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.”<
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
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
There are various times when I feel a strong urge to hug the dead Charles Darwin for his famous phrase, “survival of the fittest.” It depicts the success in terms of living of only those organisms that fulfill the definition of fit; stone-hearted, adamant, and vicious. And there also comes the time when I want to stab all the doctors for treating a patient. I mean, what’s the point in saving someone who is going to die anyway? When the patient isn’t the fittest, then why try to save him? Alas, we all are damn well hypocrites. Whatever Darwin presented in the nineteenth century is put aside just to read and to awe. Even in this twenty-first century, his theory remains too good to implement.However, I don’t want to just read and awe. Where’s the benefit in th
“What you did back there with that boy, Robin, was very stupid." Ryder, my fri- acquaintance, tells me as I do the walk of honor to our principal’s office. I give him a blank stare but he shrugs and walks away. These grey walls of the corridor to Chuck’s office remind me of the juvenile detention center, where I spent the entire summer last year. This office has a wooden theme with a trophy showcase on an entire wall. The students who are opposite of me win such grand materialistic objects for the school and make them proud. I wonder where that honor takes them once they reach their practical life. I ended up in the detention center because of a boy who had said something which he shouldn’t have. Being the impulsive asshole I am, I confidently beat him to a pulp. Some student
“Tell me that you missed me, you angry young man!" Logan, my hangouts partner, asks me as he gets off his bike. He takes off his helmet and runs a hand through his jet-black hair. His almond brown skin has acne scars on both of his cheeks. It looks awful to me and God knows how he still manages to grab girls. “No,” I reply earnestly and the door of my Sierra shuts behind me with a bang. Logan narrows his eyes walking towards me. Don’t get me wrong, I gave only a little push to the door. Its wrecked state made it sound like a bang. However, neither is Logan someone important for my justification nor am I someone to care what others think of me. Therefore, I just shrug and head inside the majestic gym where I work for money.
"Sixty degrees from your right!" The chirpy voice of Logan booms through the microphone in my ear and I grit my teeth. He gets this excited every Thursday night when it's time to play the midnight game and honestly, it is exasperating. But then who wouldn't be excited when you are buying weeds. I go over the faces of the people on my right that is being illuminated by the blue and green lights of the club. It is difficult to recognize someone and the club's atmosphere is completely different on a Thursday night too. People are actually talking in light whispers instead of loud discussions and arguments. Slow electronic music is playing in the background instead of blaring rap songs. There isn't any hot and sexy and almost naked woman dancing in the middle, but, w
Celete's POV: "Happy birthday, girlfriend!" Kevin takes my hand in his own and kisses it on its back. After two years of dating him, I still blush at the things he makes me feel. I put my bag in the back and he still hasn't taken his eyes off me. "W-what?" I ask nervously sliding a stray strand of my raven hair behind my ear. "Did you lock the backdoor in your kitchen?" An adorable smile never leaves his face. I bite my lip and think back if I have locked it or not. Not trusting myself much, I get off the car and sprint to the front door. Once I get inside and walk to the kitchen, the backdoor is indeed open. I smack my head. I am so clumsy; it's nerve-wracking. I'm grateful to have a boyfriend like Kevin. But how does he even tolerate
"I'm tired of reminding you to work on your grades, Nio." I look at Mr. B.M Harrison's wide and dark face and he surely looks tired. He lets out an exasperated sigh and his small brown ears, which sticks out rather oddly, drop with hopelessness for me. I wonder why he even cares for my grades so much in the first place. But then being a teacher, he got to care about his students. "I've come upon a decision," his tone turns grave suddenly with a rekindled spark of hope this time. "There's a student, Celeste James, she's a bright student with well-maintained grades but recently she has shown a significant decline in algebra. And Mr. Harper tells me you've quite a skill in that subject." The way his almond eyes are shining, looking at me all the while, oozing positivity, I instantly feel queasy as if my insides were
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
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
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.”
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.
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
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
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.
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
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