OMG my brain is annoying. 4 ongoing stories at a time. Nice job, brain. But, it decided to have an idea at the moment when I thought I could relax. Great. Anyway, please enjoy. Also, in this, Jason is Spencer's half sibling, but Ali and Spencer both have no idea about this.
-Vivian
Spencer's POV
"Han, do you have anything I can wear? I don't want to look like a typical rich girl who only cares about herself." I ask, killing her refusal with the puppy-dog eyes. "Fine! But, remember this next time I appear in court for shoplifting and need something mature to wear." She mutters. "Sure." I say, whilst secretly thinking, no way in hell. She'll forget all about this situation soon anyway, if her flask is any indication.
I know what you're thinking, but Hanna isn't an alcoholic. Yes, she parties hard, but she is surprisingly the first one to cut us off before we get to drunk to think rationally. It's one of the few ways she is actually responsible. Hanna Marin is one of my 5 best friends, along with Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Alison DiLaurentis, and Mona Vanderwaal. It used to be just the 5 of us, but Mona transferred from Philadelphia 2 years ago, and was bullied for being as smart as she is, so we helped her out, and we've been a group of 6 ever since.
I take out a red sweater, and a black skirt, slipping on my own comfy white flats. There. I look still smart, but not as rich. I wouldn't normally stress out about this, but I'm volunteering at a jail for delinquents in Philly, and I once had to bail Hanna out of a similar institution for woman after she tried to steal a watch form Swarovski. Let's just say, I made her promise never to do it again, because it was terrifying. So, I'm being… cautious.
My parents think I'm going to do a program at the library, but I wanted to actually help somebody. And if they knew, they'd completely freak out. I just have to do a class of basic math twice a week, and my parents never have to know. It's not like they take a lot of notice there, anyway. The only people who know where I'm really going are Hanna, Emily, Aria, Ali, and Mona, and they're all sworn to secrecy. There's a creek in the floorboards, and Hanna jumps.
"What was that?" she asks fearfully. I roll my eyes. "Been watching any horror movies lately, Han?" I ask, and she glares at me. There's a creek again. "You don't scare me, moron! Go watch your twisted videos in the dark!" I say, and hear footsteps from down the hall. "I still don't know why Melissa is marrying Ian Thomas. He's such a creep." Hanna shudders. I laugh. "Yeah, well, at least you don't have to live with him." I say. I check the time.
"Okay, we need to go. You're still driving me, right?" I ask. She nods. "Duh. It's perfect. You're there long enough for me to have an excuse to meet up with Caleb twice a week, without my Mom finding out." She says, putting on a layer of pink lipstick, and grabbing her bag, her bright blue stilettos clacking across the floor as she exits. I grab my tote, and follow her out. Melissa smirks at me as I walk by, and I roll my eyes. "Spencer! Don't make that face at your sister! Apologise, now!" My Mom chides. I sigh. "I'm sorry, Melissa." I say before leaving.
"Ugh, your sister is the devil in human form. I've changed my mind, she and Ian deserve each other. And I can't believe you mom let you waste your summer remodelling the barn, when she knew all along that Melissa was going to move in, but didn't want to do the work for it!" she scoffs. I smile sadly. "Well, I'm used to it. My family's been biased since I was four. It seriously doesn't bother me anymore." I shrug, and Hanna slams the car door and starts to drive.
Xxx
"Miss Hastings, right on time. This way, we just need to give you a standard security search." A guard says. I follow him through into a room, where they search my bag and put me through a scanning system to check for any weapons or drugs. They confiscate my watch and my phone. "They could be potentially stolen and/or used as a weapon." The same guy tells me. "Okay, Mr…" I trail off. The guard doesn't respond.
I'm lead to a room where there are 6 guys sitting at a table, with bored expressions. One catches me eye. He sees me looking, and smirks. Another whistles, and his smirk disappears. He glares at the guy who whistled, and the guy rolls his eyes. Okay, tension, got it.
"Okay, everyone, this is Miss. Hastings. She is here to give you some basic teaching. Miss. Hastings, this is Mr. Brett, Mr. Mason, Mr. Portulli, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Sanderson, and Mr. Cavanaugh." Says the guard. I gulp. "Um, Hi, everybody. I'm Spencer. I'm here to teach you some math. So, for the first activity, I'm going to explain to you some formulas, and then we can split into groups?" I ask. Most of them look bored, but the guy who smirked earlier seems to want to listen. His last name was Cavanaugh, I think.
I explain the activity, and everybody reluctantly pairs up with somebody else. It goes pretty smoothly, and soon my nerves go away, and I'm able to interact with these people. Most of them are really nice, although the one who whistled earlier still creeps me out, and makes no attempt to communicate. Around half way through, most of my books fall off of the table, and I bend down to pick them up. I find a set of hands helping me, and look up. It's the guy from before, I'm pretty sure his last name is Cavanaugh.
"T-thank you." I say. Wow. His eyes are blue. Kind of like the ocean. I remember when my parents took Melissa and I there. I think I was 9, maybe? They sent me back to the car to get everything whilst Melissa flirted with the 14-year-old lifeguard. Said lifeguard then tried to kiss me, thinking I was 13 like Melissa. She got super angry, and the entire trip was called off. I was given her chores to do for a month.
He says nothing, and I return to my the front of the room. The lesson goes on for around an hour more, and I have to leave. The guard escorts me back to the room where I was searched by security. Soon, I get to leave, and Hanna is waiting by the door, standing in front of her car.
"Hey, Spence! How'd it go?" she asks. I smile at her. "Good. The guys I'm teaching are actually pretty nice. I mean, one creeps me out, but he's probably just shy, and then-" I stop, knowing she'll jump to conclusions. "Then, what?" Hanna asks, intrigued. I sigh. "Nothing. I just dropped a few books, and this one guy helped me pick them up. It was really sweet." I say. Hanna's eyes light up. "So, you made out with him?" She asks. I burst out laughing, and Hanna looks at me weirdly. "Han, it's a prison. You can't just start making out with somebody. Also, I only know the guy's last name." I say. She smiles. "Then, you know enough. What is mystery guy's last name." she asks. I think for a minute. "I think Cavanaugh?" I say, not entirely sure. Hanna grins. "Spencer Cavanaugh. It has a nice ring to it." She muses. "Han!" I shout. "Okay, okay. I'll shut up. For now." She flips her hair, laughing at my annoyed expression.
Xxx
Music blasts through the speakers, as we're gathered in Ali's room, giggling. "Mon, try this one." Aria throws her a light blue off-the-shoulder dress, and she slips it on, doing a twirl. Em chucks Aria a black shirt, probably the only dark item of clothing she owns, and Aria places her elbow on Mona's shoulder, and they pose whilst I take a picture. We have a monthly clothing exchange, where we each bring everything we don't like anymore, and swap. We each have a pile of stuff already, and I'm this close to adding a yellow dress of Mona's to my pile.
"Em, I have this red jacket that's totally your style. You should see it." Han says, tossing her the jacket. Her eyes go wide. "oh my god, I am never taking this off!" she exclaims. I throw the dress on my pile, and see a pink shirt of Hanna's that I was always jealous of. "Mine!" I claim, grabbing it and throwing it over my head. Hanna spins me around, and Mona snaps a picture. "Spence, you have to take that shirt." Aria advises. I giggle. Hanna's face lights up. "You could wear it to the jail!" she exclaims. Em gives her a weird look. "Why would she want to wear it to a jail?" she asks. Hanna rolls her eyes. "Because, there's an inmate there, and she denies it, but she's in looove." Hanna draws out the love. The girls squeal.
"What's his name?" Ali asks. I blush. "I only know his last name. Cavanaugh." I say. Mona smirks. "Sounds like a bad boy. I always thought you'd go for a nerd. Maybe you can change him. That would be so romantic. Right, guys?" The others now, and I blush. "Oh my god, she's beet red! He must be special!" Aria starts fangirling. "Okay, when do you go back to the jail?" asks Hanna. "Um, Saturday, I think?" I say. Mona picks up a magazine. "Okay, we're coming over to do your hair and make-up." she says. I sigh. "Guys, Melissa will blow up on you. Seriously. Don't." I say sadly.
Hanna rolls her eyes. "Please. Even I'm smarter than that b****. I mean, how many times has she been sent down a grade?" Hanna asks. I laugh. "Well, she's just got a letter saying she's been pushed down another grade, so I'll be older then her next year. She isn't taking it will." I say, revealing a bruise on my arm. Hanna gasps, and Ali grabs my hand. "And your parents let her do this?" she asks. I laugh. "Please. They're never home, and when they are, they're too busy fawning over 'queen Melissa' to notice they have another daughter." I roll my eyes. Emily cracks her knuckles. "I really want to introduce Melissa to a crowbar." She mutters darkly.
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Emily is the most non-violent, innocent person you will ever meet. She's usually the one to calm us down when Mona gets in a fight with Naomi and Riley, or when we try to kill Paige for bullying Emily. Well, she doesn't actually try and calm us on that one, we try and calm Ali down. I mean, I get it. Ali and Em have dated for over a year, and Paige has been nothing but horrible. She's one of the many people I want to take a whack at on a daily basis. But, Em doesn't usually say things like that.
"Guys! It's fine. I can't change it. And she'll just say I made it up." I sigh, rubbing my eyes. "Guys, back to the topic of you guys helping. It's really sweet, but I'm still not ready for a relationship after Alex cheated on me." I say. Hanna glares at the ground. "if he hadn't transferred, I would have killed him with a fire poker by now." I say. I laugh. "If you run into him, I give you full permission to try it." I say. She giggles. "Well, I wasn't giving you a choice anyway." She tells me. "don't I know it." I mutter.
Xxx
When I get back to my house, I sigh, locking the door. I jump when I hear a glass shatter centimetres from my head. "Melissa, what the hell?" I ask, shocked. She glares at me. "Ian says you told him to get lost earlier today!" she accuses. Great. "Well, he was spying on me when Hanna was here. I put up with his crap alone, but not when my friends are around." I defend.
She scoffs. "I don't believe you! Stop making everything about yourself! You know I'm having a hard time with the fact that I was pushed down a grade! You're going to be higher than me next year!" She shouts. I roll my eyes. "Well, then you should have thought about that before stealing my term paper so you could pass it off as your own. We handed in the same one, Melissa. I emailed it to Mr. Tamberelli the night it was set, you the day it was due. What the hell did you think was going to happen? You also got busted for dealing drugs on school grounds- you're lucky you haven't been suspended, or worse."
I try to reason with her. She scoffs. "Well, I didn't have time to write it! I had things to do! Do you know how embarrassing this is? All my friends have finished college, and I'm still in high school!" she screeches. I sigh. "Melissa, that's your problem, not mine. I'm going to sleep." I say, running upstairs, knowing she can't get up there in her intoxicated state, and won't remember any of this tomorrow. I lock the door just in case.
I put my bag on my red chair, and sigh. When did things get so messed up? When did my life become so… hard?
Toby's POV
"Move it, Cavanaugh!" The guard shouts. I roll my eyes. Do these people even realise I can't walk any faster in chains? I'm not being facetious, I literally have chains around my ankles. I glare at him as I walk past. "Okay, all of you. Last time you were civil, but any funny business won't be tolerated. Got it?" The guard asks. I roll my eyes. Please. I shouldn't even be here. I didn't even do anything, but, of course, Jenna opened her mouth. I prepare myself as we're taken to the room we were in last time. It's been three days, and I can't stop thinking about her. The girl who came in last time. But it's not like she'd want anybody like me. I know what people like her are like anyway. They have their lives planned out for them, and probably a long-time boyfriend. Who can give them a million things I can't.
She walks in, and my heart starts beating fast, just like last time. How come I always get choked up when I'm near her? Is this a natural reaction? Is it just badly times chest pains? I sigh. "Hi, everybody!" she smiles. She seems nervous. And her smile looks forced. Is she uncomfortable being in a prison? Probably. It's not the most positive place. I sigh, thinking of what we're going to work on today. French. I hate French.
She starts talking about conjugating verbs, and I try to listen, but I just don't understand the basic concepts. She says we need to get into pairs, but Carter threw up yesterday, so he's not here. Of course, he's my only friend here, so, I guess I'm stuck. Spencer realises, and goes to sit by me. "Hi, um, you kind of need a partner for this, so, how about I go with you?" she asks, offering a small smile. I nod. She starts the exercise, but quickly realises I don't understand. She sighs. "French isn't your strong suit, huh?" she asks. I duck my head, embarrassed. Her smile fades. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." She quickly apologises. I look up at her, startled. "No, it's not you- I just- I really don't understand French." I say. She smiles. "well, we have to do this exercise for the rest of the hour, so how about instead I teach you the basics?" she asks.
Xxx
I walk back to my cell, happy but troubled. Happy that we had a good conversation whilst I failed at trying to learn French. Troubled that when we were done, she got that clouded sad look in her eyes when she had to leave. And I swear, when she banged her elbow on the table at one point, she seemed to be in an abnormal amount of pain. Bu, she didn't treat me like most of the people who come for the mandatory lessons they make teens take do. She spoke to me like I was a normal person, not a criminal.
Spencer's POV
"Melissa! I'm home!" I call, and she walks in, her arms crossed. "Spencer, I need a favor." She says. I roll my eyes. Of course she does. "What do you want?" I ask bluntly. She plops down on the couch. "I have a paper due in on Monday, but I need to hang out with Rebecca and Tiffany, to celebrate their graduation from Upenn, so… you're writing it." She says. I scoff. "See, this is why you keep getting sent down a grade! How many years have you been in high school now? 10? A few more, and they'll just give up and kick you out." I say. She rolls her eyes. "Whatever. I need the paper by Saturday." She says. I glare at her. "Write your own paper. I have things to do as well." I say. Her jaw drops. "I'll tell Mom and Dad you're being horrible to me." she says. I shrug. "They can't punish me anymore than they already have. I mean, I live with you. That's punishment enough." I say.