Chapter One

Spencer Hastings turned onto her street, sighing out of exhaustion from her numerous and strenuous extra-curricular activities, silently thanking the universe that it was Friday.

As she pulled into her driveway she noticed that the house next door, not the DiLaurentis residence obviously, had a SOLD sign, where a for sale sign had been previously.

Putting her car in park she vaguely wondered about the nature of her new neighbors, and whether or not they might have any kids around her age, as she and the other girls had been growing sort of distant with everything going on in their personal lives.

As she walked up the stairs and entered her bedroom, she had a perfect view through her window of the newly sold house next door, and it's circular driveway curving away from the front of the house. She watched as a silver 4Runner pulled to a stop in the middle of the driveway. She guessed that it must be a teenager's car, as there was a sticker on the lower left hand side of the hatchback window, with an insignia from a school she hadn't seen before, as well as an out of state license plate, though from her vantage point she couldn't exactly make out either of the things very well.

Spencer advanced towards her window as a young man stepped out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement. She was surprised at his stature, knowing even from a distance that she was taller than him. But also from said distance, she could tell he was very handsome as well.

She continued to watch as the young man opened the hatchback of his SUV, and began pulling out his belongings.

Spencer thought the handsome new blood in rosewood looked like he could use a hand with his things, and she ventured out to help.

She walked across her perfectly manicured lawn, through her hedges, and onto his lawn. As she neared his SUV, he turned slightly, sensing her presence.

His eyebrows shot upwards slightly when she locked eyes with him, as if to inquire the reason for her presence. At this distance, he was better looking than she had thought, shorter too, but she held his gaze, noticing his eye color: bright green, and around the pupil the color of the interior of a forest at dusk.

"Spencer Hastings." she offered, deciding the young man wasn't going to speak first. "I live next door, I saw you pull up and I thought you might like some help with your things." she offered him a smile.

He studied her with a bored unchanging expression as to give nothing away, or so he hoped, because he actually found this Spencer girl very attractive. He studied the way her long brown curls framed her unique facial structure, prominent cheekbones, bright brown eyes, and he let his eyes linger probably too long on her lips, which were a frosty shade of pale pink.

"Walter." he offered after a moment, "Walter Grey."

She noticed as he spoke he had a small gap between his teeth. An imperfection she thought suited Walter very well.

"And a hand would be much appreciated, if you're offering." he said, giving her a small smile.

He went back to taking things out of his car, and she studied Walter's appearance from her new vantage point for the first time. She was still a little surprised at how short he was, as he couldn't be taller than 5'4. She also noticed his hair color, somewhere between blonde and brown, the angular structure of his face, strong jaw line and high cheekbones, which she also noticed was littered with flecks of stubble the color of his eyebrows here and there, which were darker than his hair. She took in the shape of his perfectly straight, pointed nose, and his thin pale pink lips. Going on to notice that though he was very short, and not terribly muscular, from what she could see he had an athlete's body, and muscle tone, though it was rather hard to judge given his attire. He looked straight out of a private school, pleated khaki's tucked in blue dress shirt, brown leather belt, and brown lace up dress shoes, finishing with a bright red tie, which she noticed for the first time had an embroidered pattern on it: blue crossed lacrosse sticks.

In the mere moments it took her to assess his appearance, she had already subconsciously decided she liked him. He turned to face her, a small smile on his face. Noticing this, she moved to begin helping him unload his SUV.

When they had moved everything into they foyer of the large house, which was mostly just his clothes and shoes, and a couple bags with sports gear in them, as well as papers and files, Spencer decided that she would like to know him better.

"So you play lacrosse." She half asked half stated, eyeing the tie he was wearing.

"Yeah, I do." Said Walter. "I play the midfield. It's sort of where all the action goes down, I shoot and assist." He explained smiling wider with each word. "It's probably the best fun I've ever had. I recently got offered a scholarship to Cornell to play for them, not quite sure if I'll make the grades though." He admitted.

She liked the enthusiasm he showed about doing what he loved, it reminded her of her own, driven, overly-motivated self. The only difference was, most things she did had benefit, whether it be to earn her parent's love and attention, or so she would look like gold on any college application, and lacrosse was well, pure sport.

"Cornell?" she asked, a little surprised. "That's the Ivy League, I think you should at least give that a shot." She could hear

"Well before I go applying to colleges and acting on this offer, I have to get on a team. It's senior year, it's probably the most important year for being scouted, if you want to play a sport in college." He explained to Spencer.

She loved to play field hockey but had never thought about it after high school. It was more an application filler for her than a passion, also a way to vent her Hastings competitiveness, and with everything she was hoping to undertake in college, she doubted she would have time to play at a college level, especially given how competitive she was. It would probably consume her life.

"Are you going to attend Rosewood? Or a private school?" she asked him.

"Rosewood." He said. "It'll actually be my first time going to public school in eleven years." He kept talking as he walked farther into his new house. "Sorry about the furniture situation, the movers were supposed to be moving my things in right about now I believe." Said Walter, slight irritation creeping into his voice.

"Don't worry about it." She said, not having really noticed the 'furniture situation' as she was fixated on Walter. The way he looked, the way he dressed, his mannerisms. He was handsome. Sexy if she wanted to be honest with herself. And she found the height difference appealing to say the least. She liked trying new things.

"If you would like, we could go next door, to my house." Spencer offered. "Do you like coffee?" she asked him as he turned away from the large open glass window in his sitting room.

"Couldn't live without it." He replied, flashing her his gap-toothed smirk. "Lead the way." He said, as he advanced toward her.

She turned when he reached her so that they could walk in sync. And because of this she couldn't help noticing the height difference. The top of his head only just reached her jaw.

As they walked out the door and past his SUV, she turned slightly, taking in the out of state license plate. North Carolina. She was betting he'd really like to go to UNC. As little as she knew about lacrosse, she knew all the schools on the east coast that were big on the sport. She'd looked at some herself, but was really vying for UPenn, since she had wanted to attend the establishment ever since she could remember caring about college, which for Spencer Hastings, was as long as she could remember. Along with the license plate, the sticker on his hatchback window caught her eye. It was crimson and royal blue, matching his attire, a college style U with crossing lacrosse sticks behind it. She supposed those must be his school colors, or, old school colors, as he was technically a Shark now.

She stopped at the edge of his driveway, but he didn't seem to notice right away and kept his pace. Before he could get very far she grabbed his upper arm, right above where his elbow was bent slightly as he had his hands in his pockets. She felt his muscles tense at the contact, and caught herself wondering just how defined those muscles were under that dress shirt of his. He locked eyes with her, a slightly amused expression on his face, as he saw her cheeks flush a slight pink color, before she regained that Hastings composure, pushing thoughts of Walter without a shirt to the back of her subconscious.

She pointed to his sticker, "Is that your old private school?" she inquired as they fell back into step towards the Hastings' house.

"Yeah, Asheville University School." Said Walter, a slight cringe overcoming his handsome features. "All male. I went there for eleven years."

"All male? So it'll be a nice change for you to have girls in your classes and sharing your sports fields, won't it?" she asked, smiling at him.

"I just hope it won't be a distraction, this is kind of an important year for me, athletically and academically." He replied.

They reached the Hastings' back door and Spencer opened it, walking inside and closing it after Walter.

"You've a lovely home Spencer." He said, taking a quick look around before giving her another grin, but not showing off the gap in his teeth, that she found herself liking more and more every time she saw it. She wondered how he felt about it himself, and why he'd never gotten it corrected. Maybe he liked it Spencer decided, since after all so did she.

"Thank you, Walter." She returned the smile. As Spencer moved to prepare coffee for the two of them, Walter seated himself at the island in her kitchen.

"So what made your parents decide to let you go to public school here in Rosewood?" she inquired.

"Well…" He trailed off. "They don't exactly…know about it." He finished.

She turned to look at him, obviously confused, he could see it in her face, and he could also see, that for Spencer Hastings, being confused was a totally new experience.

And she thought for a minute. Where were Walter's parents? What if she had brought up an unwanted subject, as he did seem a little reluctant to discuss the issue.

"They didn't move here with me." Walter finally admitted, as he averted his eyes to the marble countertop. "I live next door, alone, by myself…bachelor pad." He finished, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, eyes still directed to the countertop. "They're back in Asheville. North Carolina, that's where I'm from."

He looked up at her, noticing now that she had moved towards him and was leaning against the other side of the island, directly across from him. She didn't press him further with her words, and he could see that she wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it, but her eyes pressed him for more questions, because who was Spencer kidding? She wanted to know everything about Walter.

Deciding she wouldn't press him, and deciding he liked her self control, since he could tell she wanted to know more, he went on, "They're busy with work, and they rarely ever had much time for me before, so it's not exactly a big adjustment. I'm used to being alone." He finished, his tone even, not showing any emotion, if he felt about it one way or another.

And Spencer could empathize, and she told him so. "My parents are the same, I'm used to being by myself as well."

But she wanted to know more. Why had he even felt the need to leave North Carolina, and his parents, and possibly even a girlfriend? As the thought crossed her mind she felt a twinge of jealousy, but wouldn't admit it to herself. She wasn't used to not being in control. And Walter…well, Walter made her unable to control how she felt, and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"If you don't mind me asking," she began, "Would you tell me why you left Asheville in the first place?" She studied his face intently, and his body language, to see if she could get any information at all from that.

"Well, as to why I left, I needed the change of scenery. There were things there that I just couldn't get away from." He trailed off at that not meeting her gaze.

And she knew the feeling, of not being able to escape your past, and wanting to keep your secrets, so she didn't press him any further, though Spencer knew this wasn't the whole story.

"And as to why Rosewood? It was random. I liked the house. And it's far, far away from her." He said his tone growing bitter at the last word, his expression changing at light speed from pain to anger, then to defeat. Then to realization, as he realized he'd said too much.

Spencer was taken aback. So he'd had a girlfriend. But didn't anymore. And she had obviously wronged him. But she could see that he didn't want to discuss this girl. And neither did she. So she didn't press him for information, but set coffee in front of him, causing him to look up at her. She was grinning half way, and she looked sorry, as though she had made him spill the bit of information that he was trying so desperately to keep locked in his subconscious.

"Do you take anything with yours?" Spencer asked. "I like mine black. Everyone hates my coffee. My friends say I bleed caffeine." She joked offering him a tentative smile.

He returned the smile, and thought to himself before replying, that all thoughts of her, had vanished the moment he had met Spencer Hastings. He didn't know exactly what it meant, but it felt nice, and it made Walter appreciate her company on a different level than he had been before.

They finished their coffee, forgetting the mention of the source of Walter's discomfort, and they made friendly, idle conversation, just getting to know one another. They talked about lacrosse, what it was like to go to an all male school, what it was like to go to a co-ed public school, field hockey, which to her delight Walter was very interested in, cars, favorite colors, favorite foods, television shows. Anything you would talk about with someone you didn't know anything about.

"So, you start at Rosewood on Monday?" she asked as she followed Walter to the door. The movers had arrived in his absence and he wanted to ensure the safety of his belongings.

"Yes, I do." He smiled at her as she stood across the threshold, inside her house, and he stood opposite her. "I hope I see you at school, it's not like I know anyone else in Rosewood." He admitted.

She could see that he had only just thought of this himself, and a bit of nervousness marred his handsome features.

"Tell you what," she said holding out her right hand. "Give me your phone, I'll put my number in and you can text me Monday morning." She smiled.

He smiled back, showing the gap between his teeth this time, looking very appreciative, and giving Spencer a slight flutter in her stomach. He unlocked and handed over his phone so she could enter her number.

"Thank you, Spencer." Said Walter.

She could hear the smile in his voice, though she was looking at his phone to add her contact information.

"No problem, Walter." She said, smiling at him when she returned his phone. "Even if we don't have any classes together, we'll still see each other around. And you're welcome to sit with my friends and I at lunch, if you aren't scared of a table full of girls." She said playfully, poking fun at the fact that he'd only ever went to an all male private school.

"I'd like that." He smiled a half smile. "But for now, I should get back to my place, and get things settled." He didn't really want to leave. He enjoyed Spencer's company more than he wanted to admit to himself. But moving in did have to be done.

"Good night, Walter." Spencer said softly. Loving the way his name rolled off her tongue just a little bit more every time she got to say it. She offered him a smile, open and honest, showing more emotion than she should have for someone she met only hours ago.

But he returned her smile, with the same intentions, to let her know he enjoyed spending time with her, and that he would love her company any hour of any day.

"Good night, Spencer." The left side of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile as he said her name. And she noticed it. She liked the way her name sounded when Walter said it. And he wondered if she made him like his own name too when she said it. Maybe she was being too hopeful. He did still seem to be hurting over the mystery ex-girlfriend. A stronger wave of jealousy overcame her, and left a bitter taste in her mouth as Walter turned away and she shut the door.

And she knew she was falling for the new kid, the guy next door. She was falling for Walter Grey.