Sarah- Like a Handprint on my Heart

Author's Note- I would just like to say that I love this story and I hope you guys do too. A quick note, the past is in italics. Reviews and helpful!

Disclaimer-Don't own Newsies.

-------

Once Sarah and David arrived at school they made their separate ways. David would normally hang out with his friends on the front porch at their school and play hackey sack with some friends while Sarah would meet Jack at her locker. The school was pretty old and most of the halls had been added or replaced over the years so it wasn't uncommon for one hall to look completely different then another. Sarah's locker was in what the school referred to as the dungeon. It was in the basement of the school and only hall that hadn't been changed over the years. Most of the kids at her school like to play with the rumor that a custodian had killed himself years ago using electrical wiring as a nooseThe rumor was mostly for the freshman, just to freak them out a little but on Sarah and David's first day at the school when they moved in the middle of her freshman year it freaked her out as well.

-----

"Umm, hi, excuse me, Could you tell where locker number 420-636 is?" Sarah asked a group of kids on her first day of school. She was extremely nervous and the way the students were looking at her wasn't calming her nerves one bit.

The students immediately stopped talking and stared at Sarah with a look of alarm across their faces. Attempting to break the silence, Sarah spoke up.

"Well, I guess you don't. Thanks anyway." She mumbled as she began to walk away.

"Wait, we know where it is." One of the boys offered to take her but right before he lead her to her locker she could swear she saw him wink at the group left standing there. Choosing to ignore it Sarah made small talk.

"I'm Sarah." Silence. "Uh, I just moved here from Ohio." Still nothing, the boy continued to look forward. After almost two minutes of complete quiet the boy finally spoke.

"You're a freshman aren't you?"

"Yes, why do you ask? Are you?" Finally, she thought.

"I'd be careful if I were you." The boy was still looking forward but Sarah's heart began to race.

"Uh, W-Why would you say something like that?" Sarah stammered.

"Well, about fifty years ago there was this janitor who'd been working at this school for basically his whole life. He wasn't exactly happy about his job and the students didn't make it any easier. He was constantly made fun of, food was always thrown at him in the cafeteria and graffiti was mostly written on his behalf. There was one student who was behind almost all of it. James Aarons. Well, finally one day the janitor got sick of it and hung himself in the hall where your locker is."

Sarah started shaking. 'It's all a lie.' She attempted to convince herself. 'He's just picking on the new kid.'

"The body was taken away but somehow one week later the janitor dead body parts began showing up in James locker. No one knows how they got there but there was always something. The boy eventually changed schools but his locker number was 420-666."

Sarah froze. There they were all alone in front of her locker.

"Well, here you go. I hope you like the school." The boy quickly ran around the corner.

Slowly, Sarah opened the locker. '16…36…6' She took a breath and opened the locker. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as her eyes lay upon a dead hand lying there. She slammed the locker shut as fast as she could and ran; she only made it ten feet before a man grabbed her. She screamed louder.

"Hey, Calm down. It's okay." She heard a voice say. She looked up to see a handsome boy holding her. "Are you ok, what's going on?"

"In my locker, the hand, and the janitor, the boy, in my locker- ." She began rambling. The boy stared at her for a moment and then for some strange reason he laughed.

"Why are laughing?" Sarah asked frantically.

"Look, I'm sorry but it was all a joke. Here, follow me, we'll go back to your locker and see what's going on." Sarah followed the student around the corner to see the group of boys she'd met earlier cracking up. The boy who had led her to her locker stood in the middle of the crowd holding the handing and mocking Sarah. A wave of embarrassment shot through her body and she turned around to walk away. Once again, the boy stopped her.

"Hold on, he whispered to her, I'll handle this." He rolled up his sleeve as he tread heavily towards the boy holding the fake hand.

"Did the thought of not being a dick ever cross your mind, Delancy?"

"Why don't you stay out of it, Kelly? It's called fun, you'd know what it was if you'd get that stick out of your ass."

'Kelly. That's an odd name for a boy.' Sarah thought to herself but she was quickly pulled from her reflection when the boy named Delancy threw his fist at Kelly's face. Before she could say anything Kelly stopped the boys fist midair and twisted his hand backwards. Kelly whispered something into the boy's ear and he quickly nodded.

"I swear." The boy said and Kelly released Delancy from his grip. Right when he let go the boy and his friends ran.

"Thanks Kelly. That was real sweet of you." Once again the boy gave a little laugh.

"No problem." He smiled. "But you can call me Jack, Kelly's my last name."

"Oh." Her face once again red with embarrassment. "I'm Sarah Jacobs."

-----

Sarah smiled at the memory. The Delancy's never bothered her after that; Jack was always there to keep her safe. The two had just celebrated their two year anniversary a little over three weeks ago. Jack and Sarah weren't the typical high school couple, they were in love and everyone knew it. Sarah's family didn't have much money; her mother was a teaching assistant and the father had been out of a job for years. He tried everything but the companies he would work for were small and would quickly go bankrupt. With an income of $15,000 a year it wasn't easy to raise a family of five.

Jack on the other hand was an only child and came from an extremely wealthy family. Unfortunately, both of his parents worked so often Jack never saw them. Most of the time his grandfather, Kloppman would come and help out when both parents were gone. Jack loved spending time with Sarah and her whole family. He would spend several nights a week at their house. Every week Jack's mother would make enough dinner to keep him fed for the whole week while she was away and every time he would go to the Jacobs he would bring the dinner. Jack knew it made Sarah's parents feel bad, like they couldn't support their own family so Jack would always find a reason to celebrate and he would explain over dinner why it was necessary for him to bring over dinner that night. And no matter how bad her parents felt they would never get mad, Jack was like a son to them and the foolish things he found to celebrate always put a smile on their face.

-----

A knock came from the door and Sarah quickly ran to answer it. It was Wednesday and Jack was coming over to study for the history test they'd procrastinated studying for the past week and a half. When she opened the door she saw Jack struggling to carry a container which held lasagna, another one with green beans, and the final one with held cheesecake.

"Jack…" Sarah smiled. "You're too good to this family."

"What are you talking about? This is all for me." He laughed and leaned in to give her a kiss.

"Here let me help you with that." Mrs. Jacobs grabbed the containers out of Jack's hand leaving only his history book. "Oh, Jack, you know you don't have to do this."

"I want to Mrs. Jacobs, besides, what else would this food do, rot in the fridge?" She smiled and put the lasagna and green beans in the oven to heat them up and the cheesecake in the fridge.

"So, Jack, what are we celebrating this week?" He just grinned at her. "I guess you'll have to wait until dinner." She laughed and just at that moment David and Les came running into the kitchen. David smiled at Jack and they gave each other and hug.

"Hey man, how's it hanging?" Jack asked.

"Well, I don't want to brag-." "Then don't." Sarah interrupted.

David cleared his throat and pretended to ignore her comment.

"As I was saying, I got a 1500 on my SAT's."

"Nice…" Jack smiled. "We all knew that your smarts would get you somewhere one day, I mean besides your head in the toilet."

"Ha, you're hilarious, I'm barely holding in the laughter." David replied sarcastically. At that moment Jack felt a tug on his jeans, he looked down to see Sarah's little brother, Les pulling on his pants.

"Hey buddy, how's the fifth grade treating you?" Jack asked.

"You won't believe it Jack; you know that project we did together, the house made out of sugar cubes?"

"Of course I remember; David kept trying to eat the chimney. Well, what about it man, how'd you do?"

"I got a one hundred and the teacher used it as an example and she showed all her classes!" Les told Jack enthusiastically.

"Aw that's awesome, I'm proud of you, you did a great job."

"Well I couldn't have done it without you Jack." Les laughed as Jack pulled him up into an upside down hug.

"Okay, I'm starving is everyone ready to eat?" Jack asked the family.

"Okay, Jack, So what are we celebrating this week?" Mr. Jacobs asked eagerly as they all got settled at the table. "Well since I know you've all been dying to hear, I'll tell you. Okay…" He began "…Today we are celebrating the fact that we are living in a world with erasable pens."

-----

Sarah waited at her locker for Jack like she did every morning but something was different about this morning. It was rainy and dark and something felt abnormal. She had been sick the past weekend and Jack had brought her some soup. She didn't remember much about Jack coming over; she'd had the flu and was really tired. All she did remember was Jack sitting in bed next to her with his hand on her forehead and his thumb lightly stroking over it. He didn't stay long because she was so tired but before he left he whispered softly into her ear, "I love you, baby; always and forever." He kissed her on the cheek and left. She knew he had been planning on hanging out with some friends from Lenel High that Saturday night so she wasn't surprised when he didn't call. Afraid she had given him the flu she decided she would call him during lunch and then stop by after school. Satisfied with her plan she made her way to homeroom.

-----

"Ugh!" Sarah slumped into her seat. Racetrack could always find a way to put Sarah in a bad mood. In an obvious attempt to shut Sarah and Race up, Spot broke in.

"Hey guys, has anyone seen Jack? I haven't talked to him since Friday after that party."

"I don't know, he called me on Saturday morning. He said he was going out with a few friends from Lenel High." Before Sarah could say anything about him possibly being sick, she was interrupted by the morning announcements.

"Welcome back from your weekend students. It is my unfortunate dissatisfaction to bring you the news that one of our fellow students died in a car crash on Sunday."

'How horrible.' Sarah thought to herself. 'I hope it's not someone I know.' She quickly began to scan the room for empty seats when she remembered who was missing.

"Jack?" She whispered. At that moment everyone looked at her. "Where's Jack?" She asked, but louder this time and the tone in her voice was harsh.

"Don't worry, it can't be Jack." David whispered to her.

"Of course not, I know that." She attempted to smile but her eyes looked frantic. The announcements continued.

"…Jack Kelly was killed in a car accident last Saturday night." Just as the words were spoken she felt herself break down completely. All she could do was cry to her from passing out. She felt her body get weak, this couldn't be happening. The room was completely silent except for her quiet sobs. She refused to believe, 'He's just sick at home' she continued to tell herself.

"We are sorry for everyone's loss. The funeral will be help two weeks from now on Sunday the eighteenth. Everyone is welcome to mourn the loss of our dear friend. Please feel free to stop by the counselor's office any time and we will help you through this hard time. That is all."

The bell rang and everyone reluctantly stood from their seats. Before the four of them could stand up, the teacher called them over.

"I'm very sorry for your loss; I know Jack was close to all of you. If you would like, I'll write you all a pass and you can go to the counselors. I know this is hard-"

"You don't know anything." Race angrily grit through his teeth. 'He doesn't need to be such a dick.' Sarah thought to herself. 'God, he can't even be sad when his friend died.'

The teacher asked the four students standing before her if they wanted a pass for the guidance counselor; no one said anything so Sarah just nodded. The teacher wrote each of them a pass and sent them off to their classes. Sarah took hers thankfully but the three guys practically ripped it out of the teacher's hands.

Once Sarah entered the hall she could feel the gloominess which had seemed to cast a shadow over their school. Everywhere she looked it would remind her of Jack; the water fountain they met at everyday after fourth period, her locker where she first met Jack, even a boy that she saw that was wearing a shirt she knew Jack owned. Just walking down the hall made her want to scream, 'Why was this happening, why Jack? So many emotions were running through her body, she wasn't sure how to feel. Was she supposed to be sad? Angry, and if so, at whom; herself for not telling Jack to stay home or was she suppose to be mad at the driver? Before she could feel anything else a thought abruptly made its way into her head. 'If there's anyone to blame, it's Jack. What was he thinking driving in the car with people who obviously can't drive well? Was he even buckled?' She thought to herself. Just as she asked herself this, she realized something; she had no idea what had actually happened. For all she knew, Jack could have been the one driving.

She decided rather than play the blame game, it would be best if she just went to the counselors' office. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate during the day anyway and with Les sick in bed today she knew she wouldn't be able to go home without constant questions about Jack. She didn't have the heart to tell her family. Hell, she was having trouble believing it herself. With her decisions made she headed off to the guidance counselor.

As she walked down the hall she could hear whispers surrounding her, "I heard they had broken up the night before and he couldn't take it, so he killed himself." She began to walk faster but the voices continued. "Yah, well I heard his body was so mangled, his parents couldn't even recognize the body." Her fast walk quickly became a sprint, she just needed to get to the counselors office. She reached the door and took a few breathes to calm herself down. Just then, a group of freshman girls walked by, the crowd was talking so loud, she couldn't drown out their voices if she wanted. Before Sarah could even open the door, "I don't really care what happened, I didn't know the guy." And with those words, Sarah's surroundings went black as she collapsed onto the ground before the counselors' door.

She awoke, what felt like, only moments later. Above her she could see the blur of a young man.

"Jack?" She whispered.

"Sarah, can you hear me? Are you all right? Sarah?" As her vision began to sharpen she recognized the young man as her brother, David. She could feel the tears surfacing so she quickly turned her face away from her brother.

"Are you all right? They said you passed out, what happened?" He looked worried. She sat up from the couch she had been laying on in the counselor's office.

"Don't worry, I'm all right. I just haven't had much to eat today." The worried look didn't leave his face; instead, he leaned closer to whisper something in her ear.

"You don't have to be strong for me, Sarah. Or anyone for that matter."

"But you don't understand; I do."

"This is tough for all of us Sarah, no one expects you bear it on your own. Everyone handles pain differently." The tears continued to roll down her cheeks as she hugged her brother.

"I just miss him so much. Why him? He's only seventeen, he never did anything wrong." David held onto her tight.

"Everything happens for a reason. God must've needed Jack for something greater; we have no control over that. All you have to do is remember the good times Sarah, never dwell on the bad."

-----

I hope you guys liked it, and it's not ending here. The next point of view is probably David, but I'm not positive. Suggestions are helpful, thanks!