13 Reasons Why

Cassette 05

JISOO

"A sting. A stinging pain is all I could feel."

And thus started the next tape taking me very much by surprise.

"It has gotten physical now."

Oh god. Pray for me. It would have been a miracle if I managed to sit through this without crying or having to stop it.

"Let me explain the rest of the story before we come to the part where I am getting beat up."

Wait. I knew when this happened. I was there. Well, of course not when they beat her up then I would have tried to stop it, but afterward.

"So, after a long and exhausting round of 'who can come up with the best insult towards Jennie' they were out. They had used every bad word, every insult in the book. It became quiet once no one could come up with a new way to verbally attack me. So they went for another method instead. Physical attack.

"The circle they had formed slowly closed in on me from all sides, and before I knew it, hands were flying at me from every direction. As they punched on me like I was a human punching back, spitting a few unoriginal insults out too here and there, I couldn't take it anymore.

"I cried. So much. They repeatedly hit me in the jaw, the nose, the stomach, and wherever else they could reach. It didn't seem to ever stop. They just kept going on and on. I fell to the ground, but that didn't stop them one bit because then they just started kicking me in the face and stomach instead.

Then, when they finally stepped away from where I was lying on the ground and I thought they were done, they picked me up again. This time they took turns beating me. I went around the circle like a bottle of alcohol, everyone getting their fair share. They threw me around like a ball, everyone equally excited to catch it and punch the shit out of it. It hurt so bad, and I couldn't stop myself from crying. Of course, I couldn't, they were breaking all sorts of bones in my body."

By that point, I was, without noticing, also crying. A few tears had slipped my eyes and were soundlessly gliding down the skin of my cheeks. As they arrived at my mouth and I tasted the salty flavor, realizing I was crying, I hurriedly wiped away the few droplets that had escaped from my face.

"Finally, when my vision had started to become blurry and I could taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth, they seemed to have gotten bored. They were finally done. They didn't leave though without once again telling me what a useless, dumbass, disgusting piece of crap I was. With one final push to the floor, they left the locker room leaving me to drown in a mixture of my tears and blood on the floor."

How could no one, not a single soul, have heard that? Well, somebody probably did but was too much of a coward to do anything about it. If the principal or one of the teachers had seen what Jennie just explained, they would probably all have been kicked out of school.

"I barely managed to stand up. My whole body is in a terrible amount of pain. It felt like I could break and fall apart at any moment. I dragged myself with the help of the wall, and a broken ankle, to the mirror looking at my face. My eyes were already on the edge of becoming black, and my nose and mouth were bleeding. Bruises were already beginning to appear on my skin as well.

"Then suddenly I started feeling very dizzy, even more than I was already. My head was aching forcefully, just like about every other part of my body. I then felt my legs cave in under me and knew I was about to fall to the ground, probably hurting me even more. But I never hit the ground. I was caught. Caught in the arms of a certain Kim Jisoo."

I didn't know why, but a rush went through me every time that girl said my name. I clearly remembered this day.

"I don't know how she found me, why her timing was so good or why she even helped me, but she caught me."

I did know.

I was walking along minding my own business when the soccer team - obviously minus Jennie - walked by me. By coincidence, I managed to hear a little snippet of their conversation.

They were talking about how pathetic Jennie was and how easy of a target she was. Then one of the students was complimenting the other on how good of a punch he gave Jennie when they were beating her up in the locker room. My eyes opened wide before I instantly started running towards the student's locker room, finding her inside it.

Just as I was running toward her it looked like she was losing her balance so I hurried to catch her before she landed on the ground. And that was the story of how that happened.

"After she caught me, she helped me get on my feet. I could tell she was very surprised by how I looked and how much I had been hurt, but she ignored it - in a good way - and focused on making me feel okay again. She assisted me to the nurse's office, where she told him to leave so that's what she did. And then I didn't see her again for some time.

"So, since I know you will be listening to this Jisoo, I just want to thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being there for me. Even though it was a small gesture, it meant a lot."

Click.

A smile had edged itself onto my face by the end, and I couldn't help but smile at what she had said. It truly meant something to her.

It truly meant something to me.

-----------

A friend in need is a friend indeed.