—

Clay had the tapes.

Melanie knew that much.

Where he was? She had no clue. She only hoped that she'd be given time to recover from the shock that he received them so early before he came barreling in with the questions.

If he had finished tape one, then she knew her shared tape with Jessica was coming up next.

Her eyes darted around the school halls in search for her friend, only to come face to face with Jessica who wasted no time in questioning her,

"Where the hell is Justin?"

She jerked back in surprise, "Where the hell is your decorum? Can you back up?"

"Clay has the tapes, Porter wants to see me soon, and Justin's no where to be found."

"Porter wants to see everyone and Justin's probably sleeping in." She slightly hinted that the man wanted to meet with her as well, "Just relax."

"I can't relax—"

"Well, try." Mel cut her off, "You're freaking yourself out for no reason."

With that, Mel continued her walk to class, unaware that she'd run into Jessica only a few minutes later.

•••

Its time to meet the stars of Tape One, Side B. So, without further ado, let me introduce my former friend, or friends. Step up Jessica Davis and Melanie Dempsey. You're next.

"Hey. Where the hell is Justin?"

Mattias looked up from his desk, to see Jessica entering the classroom, her footsteps quick as she stopped at Zach's desk. The youngest Dempsey twin looked stunned to see her. Truthfully, Mattias would be too, Jessica looked a mess.

"I don't know, Jess."

"You don't know?" She looked to be in disbelief as she's never see Justin without one of his teammates, or even Melanie.

"Probably just skipping first, sleeping in."

"I told you." Melanie said as she passed Zach the worksheet he missed when walking into class. As she sat down in her seat, she could feel eyes on her. With one look over, she saw both Clay and Mattias looking at her. The latter nodded at her, a way of saying 'hello' without being too obvious. Mel smiled, looking away when Zach kicked the back of her chair.

"Did he ride with you guys today?"

"No--"

"Mattias?"

The boy in question looked up in confusion. He had no clue why Jessica was going on a rampage in search for her boyfriend, and he didn't really care.

"Did Justin ride with you and Monty today?"

Melanie shook her head. If there was one thing everyone on the tapes could agree on, it was that they wouldn't bring any outsiders into the situation.

Matti's response was vague, "No."

"So, where is he? Marcus?" The Davis girl continued, either unaware or unbothered by the attention she was creating for them, "Did you guys see him last night?"

"Yeah, yeah, he was at practice."

"Why won't he answer my calls or texts?"

"Why would we know that, Jess?" Melanie sighed, growing more and more annoyed with the girl by the second.

"He's never without one of you guys." Jessica whispered harshly, "Mr. Porter wants to see me now. He left a call slip in my homeroom."

As if they couldn't get any more suspicious, Zach and Marcus shared a look, one that didn't go unnoticed by Mattias, or Clay.

"Miss Davis." The teacher called out, "Don't you have a class to get to?"

Jessica sighed, leaning over one last time, "Tell him I need to talk to him."

"Now."

The Davis girl huffed loudly, locking eyes with Clay before she began to leave, "What you listening to, Clay?"

"Miss Davis."

Mattias noticed the headphones wrapped around Clay's neck. He scrunched up his brows, figuring that whatever he was listening to had something to do with why Jessica was acting the way she was.

He didn't question it. Matti didn't care. Not really, anyway.

But as he caught Melanie watching the Jensen boy wearily, he thought that maybe it was something serious.

•••

Melanie walked out of class quickly, only stopping when a hand made its way onto her shoulder.

"Hey."

She let out a breath before turning around, forcing a smile, "Hi, Clay."

Despite her obvious rush, he took a second to gather his thoughts, "Uh...do you really not know where Justin is?"

"What?" She let out a confused chuckle, though knowing clearly what he was talking about.

"Justin... he and I have a project together." He lied.

"Clay." She chuckled softly, not even attempting to hide her amusement, "You and Justin have very few classes together and the ones you do share, I'm also in them. We have no projects."

"Okay, Mel—" He cleared his throat, "It's about Hannah."

Isn't it always, recently? She wanted to say. But she knew he'd take that question the complete opposite way of how she intended.

"What about her?"

Clay looked around wearily, "She left something."

Saving him the embarrassment of explaining what she already knew, Mel nodded, "I know."

"You know?"

"The tapes... You have them."

His concerned expression fell, anger quickly replacing it, "How long have you known?"

"Since the start?" She estimated, "I would assume you'd put that together by now."

"I'm only just now getting on yours and Jessica's tape."

"How long have you had them?"

"I got them last night." He shrugged.

"And you're only on the second side of Tape 1? Jesus, Clay."

"Sorry, I had to take a break the second I heard my dead crushes voice for the first time in months." He spoke sarcastically.

"Justin barely had them for a day before he passed them on." Melanie pointed out.

She should have known that Clay would take longer than others to process everything. He was closer to the Baker girl, making it only harder to bear the sound of her voice.

"What did you do to her?"

The Dempsey girl sighed, "Betrayed her trust? I still haven't really figured out exactly why I have a tape."

Clay looked confused.

"Everyone that's heard them tells me I shouldn't be on them. That it was a misunderstanding. And it was. I didn't even realize how I acted until I listened."

Clay didn't think Melanie was a bad friend. Not in the slightest. And as much as he hated to say it, Hannah was a bit of an over-reactor to certain things. He could only pray that Hannah was overreacting when she made Mel's tape.

"Why are you and Jessica on the same one?"

She shrugged, "I guess it's because we both lost our friendship with her over a guy. At least that's what Jess and I came up with. We figured there was no point in Hannah making two tapes with same meaning so she put us both on one."

Her voice trailed off as she stared ahead. Clay hadn't said anything after that, only watching her process her words.

"I have to go."

"Wait—"

Mel stopped in her tracks, looking at him with soft eyes.

"Is mine bad?"

"Clay—"

"Please, Mel. I need to know what I did wrong."

"I can't just tell you, Clay. You have to listen."

—

I met Jessica and Melanie a couple of weeks into sophomore year. Apparently we needed to be counseled.

"Miss Dempsey." The office lady, Ms. June greeted the girl as she walked up to the desk, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Mrs. Antilly asked for me?" Melanie said in a questioning tone, subtly asking the woman if she knew why.

Before Ms. June could respond, the sound of a door opening grabbed their attention.

"Melanie!" Mrs. Antilly smiled brightly at the girl, "I'm so glad you've made it."

"Hi. Why am I here?" She didn't want to be rude but Melanie wasn't the type of student to just talk to teachers for fun. She didn't know why the woman dragged her out of class. Her unasked question was answered when the brunette woman smiled st something behind her.

"My new students!"

Mel's face dropped when she realized why she was called out of class, "Oh, God."

—

Melanie stood closest to the door as Mrs. Antilly looked between the new girls in front of her.

"Did you two get a chance to meet outside?" The woman smiled, "Hannah, meet Jessica. Jessica, meet Hannah. You're both new to Liberty, and I thought it would be good for you to know each other."

Melanie hid her smile as she noticed the look of boredom come across the girls' faces.

"I thought, and I know this isn't how things are usually done, but I thought you could be friends." Once she finished, Antilly's eyes darted to the dark haired girl behind her, "And this is Melanie Dempsey. She's one of Liberty High's best students. I figured she'd be a good friend for you both to have."

Do adults understand how friendships work?

"Now, I recognize it's unusual for adults to assign someone friends, so think of it as a friendly face in a crowd, until you get your bearings." Mrs. Antilly smiled at the girls, gently placing a hand to move Melanie closer to them, gesturing for her to take the empty seat next to Hannah.

"So you want us to smile at each other in the hall?"

"And how will that help us directionally?"

Melanie assumed that's what she was for; to help them get around.

The woman's eyes darted over to Melanie, almost hinting that her being there had to do with finding their way around the school.

"Well, the point is, you won't be strangers. Starting at a new school can feel overwhelming. With Melanie here, I know she can make you two feel extremely comfortable with you being new. I just want you to have an ally. Three allies. Count me in as well."

"So, just to be clear, we should smile at you in the hallway too?"

Melanie chuckled, instantly catching onto the girl's sarcasm.

"Sure! I'd love that!"

The room grew silent for a minute. Melanie couldn't help but shift in her seat. This was probably the most uncomfortable situation she'd be in since that one time she decided to go to Bryce Walker's party.

Never had she ever been forced to befriend someone, let alone two people. She didn't mind helping the new girls find their way around school, but she secretly hoped she didn't get along with them for the simple fact that the people she hung around weren't the best people. She couldn't save herself, but hopefully she could spare Hannah and Jessica.

"Listen. I'm not under any illusion that this school is a friendly place. I'd like it to be. It isn't always, but...we four, we can be there for each other! That's all."

The Dempsey girl love the woman's enthusiasm, but she was right about one thing: this school is not a friendly place. She wouldn't dare bring down Mrs. Antilly's mood because she was one of the few people in this school that actually cared about the students, but her support could only go so far.

"Mrs. Antilly, I'm sure Hillary and Madison are awesome, but—"

"If we're gonna be great friends, you should know my name is Hannah."

"Right." Mel spoke up, "Mine is Melanie."

"What did I call you?"

"Hillary." "Madison."

"Those aren't your names?"

Mel's jaw ticked, "No."

"It's Hannah."

"Crap." Jessica faked a wince, "I already got your best friend necklaces engraved with Hillary and Madison."

"That sucks."

"Any students named Hillary we can set up with Jennifer?" Hannah asked.

"Jessica."

"I thought it was Jezebel?" Melanie furrowed her brows, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Mackenzie."

Hannah perked up, "Can I actually get a Jezebel? She'd be an amazing friend."

Antilly looked stunned for a second before she began to laugh, "See? See, the senses of humor on you three. It's a perfect match!"

"Yeah." "Clearly." "Sure."

—