Maybe It's A Hastings Thing • Sparia [DISCONTINUED]

Misery Loves Company

Aria's POV

Lying in Spencer's arms felt peaceful. It felt like I was taking a break from the world, and she was the only one with me. The pattering of the rain on my window soothed me more as I drifted in and out of sleep.

A few hours later, Spencer woke up. She turned over, interrupting a pleasant dream I was having. Nothing really happened in it, I just felt chilled out and happy when I woke up.

I glanced at my clock and 5:48 was displayed on it.

"What are you doing awake?" I asked Spencer.

"I pretty much always wake up early," she said. "What are you doing awake?"

"You woke me up," I said.

She turned over onto her side and smiled, moving her hand up to my cheek. "Well, try and get back to sleep," she whispered. She stroked my cheek and I closed my eyes, smiling too. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded. "Surprisingly well."

"Good." She kissed my forehead and I opened my eyes to see hers closed. My eyes flickered over her, taking in all her beauty. Her long eyelashes rested just above her cheekbones, which were prominent and defined. Her lips slightly chapped, but soft and extremely kissable. They were pale pink, the colour of a sunset during the summer. There were creases at the edge of them where she had smiled and laughed so hard she'd cried, and little marks where her dimples were. Her eyes had dark circles under them due to her lack of sleep, but she looked beautiful nonetheless. I would never have used "beautiful" to describe a person - that word was more for a photograph or flower - but Spencer was truly beautiful in her own way. Her long curled locks were sprawled out over my pillow, creating a sea of chestnut waves.

"You're beautiful," I whispered, so quiet I could barely hear myself.

She smiled and buried her face in my chest. "I believe that's you," she said.

I smiled back and kissed her softly. Feeling her lips against mine always brought me instant euphoria and calmness, and I could tell she felt the same.

--

My first two lessons passed slowly - first was English, and History followed that. By the time it was break, my stomach was rumbling almost as loud as the school bell.

I devoured my food quickly before anyone else could join me to eat. Hanna walked over first, and I smiled at her.

"Hey, Han," I said politely as if nothing had happened last night.

"I'm really sorry for what I did to Emily," she blurted out. "She explained it all to you, right? No bias views?"

I nodded my head. "She gave us a brief summary, but no bias views." I smiled again.

"Do you think she's mad at me?" she asked.

"Most probably," I said. "But more upset than mad."

"I feel so bad. It was wrong of me to break her heart."

"You could've been confused when you first started dating," I said. "It's not your fault. Sexuality can be hard to figure out."

She nodded. "I was. I didn't know how to tell her, and I finally got the courage to last night. I just wish I'd told her sooner so I didn't cause her all this pain."

"It's better than waiting longer and making it all the more messy," I assured. "Let's just hope it's not too awkward."

Spencer and Emily walked over and sat down, Spencer on my left and Emily on my right. Hanna tried to make eye contact with her, but she wouldn't look at anyone.

"Emily, I'm sorry -" she started but was cut off.

"It's fine," Emily said, smiling a little but still not looking up.

The air was filled with an awkward silence which no one dared to break. The rest of the girls continued eating while I sat there on my phone; all our phones suddenly received a text. The others stopped eating and picked up their phones hesitantly, as we all knew who it was from. My stomach twisted as I opened it and read the message.

Blocked ID
I always knew Emily was the easiest to break.
-A

"Great, this was just what I needed," Emily exclaimed sarcastically.

"What do they mean by this?" I asked.

"-A once said that Emily was the weakest link..." Spencer informed. "Maybe they think they've proved their point?"

I knew it had to be Alison. Ever since we became friends in ninth grade, she had been mean to Hanna. She was mean to all of us. Perhaps she didn't want Hanna to have a happy relationship, and decided to upset Emily in the process. Was Hanna forced to end things? Was Hanna really straight, or did Alison just want her to convince us she was? We had been getting secret texts from -A, so why couldn't she have been getting them too?

"Guys," I said. "I think Alison's -A."

"What?" Hanna asked. "How did you come to that conclusion."

"Well done on using "conclusion" in the correct terms," Spencer uttered as not to interrupt me.

I explained my theories to them, and they all seemed intrigued. Hopefully if one of them agreed with me, my reasoning would be taken into account more seriously - it was hard trying to argue when you were as tall as a sixth grader.

"No," Emily said. "She can't be."

Of course she would never realise I was right.

"I agree with Emily," Spencer said. "Surely it would be less obvious if it was actually her?"

I shrugged. "I'm still getting somewhere," I said.

"I think Aria could be onto something," Hanna told us. "Alison is a pretty worthy candidate for the -A Team."

Hanna had every reason to hate Ali: she had hurt Emily's feelings more times than you could count; she was like a more popular version of her; she knew Emily liked her. She might've been agreeing with me just because of that, but I think we both knew I was right.