The Sun Always Sets in Paradise

The bell rang, momentarily startling me out of my current state of shock. I slowly turned away from Maxim and looked at the front of the room. His words rang over and over in my head, making it hard for me to concentrate on the lesson. Or even the rest of the day.

I went to the remaining classes in a daze. I walked home in a daze.

I usually was terrified to walk in my house but today… today was different. All I felt was the same normalcy I had before Haden fucked it all up. I did, however, feel the fear seemingly wait in the back of my mind like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse. Once my daze and feeling of normalcy ran out, that fear would rule once again. When that happened, I knew that I would end up curled up underneath my covers with a butcher knife.

But I hesitantly enjoyed being able to walk to my room without waiting for Haden to come out of the shadows.

*^*^*^*^*

The fear from the previous night had come faster than I expected which left me without sleep today. I was still wearing the sweatpants and sweatshirt I had fallen asleep in.

My slippered feet were slow moving that day and the bags under my eyes were clearly visible.
To add onto that, I was late for nearly all of my morning classes. This had left me in the hallway alone a couple of times. Now I was alone as I slowly wandered to my English class.

Someone grabbed my right shoulder. I dropped the books that I was carrying before being slammed up into a locker. Haden leaned close to my face with a sadistic grin.
I whimpered when my brain finally processed who it was.

“Oh baby, skip the rest of the day with me.” He whispered close to my mouth.

I could feel hot tears run down my cheeks as I stared at him with wide eyes. Haden returned my look with lustful yet haughty eyes. I remained tense as Haden adjusted his body weight and position. Even as he moved so that his left forearm was pressed along my collarbone, he never released the pressure he had on me.

Nonetheless, I was too fear-stricken to move.

Haden rested his right hand on my hip. He squeezed lightly before brushing his lips at random places on my neck.

“There are cameras here.” I managed to find my voice and although hoarse, I hoped that this statement would deter him.

“They are broken. I made sure of that,” he whispered huskily.

I was completely wrong, then. Haden ignored my surprised gasp while he slowly glided his hand underneath my hoodie and tank top. He felt so gently and caring but I knew better. I knew that he was like a wild, vicious animal.

As Haden’s hand moved farther up my skin, his mouth moved closer to mine. The tears poured thicker now and I knew that the terrifying horror I felt in my heart would only hinder my thinking abilities. I was right, too.

I was frozen. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. I couldn't even try and numb everything out.
My tears were blinding me now. I couldn’t see, think, but I sure as fuck could feel. I felt repulsed by Haden’s gentle touches. I would have loved this over a month ago but now I literally wanted to run away and never let anyone touch me in any way possible again.

A strangled sob made it’s way out of my throat. Haden just squeezed my side harshly and applied more force to where he had me pinned. Yet, he never stopped his feather light kisses and gliding hand. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to calm my breathing.

Suddenly, all weight was lifted off me. I crumpled to the floor and curled into the fetal position. Sobs racked my body.

Maxim’s P.o.V.

I ripped the boy off of Desiree by his shirt collar. The force of my vicious pull made the fucker fly backwards to the floor in a flurry of arms and legs. I was going to murder him.

I glared at the nameless boy as he gasped for the air. Fucker deserved to be winded. He deserved to be dead.

Calm down. The thought suddenly popped into my head.

I took a deep breath before falling to my knees next to the nameless male. I had seen him a couple of times in the hallway. He was a skinny little fucker who, obviously, picked on the weak.

I wondered idly how he would feel if he ever understood how Desiree obviously felt. I brushed the thought off before grabbing the male by his shirt collar and then slamming my fist into his face once. Now twice. Third time was the charm. The fucker was knocked out with blood coming from his broken nose and split lip.

I would have more-than-likely pounded his face into his skull if it was not for my small amount of self-control and the sound of Desiree sobbing.

I immediately whipped my head over to Desiree. She was lying in the fetal position next to the lockers. Her reddish brown hair was strewn all over in a messy array and she hid her face in the long sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt.

I stood and slowly walked over to the beautiful girl. No. She was a woman. A strong woman. And yet, she didn't know it.

I crouched next to her before resting my hand lightly on her arm. “Dezzy?” I spoke lowly.

She tried shying away from my touch while avoiding my face. All the while, she mumbled, “no. No more. Please, no.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” I cooed as if I was talking to a cornered animal, “do you not recognize my voice? I am the only one, as you would say, with an accent.”

Her breathing slowed a bit. I was feeling slightly comforted by this. Then, a certain kind of warmth filled me when she slowly turned to look at me with hopeful yet tearful, red eyes. I smiled warmly at her before cautiously moving some hair out of her face.

Desiree’s P.o.V.

I looked up to see Maxim. He smiled warmly at me before gently pushing some of my hair out of my face. I nearly shied away from his touch. However, I forced myself to stay still.

Maxim started to say something when a sound behind him caught both of our attentions. It was a pained moan. I looked around Maxim to see Haden lying on the ground with blood all over his face. He was tenderly touching his face with his hand.

Maxim started to get up and walk over to him but my hand shot out and I attempted to grab his shirt. I ended up missing and was forced to stand up and grab Maxim’s hand. My head pounded from the entire sobbing moment and sudden rise from the floor but I still was able to focus on capturing maxim’s attention.

“Take me home.” I whispered hoarsely.

That was, in fact, the last place that I wanted to be but I didn’t want to be at the school any longer.

Maxim merely stared at me for a moment too long before nodding and pulling me to where I dropped my books. He gracefully leaned down, picked them up, and then guided me to the front doors.

We were nearly to the main entrance when I suddenly yanked my hand from Maxim’s. He gave me a questioning look. I answered his unspoken question with a terrified and tired voice. “Please don’t touch me anymore. I can’t stand it any longer.”

Maxim looked sad at first at my words but the emotion immediately disappeared and his face was replaced with a disciplined and composed mask. I felt guilty at first but I just could stand it. I did not want to be touched.