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"Shit. Another day in this god-forsaken hellhole," Ryan said, shutting the drivers side door of his black Honda Civic. On the other side of the car, JJ Baudelaire hung the strap of her school tote over her shoulder. With her hair still curled from the night before and a decent amount of concealer covering her under-eye bags, the girl actually looked put together. "Remind me again why we still show up?"
"So we can get into college together and move away from this dammed town," JJ said, handing Ryan his coffee cup and linking her arm with his. "Also, who would run L&F if we left? It would be a shit-show."
"Facts," Ryan said, leaning into his best friend. "Oh shit, Courtney-closeted-Crimson, 2 o'clock."
JJ looked in the direction he had mentioned, noticing Courtney pestering an obviously uncomfortable Clay Jensen. Although the girl found difficulty in standing up for herself, it came naturally for her to help others, especially those she was close to. "I should probably go save him. See you at lunch?"
"Of course, love. See you," Ryan said, unlinking her arm. He went up to the double doors while the girl approached Clay and Courtney.
"Hey guys, whatcha talking about?" JJ asked.
Courtney seemed to be taken off-guard while Clay looked at Juniper as though she was an angel for saving him from this conversation.
"Nothing," Courtney said defensively. She was never a huge fan of the dirty blonde girl, and vice versa. JJ found Courtney snobby while Courtney found her pretentious. It was a vicious cycle, truly.
JJ smiled, "Well, that's great, because I actually need to steal Clay from you."
The Crimson girl looked at her suspiciously.
"We're working on a big project together. Isn't that right, Clay?" JJ lied, internally praying that Clay would catch her drift. Of course, he was a smart boy, so he did.
"Y-yeah. AP History never lets us catch a break," he joked to the dark-haired girl in front of him. "We'll see you later, Courtney."
JJ linked her arm with the taller Jensen boy, redirecting them towards the double doors as they walked away. They were close before Hannah's passing, but she would argue that they were even closer now. People bond over traumatic events, she reasoned.
"Thank you for that," Clay said, quiet enough that the girl they had left behind wouldn't hear it. Even if he didn't particularly like her, the boy still had decorum.
JJ smiled softly, "Of course. What kind of friend would I be to leave you behind?"
Clay chuckled, something he didn't do very often anymore. Something within him reasoned that, if Hannah was dead — if Hannah was in enough pain to take her own life — then how could he laugh? He blamed himself relentlessly and JJ was desperate to help guide him away from that.
