Poker Face || Z. Dempsey

Tape 4, Side A

   "Why didn't you need a ride yesterday?" Zach asked when Amelia slipped into the passenger's seat. His eyebrows were low over his eyes and he watched her closely as she turned and tossed her bag into the back.

   "I was hanging out with Fred." She kept her tone steady, not wanting to poke the monster. He glowered.

   "You shouldn't hang out with him," he mumbled. "He probably just wants to sleep with you."

   "I can't hang out with him, but you can sleep with whoever the fuck you want?" Amelia was pissed and she didn't bother hiding it. His over protective nature was almost sweet at times, but since he had been more distant and defiantly hiding something, she didn't want to deal with his crap. "Yeah, we might be sleeping together, but the constant thing about you is that I know you are sleeping with someone."

   She actually had a really nice time with Fred. They went back to his house, and they just spoke about all of life's problems. She admitted that he was right that Zach liked her, and there was some crying over how broken their friendship had become. It was great having another friend, because Zach had been her rock for the longest time. With him pulling away, she was happy to have another friend to steady her. One of the things he said to her stood out, and seemed to play in her head all night.

   "Look, obviously your relationship is going to be rocky, but this isn't your fault. There is nothing wrong with not returning the feelings, especially if he sprung it on you after the death of one of your friends. You did nothing wrong and don't let him guilt trip you, and don't convince yourself that it is." They were sitting in his room, Amelia was on the desk chair and Fred was on the bed, but it made her feel one hundred different things. She wanted to be friends with Zach, and try to get their friendship back to where it was before everything went down, but she was sick of feeling like it was her fault.

   Reclining her seat as far as she could, Amelia put her earbuds in, making it clear that she didn't want to hear his pathetic response. She rolled over as much as the seatbelt would allow, and shut her eyes, hoping to get a few more moments of sleep.

***

   Of course there was drama when they arrived at school. It was becoming apparent that drama about Hannah Baker would be a regular occurrence. Even dead, Hannah was the center of attention.

   As soon as they arrived, Amelia jumped out of the car. She didn't want to be with Zach at that moment, and she didn't know how long she would want to be away from him. Every day, it was harder and harder to keep their friendship from spontaneously combusting. She had put the effort in, but it was his turn.

   A loud banging broke Amelia from her thoughts. A girl, Amelia believed that she was new, was hitting Hannah's locker angrily, occasionally shouting at it. Amelia began to go to her, trying to figure out what the hell was happening, but Clay Jensen beat her her to the girl, anger flashing on his face.

   "Hey! Hey, what the hell? What are you doing?" With a sigh, Amelia realized that Clay thought that the girl was just beating Hannah's locker for the hell of it. Maybe revenge on Hannah, maybe just because she wanted to beat something up.

   "I can't get it open!" the girl cried out in frustration."

   "Why the hell would you want to?" Clay asked, and Amelia rolled her eyes not wanting to see anymore of the awkward exchange. Stuffing the books she needed into her bag, she sped walked to English to get away from everyone.

ººº

   Communications class was Amelia's favorite. It was a nice break from life and she got a credit for it, so she really couldn't complain about it. There was an added plus that both Hannah and Zach also were taking it.