Pretty Little Liars: The Beginning {Episodes 1-10} (REVISED)

50. Spencer 🤓

Spencer sat alone at the kitchen island, staring intently at the Russian History assignment that was due the next day. She had absolutely no idea where to start. Normally she had no problem with assignments like this, but no words were forming in her mind. All she could hear in her brain was the sound of the trees rustling in the wind outside. With everything that had been going on with A and with Alison, she just couldn't focus on the task at hand.

Melissa and Mrs Hastings had gone out to the country club to practice for an upcoming tournament, and most of Spencer's peers were at the Kahn's cabin for his semi-annual party-slash-alcohol binge. She'd had half a mind to just give up on this assignment and go to the party, but Wren's words had rung true with her. If she did well on this assignment, all of her transgressions would be forgotten.

She was regretting waiting so long though. The words in her textbook seemed foreign to her, and the title of her paper was looking more and more menacing by the second. She turned away from her textbook and back at the computer screen, attempting to form an introduction paragraph in her mind. She didn't have time to construct a rough draft, so she was just going to have to wing it. The cursor blinked at her expectantly.

For the first time in sixteen years, Spencer felt completely stuck. She couldn't start an essay. She wasn't even a month into the school year yet, and her brain was already fried. Maybe Aria was right, how many AP classes could she take at once without shutting down completely? Her frustration built up like a balloon inside her. She didn't need any more stress in her life after everything that had already happened in the past three weeks.

She debated asking her teacher, Mr Sheldrake, for an extension. She'd never needed one before, always delivering top tier essays perfectly on time, sometimes even early. Surely, he wouldn't mind giving her a few extra days to get it together. She glanced around the kitchen and noticed that Melissa's laptop was sitting a few inches away from her.

An idea popped into Spencer's head. She'd never cheated, and she publicly voiced her opinions on people who did. She'd never needed to though, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Melissa had taken Sheldrake's class a few years before, maybe she still had the similar assignment.

She turned the laptop toward herself and powered it on. Her heart raced with exhilaration. This wasn't in character for her at all, but Spencer supposed there was a first time for everything. There was no password on the computer, which Spencer was more than grateful for. Melissa's smiling face appeared on the screen with two of her friends from college. Spencer found a folder titled "Old School Papers" and clicked on it. Eight different documents appeared on the screen. Spencer almost had to laugh; of course, Melissa would keep her top scoring essays on hand. She needed it to boost her ego.

Spencer clicked on the one titled "Seeds of a Revolution". It was the closest one to the title she had already. Her sister had been gone for a couple hours already, so she was sure she didn't have time to go through every single essay. As Spencer read the opening lines of the essay, she knew she had struck gold. The words that she was reading still somehow didn't make any sense to Spencer, but she knew that Mr Sheldrake would take it. All she needed was a little bit of luck that he didn't recognise it from another student.

Spencer picked up a flash drive off the surface of the kitchen island and plugged it into Melissa's computer. Once it had processed the drive, she downloaded it. As soon as it was finished, Spencer moved the drive over and uploaded it to her own computer. She opened the document and quickly changed the name and date on the essay. It was done. Spencer took a deep breath before opening her email and composing a message to her teacher.

Spencer hovered over the send button for a second. This would solve at least one of her problems for the time being. Before she could press send, she heard voices at the back door. In a panic, she tilted her laptop screen down so that no one would see what she was working on and moved Melissa's back into place.

Mrs Hastings and Melissa came through the back door almost as soon as Spencer sat back down at her seat. "Hey!" she said, her voice a few octaves higher than usual. "Hi, how was the club?"

"Chilly," her mother responded shortly. Her hair was still tied up in a ponytail, and she still had her workout clothes on. "Nobody who works there can figure out a thermostat." She placed her phone, keys, and an almost empty bottle of water on the island as Melissa made her way into the kitchen. "Did you eat?"

"Yeah, I made some pasta if you're hungry," Spencer said.

"No, thanks," Melissa spat. "I don't need to be depressed and fat."

"Good point," Mrs Hastings said as she rubbed her stomach. "I'll make a salad. Let me get out of these clothes."

Mrs Hastings made her way upstairs, leaving the two sisters in the kitchen alone. Melissa stood menacingly at the other end of the island, staring Spencer down. "Wren called," she said. "He told me you went into the city yesterday to meet him." Spencer looked at her sister, her eyes wide. Melissa hadn't said so many words to her in days. "It was strange. At first, I wasn't sure why he was telling me this, but then I realised he's still trying to cover his tracks. And yours. Like I'm supposed to believe you took a train down there to clear your name? You two deserve each other. I thought I was pathetic."

Melissa scoffed and stormed out of the kitchen. Spencer glared after her and reopened her laptop the minute she was out of sight. With one final look toward Melissa, Spencer sent the email. Melissa would never know that she donated a top-scoring paper to her, and that was perfectly okay with Spencer.