Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Maddy opened her front door to see Justin on the other side, crying with a bag on his shoulder. She was angry with him but seeing him so upset made her heart ache. She stepped forward and brought him into an embrace, just letting him cry into her shoulder.
"I-I'm sorry Mads for everything I just..I needed you" he hiccuped in between sobs.
"Come in J we'll go up to my room and you can stay the night" she cooed, grabbing his hand.
Once they got to her room, she went over and sat on her bed to give him space to do what he wanted or needed. He looked around the bedroom he has seen a million times and knew that this is what home feels like.
He laid down onto her silky sheets and pulled her down to lay beside him, hugging her tightly, needing the comfort from his sister.
"I love you Mads no matter what, you mean so much to me" he mumbled into her hair, cuddling deeper into her chest.
"I love you too J, always" she smiled.
***
"Good morning Miss.Campbell" the Bakers' lawyer greeted politely.
"Good morning" Maddy responded darting her eyes towards her mom who gave her a reassuring smile.
"My name is Dennis Vasquez, representing Andrew and Olivia Baker and this is a deposition. I'll be asking you questions and you must answer them truthfully unless your attorney clearly instructs you otherwise, do you understand?" he informed.
"Yes I understand" she nodded.
"There's no judge present but this is a formal legal proceeding and you are under the same legal obligation to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Do you understand?" Dennis questioned receiving the same answer as before.
"Good, for the record please state your full name, your age, where you go to school and what year you're in" he continued.
"My name is Madison Campbell, I am seventeen and I am a junior at Liberty High" she answered, keeping eye contact.
"When and where did you first meet Hannah Baker?"
"I met her at a party my friend Kat was throwing right before sophomore year started"
"And did you know Hannah well?"
"I thought I did, we were good friends for while"
"What do you mean a while?"
"Our friendship was rocky at times"
"Can you tell me why you think that was?"
"She didn't like my boyfriend so we argued about it sometimes"
"Why not?"
"She thought he was abusive towards me" she shakily replied making everyone in the room sit up straighter.
"And is he?" Dennies asked.
"Objection" Maddy's attorney stated.
Dennis looked as though he wanted to continue but he moved on "Did you ever hear anyone say unkind things to Hannah?"
"Yes a few times, I always stood up for her. I know how it feels to be a girl at Liberty High so I made sure she knew I was there"
"Can you elaborate?"
"The girls in that school get teared apart and have rumours spread but the boys get praised and treated like royalty, high school sucks"
***
Maddy was sat in Monet's waiting for Clay. He had called her and asked to meet and talk, probably about the tapes.
"Hey" Clay spoke, sitting in the chair across from Maddy as she gave him a small smile.
"Hey what's up?" she questioned.
"I uhm, I don't really know how to go about this" he started, stumbling over his words slightly "I've listened to your tape and I guess I just wanted to see if you were okay?"
"Thank you Clay, I'm fine" she sighed "but Monty's not abusing me he loves me sure he gets rough sometimes but it's not like that"
"You don't have to explain yourself just..I'm here to help you whenever and I need you to know that" he stated, he really wanted to try and persuade her but he understood trying to push her wouldn't end the way he wanted her to.
***
"Hey do you want to stay again tonight?" Maddy asked as soon as she saw Justin standing near her car outside Monet's.
"No Maddy actually I'm leaving" he responded quickly.
"Wait, what? No you're not Justin" she scoffed.
"I need to get out of here Mads" he whispered, frowning when he noticed the tears gathering in the girls eyes.
"You can't leave me J, don't leave" Maddy begged.
"I'm sorry Maddy I have to" he gave her one last hug, closing his eyes momentarily to try soak it in.
"Please don't" she tried once more but he shook his head sadly and walked off.
