To Die For

Lane DeGregory: PINELLAS PARK

Sarah Ludemann couldn't stop crying.

All through lunch that Tuesday, while the other seniors at Pinellas Park High chattered in the cafeteria, Sarah slumped over a corner table, sobbing.

He did it again, Sarah told her best friend.

Her boyfriend, Josh, kept saying she was the only one. He'd been telling her that the whole time they'd been together. More than a year.

But that day she found out he had been hanging out with his ex — this girl named Rachel.

All morning, while she suffered through school, Rachel was texting Sarah, boasting that Josh was with her. Again.

I'm so over it, Sarah said.

Amber Malinchock didn't know what to say. For months, Sarah's friends had been telling her to forget about Josh. She deserved better.

But when you're 18 and in love for the first time, you don't listen. Your love becomes your whole life.