I sat in my room and constantly glanced at the clock. I was going over to Jason's to hang out with him and Spencer and time was ticking by slowly. I was concentrating on some school work when a knock at the door nearly made me jump out of my skin. I went downstairs and saw one of the last people I expected when I opened the door.
"Hello, Toby."
"Hello, Mona, what brings you here?" I asked.
"Is Jenna home yet?"
"No, not yet, she has a flute lesson right after school." I told her and she seemed relieved.
"Good, I need to talk to you, but she can't be around." She stated as I moved away from the door so she could come in.
"Okay, what is it?" I asked as we sat down in the living room.
"You and I have a lot in common. We were both Ali's targets and we were both suspects in her murder. But you became more than just a suspect. Whoever framed you obviously killed Ali, and I think there's a reason they framed you over me. I think I know who did it, but I need your help to prove it."
"Why do you need me?" I asked completely not following.
"Because I think Jenna is involved somehow or knows who is."
"Jenna!"
"Yes, and that's why I need you to help me." She confirmed and let the information sink in.
"What do you want me to do?"
"You were lucky that you got off the hook, but the next person might not be. I know you don't want that for Spencer. And despite that I hate Alison and that they were her friends first, I care about Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria. I don't want them getting framed too. And I want her real killer to be found so that I never have to hear the name Alison again. But the police in this town suck and nothing will be solved if we leave it up to them. So will you help me?"
"Hey, Toby, good to see you." Jason greeted me as he opened the door.
"You too, Jason." I said as I walked in. "What's burning?"
"That would be dinner. Or what would have been dinner." He sighed as he placed a smoking pan in the sink.
"How did you not starve when you went off to college?"
"Easy, I lived on coffee and take-out."
"You know, I'm surprised that nobody figured out about you and Spencer by themselves. You both drink enough coffee for a small army, and it's so strong, normal people can't even drink it." I told him as I sat down at the small kitchen table.
"Do not make fun of my coffee. And I am normal. But people like you that are too scared to drink it, aren't normal." He said defensively. "But you are right; the Hastings style coffee should be a giveaway."
"Hey, I'm not scared. I actually have had Spencer's coffee and more than once. But I still don't know how you two do it on a regular basis."
"Wow, I'm impressed. You must really like Spencer if you willing drank her coffee."
"And she must really like you if she lets you cook dinner for her." I shot back to avoid him teasing me about my relationship with Spencer.
"I wasn't cooking for her. She tries to eat before coming over or makes me get takeout. I think she's experienced one too many of my cooking failures."
"I don't blame her." I mumbled. "Hey, where is Spencer anyway?"
"She's on the phone with Hanna. And do you think you can do better?" He challenged.
"I'm not a gourmet chef, but I can cook without burning the apartment down." I shrugged.
"Why don't we make things interesting while we're waiting for Spencer to get off the phone?" He suggested. "You prove to me that you're a better cook by making something that Spencer will eat."
"What's the catch?" I asked knowing that Jason had something up his sleep.
"If Spencer likes it, I'll let up on my teasing for a week. But if she doesn't, it's going to get worse."
"Make it two weeks without giving me and her a hard time."
"Alright fine, I'll do two weeks." He gave in.
"You're on." I told him and we shook hands.
"It's about time you got off the phone. Toby's been waiting an hour for you. That's really bad manners, Spence." Jason stated sarcastically as Spencer came into the kitchen.
"Toby, I'm so sorry. You weren't really waiting that long were you?" Spencer asked and she looked really worried.
"No, I've only been here half an hour. But Jason found a way to keep me busy." I told her and I heard her sigh in relief.
"Well, I'm glad you weren't bored." She said. "Wait, what exactly did you do to keep busy?"
"Let me just say that you picked a guy with a lot of nerve. First, he comes in here and says that something smells burnt. Then he goes and says that he could cook better than me so I made him prove it."
"Toby could cook the best thing you ever tasted and you would still say it wasn't any good, Jason." Spencer told him shaking her head.
"That's why you're going to be the taste tester." Jason told her. "Have a seat."
"Why do I have to be the guinea pig for your cooking contest?" Spencer demanded as she sat down.
"What you don't trust my cooking skills?" I teased her.
"No, I trust you, Toby. It's Jason that I don't trust as far as I can throw him."
"But, Spencer, if you can't trust family, who can you trust?" Jason asked her.
"My instincts and female intuition, and they both say not to trust you." Spencer shot at him.
I tried my best to hold back the laugh that wanted to come out as I placed the plate of eggs, toast, and bacon in front of Spencer. Things were never boring when Spencer and Jason got under each other's skin.
"Quit stalling, Spencer." Jason said as he folded his arms across his chest.
"I'm not stalling, I'm just not hungry. I ate right before I called Hanna." She argued.
"Yeah, so this is the perfect time for a light snack." Jason tried to convince her, but I knew a better way.
"Here, Spence." I said as I placed a fork in her right hand. "This is a fork. You can use it to eat the meal your boyfriend just cooked for you."
"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" She rhetorically asked.
"Nope," Jason and I both told her but in two different tones.
"Here goes nothing." She sighed and then took a bite. "Okay, you are way better than Jason. This is really good, Toby."
"You're just saying that because he's your boyfriend. Take another bite and tell me what you really think." Jason demanded.
"That is what I really think." Spencer insisted but she ate more anyway. "Satisfied?"
"Not yet, I want to decide for myself." He said and then grabbed another fork. "Oh come on!"
"What's wrong, Jason?" I asked and couldn't help the smug grin that came across my face.
"Wipe that grin off your face, Cavanaugh." He said pretty irritated.
"Does that mean I won?" I asked already knowing the answer.
Jason didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and rolled his eyes. Usually I didn't care about winning or losing, and I rarely rubbed it in to someone that they lost. But I must be spending too much time around Spencer and Jason and their competitiveness must be rubbing off. I leaned in and kissed Spencer right in front of Jason and I made sure there was heat.
"Toby, not that I didn't enjoy that kiss, but Jason is standing right there." Spencer pointed out trying to sound annoyed but I saw through it.
"Exactly, since I beat Jason, he can't bother us for a whole two weeks."
"He can't tease us about anything? For two weeks? No matter what we do?" She clarified carefully before getting her hopes up.
"That's right."
As soon as I said those two words Spencer's lips were on mine.
"By the way, I love the way that sounds. You calling yourself my boyfriend." She told me as she pulled away but still kept her face close to mine.
"Alright, alright, I'm out of here. Have fun enjoying your two weeks of freedom. But time flies when you're having fun and I'll be back before you know it." Jason warned and then went into his room.
Spencer and I both cracked up when we heard his door slam louder than necessary. The next two weeks were going to be great.
I sighed in relief as I closed the front door. Jenna and her mother had just left and they would be gone for two weeks! My dad couldn't get off of work so he stayed behind but we didn't talk much so I practically had the house to myself. Twenty minutes later Spencer came over and we had a great time.
"So, two weeks to yourself, what are you going to do?" Spencer asked as she looked through my movie collection.
"I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet." I told her with excitement. "And also take advantage of the opportunity to hang out with you without the complicated sneaking around."
"Well, we still have to avoid Alison, but things will definitely be easier without worrying about Jenna too." She agreed.
"I don't know about you, but I'm not really in the mood to watch a movie."
"Okay, what do you want to do?"
"If it wasn't raining I'd suggest going outside. Today doesn't feel like a day that should be spent cooped up inside. You know what I mean?"
"I know exactly what you mean." She said laughing. "But why should the rain stop us? Today is about enjoying your freedom. So why not do something wild and spontaneous?"
"Okay, you've convinced me, let's go." I laughed as I grabbed a jacket out of the closet for Spencer and one for myself.
We ran out into the backyard and tossed around an old Frisbee. Time flew by, literally. The clasp on Spencer's watch broke and it when flying through the air with the Frisbee. Eventually we had to go inside, but I didn't want to. I felt like a little kid that didn't want to leave the park. I always enjoyed time with Spencer, but I hadn't done anything like this since before my mom got sick. And it felt good.
It still hurt sometimes to think of my mom, but it was getting easier to remember the good times. And I had feeling Spencer played a big part in that. A lot of things in life are uncertain, but I do know one thing for sure. I got dealt a good hand the day I met Spencer. And if that was the only good hand I ever got, I was okay with that. Because Spencer, her laugh, her smile, her intelligence, her coffee fixation, that was all that mattered to me.
So do you think Toby decided to help Mona? And will Jason stick to his side of the deal? I had a lot of fun writing Jason and Toby in this chapter so I hope you all liked it. And thank you to everyone so so much for getting this story to over 100 reviews! You are so awesome and I am beyond excited by how much you're enjoying this story! See you on Friday for chapter 20 which goes back to Spencer's POV and is filled with Spoby!