Kellan's car was in the driveway as I hurried past it to the front door. I hated to ask him to do anything, and I really didn't need another awkward car ride, but maybe he could help me out and take me to Pete's? My shift started in ten minutes. If I had to take yet another bus, I was going to be so incredibly late...
I swiftly went to my room and set down my bag. Pulling off my blouse, I grabbed my Pete's t-shirt from the floor, where I had tossed it last night after my shift. Quickly, I put it on then scrounged around the room for an elastic band. Finding one in-between the bed and the nightstand, I hastily began pulling my hair into a low ponytail. I put my jacket back on and grabbed my bag again, and made my way to the hallway.
I was just wondering where Kellan might be, when I heard soft music from his room and I noticed that his door was cracked open. Only thinking that I was massively late and needed his help, I went to the door and automatically put my hand on it, opening it slightly wider. I froze in shock when I peered through the crack in the door. My stomach clenched and threatened to rise. My mind wouldn't register what I was witnessing.
Kellan was sitting on the edge of his bed. His head was down, his eyes were closed, he was biting his bottom lip and his hand was clutching the sheets. My mind resisted, but the rest of the picture snapped painfully into focus. A woman with loose blonde curls was kneeling on the floor in front of him, her head in his lap. Looking at the picture as a whole, there was no mistaking what she was doing.
Wholly absorbed in what they were clearly enjoying, I don't think they were even aware of me standing at the partially open door. I felt ill. I wanted more than anything to run as far away as I could, before I lost my stomach right here. I couldn't move though, I couldn't stop staring in horror.
The woman must have finally felt another presence in the room. She started to raise herself off of him. Kellan was not so aware, either that, or he didn't care. His lips parted - his breath noticeably faster, and cringing slightly, he moved his hand automatically to firmly hold her in place. The woman went nuts, she immensely enjoyed that. I however, felt the acid in my stomach starting to rise.
Finally able to move, I ran from the room and down the stairs. Only thinking of escape, my fight or flight response in full alert, I hastily grabbed Kellan's car keys from where he had tossed them on the entryway table. I slammed the front door shut behind me - if he hadn't been aware I was home before, he was now!
I flipped through the keys as I rushed to his car, and stopped on the one for the ignition. He never locked his...baby, so I opened the door and slipped inside, immediately starting it. A perverse thrill went through me as the car growled to life, knowing that he would hear it, and instantly recognize what I had done. I watched the door for half a second, but he didn't rush out. I threw it in reverse and peeled out in my haste to get away from him. Watching the house through the rearview mirror, the front door never opened. Perhaps he was too busy enjoying his "date" to care about his car.
I broke a half-dozen traffic laws getting to work on time, but I did. I smiled when I parked the car in the lot at Pete's. It was really fun to drive, and I loved the thrill that Kellan was going to be so angry about his precious car being gone. Good. I shouldn't be the only one angry in the house. Grinning wickedly, I turned his radio to a station that was playing what sounded like polka music and cranked the volume before I shut the car off. It was a childish prank, I know, but it made me feel better, and I was grinning ear to ear as I walked through the parking lot.
"Hey, you're peppy tonight," Jenny exclaimed as I bounced through the front door, still a little high from my carjacking.
"Yeah? No particular reason..." I grinned at her as I shoved his keys into my front jeans pocket.
Throughout my shift though, my joyride-high faded, and sadness from the scene I had unintentionally witnessed took over. It was one thing to hear one of Kellan's dates, it was quite another to see one. I was feeling pretty melancholy when the doors to Pete's angrily burst open, about an hour later.
I cringed and looked over to the door. Kellan was striding through, looking decidedly more put together than I had last seen him. He also looked decidedly pissed off. His fiery blue eyes locked onto mine instantly. Matt came in closely behind him and attempted to place a hand on his shoulder. Kellan snapped his head around to him, pulling back his body, and said something heated. Matt immediately dropped his hand and held them up in the air, apparently backing off.
My heart started racing and panicking, I backed up a couple steps. Taking his car was not a good idea. What was I thinking? Should I just toss him the keys and make a run for it? Irritation flashed through me and I took a deep breath. No! He would never physically hurt me. If the jerk wants his keys...let him come over and get them.
He strode over to my location. The people between us quickly scooted out of his way at the look on his face. His blazing eyes narrowed in anger, his lips compressed into a thin line, his hands clenched into fists, his chest noticeably rising and falling - he was strikingly attractive angry.
He walked right up to me and simply held his hand out.
Expecting a more flagrant reaction, I snottily said, "What?"
"Keys," he seethed.
"What keys?" I wasn't sure why I was goading him. Maybe the sight I had witnessed had finally unhinged me?
He took a deep calming breath. "Kiera...my car is right over there." He pointed to where it was in the lot outside. "I heard you take it-"
"If you heard me take it, why didn't you try to stop me?" I quipped.
"I was-"
I pushed a finger into his chest roughly, cutting him off. "You were," I raised my fingers into air quotation marks, "on a date."
His face noticeably paled. Apparently, he hadn't realized I had seen that. Scowling, his color returned. "So? That gives you the right to steal my car?"
He was right, of course, not that I would ever admit that to him. "I borrowed. Friends borrow, right?" I asked haughtily.
He took another deep breath and then shoved his hand into my front jeans pocket.
"Hey!" I tried to beat him away, but he already had them.
Holding them up in front of me, he seethed, "We're not friends, Kiera. We never were." Then he turned and stalked out of the bar.