Grace sits on her bed in absolute shock, just having heard Justin's second tape before school. She knew that it was going to be bad, but not this bad. It makes her feel sick how Bryce could even find it in himself to do that to Jessica, it was absolutely disgusting and it made her hate him even more than she did already. Which is a lot. What she doesn't understand though, is why the hell Justin still friends with him. She knows that Bryce has always been there for Justin, always offering a place for him to stay, food to eat and put clothes on his back, but Grace still found it odd how Justin is willingly still speaking to him.
She doesn't blame Justin. But she knows, no doubt that Jessica will when she finds out the full truth. Grace is not naive, Justin should have told the police and Jessica herself about what had happened at the party.
Clay enters her room in a rush and begins to pace around her room, also having heard the tape. "Have you heard Justin's other tape?" He asks frantically, not pausing his actions.
Grace nods numbly, "Yeah."
"We need to do something, help Jessica."
"I know, and we will." She assures and bites her lip nervously, not knowing how Clay is going to react to her next words. "But you need to promise me something before we do."
Clay eyes his sister suspiciously, "What?"
Grace blows out a shaky breath before hesitantly speaking her thoughts, "I need to know that Justin won't get in trouble for this. I promised him and... I don't want him taking the blame for something that wasn't entirely his fault." She pauses and runs a hand through her hair in frustration, "He was scared and he thought that Jessica was better off not knowing."
Clay doesn't answer for a few moments. He's always hated Justin, ever since they were younger. The two have never gotten along and Justin's friends have made his life hell. But looking at his sister's face, one thing is for certain.
"You really care about him." He realises, noticing how Grace's head is down at the revelation.
"I do."
"Alright." He eventually sighs, only going along with it due to his sister's unknown feelings for the Foley boy. "We still need to help Jessica. But right now we need to get to school."
***
Entering the school grounds, Clay and Grace see Justin and Jessica outside of the main building talking with Bryce, Sheri and Zach. Grace shakes her head, not knowing how the others could even stand being anywhere near Bryce Walker.
"Anyone down for a little pick-me-up?" They overhear Jessica ask the group, pulling out a purple water bottle filled with alcohol. Grace and Clay share a worried glance, not knowing why Jess was suddenly out of control but continue watching the scene from afar.
Jessica takes a swig of it and winces at the taste. Justin quickly takes it off of her and smells the bottle, his eyes widening. "Is this vodka?" He questions worriedly, ignoring the roll of Jess' eyes. "Since when do you drink at school?"
Jessica ignores his words, taking another swig and Bryce shoving the boy playfully, "Since when do you ever turn down a drink?" He asks playfully and also takes a swig out of it before putting it in right Justin's face, the Foley boy cringing at the smell. "Don't be a bitch, Justy."
Justin grins at his best friend and takes the bottle off of him, drinking some before scowling, "It taste likes shit."
Jessica meets the eyes of Grace and she swallows thickly, turning back to the group. "I gotta go copy my Spanish homework before the bell rings. Adios, losers." She waves goodbye before entering the building, Grace rushes after her, Clay obviously following her.
"Jess!" Grace calls out, practically running after the girl in the halls. Jess sighs and continues walking, not wanting to hear about the tapes. "We heard the tape about your party."
"Seriously," Jessica scoffs, not stopping her walk. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Those tapes are bullshit."
"I don't think they are." Clay adds, coming to walk next to the two girls.
"Move on."
"No." Clay protests.
Jessica closes her eyes in defeat and grabs Clay by the arm. She tries to do the same to Grace but she quickly moves her arm away, walking inside the class after them independently.
"It was you she was talking about, right?" Clay asks subtly, although he's pretty sure he already knows the answer. "Because if it was, we want to help, okay? We need to do something about it. Tell someone."
"That night did not happen the way Hannah said it did." Jess states firmly, her finger pointing in his face.
"We've heard that multiple times before." Grace replies softly. "How did it happen then, Jess?"
"I hooked up with Justin." She informs them.
Grace's eyes drop to the ground at the words. If Hannah was lying, that meant that Justin found it in himself to sleep with Jessica, right after what had happened between them, and she didn't know what to think of that.
"Hannah said you were completely out of it. She said things happened." Clay says sadly.
"If something happened, I'd remember it. W-We were both pretty drunk, so we basically just passed out after." She responds, but she looks like she's trying to convince herself more than the two in front of her.
"Justin told you that, or you remember?"
Jessica hesitates before answering, "I remember, okay? So, back off."
Jessica then goes to leave the room but walks into Justin's chest as he enters the room angrily, stomping up to them, mainly Clay. "Jensen's you just can't leave it alone, can you? Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend, you got it?" He spits out harshly, causing an ache in Grace's chest.
Jess continues to try to push him out of the door but he doesn't budge from his spot, too angry to move. He hates the fact that it's all coming out now, when he's tried so hard to keep it a secret for months.
"Who was it, Justin? Who did it?" Clay yells back at him, he wants answers and only they could give them to him.
"Clay, stop. You're just making it worse." Grace sighs in defeat. She knows that if they continue this screaming match, more people will find out the truth and that's the last thing anyone wanted.
"Did what, huh? Mind your own fucking business, you got it?" Justin snaps, finally letting Jess push him out of the door and to their class.
Grace places herself down on the desk, running a hand through her hair, a new habit she's come to learn when she's stressed or angry. She has no idea what their next plans is as no one is telling them the truth.
***
Grace and Clay enter the communications class room five minutes late due to Grace severely needing the toilet. She notices Justin's miserable eyes on her as she comes in and smiles at him slightly to attempt to lift his mood.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Bradley?" Clay speaks up once they've entered, confusing his sister greatly on why he needed to talk to the teacher.
Mrs. Bradley smiles at him politely, "Yes, Clay?"
"Um... about what I said yesterday, about Hannah writing that note." Grace's eyes widen as he speaks, not knowing what Clay was talking about because she wasn't in for the last lesson because of a doctors checkup. "Well, I... but wasn't trying to say that it was your fault, and I wanted to apologise for being rude." He explains politely.
"Because people need to take responsibility for their actions... and face the consequences, one way or another." He finishes and glares at Justin, the latter clenching his jaw to contain his anger.
Grace nudges her elbow into his stomach before walking over and taking the seat that's beside Justin. It's been very awkward between the two since they ended things and neither knew what to do or say to each other.
She subtly takes his hand under the table, turning her hand to look him dead in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I promise you that I didn't know he was going to do that."
"He's a dick." Justin responds with coldly.
"Hey," She scolds lightly, squeezing his hand in warning. "He's still my brother. Would it kill you to be just a little bit nice to him every once in a while?"
"He's the one who's starting everything, G. And it really doesn't help that you're talking to Jessica now too." He says with a stare of disapproval.
"I wanted to see if she was okay, but it turns out, she doesn't even know what happened to her."
He scoffs while the class continues to converse, "What the hell am I supposed to say to her?"
"The truth." Grace states, her eyes softening.
"Why do you even care? You hate her." He replies, rubbing his thumb over her hand softly making her try to hide a smile that's creeping up on her face.
"But I care about you and I know the guilt is killing you." She expresses sadly and he has trouble meeting her eyes. "And I don't hate her, we've just never got along. But, she still doesn't deserve what's happened to her... no one does."
"I know..."
"And you need to tell her soon because I have no doubt that Clay will." She tells him. "You need to do the right thing. Not for me, but for yourself."
His eyes drop to the paper in his desk, "I can't."
"Yes, you can. I believe that you can do this, Justin." She states firmly, squeezing his hand once more.
"I can't."
"You can."
"I can't—"
"Am I interrupting something here? Justin?Grace?" Mrs. Bradley interjects. The whole class giggle and turns to look at them. Grace avoids all eyes on her, slowly taking her hand out of Justin's to avoid more looks.
"No." They mumble simultaneously.
The teacher nods and continues her teaching. Grace kicks Justin's leg playfully, earning one back. "Dick." She playfully digs.
"Bitch." He responds with a cheeky smile.
***
Grace Jensen enters the cafeteria to get some lunch and she instantly feels eyes on her, making her roll her eyes in annoyance. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Justin, Marcus and Zach sitting at a table with their lunch, not letting their eyes stray from her, almost as if they're waiting for what she's going to do next.
She sighs when she notices Marcus get out of his seat, strolling to her, the two boys no doubt watching and listening to the conversation.
"Yo, Grace. What's up? How are you today?" He asks her politely. But Grace sees right through his act and grins to herself.
"Is there something you wanted, Marcus?" She questions uninterested, not even giving him a second glance as she waits in the queue.
"Did you and Tony talk yesterday?" He asks.
"Yep."
"Okay, and you're just... doing you're own thing?"
"Oh, yeah, more than ever. Do you have a problem with that?" She questions. Her eyebrows rise at him while she keeps the grin on her face.
"Okay, look, I understand that you're going through your own process or whatever, but I'm worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt." He tells her, placing a hand on his arm.
Grace scoffs loudly and shrugs his arm off of her, before facing back to the lunch line. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure you don't." She sarcastically replies.
"Hey, I'm trying to protect you, okay? But I can't if you keep running your mouth." He spits out and she can tell he's getting angry.
She spins around and shoves him away from her harshly before he can even mutter another word. Marcus stumbles but just manages to catch himself, meeting the eyes of Justin who's jaw is clenched. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't need your protection, Marcus and nor do I want it." She snaps defensively. "What I do need, is for you and your posse to leave me the hell alone."
And with that, she storms over to the two other boys that are gaping at her. She focuses on the brunette boy. "Tell your minion to leave me alone, Justin, I'm sick of everyone watching me."
Justin takes her arm and walks her to a separate table, sitting down to speak with her privately. "Grace, I had no idea he was going to talk to you."
"I'm sorry." She mutters, noticing the honest look in his eyes. "I just really can't stand him."
"I'll tell him to back off." He assures before his eyes catch someone else and he jumps up abruptly, leaving the girl to watch after him.
"Okay, leave in the middle of the conversation, that's not rude at all." She sarcastically mumbles to herself quietly as she watches him and Alex.
"Yo, Alex. Hang back a second. We need to talk about Clay." She overhears Justin say to the blonde boy.
"Haven't we already talked about that?" Alex questions while he throws the rest of his food in the garbage bin.
Justin watches as Alex chucks away most of his food and his eyebrows furrow questionably. "Is your stomach thing happening again?" Alex doesn't even acknowledge him and starts to walk away, making Justin get annoyed, "Hey, I said hang back."
"Just leave Clay alone, okay? And Grace, too, she doesn't need you meddling into her life even more." Alex sighs, sticking up for the twins.
Grace squints her eyes at his figure, wondering why he would be telling Justin to stay away from her when he doesn't even know what's going on between them. Alex and her have never been close, but she finds his ability to stick up for the right thing admirable.
Justin harshly grabs Alex's shoulder harshly when he goes to walk away again. "Don't tell me what Grace needs, okay? She can decide that for herself." He snaps, making quick eye contact with the girl before turning back to the situation at hand. "And you're apart of this. You're in it, even if you are the pussy Hannah said you were."
"Fuck you, Justin. You're calling me a pussy after what you did, or didn't do?" Alex remarks with a humourless chuckle and they both know what he's referring to.
The Foley boy shoves Alex back, "Fuck you."
Zach rushes to get in between them before a fight breaks out and Justin then points his finger at Alex threateningly, "Whatever happens to us, it happens to you too."
Alex simply shrugs at him, not bothered at all. "So, what? If I kill myself, do you die too?" He asks before leaving the cafeteria all together.
Justin sighs and motions for Grace to follow him outside. She contemplates for a moment, before standing up with her bag and following him to the football field, where luckily no one is there.
They sit down on the outside bleachers, both of them finding peace in the silence.
His eyes trail over her soft facial features, where the sunlight bounces off her cheekbones and she sighs in bliss, feeling the heat on her body.
A hint of a smile creeps onto his face as he watches her before he sighs nervously, "So, how'd you feel about me, now that you know?"
Grace has a feeling that this question was going to come up, and already has an answer for him. "Nothing will ever change the way that I feel about you." She expresses truthfully and slowly, making sure that he understands. She places a smooth hand on his cheek, smiling when he leans into it. "Even if we can't be together right now."
His eyes soften and his lips quirk up into a small relieved smile. "Even if I'm a bad person?"
"You're not a bad person." Grace states quickly, hating that he has a lot of self-hatred inside him. She wishes that he could see himself through her eyes. "And I really wish you'd stop seeing yourself like that. You've made some mistakes... we can both agree on that but they don't define you... If you haven't noticed, I'm not a saint either. I keep hurting people simply because I don't want to let you go."
"And I don't want you to. Ever." Justin states, staring into her brown eyes. "It will be our time soon, Grace, I can promise you that."
***
Flashback
Grace Jensen stares at herself self-critically in the mirror of her bedroom. She never cared too much for her appearance, but it was the first party of the year and she wanted to make an effort. She put on a short, tight fitted black dress that shows off her curves well and some black sneakers to match as she hated wearing heals.
Feeling decent enough, she grabs her house key and leaves the house, making her way to Jessica's house. Clay had already left around two hours before because he didn't want to be late, ignoring Grace's remarks on him trying too hard.
Grace smiles as she sees Hannah outside the party, getting ready to go in. "Hey, Hannah."
"Oh, hey, Grace." Hannah replies nervously. She'd lost so many friends last year, so she was nervous to see where she stood with the girl.
"I like your hair." She compliments, noticing she recently has cut it short. She really liked her old hair but thought this look suited Hannah.
"Thank you." Hannah replies with a blush, not used to the positive attention. "You look really pretty tonight."
They walk in together and see multiple faces.
Bryce Walker is the first to notice them. "Hannah Baker, Grace Jensen! There they are!" He yells out, causing the group around them to chant their names. The girls look at each other in amusement, not knowing what to do. "I like the new hair, by the way, Hannah. Looking good the both of you. Keg is out back, get on it."
The girls nod awkwardly but don't take up his suggestion on the alcohol and begin to stare around the room, not knowing what to do, where to go and who to speak to.
Hannah's eyes meet Clay's and she decides to walk up to him. As Grace goes to turn around to follow the brunette, she accidentally ends up knocking into someone's hard chest.
"Oh shit."
Grace finds herself freezing up, eyes widening at the voice of Justin Foley. She hasn't seen him since last year because she was away at her grandparents house for the summer with Clay. She spins around and analyses Justin discreetly, coming to the conclusion that he looks just as good as last year, maybe even more so and she sighs to herself quietly.
Realising that she hasn't said anything, she quickly speaks up, "I'm so sorry." She rushes out an apology before noticing that Justin hasn't took his eyes off of her body, making her blush.
The boy smirks at her as his eyes trace every curve of her body, only just realising how curvy she actually was due to her not wearing tight fitted clothes before. They make eye contact and Justin bites his lip when he feels his crotch area get tight. Grace's face heats up and she lets out a breathy laugh at the awkward situation.
They break out of their trances when Justin's girlfriend, Jessica comes over to him with a big smile, not even noticing Grace's presence. "Well, well, well, look who decided to show up." Jess grins and pulls him to a heated kiss. Justin automatically placing his hands on her hips, his thoughts from a few seconds ago out of his mind.
Grace immediately adverts her eyes and leaves to find her brother. She finds him in the living room, sitting on the couch with Hannah. She sighs in relief and sits down next to them, on the armrest of the couch, ignoring the people that are sat around her playing 'suck and blow.'
"Uh, you look really nice tonight, by the way." She hears Hannah compliment Clay and Grace feels bad crashing their hangout time.
"Oh, this?" Clay scoffs and gestures to his outfit. "I just threw something on."
Grace rolls her eyes subtly at his lie. She knows for a fact that he spent at least three hours getting ready, but she doesn't say anything to embarrass him.
"Yeah, Clay, you look great." She adds, grinning.
Unfortunately, Justin and Jessica rush over hand in hand, wanting to take part in the game. It's very clear that they were both already extremely drunk by the way they were acting. Grace sighs, it seems like she really get away from the couple.
"Wait, wait, wait, I want to play!" Jessica exclaims with a giggle to everyone playing and Justin follows behind her, laughing uncontrollably as they both place themselves next to Clay, crushing him and Hannah.
"Guys, are you playing?" Sheri asks the three, raising her eyebrows. If they were to say yes, it would come as a huge shock to everyone because Clay and Grace hardly even came to parties.
"Uh, no, no thanks." Grace declines politely for the three of them.
"Oh, come on, Grace." Bryce says disappointedly before grinning, leaning forward. Grace tries not to cringe as his alcoholic breath hits her in the face but lets him continue speaking, "Don't be a pussy."
"Leave her the fuck alone, Bryce." Justin randomly snaps at him, causing Bryce to finally back off from her after giving Justin a confused glance.
Grace whips her head to look at the boy, shocked to hear him stand up for her in front of everyone. She gives him a smile in gratitude, which he returns softly before going back to the game.
The game starts and the card being blown from person to person. It then gets to Justin, who instantly blows the card away, pulling Jessica to him and roughly making out with her, leaning back on Clay and Hannah in the process.
Feeling uncomfortable, Clay and Hannah vacate some place else, while Grace moves to sit next to Sheri, not wanting the be next to the couple who's continuing to heavily make out on the couch.
"Hey, girl." Sheri beams and pulls the small Jensen girl into a hug, the girl awkwardly hugging back. Grace doesn't really do well with affection. She guesses that it might be because she never feels enough love from her family and isn't used to it. It definitely shocked her when Justin held her at the dance and she didn't feel an ounce of uncomfortableness.
Sheri then reached out and gives her a cup of beer. Grace looks at it for a moment before shrugging and downing it in one making the rest of the people cheer for her, Justin breaking away from Jess to see what all the fuss is about.
Feeling the effects of the alcohol already, she giggles and attempts to stand up, Sheri quickly holding her upright to stop the girl from falling over. Justin's eyebrows furrow in worry, watching the girl stumble her way around the house.
Mid way to the bathroom, Grace gasps as a guy accidentally spills his beer all over her, making her dress become soaked.
When the guy doesn't even apologise, Grace scoffs and barges past him, making her way to Jessica's bathroom.
She has no clue what to do; she could either walk home or stay in this soaked dress and hope it'll dry, both don't seem like great options.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the door opening. Justin walks in and his eyes widen as he notices the girl sitting on the bathroom counter. "S-Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be in here." He stutters out an apology.
Grace shakes her head at him with a chuckle. "Don't worry, it's fine. I only came in here to sort this mess out." She replies and gestures to the soaked dress that's clinging to her body.
"Oh shit." He curses and takes his shirt off, handing the shirt to her. Grace's eyes widen at the noticeable abs on the boy and looks away to be respectful, swallowing. "Change into this and I'll get you some shorts from Jessica's room."
She nods at him in gratitude and he leaves the room to get the clothes. Grace's hand is placed on the zipper as she attempts to pull it down. She huffs when she notices that it isn't nudging. Begrudgingly, she gives up and waits for Justin to come back.
When he finally re-enters, his eyebrows twitch in bewilderment seeing that she's still in the soaked dress.
"Can you help me with the zipper?" Grace nervously asks him, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. "I can't do it."
Being the gentleman that he is, Justin nods with a smile, stepping closer to her. She turns her back to Justin so she's facing the mirror. She watches as Justin blows out a breath and hesitates before successfully beginning to pull the zipper down.
Justin slowly pulls it down to the bottom of the dress, exposing Grace's smooth back to him that is not wearing a bra. He looks up and finds himself making strong eye contact with her in the mirror.
Grace smiles and turns around, not even realising that she was merely five inches away from him. Before he can register his thoughts, his right hand lifts up from beside him and he cups her cheek as they stare into each others eyes. She can count at least three shades of blue in them making her smile because she's never noticed that before.
They lean in closer until they're about two centimetres apart from each other. Grace breathes in anticipation, not used to this sudden feeling. She feels light and buzzed and she's not sure if it's due to the alcohol or the mere presence of him. She doesn't know what suddenly comes over her, but she knows that she can't wait any longer. Finding the sudden confidence, she smashes her lips to his in a heated his.
Justin immediately responds eagerly to the kiss, both of them not even thinking about the consequences that are going to happen later on. His lips feel like heaven against hers, a feeling she's always wanted to experience with him but never had the confidence to.
Justin's hands move off her face and trace down her body as he slips the dress off her, only leaving her in her bottom half of her underwear. He then quickly picks her up in his arms, causing her to gasp into his mouth at the sudden movement. He turns and places her body against the wall for easier access and she smirks into the kiss.
For it being her first kiss, she surprisingly knew what to do. Grace feels him slide his tongue into her mouth, which she responds to it with hers.
His lips then retract from hers and he trails sensual kisses from her jaw to her neck, Grace letting out a few quiet moans at the action. She knows he's leaving love bites and that could potentially leave problems in the near future, but she can't find it in herself to care, not even a little bit, not right now.
She reattaches their lips passionately and grips his hair in her hand, pulling in it lightly which causes him to groan into her mouth and her to grin to herself in confidence, repeating her actions.
"You do look really good tonight." Justin suddenly compliments quietly, looking at her for the hundredth time that night as they break the kiss. She was so unnecessarily pretty, it annoyed him how a person could be so perfect. It was like she was his own personal devil, practically taunting him of what he couldn't and would never have.
She swallows thickly at his breathy words, finding him gazing at her with a warm look in his eyes. His eyes subconsciously advert between her two eyes and down to her lips, hers doing the exact same for the second time that night.
A loud knock on the door causes them to come back to reality and pull apart abruptly. Grace pants heavily and she notices Justin doing the same. Her lips are swollen and there are a trail of love bites on her neck.
And just like that... the mood switches.
"You should... probably go home. It's getting late." Justin mutters while looking down in guilt. He shouldn't of done that. He has a girlfriend and he just betrayed her entirely.
Grace thickly swallows and hides her tears at the sudden change of mood. She nods her head, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She had a feeling that he would regret it after but she didn't expect to feel this much pain that came with it.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I should." She agrees with a stutter. She feels Justin's eyes piercing into the side of her face with a painful expression, as if he doesn't want her to go but she doesn't dare make eye contact, mainly in fear that she'll lose control again.
She grabs Justin's discarded red shirt that's on the floor and slips it on, hiding herself from him. She doesn't even have time to relish in the scent of him: wood and cheep aftershave. A surprisingly pleasant scent.
She then unlocks the door and rushes to find Clay amongst the drunken teenagers, leaving Justin alone in the bathroom. The last thing she hears is Justin's hand harshly punching the bathroom wall. She stops to wince, forcing herself to not go back into the bathroom and comfort him.
She finds Clay standing outside of a bedroom door, looking disheveled and worried making Grace's eyes narrow as she places a hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention.
"Are you okay?" Grace questions distractedly.
His widened eyes snap to hers and he nods his head aggressively, before spotting her neck. He glares at her harshly, "What the hell is that?"
Her hand slaps to her neck and she shakes her head sadly. "I don't want to talk about it."
Clay opens his mouth to try continue interrogate her but seeing her sad expression, he nods and gives up, leading them downstairs. Both of their mind occupied with what happened just moments before.
"Well, I'm going to speak to Jeff and I have my bike, will you be okay with walking home on your own?" He asks.
Grace opens her mouth to say no, to say that she actually really needs someone right now and how she feels so guilty about what had just happened. But all that seem to come out is a simple, "Yes."
He nods and walks off to the backyard to find Jeff, leaving her on her own. She takes a glance at everyone before leaving the house all together, just wanting to go home and sleep the alcohol off along with her mistakes.
***
Grace is absolutely fuming as she dials Justin's number while coming out of school. She had just been informed that Clay has been suspended for three days for having weed on him. She knew that Clay has never done drugs, so she knows who did this, and she is furious.
He picks up on the second ring. "Look, I know you're probably mad—"
"Mad?" Grace scoffs into the phone angrily. "You think I'm mad? Well, I'm not. I'm furious, Justin!How could you do that? Not even days after I pleaded with you to leave him alone."
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? But he was running his mouth and I need to protect myself."
"I'm protecting you, idiot." Grace snaps, walking home from school. "And I thought that was enough for you but clearly it isn't"
"It is, Grace. I just panicked and went along with Marcus' idea." Justin says from the other side of the phone desperately, he really doesn't want them to fall out. Especially when she was the only thing that was holding him together.
She sighs, finding her anger disappear for the boy, "I think Clay is on his way to your house so be prepared." She then pauses, "You're lucky I haven't murdered you."
"You wouldn't do that." He smirks to himself, knowing the girl more than she knew herself. "You like me too much."
Grace groans, annoyed that that was true and how he knew her inside out. "Shut up, asshole." She replies and ends the call, cutting off his laugh.
***
Clay Jensen knocks loudly on Justin's apartment door, waiting for the boy to answer. He was determined that he would get the proper answers and he would convince Justin to tell Jessica the truth about what happened the night of her party. She deserves to know, even Justin knew this. But Justin thought that he was protecting her and everyone else by not saying anything.
Hearing the loud knocks at the door, Justin sighs from his place at the couch, knowing that Grace's intuition was right and that Clay was coming around for answers. He steps up slowly and paces to the door, opening it up and coming face to face with Clay.
"He can't be prosecuted, okay?" Is the first words to leave Clay's mouth, Justin freezes up hearing him, thinking that he must have gone to the police for that sort of information.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Justin questions at the boy that's panting from the other side of the door.
Clay ignores his question and continues, "I know it was Bryce, alright?" Justin scoffs and mutters under his breath, Clay not backing down, "She said he was your friend."
Justin shakes his head, growing tired of the conversation already but opens the door wider, "Alright, get in here."
Clay steps into the apartment and looks around the place before meeting Justin's eyes again. "You have to tell her, Justin."
"When the fuck will you give up?" Justin asks, slamming the door closed. He's tried everything to get Clay to not talk. He's told Grace to stop him, threatened him verbally, stole his bike, almost had him accidentally killed in a car accident along with his sister, but still, he still wasn't giving up. And Justin was getting frustrated.
"I get it." Clay says to him. "You were trying to protect your friend, so you lied to Jessica and told her Hannah made it up."
"I did? So I guess it's my word against Hannah's, huh?" Justin tells him with a grin.
"Exactly." Clay nods beginning to inform him of all the legal facts. "The one witness is dead, Bryce will get away with it and you can stop protecting him. It's a legal fact."
Justin panics and steps forward, "Did you talk to somebody? Tell me what the fuck you did." He demands, thinking that Clay has told the authorities.
"Are you even listening? I just told you, I can't go to the cops." Clay replies loudly.
"Then what do you want from me?"
"I want you to tell Jessica the truth about what happened to her that night." Clay demands.
Justin swallows but won't back down, "She already knows what happened. Go and ask her."
"I did ask her, Grace was there." Clay reasons, noticing how the boy looks down at the mention of his sister. He's always had his suspicions about the two but doesn't comment on it. "She repeated whatever bullshit lies you fed her. But she knows something's up, just look at her. She's messed up. She was drunk at school today."
The microwave pings from the kitchen and Justin walks over to it, pulling his food out, "She's fine."
"She's messed up." Clay repeats, looking at him, "And so are you. Jessica deserves to know the truth, and she's never gonna believe it unless it comes from you."
Hearing this, Justin stops and looks down, thinking of all the secrets and lies that he's told Jess just for him to be safe from the tapes. He takes a bite out of his microwaved meal and goes to sit down on the couch.
"It didn't happen the way Hannah said." Justin says as he places himself down.
Clay sighs, "I've heard that before. Tell Jessica the truth."
"I already told her."
"It's bullshit and you know it!"
"We hooked up."Justin responds with bluntly, continuing to lie to the Jensen boy. "That's what happened. She wanted it, and we hooked up. There was no other guy. There is no other story, you hear me?"
Clay doesn't say anything and looks at Justin with a blank expression, not understanding why the boy can't be truthful and admit what happened that night.
Justin's anger rises and he continues, "So whatever Hannah thought she saw, she lied about it on those tapes because she's a crazy fucking drama queen who just killed herself for attention." Then noticing Clay's somber expression, he sighs, feeling slightly guilty for his words, "Look, I'm sorry, man, I know she was your friend."
"And you were her first kiss." Clay mentions, finding it to be cruel how Justin was acting.
"So she said." Justin shrugs. "Whatever happened... whatever Hannah thinks happened... how does that help Jess now? What she needs, what we all need... is this to be fucking done with."
"How can she be done with this if she doesn't even know what it is?" Clay asks stubbornly, silencing the Foley boy. "You can get me suspended. You can ruin my fucking life if you want to. It won't change what you did. And sooner or later, people are going to find out."
Justin points his fork at him threateningly, "People are not going to find out."
"Why are you protecting Bryce?" Clay finally asks the big question that he wanted to know. "What does he have on you?"
"I'm not protecting Bryce, you little fuck!" Justin yells at him, placing his fork down on the plate as he tries to control his anger at the boy. "God, I'm protecting Jessica! I care more about Jessica than I do about Hannah and you, alright? So, just get the fuck out of here!"
"What about my sister?" Clay questions.
Justin tenses up from his spot and finds it difficult to meet Clay's eyes. "What about your sister?"
"I know about you two." He admits awkwardly, Justin's head snapping up to look at him. He was kind of hoping that he didn't need to bring Grace up, but as Justin wasn't budging from his stubbornness, he figures he can use her to an advantage. "She didn't tell me, but I knew. So, tell me, Justin. Do you care about her?"
Justin is silent of a moment, not wanting to admit just how much he did care about the girl. "Of course I do." He finally mutters, loud enough for Clay to hear him.
The Jensen nods, glad that he knows that Justin has true intentions with her even if he was currently with someone else, "And you know that she would want you to tell Jessica, too. About that night, and what's happening between you two."
That's all that Clay feels the need to say, so he leaves Justin there sitting on the couch as he leaves to go home. He hopes he's got his point out and that Justin will finally listen. But he honestly doubts he'll listen to him and out of everyone, he would listen to Grace.
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I'm back bitches!!
I've luckily finished all my exams and now I don't have to worry about them ever again. I hope you liked this chapter, thank you to all the people that continue to read this story ❤️