Its Not Living (If Its Not With You)

¹7

2 days later, after school

Clay and Hannah had been a lot happier together since she had called the counsellor. Today was the day of her appointment, and Clay was giving her a ride there, and for support. They headed to the counsellors office straight after school.

When Clay had his bike parked outside, they walked in. They sat in the waiting room, waiting for Hannah to be called. A few minutes, a middle aged blonde woman came out.

"Hannah Baker?"

Hannah turned to face Clay.

"You can do this. Just tell her everything.", Clay reassured her, giving her a kiss on the forehead before watching her walk into the office.

"She can do it.", he whispered to himself.

When Hannah was sat down in her chair, the counsellor started talking.

"Hello, Hannah, how are you today?", she asked.

"Fantastic.", she responded sarcastically.

"So, what's on your mind today, Hannah? What's your reason for coming here?"

"Well, first off, my aunt and best friend killed herself last year. I had been cutting for a while and my parents couldn't afford to pay for counselling or therapy or anything like that. I just kind of stopped after a while. But lately, I've started again."

"OK. Why is that? Why have you started selfharming again?"

"Bunch of kids at my school. All the guys go after me because of my ass even though I have a boyfriend, and there's one guy in particular who scares me."

"What scares you about this boy?"

"He's groped me twice, and was stopped once by my boyfriend. The last time it happened, over a week ago, he tried to finger me, but Clay and I stopped him in time. The guy also thinks he owns everything and everyone just because he's rich. He really brings me down, as well as everything else that's happening. But he's the reason I'm down."

"Would you like to report this boy?"

"No point. His daddy could buy him out. One time, he got arrested for drink driving and his dad bailed him out the same day. I would report him if there was a point."

"What about Clay? Are you happy with him?"

"Oh, Clay's excellent. He's the one who gave me your number, and he's funding my sessions. We have no problems in our relationship at all."

They talked for a full hour. When Hannah left the office, she felt more refreshed. When she walked back out into the waiting room, Clay sat up.

"So, how did it go?", he asked, walking up to her.

Hannah smiled at him and hugged him.

"It was great. Thanks so much for making this possible, Clay. I'm going to get better, Helmet.", she said, feeling happier with every word.

"That's great, Hannah. You can beat this."

Hannah's house

Hannah and Clay went into the music room right away.

"What about the homework?", Hannah asked, tucking some of her hair behind her.

"We have all evening to do the homework. I just wanted to show you something that might raise your spirits a bit more today.", he said, plugging in the electric guitar.