Chapter Four: The Obstacle Named Lily Peterson
Now that our little-used-to-be lovebirds are getting along, Life ponders on what It should do next. Should It give them an easy journey with no bumps on the road back to love? Or should It throw an obstacle in their path to make the journey just a tad bit rough? Ah ha! Life exclaims coming to a conclusion. It shall put an obstacle in their path back to love, and that obstacle shall be named Lily Peterson.
A few days had gone by and Spencer was now on day four of the week trial. To her surprise she was actually enjoying her time here and was starting to get used to Jace. Though, she did have to wake up with the reminder every morning that the only reason she was here was because Emily and Maya had passed away. Also Spencer did try to have the least amount of interaction with Jace. Luckily, he had Toby tell him a story before naptime instead of Spencer.
Her time here made her on the fence about her decision she had to make at the end of day seven. At the start of all of this she had been one hundred percent sure about her answer of not staying, but now…
Making her way through the modern and sleek styled kitchen she found the pantry. With some investigation she found packets of cinnamon apple oatmeal. Preparing it Spencer put the bowl in the microwave and drew her attention to the coffee maker. With everything made to perfection, Spencer set down her breakfast and coffee mug on the island and sat down to eat.
Toby and Jace had come down a little later. They both had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Spencer had learned that Jace didn't like eggs scrambled or fried, but was obsessed with Honey Nut Cheerios.
"Good morning," Toby greeted her as he set his bowl down on the island across from her.
"Morning," she replied.
After breakfast they had followed the schedule like they had the days earlier. But, during playtime (after naptime) a surprise came along. The doorbell rang and Toby got up to go get it leaving Spencer to keep an eye on Jace. The little boy was once again building up a tower of colorful blocks and then knocking it down, and then repeating the process. Spencer still couldn't see what was so fun about. When she was his age she was already making homes out of Legos trying to compete with Melissa's large scaled castles made from Legos as well.
"You're back early!"
"We decided to come back a day early. With all that walking your feet tend to get rather sore and covered in blisters no matter what footwear you're wearing." A sugary voice entered the room.
Spencer turned her head to see Toby coming into the family room with a shorter women whom only reached up to his shoulder with two inch heels on. She had lovely honey blonde princess curls framing her heart shaped face. Her features were beautiful with her big chocolate brown eyes, a small cute nose, and full lips. Addressing the atmosphere around the two, Spencer guessed they had known each other for a while.
They finally entered the family room. Toby looked over at Spencer. "Spencer this is my girlfriend Lily Peterson." A freezing cold feeling soared through Spencer's body. "Lily this is-"
"Oh my goodness! You're Spencer Hastings! I've heard so much about you," Lily exclaimed going over to shake Spencer's hand that she had not offered.
Shocked, Spencer mumbled out, "Have you?" without much thought put into her response.
"Yes! You really can't move to Rosewood without hearing your story. It must have been terrible to go through. I mean, when your best friend goes missing the year before only for you to find out she was actually killed that night she went missing. And if to make matters worse the murderer was your brother-in-law and you lived under the same roof as him. I like, worship, your heroism when you were fighting him off in the bell tower. I mean, like wow. I could never have the courage to do that. It's amazing you didn't fall with him."
Spencer and Toby's eyes locked together for a brief moment. They both held the same thought during the eye contact. They had agreed that night they'd never mention what actually happened to Ian in the bell tower. Spencer looked away feeling like her breath had been forcefully taken away from her as she remembered that night.
Lily continued on speaking not noticing what was going on. "It's like the perfect plot for a story and an even more perfect ending. I wanted to write a book about it, but someone beat me to it. I had a really creative idea for it too! It's more of a based on a true story style. I was thinking like on the day of Alison's funeral all four of Alison's best friends would get a mysterious text from this anonymous person referring to themselves as –A. This –A character would know all their secrets and use it against them in ways of blackmail and harm. Also –A would be watching their every move always being two steps ahead of the four girls. Great idea, huh?"
At the moment in time Spencer's pupil size had been increased and a different freezing cold feeling had sunk in under her skin. She felt as if she had suddenly been trapped in a rather small room with no air for company. Her lungs screamed for her to breathe, but she stared ahead of her taking no breath. What she had lived through was horrifying enough, but to imagine Lily's story idea come to life? Spencer had plenty of musky skeletons hanging in her closet as a teenager and now. To have someone haunting her with her secrets to black mail her or harm her, and to also have someone watching her every move was unimaginable frightening. This left her in a frozen state of mind with fear swamping her brain.
Lily looked over at Spencer and a frown replaced a giddy smile. "Oh, gosh, I didn't even think! I'm so sorry! I am a writer, so sometimes I babble on and on without even thinking straight. Goodness! I am a terrible person!"
Finally Spencer snapped out of her frozen state of mind at the sound of a block crashing into other blocks. She shook her head clear and jumped off the couch. "We need groceries. I'll go to the grocery store," Spencer murmured to no one in practical. She tore off the grocery list off the refrigerator door and disappeared out of the room without another word.
Chewing on her lip, Lily glanced at Toby. "Great first impression, huh? I am a terrible person."
Spencer skimmed through the aisles looking for where they kept fruit snacks or gummies as Jace called them. Finally she found them hiding at the end of the aisle by the apple sauce-which she needed as well. Snatching up two boxes of Scooby Doo snacks, Spencer snagged a pack of apple sauce placing both in the carts. As she turned her cart into the next aisle of food products she was met with the sight of an older and matured Aria Montgomery and Ezra Fitz. Luckily they were canoodling by the pasta, so she had time to steer the shopping cart back around to escape.
Taking refuge in the coffee aisle, Spencer halted the speeding cart to a stop and took the time to catch her breath. She let her mind wander from Aria and Ezra to Lily and Toby. This was the second time she had ran from an awkward situation. Though, in the Lily and Toby situation she was suffocating even with all the air surrounding her. For Aria and Ezra she just wanted to avoid anything awkward. Today was just not looking good for her.
But, as her mind had drifted to Lily and Toby, it had not left. Sudden jealousy she had been feeling before surfaced like bubbles from a pot of boiling water. She didn't want to admit her jealousy and slight dislike to Lily, because Lily seemed like a sweet girl with a problem of a running mouth. But, the distasteful emotions were there the second Lily had grazed Toby's arm with her hand.
Clearing her head of those thoughts. Spencer began browsing the coffee aisle-which should be like heaven to her. She shouldn't be acting like a territorial animal. Toby was not hers. He hadn't been hers for three years. He was Lily's now, not hers. An aching feeling bursted out of her heart. Biting her lower lip, Spencer snatched up a container of her favorite coffee blend. Toby was not hers.
Grunting, Spencer directed her cart down the aisle. Exiting the aisle Spencer looked over to her left side and spotted a familiar couple strolling down the lane. Oh shoot, Aria and Ezra! Jerking the cart in the opposite side, Spencer went speeding away to the checkout lanes.
