lovely | thirteen reasons why

(2) the beginning of the end

Libby had freshened up from her meeting with Tyler and was now making her way back to her locker.

She was happy to have gotten everything off her chest and being able to hold him again was a blessing.

But that still left things unturned.

She was happy he wasn't playing her, that he was sincere when he told her what had happened. But she still couldn't shake the truth that he had lied to her about Hannah. All those moments of them together have another meaning now.

Her and Hannah had spent a lot of time together after their first sleepover. She was a good friend to the girl, and in return Hannah allowed her the security Bryce would usually provide.

Worse off was what this meant with the rest of her friends. It was all over now. Her friendship with Bryce was done, Justin was on thin fucking ice, and the others were staying silent on the whole affair.

Or that's what she thought was happening.

"What the fuck was that, Libby?" Was her introduction to Zach Dempsey and Alex Standall standing behind her.

"With Justin? I listened to the tapes. Thought it'd be a funny surprise." She explained with a smile.

He was not amused. "Do you have any idea what that behavior could set off? You need to be careful with this shit."

Alex tried to calm him down. "What he means to say is that things are very volatile right now and beating up Justin in public might not be the best course of action."

She huffs. "Maybe I wanna cause some noise. Maybe Justin deserved to get the shit kicked out of him for what he's doing to Jess."

Zach speaks up. "And what does that mean for the rest of us? For you? For your freak of a boyfriend?" She knees him in the balls.

"Don't call him that ever." She was being dead serious.

Alex's eyes widen. "Holy shit. Hannah was right. It's more than just sex, isn't it? You care about Tyler Down."

Zach sucked in a breath. "I should have guessed. You've been acting so strange since the start of sophomore year."

Libby rolled her eyes. "Why? Because I've been blowing you off? Blowing everyone off? That was Monty's fault, not his. Your faults too." She paused. "Are you jealous?"

He huffed. "Of course not. Why would I ever be jealous of Tyler? It's not like you're in love with him or anything." But the silence spoke louder than words. "You gotta be fucking kidding me."

Alex leaned over to his friend. "I don't think she is. I thought you were noncommittal?"

"I was!" She defended. "Look, there's no point in pretending, and I have so much shit on you now anyways. So you will keep your mouth shut about this. But yeah, so what if I am?"

Zach laughed. "You fucking hypocrite."

She scoffed. "Yes, I know. I understand that I'm a liar and a whore. Can't help that fact. Tyler and I are more than a hookup. Deal with it, Zach."

Alex was still confused. "But why keep that hidden? Especially to the extent you put Hannah through?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, and you don't know my fucked up family and what that means. You don't know what they'd do if they found out."

Zach recovers. "Then you of all people should know not to rock the boat. We're all in this together, Lib. We need you on our side."

She turns to him. "What makes you think I want to pretend like I didn't do anything wrong? To act like nothing happened? You forget Hannah was my best friend. Why would I dishonor her memory like that?"