Don't act inappropriate.
Don't say or do anything to tarnish the sacred Hastings name.
Don't make a spectacle of yourself.
Always dress properly and with an outfit to suit the occasion.
Always be courteous and gracious to your hosts.
Never eat before everyone has taken their places at the table.
It was those little rules that Spencer Hastings had lived by nearly her entire life—always strict—always an emphasis on making sure that she was the proper lady that her parents had raised her to be. There wasn't any room for making mistakes, or coming into one's own.
It wasn't a question to be anything other than the perfectly trimmed and polished lady that had scored a full ride to UPENN, and had several AP report cards certifying what a brilliant-minded student she was.
In Spencer's life, a mistake could spell the end of all the hard work that she had put into herself over the years. A mistake, that even though she thought was stupid, was determined to make one way or another.
Having that first drink.
In Rosewood, it was like a rite of passage.
Especially when you throw in one of Noel Kahn's parties that had become time-honored traditions in Rosewood, and a bunch of her friends that were encouraging her to let her hair down and have fun for once.
It was that word "fun" that didn't necessarily cooperate with the other vocabulary that she had come to adopt as her own. The vocabulary that was all about studying and maintaining grades, with no other room for parties and other silly events, especially when she was on a time crunch to perfect her SAT score to achieve higher results once she started classes at school.
This night, however, was different.
Toby had been gone in London, seeking out the answers to his mother's death that had haunted him ever since A had dropped the subtle hint that her death may not have been a suicide like had been originally thought and reported by Rosewood's finest.
It just so happened that his return happened on the night that Noel was throwing one of his many parties that he liked to indulge in on the odd weekend (or week, if his parents were out of town), and while Spencer would have normally stayed home studying, she was determined that she and Toby would celebrate his return with a bang.
"Here," Hanna said, having to shout over the frenetic base of the music as she handed Spencer and Toby each a shot of the beer that Noel and his brother had imported.
"What's this?" Spencer asked, her ears burning with pain at the intensity of the music, and how loud it was.
"A shot!" Hanna yelled. "It's on the house!"
Taking it uncertainly, Spencer bowed her head as she sniffed the liquid. It smelled like beer, like the kind that her father drank when they were out at parties at the club. Swirling it distractedly, she looked at Toby for his reaction.
Neither one of them were known to engage in drinking, especially in public, but this was a somewhat special occasion, and one instance wouldn't hurt, right?
"You want to?" Spencer asked, directing her gaze down at the drinks that Hanna had gifted them with.
"Just one," Toby agreed. "Or else I think Noel might offer us up as the night's sacrifice," he added, whispering conspiratorially to her.
"You're probably right," Spencer said, nodding, as she hesitated one second before inhaling the drink in one gulp. It tasted disgusting, and for a moment, she had a hard time keeping it down as she sputtered. "That's—that's the most horrible-"
"It is," Toby agreed, his face pinched in distaste.
But there was something fairly intoxicating about the drink, too. It gave them a certain buzz that they hadn't been able to get anywhere else, and while the initial taste of the beverage had absolutely horrified Spencer, she found herself accepting a few more rounds of shots, which she and Toby jokingly toasted to each other before taking the plunge.
"This is-" Spencer hiccuped. "I'm so totally-"
"Wasted?" Aria supplied, as she caught a look at the glassy tone to her friend's normally bright and expressive eyes.
"Snockered," Spencer corrected. "Inebriated."
Normal Spencer was already freakishly intelligent without the added assistance of anything else, but when she had inhaled those drinks, her intelligence level had seemed to go up even higher as she started reciting every word in the English dictionary (and some in the French dictionary) that popped into her brain.
"Accumulated," she said with an obnoxious laugh. "Means to collect or obtain-"
"Okay, Spencer," Toby said, not able to control the laughter that escaped from his own mouth. "I think you and I may have had too much of that-"
"Shh, shh," Spencer said, placing a quick finger to silence him. "Be quiet. Quiet means free of noise or disruptions."
"Is she hammered?" Hanna asked, in her typical blunt manner as she watched her friend laugh and continue to recite the dictionary, or as much as her super-sized brain could remember.
"It's the alcohol," Toby explained, wobbling a little unsteadily on his feet. "She and I may have a little," he said, pinching his two fingers together. "Too much."
While not completely smashed like his girlfriend, it was clear that he had had too much to drink also, and while Emily guided him over to a place to sit down, Aria and Hanna went over to try to corral their out of control friend.
Spencer was over by the punch bowl, which had probably been spiked with more booze, and was attempting to teach a stone statue how to properly pronounce "exaggerated."
"Spencer," Aria said sharply, as she and Hanna came over to where she was. "We need to talk to you, okay?"
"About what?"
"About the fact that you're completely drunk," Hanna said, ignoring the look of warning that Aria passed over to her. "Look, I get it. I was there myself, too, but you need to come sit down before you make a total fool of yourself."
"I am not going to make a total fool of myself-" Spencer started to say, rejecting her friend's idiotic notion when she suddenly face-planted on the ground after tripping over a waiter's foot, nearly sending himself to the ground, if it hadn't been for his quick recovery.
"You see what we mean?" Aria said, shaking her head in irritation. "You and Toby need to go down for a nap, and then have some coffee."
"Coffee has natural stimulants that will automatically increase a person's natural energy levels," Spencer said, once again rattling off facts as though she was a walking talking human dictionary.
"Okay," Aria said, shaking her head in mild bemusement. "Let's go over and sit down, okay?"
"Fine, whatever you say, bossy pants."