{Inspired by "I Found You" by The Wanted}
^Listen to the song if you want^
(You don't have to listen to it to understand the story, as the song was just an inspiration for some parts)
Chapter 1
There weren't a lot of things she didn't like about him, yet she still didn't want to be friends with him. To be fair, she didn't really like a lot of people. She was one of those stubborn people who didn't let anyone in. She had a tight-knit group of friends who had a high profile at school. Well, none of them would have gained any popularity if it weren't for the stunning & popular Alison DiLaurentis. The five girls shared everything.
Except Spencer Hastings. She was that stubborn girl who didn't want to talk about anything personal. When she met a cute guy, she kept it to herself. Don't get her wrong, she loved her friends to death, but she just was too stubborn to really open up to anyone about anything personal. It wasn't because she was afraid that Ali would say something rude, she was just... stubborn.
It's practically impossible to make a good impression on Spencer Hastings. She was always unimpressed. That's how she felt about the blue-eyed boy. He didn't do anything wrong. He was completely innocent. She never understood why Ali harassed him constantly, but she didn't like him, anyways.
For some reason, she just found him as a burden, and found him as someone she didn't want to associate with. She attempted to tell Ali that it might be a good idea to leave him alone, but she always backed out last minute, and ended up being a bystander anyways. He was never a bad guy, she just didn't see a reason to go up to him and try to befriend him. He didn't seem like the kind of guy she really needed to associate with.
"I totally saw Noel Kahn checking you out in homeroom today," Alison pointed out to Aria Montgomery as her clique followed her to their regular table in the cafeteria. Their 'Queen Bee' took a seat first, followed by the other four girls.
Aria scratched her head slightly, pondering the idea of a hottie guy like Noel Kahn checking her out. It was weird to think about it. She shrugged and said, "I don't think he was really checking me out, do you? That's weird. I thought he was into Jenna Marshall."
Jenna Marshall. She could have been a part of Ali's group, but she refused the offer. Jenna was also the step-sister of that outsider that Ali constantly bullied. She hung out with another outsider that Ali bullied named Mona Vanderwaal. To be honest, Ali bullied everyone; she even bullied her own clique. Some people were just more sensitive than others, or sometimes Ali's harassment was harsher on some than others.
It was mostly the second thing.
"Oh, puh-lease," Ali said, laughing and giving them her infamous smirk-smile, followed by a little hair-flip. "A guy like Noel Kahn is way out of a loser like Jenna Marshall's league. Noel wouldn't be caught dead with her! Even boob-job girl gives you a better rep than dating Jenna Marshall."
It seemed that all Alison DiLaurentis did was gossip.
"Alison," Toby Cavanaugh spat as he walked past her.
"Toby," Alison spat back.
They obviously didn't have an amazing friendship. It all started off fine. Everything seemed to be like rainbows & sunshine for the two of the. But then of course, Ali screwed up big time, and he didn't want anything to do with her. It wasn't Toby's fault, though. He couldn't help what happened. It was because of Alison's decision. Although she regret it inside, it seemed to Toby that she didn't, because she chose to make it look that way.
"I've never understood why you hate Toby Cavanaugh so much," Spencer said, stabbing the cafeteria's steak repeatedly with a white plastic fork.
Alison laughed like it was a joke. She couldn't really tell her friends why she hated him, because... she didn't know. She didn't want their reactions to be bad. And telling them went back to the reason of why Alison couldn't associate with Toby anymore: popularity.
If her own best friends judged her, so would the whole school. They couldn't know about what happened between her and an outcast.
"Don't be ridiculous. He's always watching us at sleepovers through his windows. He's such a creep," Alison said, pretending to be totally disgusted with him.
Something about the way Alison said that made Spencer not believe her. She knew it was more than that. It was easy for Ali to hate people, but a rivalry like what was between Toby Cavanaugh and Alison DiLaurentis didn't just happen any day. A rivalry like that had to have been born with a cause. Even Spencer couldn't bring herself to hate him, and that's because she didn't have a reason.
"He seems nice," Emily brought herself to say that thought aloud. She earned herself a glare from Alison. Emily stared at the floor. She couldn't look Ali in the eyes. It was hard to do so while she was glaring so viciously. "Ali... Maybe we should get to know him better before judging him so easily."
"I know enough about him!" Alison spat. "I know that he's just a creep who watches girls change for his own pleasure. He's a pervert, a creep, and nothing more, so don't you dare go and try to be all friendly with him. I made you all, so when I tell you to stay away from a certain someone, it's for your own good. So I advise that you follow what I say."
And then Spencer knew for sure that it was more than just an assumption that he was a creep. There was something that Ali was hiding. Why else would she try so hard to keep the girls away from him? It's not like Spencer wanted to get all friendly with him, it's just that Ali was acting suspicious, and she wanted to know what made her so upset with Toby.
There was a dead silence amongst the four girls, until Noel Kahn swooped in to break the silence. He sat next to Aria, obviously.
"Hello, ladies," Noel greeted. "Today's the long weekend Friday, so I thought, 'why not kick off the long weekend with a good ol' party?', and so that's what I'm going to do. That's right, party tonight at my place. Wear something pretty. And of course... Aria, you'll look pretty in whatever you wear, no matter what it is."
"We'll be there," Alison said with a smile. "And Noel: save a dance for Aria, will you?"
Noel grinned at her, "Of course I will. I'll see you ladies tonight, then."
Alison turned to Aria with a smile, "Is it clear that Noel Kahn wants some of you now? He's been dropping hints for like a year, so start noticing them, and flirt back! Did you hear what he said or not?"
"I heard," Aria said. "I just don't know. I feel like he does this with all the girls."
"Trust me honey, he doesn't. He feels something special about you," Alison said with a smile. "To make everything better, he's saving a slow dance with you tonight, so wear something sexy to make your dance sexy. Why don't I come over before the party and pick out something pretty for you to wear?"
Aria smiled and nodded.
So they were going to a party tonight. This should be interesting. When you mix Alison DiLaurentis with a party, something interesting almost always happened. And what better party than one of Noel Kahn's crazy parties? Everyone knew he threw the wildest parties of all the teenagers in Rosewood.
"Mmm, that looks hot on you," Alison commented. "Noel's gonna like that, Aria. Wear that dress tonight, and you're guaranteed to hook up with him by the end of the night. If he likes you already, he'll definitely like you in this hottie outfit? He'll be drooling all over when he sees you! I'm so excited to see what he'll say."
Aria smiled at her friend and said, "Thanks for helping me pick out what to wear tonight, Ali. It means a lot to me."
"Well, this is what best friends do for each other," Alison said with a cutesy smile.
Aria & Alison made their way to Noel's house, and met up with Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. Once Noel saw Aria, he immediately stole her away from the group and started dancing with her. When they started playing a slow song, Aria danced with Noel, Emily danced with her boyfriend Ben, and Hanna danced with her boyfriend Sean.
Since Ali hated being the single girl all alone, she immediately grabbed a cute guy's hand and began dancing with him. He felt like the most special guy in the world, since Alison DiLaurentis picked him to dance with. The guy she was dancing with's friend rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, handsome. Don't just stand there and roll your eyes. Join in," Ali commanded, taking his hands.
The guy rolled his eyes again and said, "No thank you."
"No-name, just dance," she said again.
He pulled himself away from her, "No-name here has a name. It's Caleb. And I'd rather not."
She was surprised that someone had rejected her. Most guys at Rosewood High would jump at the chance to steal a quick dance with her. She seemed to be flawless in all the guys' eyes (other than Toby and this Caleb guy's).
Caleb had his eyes on another blonde tonight, anyways. Unfortunately, she was already dancing. In fact, she was taken by another guy. And Caleb had to stand there and watch as she danced with her boyfriend, not knowing how he felt about her.
All the girls in the clique were occupied with a guy tonight. Except Spencer.
She didn't care that she was the dateless one, though. It was her choice not to want to open up to any guys. There were plenty of guys at Rosewood High who would like to date Spencer, especially because she was one of the select few in Ali's clique. Obviously, the Queen Bee had the most guys fawning over her. None of the other girls wanted that attention, though.
Since a slow song was playing, she decided to go just take a walk, since it'd be a while. Noel was obviously purposely playing a chain of slow songs so he could continuously dance with Aria.
She made her way through the woods near Noel's house. As she progressed a little into the woods, she saw something she never expected to see. It made her pity someone she never thought she'd ever have to interact with.
Toby Cavanaugh.
Why was he in the woods crying all by himself when there was Noel's party right there? She had the slightest feeling that maybe Ali had done something horrendous to him. For some reason, that thought made her stomach churn a little.
"Hello?" Spencer called to him, which alarmed him severely. "Toby?"
He was surprised to see someone here, especially a girl like Spencer Hastings. He quickly tried to retreat himself from crying in front of her. He didn't want her to go report what she saw to the Queen Bee of the clique.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned, a slightly harsh tone in his voice, yet he didn't mean to be so harsh. He was just afraid of her.
"I wanted to take a walk, Toby. And you?" she questioned back.
"I'm surprised you know my name. I'm guessing Alison talks crap about me all the time," Toby muttered.
"No, no... It's not like that," Spencer said. She sat down next to him. She knew that girls rarely gave him the time of day, and it was all because Ali made him look like a huge loser. He didn't seem that bad, but when Alison DiLaurentis doesn't approve of you, no one does.
"Why are you here?" Toby harshly questioned. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with your little posse, making everyone feel like shit?"
"Oh come on, we're not some villainous group. You have to give Ali a chance, Toby. She's not that bad," Spencer told him.
Why was she being so nice to him? Toby was totally confused. She was a part of the special Rosewood High posse, and instead of being with her posse, she was out in the woods sitting next to him. It just seemed so odd.
"I gave her a chance, and all she did was make everything even worse," Toby said in anger. "Look, I appreciate that you're here and sitting with me, but this is probably just some crap Ali put you up to do to make fun of me. Yeah, real funny. It wouldn't be funny to you if everyone in school hated you. And you hate me too."
"I never hated you," she said, upset that he thought it was like that. "I just don't really know you. And this isn't something she put me up to do."
"Then why are you here?" he demanded.
She thought for a moment. She herself didn't know what she was doing here, out in the woods. The reason she came out here was to avoid being the loner during the slow song, but she could have just walked right past Toby. For some reason, she pitied him. He was crying before she came to him, and it was truly a heartbreaking sight to see. And he wasn't just doing it for attention, or else he wouldn't have tried to make it seem like wasn't crying.
"I want to dance with you," she blurted. She knew what she said was weird, but she didn't want to take it back. Toby had never slow danced with a girl. He'd never had a date to a dance or a girlfriend. She wanted to give him that experience.
"You're insane," he said, shaking his head. "Spencer, this is BS. You don't want to dance with me. Did you really think I'd believe that? You could probably get some popular jock to dance with you. It doesn't make sense that you want to dance with me."
"You've never danced with a girl, have you?" she asked.
"No, but thanks so much for making me feel better," he sarcastically said. "I'm leaving this dumb party. It's overrated. Even if I wanted to dance with you, I couldn't. I don't know how."
"Toby, wait! I want you to have your first dance tonight," she said. Spencer grabbed his arm and pulled him back before he could leave.
"I can't do this. I just... can't. I don't know anything about slow dancing, and... you're Spencer Hastings... and why the hell do you want to dance with me? I'm not friends with all the popular guys like Noel... and..." Toby stammered each of his words.
"Shut up and dance," Spencer said, trying to hold back a chuckle. "I don't care if you're not popular. Who cares? I know I don't. So I want to dance with you, not any of Noel's stupid friends."
"What do I do?" he asked.
"Here," Spencer began. She took Toby's hands, and placed them on her own waist. "And then I just put my own arms on you like this." She looped her arms around him and smiled. "See? It's easy to do."
"This feels weird," Toby commented.
"Yeah, because there's no music. Well, there is, but we have to get closer to Noel's house to hear it," Spencer told him.
"No, not the music... Well, yeah, that's weird too, but it's weird that we're dancing," Toby said, not looking her in the eyes. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I want to," Spencer said. "I think we should get closer to Noel's house so we can hear the song."
They disengaged from their slow-dance ready position. Spencer unexpectedly grabbed his hand, and yanked him off to the beginning of the woods, where the song was audible enough for them to dance to.
"Do you want to go back to the actual party?" she asked him.
He shook his head, "I'd rather be here."
She wondered why he was so hesitant. Was it because he didn't want to dance with her? Maybe he didn't even want to be friends with her. She was just trying to be a good person. She wanted him to have a first slow dance with a girl, and thanks to Alison, most girls would just run away from him. So she had to step in and be the girl he danced with.
"Okay," she said. She put Toby's hands back on her waist, and she looped her arms around his neck again. "You've got the position. Now all you have to do is sway. Right first?"
He nodded. He hesitantly and nervously swayed right with her, causing her to give him a small smile.
"That's perfect," Spencer commented. "You're good at this."
"I am?" Toby asked, confused.
"Yes, you are," she said, nodding. "I'm glad you didn't back out."
The two just swayed their together until the song ended. He was paralyzed for a moment when the song ended. His first slow dance was with someone from Alison DiLaurentis's posse. He'd always assumed their posse was a group of stuck up bitches who treated people like crap, based off of what Ali did to him. But Spencer Hastings made everything seem different. He used to think she was a stuck up girl, too, only because she was best friends with Ali. Now it seemed that maybe their group was nice.
She wasn't afraid to be seen with him, even though everyone at school thought he was a loser. She offered to go back to Noel's party with him, and slow dance with him in front of everyone. The only reason they didn't go was because Toby himself was too scared to go in front of everyone.
He was completely paralyzed when he realized Spencer was practically snuggling up to him right now. Her head was pressed against his chest, and her arms were wrapped around him. His hands were still holding onto her petite waist. Were they actually doing this?
This dance changed Toby's life. He slow danced with a girl. It made him believe that there were still good people out there in the world. His mother was the last friendly female he'd ever talked to, until now. Spencer seemed to be another one of those kind people. He couldn't believe that he thought this girl was a stuck up bitch. She was the opposite, actually. He felt so horrible for his assumption.
Spencer was smiling at him as she parted from their slow dance.
"You don't have to be afraid, Toby. There are plenty of people in the world who probably would jump at the chance to be friends with you," Spencer said. "Ali always made it seem like you're a devil, but you're not. You're an angel."
He blinked his eyes twice in a second, trying to process what she just said.
Toby didn't say anything back as she began walking back to the party by herself.
"Wait, Spencer!" he called her.
"Yeah?" she curiously said, turning back to face him.
"Thank you... for that," Toby said. "I'm sorry for being so mean when you first came into the woods. You actually made my day... not suck."
She smiled at him and said, "I'm glad I could do that for you."
Before he knew it, Spencer Hastings was out of his sight, and back to the party. Toby sat back down, leaning against a tree. But this time, he wasn't crying; he was smiling.