Okay, I had a sudden inspiration to write this last night! I know; it's probably really wierd! Sorry about any errors. (It was late and I'm a horrible speller!) This is my first story, so please be kind! Sorry also if my form is weird;I'm still trying to figure out how to work this, so bear with me!

"Two sets of suicides…go!"

Alex started sprinting at the sound of her coach's whistle. "Grrr, I hate suicides!" her best friend, Emily, gasped beside her. Alex nodded in agreement.

She was just starting her second set when her coach called her over. She noticed the Dean of Students, Mr. Coleman, standing next to him. She and Emily exchanged curious looks.

"Don't worry, your not in trouble," the dean assured her. Surprised, Alex walked over. "We want to talk to you down in the office. There's something we need to tell you," Mr. Coleman continued.

Taken aback, Alex followed the dean out of the gym and down the hallway to the school office. In the office was the head of the middle school, Ms. Ross, and the principle, Mrs. Peterson, waiting for her. Now Alex started to feel nervous. What was so important that they needed the Dean of Students, the head of the middle school, and the principle to tell her?

"Alex, why don't you sit down." Ms. Ross offered. Bewildered, Alex did as she was told.

"Alex," Mrs. Peterson began, "we just got the call. Your parents were in a horrible car accident this afternoon." Fear raced through Alex. She could feel her heart to start to race. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but they didn't survive." Silence followed this statement. Alex stared at the three adults in a mixture of shock and confusion. She heard what her principle had said, but nothing registered inside her head.

"I'm going to take you over to the hospital right now," Mr. Coleman said gently. "We called the person on your emergency contact list, Riley Poole. How do you know him?"

" He's my godfather. C-can I get my stuff?" she managed to croak. He nodded sympathetically. Alex got up and walked out of the office in a sort of zombie state. When she got to the gym, class had just ended.

"Hey Alex, what was that all about?" Emily asked as Alex grabbed her gym bag from the bleachers. But she just shook her head and walked past her friend. She sprinted up the stairs, ignoring everybody around her.

"What do we have for homework?" Alex muttered to herself when she reached her locker. Quickly, she stuffed her math, history, and English binders into her backpack and headed back downstairs before anyone had the chance to ask her more questions.

Mr. Coleman was waiting for her down in the office. She tossed her stuff in his car and climbed into the back seat. The ride to the hospital took only ten minutes, but Alex had lost all sense of time.

"Here we are," her dean said as they pulled into the parking lot. Silently, she grabbed her bags. Mr. Coleman put a comforting arm around her shoulders and led her into the hospital.

Once inside, they were directed to a special waiting room for the family members of patients in the E.R. It was obvious the room was supposed to be warm and soothing. The walls were painted a warm beige color and the room was full of comfortable couches and chairs, but Alex felt no comfort from it all.

They had been waiting for about fifteen minutes when there was a knock on the door. A doctor popped his head into the room. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked Mr. Coleman.

"Of course." "I'll be right back," he added to Alex, patting her on the shoulder.

She hardly moved. The shock was still too great. My parents can't be dead, she kept thinking to herself. They just can't be.

Then the door opened again. This time, it wasn't Mr. Coleman or a doctor; it was Riley. He stood in the doorway for a moment watching her, the shock in his eyes mirroring what she felt.

"Alex," he finally murmured. Suddenly, this was all too much for Alex. She ran over to him and threw her arms around him, the tears streaming down her face. "It's okay," he whispered to her as he held her. "It's okay."