Hadley's Fall (Based on 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher)

1|Denver

166 Days Before The Fall

It was the first time Denver would be seeing his family since starting his second year at Harvard University. He was looking forward to seeing them, they had always been tight-knit and it was hard not seeing them all the time since his dorm was across the border from where he'd grown up.

He turned his Ford into the driveway and cut the engine. Home at last.

Fumbling through his pockets for the house keys, he made his way up the pathway. Denver unlocked the door and walked into the entranceway.

"Denver!" His mom squealed and appeared in the kitchen doorway. "How has our baby been?"

"Hey mom," he replied, stooping down to kiss her cheek.

"Son!" Denver's dad greeted from where he sat in his recliner in the living room. "How has Harvard been treating you?"

Denver walked in and sat on the couch next to his dad's recliner. "It's been great. I've been seeing this new girl, she really wanted to come meet you today but she has a huge project due on Monday." Denver made sure to mention the working-on-a-project thing because he knew academics were important to his parents and he wanted them to have a good first impression of his new girlfriend, Cindy.

"Oh, she sounds wonderful." His mom came bustling back into the living room holding a dishcloth in one hand and a dirty plate in the other. "How have you been doing in your classes?"

"Really well, actually. I think all my marks so far are higher than last year."

"Excellent!" Denver's dad smiled broadly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Denver spotted his younger sister, Hadley, lurking in the doorway. Her dark hair was tangled, and her eyes looked empty. For a second, he considered calling out to her and inviting her to join the conversation, but he decided against it. A moment later, she was gone.

His sister was weird. She sent him emails sometimes, usually complaining about how much Mom and Dad were arguing. The thing was, whenever Denver was home his parents got along just like they always had: admirably well for a couple who had been married for close to 25 years. He wondered whether Hadley was making up the arguments to get attention, or if she was simply delusional.

"So Mom, Dad... How's Hadley been?"

"Hadley?" His mom looked shocked, as if just suddenly remembering she had a second child. "She's been fine, I suppose. Why?"

Denver shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I just haven't got many emails from her lately, that's all."

"If you're wondering how she's doing you should probably ask her yourself. She doesn't really share much with us. She's going through that teenager phase," His dad commented.

Reluctantly, Denver nodded. He stood up and walked down the hallway to his sister's room. A large sign on her door read 'Keep Out!' in large, menacing letters. Denver knocked tentatively on the door, beginning to wonder if Hadley would even want to talk to him. Just when he was about to turn away and head back to the living room, her voice floated through the door.

"Come in."

He opened the door slowly and left it open for a quick escape. "Hey Hads, how've you been?"

"Since when do you care?" She mumbled from where she was sitting at her desk. Her room was messy; clothes were spilling out of the closet, her bookcase was completely stuffed full and there were more books piled on the floor next to it, and her desk was a flurry of papers, binders, and various writing utensils. Overall it was a Virgo's (Denver's zodiac sign) nightmare.

"I've always cared about you Hadley." Denver sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. He should have known that Hadley would pull that line on him.

"Oh yeah?" She slammed her desk drawer closed and stood up. "Because last time I checked, you hadn't answered any of my last ten emails. And you didn't call on my birthday last year. But despite all of that, Mom and Dad still think you are the perfect older brother. All I hear is 'Oh, Denver did this' or 'Did you hear? Denver won that!' When I mention how you never talk to me, they just remind me how busy you are. Clearly, you are way too busy to care about me."

Denver rolled his eyes, already regretting entering his sister's room. Clearly she was in no emotional state for a calm discussion. Instead, she was throwing out all these accusations and getting agitated over nothing. "Hadley, all you ever talk about in your emails is mom and dad arguing. And frankly, I find that very hard to believe. Did you even see them two minutes ago? They were sitting in the living room getting along fine."

"They always get along when you're home. They don't want you to know that their marriage is falling apart!" Hadley balled her hands into fists and glared at her brother, refusing to back down.

"You always were dramatic, Hads." Denver chuckled, only infuriating his sister more. "Nothing is going on, and it would probably be better for you to stop making up stories. I thought you got out of your make believe phase years ago."

Hadley could practically feel steam pouring out of her ears. What more could she possibly say to get him to believe her? "I'm telling the truth, Denver! Maybe if you opened up your eyes and stopped seeing only the things you want to see you would realize that."

Now it was Denver's turn to get angry. He could humour his sister for only so long before he would get frustrated. "'You're delusional."

"Get out!" Hadley yelled. "Leave me alone!"

Without another word, Denver turned and walked out of Hadley's room, slamming the door behind him. She had a knack for putting him in a terrible mood. He stomped back into the living room where his dad was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. He looked up when Denver sat next to him.

"What happened in there? I heard Hadley yelling," he asked.

"Nothing," Denver huffed. "She was just being dramatic."

"What else is new?" His dad laughed. "Welcome to our lives; we're always dealing with Hadley's dramatics. Aren't we, Darling?"

Denver's mom appeared in the doorway. She placed two glasses of water on the coffee table in front of the two men. "That's right. She's always overreacting about something, although I can't imagine why."

"She probably just wants the attention," Denver muttered, staring at his hands.

If he would have looked up, he would have seen his parents exchange guilty looks, and his little sister peer around the corner before sprinting back into her room. She had heard every word Denver and her parents had said, and it was going to be the start of a long, dangerous journey.