Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or the characters.
"I can't believe this," I stated, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, come on Spence, we weren't even late. Why did you want to leave so early, anyways? School doesn't start for another thirty minutes." Mona complained, struggling to keep up with me in the heels she decided to wear.
"So that we could get a good look around before everyone showed up. Have you forgotten the reason that we're here?" I asked, annoyed.
"Oh please, you act like we have a week to get everything done. Relax, Spencer. We're going to be here for a while. Just try to get adjusted. We can do recon later. You're always so tense. When was the last time you got laid?"
I scoffed. "Okay, we are not having this conversation here. My love life does not need you interfering in it. Now, let's just get done what we need to get done before too many people show up. I want to scope out Emily and her friends. We need to find an opportunity to get close to her."
"Okay, okay. Spy mode activated. Where is her locker?"
"Over there," I pointed to a locker in the middle of the hallway. "Which means mine is at the end of the hall on the opposite wall, and yours is on the other side of hers. That way we can always have eyes on her without being suspicious."
I walked over to my locker, unlocking it and placing the books I had been issued inside. By this time, students began to overflow the hallway. Oh, how I did not miss high school. Horny boys and bitchy girls were not what I wanted to deal with at 8 am.
I shut the locker and leaned against it, watching the teens rushing about. Mona returned to my side just as I notice Emily from across the hall. She was standing at her locker with two other girls: a blonde wearing clothes that equally matched Mona's model status, and a short brunette whose fashion choices were more tamed than that of the blonde, but still just as stylish. As I was observing the two, I locked eyes with Emily, who gave me another one of those warm smiles and started making her way towards us.
"Good morning Spencer," She said as she came to a halt in front of me.
I smiled at her. "Good morning to you, too."
She stood there for a second, forgetting that we had company until the brunette beside her cleared her throat.
"Oh, uh, sorry. These are my friends. This is Hanna," She said, gesturing to the blonde," And this is Aria." She gestured towards the brunette.
They both said their hellos, offering up smiles that weren't as warm as Emily's. I opened my mouth to introduce myself, but was cut off.
"Hi, I'm Mona, and this is Spencer. It's nice to meet you." Mona said, cheerfully. "And that skirt," She said, pointing to Aria's skirt," Is so cute. I have the perfect pair of heels to go with it."
"Oh, a fashionista. My kind of girl." Hanna replied with a smirk.
"You have no idea." I added, smirking at Mona.
The three began an excited conversation about fashion, leaving Emily and me standing there looking overwhelmed. Oh man, I forgot what teenage girls were like.
"So, where can I get a cup of coffee around here?" Mona asked.
"Follow us." Hanna said, linking arms with Mona.
"You two coming?" Aria asked.
"We'll catch up." Emily replied. Aria shrugged, going to catch up with the other two.
"Well, glad to see she made friends quickly." I chuckled. "And here I was, worried she wouldn't fit in."
"Yeah, maybe she can take my place when those two go off on shopping sprees." Emily laughed.
"Not into shopping?" I questioned.
"No, not really. Only when there is something I need."
"Well, good. At least I'm not the odd one out."
We both laughed.
"So, what classes do you have?" She asked. I handed her my schedule.
"Wow, we have all but two classes together." She stated, studying the paper.
"Looks like the universe wants us to be friends." Or the CIA.
"Looks like it." She smiled, and I felt this warm sensation in the pit of my stomach. I returned the smile, but before I could say anything, the bell rang, signaling the start of the school day.
"Let me walk you to class?" She asked, still smiling.
"Well of course. You have to pay me back for walking you home last night. And also, I have no idea where it is." I retorted.
She laughed, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along with her.
The first few classes went by quickly. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. Emily dragged me outside to a table where Hanna, Aria, and Mona were already sitting.
"Hey, about time you two showed up. We were just making plans for after school. They're having some major sales today, so I think it's about time I get acquainted with the Rosewood mall. Cause they will be seeing a lot of me." Mona informed, causing the entire table to laugh.
"So, what do you say, Em? Want to come?" Aria asked.
"I can't. I have a ton of homework. I'm still trying to catch up after being out for two weeks." Emily replied, staring at her hands.
I quickly shot a look at Mona. Unless Hanna and Aria already told her, we aren't supposed to know about her dad. Mona seemed to understand, and decided she was best fit to play the oblivious one.
"Why were you out? Were you sick?" This caused the other three girls to tense up. All eyes were on Emily as we watched for her reaction.
"Uh… no. um… My dad died." She stuttered, obviously still having a hard time getting the words out of her mouth.
"OMG, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Mona is such a great actress, even I almost bought that.
"No, it's fine. I just missed a lot of school and I'm still catching up."
"Actually," I cut in, "I'm playing catch up, too. Want to have a study session after school?"
"That's a great idea. Spencer is a genius." Mona added, giving me a smirk.
I rolled my eyes, "No, I'm not, but our old school was farther along that you guys, so maybe I could help."
Emily pondered the thought. "Okay, sure. Your place, or mine?"
I looked over to Mona. She nodded her head in Emily's direction.
"Uh, yours. We're still unpacking so it's kind of a mess."
"Okay, I have swim practice after school, so I'll text you after I get home."
"Actually, I'll just stay and wait. I need to talk to a few teachers and I want to check out some clubs."
"Okay," She said, smiling. "It's a date."
I smiled back, trying to ignore the way I felt when she said that.
After we finished out last class of the day, our little group split up. Emily went to swim practice, and the other three headed to the mall. This left me on my own until 5:30. I could occupy myself for that long. I went to see a few of my teachers to get extra credit work. They all seemed very friendly, and were surprised that I was asking for more work. One teacher, Mr. Fitz, gave me all the assignments for the rest of the semester, telling me that if I wanted to go ahead and complete them, I could. He was probably my favorite out of all my new teachers.
After speaking with my teachers, I decided to go around and observe the clubs. I checked out the debate team, field hockey team, and the tennis team, but they all seemed too time-consuming. If I was going to join a club, it couldn't interfere with my monitoring of Emily. I would need to consider this more thoroughly before I joined, so I decided to head back towards the pool.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in the room was Emily. Not because I am basically acting as her body guard and need to have eyes on her at all times, but because of how graceful she was in the water. It was like this was what she was meant to do. I could stare at her swim all day. It was like an art that she had mastered.
I must have been staring off into space, because I didn't notice practice was over until Emily was dressed and sitting next to me on the bleachers.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Koalas." I answered.
She gave me a looked as if she didn't expect my answer.
I laughed. "Clubs. I'm not sure if I should join one of not. I don't want something that will take up too much time after school."
She nodded in understanding. "Well, what did you think of practice?" She asked, biting her lip, almost as if she was nervous.
"Well, your performance today certainly backed up your claims from last night." I smiled at her. "You're really good."
She blushed. "Thank you. Want to get out of here?"
"And go do some homework? Sounds exciting." I replied sarcastically.
She laughed. "Well then, let's go." She stood, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her.
We walked out to the parking lot and got into her car. There was another reason I wanted to stay after today. I pretended to be adjusting the seat, but really, I placed a small tracking device underneath it. That way, if anything did happen, we'd at least know where her car was.
The drive home was quite entertaining. Emily had the radio on and was singing her heart out to the Beyoncé song playing. It was so cute I couldn't help but laugh. It was probably the most adorable thing I had ever seen. Once we got to her house, we went straight to her room.
"Where's your mom?" I asked, looking around, trying to memorize the layout of the house.
"She's at work. She works at the Rosewood Police Department. She won't be home for another hour.
I nodded. We reached the top of the stairs, where she opened the first room on her right.
"You can put your bag down wherever." She said, setting her books on her desk.
"So what kind of homework do you have?" I asked, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Some math and history. Shouldn't be too hard." She said, giving me a confident look.
"Alright then, I'll be over here if you need me." I pulled out a book, laid back on the bed, and began to read.
"What about your homework? That's not the book we're reading in English."
I laughed. "I know. That whole catch up thing was a lie. I just didn't want to go shopping with them."
She shook her head. "Then why wait? Why didn't you just go home?"
"Because I get lonely." I gave her my saddest puppy dog eyes.
She rolled her eyes at me and turned back to her desk.
After about twenty-five minutes, five of those spent looking utterly frustrated, Emily finally turned to me.
"Hey Spence. How good are you in history?"
She called me Spence. My inner self was giddy about this. Even though she's not the first person to call me that, the fact that we are this close after only one day is pretty incredible. 'Focus Spencer, you are on a mission.'
"Spencer?" She was looking at me now.
"Oh, sorry. Um, yeah, I'm pretty good. What kind of history?"
"US history. It's about the Cold War."
My specialty. "Okay. Shoot."
"I just need some help remembering what the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis are."
"The Bay of Pigs was a failed attempt to overthrow Castro. The CIA funded the training of exiled Cubans and launched a surprise attack, which ultimately did not work. It let to the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the Cuban Revolution, where Castro came to power, Cuba became close to the Soviet Union, who the US was currently involved in the Cold War with. The Soviet Union started shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba which was extremely dangerous for the US. It led to thirteen days of high tension with US blockades around Cuba, until the Soviet Union finally agreed to remove the missiles if the US removed their nuclear missiles from Turkey."
After a few seconds, I looked away from my book and over to Emily, who was sitting there with her jaw on the floor.
"What?" I asked.
"Mona was right. You are a genius."
I chuckled. "No, just a nerd."
We went back to our comfortable silence while she finished her homework. Soon, she put her pencil down, stretching her arms out above her head.
"Done?" I asked.
"Yep. How's the book?"
"It's even better the third time."
She laughed at me, shaking her head.
"So," She said, standing and moving to sit on the end of the bed, "I think it's time I find out more about you." Oh boy.
"What do you want to know?" I asked, sitting up and leaning against the pillows.
"Well, what was it like at your old school? What were your friends like? Any boyfriends?"
I sighed. "My old school was pretty big, so I didn't really stand out much. And no, no boyfriends. Or girlfriends. Or any friends, really. I found everyone at that school to be intellectually inferior to me. All they cared about was sex and parties."
This must not have been the answer she was expecting. "Oh. Well, that sounds boring."
I chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint."
She looked at me sincerely. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Well, I'm glad you're here now, at least. I promise your life won't be as boring as it was there."
I smiled. "Thanks, Em."
She blushed at me calling her that, but it looked like she had a bit of an epiphany.
"Oh, right. I meant to ask. Tell me about Mona. I haven't spent that much time with her, since Hanna and Aria have whisked her away."
"Well, she's my cousin. She has a newfound love of fashion, but don't be deceived. She's an evil genius." I said seriously.
Emily chuckled. "Why is she staying with you?"
"Her dad is overseas." Her face paled.
"Oh." This was the first time since meeting Emily that I truly didn't know what to say. So I tried to be a good friend rather than a spy.
"Tell me about him." She looked up at me. I gave her the most sincere look that I could.
"He always put everyone before himself. He loved helping people, even if it was just giving a homeless man five dollars. He was the nicest man I had ever known. He loved my mother and me with everything he had. He truly was the center of this family. I can't believe he's gone." At this point, she was in tears.
"Come here." I scooted closer to her on the bed and pulled her into me. She cried quietly into my shoulder for a while, but we stayed like that for what felt like forever. It felt comfortable, but also a bit frightening that we were this close after only one day. Finally, Emily pulled away, whipping her eyes.
"So, tell me about your family." Oh no.
"Well, I, uh…" I was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Hey, mom." Emily greeted.
"Hi honey. And who is this?" Mrs. Fields asked.
"Mom, this is Spencer Hastings. She just moved in down the street."
"Oh, hello sweetie. Did your mom like the gift basket?"
"Yes, ma'am. She wanted to thank you in person, but she's been busy with the unpacking."
"Of course, I understand. Anyways, I'm about to get started with dinner. Would you like to stay?"
I looked over at Emily, who smiled and nodded.
"Sure, I'd love to."
Mrs. Fields smiled. "Great. I'll call when it's ready. Nice to meet you Spencer."
"Nice to meet you, too." I smiled back.
The rest of the evening went great. It was so easy to talk to Mrs. Fields, and I could tell that it made Emily happy to see her mom and me getting along. And I was thankful that the questions about my family didn't come back up through the meal. I still didn't know exactly what to say. I would have to ask Veronica about that in the morning. After dinner, Emily offered to walk me home, but I declined. I didn't need her out at night by herself. She hugged me before I left, telling me that I had to text her when I got home. I kindly reminded her that she could watch me walk home from her front porch. She laughed but still made me promise.
That night, after I got home (and texted Emily), I found that I couldn't go to sleep. I just kept replaying the night through my head. Seeing Emily crying, and holding her like that, made me feel all these confusing feeling that I knew were unprofessional, but I just couldn't shake them. Maybe I should talk to Mona about it. She'll probably yell at me.
Finally, at some ungodly hour, I drifted into slumber, but I could still see Emily crying in my dreams. I couldn't let that happen again. I just couldn't.
