13 Reasons Why

Chapter 9

(Katie) I smile at my mom quickly before pulling Mia into my room and giving the door closed behind me. I can't stand being out here with a happy face on any longer. At first, there's silence. Then she opens her mouth, "Katie... did you get them?" I raise my eyebrows, "What do you mean?" She sighs before grabbing my wrist and pulling me farther into my bedroom, away from the door. Away from earshot? "The tapes, did you get the tapes?" I freeze. I must have heard her wrong. Mia gave me those tapes?! No... how?! I yank my wrist free of her grasp. Can I even trust her? "Why did you have those tapes?!" I whisper-shout at her. Mia rolls her eyes, as if I was supposed to know this. "Katie, it's a continuous chain. The first person on the tape got them first. Kenzie. She got them the day Annie died, because she shipped them to LA to days before. The second person, Arden, got them two days after, because Kenzie finished the tapes that day and shipped them to Maryland. And Arden passed it on to the next person-" I cut her off. "Stop. Don't tell me who the next person is, I'm not there yet." Mia's eyes get big. "How?! Everybody else went through them in a matter of hours. I finished them in four. How else do you think it got through 11 people in a week?" My heart skips a beat. Eleven?! "So, I'm the twelfth reason she killed herself?" I say in a shaky voice. Mia bows her head, "And I'm the eleventh." I wipe my eyes that instantly fill with tears. "I can't believe Kenzie and Arden! Why would they do that?!" Mia let's out a little whimper before putting her hand on my shoulder, willing me to look up from the ground. "They get worse. Arden's was pretty bad, but so is mine. And a lot of other people's. Yours... well nobody's is good, I'll tell you that much." I shove away from Mia and walk over to the window. Tears streaking my cheeks. My back is towards her, but I can still hear her crying. "Katie?" She manages. I don't turn around, but focus on a bird making its nest in an outside tree. Why make the nest if it runs the risk of getting destroyed. I guess that's the same logic of why make friends if you're going to end up losing them. But I lost them...