hand. The guy with the leather jacket and sunglasses came over.

"Hi. JD," he said to Danielle, flashing a quick smile. He then stretched his neck to whisper into Criss' ear, "How old is she?"

Danielle rolled her eyes and was about to say something, but Criss' mom cut her off. "Don't any of my boys know how to dress for a formal occasion?"

JD and Criss answered simultaneously, "They're just jeans, Ma."

She threw her hands up in defeat. "I give up!"

Danielle smiled; she liked his mom already. "And I thought I was under-dressed."

Criss' mom smiled. "Oh no, dear. You look fine."

Criss grinned. "Ma, stop demeaning us, and stop trying to get Danielle to agree with you. Danielle, this is Costa," he said, in one breath, pulling her away from his mother.

"Nice to meet you," Dani said, politely.

"Same here," Costa said, winking.

Danielle looked at JD. "Oh, and by the way - I'm twenty-seven."

JD smiled. "Old enough." He shrugged and went over to his mom.

"Costa's more polite than JD," Danielle whispered in Criss' ear.

Criss laughed. "Well. Yeah, sometimes. JD's pretty awesome, though. He's usually nicer than this - maybe he's pissed about something. I don't know."

Danielle shrugged and watched Mrs. Sarantakos talk to JD. She kind of zoned out a little, since Criss had to snap his fingers in front of her face a couple of times. "Hey, hey," he said, softly, running the tip of his middle finger down her cheek, sweeping it under her chin, "come back to me."

"You didn't hypnotize me," Danielle said, with a giggle. "You don't have to do that."

Criss smiled. "I know - but I like to be a cocky jackass sometimes. Ya know what I mean?"

Danielle smiled and leaned her cheek against Criss' shoulder. Criss put his hand on the small of her back and flexed his fingers in front of her face. "Watch my eyes. Look into my eyes," he instructed, still waving his hand around.

"Oh, no, you are not hypnotizing me."

"Look into my eyes," he whispered. She did. They were such a swirling brown. They held so much power within them. She felt like she was going to fall, until Criss' hand tightened on her shirt. "Damn," he said, laughing. "I'm really good. I wasn't even trying to hypnotize you."

Danielle smiled lazily. "You almost did."

"It's all in the mind," he said, twirling a finger next to his temple. He smiled.

Danielle was in heaven. Pure heaven. Wouldn't you be in Heaven if Criss Angel had his arm around you, his hand clenching the fabric covering the small of your back, staring into your soul?

It was heaven.

"Christopher, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Danielle looked over Criss' hand, which was still in the air. A woman was standing there, beaming at her.

Criss turned and grinned. "JoAnn! I was just about to!" Criss let go of Danielle and went over to this said "JoAnn", putting his arm around her shoulders. "Danielle this is JoAnn. JoAnn, this is Danielle, the girl I met at the Aladdin."

Danielle smiled as JoAnn shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too!" She had a heavy New York accent, as well. Much heavier than Criss', though. "I've heard a lot about you - Criss thinks you're the only girl who didn't drool when you met him."

Danielle let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, well, I didn't really know who he was." She shrugged. "He seemed like a dick to me."

JoAnn laughed. "Yeah, when I first met him, I thought the same thing." She turned and pinched Criss' cheek. "But I was wrong."

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. And it's name was JoAnn.

Danielle cleared her throat awkwardly. "If you don't mind - " her voice cracked, so she cleared her throat again. "If you don't mind me asking .. um .. who are you, exactly? Like .. to Criss, I mean."

Criss laughed. "JoAnn's my girl!"