delicate | j. foley (discontinued)

tape 3, side a

"Maybe I don't care." Clay remarks.

"Maybe you should." Justin says before turning to walk away. I shove Abbie to the side and tell her quietly to go to class and tell our science teacher that I'm talking to a teacher and will be late. I start to pass Clay, when he grabs my arm.

"What does he mean by that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Clay." I try to stop this conversation, because I want to go find Justin.

"Don't bullshit me, Ang. You heard that whole thing and Tony told me that you have the other copy. What did I do to her? Is Justin right? Should I care?" Tony really ratted on me. Damn.

"Okay, rule number one, never listen to Justin. He's just worried about himself. Number two, watch your back. There are a lot of people you can't trust. And finally, don't, under any circumstances, go anywhere without some form of protection. Like a taser or something. Because people want you quiet and if I'm being honest, I'm afraid of how far they'll go to get you to stop." I explain.

"So, why should I trust you?" He asks a valid question.

"You shouldn't, but Hannah did. If that counts for anything." I tell him and go to find Justin. I get to the bottom of the stairs and a hand gets placed over my mouth and someone pulls me under the stairwell. They release me and it's Justin. "What the hell, Foley." I punch him in the arm. "You can't just do that to a girl. Especially in this school." I scold.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I saw you using Abbie as a shield and decided to listen when I heard Clay stop you. I'm not just worried about myself. You know I'm protecting Jess. And why the fuck do you care about Jensen? You and Tony seem pretty determined to keep him out of harm's way." Justin argues.

"We wouldn't have to, if you dickwads left him alone. Just because he actually cares about Hannah and her story, doesn't give any of you the right to beat him down because you're afraid." I storm off and ask Sage if she wants to skip. We meet in the parking lot and take my car to Monet's. "I'm exhausted, S." I say slouching in my chair and twirling the spoon in my coffee around.

"I know. What happened with Hannah and Jeff is awful and the lawsuit isn't making it any easier to deal with, but you'll get through it. You always do. It would be helpful to talk about it though." She suggests, in another attempt to get me to open up. It fails.

"I can't. There's nothing I would love more than to talk about it, but it's not for me to tell. I just wish that we could go back in time and stop Jeff from leaving that party. Because then maybe everything would be okay. It would at least be better than it is." Sage nods her head in agreement and we sit in comfortable silence for the next half hour. Sage goes to cheer practice and I have her tell our coach that I went home sick. I continue to drown myself in espresso, when Justin texts me.

hey, can you come over for a bit?

sure. be there in 10.

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Winter Formal

There are rare moments when school dances are fun. Tonight isn't half bad, but I feel bored or at least I'm feeling just how single I am. Tony has amazing taste in music. I'm dancing with Sage to some upbeat, high tempo dance song, which soon comes to an end. Mine by Taylor Swift begans blasting through the gym and Justin approaches me. "Do you want to dance? I know we aren't on amazing terms yet, but I want to dance with you." He says in a tone that I can't quite make out. I look at Sage, who flashes me a knowing smile before turning on her heel and disappearing into the crowd.