Through These Doors (PeetaxCato)

Chapter 5- Courtney and Clay

Cato

Me and Peeta went back to school the next day and I could tell Peeta was very happy to see me leaving the house. The poor guy had been so faithful to me through all this I was going through.

I was greeted by a smiling Katniss, a goth Clove and a highly unusual cheerful Johanna. I was a little suprised to see things so different with everyone lately. It seemed like everything was changing but me.

I walked Peeta to Mr. Abernathy's class and then turned around into Gloss.

  "Cato Hadley...its good to see you again." he said in a friendly tone..

  I couldnt help it. I did it without thinking.

  I slapped him.

He didnt do anything though. I walked off before he could say anything.

  My first class was government, and we were watching a movie apparently so we wouldnt be working today. That was good because I sure as hell didn't want to work.

I noticed a guy in the seat next to me with a tape recorder and a pair of Beats by Dre headphones on his head.

"Hey, I'm Cato. Nice to meet ya." I shook his hand.

   "Clay. Clay Jensen." he said in a cheerful yet troubled demeanor.

  "Whatcha listening to? Eighties or nineties?" I asked.

  "These are the tapes the girl I was in love with left me before she died."

  I gasped. I couldnt believe how stupid I had been!

  "Dude, I am so sorry to hear that. Can I ask what happened?"

   "She killed herself, and I couldn't save her." he said as tears slid down his face silently.

  I instantly took him in my arms and he cried and cried. No one could hear us and I didn't care if they did. He needed to let this out.

And I had all the time in the world.

Peeta

I walked into class and noticed an Asian girl in a blue dress and a sparkly bow that held her pinafore with sunglasses on it together around her collar. She had short chin-length hair held together by a blue hair barrette. She seemed to be lonely so I sat down next to her.

   "Hi, I'm Peeta. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, hi, my name is Courtney. Courtney Crimsen." she said as she accepted my handshake.

  "Nice to meet you, Courtney. Are you new to this school?" I asked.

  "Yes I am. First day." she whispered.

  "I can relate..I came here three months ago so I'm still kinda new."

  "Yeah, I went to this school called Liberty High and I had to leave." she said as she looked down at the floor.

  "Why?" I asked.

"Because...because...I was one of the reasons this girl killed herself." she said as she began to cry softly.

  "Oh, come now, surely you didn't."

"No, Peeta, this girl...her name was Hannah Baker...she was so pretty and I fell for her....Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldnt have said that..."

  "Oh, don't be ashamed of it. We are an open school. I'm bi, he's gay, and apparently you are a lesbian."
Johanna blurted out, intrigued.

  "Yes, I am...anyways Hannah Baker was being stalked by this kid at our school named Tyler who loves to take pictures of people in intimate moments..."

  "Just like Finnick..." Katniss whispered.

  "Yeah, so like I stayed at her house and then we got drunk and we were playing truth or dare and I dared her to kiss me...and she did. I mean it didn't mean anything...it was just a kiss...but Tyler snuck up on us and took photos of us while we were making out and then Hannah flashed my huge flashlight I had with me at the window and he ran off and I got so scared because my school wasnt like this one. If you were gay, you were dead. In fact, this is the most amount  of gay people I have seen like ever..."

  I noticed everyone in the room was now listening, even Mr. Abernathy!!

  "I got so scared that when the pictures came out, I lied and said the pictures were of Hannah and someone else named Laura who looked just like me. I broke Hannah's heart and then a lot of other things went down. She got raped in a hot tub and I didnt support the guy that did it but I defended him anyways because I thought the guy deserved at least a chance, you know..."

I noticed some nods across the room.

"And then, a month ago, Hannah Baker took her own life. She slit her wrists wide open..." Courtney broke down, "...and...and...I couldn't save her. No one could. She left behind a box of tapes though that stated the reasons why she...she..she..did it."

  Courtney now was crying pretty heavily now. I think I could speak for the whole class we all felt so bad for her....the guilt she must be feeling...the sadness she must be enduring.

   "I was the fifth reason. I was the one who broke her heart....and that's never gonna change. My parents moved me here yesterday because I have tried to kill myself so many times..because life isn't worth it...it isn't worth it if you have blood on your hands...it isn't worth it..." she finished as she cried her hardest and covered her face in the palms of her hands.

Suddenly we all gathered around her and hugged her while she cried and cried. Courtney had apparently paid her price for Hannah's death. Now we would build her up again....

Song of the Day; The Heart Wants What It Wants by Selena Gomez