Chapter Three
Carlin House
Once back at her previous home, Spencer drops into one of the armchairs in the living room warily. With an aggravated sigh, she looks back up at her guide.
"I never thought that I had anything to do with Clay being with us," she admits, shaking her head at the idea of a Clay-less existence.
"They never do," Megan mumbles, more to herself than the girl in front of her. "You haven't even seen the worst of it Honey," she tosses in, crossing her arms authoritatively across her chest.
"Of course I haven't," Spencer laments sarcastically.
"watch the tone," Megan orders the teen.
Before either of them can continue their bickering, the front door opens and closes hurriedly. Curiously, Spencer rises up out of her seat and takes a look into the hallway. Surprisingly, a shaggy haired blonde boy in khakis and a moderately tight fitting checkered shirt scurries into the house. He has a heavy looking backpack with his arms loaded with books as well.
Not paying attention, the boy trips over a crinkle in the rug and goes falling over, his books flying through the air. "Oh fiddlesticks!" He exclaims angrily as he gathers the books up and scampers up to his room.
"Okay...'fiddlestick'?" Spencer laughs, Megan smirking at the scene as well. "My Glen has never even picked up a textbook," she points out with a grin, shaking her head at the geek that had just run by.
Both girls stare off at where the boy had disappeared to. "Glen really loved you, you know?" She asks rhetorically as she turns her attention back to her charge.
"Right," the blonde scoffs, thinking about how the boy was always an ass to her and her friends.
"All of those sports and tacky weight training classes he took was because of you," Megan explains, earning a skeptical expression from the girl. "All he ever wanted was to protect his baby sister. Without you...he had nothing to protect and no reason to try and become the big man on campus," she shrugs.
"How does that explain all of those textbooks? Not even Clay was that much of a nerd?" Spencer asks.
"With Glen, Clay and you, your parents had three kids to focus their expectations on. Glen was the jock, Clay was the brain and you were...Wait, what exactly were you?" Megan asks contemplatively.
"Well, you're making me feel a whole lot better," the blonde grumbles.
"You were daddy's little Princess," Megan grins to herself, completely ignoring Spencer. "But, with it being just Glen, everything is put on him. Good grades, good college, good job...good life," she explains earnestly.
"Damn. So he and Madison probably don't even know each other," Spencer comments thoughtfully.
"Sure they do. Madison, Aiden and anyone who you knew as his friends totally rip on him for being such a loser," Megan shrugs. "Actually, just last week, Aiden beat the shit out of him because he thought that Glen was checking him out in the locker room," she informs the other girl with a smirk.
"Glen's gay?" The shock evident in the teen's voice.
"No, but it was as good an excuse as any at the time," is the nonchalant response.
The front door opens and slams shut before Spencer can ask any more questions.
"I told you that I needed those files two days ago!" Arthur shouts into his cell phone. "I don't care if it is the holidays. If those files aren't on my desk by morning then you will be spending Christmas in the Unemployment line at Social Services," he threatens before hanging up.
"That is not my dad," Spencer shakes her head in disbelief at the man before her.
"No, this is the man that you dad became when he never had a daughter and never became a social worker," Megan corrects the lost girl beside her. "He never had a little girl to protect from the rest of the world," she mocks.
"So he's just an angry psychiatrist?" Spencer questions.
"An angry, well-paid psychiatrist in one of the top psychiatric facilities in the country," Megan corrects.
They stand there for a moment before Spencer turns to look at her guide. "What about my mom?" She asks after a few minutes have passed.
"Well, uber-Christian Mommy Dearest is off having an affair with a co-worker slash ex-boyfriend of hers," Megan chuckles as Spencer's jaw hits the floor with a resounding 'thud'. "Yep, Dr. Carlin didn't have her daughter there to try and set a 'good example' for," she scoffs.
"What?" She asks in a state of total shock.
"Uh huh. Every emergency appendectomy and five car pile up was a hook-up with her boss," Megan nods regretfully as the blonde's face falls at the news. "You didn't think this would be easy did you?" She asks with barely veiled hostility.
"No...I just didn't think it would be so hard," Spencer whispers sadly.
"Yeah...Just wait, it gets better," the guide informs her disillusioned charge as she snaps her fingers.
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King High School- One Month Ago
Spencer finds herself in front of the school bulletin board. "What are we doing back in November?" She asks as she notices the calendar posted.
"Before you could appreciate the present, I needed to show you the past," Megan says obviously. "This is the day that you and Ashley would have met," she throws in.
"Great. I can hardly contain myself," the blonde grumbles bitterly.
"What did I say about your tone?" Megan growls as Spencer places her hands in the air in a placating manner. "Follow me," she instructs as they walk over to a familiar set of lockers.
"This one is Ashley's," Spencer points out, proud at having known something about the whole experience.
"Yes. I know. I am omnipresent remember," the scantily clad guide scoffs, obviously disrespected at the other girl's tone.
"Right, right. What are we doing he-"
"If you would shut up for a minute, I will tell you," Megan rolls her eyes as she cuts the young girl off. Ashley stalks up to her locker and begins to root through it, spilling out half of its contents in her fury. "Without you around, Ashley gets someone else to help her pick her shit up," she informs the blonde.
"Fuck," Ashley grumbles as she bends down to pick up her stuff.
"Let me help," a seemingly random girl offers as she bends down to help.
"Who the hell is that?" Spencer jealously inquires.
"Hey," Ashley greets the girl as they make eye contact kneeled down by the brunette's locker.
"Hey yourself," the aforementioned seemingly random girl responds with a slight smile.
"That," Megan begins, pausing for dramatic effect. "Is the beginning of the end," she finishes vaguely.
"I don't understand," Spencer mumbles as she watches the meaningful glances between the two. "I've never seen her around," she muses as she watches the newcomer talking to her former friend.
"That, my friend, is Krystina...Ashley's ex. They broke up during the summer and she had dropped out a couple of weeks after you started," Megan explains. "Since you were around the first time to help Ashley pick her shit up, Krys didn't even bother to stop. This time, however, she did," she adds as she witnesses the shadow of jealousy cross the young girl's face.
"Well, it looks like they'll be getting back together," Spencer notes and Megan nods slowly. "That's good then...right?" She asks rhetorically, the hurt very obvious in her voice.
"Not if you ever met Krystina," Megan sighs as Madison and Aiden pass by them.
"At least their happy little world isn't shaken up," Spencer says as she watches the happy couple walk through the quad.
"You have no idea," Megan states, unable to hide the smirk on her face.