She's acting strange

Chapter Fourteen

Why?   She wonders why he even gave her a second chance, or a fourth, for that matter.  He could have turned her away at the door when she came to tutor him.  But he didn't.  He could have not told her about Jenna's messages, arguing that it was partially her fault she was blind in the first place. But he didn't. And that made her so grateful.  It made her smile, he made her happy.  She hadn't felt happiness in a long time.  No one had cared about her feelings in a long time, only the way she looked on the outside. 

She knows when her mother tells her about the sweater that she'll have to sever her ties to him and his family. She doesn't want to, but she doesn't want him to be dragged into her mess, as if she hadn't ruined his life enough yet.  She stops calling him, texting him, sneaking out to meet him, without giving him a reason. But he knows why.

She starts spending more time with Melissa when Ian is out of town. She hates icing Toby out almost as much as she hates talking to her sister. She almost feels as if he's icing her out too until he calls her. Her mother, of course, reminds her to keep her her distance. Spencer doesn't know if her family knows about her relationship with Toby, she only knows that they won't approve. 

God, why did her family have to be so controlling?  Acting as if the smallest imperfection was an illness, though her family was no stranger to either.  Spencer learned at a very early age that, in the house of Hastings, some things are better off not said.  Secrets and lies. Or the fundamentals of the Hastings family. The reason her family hadn't fallen apart, yet.

It only takes the slightest eye roll from Melissa for Spencer to storm out of the room, without even grabbing her bag, and leave the house, an hour before she usually does. She hurries down the path hoping to catch Toby alone.  She sees him and her face lights up.  He hasn't noticed her yet, she doesn't know if it's necessarily a bad thing.  Bent over on the side of the road, fixing his motorcycle, she watches the sunlight hit his jaw. The way his eyes tense when he's hard at work. She almost forgets why she wasn't supposed to talk to him.

Without hesitating, Spencer crosses the street, walking toward Toby.  "Hey," he lets off a small smile.  "How are you?" Even with all the bullshit being thrown at them, he is still genuinely happy to see her.

"Relieved that you're speaking to me.  I wasn't sure if you'd heard the cops' theory about me planting evidence--"

He cuts her off before she can finish her sentence.  "We shouldn't be talking about this."  Toby shrugged her off.  To her, the words were sharp, each one like a thorn digging into her skin.

"So you do think it was me?"  It's a question she already knows the answer to.  It wouldn't take a genius to tell that she was hurt.

He immediately turns to face her and flushes with guilt.  He hadn't meant to upset her.  Never in a million years would he trust the Rosewood Police Department more than Spencer Hastings.  "No.  Of course not.  But I can't say the same for my family."  Jenna had convinced their parents that she 'felt uncomfortable' being around Spencer, that along with the recent developments in Alison's case, gave them plenty of reasons to think it would be best for Toby to keep away from her. 

Noticing the cop car pulling up to the curb, he gets up.  "Spencer, you should go home, those guys have a way of adding two and two and coming up with five."  She sighs.  "I'll stop by your place later."

"Um, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"Why not? Because your parents don't want you near me?"  He frowns.  "Makes sense."

Her eyes light up.  "How 'bout the festival?  Maybe we could meet up behind a tent, or the funhouse."  She lets out a small laugh. 

The door creaks open and Jenna stands in its frame.  Spencer doesn't notice, "Seven o'clock?"

"Toby. I need you to drive me to school.  I have a makeup test." Jenna says, sending the pair back into reality.

"Okay, just let me get cleaned up." 

Jenna recedes back into the dark hallway of the house.

Spencer holds up seven fingers.  They share a smile and she returns to the manor, completely aware of the insubordination she was committing and loving every second of it, and every second she spent with him.