Spencer handed Ezra a piled of papers that were stapled together. They were meeting for another session of essay revision, and this time Spencer had a brand new paper that didn't make her seem "broken" or "unstable". Ezra took the paper, and set it on his desk.
"Spencer," He said, "I read your essay over and over again. And I'm sorry. You're so honest in your writing and I think it's terrifying that you've been through all that you have at such a young age, but I'm astounded at how strong you are. Anyone who reads that has to love you."
"Really?" Spencer asked, "What changed your mind?"
"I read it just to read it, and I realized that the people who work on college admissions boards are just that, people. They'll see the same things in you as I do." Ezra said.
"What do you see in me?" Spencer asked, curious to know what he thought of her now.
"I see someone with terrible luck that handled it as best as she could." Ezra said.
"But what if my best isn't good enough? It wasn't for Penn State." Spencer said.
Ezra stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Spencer, "Look, Spencer, there are people out there who have perfect lives. They're smart, go to a good school, excel in sports, and colleges leap over them. But they've never faced a challenge. They wouldn't know what to do in the face of difficulty. Which student do you think is more impressive?"
Spencer opened her mouth to answer Ezra when her phone rang in her pocket. It was an unknown number, but it wasn't blocked.
"I'm sorry," Spencer said, "I should take this I'll be right back."
Spencer stepped into the hallway and answered her chirping phone.
"Hello?" She said.
"Yes, am I speaking with Miss. Spencer Jill Hastings?" A male voice on the other end of the line asked.
"This is, may I ask who's calling?" Spencer asked, unable to recognize the voice.
"My name is Arthur Black, and I work on the admissions board at the University of Pennsylvania," The man said, "It's come to our attention that the application we received in your name was tampered with, and the transcript does not reflect your outstanding performance in school."
"I-I had no idea," Spencer stammered.
"We received an anonymous tip, and decided to investigate. Looks like someone really had your back this time, you're quite lucky, we would have overlooked this otherwise," Arthur said, "I'm pleased to inform you that after receiving the official transcript from your school and reviewing your application a second time, you are formally accepted to come to our school next fall. You will be receiving a letter in the mail shortly."
"Thank you," Spencer smiled, even though the man couldn't see, "Thank you so much."
"Have a nice day Miss Hastings." There was a click on the other end of the line.
Spencer practically danced back into Mr. Fitz's classroom. She tried her best to put on a straight face.
"I'm sorry Mr. Fitz, but I don't think we'll need to continue these meetings." Spencer smirked.
Ezra didn't look up, "What happened?"
"Well it turns out someone tampered with my transcript on my application," Spencer said.
Ezra's head snapped up to look at Spencer with utmost concern. She bursted into a fit of laughter.
"I got in!" She exclaimed.
"Oh my god, Spencer!" Ezra jumped up to give Spencer a bear hug, "That's amazing, I'm so happy for you. I can't believe it! Not that you got in but that someone would tamper with your application I mean of course you got in they'd be crazy not to want y-"
Spencer wrapped her arms around Ezra's neck and cut off his rambling with a kiss. She had no idea what came over her, but it just felt right. He stiffened, but then Spencer felt him relax and reach for her hand. She pulled away.
"I'm sorry," Spencer blubbered, "I shouldn't have done that. I mean. . . you and Aria. . . and. . ."
"You don't have to apologize Spencer." Ezra said.
"Yes I do. I mean what am I even thinking? I'm not that's what I'm thinking! You broke up with Aria so you could teach here and I'm just. . ." Spencer trailed off and averted her eyes to the ground.
"Spencer, look at me." Ezra reached for Spencer's hand again, and this time she didn't pull away, "Aria and I did not break up so I could teach again. That was part of it, but we had been together so long and our relationship was beginning to have so many problems that we never would have resolved."
"She's dating someone," Spencer blurted out.
"Exactly," Ezra said, "Aria's' moving on, so can I."
"But are you sure you want to-"
"I don't know what I want right now, honestly. But you're smart, you're beautiful, you're mature beyond your years. . ." Ezra said, "Honestly dating Aria made me feel close to all four of you girls."
"Really?" Spencer asked.
"Yes," Ezra nodded, "Spencer, I know I'm your teacher right now, but I'm not just your teacher. I've never seen you four as children, and I hope you know that."
Spencer nodded and Ezra stepped back to sit on one of the desks behind him. She stood for a moment, not sure if he was trying to create space between them or not.
"Is Toby still . . ?" Ezra asked.
Spencer shook her head, "No. He sold us out to A."
"There's a new A?" Ezra asked, "I thought Mona was the only one out to get you girls."
"Aria never told you?" Spencer asked.
"No," Ezra said, "We had a lot of secrets in our relationship."
"Oh. Well there was never just one A. It was a team of people. Toby was on it at some point in time, he told me he did it to protect me but now. . ."
Ezra reached up to wipe away the single tear Spencer didn't realize had fallen. He squeezed her hand, and she sighed.
"Spencer," He said, "I know these people are dangerous, but you need to tell someone this is happening again. Not me, someone that can do something."
"You don't get it, it never stopped happening." Spencer said.
Ezra stood up and hugged Spencer gently, not knowing what he could do to make things ok. He realized that getting into college was never really the thing that was hurting Spencer the most, it was just the one thing she had control over. When he finally let go of her, Spencer forced a smiled at him.
"I should go," She said, and walked over to get her bag.
"Wait," Ezra pulled Spencer back to him, and kissed her again. This time their kiss was softer, not rushed and reckless, He wasn't sure how long it lasted, a couple seconds, a minute, but he pulled away when it felt right, "Goodbye Spencer, I'll see you Monday."
A/N: I'm so sorry I took even longer than I normally do to update. I cracked my laptop screen and forgot to get my files off of the hard drive before getting it fixed. I hope this chapter was worth the wait! How do you feel about Cece being bad, or at least tampering with Spencer's application? If you were expecting sex, just let me explain why it's not going to happen for a little bit. I know this is m-rated, but I never like doing those fuck-me fanfics where people have sloppy sex. I feel like it's extremely unrealistic, and even thought people like reading it, I can never build a good plot. M-rated things will happen eventually, but a relationship will happen first. Xoxo, Kathryn.
