Ally scanned the crowd at the mall, meticulously searching for targets. Saturdays were always the busiest days at the mall and she could usually find a man or two to grab a couple of twenties off of. Men were particularly stupid in the fact that they always carried around more money then they needed. Always.
It wasn't that she wanted to do any of this illegal stuff that would most like get her put in jail one day but she had to do it for her brother. Elliott was the sweetest kid on the planet and never once had Ally let anything happen to her younger brother. Ever. Yet life seemed to always throw a curve ball at the pair of them just when everything seemed to be going fine. First it was the car accident in which they lost both their parents, no matter how much Ally tried to relieve her brothers pain their was just no way she could stop him from hurting when her own face betrayed the sorrow that she always felt. Since the day they had found out the terrible news Ally had made a vow to always protect her brother from whatever life threw at them. Then, Elliott got cancer. This was one fight that she couldn't fight for him but she would try her darned best to give him a fighting chance, that is exactly why she spent that very weekend stuck in a crowded mall searching through wallets that she had taken ransom in order to pay for her brothers cancer treatment.
Ally lived her life by three straight forward rules that helped her survive. Rule number 1, never ever steal from a child, elderly person or people who couldn't defend themselves. Rule number 2, never take more money than what was absolutely necessary to get by and always return the wallet to a place where it would be found or a manager. Finally, rule number 3, always scout out the quickest and safest exit before going in for a target. Sending a silent prayer to anyone who was listening she analysed her next target. He was possibly in his late twenties and from the sizeable bulge in his jeans pocket it was most likely where he was storing his wallet. Without warning he turned his head towards the shop entrance that Ally was standing in, catching her gaze briefly as her heart leapt into her mouth. It was always more difficult when she looked into their eyes or at their face. It became harder to take from them as it made them more real, they were real people and she was a thief. Taking a deep breath she stepped out from the shoe shop entrance that she was waiting in and casually bumped into her target. Phase 1 complete, it was this part that was the trickiest but wearing a low cut shirt always helped, though she despised wearing such clothing it at least brought attention away from the hand that was carefully slipping into the jeans pocket and towards, well, other places. "I'm so sorry." She said automatically, a well rehearsed phrase that she used every single time.
"No worries." He replied as fingers clasped around the leather wallet in his pocket, lifting it out she blushed and apologised again until it was under her arm and out of sight. Smiling apologetically once more at her target before hurriedly rushing away.
Eyes trained upon the exit she had sought out earlier, she moved almost robotically as the guilt ate at her from the inside out. Slipping out two twenties she quickly placed the wallet on a near by bench in the hopes that management would find it. This was the part that was always the worst for her, the after effects where she would cry her eyes out in a bathroom stall for at least an hour or so until she could convince herself that this was what Elliott really needed. Besides working three jobs there was nothing more that she could possibly do to afford his treatment and the pain medication. Like always the tears sprung to her eyes and it was all that she could do to not scream out in frustration at the cards that life had dealt her. Only this time things had changed, this time Ally Dawson was completely unaware of the three camera phones that had been trained upon her as she pick pocketed every single target. This time Ally Dawson hadn't quite made a clean sweep or escape.
Ally sat down nervously at the bench in front of Ho Fu's takeout that she had been instructed to sit at. Checking the text message once again to make sure she was in the right place before scanning her surroundings in search of an easy exit, abiding by rule number 3. The mall was crowded today but the bench she had been told to stay at was far away from any of the crowds which made her anxiousness grow even more. Ho Fu's was at the very edge of the mall along with all of the creepy shops that no one dared to set foot in. It would explain why there was such a lack of customers near where she was sitting and the very few people who ever did manage to wander this far from the typical makeup shops and clothing stores were obviously lost or practically asking to be mugged. Glancing down at her phone she reminded herself of why she was even here in the first place.
We know your secret little thief. Meet us at the bench in front of Ho Fu's takeout if you don't want your secret to get out ~C
Someone had caught her in the act of pick pocketing and was now using it to blackmail her. The text was accompanied with several pictures of her pulling wallets from pockets last weekend at the mall. Now that she was caught she had no idea how things would play out but one thing was for sure, she would make sure that her brother survived as he was the last person she had left in this world. Three girls who stuck out like sore thumbs came wandering through the desolate area, they were the princess barbie doll types who never left the house without perfect hair and perfect makeup. The tallest girl with shiny blonde hair sat down on the bench with a smirk, the two other girls followed suit so that they had now surrounded her on the small bench. Ally had already had a dose of these kind of girls in high school, in fact she was one herself before her whole life turned upside down when her parents died and her brother got cancer.
"Can I help you?" Ally bit out, she had no time to mess around with these girls. Someone out there knew she was a pick pocket and they wanted to blackmail her. If she got caught for stealing and couldn't get money to her brother then he was screwed.
"That depends." The blonde girl smiled again before producing a phone with several pictures of Ally on them. With a certain alarm Ally realised that these were the girls that had texted her. Huh? Well she hadn't been expecting to be blackmailed by a group of over groomed barbie dolls but life seemed to have a way of surprising her. A sickening feeling emanated from her stomach as a sense of dread kicked in. Pulling as much courage as she could muster she tried to show them that she was not perturbed by their presence.
"What exactly do you want with me?" She questioned as her eyes locked upon the fire exit door that she had initially sought out as her escape.
"We need your help." The brunette replied cautiously almost as if she knew Ally was planning on running at any second.
"My help?" She choked as her bravado ran out.
"Look Ally, I'm sorry that we had to blackmail you in order to talk to you and it probably wasn't the best way to start things out between us but we really do need your help with something." The brunette said in an attempt to calm Ally down. "I'm Brooke, this is Cassidy and this is Kira." She said as she gestured to the blonde and the other girl who had remained silent so far.
"We are willing to make a deal with you." Cassidy said, "We will delete the photos and will pay you a large amount of money to do what we ask. Even if you don't accept the offer we will still delete the photos off of our phone but you will be missing out on a large amount of money."
"We don't know why you steal Ally but we saw you returning the wallets. It seems as if you genuinely need the money that you take, I think you should consider our offer at least for the money." Kira added as Ally let out the breath that she hadn't realised she was holding, she had started to calm down when Cassidy said that they would delete the photos regardless of what she decided but the thought that she could get money to pay for her brothers treatment sent her heart racing.
"What do you need me to do?" She asked as Cassidy scanned the area to make sure no one was listening.
"We need you to make someone fall in love with you and then you need to break his heart." Of all the things that they could have come out with that was the last thing she was expecting. For goodness sake she was Ally Dawson and Ally Dawson was far from being a heartbreaker. Either they were one apple shy of a full fruit basket or she had accidentally wound up on some kind of you've been pranked show.
"Why on earth would you go through all this trouble to get me to break someone's heart. Any one of you could break someone's heart. I bet there are millions of poor guys out there who are crying right now because you dumped them. There are girls like you and then there are girls like me, who by the way, do not break hearts."
"Don't be ridiculous your perfect for the role Ally, we need someone who has brains and can be whoever she needs to be and you do that perfectly. We saw you when you were pick pocketing, all you had to do was smile and charm them whilst you snagged their wallet and they were none the wiser." Brooke said as Cassidy pulled out a stack of papers.
"We made a list of all the traits that he likes that will make you his perfect woman. All you need to do is cater to the list and act the part." She said as Ally finally figured out what was going on. They wanted to use her as a pawn in a petty revenge plot.
"Let me guess, you want me to break this guys heart just because you all got dumped by him?" Judging by the sour expressions that graced their faces she had guessed right. "That's it, I'm done because you're all crazy and I want no part in this!" She replied before jumping up off the bench and heading towards the fire exit.
"We weren't dumped he just used us like we were some kind of trophy girlfriend or for sex and then he just cut us loose as if we were nothing to him." Kira said, the bitterness in her voice was evident as she called after Ally. No way in hell was she turning back to those psycho's now. "Ally we know you need the money, please just hear us out." They had a point there, slowly she stopped in her tracks as an image of Elliott flashed through her mind, he needed his treatment and this was one way of getting it without pick pocketing. Back tracking she made her way towards the bench.
"Fine, you have one minute to explain to me why you need me to do this." She said grudgingly as they all smiled.
"His name is Austin Moon and he goes to the same college as all of us. He is the golden boy who will probably end up playing sports professionally and as you already know he can get any girl he wants. We will buy you all the clothes you need and will style you so that you will be exactly what he wants. When we are done with you there will be no way that he can resist you." Brooke said."All you need to do is show up and be the person we create. Get him to declare his love for you and then boom, break his heart like he broke ours. If you can do all of that then we will pay you well."
"How much money are you willing to pay?"
"If you try for at least two weeks and it's clear that he isn't interested then we will pay you a thousand but if you get him to fall for you and then break his heart we were thinking six thousand or more depending on how long it takes." Kira replied. This was a serious amount of money and definitely enough to pay for Elliott's treatment. Just looking at Kira's expensive handbag and Cassidy's shoes she knew that they weren't lying and they could afford what they were offering but it still seemed impossible that she would be able to pull off what they were asking.
"I-I'm still not sure." She said as Cassidy flicked through her phone and brought up a picture of the hottest guy she had ever seen. Ally was never one to have huge crushes or get all slobbery over a guy but this picture, this was something else entirely. He seemed to have just come out of the sea, standing on the sand in his swim trunks and blonde hair flopping messily above his eyes. His eyes were a deep brown and his body sculpted to perfection, Ally Dawson had never seen a guy quite like him before, her heart was racing just at the sight of him.
"He looks good doesn't he." Cassidy said as she gazed at Ally's dumbstruck expression. He always had that affect on girls. "That's just the thing Ally, he is so good looking he thinks he can just move from one girl to the next as if it is no big deal and he needs a taste if his own medicine. Do you think you can give it to him?"
"Fine but I'll need some money up front. It's for my brothers cancer treatment." She said as they gave her sympathetic smiles and produced a large wad of cash.
"Before you go we need you to sign this contract with the terms of our arrangement. My dad is a lawyer so I always come prepared." Cassidy said proudly as she produced an expensive looking pen. Taking a deep breath Ally shakily signed across the dotted line. Call her crazy for making a deal with three girls she had never met before outside of Ho Fu's, the takeout place where people usually came out with either diarrhoea or a stalker but she needed the money.
"So it's settled then." Brooke said. "Ally Dawson you now have to make Austin Moon fall in love with you." They all smiled wickedly. "Then you need to break his heart."
Thank you for reading guys, please review and tell me what you thought of the first chapter and Ally's character as I would love to hear from you all. Hope you all have a good weekend xxx