Here I am, once again, with a new chapter.
Chapter 10: Can You Keep a Secret?
Wren showing up at the Ghost Train party surprised Spencer more than it should have. She knew it was a nice gesture from him to make their relationship work. They shared a slow dance at the party then sat at a table with the girls for a half hour. The way the girls behaved toward Wren compared to how they treated Toby did not go unnoticed by Spencer. Wren didn't make any effort to get to know Spencer's friends. He often bragged about his achievements and his interests that were foreign to others.
When Toby met her friends, he was gracious, patient, and interested in getting to know them. He would listen to them talk about themselves and ask questions. For a good part of the evening, Toby fell into a pleasant conversation with Emily about music and books they liked to read. They shared numbers and planned to meet up at the Brew to swap mixed CDs they had promised to make for each other. Toby didn't have much interaction with Aria or Hanna, but the little time they did spend with him, the girls found him interesting enough to like.
Wren went home with Spencer that night. They hooked up like they did most nights when Wren would stay over, which was about once every two weeks. It was fine, but for some reason, Spencer could not stop comparing Wren to Toby. As usual, the sex was all about Wren's needs. Spencer didn't finish, but she noted how Wren tried to be sweeter with her. Relationships aren't all about sex, Spencer told herself as stood in the shower using her fingers to finish herself. She didn't come as hard as she had with Toby, but it was better than anything Wren could do.
The next morning, the pair shared a pot of coffee over an omelet breakfast Wren had made. He kissed Spencer on the cheek then left for a work meeting. Spencer got ready to meet her friends for shopping and lunch.
"Last night was so fun," Aria said.
The girls sat around a table at the Apple Rose Grill. They each ordered a light meal with sodas.
"I'm surprised I'm not hungover," Alison said.
"Yeah, you drank three martini's last night," said Emily.
"Speak for yourself," Hanna said.
Hanna showed up for lunch wearing sunglasses, sweats, and a beanie. Aria's eyes were a little red too. She hadn't drunk as much as everyone else, but that didn't really matter since Aria was a lot smaller than her friends. Her drink tolerance was low. She still looked better than Hanna though.
"How did Caleb get you home?" Aria asked.
"Very carefully," she answered. "He had to carry me part of the way, which ended badly because I threw up all down his backside. Then, when we got home, he threw up."
The girls made an ewe expression.
Hanna smiled to herself and said, "he still loves me though."
The girls shared a laugh. Emily's phone lit up with a text message. Alison leaned forward.
"Is that your mom?"
"No." Emily smiled and wrote a quick text back. "It's from Toby."
"Toby?" Hanna's eyes widened.
Spencer sat up straight. Her face went warm just by hearing his name.
"Why is Toby texting you?" Spencer asked.
"We made plans to meet at the Brew today," said Emily. "Don't you remember?"
"Oh, right." Spencer leaned back in her chair. Alison studied Spencer very closely before saying to Emily…
"Don't forget about tonight."
"I know," Emily smiled at her. "I'll be there."
Alison gave Emily a peck on the lips and said, "Have fun."
"Thanks." Emily kissed her back then excused herself from the table. Spencer watched Emily go wishing that she could also go to see Toby. She held herself down. Hanna stood up next.
"Actually, I should get going too. I'm meeting my mom at three to help plan my grandma's birthday party."
Aria got up with her and said, "I have to go too."
As planned, Aria and Hanna both set down three dollars on the table to contribute to the tip. Spencer waved to her friends as they gathered their coats and left the restaurant. As soon as the girls left, Alison trained her eyes onto Spencer. Spencer stirred the ice in her glass trying to avoid Alison's powerful gaze.
"So…" Alison said.
Spencer looked up and shrugged. "So."
"You appeared to have a very good time last night."
"I did. It was fun hanging out with all of you."
"I bet it was fun for you to hang with Toby."
Spencer nodded. "It was nice seeing him there."
Alison's lips turned into her usual devious smile as her eyes glossed over with that Gotcha look.
"I'm just going to skip the baby steps," said Alison. "I saw you dance with him. Actually, I saw the way you danced with him."
Spencer looked back at her drink.
Alison continued, "you want to tell me what's going on there?"
Spencer shrugged, not looking at her. "It was just a dance. He's a friend. We're friends."
"I don't grind on any of my friends."
"Except for Emily," Spencer said, looking up to meet her friend's eyes in a challenging gaze.
"There's no need to get on defense, Spencer. If there is something going on or if something did happen with Toby, you can tell me. I can keep a secret."
"Can you?" Spencer asked.
Alison nodded, leaning forward, "Come on, Spence, give me all the dirty details."
The words hesitated on Spencer's lips. "The truth is… I did get a little carried away with Toby at that party. I was more drunk than I expected to be, okay. We danced together. You saw us. That's all that we did."
"Oh, now, that is a lie!" Alison laughed loudly and sat back in her chair. "That's all we did. Spencer, you're usually a much better liar than that. That's a sentence you say to your parents. Yes, I danced with my date at prom, mom. I promise that's all we did!"
Spencer looked back at her drink. Alison softened a bit. She picked a different approach.
"Look, what do you think will happen if you tell me? That I will judge you. Before I dated Emily, remember, I slept with half the boys in this town. I'm the person you can talk to about your not so proud moments."
"I didn't sleep with Toby," Spencer whispered. She took a deep breath then looked up. "But I did fool around with him."
"Okay," Alison nodded. "What does that entail? Did you kiss him? Did you make out with him?"
Spencer looked down again. "Technically no."
Alison's eyes went wide with shook. A hand went up to cover her gaping mouth.
"Oh my god," Alison started at a whispered. Then, exclaimed, "Oh my god! So, when you say you fooled around, you really mean, fooled around."
"Shush," Spencer leaned forward. "There's people around."
Alison lowered her voice to a whisper. "So, like, what did you do? Did he… did he go down there." Alison gestured with her finger.
Spencer nodded, "he did. He um… he went down on me."
"Oh, wow! I can't believe you let him eat you out. How and when did this happen?"
Spencer felt more relaxed talking about this, "it happened a few weeks ago. Toby had been working for us for a month at that point. Wren and I had a nasty fight."
"I remember you telling us about the fight with Wren," said Alison. "You just left out the most important part of what happened that night."
"Yeah, it wasn't my proudest moment," Spencer admitted. "Wren came over the next day ready to make up."
"Well, I don't know if you can say it wasn't your proudest moment," Alison said. "Tell me this, how was Toby? Was he any good?"
Spencer shrugged. "He was fine." She answered in a high-pitched voice. Her eyes lit up with passion and her lips were doing something funny. She was smiling.
Alison's devious smile returned. "Oh my. He's better than Wren, isn't he."
Spencer couldn't even hide it. Spencer finally let it out.
"Toby pushed me to an orgasm." Spencer's smile turned to a wide grin. "It was so fucking amazing. I had sex with Wren five times before then. I was beginning to think my body wasn't even capable of it."
"No," Alison corrected her. "Wren's just not capable of giving you one."
"Toby knew his stuff. We hadn't even known each other for that long, but it was like…like he knew my body. He knew what would work for me, what didn't, and what I could handle. It was really, really good. All we did was oral stuff, but it was incredible."
"You performed on him!" Alison exclaimed.
Spencer shyly smiled, "Yes. I was nowhere near as good at pleasing him as he was with me, but I tried it." She shrugged, "I'd do it again."
Spencer sat back in her chair reeling in satisfaction. Ever since her moment with Toby, she wanted nothing more than to brag about it with her friends. Just like how her friends would brag about their sexual encounters. She never understood. She never got it. Now, she does. She hadn't said anything to her friends before because she didn't want word to get back to Wren about it. Spencer's smile faded.
"Ali," Spencer swallowed. "Can you keep this a secret?"
Alison leaned forward, "of course."
"No, I mean it." She looked at Alison. "Something's been different with Wren lately. It seems like he's trying more, but something was off that night on the train. He was trying too hard. I'm worried he might've seen me dancing with Toby and picked something up."
"Did he say he saw you with Toby?"
"No, but he showed up a few minutes after the dance was over."
"I think he would've confronted you if he saw you," said Alison. "I think you're okay."
Spencer leaned back with a heavy sigh. Alison could sense that there was something else her friend wanted to confess.
"Do you have feelings for Toby?"
Spencer's head did not move, but her eyes darted around trying to search for an answer. She settled her breath and shrugged.
"I don't know," she whispered softly. "I mean, I don't know if I just look to Toby for a sexual escape or if it's something more. If it's the first option that's not really fair to him, or to Wren."
"Well," Alison considered her next choice of words. "There's no reason why a girl can't have a little fun."
Spencer gave her a cryptic look. "What are you suggesting?"
Once again, Alison's devious smile appeared as she arched her brow to give Spencer a knowing look.
This concludes the end of this chapter. What is Alison suggesting? More fun for Spencer? Does Wren have a clue about what's been going on between Toby and Spencer? Leave your thoughts and theories to these questions in the reviews. Until next time. -Mellie