WARNING : mentions of sexual assault and suicide

It had been almost a week and a half since Hannah Baker's suicide, and Josie Saltzman had still not spoken to either her sister nor Justin Foley. Lizzie Saltzman did not want to talk to Josie either, but Justin was trying everything in his power to get Josie to trust him again.

But that would never happen.

Josie was heartbroken. Not even only because of Justin, but because of Hannah. Hannah has been Josie's friend, and she just let Hannah suffer without even knowing about it. She felt as if the entire thing was her fault and her fault alone.

At school, Josie would not speak to anyone except for Hope Mikaelson. Hope knew something more than just Hannah's death was wrong with Josie, but she did not want to push her. Josie was suffering, and she needed Hope by her side.

It was a Wednesday when Josie arrived at her house after school ended to find a box with her name on it sitting on her doorstep. She furrowed her eyebrows and picked it up. She brought the box up to her room and ripped the box open to reveal seven cassette tapes. This confused Josie. She could not even remember the last time she used one of these things.

The girl made her way into her father's bedroom where she saw him sitting at his desk. "Hey, dad."

"Hi, sweetheart." Alaric Saltzman sent his daughter a smile. "What's up."

"Do you have a tape player?"

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows as he let out a laugh. "Why would you need that, Jo?"

"Uh- it's for a project." Josie looked down at her hands as she shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "So, do you have one?" The man nodded as he stood up and made his way to his closet. He opened it and rummaged through his things before holding out a tape player to Josie. "Thanks, dad." Josie spoke quickly before rushing back to her bedroom.

She plugged in her headphones and put the first tape into the player before running it on. "Hey, it's Hannah. Hannah Baker." Josie's eyes widened as she looked into the box, trying to see if there were any sort of note inside. "Don't adjust your... whatever device you're hearing this on. It's me, live and in stereo. No return engagements, no encore, and this time, absolutely no requests. Get a snack. Settle in. Because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to this tape... you're one of the reasons why."

Josie spent the entirety of that night listening to the first eight tapes. The first one consisted of Justin sending the photo of Hannah around. The second consisted of Jessica Davis blaming Hannah for her breakup with Alex Standall. The third, Alex sending around the Hot or Not list. The fourth, Tyler Down stalking Hannah. The fifth, Courtney Crimson lying to everyone, saying that Hannah was a lesbian instead of her, The sixth, Marcus Cole trying to sleep with Hannah on Valentine's Day, simply because he thought she would be easy. The seventh, Zach Dempsey stealing all of the complimentary notes Hannah would receive. And, the eighth, Ryan Shaver publishing the poem that Hannah has written in his school newspaper.

The girl reached the Ninth tape very late into the night. She turned on the tape, anxiously waiting to hear what would be next. "I've got a question for you, Justin. Not the one you think. Not yet. What's the best part of high school." Josie let out a deep sigh, realizing she would not be spoken about during this tape. "The great friends you make? The romance? No. We both know the best part of high school is summer break. It's the great reset button. And after everything that happened to me sophomore year, I couldn't wait to start fresh. To tear the pages from my journal and forget it all. Except, I didn't get very far. At work, my usual partner in crime was spending the summer with his grandparents. His temporary replacement was nice enough, but entirely too normal. And I couldn't escape my past."

Josie let out a sigh as she listened to the girl speak. "I needed a change. I needed to be someone new. Have you ever felt like that? I wasn't going to be invisible anymore. I was going to start brand new. I was going to cut away the past and leave it all behind. I was going to work harder. Be smarter. And be stronger. Because you can't change other people, but you can change yourself."

"I told Clay Jensen that I wasn't going to be going to Jessica Davis's party, but a part of me couldn't help but wonder what... or who... I might be missing out on." Josie shook her head, running her hands through her hair. She hated sitting here, waiting for Hannah to reveal what awful thing she did to make Hannah kill herself. "So here I am, the brand-new me living the same old life. I thought maybe starting over didn't have to mean cutting myself off completely. Maybe I'd been hanging with the wrong people. Maybe I could start over with the right person. But if I'd have known what was going to happen, what that night had in store, I never would have walked through that door."

Josie remembered back to when Hannah had texted her about Jessica's party and became incredibly interested to hear more of the story. "But parties have a weird magic. They're like an alternate universe. They can make you believe that maybe anything is possible. Maybe you do fit in after all."

"But here's the thing. People don't really change." Josie frowned. "This tape is special. There are two people it's directed towards. Justin Foley, welcome to your second tape. And Josie Saltzman, you're in for one hell of a ride."

"What the fuck." Josie let out a gasp as she paused the tape and threw the headphones onto her bed. Why was this tape about her. She did not know anything about what Hannah had been trying to tell her about Jessica's party.

Josie frowned before putting the headphones back into her ears and turning the tape back on. "That night, for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel invisible. I was nervous, because I felt so good, and I didn't want to screw it up. I was trying to act normal. But I didn't really know how anymore." The girl glanced out her window, seeing that it had just started raining. "There are three stories to tell about that night. I'll tell this one first. How did I end up in that bedroom? That's another story." Josie had no idea what Hannah was talking about. "But for now, Justin, you had been watching the same girl all night. You thought no one noticed, but I did. And, someone how you finally got her after months of flirting with her. You had been into Josie even when she was dating your best friend. What a dick move, Justin. But, I guess it's alright that you two fucked. They weren't dating anymore, right?"

The brunette bit her lip. How did Hannah know about any of this? "She was in her friend's room, trying to help her out because the girl was too drunk. Now, I'm not going to call her out by name, but she was completely wasted. Josie wanted to help the girl, but all you wanted to do, Justin, was have fun with Josie. Maybe if you hadn't distracted her, what happened next would have never happened."

Josie was lost in the story. She had no idea how Hannah had been in that bedroom. "She asked you to watch over the girl, right, Justin? But you didn't do that, and she should have never trusted you to do that. She should have never trusted you about anything. That's why Josie's on this tape, as well. It was just as much her fault as it was yours."

"When she left you alone with the girl, you barely even cared. You just shrugged it off and left the room, only to meet one of your best friends out in the hallway. You told him she was unconscious, and let him go inside. He stood there over the girls body, and I knew I had to do something. I had to make him stop. But I couldn't get my feet to move. It was dark in there. And the music was loud, but I saw his face. And I recognized his voice as clear as day. And so would all of you."

Josie sat there shocked, staring down at the tape player. What was Hannah saying. "But this tape isn't about him. It's about you, Josie, and me, Justin. You called him a friend. But your girlfriend's friend needed you. That girl had two chances that night. But all three of us let her down. How do I live with that? How do you, Justin? And what about you, Josie? How does the girl live with what happened?"

The tape ended and Josie realized she had been crying. Why wouldn't Justin tell her about anything of this? She grabbed her phone that laid on the bed beside her and unblocked Justin's contact.

*

Private Message between Justin🤢 and Josie💕

Josie💕
You need to come over right now
I need to fucking talk to you