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Avery, Aria, Hanna and Emily stood below the staircase in the Hastings House, looking around the spick and span living room, awkwardly. After a gruelling couple of days, Spencer was finally back home, and needless to say, the girls didn't know how to react. Were they supposed to pretend like nothing was wrong?
"Maybe she's just as nervous about seeing us as we are about seeing her", Aria said, as she paced around.
"Guys, she's the exact same Spencer that we saw last week", Hanna tried to reason.
"No, the Spencer we saw in Radley was not the Spencer I know", Avery rebutted, "This Spencer is fragile. I think we should tread lightly, instead of ambushing her."
"Em, we're not just here for her, we're for you, too", Hanna looked at the taller girl with a comforting smile on her face, as Emily nodded.
"Do we talk about him?", Aria wondered, "Do we bring it up?"
"I don't want to say anything that could put her back there", Emily sighed, "I know they said they found Toby, but they sent that second body to the state coroner for a reason. I mean, maybe there's hope."
"You know how I feel about hope; breeds eternal misery", Spencer's voice sounded from atop the stairs, "We lost Toby a long time ago. We just didn't know it."
The girls stood stunned, as they watched Spencer waltz down the stairs. Like she didn't have a care in the world. They expected Spencer to come down lugging all her baggage with her, but the Spencer that appeared was a completely new person. Not an ounce of the person they saw last week was visible.
"Oh, you've got to love the Hastings!", Spencer continued, picking up a crumpet from a platter on the dining table, "I just get released from a mental hospital, and they welcome my friends with tea and crumpets."
"What's the difference between a crumpet and an English muffin?", Hanna questioned, out of the blue, making Aria nudge her, "Hanna, does it matter?"
"I'm just making conversation", Hanna defended herself.
"An English muffin is a baked bread. It's made of dough. And a crumpet is a griddle cake. It's made of batter", Spencer answered.
"How are you, Spence?", Emily asked meaningfully.
"I'm all right", Spencer nodded.
"You know, you don't have to pretend to be okay for us", Avery assured.
"Yeah, if this was the act you had to pull off to get out of there, then...", Aria trailed off, when she saw Spencer shake her head softly, before turning to Emily, "Do you remember when you were in the light house, Emily? And you had to make that choice? It was either him or you? I wasn't as strong as you were. When I saw Toby in the woods, like that, I just gave up."
"So what changed?", Hanna frowned, "You seem like you're back to yourself."
"I decided I didn't want to be victim anymore. That's not who I am", Spencer paused, and grabbed 4 cards from her bag, "Here."
