13 Reasons To Survive Preview

Preview of 13 Reasons to Survive

"I'll never forget that night, Helmet. The night you showed me the moon."

"Here we are..." Clay's voice was tight with concentration as he helped Hannah up to the roof of the Crestmont. Grateful for the help, Hannah stepped up over the roof's ledge, and sat down beside him, both catching their breath momentarily.

"So, what are we looking at, again?" Hannah glanced between her friend, and the sky excitedly.

Clay, being all too happy to show off his astronomy knowledge, grinned, and explained the nature of the penumbral eclipse, not caring how much of a total nerd he sounded like. Hannah didn't mind, though. A few moments passed, and then Clay glanced up as the moon was covered by the Earth's shadow.

"It's starting."

Hannah looked up in awe at the penumbral lunar eclipse, and then back toward Clay.

"It's kinda scary." she admitted, but for the first time in awhile, she sat there without fear. She scooted a little closer to Clay, who looked away nervously, figuring making a move now would be too forward. He looked away for a few seconds, then heard Hannah gasp.

"Clay, look!" she pointed upward. Clay looked, and he saw it. A streak of fiery light moving across the sky, adding to the beauty of the eclipse. A shooting star.

"Wow." He and Hannah chuckled as they watched the streak, then turned toward each other.

"You make a wish, Helmet?"

Clay nodded, and perhaps, emboldened by the rare sight, found himself staring into her eyes. And she was staring into his.

"Me too."

Then, they both found themselves leaning forward, a courage that was not there before. Their lips met, and in that moment, Clay and Hannah both saw this as the best night of their life.

"Of course, that's where things went terribly, horribly wrong. And it was all because of that star. That damned shooting star."

"Except, that's not what it was. Not really."

After a few moments of bliss, Clay and Hannah broke their kiss, and stared into each other's eyes, both of them sporting identical lovestruck grins. To Clay, Hannah was perfectly beautiful in that moment, the way her eyes glinted, her beautiful smile, and the way the light illuminated her hair...

That's strange, Clay noted faintly in the back of his mind, for while there was light enough for them to see, her hair wouldn't be illuminated by this angle. Then, Hannah's smile slowly morphed into confusion... and then her eyes widened in alarm, not at him, but at something behind him. Confused, Clay turned around slowly, just in time to register a fiery streak heading right past them.

Thinking fast, he lunged forward, pushing himself and Hannah down onto the surface of the roof, shielding her from harm. They shut their eyes, the fiery light overwhelming them momentarily, then a sudden rush as the sound barrier was shattered, and then, in a moment, it passed. They glanced back where the meteorite had been, just in time to register the faint noise of an impact in the distance.

Clay helped Hannah to her feet. "Are you okay? I am so sorry, I thought-"

Hannah shook her head. "It's fine, Clay, I... holy shit, that almost hit us, what was that?"

"I don't know, but it seems to have impacted outside the town... at least, I hope it did."

Hannah nodded slowly. "I think we should get down now."

"Yeah."

Shaking from the ordeal, they both managed to get down from the roof without a scratch. Upon landing on solid ground, Hannah tackled Clay in a fierce hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, Helmet."

Clay returned the hug, just as tightly, not wanting to let go. "You too, Han.""There are two possibilities. Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. That night... I guess we finally got our answer. It's strange... looking back, it's almost comforting in a way."