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33 | Primrose
Huling Na-update:
2024-10-29 19:42:56"What?" I stop short and furrow my eyebrows. "I don't hear anything."
Celeste puts her finger on her lips and then cups her ears. There can't be any wild animals here. It could be just a dog but I highly doubt that and I'm not in the mood to run. Her stun pen won't work on any animal either. Wait, I do hear it.
"Is there a stream near us?" I question and walk towards the source. Celeste follows behind.
"Yes," she grins. "I read it online. Some streams and lakes branch out from the river Conemaugh. And, fortunately, we might be near one."
"No way!"
There is a damn stream flowing through mossy stones in front of our eyes. It's not deep, just a little way below our knees I think. The water is the shade of mud lying undernea
Kaugnay na kabanata
Beautiful & Battered 34 | Black, white and grey
Celeste's POV: Sometimes I think it is easier to prefer one thing over the other when we see in either black or white. The grey can complicate things. Plinio can either realize his mistakes or wallow in its aftermath, either take shit from Logan or ignore him completely, either apologize to Ryder genuinely or break his bones when he pisses him off, either be adamant to know my truth and break hearts or be satisfied with what I tell, either be my friends within limits or kiss me. I would have kissed him if there were no greys. Both of us would have regretted it later because I have a boyfriend and he is just confused. To help him clear his confusion, I leave for school with Kevin earlier and go straight to the art room. Whatever opinion Mrs. Hannah or an
Beautiful & Battered 35 | Makes us Human
I take Forman to an empty room where I can be alone with him.I try to contain my raging nerves after seeing Forman at the gym. I control it in the best possible way I can. He flinches under my touch. Pressing my lips together, I withdraw my hand and close the door behind me.“Go away, Forman! Why do you even come here? Go away and never come back!”He is scared of me and it's natural. I abused him. And that's why I don't understand why he shows up here. He should be complaining against me, doing everything he can to make sure I never touch him again.“Dad doesn't listen to me," he mumbles, standing at a safe distance from me. It's hard to grasp why a father won't listen to his son. But who a
Beautiful & Battered 36 | Sleep well Tonight
Celeste's POV:Perspective changes everything. Love can be turned to hate, happiness can be just an illusion, the truth can be just behind a thick veil of lies.Mr. Harrison told me nothing about Joshua Stevens. Either he did not know or he did not want to tell me. I'm choosing the former because if he had skipped such an important part, he wouldn't be holding onto that regret.Hearing what Plinio has told me combined with what Mr. Harrison has told me, something doesn't feel right."What are you gonna do now?" I ask Plinio, who just got out of the bathroom.He stops rubbing the towel over his wet hair and looks at me with his slightly curved creased in the middle. "What?""I mean," I pour espresso that I
Beautiful & Battered 37 | Trevor with the Shining Canvas
Celeste: morning beautiful :)I have been looking at her message over and over again for the past two hours and I fear that it might lose the influence it has on me. I’m grinning like an idiot and my heart tickles while reading it again. And it’s not because she called me beautiful. Celeste just cleared some doubts I had.Shutting the door of my locker and failing to ignore the more than usual noise pollution in the school today, I walk to the bulletin board and see if there is some information about a part-time job. I am not going to work at gym Grande anymore. To my sheer luck, there is some vacancy in a cafe named Coffee Canteen. I will go there af
Beautiful & Battered 38 | Have Some Coffee
I got the job at Coffee Canteen. They had recently fired a barista and a waiter for misbehaving with a customer. The cafe was brimming with customers today so they must have taken me for the job due to the lack of workers. But here I am now, standing behind the counter wearing their violet shirt and a black apron over it. A fellow worker, Joey, has given me the instructions to be friendly and gentle. Joey reminds me of Ryder. He has the same shaggy black hair and an ever-talking mouth but Joey is in his mid-twenties and if he were related to Ryder, I don't think he’d be talking to me. As far as being a barista is considered, I'm working on it. The aroma of espresso keeps me hospitable and makes my job a lot less tou
Beautiful & Battered 39 | Are You Okay?
Plinio's POV: "Celeste, what was that?" "Kevin's drunk and he just broke the glass that was on the table," her voice rushed and panicked. "Where are you? Are you alone with him?" I press the phone closer to my ear and stare at my legs. "I'm at my house," she says in an almost whisper. "Trevor is here too." "Good," I nod even though she can't see me. "Now I want you to get out of there." "What? No!" She doesn't sound satisfied herself or maybe it's my statement that surprised her. "Celeste, Kevin is drunk, angry, and breaking
Beautiful & Battered 40 | Falling
Celeste's POV: Fall in love. Why do we fall in love? Why do we not rise in love? To me, that phrase seems scary. It screams the inevitable pain of being heartbroken. Falling. It is guaranteeing that you'll suffer, you'll bleed, you'll be hurt but you'll be in love. Sounds wretched. Is love really worth it all, the pain and the pleasure? I fell in love with Kevin when I was 16. I didn't know what it meant. Now, I think it means to accept and appreciate the one you love, embrace their flaws and work together to be a better person. I stayed with Kevin at my house when he had a breakdown after he lost the match. He was drunk and angry. Plinio di
Beautiful & Battered 41 | Take an Action
Plinio's POV:The primrose is dead. Its leaves have gone brown and withered. The once bright yellow flowers have fallen to the soil. I watered it regularly and the sunlight was enough. Heck, I even had my breakfast beside it. Maybe it's the change of environment or maybe I didn't take care of it properly. But it's dead.Celeste didn't let me throw it out. She asked me to check its stem. I told her it's still rigid and she told me to have some patience. Hence, the primrose is still on my table.Celeste is awfully stressed these days. She's not ignoring me or flunking algebra and is still laughing at my silly jokes but something feels off. She falls silent during our conversations earlier than usual and wanders off in her thoughts.
Pinakabagong kabanata
Beautiful & Battered Epilogue
Plinio's POV: “Today marks our last therapy session, Mr. Murray,” my prison psychologist, Dr. Sean Evans, says with a hint of honor masked by his usual placid tone. “And you still can’t call me Plinio or Nio as I have asked you a hundred times already,” I smile, shaking my head. The first session was in the first week of my three-year sentence. I was handcuffed, and my legs were chained to the hooks on the floor. Two officers were standing outside, and one was behind my psychologist. In this very room, I was asked several questions to be diagnosed with any kind of mental illness. But, I was neither suicidal nor dangerous nor depressed; in fact, I was quite content, I still am. I have had the lowest number of sessions among all the inmates. And, now, no metal is holding me in place, and only one
Beautiful & Battered 56 | Goodbye
Plinio's POV: Getting my battered face cleaned and bandaged has never been as painful as it is today. It is not only my swollen jaw and smashed lips that hurt; the heartbreak in Celeste’s eyes is more painful. Watching the raw emotions swimming in her moist blue eyes and seeing her shaky hands with which she puts a bandage across the cut on my forehead, I can’t fathom her answer to what I’ve told her about the upcoming situation. “Say something,” I hold her hand and make her sit on the bed beside me. She releases a wobbling breath, and her chest heaves as she places the cotton and the ointment on the bedside table. “Mary will hire a lawyer for you. She’ll bail you out too.” She gives my face a brief look, her eyes falling back to her lap two seconds earlier. “I don’t s
Beautiful & Battered 55 | One last fight
Plinio's POV: As I expected, gym Grandé is open, and Logan is sitting in his room. He is looking out the window with his phone pressed to his ear and his back facing me. He is completely unaware of my presence at the threshold of his room. I am making no sound to grab his attention either. His words to the person on the phone somewhat pique my interest. “Yes, you got that right. That’s exactly why he asked you not to send your son here anymore.” There’s silence, and Logan is nodding with his cheeks raised, giving space to one of his menacing smirks. There’s an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I choose to ignore it. “I am sorry for everything that happened,” Logan lies. The Logan I have seen is never sorry. “Of course, I will send the video. Yes, see you soon.”
Beautiful & Battered 54 | Still a Monster
Plinio's POV: "You knew it, didn't you?" Hayley shouts, letting herself inside the apartment. Her hands are above her hips and her nose is constantly flaring. "You knew Logan's plan." Confusion takes over me and other than the sudden flip in the atmosphere, I hate the thing she's accusing me of. I don't even know what she's talking about and yet, here she is, barging at my apartment and shouting at me. "What's wrong, Hayley?" Celeste steps beside me, putting her hand on my shoulder. "This guy you're standing next to is wrong and his a***ole of a friend is the worst." She's better when shy, what's gotten into her today? "Can you please elaborate?" I maintain my cool despite my raging nerves.
Beautiful & Battered 53 | Learning
Celeste's POV: "Kathy, meet Plinio." Her brows meet in the middle and her brown orbs flutter between me and Plinio. Her small warm hand is holding my hand and she blinks rapidly. I have no idea what is going on in her head. "She doesn't like me," Plinio states with dread beside us. He heaves a deep sigh and looks around the playground, shaking his left leg like he does when he's anxious. "Wait for a second, will you?" I crane my neck back at my sister. Though, it feels good to know that he wants my sister to like him. "What is he to you and why did you not c
Beautiful & Battered 52 | Makes strong
His touch is intoxicating. Whenever his breath traces my skin, I feel like drowning. He's so full of love and care for me. And I still can't get enough. He has a way with words that play with the strings of my heart and then there's his cooking. That morning when he baked the cake for me reminded him of his mother a lot, I could see it in his eyes. But, he didn't let it stop him from doing what he loves. There's no reason why I can't love him because I do. Kevin's parents, Max and Rachel, have called me to their home. Plinio was adamant about going with me but there are some challenges I have to face alone. Now here I am, sitting in the lounge of my ex-boyfriend where Kevin and I talked about our dream college. I haven't heard from him for two weeks now. Our brea
Beautiful & Battered 51 | Stunning
It feels like some weight has lifted off my chest. I can talk about my mother and she can talk about her family. There is no more hiding between us. About our relationship, we are taking things slow. She says that she doesn't want me to think that I'm some rebound or anything. I doubt that I'm any of that. Our relationship is built on friendship and trust and even if I were a rebound, we would have had sex till now then. Kevin has called on Celeste's phone many times. But she switched it off. I'll probably land a lunch on his face if he comes in front of me. "Can I come inside today?" I ask Celeste, standing outside her house. We've come to take a few things that she'll need. Till her wounds heal, she's staying at my apartment, or even longer if she wants to.
Beautiful & Battered 50 | My love
Thanks to the king-sized bed, we lie next to each other. My eyes are facing the ceiling with my hands behind my head and Celeste is probably awake too. The lights are off and only the moonlight seeping through the white curtains is dimly illuminating the room. Her rhythmic breathing and the chirping of crickets outside are in harmony with each other. "I was going to break up with Kevin even before Trevor told me about Kevin and Stella," she owns up in a hushed tone. "Even before Kevin did what he did." Yes, I wanted her to break up with Kevin for my selfish reasons but I wish she had broken up with him the very first time he hit her. I wish she had broken up with him for herself, for the care one must-have for one's body. I turn to look at her, putting my hands b
Beautiful & Battered 49 | Another Victim of Abuse
Plinio's POV: Sierra's headlights illuminate a meek figure on the side of the street. How much I wish not to see Celeste like that, but it is she. She is shaking while sitting on her knees. Halting my car, I hop out of the car and run to her side. Her shoulders heave up and down as she tries to calm her breathing. Her hair has fallen to her face but I know there are tears behind it. What must have happened? "Oh, Celeste," I slide away from her hair with my fingers. A reddish shade rests on her jaw. If I'm not hallucinating, then it is behind to swell too. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach and a gasp leaves my mouth. She glances at me through her tear-filled, piercing blue eyes. "Who did t
