Wow, what a great response last chapter! Thanks you guys :) and I know you're all dying to see Hanna and Emily react to what happened to Spencer, so here you go! Don't forget to review, because you guys have been so good lately!
"So wait," Hanna began, trying to process the information that was just given to her as her eyes gradually grew in size. "He just grabbed you, and... and..."
"Yeah," Spencer said, nodding her head as she cut Hanna off before she had to relive the gory details. "Yeah, that's what he did."
As soon as Spencer and her mother had pulled up into the driveway, Hanna and Emily were sitting outside, waiting for them to get home. Veronica figured that Spencer would want to talk to them, so she invited the girls in and left them in the kitchen while she went upstairs, giving them some privacy.
It was just more proof to Spencer that her mother didn't understand her at all.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Emily whispered, not bothering to disguise the hurt in her voice.
"I didn't tell anyone, Em," Spencer moaned as she put her head in her hands. She loved her friends, she did, but she didn't want to have to deal with this right now. "I just called Aria to rescue me from the alley, and then when I ran off, she told Toby, and..." She now raised her head to look up at her friends. "And now I'm telling you."
"Spencer, this isn't something that should slowly be let out over time," Emily said carefully. "You need to tell someone. A police officer, a doctor-"
"You don't think I've thought of that?" Spencer exclaimed furiously. "I've barely slept for the past week because I've been so caught up debating over whether I should say anything, whether I should get help, everything! No one seems to realize how hard this is for me, and everyone wants me to deal with every problem going on in my life all at once!"
Emily and Hanna both took a big step back, suddenly scared from Spencer's outburst. But Spencer didn't even take this into account. She just kept going.
"I eventually would've told you guys," she explained harshly, "but it wasn't right for you to push your way into my life. I wasn't ready for this."
"We didn't push our way into your life, Spencer!" Hanna snapped. "We were worried sick! Once A sent us that text-"
"Wait, back up," Spencer said abruptly. "What did you just say?"
Hanna stopped talking, a little taken aback that Spencer had not just interrupted Emily, but now her, too. "I said that we were worried sick."
"No," Spencer said softly, feeling her hands start quivering. "After th-that."
Hanna mentally ran through her last sentence in her mind before stopping short, her eyes widening once she realized her mistake.
Spencer gulped loudly, tucking her hands under her thighs to stop them from shaking so vigorously. "Did you just say A sent you a text?"
Hanna pursed her lips into a thin line, as if by doing so she would erase everything she had just said.
"A knows about this?" Spencer croaked, looking up at her friends with terror in her features. "A knows that this happened to me?"
"Way to go," Emily muttered bitterly to Hanna. She thought she was being discreet, but this did not go unnoticed by Spencer.
"You two were going to hide this from me?!" she shouted angrily.
"We didn't want to worry you," Emily said hastily. "We didn't know what happened, and when you said that A didn't do this to you-"
"You decided it'd be a good idea to hide the fact that the person who is trying to ruin my life has found something else to use against me?" Spencer finished sarcastically. "I totally see how that makes sense. Thanks alot guys."
"Spencer," Hanna said sternly. "You can't get mad at us for being concerned for you."
Spencer opened her mouth to retort that there was no reason to be concerned, but she retreated. She had just admitted to Aria and Toby that there was definitely a reason to be concerned. If she denied that now, she'd just be taking a step backwards.
And Spencer never took steps backwards. Ever.
"I'm sorry," she whispered finally. "This has just been really hard on me."
There was a pause, before Spencer lowered her head and said quietly, "And please don't say something like 'Oh I can only imagine' or 'Yeah I bet'. I've gotten way too much of that this past week. I've gotten way too much pity. And I'm tired of people feeling sorry for me."
Emily nodded her head at this. When Maya died, everyone was giving her pitiful stares and whispering about how sorry they felt for her. She appreciated it at first, knowing that people cared about her, but later she began to resent it.
Spencer picked at the week-old nail polish on her right pointer finger, obviously uncomfortable. "Guys, I didn't tell you not to say anything."
"But Spencer, what are we supposed to say?" Emily said sadly as she placed a hand on Spencer's arm. "We love you, and we want to be able to tell you that."
"I love you guys, too," Spencer answered honestly. "Too much for you to have to see me like this."
"Well we do see you," Hanna said confidently as she placed her hand on Spencer's arm as well. "And we're ready to help you."
Suddenly, the back door opened. All three girls looked up to the door, and found Aria standing in the doorway.
"It was unlocked," she explained. All of the girls mumbled in understanding as Aria slowly stepped into the room.
"We were just trying to figure out what Spencer's going to do now," Hanna said, filling Aria in. At this, Spencer shot her head up.
"What do you mean what I'm going to do now?" Spencer asked, a sharpness to her tone.
Hanna, sensing this, flinched. "Well, aren't you going to report him?"
"Who said that?" Spencer said quickly, her eyes widening, then darting toward Aria. "Did you tell them, too!?"
"What?" Aria said, clearly caught off guard for the question.
"Did you tell them that I agreed to report him?" Spencer barked. "You did, didn't you? How could you do that?"
"When would I have told them, Spencer?!" Aria shouted. "I only told Toby because I needed him to help me find you, I didn't tell anyone else! I wouldn't betray your trust like that! Can't you see that they think that because it's the logical thing to do!? Don't you think this should be some sort of hint to you?!"
"Well it's not!" Spencer shouted back, standing up now. She stumbled a little, as she was still weak, but caught her balance as she walked forward slowly.
"Don't you think that the way I'm acting should be some sort of hint to you that I'm not ready for this?!" she cried, tears streaming down her face as she looked to Aria in desperation. "All of you are pushing me to make a decision that I'm not ready to make."
"Spencer, calm down," Hanna said gently from behind.
"No, I'm not going to calm down Hanna!" Spencer yelled, turning around to face Hanna, an animalistic look in her brown eyes. Hanna couldn't stop the squeak of fear that escaped her mouth, and Spencer softened slightly when she heard it.
But Emily heard it too, so she leaped into action. "Spencer, you need to stop avoiding this and take action," she said forcefully. She was done playing around; she needed to get the message through to Spencer. "According to you two, this happened a week ago? Your bruises are going to fade, Spencer. If you wait too long, it'll be too late. No one will believe you!"
"Maybe I don't need them to believe me," Spencer said stubbornly, crossing her arms over each other. "I don't need to report Wren."
"The Spencer I know wouldn't want him to get away with this!"
Spencer whipped around, to see Aria standing firmly before her after shouting this. She looked angry, but Spencer knew her well enough to know that she really wasn't. Instead she was just... sad. Frustrated.
"The Spencer I know would want to take action, and take his worthless ass down," she whispered icily.
Spencer froze. Aria was absolutely right. Spencer would want to take Wren down. She would want to make Wren suffer for everything he did to her.
So why couldn't she?
The answer was crystal clear.
"That Spencer is gone," she growled, sending a chill down Aria's, as well as Hanna's and Emily's, spine, before Spencer raced up the stairs without another word.