It's another day at Liberty High school. Another day where everyone acts as if they're all perfectly fine; as if Hannah Baker's death doesn't affect any of them.
Grace Jensen is as good as she can be considering what had happened. Not only two weeks ago, one of her closest friends had taken her own life due to her own internal battles. And Grace's twin brother, Clay Jensen, was also taking it extremely hard, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. They were both quite close with the girl, but Grace always knew that Clay secretly had a crush on their friend.
Clay and Grace are standing at their lockers that were coincidentally next to each other, putting their books away when they both notice that Hannah's locker has been decorated with kind notes and pictures.
Grace scoffs to herself, she knows that no one actually cared about Hannah. They only feel guilty for the harsh words they spread about her once upon a time.
Grace spots two girls standing in front of the locker. "She was so pretty." She overhears the blonde one say to her friend.
"Totally." The brunette nods in agreement.
The female Jensen watches as the blonde girl pulls out her phone from her left back pocket and holds it directly in front of them, making sure to show the locker in the background with solemn faces as they take a selfie. "What is it again?" She asks as she types on her phone.
"Hashtag never forget." Is the other one's reply before they both walk away to their next class.
The twins begin to walk slowly to the locker after closing their own, reminiscing the memories they have with her. The bell rings loudly, signalling for everyone to head to their next class, but they take no notice. Grace thinks about all the times where she thought that something was wrong with Hannah but didn't say anything and sighs to herself quietly. She could of helped, she knows that. And she will regret it until the day that she dies.
Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears a voice join them. "What the hell are you doing?" The voice demands and Grace tenses up.
Justin Foley.
The boy that she has been forbiddingly seeing for quite a bit now. Even though he has a girlfriend. No one knew about them, not even Clay.
And that was for two reasons. One being that he had a girlfriend, one that Grace didn't like too much, Jessica Davis. If Grace admitted it to herself, she was angry. She was upset that since Justin and her started seeing each other, he continued to be with Jess. It wasn't fair, to either girls.
And reason number two is Justin's reputation. It was no secret that Justin will do anything to protect his reputation, even if it sadly means keeping Grace a secret.
Grace and Justin both had an idea that they were going to happen eventually, it was inevitable. The two would often catch the other gazing at each other from across the halls. And Grace has liked him since he gave her a daisy in preschool.
They started off as acquaintances but never started officially seeing each other until that night at Jessica's party.
Oh, what a night that was.
The two did feel guilt for going behind Jessica's back, Justin especially, because he really did care about her.
Although Grace was one of the nicest people you would ever meet in that school, she was surprisingly very selfish when she wants to be. And she really wanted this relationship with Justin.
She knew that her and Justin seeing each other was wrong, but she couldn't find it in herself to care enough to end it.
They hadn't had sex yet, they just found themselves passionately making out whenever they possibly could. Justin wanted to make sure that her first time was perfect and when she was one hundred percent ready. Although Grace told him she was adamantly ready, he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't.
Standing before him now, she notices the dark bags around his eyes and his unruly hair that's usually put together perfectly, as if he had been subconsciously and stressfully running his hands through it. She looks at him concerned, stopping herself from comforting him.
Even with how much of a mess he looked right now, Grace couldn't help but feel like he was the most handsomest guy on the planet.
She keeps quiet to his question and let's her brother answer him. Clay hesitantly responds when it's clear that Grace has no intention of answering him. "Nothing. We're just—"
"Looking for something?" Justin interrupts impatiently. It was clear to both of them that the boy was in a foul mood. What they didn't understand was why?
Grace decides to speak up, "What would we be looking for?"
Justin's eyes lock onto hers and she inhales sharply. "You tell me," is all he says.
"Do you even know my name?" Clay stupidly asks, breaking their intense stare.
Grace frowns in disappointment. 'Of course he knows your name, he's been going to the same school as you for years.' Grace thinks to herself.
Justin scoffs in anything other than amusement. "Of course I do, Clay." He responds, as if the answer is obvious. Which it was.
"Guys. Second bell." Grace finds herself jumping at the sudden voice of their school guidance counsellor, Mr. Porter, behind them.
Grace doesn't like him much. Kevin Porter insists that he cares about the student's wellbeing, but she didn't see him try to help Hannah in any way.
She knows she can't blame him for everything, as multiple other people should of helped too, including herself and her brother, but she has a right to be bitter.
Justin acknowledges his presence before spinning around to face Clay with narrowed eyes. "You're not that innocent, Jensen. I don't give a shit what she says."
Grace's eyebrows furrow in bewilderment, wondering possibly who and what Justin was talking about. He's never mentioned anything to her until now.
"Mr. Foley. Let's go. Get to homeroom." Porter speaks again.
Justin actually obeys and steps away from them to leave the hall, but not before giving Grace a mischievous wink and mouthing the words "Bate's classroom."
The girl stares at his retreating figure, a small smile finding a way on her face, planning to meet him in the classroom in ten minutes.
"Damn you, Foley." Grace smiles to herself.
"You too, Mr and Miss Jensen." Porter then says and she nods, walking away towards the destination Justin went in.
She enters the classroom to see Justin leant back on one of the desks with his arms crossed over his chest.
Grace bites her lip, filled with anticipation and practically pounces on the boy, jogging up to him and smashing their lips together messily. They both moan in synchronisation, the boy tapping her leg, indicating for her to jump.
And she does. Her legs are off the ground and around his waist, him holding her up.
He then turns around and places her on the desk starting to place delicate kisses down her neck.
"What was that about... just now?" Grace manages to moan out, gripping his hair.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Justin's voice is clipped, informing Grace not to questions further.
She rolls her eyes and pulls on his hair roughly, separating their lips and making Justin let out a pained noise. "I'm going to homeroom." She looks down at his prominent boner and smirks, planting another peck on his lips. "I will see you later, Foley."
The boy stares at her vacant spot in shock, not realising that she would leave him there.
***
"So, there are a number of ways to get help if you need it, or if a friend does, okay? And all of this information is on the board outside of my room or outside of the main office. It's on the Liberty High home page." Their teacher, Ms. Bradley tells them as she gracefully struts across the classroom.
The class was quite boring, other than the fact that Grace had to stop herself from giggling as Justin was five minutes late after sorting his issue out.
It was calm, that was until Pratters decides to speak up, insensitively. "Ms. Bradley, is it possible we could be done with all of this? I mean, it's been over a week. Isn't it healthy to move on?"
Grace glares at him sharply from her seat next to Clay while the whole class groans and insults him. "Really, Pratters. That's so insensitive." She snaps before continuing her doodles on her notebook.
Pratters puts his hands up in surrender. "Seriously, I know, it's tragic, but I don't want to keep being reminded of it all the time. It's depressing."
'He has a point, it is depressing'. Grace sighs to herself, leaning forward and pressing her chin into the palm of her hand.
"We're never done with it, Mr. Pratters." Ms. Bradley responds to him in disapproval. "Which is why it's important to know the signs that someone you care for might need help. I mean, are they withdrawing from friends or family? Is there a change in their appearance?"
Grace listens carefully to her teacher because she never wants to lose anyone ever again. She doesn't think that she can go through the heartache again.
The teacher stops talking and stares at Clay, making Grace turn her head towards her brother to see him blankly staring at what used to be Hannah's seat. She nudges his arm lightly, breaking out of his trance, now taking notice of the teacher calling out to him.
"Are you with us?" Ms. Bradley questions.
Clay quickly nods his head. "Yeah, no, I am, I'm with you." He says and ignores the few giggles in the room.
Clay then excuses himself to go to the bathroom and Grace continues to draw infinity signs in her black notebook.
***
Once the lessons are over for the day, she meets with Clay outside, like she always does. Her relationship with her brother is one of the only things that keeps her going. They've always been close since they were born. Even if sometimes she wishes she strangled him in the womb with her umbilical cord.
"Why did you leave class?" Grace asks when they begin walking. "I know you didn't just need the bathroom. What did you see?"
"Hannah's parents were here." He responds.
"Why?"
"To pick up everything from her locker. They both looked upset."
"Why would they be upset? It's not like their daughter just died, like, a week ago." She remarks sarcastically. Seeing his surprised look at her remark, she sighs. "Sorry. Sarcastic humour is just my way of relating to the world."
Clay goes to reply to her but he gets interrupted by a female yell of their name. "Clay! Grace!"
They both turn to see Courtney Crimsin practically galloping towards them. She throws her arms around Clay in a hug, it's clear that the boy feels uncomfortable. She then goes to hug Grace but she steps back awkwardly and places her hair behind her ear.
Awkward.
It was clear that her rejection didn't faze her as she beamed at them. "How are you doing, sweeties? You've been on my mind."
Grace mentally cringes at the nickname and offers her a tight lipped smile.
"Hey Courtney. We have?" Clay asks in confusion for the both of them.
"Well, I just feel like we all need to be there for each other at a time like this, you know?"
"But you weren't friends with Hannah." Grace blurts out, before receiving a harsh nudge to her side. "Sorry."
"Sure." Clay smiles at the Asian girl.
"It's all just so sad." She sighs and looks to the floor as she continues to drag on the conversation. "It just doesn't make sense, right?"
Clay plays along and nods his head. "No, but, um... a lot of things don't make sense."
"Exactly. So true. Some things, you know, just don't have simple explanations, right?"
Grace feels herself get worked up and glares at the other girl, feeling the need to stick up for her deceased friend. "I'm sure Hannah had her reasons, Courtney."
The other girl nods hesitantly at Grace's response. "I'm glad we got to talk." She smiles and kisses Clay on the cheek, giving Grace a wave before she scurries off home.
Grace mock salutes her figure before turning back to Clay with a grin. "She is the most fakest person I've ever met."
"Hey, Grace, Clay!"
Her mood instantly gets lifted at the sight of her friend, Tony. He's always been their for her and Clay; whenever they needed a ride anywhere, help with homework or with anything really, he was there.
"Hey, Tony." She smiles.
"Do you wanna ride home?" He asks.
"You bet!" She replies with a grin and they all get in his car. Grace being forced in the back seat because Clay is five minutes older. She grumbles in the back seat while the other boys laugh at her actions.
It's a nice drive. Tony plays his signature music tapes and she stares out the window, taking in the scenery that she has seen for years. She couldn't help but stare at the Cresmont as they drive past. The Cresmont is the movie theatre her, Clay and Hannah used to work at.
Flashback
Clay and Grace are new to the Cresmont are are training to work there for extra money. Luckily, they have Hannah Baker to help them out, who is new to Evergreen. She shows them how to fill up the bucket of popcorn. "Now, if they ask you if it's real butter, what do you say?" She asks the twins strictly.
"It's a butter-based product." Grace answers confidently. She was really excited to be working. She feels as if it's her time to gain more independence instead of relying on her older brother all the time.
"And smile when you say it." Hannah instructs them, but mainly Clay, who looks at them both with a bored expression. "I know, terrifying. But it sells the big lie."
"Got it." Grace smiles gratefully.
"Oh, and, uh, little trade secret: if they're cute, only put butter on the top so they have to come back out for more during the movie."
Clay and Grace both look horror stricken at the thought of flirting with the opposite gender.
"Okay, uh, why?" Clay stutters.
"So you can chat them up." She replies easily and starts to sort out the paper towels on the front desk.
"Oh, chat's not really our thing." Clay says.
'What an understatement.' Grace thinks.
"I like it. I think we're all gonna get along. As long as you remember I started working here three weeks before you, so I have seniority, which is why I'm training you. Which is insane, if you think about it, because I literally just moved here two months ago and I have no idea what I'm doing." Hannah expresses quickly.
"I think it's going well." Clay compliments.
"Yeah, me too." Grade nods in agreement.
"Do you like it? Here?" Hannah asks.
"At the Cresmont? I find the various smells fascinating." Clay answers jokingly.
Grace rolls her eyes at him. "No, idiot. She means here, in Evergreen." She explains before answering the question. "We've lived here our whole lives and we've never been anywhere else, so we can't compare it to anything."
Clay nods. "Yeah, it's like asking Han Solo "How is space?""
Grace chuckes while Hannah looks at him with a grin. "Wow! You're an actual nerd, aren't you? I admire that. There's courage in being a nerd."
End of flashback
Grace is driven out of her memories when she hears a loud horn of a car. She sighs and continues looking out the window.
Suddenly, her phone pings in her pocket, slightly startling the girl. She manoeuvres slightly, pulling out the phone and a smile makes her way onto her face seeing a text from Justin.
< 5 Justin ❤️ 📞
I wanna see you. I miss you
You literally saw me a couple of hours ago 😂 plus I can't sneak out, my mom has grounded me again for last time. I miss you more :(
Read 4:14 pm
Putting her phone away, Grace stares out the window once again, sighing sadly to herself. When Tony finally parks outside of their house, they both get out and thank him before walking up the stairs to their house. They stop as they see two random boxes on the floor that has each of their names on it.
Clay looks to Grace in question. The girl shrugs and picks up her box and uses her key to enter the house.
They go inside their kitchen and she grabs some scissors to open them. Once she opens hers, she hands them to Clay. Inside of their boxes, is a map and set of tapes that have been decorated. There are thirteen tapes in total.
Grace furrows her eyebrows. "You should ask dad for his boom box." She tells Clay, the boy nodding at her instructions and leaving the kitchen.
Once they find the boom box in the basement, they put in the first tape, labelled '1' in and start to play it hesitantly.
"Hey, it's Hannah. Hannah Baker."
The twins freeze up at the sound of Hannah's voice. "Holy shit." Clay curses. But Grace doesn't dare to say anything.
"Don't adjust your... whatever device you're hearing this on. It's me, live and I'm stereo. No return engagements, no encore, and this time, absolutely no requests. Get a snack, settle in. Because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to this tape... you're one of the reasons why."
Grace gasps in shock, trying to recall every memory to figure out why she and her brother could possibly be on this. She eyes her brother next to her, who also looks as if he's going to faint. It's clear to her that he doesn't have a single idea either.
"I'm not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up. I promise. Anyway, the rules here are pretty simple. There are only two—"
"What are you doing?"
They both jump as their mother places a hand on each of their shoulders. Clay quickly turns off the boom box and removes the tape.
"Jesus!" He calls out loudly. Grace has her hand to her chest, breathing deeply to try and stop her rapid heartbeat.
"Sorry." She apologises softly.
"What have we said about helicopter parenting, mom?" Clay snaps at her.
"I didn't mean to scare you. You were just so lost in— what is it that you're listening to?"
It's for our history project, it's due in a couple of weeks." Grace blurts out a lie, cringing as she lies to her mother for the first time ever. She's not really close with her mother, at least not as close as Clay is, but she still loves her all the same.
"Cassettes are history now?" She asks with genuine curiosity, taking a tape from Clay's box. When Clay realises this, he snatches it back, returning it to the box.
"Yeah, practically ancient now, mom." She nods.
"It's dumb." Clay adds. "We've got to head up to our rooms for homework."
Lainie Jensen looks at her children with hesitation. Grace catches on to her look. "What is it that you're not telling us?"
"School emailed again today."
Clay turns to her and sighs. "Which explains why dad showed an interest in my life." He ignores Grace's confused look and continues. "You two are dangerous when you coordinate."
"You know I hate being the kind of parent who asks if you want to talk about anything, but... if you want to talk about anything..."
"We know, mom. You're always there for us." Grace responds to the blonde woman, although she knows she means mainly Clay, but doesn't comment on it further. "But we didn't really know her. We worked at the Cresmont with her for a bit but it was just simple conversations."
What another big lie.
***
Grace and Clay decided that they would listen to the tapes at their own pace separately, with the two Walkman's that Clay guiltily stole from Tony's car earlier that day.
Grace slumps down on her comfortable double bed and hesitantly places her headphones on her ears, awaiting Hannah's voice.
"The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: you listen. Number two: you pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy. It's not supposed to be easy, or I would have emailed you and MP3. When you're done listening to all 13 sides, because there are 13 sides to every story... rewind the tapes, put them back in the box, and pass them on to the next person. Oh, and the box of tapes should have included a map. I'll be mentioning several spots around our beloved city. I can't force you to visit them, but if you'd like a little more insight, head for the stars. Or you know, just throw the map away and I'll never know... or will I?"
Grace already knew that she wasn't going to visit the places on the map. It was hard enough for her to listen to her friend explain all the reasons she killed herself. She didn't want to envision it anymore than she had to.
She knew that Clay would though, he'd always been way more curious than she was. She just hoped he was careful and didn't beat himself up over it too much.
"You see, in case you're tempted to break the rules, understand I did make a copy of these tapes, and I left them with a trusted individual who, if this package doesn't make it through to all of you, will release those copies in a more public manner. This was not a spur of the moment decision. Do not take me for granted. Not again."
"I didn't." Grace mumbles to herself, confused. She tries to remember every conversation that she had with Hannah to see if she had done anything wrong, but it comes up blank. She'd always try and be nice to everyone.
"Do what I say. Not more, not less. You're being watched."
She pauses the tape when she hears a loud noise coming from her brother's room. She gets up and begins to make her way over to see her mom entering the room too.
"Is everything okay?" Lainey asks her son.
Clay spins around and she sees a deep gash on his forehead that is bleeding profusely. "Yeah, no, I just forgot something." He says casually while searching around his room.
"Why is your head bleeding?" Grace asks calmly with an eyebrow raised.
He looks at her weirdly and walks to his mirror, finally noticing the cut. He scoffs with a shrug. "What? It's nothing."
"Did you fall off of your bike or something?"
"Low-hanging branch. I went through the woods. It was dark." He answers simply.
"I'll get the first aid kit." Mom nods eagerly and goes to leave, but couldn't as Clay stops her, assuring her that he didn't need it. "Is that all that happened?"
"Mom, I tell you everything about my life because it is so fascinating, I promise." He rolls his eyes.
Grace let's out a chuckle, "No, you d—" Her sentence is cut of by Clay's hand covering her mouth, the rest of her sentence coming out in gibberish.She glares at him menacingly while he smiles sweetly at their mother.
"I have to go. Tony is waiting." Clay lies before he rushes out of the room, leaving the two women to stare after him worriedly.
***
"Put your finger on 'C', your other finger on '4'. Bring them together."
Grace follows the instructions and places her two fingers on the right places on the map and joins them together. The destination is Hannah's old house. She had been over there a few times to study and hangout. Grace met Hannah's parents as well and they seemed lovely to her.
"That's our first red star. I know, right? A map. Old school, again. No Google Maps, no app, no chance for the interwebs to make everything worse, like it does. You've arrived at my first house in this shitty town... where I threw my first and only party... and where I met Justin Foley... the subject of our first tape."
Grace instantly pauses the tape and rushes to take the headphones off of her head. 'Justin?' She thinks to herself in disbelief. She knows that Justin can be a jerk sometimes, she knew that more than anyone, but did he really do something so tremendously awful that made Hannah want to take her own life?
"It was just a party. I didn't know it was the beginning of the end. Justin, you were in love with my friend, Kat."
Grace rolls her eyes, finding it absolutely unbelievable that Hannah thought that Justin was in love with Kat. The two dated for a month in total and most of that relationship was driven by their sexual hormones.
It wasn't love. Not that she knew what that was yet.
"My only friend."
She thinks back to that night.
Flashback
Grace and Clay enter Hannah's party feeling awkward, as they had never been to a party before. The one exception being Kat's party many years ago. They were only going tonight because of Hannah, otherwise they wouldn't have even left there house.
"They came! Clay and Grace are here!" Grace hears a voice yell from the top of the staircase. She looks up and sees Kat running down the stairs towards her with Hannah in a tow.
Grace always felt kind of guilty around Kat, seeming as she has been secretly obsessed with her current boyfriend for years. Not that Justin knows she exists, but you get the point.
"I win. You owe me five dollars." Hannah states proudly with a smirk.
"You bet on if we showed up or not?" Grace asks.
"Yes, we bet against you. Last party I saw the Jensen twins at... my birthday in fourth grade." Kat informs Hannah with a chuckle. "Oh, my god. My mother the social worker hired a recovering heroin addict. He had the shakes." She continues to laugh until a thought popped into her head. "Okay, uh, drinks. Come on."
The three of them follow her into the kitchen where a bunch of people are crowded in. Grace painfully squeezes through some people.
"This is quite the turnout. People are happy to see you go." Clay comments, looking around at all of the familiar faces.
Kat rolls her eyes and replies. "I really just threw it so Hannah could finally meet some people before I depart this realm."
"I met helmet and Grace." Hannah defends herself with a pout.
Kat shakes her head with a raised eyebrow. "They don't count, you met them at work."
"I feel like that should count." Clay responds, clearly feeling dejected and Grace nods at his words, agreeing.
"Of course you do." Kat utters to us sarcastically before pointing to the cups. "Okay, refills. Grace, Clay, what's your drink?"
"Sprite." The twins reply simultaneously.
Hannah grins at their answer and Kat narrows her eyes at them in disbelief, but the smile doesn't stray from her face. "Oh, my god. You're priceless. You're gems. You'll both have a beer."
Grace hesitates but nods nonetheless.
Tyler Down then speaks up while holding his camera and asks them for a photo. Kat squishes between Grace and Hannah, and sticks her tongue out playfully. Hannah cutely smiles, Clay stands there normally and Grace smiles an awkward smile.
"Hey, there." Bryce smirks as he walks up to Hannah, seeing her as fresh meat for him.
Grace gags internally and turns away from him, not wanting to hear their conversation. Bryce Walker was the most popular boy in school along with Justin. He was a year older than everyone in their year and he was not someone Grace associated herself with or even wanted to.
When he finally walked away, Hannah, not only five minutes later decides to leave and get a drink of beer as Clay longingly stares at her figure making Grace sigh sadly, knowing that he would get hurt in the end.
Grace and Kat share a glance and stare at Clay sympathetically. "Are you going to tell her?" Kat asks him as he snaps out of his trance.
"Tell her what?"
"Oh, please." Grace scoffs. "You're my twin brother and Kat has known you for years. We both know that you like her."
"Give me a break. I'm not good with the...you know, and the gay rumours only recently subsided."
Grace chuckles at his answer. She remembers that clearly. Someone made up a rumour that Clay was gay and he was mortified over it. He kept his head down for an entire three weeks.
Kat catches on. "So the stakes are high for you."
Clay begins to smile at the thought of Hannah. "It's like, around her, I can be different, you know? Like, I'm the new and improved Clay Jensen: high school sophomore, archaeologist-slash-adventurer."
Kat sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Clay, sweets, you're a prize. But from my limited observation, she has terrible taste in guys."
"But it doesn't mean that it will never happen." Grace adds on when she sees his sad expression.
Clay puts his head down. "You won't say anything to her?" He questions Kat, hopefully.
"Only if it comes up." Kat smirks and scurries off with the twins hurrying to follow after her.
They end up outside and finding Hannah, all starting up a conversation. Grace stares blankly around, not interested in the current conversation the rest we're having.
Her breath catches when she sees Justin Foley walking up the street to join the party with his very tall friend, Zach Dempsey. She subtly stares at the blue-eyed boy until she notices that the others have also noticed he's there.
"Meet the boys! Justin Foley is mine, and Zach Dempsey for you." Kat gestures to the boys for Hannah while Grace bows her head.
Clay snickers. "Zach Dempsey? Really?"
"What? He's sweet?..." Kat says innocently, all watching the boys now rolling around on the floor, play fighting, in the soaking wet due to the sprinklers turning on , "Okay, yeah, he's kind of dumb, but he's the sweet kind, which is the best kind."
The girl then walks forward and claps mockingly, making the boys notice and hurry to stand up. "Yes! Liberty High's star athletes, ladies and gentlemen. So impressive." The boys bow proudly. "Sorry, boys. Can't have you in Hannah's house soaking wet."
"Seriously?" Justin groans.
"Oh, my god. Look at yourselves."
Justin then rips his shirt off of his body with a grin. Grace feels the heat travelling to her cheeks as she avoids eye contact with her brother, who's awaiting her reaction.
"Better?" Justin asks.
"Yes." Grace thinks to herself before mentally scolding her thoughts.
"Improvement for sure, but sorry, it's still a no-go." Kat tells the two boys with a smirk.
"Come on, it's not a party without us." Zach interferes for the first time.
"We'll take our chances. Go dry off." Kat ushers them away with her hand and walks back over to the trio.
Justin points to her sassily. "Your loss, milady." He says in a horrible British accent making Grace let out a small giggle.
Kat lets out a long sigh. "Idiots, I can't even..."
"But they're sweet idiots." Clay adds teasingly, using her earlier words as him and Hannah walk inside after Kat.
Before Grace goes to follow them, she locks eyes with Justin who is struggling to get the water out of his soaked shirt. She doesn't break their gaze and surprisingly, neither does he.
A few seconds later, he gives her his signature smile and runs off to follow Zach. She feels her cheeks get hot once again and shakes her head, re-entering the house to join the party again.
End of flashback
"So, you see, that's where the trouble began. That smile. That damned smile. I also noticed that you caught someone else's eye too. I won't name her, but you clearly already know, Justin."
Grace sighs to herself as she realises she had been caught practically ogling Justin by Hannah. She thought that she was being discreet.
"The one and only Kat moved away before the start of school. She was the kind of friend that couldn't be replaced, even before falling in love with the boy she left behind."
'Is that what I did? Innocently fall for the same boy?' Grace thinks to herself as she lays in bed. She thought that Hannah just had a small crush on the boy, she didn't think it actually meant anything to big to her.
"Being Kat's boyfriend was kind of the only remarkable thing about you, but Justin, you were my Kryptonite. I was an office assistant with Grace Jensen third period. So I knew where you were third period."
Grace recalls back to that day where Hannah made her go with her to speak to Justin. They actually managed a small conversation that day. A short and awkward conversation, but it was a conversation nonetheless. And it put a big smile on her face for the next few hours.
Flashback
Grace watches as Hannah puts a sheet of paper in her backpack slyly. She then narrows her eyes at her friend in question, her lips pulling upward into a small smile.
"What was that?" She asks, nodding her head to the paper.
Hannah blushes a little and looks down in embarrassment. "It's Justin Foley's timetable."
Grace struggles to keep the smile on her face but just about manages. "Stalker much." She teases.
Hannah laughs at her response and grabs her friend's arm, dragging her out of the office and into the halls, ignoring the girl's groans. They both stop in front of the geometry room.
"What are we doing?" Grace questions.
Hannah doesn't reply to her question and waits until everyone starts to leave the class. Justin walks out, not paying attention as he is on his phone and Hannah purposely knocks into his shoulder, making Grace's eyes widen and her mouth to go agape slightly.
"Woah, careful there." Hannah playfully scolds Justin, who stutters to apologise like a little boy.
"Hannah, I'm sorry about that." He replies guiltily, with a cute smile on his face.
She then gestures to the classroom, "Geometry with Bates. No wonder you're in such a hurry." She jokes and he laughs loudly, making Grace's stomach twist uncomfortably.
She didn't even know why she was there in the first place. It was clear that Hannah didn't need her to have a simple conversation with him.
"Oh, you both have him too?" He asks and meets the eyes of Grace for a few seconds before looking back at Hannah.
Grace resists the urge to sigh, "Of course it's Hannah." She thinks to herself sadly.
"We do. Fifth period." She lies easily with a nod. "It's the worst ten hours of my day." She replies and then playfully looks at her watch-less wrist. "Speaking of, gotta go." She continues and walks away, leaving Grace standing there awkwardly.
"Did she really just—" Grace mutters to herself before turning back to Justin who is looking at her with a grin. "Um... hi." She greets simply as she tries not to fidget with her hands.
"Hey." He responds easily with a chuckle, it was clear that he knew how nervous she was and he loved it. "You're Grace Jensen, right? I saw you at Hannah's party the other night?"
"Y-yeah, I remember seeing you." Grace says, while shyly tucking a fallen piece of hair behind her ear. "Oh, and by the way, we do not have geometry fifth period. We have English with Mr. Jones, I don't know why Hannah said we do."
"Good to know." He remarks, biting his lip. The shy girl intrigued him, that's for sure.
"Uh, I should probably go, otherwise I'll be late to French." Grace states sadly, she really didn't want to stop talking to him. She didn't know when the next opportunity would be. "I don't really feel like getting attacked by Madam Steinburg, she's quite scary, so..."
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll see you around then?" He questions, almost hopefully, confusing the girl even further but she smiles nonetheless.
"Okay. I'll see you around, Foley." She answers, blushing before walking past him, not noticing his eyes trail after her.
End of flashback
"I even decided to like basketball for you, Justin. Grace even teased me for it."
Flashback
Hannah and Grace walk into the auditorium to watch the new basketball game. Grace wouldn't usually go to these things, but after lots of begging from Hannah, the girl finally agreed.
They sit down on the third row and begin to watch as the team starts to play. Grace knows that the only reason Hannah wants to go to this game is because of Justin, and secretly, maybe this is why she agreed too.
Grace eyes narrow in suspicion as she sees her brother walk up the stairs. She never thought she'd see him willingly watching a basketball game. Hannah then spots him too, quickly calling him over.
"Jensen! Clay Jensen! Helmet!" Hannah calls out to get his attention and she pats the seat next to Grace which he moves to slowly. "Did you get lost on the way to the library?" She jokes.
"Oh, uh... Coach Patrick assigned the game for history homework, so..." He answers before squinting his eyes at his twin sister. "Grace, why are you here?"
"I was forced." She responds halfheartedly.
"You and your sister always stand and fidget, it makes me anxious." Hannah observes randomly, watching Clay move around.
"Sorry." Grace apologises with a chuckle. "We both get it from our dad."
Clay then takes out a chocolate bar and offers it to Hannah because he knows that his sister doesn't like them. "Tootsie roll?"
Hannah giggles, "How can you eat those?"
"I ask myself that every time he eats them." Grace mutters, staring at the chocolate bar in disgust.
He smiles at the chocolate, "It's all that's good and sweet in the world." He replies and Grace shakes her head, watching the game once more.
The horn goes off, signalling that their school has just earned another point and everyone starts to cheer from the stands. Grace suddenly meets the eyes of Justin and he nods his head at her in greeting with a beaming smile.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Hannah also get affected by this making her sigh.
After the game, the three of them exit the school grounds to go home. Everyday, Clay and Hannah walk but Grace decides to take the bus.
"Clay, can you email me your French notes?" Hannah begs Clay while they link arms down the road. "I can't understand a word Madam Steinburg says. It's like she's speaking German."
Clay nods and opens his mouth to speak but gets interrupted by a car pulling up beside them. In the car is Justin and Zach.
"Ride home?" Justin asks Hannah with his charming smile.
"Thanks, but no. My chariot awaits." She declines and gestures to the school bus that has just pulled up.
Grace looks at her in confusion, knowing that she doesn't take the bus. Hannah grabs Grace's arm and begins to drag her over to the vehicle. Grace, who doesn't really like people touching her, takes her arm out of Hannah's hold softly and walks independently. She thinks it's because she never really gets shown love at home. Her brother and her were never affectionate and her parents were way more focussed on Clay to give the girl any attention.
"What are you doing? You don't take the bus."
"If it goes according to plan, Justin will follow me on here and then I'll make an excuse to leave and leave him stranded alone." She smirks slyly.
"Okay, first of all, he won't be alone because i'll be stuck with him. And plus, come on, Hannah. He's not that stupid." Grace scoffs playfully with a roll of her eyes.
The two girls get on the bus and not even twenty seconds later, Justin follows on.
"Okay, he really is that stupid." Grace mutters.
He grins at the girls and sits in front of them, turning around to face them with a smile.
"You don't take the bus." Hannah observes.
"I don't?" Justin responds with feign shock. "Well, then, I guess it's your lucky day."
Grace holds in a snort and looks out of the window, zoning out to block out the other two's flirty conversation.
She snaps out of her staring when she feels Hannah get up from her seat. "I'll be right back, I forgot my geometry book." She informs him and makes her way off the bus.
Justin reaches for his bag in almost desperation. "Wait, I've got mine in here if you need..." He's cut off by the sound of the doors shutting.
"Shit." He then curses and jumps up to open up the window to shout to Hannah. "Hey, where the hell is this thing going?!"
"No clue, I don't take the bus either, call me!" Grace hears Hannah shout back happily.
Justin slumps down to his seat in defeat. Grace locks eyes with him and he grins, placing himself next to her. "Do you have any idea where this bus goes?"
"Obviously, I'm on it, Foley." She remarks back before smiling slightly. "It goes to the top of Evergreen."
Grace sees him trying not to smile at her remark. "Right... so, did you know Hannah was going to do that?"
"Yep." She responds with plainly.
"I never see you at parties apart from Hannah's, why is that?"
"I only went to Hannah's because she's my friend and she's new to Evergreen. I'm not really a party person. I'm more of an awkward non-people person, if you can tell." She admits with a sigh, wishing she was different.
"I've noticed." He smiles.
"You don't seem like a stereotypical jock." She observes him with a crease in between her eyebrows. She expected him to at least be a bit of a jerk, but he was anything but. He seemed nice and humble. He obviously knew he was attractive, but he never bragged about him hooking up with girls like the rest of them.
At least that's what she thought at the time.
His eyebrows furrow at her. "And what is a stereotypical jock?"
"A jerk." Grace replies with bluntly but also with confusion as she gazed across his face, as if she was trying to study him. The real him. Which did make him slightly antsy, not many people did know the real him. "And from what I can see, you're not one. It confuses me."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Good, because it was one."
"And you're not a stereotypical girl."
"Oh?" Grace raises her eyebrows with a grin before mocking his earlier words. "And what is a stereotypical girl?"
"A self absorbed, loud girl who cares too much about her hair." He responds causally, looking into her eyes.
She lets out a giggle and Justin feels his lips quirk up into another smile, hearing the sound. "Don't let the other girls hear you say that." She teases, nudging his shoulder with hers.
The bus ride is silent for a few moments before Grace speaks up again. "So, you're interested in Hannah?"
She internally closes her eyes in frustration, not knowing why she has to randomly blurt out an uncomfortable question. She already knew what the answer was, and she didn't like it.
"Uh... yeah?" Justin hesitates, turning to her once again. He didn't know why she was interested in the topic, but found himself almost grinning when he realised that there was a possibility that she could be jealous about it.
"Okay." Grace nods dumbly.
"Why?" He blurts out. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?"
Grace and Justin finding themselves holding deep eye contact, their eyes piercing into each others souls. Grace subtly bites her lip, her eyes flickering down to Justin's, seeing the boy doing the same thing.
A loud car horn breaks them out of their trance and they shift away from each other slightly, embarrassment coating both their faces.
"No." Grace shuffles in her seat uncomfortably. "If that's what you really want, I think that you should go for it."
"Yeah. It is." Justin nods unsurely, giving her a hesitant grin. "Thanks, Jensen."
"No problem, Foley."
End of flashback
"I know what you're all thinking. Hannah Baker is a slut. Oops. Did you catch that? I just said 'Hannah Baker is.' Can't say that anymore. I dreamed our first kiss would be taken place at the park. I never told you that. The dream starts with me at the top of the rocket... holding on to the steering wheel. It's still a playground rocket, but every time I turn the wheel to the left or the right, the trees lift up like they're taking flight. And I'm scared... because I don't know how to fly. But you're there at the bottom to catch me when I fall. And that's all that happened. We kissed. Why? Did you hear something else? Nope, we just kissed. Sorry it disappoint you, but I guess we're even. Sort of."
Grace remembers when she thought that they had slept together. She was sad and angry when the picture went around but she didn't say anything to her about it because she didn't want to hurt her feelings.
She's glad that she didn't.
"See, I've heard so many stories about me now that I don't know which one is the most popular. But I do know which is the least popular. The truth. See, the truth isn't always the most exciting version of things, or the best or worst. It's somewhere in between. But it deserves to be heard and remembered. The truth will out, like someone said once. It remains. So, thank you, Justin. Sincerely. My very first kiss was wonderful. What came after the kiss, not so wonderful."
Flashback
Clay and Grace take their usual seats in communications class . This was the class Grace liked the most because everyone had a voice and everyone was able to interact. She takes out her notebook and pen, ready to start the lesson.
She sees Justin walk in with Zach behind him and she gives him a small smile in greeting.
After their bus ride together, the two felt closer.
It was still bound to be awkward after their moment but they tried to forget about it, figuring that's it would cause more harm than good.
Justin grins cutely at her as he sits down in his regular seat at another table.
Suddenly, a girl's phone chimes, she picks it up to open her message and she frowns in disgust. "Oh, my god. Seriously, Justin? Why would you send that?"
Grace looks at the boy in question and she sees the boy look bewildered for a moment before realisation hits him. He just replies with a simple shrug, not saying anything on the matter.
A notification then begins to pop up on everyone's phone and they all pull them out.
Grace's heart clenches at the photo that she's been sent. It's a picture of Hannah in a very compromising position on the slide from Justin. Everyone immediately starts to mutter about it.
Grace sees Hannah getting upset by it so she meets her eyes and gives her a small reassuring smile. She knows better than to make assumptions. There is always an explanation for everything. Even if this photo did look sketchy.
She and Justin then make eye contact. Grace gives him a sad look of disappointment before she looks away, causing the boy to sigh.
"So much for not acting like a stereotypical jock." Grace thinks to herself with a sigh.
Their teacher, Ms. Bradley, then walks in to begin their lesson. Phones still continuously pinging but she pays no mind to it.
After class, Grace jogs up to Hannah who has just left the classroom in a hurry. "I just want to say that I know you wouldn't do anything like that on the first date and I know that there's more to the story." She says while falling into step with her.
Hannah stops by her locker and gratefully smiles at her friend. "Thank you, Grace. You're the only one who seems to think so. Even your brother looked at me funny."
"He's an idiot if he believes it." Is her response. "But you can sit next to us for lunch, if you want to, I'm sure he won't mind."
She nods and they both walk to the cafeteria, passing Justin on the way. They lock eyes, Grace looking at him blankly as she continues walking with Hannah.
She didn't have any time for him if he was going to act like a dick.
When they reach the cafeteria, they spot Clay sitting inside on his own. They grab their lunch and join him. Hannah places her tray down in front of him while Grace follows suit, causing his eyes to fall onto them.
"Hey, helmet." Hannah greets brightly.
"Uh... I've got geometry homework." He says bluntly and Grace can easily tell that he's jealous over the whole Justin situation.
"I'm sure she doesn't mind, Clay." She replies, trying to diffuse the tension. Clay looks annoyed but doesn't comment on it further.
"So, communications class," Hannah starts her rant. "Really? Ms. Bradley doesn't have a clue what it's like to be our age. 'I find it best to confront the issue head-on by saying "pardon me, but you really hurt my feelings.""
Grace chuckles but Clay keeps a straight face. "I thought she had some good ideas." He mutters.
"Some were decent. I kinda zoned out of most of it though." Grace admits while eating her chicken salad.
Hannah raises an eyebrow at Clay. "Have you ever in your life had to confront an issue head-on? Have you even had an issue?" She asks him.
"She has a point, Clay. We're the most unproblematic people in the world." Grace comments.
"Yeah, kind of." Clay answers. "Or... I guess, being socially awkward has it's advantages."
"I don't think that you're socially awkward at all. I think you're just scared. I think you're waiting." Hannah explains.
"Well, sometimes it's better to wait." He snaps and both of the girls catch on to his hidden meaning.
"Wow." Hannah murmurs and swallows thickly. "Okay, meaning what?"
"Just that, uh... nothing. I mean..."
Grace sees Hannah's eyes start to water. "Pardon me, but you really hurt my feelings." She says to him before standing up and leaving the cafeteria, ignoring the female Jensen's calls.
Grace stand up and slaps the back of her brother's head. "You are an idiot." She scolds.
She leaves her brother to try and find her emotional friend but has no luck.
End of flashback
"I'm not angry you betrayed me. I'm angry that I trusted you in the first place. A rumour based on a kiss ruined a memory that I hoped would be special. I'm fact, it ruined just about everything... as you'll soon see. And stuck around, Justin. I'm not through with you yet."know you probably didn't mean to let me down. In fact, most of you listening probably had no idea what you were truly doing, but you'll find out."
The Jensen twins enter school the next and pass Justin who looks like an even bigger mess than the day before. Their eyes meet for a moment before they inevitably have to break them. All she can think about is why? Why did he have to do what he did? What was the purpose?
Her classes were boring as perusal and she finds herself spacing out in almost all of them once again. Clay had told her that at lunch, he was going to talk to Tony as he mentioned that he knew something about the tapes.
After all of her long classes, she goes to leave the school but pauses when she sees Justin being pulled out of his class by Mr. Porter.
Justin looks over and glares. She automatically realises that he must think that she told Mr. Porter on him. She's annoyed that he thinks she would even do that to him. She gives him a small shake of the head, signalling that she hasn't told anyone anything and he gives her a subtle nod back.
She then swallows her worry of the blue eyed boy and leaves the school premises. She rushes home and into her room, eager to play the second tape.
"Turn over the tape for more."
And that's exactly what she did.
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This is the first chapter done! Over 8000 words!! Thank you to anyone reading, I hope you like it. I am trying to improve my writing abilities and I'm sorry if it's not up to your standards.
Don't be a silent reader, comment anything you want! I am also open for some suggestions <3