Hiiiiii
So I was an absolute eager beaver and have decided to update today! Instead of tomorrow - so consider yourselves loved
I just wanted to let you all know a few things before you read on
-These next 2-3 chapters may seem really 'Spandrew' centric, but I swear, it will end up Spoby
-This chapter has a few REALLY mild sexual references in language (Normally I wouldn't bother mentioning this, but well. If there are any reaaaally innocent people reading I don't want like the FF police after me being all, 'Hey you stop posting 'explicit' content' or whatever)
-Yeah Toby's a huge bum, but he's hot so :P
READ AND REVIEW
ENJOY :)
Spencer lay on her stomach on her bed in her room at home, absently flicking through her Russian History textbook, so focused on that evening to concentrate on homework. It was currently 6:30, and in about an hour and 15 minutes she would have to set off to the Grille to meet Toby. Even thinking about it made her jittery and excited. She knew how he treated girls; Hanna had made sure of that, but it didn't change the fact that he was dangerously attractive and just the thought of him made her excited.
In her free periods before lunch, she'd wandered around with Aria first – and had learnt that they had an awful lot in common. And then when Aria had had to leave for Geography, Spencer had studied on the swimming bleachers, waiting for Emily, who had swim practise. She found it nice, having close friends to hang out with and talk to. While she had been travelling, her 22 year old sister and parents hadn't been the most fascinating people to talk to.
The last two periods had gone by quickly, Spencer barely paying any attention to the teachers – something very unusual for her. She had caught glimpses of Toby throughout the remainder of the day, always with his crowd of friends and a steady stream of girls who trailed around after him.
When she had arrived home, she had found a note from her parents stuck under an Eiffel tower magnet on the large stainless steel fridge, letting her know that they would be late home and that they hoped she'd had a good day at school. She had grabbed a glass of water and an apple and made her way upstairs to try and study.
It was probably ridiculous, she thought to herself as she changed that night, getting so worked up over dinner when he asked out loads of girls. Given Toby's reputation, it was highly possible that he had other girls lined up for dates before and after her.
At 7:40 Spencer quickly checked out what she was wearing in her ceiling to floor mirror. Not wanting to look like she'd spent ages getting ready, she had put on a pair of stylishly faded denim jeans a soft white cashmere pull on jumper and just below the knee length black boots with a wedge heel. Her hair was down and Spencer had let it naturally curl into light waves. She grabbed her iPhone and slipped it into her pocket, before dashing down the stairs and grabbing her navy blue pea coat.
Spencer swiftly locked the front door and bundled herself up in her coat, trying to protect herself from the cold, crisp night air. She unlocked her car and slipped in quickly; revving the engine and setting off down the street to where the Grille was. As she switched off the engine, Spencer expertly applied a layer of lip-gloss and opened her car door, stepping out onto the street.
As she walked towards the Grille she passed Mr and Mrs Ackard from the dental clinic and smiled at them, finding it welcoming that everyone knew everyone in Rosewood. Spencer gently pushed open the heavy, glass to the Grille and smiled as the little bell above the door chimed cheerfully.
The waitress at the front desk smiled at her, 'Good evening Ma'am, table for one?' she inquired, picking up a menu. 'Uh, table for two please. I'm meeting a friend,' she smiled back at the waitress and followed her to a table next to the wide front window of the Apple Rose Grille. Spencer nodded in thanks and took a seat at the table. She picked up a menu and began to flick through it, impatiently waiting for him to arrive.
8 o' clock came and Spencer pulled out her phone, thinking that Toby may have gotten her number from someone and might have texted to say that he would be late; there were no new messages. 8:15 came and went, changing to 8:30. Spencer's phone bleeped and she grabbed at it from her coat pocket eagerly. The message was from Hanna, 'How's the date going? ;)' it read. Spencer sighed uneasily and pocketed her phone, knowing what her friend would say if she replied and said that Toby hadn't arrived yet.
The waitress returned at 8:45, and asked if she could get Spencer anything. She ordered the chicken noodle salad for appearances sake, before pulling her phone back out and tapping the reply icon next to Hanna's message. 'It's not going. He never showed.' She typed quickly, willing herself not to cry.
Stupid, stupid, stupid; Spencer thought. Of course he was never going to show. She wasn't his type at all. Spencer tapped send and waved over the waiter, asking if they could possibly make it takeaway. She got up and left a large tip for the staff, before going to stand over by the door and wait for her food.
Her salad arrived in a medium sized white polystyrene container, and she took it and left the restaurant, giving the waitress a weak smile. Spencer walked over to her car and got it, placing the container of food in the passenger seat, before starting the car and driving off.
The drive back to her house was quick and quiet; she didn't hum or listen to the radio as she often did when driving alone. As Spencer pulled up outside her house, she noted with relief that neither of her parents cars were in the double garage, knowing that if they inquisitively asked where she'd been that she would burst into tears.
As Spencer slowly entered her house and locked it after her, her phone went off three times, one after the other. She reached her bedroom and softly closed the door before sinking onto her bed and pulling out her phone.
One New Message from Hanna, her phone read. 'O, Spence! I'm so sorry. He's an asshole. R u ok?'
One New Message from Aria; 'Spence, Hanna told me what happened. R u alright? I'm rlly sorry we should have done a better job of convincing u not 2 go'
One New Message from Emily; 'Han told us what happened. Oh Spence I'm sorry. Do you need us 2 come over?'
She smiled faintly as she read through the texts, before writing a text to all of them, telling them that she was fine and that she would talk to them tomorrow. Spencer plugged in her phone and quickly changed into a tank top and pyjama shorts, before slipping into her sheets and falling into a light and disturbed slumber.
Toby woke that morning with a huge headache and the scent of cheap perfume on his bare chest. He opened his eyes groggily and scanned his surroundings. He was in his room at his house, and he was alone. He frowned, clearly remembering that the night before he'd fallen asleep with a girl in his bed... Stephanie or Sophie her name was... he thought.
He remembered sex... bad sex. Noel had a friend who was willing to sleep with him over and over until he was satisfied. He'd used the opportunity of course; who was going to pass up sex? Now he kind of wished he hadn't. He remembered it being completely awful and meaningless... the same over and over. Sure, he wasn't going to lie, he himself was really good at it – he'd been told over and over, but if you didn't do it with the right person, then the sex was always gonna be terrible.
He sat up and plonked his muscled legs over the side of his king bed, where they found the flat surface of his smooth wooden floor. He stretched his arms up, revelling in the relief to his aching muscles. A timid knock at his bedroom door got him standing up and searching for a top on the ground as it swung open.
'Mr Cavanaugh sir,' a woman's voice with a slight foreign accent to it said from behind him. 'If you would like to shower and dress for school, I will have the maids clean up your room if you would like?' she asked. Toby nodded and left the room in dismissal, making his way to one of the bathrooms further down the hall, a little worried about what he would find if he chose to use his ensuite bathroom, given the state of his bedroom.
Half an hour later Toby was clean and dressed, sitting at the dining room table, ready to leave as soon as he could get into his bedroom to get his phone. The sound of his bedroom door being opened from upstairs let him know that it was empty for him to return to, so he made his way upstairs, passing two maids with vacuum cleaners and cleaning supplies who shot him concerned looks. As he entered his bedroom, he immediately noticed the difference in condition. His room no longer reeked of cheap perfume and now had the subtle fragrance of fresh linen. His bed was newly made up and all the litter had been picked up from the floor. He noticed that the hot pink, lacy bra that had been hanging from his bed post was gone.
He spotted his phone on his bedside table, and grabbed it before throwing it in his blazer pocket and running downstairs. He picked up his football training gear bag from its hook near the front door and exited the house, clicking the unlock button on his Audi's control. He threw himself into the car and quickly backed out of his houses immense driveway circle, throwing a dirty look at the bird that was incessantly chirping next to the huge water fountain in the middle of the drive.
Toby found himself on the main road quickly and took a shortcut so that he ended up just down the road from Rosewood Day. He pulled into the parking lot and parked in one of the prime location spots, reserved for the varsity boys. He sunk back into his grey leather car seat and flicked open his iPhone. He began to read through his messages, deleting and replying where necessary.
There was one message from an unknown number which was started with, 'Baby I so...' which he hastily erased – it being no doubt from the girl from last night. There were a number of messages from Caleb, which he deleted all of without reading them; apart from the longest one, which he tapped to read. He winced as he read through the opening line and continued; 'Toby, wtf. Hanna tld me abt last nite. I cn undrstnd u stndng up CeCe or whtevr, bt Spencer? Rlly? U ddn't need 2 mke hr thnk tht u wre srs abt it whn u wre nvr gnna go. We need 2 tlk'
He finished reading the message and turned his phone off, before opening the car door and getting out. He suddenly grinned as he remembered what Caleb was talking about when he mentioned Spencer. He'd 'asked her out' for a joke, and then planned to just never show up.
As he shrugged his heavy sports bag onto his shoulder, two skinny arms wrapped themselves around his waist and squeezed. He twisted round to see who it was, and was suddenly face to face with a dirty blonde girl, who was wearing a uniform for another school... a local public school from Philly he presumed. 'Uh... hi?' he said, trying to shrug off the girl. She let go suddenly and then planted her lips straight onto his, in a sloppy kiss.
He paused for a second before backing up against his car and pushing the girl away, 'What the hell!' he shouted at her, 'I don't even bloody know you!' he said, frantically wiping at his lips. The girl pulled back and pouted at him, 'Baby, we met last week. And you took me back to your house. You said you'd call me,' Toby grimaced at her and shook his head, 'yeah, uh... This isn't gonna work out.' He said, pushing past her and advancing on the door to the school hallway, leaving the girl behind him.
As Spencer parked her car in one of the spare spaces in the school parking lot, she tried to concentrate on what Hanna was blabbering about in the passenger seat. 'Spencer? Spencer!' Hanna said, waving her hand in front of Spencer's face, 'Are you listening?! We need to talk about what you're going to say to Toby when you see him today,' she explained, finally having caught her attention.
'Oh, right. Sorry Han,' Spencer said, turning to face her friend, 'Any ideas?' she asked, drawing her attention away from the large group of cheerleaders in front of the student office who were having a pep rally. 'Okay, so I was talking to Aria this morning. You know, when you wouldn't pick up the phone.' Hanna sighed, 'and we both think that you should just ignore him – like, act like nothing happened,' Spencer nodded and concealed a small smile. She herself had already been planning on doing that. She couldn't burst into tears when she saw Toby with another girl hanging over his arm, and she couldn't act like it was a huge deal, because that would only give him more satisfaction that he'd hurt her.
She would act like nothing had ever gone down between them.
'That sounds good, Hanna. Thanks,' she smiled at her blonde friend and opened her car door, before stepping out onto the concrete and pushing the door shut behind her. When she heard Hanna's door opening and then shutting, she tapped the lock button on her keys and began to walk forwards, easing through the people in front of the school until she was through the doors and in the crowded hallway.
As she and Hanna made their way to their lockers, where Emily and Aria were waiting for them, Spencer spotted Andrew across the hall with one of his friends and sent him a small wave when he grinned at her. As she twisted the dial on her locker, she heard a familiar voice calling her name from straight across the corridor. Her heart sank; Toby.
'Hey, Hastings!' he shouted, only drawing more attention to them as he surged forwards, barging past the people in between them so that he stood about a metre in front of her, 'How'd dinner go last night? Did I miss too much?' he asked smugly, smirking as the friends of his who were crowded round just behind him starting cheering noisily.
She narrowed her eyes at him and turned away, ignoring him as she began to talk to Hanna, Aria and Emily about their plans for that day. She heard Toby laugh from behind her with his friends and sighed in relief when she heard him move away and go back to his locker. 'God he's an ass. I don't get why he's so popular,' Aria said, rolling her eyes as they heard the sound of the boys wrestling.
'Probably something to do with that winning smile of his,' Emily sang, pretending to fan herself. 'Yeah,' Hanna snorted, 'and the fact that he's so hot that even I'd bang him. And I have Caleb so that's saying something,' she giggled, ignoring the amused expressions on her friends faces.
The girls continued to get their books out of their lockers and talk as they listened to the everyday chatter and commotion of the hallway. 'Oh, hey!' Aria suddenly said, her ears perking up, 'the football team has practise this lunchtime. We should go watch so we can introduce Spencer to Ezra and Caleb after?' she asked, grinning at Hanna and Emily, 'Andrew's on the team as well Spence,' she added, laughing as Spencer blushed.
'Yeah, um... Andrew seems really smart and... Well, not like the rest of the team,' Spencer started, leaning against her locker and looking at her friends, 'why's he on the team?' she asked bluntly, not really knowing how to word what she was getting at. Emily laughed and quickly shut her locker, before turning to face Spencer. 'You're right, he is really smart. But he's also really good at football and not a douche,' she explained, 'I think he likes you...' she grinned, 'judging by the way he beamed at you before. He's usually pretty reserved with people he doesn't know well,' she added.
Spencer blushed once more, and raised her eyes to scan the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Andrew again and flushed as he raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. 'Oh god,' Aria giggled, 'we're totally going to the practise.'
The first 4 periods of the day went by quickly for Spencer, and she tried to focus as much as she could on what the teachers were saying – not wanting to fall behind. Once or twice she spotted Toby in the hallways, always with some girl all over him; she did her best to ignore him, and would push past him immediately. By the time lunch rolled around, she was completely and utterly ready for some time outside and fresh air.
She had realised that she would not only have to avoid Toby, but his friends as well. Infamous party boy, Noel Kahn, who Spencer learnt was one of Toby's best friends continually gave her amused and sly glances – something she grew very tired of within the first few times it happened; and Sean Ackard, a friend of Toby's who wasn't nearly as bad as the others, but who consistently shot her sympathetic looks whenever one of his friends made a snarky comment.
Emily had texted her during fourth period and had let her know that the team practise was outside on the running tracks, as the weather was to nice for inside, so when the final bell went, she collected her things and exited the classroom, before pushing her way through the hallway and then out the large, heavy wooden doors to where the tracks were outside. Just like Emily had said, it was warm and sunny, and Spencer quickly pulled off her school blazer and slung it over her Dolce and Gabbana satchel; leaving her in just her creamy white, short sleeved blouse.
Hearing Hanna and Aria on the bleachers calling her over, she smiled at them and made her way up the stands until she reached them where they were sitting on the second row of seats. 'Hey Spence. Coffee?' Aria greeted, holding a takeaway cup towards her, 'I assumed you'd just want black.' She laughed, as Spencer grabbed the cup and greedily took a sip. 'Wow, I wouldn't have taken you for a coffee junkie,' Hanna said, an amused expression on her face.
'Are you kidding?' Spencer giggled, 'I basically live off the stuff.' After sitting in silence for a few minutes, they were disturbed by commotion over by the doors leading outside. About 5 junior girls had burst through the doors and were making their way over to the front row in the bleachers, sitting down in a flurry of giggles. With them, was Emily, who shot them disgusted looks before walking past and sitting with Aria, Spencer and Hanna.
'Oh god,' she said, rolling her eyes as she slid into the seat next to Spencer, gratefully taking a cup of coffee from Aria, 'Amy Grant and her friends have been standing outside the doors for the past 5 minutes just giggling and gushing about Toby,' she scowled, taking an eager sip of her drink.
'Speak of the devil,' Aria muttered darkly, raising her eyebrows down at the tracks, where 11 boys had appeared, streaming out of one of the long corridors leading from a changing room. Toby Cavanaugh had led the group out, and was talking to two boys who Spencer recognised as Aria and Hanna's boyfriends; Ezra and Caleb. Emily spotted Andrew near the middle of the group, bent down on one knee tying up his boots and talking to the coach – she nudged Spencer who poked her tongue out at her in return.
'Okay, now the fun begins!' Hanna sang slyly, as the coach blew his whistle and the boys all lined up in a row, Toby at the end. 'Hanna be quiet!' Aria hushed, shooting her a glare, 'You'll get us sent out like last time if we distract the boys.' She said, earning a giggle from Spencer who tried to muffle it as a cough.
The first 10 or so minutes of the training was spent with the boys running laps in their full football uniforms, shoulder pads, helmets and all. 'Don't they get hot in all the gear just running?' Spencer asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. 'Oh they do,' Hanna replied cheekily, 'That's why...' she broke off to check her phone, 'around now they're allowed to take their tops off,' she grinned, turning her attention back to where the 11 drenched-in-sweat boys were standing in a messy blob where they'd started.
Sure enough, they were all removing their helmets and then quickly tugging off their jerseys and shoulder pads, much to the delight of the junior girls who were standing up and squealing. Spencer doubled back when one boy's physique caught her eye. 'Damn...' Hanna said, a breathless tone to her voice, 'I know he's a jerk but that should be illegal,' she said, ogling the same person Spencer was.
As she had suspected, Toby Cavanaugh had exceptional abdominals. Better than any models or actors she'd ever seen. 'That's not even a six pack,' Aria commented, her own eyes drawn to Toby – ignoring her own shirtless boyfriend, 'It's more of an eight pack...' she trailed off. Spencer sighed and looked over at Emily; who, despite being gay was also staring at Toby's stomach.
As if he could tell they were all gazing at him, Toby looked up directly at them and grinned at them; before reaching his hands up into his hair and ruffling it up so that it was no longer slicked down with sweat. As his arms moved, his biceps flexed and Spencer could tell that he'd done it purposely. She rolled her eyes and dragged her gaze away so that she was looking at Andrew – who, while she was on the subject, was also very well equipped in the muscle department.
He caught her staring and sent her a wave and a smile, grinning even harder when she shyly waved back. 'Hey, Spence,' Emily started, nudging her friend, 'their practise finishes in 10 minutes so then you can go down and fraternise with Andrew,' she said cheekily, ignoring Spencer's indignant expression. 'You like him. That's good,' Aria added; an insistent tone in her voice, 'Yeah, it totally is. Hopefully it'll make Toby stop bugging you if you get a boyfriend.' Hanna commented absently while beaming down at Caleb who was grinning up at her.
By the time the practise finished the boys were even more sweaty and exhausted than they'd been before, their bare chests streaked in sweat. As soon as the coach dismissed the team, the 5 junior girls jumped up and ran onto the tracks – straight towards Toby, who was smirking at them. Spencer snorted in disgust as one of them ran right up to him and jumped into his chest, covering his face in sloppy kisses. Emily copied her as Toby stayed where he was, but moved his hand down so that it sat just on top of the girls bum.
'Uh, manwhore.' Hanna muttered as they themselves moved onto the track and walked towards their respective boyfriends. Hanna moved straight to Caleb and gave him a kiss on the cheek, trying to avoid touching his sweaty chest; and Aria smiled at Ezra as she gave him a small hug, obviously not that bothered about getting sweaty. Emily nudged Spencer towards where Andrew was standing, before walking over to where her friend Holden was standing.
Spencer nervously moved across to where Andrew was, and gave him a small smile, 'Hey,' she greeted, feeling less anxious when Andrew grinned back at her, 'Hi there,' he said, picking his helmet up from the ground and wrapping two fingers around it so that it hung from his hand, 'how'd you like watching us practise?' he asked cheekily. She shook her head and smiled, 'Oh it was great, go sports and everything.' She said sarcastically as Andrew laughed and elbowed her gently in the ribs.
'You're not into sports?' he asked curiously. She tilted her head a little, 'I play field hockey, I've got a place on the team here,' she explained, 'and football's great and everything, but I really don't understand a whole lot of what's going on.' She said, playfully grimacing. 'I do, though, know a few of the positions. Which one are you?' she asked, elbowing him back cheekily.
He grinned at her, 'I play offensive guard,' he told her, 'I pretty much play because my parents want me to be 'well rounded' and everything... you know, academics and sports,' he explained, before motioning around the rest of the team with one hand. 'I won't tell you everyone's positions because we'd be here forever with me trying to explain it to you,' he said, grabbing his sports bag from the ground and chucking his jersey, shoulder pads and helmet into it.
'Although I don't really care who plays what,' Spencer started, her blunt tone making Andrew chuckle, 'I'm going to try and make conversation about football. I know quarterback's a pretty important position right?' she asked, rolling her eyes as Andrew nodded, looking a little dazed. 'Who plays that then?' she said, 'Noel?' looking over at the icy blue eyed boy who was standing a few metres away from them.
'Noel? Nah,' Andrew said dismissively, 'Cavanaugh's quarterback.' He told her, raising his eyebrows over at Toby who was talking to Caleb and Hanna – the latter who had a very bored expression on her usually animated face. Of course, Spencer thought; of course Toby played the most important position on the team, it appeared that he literally had it all.
Spencer tried to conceal her scowl and looked at Andrew, smiling. He raised his eyebrows at her and grinned, 'Hey, uh, I was wondering,' he started, swinging his bag over his shoulder, 'I'm having a party at my house after school – you know, celebrate the end of the week thing, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?' he asked, smiling a little shyly, something Spencer found sweet.
'I know that Hanna's coming, and I heard that Aria and Emily are as well, so you should come to.' He added, 'judging by the way they've turned out in the past, literally everyone comes so... yeah,' he said, swallowing hard. Spencer paused before beaming at him and nodding, 'Thanks, yeah, I'd love to,' she said, trying to swallow her excitement. She giggled as Andrew let out a breath of air in relief, obviously previously having been anxious that she would say no. He rolled his eyes at her and playfully tugged her into a hug. Spencer smiled, it growing wider when Andrew wrapped his bare arms around her waist, drawing her so close that she could smell the faint scent of aftershave and he could inhale her vanilla and apple blossom perfume.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as she walked up to him and smiled shyly, tucking her hands into her pockets nervously. Toby impatiently shrugged off the junior girl who had been noisily planting open mouthed kisses all over his exposed upper chest – suddenly annoyed at the younger girl. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Andrew animatedly explain something to Spencer, his eyes bright with excitement that Spencer was talking to him.
When Andrew playfully and childishly nudged Spencer, beaming at her, Toby expected her to look doubtful, but she grinned back, obviously pleased that Andrew was displaying affection for her. A strange feeling pitted in the bottom of Toby's stomach when he saw Andrew ask Spencer something, the other boy looking a little nervous. The feeling rose in intensity when Spencer nodded eagerly and smiled widely at Andrew, accepting whatever he had offered.
Toby's fists clenched beside him without him being aware of it when Andrew pulled Spencer in for an affectionate hug and buried his face a little into her hair, obviously breathing in her smell.
Immediately Toby realised what the feeling was in his stomach. He tried to ignore it, still watching Spencer and Andrew laugh and talk together. He dismissed it as ridiculous... he couldn't be... no way.
Jealous.
