Why Her? (13 Reasons Why)

Chapter 15

"Dear diary, Vanessa's lying to me"

[Author's POV]

Everyone in court was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the protected witness in the Baker case. The press outside the scene were in the same situation. Vanessa waited for them to call her and give her the oath, as she believed that happened on television series. Meanwhile, Zach and his mother had sat together in the same booth while he talked to her about how wonderful his girlfriend was and how eager he was to meet Hannah Baker's relative. Little did the boy know what was about to happen.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Dennis began, "We give a brief break to the school life of Hannah Baker, to let you know more about her personal life. From the point of view of the girl who knew her, talked, played and grew up with her. The one who knew this poor girl from birth to her early, unfortunate death that could have been prevented. We are about to see the real face of Hannah Baker through her sister Vanessa."

Zach swallowed dry. He did not know what was happening and his mother asked him what was about to happen. The European girl walked through the side door with her head held high and trying to look like she wasn't crying on the outside. Her day had come. With little desire to proceed, she sat down on the bench and began her questioning.

"Good morning, Vanessa," Dennis said.

"Good morning" smiled slyly.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better, but fine."

"Tell me, Miss Baker, who were you with Hannah?"

"Hannah was ... is, my twin sister." The girl gulped and started looking around, hoping to find the Asian boy she was about to lose.

"Can you tell a little about the relationship you had together?"

"It was great, sir. Although we lived apart from one another, we kept in touch and each one continued with her life."

"Did you study with her?"

"Up to eighth grade. I got a scholarship at the Moldovan Institute of Sciences, Arts and Technology based on my good grades. Hannah wanted to come with me, but couldn't."

"Why?"

"Our grades were very different, sir. I stayed up at night to earn the highest possible grade and she copied my example. Sometimes we were from sunrise to sunset studying, but it wasn't enough for her."

"Alright. Did you share their secrets?"

"Of course! In some of them we did not go into details, but we always told each other everything. I just didn't know that those secrets were going to end up destroying her."

"How so?" The defense attorney tried to object, but was denied.

"All her secrets were always about the times she was harassed. She knew I would be there for her, but when I did, she had already taken her own life" the girl replied and lowered her head.

The questions went on and on until they touched on the subject of school. By that time, the rejection in Zach's mom's eyes were clear.

"Liberty?" Vanessa buffed. "There is an issue with this high school that people don't want to know. I entered this school under a false last name, because by then I was listed as a protected witness for this case. The first weeks were listening to the whispers about my sister and what kind of "slut" she was. Some noticed the resemblance we had, but did not care. There was no shortage of times when popular kids teased with their sexual comments and all that stuff. Well, until a guy got in the way..."