Spencer Hastings's life was spiraling out of control.

She would have liked to admit that her downfall started a couple of nights just after she found out that... that Toby, the person that she loved and trusted most in the world, had betrayed her like no one else had ever done so to her in her entire life. She felt like her whole being had been shattered into pieces, and Toby had hid those pieces where she would never find them again. It was the final push Spencer needed to completely topple her over the edge.

The truth was her life had been falling apart way before that horrific night. And it all revolved around one thing: A.

Very much a perfectionist, Spencer, for the longest time, refused to admit that she had been struggling for the past two years. It was her senior year, and her grades were slipping even lower than last years. And for being a straight A student, her newly earned B's and C's weren't going to get her anywhere near Yale or Harvard like her parents had expected. Not only that, but she had been kicked out of many of her extracurricular activities she had been involved in since she hardly ever bothered to show up to the meetings and practices after school. Instead of attending them like she knew she should be doing, she always found herself wrapped up in some new A trail or scheme that never seemed to work out.

And then there was Toby... He had somehow unwillingly become her first priority in life... until now. The old Spencer would have shaken her head disappointingly at her now boy-crazy self.

Spencer sighed to herself as she buried her face into her pillow. She didn't need for her parents to hear her crying again. She hadn't told them about Toby. She hadn't told anyone. She just wasn't ready to face it yet. She could just hide in her room for a few more days, buried in her own misery and...

No, she was Spencer Hastings. And she would have to get a grip on herself and suck it up if she wanted to get her life back on track, and moping about in her bedroom would be no aid to her recovery.

She sat up slowly from her bed and got to her feet quite unsteadily, her vision slightly blurred. She had been laying bed all day, and her sudden movement caused her dizziness.

She grabbed hold of her bed railing carefully, and once she regained her balance she walked warily to her desk and reached into her tote bag for her phone. She scrolled through her contacts list and chose the name of the only person she wanted to speak to at the moment. There was an answer after the third ring.

"Hey...finally," said the pleasantly familiar female voice.

"Hi," said Spencer lamely.

"You okay?" The voice sounded concerned. "The girls and I hadn't seen you in a couple of days. We've been worried about you. You haven't returned any of our calls or texts."

Spencer swallowed the lump in her throat. She wasn't going to let herself cry again. At least not right now. "Um... yeah, sorry about that. I'm okay. Well, not exactly. That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping we could meet up and talk about things. Are you busy?"

"Oh no, not really, I was just doing a bit of reading. It's been kind of a lazy day. I just need to shower and get dressed. Do you want to meet at the grill?"

The grill? Maybe that would be too public. If she started crying again...

Get a grip Spencer. Get. A. Grip.

"Yeah, that's sounds great," Spencer said. "See you in an hour?"

"You can count on it, babe." There was a click as the line went dead.

Spencer didn't know why, but she felt a sudden jolt in her stomach at the last word her friend said.

However, she ignored the feeling that quickly faltered, and she shuffled over to her closet. She was going to make herself look presentable. Being holed up in her room crying for three whole days made her eyes puffy, her lips dry and cracked, and her face rather pale. It was, well, anything less than presentable.

Spencer threw open her closet and rummaged through it for a bit before picking out her most preppy Kate Spade khaki blazer and matched it with a navy dress she bought from Top Shop, a pair of her favorite knee high socks, and a pair of brown oxfords. She smiled to herself. The outfit was so Spencer. She missed matching her outfits like this every day. Usually she would just grab whatever she could find quickest and match her clothes in a hurry, just so she could spend the majority of her mornings before school making out with Toby. In her kitchen. In his truck. On the front steps of the school... Suddenly, a nauseas feeling started in her stomach and worked its way up her throat. She swallowed, quickly clearing her head from all thoughts of him.

Once she had her perfect outfit on, she pulled her hair up into an elegant bun, and put on makeup for the first time in three days. As she finished, she took one final look in the mirror and smiled proudly. It was quite a good clean up. She was Spencer Hastings, damn it. And she wasn't going to let anyone know how terribly broken she was on the inside.

But little did she know that her best friend, Aria Montgomery, who she had just agreed to meet at the Grill in a short whiles time, was terribly broken on the inside too.


So what do you think so far? The first chapter was kind of short, but I just want to see everyone's reaction to it. Does it have potential? Or should I just give up? Please leave a review letting me know if I should continue or not. :)