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

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Aria's POV

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

I had now heard that quote so many times I thought it would be the only thing I said for the rest of my life. Spencer looked exhausted, slumped over her desk and her hair in a messy ponytail. I kind of felt bad for keeping her up last night.

The bell rang throughout the halls, finally telling us that the day was over. It had gone surprisingly quickly for me, but I'm sure it must've felt much longer for Spencer and Emily. I hoped they did well on their exam, and I knew how stressed Spencer could get about those things.

I waited impatiently outside the classroom for the others to arrive. Hanna and Emily actually exchanged a full sentence between them at lunch, which was something I thought I'd never see again.

"Hey, Ar," Spencer said to me cheerfully, but she still sounded tired.

"How did the exam go?" I asked her, looking up into her droopy eyes. The bags under them had seemed to darken considerably.

"I hope it went well, but I'm sure I got some stuff wrong," she said. "I just want to sleep now."

"Sorry for keeping you awake last night," I apologised.

"No, it's okay," she said, smiling. "Anything for you, Small."

Hanna pushed her way past some students and finally made her way over to us.

"Spencer!" she exclaimed. "Have you even slept at all?"

Spencer folded her arms in defence. "Yes," she said, but I could tell there was a hint of a lie.

"Did you really stay up that late?" I asked.

She sighed and shuffled uneasily on her feet. "I stayed up all night studying and couldn't get to sleep afterwards," she said.

"Sometimes I think you study too much," Hanna said.

I nodded. "Take a break from studying tonight," I said.

"What if we all chilled at mine?" Hanna suggested. "My mom's out tonight on a date with Ted, again."

Emily walked over after hauling herself out of the door. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Hanna's wondering if we can all stay at hers tonight," I said.

"Sure." Emily smiled.

"I'll have to check with my mom that I'm not grounded," Spencer said. She pulled out her phone, presumably to text her.

"I think I can go," I said. "But no horror movies, Em."

Emily laughed. "Your reactions were so funny," she chuckled.

Hanna stared at us, dumbfounded. I remembered the whole point of why we watched the movie, and my smile faded slightly.

"God, I think my mom has an alternate self," Spencer said. "She said I can go. I think I'll have to ask for things over text more often."

--

"Pass the popcorn!" Hanna shouted, grabbing an overflowing bowl from Spencer's lap.

We were all squeezed onto her pristine couch, all of us just managing to fit. We just planned to stay up watching movies, which I guess had now become a regular thing in our friendship group. Since I was the smallest, all the food had been piled up around me. Everyone would reach over every few seconds to grab something off me like I was a human buffet. Emily was sat to my left, and Spencer was on my right, while Hanna sat next to her on the end.

"I think Dickensian is my new language," Spencer said. "Seriously, how many times do we have to read quotes from his books?"

"I never thought I'd see the day Spencer complained about books," Hanna said. "It's a minimal."

"Do you mean miracle?" Spencer asked.

She shrugged. "Both work."

It felt just like old times, when we'd all have fun without worrying about -A. They hadn't texted us all day, but that just made me even more worried that they were planning something big. Maybe Ali was plotting some prodigious way for us to come out.

"Can you guys budge up?" Emily asked. "I think I'm going to be crushed to death. No offence."

I surrendered myself. "None taken. But I have nowhere else to go."

"There's always Spencer's lap," Hanna said, winking. "I bet she'd enjoy a lap dance."

Spencer laughed nervously, her cheeks a tinted red in the glare of the TV. I edged forward to Spencer slightly, but Emily pushed me further as she tried to stay on.

"I'd hardly call that a lap dance," Hanna said, laughing.

"I'm not giving Spence a lap dance," I insisted, but it appeared she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I'm sure she'd enjoy it," she said.

Spencer looked down in shame, but she was smiling.

"What's your stripper name?" Emily asked. "Artsy Aria?"

"Shut up," I said, laughing.

"Ooh, what about Aria The Acrobat?" Hanna suggested.

"I don't see how that sounds sexy," Spencer said.

"It makes you curious to know what her secret talent is..." She winked and laughed.

"Are you giving me the lap dance or not?" Spencer asked. She looked down at me, huddled by her side. I pushed myself up and swung my left leg over her lap.

"She's actually doing it," Emily whispered, a hint of surprise in her voice.

I sat down on Spencer and wrapped my arms around the back of her neck; she placed her hands on my cheeks and pulled me closer to her. I shuffled forward, our stomachs just brushing each other. Spencer's eyes flicked up to mine, gazing intently.

"Someone's a little eager," Hanna commented, pulling out her phone and clicking on the camera. "I have to film Aria doing this - we might never see it again."

"You could say I'm eager..." Spencer pulled me forward and smashed her lips against mine, not caring that both our friends were watching.

--

A/N

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm single af! And I'm going to update every Sunday btw.

I have an Instagram account called spariadically if you want to follow that (no pressure) and a tumblr that goes by the same name. Peace out ✌🏻️