Which Side Are You On? *Part 31*

      Her smile fades quickly hearing the name. “Yes, he was different. Much different. But now that I think about it he could’ve been faking it,” She pauses. “And for so long too!” she says in a raised tone as she angrily clenches her hands into two tight fists. “He was so good, so sweet. He was like an angel; so mesmerizing. I fell so deeply in love with him and then he left. He just left me…,” she trails off into her own hurt thoughts, her eyes watery.

      “Why?” Sovira asks snapping Sariin out of her thoughts.

      “He…he said I couldn’t handle him; that he was too complicated and I would never understand. He never even gave me a chance to understand.”

      “How did you meet him?” Sovira asks now intrigued by her story.

      “It was the day I missed school. The only day I’ve ever missed. It was because of my alarm clock. The day before school, I set my alarm for four o’ clock. Little did I know that I was setting it for a.m. instead of p.m.”

      Sovira giggles. “I do that all the time. Only in my world I wake up in the morning.”

      Sariin smiles. “Well, it caused me to wake up an hour late, giving me only thirty minutes to get ready and get to school. I literally threw my clothes on. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were inside out or if I had underwear on my head. I did everything else as fast as possible and grabbed my things and rushed quickly out the door. I was in such a rush I almost tripped over my own shoe!” She laughs at the memory.

      “I ran as fast as I could toward the school which is about a thirty minute run from my house. I had only fifteen to twenty minutes to get there. Well, I was running down the sidewalk so fast that I didn’t even realize there was a man standing right in front of me and I crashed right into him. It was so embarrassing. My books went tumbling to the concrete and all the papers I had in them went flying everywhere; my notes, my homework, everything.

      “It was just awful! Awful to meet a complete stranger whose features, might I say, were so godly and I looked so terrible. I had no time to take a shower that morning or even brush my hair. I looked like a complete dork for sure. My day, I could tell, was just not going to be a good one. I half-way thought about just turning around right there, leaving my stuff behind, and running as quickly as I could back home to hide myself of shame. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t miss a day of school…Gees, now that I think about it maybe I really am a dork,” she says and giggles. Sovira giggles too.

      “I thought the man would have been angry and yelled at me, calling me blind or stupid, but surprisingly he didn’t. Instead he laughed at me. But that didn’t make me feel any better. I felt even more stupid and embarrassed, but I guess it beat him being mad about it so I went ahead and let him have his humorous moment while I stood there red as a tomato from the embarrassment.

      “I told him I was sorry for it and he just said it was okay and asked if I was alright. Then he was even kinder by helping me pick up all my books off the ground. My homework was already lost in the wind so there was no getting that back. I’d just have to redo it as long as my teachers would let me. Hmm…Maybe I should have told them the wind ate my homework.

      “He handed me my stuff while telling me to be more careful and use my eyes for what they were made for and stop acting like I’m blind. It may sound rude, but it wasn’t the way he said it. He said it as a joke and we were both laughing about my clumsiness. When I thanked him for his kindness he asked for my name; I told him of course. He held out his hand and I took it without a moment’s hesitation. It was so nice, like a fantasy. It was such a warm, firm grip. I didn’t want to let go. He introduced himself as Damien as we were shaking hands.” She grimaced with pain visible in her eyes as she said his name. She continued, “Then I told him it was really nice to meet him, but I had to go. He asked me where so I told him I was just on my way to school before running into him. Then he asked if he could walk me there. How could I say no to such a hunk?”

      “But I thought you didn’t go to school that day?” Sovira asks.

      “Hold on. I’m getting there.” Sariin smiles broadly. “We were about a quarter of a mile from my school and I started thinking; what is he going to do after he leaves me at the school, what if I never see him again? Could I just let this be it with us? What if we were meant to be more? What if us meeting like this wasn’t just a coincidence? Apparently he was thinking the same thing. He stopped me once the school came sight and asked me if I really had to go to school; if I would rather do something else. My heart sped up listening to his words. I did have a chance of seeing more of him, and of course I was going to take it. I asked him what he wanted and he told me he didn’t want to not ever see me again so he wanted to spend the rest of the day with me.

      I was absolutely thrilled to accept his offer. We spent the day together at the park. We talked and talked for hours about each other’s lives. I told him all about my life and he told me a little of his. He wasn’t very open about his life; he wouldn’t say too much about himself. He just said that he lived with his cousin, Ahx. His parents had abandoned him when he was only five, and he’s stayed with Ahx’s family since.”

      “Abandoned him?” Sovira says perplexed. “At five years old?”

      “Most parents here, in our world, usually do abandon their child, but normally when they hit twelve or thirteen; five is just too young,” Sariin says, actually feeling sorry for Damien for a moment.

      I can’t help but to feel sorry for him either, Sovira thinks.

      “Why do parents abandon their children here?” Sovira asks.

      “Most demons only care about one thing; power. We live in a terrible world. Everyone spends their lives trying to find ways to please the devil to gain power. Karamys seems to have found the best way of succeeding at it. No wonder Damien follows him around like a dog. He idolizes him.

      “Anyway, I got off subject. After that day at the park, me and Damien just couldn’t let go of each other so soon, so we started seeing each other before and after I went to school, my days off, and I would barely get any sleep; only two to three hours a day, but I didn’t care. I loved talking to him and spending all my time with him. I just loved hearing his voice.” A tear slid down her cheek as she spoke of her past love.

      Sovira rubbed Sariin’s back while trying to cheer her up. “It’s okay now, Sariin.”

      “I know, but sometimes I just miss him; the old him.”

      “You don’t have to finish the story if you don’t want to.”

      “No, it’s okay. I started it, so I’d rather finish it.” Sariin smiles and wipes her tears away.

      Sovira pulls her hand back and sets her hands in her lap, ready to listen to the rest of the story. She smiles back at Sariin as she begins telling it again.

      “After months and months of being together we fell in love. We started saying ‘I love you’ to each other. It made me happy to hear it from his lips. Although, he seemed kind of detached when he said it, like he was afraid to get close to anyone. But he said it and that was all that mattered to me. I also moved in with him. That’s how I met Ahx and his family. They were always nice people. I also met Ahx’s girlfriend, Romara, and his best friend, Karamys. For a while everything seemed so perfect, like a fairytale life. But then Karamys and Ahx started distancing from each other, Syth’s problems became worse and uncontrollable, as they are now, and me and Damien didn’t seem as close. We didn’t say ‘I love you’ as much; actually rarely at all. And he was always out somewhere. He rarely even spent time with me anymore.

      “We started having arguments not too long after. That’s when he told me I could never understand him. He tried kicking me out, but Ahx stuck up for me and told him that I was more welcome than he was. That’s when Damien started rarely coming back. Then soon not at all. And after that, I wasn’t the only one with a broken heart; Ahx was too. Karamys killed Romara and left and we haven’t heard from him since, till now. That’s pretty much the whole story,” she says, feeling exuberant to finally get it out.

      “So much heartbreaking…,” Sovira says in almost a whisper as she puts her arm around Sariin. “It’ll be okay for the both of you. You’re so much better off without Damien, and I’m sure Ahx will find someone else who is just as great as Romara. He’s a great guy.”

      “I hope so; for the both of us. And if Markus doesn’t make it, I hope everything turns out okay with you.”

      “Me too.”

      “Oh wait! You’ve already got Syth lined up!” she teases. “Anyone else I should know about?”

      “I do not!” Sovira pulls her arm back and shoves Sariin playfully.

      They fill the room with laughter.

      “You should get some rest. It’s pretty late. I’m sure Ahx will be back when you awake.”

      Sariin pulls Sovira up from the bed and walks her to her room.

      “I’m sorry for what happened with you and Damien,” Sovira says, sympathetically.

      “It’s okay. You’re right; I really am better off without him,” she smiles. “At least now I know why he says I could never understand him, and he’s right. I don’t want to be with someone who will kill whoever it takes to obtain power…Well, goodnight, Sovira.”

       “Night, Sariin,” Sovira says as she closes the door.

       Sovira gets into her pajamas, cracks the window open an inch, and slides into her covers. She lays there a while, tossing and turning, unable to get any sleep. She was too worried about Markus, and wondered when Syth would wake up or if he even would. Surprisingly, she missed Syth, even with the way he was.

      After tossing and turning endlessly, she gets up, slipping her fuzzy house shoes on. She walks over to the door and creaks it open, peeking to see if anyone was there. When seeing the coast is clear, she silently slips out the door, forgetting to close the window in her room. Then she quietly makes her way to Syth’s room, walking in on her tiptoes as she shuts the door behind her. She walks over to his bed, kicking her shoes off, then gently slipping into the covers beside him. Syth was still snoozing away. When would he wake up, she thought. She laid her head on his chest and quickly after, she fell asleep.