After a moment of passion, Clay sat up and moved away from Sheri. "I'm sorry… I just… can't. Not right now."

Clay, ever-so-awkward Clay. He'd noticed Sheri eyeballing him in the crowds at school for a while, but wasn't sure why. No, not even after he'd been pursued by Hannah back in the day. He was still oblivious Clay.

But here, in his very own bedroom, Sheri made a move. It all made sense to him now. She, like Hannah, wanted him. For whatever reason. And he may have just fucked it up.

However, against his expectations, Sheri moved in to hug him from the side. She laid her head on his shoulder. "Clay…" She nuzzled him. "I need to be honest with you."

He pulled back slightly, and looked at her exhaustedly. No… It can't be.

She sighed. "I know you haven't gotten to my tape yet."

"Y-You… of all people… have a tape?"

She swallowed. "Don't listen to it. At least… not yet."

He stood up. "I haven't even gotten to my own damn tape yet!" He started pacing. "Oh my God, this is why you were… Oh my fucking God."

"No, Clay… No!" She reached out to him, but he dodged her hand.

"You're just like all the others. I can't believe you. I thought you were different."

"It's… it's not like that, Clay!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I just wanted a chance to… to explain. I don't want you to hurt."

He stopped, and looked back at her. "Does your tape… involve me?" She hesitated before nodding. "How?"

"Clay… Let's…" She motioned for him to come back to the bed. "Let's…" she paused, again, struggling to get the words out. "I want to listen to it together. I want to hope that you'll…" she choked up. "That you'll… understand."

He stared straight forward for a moment before saying "Okay."

"…So now you know. I killed Jeff." Sheri stared at the floor. "Even worse, I didn't take responsibility for it… in the moment. But now…"

"Wait, hold on. There's one thing wrong with what you said." Clay squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry?"

"Hannah thinks you killed Jeff. In reality… It can't be proved."

"Clay, I didn't call the police! I… I cost you one of your best friends."

"No… Look. I'm a nerd, I know about these sorts of things. It hurts to… talk about him. But…" He sighed. "It probably wasn't your fault."

"But I knocked down the stop sign. I didn't call the police to save my own ass, Clay."

"Jeff was killed within ten minutes of you leaving the stop sign." He started shaking his head. "And it was really dark out, someone didn't have their lights on… or someone wasn't paying attention."

"Clay…"

"I don't think you're a bad person, Sheri."

"I made the worst mistake of my life that night. My stupidity cost someone else their life. My selfishness cost… two people their lives."

"Sheri, no. Look at me." She continued staring at the ground. Clay pulled her lips to his own again, this time gently.

"Clay…"

"What were you going to tell me earlier? About making up for it?"

"I know… this won't bring Jeff back." She closed her eyes. "But… I've been helping the other man in the incident on his way to recovery."

"I met them on the day of the accident."

"The wife mentioned that. That's when I realized…" she drifted off.

"You realized what?"

"You really are a good guy, Clay."

"Sheri… I don't even know what I did yet. I can't say for sure that I'm a good guy."

"But I do, and I can." She pulled him into a tight embrace. "Let's listen to the rest of the tapes together. We can go from there."

Clay smiled for the first time in days. "Yeah. Let's do this… Together."