The Doctor & The 13 Reasons Why

Chapter 11: 13 Reasons Why (Reasons 9-11)

The Doctor removes tape 8 and inserts tape 9. Hannah is beginning to get worried about how Clay is going to take it when he hears reasons 9, 10, & especially 11.

Hannah Baker (Tape): I've got a question for you, Justin. Not the one you think. Not yet. What's the best part of high school? The great friends you make? The romance? No. We both know the best part of high school...

Hannah Baker (Tape) & Clay Jensen: Is summer break.

Hannah & Clay smile at each other.

Hannah Baker (Tape): It's the great reset button. And after everything that happened to me sophomore year... I couldn't wait to start fresh... to tear the rest of the pages from my journal and forget it all. Except I didn't get very far. At work, my usual partner in crime was spending the summer with his grandparents. His temporary replacement was nice enough, but entirely too normal. And I couldn't escape my past.

Clay Jensen: Oh, crap! I was suppose to write you during the summer. I completely forgot, sorry.

Hannah Baker: You are forgiven.

The Doctor pauses tape 9.

The Doctor: Isn't there something that Clay should know about that summer?

Clay Jensen: What are you talking about?

Hannah Baker: That's right, he followed me around. (Sighs) Zach started coming to The Crestmont frequently. He apologized to me. Then we got friendly. We started hanging out. Then his father passed away. One thing lead to another...

Clay Jensen: You guys dated?

Hannah Baker: Yeah, secretly. He wanted to keep our relationship a secret, didn't want Bryce or Justin to know about us. We had sex, more than once. But eventually I decided to ended it. Why would I want to be with someone who doesn't want anyone to know that we're dating?

Clay Jensen: Why didn't you put it on his tape?

Hannah Baker: That's not part of the story.

The Doctor: I think it is.

Hannah Baker: Who asked you?

The Doctor: Clay is probably thinking that had he not left that summer, it probably would've been him.

Clay & Hannah now both stare at The Doctor and give him a death glare.

The Doctor: What?

The Doctor resumes the tape.

Hannah Baker (Tape): I needed a change. I needed to be someone new. Have you ever felt like that? I wasn't going to be invisible anymore. I was going to start brand new. I was going to cut away the past... and leave it all behind. I was going to work harder. Be smarter. And be stronger. Because you can't change other people, but you can change yourself.

Hannah Baker: That's when I decided to cut my hair.

Clay Jensen: I do like it.

Hannah Baker: Thanks.

Hannah Baker (Tape): Part of me knew I shouldn't go to Jessica's house that night. But another part of me couldn't help but wonder what... or who... I might be missing out on.

Clay Jensen: Jessica's party?

Hannah Baker (Tape): So here I am, the brand-new me... living the same old life. I thought maybe starting over didn't have to mean cutting myself off completely. Maybe I'd been hanging with the wrong people. Maybe I could start over with the right person. But if I'd have known what was going to happen, I never would have walked through that door. If I'd known what would happen... what that night had in store... I might never have walked through that door. But parties have a weird magic. They're like an alternate universe.