Reasons

Yesterday — One Hour After School Clay Jensen discovers a package addressed to him and finds a set of seven tapes inside that are labeled, front and back, from one to thirteen. He remembers that there is an old stereo his father purchased in the garage that he can use to listen to these tapes, so that is where he goes to play tape number one. Cassette 1: Side A Clay starts playing the first tape and recognizes the voice of Hannah Baker, a fellow student who recently died by suicide. Hannah states that these tapes are a record of why she decided to end her life, and anyone who has received the tapes is a person on the list. There are two rules: the person listens to the tapes, and then the person sends them to the next person on the list. She then goes on to explain that this first tape is addressed to Justin Foley, a senior who was Hannah's first kiss. Hannah states that Justin was originally in love with her neighbor and friend, Kat, but Justin began to show interest in Hannah after Kat moved away. Justin and Hannah eventually kissed at the park near her house, but Justin went along to spread rumors that they had gone further, resulting in Hannah's reputation as a "slut." Cassette 1: Side B The next tape is addressed to Alex Standall, who voted Hannah as "Best Ass in the Freshman Class" in a note. Next to Hannah's name was Jessica Davis as "Worst Ass," retaliation for something that has not been explained yet. Hannah explains that Alex is not on the tapes because of the list but because of the repercussions. At Hannah's favorite store, she was assaulted by an unnamed fellow student, who used Alex's list to excuse his actions. Cassette 2: Side A This tape is for Jessica Davis, a new student in school like Hannah. Jessica and Hannah were paired together as buddies for their first year and started spending time together at a cafe called Monet's Garden. This is where they met Alex Standall, and the three formed a trio. Eventually, the trio fell apart, and they stopped going to Monet's until Alex created the "Who's Hot" list. After the list, Jessica assumed that Hannah was the reason she and Alex had broken up, and she hit Hannah. Cassette 2: Side B Tape number four is for Tyler Down, a "Peeping Tom" that Hannah catches spying on her and taking pictures of her in her bedroom. Hannah records this tape under Tyler's window, so he knows how she felt when he did this to her. Hannah creates a plan with a still unnamed fellow student to try and catch Tyler in the act. After a glimpse of him out of the window and a defensive answer from Tyler the next day, Hannah figured out that it was him, and she never felt safe in her room again.