Oh man, just wait 'til you get to the bottom. That's all I'm gonna say... CLIFFHANGER! Partially because I'm not sure how much time I'll have to update this week.

- Chapter Three – Hot Plans –

Our journey to lunch was nearly unnoticed by the public. I guess they were just so used to seeing Criss around that they failed to be bothered by his appearance, but hey; you'd think that seeing Criss parade around with an unknown girl would stir up something. As usual, I found none of that juicy celebrity coverage stuff that you see on Extra and Entertainment Tonight.

While I was off in my own little dreamland, Criss directed me towards a nice little café. We sat down at a small table and looked at each other. In his eyes I could see impatience, as if he was bursting to say something. He had a pleasant, but tired look across his face. I could only imagine how I compared to this masterpiece.

"I come down here when the crew is driving me crazy… it's kinda nice." Criss said, leaning his chair back so that it balanced on two legs.

"What have I told you 'bout sittin' like that?" came a loud female voice.

As soon as he heard it, Criss smiled playfully and looked up. Standing in front of us was who I deemed to be our waitress. Her round face was framed by honey colored curls that reached a little ways below her neck. The rest of her body was curvy and round; her expression full of happiness.

"Melanie, meet Jenny. She's always looking out for me." Criss beamed at Jenny and then at me.

"Hey there," Jenny said in a smooth Mississippi accent.

"Hi," I replied, not sure of what to think of the girl.

"Anyways," Jenny began, brightening up. "I keep on tellin' Criss to sit properly, but the boy never listens! Happened to my neighbor years ago. Poor boy broke his arm and was in a cast for two weeks! Criss here can't afford somethin' like that, now can he?"

"Oh come on!" Criss blurted. "You know that I've done far more dangerous things… chairs are the least of my worries."

"Mm-hm," she replied, cocking and eyebrow. "So what can I get ya'll?"

"Dr Pepper with no ice and a water," Criss said, not even stopping to ask me what I wanted. I mean, come on! I might have been craving a Sunkist or a Sprite!

Jenny nodded warmly and went off to fill our orders.

"She's a really nice girl," Criss said, watching her walk away with a swing to her hips.

"Yeah…" I replied, drifting off into a stray thought. "Hey, you look like you're about to burst. What's on your mind?"

"Huh?" He looked at me oddly, but deep down inside he knew that I was onto him.

"Oh come on, just tell me already!"

"Alright, alright! Jeez, Mel…" Criss shut me up and I listened carefully, not knowing what to expect. "Ok… so I know that you rifled through my desk and so I'm sure you saw a few pages about upcoming stunts."

"But how did you—"

"Hammie told me," Criss declared sarcastically. "Anywho, I don't know what you saw, but the phone call I was in earlier sort of gave part of it away. So what I'm saying is… would you like to be my assistant?"

"Wow, you'd pick me over the hundreds of screaming fangirls?"

"Of course."

I smiled. "So tell me more about these hot plans of yours."

Criss pulled out a pen from his coat and grabbed the nearest paper napkin. While I watched, he started scribbling a very rough sketch of what looked like a small canopy in the middle of a track. On the track, I saw a very sloppy motorcycle (Well, I guess he failed art class growing up) and what looked like a stick figure of himself. After completing his masterpiece, he sat back and let me think it over.

"Well, what can I say? It's all chicken scratch to me."

"Ugh," he sighed, picking up the pen to point at the motorcycle/stick figure. "This is me in my skin tight leather outfit that I know you secretly love, riding a motorcycle across a path of some sort, probably about forty of fifty yards, something like that. If you shift your gaze towards this lovely hut thing here over the center of the path, you'll notice it's quite blah and boring. That's where you step in."

He began to draw weird zigzags coming off of the top and the sides. Fire.

"Wait… what?!"

"Everything I'm about to tell you is top secret confidential that no one, and I mean no one, outside of the production team knows about and will ever know about." Criss's voice dropped to a low whisper, barely audible. "The canopy is going to be showed first as being empty and normal. When I set up on my bike, someone's going to light it on fire. Not you, because… I'll get to that in a second. Anywho, as I'm riding, the fire will get bigger and bigger until it's a fiery tunnel of danger for me. And when I pop out of the other side of the empty, fire-engulfed tent thing…"

He sketched another motorcycle, only this time there were two figures on it. One of the stick people had a helmet and the other had long hair. Wait a tick…

"Oh," I muttered, a bit shocked and amazed. "And… just how am I supposed to get there?!"

"Eh," Criss began, no entirely sure of what to say, "I haven't worked that out yet. But don't worry; nothing will be a threat or hazard to you. My guys are pros at taking every precaution to make sure everyone involved comes out alive."

"But…" I started nervously, questions flooding my mind.

"Don't worry. Save the questions for later… for now, let's eat."

I didn't even notice our drinks sitting in front of us until just now. While I took a sip from the straw, Jenny came over to us, wielding a tray above her head. Wait a second! We never ordered! Or even got menus for that matter!

"I do hope you aren't a vegetarian," Jenny smiled, "Because today's special is on the house."

She set the tray down and there sat two of the most fantastic looking burgers I'd ever seen. Hot, steamy, and surrounded by French fries, my mouth was watering and I was so grateful to Jenny.

"Oh," managed to finally say, "These look absolutely amazing! Good call, Jenny!"

"Wha'd I tell you?" Criss joked, "She's always on top of things. Knows things other people don't. She's sure got a flair for food!"

The girl blushed behind her honey hair and giggled. Grabbing the large black tray, she retreated back to the kitchen to leave us in our burger heaven. Without any hesitation, I picked up the loaded burger and chomped down, savoring the delicious flavor. It was amazing, but it needed something more. While Criss watched, I grabbed some fries, stuck them on the meat patty, then squirted ketchup all over them. I placed the bun back on and proceeded with consuming my lunch. The look on the man's face was priceless. It was a… how do you describe it? One of those 'what-on-earth-are-you-doing?!' sort of stares.

But did I care? Hardly! I take pride in my mad burger eating skills. I didn't realize how famished I was until I was on the last few bites of my burger. I looked over at Criss's plate, which was pretty clean save for a few ketchup streaks and crumbs. After a very unladylike belch, I kicked back in my chair, full and satisfied. Criss and I both smiled at each other

"Wow, what's with all the rings, Mel?" Criss randomly brought up, taking notice to the jewelry on my fingers. "You taking after me or something?"

I glanced over at his diamond covered knuckles. "I like rings, I guess."

"They're all so different, though. It's like a puzzle." Criss stared at me intently.

"Well, this one on my thumb my best friend bought for me at a Renaissance faire last summer," I pointed to the moon and star wrapped around my left thumb. "And these two, the wave band and the fluer de lis crown on my middle fingers, were gifts from my dad. Oh, the one on my pinky, the one with the bat on it, that one's from my middle school crush."

"What about the flowery one?" Criss inquired, pointing to my ring finger.

This one was my favorite of them all. Silver with a crystalline rose catching the light beautifully.

"It's from my…" I began, looking down.

Criss stared at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Fiancé."

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! What now, readers? Tell me what you think!