Happy New Year's
Chapter One: Planning a Party
Summary: In a story where there is no 'A', Alison isn't dead and Ezria isn't a couple, Rosewood's "It Girls" and their families have a huge New Year's Eve Party to bring in the New Year.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars. If you are an Ezria fan, this story probably isn't for you.
Italicized Bold font is others who are on the video chat with Spencer.
Italicized font is Spencer on video chats.
Bold font is two people on the phone with each other.
Regular font is two or more people talking face to face.
Spencer Hastings groaned as she rolled over in bed and looked at her alarm clock. It read 7 am, and it was blaring at her. Pushing the 'off' button, Spencer threw back the covers and went over to her desk. If she had to be up at this time to get ready, then so did her friends. It was definitely a video chat morning with Alison, Aria, Hanna and Emily.
Logging onto her video chat account on her computer, Spencer saw that she already had a chat request waiting for her. Clicking on the invite, it surprised her a little bit that it wasn't from one of her friends. It was actually from Toby Cavanaugh. Slowly clicking the accept button, Spencer smiled some. She hadn't gotten to talk to Toby much since he had to leave Rosewood, but the fact that he was sending her a video chat request had to be a good sign.
"Hey Spencer, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one up early today." Toby greeted her with a smile.
"Hey Toby, why are you up this early?" Spencer asked.
"I wanted you to be the first to know…" Toby started to say, but was cut off by Spencer's sister screaming at her. "What was that?" Toby asked.
"That would be my older sister screaming at me to come downstairs. But what did you want to tell me?" Spencer asked.
"I'll be able to come home in time for New Year's. They are releasing me a week early." Toby said and Spencer's face lit up.
"That's great Toby. Do you need someone to pick you up from the airport or train station or bus station or whatever? Because I can totally do that if you would like me to." Spencer offered.
"That would be great Spence. I arrive at the Rosewood Train Station tomorrow at 6 pm. So I'll see you there. I do have to go though. And I think you do too." Toby said.
"Yeah, I do, unfortunately. I'll see you tomorrow night. It was nice talking to you Toby." Spencer said.
"It was nice talking to you too Spencer. See you tomorrow." Toby said before he ended the video chat.
With a sigh, Spencer got up from her desk chair, abandoning the thought of video chatting with her friends and grabbing her robe before heading downstairs to see what her sister was yelling at her for. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Spencer saw that Melissa wasn't alone. Not only was her sister waiting for her, but so where her parents, Ian and Wren.
"What's going on?" Spencer asked as she looked around at everyone.
"What's going on? Don't act like you don't know Spencer." Melissa said as she glared daggers at her sister.
"I don't know Melissa. Why doesn't someone enlighten me?" Spencer asked.
"Ian and Wren just informed us that you have been flirting with them Spencer." Veronica said simply, only glancing up for a second at her youngest daughter.
"WHAT!" Spencer exclaimed in surprise. She would never flirt with guys that her sister was dating.
"Are you saying that it's not true Spencer?" Peter asked. He had found it hard to believe that it was the truth, despite having both Ian and Wren claiming it to be true.
"That's exactly what I'm saying Dad; as much as Melissa and I don't get along, I would never do that to her. Yes, I think that they are both great guys, but not for me. Besides, I like someone else… someone that Melissa would never date, or even consider dating." Spencer said. Why would Ian and Wren say that she was flirting with them?
"Ian, Wren, please tell Spencer what you told us." Veronica inquired of the two men.
"Spencer, you can't play stupid. You and I both know that you were flirting with me last summer when Melissa and I were dating and I was trying to help you with your stance for Field Hockey." Ian spoke up first.
"That wasn't me flirting with you. That was you flirting with me. And I have a witness that can prove that I wasn't the one who was flirting!" Spencer exclaimed.
"You do?" Ian asked as his eyes went wide.
"Yes, I do." Spencer said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Who is your witness; because I don't recall seeing anyone around us that day?" Ian asked.
"Alison." Spencer said firmly.
"Alison DiLaurentis is your witness; really Spencer? She's your best friend; of course she will say that it wasn't your fault." Melissa said with a laugh and a shake of her head.
"What about you Wren?" Spencer said cutting off her sister's laughter.
"One moment please." Wren said before standing up and taking Melissa's hand before pulling her outside with him.
"Melissa put you up to this, didn't she?" Spencer asked, turning to Ian.
"Yeah, she did. I'm sorry Spencer. She's very manipulative." Ian apologized before he too stood up and left.
"I'm sorry your sister did that to you Spencer." Veronica said before she went upstairs.
"Spencer, I'm sorry your sister did that to you as well; I had a hunch that something wasn't right about it, and I didn't believe either of the guys when they said that it was true." Peter said once his wife had left the room.
"It's okay Dad. Ian's right, Melissa can be manipulative, and I'm not that mad at her; it's more like I'm shocked that she would stoop that low." Spencer said with a sigh.
"Spencer, your mother and I are planning a New Year's Eve Party with your friends' families, is there anyone aside from the girls that you would possibly like to invite?" Peter asked after a couple minutes of silence.
"If its okay, I would like to invite Toby Cavanaugh, he's coming home a week early, and I offered to pick him up from the train station tomorrow evening." Spencer said after a moment of thinking. "Is that okay?" she asked looking at her father.
"If that is who you would like to invite, then that is perfectly okay." Peter said with a smile.
"Thanks Dad." Spencer said before she headed upstairs.
Once Spencer reached her room, she made a beeline for her desk. She had to try and get a hold of Toby and let him know that he was invited to the party. When she logged into her video chat window, she saw a group chat invite waiting for her. Before she clicked on it, she sent an invite to Toby. She wanted to talk to him again, and he wouldn't know that if she didn't initiate the contact. Once she was done sending the invite, Spencer accepted the group-chat invite and it didn't surprise her that all of her friends were already online.
"It's about time Spence. What took you so long? Your sister yelling at you woke me up… and I'm next door." Ali sneered.
"I was downstairs being accused of flirting with Ian and Wren." Spencer replied, choosing to ignore the teasing in her best friend's voice.
"Who was accusing you?" Aria asked.
"Melissa put Ian and Wren up to it. Ian's example was last summer when he was helping me with my field hockey stance and he kissed me. But he didn't realize that Ali had been there and could back me up in saying that I wasn't flirting with him but that he was flirting with me." Spencer explained.
"Why would she do that to you?" Emily asked.
"It's Melissa; she's probably just jealous that her boyfriends like Spencer too." Hanna said with a small laugh.
"That's what I'm thinking it is. She just doesn't like the fact that the guys she likes like me as well, even though I don't like them." Spencer replied.
"So, did y'all hear that our families are throwing a New Year's Eve party together? Or, more of mine and Spencer's families are throwing a party and inviting the rest of your families?" Alison asked.
"Really? When was that decided?" Hanna asked.
"Last night probably. My parents had dinner with Ali's parents. Not that Ali and I were invited." Spencer supplied sadly.
"Who are you all planning on kissing at midnight on New Year's Eve?" Aria asked.
"It depends on if he is able to come or not." Spencer muttered.
"Definitely Ian. I'm sorry that my guy was so manipulated by your sis Spence. I'll talk to him about that." Ali said.
"I'm planning on kissing that guy Caleb. If I'm able to get him to come that is." Hanna added.
"What about you Em? And you Aria?" Spencer asked, hoping to steer the question away from her some.
"Well, if I can manage it, I was thinking Jason…" Aria said almost in one breath.
"You want to kiss my brother? Eww Aria. That is so gross." Ali replied with a shake of her head.
"I'm going to see if it's okay for me to bring my new girlfriend. Her name is Samara. I think that you will all really like her; and I want you all to meet her, and I want her to meet all of you." Emily explained.
"I think that we should do an outfit check for the party. Make sure we all look great." Spencer suggested before she stood up and walked over to her closet. "I was thinking of this dress." She said once she had walked back to her desk and held up a silver satin dress with a black sash on one shoulder and black, grey, silver and bronze sequin discs along the hem line.
"That definitely looks like a dress for a New Year's Eve Party to me." Aria said.
"It's your turn then Aria." Spencer commented as she hooked the hanger onto her full length mirror.
"Well, I actually just got this dress yesterday, and I was wonder when I was going to get to wear it, but this is what it looks like." Aria said as she held up a silver sequined strapless dress with a black sash empire waist.
"That is beautiful Aria." Alison commented simply.
"Thanks Ali." Aria said with a smile.
"Ali, it's your turn." Spencer commented, silently thanking whoever was listening that she had gotten her friends away from the topic of who they were going to kiss at midnight.
"Well, since I don't have to get my guy's attention as much anymore, I'm gonna wear this." Ali said as she got up and walked over to her bed where the girls could kinda see a box sitting on it; and once Ali had brought the box back to her desk, she took the lid off and lifted out a navy blue chiffon halter-top dress with silver/gold sequins around the waist, bust and neck for the straps.
"Oh… my… gosh Ali. That is amazing." Emily commented as Ali held the dress up to her body so the girls could all see it.
"Thanks Em. My mom got it for me when she went to New York. She has no idea how much I needed something simple to wear for New Year's this year." Alison replied before she gently placed the dress back into the box.
"I guess it's my turn now. Well, my mom and I just went shopping last weekend in Philly and I found this. It's simple, but I don't need anything too fancy." Emily explained as she walked over to her closet and grabbed a strapless gray and silver mini dress that has a gray belt like sash to it.
"It suits you Em." Hanna said when Emily showed the dress off.
"Hanna's turn." Spencer said before she heard a beep on her phone. "Be right back guys. I just got a text."She added before getting up and walking over to her nightstand to grab her cell.
Hey Spence. Got your video chat invite, but it said that you were busy when I tried to accept it. What did you need? – T
Would you like to come to a New Year's Eve party at my house? I would really like for you to be there. – S
I would love to come. I will just need to know a time, place and dress code. – T
I will be able to give you all of that tomorrow night when I pick you up. – S
I'll be waiting. Call me when you have some time. – T
I will. TTYL Toby. – S
TTYL Spence. – T
After texting Toby, Spencer went back to her desk to see that her friends were all waiting for her to come back before Hanna showed off her dress for the party. With a straight face, Spencer just looked at each of her friends.
"What are you all staring at?" Spencer asked.
"Who texted you?" Emily asked.
"It's not important. I want to see Hanna's dress." Spencer responded.
"Obviously it was important enough for you to be over at your nightstand texting them for a minute or two. So why can't you tell us?" Alison asked.
"It's none of your guys' business. Hanna, let's see the dress." Spencer said.
"Well, it's not a strapless like all of yours' but it is sleeveless." Hanna said as she reached behind her and grabbed her dress off of her bed. Hanna had been right, it wasn't a strapless, but the tank top like dress was a simple white dress with a deep v-neckline and empire waistline.
"That is definitely a great dress for you Han. Well, I gotta go. Are we all still meeting up tonight for a movie night at your house Aria?" Spencer asked.
"Of course we are Spence. Why wouldn't we be?" Aria asked.
"Just confirming that was still the plan and that you guys didn't decide something different before I got on today. See you all tonight. Bye." Spencer said before quickly logging out of the video chat account.
Once Spencer had taken a shower and gotten dressed, she headed downstairs to get something to eat for breakfast. Her stomach was starting to grumble due to lack of food and if she didn't eat something soon, she would end up spending the rest of the day bent over the toilet. Nodding to her dad who was sitting at the island reading the newspaper, Spencer walked over to the fridge and opened the double doors trying to find something that spiked her appetite. After a couple of minutes, Spencer ended up just grabbing some bread and placing a couple of pieces into the toaster. Once they were ready, she buttered and jammed them before putting them on a plate and heading back up to her room.
Upon reaching her room, Spencer shut and locked her door before walking over to her nightstand and grabbing her cell phone. After scrolling through her contacts, Spencer came to the 'T's and quickly found Toby's number. After a moment of hesitation, Spencer hit the call button and held the phone to her ear and listened to the ring tone. When the phone rang 5 or 6 times, and Toby didn't answer, Spencer started to worry that he wasn't going to pick up. Right when the phone rang a couple more times, and Spencer was about to hang up, Toby picked up.
"Hey Spencer." Toby said, and Spencer felt a smile grace her face.
"Hey Toby. Are you busy?" Spencer asked, hoping that she wasn't interrupting anything on his end.
"Nothing to keep me so busy that I wouldn't be able to talk to you Spencer." Toby replied and Spencer's smile grew wider.
"Good. I was thinking that we could talk about the party. Is that okay with you?" Spencer asked.
"That's perfectly okay with me. What would you like to talk about exactly?" Toby asked in return.
"Well, you had said that you need to know the time, place and dress code, so I thought I would tell you." Spencer said slowly.
"That works for me. What all do I need to know?" Toby asked and he had to admit, he was enjoying talking to Spencer, and with her spreading the conversation out like she was doing; he was enjoying it even more.
"Well, I can tell you the place and dress code, but as of right now, I don't know the time yet." Spencer replied.
"That's fine; it just means that we will have something to talk about next time." Toby commented with a smirk playing at his lips.
"Okay, so the place is my house, and the dress code is formal." Spencer said releasing the breath that she didn't realize that she was holding.
"Then I will be at your house, and I will be dressed formally. Should I coordinate my outfit with yours?" Toby asked.
"If you would like coordinate your outfit with mine, I guess that could work." Spencer commented.
"You know, it would help if I knew what you were wearing." Toby prompted.
"Oh, sorry, I'm wearing a silver satin dress with a black sash on one shoulder and black, grey, silver and bronze sequin discs along the hem line." Spencer said and her cheeks started to turn bright red as she imagined Toby staring at her in the dress.
"I'm sure that I can figure something out that can match that dress." Toby said thoughtfully.
"So, um, my dad is kinda the only one that knows that I invited you. No one else knows that you will be back in time for New Year's." Spencer cautioned.
"That is perfectly okay with me. If it means that I get to spend the night with you, then I don't care who knows and who doesn't know." Toby said.
"Okay then." Spencer said.
"As much as I would love to continue talking to you Spencer, I unfortunately have to go. I have pack. But I will call you tonight and I will call you in the morning when I'm heading to the train station." Toby said, and he hated having to tell Spencer goodbye, even for a little bit.
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll talk to you later than." Spencer said, disappointed that she couldn't talk to Toby for a longer period of time.
"Of course you'll talk to me later, because it would be a little rude of you to not talk to me when I call you tonight." Toby said, causing Spencer to laugh.
"You have a point." Spencer said as another small laugh burst from her lips.
"Talk to you tonight Spencer." Toby said.
"Talk to you tonight Toby." Spencer said.
Once Spencer hung up the phone, she placed her phone on her bed and looked down at her untouched pieces of toast. With a sigh, Spencer picked up the plate and headed towards the door. As she unlocked the door and opened it, Melissa fell forward, causing Spencer to stumble backwards and dump her toast on her clothes.
"What do you want Melissa?" Spencer asked as she let out a frustrated sigh and plucked the toast off of her shirt and placed them back on the plate.
"Did I hear you correctly? You invited Toby Cavanaugh to the New Year's Eve party? Do you really think Mom and Dad will be okay with that?" Melissa asked as she folded her arms across her chest and sneered at her sister.
"Yes, yes, and Dad said it was fine." Spencer replied with a glare. "Now get out of my room." She added while pushing Melissa back out into the hall and then pushing past her.
"Mom won't allow it Spencer!" Melissa called after her sister's retreating back.
"It won't matter; Dad said that it's okay, so I already invited him. And you might want to worry less about me and Toby, and more about the fact that after you, Ian moved on to my best friend." Spencer replied with a smirk.
End Chapter One
(A/N: I know that this was a pretty long chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I am hoping to have more chapters posted for this story by the weekend. – Emma)