Tapes :: Alex Standall

T W O

A T H E N A

- - -

I stand up walking to the bathroom remembering the unbearable pain that had been between my legs.
All I want is to forget what happen two nights ago.
What he did.
I kept crying and screaming for him to stop, but he never did. I put my feet into the warm water in the bathtub as water pours out from the faucet. I sit myself down in the bathtub seeing the bruises with the shape of hands printed onto my thighs with a reddish purple tint. I feel tears roll down my cheeks as remember the screams leaving my mouth that had been muffled from his hands. I remember the movements that he made inside of me as I cried in pain. Everyone else had been drunk and making out with people or passed out on the couch. No one was there to save me.
People were concerned why I had been ignoring them and not eating.
I practically looked like death.

- - -

I look on my bed seeing a small box sitting there that looked like it had been carried roughly by dozens of other people. I knit my eyebrows in confusion as I walk towards the box and slowly open the lid. I see a couple of tapes in the box with numbers on each side. Thirteen tapes.
I move the tapes out of the box and notice an extra tape that sat at the bottom of the box. I pick the first tape up and go straight to my closet to find my Walkman.

"Hey, its Hannah. Hannah Baker. Live and in stereo." I hear through my headphones.

- - -

"Athena Foley, welcome to your tape." Her voice rang through the headphones that I immediately yanked out of my ears pausing the tape. "I should wait." I say to myself with anxiety filled within me "Athena, you already listened to all of the tapes but your own. Just listen it tomorrow." I say out loud to myself as I set the Walkman and headphones down and grab a bag.

- - -

"Where are you??" My brother almost yells through the phone "Why do you care?" I question as my feet dip into the clean river "Because you're my sister!" He exclaims "I'm staying the night at Ryan's house." I lie "Bullshit. I called him right before you and he said you weren't there and that he couldn't reach you." He says "I just need to breathe." I reply as I hear him sigh from the other end "Can I ask you something?" He questions "Sure." I reply "Wh-where did you get those hand marks on your back? Where are they from they're all over your shoulders and arms." He questions "What are you talking about?" I ask him "You wore a tank top earlier, I saw them. Where are they from?" He says "N-No where." I say "Don't lie to me, Athena." He says oddly calm "I'm not ready to tell you." I say as a tear escapes my eye "Okay. Just, please stay safe." He says and ends the phone call. I set the phone on the ground next to me. Sighing, I move my body forward and fall into the deep lake as the moon shined on the water.

I feel myself unable to breathe as I keep myself from floating back to the top. I close my eyes feeling as if my head will explode at any given moment. All I could think about was the tapes and what had happen. My tears and the river water mixed as I grow light-headed. I squeeze the wet fabric of my shirt as I feel arms wrap around my body. No one was supposed to be here.
Everything was supposed to end tonight.

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