CHAPTER 14

POVS ELIZABETH

It wasn't until half an hour later that I was able to get up from the ground. The street where Stephanie had attacked me was quite lonely and dark, so no one had seen her hit me, nor had they seen me lying on the ground afterwards. With as much energy as I could muster, I slowly headed home, hoping my grandmother wouldn't see me coming.

The next day my alarm went off in the morning, but I couldn't get out of bed. Everything hurt and I felt like my face wouldn't be very nice to look at for at least a week. Last night I hadn't even recovered from how exhausted I was when I got to my room.

I grab the computer that I have near my bed, on the nightstand, and see if I can write to my teachers to miss class today. I couldn't do anything with my cell phone, since it was almost useless.

When I check my email, I see that the school has sent a message saying that classes remaining this week will be suspended and will resume next week, due to the incident that occurred on the night of the dance.

Worried that something had happened to the girls, I go on social media and see that many people are commenting on an accident that Emily had because of Toby and that now they don't know where he is. Rosewood is a small town, so I wasn't surprised everyone had already found out.

I freeze when I find out that Emily had been hurt last night and I start to get ready, even though I don't feel well at all. I had to make sure the girls were okay and know what really happened.

When I look in the mirror, I almost scare myself. My lip and right eye were super swollen. Normally I saw little through that eye. This had no option to be covered with makeup and now I had no time to heal any wounds. So without looking much more at the rest of the body to see the rest of the wounds, I put on some sweatpants and a hoodie with which I could cover my face a little. I also wear sunglasses.

I carefully make sure my grandmother is not around and I leave the house as quietly as I can. I cover up as much as I can as I walk to Emily's house. Everything hurts and I'm not in the mood for questions.

When I arrive at Emily's house I see how her mother is busy talking to the police on one side of the garden and I take the opportunity to enter without them seeing me, since the door is open.

"If Toby killed Alison and wanted to do the same to me, why am I talking to you and he didn't kill me?" I hear Emily say to Aria and Spencer before entering the room. I try not to give it importance now and go to what's important once I get in.

''Emily! are you OK? I came as soon as I found out that something had happened to you,'' I tell Emily as soon as I enter.

''Liz, I'm fine now, don't worry. It seems that Toby is not exactly what we thought he was,'' she tells me something sad.

Before Emily can say anything else, Spencer walks over to me. ''So, you could see messages, right? We've been worried all night that something had happened to you too and you weren't picking up the calls,'' Spencer tells me angrily as she moves to face me, face to face.

''Why are you wearing the hoodie and sunglasses? And what's wrong with your lip?'' Spencer asks now worried when she sees me up close and slowly removes my glasses.

When she takes my glasses off, I see her fury against me quickly disappear. "Who did this to you? Was it yesterday? Is that why you didn't come to the dance at the end? Was it after our fight?" she asks me guiltily.

"It's nothing. I just fell," I say, not wanting them to worry as I move a little further away from them.

"It doesn't look like anything, Elizabeth. You're limping," Aria says. She and Emily looked at each other worried.

"Who did it to you? It couldn't have been your grandmother, right? I'm going to go right now and tell her a few things. I'm not going to let you continue living with her," Spencer says, very angry, about to walk out the door. I stop her before she does something we'll regret.

"Wait, Spencer. She hasn't been my grandmother. Calm down," I say as I hold on to Emily's bed a little. I was starting to feel a little sick.

"Hey, sit here next to me, Liz. You shouldn't have come here. You can't barely stand up," Emily tells me softly.

"I wanted to know if you were okay. My phone broke and I couldn't communicate with you," I tell them nervously. Spencer seems to try to relax seeing that I'm shaking a little and walks over to me.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I know I'm very stubborn and I shouldn't have told you to get out of the car. I'm so sorry," Spencer apologizes to me. She looked quite affected.

"Don't worry, Spence. I should have told you too that I wanted to give Toby a chance. In the end it seems that you were right anyway. I was innocent," I say, a little embarrassed. I still hadn't assimilated what had happened with Toby and I didn't even know everything.

"Don't say that, Liz. I never should have told you that last night. Now, can you tell us who did this to you last night?" Spencer tells me, trying to be soft but serious.

"It was… it was Stephanie with the help of two more friends. I ran into her when she was going to the dance, and she said I was going to regret making a fool of her. I couldn't run away, because her two friends grabbed me and broke my phone and when it was over I stayed for a while until I was able to move and get home without my grandmother seeing me," I tell them nervously, looking at my hands.

When I was able to look at them, they were quiet and seemed quite angry with Stephanie.

"This time I'm not going to let her come out victorious. Where does she live?!" Spencer asks, very angry. Aria follows her on her way to the door just as pissed.

"Girls, stop," Emily yells at Spencer and Aria, while pointing her head at me, "I'm the first one who wants to go after Stephanie right now and we're not going to let this go unpunished, but today is not the day to do nothing and the best thing would be to check on Liz. I don't know if she would have to go to the hospital," says Emily.

"No!", I say a little too loudly, "sorry, I don't like hospitals and I don't want my grandmother to find out," I tell them tiredly. I lean my head back against the headboard of Emily's bed a little and try to relax.

''I didn't know there were so many cops in Rosewood. I came back to leave the papers and they were in the office talking to the psychiatrist. They know someone stole it,'' Hanna says stressed as she runs into Emily's room. ''What's happening? Why is the atmosphere so tense?'' Hanna asks, noticing that no one had answered her.

''Girls?'' She asks again while the others don't know what to say and just look at me. I try to hide my face a little.

"Well, they're just a little stressed because something happened to me last night and they're not going to let it go," I say nervously, seeing that the others are still looking at me.

''Of course, Stephanie is not going to get her way. We may not do anything today, but on Monday I'm going to have more than words with her,'' Spencer says, still seething with anger.

''What? What has Stephanie done to you? Is that why you didn't come to the dance last night?'' Hanna says indignantly now as she approaches me. "Shit, she hit you," she says when she sees my face up close. "That girl doesn't know what awaits her on Monday," says Hanna, very grumpy.

"Well, while you argue about what to do with the psychiatrist's papers, I think I'm going to take Elizabeth to my house for a moment to heal her wounds and see that she doesn't need to go to the hospital. Besides, how your mother sees her, she's going to ask a lot of questions and now is not the time," Spencer tells the others who nod in agreement. I try to protest, but she looks at me seriously and I stay silent.

"Don't protest that you can barely get up, Elizabeth. Let me help you," Spencer says as she grabs my arm and gently helps me up.

"Put your sunglasses back on. Someone might see your eyes," Hanna gently advises me as she returns the sunglasses that I had left on the side of the bed.

After the others warn Spencer to call them later to check on me, we sneak down the stairs trying not to let anyone notice our presence. Mrs. Fields seems busy still talking to the cops and luckily, she doesn't notice us leaving.

We got into Spencer's car but didn't talk much until we got to his house. The atmosphere between us is still a little tense and I'm too tired to talk right now.

"Let's go to the barn. I've already been able to put all my things there and I've been staying there since last night," Spencer tells me, smiling, "Go down carefully," she scolds me when she sees me grimacing trying to get out of the car quickly.

"Thank you, Spence," I say once I sit on the couch as we enter the barn.

"You don't have to thank me, Liz. This is my fault. I shouldn't have let you go alone at night yesterday. Especially knowing that you came to the dance for us. I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry," Spencer tells me sadly.

"Don't blame yourself, please. We have already clarified that we were stupid to react like that yesterday, it is true that you were very stubborn, but that is because you care about me, and I can't get angry with you for that. Let's just try to take our anger better," I tell her, trying to smile at her, but remaining in a grimace because my lip hurts a lot.

"You better not try to smile, I think your lip has opened a little again," she tells me, laughing a little. The atmosphere had become comfortable again. I sigh a little relief.

"Wait here, I'm going to bring some things to heal your wounds, okay?" Spencer asks me, but without really looking for a negative answer.

"Okay," I say as I settle a little on the couch. I didn't know if I would stay awake for long if Spencer was late.

About 10 minutes later I feel someone trying to wake me up. "Let me sleep a little more," I say, still a little disoriented.

"Liz, come on, then you can get some sleep if I see that you don't have anything serious. It took me a little longer, because I was looking for things in the house and I didn't remember where they were," Spencer whispers to me without wanting to bother me too much.

She starts to heal my lip and eye as she can. "It seems that the swelling in your eye will go down in a few days, do you see it very badly? The best thing would be to go to the doctor, Liz," she tells me worriedly.

"I see well, it's just that since my eyelid is swollen, it's a little harder for me, but it's okay, Spence," I tell her, trying to convince her, because I don't want to go to the doctor.

"Okay, but let's see what other injuries you have. I still don't rule out taking you to the doctor. Take off your shirt and pants please," she tells me seriously.

"Is it so necessary?" she asked her, unsure.

"Yes, Elizabeth. I have seen that you are limping and putting your hand on your stomach. Otherwise, we will have to go to the hospital. Trust me," Spencer tells me, looking at me lovingly.

"Can you help me? Everything hurts a little," I say, laughing nervously. She nods her head laughing with me.

"God, Elizabeth, are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor?" she says worriedly once she sees the bruises forming around my stomach and knee.

"Yeah, don't worry, I know what a broken bone feels like and that's not it," I say really seriously. I knew it looked ugly, but it didn't hurt enough that it was broken, just sore for a week or so for sure.

After this I see how she stares at the scars I have from the accident. There aren't many of them, but they are visible enough, which is why I was nervous about taking off my clothes in front of someone.

''Are those scars from the accident...?'' Spencer tries to ask me.

''Yes, those are from the car accident…'' I say with a sigh.

''Sorry, it's just that sometimes I forget what you went through. I wish our families had lived closer and we could have found out sooner to be there for you,'' Spencer tells me sadly.

''No problem. I thank you very much for trying to support me now. That's what matters,'' I tell her honestly. The Hastings family were the only ones who really cared at all about me now and I would never want them to feel guilty for not being there sooner.

Spencer smiles at me and finishes treating an open wound on my knee a little and tells me that she is going to go get some ice from the kitchen.

''Wait, first, let's take you to my bed. I'm sure you need to sleep for a while and you'll be more comfortable there and I'll be able to put ice packs on you better,'' Spencer tells me as she helps me get up and head towards the room in the barn. She gently tucks me under the covers and places the ice rags in the places that might help me the most.

''Do you want to stay the night here for the rest of the week? I don't care and this way you won't have to avoid your grandmother all the time so that she doesn't see your face,'' she asks me after thinking for a moment.

''Yes, I would appreciate it very much,'' I say with a brief smile as I close my eyes. It won't take me long to fall asleep for sure.

''Take advantage of it to sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours so you can eat something, I'm sure you haven't eaten anything this morning. Rest,'' Spencer whispers as she leaves the room, giving me a kiss on the forehead first before leaving.

The rest of the week I continue to sleep over at Spencer's barn. I feel better, still a little sore, but I limp a little less and the swelling in my eye has gone down considerably. Tomorrow to go to school I will be able to put on a little eye makeup and I doubt that almost anyone will notice.

It's worth saying that Spencer has barely let me get out of bed these days. She said that I had to rest, and she had taken it very seriously.

"I'm going to go with you, Spencer," I tell her after she has told me five times that I should stay and rest a little longer.

"Elizabeth, you don't need to come. Hanna is simply very nervous about continuing to have the papers and she wants to get rid of them," Spencer tells me irritated. Hanna had been bothering her all morning about it and she was at her breaking point.

"Spencer, I can move better now, and I would like to get out a little. I've been stuck here for almost 4 days. I need some air and I want to go with you," I tell her, tired of discussing the topic as well.

"Okay, but it doesn't occur to you to try too hard. Your knee still needs rest and tomorrow you're going to have to go to school, so you won't be able to rest the same way you do these days," Spencer tells me, finally giving up.

"Perfect!" I say excitedly as I get up from the couch and follow her outside where Hanna and Aria are waiting for us with the car.

"What took you so long, Spencer?" Hanna asks grumpily. "Oh, Liz, I didn't know you were coming too. I thought you were going to stay and rest," she adds when she sees me, but speaking in a more affectionate way than to Spencer. Today Hanna and Spencer were going to end up pulling each other's hair.

"That's why it took me longer. Liz said she needed air, even though I told her that she should rest a little longer," Spencer says, still stubborn. I roll my eyes, tired of her overprotection.

"Come on, Spencer, it's normal that she wants to go out a little. You've had her forced to rest because of her knee since Thursday," says Aria, a little amused by our little 'fight'. Hanna, despite still being stressed, also laughs a little.

After a brief moment in which the atmosphere had become more relaxed, this one became tense again, as soon as Hanna remembered that they had to go get rid of the papers.

"Hanna. But what the hell is wrong with you?" Spencer asks when she sees how fast she is driving. She gives me a slightly worried look and when she sees that I'm shaking a little, she shakes my hand trying to relax me.

"Stop. Stop the car," Aria tells her once we have reached a forest path. "Hanna, Spencer is right, can't you burn the report here?" She asks Aria after Spencer had been complaining the entire time in the car that she didn't need to go to the river to get rid of the papers.

"I don't think it's a good idea, throw them in the river. Ah and drive slower next time!" Spencer says irritably as she looks at me checking to see if I'm okay.

"You stay here," Aria tells us when she goes to follow Hanna who has run towards the path that leads to the river.

"Okayyy" Spencer says, sighing. We stood outside the car waiting. "Are you okay?" she asks me worried.

"Yes, but if she does it again, I may not survive," I say with a bit of humor, but aware that I had been on the verge of having a panic attack in the car. She laughs a little with me.

"So why am I going to stay here and the two of them go to the river?" Spencer says, suddenly becoming grumpy again. "Stay here, Liz. It's best if you don't put any more strain on your knee, okay?" she adds just before leaving. Without being able to protest about it, I stay bored leaning against the car.

A few minutes later I hear Emily calling me on the phone Spencer had lent me while mine was broken.

"Emily? What's going on?" I ask her when I notice she's a little agitated.

"Liz, tell the others not to throw away the papers. It is important. I've called them, but they don't pick it up," says Emily nervously.

"Right now, they are trying to get rid of them in the river. I'm going to go look for them, I hope I can stop them," I tell her as I say goodbye and go look for the others.

I'm going as fast as I can, but my knee doesn't let me do much. When I get to where they are they have already thrown the papers into the river. I had arrived too late.

The next day, we started classes again, after so many days of rest due to what happened at the dance. It was a calm day. In the morning, I said goodbye to Spencer early once we arrived at school, because I wanted to review some things before the teacher arrived.

The day became less peaceful as I left my last class before break to go to the dining room. It had taken me a little longer to get out, because I wanted to finish some things and prevent people from seeing the slight limp I still had. The hallway already seemed empty until I see how a little further away from me the girls are cornering someone near the lockers. That person was Stephanie.

"If you touch even one hair again, you're going to face the full fury of the Hastings family! My parents are the best lawyers in this state, so think better before doing anything new!" Spencer yells at her with a lot of anger while grabbing her by the collar of his shirt.

"Spencer, stop!" I say as I approach them. Neither girl seems to have any intention of letting the topic go.

"No, Liz. She should know that what she has done is not right and she should not dare try it again," Spencer tells me, still giving Stephanie a deadly look.

Stephanie, contrary to her attitude on the night of the dance, seems very scared. They weren't as brave as she wanted people to believe. When Spencer loosens her grip on her shirt a little, she takes advantage of it to escape from there.

"Just know that I'm going to make sure that no boy at school talks to you again! You've messed with the wrong person! You're done," Hanna tells her, also angry.

"I told you girls that you didn't need to tell her anything!" I tell them, worried that everything will end up worse later.

"Liz we weren't going to just let her walk free after what she did to you. Now she knows who she shouldn't mess with and if she does something to you again, I won't keep quiet. I'll tell my parents. You don't have to be suffering for her," Spencer tells me very seriously. Even though I didn't want them to get in trouble for me, I don't hesitate to smile when I hear her defend me against her.

"Thank you so much for trying to defend me, girls," I say a little excitedly. Spencer approaches me and gives me a soft hug, while the others smile at me.

I spent the rest of the day after school in Spencer's barn, I couldn't go to soccer practice this week because of my knee and I had already mentioned it to my coach. I also didn't want to stop by my grandmother's house until tomorrow.

I needed one more day of peace, although when I returned, I was going to continue avoiding her as much as I could.

Although my peace of mind didn't last long that afternoon, because Spencer called me saying that he would pick me up to go to Emily's house. Apparently, Emily had seen how the police had brought Toby's destroyed motorcycle to her parents and a crying Jenna. She seemed to believe that Toby had died.

I had a hard time absorbing everything that had happened with Toby last week, and this only made everything worse. I had begun to see Toby as a good friend, and I still couldn't believe that he had done something so bad. I didn't want to think that he was dead. I needed him to explain to me himself what had happened.

Now we are at Emily's house, sitting in her window, trying to understand what Emily had told us.

"Is Toby dead?" Hanna asks. Every time I heard that word and Toby's name next to it, it gave me chills.

"I haven't dared to ask. I saw Jenna crying and that the motorcycle… was totally… destroyed," Emily whispers sadly.

"Well, I'm not going to cry for him, and neither are you," Spencer says seriously. I give her a very offended look.

"Spencer, she can cry for whatever she wants," Hanna criticizes. Spencer looks at me and notices that I'm a little down and she speaks again regretfully.

"It's true. Sorry, you can feel as you want. I haven't been very sensitive," Spencer apologizes as she shakes my hand as a sign that she regrets what she has said.

Before anyone says anything else, Emily's cell phone rings. When she reads the message out loud, we all freeze. The message said:

"Thank you for getting Toby out of the way.A".

Hii, here is one more chapter this week. I was inspired and had time, so I was able to upload it in advance. A gift for having taken longer to update the other time hahahaha

I hope you liked this chapter and thank you very much for all the comments. I appreciate them very much and these are very welcome.

What did you think of the episode? Do you think Stephanie will finally leave Liz alone? Did you like how the girls reacted?

In the next chapter Liz's love interest will finally appear in my story...

I hope you have a good week. Kisses :)