Chapter 251: Spencer's POV
I heard the door slam shut and I rushed to the living room. Surely, it must have been the wind. But then, I glanced at my living room table. My keys were gone!
I ran out the front door and looked to see my car driving in the distance. Mom and Dad followed me out the door.
"Who is that?" Mom asked.
"It's Toby," I said and bent down so that I was sitting on the wet porch.
"What?" Dad asked. "Where is he going in this weather?"
"Um, I think he said something about buying something for something," I said vaguely. "He'll come back."
Dad raised an eyebrow and pulled me back on my feet. "Come on, let's have dinner."
Why would Toby run off on me? Would I ever get my car back?
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At midnight, it finally came. A text from Toby. Mom and Dad were long asleep, but my tears kept me awake. I opened Toby's text and blinked at the length of it. Damn, I didn't even want to imagine how long it took him to type this story.
"Spencer," it began. "First of all, please don't reply to this message. Don't call me ever again. Don't text me ever again. Don't contact me ever again. You're not worth it and I hate to admit that. You used to be worth it, but now you're just a lying bitch. You were right when you said you were only going to hurt me. I should have listened to you. I can't believe you promised me you would tell your parents and then went right behind my back and denied everything to them. I can't believe your parents still dictate your life. I thought we were way past that. You lied to me. Yeah, I heard everything. Marry some pompous ass from Stanford. You guys will be perfect together: both uptight assholes."
I was crying by now, but I wasn't even halfway done reading. I should have told Mom and Dad and I can't believe Toby heard the whole conversation.
"You never fought for me the way I fought for you. I came all the fucking way here. Do you even know how much money and time I sacrificed just to see the girl I love? I'm not a rich, spoiled brat like you. I actually make every penny I have and don't have lawyer parents to support me my whole life. Anway, you promise to tell your parents and then dump me on the spot. So were you just planning on using me? Like you did before? Am I just some toy in your life? I'm not going to be some secret that you're ashamed of. I'm so past that. We're adults now. I've become much more mature, but you're still the same selfish, arrogant bitch you were before we started dating. I don't regret anything we've done. It's been fun, but your parents are right. Our relationship is not long term and you made sure of that tonight. You're a bitch, Spencer. A fucking bitch. I want to say I hate you, but I can never hate you. I just never can. So it's over for good. I'm never going to come all the way to California again and please don't come to Rosewood. Even if you visit, don't ever say hi to me again. Don't contact me. Just don't. I'm going to move on and you should find some guy you'd actually tell your parents you were dating."
I couldn't read the rest, but I needed to know more.
"I booked an earlier flight. I just reached my motel to pick up my suitcase and now I'm heading for San Francisco Airport to catch my early morning flight. Just delete this message. Don't read it too much. I'm sorry if I've hurt you and I would rue to do it again. At the end, I cared too much for you when you didn't give two shits about my feelings. You hurt me. Constantly. I was stupid to let you do it again when you even warned me. And don't even think this is only about your parents; it's about you on the whole. You deserve someone as rich and smart as you and not some poor, embarrassing high school dropout surviving on a teacher's salary. What's sad is that I let you continuously use me. I've given you so many chances and they all end in hell. So bye forever. After I get some experience teaching, I'll probably move to some small town in another state or even abroad. Get away from you completely and you won't ever find me."
I threw on some decent clothes and wiped off the tears that kept flowing down. The lights in my house were all out so I crept downstairs slowly. I scrolled through the text and finally reached the bottom.
"Oh, yeah, I'll park your car in the airport's parking lot. I'll leave the keys under the mat in the driver's seat. Pick it up whenever you want, but don't tell your parents. I bet you're used to that, right? -Toby"
I grabbed my mom's car keys from the kitchen counter, scribbled a short note for her and Dad, and made my way out the front door.
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Remember how I said I got rejected by the guy I like? Well, that note Toby wrote is inspired by what my crush told me and then later texted me. A lot of the lines are exactly what he told me; the ones about hurting each other and rueing to ever hurt me again and about being a secret.