3|Elaina

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100 Days Before the Fall

Hadley was standing at her locker alone, as usual. Most of her lunches were spent sitting on the second floor landing, trying to avoid staring at her ex-best friend living it up in the cafeteria with the boy she had crushed on for years. In a moment of weakness, she had even struck up a conversation with Pete the Nose Picker in the school library. They'd had a decent conversation until she realized that his nose picking days hadn't ended in kindergarten. After that, she continued to eat lunch alone.

Footsteps sounded from the other end of the hall. Hadley turned; lunch didn't end for another ten minutes. The halls were usually deserted at this time. As soon as the person came into view, Hadley whipped around and tried to hide her face behind her locker door. Of course the only other person in the hallway right now would be Elaina. Of course.

Elaina and Hadley had a history, and it wasn't a pretty one. Ever since Hadley could remember, Elaina had had it out for her. For years Hadley had put up with Elaina's bully-like behaviour, never seeing the point of telling on her. Some people would never change.

"Nice sweater, Hadley." Elaina sneered. Both girls knew it wasn't a compliment. Hadley glanced down at her sweater, suddenly ashamed of the pale pastel stripes that covered it, probably making it look like it was from The Children's Place.

Without saying another word, Elaina passed by, sashaying down the hallway. It was weird she was alone, usually she had Kristee following along behind her and laughing at every insult she uttered. And, of course, Dani had joined their ranks only a few weeks ago, but neither of them were in sight.

Elaina had said so many horrible things to her over the years that the snarky comment about her sweater hardly stung. Hadley turned back to her locker and continued sorting out her books.

"Hey, Hadley." Hadley turned around, hardly able to believe the voice she had heard. But her ears hadn't betrayed her: Dani was standing right beside her, one hand on her hip.

"Dani...?" Hadley phrased it like a question. Dani hadn't spoken to her in weeks; not a single word since the first day she ate lunch with Kristee and Elaina.

Dani shuffled her feet. "Yeah, it's me. I guess you kinda hate me now, huh?"

Hadley considered this. She should hate Dani. She had every reason to hate her; it was thanks to her that she was now alone all the time. Even her math teacher had questioned why she always sat on the landing by herself. And she had heard Dani whispering with Kristee and Elaina as they walked by her, never bothering to wave hello. She had gone from being Dani's best friend to being a ghost she acted like she couldn't see.

But despite all of that, Hadley didn't feel angry at Dani. In fact, a large part of her just wanted Dani to hug her and make plans for lunch tomorrow. She was willing to forget about everything that had happened between them if Dani was.

"I don't hate you. Do you want to get lunch tomorrow and catch up? We could walk to the A&W." Hadley offered to go to A&W because she knew it was Dani's favourite fast food place and it was within walking distance from the school.

Dani looked surprised that she had been forgiven so easily, but there was another strange look passing over her face. She seemed... conflicted. But why? Hadley wondered. Dani had approached her, she should be overjoyed that she was forgiven.

"Dani!" A high-pitched voice called out. "Ew, what are you doing talking to that loser?"

Hadley stiffened. It wasn't hard to guess who was calling Dani: Elaina. And it didn't take a genius to figure out who the loser was: her.

Hadley's Fall (Based on 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher)Where stories live. Discover now