Life wasn’t easy. It had its ups, and it damn well had its downs too. Life frickin sucked, to say the least. But who didn’t know that? Everyone did. Some drank their issues away. Some pretended they weren’t even on those tapes of Hannah’s. Like she never existed. But somewhere, deep in their soul and body, she did. Others dealt with it naturally. Grief, the stages. Denial. Acceptance. Anger. Sadness. Bargaining. Depression. You had close friends. Bryce Walker wasn’t a great one, but everyone always hung at his house when things got rough. Like today. When everyone found out what Clay had been doing to retaliate when listening to the tapes. They sat on the couch in silence. Zach Dempsey, Alex Standall, Justin Foley, Bryce Walker, Courtney Crimsen, Marcus Cole, Jessica Davis, Sheri Holland, and Guest. Nobody acted. Just sat in silence. Guest and Justin exchanged a glance. Sure, you’d both deny it until you were blue in the face—but you two were in love.