𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐓 | 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

twelve.

by the time sabrina reached her house, she was completely drenched. the rain had chose to pour down for a solid ten minutes before completely stopping just as sabrina had turned onto her road.
she pushed her front door shut behind her and took off her shoes. "you're late," her mother commented, making sabrina jump a little at her presence. the woman was leant against the sink, wine glass in hand. sabrina wondered how quickly she could get away from her. "it's raining," she pointed out. "you try riding a bike in the pouring rain and not get knocked down." her mother scoffed. "it's not raining now," she gestured to the skies that had since cleared up. "nothing got to do with spencer hastings?"

sabrina froze in the doorway, not realising her bag had slipped from her shoulder until it hit the ground and brought her back to reality. "your sister has made a lot of mistakes with people and how easily she trusts them," her mom continued. "i'm not going to let you make the same mistakes." sabrina moved from the doorway, walking as close to the stairs as humanly possible so she could get away as quickly as possible once this conversation was done. "why would i be with spencer hastings?"

"why were you with her at the grille?" her mother slammed the wine glass down on the counter. "i was with aubrey," sabrina corrected her. "she's in my classes, i can't exactly ignore her." the woman shook her head in disappointment but sabrina was already seething from her argument with hailey that it tipped her just a little further over the edge. "i know who you were with," her mom rolled her eyes. "your sister might think that everyone deserves a second chance but you will not be seeing that hastings girl past when you're in school."

"were you spying on me?" sabrina asked, the pieces slowly clicking into place. aubrey wouldn't tell her mother that sabrina had borderline admitted to having feelings for spencer, she was stupid to ever think aubrey would tell their mother anything. "don't answer that actually, i don't want to know." she turned to walk up the stairs before everything that had built up during the day suddenly came tearing through her. "no, you know what?" she turned, balancing her bag on the step behind her. "i'm sick of people trying to control who i can and can't talk to," she started. "i will make my own decisions on who is in my life and i don't care how you try and stop me, it won't work."

she stormed up the stairs before her mother could reply to her. her father hadn't yet returned from work but he was bound to agree with her. she dropped her bag on the ground and pulled her wet clothes off. she wasn't staying around long enough for both of them to sit her down and tell her she couldn't talk to one of her classmates. a part of her wondered whether she'd be so upset if it wasn't spencer but she wasn't getting into that at that moment. she shot off a text to aubrey, her sister texting her back almost instantly. she'd have to walk to aubrey's apartment but everything was bound to blow over quicker if her mother feared she would move in with her sister. she moved her school books into a dry bag along with her makeup bag and a change of clothes before descending back down the stairs.

"i'm going to stay at aubrey's tonight," sabrina pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder. "just tonight?" her mother had been chopping carrots, her knife halted mid-air once she had caught sight of sabrina with her overnight bag. "probably," sabrina shrugged. "i don't know." she moved towards the door before her mother could further question her, or forbid her for leaving. she opened the door, feeling momentarily bad. "i'll text you," she said finally before walking through the door. she kept her head firmly ahead because she knew if she caught sight of her mother standing watching her leave, she'd go right back. the woman had always had a kind of hold over sabrina when they were never really entirely close to begin with.

aubrey lived in the centre of the town in an apartment above the bakery. their parents had turned their noses up in disgust the first time they had seen it and complained that aubrey was 'letting the family down.' sabrina had liked the apartment, it was small and cozy. she had begged aubrey to let her move in with her when her parents had first dragged her out to rosewood but aubrey had insisted there was no room for her. but in the short span of a year, they had grown far closer and sabrina knew if she asked about moving in again, that aubrey would let her.