All Chapters of Beautiful & Battered: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Plinio's POV: "Don't be such a cry baby now." Logan and I often teased Forman, Hayley, or any other person who became our victim. They would cry and Logan would laugh. I stood there beside him and didn't show any reaction. Too dead to feel anything, if you ask me. However, if Logan looked at me, I would force a smile. A sneer. I have not always been this way. The first time I abused someone, Hayley was on the receiving end. Logan saw her eyes, crossed, and wicked thoughts came sprinting in his larky mind. It was an evening six months after my mom's death. The two of us were walking in the park near his home. We weren't that close but because I was being looked after by his parents, we got along. I was still in the stage of

Plinio's POV: "You look extra pissed today," Logan's remark makes me want to throw him out of this cafeteria but I focus on my French fries. I look pissed off every day and that's exactly how I'm supposed to look. Perhaps I really am a devil. "It's my usual face." I shrug. "You know it." But this is a lie because it's not the case today. I haven't seen Celeste since yesterday in the library. She didn't take literature class and I have a hunch she's absent. I hope she's okay. It's good for me though, her being absent. It will help me get her out of my head and relieve myself from mindless second thoughts about everything I do. With an exhale, I dip the French fry in ketchup and focus on it instead.

Celeste's POV: "Angel!" I hear Kevin shout my name from outside my house. He didn't honk today and I wonder why. I gulp the remaining milk in the mug and after grabbing my bag, I head outside. "Lock the door!" Kevin shouts poking out his head from the car and I facepalm. Who forgets locking her own home? Angel James. Once the door is locked, I exhale and walk to his car. He gives me a thumbs up and I smile back. Returning the thumbs up would be like agreeing that I'm clumsy and absent-minded which I'm not. I just have a lot of things in my head and sometimes I get caught up in them. I slide onto the passenger's seat and throw my bag behind. "Are you alright today?" he loo

Plinio's POV: “Merry Christmas, Nio!” For the past four years, the first buoyant wish is always from Aunt Mary. Only she talks to me like that and I can never reach her level of enthusiasm when wishing her back. “Christmas to you too, Mary,” I balance the phone between my ear and shoulder. With my free hand, I break open an egg in the bowl. “Cheer up, love. It’s merry Christmas, the season of happiness.” She must have listened to carols and called me right away. Last year she made me listen to them on her phone. I hung up before my ears bled to deafness. “Yep,” I drop the chopped onions in the bowl with some salt, black pepper, and green chili.

Celeste's POV: “But Sheba loves your room and wants to cuddle with me, Kev.” Sheba, the seal point Siamese cat of his Aunt Cassie, has recently discovered some unknown fondness for me and Kevin’s room. Despite my great insistence and soft purrs of Sheba, Kevin is being incredibly childish. He has even shouted at Sheba to get out of his room. The poor cat meowed and snuggled into my arms. “Are you that scared of Sheba?” I ask Kevin with a pout and he gives me a look of disbelief. He doesn’t reply and looks down at the magazine in his hand. “Kevin, are you ignoring me now?” I gasp, dramatically, stepping closer to the edge of the bed he’s sitting on. “Angel, don’t take one