13 Reasons Why

Aria

I was right again, Aria is my next visitor. Watch Ali be after her...

"Hanna, there's something you should know. Before I got the text from Caleb saying that you were in the hospital in critical condition, I was on my way to his cabin to see you. I wanted to apologize for what I said to you the day before. You might already know this, but you weren't the first person that Zack had made a pass at, he's a big jerk internationally," Aria said indignantly.

"Well, 'A' stoked the fire," replied Hanna coldly.

"It doesn't matter, he took the bait," added Aria.

"Why didn't you believe me?" Hanna asked, sadly.

"It wasn't so much that I didn't believe you, I just wanted to believe my mom could find someone again and be happy."

"Aria, can I ask you something else?"

"Of course."

"How do you keep going when the worst thing has happened?"

"What do you mean by that Hanna?" Aria asked nervously.

"When someone you love tells you something, you automatically think it's true. Suicide had been weighing heavily on my mind since Ali's return. But hearing you, my best friend, tell me that I was 'always the problem' and that I 'should go ahead and self-destruct' gave me the okay to do it... to end my life. If you listened to your tape, then you should've already heard this," she added bitterly. "And that was the worst thing that had happened to me, one of my best friends, someone I love, straight up told me that she didn't care about what happened to me. After that awful night, I asked myself: 'what do I have to change inside to survive? Who do I have to become?' When I couldn't find an answer to either of those questions, that's when I decided that my time here on Earth, was up," Hanna paused but continued before Aria could respond. "And another thing, you also told me that you weren't going to let me bring your mom down too. The fact that you added 'too' to the end of that statement implied that you knew even before I visited you that night that I was down. But instead of building me up, you knocked me down even more."

A minute passed before Aria said anything. "I'm going to be honest, Hanna, I didn't listen to my tape in its entirety. I was too ashamed of what I might've done to you. I stopped listening after you said that 'you would've just kept it to yourself.' I don't even know what to say. I don't think saying 'I'm sorry' is ever going to be enough."

"It's a start," Hanna said, void of any emotion.

"I'm so sorry, Hanna! How do I even apologize for something like that?! Forget the other twelve people, I'm the one who cut you down when you were at the end of your rope. I should be arrested for involuntary manslaughter, for crying out loud! Hanna, please tell me what I can do for you to forgive me," Aria said hysterically.

"Aria, please calm down. You coming here, crying hysterically and begging for my forgiveness shows how much you care about me. I just wished you would've shown me this much concern when I told you about Zack," replied Hanna.

"I know. I do love and care about you, Hanna. You're one of my best friends. Hell, if you would've stayed with Mike, you could've been my future sister-in-law. But you are like a sister to me, Hanna. Sure we fight, but we'll always love each other, no matter what, right?" she asked more, calmly.

"Yes. I love you too, Aria. And I forgive you."

"Are you just saying that to shut me up?" she sniffled.

"No. I forgive you. And it's probably for the best that you heard what I had to say to your face and not through headphones. I think it was more effective this way."

"It was," Aria said as she got up to hug Hanna.