Stealing Hearts

"Get out."

Eleanor Rose Adams had never in her life pronounced any words with any amount of venom, she had never raised her voice at any one and neither had she ever meant harm towards anybody.

However this time, and for the first time in her life, she meant it.

"Get out," she spat at the girl in front of her, who resembled her twin. "Get the hell away from me!"

Chloe was shocked, she hadn't expected such a reaction, so instead of moving away from Eleanor and out of the kitchen she stayed firmly rooted to the floor, enraging Eleanor even more.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Eleanor screamed loosing all inhibitions and reserve that she usually prided herself on so much.

George watched the drama unfold from his place by the door frame, he felt obliged to go and stand next to his girlfriend to offer moral support, but then he knew better than to get between two women when all the cards were on the table.

Chloe was about to open her mouth to say something when the door of the apartment opened up and two joyful and laughing voices flooded into the room where the tension had peaked to dramatic heights.

Emily and Laura walked into the kitchen arm in arm, both carrying large amounts of shopping bags, yet their laughter stuck in their throats when their eyes fell upon the scene in front of them. Emily's blood pressure rose almost at once, as she recognised exactly the same symptoms that had occurred only four months ago when Chloe did everything to try and be like Eleanor. Laura’s face went very white and her eyes were wide.

“What the hell is going on?” Emily voiced harshly, dropping the shopping bags on the floor with a loud thunk that echoed around the now deadly silent kitchen.

“Does it even need explain?” Eleanor screeched breaking the silence and advancing towards Chloe so she was stood directly in front of her. Despite the severe lack in height, Eleanor looked far more threatening and menacing.

George now felt that it was his duty as a boyfriend, and reigning male, to he step in. With nervous anticipation he cleared his throat and to his utter surprise every head in the room snapped his way.

“Chloe I think it’s best you leave,” George said firmly. It wasn’t a request.

It was an order.

The new Chloe spun on her heels and stared at George with loss flooding into her eyes.

“What do you mean leave?” She asked in panic.

Eleanor had been standing off side for a minute, trying to regulate her breath, counting in her head like her yoga instructor had taught her, but to no avail.

“Chloe you’re not wanted here anymore,” Eleanor said sharply, her eyes flashing dangerously, and her hands balled up as fists at her side.

“What do you mean not wanted?” Chloe asked with agitation. “That’s not true,” she carried on rather meekly looking around at the people collected around her.

Her eyes fell upon Emily and Laura who shot angry and disgusted looks back at her, then Chloe saw George. Poor George, who really only wanted peace and harmony in a life filled with what he called: ‘good vibrations’.

But this was all out of the question.

“Chloe we’ve given you plenty of chances and put up with so much of your shit, but enough is enough. You need to leave,” Eleanor said with determination rising high in her. “Now.”

Chloe regarded Eleanor through upset eyes. Eleanor always had everything that Chloe ever wanted, literally. Chloe knew it was wrong to take all these things away from Eleanor, her friends, jewellery, identity and so many other things but Chloe felt that Eleanor had enough to share.

“Chloe please just go,” George said, almost resorting to pleading.

That was when it hit Chloe.

She could now take George away from Eleanor.

“But that’s not what you said the other day,” Chloe said simpering and with an odd smile on her face.

Once again a sudden deathly quite hit the kitchen, Emily and Laura holding their breaths for the explosion that was about the happen.

“What are you talking about?” Eleanor hissed quietly, looking at George, who seemed to be at a total loss, and then back at Chloe with large angry eyes.

“Don’t you remember George when you came into my room the other day? You left this there,” Chloe said and turned towards George pulling out from the inside of her large leather TopShop bag, which was almost identical to one that Eleanor possessed, the navy jumper of George’s that he had been looking for, for some time now.

The scream that came from Eleanor’s throat was a scream that shot through everybody in the room, jolting their nerves and making them feel sick to the stomach; it was a scream of total loss and frustration. Before anybody could stop her, Eleanor picked up a glass and hurled it at Chloe, who only through good reflexes managed to avoid being hit. But the attack of glasses didn’t stop until Laura and Emily were by her side, grabbing her arms and holding her back.

“You bitch! You bitch!” Eleanor screamed hysterically over and over again struggling with all her might against the hold of her two best friends.

Chloe was stood in the shards of glass looking distraught but at the same time triumphant. She didn’t move and watched Eleanor attempted to lung at her with observed detachment.

George with horror watched his girlfriend turn into a wild animal and he attempted to take a step forward to calm her down, but she once again turned into that wild cat and almost snarled at him.

“Don’t you dare come anywhere near me!” She shrieked, never giving up her struggle against Emily and Laura.

And then as if the scenario couldn’t get any worse the door of the apartment clicked open again, revealing Mark, Sam and Dan in their winter coats, cheeks beaten red from the harsh Yorkshire wind outside. They had cheery smiles on their faces but when their eyes landed on the scene in front of them, the smiles slipped off immediately.

“Oh my God,” Jack breathed, taking in the glass shards, the shell shocked George, the vindictive Chloe and lastly Eleanor who looked positively wild and hell bent on drawing blood, being held back by two struggling girls.

“Jack for god’s sake don’t just stand there!” Laura shouted at her boyfriend and in a flash he was at her side with Sam, gently taken Eleanor out of Emily and Laura’s grip.

Eleanor would have lunged at Chloe all over again, but the boys had a far stronger grip on her arms than the girls did.

“Get the fuck out of my apartment you psycho bitch!” Eleanor cursed at Chloe, before she was dragged into her bedroom by Jack and Sam, who both had worry and confusion etched into their shocked faces.

Mark, spurred on by Emily clamped his hand down on Chloe’s arm and to much protest removed her from the kitchen, and threw her out of the apartment, chucking her TopShop bag after her and slamming the door shut.

An eerie quite settled into the apartment. Everybody looking around awkwardly, not sure what on earth to do now, eventually Emily took initiative and busied herself sweeping up the shards of glass that lay in the kitchen whilst Laura spoke to Dan in hushed tones. George had sunk down on a kitchen chair staring blankly into space, shock settling in.

The eerie quite however was broken a few minutes later by hysterical sobs that flooded out of Eleanor’s room and replaced the tense quite with the agonising cries of a girl who had just had the thing that meant the most to her taken away.

The trust to her boyfriend.