There is an awkward silence in the living room. Everyone looks at each other, as if they don't know which topic will be the best to start conversations. They see that Hannah is still shaken, unable to recover, even though on the way home she continually said she was fine.
Danielle is so bored that she chisels her red hybrid nails, yawning loudly from time to time.
— Get these legs off me. — The silence is broken by Jin's irritated voice, which thunders with his eyes at the girl sitting next to him. — You are annoying me. I don't know at all what you're doing here when none of my friends like you.
Tom stifles a snort of laughter, feigning an annoying cough.
— Your blood pressure is rising because you promised Hannah that you would confess the truth to her about the short-haired floozy? Tell her in detail how your pressure was also rising in your pants at the sight of her!
Danielle's statement is provocative enough for the phantom, who is watching them from a dark corner. Solar hasn't spoken to Hannah since the girl read her diary in the company of her friends. She is angry with her, and so far, her threats are coming true.
Lately, she has been met with nothing but misfortune.
— Tom, are you sure there is something between them? Jin rather doesn't look like he's in love. — Jimmy gets the impression that a cat-like hiss is coming from Danielle's throat.
The blond man immediately falls silent.
— I would prefer that there was nothing between them, but how do you explain the presence of a witch in his house when you made a phone call to him?
— Another word and your eyes will replace the cherries on the cake for me! — The redhead looks like she actually feels like scratching his knobs out.
— Danielle, grow up, for God's sake — mutters Jin, resting his chin on his hand.
Hannah keeps looking at Solar, noticing how sad her face is. There is no doubt that this despondency is caused by seeing Jin.
— No more secrets. I want to know the truth. Now — she speaks in a firm voice.
— Sister, you are gaining character. I like it.
Jin massages his forehead and sighs loudly.
— I won't hide the fact that I, Danielle and Joseph had the biggest influence on Solar's suicide. We were the ones who contributed to her death....
— In what way? — asks the brunette in a whisper, feeling the chills running through her. — I mean, I know that between you, Danielle, and Solar there was something....
— Did you have a threesome! — Tom, as usual, can fire off with a text appropriate to the situation.
— Don't mix my name with that slut's name!
— Danielle, you are so tiresome today that if you don't calm down in a while, I will put you out the door. — Jin is a bundle of nerves, he would like to tell Hannah everything already, but Danielle does not allow him to do so with his immature behavior.
— You and your threats — she mutters under her breath.
Out of all of them, it is the redhead who is most surprised when Jin rises from the couch, grabs her around the waist and just sticks her out the door.
The girl stands in the hallway, looking stunned.
— She doesn't know the code to the door, does she?
His friends applaud him, Tom even whistles with appreciation.
— I recently changed it because everyone was entering my apartment as if it were their own. — Hannah shrugs her shoulders. — Joseph told me to — she adds after a moment.
— And very well.
The furious twin bangs on the door, threatening not to leave and especially to embarrass Hannah in front of the neighbors.
— She's hysterical — Jin reassures them as she sits down on the couch. — Pay no attention to her. Ignore her, and she'll get over it in a while.
— Girls is tragic, but Danielle passes herself. — Jimmy only after a while remembers that they are accompanied by Hannah. — Girls, not women — he hastily explains.
— Solar killed herself because we made fun of her. She was ridiculed in front of the whole school — Jin says in one breath, closing his eyelids. — I brutally broke her heart. I took advantage of her.
— What — the brunette looks at the other boys, noticing that they look depressed. — Tell me everything from the beginning. I want to know your version of events.
His gaze is pained as he lifts his gaze and looks Hannah in the eyes.
— It all started with a stupid request from Joseph. I owed him a favor, so I agreed, since it was about an insignificant girl. — The brunette spotted Solar behind him, the phantom not taking her eyes off him. — I had never paid attention to her before. To me, she was an average Horace Mann student, nothing distinguished from the other gray mice. At the time, I was blindsided by Danielle. I found that Joseph's idea was also a chance for me to see if your sister loved me and was serious about our relationship. Even then, I didn't know how much she cared about me, and for that reason, I caused a tragedy. She was so jealous and vindictive that it turned her life into hell.
— So my sister had a big part in this?
— Yes. We all had. — The boy rubs his forehead, looking at a single spot on the floor. — I didn't think she would fall in love with me to the point of becoming obsessed. Apart from me, she couldn't see the world. At first, she wasn't like that, but later it became a nuisance to me. One day, I confessed to Joseph that I was fed up with her and wanted to end it all. I told him that I would do it quickly and painfully, as long as she gave me a holy peace of mind. I was so angry at the time because things were getting worse and worse with Danielle, and our parents were making it even more difficult. I argued with Joseph because we were both irate. He defended her, told me to struggle some more and break up with her in a gentler way, but I had enough. It seemed to me that she began to control me, following me every step of the way.
Solar, standing behind him, shakes her head. Tears are streaming down her cheeks.
— Maybe you saw it that way because you loved Danielle and Solar was a nuisance to you? What if she acted like an ordinary girl in love and it just bothered you?
— I don't know, Hannah. There was just something wrong with her. She was sick. Such people are mentally weak and can commit suicide because of rejection.
Her heart goes out to her as she watches Solar's distraught face.
— So, what did you do that drove her to such a state that she decided to take her life?
The boy closes his eyelids again.
— I ripped her heart out of her chest and trampled her with my shoe in front of all the Horace Mann students.
— What — Hannah is confused.
— During the pageant, we had the Miss and Mister school elections. Halsey and I won first place. I decided to use my speech to get rid of Solar, but before I spoke into the microphone, I noticed her in the crowd. She was frightened and looking around, she looked as if she had taken something, but I think something bad was already happening to her psyche. She looked lost...
— And you decided to kill her!
— Danielle did it for me. I don't know how she got to school, but she stepped in and kissed me in front of everyone. She confessed that she was my girlfriend, called Solar a little boy, laughed at her that she had nothing feminine about her, mocked her. Everyone around her laughed when flyers went out with a photo of her with a vagina overgrown with cobwebs instead of her mouth. The caption said it was her, waiting for her first time with the prince of her dreams.
Hannah puts her hand to her mouth, shocked at how Solar was publicly ridiculed.
— This is awful!
— I will never forget the last time I looked into her eyes and noticed that they were empty. It seemed to me that she didn't react at all to what was going on around her. She just looked at me, turned her back and walked away. That was the last time I saw her. An hour later, the whole school was shaken by the news of her suicide.
— What if she didn't do it because of a broken heart? — Hannah asks in a whisper, noticing how Solar smiles through her tears. — What if all this time she has been trying to give me a clue that links you, Danielle and Joseph together?
No one pays attention to Hannah's spoken words, no one except the phantom. She shifts her gaze from Jin and focuses it on the girl.
— All this time I've been trying to warn you before the same thing happens to you, Hannah. I was not protected by anyone, but you have a chance. Keep your eyes open.
She leans over and kisses Jin on the top of his head, but Hannah sees that he only feels the shivers that shake his body.
— My time is approaching, so I should finally forgive you for these childish games.
Solar disappears and at the same time the door of the apartment opens and Joseph appears in the threshold. His black fringe obscures his eyes, there is a rather severe cut on his left cheek, the collar of his leather jacket is not arranged, and his jeans are soiled at knee level.
Danielle, who is standing behind him, lifts her thumb, expressing admiration for his dark appearance.
— Joseph, what happened to you! — Hannah looks horrified as she rises from the couch. — Did your father do something to you? — She walks over to him, focusing her attention on the cut. — What happened to your hair?
Hannah is alarmed by his appearance. She immediately notices that Joseph is acting strangely.
— Well, rather, I will not look beautiful after I jumped out of the window.
— What!
The girl's face pales when she realizes that his room is on the second floor.
— The fact that he went down the pipe doesn't surprise me at all, I'm more concerned about his black hair. Have you decided to become a rebel? — Jimmy is amused. The appearance of Joseph, in the old version, clearly improved his mood.
The brunet forces an arrogant smile.
— A rebel I have been so far. I fought with myself, trying to live with my father in a benign relationship, but as of today, that ended, and I decided to be myself again.
— So what? Are you going to fight with him? — Hannah can see that he is starting to rebel against his father again, as he did for many years after his mother's death, until she changed him.
— Not only with him, but also with you.
Danielle looks delighted, unlike the twin, who is devastated by his words.
— I beg your pardon?
— It's no secret that falling in love with you was the biggest mistake of my life. If I hadn't met you, my life wouldn't have been so complicated. I wouldn't have had to fight my father in your defense. You're led to the same thing as your mother. It is immediately clear that you are related by blood ties.
She is speechless. She is unable to get a word out.
— Joe has fallen on your head? What are you talking about? You've been defending your mother all this time because you know your father is a monster, after all, he's the one who killed her! — Jin interjects, unable to listen any longer to the way he turns to Hannah.
— It's true, my father is trash, but women are not saints either. They are the ones who lead men to treat them this way. They can't trust us, they accuse us of everything, they betray us, explaining that they were neglected, they play innocent, and the truth is that they breed the biggest monsters in themselves. Take this demon, for example. — He grabs Danielle's hand and sets it by her side. — A perfect example of a viper. It spits venom on all sides, taking pleasure when someone gets hurt.
The redhead merely shrugs her shoulders, fully agreeing with his statement.
— I think he hit his head decently when he jumped in front of the window. You should take him to the hospital. — Hannah can't believe that these words are actually coming out of his mouth. She doesn't know what's going on with him, but apparently this is his way of relieving earlier stress.
— You're no better either, baby — he turns to the brunette as she turns her back on him. — Lately, you've been judging me all the time, not having a shred of confidence in me. A beautiful display of affection.
The girl remains silent. She stifles everything inside, not wanting to provoke him more.
— Scott, shut your mouth. Hannah got her ass kicked enough by your father and his men. You don't need to beat her up. Cool down, and then go back to her to apologize. — Jin forcibly leads him outside, nodding to the guys to help him take care of his unruly friend. Before closing the door, he grabs Danielle's hand, intending to take her with him. — You definitely won't stay here. You are more Dobbs than Joseph.
When the door is closed, Hannah squats on the couch and clamps her eyelids together, trying to fight back tears. She would rather not cry again, even though her whole life is falling apart.
As if that weren't enough, her boyfriend's head is falling.
— Why are you doing this to me, Solar? I have already learned the truth, I know what happened. I even saw that you forgave Jin, so why are you trying to destroy my life? After all, I didn't do anything to you...
— I'm not attempting to destroy it, you stupid girl! I just want you to help me get the peace I crave. I will leave soon because my time is approaching, but before my soul disappears, I want you to discover the truth that no one knows. — Hannah raises her eyes and looks at the apparition, which stands in the middle of the living room. — I'm messing with your head, causing confusion in your life, creating conflicts between you and your friends, but I'm doing it because they are the main clue! I wish I could just shout in your face what happened that day, but as many times as I try to do it, I lose my voice. This is a warning. The soul cannot have contact with a mortal. You can't hear it from me!
— How can I find out if only you know the truth?
— Diary.
Hannah rises from the couch and heads to her bedroom, where she keeps a notebook that belonged to a deceased student. She lies down on the bed and carefully follows the further entries with her eyes, which are no different from what she learned from Jin.
Their story sounds similar, except that Solar's entries end five days before the party, at which she was ridiculed in front of the entire school.
The girl crinkles her eyebrows when she notices that there are pages torn out.
— Who did this?
— The man who mainly led to my death — the ghost answers her. Hannah opens her eyes wide, looking at her with frightened eyes. — This person is close to you. — The girl is already lost in all this. — I did not commit suicide, I was forced to do it....
Her heart goes up in her throat. She immediately thinks of the people who expressed interest in the diary: Danielle, Johnny, and Joseph, who tried at all costs to discourage Hannah from reading the entries....