Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
When Hannah Baker first moved to a new town and started going to a new high school with a bunch of new people, she expected everything to eventually work out for her as she went through high school and met new friends along the way. But, sadly, that wasn't how it worked out. 
                          
Soon after school started, Hannah met a seemingly nice guy named Justin Foley. The two talked and even went out on a date together, which took place at Eisenhower Park. Their first date ended up being their last; however, when a picture from their date was sent around school the very next day. The picture was simply of Hannah wearing a dress as she was sliding down the rocket slide, but that's not what the students of Liberty High saw it as. Before lunchtime came around that day, the rumor that Hannah slept with Justin was already being talked about amongst the student body of Liberty High. Hannah became disappointed when she found out that even her only friend at the moment - Clay Jensen - believed the rumor about her to be true. 
                          
Throughout the school year, a bunch of other rumors soon followed the picture. Hannah had become friends with Alex Standall and Jessica Davis - two kids who were also new to Liberty High. When Hannah noticed that she was being excluded from their friend group, she came to the realization that Alex and Jessica were both hiding something from her, only later did she find out that the two were dating each other. Another thing that popped up was the "Hot or Not" list, created by some jocks and Alex Standall. The list was basically a best of or worst of category, placing girls under the "best" column of a subject or the "worst" column of a subject. When Hannah found out about the list, she quickly took notice of how she was under the best column while Jessica was placed under the worst column - both being placed under the same subject. In result of the list, Jessica had blamed Hannah and her reputation - given to her by the students of Liberty High - for the reason of Alex breaking up with her, the argument between the two girls also broke off their friendship as well. Another result of the list was that almost every guy at the school now followed her around and gropped the air. Hannah even had an encounter with Bryce Walker at a small convenience store in which he gropped her and made a comment about the list getting it right
                          
All-in-all, with everything that happened to her after that first picture got sent around the whole school, Hannah's high school experience didn't turn out to be what she had expected. The one good thing that came out of it; however, was the fact that she still had Clay Jensen to make her crappy days all that better, even if he wasn't aware of the fact that he was the only good part of her day. Hannah had some of her best times with Clay, working at the Crestmont movie theater, breifly talking as they passed each other in the halls of Liberty High, when he offered to walk her home from work, and - Hannah's personal favorite - the night he took her to the roof of the Crestmont and showed her the moon. Even with Clay's social awkwardness, Hannah couldn't help but be grateful that he's a part of her life and that he always seems to have the time to walk her home from work and school as much as he does. 
                          
Hannah smiled to herself as she realized she was lost in her thoughts again. She glanced around at her surroundings, taking notice that she was in Communications Class - one of the few classes she shared with Clay. Realizing just who she had been thinking about, Hannah slightly turned to glance over at her friend - or who she hoped was still her friend. She frowned as she remembered their fight the other night at Jessica's party. The two teens had been just fine, talking and laughing for the majority of that night. They ended up in Jessica's room together for some privacy and, long story short, one thing lead to another before they found themselves kissing each other. The kiss started out great, and was the best moment of that night for Hannah. But then, her mind decided to remind her of how every other guy - Justin, Marcus, Ryan, Zach - had treated her, and they all seemed to become the inocent boy she was kissing. Hannah had freaked out and pushed him away, kicking him out of the room when he kept asking what was wrong or if it was something he had done. Remembering that night, Hannah quickly turned away from Clay as she saw him start to look up from his desk. She just knew that he hated her and probably didn't want anything to do with her now, so she had been avoiding him all day. 
                          
When the class was finally over, Hannah gathered her things and quickly left, not giving Clay a chance to talk to her - which she doubted he would want to, anyway. Sighing to herself, Hannah ignored everyone around her as she made her way to her locker. Once at her locker, she entered the locker combination and opened the metal door, placing her books and notebooks inside before closeing her locker and just leaning against it for a few seconds. She saw Clay make his way to his own locker. She watched as he opened it and placed his things inside the small space. She desperately wanted to walk over and apologize to him about the other night, but her brain was preventing her from doing so. Hannah continued to watch as Clay closed his locker, briefly catching her watching him before sighing to himself, giving her a flat smile, and walking away to his next class. Sighing to herself again, Hannah reopened her locker and grabbed the needed materials before slowly making her way to her next class as well. 
                          
When school was finally over, Hannah was happy to be able to go home. The day had dragged on and seemed like it would never come to an end. With slight hope, Hannah finished getting her things from her locker and stood there for a moment or two, waiting to see if Clay would come to his locker. After a few minutes; however, Hannah gave up and walked outside, immediately becoming disappointed when she saw that Clay's bike was no longer at the bike rack. Feeling the small hope leave her, Hannah walked home with her thoughts of Clay's feelings towards her becoming more clear to her as he didn't stay back to walk her home like he usually did. Realizing that her suspicion of Clay's hatred towards her was probably true, Hannah couldn't help but feel like she had lost yet another friend that day as she walked home alone, being consumed by nothing but the dreaded silence and her own thoughts.