13 Reasons Why [L.S.]

Tape Five

"A sting. A stinging pain is all I could feel."

And thus started the next tape taking me very much by surprise.

"It had gotten physical now."

Oh god. Pray for me. It will be a miracle if I manage to sit through this without crying or having to stop it.

"Let me explain the rest of the story before we come to the part where I am actually getting beat up."

Wait. I know when this happened. I was there. Well, of course not when they actually beat him up - then I would have tried to stop it - but afterwards.

So, after a long and exhausting round of 'who can come up with the best insult towards Louis' they were out. They had used every bad word, every insult in the book. It became quiet once no one could come up with a new way to verbally attack me. So they went for another method instead. Physical attack.

The circle they had formed slowly closed in on me from all sides, and before I knew it, hands were flying at me from every direction. As they punched on me like I was a human punching back, spitting a few unoriginal insults out too here and there, I couldn't take it anymore. I cried. So much. They repeatedly hit me in the jaw, the nose, the stomach and wherever else the could reach. It didn't seem to ever stop. They just kept going on and on. I fell to the ground, but that didn't stop them one bit because then they just starting kicking me in the face and stomach instead.

Then, when they finally stepped away from where I was lying on the ground and I thought they were done, they picked me up again. This time they took turns to beat me. I went around the circle like a bottle of alcohol, everyone getting their fair share. They threw me around like a ball, everyone equally excited to catch it and punch the shit out of it. It hurt so bad, and I couldn't stop myself from crying. Of course I couldn't, they were breaking all sorts of bones in my body."

By that point I was, without noticing, also crying. A few tears had slipped my eyes and were soundlessly gliding down the skin of my cheeks. As they arrived at my mouth and I tasted the salty flavor, realizing I was in fact crying, I hurriedly wiped away the few droplets that had escaped off of my face.

"Finally, when my vision had started to become blurry and I could taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth, they seemed to have gotten bored. They were finally done. They didn't leave though without once again telling me what a useless, dumbass, disgusting piece of crap I was. With one final push to the floor they left the locker room leaving me to drown in a mixture of my own tears and blood on the floor."

How could no one, not a single sole, have heard that? Well, somebody probably did, but were too much of a coward to do anything about it. If the principle or one of teachers had seen what Louis just explained, they would probably all have been kicked out of school.

"I barely managed to stand up my whole body being in a terrible amount of pain. It literally felt like I could break and fall apart at any moment. I dragged myself with the help of the wall, and a definitely broken angle, to the mirror looking at my face. My eyes were already on the edge of becoming black, my nose and mouth bleeding. Bruises were already beginning to appear on my skin as well.

Then suddenly I started feeling very dizzy, even more than I was already. My head was aching forcefully, just like about every other part of my body. I then felt my legs cave in under me and knew I was about to fall on the ground, probably hurting me even more. But I never hit the ground. I was caught. Caught in the arms of a certain Harry Styles."

I don't know why, but a rush goes through me every time that boy says my name. I clearly remember this day.

"I don't know how he found me, why his timing was so good or why he even helped me, but he caught me."

I do know.

I was walking around minding my own business when the soccer team - obviously minus Louis - walked by me. By a coincidence I managed to hear a little snippet of their conversation. They were talking about how pathetic Louis was and how easy of a target he was. Then one of the guys was complimenting the other on how good of a punch he gave Louis when they were beating him up in the locker room. My eyes opened wide before I instantly started running towards the boy's locker room, finding him inside it. Just as I was running towards him it looked like he was losing his balance so I hurried to catch him before he landed on the ground. And that's the story of how that happened.

"After he caught me, he helped me get on my feet. I could tell he was very surprised by how I looked and how much I had been hurt, but he ignored it - in a good way - and focused on making me feel okay again. He assisted me to the nurse's office, where she told him to leave so that's what he did. And then I didn't see him again for some time.

So, since I know you will be listening to this Harry, I just want to thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being there for me. Even though it was a small gesture, it meant a lot."

Click.

A smile had edged itself onto my face by the end, and I couldn't help but smile at what he had said. It truly meant something to him. It truly meant something to me.