SEVENTEEN
CLAY'S TAPE
{ 1x11 }
"CLAY. HELMET.."
JESSICA'S PARTY PART I.
[ WARNING: THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES LOTS OF DIALOGUE WITH CURSING, AND MENTION OF RAPE. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS BEFORE CONTINUING.]
IT was a Saturday night, Clay Jensen was approaching Jessica's front door earlier than anyone, placing his knuckles against the door while he waited for an answer, only to be greeted with a confused brunette.
"Someone's a little early." She teased, "The party doesn't start for another hour."
"Oh" was his only response before he shifted awkwardly. "I thought it started at seven."
"Yeah, well A. Its 6:55 and B. Seven really means nine." she replied leaning against the door frame.
"Oh." he repeated, "Right, well I'll come back." he started, cut off by Jessica
"No, no, stay. You can help." she reasoned, stepping aside to let the hoodie wearing boy into her home. "Do you know how to tap a keg? Every guy is like 'lets get a keg' and then when it comes time to tap it, 'i told you it was the wrong kind of tap' 'i got this everyone settle'." she explained, stopped by Clay's voice.
"Well, I don't exactly know how to-"
"Hey, relax. You can do snacks" she informed as she picked up the bags of chips and handing them to the boy.
"Is there any special order that you want? Mixed? all in separate bowls? Certain things mixed?" he had asked making her shake her head with a small laugh.
"Make a choice Clay. Be bold" she'd said, walking past him and into her living room.
. . . . .
"I can't believe how good you look with short hair." Faith gushed as she finished finger combing her own raven locks, staring in the small rear-view mirror to look at herself.
Hannah smiled lightly, looking over to see her best friend already smiling to herself.
"Are you excited?" her friend asked,
"Excited for what? Its just another stupid part-" Hannah was cut off by an eye roll and a head shake handed to her by her best friend.
"I meant to see Clay" she replied, smirking when Hannah's cheeks flushed. "I think that answered my question" Faith pointed to her face before turning and picking up her phone from her middle console.
"Its not like that" the other brunette pointed out making Faith look up.
"Right, and water isn't wet" She teased, making Hannah laugh lightly. "Look, I know you say its not like that Han, but you look at him and you have the prettiest, brightest smile I've ever seen you wear. You don't even smile at my dog like that, and you're in love with my dog."
"Can we just go inside?" Hannah asked, trying to save herself from her best friends teasing.
"After you admit how excited you are" she retorted, smiling playfully.
"Faith!"
"Oh come on"
The two stared each other down, Faith's smile growing after she realized Hannah was tensing under the hard glare.
"Fine, I'm glad I get to see and talk to Clay tonight, now can we go before I change my mind?" Hannah asked, frowning at her best friend jokingly.
"Atta' girl." Faith smirked, opening her car door and stepping out, looking over the roof of her car to see Hannah doing the same.
Shutting the doors, they both approached Jessica's house and entered a few minutes later.
The pair stood in the living room, looking for familiar faces. Faith smiling once she got sight of her friend Jeff who was stood near exactly who Hannah wanted to see. Clay.
She lightly grabbed Hannah's wrist and squeezed gently, offering a small smile as Clay approached as Faith was about to dismiss herself.
"Clay" Faith nodded at the boy, smiling softly at him.
"Faith" he had responded, his smile growing once he had reached Hannah.
Faith had gotten to the kitchen, leaning against Jeff who smirked at her.
"They'd look so good together" The raven haired girl gushed, the boy beside her agreeing.
"We're so good at this matchmaking thing, huh?" He joked, nudging her shoulder making her laugh and shake her head.
. . . . . .
Clay was sat in Tony's car, listening to a reminiscing Hannah Baker while the other mentioned girl on the tape was sat at the local cafe, a textbook settled on the table in front of her, along with a steaming cup of tea.
Their was soft music coming from her headphones, her crossed legs bouncing along with the songs, her doe eyes never leaving the book in front of her as she focused on the psychology notes sprawled out.
Her mind was clear for once, the school problems being the only ones consuming her thoughts.
Skye'd came over a few more times that night, asking the brunette if she'd needed anything, always getting a small smile and head shake in return.
The first time Faith looked up in the last hour, she was shocked. She'd seen two very familiar faces with a person they'd least expect in their company.
Tony was sat with his back to the girl, across the cafe, right across from Clay who'd been chugging a glass of water while Skye watched with her back also to Faith.
Her eyebrows were raised in confusion, as she placed a cursive covered piece of paper in the thick text book, and shut it carefully.
She'd watched as Clay stood up and went to a different table, while Skye grabbed a stack of cards and sat there also.
She also noticed Tony sitting alone and stood from her stool and made her way over to him, sitting in Clay's now empty spot.
The brunette looked up with a smile, placing his sandwich down and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Are my eyes deceiving me or is that really you?" He teased, making her smile and shake her head.
"Hush it," she laughed. "I'm sorry I've been so wrapped up in school, haven't really made time for my best guy"
"Ah, don't sweat it. I've been pretty busy myself." He nodded toward Clay, making her nod understandingly.
"How's all that going anyway?" She wondered, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
"It's going okay. He's on his tape, he's been itching to keep listening but I feel like he's gonna implode any second. Tried to get some food in him but he's completely against the thought of eating right now" Tony replied, shaking his head and taking a sip of his water.
"Clay's on his tape?" Faith asked, looking over at the boy who seemed to be getting angry at the blonde in front of him.
"Yeah, he's been on edge since he started listening to the damn thing" shrugging as he ate another bite of his sandwich.
Faith just nodded, glancing at the male across the room again, watching as he pushed away from the table angrily and stormed out of the cafe.
"I'll call you later okay?" Tony asked, "We have some stuff to talk about, just you and I." making the brunette just nod understandingly as he'd pushed his chair out and grabbed the dismissed headphones before leaving also.
Faith sighed, standing from the abandoned table and making it back to her own high top stool spot she'd left earlier.
. . . . . .
It was later that night that Zach had called Faith, begging her to come to Bryce's house even though she was completely uninterested in leaving the comfort of her large bed alongside her dog after her long day of studying.
It was also the soft pleading from her boyfriend that made her cave and end up in the guest house that belonged to the last person she wanted to see.
Faith ended up sitting in Zach's lap, her doe eyes watching his fingers flip through cards as he, Jess and Bryce played poker. Jessica's eyes lit up as she won for the third time that night, her hand covering the stack of money piled in the center of the table, a smile consuming her features.
"Again, again, and a-fucking-gain. This is embarrassing at this point" Jessica teased, looking at Bryce.
"You rubbing it in?" He asked, smirking as she nodded.
"I am I am. I am so fucking rich" She replied, placing both hands over the pile of money and keeping it in front of her.
Faith tightened her grip on the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, as Zach traced the skin visible on her hip while Bryce looked behind him to see who the approaching footsteps belonged too.
"Justy, Alex! It's about fuckin' time. These cards are getting stale, sit down" Bryce greeted, right as Justin tucked his hands in his jacket.
"Actually, Jess and I had this thing planned." Justin tried, making Jessica snort and Faith cringe.
"No we didn't" She replied, shuffling the money and counting it.
"We were gonna get late dinner" Justin continued, making the brunette scoff. "Lets go"
"When did you tell me about dinner? Was that before or after you walked out on me today?"
Faith watched carefully as Justin's face dropped and Jessica's eyes didn't detour from the stack of money in her hand.
"Oh, Justin. Sounds like you better make it up to her, by losing a couple hands. C'mon sit."
Zach leaned forward, one arm draped around his girlfriends waist as he adjusted his seating position. Faith had been sat with the blanket wrapped around her and a drink held in her grip by both hands.
"Alright," he began, attempting to crack the tension. "The game is Texas Hold Em', five dollar ante, five dollar minimum bet" he explained as Bryce shuffled the stack.
"Don't worry, I've got you staked" Bryce looked at Justin who was staring across from him, "I mean, your girlfriends been playing with my money all night anyway so-"
Faith watched on as Jessica's eyes landed on Alex, who'd been the only person standing, taking a sip from her drink she listened as Jessica forced the blonde to sit.
"Alex sit down"
"No I'm good. I hate poker" Alex replied, his eyes elsewhere as Jessica stood from her seat, approaching him instead.
"No, you have to play. Everybody's playing, cmon, here." She pried as she pushed him into her abandoned spot, before she took a seat in Bryce's lap, right next to Justin and right across from Faith who'd furrowed her eyebrows at the girl.
"Jess, what the fuck?" she'd wondered out loud,
"Your deal" she replied instead, ignoring her friend and looking right at her boyfriend who looked at her oddly.
"I don't wanna fucking play cards right now." he retorted,
"I said, your deal" she snapped, chucking the entire deck at his face, making him flinch at the contact.
"Jess" Zach called,
"Shit" Bryce murmured,
Justin stood up from his spot abruptly, "Fuck it, lets go" he ordered, walking away thinking she was following, before turning and noticing she wasn't. "Jess, lets go" he snapped finally, after watching her ignore him and wrap her arm around Bryce's neck, which he'd unwrapped and grabbed harshly, tugging her off and away from him.
"What the fuck, Justin?" she yelled, stumbling alongside him.
"Shit" Alex and Faith murmured, standing quickly, the blanket dropping from the brunettes shoulders as she got up, quickly following the couple.
"We're leaving now. I don't want you hanging out here, ever again." the basketball player swore as he tugged her towards the poolside, making her yank her arm out of his grip.
"Don't you touch me like that, don't you ever touch me like that" She whimpered, backing up away from him slightly.
Faith had stopped behind her, watching carefully as the two eyed each other.
"Buddy, calm down" Bryce tried, approaching them.
"Stay the fuck away from her" Justin shouted protectively, his eyes glaring darkly at the taller male.
"What is your problem, Justin?" Jessica asked, stepping between the two, her wet eyes staring at him.
"Guys," Zach butted in, "This does not need to happen"
"Maybe it does" Alex included, making Faith nudge him with her elbow, shaking her head at him.
"What are you doing here with him?" Justin tried, his eyes flickering between Bryce and his girlfriend.
"We're just having fun" She responded,
"Why the fuck are you here with Bryce?" he tried again, confusing the brunette even more.
"Why do you care?" her voice shook, "Tell me"
"Yeah Justin, tell her." Alex poked, making Zach tense up.
"Alex" she murmured, making the taller boy glance at her with annoyed features.
"Lets go" Justin continued, ignoring the side commenting.
"No, tell me why you care."
"Jess, lets go"
"Tell me why you fucking care!" she pleaded, which made him crack.
"Because he fucking raped you!" he shouted back, making her flinch and cower backwards, her shoulders falling.
Faith let out a breath she didn't think she was holding, as her doe eyes continued to carefully watch the scene unfold from in front of her.
Alex watched Bryce who's mood completely shifted as he approached his best friend, "Justin, brother-"
With a hard shove he was pushed back, "I'm not your fucking brother"
"Stop, enough" Zach yelled, abandoning Faith's side as he went to push apart his two friends.
"Get out of my way, I should fucking kill you, you son of a bitch" Justin shouted over the attempted help, "I'll fucking kill you, let me fucking-"
"No, no!"
"Let me fucking go" He shouted again, as Zach slowly let go of his death grip he held around Justin as Jessica approached him.
There was silence, before there was a loud smack. "I fucking hate you" Jessica had yelled, before storming off from the group.
Faith looked at Bryce, her doe eyes staring harshly as he tried to start to say something, her back turned to him immediately as her feet took off after the retreating brunette.
"Jess!" she called, "Jess" she'd shouted again, making the girl finally stop in her trek. "Hey" she'd softened her tone when a sob escaped the slightly shorter girl.
"I- I-" she tried, before Faith simply shook her head and tugged the girl into her arms. There was a tight grip around her waist as Jessica sobbed against the brunettes shoulder, the tears automatically noticeable on the cotton shirt she'd been wearing, but at the very second, Faith didn't care.
She needed to let Jess cry, she needed to be there for her.
There seemed like there was a time where Jessica wasn't sure who to trust, but Faith seemed look like a good place to start after everything had happened.
"I've got you" she'd whispered softy, tightening the embrace as her friends sobs grew louder. "It's okay, I've got you." she promised.
AUTHORS NOTE
aH HELLO
HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, I HOPE YOU'RE ALL DOING WELL.
THIS CHAPTER SKIPS AROUND EPISODE ELEVEN A BIT, WHICH IS WHAT I HATE DOING BUT I FEEL LIKE I NEEDED TO INCLUDE FAITH COMFORTING JESSICA SINCE IT SEEMS REALISTIC CONSIDERING FAITH IS STILL TORN ABOUT WHAT SHE DID TO HANNAH, SO SHE'S TRYING TO BE A BETTER PERSON AND FRIEND. I HOPE IT MAKES SENSE AND THE PLOT ISN'T SO EMPTY AND BORING.
THANK YOU FOR VOTING / READING.
YOU'RE ALL WONDERFUL AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY / NIGHT.
LOTS OF LOVE.