Ella Claire

Ella stared, eyes wide, into a pair of dark aviator sunglasses. They stared back at her blankly, but the warm smile below them reassured her that this giant wasn’t dangerous. And a giant he was, compared to Ella. She barely came to his kneecap in height, and his leg was almost as wide as the girl herself.
M. Shadows squatted down to her level, “Hey there, little one.”
“Hello there, big one.”
His grin broadened. “My name’s M. Shadows, but you can just call me Matt.”
“There are way too many Matts around here.” Daniel muttered. Matt raised an eyebrow at his comment, dimples appearing on either side of his mouth.
“My name’s Ella Claire Romans and I am an atheist!”
This sent all of the band members in the room into a fit of laughter.
“Ella!” Daniel said her name rather harshly, but he had a wide smile on his face.
Ella stood shyly in the center of them all, blushing lightly, with her hands curled tightly against her floral dress.
Matt stretched and strode over to a miniature refrigerator. He pulled out a bottle of water, probably his sixth of the night, and offered one to Daniel.
“Thanks, man.”
Matt simply shrugged and took a swig of his drink. He motioned to Ella with it, “That girl’s something else.”
“Absolutely,” Daniel nodded. “I guess she got that from her mother. I’m not that outspoken, even now.”
“Oh shit, is she here with you guys?!”
“No, no. She, ah . . . We aren’t exactly together, if you catch my drift.”
“Oh . . .” Matt trailed off, “Sorry, dude.”
“Yeah, it’s cool. S’not like you were expected to know.”
They leaned against a gray fold-out table and watched Ella chatter happily to Synyster Gates and Johnny Christ.
“Ssssss,” she hissed as she tried to make out Synyster’s stage name.
Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to recall how to pronounce the rest of his name.
He chuckled, eyes shining as he took in the child. “How about ‘Brian’? Is that a little easier?”
“Brian!” she repeated merrily.
The two men chuckled, and she giggled along with them; but something happened then.
Ella's smile faded, and her vision focused behind Zacky and Synyster. "Who is that?"
“Huh?” They both asked at the same time.
Her head slowly turned to her right, as if following someone walking across the room. “Who is that?!”
"Who is who, Ella?"
"Who is right here?!" she thrust a pointed finger in the direction she meant.
There was no one standing beside Daniel's daughter.

---

But Ella saw him standing there as clear as day. He was dressed differently than the other adults in a steel blue satin dress shirt, black stain tie, and fitted dress suit. There was a silver labret piercing below his bottom lip, and he wore black fingerless gloves. His eyes were rimmed in thick black eyeliner. His black hair stood up wildly in the back while the strands in the front were neatly groomed, and his eyes . . .
He looked at her with a certain interest, a generous curiosity, as if wondering why in the world she was able to see him. She speculated right back why the other people in the room couldn’t see the man.
As he stared at her with sparkling, crystal blue irises, Ella couldn’t seem to break the gaze they shared.
“He’s big,” she muttered to the rest of them.
Daniel came over to her, lifting her off of the ground. “. . . probably just one of her imaginary friends. She’s had a long day, too, haven’t you, Ella?”
She shook her head ‘no’ slightly and kept her head turned toward the other man as Daniel shook each of the members of Avenged Sevenfold’s hand. He thanked them warmly for their hospitality and mentioned that he would definitely be back to see them if ever they decided to return to the venue.
“Hey man,” Matt said, catching Daniel’s shoulder before he exited through one of the back doors. Matt handed him a white laminated card with a black deathbat inked onto it. “Use this to get backstage at any of the concerts. I’d love to catch up with you guys one day, and I’m sure the guys feel the same.”
“Yeah . . .” Daniel looked at the card, unsure. “Yeah, thanks Matt.”
“Be good, Ella; and don’t get grounded before we come back. I want you to be able to hang out with us the next time we’re in town,” Matt kissed her on the forehead.
Ella twisted suddenly in Daniel’s arm, reaching toward the singer. She locked her arms around his wide neck and leaned toward him as if she were going to return the kiss to his cheek, but she whispered in his ear, “His eyes are so blue.”
“Ella! Come on, now. Where are your manners?” Daniel pulled her away from the other man.
“It’s no problem. Take care, dude,” Matt’s mouth hung open slightly as he processed exactly what Ella had meant.
“You, too. Thanks again.”
Daniel walked away from him, quietly scolding Ella for being so inconsiderate of someone’s personal space. She pretended to listen to him, leaning over his shoulder, as she stared hard at Matt’s fading silhouette with wide, kelly green eyes.