Chapter 12

I Tell Myself That I'll Be Strong

2 Weeks Later

Aria sipped longingly from her cappuccino as she lifted her bag higher on her shoulder, standing in the hallway of Rosewood High School. With Christmas hovering over her in the near future, she was focused entirely on getting through final exams without letting herself become distracted by other things. Or at least she was desperately trying to.

In all honesty, the past few weeks had been a struggle. It hadn't really hit her how much time she and her friends spent with their significant others until Ezra wasn't with her anymore, and it was making her realize just how much free time she had on her hands being single. That free time didn't do anything to comfort her though. Hanna and Caleb always had plans, and Emily and Paige were always off on some different adventure. Hell, even Spencer had Hardy keeping her company with Toby's lack of attendance in recent weeks.

That fact was something that still bothered her, too. Aria constantly kept in contact with Spencer if for no other reason than to make sure her friend was safe, but the answers to her questions rarely changed. No, Spencer hadn't heard from Toby all that recently. No, she didn't know when he'd back in Rosewood. No, she didn't have any new ideas about A.

The knowledge wasn't comforting to Aria. Even if Toby wasn't A, she couldn't imagine that he would be pleased to realize that in all the time he'd spent away, Spencer was growing closer to someone else. Which wasn't necessarily saying that Spencer was admitting to getting closer to Hardy. In fact, she really hadn't given much information at all. The tell had come more in the way Aria had seen them together the night before when she'd gone to pick up dinner for herself and Ella. She had seen Spencer and Hardy at the grill laughing. She could see the comfortable closeness that had formed between them. There was a lightness to Spencer recently as well, that Aria hadn't seen since long before Alison had been killed.

Still, her friends happiness was a bandaid at best to everything else that was going on in her life. She'd had no contact with Ezra since their split, and as much as she wanted to reach out to him, she didn't feel right doing so. She hadn't seen him since the day after they'd broken up, when he and Hardy had shown up to pick up the last of the boxes that had been left behind the day before when Hardy had come by to pack them up. The only reason Aria even knew it was Hardy was because her mother had told her. After explaining to her mother that she'd broken up with Ezra, Ella had ushered her out of the house to get her mind off of the situation, and had all but forced her to make plans with her friends the next day.

"Hi!"

Aria groaned softly as she pulled one of her ear buds out of her ear, not wanting to even look over at Spencer because she knew she'd see her smiling the same smile she'd been smiling for the past few weeks. "Please stop smiling."

When Aria was sure that her comment had probably cause Spencer to at least become visibly confused, she looked up at her.

"Okay, you know people seriously aren't going to enjoy you not wanting to see them smile just because you're unhappy, right?" Spencer said as she stared down at Aria.

Aria slumped back against her locker, pulling her other ear phone out and turning off her music before unplugging the earphones from the jack in her phone. "Am I that transparent?"

"It's pretty clear when you look at the ground any time you see anyone looking the slightest bit happy," Spencer replied. "You know there is life after- him. Right?"

Aria nodded slowly, staring down at her coffee. "I do. It just sucks. It seriously fits that analogy Error: Reference source not found you know, how everyone is got into the party but you?"

"You mean not being in a relationship?" Spencer said after a moment of recalling what she was referring to. Aria nodded.

"I hate to point out the obvious, but why not try getting out and doing something other than hiding in your bedroom?" Spencer offered. "Go out to a movie? Hang out at an arcade? Aren't you and Holden still friends?"

Aria laughed, shaking her head at herself. "When did I get so pathetic?"

"You're not pathetic," Spencer said insistently. "You're just single."

"Which is pathetic," Aria replied.

"No," Spencer insisted once more. She slipped an arm through Aria's and and pulled her away from her locker. "We should get to class. We can discuss your singleton issues later."

Aria huffed as she let Spencer lead her down the hallway towards the classroom. When they arrived, Aria walked into the room with Spencer and they each headed to their desks. She leaned over towards Spencer as she pulled a foot up under her leg. "I thought Mrs. Anderson wasn't out until next month."

Spencer chuckled. "That was last month. She went into labor over the weekend."

"So who's…."

Aria's voice trailed off as the door opened and a familiar head of black sight entered the room. His head was tilted to the side with a hunk of plastic Aria was sure to be a cell phone pinned onto his shoulder. There was a bag draped over his other shoulder and a box on his arm.

"You've got to be kidding me," Aria murmured just barely loud enough that she could hear her own voice.

Spencer looked up at her. "Aria-"

Aria shook her head, pushing up out of her seat and grabbing her bag. She looked down at Spencer only for a brief moment. "I'm sorry. I just can't."

She turned and scampered out of the room, just barely slipping past Ezra as she stepped out into the hallway. She dashed down the hallway to the bathroom and shoved the door open before making her way to a stall. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. Exhaling a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and reminded herself to breathe so that she didn't start having an all-out fit.

As she stood there trying to gather her emotions, her phone buzzed inside her bag. She was sure it was Spencer texting her to ask if she was planning to come back to the classroom. She huffed, frustrated as she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She brought up the screen and opened the message.

Did I forget to mention Ezra's return to Rosewood?
Oops. Good thing you broke up already
-A

Aria shook with rage as she stared down at the screen. She truly hated A, and the fact that she was still questioning whether or not it was Toby made her seriously want to punch him in the face.

"Fuck you," she murmured under her breath. "Fuck it all."

.,.
But when I open my eyes, all I saw were your lies
I was born with a broken heart and you left me behind
.,.

Aria spent more than an hour hiding in the bathroom, refusing to leave even after she knew the next class had started. She considered taking off and ditching for the day, but leaving school required leaving the room and possibly running into Ezra. It also meant that she'd risk ending up getting caught, and the last thing she needed was her parents getting upset with her because she was ditching school.

Even so, as the day continued to pass well into the second half of her second period, she knew she'd have to make a decision sooner or later. She couldn't very well hide in the bathroom all day after all.

"Aria?"

She sighed, letting her head fall back against the cool metal behind her head. "Yeah?"

"It's mom. Where are you?"

Aria opened the stall door tentatively and peered out. She spotted Ella leaning against one of the sinks a few feet away.

"How'd you know I was in here?" Aria asked as she tentatively exited the bathroom stall.

"Spencer might have mentioned that you never returned to class after finding out that Ezra was taking over while Mrs. Anderson is out on maternity leave," Ella replied.

Aria sighed once more. "How did he even get a job here? Isn't there a whole non-compete clause or something with leaving a job or something?"

"Well for one, he didn't leave here on bad terms," Ella explained. "And given that the principal knows limited information, but does know some of why Ezra was let go from Hollis, he was willing to take Ezra on in the interim."

"But just until Mrs. Anderson comes back, right?" Aria asked.

Ella shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Aria. This is one of the many reasons why students shouldn't have relationships with their teachers, though." She paused for a few moments, reminding herself of the current situation. "Look, you can't change the current situation, and I've told you what I know. I imagine that it was easier to offer the position to someone who was available long-term."

Aria crossed her arms, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip. As much as her mother was trying to get through to her, the information that Ella was sharing with her was only further frustrating Aria.

"Would it be better for you to just take a mental health day?" Ella asked. "You can take my keys, and I'll get a ride home later."

Aria raised an eyebrow at her mother. "Are you sure?"

Ella nodded.

Though Aria was aware of how the situation looked to others, she didn't much care. Let people believe that she was taking off because she couldn't deal with Ezra's sudden return to Rosewood if that's what they wanted. It wasn't as if she hadn't been called a slut by the same student body assuming those things.

Half an hour later, she was at home curled up in her bed with her textbooks. Though she had taken the day off, she still made sure her work got done and that she did the same reading that her other classmates were doing. She could phone Spencer later in the day and talk about anything else she might've missed then.

By noon, she had all of her school work done and decided to take a nap. She snuggled down beneath her blankets and closed her eyes, determined to shut out the world for a few hours.

Her determination may have gotten her to sleep, but it was only an hour later when she was awoken by knocking on the front door. Aria kicked the blankets off in a frustrated manner. Curiosity was the only thing dragging her from her bed, given that she knew her father and brother would more than likely let themselves in.

She stomped quickly down the steps as she swept her hair back and out of her face, making her way through the sitting room and over to the front door. She suddenly stilled as she came to stand in front of the glass door and stared through it to the other side, where Ezra was standing.

Though drowned by the plated glass and wood between them, she could still hear his voice asking her to let him inside, and though she was tentative to oblige, she couldn't help but sense that her mother had probably arranged this somehow.

She reached forward and opened the door before gesturing for him to come inside. Ezra walked in and then turned to look at her as Aria pushed the door shut. "Can we talk please?" He asked.

Aria stared at him with the same frustrated look for a few moments before nodding. She waved off in the direction of the kitchen before walking to into it and over to the fridge in search of food.

"I wanted you to know that I had no idea you would be in any of the classes I agreed to take over for Mrs. Anderson," he explained as Aria stood with her back to him. There wasn't anything spectacular in the fridge that screamed at her to eat it, but after several minutes of quiet deliberation, she grabbed a box of leftover pizza and pulled it out.

"If I had known I was going to be in your space, I wouldn't have taken the offer," Ezra continued. "I meant what I said before. I don't want to be in your way. I don't want to hurt you in any way, Aria."

Aria sighed, tossing several slices of pizza onto a plate before putting the plate in the microwave to reheat. She turned and looked at Ezra. "What surprises me is that they even gave you the position. I mean doesn't the school require drug testing?"

Ezra's shoulders slumped slightly in a look of guilt. "Look, I'm still on a myriad of different drugs-"

"So I'm sure you just told them that the cocaine in your system was doctor prescribed, right?" Aria replied in an angered tone.

Ezra huffed, looking up at her. "Look, I can't change who I was before I met you. When I moved to Rosewood, my whole intention and purpose was to put everything behind me as much as I could. I hoped that the things that happened in the past few months never would. But they did. And when someone forces you to take drugs-"

"You still could've done something about it after it was over, Ezra!" Aria cried. Fury, anguish, and unadulterated pain were bursting through her like a dam as her knees gave out from under her and she fell to the floor in tears. She stared up at him as her hands curled into fists. "You could've gone back to…."

Her voice trailed off, and in the same instance, she could see the same rage she felt in his eyes.

"Go back to what, Aria!? To pretending that I'm not the kid whose dad molested him for years? To pretending that I don't know that most of the people running New York City are dirty? To believing that if I try hard enough, eventually I can make the past disappear!? It doesn't work that way!" Ezra growled. "Maybe the drugs are a vice. Maybe they won't solve anything in the end. But maybe right now, a vice is what I need, just to get through the nightmares and the fear and the pain…"

Aria shook her head as her chin dropped. She simultaneously loved and hated Ezra for being there with her in that moment. She wished to God that she could find the right words to tell him that everything that was bothering her wasn't solely his fault. She wanted to apologize for the distance between them, and scream at him for being reckless with his life at the same time. All of the emotion locked inside of her was too much to even begin to sort through.

The microwave beeped a few moments later, and it was the only sound that filled the room beside her soft sobs and Ezra's heavy breathing. She was afraid to look up at him for fear that she might find him in tears as well. She couldn't bare that in the midst of everything else.

"I wish you'd tell me what I could do to make this better," he told her. Though Aria didn't look up, she could hear the sound of shoes against the floor, signaling that he was walking over towards her.

Aria shook her head, looking up as he reached where she was seated and sat down beside her. "You're not going to stop doing drugs-"

"Just to be clear, it's one drug," he explained softly.

"For now," Aria countered. "And how long until it doesn't do what you need it to anymore, Ezra, and you move onto something stronger? Or worse, you have an overdose? Your kidneys shut down? Liver? It makes you sick?"

"I know you understand basic psychology with addicts," Ezra replied to her.

Aria nodded as her chin trembled, threatening another wave of tears. "Yeah. The benefits outweigh the risks to you right now. And just the same, someone whose sober will only stay that way until something shifts the balance between the benefit of being sober and the fear of what being addicted can do to you."

"I know I'm an addict," he told her, though his voice was barely above a whisper. "I've done NA, I've seen a therapist, I've gone the whole nine yards. I'm not doing any of this blindly. But I also know what it's like when the only thing between a gun and the floor is your body, and a bullet goes through it. I need you to understand that sometimes I just need all that to stop."

Aria nodded again as she bit on the inside of her bottom lip. She reached up and wiped tears off her face, inhaling a deep breath. She looked back up at him. "The difference is, there was a time when I could do that for you. When did I stop being enough?"

"You never stopped being enough for me, Aria," he stated firmly. "Sometimes, only for a split second, I wish you understood this world just so it would make sense to you, because I don't feel like any amount of explanation is going to tell you what you need to hear. I'm not doing this because of you. All of it has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with things that I can't get out of my head. Things I can't get off of my body."

Aria looked up at him tentatively. "Like the scars."

Ezra nodded. "Like the scars. And like how Error: Reference source not foundno matter how hard I try, Error: Reference source not foundI'm never going to be able to completely hide the burns on my arm. People will see those, and to believe they won't ask questions is ignorant."

"That doesn't change the fact that having a drug problem is an issue for us," Aria replied. "It bothers me, and it only makes me more fearful that something else will happen to you. Doesn't it scare you at all?"

"Someone cuts off your air supply until you stop breathing and then makes you start breathing again just to torture you, it's hard to be afraid of much," he murmured honestly.

"But it scares me," Aria replied. "Does that mean anything to you at all?"

Ezra sighed, brushing a frustrated hand through his hair. "Look, I'm trying. But I can't do everything right at once right now. I can barely do one thing right at a time."

Aria wrapped her arms under her legs and rested her chin on her knee.

"Is this really all about me," Ezra asked. "Or is there something else that's bothering you? I know all the focus has been on me for a while…"

Aria shook her head, bringing a hand up and resting her elbow on her knee as she moved to rest her chin in her hand. "It doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "How you feel doesn't matter? Really?"

"It doesn't feel that way," Aria told him. "No one ever asked how it felt when a psycho was stalking me and my friends for almost a year, or how I felt when I found out what had happened to you."

Ezra stared at her for several long moments. "Are you still having nightmares about A?"

Aria sighed and stared down at the floor. She was so used to the nightmares of Mona, and now the new A as well, trying to get at her that they didn't phase her like they used to. At least, that's what she liked to tell herself when she was questioned about it.

Ezra's brow furrowed at her lack of an answer. "Is something happening that I don't know about? Is- Has Mona done something? Or someone else?"

Aria bit on her bottom lip, too nervous to answer his question. She knew the price of anyone knowing about A was always high, and there was no way she could tell Ezra without endangering him once again.

"Aria…"

Aria looked up at him. "There's nothing going on."

Ezra shook his head at her. "You're lying. I know you are. Why wouldn't you tell me about this?"

Aria dropped her head back against the cupboard behind her. "I can't tell you, Ezra! I can't tell anyone! A always knows everything, and if A finds out that you know about them,…When you know about A, A finds a way to hurt you."

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"I mean that every time we get close to finding out who A is or finding out something that could expose them, someone gets hurt. Hanna got hit by a car for thinking it was Noel and finding out about us. Emily was almost killed because she figured out Ian didn't kill himself. Spencer-"

"I get it," Ezra said solemnly.

"No, Ezra, you don't," she cried. "A tried to have Caleb arrested because he tried to help us, and Michael said that he was the reason you lost your job at Hollis. You don't think that the reason he was able to get so close to us without being in Rosewood could've had anything to do with A?"

Ezra considered the information for a few moments. He looked back up at her. "Even if it did, A's intention has always been to hurt you girls, not the people in your life. What could A do now that he or she hasn't already done?"

Aria glared at him. "Oh, I don't know, Ezra. Maybe tell the cops that you're addicted to cocaine. And as much as people might turn the other cheek to us now, I imagine if someone actually presented the cops with evidence of our relationship, they'd be inclined to do something about it."

Ezra shook his head at her. "It's not right, Aria. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

She laughed just once, shaking her head. "Neither should you. And yet here we are."

Ezra shook his head again, clearly not satisfied with her answer of complete dismissal to it all. He huffed, looking back up at her. "Well regardless of everything else, what I do know is what I feel. Screw anyone else who wants to get in between this. If A wants to hurt you because you told me about them, they'll have to gothrough me."

Aria looked up at him, ready to argue his point, but the look on her face told her it was moot. "Even if you put all that aside, there's no way things can go back to the way they were. You're my teacher again."

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her. "Seriously? That's your answer to why we can't be? What if I negate it?"

"You can't negate it," Aria disagreed. "You're the teach-"

Her words were cut off as Ezra pressed his lips against hers, cupping his hand against the back of her head. Though Aria was frozen for a few moments, she was too easily accepting of something she'd been cut off from for longer than she could recall. She sank against him, gripping the fabric of his shirt as her mouth opened, granting access to him.

.,.
Looking back again, tracing back the threads
Said it was mess, was it just in my head
.,.

Spencer looked up from her homework at Hardy and watched him for a few brief moments. She had been on the receiving end of jokes from Aria for the past few weeks about their growing friendship, and the comments only served to make Spencer question whether Aria was right. She honestly didn't see what Aria saw between she and Hardy, other than friendship.

He looked up from the book he was currently immersed in and raised his eyebrows at her. "Something wrong?"

Spencer quickly shook her head, turning her attention back to her homework. "I was just thinking about the quantifications in the differential." She kept her head down for a few moments before she looked back up at him. "What are you reading?"

Hardy grinned. "The Hunger Games."

Spencer stared at him, utterly confused. "Seriously? That's what you're actually reading?"

Hardy nodded, looking back down at the page.

Spencer pushed up off from the ground and walked over to the chaise where he was stretched out. "You're not serious. You're not actually…" She snatched the book from his hands and began to read. "When I break into the clearing, she's on the ground- Oh my god. Why are you reading this?"

Hardy shrugged, taking back the book as Spencer all but tossed it back at him. He chuckled at her reaction. "Keepin' up with the kids. Teaching college students can be a rough world."

Spencer rolled her eyes again, walking back over to her place on the floor. She sank back down into the space and returned her attention to her homework. Her phone skittered on the table as it buzzed with a new message a few moments later. She reached up and grabbed it, tapping through the command features of her phone to see the message without bothering to look up until she'd gotten the screen up.

Anything important I need to know
for school tomorrow?
-Aria

Spencer dropped her pen into the center of her textbook to type back a quick message before settling her phone back on the table. She'd gotten a message earlier in the day from Aria telling her she'd gone home from school. She also knew that Ella had sent Ezra to talk to Aria about the current situation going on between them. She only hoped that whatever had driven Aria to run out of the classroom had been resolved.

About half an hour later, she was closing her textbook when Hardy peeked up from his book and looked over at her.

"Are you done yet?" He asked curiously. "I'm hungry. I could really go for some Chinese food."

Spencer chuckled. "You know that your survival isn't contingent on doing every single thing with me, right? I mean I do have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, I've noticed," he replied as he stood from where he was sitting. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. "I've also noticed his lack of attendance. I mean am I blind, or has he not been here at all in the month and a half that I've been in Rosewood?"

"He has a job in another town," Spencer replied as if it explained Toby's absence entirely. She stood up, only for Hardy to stand as well, putting them face-to-face.

"Does he even bother to call you?" Hardy countered. "I mean I know we haven't known each other that long, and far be it for me to point out the obvious, but in the past few weeks, I haven't heard you talk about him once."

Spencer's gaze dropped guiltily, but it didn't stop Hardy from continuing.

"And when I have seen you take a phone call or check your phone for messages, I'm pretty sure they haven't been from him. Am I right?" He questioned as he stood in front of her.

Spencer stared at the ground frustrated. She knew the facts that Hardy was presenting her with weren't unfair observations. She had tried well and hard to get in touch with Toby on multiple occasions since he'd taken a job outside of Rosewood. His lack of attendance or correspondence of any kind since he'd left Rosewood over two months ago had hurt for a while, but eventually she'd started locking her heart up like she usually did to protect herself from getting hurt.

"What does it matter if you are," Spencer said angrily as she looked back up at Hardy. "It's not as if it changes anything. Toby's still my boyfriend."

"Maybe so," Hardy replied as he took a step towards her. It was barely more than an inch, but the decrease of space between them made things feel a lot more heated for Spencer. She could easily feel his breath on her lips as he stared down at her. "But he's not here now, and he certainly doesn't seem to be making any effort to keep what he has here alive. Maybe I'm stupid, but I think you feel something too."

"I don't feel anything," Spencer replied with her eyes locked on the ground.

"I don't believe you," Hardy replied with just a hint of anger. That was all it took for Specer to tip her head up just a few inches into his line of sight. He gripped her sides and pulled her flush against him before kissing her roughly.

All of her logic told Spencer to fight him, to push him away and slap him for doing something so callous. But his lips were warm and inviting, and there was a fire between them that she hadn't quite ever felt or touched, for all the different guys she'd dated in the past few years. Somehow there was just something more tangible and real in this moment.

After a few seconds though, realization of what she was doing hit Spencer, and reluctantly ended their kiss. Dropping back to flat on her feet, there was just the slightest hint of disappointment between them.

"You can't tell me that you didn't feel that too," Hardy murmured softly.

Spencer looked up at him through her eyelashes. Her cheeks felt hot, and she was at a loss for words. Her brow furrowed a moment later though as she was sure she heard the sound of an engine outside.

Hardy opened his mouth to say something, only for Spencer to cover his mouth with her hand. She listened more intently, and a few seconds after, there was a clear sound of gravel crunching. Her eyes widened as she took several steps back from Hardy.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he gave her a strange look.

"You have to go," Spencer insisted as she began picking up his things and shoving them at him. "You can't be here."

"Why not?" He asked. "I've met your parents. I-"

"My parents are in Vermont for the week," she replied in a rushed manner. "And Melissa is out of town too. Which means the only person that could be is Toby-"

Before she could say anything else she heard the side door opening. She dropped Hardy's things and picked up the only thing she could think of to stall herself for a few moments Error: Reference source not found her bottle of water.

She pulled the cap off and took several sips as she heard her name. As Toby came around the corner, she feigned surprise and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She kissed him with all the energy she could manage.

When they parted a moment later, Spencer watched as Toby's gaze shifted from her to Hardy.

"Who's he?"

Hardy grabbed his things and glided across the room as if he hadn't just been kissing Spencer a few seconds earlier. "I'm Hardy. A friend of Ezra Error: Reference source not found Aria's boyfriend. I needed to get away from the noise of those two for a bit, and Spencer let me do some work here."

"You two are friends?" Toby asked.

"We've gotten to know each other a bit since he came to town," Spencer said affirmatively. "But Hardy was just leaving."

"Are you sure?" Toby asked. "I don't want to put anyone out. I was just in town for the night and I wanted to see you."

Spencer nodded quickly, glancing over at Hardy nervously.

Hardy nodded as well a moment after her. "Yeah, I should really go." His phone buzzed a moment later. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, checking the screen. "And apparently now I need to. It was really nice meeting you."

"Sure," Toby replied, clearly still somewhat confused. Hardy left them standing alone in the room just a few moments later, and Spencer turned her attention back to Toby.

"Did you want to go get dinner or stay in?" She asked.

"I saw that new restaurant on McKinley opened," he replied. "Have you been there yet?"

Spencer shook her head. "We can go if you want. I just want to change out of these clothes really quick."

Toby nodded. He leaned in to kiss her, and Spencer turned her head, giving him her cheek instead. Before he could question her attitude though, she had taken off up the steps to her room.

Once inside the safety of her room, Spencer forced herself to calm down. She inhaled several deep breaths before finally going to her closet to find fresh clothes. She pulled out a button-down white shirt and a black skirt. She quickly changed out of her jeans and shirt before changing into the fresh clothes.

Once dressed, she exited the room and stepped into the bathroom. She wetted a wash cloth and wiped away the sweat that had formed on her face before washing her mouth out with Listerine. She inhaled a deep breath as she wiped her mouth off a few moments later, staring into the mirror. She sincerely hoped that Toby wouldn't figure out what had happened before he had walked in.

"Spencer?"

"I'm coming," she replied quickly, stepping out of the bathroom. She returned to her bedroom long enough to pull on a pair of black tights and a matching vest before grabbing a pair of boots from her closet. She made her way back down the steps and walked over to the couch. She sat down on the couch and called Toby's name as she slipped on her left boot.

"Be right out," he replied from the first floor bathroom.

Spencer pulled the zipper on her first boot and then pulled the second one on before zipping it as well. Just as she did, her phone buzzed on the table. She picked it up and brought up the message.

What is it with you and infidelity?
-A

Spencer gulped, but a moment later, her phone buzzed in her hand once again. She looked down at it her phone, sure that the message was probably from A as well. She tapped on the option to open the message.

Want Toby to stay in the dark?
Make sure these end up in the
principal's hands.
-A

Attached to the message was multiple photos of Aria and Ezra. From the clothes they were wearing and the easily visible sling holding Ezra's arm against his body, she knew that the pictures were from that day.

"Ready to go?"

Spencer's head quickly whipped up, and she forced a smile on her face as she exhaled a soft breath of relief that Toby was across the room. She nodded. "Yeah."