WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

Author’s POV It was a normal Monday afternoon, the students were leaving school and preparing themselves to walk home. The sun is going down, creating beautiful colors in the sky, colors that will never come back again in such a pattern but no one really looks at it. Because at this time, they all got used to the sunset being beautiful, to its beautiful colors being unique and changing every second that goes by. All of the students walk to the front gates, some just stay there waiting for their parents that said they would take 10 minutes to reach school when everyone knows that it will take way more time. Yaella was one of those students, waiting for her alcoholic father to remember to pick her up, the thought of him forgetting to pick her up again crossed her head.  She will have to walk home again, it wasn’t far away but having to walk home in the dark scared her, not because she believed that monsters would be there but because the girl was terrified of men. Even the thought of having to cross a group of men while she’s on her own made her shiver, and even if she knew that her father wouldn’t pick her up on the couch, deep down she hoped that he would. That today would be the day that he would change and finally stop falling asleep on the couch because he drank too much… But today was never the day, it hasn’t been in 2 years. Since her dear mother died. Enough of sad thoughts, going through the front gate and finally being out of school, Yaella takes a deep breath, hoping that she won’t find anyone on her way home. Someone passed by her, but hit her slightly, making the girl lose balance and almost fall, when she looked at the person who had made her almost fall in front of everyone, it was Caspian Sage.  The guy was popular but he was the hell of a bully, and obviously, Yaella was one of his most haunted preys.  He looked at her with his light blue eyes, his hair being almost fully blond because of the time he spent surfing with his friends.  “ Watch where you’re walking.” He says with contempt. Yaella simply started walking and ignored the boy and all of the bad names that he was now throwing at her. As she walked away from him when she finally disappeared from his view he turned to his friends, smiling like he was proud of messing up with people’s minds. Like the monster that was in this one story that her mother would read to him when he was younger, it has always been his favorite. The way one simple look can make people lose his mind amazes him… And somehow he wants to do the same, even if that means he will lose a lot of friends and might ruin some people’s day or even life… “ Why do you even do that?” A female voice was coming from behind him, catching his attention. When he finally faced the person who spoke, he recognized her as his best friend and kind of ex-girlfriend. It was a complicated thing that happened between the both of them.       Alena Dasmel was the Heather of the school, she had two girls behind her like in the movies that we only see in the cinemas or even in our rooms when we’re cozy watching Netflix.  She was as popular as Caspian, if not even more. She was mean to the people who were mean to her but she did not enjoy messing up with someone who never did anything to her, and it was even worse when she knew the person’s backstory. “ Because I can, and what will she do to me? Absolutely nothing, I don’t think that I’ve ever heard her speak,” Caspian spoke while shrugging, he didn’t know anything about Yaella, not even that he and his best friend had known each other and were best friends once. He had never heard her low and sweet voice, not because he didn’t want to because somehow he wanted her to pay attention to him and say something, even if it was ‘stop’ but she never said anything.  She never even tried to say something about the things that he did to her, and he couldn’t understand why. Yaella didn’t have a big group of friends like Caspian and Alena did, she usually spent her time alone reading a book or simply drawing something in her notebook, lost in her own words. No one knew what she drew on her notebook, all they saw was a lonely girl with her AirPods, listening to music while making some scratches on a page. What she drew was the demons that she saw in her dreams, and sometimes thought that saw in real life.  Alena tried once or twice to see what the girl was doing, even if they weren’t as close as they once were, she still cared but also didn’t want to ruin her reputation by talking to the lonely girl that her best friend bullies. “ She does speak, and it’s not because she won’t do anything about it that you have to mess with her, she has done nothing to you,” Alena speaks, trying to protect the girl that she knew so well but in a way that the boy in front of her would not notice. “ Look,” the boy said as he placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to make a point. “ I know, you don’t like to mess with the ‘innocent’ ones because they have done nothing to you, but you never know what she does when she’s alone. What she is when no one is looking,” He says, letting a sigh in the end and dropping his hand. “ I think that is not your business, Caspian,” Alena says and makes a face, he simply shrugs and gives her a small smile. Even though Alena pretends she doesn't care, she does and a lot. She has seen some of Yaella’s demons, she somehow was able to show them, not by words or images but by the drawings that she did when she was in her corner alone. That is why she tried to protect her, Alena understood how it feels to be judged without people knowing your story and what has happened in your life. They know nothing. But they act like they know everything. While the two friends were discussing how Caspian treats the poor girl, Yaella was walking to her house.  She had given up on waiting by her father, the moment Caspian appeared. As she was walking she became more paranoid, looking everywhere that made a noise and walking faster and faster when she saw shadows that looked like people. One of the so-called demons that she drew was “the shadow”, a shadow that could have the form and size they desired. She liked to give her demons names and stories, and well this one was tricky. The shadow would hide in the day and come out at night, but it burns in the sun, so it hides in the corners of the roads where the sun doesn’t hit. From afar she could spot a group of men just drinking and smoking while laughing loudly. Yaella was thinking about another way to go home without passing past them but she couldn’t find one. So instead she simply started walking faster and hopefully, the drunk group of men would not notice her, but unfortunately, they did.   One of the men that were there grabbed her by her arm, pulling her next to him. Yaella tried to get away from him but the grip was too strong.  And now she was afraid that it could happen again. “ Look what I have here!” The man that was pulling her yelled, he was proud. She never understood why people are proud to do bad things and create trauma in people’s heads. It can leave someone really messed up, and unfortunately, the people that do the messing process, never understand what they’re doing.  “ Stop!” She yelled while trying to get from his grip but she couldn’t, and the other disgusting people that were there were simply watching it happening and smiling, some were even laughing.  “ Let go of me!” She yells again and she sees someone coming in their way. It was a tall male with dark black hair, she could not see the color of his eyes because of the darkness that filled the whole sky, but somehow she could imagine them being dark and intense. The guy didn’t say anything, he simply started punching all of the men that were laughing and smiling at the scene, leaving the man that was gripping her to the end. He simply panicked and tried to run, dropping the girl on the floor.  She fell and hit with her back on the floor, leaving her a little bit sore. The black-haired guy started s******g the hell out of the human that was about to do unforgivable things with Yaella and when he was finished, he crouched in front of her. Yaella didn’t know if she was supposed to feel safer now or even more scared because of what happened in front of her eyes. The guy reached a little bit closer to her and tried to touch her but involuntarily  Yaella flinched, backing from the unknown boy. “ Are you okay?” He asked her, looking into her eyes. And now Yaella could see how she was right, his eyes were as dark as the shadows that she thought she was so afraid of until now and so intense that she could not stare at them for too long. They were as beautiful as the sky and as dangerous as the sea, being as blue as both. Yaella simply nods and the guy looks at her. Yaella, still not daring to look at his eyes for too long, afraid of reminding her of dark things that she wishes she could forget.  “ What’s your name?” He suddenly asks. Why would he want to know her name? The thought never leaves her head as she suddenly starts overthinking everything, leaving the boy waiting as she drowned in her own thoughts. “ Yaella,” her mouth answered for her when she thought about the boy waiting for too long. “ Beautiful name,” he speaks and smirks slightly. “ You can call me Apollo,” Yaella nods thinking about the name of the man, it means to destroy’ and she has a feeling that he would surely destroy something. Helping her stand on her feet once again, Apollo smiled at the girl and made sure she was fine and none of the now unconscious men had done anything to her, he even offered himself to take her home, to make sure she would be safe on her way. But Yaella denied his offer, telling the caring man that her house was near when she knew that it was a lie and she was not even halfway through.  Apollo somehow felt that she was lying, he knew when people were, and she was being obvious. But he simply agreed, thinking about how easily he could follow her home and make sure she would arrive well. Because his little sister had been through the same once, and he was not there to protect her when she was still alive, and now is too late to do anything… So he promised himself that he would try to help every girl that he saw that was being harassed, and this is what he’s going to do. As Yaella started walking home, being almost invisible because of the lack of light that was in these streets and the almost non-existent noise that she made walking, the black-haired boy was going behind her.  Hiding in the shadows each time she looked back, and simply making sure that the unknown girl was arriving safely at her house.