The next day at school Spencer met up with her friends in the hallway before class, as they usually did.
"So have you guys gotten anymore messages from A?" Aria whispered.
All three girls shook their heads, implying that they hadn't.
"I'm definitely relieved we haven't heard from that bitch." Hannah said.
"Me too, but it makes me nervous, what if A is planning something big?" Spencer replied.
"Just try to relax, Spence. We need to be on alert, but we can't stress ourselves out so much. We can't let A break us, we need to stay strong." Aria rationalized.
"You're right." Spencer said.
"Hey guys, I really have to go look over my notes before this test. I'll see you later. By the way, thanks for the flash cards, Spence." Emily said as she smiled at Spencer inconspicuously brushing up against the tall brunette.
Spencer longingly watched Emily walk away.
"Um, Spence what was that all about?" Hannah asked.
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked.
"Emily was totally flirting with you just now." Hannah replied.
"What? She wasn't flirting with me. I helped her study for a test, that's all." Spencer blushed slightly, turning around to look at Emily walking away.
"You made her flash cards? If that's not a turn on, I don't know what is. Are you guys like secretly hooking up behind mine and Aria's backs?" Hannah joked.
"Hannah, it's nothing. We just studied. She asked me for help. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less." Spencer said. Thinking about how much she wished there was more to it than that.
"If you say so, but I still think she might have a thing for you, Spence." Hannah said.
"Yeah okay, whatever you say, Hannah." Spencer rolled her eyes.
As the girls continued to talk, Spencer spotted two Freshman guys watch Emily walk into class. Both guys began making crude remarks regarding Emily's sexual orientation. Upon hearing the comments, Spencer turned and approached the two guys, Spencer, being quite a bit taller, towered over them as she lectured them about maturity and respect.
After seeing the anger in Spencer's eyes and not wanting things to get out of hand, Aria stepped between Spencer and the two guys taking Spencer's tightly clenched fist and pulling her away.
"Come on, Spence, calm down, it's all right."
"God Spencer, what the Hell was that all about?" Hannah asked looking shocked.
"I...I...don't know what came over me, it just makes me angry when people act so immaturely. No one talks about my friends like that."
"I know, it makes me mad too, but we have to be careful how we act, the cops are watching all of us like crazy. We don't need to give them any reason to believe we have violent tendencies." Aria said.
"You're right, sorry guys, I just, I..." Spencer stuttered.
"Spence, are you okay?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, it's just that I..." the rest of Spencer's sentence was cut off by the loud ringing of the late bell.
"Crap." Hannah said as she looked up at the clock.
"Look Spence, we'll talk later, okay?" Aria said as she gave Spencer a friendly smile.