CHAPTER NINE

Two grueling hours. That's how long it had taken Spencer to get ready for Toby's party. No outfit or hairstyle seemed to quite do the trick; and she wanted to be dressed to impress. All of her clothes seemed to scream 'boring college student,' and the Michigan humidity was cruel to her tresses. It seemed to be taking forever to prepare, and time was running out. They would surely be late.

At long last, Hanna had pulled out some last minute stops to assist Spencer in "sexing it up," as she had put it. Spencer had admittedly never felt as much like a girly-girl as she did tonight, fawning over perfect make-up and clothing the way that she had.

"Stop it. You look fine," Hanna growled as the trio approached the threshold of Toby's co-op. Spencer had been fixing her hair in what she thought was an undetectable manner. Hanna, however, had eyes in the back of her damn head.

"I want his friends to like me," Spencer muttered. Toby had never really had many friends in high school, so this was brand new territory.

"Everybody likes you, Spencer," Caleb droned as he exhaled heavily in a sigh. Great. Even he was irritated by her perfectionism.

"I feel silly," Spencer argued, looking down at the dress she had borrowed from Hanna. The plunging neckline and hiked skirting left very little to the imagination.

"You look awesome," Hanna declared. "Now ring the damn door bell."

Spencer nervously stepped onto the porch. She could hear the music blaring inside, wondering what Toby's definition of a 'small kind of party' was. Surely there would be all sorts of reckless college students, looking for a last hurrah before classes began in two days.

Just as she raised a tentative finger to press the bell, the door swung open. Out came two guys she did not recognize, as well as the black man Toby had been sitting with at the bar.

"Spencer!" he announced happily. She was surprised he knew her name. "And you two must be Hanna and Caleb."

"That'd be us," Caleb agreed.

"Hey – HEY – I said you have to go around the other side of the garage!" Toby's friend yelled in the direction of the people he had emerged with. They were huddled at the end of the deck. "Last thing a goddamn black man needs is a couple of kids smoking a doobie on his front porch."

The two guys laughed good-naturedly, but nonetheless did as they were told and disappeared around the far corner of the house.

"Sorry about that," he told Spencer. "Had to bring them outside before they lit that shit up in my kitchen."

She smiled hesitantly.

"I'm Derek Holmes," he said at last, reaching his free hand out to shake. The other held a beer.

"Spencer," she announced, taking the proffered hand. "But I guess you already knew that."

"Only because I've heard such great things." He winked and grinned. "Nice to officially meet you. Come inside! Toby's been wondering where you are." With that, he chivalrously pulled the door open and held it for the three new guests.

Hanna leaned close to Spencer, linking an arm through hers. "See? Nothing to worry about," she whispered giddily.

Spencer smiled. Right. Nothing to worry about. Holmes had been quite gracious and welcoming…Hopefully the remainder of Toby's friends would be just as warm and friendly.

The party was much larger than Spencer had anticipated based on Toby's description. It appeared that around every corner was a new group of faces she had not yet seen. Holmes was leading them through the crowd of people into the kitchen. And there Toby stood, next to a refreshment table; he was hard to miss in Spencer's eyes, for he was easily the most attractive man in the house. He wore a blue button-down shirt, which brought out his piercing eyes even more than usual.

"Hey Cavanaugh, look who I found."

Toby turned and instantly grinned. Spencer's knees wobbled.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted, wrapping his arms around the small of her back in a gentle hug. Though it had only been a few hours, the embrace made Spencer feel as though she had missed him for an eternity. He pulled back and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You look great."

"Thanks," she mumbled anxiously. She still felt as though her outfit was far more scandalous than she was used to.

"Glad you guys could make it," Toby said to Hanna and Caleb, who Spencer had momentarily forgotten about.

"Where are the drinks?" Hanna asked immediately. Typical.

"There's a cooler in the living room, and some spiked punch here," Toby explained, gesturing to the refreshment table beside him.

"Wonderful," Hanna declared, hastily grabbing a red solo cup. Caleb rolled his eyes.

"Take it slow, babe."

"I got it," Hanna protested, quickly kissing him on the cheek.

"Whoa-ho!" a voice cried from behind Spencer. She turned to see another of Toby's friends from the bar. Like the others, this guy was certainly built for the army; he was nearly a head taller than Toby, with biceps that threatened to burst out of his t-shirt. His blond hair was kept at a short buzz, which Spencer was growing accustomed to seeing. His fair, freckled complexion was flushed, undoubtedly from the alcohol he'd been consuming.

"Looks like the party is here! Nice to see you again, Table-Crasher!" he announced, patting a hand on Spencer's shoulder. She blushed slightly at his joke regarding their first meeting. "I'm Jeff Cody."

"Spencer," she replied loudly to be heard above the music, offering a hand to shake. He accepted, holding on a little longer than necessary.

"We're about to get a round of beer pong started," he explained, taking a swig from his solo cup. "Would you like to join?"

"You can be on my team," Holmes quipped, quickly claiming Spencer by slinging his arm around her shoulders. She laughed.

"I've never played before."

"It's all right, we got this," Holmes encouraged with another bright grin.

"All right, all right," Cody declared, rubbing his hands together. "Cavanaugh and me, verse you two."

Toby smiled. "Game on."

As the three boys led Spencer toward the living room, she anxiously looked back for Hanna and Caleb. They had disappeared. She felt a small bubble of panic rising in her chest; having them by her side had provided the additional comfort she needed – and now they were nowhere to be found.

"Call it in the air," Cody announced as they approached the game set-up. He had brandished a quarter from his pocket.

"Tails," Holmes decided. Cody easily caught the coin in his palm and flipped it onto the back of his hand.

"Tails it is."

"We go first," Holmes explained to Spencer. "Let's show them how it's done."

Spencer quickly forgot about Hanna and Caleb's absence as the game progressed; she and Holmes were winning by a long-shot, and he offered endless support, continuously complimenting her beginner's luck.

"It's not luck. It's skill," she defended as she sunk the Ping-Pong ball in the second-to-last remaining cup on the opposite end of the table.

"You'll learn this about Spencer quickly," Toby mused, hands tucked in his pockets. "She's good at everything."

"Everything, huh?" Cody chuckled as he took aim. Spencer distinctly noticed the meaningful look exchanged between Toby and Holmes, but was unable to decipher its meaning.

"You know, Cody," Holmes began loudly, "When Lancaster was drunk the other night, he told me the funniest story about how pissed your pants your first day of basic training."

Cody fumbled the ball upon hearing this, nearly knocking over his own drink in the process. If possible, the flush in his cheeks increased tenfold.

"He's full of shit," Cody sputtered.

"I dunno, man," Holmes continued. "The story seemed pretty legit to me."

Spencer noticed that behind Cody, Toby was stifling his laughter with his fist.

"They trained us for 15 hours without a break," Cody defended, feigning confidence. "What the hell would you have done if you had to take a leak? I was proving a point."

"That's sick, man," Holmes laughed as he scored the last cup. Spencer could not help it; she began giggling as well. Holmes good-naturedly knocked elbows with her a few times in amusement.

"Whatever, dude," Cody declared angrily, finishing the last of his beverage and irritably tossing the empty cup on the ground in front of Toby. He stormed away.

"Sometimes you gotta put him in his place," Holmes explained. "He gets cocky, you see."

Spencer laughed. "I got the impression."

"Spencerrr! There you are!" Hanna declared happily as she stumbled up behind them. Caleb slung his arm around her waist to keep her steady. She leaned towards Spencer, grabbing onto her forearms and lowering her face unnecessarily close. "This punch is phenomenal," she slurred.

"A little too phenomenal," Caleb joked. "She's been drinking it like water."

"Maybe you should slow down," Spencer laughed, helping Hanna right herself once more.

"Maybe you should have one with me!" Hanna said loudly, swinging her arms out in a grand gesture. "C'mon!" Before she could protest, Hanna had grabbed hold of Spencer's arm and was dragging her back toward the kitchen.

"I'll be right back," Spencer announced over her shoulder to Toby and Holmes. Caleb remained behind, gesturing that the beer pong table should be reset so he could join the game.

Hanna tumbled clumsily into the kitchen, nearly stumbling into a random girl. "This stuff is fantastic," she repeated as she began ladling another serving into her empty cup. "Best. Shit. Everrrr."

"Maybe I should try it," Spencer quipped, slowly taking the cup from Hanna's hand; it was clear she needed to take a few minutes to gather her composure.

"Yeah! Yeah, have mine!" Hanna agreed flippantly, oblivious to the trick Spencer had played. "I need to pee anyway. B.R.B.!" she announced, precariously skipping out of the kitchen.

Spencer rolled her eyes in amusement, taking a sip of the punch she had confiscated. Hanna was right – it was pretty good.

"Hello again."

She turned to look for the source of the voice. It was Cody, sipping a beer on one of the kitchen bar stools. He gestured to the chair beside him, which Spencer accepted.

"Sorry we kicked your ass," she laughed as she sat down. "Good game though."

"You were really good for your first time," he agreed, absent-mindedly wiping away some of the condensation on his beer bottle with his thumb. "So, how are things with Cavanaugh?"

Spencer grinned. "They're quite good, actually." She took another sip of her punch.

"Small world, huh? They way you guys ran into each other after all this time?"

Spencer couldn't agree more. She had been considering this bizarre occurrence of serendipity for the past 48 hours, unable to quite fathom the odds. "It's amazing," she replied.

"I hope you'll be the one to finally settle him down," Cody offered, patting her on the hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Cody began carefully, glancing over his shoulder. "You know Toby…he's a little on the wild side when it comes to dating."

Spencer's smile faltered slightly. "I don't understand."

"Let's just say I've woken up to a lot of random girls in our shower," Cody muttered.

Spencer attempted to control the pace in which her heart had begun beating. Surely Cody was embellishing.

"He couldn't wait to tell us about his latest conquest this afternoon," he continued. "He wouldn't shut up about how great you were in the sack."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had to be lying.

"I suppose he just feels like he needs to live a little before he deploys next month."

Her heart froze over. "D-deploys?"

"He volunteered to go to Afghanistan," Cody continued, raising an eyebrow. "He didn't tell you?"

"No…he didn't," Spencer whispered, staring intently at the contents of her cup. She was attempting to will away the stinging that had begun in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh…I'm sorry…I didn't know…" He reached out and rubbed her back apologetically.

"It's fine," she declared uncomfortably, leaning away from him and standing up. "Thanks for letting me know."

Cody nodded somberly. "I just don't want to see him hurt anyone else. You seem like a nice girl…"

"Yeah," Spencer replied distantly. She looked over the bar counter and into the living room, where she saw Toby talking with the girl Hanna had nearly mowed over earlier. She felt her blood boiling in her veins.

"You should talk to him," Cody urged. "He deserves to know how you feel."

"Right," Spencer mumbled. She downed the remainder of her drink and began pouring another to steel herself for the task at hand.

She took a deep breath and marched out into the living room. The girl was leaning unsettlingly close to Toby now, surely trying to pull off the whole "it's too loud to hear you so I better get really close" trick.

"Go," Spencer commanded as she approached them. The girl opened and closed her mouth several times in confusion.

"I just – "

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT," Spencer practically shrieked. The girl quickly obeyed.

"Spencer," Toby declared, aghast. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" Spencer cried, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before the tears would win out. The feeling of the alcohol in her system was causing her to neglect the other people in the room. As far as she was concerned, it was just her and Toby right now. "Who the hell was she? Did you fuck her too?"

Toby's mouth fell open. "What are you talking about? Of course not – "

"Don't lie to me!" Spencer interrupted. She was vaguely aware that she was causing a scene. "I heard all about how you want to have one last hurrah before Afghanistan."

Toby closed his mouth and gulped. "Spencer…listen…"

"No," she decided definitively. "I'm done listening to you." With that, she dropped her empty cup and bee-lined for the front door.

"Spencer! Wait!" Toby yelled, attempting to push past party goers in his way. She was gone before he even digested what had happened.

"What was that about?" Lancaster inquired quietly as people slowly went back to what they were doing.

Toby stared at the closed door, internally weighing the pros and cons of following after her. She would certainly need her space; at least for a little while. He knew from experience that there was no calming her down when she was at her angriest. But he wanted nothing more than to know what on earth she meant…

"I have no idea," he breathed helplessly.

TO BE CONTINUED