lovely | thirteen reasons why

(17) break, not breakup

She was exhausted, emotionally and physically. Libby got no sleep last night, instead crying into a pillow so Clay and Justin couldn't hear her. But Clay noticed her state as he ripped the blanket off.

"Rise and shine, Libs!" But his smile faded as he looked at her. "Jesus! You look like death!"

"And you look chipper." She pointed out with a groggy voice. Her vocal cords were fried from last night. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? You were the one who got dumped, I'm the one who did the dumping."

Clay sighed. "Well, you were right. Skye and I, it wasn't the right time for us. Not when I'm this busy. You on the other hand were forced into this position by psycho family. Did you get any sleep last night?" She shook her head. "You and Tyler made no sense to me, but you never hid from me how much you loved him. I'm sorry you are going through this, but it can't be forever. Big city people like them aren't gonna wanna be here for very long."

Libby nodded. "Millicent wants them out after the trial. That's what Giles said."

He smiled. "See? You got nothing to worry about! That'll be in a month or so. Then you and Tyler can get back together and live happily ever after. Problem solved."

She pouts. "If he waits for me."

Clay laughed. "The guy has an entire shelf in his dark room dedicated to folders filled to the brim with photos of you. I think he can wait a month."

Libby smiled hopefully at the thought. "So what were you going to tell me? From how shady you're being, I'm guessing it's some kind of Clay Jensen mystery puzzle."

He shrugged. "Not one of mine." As he picked up the Polaroid on his desk. "Someone slipped this into my locker. The day of Tyler's testimony." Libby squinted as she got a look at the blurry picture. There was a girl posing with a few boys in letterman's she kind of recognized. "And look on the back." She read the message. 'HANNAH WASN'T THE ONLY ONE' "I think someone at this school was trying to tell me something. Right as Hannah's trial starts I get this. There's some kind of conspiracy going on with the jocks. I'm gonna figure it out."

She nodded warily at the lack of base to the evidence given. "And how are you going to do that? You don't even know what you're looking for."

He sighed. "I don't know. Who gave these to me, who I'm up against, or what kind of message they're sending me. But this has to be important. It might help the Baker's win the trial."

Her eyes widened in realization. "You're looking for a distraction. From Hannah. When you said she was talking to you, how often are we talking?"

Clay rolled his eyes. "Every day."

Libby nods. "Is she talking right now?" He nods. "What is she saying?"

"That we're really lucky to have someone so smart on our side." He answered. She grinned. "Will you help me?"

She sighed. "Give me more than a blurry photo and message, you got yourself a deal." But then she thought. "Could it be the same person? The one who threatened Tyler, Alex, and Jess? It started at the same time."

Clay shook his head. "This feels different. It's not a threat, it's a warning. I think we have two mysteries at the same time."

"Jesus!" She swore. "We had five months of peace and now we're back to cryptic bullshit! I guess Polaroids are different than tapes."

He nodded. "I'm gonna keep looking for the people in the photo. I got their names from Tyler, but nothing else. Are you coming to school today?"

Libby thought about it and her brain screamed in fear. She can't face him. Not yet. She was gonna be sick just thinking about it. "I-I-I can't, Clay. Don't make me go. Please don't make me go."