TROUBLED || thirteen reasons why

055.

Tristan hops down the stairs the next morning with her backpack slung on her shoulder and her hands throwing her hair into a ponytail. Her alarm didn't go off and she knows that Clay and Justin will be mad for making them late. She rushes into the kitchen but comes to a halt when she sees Matt and Lainie sitting at the table with Dennis Vasquez.

"What's going on?" Tristan speaks up, her body growing cold. She hears the back door open and her brother and Clay emerge, their faces fall when they notice who is here.

"What happened?"

"Clay, honey, sit down," Lainie says, her voice making Tristan even more on edge.

"I don't want to sit down." Clay's eyes don't leave his mother's. Tristan's breath is caught in her throat.

Dennis looks towards the boy's parents before focusing on him, "You've officially been named a person of interest by the Sheriff. They held a press conference this morning."

"A press conference?"

"What does that mean?" Justin shakes his head. "Person of interest, what the fuck is that?"

"Character assassination is what it is-" Matt starts, but his wife moves to calm him down.

"It's a tactic."

"It means nothing legally," Lainie says, trying to put the kids at ease.

"It doesn't feel like nothing! It feels like they are about to arrest me." Clay exclaims. Tristan steps closer to him, wanting to comfort him in any way she can.

"They can't," Dennis assures, "They don't have enough. So they try to put public pressure on you. They don't have the evidence to call you a suspect, but they want you scared."

"Maybe it's best if you three stay home from school today," Matt says, looking at his kids with concern.

"No." Clay interjects, "No way, we're not doing that."

"Clay-" Tristan speaks up, watching him move past her and towards the door.

"No. If you two want to stay, fine."

"Of course not. We've got your back. That's what we do." Justin says as he steps to meet his sister.

Clay looks back at the two of them and squeezes his eyes shut, "Let's get a coffee on the way and talk."

At Monet's, Tristan sits with Clay as Justin gets their coffee. Her eyes keep glancing at Clay as he scrolls article after article about the Sheriff Department's press conference, "Clay, stop reading those. It's not going to do any good."

Clay huffs and locks his phone, "I know it won't, I just-"

"Is this seat taken?" A man's voice chimes in, making both teenagers look towards him with annoyed expressions.

"Knock yourself out." Clay shrugs as the two watch the man sit down next to them. Clay picks his phone back up and Tristan eyes Justin, hoping he will hurry up so they can leave.

"No school today?" The man speaks up again. Tristan and Clay eye each other briefly before turning to the man.

"It starts in half an hour." Tristan says flatly.

"I'm surprised you're going." The man says, a smug smile playing on his lips. Clay looks up from his phone and stares at the guy.

"Excuse me?"

The man scoots down one seat closer to the teenagers and pulls out a tape recorder, sitting it on the table, "After the police named you a person of interest in Bryce Walker's murder, how did that make you feel?"