"DID YOU HEAR ALEX AND MONTY GOT INTO A FIGHT?"

Vienna rolled her eyes as Sheri Holland walked up to her. The dark-haired girl didn't even bother glancing away from her locker as she replied. "Why are you talking to me, Sheri?"

It was no secret Vienna hated Sheri after she listened to the tapes. "I just," Sheri cleared her throat awkwardly. "I thought we should all be sticking together right now."

"I could've died," Vienna spit out in response, finally turning to face the girl. "Because of you. Jeff did die because of you. That is on you, that will always be on you."

"You think I don't know that?" Sheri scoffed. "You don't think I live with that guilt all of the time, I-"

"Sheri," Vienna interrupted, body shaking with the absolute restraint it was taking not to slam the girl's head into a locker. "Leave me the fuck alone before we get into a fight, yeah?"

Sheri's eyes widened, and it didn't take long for her to scamper off. Vienna had never been unable to look at the girl the same. Not when it was her fault Vienna's boyfriend was gone.

"You missed the show," It was Justin who commented this time, leaning against the locker as he grinned at her. It was weird, for Justin to talk to her at school where Jessica could see.

Vienna supposed he was seeing if she was still mad.

"Who won?" She questioned, her tone so detached it startled Justin. It was like speaking to someone who wasn't fully there mentally.

"Alex started it," Justin informed her after a moment, unsure how to approach the situation. "Monty won. Alex got his ass beat."

"Good," Vienna responded, slamming her locker door shut. It was scary to even her, how quickly she had become able to detach from someone after Jeff passed.

Two days ago, she would've referred to Alex and Zach as one of her best friends, but now they were no different to her than walking past a stranger in the street.

"Vienna," Justin frowned in disapproval. "This isn't good for us. Alex is one of us whether you like it or not, and he's drawing attention to the rest of us."

Vienna turned to look at him, tilting her head. "Who?"

Justin grinned slightly at her. "I forgot how petty you can be when you're upset," When Vienna didn't respond, Justin sighed. "Come on. Don't be mad at me, please."

Justin moved his lips into a fake pout as he looked at her, trying to make her laugh, but Vienna wasn't in the mood. "Why do you care?" She fired back. "You stopped talking to me when you got with Jess."

"No," Justin protested immediately. "You stopped talking to me when you got together with Jeff."

Vienna paused, her lips pursing. She supposed Justin was right. It was equally her fault their friendship had ended, after all. When Jeff and Vienna started talking, Vienna distanced herself from Justin out of respect for Jeff.

"I just," Justin paused, taking a deep breath. "I can't have you hate me too. Not right now, with all this shit going on."

"I don't," Vienna assured him quickly. Despite being able to detach easily, Vienna had never found it in herself to hate Justin. "I can't."

Vienna paused, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before she continued. "You didn't do anything. Alex took it too far and Zach made that comment. You tried to help me calm down."

Justin smiled softly at her. "So, we're good?"

Vienna glanced down at her phone as it went off, and her entire facade crumbled apart. It was Marcus. He had sent her a picture of Clay with Sheri. "What the fuck?"

Vienna wondered how Sheri had went from bothering her to being with Clay at Monet's so quickly.

"What?" Justin questioned, leaning over her shoulder to read it. "Oh, shit, Vina. Are you okay?"

Vienna wasn't sure how she felt for a moment, but as usual her first emotion was anger. Vienna found comfort in the emotion, she always had.

Clay had been one of Jeff's closer friends. His genuine friend. Sure, Jeff had had the other baseball players, but much like Vienna and the cheerleaders, or Justin and the basketball players, those weren't true friendships.

No, those were fake bonds forged from forced proximity.

But Clay and Jeff?  That had been a true friendship. They had helped each other, trusted each other. And now Clay was parading around with Jeff's killer.

"Walk me home," Vienna responded through gritted teeth, shutting her phone off. If she looked at the picture for one more moment she was going to smash her phone into the locker. "Please."

Justin searched her face, trying to gauge how badly this would go for Clay when she got home, before he decided he didn't care. He nodded, escorting her out of the school.

Vienna's body was stiff with anger as she walked down the street back to her house. "I'm going to fucking kill him," Vienna promised. 

"I'll join you," Justin muttered darkly, and Vienna guessed he wasn't exactly thrilled with what Clay had been doing lately. Leaking the picture of Tyler, taking Courtney to see Hannah's grave. 

Vienna slammed the door of her house open so hard the door hit the wall and she winced. "Hello to you too," Mrs. Jensen greeted with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Is Clay home?" Vienna questioned, not bothering to return the greeting or answer the question.

"He's with a girl upstairs," Mrs. Jensen informed her, and Vienna's body stiffened even more, if that was possible. There was no way Clay brought her here. She stole a glance back at Justin, and that's when Mrs. Jensen noticed him.

A surprised look appeared on her face before she grinned. It had been a long time since Vienna brought a guy home. "Hi, Justin," Mrs. Jensen greeted. "It's been awhile."

"Hi, Mrs. Jensen," Justin greeted, but Vienna was already racing up the stairs, each step a little louder than necessary as she bolted for Clay's room.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Vienna questioned as she slammed the door open, watching Clay and Sheri jump apart. "I thought you of all people wouldn't want to be associated with her after what she did."

Clay looked utterly confused, and Vienna remembered he wasn't on Sheri's tape yet. But she was too angry to think rationally. "Vienna," Sheri's voice broke, and Vienna realized with a start she was crying. "Please, just stop. The damage is done."

"The damage?" Vienna repeated with a scoff. "The damage? That's what you want to call it? He's dead because of you!" 

Clay looked even more lost now, wondering who she was referring to, but Vienna lunged forward before he could ask. Justin's arm reflexively wrapped around her waist to hold her back.

"Vienna, what are you talking about?" Clay questioned, his alarm only growing as he watched Vienna's arms flail due to her desperation to get out of Justin's grip.

"Let me go!" Vienna screamed, struggling against Justin's grip. All she could think about right now was getting revenge for Jeff. He deserved it. "Let me fucking go! I'll kill you! Let me fucking go, let me fucking go."

Her body finally went slack, and tears streamed down her face. Sheri's face crumbled even more, and Clay shot Justin a bewildered look. Vienna was convinced she'd fall over if Justin let go.

"Is everything okay?" Mrs. Jensen questioned, walking into the room. Her eyes immediately widened when she found two crying girls, and Justin holding Vienna up. "Vienna, what's wrong?"

"I want her the fuck out of here," Vienna responded, not finding it in herself to care about the language. She ripped out of Justin's grip, walking down the hallway to her own bedroom.

Justin shot a guilty smile to Mrs. Jensen before rushing after her.

Vienna was tearing the posters off her wall, the trinkets on her dresser already ripped apart and on the wall. Everything in this stupid room reminded her of Jeff. The girl collapsed onto the floor, curling into herself as she cried.

She didn't know what had happened to make her this emotional.

Justin paused for a moment before dropping down next to her, bringing her into his grip. She tucked her face into a chest, and she almost felt bad as her tears instantly soaked through.

"Okay," Justin spoke, cradling her. He shushed her softly, running a hand through her. It almost felt too soft for her. "Okay, you're okay. Calm down."

"He's dead," Vienna cried, unable to form coherent thoughts at the moment. She would never go on another date with Jeff, never see another one of his games, never hear his infectious laugh again.

"I know," Justin whispered.

It was a sad fact Vienna would have to live with for her entire life.

✎⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Want to know a secret?

Vienna Noelle Reyes died on September 9th, 2017. 

But nobody noticed because it wasn't her body they buried.

Vienna looked like a corpse when she walked through the halls the next day. She was in a hoodie two sizes too big on her, a pair of shorts underneath. Her hair was tied so back messily it looked like a giant knot, and yesterday's mascara was rubbed under her eyes.

"You look like death," Tony commented at the game that night. He had found her on the sidelines, sitting down instead of doing her routine with the other cheerleaders. His eyes scanned over her messy features, a frown pulling on his lips. He had always had a softer spot for Vienna.

"Thanks," Vienna muttered dryly. Tony wasn't wrong. This was the least amount of effort she had put into her appearance since she moved here.

She guessed that was what happened when you finally came to terms with the fact your boyfriend was dead.

 "Clay told me about your meltdown last night," Tony continued, but Vienna was barely even listening to him. She felt like she wasn't here. "Are you okay, Vina?"

Vienna glanced around the cafeteria, noticing all the eyes on her, as if they were waiting for her to snap, and an unhappy sigh escaped her lips. "I can't look at her without seeing the car crash."

Tony understood instantly. He always understood. He was the closest thing to a brother she had. "I know. And it was shitty of Clay to take her to your house. But he doesn't know yet."

Vienna's eyes dropped down to the floor, her sneaker nudging against the smooth material. Guilt gnawed inside of her. Clay had no idea what Sheri had done, but she still went after him.

"I know," Vienna finally whispered softly. Her anger issues had been out of control, and she knew she was spiraling out. But the Jensen's didn't give her a second thought. All their attention rested on Clay.

"Maybe go a little easier on him?" Tony suggested gently, trying to make it clear he was not picking sides. "He's feeling guilty because he doesn't know what he did."

Tony paused, swallowing thickly as he looked at her. Much like the others, Tony knew Vienna was a ticking time bomb. He didn't know what would set her off.

His voice was softer when he spoke again. "He lost Jeff too, and Hannah, within a month of each other. He's struggling too, Vina, just try to remember that, okay?"

Vienna glanced to him, and he was surprised to find her eyes were slightly misty, as if she was fighting her tears back. "Vienna!" Her coach snapped before she could respond. "I gave your knee enough of a rest, get on the court!"

Vienna grabbed her pom-poms off the bench, standing up without a word to Tony. She had lied to her coach, saying her knee was messed up again to get a break.

But with Zach Dempsey carrying the team tonight, making basket after basket, her coach was requiring all pep available. She walked up, waving her arms around as she grinned.

Nobody could see she was dying inside.

"Stop! Stop it, stop!" Vienna turned, her smile instantly dropping as Clay ran down the bleachers, shouting with panic clear in his eyes.

Vienna's eyes widened as everyone in the gym's attention settled on him. His chest was heaving, glancing around the gym, and he seemed to come to reality.

Clay shoved through the crowd, exiting the gym without another word. Vienna glanced back, her eyes meeting Tony's. Maybe he was right. Maybe Clay was struggling as bad as she was.

Maybe he was struggling worse.

That thought was solidified the next morning when she woke up to find Zach Dempsey and his mother outside her house, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Jensen.

Why me was keyed on the outside of Zach's car, and Vienna inhaled sharply as she walked out to join the group on her lawn, in nothing but a tank top and shorts.

"Have you lost weight?" Mrs. Jensen blurted out without thinking.

Mrs. Dempsey shot Mrs. Jensen an unsatisfied look as Clay glanced at Vienna. "I'm sorry but what makes you think our son has anything to do with this?" Mr. Jensen questioned.

"He was at the game, acting strangely," Mrs. Dempsey responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The ref had to kick him off the court because he was trying to harass my son."

"But nobody saw who keyed the car?" Mrs. Jensen replied. 

"Kids get jealous," Mrs. Dempsey shrugged, avoiding the question.

"I'm asking you if anyone saw who keyed the car," Mrs. Jensen repeated.

"I don't think he was jealous," Zach spoke up.

"You hush!" Mrs. Dempsey warned. "Look, I came here as a courtesy. I could have called the police."

Vienna exchanged a look with Zach. The police being called was the last thing any of them needed right now. "Well, maybe you should." Mrs. Jensen fired back.

"Lainie," Mr. Jensen warned. 

"No," Mrs. Jensen shook her head. "Maybe they should let the authorities figure out who did this, instead of coming here pointing fingers and accusing our son of vandalism."

"I did it," Clay spoke so quietly none of the adults heard him. Vienna's eyes widened.

"Just because our son doesn't drive an expensive car," Mrs. Jensen continued her rant.  "Doesn't mean-"

"That's not the point, here!" Mrs. Dempsey interrupted.

"I did it!" Clay shouted so loudly Vienna flinched. She wasn't used to Clay yelling, and she didn't do well with angry men. The adults around them went deadly silent. "I did it, okay?"

Mrs. Dempsey gave Mrs. Jensen a satisfied smile as Vienna ran a hand over her face. Clay needed serious help. But she also knew that nobody would get it.

"Karen, Zach," Mrs. Jensen said with a small sigh. "Why don't you come inside, we'll sort this out."

Mrs. Jensen marched past them, and Vienna swore that was the angriest she had ever seen the woman. "I'd like to talk to Zach and Vienna for a minute, if I could," Clay called.

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Dempsey fired back, gaze moving over Vienna judgingly. 

"Mom, please?" Zach begged, stealing a glance at Vienna. There were many words left unsaid between them.

"Two minutes," Mrs. Dempsey gave in, walking into the house as Mr. Jensen followed. The teenagers were suddenly left alone.

"Look, I," Zach started, trailing off for a minute as he tried to find the proper words. "I told her to forget about it. I didn't want to come here or anything like that."

"I'm glad you did," Clay responded calmly, and Vienna sighed. This couldn't be good. "Let's go inside and explain to your mom why I keyed your car."

"No, Clay, please," Zach protested. "Don't."

"Why not?" Clay replied. 

"Because," Zach shrugged. "Well, do your folks know? About you, or about Vienna?" Zach reasoned. Clay snuck a glance at Vienna, remembering how she was becoming a shell of her old self. "About you two and Hannah?"

"You're not innocent in this, Clay," Vienna spoke up softly. "You act like you're better than all of us, but you're just as much to blame as the rest of us."

Clay hesitated for a moment before addressing Zach. "Why'd you do it?"

"I didn't think she'd react like that!" Zach responded. "I mean, come on, Clay. You knew her as well as anybody else. That girl was too much."

"You knew she needed help," Clay countered, stepping forward. "When Mrs. Bradley read that note, you-"

"I freaked, okay?" Zach interrupted. "That letter. That shit was heavy, and I didn't know what to do."

"So you threw it away?" Clay questioned.

"No," Zach shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't. Hannah lied about that. Or maybe that's what she saw, I don't know. I freaked out." Zach opened his wallet, revealing a note. "But I never threw it away."

"Shit." Clay muttered.

"Boys?" Mr. Jensen called.

"We're coming!" Clay responded.

"I'm sorry, Clay," Zach whispered after a moment. Clay continued to stare down at the note in his hand. "I'll always be sorry. Do you want to read it?"

Clay hesitated before shaking his head. "I don't think I could. I don't think I ever could."

Clay turned, slowly walking into the house, and Vienna turned to face him. "I'm sorry," She spoke. "For ghosting you these last few days."

See, Vienna was good at holding grudges. But she realized if she hated someone each time they even slightly messed up, she would end up alone. 

"It's okay," Zach responded instantly. "I never should've said you were being dramatic. This sounds bad, but with everything going on I almost forgot how bad that crash messed you up."

"I never showed it," Vienna shrugged simply. For two months now, she had been a ghost, barely functioning as she floated through life. "It's easy to forget."

"So we're good?" Zach questioned, and Vienna nodded. He stepped forward, wrapping her into a short hug.

For the first time since the crash, Vienna felt like a small piece of life was being blown back into her soul.