Disclaimer: Still don't own it.
Spencer watched the clock as she lay in bed.
She was supposed to be up for school in about an hour, and had her outfit all laid out like before. It was like she was repeating the day all over again, especially since she had the same feeling of dread in her stomach as she did yesterday. At least her homework was done as well as some extra work from other classes.
After Mona had dropped her off, Spencer had ignored her family and went straight to her room. The only time she had come out was to eat dinner with the family; even then she had kept to herself. Her mother had asked about her day and Spencer gave one worded answers, much to Veronica's annoyance.
After dinner was done, Spencer retreated to her room for the rest of the night.
Though she felt lonely, Spencer also felt a lot safer being isolated. She had always had a complicated relationship with her family; even more so since she got back from rehab. Her mother tried to reach out but Spencer completely rebuffed her; too angry with years of neglect in favor of Melissa.
She had studied for most of the night, and had finished all of her homework for the week. Once she was done, she moved onto other projects that weren't due for a while in order to keep ahead of the class. Spencer's aim was to put her schoolwork first and foremost; even to go as far as being valedictorian which was more or less expected since Melissa had been one when she graduated.
A second before the alarm went off, Spencer's hand shot out and hit the off switch. She lay there for another second before sitting up and yawning, slipping her feet in her slippers. Standing up, she stretched and then headed to the bathroom to do her morning routine. About twenty minutes later, she went to her closet and pulled out the outfit she had chosen to wear the night before.
It was similar to yesterdays, though different colors and the skirt length a little shorter. It was also more casual, and more comfortable to wear.
Since Spencer no longer had to worry about impressing anyone, it was easier to wear what she wanted to wear. Once she was dressed,
Spencer put on only a tad of makeup more for hiding the stress lines than for show.
When she was done, she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs.
Her parents and Melissa, as well as Wren were already at the table when she came into the kitchen. They stopped talking when Spencer entered and there were looks exchanged between her parents while Melissa just focused on her food. Wren didn't know what to do besides not angering his wife so he stayed quiet.
Spencer opened the fridge and pulled out her sack lunch she had prepared the night before. She wasn't hungry which was why she always packed a larger lunch. She did go for the coffee in order to feed her caffeine addiction. While she sipped her coffee, she looked at the time and planned to leave in a few minutes.
"Morning Honey," Veronica finally greeted since Spencer wouldn't. She knew her daughter was still adjusting and would give her the space she needed.
"Morning," was all that Spencer said, not looking at her parents and concentrating on the clock.
"I'll be leaving here in a few minutes; I'll take you to school," Veronica offered with a smile.
"No thank you; I'll just walk," Spencer said while shaking her head. Before her mother could say anything, Peter spoke up.
"Let your mother drive you Spence; okay?" Peter said, more of an order than anything else. Before Spencer could emphasize no, there was a ring of the doorbell.
"I'll get it," Wren offered, getting up from the table and heading out of the kitchen. The rest of the family was curious to see who it was since it was still pretty early for visitors. Wren returned a minute later with someone else.
"Spencer, you have a visitor," Wren stated and Mona came into view; which surprised Spencer to say the least.
"Mona," greeted Spencer, though not sure why the girl was here.
"Hello Spencer; I thought you would maybe like a ride to school," Mona offered with a rather sweet smile. She looked over at the other Hastings members and smiled at them as well. Spencer noted that Melissa seemed put off by Mona's presence, almost as if she were afraid.
"That's nice of you to do; we are glad that Spencer is socializing in school," Veronica said, seemingly happy that her daughter wasn't completely isolating herself.
"Oh no, I just thought I would just offer her a ride after driving Spencer home yesterday," Mona corrected, finding it interesting that Spencer seemed to be isolating herself.
"Wait….I thought Melissa picked you up?" Peter asked, puzzled. He looked over at his older daughter and narrowed his eyes at her. He had asked her to do that after dropping off Spencer at school. Until his younger daughter was completely better, it was decided that she would be driven by the family.
"I was on my way and running a little late; by the time I got there, Spencer was already gone," Melissa defended. Spencer knew that was a lie but didn't say anything since starting a fight this early would only cause problems.
"Well you need to call next time and let her know," chided Peter, a little angry with his daughter. Wren stayed silent but knew he wouldn't hear the end of it later when he and Melissa were alone.
"Are you ready to go?" asked Mona, sensing that Spencer wanted to leave, seeing her fidget ever so slightly.
"Yeah," was all that Spencer said, grabbing her bag and leaving the kitchen before her mother could say goodbye, or give her a quick kiss on the forehead. Mona smiled at the Hastings and gave them a nod, she gave Melissa a slight smirk before following Spencer out of the house.
"You can put your bag on the backseat," Mona said, opening the door for her. Spencer placed her backpack next to Mona's on the seat before getting in the passenger side. When their seatbelts were on, Mona started the car and headed to school.
"Thank you," Spencer said, not sure whether to be nervous or relieved to be driven by someone other than her family.
"You're welcome; we can carpool every day until you start driving again if you want," Mona offered as she looked over at Spencer and smiled. Spencer seemed to think about her offer for a few minutes before nodding.
Truthfully, she would rather be driven around by Mona then be forced to endure any of her family right now, including Wren. Compared to her family, Mona would provide better conversation and seemed just as damaged as Spencer was. Mona might say she was cured, but Spencer sensed something was off about her; which she understood since Mona had endured years of bullying by Alison.
Plus Mona was on her level of intelligence and at the top of the class when it came to grades. All through middle school, the two had been in competition along with Andrew to be top of the class. They were also in all the same classes together, so they could go over homework and quiz each other for coming tests.
As for her reputation, Spencer no longer cared what people thought of her so carpooling with Mona wouldn't hurt.
"Great; I'll pick you up about half an hour before school starts unless one of us is sick in which a phone call is needed," stated Mona, laying out the guidelines.
"That sounds good; I can help with gas since I still have money in the bank," Spencer informed and Mona nodded. Given that she was no longer spending money on trivial things, Spencer had plenty of money in the bank.
When they got to school, Spencer was surprised that Mona had easily found a spot; almost in the front where the side doors to the school were. She leaned over and grabbed a blue card out of her bag in the backseat, placing it on the dashboard for everyone to see. To Spencer, it looked like some sort of pass and asked Mona about it.
"The school issued parking passes so that only the people who carried them can park in the school parking lot. Originally it was only for seniors but since there were more than enough spaces, the school extended it for those who had high enough GPAs," Mona explained as they got out of the car.
"Wow; I didn't know that. How did you hear about it?" asked Spencer, curious since there was apparently a lot that she had missed when she was in rehab. If she were still on the student council like she was last year, she would have probably have heard about it.
"My mother found out about it when she volunteered at the bake sale during the summer. Before school started, I applied for one and got it almost instantly," Mona answered as the two walked to the side door of the school.
"That's cool," Spencer said and she meant it. She wondered though how Alison got one since her grades tended to be mediocre; probably her rich parents got her one.
The two separated since their lockers were located in different sections of the school. As she walked down the halls, there was the occasional look or whisper but nothing vindictive. She had yet to see Alison or her former friends and hurried to grab her stuff so that she could get to class without encountering them.
She nearly made it until Alison came around the corner with her posse in tow.
When Alison spotted Spencer, she whispered something to Hanna who laughed while Aria and Emily looked away. Spencer did her best to ignore them, while opening her locker and grabbing what she needed. She heard more laughing behind her and Spencer closed her eyes, trying to suppress the hurt she was feeling.
She felt their stares but focused on her task, trying her best not to let Alison intimidate her.
When she was done, Spencer closed her locker and headed to class. She caught Alison's smirk, and it took Spencer everything she had not to go over and wipe that grin off her face. It hurt that Hanna had a similar look on her face, it was clear she was slowing devolving into a clone of Alison. She wondered if Hanna could be saved.
While she wasn't looking, Spencer bumped into someone and dropped her bag. As she leaned down to gather her things, the person whom she had collided with did the same. Spencer was surprised to see that it was Noel Khan, and he seemed to be helping her while giving her a sweet smile.
"Sorry about that Spencer," Noel apologized as he helped her and Spencer was surprised by his thoughtfulness since she always considered him more of a j***.
"Thank you," was all that Spencer could say and gave him a slight smile in return. She then left him and continued to her class.
Entering the classroom, she saw that Mona had taken up a seat next to her in the front of the class. Since class seats had yet to be permanently assigned and only Spencer had been a fan of the front, it wasn't a surprise that a fellow student had ceded the spot to Mona in favor of the back. Thinking about it, Spencer didn't mind since Mona could be a helpful person if she needed it.
The two sat together in the next class as well, and Spencer would not have been surprised that Mona had arranged it for the rest of the classes as well.
When lunch came around the two found themselves at a lone table at the edge of everything that seemed pretty private. It also had the benefit of being as far away from Alison as possible since the blond like being the center of everything. It was nice that Mona respected that Spencer wanted to eat in silence, and the two worked on their school work all through the meal.
The day continued without incident, though Spencer felt uneasy for some reason. She felt like someone was watching her, even though Alison wasn't around. Noel appeared a few times and Spencer wondered if Alison had asked him to keep an eye on her. Last Halloween, Alison had pulled a prank on the girls with Noel's help so she knew he was connected to her in some way.
As school ended, Spencer made her way to her locker so that she could grab her stuff before meeting up with Mona for a ride home. She had already called her parents to let them know of the new arrangement, and thankfully they approved. Her mother actually seemed relieved that Spencer had moved on from Alison.
She stopped when she spotted Noel waiting for her at her locker and cautiously approached since he apparently wanted something.
"Hey Spencer; I wanted to talk to you about something," Noel said when he spotted her. Even though he had a disarming smile and was polite, Spencer still had her defenses up.
"What did you want?" Spencer asked, cautious but still polite. She didn't smile at him but kept her face more neutral.
"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Homecoming next week?" Noel asked and Spencer's jaw nearly dropped.
"You are asking me to Homecoming?" Spencer inquired, not sure whether to be flattered or suspicious. Despite his bad boy reputation, Noel Kahn was considered to be one of the hottest guys in school.
"Yes; do you want to go?" he asked again, sporting a charming smile.
"Why are you asking me? Especially since I have been dubbed "Druggie Spencer"?" Spencer inquired with a hint of suspicion and force in her tone.
"You are a cute girl and I couldn't care less what people say about you," Noel answered, now seemingly annoyed that he had to defend himself. Spencer still pressed him though.
"You are not just a nice guy Noel; what is going on?" Spencer demanded to know. Her instincts were telling her that something was going on.
"Okay; I am just trying to get back at Alison in some way, I thought by you going with me to Homecoming, I can get under her skin," admitted Noel with a sheepish grin. Spencer considered his offer and had to think about it.
"Give me a few days to think about it," Spencer said, shutting her locker and walking away.
"No problem; just don't take too long since my time is limited. We both want to see Alison taken down a peg," Noel said with a smile. Spencer turned and nodded before heading away from him.
Noel watched her go and his smile turned evil as the plan began its opening stages.
Please R&R and a special thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read!
