7 Days with 7 Loyals

[LoyalSamy]

Here's a fan fic I started in November of 2009:
Plot: Criss Angel holds a contest in which 7 loyals get to spend a week in Cabo, Mexico with him.
If your following him on twitter, this was inspired by the tweet:Wish I could take ALL of u away with me. Maybe 1 day ill do it cause u know I'm loco..
Enjoy!


PART 1:
She turned on the light in her room after coming back from eating dinner with her parents in the kitchen. There was nothing exciting about that day. Just yesterday she came home for Christmas vacation from college. There were things she would look forward to: No cafeteria food, which she didn’t think was so bad, being able to go to the kitchen whenever she was hungry, and listening to her music as loud as she wanted. But best of all: just being in the comfort of her own room. Mostly she had been thinking about how she would be getting ready to go back to Vegas for the third time.
She went over to her desk and took her laptop and brought with her to her bed, as she sat it on her lap. She turned on her TV and looked at the screen as she started the internet. She looked back at the TV. Apparently her TV was on the channel A&E and there was Criss Angel. She turned the volume up. She looked back at her computer and was ready to check CrissAngel.com. She was logged in, but hadn’t looked at the news section yet, but focused back to the TV. She didn’t see before that it was her favorite episode of Season 5 playing. At that moment Criss was driving in his Lamborghini off to play paint ball. She looked back at her computer. New news!!! It read: WIN A CHANCE TO SPEND A WEEK WITH CRISS IN CABO! . Before she could read the details her phone beeped. A new twitter message from Criss. It said : Hey everyone, if you don’t know already I am heading to Cabo for vacation very soon. Make sure you check CrissAngel.com, I have a surprise for all you! She kept reading. After the headline it read: All loyals who have a week to go somewhere BE PREPARED NOW. Criss has set up a new contest for you all. But only 7 of you can win. If the seven of you win, you will be spending a week with Criss while he is vacationing in Cabo this time. The details of the contest will be up tomorrow. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THAT ENTER! She stopped reading, moved her computer on off her lap, thinking if she won this, she wouldn’t be the one at home watching re runs.
Faster than you could say Mindfreak, she yelled out “Mom”, she walked out of her room briskly, down the hallway and looked in the kitchen and saw that her mom was on the computer downstairs. She saw her dad watching TV, but he was too engrossed in a golf game, baseball, or a movie he happened to find. She walked past him. She walked into the computer room. “Yes sweetie?” “Mom, you will not believe what I just read!” “What?” her mom said still looking at the computer. “On CrissAngel.com there is a new contest.” “Oh well that’s fun, you gonna enter?” her mom was typing an email, not thinking anything of it. “I didn’t get to the good part.” “What?” She looked at her daughter. “If I were to win, I get to spend a week in Cabo with Criss!” By the end of the statement, she had a huge smile on her face and her voice had changed to excitement. Unfortunately she knew what was coming next even though she thought maybe this time it would be different. "Thousands of loyals are going to be entering, do you really think you’re gonna win?” “Ah ha” her daughter said pointing a finger at her mom, feeling confident, “Thousands of loyals can’t enter because only 7 of us can win!” “That doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily win.” “Ugh” she threw her head back, turned around and started to walk away and raised her voice. “That’s the difference between you and me mom, I believe in miracles!” She walked past her dad and made a loud announcement, “Move over Vegas, Cabo, here I come!!!”

Part 2:
She got back to her room knowing that she couldn’t wait a second to enter the contest. She looked at her TV quickly and saw the end of the paintball demonstration Criss was doing, and knew that in a few minutes her favorite scene would be coming up. The De Kolta chair. She took her computer again on her lap and was racing to figure out what this contest would entail, hoping it wouldn’t be too hard, blowing her chance right out of the water. She read it over again, and saw that she didn’t read that it wouldn’t be up until tomorrow. She sighed. “A couple more hours” She looked back up at the clock above the TV, and then back at the episode. She decided there was nothing she could do but pray she would be one of the lucky ones, and be on the computer before the birds start chirping. She left the internet, and put her computer back on her desk. She left an away message on her AIM saying Enter contest= easy. Winning= exciting. Spending a week in Cabo with Criss Angel? = Priceless!
She sat on her bed watching the episode, and then decided she wanted ice cream, so she went to the kitchen and came back. She smiled again at the end of the scene, when her dad stood at the door and knocked even though her door was open. “hi honey” “ Oh hi dad” as she looked down at her mug. “So mom told me.” Ya, did she also tell you how she also joined the group called Negative people?” At this point she knew again what someone would say. No one in her family could seem to be as positive as her when it came to stuff like this. “She’s just trying to be honest, he stepped into the room, and she knew he would say something now about Criss being on TV. “well I wish I had people around me who would just be excited for me, just as I am, instead of this crap about not winning or whatever. Attitudes likes that makes me not want to share anything anymore.” She said. Her dad didn’t reply, and got distracted by the episode. “Oh, which one is this?” as he looked at the TV. She rolled her eyes, annoyed her dad didn’t seem to hear her. “Mass Levitation. I love this episode.” She said in an annoyed tone. He watched for a few minutes. She watched with him, and hope he didn’t say anything like, oh you know how that one was done right? A few minutes went by. “Well goodnight honey.” Her dad usually went to bed at an early time, even if it was a Friday night. “Goodnight dad.” When he was in his room, she kept watching Criss when she mumbled “no good lucks, wishing you the best, you need to believe.” No wonder she loved Criss so much. She had finished her ice cream, and the episode ended to. She went back into the kitchen and put her mug in the sink. She really started to think about this contest, and the questions started. When she came back to her room she closed the door, and heard a familiar sound coming from her computer. She went over and saw she got an IM from one of her loyal friends from California, Arianna. She sat down at her desk.
Loyal_Ari: Hey, so I see you found about the contest?
She quickly replied.
LoyalClaire4Criss: Ya, what do you think?
Loyal_Ari: It sounds amazing, but it’s going to be hilarious just watching thousands of loyals trying to win.
LoyalClaire4Criss: Ya, I agree. Even my mom said that when I told her. She wasn’t excited for me. =/
Loyal_Ari: Aww. I’m sorry
LoyalClaire4Criss: So what do you think this contest is gonna be?
Loyal_Ari :I don’t know!
LoyalClaire4Criss: I hope it’s something good, and something, not extremely difficult, but something to show who the real loyals are.
Loyal_Ari: Mm hmm.
LoyalClaire4Criss: Think anyone we’ve been talking to will win?
Loyal_Ari: Don’t know. That would be awesome if you, LeAnn and me win. * air punch*
LoyalClaire4Criss: haha that would be awesome! I could just see it: LeAnn cant stop asking Criss about leather pants, I’ll finally get to tell him about how I overcame one of my fears, and ask him to help me with another, and idk, you ask him if he could do a duet with you. Lol!
Loyal_Ari: Lol xD
LoyalClaire4Criss: ugh, this waiting is killin me. You? I wonder what time tomorrow they’ll post it. Haha, I should check at like 7 am. Oh god, me getting up that early ;) Well I’d get up at like 3 for Criss ^_^ I did get up mighty early for the Cement Block ;)
Loyal_Ari: hehe, ya me to, don’t worry. Ugh, well I gtg, mom wants me to help her with dinner. Talk to you later . Night!
LoyalClaire4Criss: Oh ok, ya, goodnight! ttyt!
Arianna signed off, and Claire decided to turn off her computer, since the night was ending, and the praying processing was setting in, and she didn’t want to hear anymore from her mom. She decided to get into her pj’s and since Mass Levitation wasn’t enough Criss for her, she decided to grab season 2, and watch the two episodes where Criss was in Mexico: Straightjacket Keelhaul" and” Shark Cage Escape". She put the DVD’s in while getting dressed, and then sat on her bed with her down blanket over her and pushed play. As she watched, she wondered if she was being to positive, things happen, hundreds of us are going to enter, it’s wasn’t a maybe, she would win or wouldn’t. All of this was making her nervous, and she told herself to stop it. Whatever happens, at least she can say she tried.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 3:

At 8:45 her phone’s alarm started to go off, playing the beginning of one of Criss’s songs. She woke up quite instantly, took her phone and turned it off and looked at the pictures of Criss that were on the wall facing her. “Well today is the day” she said to the pictures as Criss’s relaxing brown eyes just looked back at her. She got up, and went to get her laptop and turned it on. She wasn’t a hundred percent awake yet, but as soon as she would see the contest, that would do the trick. As she was waiting for the homepage to load, she heard her dad coming out of her parent’s room, probably on his way to the kitchen. Her door was shut, so she assumed that he would think she was still asleep. The homepage loaded, she logged in, and she scrolled down. There it was in all caps: DETAILS OF THE CRISS ANGEL CABO VACATION CONTEST. She was getting excited. She click on the icon that said read more.
FOR THE CONTEST: Everyone must create a graphic that uses a picture with Criss in it, or something relating to it, like artwork for a DVD cover or a photo from one of the characters from Believe. Can be any picture, and needs to have some element added to it, lighting, layers, an icon, and because Criss is going to Mexico, there has to be something written in Spanish on it, it can be a word, or a sentence .Requirements for graphics: 1. It has to be something that all ages can see. 2. It can't contain any image that would be found offensive to Criss, his crew, or family. When you’re ready to send it, please send to: casubmission@crissangel.com. Work hard, do your best, and don’t be afraid! Good luck again! “Yes, it’s not too hard!” she said outloud when she was done reading. “what’s not to hard?” Her dad had opened the door into her room, didn’t think to knock. “Oh morning dad, I just read the requirements for the contest.” “Oh, so what do you have to do?” still standing at the door he asks. “Create an awesome Criss graphic with any Criss picture I want.” She shut her computer and started to get up. “Sounds good, got any ideas?” “Ya I think so.” she said as she walked passed him heading for the kitchen as her dad followed. When they got to the kitchen she opened the refrigerator to find something. “Do you want help?” her dad said standing behind her. It didn’t take long for her to reply: “Why would I want help from my parents who basically said: don’t count your money on winning so don’t even try?” She shut the door not finding anything and went over to the cabinets. “We didn’t say that.” “Didn’t say that?” she was confused. “Mom gave her same old opinion like she does in these situations and you basically agreed with her when you said she was just trying to be honest.” At this time she had gotten out some instant grits, because she couldn’t find anything else and didn’t care for cereal. Her dad had taken out some bacon, and was going to make it. “So I take it you don’t want my help?” he questioned her. “No, I’m fine dad.” “Ok, don’t come crying when you don’t win.” The bacon had started to sizzle on the pan, and so was she. She didn’t say anything, and continued making her grits. That was such a rude statement, and there was no use trying to fight it, it was just negative energy like Criss had taught her. As she stirred some cheese into the bowl, by the microwave, she said out loud, but quietly “and this is why I have my loyal friends.” “What honey?” Her dad asked. She grabbed a spoon, and before leaving the kitchen looked at her dad even though he was still standing at the stove, and said “ Oh, don’t come crying if you burn the bacon.” She stood and waited till he looked at her and she raised her eyebrows at him before leaving. She decided to go back into her room to her laptop again, and bring it into the living room to listen to music on her ipod dock while checking her other social networks to see what was going on. Her ipod was always set to shuffle. When she got to Twitter, she saw that no one had said anything yet, so she tweeted about the contest, and told everyone good luck. She really hoped that if she won, so would her closest online loyal friends to. That way not only would she get to meet them, they all would be in the presence of the man they all loved for different reasons, and the nights would be filled with gathering in each other’s room’s talking about what he did that day, or what he said, or how they were all so lucky to be there together, which most likely would be the conversation of the first night there. The Jackson 5 song: Got To be There started playing. She started singing the beginning: “got to be there, got to be there in the morrrning, when she says hello to the world”. She logged into Myspace and changed her status to “excited” with a blue happy face. She then remembered the bowl sitting next to her and took a bite. Then her phone rang. It was very odd for someone to be calling her this early in the morning. “Hello?” she answered. “Hiii its LeAnn” “Oh hi, good morning.” It was now 9 but then again LeAnn was a writer, and liked her to start her days early so she could put in as much writing time as she could, even though she got distracted very easily. “How are you?” Claire asked. “I’m good”, how are you?” I’m pretty good, as you may know; you’re calling because I assume you found out about the contest to right?” Claire questioned. “Yup” she answered. “So I was talking to Arianna last night, and I asked her what she thought; now it’s time to get your opinion.” “Well I’m excited to, but I’m a writer not a graphic designer, so I don’t really know how to go about this thing.” There was doubt in her voice like maybe she wouldn’t be able to do it. Claire wanted to help her. “Well do you have any photo programs on your computer like Photoshop or something?” “No“ she said. “Mmmm, well there are photo programs on the internet you can use, and it’s just a click and paste type thing, nothing really professional like Photoshop.” “You think I can use that?” she asked. “I don’t know. They didn’t say anything about only having to use Photoshop, but obviously it’s gotta be good enough to win.” “awww this sucks.” “No, no, you’ll figure it out, and I am sure that good ol’ Youtube can help you, and think about this: you can use a photo you really like.” She said nudging her with her voice. There were more than a couple of photos that LeAnn liked that she would most often refer to when talking in the Criss Angel chat room. “Oh ya, think they’ll have them?” “Oh of course, if they have makeup and piano tutorials, they’ll have something on photo design.” She laughed. She hoped she was making her friend feel better. “So what are you going to do?” “I cant tell you that!” Claire was a bit shocked. “Oh come on, I’m not gonna steal it, I don’t even know which one I’m gonna do yet.” “Alright,” she said calmly. “No telling anyone.” She remarked. “I wont.” LeAnn said. Claire wanted to believe her. “You know, the photo with Criss and Hammie where Criss has his eyes closed?” “Oh ya, you like that photo.” “Yup, and I have the poster to.” “well that’s cool.” “Ya, my dad this morning asked if he could help, but neither him nor my mom thinks I’m gonna win, so I said no.” “awwww.” “Ya, like at least be excited for me!” “What do you think your mom will say?” “Well hopefully something positive, and let me go if I do win, not like the whole Vegas thing.” She told her. “Ya, and tell your mom it’s not like someone else can take your place.” At this point she didn’t care if her dad had heard the conversation. Maybe she just had to let them hear her, and make them be excited for her, or maybe it wasn’t worth it. “Good morning honey” her mom was behind her going into the kitchen. “Speaking of mom’s, mine just said hello to me.” She told LeAnn. She just waved the back of her hand to her mom. “Ah. So, do you wanna talk on the chat?” “ya that sounds good.” “I wonder if anyone will be in there this morning talking about it.” LeAnn commented. “Well let’s go see.” “Alright, talk to you soon.” “Bye.” LeAnn reminded her that she wanted some coffee at the moment, so she went into the kitchen.
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Part 4:

The buzz about the contest had begun. In the coming days Claire knew she would hear so much stuff from negative, to positive, that all she needed to do was focus on her photo, and she would be just fine. If she won, she would be with Criss personally and make the judgments herself. Like she told LeAnn she wanted to stick with the photo of Criss with his cat Hammie. She really liked the photo because it was just Criss in a very serene moment. It was always relaxing to look at. She knew what word she wanted on it. Creer. Which in Spanish means to Believe, and since Criss had shown her the path to Believe, she thought it would be perfect. She wanted to make sure the photo was personal, so in case she had to present it, she knew what she would say, and it wasn’t something she just “threw together to win”. Her parents did say much to her about it anymore but did ask her how it was going, and she always gave them a confident answer. The one problem was: How she was going to get there if she won. She hated to fly, and would not do it unless someone was with her, but in this case, her parents couldn’t go with her. They were out to dinner that night, and as her dad was making a decision on wine. They went to a restaurant Claire liked because of menu, and the theme. On a couple of places on the wall, they had quotes from different famous people like Elvis and Eleanor Roosevelt. The bathroom was also really nice. The walls were warm purple with sliver stars. Claire smiled and was looking at her menu when she said to her dad, “you should order Cakebread Cabernet”, and wanted to start giggling, but didn’t. She didn’t know if they had it on the menu, but said it anyway. “Why, have you had it?” her dad asked. “No”, she looked at him. Her dad wasn’t stupid and caught on. “Does this have something to do with Criss?” “Uh huh”, she replied, trying to be cute. Unfortunately her dad made a decision, and it wasn’t Cakebread. When the waiter walked away they started to discuss Cabo. “So I know we’ve asked you, but remind us, how’s the photo coming?” “Oh it’s good.” She said. She thought she knew what she wanted to order. “I’ve got the photo I want, and the word I want.” “The word?” her dad questioned. “Well since you both were being so negative, I didn’t tell you the details.” “On the photo we have to have a word or a phrase in Spanish since we are going to be in “Mexico.” She air quoted. “Oh that’s interesting, what did you chose?” Calm and interested. This was going good Claire thought. “I chose the word Creer, which means to Believe.” The waiter had come back with the wine and her father “tested it”, and it was approved. Claire had some also, but would wait until her food came to start drinking any. “What else are you going to do with the photo?” her mom finally asked. “I don’t know. Now it’s going to be a test of trying different things out on the computer until I find something that I just love.” “The thing is, you may love it, but is it enough to win?” her mom said. “I’m aware of that mom.” Claire replied with a bit of annoyance in her voice. “Alright” her dad cut in, “Sarah, let’s try and be supportive now.” Her dad told her mom. “Thank you” Claire whispered, and went back to looking at her menu. The waiter came back and they were ready to order. Her dad would have the pumpkin ricotta ravioli, her mom, the ground tuna burger and Claire had the Ribeye. Her parents turned their attention back on her. Her mom then asked the big question. “So let’s say you do win, would you be willing to fly alone?” “I know, it’s something to think about, Claire started as her dad took another sip of wine, but obviously I’m willing to, if I’m going through with making a graphic and sending it.” “Obviously I’d feel pretty down if I didn’t win. And then she added, “Plus, this will be an experience, and I won’t be on the flight alone.” “See, you sound pretty confident” her dad said. “Yeah, I sound it, but once I’m on that plane that’s it.” She wanted to do this. This was a real chance at being around Criss and getting to know him better. What loyal wouldn’t want that? “I just hope the air flare they give us is a direct flight, and then I’ll feel a lot better.” “They’re paying for the trip and everything?” her mom was curious to know. Claire took some bread and butter. “Well yeah, usually when people will contests like this, they usually do all expenses paid thing.” “Oh yeah, that’s true” her dad said. Claire was starting to feel better. All this energy will be good use towards making her photo. With that the food came. Before they ate her father held up his glass and said “A toast”. Her mom and Claire raised there’s. She and her mom waited. “To Cabo” he said, and they repeated “To Cabo” Claire smiled.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 5:

That morning Claire got up at a good time and made her way to the kitchen to make some coffee. No one was in the house. She saw that her mom left her a note on the island: Out for a few errands. See you in a bit. When the water was boiling she got out her “Las Vegas” mug, and the ingredients. Less than half the mug was to be coffee, and the rest, cream and sugar. When she turned around to get the cream from the fridge, she saw her black cat come in. “Aw, hi Shadow.” She bent down to pet him and he meowed. She giggled. She just loved him. Her parents got him for her as an early birthday gift. It was a very happy, but shocking moment. As she got the cream he jumped up on the counter next her. She wondered if all the winners would get to meet Hammie. She then decided to turn on the radio next to the stove; she was searching and searching until she heard some Spanish music. After she poured the cream into the mug, and stirred it, she turned around to Shadow. “This outta help me get in the mood” with a smile and danced over to where he was still sitting, licking his paw. She sat down her mug, and picked him up, and then her mug and told him “ok, you and me lets go to the computer and make this photo happen.” The computer room was right next to the kitchen. She put him down on a chair and placed her mug on the desk. She liked the song that they were now playing and danced again back into kitchen. “What to eat, what to eat” she couldn’t decide until she looked around in the fridge again and looked at the eggs. “ooo I haven’t had eggs in a while”. She decided to make scrambled. While she was making the eggs, the music stopped, and the radio announcer was talking, and since she didn’t speak Spanish fluently, she didn’t know what they were saying, but then he just happened to mention Cabo. “oooo Cabo!” she said out loud. “hear that Shadow, Cabo, where I plan to be in due time”. She grabbed a plate and headed back to the computer after turning off the radio. She looked at Shadow who happened to be looking back at her when she came in. “Ok, eat and work, no more distractions.” Shadow laid down. “And no being cute, that doesn’t help.” She sat down. Took a bite of her eggs and opened Photoshop with the photo, and looked at it for a few minutes, and took a sip of coffee. She began talking to herself: I know I want something that will bring out what I see in this photo, but I don’t want the effect to be too soft. She started by playing with the lighting first. She knew she had to stay away from bright colors, or a warm colors such as red, yellows, and oranges. She knew that cool colors such as purples and blues were best to stick by. She fiddled with different lighting ideas, but she didn’t like a lot of them. “ugh, no”. She kept saying out loud. There was too much light, or too much black. “Ok, relax Claire.” She knew she could figure this out. But she then wondered about LeAnn. This must be much harder for her. She stopped for a minute because she knew if she tried to push it, it wouldn’t come. She took a couple of more bites of her eggs which weren’t hot anymore, and a bit more of her coffee which wasn’t either. She looked back at the screen as the picture just sat there. The rolling of the chair’s wheels moved as she pushed it back from the desk, sat Indian style and closed her eyes for a few moments. She thought of nothing, nothing as what she saw was just blackness. No sounds, and no mental pictures. This was the beginning of what she called mini mediation. She was three minutes in, until she heard the sound of the garage door closing. She opened her eyes and sighed and looked at Shadow who looked back at her. “So much for my mini mediation.” She saved what she had. Her creativity was just starting like water starting to boil. She decided to browse the internet a bit while she held Shadow in her lap. “hi hun” her mom was in the kitchen. “hi mom.” She stopped what she was doing, and went into the kitchen. “hey” her mom said again as Claire walked in.
“Aw, hello shadow.” She gave him a rub behind the ears. “So what did you do?” Claire asked as she sat down in a chair, and Shadow jumped down. She noticed her mom did a bit of grocery shopping. Shadow made his way over to his water dish. “nothing special” as she started putting the groceries in the fridge and motioned for Claire to help. As Claire was sorting through, her mom says, “but I did reserve you, your seat for the flight to Cabo.” Claire shocked, looked up.“ What, I didn’t even win yet?” She looked at her mom, who looked at her. “Kidding.” “haha” Claire sarcastically laughed. “Supporting me now mom?” Her mom didn’t answer, assuming it was a rhetorical question. “But mom, speaking of trips, I guess now, or unless you did it already, you’ll have to cancel our trip to Vegas.” “Really?” her mom wanted to know more. “Well ya, I don’t want to be in Vegas if everyone is in Cabo.” “You won’t get to see Criss right.” Her mom knew her. “Ya, no Believe, nothin.” You’d rather be home, then on some kind of vacation?” “ Ya” “Okay, if that’s what you want, I’ll go do it soon.” “Thanks.” Claire said. “Plus we’ll get our money back, and then you can use it to get me something as a consolation prize.” She waved her hand sounding kinda of sad even though it was humorous and her mom smiled. As the groceries were almost put away, her mom mentioned what was on Claire left wrist still after all this time. “Hey, when you arrive in Cabo, everyone will know how old you are, as she looked at Claire’s wrist. Claire followed her mom’s eyes. “Oh, psssht,” Her mom was looking at the bright yellow band that had been worn for months now, but Claire didn’t want to take it off. She didn’t care. “Ya, if no one “sees it” then, they’ll just have to guess when I order a drink at the bar.” She didn’t laugh, but smiled. “Ya, I’m sure Criss will really be impressed when you say hey bartender, can I get a bad girl?” her mom said as they laughed. A bad girl was a drink she had a couple of times, and wasn’t too strong for her. “Haha, I should do that.” “Again, I was kidding. Her mom says. “I think the bracelet makes enough of a statement. It’s like seeing a gay guy walking towards you.” They laughed again.
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Part 6:
The reservations for Vegas had been cancelled, and Claire was now determined to get this photo finished. She went into chat room and found Arianna and LeAnn. Between the three different colors of the text Claire found that with LeAnn, she said she asked one of her friends who knew a bit of graphic design in order to help her. She picked on one of the photos when Criss had long hair, and Arianna had picked a photo of when he had blonde highlights. She said that her photo was done and ready to be sent in. LeAnn and Claire were a bit jealous, but knew that just because she had it done, didn’t mean she would win. Just as Claire was typing something, the door to the chat opened, and in came an older loyal. Zoe. Most of the loyals like Zoe, because she was like a mother figure of the group, and helped everyone when they needed advice.
Zoelately : hey girls!
LeAnn says: Hiiii!
LoyalClaire4Criss: Hey Zoe!!!
Loyal_Ari: Hullo
Zoelately: How are you guys? Hear about this contest? Exciting huh?
LoyalClaire4Criss: :Of course, we’ve all been busy working, well trying to on my end.. some of us, already have our photos done! * looks at Ari* :p
Loyal_Ari: Aww, leave me alone :P
LoyalClaire4Criss: So Zoe, your entering right? I mean we only have a few more days until we have to submit them!
Zoelately: I don’t know, I think this would be a good chance for you girls, if I can get to Vegas to go to signings and seeing Believe, that’s good enough for me.
Loyal_Ari: Oh come on, this is a chance to meet all of us, and hang out with Criss!
LoyalClaire4Criss: exactly!
Zoelately: Ya, you do have a point. I guess I just said that because half of it is true, but the other half is that I don’t have any idea what photo I want to use.
LeAnn- Well in my case, I don’t know anything about graphic design, and I’m still entering.
Zoelately: hey Arianna, Claire said something about yours being done?
Loyal_Ari: Ya, when I read about it, my mind sort of went into overdrive, suddenly I felt inspired and knew what photo I wanted, so I didn’t waste any time :)
Zoelately: well good for you. Do you like it?
Loyal_Ari: Oh yea!
Loyal_Ari: I cant wait till you guys see it! And I can’t wait to see what the rest of you did!
LeAnn: How can you be so sure?
Loyal_Ari: I just know. I can feel it
LoyalClaire4Criss: really? Who are you? Uri Geller? Lol
Zoelately: Claire, you are funny!

Claire left the chat room feeling much more excited. What if she really won, and got to meet all these loyals? She felt a lot better and got back on the computer. When she walked into the room she saw Shadow and her dad there. “Oh hi dad”. Her dad was on his laptop doing something, and of course couldn’t ignore Shadow. “hi buddy” she gave him a pat before sitting down. She felt a little nervous, as she looked at the photo. But she knew that she really just needed to concentrate. She started with the lighting like she did the first time. Staying away from all those bright colors, she went clicking away at applying some blue tones, something light, but still giving it that relaxing feeling she always felt. It took her a few minutes, and without getting frustrated, she applied something and kind of like it. “yes” she said in an out loud whisper. “what happened?” her dad now peeling away from his concentration. “I think I may have just hit on something” as she leaned back to look at it. “Good, can I see it?” “uhh ya sure” Claire replied unsure. “There’s nothing on it really, just some lighting.” Her father came over and looked at the screen. “I do like it.” “You do?” “Yes, I think though you should make the blue just an inch darker.” Claire took the mouse and with her dad watching, adjusted the scroll bar. “Not that much of an inch.” She giggled, and her dad smiled. She moved it again. “There you go” He said, as he patted her shoulder and went to look at his laptop top. Claire really liked it now, although her creativity was starting, her mother then called that dinner was ready. “Dad, can I just eat later?” “No, come on”
“Please, if I walk away now, I may never get back” “ How about we eat and then you can be excused” She saved what she had and went into the kitchen. When she saw the meal on the table she felt happy. Spaghetti and meatballs. “Thank you mom” she sat down. “Your welcome” she said as she put some rolls on the table with olive oil. “Can I start?” as Claire said while reaching over for a roll. “In a hurry much?” her mom questioned, as she went to the fridge. “ A little” as she gave an insincere smile to her mom. Her dad chimed in. “She wants eat quick because she’s now on a roll with her photo, and doesn’t want to spend any time with us” as he gave a fake sob. “Oh I see,” as her mom now brought the parmesan cheese to the table. Claire was already giving herself some spaghetti as her mother sat and they both looked at her. As her mom started to give herself a helping of food, she replied “Don’t eat too much or too fast, you may not be able to fit into your bikini.” Her dad chuckled. Claire stopped mid air before putting the fork in her mouth and glared at her mom. “Don’t worry hun, you will look fab” as she took a sip of wine. “ Ya, with my luck, there will be 6 other females to compare myself to.” Ehh, wont get hung up on it too much, I mean besides, I’m not there to look at them .After a few minutes, Claire and her dad agreed that dinner was really good. Claire excused herself as her parents still sat at the table. She opened the photo once more and got to work. Her dad was right, eating really did help. She then realized that she hadn’t had a word in mind and hadn’t been thinking of one. She paused for a few minutes as her fingers tapped her cheek as she looked at the photo. “a word in Spanish, a word in Spanish” as she conjugated dream, she saw they listed : un sueño hecho realidad. It meant, a dream come true. She really liked the sound of that, but didn’t know it they were only allowed one word. She took out her phone, and decided to text Arianna. “ Hey honey, how is the picture coming along?” her mom asked from the kitchen. “It’s coming” she replied. Hey, Arianna, question, since your done with your photo.. do you know if we can use a few words, or is it just one word only?
She waited a few minutes, as she looked over what color she may want to use for this font when Arianna said: hey, oh I think it’s gotta be only one word. That’s what I have on mine. ;) Claire signed. “Ok” she said outloud. Where could she get some inspiration? She went into the kitchen. “mom, dad” “ yes hun” her dad looked at her when commercials were on. “I feel really stupid, I cant think of a word for this.” Her dad looked over at her. “Well your gonna feel really stupid in a min.” “Claire, why did you get that necklace?” asking in all seriousness. She had a few on her neck. She looked down. “oh my god, oh my god, wow” she went back into the computer room. She found her word. Well her dad did. Maybe she needed his help afterall.

[Veritas]

I miss the old forum. At least it was easy to read--and use!

[LoyalSamy]

PART 7:

The muse had finally released its inspiration on Claire and she was working on her photo from the time she finished dinner until about eleven. She knew she had been working for a while because the house was quiet and even Shadow left the room. At the moment she was fidgeting with the color of the word she was going to use. She had in grey and looked around to see if maybe she could get in sliver, so it stood out better. She leaned back in her chair and looked at the clock on the computer: 10:45. Her eyes fell back on her photo and she was feeling more proud. It was starting to come together. She had the photo, the lighting, the word in Spanish, and the color. All she needed now was change the font. She tried a couple of them out. She wanted something pretty and elegant and gentle. Font: Fangsong. It was close, but no. Freestyle script, no. Too elegant. Lucinda Handwriting? No, it seemed to fun. She then tried it in Pristina. She still didn’t like it. “Don’t give up now Claire, your almost there” she told herself out loud. After a few seconds, she realized it was late, she was getting a little tired. “All I have to do is the font, and maybe add a little something else, and I should be done?” questioning, but reassuring herself. She saved the work, and decided to browse the internet for a while. All the loyals were buzzing about this contest, and many claimed they were entering. Claire was wondering how Criss’s crew was going to select seven from all this submissions. She looked over at her AIM list and saw that Kate, another loyal was on. She IMed her, and ask her how she was doing, and if she was entering the contest. She said yes. Kate, who was younger than Claire was also from New York, but lived in the city near where Criss grew up.
LoyalClaire4Criss: So what photo are you using?
LoyalKate: The one on the cover of Criss’s book 
LoyalClaire4Criss: exciting!
LoyalKate: ya, I am! My mom gave me the whole “don’t get to excited, you may not win speech.. blah.”
LoyalClaire4Criss: OMG! My mom said the same thing! What is it with parents?
LoyalKate: I know, I don’t know. At least my older sister is a little happy for me! =)
LoyalClaire4Criss: well that’s good.
LoyalKate: uh huh. So what photo did you pick?
LoyalClaire4Criss: The one of Criss with Hammie where Criss is holding him close and has his eyes closed?
LoyalKate: Oh that’s a nice photo! What did you do with yours?
LoyalClaire4Criss: I’m not gonna tell you :p you’re gonna have to wait and see.
LoyalKate: okay, okay, well I’m gonna go k?
LoyalClaire4Criss: ya, that’s fine. Good talking to ya! Good luck!
LoyalKate: you to! Goodnight =)

Claire signed off and decided to change the home computer’s background from a boring background to a picture of Criss for fun. She knew her dad would ask her about it.
That night:
The breeze was so soft and gentle and not hot at all. Oh ya, its December she reminded herself. She was so nervous. She was up soon. She took a deep breath. She had come this far. Why are you so nervous? Just be yourself and Criss will love you. Another girl was presenting her photo to Criss and his family. His girlfriend wasn’t there. All Claire saw was a photo of Criss with long hair. Sharp and dark but amazing the graphic design was. “Thank you” she said and came to sit next Claire. They called her name. An assistant to Criss was holding all the photos and gave Claire’s hers. Claire faced Criss and his family. Hello everyone, I’m Claire, this is the photo I chose, she turned it around. She really hoped Criss would like it. She looked at him for just a second before starting, from what she could tell he was taken away.” This photo depicts how I’d always like to feel.”
A few hours later Claire woke up before her alarm went off. The sun was on her face. She woke up slowly. “wow, what a dream.” She said out loud. “That would be crazy if we had to present our photos.” She got dressed and went into the kitchen. “good morning!”
“Morning hun” her mom said. “Hey honey, can you come in here.” Her dad called from the computer room. She walked in. “yes?” Shadow was sitting on the chair next to her dad who was on the computer. She picked him up and gave him a kiss. “what?” Her dad minimized what he was doing. “What’s this?” “Oh, look,” Claire sounded excited, “It’s my muse”. “ Hun, muses don’t exist.” “Ya, that’s cuz you haven’t had one.” Claire shot back. “I just wanted to know why you changed the screen.” Her dad asked calmly. “Cuz I’d thought it would be more fun, that other one you have is boring.” She pointed to the screen. “Ooo you know, let’s put a picture of Cabo instead!” She started reaching for the mouse when her dad reminded her that he was in the middle of something.
In Las Vegas:
“So tomorrow is the day for everyone to submit photos, right?” Criss asked as he was sitting in the production office with just Tommy and Eliza at their usual meeting. They were still waiting for Criss’s brothers and some of the other crew to come down. “I believe so” Eliza his assistant told him, as she flipped the page on her light pink notepad. “Yup, here it is.” The doors were shut to the office, and a note on a whiteboard in the window was there: Remember everyone, were not filming anymore. Mindfreak should be premiering soon. A few people were standing at the window as if Criss was going to do something. Other’s knew to read the sign and walked away. “Alright, Eliza, I’d like an announcement to be posted on the site tonight asking everyone when they submit their photo’s to: He started using his fingers to make notes. One: their name, two, where they are from, three, how long they’ve been a loyal and an email and phone number we can reach them at.” Eliza was writing it all down as everyone else in the room were working on the computers. Tommy was sitting in a chair next to Eliza drinking coffee when Criss then started with what he wanted for this trip. He stood up and paced a bit as everyone’s attention was on Criss. “Tommy I want to make sure that as my body guard you’re there with me like you always are, but don’t try to treat these loyals who do win as crazy fans like we see all the time.” They won for a reason and I want them to remember that this time with me is special, so if they get out of hand, let me handle it until I need you. But for instance if we are in a crazy place, help me try to keep everyone together. Hopefully some older loyals win to help out with the younger one’s if we have one or two. Also try to get to know everyone, in case we have someone who’s posing as a winner. “You got it” Tommy said. Tommy always took what Criss said seriously and they never had a flight. Tommy knew what his job was, but always listen to Criss in case there were days when Criss wanted some space. When he came up with this idea, his family tried to talk him out of it, they knew something crazy could happen. But Criss wanted to do this. This was a chance to show the loyals how much he loved them and all their support, and wanted to get to know them better. “I think it would be cool if Perry was there to.” He went back to Eliza. “And Eliza,” he decided to sit down. “When everyone enters, make sure you organize it, have all the photos with information attached and get it to the crew ASAP?”
“Absolutely” she kept writing as she was told. Criss was really excited about this. Just then the door opened and in came JD with Costa with coffee and breakfast. Criss’s favorite was coming over. “Thanks guys.” Criss took a sip of his coffee. “I can’t wait to see what all the loyals made. I get all these gifts from them. There all so creative!” “I know” Costa replied. “I especially love the banners they made for you for your show.” He pulled up a chair next to Tommy. JD was already eating as he sat on the couch. “Good morning JD”. Criss turned his attention to his quiet brother. “Morning” he replied with no enthusiasm. JD was not a morning person.
Back in New York:
Out doing errands with her mom, Claire wanted to buy a new bikini. As they were getting out of the car and walking towards a store, Claire’s phone beeps. She looks at it. A new twitter message from Criss: Just letting all you know tomorrow is the day to submit your photos for the contest. Cant wait to see them all, have a great day! xoCriss. “ What was that?” as her mom asked. Claire put her phone away. “Oh, Criss just tweeted that tomorrow is the day to submit our photos.” “You excited?” “Of course” Claire’s eyes lit up. “Tonight I’m gonna have to work for a good few hours and get the photo to perfection. I cant wait to see when it’s finished.” They were looking around when Claire spotted it.
“What do you think hun?” as her mom asked Claire as she stood outside the dressing room door while Claire was trying it on. “Oh mom, I really like it.” “Can I see it?” “Okay” Claire sounded compromising. She opened the door. “Ta da” with her arms up. “Oh wow, it does look really good! black always looks good on you. ““Thanks mom.” Claire went back into the dressing stall.
That night:
Claire came walking briskly through the kitchen on her way to the computer room, quickly catching dessert sitting on the island out of the corner of her eye. “No one bother me for a while, it is finally time to finish this photo.” “Good luck” her parents said in unison. She walked into the other room, and realized she wanted something, and came right out. Claire peeked her head out. “Oh my god is that chocolate mousse?” “yes” her mom said smiling. “Well I’m sure a little dessert won’t hurt” as Claire walked over and took some, and walked away hugging her bowl. At the computer, she didn’t like she was clicking the mouse more than she wanted to. She knew she was just nervous. She decided maybe she should look up fonts on the internet, and then find something that was close to what she wanted. She looked under script and calligraphy. She saw a type called Champignon, and thought it was really elegant, but kept scrolling down. On her way she looked at English, and then after a couple more until she found something. “What is Heavy Morgan hand?” She then decided to go back to her photo and try it out. The minute the text changed she was drawn to it. “wow”. She got out of her chair and looked at it from a farther distance. It finally seemed very put together. The problem with Claire was that sometimes her own judgment got to her. She was wondering if this was the best she could do. She saved it and decided to get an opinion. “hey mom, could you come in here” she yelled to the kitchen. When her mom came in, she turned her back to the computer so her mom couldn’t see the screen yet. “ok, so I want your opinion, I think I’ve got it.” She stepped away. “What do ya think?” Her mom came closer to the screen. “oooo it’s very pretty, it’s got a very relaxed feeling about it.” “Yes” Claire said while clutching her fists and looking at the ceiling as if she just won an award. “Is that what you wanted?” her mom asked. “yes, exactly.” Claire told her. She looked at her mom while standing next to the desk. “Do you think I have a chance?” “To me, I love it. But remember the hundreds of submissions that are going to be looked at, all you can do is take a chance.” Claire nodded. “hey dad?” Claire called out.
In Las Vegas:
It was six o’clock. Criss was having dinner in the production office. A place he usually wouldn’t eat, but they had to have another meeting to discuss tomorrow. Criss’s girlfriend was sitting next to him but not eating anything. He had some of the graphic design team with them there. “What time do you think they should submit the photos by?” Criss asked for an opinion before he took a bite of his chicken. “Eliza spoke first, in her organized but sweet voice. “I think 11 am, that’s not to early right?” Then she added. “That way after lunch we can sit down and look at them.” “11 am. I like that, what do you guys think?” Criss asked. Everyone seemed to agree. One of the graphic designers said. “How about we get this room set up starting at like ten?” “Ya, what we were thinking was that we would bring in a big scale drawing/ bulletin board where we can tack everyone’s photo’s we print out, all lined next to each other and vote that way.” Another designer spoke of the plan. “After that, we can bring you in and whoever you want to help you choose. We’ll give you the ones we like best, but of course leave it to you to have the last say.” The first designer spoke again. “That’s a very good idea.” Criss agreed. “Can I help?” Criss’s girlfriend spoke up. “Sure hun.” “How about you and Eliza meet me here tomorrow at?” He looked at Eliza then back at her. He then looked at the two designers. “How long do you think it will take you to look at all of them?” “It depends how many were getting.” One of them said. “If it’s more than fifty I’d say probably at least two hours?” He looked at his coworker. His co worker nodded and looked back at Criss. “Alright how about this” his put this finger up to his lips waiting for himself to swallow his food. “We only allow the first 35 to enter?” Eliza spoke. “35, I think that’s a good amount.” The two designers agreed. “Ok cool. Eliza?” “um hum?” She was in the middle of eating and put her food next to her as she was preparing to take the next set of notes. Criss really liked her. She was such a good assistant. He turned to her. “lets make a schedule.” Criss’s girlfriend starting checking out her nails. “You guys can go, thanks” He said to the designers. Eliza started writing. “ 10 am production office set up. 1: 15, designers look over photos…”
------------------------------- -------------------------
PART 8:

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are very excited! Here are the final details for the contest: Please submit your photos to the address stated in the first announcement. In the text box, write your name, where you are from, your age, how long you’ve been a loyal and an email address and phone number we can reach you at. To send the photo, please send it as an attachment, that way we can print them all out. On the subject line, write something along the line of Cabo contest, or photo for Cabo contest. After you send them, please do not email us asking when you will hear from us. You will receive a phone call and an email from us if you have been chosen. On a final note, please do not send in your photos later than 11am West Coast time. Thank you!
Claire read the email one last time as she was writing out her email. The address was there, and she wrote on the subject line: Photo for Criss Angel Cabo Contest. She wrote all the details in the text box. Last step: attach photo. She looked at it one last time before sending it on its way. Before she sent it she took a deep breath. She finally clicked send at 1:15. She closed her eyes. “Please, please, please” she whispered. She heard a meow outside the door; she got up and opened the door. “awww hi Shadow, did you want to come in?” She picked him up. She had Shadow in her arms and looked back at the computer. What was she gonna do now? The wait was going to kill her. Time to join her parents for lunch. She opened the door. “Hi mom, hi dad.” “hi hun.” “I assume you just sent the photo?” Her mom asked, and her dad looking at her as Claire sat in a chair across from her dad. “Could be in Vegas now as we speak.” She said as she pet Shadow. “Sweetie, could put the cat down?” I don’t want hair getting on the table.” Her dad asked. “ Oh ya, sorry.” “Her mom handed her a plate of food like a butler would. “ Oh thanks, mom, I would have gotten it myself.” “Oh, a little treat for you.” Her mom went to get her own food. “ Claire you don’t sound too excited?” “Ya, I know yesterday I was feeling pretty good.” I guess I’m just really nervous about not winning.” “Ya, I’m a little shocked,” her dad said as he put his magazine down. “Not winning? What are you gonna do when you have to board that plane alone?”. “ One step at a time please dad?” She raised her eyes at him. “I’m sorry” he chuckled.
Back in Las Vegas:
Eliza was in the design room with the three designers. It wasn’t hectic. They had everything organized. Adam was in charge of watching the emails coming in, and send them to the printer. Cody was to give them to Jeff who would file them and hand them to Eliza who would then bring them to the production office, and all of them would put them up on the boards. By 10:20, Adam was calling out the names of everyone who was sending theirs. So far they had received four photos from Arianna, LeAnn, Claire, and Rhiannon. They didn’t want to ruin the surprise of taking a peek at them, so they just carefully handed them to Eliza who was putting them in a box face down. “And, I just got one from Kate.” Adam said as hers was being printed with her information.
Later that afternoon Criss was finishing getting dressed and his girlfriend was in the kitchen eating something before they left, and reading Cosmopolitan magazine. “ Hi hun.” She looked up as he came in. “hey” he came in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I was nice and let you sleep a little later.” She looked up at him as he looked at her dish to see what she was eating. “ Aww thank you” as he saw she was eating leftovers from Opa last night. “He was too lazy to get food and wanted to get going. He opened his mouth to her. She looked at him. “What?” he indicated that he wanted her to feed him. She gave him a bite. He took a sip of her drink. “Okay, lets go,” he went to get grab his keys. He looked back at her. “You’ll need to eat more than that.” she said as she put the magazine down. “Fine, bring the food with you, and you’ll feed me at every stop sign we hit.” “What?!” she said giggling while she grabbed her purse and followed Criss.
Back in New York:
Claire was watching TV downstairs on the big screen they owned, under a comfortable blanket, and Shadow on her lap no doubt. She needed something to do after lunch to take her mind off of waiting. She could have gone to the mall or out with her mom to do errands, but wanted to stay home. Her dad was at work when he called her. “hey Hun” “ hi dad, whats up?” “Hey listen, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out to dinner tonight.” “Sounds good to me” Claire replied. “Where to?” “Perfect Sunrise”. “Oh, they have the best peach crisp!” “I know.” Her dad said. “Alright, well I’ll see you when I get home.” She hung up, and put the TV off mute. She decided to look and see what movies were on. Just then another tweet from Criss came in: Hello everyone, heading to the Luxor now to check out the photos all of you submitted. Believe! XoCriss. Claire just smiled, and went back to the TV. She was browsing until she got to something. Anvil? Wait, isn’t this the movie Criss recommended? She decided to click for more info. Yes it is! “Okay Shadow, lets check this out.” She looked down at him, and he was sleeping. She decided to tweet the photo like Criss does. She changed the channel, and starting watching.
Back in Las Vegas:
Criss entered the production office holding hands with his girlfriend. He was shocked. One side of the wall was all covered in graphic designs from 35 loyals. “Afternoon everyone.” “Hey Criss.” Eliza and the three designers were sitting in chairs waiting for him. He let go of his girlfriend’s hand, and came closer to the board. “Are these all of them?” All three of them nodded. He was looking them over for a few seconds when Cody asked Criss “would you like us to let you know which ones we chose?” Criss looked at the board one last time and went over to the table they had set up. His girlfriend was already sitting and waiting. Criss sat next to her, and Eliza came to sit on the other side of him while Cody. Jeff and Adam sat on the opposite side. “Alright, let’s see these.” Cody had two photos in his hands, Jeff had two, and Adam had three. They handed them to Criss and with help from Eliza and his girlfriend spread them out. Eliza was the first one to speak. “I really like this one.” Criss looked over. She did a good job.” What do you think?” he asked his girlfriend. She casually looked over. “Ya, it’s pretty good.” It was obvious she didn’t care. “Well I like it.” “Keep?” Criss nodded. Eliza handed it to Cody. Criss was looking at them, and realized how hard this was already. He then found the second one. It was by Xesca. Criss was intrigued by her name, it was so different. Of course Eliza being so smart was able to pronounce it for him so he repeated it. “I hope I can get that right when I met her!” he had everyone amused. She had chosen a photo of Criss when he announced the partnership of Cirque Du Soleil and himself to create his live show Believe. The photo was him walking on stage with a peace sign, with red highlights in his hair. The word she chose was lealtad. In English it meant Loyalty. She created an effect to the photo that when Criss looked at it, it felt like it had just happened yesterday. Criss nodded, and it was given to Cody again. Criss’s girlfriend left to go to the bathroom, and Criss was beginning to see how the photos should be talking to him, without much assistance from anyone. So it was okay that she left. She wasn’t doing much to help anyway. The next few Criss went through he wasn’t too impressed, and it looked like not a lot of effort was put into them. He then saw Arianna’s. It was refreshing to see. She had chosen a photo from ScreamFest 2007. Criss had blonde highlights, wearing his olive colored hat, and wearing his very expensive jacket with skulls on the front. The word she chose was misterioso, which meant mysterious. His face was so flawless in the photo, and at the same time the word made such sense with the blank expression that the photographer captured. Criss was starting to enjoy the process. As he was getting to the next one, he said “I really love how they take a photo of mine and let their imaginations take over to create something without having to explain to me what they want me to see.” Criss’s girlfriend had come back from the bathroom, and knowing her, she probably got distracted by seeing something in a store window. Three loyals down, and three more to go. Who would be the lucky three? It had only taken Criss an hour and forty five minutes to sort through all the photos with help. Adam, Cody and Jeff put the discards on another desk in the room. Criss and Eliza, and with the somewhat attention of his girlfriend, they spread the photos on the table. Criss then stood up to take a better look at them. He counted them out loud. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6”. His girlfriend looked up at him. “ that’s only six?” “That is only six.” He said. He counted again. 1, 2, 3, 4, he paused. “5, 6.” “Did I not pick a seventh one?” “I don’t know” Eliza said. He briskly walked over to the other desk, and started looking through the discards. Everyone just looked at him and waited. Didn’t find one. Cody then told him “There are still some on the boards.” “Oh right” Criss replied and turned around. He walked over and scanned them over. It didn’t take very long. “ Ah, this one.” Cody looked at Jeff and Adam. “Damn. we forgot that one” he whispered to them. Criss brought the photo back to the table and set it down. He counted again. “1, 2, 3, 4, and in unison, Eliza, Criss and his girlfriend said “ 5, 6, 7.”
That night:
She didn’t know what she wanted to wear for dinner, looking in her closet. She then decided on wearing her green Juicy Couture tracksuit: Very comfortable, her favorite color, and her ideal of positivity. She straightened hair and pulled it parted halfway in a clip. A little makeup, and a matching green bag. When she came to the kitchen, you would have thought she was having a business dinner with a leprecon. On the car ride, listening to the radio, she was singing along. Then: “Oh dad, please turn it up.” Her dad did so. Claire started singing loudly. “Do you believe in Magic, in a young girls heart, the music can free her whenever it starts..” Something felt good about how the night was going.
They then arrived and made their way inside. The idea of Perfect Sunrise was the theme of an island. The choice was meat or fish with some kind of fruit. There were no French fry substitutes, potatoes, or rice. It was catered to people who wanted to be smarter about food choices. Dessert was all made from fruit to. They only had one ice cream dish and it was usually a sorbet. Claire already knew what she wanted. The summer peach crisp. She had looked at her phone a couple of times during dinner although she knew it didn’t ring. When they got home she was going to check her email.

[LoyalSamy]

PART 9:

As soon as she got into the house, Claire took off her shoes at the door, and her first destination was the computer. There was a mild doubt in her mind. She knew that if she really had won, she would have known by now, so maybe there was no need to check the computer, but she wanted to anyway. As she suspected, no new mail. She sighed and double checked her phone. Also nothing. “Just stay positive.” She said out loud. She now wanted to go say hello to Shadow. “Mom, dad? Have you seen Shadow?” She yelled from above the stairs. “No, he’s not down here.” “Okay.” She went to check her room, and there he was lying on her bed. “Hi ya Shadow.” She went and sat on the bed and held him. He meowed. She lied down on her bed, and laid Shadow on her stomach. “Ok, just because I didn’t get an email or phone call yet, doesn’t mean I didn’t win. She looked at her clock on her TV as if it were a person, and said “I’m sure there were thousands and millions- well, maybe not millions of entries submitted. Criss must still have his hands full and still can’t decide. Ugh, what if mine wasn’t good enough?” She looked down at Shadow who at the moment was licking her hand. She could hear her dad coming down the hall, and with the door open she knew he would ask. “ hey hun” “ hi,” she replied back but didn’t look at him hoping he wouldn’t ask. “anything?” he asked. She didn’t say anything for a second, sighed and turned to face the door. “No.” in a sad tone. “Well, if not tonight, remember there’s still tomorrow.” “True,” she said somewhat lightheartedly. He left go into his room.
A few hours later she was ready for bed. She was wiping her face with a light pink towel, and looking in the mirror over the sink, she noticed how much better her face looked, now that she out some effort into taking care of it. When she went back to her room, she saw that Shadow had already found a place on the bed. Unfortunately, he picked the middle of the bed and now she had to move him. She was amused. Comfortable and under the covers with her cat, Claire was ready to go to sleep. She looked out of her window, and there was a full moon. “So if I don’t win, I’m not gonna get to upset. I’ll have another opportunity with Criss in the future, and I’ll get to see pictures and hear some great stories. I’m gonna be happy for other people. Before closing her eyes, she ended with “Goodnight Criss.” As of he was in the room. Claire had such a positive motto for someone who didn’t need to waste time worrying.
At nine am, the sun was shining into the room, bouncing off the white glittering snow, making this hour much brighter. Claire wouldn’t even need to turn on her light. She slowly opened her eyes, and was taken aback by how bright it was, and realized she needed to start sleeping with her back to the window. She noticed that Shadow wasn’t on her bed. She guessed he must have gone to the kitchen. She laid in bed for a little bit trying to slowly wake up. She decided to look at her phone to see who tweeted about what while she was sleeping. She saw she only had one text message in her inbox. Her phone had been acting weird, and all her tweets weren’t coming to her phone for some reason. “ ugh, damn phone.” Alright, who’s this from? She sat up and laid on her right side with her right arm supporting her, as she had the phone in her left hand. She opened the text message. You have an important message waiting for you. She looked at the number, which, in this case was not a tweet, but definitely a text message. She didn’t recognize the number. She repeated what it said. “You have an important message waiting for you.” “what?” Claire wasn’t awake yet. It took her a second to register what it was. “Oh my god!” she gasped. She shot up. “Could this be from?” her eyes shifted. “It’s not a tweet, oh my god, it must be from Criss’s phone!” She threw her phone on the bed, and threw on a hoodie, and raced to the kitchen.
“Morning!” “Morning sweetie” her dad said before taking another sip from his mug. He was wondering why she’s so chipper. She ran over to his side. “Read what that says!” He took her phone,” its not a tweet dad!” her dad read it out loud “You have an important message waiting for you”. He looked at her. She widened her eyes. Her mom then walked into the kitchen. She grabbed the phone from her dad, “Mom, read this!” She shoved the phone in her mom’s hands now. “What? What?” “Read!” Claire said excitedly. You have an important message waiting for you”. “Claire!” “I know!” she said back. “Well what are you waiting for? Go check your email.” “Email, Right!” Claire dashed into the other room.
“Shadow hi!!” he was sitting on the chair next to the computer desk. She gave him a pet, and jumped into the chair at the desk. She was typing her password for her email, and before she knew it, she heard those three little words. You’ve Got Mail. She looked over at Shadow. “This is it”. One message in her inbox was from non other than casubmission@crissangel.com. The email read :
Hello Claire!
If you are reading this email, it means that you have won the contest for SPEND A WEEK IN CABO WITH Criss Angel. I’m sure you got a message on your phone. Yes, that was a text message from my phone. Shhh, please don’t share the number. Your digital photo that you submitted not only impressed me, but my assistant Eliza, and the graphic designers. You will receive a phone call in two hours to confirm this email and travel information. Congratulations again! Cant wait to see you in Cabo!
Loyally Yours,
Criss
Claire didn’t even get a chance to read the whole email. The minute she saw that she won, she spun in her chair, picked up Shadow and made her way to the kitchen. Holding Shadow in front holding his paws out, she pushed the swinging door open and sang” I win, I win ( pause) I win, I win, you lose. Second verse, same as the first, I win, I win you lose.” She was animating Shadow’s paws swinging him left and right. “You won?!” her mom’s eyes widened staring at her. Her dad looked at her the same way. “ Yes!” Claire said and spun in a circle. “So what happens now?” her dad asked. Claire stopped dumbfounded “ I don’t know. I didn’t read the whole email.” “Well go find out.” Her dad was so practical with everything. Claire turned around and sang the song again in a whisper while she danced her way back into the computer room. Before she sat down she could hear her parents whisper “ Can you believe she won?” She still had Shadow in her lap as she decided to read the email over from the beginning so she could soak it all in. Her parents heard her laugh. Claire read the part about the phone message. In a few minutes they then heard “ oh my god, two hours?!” “what Claire?” her dad asked. Claire got up again and went back to the kitchen and said “ the email said in two hours someone is going to call me, what the hell I’m I gonna say?!” “Relax Claire”, he looked at his watch, you still have one hour left. “ let’s rehearse.” They’ll probably start out with telling you congratulations.” Claire sat down at the table, and put Shadow down. “They’ll ask you for information; hopefully whoever calls will be nice and make conversation.” Claire just remembered the 6 other loyals who needed to get their phone calls to. “Dad, they probably won’t spend that much time, they’ve got six other people to call.” “Well, you don’t know that,” he tried to reassure her. “So they’ll want your full name, where you live, they’ll want to hear your voice.” “ Ok” Claire put her hands out. “I’m Claire Epidavros, I’ve been a loyal for almost four years, I’m from New York, I am honored to be picked for the contest” saying that last sentence in such a dramatic way. She looked at her dad who raised his eyes at her. “A little bit too much.” “You said rehearse.” “You’ll be fine, just be yourself, and relax.” Claire let out a sigh. “Ok, time to go tell everyone!” She went back to the computer room to update her social networks. She was shocked when she found out 6 of her good loyal friends won to! They were all excited because they had already gotten their phone calls. Now it was just Claire. She looked at the clock and it was now only five minutes. “Claire” her mom called out. “5 minutes”. “I know” Claire hollered back. She closed the browser, and went into the kitchen where her parents were waiting. She sat down on one of the bar stools. “Your gonna answer the phone.” She pointed to the phone all confident, looking at her mom. “ No, I’m not.” “Yes, ya are.” Then, the phone rang. Claire pointed for her mom to pick up the phone, and her mom did the same. On the third ring her dad took the phone. “ hello?” “yes, it is.” “yes, she’s right here, one second.” Claire was smiling. “It sounded like a female” he whispered to her, and handed her the phone. Her voice came out easier than she thought. “ hello?” “ hi, your Claire?” “Yes.” “hi, I’m Eliza, Criss’s assistant.” While she was saying that, Claire motioned for her parents to leave. “Well this is a phone call I never expected to get.” Claire felt better and Eliza laughed. “ Well, hi, its nice to talk to you.” “You too.” Eliza seemed like a really sweet woman. “So I’d just like to get some basic information on you, and then I can give you the travel information.” “ Sounds good.” Claire said now prepared. After a thirty to forty minute conversation, Claire hung up the phone. It might have taken less time, but Claire had to ask questions. She would be flying out of JFK. She was happy to know that it would be a direct flight to Cabo. She looked at the phone. She had no choice, she would have to fly. Mind Body and Spirit. Criss’s words exactly. She had a feeling her parents would be in their room. She went and stood in the doorway. Her parents turned to her. “So?” her mom questioned. “I’m going.” With a smile on her face Claire said confidently. Both her parents congratulated her with a “yay” and indicated a group hug. “Your first time flying alone.” Her dad looked down at her. “Yup.” She replied. “Guess this must be really important for you.” Her dad said softly looking at her mother.
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PART 10:

Claire had a week ( few days?) before she had to leave. She started preparing her clothes and what she would take. Her floor was covered with neat piles. She wasn’t crazy about her body, but she took what she knew would look flattering on her. Tank tops, a few long sleeve shirts in case it got a little chilly, pants, and skirts. She was looking in her closet, when she saw a skirt she hasn’t worn in a long time. She took it out, and admired it. It was a rufous red, which is a dark red, but lighter than maroon. It went straight down, and then had ruffles at the end like a gypsy skirt. She knew it would look great on her while she stood on the sand, watching the gorgeous sunset. “Is that gonna happen?” “Will I have time?” She said out loud standing in the middle of her room. “Well I’m taking it” and put it down. “How’s it going Cabo girl to be.” Her mom at her door asking. Claire scanned the floor. “Prettty good.” “Do you want any help?” “No, no, I’m fine.” Casually, but in a tone of please don’t come in my room. She didn’t care if her mom saw what she took, but she didn’t want any side comments like: your taking too much or too little, why are you bringing this? Her next dilemma was what bikini she was gonna bring. The idea of Criss having to see her in a bathing suit was weird. She respected him too much to have him looking at her almost naked body, and that certainly was not the point of this trip. But she knew she needed something. She would want to go swimming. She looked down at the floor, before asking “So what bikini do you think I should bring?” “Bikini?’ her mom was a little curious. “ I know, I was thinking the same thing.” Claire agreed. “But I’m gonna wanna go swimming?” “True, and besides Criss isn’t interested in you that way.” She paused, but decided to step into Claire’s room and go over to her closet. “I hope.” Ma! she said shocked. “He’s a man.” Ma, he has a girlfriend.” Her mother found a bikini for her and held it up. “There’s gonna be six of his loyals in Mexico in bikinis.” She gave one stare at her mom. “Her name is Brooke.” Claire was defensive. “Is she coming?” “I don’t know.” Claire said with an attitude. She took the bikini from her mom’s hands, and turned around to her clothes to put it down. “He’s Criss Angel,” He’ll probably be staying at another hotel, who knows?” “ Wouldn’t be surprised.” Her mom said obviously. She remembered that she was cooking lunch on the stove. “Lunch should be ready soon. I’ll call you.” “What are we having?” “You’ll see.” and she went back to the kitchen. Lunch was gonna be a surprise.
“Oooo”. Claire came into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Tacos?” she questioned. “ Since your gonna be in Mexico soon, might as well start you early on the cuisine.” Even though Claire had Mexican food before. Claire was hungry. “Where’s dad?” “He should be coming home soon.” Just then she heard the garage door open. Claire started to take some food now that she knew her dad was home. Her mom was setting the salsa and sour cream down. “ Hi dad” Her mom turned around and gave her dad a kiss. Her dad looked at Claire. “ Would you eat before Criss got to the table?” her dad questioned sounding serious. Claire stopped chewing and put her fork down. “ I’m kidding, go ahead.” “Don’t worry, I wont do that when I’m in Mexico.” Hehe, Mexico” Claire giggled. Her dad started to take some food on his plate, and her mom sat down, and now Claire could put some sour cream on her plate. “So do you know who else won?” her dad curious who these loyal friends of hers were. “Oh yes, let see: LeAnn, Arianna, Zoe, she paused. Kate, Xesca, and, Rhiannon.” Smiling, and taking another bite of her taco. “ I hope non of these girls are psycho”. “True” her dad agreed. “mom, dad!” Claire was annoyed. “What is it?” “First mom, thinks that Criss is gonna be interested in me, and now these friends.” “ We just want you to be careful”. Claire imagined that she could hear the sounds of Mexican music summoning her from her room. “Ok, well I’m done.” Claire excused herself and went back to her room where she was safe. She shut the door and leaned against it. “ugh” She then looked over at her wall where her Criss pictures were. She then started to smile.
It was still cold outside, but Claire knew that soon enough she was actually going to stand outside in a tank top. Whenever she and her mother went to do errands, and spoke to her friends, she tried not to yell: I’m doing great, I am going to Cabo to spend quality time with a celebrity! Telling them would have been nice, just to make them jealous. She just said she was going on “vacation.” “Hey honey..” Claire’s mom yelled out. “ Ya?” “ Could you get the mail?” “ Ya sure” Claire looked at her clothes once more before leaving. She was almost done packing and ready to get the luggage. As she pulled the mail out, she could tell it was all typical stuff: magazines and letters. Snail mail is so nice sometime, but Claire could see that not using it was good because its saving paper. When she went back into the house she put the mail down and sat down on one of the bar stools. “ thank you honey.” Her mom started going through it. Claire gave a sigh. “You okay?” “Ya, tired. I was just trudging through the snow.” “hmmm, whats this?” sounding as if she knew, her mother held up a letter, and Claire looked at her a little confused. “ To Claire Epidavaros” as she turned the envelope facing Claire. Claire took it. “ ooo, for me.” “ Looks official” Claire started opening it. Her dad walked in. “ What did you get?” he looked over her shoulders. Claire slowly lifted out the contents. Inside was her plane ticket for Cabo, and a note. “ oh my god, look, its my plane ticket!” Claire’s face lit up. Her dad looked at the ticket, while Claire read the note : Don’t loose your ticket and have a safe flight! xoxo Eliza. “ and his assistant wrote me a little note!” “ well that’s nice of her.” Her parents were impressed when she handed them the note to see. Claire grabbed the note and ticket after a few minutes and held it close. “Claire give it to me to hold. We know how your room gets messy and then you can’t find anything, remember like when you almost lost the tickets to Believe? I don’t want the day to come, you have to leave, and you cant find your ticket.” Claire kept the note, and went to her room, grabbed a clear mounting square, and posted it with her Criss pictures so she wouldn’t forget it.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 11:

What would she do? What would she say? It was Claire’s last day at home. She couldn’t believe she was going to be on a plane at 10 am tomorrow morning, alone. Well not hopefully not alone. Claire convinced herself that she would make a friend on the flight who was just as scared as she was. She knew she had to be up at 9 am so she could have her last breakfast with her parents. When she woke up, Shadow was already awake, lying there licking his paw and looked at her when she looked at him. She pulled him closer to her. “I’m gonna miss you little guy.” She kissed him. “ lets go to the kitchen shall we?”
“Good morning” Claire walked in. “ Hi Claire, Hi Shadow.” Her dad happily said. Claire sat at the table where her mom was sitting already starting to eat. Claire put Shadow down so he could get a drink. Claire saw some good things on the table. Cereal, hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, and bagels. She took a bagel, and an egg and knew she would only eat the white part. Her dad took his plate and joined them. Claire started picking at her egg and moving her shoulders side to side like she had a song in her head.“Ready?” her dad asked.“ I think so” Claire looked up at her parents, as she put a piece of the egg in her mouth, and smiled. “Breakfast is okay?” her mom asked. “ um hum” Claire nodded. “Just think tomorrow afternoon you’ll be in the sun underneath palm trees.” Claire reached for a bowl and spoon to have some cereal. “ I’m gonna miss you.” Her dad said. “I know.” Claire commented, and started pouring the grape nuts into the bowl. “Oh that reminds me” she started. “I wanna make sure I bring some pictures.” She knew what she would do after breakfast. “After you finish packing, want to come with me on my errands?” “I don’t know “ I know your anxious about the plane ride, so we should do something to keep your mind occupied.” “ True” Claire agreed. She happened to notice that her nails needed attention. “While were out can we get a manicure?” Her dad then jumped in. “ haha, if you were a celebrity I could just see it -Breaking news, Claire did not get a manicure before going on vacation!” “ Dad, I wanna look as nice as possible, and that includes my nails.” “ Sure honey” her mom told her rolling her eyes at her husband.
Her mom didn’t change any of her plans because her daughter was going away. By the time they got to Nails in Paris, Claire was ready for some warmer weather though she didn’t mind the cold at all. . “Hi two manicures” her mom told the lady at the desk when they walked in. “Pick a color” she told them. Claire didn’t take her jacket off and went over to the area where the nail polishes were sitting. With so many, Claire always thought that she could never try all of them before she died. She looked them over. “Know what your getting?” her mom picked one up quickly. Still looking at them, Claire didn’t know. “Nope, you?” “Well since its winter, I’m gonna go or something subtle” she picked up a “misty rose” which was like baby pink. “You should do something fun” she nudged her daughter. “Ya, I thought so, I don’t know what though.” She decided to look on the right where they kept all the brighter colors. For some reason Claire wanted to do a color that would match the band that was on her wrist, but then grabbed a bright pink, when she noticed that someone was waiting for her. When Claire and her mom were at the drying station, she looked over at a woman who was reading a magazine, and then closed it. Claire glanced at the cover. Something caught her eye. “Could I see that magazine?” She asked the woman. “Oh sure.” The woman passed it over and Claire and her mom looked at the cover. After about a second, Claire turned her head slowly to her mom. On the cover there was a square size of a photo of Criss with title “ 7 days with 7 loyals”. “Open it, and read the article” her mom was just as antsy as Claire to see what this was about. Claire lifted out her right hand turn the pages.
“ Oh my god, what a..” Claire couldn’t finish the sentence when she and her mom walked back to the car. “Claire, don’t let it get to you.” Claire shut the door to the car. “What a bitch” was the only word at the moment Claire could think of, she was so pissed. She took out her phone to see if she had any messages. Her mom was stronger with not letting what people say about her or others get to her. As she backed out she told Claire “ You’ll be with Criss for a week. When you come back, you’ll be able to prove everyone wrong.” “ Thanks mom” Claire sighed. “ Now, let’s get some dinner shall we?” and they left. When they came home Claire was glad she got out of the house. She took the magazine with her and wanted to put it somewhere where she would never see it again. She hid it under her bed, so it was “beneath her.” She looked up at her Criss photos and read a quote of his to always remind her: NEVER WASTE YOUR TIME WITH NEGATIVE PEOPLE OR WHAT THEY SAY. THE BEST REVENGE IS YOUR HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS. Tomorrow she would be able to talk to him face to face. But for right now she was getting hungry.
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Part 12:
Claire didn’t know what to watch when she got into bed that night. She was ready to go, and her luggage was out near the dining room. She hoped she didn’t forget to bring anything. She was flipping through the channels when she heard a scratch at the door. She got up and opened it, and no surprise there was Shadow wanting to come in. He looked up at her and she picked him up and carried him over to her bed, and got comfortable. It was going to be weird not sleeping with him again, just like at college. She started flipping through the channels again, and stumbled at the travel channel they were talking about the Top 10 best vacation spots. They were just finishing number two which was Zambezi River Rafting, in Zambia. Claire was interested in hearing what would number one be, but didn’t expect to hear that number one was Mexico. She was playing with Shadow when she heard it. “ Mexico?” She looked at the TV, and squinted her eyes skeptical. “ Why is it that Mexico just happens to be number one?” she said out loud as she watched as the TV showed images of amazing beaches and places to go. After a few minutes.. “Oh wow, it’s a sign. Its. a. sign.” She looked up at her ceiling. She continued watching, growing more excited for what was about to come. Finally she turned it off, and it was time to sleep. “Goodnight Shadow.”
The next morning she felt organized although she was nervous like hell. Both her parents called a cab to take them to the airport. Her parents would stay with her before she would have to board. The cab was going to be there in one hour. Until then, Claire’s mom made her some tea and Claire was getting dressed. She realized quickly that they didn’t tell everyone to wear anything special so they would know who belongs in the group, but she figured something with Criss on it would help. She decided for the flight there, she would leave with her black very comfortable sweat pants, sneakers, long sleeve shirt, and her Mindfreak hoodie. On the plane she would change in to a tank top and jeans. She looked in the bathroom mirror and thought she looked pretty good. She didn’t put any makeup on, and straightened her hair last night. It looked the best that way. “ Claire, your tea is ready” her mom called. “Coming!”
Claire sipped her tea, “Nervous?” her mom asked sitting at the table with her. “Very” Claire said going in for another sip as if the kitchen was freezing. “You can do it.” Her mom trying to reassure her. “ thanks for trying to make me believe that.” “ Hate to tell you this, but the cab is here.” Her dad said from the front door. “ Wow, did an hour go by that quick?” Claire got up and went to go pick up her carry on. Her mom and dad grabbed her two other bags. She was the first one to get into the car and the cab driver was curious as to why there were only 2 pieces of luggage. “Oh, those are mine. I’ll be going alone.” Claire said to him. Her parents both joined her in the backseat. As the car left the driveway, Claire felt so bad. She forgot to say goodbye to Shadow. It was so early she couldn’t think. “Oh god, mom, dad, I forgot to say goodbye to Shadow” She put her hands in face. “ Its okay” her dad said. “Will you say goodbye for me when you go back home?” “ Of course.” Claire still felt bad, and on top of that she was all nerves. She couldn’t wait to take notes on how Criss deals with these kind of emotions. It was an hour till they would get to the airport. By the time they got onto the highway, Claire decided she needed something quick to calm her down, so she took out her headphones, and listened to Fear to start, followed by other Criss songs. As she listened, she looked out the window. Men on motorcycles whizzed by, along with a few black SUV’s, and when they were closer to the airport and hit a red light, a truck advertizing Corona stopped on the right side of the cab. It took her a minute, and then she smiled. She always had a piece of Criss with her. She could now see the signs for JFK. She was relieved that at least her parents didn’t send her off to the airport alone. The cab turned onto the road for outgoing flights, and Claire took off her headphones, and whipped out her camera to snap a picture. “ What airline?” the cab driver asked again. Her parents knew she would have to speak for herself now. “ AeroMexico” Claire replied and put her stuff away.
When she got out, the noise of everyone and everything made Claire feel like she had to rush to, even though they got there early. She saw the trash and threw out her travel cup, and came back and got her luggage. She was in charge now. “Thank you” she said to the cab driver. She started to walk away, with her parents following her. When she got to the doors she asked security: “Hi, check in for AreoMexico?” “ Through these doors and down to your left” he said. “Thank you.” “ See you can do this” her mom said patting her shoulder. Checking in wasn’t going to take too long. There were about 20 people in line, and even though she could check herself in, the line looked like it was going pretty smooth. Claire was able to pick up on what she had to do. Without asking she took out her ID and passport. As she stood there waiting, her mom was talking about everything she noticed. Towards the front of the line Claire first noticed a mother and her daughter. Both the little girl’s shirt and the mom’s purse were the same color, although the mother’s purse was a magenta. She wondered if that was supposed to be on purpose, but it was cute. It was then that Claire saw another girl wearing… the same hoodie as her, or so she thought. The girl happened to look at her. Claire smiled at her and she smiled back. The girl raised her arm to show the side of her hoodie which indeed did say Mindfreak. Claire’s mouth dropped open a little, as she and her parents moved forward in the line. “ Cabo?” She yelled questioning. “ Ya!” the girl yelled back. “ Oh my god, hi” Claire said, getting excited. “Who’s that?” her mom asked looking at the girl. “ I think that’s loyal Kate.” Claire said wondering herself. “I’m loyal Claire” Claire told her. “ I’m loyal Kate” “ I thought it was you!” Claire said back starting to feel better. Claire then noticed that Kate was being called up. “Oh go ahead” she pointed. “ I’ll talk to you later” “ Ok” Kate said back. Claire turned to her parents really excited now. “ wow, I met someone else already! Maybe I’ll get to sit next to her!” “ Or maybe you’ll sit seven rows behind her” her dad knew that would get to her, and laughed. It was then Claire’s turn. Claire took out her tickets. “ Hi Claire Epidavaros, I have my tickets here” she handed them, her ID and her passport to the woman. The woman looked up once and went back to the computer typing away. “ Your all set.” “ Thank you.” As Claire walked away, she turned to her parents who were proud of her already. “ Phase 1, done.”
Going through security was fairly easy, and her parents waited for her at the end so she could learn to do it alone. “Got everything?” her mom asked, as Claire looked around gathering her things. “I think so.” As she started to put on her sneakers and flung her carry on hanging on her shoulder. “ Lets go.”
“ Well its time.” Claire took a deep breath. “Claire, its gonna be so great, when you come back, your gonna say : I wanna do it all over again!” “ I can’t wait to see pictures!” her mom said as they walked her towards the line. “ Alright, you guys can go. I call you one more time when I’m on the plane.” Claire had to let go. She gave them both a hug. As they walked away she heard “ We love you!” She waved to them. As she started walking to board, she heard her name being called. “Claire!” She turned around. “ Oh hi!” she exclaimed. It was Kate. She caught up with her. “ I didn’t see you waiting out there?” Claire asked. “ Ya, that’s because I was at McDonalds. “ Ah ha.” “hey, did you see where were sitting?” Kate asked breaking the ice, and like she already knew. “ No”. Kate showed her, her ticket. “ First class?!” Claire was shocked and looked back at her ticket “ Oh my god!” Claire looked at the number of her seat: “5A “she said outloud. “5B.” Kate said. “Were sitting together, thank god.” Claire let out a sigh of relief. “Your really nervous aren’t you?” “ Ya.” “ Don’t worry, I’ve done this twice already, the first time I was nervous like you.” They were about to board the plane. So I guess were the only ones from New York? Claire said. “Yup” Kate looked behind her, and gave Claire a high five. “ tickets?” the flight attendant asked. Kate let Claire go first. She stepped in, and waited for Kate. They were escorted to their seats. Kate went into her seat first, and looked out the window. “ So glad I have the window seat”. “ So glad I don’t.” Claire replied. They laughed. “Afraid of heights?” “ No” Claire told her after putting her carry on under the seat in front of her, and sat down, “ I just feel kinda cramped in.” It didn’t matter now, Claire noticed she was quite comfortable. “Are you surprised as I am that Criss got everyone first class?” Kate didn’t see it as a big deal, and she put her head back and closed her eyes. “ Loyals aka VIP’s.” Kate spelled out with her hand. Claire chuckled. Claire felt like she maybe was talking too much. She took out her phone and called her parents one last time.

[LoyalSamy]

DAY 1: Parts 13- 23:

“ Ugh, six hours. what are we gonna do for six hours?” Claire said after she hung up the phone. “ Get to know each other?” Kate replied. “ Work on our Criss trivia” Claire thought, and smiled. “oh, I just remembered.” Kate started going through her bag.Claire looked to see that first class was starting to fill up as people took their seats. Claire was still nervous about the flight. She needed to distract her mind. She then looked over at Kate again. She held something in her lap. “wanna see something I made for Criss?” “You made something?” Claire was shocked. “I didn’t make anything, now I feel bad.” “ Don’t worry, it’s a just a little scrapbook I threw together, and never got to send to him, and now, I can give to him.” She smiled. Claire looked over at it. “ Ready?” “ Yup.” As she started to open it, Claire asked “ So have ever been to Mexico?” her eyes got wide, she was getting more excited. “ Nope, you?” “ Cancun” Claire said casually. “ But I’m sure the west part looks different.” “ Hopefully” Kate said. “ Wow, this is really cool” Claire said as she started to pay attention to the scrapbook. “ Thanks, think he’ll like it?” as she turned the pages. “ Oh of course” Claire really liked it. “ Want to add something to it?” Kate asked when she got to last page which was blank. “ Oh, sure.” Claire took the silver pen Kate handed her, she was a little hesitant as to what to write, but then she thought of something: And we’ll always have Cabo ~ love Loyal Claire & Loyal Kate <3. Kate looked over. “ Awwww, I like that!” Kate said. “ I think it ends it nicely.” Claire said confidently. She decided to take out her drink, and put it in the pocket on the seat in front of her. The flight attendants started going around and helping people with their carry ons, so they could sit down. The captain announced that they would be taxing in 10 minutes. Claire still was curious as to what these next 6 hours would bring, and hopefully it would go by fast. She brought her ipod, a book and a magazine. Kate was going through her bag at the moment, , probably looking for similar items. Ipod, chocolate, deck of CA cards and MADLIBS. " What first?" she asked. " I'd go with the chocolate if it wasnt so early." Claire told her. Kate agreed and put it away. " and since I'm not to good with cards, lets do MADLIBS." Kate flipped open a page and showed Claire. The title was " The Magician." " haha, thats funny, lets do it."
When Kate read back what they had created, not only were they giggling, but they were already on the runway. " We should read that to Criss". Claire said in the midst of her last laugh. " I know" Ckate agreed. " Ugh, this is the worst part" Claire's attention was now on the flight, and she could tell they were about to take off. Kate for some reason didnt say anything. As the plane began to pick up speed Claire clutched the arm rest. Kate then asked her:Where is Criss's favorite vacation spot? As the same time as the plane began to lift off, both of them said excitedly : "CABO!!!!!!!!!!!"
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Part 14:
The wind was warm, as the palm trees swayed as the waves crashed on the sand. Or she hoped. They were almost at Cabo. Claire really handled the flight well, and it was smooth. She was curious as to who would pick them up, how did she know she would be going with the right person? Kate and her exchanged numbers just in case. Another question came up : would Criss be at the airport? Psht, nah she thought, as she was looking outside the window on her right. He’ll probably be in the hotel waiting for them- But that was the thing sometimes with Criss. Bam surprise! She then looked over at Kate who was still sleeping. Claire was listening to her ipod. Everyone else in first class were older adults who looked like they were all going to a great vacation spot to do business. Newspapers and magazines were in their lap. She hoped they would read some of that stuff on the beach at least. Claire put her head back and closed her eyes.
“This is your pilot speaking, it looks like we’ll be getting to Cabo on time, and we should be landing in 15 minutes.” Claire smiled and opened her eyes and looked over at Kate who was now awake. “ Wanna do one last MadLib?” “ That’s what you say right before were landing?” “What did you want to say?” Kate was confused. “ I don’t know.” “Come on, it will make the time go by faster, and will have something to laugh about after we land, so were not so nervous.”
When everyone was gathering there things, Claire was waiting for Kate. “Can you believe it, in a little while we are gonna be with Criss!” Claire thought she was going to squeal. “ I know” Kate giggled. “crazy.” “ Got everything?” “Think so, lets go” or as they say here “ Vamos.” Claire reminded her. As they walked down the corridor both of them were quiet until Kate asked “ So who do you think were suppose to look for?” Kate and Claire were thinking the same thing. “ I guess maybe Tommy or Eliza, but we don’t know what Eliza looks like.” Claire said now unsure. “Ya, maybe someone will be holding up a sign like those travel groups.” Kate said. “Hopefully.” “ Alright, start looking.” Claire said when they saw everyone waiting. “ Well were both wearing our loyal hoodies, they should see us.” Kate suggested. “let’s keep walking, maybe they cant.” Claire thought. After a few minutes Kate tapped Claire on her arm with the back of her hand. She pointed to her left. “ look, what does that say?” There was a man holding a sign. “ Criss Angel Cabo contest.” Claire looked her. “let’s go.”
“Hello ladies.” The gentleman said when Kate and Claire walked up. “ I guess the both of you won the contest?” he asked. “Yes we did.” Kate and Claire smiled. He pulled out a piece of paper and Kate and Claire felt somewhat relieved. . “Your names?” he then asked. “Oh, I’m Kate Banks” Kate introduced herself. “ And I am Claire Epidavros.” This was the first step of Claire’s first impression. He checked the paper again. “ Ah, yes, here you are.” He checked off there names. “ So, did anyone else come in yet?” Claire was curious and excited to meet everyone else. “ Oh no, you two are the first ones.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself,” he shook his head. I am Derrick.” He went to go shake hands with each of them. I’ll be your driver for this trip for wherever you may go.” “ So I believe that Xesca and LeAnn are coming in next,” as he looked back at the paper and motioned for them to follow him. Claire recognized both names and nodded. When they walked outside of the airport, it was exactly as Claire saw it on the travel channel last night. It didn’t feel too hot and the sun was shining. So far Claire had nothing to complain about. They had arrived at the car they were going to be traveling in. Claire was a bit surprised that it wasn’t a hummer or a limo, but just your basic four door black car. Derrick then opened the truck, and helped the girls with their luggage. When Derrick started up the car, Claire announced: “I’m sorry, I’m just gonna call me parents to let them know I got here.” “ Oh sure” Derrick answered. As they pulled out, Claire looked out the window, and waited as the phone rang as she started to hear Derrick ask Kate when she became a loyal.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 15:
Claire’s parents were relieved that Claire was fine. She told them how excited she was- She saw Derrick chuckle and Kate smiled at her. She then hung up. “Your parents are worry free?” Derrick asked. “ Oh, ya.” “ Alright, so I heard Kate’s loyal story, whats yours?” “ Well..” Claire began. They were about fifteen minutes away from the hotel. “So where is this hotel?” For some reason they didn’t tell the winners where they were staying. Kate asked after Claire told her story, looking from Claire to Derrick hoping to get an answer. “Most likely somewhere private, and didn’t want to give out the name incase one of the winners decided to blab.” Claire said. She looked back at Derrick for a second to see if she was right. “ Claire is right on that, but were only ten minutes away.” “wow” Claire and Kate eyes widened at each other. “ You probably wont be able to meet Criss right away.” Derrick said. Claire could tell by the way Derrick talked he knew the answer, he just wasn’t telling them. “You’ll get settled into your room, and given a tour.” “After I drop you two off, I have to turn around and pick up the others.” “ I cant wait to see what our room looks like” Kate gushed. “ I know” Claire agreed. “ Isnt it gorgeous out here?” “ Oh ya, I cant wait to go swimming!” They both started looking out the window as the car started to slow down, turn to the right, down a road and began going uphill. Kate’s phone then rang. “ Oh, hey- ya, I’m here” she told the other person. Claire tapped Kate and signaled for her to turn around while she was talking. When Kate turned around, she saw an amazing view of the beach below them. Claire then turned around and so did Kate. When they did, the saw the hotel. “ Thanks for calling, listen, I’m gonna.. have.. to call.. you back.” Kate slowly said and hung up.The hotel was beautiful. “ Welcome” Derrick told them with a smile, noticing how excited they were when the car stopped. “ Thank you so much for driving us.” as Claire took off her seatbelt and reminded herself to say thank you to everyone.
She was about to open the door to get out when the door opened for her. “ Beinvendos” a man said to her with a smile. “ Oh-thank- gracias”. Claire reminded herself to use as much Spanish as possible. “ de nada” he responded. She got out and saw that Derrick helped Kate on her side. Derrick opened the trunk and started giving them their bags. “ What did you say to him?” Kate asked her. Claire was shocked, but was gentle. “ I said thank you.” Derrick and Claire looked at Kate. “ Do you not know any Spanish?” Claire asked her. Kate shook her head. “ I think the only words I know are si, and adios and hola.” “ Ok, well I guess that’s the first thing your gonna learn tonight! ”She looked back at Derrick who just smiled.”Ok” Kate said. The man who opened the door for Claire waved his hand for them to follow him. “ bye Derrick” Claire looked back. “ Bye” Kate said to. “ Bye girls, see you later!” He got back in the car and drove off. They walked up to the front desk to check in. “ Hola” Claire said to the woman who’s name tag read Carmela. “ Hola” she replied. “ were here for the..” Claire begun hoping she spoke English. “ for the Criss Angel contest?” Carmela said in her accent. “Oh yes,” Claire said looking at Kate who was surprised to.” Mr. Sarantakos gave us the list”. “ I see” Claire nodded, and nudged Kate. They both realized Criss was here already. “Well, I’m Claire Epidavaros”. “ Ok, I’ll need ID and passaport.” As she said this, Kate introduced herself and got out her stuff. She crossed their names off the list. “ Ok, it says here you two will be bunking together.” “bunking together?” Kate and Claire were a bit confused. “ Yes, since there’s seven of you, the idea was that it would be easier if two people stayed in one room, and, less expensive.” “ Even though he has the money” Kate said quietly bringing Claire to smack her on the arm. “ Stop it, we should be happy that he put us in first class.” “ Well, here are your keys. Your room number is on it, and your on the fifth floor.” “ Muchas gracias” Claire said and smiled. “What was that?” Kate asked again. “Thank you very much” Claire giggled as they headed for the elevator which Claire was not excited about.
When the doors opened to the fifth floor, Claire and Kate stepped out into the hallway, and looked at there keys. The hallway was quiet. “I wonder where Criss’s room is?” Kate said as they started to walk. Claire was thinking the same thing, but right now just wanted to get to their room so she could put her stuff down. “ Ya, I was thinking the same thing when we got our keys.” “ alright room 43.” Claire said. They saw in front of them room 40. They turned to the right to see room 41, next to it, and then 43 on there right . “Oh ok, were here.” Claire noticed. When they got to the door they paused. “ What do you think it looks like? Kate said. “I hope its nice.” “Were at the hotel Criss stays at, of course its gonna be nice.” Claire laughed. “ Ya.” “ Wanna do the honors? I’ve been doing the talking” Claire asked her. “Sure.” A click was heard and the door unlocked. Kate opened the door slowly.
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Part 16:
Kate opened the door. On the left was a bathroom and then there was a room complete with two beds, and one night stand in the middle with one lamp. Kate and Claire walked in and dropped their stuff. Suddenly, “ I call the bed on the right!” Claire yelled and ran over and sat on the bed acting silly. “ Good” Kate laughed. “ cuz I wanted the one on the left.” Kate went to the bed and sat down. There bags still hung out at the door. They both took a breath. “What now?’ Claire asked. “ wanna unpack?” “ Nah,.. I wanna..” Kate began. “ Scope out the hotel?” Claire said. “Ya.” “ First, you’ve been to camp before right?” Claire decided to get up and move her suitcase from the door. “ Oh ya” Kate said. “ You know how they put your name on the cabin so people know which one your in?” “ Ya?” Kate said listening. “So, lets do that!” Claire said. “So when the other’s come up, they’ll know which one is our room.” “ I didn’t bring any tape or paper.” She said. “ I did.” Claire said starting to take out her stuff. When Kate and Claire were working on their name signs, they heard a knock on the door. They both looked up. “Criss?” Kate said. “No way” Claire whispered. Another knock came. “Go answer it.” Kate told her. Claire looked in the peephole. “ It’s a woman.” Claire didn’t know if she should, but took a chance and opened the door. “Yes?” Claire asked. “ Hi” The woman said. The voice sounded familiar and Kate looked over but couldn’t see her. “ Are you one of the winners of the Criss Angel cabo contest?” she asked. “ Yes” Claire said. “ Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Alana.” She extended her hand. “ Oh my god, hi, nice to meet you, I’m Claire.” Claire shook her hand. She turned around to Kate. “ Kate come here” she waved her hand. “ It’s Alana.” “ Alana as in Criss’s assistant?” Kate said slowly as she walked over. “ Yes, that’s me.” “ Nice to meet you, I’m Kate.” “Hi Kate.” She smiled. She was happy that both of them were in such good spirits. She liked them already. “ So we just got here a little while ago” Claire began telling her. “ I know.” Alana said. “They called my room and told me. “” I came to say hello and introduce myself, and to tell you, that I am here for you girls if you need to talk to someone, or god forbid there’s an emergency.” “ Well thank you.” Claire said. “ Sure, do you need anything right now?” “ Uh, no” she paused looking at Kate, just in case. “ I don’t think so.” “ okay good.” Alana said. “ Oh, here are your schedules.” She handed them two pieces of paper from her clipboard she had been holding. “ The first page is what you’ll be doing every day, and the second is the layout of this floor, and who’s room is who’s. Kate and Claire didn’t look at the schedule but as soon as they saw where Criss’s room was, at the same time, peered their head out the door and to the left. Alana laughed. “ So is he?” Kate started to question. “ Is he in there now?” Alana smiled and then laughed again. “ Yes, he is, but you wont get to meet him until everyone else is here.” “ That makes sense.” Claire said. “ It is very cool though that he’s so close.” I thought he would be in another hotel or the floor above us.” Claire giggled. “ Oh no, he’s not like that.” Alana told them. “So did you want to get a tour of the hotel?” “ Uh ya sure.” Kate spoke up. “We can do the name thing when we come back.” She told Claire who agreed. “ Okay, one sec.” Claire went to grab her phone. She couldn’t believe all this was happening, and it was only going to get better.
Claire shut the door, and had her key in her pocket. “So how old are you two?” Alana started to break the ice. “I’m 17” Kate answered. “ And I’m 23.” Claire responded. “ You two will be okay together?” “ Oh ya sure” Claire said. “I’ll just treat her like the little sister I never had”. “ Awww” Alana said, as she pressed the elevator button. Claire wondered if there would be a time that she would be able to take it with Criss so she could feel a little bit more relaxed. “ You okay Claire?” Alana suddenly seemed to notice Claire’s hesitance when the elevator came and the doors opened. “ Oh ya, I’ll be fine, its just I hate taking the elevator. For some reason I just very uncomfortable in them physically.” “ Oh I’m sorry.” Alana was so sweet. “ Do you want to take the stairs?” “ No, no, I’ll be fine.” Claire tried to convince her. “ I have to take it all the time when I visit in the Luxor anyway.” When they stepped into the elevator, Claire grabbed onto the side, and closed her eyes. She felt so embarrassed. Eliza apologized again. “ I’m sorry about that, if I had known, I would have told Criss to take out the entire first floor.” She opened her eyes and the doors opened. “ Thanks again.” Claire said. Kate walked out and started off. “ Eliza whispered to Claire. “ If you want, I can tell Criss about this, and whenever we need to go in the elevator, he can go with you, how would you like that?” “ Oh my goodness, that would really help” Claire put her hand on her chest. “ No problem.” “ Hey Kate” Eliza turned around. “Wait for me, I don’t want you just wondering off.” “ Come on” Alana said to Claire. She then look out her cell phone. Claire didn’t think anything of it, and kept looking around at the hotel. She then saw Kate come back towards them. “ Don’t know where your going do you?” she asked Kate. “ Nope, not really.” “ Who is Alana on the phone with?” she looked over to Claire’s left. Claire looked. “Oh, I don’t know.” Claire didn’t even realized Alana had stopped. “ I like this place so far.” Kate said, bringing Claire back to the conversation. “Ya, what I like about it is that its beautiful, but it’s simple, not overdone like some of the hotels in New York, you know?” “Kate nodded. “ Know what I just realized?” “ I’m thirsty and I don’t know how to use the currency here.” Claire said. “ Crap, your right.” Kate agreed. “Well lets ask Alana about it.” Claire said as Alana made her way over. “ Sorry about that, had to talk to the “man.” she emphasized the word. “ Criss?” Claire and Kate said at the same time. “ Haha, you two are funny, yes.” she said. “ So as you can see, this is the lobby.” She began giving them the tour. “Somewhere around here we’ll probably meet in the morning, and have breakfast- it says something like that on your schedule, this is where we mean.” ( describe the lobby) Kate and Claire listened as they kept walking. “ So Kate and I before realized we don’t know how to use the currency, so how does that work?” Claire asked wondering where they were going next. “ Oh, I’ve conquered how to convert it from American dollars so if you need help lemme know.” “Ok good.” Claire sighed. “cuz I’m thirsty and left my drink in the room.” “ Oh ok, let me show you a bit of the outside and the pool area and then we will.” When they got to the pool area Kate and Claire were so impressed. Where Alana showed them was the area that was just for Criss and his guests. “ eek, I cant wait to go swimming” Kate said as she splashed the water with her foot. Alana giggled. “ You’ll probably get to go tomorrow.” Claire was trying to take everything in. She wished her brain was part camera so she could blink her eyes and take a picture of whatever she saw. “ Do you have any other questions?” Alana asked as they started to head back into the hotel. “ No.” Claire and Kate said coincidently. Alana then remembered that Claire was thirsty. When they got to the front desk, Alana asked “ Donde esta la maquina expendedora?” “What did she say?” Kate again curious. “ I think she said Where is the vending machine.” “ Gracias” Alana said. “ Ok Claire, you see that hallway over by the elevators on the right?” Claire nodded listening. “ She says its down that hallway on the right.” “Oh okay thank you.” “ hey, I’ll come with you.” Kate said. As Claire started to walk, she wondered if the machine would take American dollars.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 17:
When Claire and Kate walked back to the lobby area they saw Alana hang up the phone. “I got good news girls.” She said smiling. “ I just got a call a from Derek telling me that he got two other loyals and hes on his way back.” Claire and Kate were excited. Claire opened her drink and took a couple of desperate sips. “ So there’s not much to do until everyone gets here.” Alana said now. “ Oh okay.” Claire said not knowing what to say next. “ Do you want to go relax in your room and I’ll let you know when they get here?” she asked. “ Uh ya, sure?” Claire said and looked at Kate who agreed.
When they got back to the room, Claire was ready to make herself comfortable. “ hey, I’m gonna unpack-that ok?” she asked Kate. “Oh ya, sure, we can do this later.” Claire then realized she wanted to take a picture of the room. Kate went over to her bag and took out a journal and sat on the bed and started writing. Claire got her camera, stood at the door and said “ smile.” Kate looked up. Claire then wanted to talk, but she saw that Kate was on concentrating on what she was writing until- “ hey, how do you spell definitely?” Claire stood up from taking out stuff. “Oh that’s a tough one for me to. I usually just spell define, and then put tly at the end.” As she laughed. “Eh, whatever, no one is gonna see this.” Kate said not caring. As Claire continued to unpack the little things, she took out the picture that was taken the night she met Criss for the first time, and instead of keeping it in the room, had a better idea. “What are you doing?” Kate asked as Claire opened the door. “ Remember that night when we were all in the chatroom, and we chased everyone away because they were all jealous we won the contest, and we all decided to have everyone bring their picture of when they first met Criss?” “Oh ya,” Kate now remembered. “ Well instead of pulling it out all the time, I’m gonna tape mine on the door, so that everyone walks by, see’s it.” “ Oh, cute idea.” Kate said. “let me get mine.”
As they taped their pictures, Kate looked down the hall. She whispered “Do you realize that the only people in this hallway are you, me and..” she moved her head to the right, instead of saying Criss’s name. Claire looked over. “ Oh my god, your right.” She said almost fully laughing. “ I cant wait to meet him again.” Kate said. “I know, me to.” Claire whispered back. She stepped back from the door. “What do you think?” “ I like it.” Kate said. “ I like yours cuz hes hugging you and looking at the camera.” Claire said. “Well I, and most loyals like yours because he’s smiling, how often does he do that? huh, huh, huh? Kate said three times fast. Claire smiled. Claire then looked at Kate and she was thinking. “What?” Claire asked wondering. “ I just got a great idea, could be really funny to.” Kate said. “Oh no, what?” Claire asked. She didn’t like where this was going. Kate was a teenager afterall. “Come on.” Kate said, while opening the door and going inside. “How about we make little notes that say hi on them, and slip them under his door.” Kate seemed excited by the idea, but Claire looked at her blankly. “ Are you kidding me with this? Do you really want to get into trouble? Cuz I want him to like me, not send me back home, or worse, sleep with the fishes!” she whispered back fast. Kate saw no harm in it, and the shyness she seem to show all this time was slipping away. “Come on, it could be fun, who knows, he may write back, and wouldn’t that show for something when we go back?” She started looking for a piece of paper when the phone rang. Claire went to pick it up. When she said hello, she put her hand down so that Kate couldn’t write.
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Part 18:
“ Hi Claire, its Alana.” “ Oh, hi Alana.” Claire replied back as Kate went back to sitting on her bed to continue writing. “ I just wanted to let you know that Zoe and Arianna are here.” “Oh, that’s great” Claire said happily. “Ya, I’ll just have them get checked in, and they should be up soon.” “Ok, thanks for calling.” She hung up. A little annoyed, but realizing she could do whatever without a partner, Kate asked “That was?” “Oh, just Alana telling us that Zoe and Arianna are here.” “Oh ok.” Claire went back to upacking as Claire thought about the next two loyals. Zoe was a lot older than all of the other six loyals, but it was nice because she always acted like a mother to all of them, and being here would help in case any of them decided to misbehave. She was from San Diego and loved it there. Arianna, who was a teenager, was also from California. She was one of those people who had their own style. What she wore, from how she spoke. She struggled to befriend other loyals sometimes, but was the only one out of all of the girls here to see Criss’s love show the most. Criss would definitely remember her for sure.
“ okay, well it looks like I’m done.” Claire said putting her hands on her hips. “ Guess I should start unpacking to.” Kate said looking over realizing it would be awkward for the others to see the room if she didn’t. Claire decided to take out her magazine to read since there was nothing else to do at the moment. She sat on her bed and started flipping through the pages when she remembered. “ I cant believe I didn’t ask you this before, have you seen the cover of Red Carpet?” “ Uh, no, why?” Kate said. “Oh, my god.” Claire said as she rolled her eyes and put down her magazine. “ I was getting my nails done a few days ago and there’s this article in there about Criss and this contest, but it doesn’t say how great of an idea it is, and how we get a great opportunity, but how a source “ close to Criss” says that this contest is all a ploy so he can sleep with 7 different women.” Kate sat on her bed a bit stunned. “ That’s nuts.” “I know.” Claire agreed. “ Even he that’s all he did want to do, he wouldn’t need a “ contest” as a cover up!” Kate’s voice rose. “ Did you bring it with you?” she looks over at Claire’s stuff. “ No, its at home under my bed, I took it so no one else would read that sh*.” “I think we need to tell Criss.” Kate said sitting at the edge of her bed. Claire didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t do well with negativity, and when things really got to her, it sits under her skin. She sighed. “You think so?”
“Ya.” Kate said. “ You know he probably doesn’t have any time to be looking at the magazine shelves.” “Ya, that’s true.” Claire agreed. Claire didn’t want to hurt Criss, and this was his vacation.
In Criss’s room:
There was a knock on the door. “ Oh, hey Tommy- hows it going? Come in.” “ You okay?” Criss went back to sitting on his couch. “ No, not really. I just got off the phone with Sara. She was just in a store and she said she saw a magazine with an article about you.” “ Ya?” Criss was waiting. “ She was curious to see what it was about, and it wasn’t your typical “ make sure you watch Wednesday’s episode.” He sat on the opposite side. “ So what did it say?” When Tommy was done telling Criss, Criss first had a look of : I just saw a ghost to anger. “ You are kidding?” “ I wish.” “ Obviously she knows its BS.” Tommy tried to calm him down. “ Well of course it is.” Criss said, his voice rising. “ Who would write such a story?” Tommy just shrugged his shoulders. “ Can you get a copy of it?” “ Ya, I told her to fax it to us.”
Outside the hall:
Alana, Zoe, and Arianna were walking down the hall. “As you see, here are the other two.” Eliza pointed out as she saw the surprise on the door. They smiled. “And here is your room.” Zoe and Arianna turned around and Zoe took out her key and opened the door. “wow.” She said. “awesome.” Arianna said as they stepped in. They thanked Eliza at the same time. “ Your welcome.” If you need anything, I’m at the end of the hall.” She left the two of them to unpack. “This is so cool.” Arianna spoke again. “ I know.” Zoe agreed. “Do you want to unpack, or greet the others?” “ Oh ya, I don’t need to unpack now.” Zoe laughed.
There was a knock at the door. “Criss?” Kate wondered being silly. Claire waved her hand at her and opened the door. “ Hiii!” both Arianna and Zoe said.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 19:
“ Are you Claire?” Zoe was the first to ask. “ Yes, are you Zoe?” Kate then came to the door. “ Hi, I’m Kate.” “Hi Kate.” Arianna said. “ You must be Arianna?” Claire asked. “ here I am!” She put her hands up. “ You guys can come in.” Claire told them opening the door wider. “ We were just saying how we love the pictures on your door.” Zoe said as they stepped in. “ Oh ya, I thought it would be cute.” “It is.” Arianna followed. “ So how was your flight?” Claire asked. “ It was good, we were actually on the same flight!” “ Same with us.” Claire commented. “ So its weird to see everyone in person.” Zoe spoke again. “ Ya, one second were internet buddies, and now here we are.” Kate said. “So I wonder where the other three are?” Arianna asked. “ So who else is coming? Remind me.” Zoe asked. It was like Claire had everything memorized. “ The four of us, Xesca, Rhiannon and LeAnn.” “ Oh, LeAnn is a hoot.” Arianna stated. “ Ya, I know, I cant wait to meet her.” Claire replied back. Claire saw that all of them were just standing around. “ oh, you guys can sit.” Claire sat on her bed and moved over. Zoe sat next to her. “ So do you guys want a tour of the hotel?” Kate asked. “ Oh, no, we’ll get one later when everyone else gets here.” Arianna said sitting on Kate’s bed. “ Well its great to meet you girls, but I think I’m gonna go unpack before dinner. Zoe now said. “ Oh that’s fine.” Claire said. “ I’ll stay with you guys.” Arianna said not moving.

~ an hour later:
Arianna, Kate and Claire were hanging out in the room getting acquainted when the phone rang. “ I’m getting hungry.” Arianna said moving her lips. “ Ya, me to.” Kate agreed. “ Hello?” Claire answered the phone. “ Hello Claire, its Alana.” She laughed. “ Hello again.” “ I just wanted to let you know that the next three loyals have arrived.” “ Ok, great.” Claire replied. “ Ya, I’ll send them up and then we can all go to dinner.” “ Oh, sounds good.” Claire said. “ Claire?” Alana said before hanging up. “ Yes?” “ Don’t tell the others, but Criss will be joining us to meet you all.” “ Oh, ok, thank you.” She hung up. She was not going to betray Alana’s trust. “ So?” Kate and Arianna wondered. “ Good news. The others are here, we wont have to wait long, and then we’ll be off to dinner.” “ Awesome.” Arianna said.

~Downstairs outside the hotel:
LeAnn, Rhiannon, and Xesca got out of the car, “ Thanks so much Derek!” Rhiannon said, and the others followed. “ Hi, nice to meet all of you.” Alana stood greeting them. “ Alana as in Criss’s assistant?!” LeAnn asked stunned.

~ Claire & Kate’s room:
“ Alright, I think im mostly done with unpacking.” Zoe said coming back into the room. “ Feel better?” Claire asked. “ Yes.” “ Good, well I just got off the phone with Alana and she said the others are here and we’ll be going to dinner.” “ I wonder when we’ll finally get to meet Criss?” Kate asked. Claire pretended not to know either.
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Part 20:
Rhiannon, LeAnn, and Xesca all rode up the elevator together anticipating. “ I hope our rooms are nice.” LeAnn said to break the silence. “ I’m sure they are.” Rhiannon said. It was awkward that three loyals were in an elevator, and had nothing to say to each other. Xesca was very tired. She only got a little bit of sleep the night before and she started to yawn. “ Maybe Criss can do hypnosis on me, it will work wonders, and then I’ll sleep eight straight hours.” “ I’m sure it will.” Rhiannon usually was in a good mood, and always seem to look at everything on the positive side. “ Well if you wake up tonight, don’t come into my room.” Leann warned her sarcastically. “ Psht, I’ll come in and jump on your bed.” They all laughed and the elevator stopped and the doors opened. They all stepped out slowly. The hallway was quiet until Rhiannon said “okay, were in room 42.” They looked down the hall. “Oh, this way.” Leann led the group. When they got to the door, Xesca was awake enough to notice Kate and Claire’s door. “ hey, look at this door.” They walked over. “ Oh, this must be Claire, and here’s Kate.” Xesca said. “Aw, this is cute.” Rhiannon commented. “ Alright, can I get the key? I’m most likely gonna take a nap.” “Okay Lee, lets put our stuff down, and then will come and say hi.”

“ Everyone just loves us.” Claire told the group as the next knock came. She opened it. “ Hi.” “ Hi.” Rhiannon, and Leann said excitedly. “You’re Claire?” “Yup.” Claire said with a smile. “ Lemme guess, your Leann?” “ uh huh.” “ Well hi.” Claire said again, and decided to give them each hugs. “ Come in, come in.” Claire stepped away. “ Soon, there’s gonna be a party in here.” “ Leann, Rhiannon, meet Arianna and Zoe.” Claire introduced them. “ Hi, nice to meet you guys.” Rhiannon said. “ Xesca would be here, but she was so tired, she took a nap” “ Aww, poor girl.” Claire said knowing how she had sleeping issues. “ So what time did you all get here?” Rhiannon asked. “ Well Claire and Kate have been here the longest.” Arianna said. “ Have you seen Criss yet?” Leann asked. “ haha, no.” “ Can you believe this whole floor is just for us and him?” Claire told everyone. “ And him?” Leann asked. “ Ya, his room is down the hall.” Claire said walking over to the door to open it. “ Alana didn’t tell you?” “ I still cant believe we met her!” Leann said. Claire opened the door, and the loyals peeked their heads out. “ “ I had this fun idea to slip notes under his door and see what he does.” “ And?” Zoe found this funny. “ And we didn’t do it.” Claire said flat out. “ I wasn’t interested in getting into trouble.” They all started getting comfortable as Claire sat on her bed with Zoe, Rhiannon sat in a chair on Kate’s side as Kate sat on her bed with Arianna. “ Speaking of trouble, have any of you seen that new article on Criss? Arianna asked. “ Oh no, your not talking about..” Claire said looking at her. “ What are you guys talking about?” Zoe asked. “ I’ll be right back.” Arianna said. Everyone looked at Claire. “ I was telling Kate about this earlier.” Arianna came back to the room, and dropped the magazine on the bed. Rhiannon, Leann, Kate and Zoe all looked at it. Arianna sat with Claire and waited. Rhiannon picked it up. “ 7 Days with 7 Loyals?” questioning the title. She started flipping through the pages. “ Shall I start?” she said, brave enough to read this crap.
Saving them all, the phone rang. “ Is that Alana?” Kate asked. “I think so.” Claire said. “ Are you all ready for dinner?” Eliza asked on the other line. “ Are we all ready to eat?” Claire covered the phone and asked the girls. They nodded. “Oh, Xesca.” Rhiannon said quietly. “Alana, we are, but as you could tell, Xesca was really tired, so she went to go take a nap.” “ Oh I see, how long has she been asleep?” “ About 10 minutes?” she told her. “Do you want us to wake her up?” Claire asked. “ Ya, I really don’t want to, but I don’t want her waking up and then not knowing where everyone is.” “Ya, true.” Claire agreed. Alana then explained to Claire where everyone should meet. “ Ok, good, see you soon.” “Tell Xesca I’m sorry.” “ I will.” Claire hung up. “Okay, Alana wants us to wake up Xesca.” Claire told them. “ I’ll go do it.” Zoe volunteered.
~Downstairs in the dinner area:
“ Do I look okay?” Criss asked Alana fussing with his clothes. “You look great.” Alana then tilted his fedora so a shadow cast over his eyes. “There you go.” She looked at him admiringly. “ Think there gonna freak?” “ Oh ya.” Alana smiled. “Except one.” “Except one?” Criss asked. “ I, I told one of the loyals.” “ Thanks Alana, you’ve just ruined it.” Criss turned to disappointment. She tapped him on the arm. “ No, for some reason I trust her.” “ Now, go hide.” She told him.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 21:
Leann, and Kate were nice enough to go down the stairs with Claire. She really wasn’t in the mood to feel a drop in her stomach before eating. When they got to the lobby area, she started walking “ Ok, I think its this way.” “ Lets wait for the others.” Kate reminded her. “ Right.” The group of them worked together to find where it was. Criss had reserved a special area of the hotel’s restaurant. They were led in by a maitre d’ to the back area. They were all looked apon by the others who were also wondering where they were going. Kate, Claire and Leann just smiled at each other and kept walking. Claire looked back at Xesca.” You doing okay?” Claire asked her. “ Ya, just give me some food, and put me back to sleep.” They then entered the room. Claire thought it looked very similar to the room in season 5 where Criss did the light bulb illusion for a couple of girls. The room just had a long table with plates and silverware all set up, and to add a touch, two candles were lit. “ Hello loyals.” Alana greeted them as the stood together. The maitre d’ smiled at Alana and left. The room was dim, but enough to see each other. “ Please sit.” The look on everyone’s faces said they were impressed. “ I want to start by thanking all of you for being so loyal to Criss. It really does mean a lot to him. He loves you all. He and I are so glad that all of you could make it. You all are going to have an opportunity that most celebs wouldn’t consider, but this is why Criss is amazing.” “ I have one thing to ask you.” “ Are you all ready for a surprise?” Claire knew this was it. She looked around the table at the other girls anticipating faces. “ Criss?” Alana called out. The dark red curtain that was closed behind Alana started to open, and there was Criss. Everyone started to clap. “ How are we all?” He asked, with a smile. “ Thank you.” He nodded his head listening to the last of the clapping. Claire couldn’t believe it. There he was! And he looked amazing: A black fedora, a dark regalia purple button down shirt which he never wore before, and black pants. “ Lets see, a lot of you I think I’ve met before.” As he looked at all of them. “Have any of you not met me before?” Leann, not typically a shy girl raised her hand slowly. Everyone looked at her and laughed. She looked so embarrassed. “ Well, I guess you’ll be the first one I give a hug to.” Leann looked at Alana with a : what do I do now look, but Alana reassured her with her eyes. Criss went over and held his arms out. Leann was hesitant, but of course hugged him back. When he looked at her, he asked. “ And you are?” She was surprised she didn’t faint. “ I’m Leann, from Kentucky.” “ Very nice to meet you Leann.” When Criss turned to Arianna on his right, Leann started to fan herself. “ You I recognized.” She smiled. “ Remind me of your name again?” “ Arianna.” She said. “ And how many times have you seen my show?” “ Eight.” “ that’s why.” He continued to Xesca who was sitting next to Arianna. “ And you are?” I’m Xesca.” “ Xesca?” she nodded. “ Wow, that is a very interesting name.” “ Thank you.” He gave her a hug. Criss then went to the other side of the table. “ Hi Criss, I’m Kate.” “ Well hi Kate, you seem very excited to see me.” “ I am.” He gave her his hug. Claire was so nervous. Criss pointed this out when she took a deep breath before saying anything. “ Are you a bit nervous?” Criss was able to read people’s emotions so quickly. “ A little bit.” As she looked at him, she remembered how amazing his eyes looked with eyeliner as they made his eyes stand out more. “ You look familiar to.” He smiled. “ How many times have you seen my show?” “ A couple.” Lightly stating. He knew she was lying. “ How many?” he asked again. “ Five.” “ Thought so.” He then hugged her, and she hugged him back tightly which he responded to. Like Kate, Rhiannon introduced herself politely. “ Hi Criss, I’m Rhiannon.” “ Nice to meet you.” “ Nice to meet you.” He gave her a hug. “ Is it okay if I give you a hug and then sit?” He asked Zoe. “ Oh no, please do.” She said. Criss sat down at one end of the table, and so did Alana.
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Part 22:
Instead of a waiter taking everyone’s orders, Criss decided to pick out a meal that he loved whenever he came to Cabo. As tired as Xesca was, she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t get sick or anything from what he was feeding them, but, she trusted him. “ So, what is this?” She asked as the server put a plate in front of all the girls. “ Its called Chicken Chimichangas,.- none of you are vegetarian right?” All of them nodded. All the girls were hesitant, but Kate decided to go for it. She cut a piece and then started eating. She looked at all of them while chewing and gave them thumbs up. After Criss swallowed his first bite, he looked up at everyone and realized a part of him was glad Brooke wasn’t here. “ So how is everyone liking it?” “ Its really good Criss.” Arianna told him. “ So I now want to go around the table and – he stopped to look at Claire who was the only one who wasn’t exactly eating, but picking at her food. “ Your food okay?” Criss and everyone looked at her wondering. She looked up embarrassed to quickly explain what she was doing. “ Oh, im sorry, I just don’t like it when I’m given food when I don’t know whats in it.” “ Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you guys whats in it.” Like an actor who forgot to say his line, Criss realized he was a bit nervous and here was his first mistake. “ Its just chicken, rice, beans with an olive mixture, and everything else is on the side.” Claire felt like a complete idiot, and not just that, but the fact that she didn’t change her clothes before coming. She looked around. “Oh, okay.” She picked up her fork and it was quiet. “ I’m sorry, continue what you were saying.” “ No, its okay, part of it was my fault. I’m glad you asked .It shows a cautious trait which can be good sometimes.” It was moments like this when Criss made her feel better. “ So I was going to go around the table and ask all of you where your from, and if you had a question for me.” Crap, a question? Claire thought as she was finally enjoying what she was eating. What the hell I’m I gonna ask him? Please don’t pick me first. “Leann, that was your name right?” Claire relaxed. She nodded. “ And your from., Ken..” “ Kentucky.” “ Do you have a question for me?” “ Uh, ya, kinda.” “ Um, could I take a tour of your closet?” Everyone laughed. Criss coughed and then laughed. “ Why, what’s in my closet?” “ Umm, just trying to find something.” What was funnier was that Claire was the only one who knew what Leann was looking for. “ Okay, who wants to go next?” Claire was still in shock that she was sitting at the table with Criss and all her loyal friends getting to personally ask Criss questions. It was finally Claire’s turn. She was nervous, but wanted to redeem herself.
By the time everyone went around and asked Criss there questions, they had all finished eating. I’m gonna have to make this at home to refresh the memories. Claire thought. Criss had his phone on him and was wondering if he should tweet a photo of all them for others to see how it was going, and to start putting that magazine article to shame. “ hey Eliza?” Criss said as he reached into his pocket. “Could you take a photo of us?” He motioned for her to take his phone. Claire was excited. She was going to be in one of Criss’s tweet photos! “ Twitter time.” Rhiannon and Zoe said together. Alana stood to take a picture. “ Alright everyone, gather around.” Criss motioned for them to come to his chair. Claire first thought she would have to stand in the back, but seeing as she wasn’t that tall, Kate said “ No, no, come here.” Criss looked up at Claire and she smiled back when she kneeled down next to him as he put his arm around her and Arianna who was on the other side. “ Smile” A phrase that Eliza was so used to. Claire made sure to give the best smile she had since she the day she met him. “Thank you” Claire said as they then went back to there seats. “ Your welcome.” Criss said looking at her. Honest and polite. Criss thought. On twitter it read : 7 of the best people in my life attached with a link. Criss’s mom at home clicked on the picture. “ awww” she said outloud. She then texted him: Love the photo honey. Criss then clapped his hands and then asked “ alright, who’s ready for dessert?” “ Let me guess, chocolate chip cookies?” Zoe asked. “ No, haha.” He loved how they knew him so well. “ No, this is something special. It’s called Apple Enchiladas.” Claire looked over at Xesca, who was starting to fade. She wanted everyone to be having a good time, but she had to save Xesca. “ Xesca, do you want to go back to your room?” Everyone looked over at her as she rubbed her eyes. “ I hate to kill the party, but I don’t think I can stay.” “ That’s okay.” Leann touched her on the arm. “ Want someone to go with you?” In the state that she was in, Criss wasn’t about to let her go alone. He stood up and came over to her. “I’ll go.” He put his arm out for her to take and link hers with his. “ I’ll be back in a bit. Enjoy dessert.” Before they left the room, everyone could hear Criss say “ A little hypnotism, and you’ll be out like that.” Everyone giggled.
As everyone was enjoying dessert, and interviewing Alana, Criss came back. “ Sorry about that.” “ That’s okay.” Claire said. “She okay?” “Oh ya, asleep.” Claire now felt better. Maybe they shouldn’t have woken her before.

[LoyalSamy]

Day 2: Parts 23-31

Kate was still sleeping when Claire got up the next morning. The both of them talked about Criss until about 1 am. It seemed weird doing it, as they did enough back home via computer. Claire hadn’t shared a room with another girl since she began college. Typically she would get a drink and turn on her computer, but since didn’t have one, she was wondering what to do. She put on a hoodie and as quietly as she could, she decided to open the door and see if anyone was in the hallway also awake. She was right. She looked down the hall to the left, and thought she saw Costa sitting in a chair that wasn’t there yesterday. She squinted her eyes for a second and for sure it was him. He looked up at her and because he could hear the door opening. Claire smiled at him, and wondered, what now? He then motioned for her to come over. She shut the door quietly. As Claire walked, she was nervous. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed at this end of the hall. “ Hi, good morning.” Costa greeted her and she put her hand out. “ Good morning-I’m Claire.” She whispered back. “ I think I’ve met you before?” He questioned as she crossed her arms against her in a shy –hope I’m not intruding way. “ Ya, you have, the first time I met Criss.” “ Well I’m glad you’re here.” “ I am to.” She said. “ So what are you doing up, are you okay?” “ Oh ya, I’m just one of those people, once I wake up- “You cant go back to sleep? Costa finished her sentence. “Yup.” “Same with Criss and I. JD needs an alarm clock.” She giggled at the thought. “ I’m just out here going over some stuff, do you want to sit? I can bring a chair.” “ Oh, no that’s okay, I don’t want to bother you.” “ No,its okay.” Costa said breathing. “ I need to take a break anyway, and I’m sure your more entertaining.” I feel a little bit embarrassed, I’m here talking to you in my pj’s.” she giggled. “I’m gonna change, I’ll be right back.” “ Oh ya, sure, take your time.” Costa told her sweetly. When she started walking back to her room Costa realized he liked her to. She was a rare type to the kinds of women Criss and the family had to deal with in the past.
About ten minutes later Claire opened the door and looked down the hall again. She saw Costa talking to someone, and didn’t want to be rude. As Claire walked back over, she thought it might be Tommy, and when he turned, it was. “ Hi there.” He said. “ Hi.” Claire said back. “ I’m Tommy.” He gave his hand, and Claire took it. “ I’m Claire, nice to meet you.” “ You to.” “ So, are you okay?” he asked. Claire thought Tommy always seemed intimidating from far away, but now, she got to see his personality. “ Just woke up early is all.” “ Ah, yes, I know what you mean.” Tommy told her. The three of them stood there uncomfortably for a minute.
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Part 24:
Claire was once again stunned that not only was she on this trip- but at the moment, she was the one who got to talk to Criss’s brother and bodyguard. She was so worried about being respectful and normal. As she talked to them, she remembered to use her words wisely. Claire felt rude for asking, but she just curious to know. “ So is it just the two of you and Alana?” “Oh no, JD is here and Derek.” Costa said. “Oh, where is Dimitra and Brooke?” Costa and Tommy were impressed that she knew names. “Oh, our mom has come with Criss every time, so she decided to stay home. “And Brooke..” Costa shifted his eyes a bit. “Well..” Claire was wondering where he was going. “Well she didn’t want to come either, and Criss told her he only wanted to bring a few people.” Something by the way Costa said this was suspicious. “ Oh ok, I see.” Claire gently said. As Claire continued talking to them, Criss was having a conversation of his own.
Criss’s Room:
“ Hey sweetie.” Criss started when he called Brooke that morning. “Hi baby.” Her voice sounded fake, like most girls who aren’t sincere. “How are you?” he asked. He wanted to know she was okay regardless that she wasn’t there. I’m okay, just missing you.” “ I know.. how’s my mom?” “ She’s good. Alive.” Well I’d hope so. Criss thought. “So hows it going down there?” She now asked him. Even though this statement was general, she was curious as to what was going on. “ So far so good. I was very excited to meet all my loyals.” Criss said as he looked out the window. “Very cool.” Brooke said. “ Ya, this week is going to be fun, and I’ll have so much to tell you when I come home.” Brooke, back in Vegas, looked at her nails thinking she was going to go out. “Okay, well I’ll let you go.” They obviously didn’t have anything to say sadly. “ Alright, love you.” Criss said before hanging up. “ Muah!” Brooke said and hung up.
The breeze was soft, the sun was shining, the palm trees swayed. Everything was so vivid just like in the photos online. Claire at the moment was starring out to the beach below them as she and the others were on a private balcony for breakfast, where Alana had brought them later that morning. Claire was glad it was only morning and not too hot. When the girls came up, they noticed a table in the middle all set, and another table on the right buffet style, so they figured this time the meal wouldn’t be a surprise. “I wonder what’s in there?” Kate asked always curious. Claire, not looking away from the gorgeous scenery said “I’m gonna guess plantains, rice and beans, and I don’t know what’s in the fourth one.” “ Oh.” Kate said. “ I have to take a picture.” Claire said now. “ I just don’t want to be rude.” “You’re not.” Kate said. “Here, I’ll have one of girls take us together.” As Kate called Zoe over, Criss came to the balcony. Everyone else went to go say hi, and when Zoe snapped the photo. Kate and Claire gave a great smile. “ Good morning.” Criss laughed as all of them were hugging him. He waved to Claire and Kate. He walked over to where they were and held his arms out. “ Come and give me a hug.” Claire and Kate of course went over, and feeling Criss’s hand on Claire’s back gave her a sense of calmness and happiness. “Come lets have breakfast.” Criss said as he led them to the table, and everyone else sat in seat. Alana was already sitting and almost waiting for her next move as she looked at Criss as he sat down. “ How did everyone sleep?” he asked all the girls who looked at him, as they all said good at the same time. He then narrowed his eyes at Xesca, and everyone followed. “ Ah, very good!” she said with a smile. “ I’m glad.” “ So isnt this view amazing?” Criss said again as he turned around to view what Claire was looking at. She appreciated that someone else loved nature. " Biggest reason why I come out here.” Claire saw Criss smile for a second and turned back around in his chair. “Okay, so who’s hungry?” “ What are we having?” Kate questioned asking the same thing everyone else wanted to know. “ Ah, a typical Mexican breakfast.” “ Eggs, rice and beans, and plantains.” Kate looked over at Claire surprised that she was right. Claire smiled raising eyebrows. “ Alright, lets go.” Everyone followed Criss to get food.

[LoyalSamy]

PART 25:

When breakfast was over, Criss let the girls go do what they wanted for a bit so that they could set up for the big part of the morning. Criss told them that it would just be him, Alana, and JD and Costa. Tommy and Derek and free out and about until they were needed. All the girls parted ways oddly, and it took Claire a few minutes to realize her dream was coming true.“ This is so weird..” Claire was telling Kate as they went back to their room to wait. “What?” “ I had a dream just like this.” “You did?” she asked. “ Ya, I don’t remember if we were on a balcony, but I do remember Criss sitting and listening to me talk about my photo.” “Well that’s neat- god’s being really nice to you.” She said. “ Ya, two dreams coming true.” Claire said proudly.

Claire flopped on her bed face up. “Ah.” Kate sat down on her bed. “ I wonder how long its gonna take them?” “Good question” Claire replied squinting her eyes and looked at Kate. “ Eh, probably not long.” She said, and took out her journal. Claire decided to get out her camera and take a pick of Kate writing. She looked through the photos she had since yesterday. So far she only had the group photo with Criss from last night and the photo of Kate and herself from this morning. She clicked the button and to her surprise found a picture of her and Kate hugging Criss! “ Omg, this is a soo cute- look!” She showed Kate. “ awwww, you’ll make me a copy right?” Kate asked. “ Nope” Claire said sounding serious. Kate was shocked. “ Kidding.” Claire joked. “How’s the journal?” “ It’s good.” “Writing about how bad of a roommate I am?” Claire asked.“ Yup.” Throwing Claire a dose of her medicine. Claire rolled her eyes and got up starting to feel bored. “I feel like we should be outside.” Claire now said. “ Let me just finish this sentence, and then we can.” Kate said. When Kate and Claire opened their door to go out they saw Arianna. “ Hey” they all said to each other. “ Going back out?” she said. “ Ya.” Claire said as she shut her door. “ Any idea where the other’s went?” Claire asked her as they walked together to the stairs. “ Walking around outside I guess?” “ Nervous about showing your photo?” Kate asked them. “ No, just gotta prove why you won.” Arianna said. “ Good point.” Claire said looking at Kate. The three of them made it back to the balcony even though they weren’t sure if they were allowed yet. “ Hey Alana.” They all said. “ Hi girls, were almost finished, you can have a seat.” They noticed that all the chairs were put in a circle. Well less intense then in my dream. Claire thought. After they sat, they then saw JD and Costa. “ To bad LeAnn isn’t here.” Claire said. “Why?” Arianna asked. “ Loves Costa.” Claire said.
Within a few minutes the other girls came up and said they were hanging in the lobby. Everyone had an assigned seat, and Claire saw she would be sitting directly across from Criss. She was happy for LeAnn, because she got to sit next to Costa. Kate was on her left, and Rhiannon on her right. Arianna sat next to Alana. Before they started, JD and Costa came over to say hi to each girl. When Claire saw Costa greet LeAnn, she was happy.
Alana began talking and explaining how there photos were directly picked by the three graphic designers that were on staff. They wanted seven that would catch Criss's eye, and with a smile she said " and I think we found them." " So we'll just go around, I'll give you your photo back, just hold it up, and explain why you chose this photo and your process. Claire soon began talking to herself about what she would say.

Arianna was to go first. She made a photo of Criss from season 3. It was an upclose of Criss’s face wearing sunglasses, not looking directly at the camera, and he had blonde highlights.
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Part 26:

After Xesca and Kate showed their photo's, Claire was finally up. She took a deep breath. " When you listen to Criss's song Snow, how do you feel?" pausing asking rheorically. Her photo was still turned so one could see it yet. She wanted everyone to get into a state of mind. She answered for them. " relaxed?". All of the nodded. As she turned her photo around she said at the same time " thats exactly how I wanted the viewer to feel when they saw this. There are so many great photos of Criss, but I wanred to express how Criss makes me feel when I'm anxious or upset." She saw Criss smile, and now she was able to relax. It would now be easier to explain the process of how she made the photo. She then asked everyone if anyone knew what Creer meant. No one knew, except maybe Eliza. So she told them: " Believe." " I dont know if that means always, or to believe in calmness and relaxed state." " I guess thats up to the viewer." Was she done? It sounded like an ending. Oh wait- gotta tell them the process. " The beginning was really hard- I didnt know what to add to change the feeling-but then I remembered how color plays a role on how people perceive something." Criss was impressed with the way Claire talked and looked at everyone, and she understood about visualization which magicians have to know to suceed in an illusion. " So first I played with changing the color of the lighting, I had to decide on what color people associate most with relaxation..." She contuined. It didnt seem so boring whenever someone else talked- but felt like she was even though everyone was paying attention. "Well I hope you all like it. Hard work, but of course, worth it."
Everyone clapped, Claire gave her photo back and sat dow, took a deep breath and smiled. Rhiannon gave her a pat on the shoulder. When she looked striaght, she couldnt believe it-Criss looked at her, bowed his head and smiled as a way of telling her " I approve." When everyone was done presenting- they got a strong appaluse from JD, Alana, Criss and Costa who expressed how impressed they were. Claire smiled again and looked at everyone else who were also smiling. They all seemed pretty proud of themselves, and if not- at least Claire was. All Claire could think was hell ya. I got myself here.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 27:
“Alright- lets look at the schedule.” Criss said initiating to Alana- who in a couple of seconds went through her chocolate brown briefcase to pull out a piece of paper, and handed it to Criss. “Everyone got a copy right?” He asked the girls. Everyone just nodded, but Claire spoke up. “ Ya, Kate and I looked at it last night.” “ Okay” Criss said. “pop quiz, what are we doing today?” Criss put the paper to his chest. “ I believe were going to Plazzaa..” Claire was thinking for a second. “ Plaza Mijares?” She hoped she pronounced it right. “She’s right.” Kudos to me. Claire thought. “ what’s that?” Xesca now asked. “ It’s a place with restaurants, shops, people selling stuff outside. I thought it would be nice to walk around with you all and get acquainted.” “ Sounds like fun.” Zoë said.
“How about we leave in an hour?” Criss said looking at his watch. This watch was simpler looking than the one he normally wears. Arianna also noticed and asked “I see your not wearing your expensive watch.” “Oh ya, that’s another thing you guys should know. I don’t wear my jewelry on vacation. Its back at home in the safe.” “Very smart.” Zoe said. Criss clapped his hands together. “Okay gang, let’s go to our rooms and get whatever you need to bring with you.” “ We shall meet back in the lobby at..” He looked at the watch again. “ two o’clock?” Everyone agreed.
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Part 28:

As all of the girls headed back to their rooms, they complimented each other on their photos. Claire was happy that so far non of them were being bitchy to each other and competiting for Criss's attention like some dumb reality show. Although Claire only knew them a day, so she didnt know what any of them could have up their sleeve.
When Claire and Kate got inside their room, Kate was a little puzzled as to what to bring. Claire on the other hand was on fire. She started searching for stuff. " camera, sunscreen, water bottle.." Claire grabbed. " anddd a great big smile." She turned around and flashed her teeth at Kate. Kate smiled back at her, slightly nervous, but liked Claire's energy. Claire waited and Kate finally grabbed her notebook. " You sure you want to bring that?" " Well ya, I dont know how far we have to go, what if were on a bus or something?" Claire didnt think of this. " You know, ill bring a cloth bag so that if we are on a bus, you can put it in here so it doesnt get lost." " Thanks." Claire looked at her cell phone. " Damn, that took us about 5 minutes." Kate laughed. " Lets go see what the others are up to."

As Claire was walking over with the others, she noticed that Alana was wearing a tank top and pulled her hair into a ponytail, which had soft curls going down. Unfortunely this made Claire think of Criss's ex girlfriend Hazel. Claire just shook her head and reminded herself that it was just Alana. Criss then looked up. " Here they are."
Claire felt a warmness knowing that Criss was smiling in her direction. She couldnt wait to get the afternoon started. LeAnn happened to be walking next to her. She nudged Claire lightly. " do you see that? he's smiling at us." " Shut-up" Claire said quickly and harshly, but smiled slighty. Eliza then turned around and smiled at all of them. Claire realized that no one from the public who was staying at the hotel was running up to Criss and asking for photos and autographs. Claire wasnt paying attention from when they first arrived that this hotel was probably for those of high wealth status or famous. She remembered not to hold her breath. Once they were out on the streets, more people would recognize him.
"So who's ready?- Derek, if you want to go and get the van?" Criss started to say. " Sure boss." They both smiled as Derek walked away and Criss patted him on the shoulder. " Do it once for us." Kate now asked suddenly. They all looked at her. " Do..?" Criss paused. " Oh!" and put his hand out in a famous pose: " Are you ready?" he whispered. At the same time all seven girls shouted " yeah!" Criss laughed and lead them outside.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 29:

When they walked outside, Claire and the other’s saw a big black van waiting for them. Claire glanced at Criss who, had now, pulled down his sunglasses over his eyes. As the van pulled closer, they all saw that it was all tinted windows- mostly for Criss’s sake. The van was a Chevrolet Tahoe, like black, like ninety percent of the ones you see on the highway. Claire was amazed that all ten of them would fit in there. “Do we have assigned seating?” Claire joked. “No.” Criss giggled. All the girls then shouted where they wanted to sit- Claire heard Xesca yell “shot gun!” “I don’t think so sweetheart.” Claire remarked and smiled. Xecas still proceeded to, while Criss and Alana watched her as Travis held the door for the rest of the girls. “ Hi Xecsa.” Derek said lightly and turned to look at her. “Hey Derek.” She said. This was too funny. Claire got her camera and snapped a pic. “You know your sitting in Criss’s seat?” he asked. “Okay, lets go!” ignoring his comment. “c’mon, get back there.” Derek said, smacking her gently on the arm. Everyone laughed. “I had to.” She told Criss before climbing into the back seat. “That’s okay.” Criss got in and Alana sat behind him. As the van pulled away, Claire asked “Alana, could you take a photo of the three of us?” “Oh sure.” She handed the camera to her. Before Alana could take the picture – Xesca chimed in. “You mean the 5 of us?” As Xesca and Arianna leaned in for the photo to. “Okay, the five of us.”
The scenery was incredible from what they saw from the road. Cabo was mostly made up of rock formations that were separated from each other like spaces between teeth. Very much like Brazil- the mountains that were inland from the beach inhabited people’s houses on different levels. Some were smaller or bigger. Cabo is a peninsula, so no matter where you looked- the ocean was right there.
Criss now turned around. “ So girls, remind me where your all from?” Zoe started .When he got to Claire he asked “Oh, where in NY?” “Larchmont?” pause. “It’s about an hour north of Long Island.” “Oh, ok.” Criss was intrigued about Xesca and Leann’s life in Wisconsin and Kentucky. “Two states I’ve never been to.” “Me either.” Claire said.

It was only a 10 minute ride into Plaza Mijeres. It was so different from where they were staying. Now they would get to see more of the people who lived here, there expressions, how they talked. Claire was interested to see how everyone would take seeing Criss here if they didn’t know already. As they pulled into the center of the Plaza, in the middle was a huge round fountain, with small bushes surrounding it. The water was an amazing aquamarine. Derek drove around the fountain and dropped them off in front of a while gazebo and church behind it. “First things first.” Criss started, as it was obvious that they all wanted to look around. “Eliza and I are responsible for you, so it’s really important that we stick together. I’ll need you to split into two groups of three, so that way in case we do get separated, you’ll have someone with you.” “Everyone got a cell phone?” They all nodded. “So where shall we go first?” Criss asked. “Let’s take a group photo by the fountain.” Zoë suggested. They all liked that idea.
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Part 30:
When they were by the fountain, none of the girls knew where stand for the photo that Alana would take. All of them wanted to stand next to Criss, but obviously that wasnt going to happen. They decided that since everyone was taller than Claire, they could stand, but now Claire didnt know where to be. Everyone was ready for the photo until Claire had an idea to stand on the base of the fountain behind everyone. " smile" Eliza said. Claire couldnt believe how close she was to Criss's face. " Lets tweet this to" Criss told Alana handing her his blackberry. Claire smiled again, and thought to herself eat your heart out haters.

As they started to walk into the center of the plaza, Claire could start to hear the native music. As much as she wanted to talk to Criss, she didn’t want to come across as obsessive, or square. She found herself walking along Alana, when she decided to ask her questions. “So, when did you start working for Criss?” At first she thought it wasn’t the best first question, but Alana didn’t seem to mind. “Two years.” She smiled. “ And how did you get the job?” Claire asked. “ Well it wasn’t working out so well with Criss’s last assistant, and I was at the end of my term with my last client..” It was amazing how Alana always used proper vocabulary and didn’t just blurt out the last person she worked for. She was professional. “So, I was highly recommended to Criss, and when I found out, he was interested I was pretty excited because I was also, she whispered, a loyal.” “And she’s been terrific.” Criss suddenly said without even turning around. It was weird how he was listening the whole time.“ So how long do you think we’ll be here for?” Kate asked. “ Well as long as all of you are having a good time, and its not too hot out.” It was so nice to see Criss concerned about everyone’s well being. As they got closer to the crowd, the girls could see that some people were looking at Criss, possibly starting to recognize him. Claire was a bit nervous that some crazy person would try and hurt Criss. They weren’t in the US anymore. Claire was glad Travis was with them. Watching him do his job made Claire feel better. The area they were now in was just like a marketplace, vendors of people selling things on both sides, and people walking around with food in there hands, and you could hear people speaking Spanish to one another. It was nice that today it wasn’t too crowded. “ Hey Criss, remember that time when we were at LAX for your 40th birthday?” “Ohhh yeah” Criss remembered. “Yeah, I was so nervous; I was tugging at your shirt sleeve.” “ LAX was so crowded that night!” Criss told the girls. “Well that’s what happens when you celebrate in a public place.” Zoe said.
After a few minutes, a few people started to recognize that it was Criss. A couple of people walked past, and yelled out “I love you Criss!” some in Spanish, and some in English. Criss always acknowledged them. The girls and Criss would stop by a venue to comment on what they liked. At one point they came to a venue in which a lady was selling jewelry, but besides the everyday necklaces and rings, she also hand made bracelets that looked just like friendship bracelets: Each with a different color, and a different symbol on the front. The woman selling them didn’t speak English, so Alana talked to her. “ She says she made these because she knew that people are drawn to different symbols regarding what they feel or want to feel.” It was interesting to Claire that the woman had only made 8 different kinds. Just enough for everyone, except for Derek. “ I really like that idea.” Criss commented still looking at them. Criss now had an idea. “ I want each of you to take a bracelet you like.” Everyone seemed a little confused, but listened to Criss. Claire chose the one that was all grey with a yellow lighting bolt on it. To her it signified strength. Alana has chosen one which was a dark purple and had a light pink circle with a X on the end. “ The female sign”. Rhiannon chose an all yellow one with a brown horse. When they each had there bracelets, they looked at Criss thinking maybe he was going to do some kind of trick. Criss recognized this expression. He laughed. “ Oh no.. there to keep. I’m gonna get them for all of you.” At the same time the girls all tried to tell Criss that wasn’t necessary, but he insisted. “Gracias” He told the woman as he was giving her the money. She was now smiling, feeling glad she had made a sale, but not knowing she just sold them to one of the biggest acts in Vegas. As they all walked away, Claire decided to wear hers at that moment. “As long as we all have our bracelets, we will remember this day of this trip.” “Which one did you get?” Claire asked him. He showed it to them, which was already tied on his left wrist. It was all black with a red heart in the middle. “Because I’m filled with love, and have been blessed with it.” He said smiling. As they continued walking, Kate showed Claire hers which was white, with two green palm trees.
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Part 31:

“ Hey do you hear that?” Arianna now asked, as the group was still walking around. Claire was in awe of how Travis didn’t drop his demeanor. Always looking tough, and eyes peeled for anything coming at Criss. “Yeah, I heard that music when we came in.” Claire replied.“ Oh, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” Arianna said. “ It’s nice, I wonder where its coming from?” Alana now asked. “ Lets go find it.” Criss said.
It was a few minutes later when they came to an open area where they saw people gathered around looking at a band in front of them. “Ah ha.” Criss said. “ Do you all want to check it out for a few minutes?” The girls nodded. The band had stopped playing a soft ballad and now began to play a song Claire thought she knew. As they got closer she did know it. “ Oh, this song is so fun!” Some of the girls started to look at her when she started to sing along in Spanish. After a few minutes Claire started to shimmy her shoulders and sway her head as her straight brown moved with her. She looked at them. “ This song is from the Gyspy Kings!” she asked them surprised. Criss and Alana laughed. “ Sounds like a cool song” Xesca replied. Claire ignored them, and kept dancing and singing. Criss was impressed how she knew the words and every beat. When the song was over, the band played another song which of course Claire also knew. She laughed. “ We have this album at home.” She told them. When she looked at the band, she noticed the lead singer looking out at the crowd and smiling. She could see she wasn’t the only one who knew this music. Then Alana’s phone rang. She answered. Criss was standing next her watching her talk to whoever was on the phone. A few of the girls decided to sit. “ Hello?” Alana asked. “ Oh hi.” “ Yes?” There was a pause. “ Oh, okay?” Alana then responding obviously not sure of what they were talking about. “ Alright, thanks.” She hung up. “What was that?” “Oh, JD wanted to tell you that you got a fax from Sara.” She kept her voice quiet incase it was something personal. “ Oh, yeah. Okay.” Criss said, and his voice changed. “ Shall we continue?” Claire and the girls followed Criss. Claire decided to text her mom. Hey mom. I know I haven’t called. All is well here. We’ve been out this afternoon. =) Having a good time! Tell dad and Shadow I said hi. Criss then saw something he wanted to show the girls. Claire hung back to finish her text. Alana waked next to her. “ Hey, I just wanted to tell you I didn’t get a chance to say thank you for keeping the surprise from the girls at dinner.” “ Oh, of course. No problem.” Claire smiled. “ Now, lets go see what Criss is doing with that flower.” Alana said.

~~~ Later that afternoon~~~

The afternoon was nice, but the girls were interested to get back to the hotel, and Xesca wanted to get to bed early. It was nice to see Derek again. “ How is everyone?” He asked as they got back into the car. As Derek started to pull out of the parking lot, Criss decided to turn on the radio. “ Let’s see what they listen to down here.” Alana was going to tell him of how you can find a mix of music from Spanish to anything they listen to in the US, but she let Criss explore. “ As long as they don’t play Forget You.” Arianna said somewhat disgusted. “Or Going Down” Xesca said. “ Too bad we just make a CD of our favorite songs.” Claire said jokingly. “ No, this is fun.” Criss said still flipping through the stations which didn’t seem to bother Derek at all. “ I actually want to hear something we don’t get to hear in US.” Rhiannon was hoping he wouldn’t find anything Justin Bieber. Soon Criss found something he liked. Alana and Claire recognized it as Regional Mexicano music. Is this okay?” Criss asked everyone. “Sure.” They all muttered. Criss turned it up a bit.
It was about four o’clock when they got back to the hotel. Everyone seemed to be really hungry since they had a big breakfast and nothing for lunch. Claire was tired from all the walking, so she didn’t mind too much about taking the elevator. They couldn’t all squeeze into the elevator, so Travis went with Alana and four of the girls. When the doors closed Claire realized that she would be taking the next one with Criss. She smiled slightly. “ I know you don’t enjoy this, so I hung back.” Criss said to Claire in the midst of the quietness as they waited. This time she was going with Arianna, Rhiannon, Zoe and LeAnn. LeAnn standing next to her nudged her, and Claire looked at her and smiled showing her teeth. When the elevator doors opened, Claire took a deep breath. She didn’t understand what she was so nervous about. She just flew all the way to Mexico. That was so much bigger than this. Claire and Criss went in first and then the girls followed standing in front. When the doors closed, Claire grabbed for the railing inside. She looked over to see Criss’s hand reaching for hers. Could this be happening? Claire took Criss’s hand and lightly squeezed it as she started to feel the elevator go up. She closed her eyes and felt herself relax. When the doors stopped, she noticed how Criss hadn’t let go until now. As they got off to head to their rooms, Criss told them “ hey, tell the others we’ll be eating at six.” “okay” they said. A part of Claire wanted to tell the others what happened, but then realized she didn’t want to spoil it. Her little secret. Would he do it again?

5:20 pm

“What are you gonna wear?” Kate asked Claire as they were getting dressed for dinner. “ I think I’m gonna pull out my red skirt.” Claire said as she was ruffling through her clothes to find it. “You think I can wear jeans?” Kate asked as they both turned around at the same time to show each other.“Wow, that’s so pretty!” Kate said dropping her jeans on the bed to look at Claire’s skirt. “Yeah, I got it in a store where I live.” “It’s really nice, and its got that whole Spanish theme going on.” Claire chuckled. “You mean like Flamenco?” “ Yeah, that.” Kate said pretending to know what Claire was talking about. Claire then turned back around to pull out a black tank top to accompany it. She looked back at Kate. “ I guess you can wear jeans?” I just don’t want to look like an idiot and be the only one.” Even if Kate did wear jeans, it was okay. They were a dark blue with no holes. “ Did you happen to bring a skirt?” “Oh no, I don’t look good in skirts.” Kate said defensively. “What else do you have?” Claire asked.
When it was about 5: 40, they heard a knock on the door. Kate this time decided to open. “ Hi Kate.” Alana said. “You girls ready?” “Uh, yeah.” “hey Alana” Claire said putting on her earrings. “Hey Claire- wow, I love your skirt!” “ Oh, thank you. I like yours to!” Alana had on short skirt mid thigh, decorated with flowers, with heels and a tight tank top, very much like Claire’s in red. Her hair was down, and curled mid length, and she was carrying a hand purse. She was so pretty. As Claire shut the door, she said “why isn’t Criss dating you?” Alana laughed. “ Claire! I cant date my boss!” She nudged her. “ Yes, you can! Your so pretty, and you seem a hell of a lot nicer than Hazzzel.” Kate smiled and rolled her eyes in agreement. “ Claire, shhh” with a smile in her eyes. Claire then realized they were the first girls to be picked up. Alana then knocked on the other doors to get the other girls. Kate was glad she wasn’t wearing her jeans.
“ Criss will meet us in the lobby.” Alana told them as they now headed for the elevators. “We’ll go four at a time again?” Everyone nodded. Claire now took the elevator with Kate and Xesca. “ Love your shoes.” Claire told Xesca as they stepped into the elevator. Just keep my mind distracted. Claire told herself. “ Thanks.” “ I’ve wanted to get these for a while, so I had to work and save for them.” “ So how do you like this
trip?” She now asked. “ loving it! Look at all this time we get to spend with Criss, and so far hes nothing like the crap we hear people say about him.” “ I know, what is it with them?” Kate said. “ I think people just want to make him look bad, they are scared of something that’s too good to be true.” Claire said as the elevator doors now opened.
“ Hello ladies” Criss said to all of them. Criss looked amazing once again. Claire was a little freaked when she realized both him and her were wearing red and black combined. “ So where are we going?” Zoe now asking the question on all there minds. “ Well it’s a restaurant called 12 Tribes. Alana told me its beautiful, so of course I wanted to try.” “ Are you ready? Wow, haha,” Criss said, “ I feel like I say that all too often.” “ That’s okay, we enjoy it.” Rhiannon said. All the girls smiled.

At 6:05, they arrived. Criss was such a gentleman and helped each of the girls out of the car. “ Nice colors you chose.” Claire said to Criss speaking about his clothes. “ You to. I really like that skirt.” he said as she noticed him checking it out.” “ Thank you.”
“Ladies first” Criss held out his hand as they got to the front of the restaurant. The maître d' led them to their table. The girls couldn’t help but noticed everyone look at them. To Claire, she felt special and smiled. The table they were given was set in the back of the restaurant, with an amazing view. The restaurant was sitting on land facing the view of the Sea of Cortez surrounded by rock formations. Some boats were just docked in the middle of the sea not moving. It was early, so the sun was just starting to set. “ This is incredible” Zoe was the first to comment as she turned around to look at the view. They were sitting at a long table. Rhiannon, Zoe, Arianna and LeAnn, had to have there back facing the other direction, while Kate, Claire and Xesca were on the other side. Criss sat on the left of Claire at one end of the table, while Alana was sitting on the other to the right of her. Claire was lucky and got the seat right in the middle. The weather was perfect with a bit of a breeze. The waiter soon came around to hand out the menu. “ I’ll give you a few minutes to decide what you all want.” Criss told them, as they all started to open it.Claire found the menu to be very interesting. Instead of each dish having a name, it was labeled with a country where it came from, so the menu wasn’t constrained to just Mexican food. She was soon caught between the Spain, or Romania. After they all ordered, Criss spoke. So tonight, I thought we’d do a little Q&A.” “Q&A?” LeAnn asked. “ Yeah, we’ll go around the table, and each of you can ask anything you want.” After they all ordered, Criss had Rhiannon start. Arianna wanted to know if Criss ever listened to Lady Gaga’s music. Criss laughed. “ Yes, I have. I think I like Paparazzi the most because I can understand and relate to it the best.” LeAnn followed that with What’s is your least favorite part about being famous?” “I think what’s really frustrating is that fame seems to come with this idea that people have whatever they want. Instead of remembering what fame is about, they take it too far.” When it was Xesca’s turn, she asked “What is your biggest weakness?”
“Getting up in the morning?” he laughed. The girls laughed to. “ No, I’m kidding.” “ I would have to say getting paperwork done. When I come back home from Believe I tell myself it will get done in the morning, and sometimes I don’t get to it until mid afternoon.” “Ah, procrastination.” Xesca defined for him. “Exactly” He replied. It was Claire’s turn. She really was desperate to ask him about Red Carpet, but thought this wouldn’t be the right time. “If you could be instantly fluent in one language, which would you choose?” “That’s a good one. I would have to say its either Greek or Spanish. If I knew Greek, I could impress my mom and my family, but Spanish would also be good because we have so many immigrates coming in to the US from this country, and its especially present in places like California and Nevada, and I wouldn’t have to have an interpreter with me.” “Tears or laughter?” Kate asked. “Laughter for sure.” Claire was excited about her dish when the food started coming around. She chose Spain as her dish, which was roasted duck glazed with apple sauce and olive oil. Some of the girls started to pick up there forks, but Claire wanted to show Criss respect. She waited. She also noticed that Alana waited to. They smiled slightly, and Claire put the napkin on her lap. “Ah” Criss clapped his hands together when his plate was put in front of him. “ Gacias.” “ De nada” the waiter said back. As Claire and the rest of them started to eat, not only was she enjoying what she got, but she then had another question for Criss. “ Criss, I actually have another question for you” she now asked as she was cutting her food, and set her fork down. “ Sure, go ahead.” He said. “What the best thing you ever ate?”

~~ later that night~~

Criss didn’t even look at the paper that was given to him when they all got back to the hotel. He just folded it up, as they kept walking back to their rooms. When they got upstairs, Criss’s invited Alana inside. After a few minutes, he handed the paper to her. “ Read this.” She took the paper and sat down in a chair. As she read it, Criss dialed a number. “ Hello?” “ Hi Rex, its Criss.” “ Hi Criss, how are you, hows the vacation going?” Rex Willmoth was a well known journalist in the US. “ From the insider point of view its going great, but from the outside world, I think people are getting the wrong idea.” “ Are you talking about Red Carpet?” Rex asked. “Yes.” “ Yeah, I saw that in a store and started to read it.” “ What do you think?” Criss said as he turned to see Alana who was not pleased. “ I just think it sounds like someone who doesn’t have enough sources to back up what there saying, and sounds just like they made it up, like gossip.” “ Well I’m glad you didn’t report on it.” “ No, no, the last thing I want to do is give it more attention.” “ What I can do if you want, is write a small article about how the trip is going from YOUR side, so at least people can see that the other article is BS.” “ That sounds good, thanks so much Rex.” “ I’ll call you tomorrow at some point.” Criss hung up. “ This is crazy” Alana said to Criss as she lifted up the open magazine. “ It just sounds like someone doesn’t really know you.”

The girls weren’t tired, so they gathered into Rhiannon’s room for a little get together, or “slumber party.” Arianna brought her copy of the magazine. They all got comfortable. “ Alright, now where were we.” “ Before we start, does anyone besides me think that Criss possibly knows about this?” Claire said bringing her knee close to her chest. Some of the girls were a little stunned. “ I didn’t think of that” Rhiannon said. “ I hope not..” Zoe said. “ Alright, just lets read this, and get it over with.” Xesca demanded.By half way through, the girls couldn’t read anymore they were so confused, and definitely angry. Rhiannon closed the magazine. “ I think we should throw it away.” After a few seconds of silence Claire said. “ All its gonna do is hurt us, and while were at it, I’ll throw my copy away to.” “ You have a copy?” LeAnn asked. “ Yes.” Claire said with a sigh. She started to get up. “ I think we should tell Criss.” Zoe said. “ Tell Criss?” Claire asked somewhat defensively. “ Well yeah, were not gonna tell him because we believe it, but..” She stopped not really knowing what to say. “ But because, if we tell him, we can work together to figure out who wrote it.” LeAnn said. “ She’s got a point Claire.” Arianna said. Claire then sat back down on the bed.

[LoyalSamy]

Day 3: Part 32

The next morning the girls decided to bring the magazine to breakfast. Get it over and done with, so they could enjoy the rest of the day with Criss. When they came, they saw that Criss and Alana were already there. Rhiannon held the magazine behind her back, and Criss could tell she was holding something. “ Morning Criss” the girls said. “ Morning girls.” Alana smiled at them. They all sat down. “ Before we eat, there’s something I want to talk to you all about.” The girls looked at each other slightly. “ Don’t worry, your not in trouble.” “ I hope.” This was the first time Claire saw Criss more serious in person. This made her a bit nervous. “ I don’t know if you girls know, but there is a article in a magazine called Red Carpet about me.” “ Now normally I wouldn’t give a crap, but there’s something off about the way it’s written.” “ Do you know anything about this?” as Alana put the magazine on the table. “ Yeah, we do.” The girls all turned to Rhiannon who put the copy on the table to. “We only read like half of it.” Arianna and Claire were the only ones who knew about it.” “Can we talk about it?” Criss asked. “ Yeah, that’s why we wanted to tell you we knew, because I thought that maybe we could all work together to figure out who could have written it.” LeAnn said. Criss nodded slowly in agreement. “ Maybe a loyal was extremely jealous that they didnt get picked.” Alana said looking at the cover and feeling like she wanted to open it again. “ Could I just get a drink?” Claire asked. “ Oh yeah, sure, I’m sorry.” As she got up to get some juice she turned around. “What Alana said could be true, but whoever wrote it would have to know about the contest before you announced it to all of us?” The girls picked up on this. “ She’s right. The only people who knew about this would have to be people I’ve told.” Criss said started to figure it out. Alana was a bit nervous now. She was scared that Criss would suddenly accuse her. As she walked to the buffet area, Claire suggested that they write down everyone in Criss’s social circle and eliminate people they didn’t suspect. “ Lets get some food, and will make the list.” Criss told them. When they all sat down, Alana started to write names, Criss had to ask. “I would never go behind your back like that, then come on this trip and pretend I knew nothing about it.” Alana said defensively. “ Wait, what?” Criss asked her. “What?” Alana said back as she picked up a piece of watermelon and looked at him. “ You just said something about coming on this trip and knowing about it.” Criss said suspiciously. She didn’t understand what Criss didn’t understand about her statement. “ Well Criss, why would she do it, and then be in the spotlight with you when she knows she could get caught?” Arianna told him. “Well from what we read, to me it seems like someone wrote it, and then stepped away like they didn’t want there presence known.” “ Lets write down everyone who’s not on the trip.” Xesca suggested. When they did that, Criss didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “ Lets go out there and have a great day, this can be dealt with later.”


It was about 86 degrees when the girls and Criss were ready for today’s afternoon adventure. Since the news of the magazine, Criss decided that today should be a day for pure fun and relaxation. He decided they should go to the beach for some jet skiing. Claire was excited since she had never jet skied before. She wasn’t excited about having to show off her body in a bikini, and neither was Kate. They both wanted to take the high road though. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, its not like were the only two wearing one.” “ True.” Kate said as they both put on a different colored tank top. There was a knock. “girls ready?” Alana asked on the other side. “ Yes, one second.” Claire answered. Kate opened the door and Claire grabbed her small beach bag. Alana had put her hair back in a braid. Claire thought it looked really pretty. “Wow, hi everyone”. Claire said in surprise as Alana was standing with the rest of the girls. She closed the door behind her and they headed to the elevators. After Alana pushed the elevator button, her phone beeped. She looked at it. “ I just got a text message from Brooke.” She sounded confused. Just wanted to say hi and hope your having a great time!!! Xoxo Alana read it out loud. “Whats wrong?” Rhiannon said. “Its just a little weird that she’s texting me. She never really does.” “ well I guess that was nice.” She put her phone away. Alana and a few of the other girls stepped in. Claire and Arianna were the last ones to take it down. “ Is it just me, or do you think there’s something off about the way Alana feels about Brooke?” Arianna asked without hesitation. “Yeah, I noticed that to, I wonder if that was the same or worse reaction she had with Hazel.” “Probably the same when she first got to know her.” Arianna said as they stepped into the elevator. “I feel bad for her, she probably saw the whole break up go down.” Claire said. “At least she was there for him.” Arianna replied. When they got down to the lobby Claire was glad that all they had to do was walk outside for five minutes. The beach was in front of the hotel, but pushed out. Claire was a bit amused. She was interested to see if she could operate a jet ski.
“ Is this good?” Criss asked his loyal group as they were trying to find a perfect place to put there stuff. “Yeah.” They answered. “I’ve got a better idea.” As the girls started to lay out there towels, Claire said “ since I know we all want to sit next to Criss, why don’t we put our towels in a circle around him, that way we can all.. kinda be sitting next to him.” “ great idea Claire” Criss told her smiling. He liked her creativity. They made sure there was a little opening towards the waves so that way Criss could get in and out of the circle when he wanted. When they were all sitting on there towels, Alana thought this would be a great time to take a picture. “ Oh yes” Criss said. “ Alright girls, gather round.” “ Smile!” Alana said. When she took the picture she saw that Criss was actually smiling to. She loved it. Some of the girls had already gotten comfortable in there bathing suit around Criss.

Unfortunately Kate and Claire still weren’t. Alana was now stripping down. Her bathing suit was a blue and yellow bikini that Claire once thought she saw on a website. Criss had gone off to find out about the jet ski’s which Alana told him he should have called about earlier. When he came back he told them.“So since a lot of people also enjoy jet skiing, they told me that since we have more than 5 people, we can only use two.” “So what does that mean?” Zoe asked. “Well we’ll just have to take turns.” I can go on one, and take one of you with me, and someone else can take the other, or have Alana go on one.”
“I just want to make sure all of you get a turn.” They all agreed that they were fine with that. “ Okay, who’s first?!”

When Xesca was brave enough to go first, Claire and Kate were surprised to see her so comfortable in a white bikini. They all watched as Criss helped her onto the jet ski that was bobbing in the water. Alana called out if he wanted help. “ No, you stay there Alana, start tanning like you usually do!” “ Haha.” She sarcastically called out. She then positioned herself on her stomach on her bright pink towel so she could still see what was going on. Claire then decided she was being silly. The rest of them had already taken off their shirts and enjoying the sun. She was being self conscious because she was worried Criss would judge her. After a few minutes, it seemed Xesca was getting the hang of how to drive the jet ski. They could hear her calling out “ I think I’m getting it!!” They watched as Criss jumped on his. “Wait for me!”, and he rode on his ski after her. The girls laughed. Claire began to lather herself with sunscreen. “ Love your bathing suit!” Zoe looked over at her. Claire’s top was a bright red lightly dotted with rhinestones on the chest area, and the top was tied around her neck leaving the back open. “Very pretty.” Alana said. “ Where did you get that?” “ Oh, at a store where I live, thanks.” “ I like yours to. Blue always looks good on blondes.” Xecsa came walking back to the group surprisingly dry. “ Oh my god, that was so much fun, you guys have to try it!” She said with a smile on her face. Claire grinned as Xesca sat down on her towel. Criss was now walking back to. “ wow, I never thought I’d see him without a shirt on in person.” LeAnn said obviously slightly turned on. “Ditto” Rhiannon said. “What are we smiling about?” Criss said as he looked down at all of them. “ It’s just a great day in Cabo” Claire said with a smirk on her face. “ Alright, I think I’m ready to learn jet skiing.” Zoe pronounced starting to stand up. “awesome, let’s go.” “ Criss, have you put sunscreen on?” Alana asked him. “Remember last year, you started to complain because you were peeling?” “ Okay, okay” Criss said sitting down on his towel. Alana reached into her bag and brought out SPF 50 and handed it to him. “ Since we’ve been here, I notice that you don’t get a zillion people running at you asking for an autograph.” Claire said to Criss as Alana was rubbing lotion on his back. “ Well yeah, since I’ve been here before, people now understand that I’m on vacation, so it’s a bit easier.” “ I’m also sure there wondering what your doing with seven other girls.” Kate finally speaking. “ Doesn’t matter.” He said smiling.

When it was Claire’s turn, she gave Kate her camera. “ Any good moments, take em!” The rest of the girls were lying down on their towels with there eyes closed, or readying. Alana was reading a book. Claire made sure to take her sunglasses, although she was hoping they wouldn’t drop in the water. When she got on the jet ski, she felt like she was driving a small car in the water. “ wow, this feels like a small car.” She said to Criss as she was getting adjusted. “ Yeah, it kinda is.” He said giggling. He started showing her all the basic maneuvers just to get the ski going. “I’m gonna get on mine, I think you’ve got it.” “Just follow me” “ Okay.” She said back. He started driving in front of her and she followed slowly. Soon she was driving at ease. She looked back on the beach and waved at Kate who was taking a picture. In front of her, Criss swung his jet ski around with such ease that he was now facing her. She started to slow down, and he drove up next to her. “ Wanna try that?” “ Yeah, I guess im game.” He told her that she would have use her stomach muscles to help her stay on as it swung around, because inertia will want to push her sideways.

“ Okay, my turn!” Kate got up when Claire came back and handed her the camera. “ Thanks again Criss!” “ Aw, your welcome Claire.” Kate was the last one to go. Kate didn’t say anything about taking her picture, but Claire decided to anyway, since she was nice enough to do it for her. It would be a nice surprise to get in the mail. “ How’s everyone doing here?” Claire said as she sat back down on her towel. “ Were good.” Alana said as she sat up from lying on her back still reading her book. Claire was curious. “ What are you reading?” She showed her the book without having to say anything. “ Under the Desert Sun?” Claire slightly smiled asking. “ Its one of those, you know, romantic novels.” “Ohhh.” Claire said understanding. “ It’s not what I typically read.” Alana defended herself. Claire put her sunglasses back on her eyes and looked out to the ocean. “ looks like she’s having a good time to.” “ Yup.” replied Alana. Claire quickly then took a few photos. Claire then took out her phone and decided to call her parents. A part of her felt weird that she was the only one checking in on how things were going back home. “ Hi mom!” “ Hi honey, how are you, hows everything?” “It’s great! Guess what I learned how to do today?” “give me a clue?” “okay, umm Pisces.” “ooo something to do with the water?” “Uh huh.” Claire said wondering if her mom would guess it right away. “snorkeling?” she asked. “ no, we didn’t get wet.” “ skiing?” “ yes! I learned how to jet ski! And not just from anyone, but Criss!” “ Oh honey that’s fantastic! I hope you took some pictures?” “ Of course!” “ How’s dad, how’s kitty?” “ There good, Shadow sleeps on your bed every night.” “ awww he does?” “ yup.” “ How are you getting along with the other’s?” “ Just fine, were not as crazy as I thought we could be.” Her mom laughed. “ Its nice that you call your parents and let them know how your doing.” Alana told her after Claire hung up. “ Yeah, as much fun as I’m having, I don’t want to completely ignore them.” “ I just don’t call my parents because they thought I was crazy for going on this trip.” “ Yeah, my mom just told me to have a good time, and that I didn’t need to call if I didn’t want to.” It was interesting to Claire the relationship these girls had with their parents. She put her phone back in her bag and started looking around the beach. She thought she recognized two people. “ Is that.. JD, and Costa?” Claire now said squinting and looked back at Alana for approval. “ What, where?” LeAnn said sitting up. They started to come closer. “ Oh yes, I guess they decided to join us.” Alana waived her hand. Criss and Kate were starting to come back to. “ Hey Alana, hi girls.” JD said as everyone started to sit up from tanning. “ Hey bros!” Criss said as he saw them. “ What are you two doing out here?” “ Well we were a bit tired of doing our own thing this whole time, so we decided to join you.” “ Well great, sit down, I just taught all of these loyals how to jet ski.” “ did you girls have fun?” Costa asked. “ Oh yeah!” LeAnn said with excitement. She was excited to finally get a chance to talk to Costa. They came around and both sat on the sand in the opening where Kate’s and Arianna’s towels separated. “ The only person who didn’t go jet ski yet was.. Criss looked down at Alana who smiled at him. “ Reading and tanning!” as she held up her book. “ Oh come on you.. you always have fun when we go together, and what is this your reading?” Criss took the book from her. “ Eh, I’m gonna loose my place!” Alana stood up trying to get it back from him. Criss tossed it back on her towel and before she could reach for it, Criss grabbed her am. “ come on.” Alana went. The girls laughed and Claire nudged LeAnn and smirked at her. LeAnn smiled back and nodded her head in agreement. “ Did you see that?” Costa asked softly to JD. “ yeah.” “ See what?” Kate asked. “ Nothing.” Costa said and smiled. They turned around to now talk to the girls. “ Anyone want gum?” Claire offered.
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Day 4: Part 33

The copy of the pages of the fax that was sent to Criss was still lying in the same spot as it was yesterday. Unfortunately Criss had to wake up to it. “ ugh, you again.” He sat up slowly in bed. He really didn’t feel like getting up and throwing it out. He was starting to feel angry towards it. He looked at the clock. It will be so much better when he would be out with the loyals again. Being at the beach really took his mind off it. It was a bit early, but he heard a knock on the door. “ It’s Alana.” He quickly smoothed out the blanket on the bed. “ Sure, come in.” She opened the door and slowly came in. “ Morning Criss.” She noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Morning Alana.” She stood at the side of his bed holding her coffee in one hand. “ Oh, sit down.” He told her. She felt strange doing so, but did. “ How did you sleep?” She took a sip. “ Pretty good I guess.” He said. “ You?” “ Same.” For some reason there was awkwardness between them. It wasn’t too often Alana saw Criss after he would wake up because Brooke would be next to him. “ I don’t mean to come in so early, but I just came in to tell you that I got an email asking me that your wanted for an interview.” “ Alana, it’s a bit early, do you think we can wait on the business side of things?” “ Oh, I’m sorry, Yes, I’ll, talk to you about this later.” She started to get up. “ It’s just they need an answer soon.” “ Criss reached up to sit her back down. “ What are you doing checking emails anyway? Your on vacation with me.” “ Its sort of become a habit. It’s my job, you cant blame me. She paused. “ I just don’t want you missing a golden opportunity.” Although I’m sort of missing a golden opportunity myself at the moment. She thought. She was worried that if she didn’t work when she needed to and let her guard down, Criss might find out she had feelings for him, and she certainly didn’t want to get hurt. “ Alana, don’t play dumb, we both know what that interview is about.” “ I know. And I want you do it, so you can prove to everyone there wrong.” She lightly tapped him on the knee. Alana had been by his side ever since the break up with Hazel. Just because Criss had a beautiful house and nice cars, it never filled the hole after they broke up. Soon would come a new girlfriend, but until then it was mostly Alana. Criss’s staff watched as she was the one to really help take care of him when days were bad. He appreciated her much more after that and they became good friends. “ So, I’m gonna get dressed. Alana started to get up, a part of her hoping Criss wouldn’t make her sit again. When she was at the door,Criss sat at the edge of his bed. “ By the way Alana, I really liked that bikini on you yesterday. Is that new?” “ uh, yes. Thanks.” She opened the door and left.

“Have any of you done this before?” Criss turned around from the front seat of the van as it started to pull away from the hotel. They all shook there heads no. “ You girls will have a lot of fun.” “ Alana and I did this last year to.” “ Yeah, and I loved the part where you weren’t paying attention, looked back at the dolphin, and almost broke your nose, because he wanted to give you kiss.” The girls laughed. “ Oh, yes, and I’m glad that didn’t happen.” Criss touched his nose. “ So tell us all about it, what are they like?” Kate asked. “ Well there very cute, very friendly.” Criss started. “ Criss was smiling the whole time we were there.” Alana said writing something down on a piece of paper. “ Criss, was last year the first time you came to Cabo?” Claire questioned. “ No, I was here with Hazel to.” “ I wasn’t here for that trip.” Alana said. “ So this is the second time you’re here with Alana?” “ Yes.” Something about that didn’t make sense to Claire. She didn’t know if the other girls picked up on it. Criss had started dating Brooke in June, because she remembered seeing pictures of them at a club together. “ So you haven’t come to Cabo with Brooke yet?” A few of the girls started to look at Claire, and so was LeAnn who was sitting next to her. “ Claire what are you saying?” Derek asked. Criss and Alana also looked at Claire who now was a bit nervous she had said something wrong. “ Um, nothing, I was just.. curious.” When Criss turned back around, Claire mouthed to the rest of the girls and Alana : that doesn’t make sense? When they had gotten to there destination, Criss told the group he was going to check them in. When he walked away, Arianna asked “ What was with that weirdness back there?” “ What?” Claire asked. “That whole, Brooke hasn’t been to Cabo.” The girls and Alana looked at her to see what she would say in her defense. “ You don’t think its weird that one month after he dates Hazel he brings her, yet he hooks up with Brooke and six months later, she’s not here?” Alana was impressed that she knew how long they’ve been together. “ Okay, come on girls” They saw Criss call them in. There was lots of “ awwwws” when the girls got a tour of the place as they saw dolphins swimming around and looking at them. It was another beautiful day to be outside. A few of them including Claire brought there camera to take pictures and soon they would get to swim with them. Claire wanted to be super excited, but as they walked around, Claire stayed a little bit behind Criss. She was nervous that maybe she had rubbed him the wrong way.
A ittle while later, as the girls put on there life jackets for security reasons, Claire could see where Criss would be smiling the whole time he had been here. Maybe being with the dolphins wasn’t the only reason.

____

“ Hey Criss, great to see you here again!” There trainer for the afternoon said to him. Hi, good to see you to!” they shook hands. “ Do you remember Alana, my assistant?” He put his hand on her shoulder. “ Yes, I think so..” “ So who did you bring with you?” He now noticed all seven girls standing with him. These are the girls that won my “ come with me to Cabo contest.” “That’s exciting.”
“ This is Rhiannon, Zoe, Arianna, Xesca, Kate, LeAnn and Claire.” Criss introduced all of them. “ Nice to meet you all, I’m Eric, I’ll be your trainer for a bit. If you just come with me, we’ll get started.”
The pool that they stepped into was a solid blue, like the color of a Windows computer toolbar. The water wasn’t too cold as they stood ankle deep. “ The first thing were gonna do is greet the dolphin, I’ll show you how to touch him, and some basic commands that they know. And, we can test Criss and Alana and see if they remember anything from last time.” He winked at them, and the girls smiled. The first dolphin that came over was named Lima. “ Like the capital of Peru.” Claire said. “ Exactly.” Eric said smiling impressed. As the first dolphin came over, Eric was standing next to Claire, and she was the first one to touch her. She glided through the water so smoothly as Lima passed right by her, and Claire gently moved her hand over her back as the rest of the girls did the same. When she got to Alana, Alana decided to have a little fun. The girls looked over as she made a command with her hands. Lima moved onto her side, and raised her right flipper in the air and flapped it like she was waiving. Eric chuckled. “ very good!” Lima moved her flipper like she was waiving as she swam back to Eric. The girls laughed. “ Do any of you know the parts of a dolphin?” “ Well, the flipper.” Claire said. “ the median notch.” Alana said after her. “ the beak”. Claire then said. “ the melon.” Alana said. Criss was impressed. He wondered for a minute if Brooke new anything about dolphins. Eric then showed them the rest of the parts of Lima. “ I’ll show you some tricks she can do, and then you’ll be split into pairs for more one on one time with the dolphins.”
It somehow happened that Claire got paired up with Criss. As excited as
she normally would be, she wanted to set things straight. They were on the other side of the pool with another trainer while the other girls were spread out with there own dolphin to work with. The trainer had to talk to Eric. “ Just keep touching him on the beak and the melon, so he knows to stay with you.” “ Okay” Criss said, and looked back down at Reynosa, the dolphin, who’s name was a place in Mexico on the east side, at the very southern tip of Texas. “ Listen, I just want to make sure your not mad at me or anything. I know that what I said might have rubbed you the wrong way. Claire started. "I cant speak for anyone else, so is it okay if I tell you what I’m thinking, because whenever I’ve been in a difficult situation, I always have kept you in my mind and it always seems to make things better, so now I feel like its my turn to help you. ”Criss looked at her amazed at how genuine she was being. “ Yes.” “ You cant admit that its not strange that you brought Hazel here after one month of dating her, and now your with Brooke, and six months later, she’s not here?” “ She just didn’t want to come.” Criss said not hearing his own words. “ Is that true, or is it because your not that seri..” She was cut off when the trainer for them came jogging back. “ Sorry about that.” Claire really tried to have fun with the time they got with the dolphin, but she was distracted. She cared about Criss, and knew that Brooke wasn’t so much in the picture as people thought she was.

In the locker room getting changed to leave- “Didn’t you girls have fun?” Alana asked putting on her white tank top over her head. “ It’s so cool how these animals respond to all the commands!” Zoe said “ Arent they cute?” Alana gushed looking at herself in the mirror. “ I cant believe you remembered all the parts of them.” Claire said. “ You to!” Alana put up her hand for a high five. Claire obliged and smiled. “ I thought I was gonna loose the top of my bikini when we held on to the dorsal fin, and zipped through the water!” Rhiannon said. The girls laughed. “Ok, I’m gonna go out, ill let Criss know your almost ready.” Alana said grabbing her bag. When she was out of ear shot, Claire spoke up.” She seems so nice, I’m glad Criss has her as his assistant.” “ And she’s down to earth, there’s nothing fake about her.” Arianna replied. They gathered there stuff and went out. It was about 3:45, and the sun was still shining. Claire put on her sunglasses, and Criss already had his on. Alana was wearing pink and white baseball cap. She wondered what she wore during the week when she works for Criss. She imagined her hair slicked back in a bun with a white collared shirt.
“Did you all have fun as I hoped?” Criss asked as they were in the car as Derek started putting out of the parking lot. “Oh yes, the pictures came out great!” Zoe said. Derek put on the AC. Claire looked out the window pondering way too much. She hoped Zoe at least got one photo of her smiling at some point. She felt awkward about pressuring Criss, and she kept thinking he was discouraged at her for asking what she did, but with enough trust, maybe he would tell her what was going on. He did trust her, but there was a few emotions he couldn’t trust. “ I was thinking, how about tonight, we go clubbing?!” All the girls got excited except for Xesca, Kate and Arianna who were under 21. “ Uh, Criss, what about us?” Criss looked back. “Oh, don’t worry about it. You just have to be over 18.” “What?” He looked at Kate. “ Ohh…” He looked at Alana and Travis who didn’t know what to say. “ You know, don’t worry, your with me, I’ll get you in.” He winked at her. The blessing and curse of being a celebrity: Getting almost whatever you want.

~~

That night:

Claire loved the way she looked for the night. She wore black pants with heels that were sparkling with sliver glitter. Kate loved them. Her top was red with no sleeves, and had a bit of a turtle neck, and a zipper that had little white rhinestones. She put her hair in a ponytail. Kate tried to dress as best she could. A mid-short denim skirt with a black tank top and wore a long necklace with a lighting bolt. “You think this club has a dress code?” She asked as her ran her fingers through her hair. “I doubt it, I think Criss would tell us..” “True.” She looked in the mirror again as Claire applied her lip gloss. She was interested to see how Kate would get in.

All the girls looked amazing, and so did Criss. JD, Costa were coming with them this time and LeAnn was excited because she thought she just might get her chance to dance with him. Anything can happen when the sun goes down. Criss helped them each get out of the car when they arrived. All eyes were on them. You could hear the music through the walls, and as the door opened when a few people went inside. Claire smiled as Criss helped her out, and kept praying he was feeling better. She felt like a celebrity. As they walked towards the front door Criss went up to Kate and linked arms with her. “ Come with me.” The girls looked at each other as Criss look Kate ahead of them to the front. Travis motioned for the girls to go in, as he walked behind them. Alana thought he might need assistance with speaking in case whoever was in front didn’t speak English. “ Hola.” The girls stood behind him and watched. “ Hola.” Criss said back. “Listen, I’ve been to this club once, I know you have to be over 18, but my friend here is 17.” The guy looked at them a little confused. “Your friend-?” Alana stepped in. “ Hola, buenos noches.” She then translated for Criss. He now understood, and told her he needed to ask someone else.” “He’ll need to ask someone else.” She looked at them sorry. “I guess it wont be that eas-“ She was cut off when another guy came over and immediately knew Criss. “ hey Criss Angel, right?” He went to give him a high five. “ How are you?” “I’m great, listen; my friend here is not 18.” He gave a puzzled look. “That’s fine..” he said with a big smile and looked at Kate suddenly “ Your not going to drink right?” “Oh, no.” Kate said. “ Good, come on in.” It was that easy.
As the girls went inside, ID’s were checked. The place wasn’t as crowded as Claire thought it would be. Criss motioned for them to go to the back corner. They sat down on a round couch with a small table in front of them. “Thanks a lot Criss.” Kate said as the girls got comfortable. “Your welcome.” She leaned over to Alana. “ Thanks Alana.” “Your welcome sweetie.” “ Who’s ready for a drink?” Criss then asked. “Just water for me!” Kate said. Criss chuckled. The place was alive as the music was almost as loud as the clubs in Vegas, and no doubt people were dancing to the techno music that was playing at the moment. Soon a man came over to see if they wanted anything. Criss answered for all of them: “ yes, rum and coke, white wine spritzer, martini, pina colada, gummy and coke, screwdriver, and a long island ice tea and a water. gracias” He then looked to the front door and saw JD and Costa. He waved them over. Claire gave LeAnn a nudge and a smile. She smiled too.

“ JD, Costa!” Criss said happily as they came over. “Hey everyone.” “ Hi Costa!” LeAnn said back excitedly, and then covering her mouth. “ Hi” He directed his attention to her. “tell me your name again?” “ LeAnn.” She said slightly embarrassed, holding out her hand. “I’m sorry about that.” “That’s okay.” He chuckled. Claire decided to be real nice. She stood up. “Would you like to sit here?” She offered Costa. “ LeAnn looked at her wide eyed. “ Oh sure, thank you…?” “Claire.” He asked as he put his hand on her shoulder slightly before sitting next to LeAnn. The man who took there drink orders then came over, and the techno music stopped, and a new song with lyrics that Claire didn’t know started to play. Alana took a sip of her drink. “Come on girls, lets dance!” She said standing up. Claire was ready but some of the others didn’t want to. It was obvious LeAnn didn’t want to move from where she was.
“So hows it going Claire?” Alana shouted as they started to dance on the floor. “ It’s pretty good.” Somewhat lying, Claire didn’t want to talk about what happened today. “You seem kinda quiet today, whats up?” She asked. “ I don’t think this is the best place to talk about this, but do you know that article in Red Carpet?” Alana rolled her eyes in disgust almost looking like she was gonna cry. “It’s disgusting, I don’t know who would believe that!” she said putting her hand to her chest. “I also think there’s something off about Criss’s relationship with Brooke.” Claire leaned in to tell her. “There is.” Claire was curious. Alana leaned in. “She doesn’t really love him.” “No?” Claire said back. “You were right about what you said in the car.” “I was?” Claire was surprised. “Yeah, I agree with you, she’s not here for a reason.” There was a pause.” I live with Criss at Serenity; I know her.” “Well if she doesn’t love him..” Claire started to say. “ She’s really never there for him like a girlfriend should be, its sad.” Claire felt really bad for Criss all of a sudden. She didn’t believe that Alana would lie to her. Claire didn’t feel like dancing anymore. “ I’m gonna go back, and sit.” It was like Alana was filled with caffeine. “ Okay! Tell the girls to get out here!”
“Alright girls, hit the floor, Alana wants you to dance with her.” Claire said as she went back and sat down. “Here’s your drink.” LeAnn pushed the glass towards her. “ Ah, thanks.” The drink was good, but there was something really strange about what Alana had told her.
As the night went on, they were all dancing together. It seemed as though they all got to hear that one song they loved. At one point they all made a circle around Criss, as he tried to dance in the middle he laughed, feeling awkward, he even took Alana into the circle with him, and she was a bit surprised, but was smiling. He then suddenly dipped her, which everyone was really impressed by. Claire saw how Alana just seemed to arch her back with ease and closed her eyes as Criss held her. After a few minutes, they all started to dance in a normal group. Arianna moved near Claire. “Hey, do you see that?” she shouted in her ear as Claire noticed Costa dancing with LeAnn. “Yeah, fun right?” “ No, that’s not what I mean.” She said back. Claire was puzzled.
“ Wow, I’m tired.” Claire said smiling as LeAnn and Arianna walked with her back to the table. “Nothing like dancing.” JD said. “Nothing like dancing.” Claire said back smiling. “Wow, Alana is on fire.” Claire said looking back at the dance floor. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s sat down for a min.” Arianna said. “ haha, look at her and Criss.” Claire now noticed the two of them dancing together.

Claire started to think about what Alana and Arianna said to her earlier. Something was off since what she heard in the car that afternoon. Maybe she needed a third opinion. “ JD, Costa, what do you think of Brooke?” Claire dared to ask. “ She’s phony.” JD stated with no hesitation. “ JD!” Costa nudged his brother. Claire figured it was a bit of the alcohol talking. “ What he means to say is that.. “ Costa looked at her. He tried to look for the words. “ She’s not exactly an angel.” “She’s one of those girls who I think is with Criss because she looks good with him.” “ Kind of like.. Hazel?” LeAnn said. “ Yeah.” JD admitted sadly. Claire was now like a detective. “Do you two know about that magazine Red Carpet?” Claire asked Criss’s brothers again. “What’s with you and this magazine?” LeAnn asked. “Don’t you wanna know who wrote that BS?” Claire said defensively. “Yeah, we do, Criss was furious when he saw it.” Costa said. “ Doesn’t matter though, whoever wrote that is a phon- y” JD didn’t have a chance to finish saying the word as they all looked at each other wide eyed.

[Loyal OC]

Stop it there would ya'! Gahhhhhhhhh what happened? Did Costa drop me? LMAO :P

[LoyalSamy]

Part 34: ( You may want to grab a tissue, the ending is a bit sad, but touching)


“Criss! Criss!” Claire rushed to get up onto the dance floor shouting as JD, Costa and LeAnn followed. The girls started to look over as Criss and Alana stopped dancing. “ What? What’s wrong?” “We know who wrote that article!” she had to shout over the music air quoting the word article. “Well, thanks to your brother.” “What do you mean?” He then pointed to the entrance outside for them to go out. When they were outside, Criss looked around, and looked back at Claire and JD. What a rush of silence it was to Claire’s ears. The girls gathered around them. “What were you trying to say inside?” Criss asked. “The three of us were talking, and we figured, I figured, it was.. JD paused “ Brooke.” “ Brooke?” Criss asked shocked. “ She’s phony Criss, and that’s exactly how the voice of the article sounded.” “ What? She is not phony!” Criss said now annoyed. “ Criss, love you, but sometimes you’re a little thick.” Criss took a deep breath, annoyed again, and the girls looked at each other not knowing what to say or do. “ She’s phony Criss.” Alana said blankly. A few of the girls looked at her. Claire did to. “ Shes phony, and she’s almost never there for you.” Alana said seriously. Criss looked at her a little stunned. So did the girls. JD and Costa didn’t seem surprised. “ Do you think we could talk about this somewhere else?” Criss said quietly looking around. “ Ok, lets go to the back room.” Alana said putting her hand on Criss’s back. “No, remember what I told you about that room?” Criss said to her. “Come on, we’ll just go to the back of the club.” “Girls, maybe we should wait for Criss inside.” Rhiannon said. “ No, its fine, come on.” Criss said and started walking. They all followed. There was a small rock formation at the back of the club, and beyond it, you could see a bit of the ocean where only a few people were talking and having drinks. Criss sat down on one of the rocks while everyone stood around him. “ Are you guys sure its her?” Criss looked up and questioned like he didn’t want to know. “ Well you know its not any of us.” JD started. “Besides your team, and the loyals, no one else knows about this contest.” Costa now said. “Except for Brooke, and Robin.” Alana said. “Well I know it wasn’t Robin, I spoke to him on the phone about it.” Even Sara said the whole thing is just trying to make you look like dog, and wasn’t thought out carefully.” Travis said. “She was right, and even if that’s what you were trying to do, I don’t think you need to come down to Cabo.” Kate spoke up. Criss listened trying to put the pieces together. “The only ones who wouldn’t buy this story are people who love and care about you.” JD said. “ And know you.” Alana stated. “Can we speak freely?” Arianna asked. “Yeah.” Criss said sadly. “I know that some of us weren’t to happy when you were dating her.” Criss looked at all the girls. Claire was the only one who shrugged and nodded in small agreement. She figured the others didn’t want him to be mad at them. Claire didn’t care. She was sick of women taking advantage of Criss. “Well why didn’t you like her?” Criss wanted to know. “ Well, it was pretty soon after you dated Hazel..” “It wasn’t that soon. Criss said. “8 months isn’t that long.” Alana said. “Well it just seemed like you two weren’t really dating.” Arianna continued “We only saw a few pictures of you and her once in a while.” Xesca voiced her opinion now. “I hate to say this, but she seemed like a.. how do I put this? A rebound girl.” LeAnn now said. Criss didn’t know what to say. He looked up at his brothers who seem to agree. A part of him was a little stunned to hear his loyals tell him this, but a part of him was glad to hear their honesty. “Alana, what do you think?” Criss asked her because she worked closely with him. It was pressing question which Alana was waiting for so long to tell him. Alana took a deep breath. The loyals watched as Alana spilled out her feelings like a kid who spilled there glass of milk on the table.
“I have watched the two of you since you started dating. First, I don’t understand why you’ve been with her longer than Hazel. She treated you a little better at least. I was there for you when Hazel and you broke up. Remember? I’m the one who suggested we come here, when I knew you needed some time away so your spirit wouldn’t be completely broken. We had so much fun. Why do you think I came back here? I’m the one who’s been helping take care of you when you got sick or were worried or stressed about things. I always told you to take some of your own advice that’s not only always helped them,” She pointed to Claire and the girls. “But that’s helped me. I told you, when I believed it, that everything was going to be okay, and on my bad days, you told me the same thing. And I’m not Hazel, I’m not Brooke, girls who don’t believe in magic. I defended you to haters and anyone else who tried giving me crap about you, because when they did, I was hurt. I knew you. We were good friends, but most importantly: You know why?!" Her voice rose and she was angry. “Because I CARE about you!” She pointed to herself and started to cry. She looked at him for a second and started to walk away. Travis followed.
Claire, and the other girls were stunned. Claire pressed her lips together and put her hand over her mouth. Listening to her, Claire thought she might to. All of them were silent. She realized how much bottled up emotion Alana hung on to all this time. It was amazing strength for Alana to do that, and Claire needed to tell her that.

[LoyalSamy]

Part 34 continued:

Claire had found Alana in the bathroom standing over a sink trying to dry her eyes. Strangely she was wearing waterproof mascara. “Alana?” Claire walked over hoping she wouldn’t be to mad that she followed her here. “I’m embarrassed” she said looking back into the mirror and wiping the bottom of her eye. “You have so much confidence telling him that- you have kept that bottled up wayyy to long.” “Tonight in front of all of you was probably not the best place or time.” “Of course it was the right time, he asked, and you told him how you felt.” “You know, I’m glad this happened, finally Criss is gonna see someone who’s real and actually cares about him.” “ Why do you think I love working for him?” She then slightly giggled. Claire smiled. Arianna then walked in with Zoe. “Is she okay?” Zoe asked as they both walked over. “ She’ll be fine.” Claire said. “I’m sure you feel much better now.” Arianna said. “Is anyone else stunned that Brooke would do this?” Zoe now asked. “ I knew she wasn’t the real deal, but this was pushing it.” Arianna said.“ You’d have to be such an idiot to buy a story like that though” Claire said.

Travis, JD, Costa and Criss were now sitting on the rocks. “ I had no idea..” Criss said also stunned. “You had no idea?” JD asked. “No, I thought we were great friends with a good working relationship.” “ Criss, we’ve seen you out more with Alana than Brooke.” Jd said. “If she didn’t like Brooke, why didn’t she just tell me?” “ She probably thought things would change.” Travis said. “The best thing she could do was be your friend.” “ And look how you got defensive when I said Brooke was phony.” JD added. The other four girls moved away from Criss after Alana exploded; Giving some space to Criss. They also didn’t know who needed more comforting. Criss then got up to talk to them. “I’m sorry about that girls.” “No, its okay Criss, these things happen.” Rhiannon said. “ I think we feel bad, because this is obviously personal business.” “No, its okay that you are here.” He looked around. “I’m just glad this didn’t happen in front of the paparazzi or something, lets get going.” “Hey Travis, can you call Derek and have him come get us?” “Yeah, sure.” He took out his phone.

Alana had calmed down a bit and just wanted to leave. “ Let’s go find everyone and see if everyone just wants to leave.” Zoe suggested. “ Thanks.” Alana said while taking out her sunglasses and putting them on. As they walked outside, they looked around and then saw the car waiting for them. The windows were tinted, so you couldn’t see anyone. Claire was very curious to how this was making Criss feel. JD came up to them. “ Hey, I’m sorry Alana.” “ It’s fine, lets just go.” She said in a serious tone. They were helped into the car and Alana sat in the back.

[Loyal OC]

I'm not sure what to say or think. I like it though. :)

[RACHEL02189]

keep it coming girl

[DeppAngel]

I have to say that I love your story! can't wait to read more!

[LoyalSamy]

Back at the hotel:

Xecsa had already gone to sleep, as the rest of the girls were still awake. “I wonder whats gonna happen now.” Kate asked as they were getting ready for bed to. “ Well if I was Criss, Claire said, as she came out of the bathroom and turned the light off, “I’d run after everyone who was responsible for letting a story like that go to print. Then tell Brooke to get off my property and have a nice life.”

Kate laughed. “I am impressed as to how you figured it out.” “ Well you have to be a detective, you want to find out information, you just gotta ask questions.” She sat on her bed. “ Well I just asked about Brooke, and JD and Costa sort of knew the rest.” “ I just hope no one blames you.” Kate said. “Even if they do, at least I know I will wake up every morning knowing that I helped save a bad relationship.” “ Maybe Criss will thank me.” Claire said hopefully. “ I hope he does.” Kate said.

In Alana's room:

Alana thought the best thing was for her to go to sleep since she figured everyone else probably had. But she was wondering about different things. She hoped most importantly that her job wasn’t at stake, but being around Criss after this was going be a bit harder, and the media knowing of another breakup wasn’t going to help.
She sat on her bed brushing her hair, and listened to Tell Him by Celine Dion. A beautiful ballad that really describes how she had been feeling. She then heard a small knock on the door. She really had hoped it was one of the girls. She got up without turning off her music, and opened the door. Celine started to sing I don’t think I could endure, if I let him walk away when I have so much to say.. She felt like there was a third person in the room. Criss stood at the door. “Can I talk to you?” She leaned on the open door. It was hard for her to lie, but this time she wanted to. “ No, I’m tired, and I was going to sleep soon, there’s always tomorrow.” She started to slowly shut the door. “ I don’t think I have tomorrow.” He answered. Lana opened the door back up. “Criss, your not dying, and when you were with Brooke there was always tomorrow.” She started to close the door. Criss opened it back up. “ What the hell does that mean?” “ I don’t know okay?” She was started to get annoyed. “I think you do. You had fire in your stomach tonight, a side of you I haven seen.” “Yeah, there’s a big side of me, that people haven’t seen.” She walked towards her bed to turn off the music. “ You can leave it on.” Criss said. “Doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t understand it.” Alana said. Criss let himself in and shut the door. “excuse me, I didn’t invite you in.” Alana said looking up. Alana was going into defense mode. She didn’t know if she wanted to just kiss him or throw something at him. “You know, you and I share something in common, he said as he sat her her bed. “ we both get defensive when it comes to our feelings.” Alana was to busy to looking around at her already organized computer and didn’t want him so close to her. Criss shut the screen, right on her fingers. “ owww!” Alana said looking at him as she lifted her fingers out from the screen, being a gentleman, Criss took her hand. “ Oh no” she said taking back her hand. “Until Brooke leaves Serenity, you two are still together, and I don’t need this right now.” She said taking back her hand. “ Why did you wait all this time?” Criss said looking at the wall, as Alana look at her hands in her lap. “ I don’t want to talk about this now.” Alana said softly. “ This is isn’t gonna go away.” Criss said. Alana stood up and faced him. “Because, I couldn’t take it anymore.” She whispered with an attitude throwing her hands in the air. “ I was like a kettle on the stove, it started to boil and boil, and tonight when you asked me, I thought wow, for once, I’m actually gonna be honest ; I was hired to do a job, and soon it wasn’t about being paid at the end of the pay. I started to enjoy coming to work. But I wasn’t there to get caught in your personal life.” “You didn’t talk about her much, so I thought maybe you weren’t happy, so I thought, well I’m gonna be there for him.” Criss didn’t know what to say. A part of him was upset. He felt like he wasn’t worth telling the truth to. That wasn’t it. She sat back down. “ If I had told you sooner, maybe you would have thought I was just another chick throwing herself at you, and that’s so not who I was.” “ No, what you said tonight was not some woman throwing herself at me.” Criss said. Alana looked down. “ Brooke’s disgusting, I hope you find out how she got away with that.” “ I will.” She looked at him, and he started to put Alana’s hair behind her ear gently. Alana started to get a little nervous, but she let him.

[RACHEL02189]

Hmmmmmmm

[Loyal OC]

Sounds to me like someone's getting their feelings tested. It reminds me of a part of my novel in a way. Amy and Lucas get into an argument and he's afraid he's about to lose her and he almost does so he does the only thing he knows to do: let her know how he truly feels. When you let things (even feelings) fester up after a while you have to let them out, you have to let your feelings known. Kind of like Alana did with Criss. Awesome update! I loved how you described how they both were feeling - pulls me into the story and makes me want to read more! :)