The Tapes; A 13 Reasons Why Fanfiction

Tape 4 Side B

Y/n's POV

"Whoa!" I exclaim and slam on my brakes as Clay walked in front of my jeep. "Clay! What the hell? Watch where you're going!" Clay didn't react though, and instead just turned to look at me. Our eyes met for a brief second, and Clay tilted his head to the side, still not saying a word. It wasn't until I honked at him that he broke out of his trance and moved out of the way. Once I had parked my car and grabbed my things, I headed into the school. "He's on my tape," I alert Zach as I approached his locker.

"What? How do you know?" Zach asked.

"I was pulling into the school parking lot a few minutes ago, and I almost hit him with my car. He didn't even react or say anything. He just stared at me as if he was trying to figure me out. Plus, he had his headphones on, and I could see the Walkman sticking out of his pocket," I mention.

"Shit," Zach cursed quietly. "If he approaches you again sometime within the next day or so, don't talk to him. Don't try to explain yourself or anything. Just ignore him, okay?"

I nodded. "Ignore Clay Jensen. Got it."

There's always one person in the background of a story, and while they're not a main character, they're still important to the plot, in a way. A sidekick, I should say. Yet here you are on these tapes. It seemed like you were present for or apart of a majority of the events that led to my suicide. My first meeting with Justin. Alex's list. The commotion with Marcus and I at Rosie's. And the list goes on. But before all of that, you were someone I thought I could become good friend's with. My friend Kat was going off to college, and I was throwing a party the week before the school year started to make some new friends. That's where I first met you. So, welcome to your tape, Y/n L/n.

* "Hey," Hannah greeted me. "You dried off that quickly?"

"Nah. I just went home and grabbed some new clothes," I respond. "According to literally all of my friends, I couldn't miss the last party before the school year started. I'll admit, I'm not much of a party person, yet it seems like I'm dragged along to every single one. You must be Hannah Baker. It's nice to officially meet you."

"You mean to tell me that you taking stripping in my front lawn earlier wasn't an official greeting?" Hannah quizzed.

I laughed. "I would hope not. That wasn't really a great first impression."

"Really? I thought it was. You radiated confidence," Hannah pointed out. "And I'd never do something like that, so I thought it was bad ass. And if you're not into parties like your friends, what do you like to do?"

"Well, like Kat mentioned earlier, I play volleyball, so there's that. But I'm more of stay inside and chill kind of girl. I love to read. And when I say love, I mean I'm that insane person that will read a book within forty eight hours if I want to, or will read two books at the same time," I tell Hannah.

"Wow. Consider me impressed. I didn't think people liked to read anymore," Hannah joked.

"Oh shut up," I retort playfully. "Plenty of people love to read. Just not many teenagers do. Other than that, I like watching movies and such, like all of the other high schoolers. I'm a huge sports fan. Baseball's my favorite, but I do attend a majority of the school's basketball and football games since my friends are on the team. So I'm pretty much like every single teenager in the world."

"Everyone is unique in their own way. I'm sure everyone sees you as much more than you see yourself," Hannah shared. "You want something to drink? There's beer in the kitchen. I can grab you some if you'd like."

"Oh. Thanks, but I'm good. I'm not much of a drinker," I confess. "And when I am, it's usually because my parents aren't home, which they are tonight. If I come home with my breath smelling the tiniest bit like alcohol, I'll be grounded for weeks."