It was a tickle at the back of her neck that awoke her from her sleep. It was irritating, and she moves onto her side, trying to get comfortable again. What had she dreamt? She could've sworn it was something good, something that made her heart race, but now, she could not even remember if it was truly a "good" dream. Damn that irritating pain that tapped her on the back of the neck. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was easily morning, her window still shut after her stupid daydreaming from the night before.

The sky was a dark musky gray color, the clouds crowded into each other seemingly endlessly. She stretches gently, her legs poking out from her floral sheets. Her back pops loudly when she sits up, and she winces at the strong impact. When she looks at the older clock sitting on her nightstand to her right, she sees its 4:30 AM. Good, she had school in two hours and thirty minutes, plenty of time to prepare.

She found school sort of a calming place, a place where she just had to do her work, turn it in on time, and that was that. There was no emotional connections to that, no arguing or fighting; just routine. She could live with that.

Spencer slipped out of her bed, her feet feeling numb. She forces herself over to her closet, opening the doors lazily, both doors hitting the wall irritatingly loudly to her. She groans, as she searches through her closet for a decent outfit that matched how she felt. Blue. She grabbed a blue blouse, and a white tank top from hangers. She then threw those on her messy bed, and went to her large white dresser. She pried open the second drawer, and grabbed a pair of jeans, sliding them on over her red panties. She had hardly ever worn pajamas to bed anymore, it's not like anyone would see her anyways.

She ripped her loose white t-shirt off, and she threw it in her red hamper next to the dresser. She looks disappointingly down at her chest, and her black laced bra. She was so skinny… Pft, whatever. She pulls her white tank top on over her head, then pulls it the rest of the way down, and then she buttons her blue blouse over it. She tucks in the blouse into her jeans, and it's a decent enough outfit.

Her closet had a cabinet full of shoes inside, and she walks over to it, opening the top. She picks out her short black heeled boots, and she grabs socks from her dresser after, and she heads to the bathroom after sliding each of her shoes on.

Turning on the bathroom light burned her eyes, and then she saw her reflection and almost gagged. Her hair was a mess, ocean waves all around. She decides to just go simple on herself and she straightens her hair evenly, then pulls her hair back into a high ponytail. Decent.

Her phone rings from her room. She sighs, and she rushes into her room, and pulls her pillow off her bed, her phone resting underneath it. She picks up the phone, and sees its Hanna's number. "Hey, Han." Spencer yawns, and Hanna is quiet for a moment. "Are you alright? You sound sick." Hanna asks, her voice raspy with a hangover. "Ha-ha, you're the one to ask, you're hungover Hanna." Hanna laughs slightly. "Yeah, I am! Are you still going to school today?"

"Of course I am, Hanna, do you even have to ask? I have two tests today." Spencer exclaims, and she slips on a wrist watch that was sitting on her nightstand, and sees its 4:59. "Screw tests, I need sleep, and two liters of water… and midonal… and a hot boyfriend." Spencer laughs at her friends small pout. "Hanna, I'm sure you can have all of those things. Look, I have to go, my parents are probably going to rant on me again."

"Oh, they caught you last night?" Hanna asks, her voice loud. "Yeah, just because I drove some guy home"-

"Some guy? Wait, hold up, you drove some hot guy home and didn't invite me?! Wow! I'm offended!" Hanna says sarcastically, laughing. Spencer laughs, then sighs. "It's nothing, it was just one guy."
"Spare me the details!" Hanna yips, clearly too interested. "I can't right now, I will if you come to school today though…" Spencer teases, and she waits for a little.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll go to school, this guy might be worth my time." Hanna says, and she exclaims, "See ya! I love you, Spencey Wencey!"

Spencer smiles at her friends tone, and says, "Love you too Hanna Banana." And she hangs up the phone without another word. She spends the rest of her time putting on her regular makeup- just some light eye shadow with darker corners, and some black mascara from Revlon. She grabs her brown leather purse from her desk chair, and she heads down stairs, spraying on her Stella perfume as she went.

When she got downstairs, with her phone in her hand, her parents were sitting in the living room. Spencer sighs, and she heads towards the front door, but her mother growls, "Spencer."

Spencer turns around, pulling her purse closer over her shoulder. "What, Mom?" She asks, irritated. Her Dad looks down, and her mother stands, walking over to her, and holding out her hand. Spencer feels her rage fill the pit of her stomach. "Hand me your phone, and after school, I'll have your car keys."

Spencer opens her mouth to snap something smart back, but her dad gives her a stern look. Spencer shut her mouth, and she slaps her phone into her mother's hawk like grasp. With that her mother lets her beady black eyes pierce her soul, keeping Spencer from saying anything.

"You can't be serious. What if I need my phone for, you know, emergencies? Life and death situations?" Spencer finally snaps. Her mother rolls her eyes. "Life and death situations? Like driving under the influence of alcohol? Like being in a car with a complete stranger? I don't think you're situations apply here, does it?"

Suddenly, Spencer hears footsteps coming from behind her on the stairs. Spencer doesn't turn around when she hears the lightly pitches irritating voice of Melissa. "Morning, Mom, Dad… Spencer."

Melissa walks past Spencer, but Spencer asks, "Why did you go to the party, Melissa?" Melissa wears a simple black dress with a white belt. Too proper for a twenty-two year old. "I was worried about you. You know you could've gotten seriously hurt?"

Spencer rolls her eyes. "Yeah, but I wasn't. I told you I was fine, I told you I was headed home." Melissa sighs. "Oh, Spencer,"

"Don't, 'Oh Spencer' me! I am not a child! I can take care of myself, and I don't need some prying eyes to watch me everywhere I go, especially you, Melissa! You wouldn't give a monkey's ass if I was dead, and don't you try to not admit it!"
"Spencer!"

"What?!"

Her parents said at the same time. Spencer turns on her heels, grabbing her car keys from her bag. Melissa's eyes were wide in shock, her hand placed dramatically on above her heart. A freaking good actress she was, but not for Spencer. She could see the hate in her sisters brown eyes.

Her parents didn't try to stop her as she slammed the front door closed after her. How pathetic, she was being punished, for what? Making a good decision and going home? For helping someone find their way home? She hated her life. But she had to live with it. Like always.

After she closes the gate behind her, she opens her car doors, sliding inside the driver's seat. Her heart was pounding. She hated feeling so angry, but she couldn't help it, not with her family constantly nipping on her. She had to get some coffee, her small reprieve in her life. Okay, so she was addicted to coffee, but there could've been worse.

She decided to drive to the Brew, where she usually went to with Hanna. She backed her car out of the driveway, and she thought curiously at why she hadn't seen Toby there before. Just thinking of his name made her almost forget about her morning brawl. But she forced that lame thought away. But, if he did live there, why hadn't she ever seen him, at least once?

She reaches the Brew after two minutes of driving and she sees it is 5:43. She still has a good hour to spare, so maybe she would just read the book, "Catcher in the Rye" while she was there. It was a class assignment book, and it was a pretty interesting book on adulthood, with the main character going through troubled motions of prostitutes and homosexuality. It was truly an intense story, but a good read.

Spencer parks her car next to the Brew, and she sees the staircase from an angle, and then the red door. She gets out of her car with her purse, and locks her car with a loud "BLEEP" sound. She doesn't let her eyes stay on the red door, and she heads inside the Brew.

It was an overwhelming smell of coffee that hit her in the face, but she liked that smell. It soothed her somehow. She walked up to the counter, and someone had their back turned towards her. It was a taller girl with dark brown hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. The girl turns around, and she smiles slightly at Spencer. Spencer smiles back, before the girl asks, "What would you like?"

"Umm, just a medium caramel macchiato please." Spencer says, and she pulls out her debit card. She slides it through the card reader after the girl says her total, and Spencer recognizes the girl then. "Don't you go to Rosewood High? It's Emily right?" Spencer asks.

Emily turns around, and she shyly nods. "Yeah, that's me."

"You're the swim star, right? I think my friend and I saw you win last year, you were pretty good." Spencer adds, smiling at her. Emily blushes. "Thank you. I appreciate that." She says, as she slides Spencer her coffee from behind the counter.

"Umm, Emily, can I ask you something?" Spencer asks, a little uneasy. Emily looks at her, waiting. "DO you know a guy named Toby? I think he lives upstairs." Emily looks at Spencer, a little confused at first, but then her eyes click. "Oh, yes! I think I've seen him a few times, but, he doesn't really talk much. Why?"

Spencer shrugs, "I just was curious, that's all." Emily raises an eyebrow, and she looks down, "Okay, I'll see you at school, I guess?" Spencer nods. "Yeah, thanks Emily."

"No problem."

Spencer grabs her coffee, and she gives Emily a kind look of appreciation before she heads to the back of the Brew, and she sits down at this small table for two against the glass window. She drinks her coffee gently, it burns the tip of her tongue, and she rips the cup away from her lips, and sets it down. She grabs her book from her bag, and she flips a few pages up to where she left off.

She reads for a few minutes, her eyes slowly each time travelling to the staircase going upstairs in the Brew. She sees nothing, just the brown stairs leading up to a wall. But she knew possibly he was up there. Wow, she should really drink more coffee. Spencer sips some more coffee from her cup, until a voice comes from behind her. "Spencer?"

She almost chokes on her coffee, and she sets her cup down, a small cough escaping her throat. She turns her head, and there he stands. He has a loose black shirt on, his hair shaggier than the night before. His shoes are loose, but the same black boots. His jeans fit nicely on him, and his eyes glow when he recognizes her. He holds in his free hand, a gray leather jacket. She stutters. "Oh, hi Toby." Spencer tries to say casually, but her voice is too high.

Toby smiles at her fast paced voice. He is holding a rolled up piece of large paper, and he points it at her book in her hand. "Anything good?" He asks. Spencer nods, and she says, "Catcher in the Rye."

Toby nods, "That's a great one. I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot." He quotes the book, and Spencer is impressed. "You've read it before?" She asks. He nods, and then she is surprised when he sits down across from Spencer at the round black table. He lays his jacket onto the back of his metal chair.

"Many times. I like to re-read the books I love. I find that each time I read them, it's almost like reading a different story. You find new details you didn't notice before, it's quite interesting."

He speaks like he comes from a different time, almost like he was fifty, and Spencer smiles. She likes that. Toby shifts his weight, his eyes piercing into her own. He seems almost like he was excited to see her again, but she realizes she has just sat there and not said anything to his interesting book philosophy. "Ha, I'm sorry, I don't expect you to understand"- He begins to say, pressing his palm into his eyes, but Spencer interrupts him.

"No. No, I get it. That's actually pretty amazing." Spencer looks shyly down at her hands. She feels his gaze again, like last night. She looks up and he is looking at her with those stunning blue eyes.

"So, do you live here?" Spencer asks, curious. He nods, and scoots his chair closer to the table, placing the blue rolled up paper in front of Spencer. He slides it to her. "Check it out. I'm just reconstructing it now, but I live here for free while I do the work." Spencer shyly grabs the paper, and unrolls it, looking at the blueprints of the loft. It's all vintage and organized, and Spencer finds herself smile.

"Wow, that's really nice, you have a gift." Toby smiles, and he shakes his head. "Not a gift, just hard work." Spencer looks over the blueprints again. Toby asks her, "What about you? Any special gifts? Like driving in a thunderstorm?" Spencer laughs at his hint at the night before, and she rolls the blueprint back up, and slides it over to Toby again.

"Not really, but I can be quite the know-it-all at points." Toby laughs, and he folds his hands into his lap. "I believe you. Blazer-girl." He adds, waiting for her comeback. "It was not a blazer!" She says back, leaning closer to him. He nods, and says, "Yeah, yeah."

Spencer then is concerned when she sees his leather jacket on the back of his seat. His motorcycle!

"Hey, umm, how is your motorcycle? I mean, after last night"-

"It's okay. I have it being towed over here later today, I have to buy a few tools but," Spencer stops him with her worried tone, "Wait, you're going to fix that yourself?" She asks. He nods, and he seems little worn out. "Toby, not trying to like crush your positivity, but that should be paid for to repair, there's no way you can fix that by yourself."

Toby sighs, and he nods sadly. "Yeah, I know, you're right. But, I live on the money I get for construction, I barely have enough cash on me to buy a coffee here." He says, and he shuts his mouth as if he is saying too much. Spencer feels her shoulders slouch at her sadness towards him. She wanted to help him.

"Look, I could pay for it"- She offers. Toby's eyes widen, and he places his hands on the table. "No way, Spencer, don't even think about it. That's way too much," He stops when Spencer's phone chimes. She looks down at her phone, mouthing, "Sorry," before she sees it's a text from Hanna.

You're lucky I didn't puke! I'm coming to school to hear about this hot guy!

-Hanna

Spencer shuts her phone off, and she slides it back into her purse. Toby sees, and he raises an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" He asks. Spencer asks, "What?" And he eyes her purse. Spencer sees her shaky hand, and she says, "Oh, no, I'm fine."

Toby seems to relax, but Spencer then snaps back into the conversation. "Look, really my family is packed with money, can't I just help you out?"
"No, no way, I couldn't let you do that, Spencer." He says, leaning back in his chair. "Why not?" She asks. He stares at her for a moment, breathing out. "Why are you trying to help me?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. But, what I do know, is that you need a ride to finish your construction job in your loft, and I'd really hate to not see this nice vintage loft come to life."

Toby smirks at her, and asks, "Is that so?" And she nods, "Mm-hm." Toby looks down, and he sighs. "Nope. I still can't take your offer. But… I do have another idea."
Spencer leans forward. "Okay, I'm listening." Toby sighs, and he says quietly, "I could use another pair of legs to help me move some things around in the loft."

Spencer laughs gently, and she leans back, mimicking Toby. "Is that so, Toby?" She asks, lowering her voice to his tone. He smiles, and he stand from his seat. "I'm sure you have school. Come back after and we will discuss it. Just knock on my door upstairs."

Spencer raises an eyebrow at him. "What makes you so sure I'll help you?" She asks. Toby grabs his jacket, and he wraps it over his shoulders. "Because, how else would my dream loft come to life? I can't do it without your help."

She grabs her purse, and slides her book inside of it. She walks slowly up to Toby, and she squints her eyes up at his. He does the same. She stands a foot away from him, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "I might actually take you up on that." She says, and with that, she walks around him, and she slips her empty coffee cup into the trash.

She opens the door, and she slides out, and Toby still stand near the table, watching her leave. When Spencer escapes the Brew, she can't stop the wide grin that crawls across her lips. Was he flirting with her…? And now she had to get to school.