TROUBLED || thirteen reasons why

038.

Tony sits in the back seat of Clay's car with Tristan the next morning. The three boys don't say much during the car ride and they all take notice of Tristan and  the distance her eyes hold. She hasn't said much since Clay and Justin told her about the trial from yesterday, and the boys can only assume that her mind has been overtaken with thought. Once they all step out of the car, Justin stands close to his sister as she trudges behind the other two.

"Tris, are you okay?" He asks lowly, trying to bend down and look at her face. Tristan shrugs but doesn't meet his eye. "Tris, talk to me. Please."

Tristan squeezes her eyes shut at the sound of her brother pleading. As if he will die in pain if she doesn't let him in on her thoughts. The girl shrugs again, "I feel like I've lost."

Justin grabs Tristans hand as his eyes lace with concern, "Lost? Lost what?"

Tristan looks away from him as they enter into Liberty High. Embarrassed, she whispers, "Everything."

Justin stares at his little sister in dismay, the mere idea that she thinks like that makes Justin want hurt the one who caused her pain.

"I never thought I'd be thanking Clay Jensen for a ride," Tony jokes as he smiles at Tristan who has joined him and Clay. As they enter the hallway, Tristan's feet immediately stop when she sees Bryce Walker by his locker, laughing with his friends. The girl feels her face flush with embarrassment and shame as the boy is no doubt gloating about how he got away with what he did.

"Fuck me," Justin says under his breath.

Tristan tears her gaze off Bryce and onto her brother as begins to walk towards the group of guys. Her hear beat increases so much that she can feel it in her throat, "Justin."

"You're a goddamn liar." Justin spits. The group of jocks stop talking and all turn to face Justin. Bryce furrows his eyebrows together as he glances at Justin, but his eyes quickly flick to Tristan, which makes the girl's stomach tie in knots. "You never hooked up with Hannah. You would've told me."

Bryce scoffs as he looks back to Justin, "Why? Because we were best friends and I told you everything?"

"I should kill you." Justin threatens and steps closer to the boy.

Monty quickly steps in-between the two and pushes Justin back, "Hey, chill out."

"Still gonna hide behind your boys, Bryce?" Justin mocks.

"I'm not hiding," Bryce antagonizes as he drops his bag to the ground, "You wanna go?"

Silence fills the hallway as everyone wait to see what happens. Justin and Bryce stare at each other until Justin shoves Bryce into the lockers and hits him across the face. He only gets a couple punches in before Monty pulls him off and Bryce takes a swing at him.

"Justin!" Tristan yells as she quickly makes her way towards the fight. She can't take seeing him getting hurt and she'll be damned if she doesn't try to help. Tony pushes past her and tears Monty off of Justin, slamming him into the lockers behind them.

Bryce has Justin pinned to the lockers as he sends hit after hit to him. Tristan's insides boil with anger as she storms towards the scene. The shouts of more people joining the fight fill the girls ears and in her peripheral she sees more and more fists connecting to skin. The deafening sounds cause Tristan to look around at the chaos surrounding her. She feels as if time as slowed down as she watches her friends throw punches and be punched, and she feels her chest start to concave.

"You fucking raped her!" She hears her brother scream and she whips her head around to see Justin send a blow to Bryce's nose. Tristan blinks to get her thoughts straight again and she maneuvers closer to where her brother is.

Bryce laughs as blood pours out of his mouth, "I didn't do anything that your whore of a sister didn't want."

Tristan stops breathing. She stands right behind the two and she feels her hands forming into fists. The words that Bryce spoke resinate in her head, and before she can even realize what she is doing, she shoves back Bryce with all the strength she has.

"You're a fucking lair!" The girl screams and her fist connects with Bryce's face. Bryce stumbles back, but once he regains his step his eyes narrow at the girl who has become a pain in his ass.

The boy grabs Tristan's shirt and pulls her close to his bloody face, "I told you to keep your mouth shut."

Before he could do anything else, Justin pushes through to start attacking Bryce again. Bryce quickly shoves the girl to the ground as he knees Justin in the stomach.

Tristan sits herself up from the floor and quickly retracts her throbbing hand to her chest. She looks  down and hisses at the sight of  blood seeping out of her knuckles. She has never punched someone before, and she didn't expect it to hurt so much.

She slowly stands herself up at the sound of alarms blaring through the halls, and she watches as people start to flee the scene. Tristan shuts her eyes closed in an attempt to regulate the chaos inside her mind, but it doesn't last long when she hears someone walk towards her.

"Tristan?" She opens her eyes to an almost deserted hallway and the brown eyes of Mr. Porter. His eyes fall to her bloody hand and he shakes his head, "Come on, lets get you cleaned up."

Tristan doesn't follow him immediately, but once he calls her name a second time, she moves her feet towards the man, passing a hurt Alex Standall sitting on the floor. 

The man takes her to his office and offers her a seat in one of his chairs. Porter walks to his fridge and pulls out an ice pack before handing it to Tristan, "Here, this'll help."

Tristan hisses as she places the ice on her pulsing hand, "Thanks."

Porter sits down at his desk and looks at the girl in front of him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, where's Justin?" Tristan asks, barely paying any mind to Porter's question.

"He's with the other boys who were in the fight," Porter answers.

"Then why am I not in there? I fought."

Porter chuckles at the girl's assertiveness, but his face soon turns cold, "Because Bryce is in there, and I told you that I'm not going to let him near you again."

Tristan grows quiet and looks down at her injured hand, "He called me a whore."

"Who?" Porter looks at the girl intently, "Bryce?"

"As if I have ever been with any other guy besides him. I can't even let someone touch me without freaking out. Everyone just feels like him." Tristan breathes, not knowing why she is confessing this to her guidance counselor, but she feels release from getting it off her chest.

"Tris, it takes time to heal from these things. I know I've mentioned it before, but I highly recommend seeing someone professional about this, it could help you on the start of recovery," Porter explains, watching as the girl in front of him squirm in her seat at the thought of talking about her past.

Porter begins to say more, but Tristan's phone interrupts. The girl furrows her eyebrows at the name that appears on the phone, but answers it anyways, "Jess?"

"Chloë is testifying against Bryce." The girl on the other end of the line seems frantic, causing Tristan to sit up straight.

"What? When?"

"In an hour, I'm on my way right now. I can pick you up if you want to come,"

Tristan thinks for a minute, hoping that this time they can actually get Bryce, "Yeah, I'm still at school."

"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

Tristan puts down her phone and looks at Porter, "I think we can still get him."