Scarred Beauty [Completed]

Chapter Ten

Alex James

Kevin and I were in the basement of our house, where we hung out the most to bond over anything we possibly could. Because of our ages having a semi-gap, we tried to relate to each other as much as possible, mainly for Mom's sake. That was a mutual understanding between the two of us. A flat-screen TV stood upon us as we sat down on the couch, controllers in our hands. The games we played were, as always, violent. Maybe that's why Mom doesn't like it when we're in the living room, playing games. As we began shooting down the waves of zombies, Kevin asked me a question I was unprepared for.

"So, stupid, what d'you think about that Olivia girl? You like her or something?"

The controller dropped from my hands, letting it fall to the floor, and looked over at him. What? His eyes were glued to the screen, acting as if he merely mentioned the weather. Warily, I picked up the controller, letting the zombies eat my brains. The screen flashed "WINNER" on Kevin's side of the TV, and he set his controller down, turning to me. I didn't know my answer, so instead, I tried to throw a question back at him.

"What about you and Jen?"

"Don't avoid the question." Fuck. "You know I'm hopelessly in love with her, and she thinks we're just friends," Kevin drawled sarcastically. Leaning over, he clasped his hands. "Now tell me and feed me the juicy gossip. I want to know about your love life."

"Love life?!" I exclaimed alarmingly at him. I shook my head. "Woah! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I am not in love with Olivia!"

Kevin rolled his eyes and grabbed a nacho, cramming it into his mouth. "Sure, Alex, sure. A few months from now, you'll be telling me how much you love the fuck outta her."

"I don't love her!" I protested, biting into an Oreo. "I just—"

I interrupted myself suddenly, and Kevin raised a suspicious eyebrow at me. Defeated, I slid against against the couch, running a hand through my hair and tugging on it lightly. Why the fuck is he asking me this?! Now it's all I'll ever think about! Do I like Olivia? Or is she just a sister to me? The silence was cut by my slow breaths. What do I think of her? She's pretty smart. She's humorously clumsy. She's adorably short. Funny. Sarcastic. Wholesome. She's honestly beautiful than she gives herself credit for. Those are all the words I could describe her with.

So, do I like her?

"I-I don't know..." I gulped nervously. "Olivia's just.. off limits until she's 16. I don't know what to think..." I leaned back in my seat.

Kevin shoved another handful of nachos in his mouth. "Tell me what you think of her."

"I can't.." I muttered, staring at the screen. "Words can't describe how— just utterly— amazing she is..." The game restarted, and we began playing once again.

"You sound like you like her," Kevin replied bluntly. I flinched at his harsh confirmation. "From the way you say 'she', as in referring to Olivia, sounds like you've liked her for a while now. I'm betting on when you first met her, like a really cliché love story or something."

Olivia Hernandez

Jen and I burst through the basement doors, frightening the boys who were unaware of our presences.

"WE NEED FABRIC!" Jen yelled.

I nodded with my expression serious. "NOW."

"Now?" Kevin repeated. He had an eyebrow raised in our direction. "But it's like 10:00 at night and—"