Isabel Rivers never really had a safe place to land. That was before she met queen bee Alison DiLaurentis. She was Ali's favorite. They also had four other friends. It was the perfect group.
Right until Ali went missing one summer.
And turned up...
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"You know how I feel about hope. Breeds eternal misery." -Spencer Hastings
"She knows we're down here, right?" Hanna asked worriedly. They were at Spencer's house, surrounded by food. It was a welcome-home gift, and if Isabel was her old self, she'd be eager to eat all that food.
But she wasn't her old self. And she never would be again.
"Maybe she's just as nervous about seeing us as we are about seeing her," Emily replied with her chin resting on her hands.
"Guys, she's the exact same Spencer that we saw last week," Aria assured them.
"No, she's not," Isabel whispered, making them look at her worriedly. "She's changed, just like I have, and like I'll never be the same, neither will she." They were silent for a moment before Hanna dared to speak again.
"The Spencer we saw in Radley was not the Spencer I know," she scoffed.
"That was before," Emily muttered.
Hanna and Aria watched the two of them act sullen, and Hanna said, "Isabel, Em, we're not just here for her, we're for you guys, too."
"Do we talk about him? Do we br- bring it up?" Aria stammered after a second.
"I don't want to say anything that could put her back there," Emily replied, shaking her head sadly.
Aria sighed as Hanna started talking again. "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 said, walking down the stairs. Isabel smiled bitterly at her, and Spencer nodded as she continued. "We lost Toby a long time ago. We just didn't know it." She walked into the kitchen and laughed humorlessly. "Oh, you've got to love the Hastings. 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 asked as Spencer picked up the pitchers.
"Hanna, does it matter?" Aria scoffed.
"I'm just making conversation," Hanna shrugged.
"An English muffin is a baked bread. It's made of dough. And a crumpet is a griddle cake," Spencer replied, picking one up. She sniffed it and dropped it back down again. "It's made of batter." They were silent for a moment.
"How are you, Spence?" Emily asked.
"I'm all right," Spencer said brightly.
"You know, you don't have to pretend to be okay for us," Aria told her.
"Yeah, if this was the act you had to pull off to get out of there, then..." Hanna nodded.
"Do you remember when you were in the light house, Emily?" Spencer asked abruptly. "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."
