I Didn't Know

Annalise began her long walk home. She hated walking around in the rain, but today she had her umbrella. Besides, she only lived like two blocks away from the high school.

The rain pounded the ground like bullets as a cold wind crept in and out of the city. It would carelessly shake limbs from the trees, causing more drops to fall around Annalise's feet.

She huffed quietly to herself as she finally reached her parents apartment. She was sad that she didn't see her boyfriend, well, her fiance now. They've been together since she was in the seventh grade. She smiled widely as she stopped to collect the mail from the box on the wall and admired her ring.

It was a simple white gold band with a huge diamod in the middle. The diamond was accompanied by two smaller sapphire stones on each side. He had gotten it for her on her birthday when he had proposed to her. Although, her parents didn't know yet.

Annalise walked into the apartment and instantly felt something wrong in the air. The lights were off and she could see that Ryan had thrown his jacket carelessly on the couch. She walked a little further and closed the door softly.

She seen clothes piled on the floor as if someone decided to strip in the heat of the moment. She tilted her head towards the staircase when she thought she heard something. She didn't expect Ryan to be here.

Annalise walked up the stairs. She crept up slowly and found her older sister's room open slightly. She tip-toed closer and opened the door slowly. She threw it open the rest of the way as her mouth fell open in shock.

There was her boyfriend/fiance pounding her sister from behind as he held onto her sister's hips. They looked over at her as Jessica tried to cover herself. Ryan stood, "Anna, it's not what you think! It was an accident!" he said as he covered his crouch with a pillow.

Annalise felt the tears beginning to pool around her eyes. She couldn't breathe. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest and cast into a meat grinder. She backed up slowly before bolting down the stairs.

She ran out of the house. But it didn't help her out at all. She still had that scene running through her head. She didn't know where she was going, but she just kept running. The rain was still pouring and she had left her umbrella at the house because it was the last thing on her mind at this point.

She stopped finally when she got to the beach. She loved Huntington Beach, it was beautiful and helped her think. She liked to sit and look out to the ocean. The waves crashing upon the sea shore was like a lullaby for her brain.

She walked out on one of the docks and stood underneath the gazebo part. She leaned against the railing and tried to control her breathing. Her chest heaved from the excess excercise. Her heart pumped rapidly as it fought to replace all of her oxygen. Her muscles were beginning to ache from the sudden burst of excercise.

Annalise still had tears flowing down her face like gray rivers. Her long straight black hair whipped around in the wind. Her tanned skin became translucent as she then ran to the bathroom.

She threw up seemingly all of the contents of her stomach. She sat in the corner of the bathroom. She had her head in her hands as her eyes were closed. She continued crying softly, knowing that no one would find her.

A knock resounded on the door. "Annalise? Is that you? It's Brian. I saw you running. What happened?" he asked as he stood next to the door.

Annalise stood up and walked out. She kept her eyes to the ground as she seen Brian's same old black Converse. She didn't say a word as she closed the door behind her.

Brian tilted her face up towards him, "What's going on? Anna, have you been crying?" he asked.

Anna felt her eyes well up again as she hugged him. She cried into his shoulder for what seemed like years.

Brian didn't say anything as he held her. He just rubbed her back and smoothed down her hair. But he held her tightly as he felt her shaking from the tears.

Finally Anna calmed down, "I was so stupid." she said at last.

Brian cupped her face, "What do you mean? You're not stupid." he said as he looked at her in the eyes.

"Yes, I am. I honestly believed that he loved me." said Annalise.

Brian sighed, "What happened?"

Annalise started crying again. She couldn't force the words out of her mouth. It was like trying to voluntarily vomit.

Brian hugged her close to him. "When you're fiften, and some one tells you that they love you, you're obvioulsy going to believe them. But when you get older, you'll find that he's not as great as you thought. And you'll realize that the world is much bigger than it used to look. You don't even know who you're supposed to be, how are you going to find what you want in a guy when you don't even know yourself?" asked Brian as he carefully wiped away her tears.

Annalise looked up at Brian. He had been her friend since forever. Even though he was like seven years older than her. She smiled back up at him, "Thank you for being my friend." she said softly.

Brian smiled, "Anytime, and don't believe them when they say you can't find love at fifteen."

Annalise tilted her head, "Why not?"

"Because I did." he said as he kissed her.

Annalise kissed him back, and every thought from her memory was erased momentarily. All that mattered was her lips on Brian's. She smiled to herself as he held her hand and grabbed the ring off of her left ring finger.

They broke apart as Brian grinned. He tossed her ring off the dock and into the ocean.

Annalise smiled as she kissed him again. Maybe you could find love at fifteen.