Some Author's Notes: Super rusty on writing fanfiction (this is the first I have written in at least 8 years which makes me feel older than I should have to feel).I know I'm not the best editor but this is a passion project not a work of art. There is some crossover at the beginning with another popular show for teens, but rest assured it was played mostly for gags and won't be a prominent feature. If anyone enjoys this a tenth as much as I am writing it, that would be more than enough.
Stanford University. Sophomore year.
Paige POV:
I was surprised when I heard from Spencer Hastings. It wasn't like we stayed close after Emily broke up with me, shortly into my freshman year. Not that I didn't see it coming. She never forgave me for trying to protect her from Allison and for trying to push her to come with me.
It's funny. I remember all the good times. Our kiss by the pool. The first time we had sex together. The way she would smile at me when we were first together and I was so happy I couldn't accept that I still felt more for her than she did for me. I shook my head and sipped a bit from my water bottle. Can't believe I still was this torn up by it. But I guess if we dated on and off for 2 years I still had about half a year to feel justified in still thinking about her every spare moment I had.
And now Spencer was texting me?
Spencer had treated me with nothing but distain and distrust till I literally fought off A while he attacked her. Afterwards I guess I was bumped up to indifference before my relationship with Emily imploded.
But here she was, texting me while I was in the middle of lecture hall. I already had a crazy class load in addition to swimming, and every day was long and stressful. So much for lazy days on the beach and traveling to San Francisco with my girlfriend.
Spencer: Hey Paige. I realize this is out of the blue but I am going to be coming to Stanford for a conference. Wanted to see if you wanted to meet up, catch up on things.
Sounded like charity. Charity about Emily dumping me I didn't need. Well at least not from one of Emily's best friends from high school. I almost thought of ignoring it, but then thought better of it. What would a drink or two hurt anyway?
Paige: Sure. When are you coming? What's the conference?
It took her a bit to respond. I shouldn't even care how fast she replies. But I sort of did. There was a time or two in high school I couldn't help but notice how hot Spencer was. I was committed to Emily but I wasn't blind. In a weird way I resented my lingering attraction to Spencer. I wanted to only think about Emily that way. But that was then and this is now. And Spencer is straight…
Spencer: Going to sound strange but it is the LGBT conference. Can explain that in person. In 2 weeks.
My eyes must have bulged out their sockets because the person sitting next to me sifted over a bit from me. What the heck was this? Probably just being supportive of Emily, getting stuff on her resume, and volunteering to help the many groups of people born with fewer privileges than Hastings? All three?
Lecture was wrapping up anyway. I packed all my stuff to head out to swim practice.
A Diner in New York, NY.
Spencer POV:
"You got a crush on this girl." Santana said while waiting for one of her plates to come out of the kitchen. I scoffed while waiting to see if Paige would text anything back.
"What? No I don't. I know her from high school." I walked away with a pair of coffees for a table. Santana was following behind to check on hers and probably just to irritate me.
"Please. Last time I was inviting myself out with drinks with someone I knew from high school I could at least say the "s" word was on my mind." She whispered in my ear before snapping into customer service mode and asking a table what their order would be and if she could get them any refills.
"Scissoring?" I muttered to myself. Apparently we were still standing close enough for her to hear me.
"I know you are new to this whole liking girls business, but don't embarrass yourself with that nonsense." She snapped, walking back towards the outgoing food window.
I came back to grab some plates myself. I had it.
I got close enough behind Santana to retort, "Maybe if you had been a better teacher." Santana nearly dropped the plates she was grabbing. Her back tensed but only for a moment. Oh for God sake…
It was already happening. She was slowly turning her head to smirk over her shoulder.
"Oh really Spencer? Is that how you remember it?" She asked. Now Rachel was also looking over ready to start in.
"Can we…not do that weird music thing you guys do? You made your point." I said it shortly and glanced in her eyes and at the ground. Suddenly, like every other hour working here, everyone at the diner seemed perfectly okay with a musical interruption.
Santana walked up to me and got right in my face, close enough to kiss me. Again and again…my mind flashed back to some of the hotter nights we spent together after meeting at a club she performed at.
The music beat suddenly hit. I groaned, "You guys are so derivative." I was nearly cut off by Rachel yelping excitedly and clapping in the background. She was like a Chihuahua fed on pure sugar.
Santana unbuttoned the top buttons of her uniform, still close enough to distract me a bit. Exactly where she wanted to be to start her performance.
You wanted control
So we waited
I put on a show
Now we're naked
You say I'm a kid
My ego is big
I don't give a shit
And it goes like this
She then started strutting backwards, beckoning me with one finger while occasionally rolling her hips:
Take me by the tongue
And I'll know you
Kiss me till you're drunk
And I'll show you
All them moves like Jagger
I've got them moves like Jagger…
She then came forward, grazing the top of my chest and back with one hand as she circled me seductively.
Maybe it's hard
When you feel like you're broken and scarred
Nothing feels right
But when you're with me
I make you believe
That I've got the key…
She continued through the WHOLE song. Complete with Rachel hitting Christina Aguilera's part. After they were done, Santana having spent a good portion of the time posing in increasingly sexual ways while moving her hips like I suppose Mick Jagger would, the diner applauded what I felt was a lackluster cover and returned to normal like it never happened.
I crossed my arms while Santana smiled with one eyebrow arched in triumph.
"Thanks for the quick break from work." I said, trying to move around her. She grabbed my arm, gently but enough to stop me.
"Hey we are all good. Just want to see what is going on with this Stanford girl." She told me. "Well…and remind you I was a great teacher." I smiled at the ground.
"That you were. Her name is Paige. She is Emily's ex-girlfriend. I don't know. I was never super close to her but time changes things. I know Emily is never going to forgive her for how things went down back in high school but I…" I hesitated, not fully understanding why I decided to reach out to Paige.
"I get where she came from. She wanted to protect Emily. She did the wrong thing for the right reasons." I finished off.
"Does Emily know you are trying to hit and quit her ex?" Santana asked, snapping back into sassy bitch mode. I swear she was like a character whose creator couldn't decide what they wanted to do with.
"Santana! Not planning on sleeping with her! We are going to this conference anyway. It would be rude not to preface my arrival to a conference she will probably be at with a quick 'hey it's good old Spencer from Rosewood and I'm kind of bisexual now so thought maybe we could talk about the good old times of trying not to get ax-murdered' so I called her!" Santana rolled her eyes and walked away just in time for the prima donna herself to storm up. Rachel got right in my face, pointing her index finger in my face.
"You think we are SO WEIRD because we like to SING and EXPRESS ourselves. At least we didn't spend high school getting stalked by a murderous yet implausible villain while dressing like a clown vomited on us!" Rachel stomped away after removing her finger from my face and making her point.
"Hey! Only Hanna and Aria dressed like that!" I shouted back.
Stanford University
Paige POV
"Alright ladies hit the showers. Keep practicing like you did today and the other teams won't have a chance at conference." Coach Redfield called out. I started to pull my tired body out of the water but was promptly dunked down, someone holding my head down. Chlorinated water got into my mouth and I started flailing around. One of my hands hit the tile wall and I grimaced. Finally the hand let go of my head.
I burst up above the water's surface gasping for breath while ripping off my googles.
"Fuck! Claire come on." I growled. While she was laughing and grabbed her hanging hand and yanked her back down into the pool. It was worth it just to see the split-second of "oh shit!" shock in her eyes as she hit the water.
"GIRLS ENOUGH!" Coach Redfield roared, storming over to watch us both exit the pool minus the horseplay.
"It wasn't funny the first time." I said as Claire and I walked to the showers.
"Fuck yes it was and it still is now. Consider it karma for being such a creeper in the first place and then being dumb enough to tell me you tried to drown your first love." Claire said as she walked.
"It was after I had a few beers in me!" I replied indignantly. I got under a shower and started to wash the chlorine off. "Besides you don't understand everything we went through at that high school." I added.
"Still doesn't change the fact you did it." Claire retorted.
"Hey something interesting came up. Speaking about my high school I mean. Emily's friend Spencer is coming up here the LGBT conference. She asked to hang out but she isn't gay. I mean she wasn't in high school" I said as I lathered up my hair.
"Maybe she wants you." Claire said laughing.
"What? No! Spencer is attractive but definitely straight. She was dating this guy Toby through most of high school."
"Why else would she ask to meet you up at an LGBT conference? Why would she be traveling across the country for that?" Claire's words began to sink in. It did seem like a lot to do just to be an ally. But Spencer wanting to see me was probably more of a formality to not be rude. Especially after everything that happened in high school.
"I don't know. I guess I will see." I murmured. I focused on washing the shampoo out of my hair, but I could see Claire watching me from the corner of my eye.
"You deserve to be happy Paige. I mean in general. I get Emily was important to you but that was high school. There are so many girls here…" I cut her off, shaking my head.
"I know I know. That doesn't mean they would automatically date me. I mean it might be nice to make out with someone else but I'm still figuring things out. Besides with practice and class and keeping up to not lose my scholarship I barely have time for myself." Claire smiled.
"Sounds like you need a good woman to help you out."
"That is a personal assistant. Or a sex slave. I can't really tell which one you are getting at. Right now I'm just mushy squash which is going to attract none of those things."
"What the hell is mushy squash supposed to mean?"
Stanford University: The Conference
Spencer's POV
Our bus was finally pulling up to the Stanford campus. When the bus stopped to let us out, everyone who was still awake after the hours of travel started applauding. I had tried to start a conversation with the guy next to me at the beginning of the trip, but he wasn't having it, mumbling something about needing his beauty sleep before the many hedonistic activities he planned to indulge in for the next 48 hours. Wasn't anyone else here to learn?
There was something nice about the warm, balmy air even in spring. Like a perfect summer every day versus the sludge and dirt or New York and the diner I worked at.
We filed in the Visitor's Center on campus to check in our badges and get program guides and campus maps. I pulled out my phone while in line to text Paige.
Spencer: Hey just landed on your campus. You still free tonight? Want to meet up at the opening ceremony and hang out afterwards?
When the few people in front of me moved out of the way, having received their badges, I saw Paige across the table, looking at her phone. She looked just like I remembered her from high school. Her hair was a big shorter and it seemed her muscles had filled out a big more. When she looked up, her brown eyes widened in surprised before she started smirking. We regarded each other like idiots for a moment or two before she quipped, "I'm free as soon as we are done handing out the badges. I'll text you when I get to the amphitheater."
She rifled through the box, coming up with my packet and handing it to me with slightly shaky fingers. Her cheeks were also a tad pink. It was endearing. She was endearing.
"You okay Paige? You seem a little shaky." My words seemed to break whatever weird spell came over us. She glanced down at a Starbucks latte sitting on the table.
"Yeah just too much caffeine combined with adrenaline. There are just so many interesting programs to decide between!" She looked me up and down before gesturing the next person in line forward.
"You look good Spencer. Really good." I started walking away kind of dazed. What the hell just happened? Was Santana right? Was this some subconscious attraction towards Paige I was fighting? There was maybe a time or two I had felt some type of way towards her in high school. Especially after I thanked her for saving me from A on the Ghost Train. But I was happily with Toby most of high school. And then I continuously chose lying and pills over him. That's why he left.
I tried to shake the thoughts about high school away as I waited for the rest of the Columbia group so we could walk to our bus and check in to our hotel. It wasn't that I didn't want to make more gay friends at Columbia. It was just tough. I didn't live on campus anymore and I still had a hard time trusting people after high school and A. Part of seeing Paige was relief at not having to explain everything I have been through and how it led me to where I am:
Hi I'm Spencer Hastings. My friends and I were stalked by a team of murderous villains who made our lives a living hell, driving me to drive nearly everyone I loved away as I relied on pills and lying to get me through my senior year. I then snubbed my parents, choosing Columbia over NYU (Yale was out of the question by then of course)…
"Spencer! You coming or what?" Tom, one of the gay boys with a strike of blonde of hair and a nose that turned up at the end, called after me.
"Yeah I'm coming." I started to trot after him.
Rosewood - Senior Year Early November
Paige's POV
I don't even get why she finds me attractive. But after all this time she is finally mine. And even things with Emily's friends have gotten better, thanks to saving Spencer's life. I gazed at myself in Hanna's bathroom mirror. We were all crashing at her place, having a few drinks to wind down after the incident on Halloween. I opened up the bathroom door as I turned off the light, and was pushed back inside by a tipsy Spencer.
"Ummm hey Spencer? If you need the bathroom you can just let me leave first." The whole not-finding-Spencer-hot was easily compromised by such close quarters in the dark.
"No I just wanted you for a second. Alone." Her serious stare indicated she didn't sound how suggestive she was being. I backed up and realized I had hit both the proverbial and literal wall. Between a wall and a hot spot. Ugh no wonder people don't laugh at my jokes. Spencer's breath smelled like the watermelon vodka we had been drinking.
"Did you want to play Bloody Mary together or something?" I asked, gesturing to the darkened mirror. It was impossible to tell but I guessed Spencer rolled her eyes before turning on the light.
"No I don't want to…I wanted to thank you. For the Ghost Train. For saving me. And to apologize for how I treated you before that. You are a good person and I could tell you would do anything to protect Emily." Her warm breath blew on my ear a little while she talked. We were that close. It was intoxicating for a moment. I heard Emily and Hanna crack up laughing in the other room which made me stand rigid. I gazed into Spencer's eyes.
"You're welcome. You were just trying to protect her too. I would never do anything to hurt any of you." I gently touched Spencer's surprisingly toned arm to push her aside and leave the bathroom to rejoin the group. She stopped me again by reaching down and grasping my hand. I gasped like I suddenly touched hot water. She abruptly let me go.
"Paige. Mona is going to be released any day. I would appreciate if you and Caleb kept an eye out on her." I break into the sort of instant sweat that hits you when you are caught doing something wrong.
"How did you…what do you mean Caleb and I?" I sputter. Spencer rolls her eyes. This time I could see it with the lights on.
"Please spare me. Just because the rest of the Scooby's are oblivious doesn't mean I am. I get that you and Caleb are trying to looking out for us. I am just trying to channel that energy productively."
"Okay Spencer. Let me get back to Emily now?" Spencer looked into my eyes a few beats more but finally nodded me off.