She stared out of her bedroom window, hoping, dreaming that she'd see him walking down the sidewalk toward her house; a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Her boyfriend, the boy she loved more than any other. The boy she would never see again.

She bit back a sob, but it was too late and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably. Oh God, would it ever stop? Would the pain ever go away? Would she ever stop hurting?

Her chest ached and it was hard to breathe. Why was this happening? She needed to talk to someone, badly. She couldn't go on like this.

She brushed the tears from her cheeks and hurried down the stairs. When she reached the office by the front door she called to him.

"Dad? Dad?"

When there was no answer, she peeked inside. But her heart sank when she found the office empty. Her dad was always working, so where was he? Psychiatrists worked all of the time! What about their patients who needed them? More importantly, what about Jason Seaver's daughter, who needed him now more than ever?

She bit back another sob, grateful that her second attempt to do so was successful. She was tired of crying; so tired, but it seemed that crying was all that she did lately.

What would Sandy think of her? Oh how she wished she knew. If only she could kiss him, just one last time.

And then another thought. Of course… Her mom! Why didn't she think of that before? Her mom was, of course, a woman. She'd dated boys (Before she met Dad of course), and Carol knew that she'd understand. She hesitated only a moment before she knew where to look.

The kitchen….

Carol darted through the living room into the kitchen. "Mom, can I talk to you? I-."

But the kitchen was empty, making her heart sink. Where was everybody?

Tears spilled onto her cheeks, but she quickly brushed them away. Some parents! Why had they deserted her, their oldest daughter, just when she needed them the most?

With a sigh she went upstairs and headed for her room. But then she paused at the first door on the right. Slowly she opened it and peered inside. Amazingly her little brother was there, oblivious to the world as he stared at his computer screen. A video game blared from the speakers and Ben madly pushed the controls in his hands as though he really and truly believed that he was driving a race car.

"KABLOOEY!" Ben yelled, causing Carol to gasp. On the screen was the aftermath of Ben's virtual car crash and it only took seconds to realize that he'd crashed his imaginary race car into a tree.