Ok heres exactly wut happened: turned my lights on, turned the key for the ignition, the engine TURNED once, and then i got a dead stop in it. went to turn key again, and all i heard was a highpitched WHINING noise (couldn't tell if it was coming from under the hood, or under the car). Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

 

The high pitched sound is probably the starter spinning. Either the solenoid is not engaging the starter gear with the flywheel or the flywheel is missing some teeth.

Rotate the engine about 45 degrees and try the starter again. If that doesn't work, the starter needs fixed. If it does work, the flywheel needs replaced.