hRcK1225 - You were first, so yay for a cameo. You can either come up with a character or use yourself, I just need some basics so I can include it in the story somewhere.
all readers - Oops. I'm sorry this took so ridiculously long. I hope it was worth it? :/ Probably not.
When Veronica Hastings had told her daughter why she had to go to Philadelphia, she'd been vague. There was something quite urgent, something that needed her immediate attention, but it seemed a little reluctant, still. Spencer hadn't questioned it, used to her mother's often odd behavior, and though there was a bit of a curiosity about what it was, she didn't push anything.
All that lawyer stuff was something she'd get into after high school anyway. Law at U-Penn was pretty much her given future.
When they realized it would be Spencer that would have to head over to the city, her mother finally sat her down and explained her what was about to happen.
Spencer had never been more furious.
They were adopting someone.
Temporarily, sure. The Fields' had been friends of the Hastings family for as long as Spencer could remember. She understood perfectly why this was happening. She probably would've offered the same, her heart a lot more gentle than her parents', so her offer would've maybe-probably-kind of been a lot more genuine.
But Peter and Veronica Hastings had both been aware of this, yet her father had pretended to not know a thing, and her mother had shrugged it off as it being a thing she had to go pick up.
The girl Spencer was looking at was most definitely not a thing.
It was a hot day and right outside the window, the air was buzzing with heat. Spencer found her eyes flickering between the bright sunlight falling through the glass and the girl that was seated in the chair next to hers, and her mind completely missed out on what was being said.
Usually, she could be pretty attentive to speeches like these. Having grown up with lawyers, she was used to hearing 'legal custody' or 'court decision' fall left, right and center in a conversation. But something about the girl, Emily, had taken away every ounce of her determination to stay focused.
When the speech wound down to a few questions Spencer blinked out of her distracted daze and answered them politely, like she'd been practicing to do, reciting what her mother had told her impeccably, before scribbling down her signature on a file to set in stone that a Hastings had in fact come down the head office of the Pennsylvanian custody board to take care of things, the folder she'd been carrying around with her mother's signature on several files handed over.
"And that's all," William said, getting up out of his chair and reaching over his polished mahogany desk to shake Spencer's hand, then Emily's. "Good luck, ladies."
Spencer just merely nodded, stretching her shoulders and shaking the kinks out of her back subtly as she got up and walked out of the office, standing in the hallway and waiting for the other girl to join her. She tried desperately to remember how they had gotten there, but after a few corners she had lost track already.
"Right," Emily murmured, and Spencer blinked twice before she registered the sound. It was the first word she heard Emily say, and in the back of her mind she had been wondering about the sound of the other brunette's voice. Now she heard it, and she wanted to hear more. Part of her had taken an instant disliking to her though, had found the resentment she had seen in Emily's eyes ungrateful. She was quite literally torn up between the side of her that disliked the girl, and the side of her that was intrigued.
"Right?" she asked when she refound the ability to talk, frowning as she looked into the hallway on the right.
Emily just merely nodded, eyes moving to Spencer's for a brief moment before she strutted down the hallway on the right like it was her catwalk. Damn, Spencer couldn't help but think. Not only had Emily just pretty much laughed in her face, but she had also been a lot more elegant doing it than Spencer probably would ever be able to be.
By the time the four of them had arrived back at the hotel Emily hadn't said a word more. Hanna and Aria had quickly given up on their attempts to have small talk with the girl, but Spencer could read in their body language and facial expressions that they seemed to be having the same inner turmoil – part hateful, part fascinated. Emily's looks were too striking to not inflict some kind of deeper impression.
While the mysterious girl had made herself comfortable in the front seat of the cab, the three friends sat huddled together in the back seat. They knew better than to talk about her, especially Spencer, so they were talking about things so insignificant it was almost ridiculous.
The atmosphere in the cab was tensed, even the driver noticed and not a song on the radio could help, so it was a relief when they could get out. While Spencer, Hanna and Aria went up to the room Emily apparently had other plans. She made a beeline for the pool and before they could say or do anything, ask her if she wanted to borrow a bikini or get undressed upstairs or take a towel, Emily was already stripping off her clothes, only leaving her bra and panties on.
Spencer dragged her friends to the elevator before seeing more of Emily's body froze her in the spot.
"She seems like a bitch," Aria said, picking at her nails. When Hanna gasped softly and nudged her shoulder she looked up and shrugged. "What? Don't you think she is?"
"She just got adopted, Aria," Hanna said, crossing her arms. "Cut her some slack. She's probably just missing her family or something."
"Her mother's been an alcohol addict since her father died a year ago," Spencer intervened, leaning back against the wall of the elevator. Aria seemed anti-Emily, while Hanna was trying to defend her. She didn't want to speak up, not wanting to pick any sides just yet, because the sides were a tie for her. And she knew better than to jump into conclusions.
Even when Emily made her want to pull her own pride out. And all other abilities to feel emotions.
"At least she's not ugly."
Her two friends engaged in a rather heated argument about why Emily's looks would make this situation any better, and Spencer just made sure she pushed her friends out of the elevator and towards their room. She wasn't going to put the argument to a halt, when usually she would, because thinking about Emily's looks left her speechless.
Spencer speechless, that was a first.
