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

52. Spencer 🤓

Spencer watched Hanna leave. She still couldn't believe that Emily was trying to defend Toby. All four of them knew that Toby was a freak, but he wasn't the type to just go around rescuing damsels in distress. Aria had caught her though, she did know something that the rest of them didn't. Aria adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked.

"The gallery. I promised my mom," Aria said.

As Aria walked away, the new girl, Maya, approached them, holding two cups. She smiled amicably at Spencer before turning her attention to Emily. "Have you checked out the photo booth they have in there?" she asked.

"No. Show me the booth," Emily said.

Emily took one of the cups and headed off. Spencer watched them walk away, feeling as though she were being abandoned. She felt a prickling on the back of her neck, like someone was watching her. She started walking toward the cabin, somewhere more populated, and took a sip of her own cup. She glanced over at the dark walkway in front of the cabin and saw Toby emerging from behind a car.

The red and blue lights from the firetrucks bounced off of the bright yellow uniforms of the men trying to put out the fire in the Cavanaugh house. Spencer creeped out to try and find Alison, who had mysteriously vanished before they got back to Emily's house.

She saw her across the street, talking to Toby. She looked angry, which Spencer thought should've been the other way around. After all, it wasn't Ali's house they had almost burned to the ground. Spencer approached them, her arms pinned to her sides, like they always did when she got scared.

"And I'll make sure everybody knows!" Alison said hotly, pointing a finger menacingly at Toby.

Alison turned and walked toward Spencer, anger still burning in her eyes. "Didn't I tell you to stay over there and let me take care of this?" she scolded Spencer. She grabbed both of Spencer's hands and dragged her to the other side of the street. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing," Spencer answered. "Nothing."

Alison glanced at Spencer, a fear in her eyes that she had never seen before. Ali had never looked scared in all of the time that Spencer had known her. "What's going on?" Aria asked as they approached.

"What happened to Jenna?" Emily asked.

"It's done. We were never here," Alison said quickly, holding Aria's arm gently as she walked past them. "Let's go."

"But..." Hanna started quietly.

"But what?" Alison snapped.

Hanna hesitated and glanced at the ground, not making eye contact with any of them. "What if we said it was an accident?"

"No, we're not telling anybody anything," Alison said, looking at them all. She looked back at Hanna, whose guilty conscience was very obviously getting the better of her. "Damn it, Hanna. Don't make me sorry I ever included you in the first place. You know what? I have gone out of my way to bring your big wannabe butt into this group. You better keep your mouth shut, unless you want to go back to spending your weekends alone with Dance Dance Revolution and a jumbo bag of chips."

"Ali, stop it!" Aria said as Hanna's eyes filled with tears. "Just leave her alone."

All four of them had seen Alison's wrath firsthand, but she'd never talked to any of them like that before. Hanna was probably the only one of them who couldn't take anymore than what she had just dished out. Aria was brave to stand up for her, who knew what she might say about her. Spencer just kept her mouth shut.

Alison looked down. "I'm sorry, Hanna," she said finally, another first. "I didn't mean that. I'm just freaked out, guys. This is bad. Really bad. I never would've done it if I thought someone was in there." She fell silent for a moment. "I just—I don't know what's going to happen to us. Can we just go? Come on."

Alison led Aria, Emily, and Hanna back to Emily's house. Spencer paused for a moment, casting another fearful glance back toward the crime scene. A police car turned on its siren and started racing down the street. For just a moment, Spencer could see the broken, terrified face of Toby Cavanaugh.

Spencer shook her head clear of the memory. The guy in the walkway wasn't Toby, after all. Just some random guy gatecrashing. He smiled at Spencer before entering the cabin. Spencer decided it was time to go home. Somehow she felt there would be less drama there than at a crazy high school party. The last place she wanted to be was around anyone who might have been connected to Toby.