The Heart Stealer

Kelly ended up spending the night in her car. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. If her mother had known, she would have hit the roof. Kelly didn’t care how ‘dangerous’ it was to sleep in your own car on the streets of Los Angeles. She was running out of options.

After waking up from a short and uncomfortable sleep, Kelly drove around the city, in search of coffee and a computer with internet. She found a small cyber-café and parked out the front before entering. The strong smell of coffee was immediately comforting and she ordered, before booting up one of the computers.

She started a google search of Rebekah’s name in order to find a list of all the artworks she’d sold. There were a lot of different sites, and none of them seemed to help very much, until she stumbled upon a blog dedicated to Rebekah’s artworks. It had a picture of every work that had been sold or was currently for sale, along with vital information, such as the title, where it was located, and the estimated price.

Three of the works were in Los Angeles. Kelly stared at the estimated prices blankly, the doubt setting in. She would never be able to afford them. Not now that she’d left home, didn’t have a solid income and no idea where her future was taking her. Her phone rang loudly in her pocket, breaking her out of her trance. She fumbled for it and answered, the voice on the other line not one she had expected.

“Kelly Veneziano?” The sharp, female voice asked. “Uh, yes,” Kelly mumbled, wondering who it was. The voice went on to explain that her name was Alicia Storm and that she was the lawyer for Rebekah’s family, concerning the will. Everything had been left to Kelly.

“W-What?” Kelly stammered, as she struggled to process the information. “Everything?” “Yes,” Alicia replied, sounding impatient. “I’d like to organize a time for us to discuss it more in detail, there is quite a large sum of money involved…”

“No,” Kelly cut her off. “That won’t be possible. I’m in Los Angeles at the moment, not permanently. I couldn’t tell you where I’ll be in the next week, because I don’t know.” Alicia sighed. “I don’t want this transaction to be difficult,” she said, sounding irritated. “I’ll make it home someday,” Kelly said, although she knew it was a complete lie. She had no plans on ever returning.

“Should I just transfer the money to your account and leave the rest to sort out at a later date?” Alicia suggested. Kelly agreed and gave her the necessary details before hanging up quickly. She didn’t want to talk to the brisk, seemingly unpleasant woman for longer than she had to.

Staring at the computer screen, Kelly printed off the pages she needed and recorded the blog’s link in her phone for future reference. She paid for her computer and printer use and collected the pages before stepping outside en route to her car. As she pushed the door to the café open, her foot caught on the step, sending her flying forward.

The papers scattered on the street around her as Kelly fell onto her knees, grazing them in the process; enough to draw blood. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath in a defeated sort of way as she picked herself up and started to retrieve the papers. As she was reaching for the last one, her hand fell upon another’s.

She glanced up quickly at the person who had stopped to help her and jerked her hand back quickly when she recognized him. Jack. It was so typically unlucky of Kelly to run into him. He handed her the papers he’d picked up and she took them from him, before concentrating on shoving them into her bag to avoid eye contact with him.

“Hey,” he said simply. Kelly looked up at him then. “Hi,” she replied in a flat tone that suggested she was sort of pissed off, which maybe she was. “Where’d you go the other night?” He asked, sliding his hands into the small pockets of his obnoxiously tight jeans. “I had stuff to do,” Kelly answered quickly, wanting nothing more than to get away. “At 3am?” Jack raised his eyebrows at her. Kelly stared him straight in the eyes. She was at least a foot shorter than him, but the look on her face made up for it.

Jack hesitated, stepping back a bit, the smirk disappearing from his face. Kelly bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from smirking back at him after her small victory. “Did you want something?” Her voice came out harsher than expected, but she had meant it. She’d always been one to cut to the chase – no bullshit.

“I thought we were going to get to know each other,” Jack said hopefully, a small smile playing on his lips. His eyes met Kelly’s once again and she raised an eyebrow. Get to know each other. Kelly knew all too well just what he meant. By saying her wanted to get to know her, he was really just looking for a quick fuck. These type of guys were all the same.

Kelly knew this,

There’d been another boy named Jack in her life once. Even though he was long gone now, he still crossed her mind every so often. After all, who forgets someone who broke their heart? Not Kelly, not ever. As she looked this Jack up and down, she thought about the first Jack, and how it was such a damn coincidence that two assholes could have the same first name. She could see right through this Jack. This Jack was no different to the first.

“What would make you want to get to know me?” Kelly said slowly, drawing out each word, looking at him in just the way she knew would cause his obnoxiously tight jeans to tighten even more. It was working, which was evident in the way a small sweat broke out across Jack’s brow and he bit down on his bottom lip.

“I think we could have some fun,” Jack said, his trademark smirk on full display, his momentary nervousness passed as quickly as it had come. Kelly raised her eyebrows at him and smiled just slightly, in the way that she sometimes did. She looked at Jack again and something in her changed.

This Jack was no different to the last. The last Jack had led her on, told her everything that she wanted to hear, fooled around with her for way too long, before dumping her abruptly and telling her that he liked her friend the whole time. Kelly was devastated. Rebekah broke his nose. It was all quite dramatic, and Kelly hadn’t handled it well. But who would? She had honestly believed that the first Jack had liked her, that they had something special, that something real could happen.

She wouldn’t be fooled that easily again. Those type of boys were all wired the same way, all thought the same thing, and were all as vile as each other. Kelly would make a stand for girls everywhere and fight back. She wouldn’t let this happen to other girls. She would teach this Jack a lesson he would never forget. She would steal his heart and smash it to pieces. Then she would leave, without regrets and without sympathy.

And sure, maybe to others that would sound twisted, cruel, completely out of line. But they hadn’t felt what Kelly had. They didn’t understand. Probably never would. It wouldn’t take him long to fall in love with her. Now that she knew all the attacks he would use, she had all the right defences. She’d hit him where it hurt the most, she’d break him down. She’d give him everything he deserved. She knew his type. She knew what his type did. She’d break his heart and forget his name.

Kelly was going to have a little fun of her own.

*

“So, you like Fall Out Boy, you smoke cigarettes, you drive all over the countryside and don’t live anywhere, and you’re looking for a whole heap of artworks?”

Jack was trying to figure Kelly out, but he was finding it difficult. He couldn’t understand her. She wasn’t like other girls. She seemed almost bipolar to him. One day she was friendly with him, telling him all about her life and playing video games and laughing. The next, she was acting distant towards him, like she didn’t even want to know him.

And now, well, now she was back to…normal? Jack didn’t know who the real her was anymore. He thought he had, at first, but now he was just confused. They were both sitting in the front seat of Kelly’s car, an uncomfortable silence between them. Kelly was slumped in the driver’s seat, her feet resting up on the dashboard and her arm out the window. She knew that a good view of her bare legs would work in her favour.

It was working.

Jack felt nervous, anxious even, which was weird for him, because he’d always been so confident around girls. But something about Kelly was different. Something about her didn’t feel…right, and yet at the same time the two of them together to him did feel right, too. He couldn’t understand it at all. He stared at her bright green painted toenails as he was consumed by his thoughts.

Kelly remained silent, too, finishing her cigarette before tossing it out the window and onto the street. She took her legs down from the dash and sat up, placing her hands on the steering wheel, staring at the SUV parked in front of her, trying to figure out her next move.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Jack spoke up, glancing over at her. Kelly leant over him and opened the glove box, rummaging around before she found what she was looking for. She smacked the dollar bill to his chest.

“A whole dollar for you to shut up.”