Summary: Two undergrad UPenn students. One's majoring in Legal Studies, the other English. The preparation of Winter Finals brings out the competitiveness, the awful and the….kookiest out of some students. What happens when these two undergrads cross paths during the craziness of the Finals? [AU]
Welcome! Welcome! Come on in! I am your author, AcquiredMadness, here yet again to bring you another PLL-based story. This Fic is centered on college and two people's relationship with one another. You guess it, I'm talking about Sparia. But not just any Sparia, It's the evolution of Sparia.
So, sit back, relax and allow me to illustrate you into a story I like to call, "Different Gazes".
Chapter One: Study Nightmare
Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action. Bolded is a flashback. (….) is an indication that time has passed.
Walking across the nicely, polished, green lawn on campus, Aria is talking to her best friend, Hanna on the phone about current college life while on her way to her college house. "So far, things are good here, but, you know what time of the season it is. It's time for-".
"Premeditated suicide. That is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately." With her phone balancing between her left ear and shoulder, Spencer is handling three of her textbooks in one hand while using the other to dig in her pocket for her student ID card. "I feel like I'm going to have an aneurysm at any given moment, Em. Its work overload!" Spencer puts her card in the card reader and waits for the red signal to turn green before she opens the door. "Not that I can't handle work or anything. It's just that-"
"I don't know what is going on. Just when I think I have a good handle on something, bam. I become completely lost," Aria tells Hanna as she walks through the front double doors of her dorm. "But now, it's nothing but studying from this point out."
"Why don't you treat yourself to a party?" Hanna asks.
Aria furs her brows and opens her mouth to say something before Hanna continues, "A study party, of course. So you will be able to work or cheat with others."
"You know, that sounds like a good plan but-"
"You'd be surprised how many people at this school don't take their academics seriously," Spencer says as she grabs her room key and unlocks her room door.
"Really? You'd think getting into an Ivy-League, you'd be all about your academics." Emily responds back to Spencer's statement.
Spencer puts her books, bag and keys on kitchen bar which separates the kitchen and the living room. "Most of these kids here are here because of money. When your parents are filthy rich, you can afford to go anywhere. And because your parents are dropping $20,000 worth of donations into the school, grades don't mean shit because hey, you're gonna pass anyway." Spencer walks into her room while she unties her navy blue trench coat. "But, go do what you have to do, Em and I'll talk to you later."
"Alright. Good luck with that icky thing you call studying," Hanna tells Aria as the phone call comes to an end.
"Ugh. Ok, Bye," Aria ends the call and throws herself in her bed, face down.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Aria whines a muffled cry into her pillow.
…...
Freshly showered and dressed, looking into her dresser mirror, Aria takes the black hair-tie off her left wrist and puts her hair in a loose bun. She breathes in and out before she starts talking to herself, "Ok. You got this. We're gonna start with Earth Science tonight. No biggy. You're gonna go slow and pace yourself. It's all about pacing. Pacing and retaining. Pacing and retaining…" Aria repeats those last two words of encouragement as she walks into the living room where she walks in on her roommate, Katherine, a medium height, volleyball built brunette, reciting words as well.
"Hey, Kat." Aria greets as Katherine paces around the living area.
"Hi." She quickly responds back before continuing to reciting her words.
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah. I'm just trying to study Dr. Evans quiz tomorrow. Well, it's a pop quiz but I know he's gonna give it so I'm preparing myself," Katherine says as she continues to pace.
"Oh ok." Aria says as she goes into kitchen fridge and pulls out an unopened bottle of water.
"I hope I'm not getting in the way of your studying. I know I can get pretty nosy. I have to do this to remember things, ya know?" Katherine enlightens Aria as she bends down to look at her book on the couch.
Aria shakes her head, "Oh no, I was just about to go to the library anyways. You're fine," she smiles at her roommate.
"Ok! Bye!" Katherine says hastily before she starts reciting aloud again.
Aria returns to her room to throw on her blue wide legged sweats as she gets ready to go to the library. Definitely wasn't the pacing and reciting I had in mind but alright.
...…
Spencer is sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed with a book cracked open and a few notes scattered. She puts the top of an orange highlighter pen in her mouth while examining over a page of notes in front of her.
"The development of a chained response always acts from the primary reinforcer backward…" Spencer mumbles to herself as she highlights a line from her notes.
"Chained response can also occur-" Spencer is cut off mid-thought as her roommate and her company starts laughing out loud on the other side of the wall. She ignores it and continues back on her notes.
"Between two people. Chained response can also occur between two people…" Spencer takes the pencil from behind her right ear and jots down a side note before she continues on.
"Not only do the consequences of certain-"
"No fucking way! You're lying!"
"I'm Not-Look! I have it right here!"
"…OH MY GOD!"
"I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU I WASN'T LYING!"
Spencer slams her pencil and highlighter on her bed as she ferociously picks up her notes and stuffs it inside her textbook. I cannot fucking study with these BITCHES howling every 10 seconds! Spencer jumps off her bed and wildly pulls open her dresser drawers and fumbles for a pair of grey sweats. Because nobody in this place needs to study to pass their classes because daddy pays for everything! She throws open her closet door, rips a black hoodie of the hanger and throws it over her head. Then I have to invite another cackling monkey to a dorm that shares with another person! That has to fucking! Study!
Spencer flings open her bedroom door and walks into the living room with her books in hand, bag over shoulder and whatever she could fit in her pockets.
"Hey, Spencer! Where are you going?" Spencer's roommate asks her as she walks pass them.
Spencer turns around to face her roommate and friend. "To the library. You know. Where it's quiet."
Before the roommate could respond, Spencer opens the door and closes it behind her, sealing whatever they were going to say.
…...
With the sun setting behind her, Aria walks up the flight of steps leading to the library. She opens the double doors and walks the silent hallway before opening another door on her left. She is greeted with the smell of old books, something she loves. She mouths "Hi" to the librarian and walks towards the back where the tables are located. Quite of few people are scattered around sitting at the tables, couches and even floor as they cram away. She finds a long table in the corner with another student at the end. She puts her things down, four chairs distance away from the other studier. Sitting comfortably, she pulls out her notebook, assorted pens and pencils and textbook before she takes out her phone and plugs herself away.
…...
"The punished group made fewer responses during the first extinction session than did the non-punished group…" Spencer mentally recalls as she searches through her textbook pages. Extinction… Extinction…
While flipping her book pages, she hears a light but steady hum coming from somewhere. She peers her head up instantly like a groundhog to see the girl down the table from her is listening to her music and humming. Nononono-nope. Not today.
Spencer taps on the table to get the smaller brunette's attention. When the girl looks up, Spencer gestures her to remove her earbuds.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry but you're humming is really distracting." Spencer says in a "matter of factly" voice.
"Oh! I'm sorry…" Aria says as she ducks her head down in embarrassment.
"Thank you," Spencer goes back to looking into her book. Where was I? Punished group… group, group, group… Extinction, right.
…...
Half an hour passes by and the two girls are still well into their studies. Aria puts her finger on one page as she looks at another. This rock, that rock…that the end of the day, they are all just rocks. Aria tries to recall the name of the layers of sedimentary rocks. What was that called again? Aria begins to lightly tap on her paper as she tries to not look at her book for the answer. C'mon you got this … OMG. WHAT IS IT CALLED? Ok, I know it starts with an s.
"I swear to god, if you don't stop with that fucking tapping…" a stern whispered voice floats from the other side of the table.
Str…Stra...Ugh, what is it? Stra…Strata. Strata!The layers of sedimentary rocks is called Strata!
"Stop tapping your fucking pencil!" Spencer rises up causing others to shush her and Aria to look at her perplexed.
"No, you don't have to shush me! I'm just gonna leave!" The taller brunette aggressively packs up her things and leaves the table, leaving Aria still confused.
"What did I do?" Aria asks a guy sitting across from her at another table who returns a shrug in response.
…...
The next morning, leaving out of her American History lecture, Spencer walks down a hallway, towards an elevator. She presses the button and waits for it to reach the seventh floor. Moments later, the elevator digs,she walks in and presses the lobby button. With the doors still open, a smaller brunette turns the corner in hopes of catching an elevator.
Oh noooo. Spencer thinks to herself as she quickly presses the 'door close' button, after recognizing Aria to be the same chick from the library that made her cut her session short and study in her car.
Aria sees the doors slowly closing and swiftly rushes herself in between them, causing them to reopen again. Seeing that the taller brunette purposely tried to close the doors on her, Aria spitefully leans over and presses every floor button as the elevators close. Spencer shoots her a vicious glare while Aria fixes her posture and stares straight ahead.
Spencer closes her eyes and presses her lips together as the elevator dings and stops at every floor, keeping the doors open for at least seven seconds each before slowly closing. Aria glances at the brunette in pure satisfaction before looking ahead at the elevator doors with a smirk.
"You started it."
"Don't..." Spencer says softly in a serious tone.
There is a silence between the two for a few seconds as the elevator travels to the first floor.
"Bet you won't do that next time…"
"Have you been assigned to make my life a living hell?!" Spencer spits out as she speedily turns to face Aria.
"Yep." Aria twists and turns her body slightly like a little child, still facing forward. "I am your personal little demon," She says with a twisted grin as the elevators doors open up to the lobby of the Levine Hall.
"Bye, sweetheart!" Aria waves before she walks out of the elevator and walks onto her next location.
Spencer leans the back of her head against the elevator wall she has been standing in front of. "Premediated suicide…I'm gonna do it," She mutters to herself before she straightens up and walks out the elevator into the lobby.
Spencer and Aria have met each other for the first time, but, it wasn't on the greatest terms. With Spencer stressing over the end of the first term and Aria making it her unofficial job of making her newfound frienemy go crazy, how will these two blossom over time?
You want fluff and a development of a ship? You've seen nothing yet…
Thank you for reading and I hope you stick with me from here on out with the other chapters. I have some pretty nice things planned for these two. Comments/Reviews are always treasured!
(Are you a fan of Emison and need another story to add to your collection? Be sure you check out my 1st fic, "Trouvaille" today! :D)