Always - Rosaline's Story

A girl stood frozen, watching the scene before her. Today was Alec and her anniversary. Rosaline had come over so she could celebrate with him. Not anymore. She watched from across the street as the girl she hated most in the world, Jaynie, came out of his house. He took Jaynie's hand, pulled her close, and kissed her. He kissed more passionately than he ever kissed her, and she was his girlfriend! Rosaline's eyes began to tear. Slowly at first, the salty water flow slid down her face. He didn't even see her standing there as he kissed Jaynie, backing her up all the way from his doorway to the car. That ugly green colored car that Jaynie loved so much. Oh, how she hated it. She would never be able to like the color green again. She would never like Alec again. Thunder resounded across the sky as rain suddenly crashed down upon them. She turned and ran; tears and rain making it hard for her to see. It didn't matter though. Her feet knew the way to the riverside she loved so much.

Running. Foot in front of foot. Step after rushed step. Splashing through puddles, disrupting the pattern that the rain made in them. Rosaline's feet kept a steady, fast pace as they raced across street after street. She wiped tears and rain from her face as she ran, not stopping for anything; not that there was anything else out in the rain to stop for. Rosaline ran, feeling the rain soak through her new pink and black skirt, through her favorite pink shirt that read 'Roses Have Thorns', through her crisscrossed pink tights, and into her skin. Her black and pink sneakers became soaked through. She'd dry them later. She loved the colors pink and black. They were her favorite colors. She wore them a lot. That was something Alec didn't like. He didn't like her wearing those colors, or anything he didn't choose for her. Why didn't she see before what an asshole he really was? She had always known the truth, just didn't want to believe it. Now, she had no choice. Now, she could only cry.

Rosaline began to slow down to a walk as she approached the place by the river, where she enjoyed being. She didn't know why, but it always calmed her down. She stopped by the riverside and looked out at the water. There was so much water. The river was moving fast, for it had been a rainy season. As the waters of the river rushed by her, she thought of all her memories with Alec. They weren't as good as she had first thought. The image of him with Jaynie tainted all of them. She pulled the ring off her finger and looked at it one last time. What an idiot she was to trust him. She looked out at the river, and threw the ring as far as she could into it. It landed somewhere closer to the other shore. Good riddance. The river would carry it away from her forever. She'd never need it, nor want it, nor look back. She was done with him. She never wanted to see him again, no matter how much pain that brought to her heart. Oh, how much her heart burned right then. It hurt because of Alec.

The tears hadn't stopped flowing down her face. The rain intertwining with them and washing them away. Why had Alec betrayed her so? Why had he been kissing Jaynie behind her back? Why was he like that? What did she do to deserve that? Questions raced through Rosaline's mind. She came to a simple conclusion: she wasn't loved, not by Alec. But, oh, how she missed him already. She missed his kisses and his hands. She missed the feel of his body pressed against hers. She missed the way he would tease her about her refusal to sex. She missed how he laughed. She missed his voice, and the way that he sang to her. She just missed him, but she wanted to forget. 'If only Vincent were here,' she thought. Vincent would know exactly what to say, or to do, to make her feel better; to make her stop crying. He always did and Rosaline knew he did. She groaned in defeat and sat down on the drenched ground. She didn't care about the rain. She would always be able to change when she decided to go home.