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.
Plinio's POV:“Loraine?”I utter with confusion. Her midnight black eyes stare at me with an amusement that I don’t get. Perhaps she likes to see me uncomfortable in a difficult situation such as this.“Surprise?” She smirks, putting her hand on her hips over the lilac-colored satin mini-dress. That color would undoubtedly look better on Celeste if she does not cry.“You have met each other before?” Aunt Mary asks, pointing between Loraine and I. My confusion returns and God knows what her relationship is with this family.“I –”“Yes,naked.&rdquo
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
Plinio's POV: “What?” I groan into the pillow, bringing the phone near my ear. Christmas dinner at the Thompsons was chaos. I haven’t heard from any of them for the last six nights. I called Aunt Mary but she didn’t talk about it and said she was busy with something. After that particular announcement, Logan had stomped out of the dining room, with his fists clenched at his sides after hearing of his stepdad’s insane decision. Mr. Steve could have asked me before telling everyone. I felt like a criminal seeing the reaction of Logan. We may not be friends but I have lived with him and I don’t want to snatch his rights if that is what he thinks of me now. Mrs. Sofia went af
Plinio's POV:“Celeste?”My eyes open as wide as the door. I think the alcohol has finally kicked in. Celeste is standing in front of me in a denim straight skirt, white cross stitch sweater, black leg warmers, and black Chelsea boots.A dark blue bandana is on the top of her head tied in a small bow and her ever-black hair is tumbling down to her waist. There is a mix of expressions on her face; joy, sadness, confusion but discomfort stands out in that contorted smile on her glossy lips.“Pizarro or Coronado?”Her abrupt question makes me lift my eyebrow. Then it clicks in my head what she’s talking about. About that history test, of course.
Plinio's POV: Christmas break is over and Celeste is breaking her own rule of not being seen together with me. When she said that we should be friends, I thought that we won't be rude to each other anymore and just get along for the sake of our study sessions. But Celeste has been sitting across from me in literature's class, comes to my locker and hands me the algebra exercises she has solved, and even walks to the library with me, side by side. "Why is Angel talking to him?" "Why is Nio not shoving her away?" These are the kind of whispers with the wide-eyed stares I have been hearing for the last few days. At first, I ignored them, like I always do, b
Plinio's POV: Today is the day of the week I rarely talk; Sunday because I have no one to talk to. I clean the mess in my apartment and put the coat Aunt Mary gave me in a bag to return the next time I visit her. While changing the bed sheet, I even find my hands-free that had disappeared a month ago. To my sheer luck, they are working just fine. Coming out of the kitchen, my eyes fall on the painting Celeste brought for me. These shades really suit the white aura of this whole room. I wonder if she painted it specifically for me or if she just painted it randomly. Of course, I wasn't the one in her mind. It would be surreal then. At the bottom right corner, her initials are written in blue paint. I didn't notice it before
Plinio's POV: "This library isn't helping me concentrate at all," this is what Celeste had said half an hour ago and I thought maybe agreeing with her and studying atSips and Dipswould help her study better. But boy, was I wrong. "The sculptures of debris at the museum were dope." She comments. It's been ten minutes since she's trying to solve that five-minute test. "I wanted to fetch my canvas and paint it then and there." "Celeste," I put my hand over the test in front of her. "Plinio, you're not letting me study," she tries to pull out the sheet of paper. "Look at me for a second," I tell her but she does not listen. There's something off about her
Celeste's POV: "How does Nio even know how tohelp,let alone in algebra?" Being someone who knows each and everything about my life, I thought Kevin would understand. But I am proven wrong. He didn't even try. Instead, Kevin mocked me saying that Plinio is just acting to be nice around me and will show his true colors sooner or later. "For God's sakes, Angel, he's a bully!" But so am I. My mind bullies my body. Would Kevin break up with me for this reason? Kevin knows what everyone at school thinks of me; a golden girl with rich parents and not many cares except good grades. I am a liar. Why does Kevin support me in this lie? Kevin has helped me in mor