Ace of Hearts

Chapter 1

The boy in the black hoodie

You know-if you walk down the streets of New York City whistling, people instantly think you're up to no good. I don't get it, the one day I decide to take a casual walk down the street-I get weird looks.

"Hey!" I shout stopping and turning to a man that starts to walk away, "I was whistling! It's not a crime! It's not like I was screaming or anything!"

He gives me a look of utter confusion and speed walks away into the sea of people. I groan and keep walking as I fix my red windbreaker. I walk next to the buildings to prevent being pushed into the streets, 'cause in this part of town that happens.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a road side stand. I stop and instantly my attention is pulled toward the jewelry, I lost a necklace and I need to get it back. I skim over the necklaces and sigh; I lazily pick up a ruby studded necklace. It does not thrill me so I set it back down.

I keep walking until I make it to a gap in the crowd. I take in a deep breath and cough, I'm used to the clean country air, not the polluted air. If you're wondering why I'm in New York City, it's because I was dumped off. So I have no house here or family either. The moment I have enough money, I'm taking a train back to Elm Springs, Pennsylvania.

I see a bench and decide to take a quick break. I sit down and rub my aching feet; the soles on my boot are rubbing thin. I sigh and cross my legs as I watch the flow of people go by. I reach into my pocket and feel around, the five dollars I found in a gully is crumbled up in my hand. I smile a little and pull it out. I straighten it out on my leg and then put it in the pocket of my jeans, "I'm gonna eat good today at McDonalds!" I say with a smile.

I decide to get up off the bench so some other person can have it. I jump into the flow of people and walk until I think of somewhere to go. I glance to my left for a brief second, I do a double take and shove my way across the flow of people (which isn't easy at all!) I find a gap next to the wall and peer around the corner.

I see a kid in a black hoodie with their hood over their head-they're surrounded by five guys who move slowly in on him. I sigh and walk into the alley. I clap my hands, "Okay-okay, no need to attack this kid unless he killed someone."

The biggest of the five turned to me and growls, "Get out of here, Babe. This is nowhere for a girl."

I laugh, "Oh really? I think not."

The big kid turns to me completely and I can see he is roughly my height. He has on a white muscle shirt-but he barely has any muscles so it is redundant- his ball cap is pushed sideways and his pants seem to hang so low I was amazed he wasn't mooning anyone.

I point at his pants, "You know, there's a thing called a belt. It works wonders on keeping your pants up!"

His friends snicker to themselves. He growls and narrows his gray eyes, "Are you looking for trouble, Babe?"

I frown, "No- just want to say to stop beating up that kid. He didn't do anything to you."

The big kid clenches his fist, "Anyone who messes with Pain, will have Pain!"

I blink, "So you your name is Pain?"

He nods sternly, "Yes."

I laugh, "Well, Olivia thinks talking in third person is stupid, just like wearing a muscle shirt, when you have no muscles."

This time his snickering friends go quiet, Pain looks me in the eye, "You dare mess with Pain?"

I rub my thumb against my nose and shrug, "Sure-what the heck."

He snarls and charges at me, I sigh and instantly flip him to the ground and pin his arms. I nod my head slowly, "Olivia forgot to say she is a black belt in Karate! So she can take you."

I stand up and look at his goons; they all freeze, look at Pain, then at me, and then book it in four different directions. I smile to myself and look at the shaking kid they were about to beat up. I smile a little and grab his hand, "Come on," I say gently as I pull him out of the alley way and toward my safe haven, the library.

Mrs. Wolf lets me in with a warm smile and a welcome. Mrs. Wolf is an amazing woman, she is young, her black hair still shines every day. Her lively outfit adds to the effect and her four inch heels just put the outfit over the top of awesomeness.

She looks at me with her light blue eyes, "Who is this Olivia?"

I look at the boy; I forgot to ask for his name! I stutter, "I-I- forgot to ask."

Mrs. Wolf blinks, "Care to explain what happened?"

I nod, "He was about to be beaten up so I helped him out," I suddenly realize I am still gripping his hand, I quickly let go and ask, "what is your name?"

He shakes a little from the trauma he was a second away from experiencing, you know- for a New York kid, he didn't know how to stand up to people.

I hold up a hand, "Hold on, Mrs. Wolf, we're gonna go back to the reading corner. Call if you need something."

I gently grab his hand again and lead him to the reading section. I sit him down in a beanbag chair and I take the other, "Okay, tell me about yourself."

He gulps, "I- uh- am-"

I sigh, "Boy-you are acting like you don't know your own name!"

He blinks, "I'm Chris Kalahari," he cringes for some reason.

I cock my head, "Why are you cringing, Chris?"

Chris looks at me with a look of shock, "You don't recognize that name?"

I shake my head, "No, were you on the news or something?"

Chris shakes his head and seems to loosen up, "No- do you listen to pop music?"

I shake my head and stick out my tongue, "No, I hate pop music! I really only like country and some J-Rock."

He opens his mouth, "Wha- J-Rock? What's that?"

I shrug, "Japanese music."

Chris nods, "Okay, so you like country and J-Rock? Never listen to pop?"

I shake my head, "No! Stop repeating it over and over again!"

"Oh-sorry."

I adjust my position, "Why are you so worried about me liking or not liking pop music?"

Chris takes a deep breath, "'Cause I'm a best-selling artist on the top ten lists for 2011."

I blink, "Oh- good for you! That's awesome! That's such an achievement!"

Chris blinks and looks at me like I'm crazy, "You are talking to a celebrity like you're talking to a normal person!"

I sigh and shake my head, "Celebrities and normal people are the same, the only difference is that celebrities have cameras on them all the time and they have a lot of money. I wish more people could put two and two together. But I have to say, if Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, or Carrie Underwood came walking right through that door, I would freak out. But that's mostly it."

Chris laughs, "Wow, you are the strangest person I have ever met!"

I smile, "Hey, why were those thugs about to beat you up?"

Chris sighs and looks at the kiddy carpet, "'Cause I'm a celebrity and all, so they make fun of me."

I reach out and place a hand on his shoulder, "Want me to walk you back to your house, I could be your protector."

He blushes and looks at his hands, "Uh-sure," he mutters.

I laugh and crawl out of the beanbag chair then stand up. Chris looks up at me, "What was that for?"

I cross my arms, "Try standing straight up on the beanbag chair."

He tries to push himself up, but fails, I reach out a hand, "Here I'll help." He grabs my hand after a moment and I pull him up. He stands up and is about an inch away from my face. I blush and turn away, he does the same and he walk back to the front desk.

I wave to Mrs. Wolf and she smiles. Then she suddenly frowns, "Oh, crap."

I stop and Chris bumps into me, "What, Mrs. Wolf?"

She frowns and looks at me, "I forgot to give you a lunch, I'm sorry."

I shake my head and reach into my pocket, I stop and reach in my other pockets. I check every pocket and curse, "Dang it! I had five dollars to get food at McDonalds; I thought I was going to eat good tonight! Dang it! I was so happy!"

Mrs. Wolf frowns, "I can give you five dollars, Olivia, it's not a problem."

I shake my head, "I will never take your money, Mrs. Wolf! I'll find something to eat." I wave to her as Chris and I walk out the door.

We walk in silence for a block until Chris finally said, "Olivia? Why don't you just get something to eat at home."

I close my eyes for a brief second and take a deep breath, "I-umm- it's a long story." To take the focus off the topic I flick his hood over his blonde hair.

He looks at me with shining green eyes, "What was that for?"

I shrug, "If you're an oppa ingersa, then I'd think you would want to be hidden."

He cocks his head, "Are you talking in pig Latin?"

I nod, "Yes, my dad taught me."

He laughs and looks to the ground, "Yeah, I usually hide my face when I'm walking down the streets."

I nod, "So where do you live?"

He looks at the street signs, "Next left, then a right."

"Okay," we walk in silence as people push past.

We finally come up to Chris's house, I point at it, "This is your house? It looks like a hotel! I come by here all the time! I honest to God thought it was hotel Kalahari."

"How'd you know the name?"

I point at the sign, "Kalahari, it's right there."

He sighs, "Never put that together." He punches a code into a box and the gate opens slowly with a screeching sound.

I cover my ears, "Ow! That is a terrible sound!"

He frowns, "Sorry, here come on."

I shake my head, "No I'm fine. But I could stand here until you go in."

He shakes his head now, "No-come on," he grabs my hand and drags me to the door of his house. He opens the door and it swings open with a loud crash.

I jump and Chris looks at me, "Sorry, it's a loud door-" he looks around and shouts, "Mom? Dad? Anyone home?"

"Chris? You're back early," a voice says from a different room. I hear footstep and then a woman appears in a blue flowery dress carrying a wooden spoon and bowl, "who's this?" giving me a hard look with her green eyes.

Chris looks at me, "This is Olivia, she helped me today." By this point, he let my hand go.

His mother sighs, "What did you do now, Chris?"

I stop Chris before he can speak, "Sorry ma'am, Chris was going to get beat up by five local thugs. I could not stand by and let someone get beat up. I'll be leaving now ma'am." I bow my head and start toward the door.

"Wait- Chris said your name was Olivia."

I stop and turn to his mother, "It is ma'am."

"Well Olivia-" she is cut off when my stomach growls really loud, my face flushes and I cover my stomach.

"I am so sorry!" I say quickly.

His mother laughs, "No need to be sorry my dear-you are skin and bones! When was the last time you ate, my dear?"

I gulp, "Um- yesterday morning, ma'am."

She sighs, "Well- why don't you have dinner with us."

I shake my head, "No ma'am, I couldn't possibly do that. I should be going now, bye ma'am-" I look at Chris, "Bye Chris. I hope your singing career keeps going steady."

I wave and quickly walk out the door. It seems the moment I step into the open air, it starts raining. I sigh as I quickly throw my hoodie on and keep walking through the pouring rain.

I make it out the huge gate and stop at the roadside. I look both ways and sigh, "Maybe the library will still be open." I mutter as I start toward the library.

Since it was starting to rain harder everyone on the streets was trying to taking cover from the rain. The streets is almost barren of pedestrians. I sigh and walk slowly down the sidewalk.

"Maybe I will take Mrs. Wolf up on that offer of five dollars. I could go for a hot meal, even if it is McDonalds-" I lick my lips just at the thought of a juicy hamburger and hot French Fries. My stomach growls and I decide I will take her offer.

My pace quickens until I am running toward the library. It's high pillars loom in the distance so I slow to a walk. I see the library and a pit grows in my stomach. I stop in front of the library doors and look inside the dark library.

I knock on the doors but I see no movement inside. I step back and sit down on the steps. A clump grows in my throat and the pouring rain did not help the scene. I got my hopes up again, I wipe my eyes, and shiver, my thin jacket is not up to the freezing rain of June.

I cross my arms and sit in silence as the rain pours with no end. I pull my knees to my chin and sigh, "Another whole day without a measly snack," I frown and hug my legs.

"Olivia?" I hear someone say.

I jump and quickly wipe my eyes, "Yeah?"

A figure appears from the rain, "Are you okay?"

I nod, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Chris walks toward me and crouches on the step in front of me, "Were you crying?"

I shake my head, "No- I'm fine Chris. Why are you here? You have a warm, dry home."

Chris smiles, "I came to invite you to dinner, why are you sitting outside the library? You could have gone home."

I look Chris in the eye, "I don't have a home here. My home is in Pennsylvania."

"Then why are you here?" Chris says getting up and sitting next to me.

I cover my face, "I was dumped here three weeks ago. Now I struggle to eat and I sleep in an old car at the edge of town."

Chris stays quiet for a long moment, and then suddenly stands up. He grabs my hand and starts to drag me away from the library, "You are staying the night at my house, if you like it or not!"