She felt better now, away from the stifling environment school had become these past few days. She needed to get out of there. One day wouldn't hurt. She couldn't run from school forever even if she wanted to. It was her senior year after all, and she'd be out for good soon enough. While Mr. Porter had suggested she go home, that was one of the last places she wanted to be.

Instead, she just walked, letting her feet guide her to whatever destination they wanted. It shouldn't have been a surprise when she found herself in front of Baker's Drug Store. She lingered there, recalling the last time she'd been inside.

It had been several days since Harper had heard Hannah talk about her dad having an affair. She planned on confronting him about it, and Harper had forgotten to ask if she ever did. As she stepped into Baker's Drug Store, the bell ringing as the door swung open and then shut again, Harper made a mental note to remind herself to say something the next time she saw Hannah. The store was empty, which was unfortunately not an unusual occurrence, but Harper, drawn away from her own thoughts, turned her attention to the only noise that could be heard, soft sobs.

Harper then made her way past the merchandise and behind the counter where she found Olivia Baker in tears on the floor. Not knowing what else to do, she got down and sat beside her, putting an arm around her when Olivia leaned on her shoulder. Harper sat there with her until her sobs became more subdued and Olivia was able to speak to her.

"Andy's having an affair," she confessed.

I know, Harper wanted to say, but she didn't want to get Hannah in trouble. "Then he's stupid," Harper said instead. "To want anyone but you is crazy," she added, the words slipping out as if they were the most natural thing for her to say. "I'm sorry." She didn't know if she was apologizing for the words or for the awful situation Olivia found herself in. Either way, Harper supposed it didn't exactly matter at the moment.

"Thank you." Neither of them knew what else to say, so Harper stood up and offered her hand to help Olivia off of the floor. She wiped away the last of her tears and accepted Harper's help. Once she was on her feet again, Olivia smiled at her, the smile itself a mixture of sweetness and sadness. Their clasped hands lingered for a moment before Olivia pulled away. "Thank you again for listening and just being there. I needed that."

"Of course," Harper replied. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Harper," Olivia softly assured, though she wasn't entirely sure if she believed that herself. Harper nodded and turned to leave.

She hadn't been inside Baker's Drug Store since that day. As she walked on past it now, she wondered if she'd ever been there for Hannah like that. According to Hannah, she hadn't, and she suspected that was true. She didn't know why she hadn't been there. It's not like Harper had never seen her hurting. She'd given her some kind words over the course of their friendship, encouraged her and listened but she always felt partially absent. There was a certain detachment in the way she had spoken to Hannah, as if she were too caught up in her own head to clear her thoughts and focus on her friend. Had that detached part of her changed when she comforted Olivia that day, or had it only been a case of right place, right time? Could she change?

Harper contemplated her actions as she walked the rest of the way home. Mr. Porter had let her take what she considered a mental health day, and while home wasn't the best place for her mental health, she was too exhausted not to head straight for her bedroom. Luckily the house was quiet when she got there.

Harper was still focused on change, and whether or not she was capable of it. Everyone was, right? She had to think that, otherwise the world was truly hopeless and so was she. She'd have to start trying. She hated that this realization had come far too late to save Hannah. But without Hannah having said what she did in her tapes, this desire to change may not have come about at all.

Harper was living in self absorbed ignorance. She wasn't vain or arrogant, certainly not narcissistic, but she was trapped in her own bubble of a world. She wasn't sure when it had started, but she had her theory as to why. Being an only child, and a neglected one at that, Harper had to put herself first from a very young age, or risk her own survival by relying on her deadbeat mother to provide for her. She learned to cook at eight years old, and still had a small burn on her hand from one time it went wrong. She had to grow up too fast with no one there to count on. She became self sufficient to the point of isolating herself from the rest of the world. Now, at eighteen, she had years of damage to undo. She owed it to Hannah, and to herself to try and fix what her childhood had done to her. What she had, in part, done to herself.

She refused to talk to Mr. Porter about any of it. Or any other counselor. She didn't trust anyone at Liberty and her mother's insurance probably couldn't cover seeing a professional outside of school. So, armed with google, she was on her own. Luckily she was used to it. She looked into several different ways to be more self aware and decided to give it a go. First thing tomorrow morning she was going to start trying to be a better person.

The night seemed to pass so quickly for her. It was as if the precise moment her head hit her pillow, her alarm clock was already going off and waking her up. Despite it seeming like a short night, Harper was feeling energized. Mentally, she rattled off everything she planned to do today.

Get the work she missed from Tony, and check in on how he's doing. Lunch with Clay, and apologize for ghosting yesterday. Start working on college applications. And, was that it? Harper looked at the calendar on her phone. Her driving test was today. She'd nearly forgotten. She put it off until after she turned eighteen, seeing as she enjoyed walking to school, but she knew she'd need to learn if she planned on leaving Evergreen and going away to college. All in all, a busy day, but she felt ready to handle it.