"So you guys are still coming, right?" Hanna asked as we all sat down at our lunch table.
"Of course we are, Han." I answered for all of us.
"Well, I know you are. It's at your place after all." Hanna stated. "What about the rest of you?"
"We wouldn't miss it." Emily told her.
Tonight Hanna was throwing a birthday party for Caleb. She wanted to do something special so I offered her my family's lake house.
"Good because this is going to be huge." Hanna said excitedly. "And thanks again, Spence."
"No problem. Oh but one thing, remember that there are several guest bedrooms this time." I told her.
"Now does that rule apply to all of us or to just Hanna?" Mona asked.
"Eww, Mona, I'm trying eat. I do not want to picture you and Mike doing anything together, ugh, especially that." Aria stated.
"Yes, that rule applies to everyone." I laughed.
"You mean everyone but yourself and Aria." Hanna corrected.
"What do you mean everyone but us?" Aria questioned her.
"Well, you have a boyfriend that you can't be seen with at a party. And Spencer and Toby…" Hanna answered but trailed off.
"Let's not talk about that." Emily suggested. "Is this still a surprise party or did you end up telling Caleb?"
Emily was truly sweet. She knew that I didn't want to talk about Toby because of what happened. And even though I was fine with it now, not that she knew that, she was still looking out for me.
"I told Caleb. Apparently I have the subtly of a hand grenade and he caught on to me." Hanna told us and I shook my head as I laughed.
"What? I really did try to keep it a surprise." She said defensively. "Besides, Caleb is very good at persuasion."
"Again, I am eating. So please do not tell us how Caleb persuades you." Aria told her.
"Alright fine, no more talk about what we do with our boyfriends." Hanna surrendered. "But you didn't say anything about girlfriends. So, Emily, how are you and Maya?"
"We're good, Hanna, thanks for asking." Emily answered vaguely and I could tell she did it on purpose.
"It's good that you're good. Um anything else?" Hanna continued to ask.
"No, not really. We just hang out; go on dates, same as you." Emily told her and I waited to see how far this would go before Hanna lost it.
"Well, what did you do on Valentine's Day?"
"We went out together. And in fact we bumped into you and Caleb. Remember?" Emily pointed out.
"Oh yeah, we did. I wonder how I forgot that." Hanna commented and she sounded puzzled.
"Well, it's not surprising that you don't remember, considering what you and Caleb were in the middle of." Emily hinted suggestively.
"Since this is Hanna and Caleb we're talking about, that is definitely the reason she can't remember. I'm surprised you were able to interrupt them at all." Mona teased her.
"We're not that bad." Hanna told us.
"Um, yes, you are." Aria, Emily, and I stated at the same time.
"Well then, watch out tonight because this is Caleb's birthday we're celebrating after all. And part of being the birthday boy is getting lots and lots of kisses from your girlfriend." Hanna warned us and I could picture the smug grin on her face.
Later at the party...
"I am so, so sorry, Spencer!" Hanna apologized in a rush.
"Hanna, calm down. What's going on?" I asked.
I had just arrived at the lake house fifteen minutes ago because Hanna wanted the girls and me here early. Everybody else would be coming soon and Caleb was coming in about twenty minutes. Even though he knew about it Hanna still wanted to hide and yell 'surprise!'
"Toby's here. I know. I'm really sorry." She apologized again.
"Hanna, I…"
"But I invited him because he's Caleb's best friend and it was before you two…" She ignored me and kept explaining.
"Hanna! I know!" I shouted to get her attention.
"You know?" She asked in shock.
"Yes, he came here with me." I told her.
"He did? Why? Does this mean you're back together?" She questioned me immediately and I could hear the excitement.
"We sort of got back together on Monday. But…
"Monday? You've been together since Monday and you didn't tell us? Why the hell not? And wait a minute, Monday was Valentine's Day. Oh my gosh, this is right out of romance movie!" Hanna rambled.
"Hanna, we're not together, together. I'm just giving him a chance to make up for screwing up." I clarified.
"Oh please, you're back to being a sweet, adorable couple and you know it." She scoffed. "And don't forget that you got back together on the most romantic day of the year."
"This is why I didn't say anything right away." I sighed and shook my head. "And it wasn't exactly romantic. It was more annoying yet sweet."
Mona and I arrived at my place after leaving Toby's. We settled around the island in the kitchen and got down to studying. I opened my textbook and flipped through the pages when something fell out that wasn't one of my bookmarks.
"Mona, what is this?" I asked her.
I felt the piece of paper to try and figure out what it was. I knew it was a card of some kind and that it wasn't in there when I left school. But that was it.
"You, my dear Spencer, have received a valentine." Mona stated and I could just picture the mischievous smirk she had in my mind.
"A what? From who?"
"Like you don't know." She teased. "I bet Toby slipped it in your bag when you hugged him goodbye."
"You were watching!" I shouted.
"What? It's not my fault I could see you perfectly from my rearview mirror."
"What does it say?" I asked nervously.
"It says 'Spencer' nice and big on the front with a big, dark red, heart. And inside it says, 'Won't you be mine? I'm already yours. Love, Toby.' If that isn't sweet and adorable I don't know what is."
"Over-romantic idiot." I mumbled in annoyance. "Why would he give me this?"
"Because this is the sort of thing couples usually do on this particular date. Come on, Spencer, tell me that you don't think this is pretty sweet of him."
"But he knows we're not back together." I argued.
"Then what was the point of this afternoon? And you never told me what you think." She argued back.
"I wanted to spend a little time with him. Despite what happened I really do miss him. And it is pretty sweet actually that he remembered even though we're not a romantic couple anymore these days." I admitted.
"Then stop being stubborn and be with him. I don't think he's dumb enough to do what he did again if that's what you're worried about." She told me. "Look at it this way. There's a risk in everything, you know that. There's a risk in getting an eye operation but you're willing to take that chance because you want to see. Don't you care about Toby enough that you're willing to take that chance to be with him?"
I took a moment to let Mona's words sink in. It was pretty crazy how her metaphor was able to hit so close to home. Even though I was upset and angry about what happened I couldn't hold on to it forever. It wouldn't get me anyplace and the place I where I wanted to be was with Toby. I wanted and I was willing to take that chance."
"Can you drive me back to Toby's?" I asked her.
"I thought you'd never ask." Mona teased.
"That was quite the party last night, Han." I told her the next afternoon.
Hanna, Mona, and I were at the lake house again to straighten up. We had finished half an hour ago and now we were just hanging around talking.
"Tell me about it, I still feel hungover." She sighed.
"You're not the only one." Mona mumbled. "I wasn't coherent in any of my classes until after lunch."
"Why weren't you hungover, Spencer?" Hanna asked me.
"I have zero alcohol tolerance so I didn't drink." I told her.
"Not at all? You miss half the fun if you don't drink at least a little at a party." Hanna stated.
"Oh I don't think she missed out on anything. Spencer and Toby seemed to be enjoying themselves plenty without alcohol." Mona commented.
"Shut up!" I laughed.
"I still can't believe you knew they were back together and didn't tell anyone." Hanna told her and she tried but failed to sound mad about it.
"Well, Spencer didn't mention anything and I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. But I figured it was her story to tell. Plus I didn't know what happened after I brought her to the library. Just that Toby took her home." Mona explained.
"Yeah I guess those are good reasons." Hanna agreed. "I just wish I knew so I didn't freak out when I saw him. I was so scared I thought Spencer would kill me."
"That's why you were so nervous. I thought it was because you forgot something for the party." I teased her.
"I would never forget. I planned that party for weeks." Hanna stated.
"But you did forget to lock the closet door." Mona told her.
"What? There were a million places to sneak off to and a dozen bedrooms. I didn't think anyone would find us there. You should've knocked." Hanna told her.
"Yeah, because you always knock before you open a door." I stated sarcastically.
"Whatever." Hanna ignored me. "At least you found another spot before Aria saw you."
"Aria is cool with me and Mike dating. But I don't want to think about what she'd do if she saw that. She might be worse than Jason." Mona commented.
"Is such a thing possible?" Hanna laughed.
"I don't think so and I hope not." And I started to laugh too. "But when you think things can't possibly get worse, they do."
"How many times has Jason caught you and Toby?" Mona asked me.
"More times than I care to remember." I sighed.
"Man, am I glad I'm an only kid." Hanna said thankfully.
"Me too." Mona agreed with her.
"Yeah, enjoy that you two." I told them sarcastically. "Aria might think that a little brother is annoying. But personally I think big brothers are worse."
"I can see why you feel that way when you have Jason as your big brother. If I had a big brother, I'd want him to be like fifteen years older than me, married with kids, and too busy to bother me." Hanna commented.
"Unfortunately I'm not that lucky." I sighed overdramatically.
"Well, you have our sympathies." Mona laughed.
"Thanks, I appreciate your sincerity so much." I said sarcastically and then all three of us busted up laughing.
So how did you like seeing Spencer's reaction to finding Toby's Valentine? I figured it had been a while since we saw all the girls and Spona & Spanna so I did this fun chapter. The next one has a lot of Spoby to make up for the fight and a moment from the beginning of season 3. If you can guess it I'll send a sneak peek. More hints will be on my profile page. Good luck and Happy Memorial Day Weekend! :D