Post Death
Pre Death
Elizabeth Jensen had not felt total pain and grief until the suicide of her friend, Hannah Baker. Elizabeth wished she had known that Hannah had been feeling such sorrow, and she wished she could have done something to help her. Memories played through Elizabeth's mind of her and Hannah.
"Fuck off, Baker."
"Oh, you know you love me."
"Yeah." Elizabeth smiled before wrapping her arms around her friend. "I do." There were sounds of giggling as Elizabeth smiled. She remembered how it felt to be able to feel Hannah, how it felt to hold Hannah in her arms.
She hated how she would never feel that again.
Evergreen was a town that made everyone feel alone. It just had a way of doing that. Elizabeth Jensen spent most of her childhood alone, until the beginning of high school when boys began to think she was hot and would flirt with her all of the time.
It made her feel even more alone, though.
Sure, they all wanted to screw her, but no one wanted to get to know her. No one wanted to actually be with her. No one cared about her.
Until Hannah Baker.
Elizabeth had always tried to be there for Hannah, but it was not enough to save her from her own sadness.
"Babe." Elizabeth's thoughts were interrupted by a scratchy voice coming from beside her. "You okay?" Elizabeth turned to face the owner of the voice as she laid in her bed. She nodded, slightly smiling. He pressed his lips against her forehead. "Are you sure? I know she was your friend."
"Justin," she chuckled, "I'm fine." Justin Foley sent her a questioning look. "I mean, I'm sad, but my friend di-" Elizabeth paused, feeling weird about saying the word, "is gone. Of course I'm going to be sad."
Justin nodded, understanding what she meant. "Are you sure that you're okay to go to school?" He questioned his girlfriend as he watched her sit up on her bed.
Elizabeth turned to Justin, raising an eyebrow. "Can you not be on my case every five seconds?"
"I just care about you, Eliza." Justin placed his hand on her cheek, staring into her big blue eyes. "I'm in love with you. You know that, right?"
"Of course, I know that." Elizabeth nodded, smiling as she began to stand.
He grabbed onto her hand, almost as if to stop her from moving. "No, Eliza, I can't focus unless I know that you're okay. These last two weeks have been hell because you're a wreck. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I've barely been at school because I know that you're dying on the inside. You're feeling all the pain Hannah felt before she was gone. I can't lose you."
"You're not going to, Justin." Elizabeth smiled, taking his hands in hers. "I love you far too much to let you live the rest of your life without me here to boss you around." Justin chuckled before pressing his lips against hers.
"'Liza, are you decent?" The two lovers immediately moved apart as the voice of Elizabeth's mother came from behind the doorway.
"One second, mom!" Elizabeth returned as she frantically pushed Justin into her closet. "Okay!" She called to her mother, watching as the door to her bedroom opened.
Lainie Jensen entered the room with a kind smile plastered across her face. "Honey, you don't have to go to school if you don't want to." She made her way over to her daughter, placing a strand of Elizabeth's hair behind her ear.
"Why is everyone saying that today?" Elizabeth chuckled as she thought back to the conversation her and Justin had been having just moments before.
"Who is everyone?" Her mother raised an eyebrow, surprised by her daughter's response.
"Uh, Jessica." Elizabeth replied, her eyes darting to the closet in which her boyfriend had been hiding in. "She just called me to check in. She's been doing that lately. She's just concerned."
"Well, so are you're father and I." Elizabeth's mother sent a warning smile to her daughter. "I'll let you finish getting ready." Elizabeth nodded as her mother exited her room.
A smile flashed across Elizabeth's lips. "She's gone." She mumbled towards the door of her closet.
"Oh, thank god she's gone!" Justin exclaimed as he exited the closet. He pulled Elizabeth closer to him, and gazed into her eyes one again. "God, I love you so much."
"So, you keep telling me." Justin raised an eyebrow, causing Elizabeth to chuckle. "I love you, too, Justin,"
*
"So, there are a number of ways to get help if you need it, or if a friend does." Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she listened to her home room teacher ramble on about mental health. Why hadn't they been talking about this before Hannah died. "All of this information is on the board outside my room, or outside of the main office. It's on the Liberty High home page."
"Mrs. Bradley, is it possible we could be done with this?" A boy named Pratters spoke from the corner. "I mean, it's been over a week."
"A week and six days." Elizabeth spoke, sighing. Of course she had kept track of the days since one of her close friends died.
"Exactly." Pratters nodded, not taking her interjection the way she had meant it. "Isn't it healthy to move on with our lives?"
Multiple students in the classroom began to mumble agreements or disagreements. "Alright, everyone, thank you." Mrs. Bradley quieted the students down.
"Seriously, I know it's tragic, but I don't wanna keep being reminded of it all the time." Pratters continued. "It's depressing."
"We're never done with it, Mr. Pratters." Mrs. Bradley sighed as she spoke. "Which is why it's important to know the signs that someone you care for might need help." Elizabeth felt a hand touch her thigh. "I mean, are they withdrawing from friends and family?"
Elizabeth looked up at Justin, who had moved his hand to her thigh. "Stop." She frowned, moving his hand away.
"What?" He raised an eyebrow, throwing his arm over the back of her chair.
"This is an important subject." Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she tried to listen to Mrs. Bradley. "I want to be able to focus."
"Oh, so you're saying I make you unable to focus." A smirk appeared across Justin's lips.
"No."
He leaned in closer before whispering in her ear. "Why don't we test that." He smiled before pressing his lips to her neck.
"Justin, Eliza." Justin frowned before looking up at Mrs. Bradley who had cut them off. "Not in class please."
"Alright, Mrs. B." Justin smirked before moving away from his girlfriend. Chuckled came from multiple students in the classroom.
"Moving on." Mrs. Bradley cleared her throat. She circled the class before landing her eyes on Clay, Elizabeth's twin brother, who was staring at Hannah Baker's old seat. "Clay?" She questioned, not getting an answer. "Clay?" She repeated. "Clay?!"
"Yeah, sorry?" Clay finally spoke, shaking his head as if he was snapping out of a daze. His classmates chuckled.
"Are you with us?" Mrs. Bradley did not look amused.
"Yeah." Clay nodded, sheepishly eyeing his classmates.
Mrs. Bradley nodded before continuing. "So, between now and then, on serve yourself. Bring in information."
Elizabeth frowned as she noticed Hannah's parents walking through the hallway, to Hannah's old locker. She had not even thought about the pain that Hannah's parents had been feeling. Sadness rushed through Elizabeth's body as she stood up. "Mrs. Bradley?" Elizabeth spoke softly. "Can I go to the bathroom?" Mrs. Bradley nodded in response, causing Elizabeth to exit the classroom.
The brunette made her way to the bathroom, and tears immediately ran down her cheeks. She had been hoping she would have been able to make it through just one day at school since Hannah's death. But, she could simply not.
"Eliza?"
Elizabeth jumped as a voice called her name. She turned to see her friend Jessica Davis standing in the doorway of the bathroom. "I saw you leave and you looked upset." Elizabeth nodded, and Jessica completely understood. She made her way over to her friend and pulled her into a hug. "I'm always here for you whenever you need to talk to anyone."
The Jensen girl nodded. "Thank you, Jess."
*
Elizabeth Jensen exited Liberty High School after her last class of the day finished. "Baby girl." Elizabeth looked up to see Justin Foley standing next to her. "You okay? I've been worried about you all day." Elizabeth shrugged, shaking her head, causing Justin to pull her into his arms. He planted a kiss on her head, hoping the girl he loved would not follow in the footsteps of Hannah Baker. He knew how much Elizabeth loved Hannah and how much she was hurting with her best friend gone.
"I love you." Elizabeth mumbled into Justin's chest, her voice sounding muffled. "Thank you so much for being here for me."
"Baby, you are my entire world." Justin sent a comforting smile towards his girlfriend. "I will always be here for you. I love you more than anything in the universe." He presses his lips against Elizabeth's, placing his hands on her waist.
"PDA in the courtyard, adorable." Elizabeth pulled away from the kiss as she heard Zach Dempsey approach them.
"Shut the fuck up, Zach." Justin flipped off his friend as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.
Zach chuckled as he put his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm not the one constantly making out with my girlfriend whenever I see her."
"I mean, can you blame me?" Justin smiled as he pinched Elizabeth's cheeks. She giggled as she swatted his hands away.
"You two are disgusting." Zach rolled his eyes as he began to walk away. "Cute, but disgusting."
Elizabeth looked up at her boyfriend as he watched his friend leave. He was so beautiful. His blue eyes captured Elizabeth whenever she looked at him, and this was not any different.
Justin looked over at Elizabeth and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
"I love you."
"Wow, that's crazy," Justin pressed his hand to her cheek and smiled, "because I love you too."
Rewritten
Word Count : 1700
An : Alrighty, so the first new rewritten chapter is up! It's very similar to the original, but there are a few differences here and there.
I'm so excited to start this story up, because I love Eliza's character. She means so much to me, and so does her relationship with Justin.
Thank you to everyone who has been so loyal to this story! Please vote on this chapter and comment what you would like to see in further chapters!
Have a night day, lovelies 💕