Chapter 1

Perfect brown hair falling past her shoulders. Perfect chocolate eyes. Perfect grades. Perfect boyfriend. Perfect life. Perfect everything. If there was one word someone could describe Spencer Hastings with, it would have to be the word 'perfect'. Quite the opposite was Toby Cavanaugh. He was sloppy, careless, reckless, and didn't come from the all-too-perfect background that Spencer did. That's why they never got along. Spencer passed judgment quickly. It was one of her infamous traits. One look at the way Toby Cavanaugh was living his life, and she made the choice to dislike him.

"Agh," she made a sound of disgust as the boy with light brown hair passed her lunch table in the cafeteria. "Why does stoner boy always walk by our table? He should just get a date already."

Her group of friends let out a laugh, none of them feeling any need to disagree with her. Everyone judges others— it is an inevitable thing that humans do, even when they're not trying. These girls happened to judge Toby quite a bit, although it was mainly just Spencer who did the judging of him. The bell let out a long ring, and the girls began to gather their things for their next classes.

"Ari, let's walk to health together," Spencer said with a perky smile, linking arms with her best friend. "Later Han, later Em."

Aria glanced back at Toby, who was tossing his uneaten sandwich in the trash. She could see the pack of cigarettes sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. She didn't quite understand why he would even think about doing something like that.

"What are we doing today?" Aria asked, looking back at Spencer. "We're not having a pop quiz, are we? I heard Mona Vanderwaal talking about it in the bathroom, and I was trying not to freak out—"

"Calm down, there's no pop quiz today," Spencer laughed. "Hanna's the only one that's actually friends with Mona. We were talking after history, and she said that Mona was just making that up to worry you."

"That bitch," Aria muttered, shaking her head. "What does she get out of this?"

Spencer shrugged her shoulders and responded by saying, "The enjoyment that Aria Montgomery is worrying."

"If there's no pop quiz today, then what are we actually doing?" Aria curiously asked.

"Um... I actually heard that Mrs. Schubert is assigning a new project today," she said. "With all my Russian history homework, the last thing I need is some giant project. But Mrs. S loves her projects."

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around the brunette's waist, almost sudden enough to give her a good scare. She jumped a little, but she turned around with a grin on her face, knowing exactly who it was. Before even locking eyes with the guy, she yanked him in for a mid-length kiss by the collar of his shirt, and then pushed him right off seconds later.

"Baby!" he exclaimed, putting his arm around her as they started walking towards class. "Sorry I couldn't sit with you all at lunch. The guys on the football team were practicing. At least I can walk you to class."

"Hello? I'm still here, guys," Aria joked.

"I recognize that, shorty-pants," he teased, pushing her playfully. "Did you hear? Mrs. Schubert's assigning a massive project. Just in damn time— I've got a big football game coming up, and my big math exam. I don't have time for this health project crap."

Spencer sighed and said, "Yeah, I heard, and I'm pretty bummed about it, too. At least it's a partner project, so maybe I can work with my favorite guy."

"Hmm, what about your favorite girl?" Aria joked again, nudging her.

"Oh! Aria, I forgot," she apologized, pecking her friend's cheek. "Andrew, you wouldn't mind if I worked with Aria, would you?"

He raised his eyebrows and told her, "Of course I wouldn't mind, but Mrs. Schubert might not feel the same way. You think she's gonna let us pick our own partners? Have you met her? She's the gal that's always saying we need to interact with all sorts of people besides our own cliques, because that's how the real world works. It's crappy, but that's the way she likes to play it. She's spiritual, if you have forgotten."

"Damn. Aribear, you would have been my first choice if we could pick," Spencer laughed.

"I totally picked that up from when you forgot about me, and almost chose to work with Mr. Football Boyfriend over there," Aria laughed back.

Once they entered the health classroom, they took their seats. On Mrs. Schubert's white board was a large message written in black marker that read, 'BABY 101'. And at that moment, smart Spencer Hastings put together exactly what this project was going to be like. It didn't sound very fun in her head...

"Welcome, welcome, class!" Mrs. Schubert happily exclaimed. "Today, we have another project, so take your seats. As you know, we've been going into depth about sexual reproduction. Sperm meets the egg, genetics, all that. But as a part of a special project, you'll experience family life. And perhaps you picked it up when you read my white board message, but you're going to be caring for a baby. Not a real baby. But you're going to see the difficulties of parenting. All your teenage pregnancies may finally be put to rest when you see this."

Spencer rolled her eyes, tapping her pencil against the desk.

"And of course, you know my philosophy," Mrs. Schubert began, "you must work with those you don't know. So, as usual, I will be assigning your partners. Yes, it is boy-girl. No, it is not because I'm homophobic."

The class may have laughed just a little at her joke, but Spencer still found herself distracted. She felt like dozing off for a moment. Maybe she would just read Mrs. Schubert's project instructions handout later, because she seriously didn't feel like listening that day.

"Aria Montgomery and Andrew Campbell."

The two of them were somewhat friends already, via Spencer, so they gave each other a fist bump, laughing together in unison. Mrs. Schubert somehow didn't realize that they already knew each other, so her philosophy wasn't quite accurately being portrayed. But nonetheless, class went on, and she continued announcing the project partners.

"Spencer Hastings and Toby Cavanaugh."

Then, maybe she paid a little more attention than usual. The brunette's head shot up when she heard her partner. She glanced back and saw the stoner boy sitting in the furthest desk from the front. He was playing with a cigarette lighter in his hand, but somehow nobody ever noticed except her. At least nobody cared to mention it, that was...

"Mrs. Schubert, I—"

"If this is about your partner assignment, let me just tell you now that there will be no switching for any reasons at all. If that is not what you were asking about, then please proceed," she said, offering a smile.

"Damn..." Spencer muttered.

"Alright, get with your partner, and please come get a baby doll," Mrs. Schubert explained. "This will be your child. Take good care of it. There's a baby monitor, of course, so I will be notified of any maltreatment. It'll be logged to my computer, and your grade will be reduced for the assignment. Got it? Good."

Spencer signed again, whispering to Aria, "This freaking sucks. I get stoner boy, and you get to work with my boyfriend? You wanna trade?"

"Hell no. But even if I wanted to trade with you, Mrs. Schubert would never let you do it. You're stuck with him. But you can do this, Spence. It's just a project," Aria reminded her in a whisper as well.

After class, Spencer found herself bolting out of the classroom, without even stopping to talk to Andrew or Aria. But Toby followed her anyways, even though he wasn't the kind of guy that cared too much about his grades. He grabbed her shoulder, turning her around.

"You can run from me all you want, but you're stuck with me on this project, Spencer."

She crossed her arms, staring at the baby doll in his hands.

"Look, I know you don't like me. It's no secret. I can tell," he informed her, rolling his eyes. "And frankly, I don't give a crap. All I want is to have something scheduled so we can work on this project."

"Yeah, I'll make a schedule right here for you," she said, smirking. "We stay out of each other's way as much as possible. That's the deal. You can take care of him some days, and I'll take care of him other days. For the report, I'll do it. Your work is probably horrible, so I'll take the wheel on that one."

"Funny, but that's not how I do things," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh, really? How do you do things, then? Go with the flow and then smoke a couple when it doesn't work out for you, stoner boy?"

"Cute, but listen— we're not about to fail this project because you're too stubborn and are taking your random-ass personal hate for me out. You truly are a bitch. Most people would be decent and adjust to work with someone they hate if they have to," he told her. "But I'll let your bitchiness slide because I'm a decent guy. We're not acting like a divorced couple sharing a baby."

"First of all, never say we're a couple again. And secondly, alright, we can negotiate on the scheduling terms, but there's no way in hell that you're smoking around our baby. Got it?" she said.

"I can live with that," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Why don't you come over to my place tom—"

"There's no way in hell that I'm coming to your creepy-ass house," she told him. "My place is much more pleasant. And there's a lesser chance of murder."

"Get over yourself and get your ass to my place," he said, scribbling down his address on a ripped up sheet of binder paper. "I can assure you that there will be no murdering of any sort. Does that make it better?"

"No, why would I trust you?" she said, even though she was trying not to laugh. Their banter felt a lot more playful than hurtful, which was the oddest feeling. She was trying to be mean, but somehow the discussion sounded like teasing.

/

"Hey, babe. You sprinted out of Mrs. Schuster's class faster than I could pick up my backpack," Andrew commented, pecking Spencer's cheek after school was over. "Luckily, Aria and I were able to walk together to my next class."

"Congratulations for you," she said, staring at the floor. "I left because I got the worst partner possible for the project, and there's nothing I can do about it. At least you get to work with Aria."

"Yeah, I was pretty lucky. I don't know how this happened," he said, half-smiling. "At least you're not working with some hot guy, so I don't have to be jealous."

"Well, I would still be jealous, Andrew. I mean, I might not like Toby Cavanaugh's personality, but I've heard he's got a great set of abs. Plus, he's pretty damn good looking," Spencer teased.

"You better be joking," Andrew laughed.

"Hmm, I don't know. We'll have to find out."

"Spencer damn Hastings!" Andrew exclaimed, grabbing her backpack and yanking her in for a long kiss. "Don't you dare say that to me ever again. You wanna know why? You're mine. Toby's never gonna get a girl like you."

"I love you, Andrew."

"Hey, I love you, too."

She smiled and gave him a hug before telling him, "I've been waiting to say that for so long."

"Well, you should have because I've felt it for so much longer," Andrew said, kissing her forehead. "I want to stay, but I've gotta meet up with Aria. We're going to start working on our project already. Maybe you should call Toby and get a start, too."

/

Spencer drove down the lengthy road. Suddenly, she realized that she had arrived at the Rear Window Brew, a coffee shop in Rosewood. Had Toby gave her the wrong address as a sick joke, or did he live in the alleyway with the garbage bins? She got out of her car, and started walking towards the coffee shop. Maybe he wanted to meet up for a coffee tomorrow or something, because this couldn't be a house.

"Angie!" Spencer exclaimed, tapping her friend that worked at the Brew. "Hi, you don't know how glad I am to see you here. This guy gave me his address as this place, and I just don't understand. It wasn't a trick, was it?"

"Well, you should know not to go the houses of random guys," Angie laughed.

"It's not like that, I swear. We got paired up for this stupid school project, and yeah," Spencer said, biting her lip. "Am I crazy? Here's the address he gave me."

She handed Angie the torn up binder paper with Toby's address written on it. She scanned the paper, nodding her head.

"Nope, this is definitely right," Angie said. "You must be thinking of Toby Cavanaugh, then. He rents the loft upstairs. It's not a part of the Brew. There's this loft space, and he lives there."

"Why would he do that?" Spencer asked. "What about his parents and family?"

"Um, I don't know exactly, but I think he moved out because his mom died, and something else happened with his dad. We don't really talk much, so I don't know, I'm sorry," Angie informed her.

"No, Angie, you've been more than enough help for me. Thank you so much," Spencer said, smiling.

Spencer walked up the stairs of the Brew. There really was a loft up there. She found the door leading into the loft. She took a moment to breathe nervously before she knocked on the door gently. She heard footsteps near the door. She was wondering if he really lived there, or he sent her to some hobo's apartment. But based off of what Angie said, it seemed like it was true— he lived alone in the Brew's loft.

"Uh, Spencer?" he said, confused, as he opened the door, wearing no shirt. The baby doll was in his hands, and he was cradling it. "I thought we were starting tomorrow. What are you doing here?"

"Please don't tell me you were masturbating with our baby," Spencer joked.

His cheeks turned a shade of pink, and he set the baby down on the table next to him.

"You're insane. What do you want?" he asked.

"I thought we could start early!" Spencer exclaimed. "My boyfriend and best friend are already starting, so I thought we could, too. I didn't want you to raise the baby all alone."

"Alright, what the hell? When I last saw you at school, you were trying to come up with schedules so that we barely have to interact," Toby said, furrowing his eyebrows.

She pushed some of her brown hair behind her ears before saying, "I know what I said— but you don't want to take care of the baby all alone, do you? Can I come in or what?"

"Sure, I guess," he said, stepping to the side.

"For the record, I still hate you," she informed him. "I'm being a nice person and helping out more with our project, even though I shouldn't have to."

"Oh, yeah. I feel lucky that Spencer Hastings is taking the time to talk to me," he said, rolling his eyes. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not going to be a guy that follows you around. People might think you're all special at school, by I don't. You're gonna have to realize that you don't have a crown on your head."

She stayed quiet.

"I'm not here to argue with you," she finally spoke up. "I really just wanted to help out with the project, I swear. I know I have been a bitch this entire time, and that's the way I am—"

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Spencer, you can't justify your actions by classifying yourself as a bitch. You're acting like a bitch. We can both conclude that. But I think you're a nice person, and you just don't want to show it."

"Shut up!" she cried, smacking his arm. "What do you think this is? Some kind of movie? We're not going to bond because you think I'm nice. Reality is, I judge people, I'm mean to people— that's the way it is and always has been."

He had a smug smile on his face as he said, "Okay, you believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want. But you came here, despite what you said about how much you hate me, so I know it's not all darkness in there."

"I did it for the sake of my grades!" Spencer argued. "I'm not going to let my health grade stop just because you're a freak."

"Ouch, I'll let that one go, too," he laughed.

"I do have a question for you, though," she said, biting her lip nervously. "I was talking to Angie downstairs, and she told me some things... why don't you live with your parents? This loft doesn't seem like home."

His face stiffened.

"This loft is my home, Spencer," he said, in a tone that almost seemed angry.

"What about your family?" she asked.

"My mom's dead," he responded, staring at the floor.

"And your dad?"

For a few seconds, he provided no answer. He finally began to open his mouth to respond to her, but at that moment, the baby doll began making a loud crying sound.

"I should probably get that," he said, walking over to the doll and picking it up.