Distant Mirage || 13 Reasons Why [ 0 ]

2

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SEPTEMBER

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No one saw Bailey for until the first football game of the season a week into the school year, she hadn't left her room since Kat's party. Drew looked after her, both of them telling their parents that she was sick with the stomach bug; for, every time she thought about what happened to her, she threw up. She had been extremely quiet, it worried Drew to no end. He was the only person she would speak to, and even then, it was never more then a few words.

The Matthews girl got ready in the boys locker room, as she usually did. She had put up a fake front the moment she entered the building, smiling when she saw all of her friends; forcing herself to speak when she wanted nothing more then being back in her bed. She wasn't initally going to go to the game, but she couldn't rid of the guilt at the thought of letting the team down as well as coach.

She ran through the warm ups with the team, keeping her eyes focused on the field below her feet the entire time. She played the game fiercer then she ever had, receiving a few warnings from the referee for how rough she had played. She had to get her anger out, and that was the only way she had at that point in time. Bailey had hardly celebrated when they had won the game, instead quickly grabbed her stuff and left with her brother.

The next time anyone saw Bailey was the next Monday when she walked into the school with Drew, quickly leaving him to go see Justin and Zach. She greeted them with a less forced smile, genuinely glad to be with them. She laughed as Zach made a joke, leaning against the wall with her Liberty jacket on her body with a loose white top, jeans and converse. Though she quickly went quiet when Bryce walked past the group with a teacher beside him, the girl moving over to snuggle herself into Zach's side in an attempt to make herself invisible.

Bailey's eyes followed Bryce as he walked past, anger on his face. His eyes were black, the bridge of his nose cut and blood dripping down onto his lip. Various other cuts lingered on his cheeks, all of them bleeding. Her gaze snapped back to another figure that was walking past them when Bryce disappeared out of view, stepping out from where she was with a shocked glance. There, was Drew looking completely smug as he walked down the hall with the teacher, not a mark on him. He winked her way when he spotted her, a chuckled leaving her mouth. She hadn't killed Bryce, but it seemed like he had been close to it.

'What was that about?' Zach asked.

'Bryce has had it coming for a few weeks now,' She shrugged in reply.

'What'd he do?'

'I don't know, something to do with football or some shit.'

'Right.'

The two boys nodded before starting up a new topic of conversation as they headed to homeroom, Bailey messaging her brother to find out what had happened. But as they passed Jeff, she told her two best friends to go on before she called out to the boy she may have had a slight crush on.