Chapter 4


"Good night," Toby whispered to Spencer as she stood in the doorway of the dorm room.

It didn't seem like Jake would be returning, as he was probably getting a little top physical with Aria at her dorm, so Toby wanted to invite Spencer to stay over. But, he knew he couldn't. Abby would be wondering where her roommate was all night, and he was sure that Hanna would spill about how Spencer left to see him earlier at Jake's party.

He leaned down to kiss her cheek, causing her to blush. She bit her lip and tried to stop herself from smiling.

"Good night," she whispered back before beginning to walk down campus to her own dorm room.

She would have to sneak into her dorm room. She wondered if Abby noticed that she had left for the party and hadn't returned.


The next morning...

Toby began combing his hair. He had a secret date with Spencer this afternoon. They were going to drive off-campus for a date. Today was also the day that he was going to break up with Abby. It had to be done before he could start seeing Spencer. He hoped that Abby would get over him quickly so that if the relationship with Spencer went well, they could actually go public.

Jake stumbled in, groaning.

"Damn it, I'm exhausted!" Jake loudly said, running a hand through his brown hair.

"You spend the night at Aria's?" Toby asked as he continued to face the mirror and comb his hair.

Jake smiled, "Yeah. But, we didn't do anything. I just slept over... thank god. I mean, if we actually went far, what if I got her pregnant or something? That would suck!"

"I'm surprised you didn't go far with her, man," Toby said, chuckling. "Are Aria and you together now, or what?"

Jake sighed and responded, "Well, we've kissed... a lot... So, I would think that we are together, but it depends on how she feels. Anyways, I remember you with Spencer last night. What the hell happened, dude!? Are you cheating on Abby?"

"Kinda... not really," Toby bit his lip. Jake raised an eyebrow. Toby sighed and continued, "Well, we were planning on secretly getting together after I break up with Abby today. We still don't want her to know, since she's one of Spencer's closest friends, and she doesn't want to hurt her."

Jake rolled his eyes, "Tobes, you know better than that. Abby's gonna find out sooner or later! If you hide it from her, you know she's going to get even more hurt."

"Look, I care about Abby as a friend," Toby said, sighing. "A friend wouldn't tell her that they're screwing around with her like... best friend! And I'm going to tell her soon. I just don't think telling her immediately is a good idea."

"Well, you better tell her quickly. Tell her before she finds out by herself, or this is all going to become one big fat hell-hole." Jake said.

"Jake, I know." Toby said. "I've got this planned out! It won't be a secret for too long. Just until we're ready to tell Abby everything... I don't even know if Spencer and I are really going to last yet! We still need some time to figure everything out."

"Don't wait too long..." Jake said, sighing.


Abby didn't say anything about Spencer's late arrival last night, which was good. Spencer began picking out her outfit for her secret date with Toby in a few hours. She told him that she would give him one day after their date to choose if he still wants to break up with Abby. She didn't want to hurt Abby. For all she knew, their date might go horribly! She wanted to try going out with him before letting him break her friend's heart. As much as she was attracted to him, the first date would show her if they were even a good match!

She was actually expecting the date to suck. She knew Toby had a somewhat romantic side to him, but she didn't think he could really pull through and make a magical first date happen. She was thinking that the only thing that he would want to do is hook up, rather than go on a proper date.

There was the knock on the door, and Abby exclaimed that she would get it. So Spencer continued to rummage through her closet for some clothes that weren't revealing, but weren't too casual. She just needed a simply cute outfit for the date.

"Tobes!" Abby happily said. "Come in."

Spencer looked away from her closet in surprise. She pretended not to care, but she was secretly listening and turning around every few seconds to watch. She was just really curious to what Toby would say to her.

"I was just stopping by, so I don't think I should come in." Toby said, sighing and shaking his head.

"Alright then... Um, where were you last night, anyways?" Abby asked. "I know you were kind of upset, but I was hoping that we could put it behind us. Anyways, why couldn't I find you afterwards? What were you even doing?"

Not flirting with your best friend...

"Um, I just got tired. I wasn't in a party mood anymore, so I decided to... crash early," he lied.

"Okay then," Abby but her lip. "So what did you stop by for?"

"Abby... I think we should take a break."

Spencer's jaw secretly dropped. She told him that he could wait until after their first date to decide if he really wanted to break up with Abby. Why was he doing it now? She told him that he had time to do it! She prayed that Abby wouldn't care that much, but it was obvious that she would care.

"Why!?" She demanded.

"I...uhm... I just don't think we're working out romantically. I don't feel that way anymore," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry, Abby. I just wanna be friends, if that's cool with you."

"Friends?" Abby scoffed. "Toby, that's pathetic. Who's this other bitch you're interested in?"

"I never said there was anyone else!" Toby quickly said. "Come on, what do you say to being just friends again?"

"You wanna know what I say to that?" Abby raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"I guess," he said, biting his lip.

He waited for her response. The response he got wasn't the one he was looking for, though. She slammed the door in his face, and burst into tears as she ran to Spencer to give her a hug.

"He's so inconsiderate!" Abby yelled. "Isn't he an asshole?"

"Abby, he was just trying to be honest with you. It's better than leading you on," Spencer bit her lip as she responded. "You shouldn't have slammed the door in his face. Poor guy!"

"Why are you defending him?" Abby angrily demanded.

"I'm not," she nervously said. "I just don't think he's a bad guy. He tried to be as sweet as possible... I could tell."

"God, this is bull shit," Abby muttered. "I'm gonna go get like four thousand tubs of ice cream. Talk to me when you're normal again. I thought you'd support me, and not that douche bag! I'm going to go call up Aria, Hanna, and Emily, since they'll actually support me, unlike you!"

"Abby, I'm sorry! I'm just trying to be reasonable," Spencer sighed.

"You're acting pathetic, just like Toby!" Abby screamed. "I'm going out now."


"You're brave," she quietly said as she slipped into the booth seat and seated herself down across from him. She gave him a smile and told him, "You didn't have to do that today. I told you that you could wait until tomorrow. So why'd you do it today?"

He shrugged and responded, "It had to be done, anyways. It wasn't just for you, it was for me, too. I wasn't happy in my relationship, so it had to end. I couldn't keep forcing myself to be with her. I know she's pissed, but I'm hoping she'll cool down and want to be friends again later on."

"I wouldn't count on it," she said, chuckling. "She's really pissed. Anyways, tell me more about yourself, Mr. Asshole."

He raised his eyebrows, "That's new... You feel proud, don't you?"

"Mmm, I guess," she shrugged. "I could do better, but whatever..."

"The less you know about me, the better," he chuckled. "I'm just kidding. I'm majoring in architectural design, and I guess I can be a bit of a douche bag... sometimes."

"That's right... you can," she laughed. "But don't change it. I'm not the biggest fan of your asshole ways, but I guess that's what makes you... you?"

"Way to be cliché," he playfully rolled his eyes. "God, does it take a million years for service here?"

"Well, I don't know. This place is like so far from campus... I haven't been here before." Spencer sighed.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, frowning. "I just didn't want anyone, especially Abby, to find out about us tonight. It's too soon."

"Trust me, Abby's not coming here any time soon. She's busy stuffing ice cream down her throat while Aria, Emily, and Hanna comfort her," Spencer joked.

He chuckled.

"Poor her, but I was talking to my pal Jake... you know, the one that was sucking face with your friend Aria," Toby began. "And he reminded me that we need to tell Abby before she finds out by herself. Hell would break loose if she found out by herself. It's better that we tell her ourselves."

"I know, but not yet, please. She still needs to cool down after the break up, Toby," Spencer said, sighing.

"Never mind that. Let's enjoy tonight," he said, smiling at her. He changed he subject, "So, uhm, how are you doing with college and all?"

"Well, I guess it's kind of tough, but I'm pulling through. I have to pull through, though. If I didn't, I'm sure my parents would come tell me how I'm a disappointment, and that my sister Melissa who's busy being successful in London is so much better than me. The Hastings family doesn't settle for disappointments, so I'm sure that they'd just disown me. I was supposed to go to the Hastings family college, UPenn, but since I didn't get in, I had to settle for Stanford. My parents wouldn't let me hear the end of it for weeks-" she began to ramble.

He cut her off by leaning forward across the table to place his lips against her.

As she pulled back, she asked, "What was that for?"

"It was a nice way of telling you to shut up," he teased, grinning. "When I asked you that question about college, I was expecting a nice 'it's good' in response, not a ramble about your life story, as interesting as it was."

The waiter finally started to approach their table.

"He's finally coming," Toby smiled. "You can order whatever you want tonight, it's all on me."

She was surprised to have a wonderful time on her date with Toby. When he wasn't busy being a cocky jerk, he could be a real gentleman. She was glad she went out with him tonight.

They started walking back to his car after eating.

Before they could get in, Spencer's phone rang.

"Hanna? Why are you calling me?"

"Hey Spence. Abby wanted me to call you. She wants you to be over, and she says she's sorry. Where are you, anyways?"

"Um, I'm on a date tonight... but I'll be back in a few."

"A date with who!? Who's the hunk!?"

"To- I mean... Antonio... Uh... Um... You don't know him. He doesn't go to our school."

"Antonio, hmm? He seems like a sexy foreign guy! I can't wait to meet him."

"Hanna, you're not meeting him tonight. I'll be back soon. Bye."

"Fine. Later."

Spencer sighed and hung up.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "Ready to go?"

She smiled at him, but he was frowning.

"Toby... What's wrong?" She asked.

"Everything," he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm ruining you. You deserve someone better than me. You deserve to be with somebody that you don't have to lie about! You can't even say my name to your friends. You have to say I'm some foreign dude named Antonio! You deserve someone so much better than me... Someone that's actually worth it. I don't want to have to make you lie."

"It doesn't matter, Toby. Sure, I want to tell my friends who I'm dating, but you're worth it. We won't have to do this for long, either. Once Abby cools her steam, we can break the news to her. Everything will be just fine," she told him. "I promise..." She said in a hushed tone as she stepped towards him.

He leaned closer to her and gave her a long kiss.


Toby kissed her goodbye in his truck before letting her head back to her dorm to comfort Abby.

Aria, Hanna, and Emily were all there, comforting Abby about her break up with Toby.

"You're here!" Hanna exclaimed. "How was your date with Antonio?"

Abby groaned, "Great, now nerdy Spencer has a better love life than me!"

Spencer glared and said, "I know you're hurting, but stop being such a bitch..."

"She doesn't mean it, Spence," Aria said. "We have a plan, though. Hanna, Emily... Tell her what the plan is!"

Hanna and Emily proudly looked at each other.

"You tell her, Hanna!" Emily exclaimed, giggling.

"Okay, okay! I'll do it," Hanna grinned. "We're gonna make Abby win Toby back!"

Spencer's jaw dropped.

She cleared her throat nervously, "Mhmm... And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Seduction, silly!" Hanna laughed. "We're going to make Abby seduce Toby back into her arms!"

Spencer nearly choked when she heard that.

"WHAT!?"