"Harper Cassidy, this one's for you. It broke my heart to put you on this tape, but you broke my spirit. Best friends are supposed to be there for one another right? At least, that's what I thought."

Harper felt the tears start to roll down her cheeks as Hannah talked about her and the reason she'd made it onto the tapes. What had she done that hurt Hannah so much? She couldn't bring any specific instance to memory.

"You were there through the good parts, almost all of them. You actually were most of the good parts, but when the bad parts came, there wasn't a single time that you were there by my side. You left me alone to deal with it all. Your only crime was ignorance. You didn't see what was happening because you simply weren't around. While I can't entirely blame you for that, I know that it would have made a difference if you had been."

Harper was crying so hard now that Hannah's words were becoming difficult to hear over the sound of her own sobs. She hit pause. So, it wasn't just one thing, it was all of it. Why hadn't she been there? Why hadn't she even just seen a little of what was happening, or done something about the things she had seen? Like the Hot-or-Not list. She knew all about that. Hell, she'd even made it on the list for "biggest tease", but it didn't faze her, so she didn't even consider how it made Hannah feel. After several minutes, Harper began to calm down a little. She wiped her tears and took a few deep breaths before pressing play once more.

"It's a shame you didn't get to know me better, or anyone else at Liberty. If you had, maybe you would have been the friend I needed. You would have stood up to the bullies, the liars, all of them. I know you have it in you. And maybe, after hearing this, you still will do all those things, just not soon enough for it to have made a difference for me. Harper, you missed so much being caught up in your own little world. I only wished you had let me be a part of it. What comes next are the big things, the things I wish you had been with me for. I needed someone who could be my rock, my sunshine, my voice of reason, but you were as quiet as ever."

Her tape ended there and the click of the cassette in the player let Harper know that it was over. She'd made it through the worst part. Hearing what she'd done, or rather, what she hadn't, was the most difficult thing Harper had ever had to endure. To think that with a simple action, Harper may have been able to make life bearable for Hannah, but she'd just passively sat back and done nothing, not even asking how she was. That was what really broke Harper. Her best friend was gone, and she may have been the only one who could have changed that. A little more attention to the world around her, the toxic environment that school was for Hannah, and Harper could have fixed it, fixed everything for her, but she hadn't. She hadn't even tried.

Harper put the tapes back in the box, stuffed the whole thing in her backpack again and cracked her bedroom door open. Still, no one was home. Harper snuck back out as quickly and quietly as she had snuck in and made her way down the street. She had no idea where she was going now, but she needed to be on the move. Walking took her mind off things, or at least it usually did. Today was a different story. Nothing could shake the shame she felt for not having been there for Hannah. Nothing could brighten up her mood. Despite the warm sun on her as she walked, she felt as though she was caught in a storm.

Harper had walked quite a distance before she realized where she was. The Crestmont, where she and Hannah had first met. She felt like such a traitor just by being there. Harper sat outside in the alleyway just next to the building and moved on to the next tape. She didn't want them in her possession any longer than she had to. It hurt her to even look at them anymore, but she had to listen to the rest. It was the one thing she could still do for Hannah.

It was just after school had let out that Harper finished with the last tape. She could tell by the people all waking past her with backpacks and textbooks in their hands. Listening to the rest of the tapes had only soured her mood more. She could have stopped all of it, couldn't she have? Just by being there like a friend should. Harper did a quick google search on her phone, looking up Sheri's address. She was next on the list and Harper was more than ready to drop them off to her.

As Harper made her way to Sheri's, she assured herself that she wouldn't have to see her, as she'd be at cheer practice. She could just drop them at the door and leave. She was acutely aware of the weight of the box of tapes in her bag now and it was making her uncomfortable. She sped up her pace. Finally, she reached Sheri's front door, and after double and triple checking the address, she unzipped her backpack and propped up the beat up shoebox by the doorway. Turning to leave, she spotted a familiar red car driving by. Harper ran towards it, knowing it was Tony. He should have absolutely no reason to be here, unless he was following her. Did he know something about the tapes? He wasn't on them. Harper ran out to the edge of the road and called out to him, but he drove off as if he hadn't noticed her. She watched until the car was out of sight, then sent him a text.

Why were you at Sheri's? What do you know about the tapes? Harper sent it, knowing he wouldn't reply until he was safely parked. Tony was responsible like that, but Harper didn't want to wait for an answer, not that she had much of a choice. Having spent the day walking across town, she figured it wouldn't hurt to walk a little more, and headed out in the direction of Padilla Automotive, where Tony no doubt would be heading as he always did after school.

Her phone buzzed at almost the same time that Padilla Automotive came into sight. We need to talk, Tony's text read. Harper looked up before sending a reply and locked eyes with Tony's. Whatever she had been going to say next, she could say in person. Tony had some explaining to do.