The Day Hannah Died (wlw / gxg)

The Day We Met

Day One, on Hannah's timeline, was the day we met.

Of course, I remember the day we met.

Day One was the day she flirted without me noticing.

It was on a rooftop. Val threw a party and invited me. We had been friends for quite some time before that, so I didn't know why he would. I didn't go to parties. I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, I listened to music no one would ever want to hear at a party. I hated talking to people I didn't know. I went, anyway.

Val is a good friend. He is kind, funny, makes me feel better and invites me to parties he knows I don't want to attend. He is like that to everyone. Except, everyone else wants to go to his parties. His parties are legendary.

I had been on the rooftop before. He took me there in ninth grade when we met. Since then, I liked that place. But I didn't like it that night when it was loud and crowded.

I wanted to leave even before I said hello. I wouldn't find him anyway. He was probably somewhere with a girl. Then I saw that wonderful smile. And the girl with the wonderful smile was looking at me.

"You must be Riley!"

"How did you know?"

"Val showed me pictures. You look as pretty in real life. Come with me I'll get you something to drink."

"I don't drink alcohol."

"Oh, there's soda, too."

There were lights everywhere people dancing and standing around and I felt really uncomfortable. This wasn't my crowd.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

"I'm Hannah, by the way."

"Riley."

She laughed. "I knew that."

"Right." Her laugh was contagious. I never knew anyone with a laugh like hers. Or a smile like hers. These are the two things that made her attractive to me. It was her mind that made me fall in love. She had traveled a lot, lived in different places all over the world. She was curious about everything but in a good way. She wanted to know everything. She wanted to experience everything. She was the complete opposite of me. I had spent all my life in this city. I had three friends. I had bad anxiety. I couldn't even cross a street without feeling twitchy. I spent way too much time thinking about what people thought of me. I got two Instagram accounts so none of my classmates would know what I liked.

"Val wasn't sure you would show up."

"I didn't want to come, honestly."

"I'm glad you're here, anyway." She looked at me. "We can go somewhere else if you want to."

"It's okay here," I said. And it was the truth. It was okay sitting there with her, talking about Val and rooftops and school and life. She asked me to dance, too, but I refused. My room was the only one who ever saw me dance I wasn't going to change that because of a wonderful smile.

Maybe I should have. I should have danced with her.