So I know you guys were expecting the grand Six Months Later chapter, but it's still not ready (I'm sorry please don't hurt me I'll give you kittens) so you have the grand Interlude chapter instead! It's quite short and just a little background as to why Spencer tutored Toby/ what goes through that crazy (but amazing) mind of hers! I thought I might do one of these interlude things every ten chapters, what do you guys think? Also, I renamed all the chapters because I want to take this more seriously, and I'm also editing all the chapters, so yeah. Enjoy this, the next upload will be a while sorry!
The First Interlude
OR
The Definition Of Spontaneous
Spencer Hastings had never been spontaneous. She had heard of the word, she had written it down, she had spoken the word. But she had never been its meaning. The dictionary definition, which of course she knew, was: to perform an act that is impulsive. Some synonyms for the word spontaneous, which she naturally knew as well, were; unplanned, impromptu, and her personal favourite; extemporaneous. However, Spencer felt she could never truly understand the word without completing the definition. So, at the ripe age of fourteen years old, Spencer Hastings wrote a list of things to do. The twenty-ninth bullet point on that list was to do something considered spontaneous. And that twenty-ninth bullet point was one of the hardest and most rewarding things she'd ever do in the entirety of her life.
At first, the little fourteen year old with the agenda of doing something spontaneous seemed easy, and Spencer prepared to mentally check it off her checklist within days. All she had to do was stay out a little later than planned on a Friday night after school, or choose pasta instead of fish in the canteen for lunch. But every supposed spontaneous act she performed, was calculated and precise. Which defeated the whole purpose of the act in the first place. She would count down the seconds she was outside longer than expected. She would weigh up the possible disadvantages of eating fish over pasta. And it drove her little (but not dense) mind up the wall. So she decided to wait until she was fourteen to complete her task.
At the age of fifteen, Spencer rewrote her beloved list of things to do in a brand new fountain pen she'd acquired for her birthday. The spontaneous task still remained bullet point twenty nine, and the challenge of completing it lingered also. She tried with all her being to do something impulsive. She invited school mates round to her house for tea, and wore bright colours that clashed on weekend outings. But the fact remained that she couldn't be spontaneous without being simultaneously defined. Besides, her mother was getting fed up of her wearing purple t-shirts, orange trousers and huge red berets when they visited her grandmother. So she decided to wait until she was fifteen to complete her task.
Sixteen years of age and as determined as ever, Spencer's cherished list was dug up out of her chest of drawers and consulted for inspiration. She tried not to plan her spontaneous acts, but her efforts were in vain. It just wasn't fair; all her friends were spontaneous. Alison could go to the mall and spend over a hundred dollars without checking with her parents multiple times. Aria could come out with a song and start writing lyrics on any old scrap bit of paper without worrying if she lost it or accidently tore it up. Emily could go up to the riding fields and mount a horse without wondering if she was needed at home or if the weather would change suddenly. Hanna could miss days at a time of school to go to concerts her dad had paid for and not copy up work from the lessons. And Spencer was getting sick of it. So, yes you guessed it (who would have thought?), she decided to wait until she was seventeen to complete her task.
Spencer, seventeen and more unwavering than ever now, was going to be spontaneous. There wasn't a question about it. She just was going to be. She was sure of it this time, it was just going to happen. She could feel it. Alison's disappearance, her death, all the messages from A, everything that had happened between that day when she was fourteen and decided to be spontaneous, didn't matter. She had been through so much, and now they were stuck in the mystery that Ali had brought upon them, and all she could think about was how stupid her attempts at being spontaneous were. It was ridiculous, but it was getting to her. Why couldn't she just do it? Why couldn't she just be spontaneous? And then, sitting on in her room with Emily one day, the answer just popped into her mind. She was thinking. That was the problem. All the problems she had ever acquired in her life had just been a case of thinking logically and making the right decisions. But that was the exact opposite of the definition of being spontaneous. All she had to do was… well, nothing. Just wait for her heart (or maybe gut, heart was a bit too cliché for her liking) to tell her to do something she hadn't realised she'd wanted to do before. Like, I don't know, tutoring a certain neighbour. Or something.
And that's was the beginning of how she ended up in the position that she currently was in. It was all a matter of compulsion and commencements, purpose and perseverance. So if anyone ever did ask why she had a child at seventeen, she definitely wouldn't tell them all that. Because, let's face it, when someone asks you that, a good response is not 'I wanted to be spontaneous!'. Spencer Hastings learnt that the hard way.
Reviews are the fact it's Halloween tomorrow!
Love and rainbows,
K x
