Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hi, my name is Syd Shepard, and my world just collapsed around me.

I was sitting in History class, debating with the teacher about the rights to cry (It's perfectly permissible, Syd). I disagreed. Crying to me showed weakness, vulnerability. And that got you hurt. People take advantage of that fact. Take it from me, I know from experience. So anyway, as we were arguing, the phone rang. Mr Wilson motioned for Andrew to answer it and then he went to see who was needed. As soon as he started listening his eyes hit mine. He got off the phone and asked me to come out to the hall with him. My heart dropped...I never got into trouble. As I followed him out, I could feel every eye in the room on me.

Once I was in the hallway, I stood against the wall and looked at Mr Wilson, who was avoiding my eyes. That was unusual for him..he was big on eye contact.

“Sydney” Uh-oh. He used my full name. This isn't going to be good. “I'm afraid I have some terrible news.” I looked at him, as he struggled to come up with the right words. “Sydney, that was the secretary in the office. She told me that the police just came. Sydney, your parents and sister were in a very serious car accident.” I zoned out at that point. Mom and Dad had to take my sister Alli to the University today for her to register. It was in Princeton, New Jersey. “Sydney! Did you hear me?” I was shaken from my thoughts as Mr Wilson touched my arm. I looked at him and asked “Just how serious was it?” I felt dread furl up in my stomach as he avoided looking at me. My heart dropped. He looked at me and said “They didn't make it.”

I collapsed into sobs that racked my body. My family, my rock, my shelter, were gone forever. Mr Wilson walked back into the room and came back out with some Kleenex's and a bottle of water. He sat down with me and just held me until my sobs subsided. He just rubbed my back and said soothing things in my ear. I looked up at him through watery eyes.

“Where am I going to go?” I had no other relatives and as far as I knew, I had no godparents. Mr Wilson just shrugged his shoulders softly and whispered, “I don't know, but why don't we get you down to the office?” With that he gently pulled me up and guided me down the hall.

I was devastated. The only people in my life that really cared for me were gone. My parents were fiercely protective of Alli and I. They were hard workers who worked for everything they owned. Alli was beautiful; everything I was not. Tall, skinny, popular. I, on the other hand, was 5'5”, not all that skinny and was more of a wallflower. For me it was hard to trust people. I'm an easy person to get along with once you get past the mile high wall I've built around myself. And now, the only people who were past that wall were gone forever. I was crushed. All I wanted to do was curl up in a corner and die. I had nobody. Where was I going to go?