Sorry for not updating this sooner, I was having some technical difficulties. I loved all the reviews! You guys are great. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't own anything.
"Toby, maybe you should take it easy." says Emily.
"I can't take it easy." he yells. "Clearly something bad happened here and she won't us." he turns to me again. "Why won't you tell me?" he yells.
"I can't." I say.
"Why not?!" he asks.
"Because I don't remember!" I scream.
Spencer's POV
I know saying that I don't remember is a weak lie, but it was the only thing I could think of. I couldn't come up with a lie that would explain a blood stained room and clothes without getting myself or someone else in serious trouble. I realize that pretending to not know how that blood got there will leave my friends imagining the worst. They might even assume I did something terrible, but I don't care as long as they're safe. Now I just have to hope that they believe me.
The room is silent. The girls and Toby all stare at me with wide eyes. I can't meat there gaze, so I look down at the floor and wait for someone to say something. Toby is the first to finally break the silence.
"What do you mean you don't remember?" he asks, his voice much calmer now.
"I mean I don't remember." I say. "I have no idea how the blood got here."
"I don't understand." says Hanna. "How can you not remember?"
"I don't know?" I say. Damn, my head is killing me.
"So you don't remember anything?" asks Emily.
"What part of I can't remember don't you understand!" I snap. Emily's eyes fill with hurt, and I instantly feel horrible. "I'm sorry Em." I say. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I'm just kind of stressed out, but I know that's no excuse to treat you like that."
"It's ok Spencer. I'm just really worried about you." she says. I sigh and rub my head to try and push some of the pain and frustration away. I'm starting to feel a little light head. I want to sit down, but I can't bring myself to touch my blood covered bed.
"Are you ok?" asks Toby as I begin to sway slightly.
"Yeah I'm fine." I say.
"No you're not." says Aria. "You look like you're about to pass out." I glace at my mirror and see my reflection. Aria's right. Besides the bruise, all the color has drained form my face.
"It's just this room." I say. "All the blood is making me feel sick." the sight of blood has never bothered me, but everyone seems to buy my lie. Hanna even starts getting pale, like she had forgotten that we were surrounded by blood.
"Spencer's right." says Hanna. "Why are we still hanging out in this death room."
"Hanna!" says Aria.
"What?" says Hanna. Aria just shakes her head.
"Why don't we move this conversation down to the living room." says Toby.
"Good idea." says Emily.
"I'm just going to grab some clothes." I say. I could really use a minute alone, and I would like to put something on that will cover my injures better.
"I'll stay with you." says Toby. There goes my minute alone. "We'll meet you downstairs." he says. The girls take the hint and leave us alone. Toby turns and looks at me. I think he's going to bombard me with questions, but he doesn't. Instead he takes my hand and gently leads me to my closet.
"Let's find you something to wear." he says. He opens my closet and then steps out of my way. I glace up at him and he smiles at me. I can tell that there's something he wants to say, but when his silence continues I decide to turn my attention to my clothes.
I don't really plan on going to school today. I don't think my body or mind could handle it. So I grab a long sleeve grey shirt and some black workout pants.
"I'm going to change in the bathroom." I say. Toby nods his head and leads the way back down the hall to the bathroom. I walk inside and close the door. I take a deep breath and lean against the wall.
I hate lying to my friends. Even when it's for their own protection, I still feel like I'm stabbing them in the back. I want break down and start sobbing. But I can hear Toby standing out in the hall guarding the bathroom, so if I start crying I know he'll be able to hear me as well. And I don't need him rushing in here trying save me again.
I slowly push myself away from the wall and wipe away a few tears that had managed to escape. I've been crying so much lately. I rarely ever cry. It was always viewed as a sign of weakness in my family. And that's exactly how I feel. I'm weak.
"Are you okay in there Spencer?" Toby asks me through the door. His voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I realize that I forgot that I was suppose to be changing my clothes.
"I'm fine." I say. "I just need another minute."
"Okay" he says. I take off my robe and toss it on the ground. I notice that there's a little bit of blood on the collar of the rode. I reach and feel the back of my head. It's bleeding again. That's probably why I'm feeling light headed.
"Damn it." I say under my breath. I grab a washcloth and press it against the back of my head. I wince as I apply more pressure. When I pull the washcloth away, I see that there's hardly any blood on it. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that it has already stopped bleeding. I take the washcloth and use it to wipe away the blood that had trickled down my neck. I make sure that I get all the blood cleaned up, and then I start getting dressed.
Pain pulses through my broken ribs and injured shoulder as I work at getting the shirt on. I bite back a scream as I slowly slip it over my head and put my arms through the sleeves. I grab my pants and quickly slip them on. It was a lot less difficult than the shirt.
Once I'm dressed, I look myself over in the mirror to make sure I've properly covered all the bruises. My clothes seem to hide them well enough. I look around the bathroom to see if there's anything else I need to do. Anything that might delay me form having to go downstairs and face the multiple questions my friends have for me. But there's nothing left for me to do in here.
I sigh and turn towards the bathroom door. I have no other option but to go out and face them. I grab the handle and open the bathroom door. Toby's standing there with his hands in his pockets. He looks amazing. With all the chaos this morning, I didn't get the chance to admire my gorgeous boyfriend. His good looks and the endless love he shows me never fails to take my breath away. Just the sight of him gives me the strength I need to keep the secret and keep him safe.
"Sorry for taking so long." I say.
"It's okay." he says.
"We better head downstairs." I say. He nods his head in agreement and we start walking towards the staircase.
"Wait a second Spencer." he say. I pause and look up at him. "There's something I want to say before we go down there."
"What is it?" I ask.
"I just….I wanted to apologize." he says. A puzzled look spreads over my face.
"For what?" I ask.
"For earlier." he says. "For yelling. I should have never done that. You were already upset, and I was just making things worse. I was just scared that something bad happened to you, and I don't now what came over me."
"Don't apologize for being worried about me." I say. "In fact, I'm the one who should be apologizing."
"Why? You didn't do anything wrong." he says. I look down in shame. If only he knew that I was lying to him and everyone I cared about. He would be so angry at me for not telling him what really happened.
"We should really get downstairs." I say. Toby looks like he's about to argue, but instead he just sighs.
"Ok Spencer. Lets go." he says. We walk down the stairs in silence.
We enter the living room where we find the three girls waiting nervously. They look up at us and smile, though it doesn't reach their eyes. I sit down next to Aria on the couch, and Toby sits in a chair next to me. There's a few seconds of awkward silence, but Hanna, of course, quickly ends it.
"So how do you think all that blood got there Spence?" she say.
"Really Hanna!" says Emily.
"What? It's not like I'm the only one who wanted to ask her." says Hanna.
"It's ok Hanna." I say. "It's a perfectly reasonable question." I sigh and rest my head in my hands.
"Why don't you start from the beginning." says Aria. "Just tell us everything that you do remember." I look up at my friends. I really don't deserve them. They're all so worried about me. They care so much and would do anything for me. And how am I going to repay them? By lying to them. I might lose their friendship over this, but at least they'll be alive.
"After I followed my dad home he took me out to a restaurant." I say. I have to make sure to stick with the lies my dad told Aria and Toby. "But as soon as we got to the restaurant, I started feeling sick and my dad took me home. I didn't even have the energy to change when we got home. I just went straight to my room and went to bed."
"And that's all you remember?" asks Toby.
"The next thing I remember is waking up and finding myself and my room covered in blood." I say.
"Why didn't you call someone for help?" asks Toby.
"I don't know." I say. "I just freaked out. And all I could think about was washing the blood off of me, so I jumped into the shower."
"So where the hell did the blood come from?" asks Hanna.
"I wish I knew." I said.
"Do you think somebody got hurt?" asks Aria.
"Maybe." I mumble.
"Or maybe the blood was planted there." says Emily. Hanna, Aria, and I all know Emily is talking about A.
"Who would do that?" says Toby. I throw a quick glare at all the girls, warning them not to tell Toby about A's return.
"I don't know." says Emily. "It was just a guess." I can tell that Toby isn't fully convinced that she's telling the truth, but he decides to let it go.
"How else could there blood have gotten there?" says Aria. Everyone shares nervous glances. They're all thinking the same thing, but non of them wants to say it out loud.
"I know what you want to ask me." I say.
"What are you talking about?" says Hanna.
"You guys are considering the possibility that I had something to do with it." I say. "That maybe I did something terrible, like hurt somebody, and I just don't remember doing it."
"We don't think you did something terrible." says Aria.
"Of course we don't think that Spencer." says Toby. "We know you aren't capable of hurting someone." Emily and Hanna nod in agreement.
"I don't see why not." I say. "I've done plenty of other terrible things."
"We've all done terrible things Spencer." says Aria. She places a comforting hand on my back. "But you didn't hurt anyone. Trust me." I smile at her.
"So now what?" asks Hanna.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Well, what do we do next?" she asks. "Do we call someone? Do we go to the police."
"No!" I shout. Everyone looks at me, a little surprised by my outburst. "No police. At least not until we now what happened."
"Spencer's right. We shouldn't involve the police yet." says Toby.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" asks Aria. "They might be able to help."
"Or they might throw Spencer in jail." says Hanna.
"Why do you think I'd go to jail?" I ask her.
"Well if Emily is right about the blood being planted there, then it might connect you some sort of crime." she says.
"Good point." I say.
"So no police?" asks Aria.
"No police." says Toby.
"How are we going to figure out what happened without the cops?" asks Emily.
"I don't know." I say, feeling awful for lying so much.
"So what now. Do we just go on with our day like nothing happened?" says Hanna.
"What else is there to do?" I ask. "You guys should just go to school and act normal."
"No way! We're not leaving you." says Aria.
"I have to stay here and clean up the blood before my parents get home." I say.
"Then we'll stay and help you." says Aria. I'm about to tell her no when Emily speaks up.
"Toby, could you get me a glass of water?" she asks. Toby hesitates a moment at her random request.
"Um, sure Emily. I'll be right back." he gets up and leaves the room.
"What was that about?" I ask.
"I needed him to leave so I could say something." says Emily.
"I assume it's A related." I say, and she nods her head.
"Don't you guys think it's a little weird that Spencer and I both have a night we can't remember?" says Emily.
"What are you thinking?" asks Hanna.
"I'm thinking that maybe the reason I can't remember has nothing to do with how much I drank." says Emily. "Maybe I was drugged, and maybe Spencer was drugged last night too."
"So you think that A drugged you and then she drugged Spencer?" asks Aria.
"It kind of makes sense." says Emily. "What do you think Spencer?" I'm not sure what to say. I hate giving the girls false clues about A, but if I don't go along with this they might see through my lies.
"I guess it's possible." I say. Right then Toby walks back in with a glass of water.
"Here you go Emily." he say.
"Thanks." she says, and takes the water form him.
"So have you decided what you're going to do?" he asks the girls.
"We're staying here with Spencer." says Aria.
"No, you guys are going to school." I say. "I can take care of this myself."
"We know you can." says Toby. "But we're staying here anyway." he reached over and kisses me softly on my forehead, and he gently rests his hand on the back of my head. Toby leans away from me and his hand brushes against my cheek, leaving a trail of something wet on my face.
Toby's eyes go wide as he looks at me. Then he glances down at his and so do I. My breath catches in my throat when I see that his hand is dripping with blood.
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-Rin Shade