Thirteen Reasons Why: Cassette 2: Side A Summary & Analysis

As the sun keeps setting, Clay stands up, throws the Butterfinger in the trash, and puts the next tape into the Walkman. Hannah tells the listeners that she, Alex, and Jessica relied on one another for the first few weeks of freshman year. Before the year even started, the guidance counsellor called Hannah and Jessica into school to pair them up as buddies. That guidance counsellor moved schools that year, which Hannah says is unfortunate. Clay knows she was replaced by Mr. Porter and wonders whether he has something to do with Hannah’s story. He remembers that Mr. Porter looked nervous when Hannah didn’t show up for school, and after everyone found out Hannah had died, Mr. Porter was absent for a week.

Hannah continues the story of being buddied up with Jessica. Neither she nor Jessica want to be matched as friends—they tell the counsellor that they don’t think it’ll work out. But as they walk away from school together, they start talking to each other, and because neither of them wants to interrupt the other to make their own way home, they end up downtown at a cafe called Monet’s. As Clay listens, it gets dark and cold outside, so he boards a city bus and chooses a seat in an empty section. He doesn’t care where the bus is going—he thinks he could ride it for hours, just listening to the tapes.

Hannah continues her story. She remembers sitting with Jessica at Monet’s and noticing a boy watching them. It’s Alex. Jessica asks him which of them he was checking out. He blushes and tells them he was eavesdropping on them because he’s new in town, too. Jessica and Hannah invite him into their conversation, and they’re all relieved by one another’s company—they won’t have to be alone on their first day of school. Even though the three of them form a bond, Hannah never considers Jessica and Alex her friends. Still, over the first few weeks of school, they continue to meet at Monet’s in the afternoons. When any of them has a hard day, they put their hand on the table and say, “Olly-olly-oxen-free,” the other two put their hands on top, and they talk about it.

As Clay listens, he realizes he doesn’t know the bus route, so he asks the driver when the next stop is. She tells him that the other passengers are asleep, so she can stop wherever he’d like. The bus passes by Monet’s, and Clay asks to get off. Hannah continues her story: after a few weeks, Alex stops coming to Monet’s, followed by Jessica, and then Hannah. One day at school, Jessica tells Hannah they need to talk. Hannah knows Jessica wants to meet at Monet’s.

When Hannah arrives, Jessica is already sitting at a table. Jessica slaps the “Who’s Hot/Who’s Not” list down on the table. Hannah says the list doesn’t matter. Jessica says she doesn’t mind that Alex picked Hannah over her, but Hannah says that Alex only did that to get back at Jessica. Jessica tells Hannah she’s heard rumors about Hannah and Alex. Hannah tries and fails to convince Jessica that the rumors aren’t true. It’s easy for Jessica to believe a rumor about Hannah and Alex because Justin already started other rumors about Hannah. Hannah says she knows Jessica and Alex had a relationship and broke up and that Jessica is using the list as a way to blame the breakup on Hannah. Jessica swings her hand at Hannah’s face and leaves a scar above her eyebrow.

On the tape, Hannah explains to the listeners that the scar is a reminder that Jessica would rather believe a rumor about her than the truth, and that the other people on her list left scars, too—just invisible ones.