Rotten

Prologue

Sarah De Levár walked down the hallway to principle George Ledwiggs office. She was afraid she'd done something wrong. Her hands trembled and a feeling in her gut said something bad happened.

She reached the office door to her high school principal and walked in slowly. Her eyes darted around the room and landed on two men in full police uniform.

There wasn't possibly anything she could have done that needed police attention. Could there be?

The first police man gestured to a chair on the other side of the room. Sarah glided over to it and sat down silently. She immediately started fiddling with her thumbs nervously.

"Sarah," the second cop began and sat down across from her. He seemed more nervous than she was,"There was an accident at your fathers lab earlier today. We are sorry to say that your parents were at the lab when it happened."

Sarah stared at the officer like she didn't quite hear him. Then she straightened her back and spoke as calmly as she could.

"When can I see them." she spoke confidently but her nerves showed too.

The police men glanced at each other and than the first officer said words that creased a way into Sarah's brain and were now imprinted into her mind.

"Sarah, your parents are dead."

Sarah ran. She left the office and ran out of the school. She heard the police men behind her but she knew they wouldn't catch her. She didn't stop until she rounded the corner to her dads lab building and skidded to a stop.

Police cars and reporters surrounded the small foundation. Everyone was talking and yelling.

A heard of doctors and nurses climbed into an ambulance and set off. Another group pushed two gurdies with body bags on them. They pushed the bags into the second ambulance and followed the first.

Sarah's first thought was that those body bags were her parents. Then she refused to believe they were dead.

She wiped away a stray tear that had fallen down her cheek and took a few deep breaths. Moments passed before reporters started noticing Sarah. They must have realized that she was the dead scientist daughter. They all started walking up to her and it wasn't long until Sarah was running back the way she'd came, away from everyone.

Now, she had no one. Her parents wouldn't be able to see her graduation, her wedding, her children. They wouldn't get to see their young daughter become a young lady.

Now she couldn't help it. She sat down against the side of a commercial building. Tears poured down her cheeks like a fountain. She cried and cried until she was sure she'd make herself sick. Sarah took a few deep breaths but still felt like she couldn't breath. She was gasping for air and her hands were on her stomach because of the pain.

She tried to stand up but slumped back down again. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Tears threatened her eyes again but Sarah would not let them fall.

Sarah sat there for what felt like hours until finally someone noticed her sitting on the ground, not that she was happy about it. She just wanted to be alone.

"Um, miss, are you okay?" A boy about Sarah's age was looking down on her with a worried expression. He had brown hair and green eyes that seemed to match together perfectly. He knelt down and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I just, can you leave me alone please?" Sarah said. She wasn't trying to be rude but she wanted to be left alone, away from all people.

"No, young lady, I can't." the boy said as he pushed himself next to Sarah up against the wall. He stuck his legs out and then crossed them as if he were deciding which way was comfier.

"Why not?" Sarah asked agitatedly.

"Because there is a young lady in my presence who seems sad and alone and who looks like she needs someone to talk to and guess what, she can talk to me." he said calmly. He stares into Sarah's eyes but the worry in them was gone. All he looked like now was a guy wanting to help a girl out.

"I don't want to talk." the truth was, Sarah did want to talk to someone, she just didn't know how to. Was she supposed to start with 'My parents just died' or was she supposed to say something else.

"Yes, you do. You want to and you need to." he said. His voice made Sarah feel safe.

"What do I say? I don't know you." Sarah said warily. She wanted to talk to this boy, she really wanted to.

"Well than, if you wanted a formal greeting you could've asked. My name is Gavin Stride and you are?" Gavin said confidently.

"My name is Sarah De Levár." Immediately after she said her name Gavin's face became sad.

"Your the daughter of the scientist, the one who passed away a few hours ago. That explains a lot." Gavin said sadly. He put his arm around her shoulders and Sarah placed her head on his arm.

Sarah had just met this boy and she felt strongly comfortable with him. Like she could tell him everything and he wouldn't judge her.

Sarah mumbled a 'Yes'. She started playing with her hands and tears swelled up her eyes.

"Well you know what, Sarah, I believe bad things happen to good people because it's a way of pushing us in the right direction." Gavin said, lifting his chin up. He seemed proud of his statement like it was a rule to go by.

"I think this was a really bad thing to happen to my really good parents, who now have no direction." Sarah said critically. More tears threatened her eyes but she pushed them back.

"Sarah," Gavin began,"its okay to cry."

And like that, she cried all over again.