Back to Me

The Festival (part 2)

"Hey, not to ruin the moment, but I need to use the lady's room." Spencer stated as she stood up. "Could you come with me, Han?"

"Sure, I could use a trip to the restrooms."

Together the two of them walked off towards the restrooms and left Caleb and I to watch their stuff.

"So, how long have you and Spencer been together?" Caleb asked me.

"We've been friends for a long time, but it wasn't anything more than that until recently."

"Is she the one you missed so much and always talked about?"

"Yeah, there isn't much I missed in Rosewood, but I did miss her. And then once I finally got back I had to wait a few days before I could finally talk to her." I told him and laughed remembering how Caleb would complain about how love sick I was for Spencer.

"That's a tough break, man." He laughed shaking his head. "I can understand you a little more though, now that I have Hanna. We haven't been together long but I don't think I could handle a year without her."

"It sure as hell wasn't easy, and I wouldn't have left if I had more of a choice." I sighed.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. You know better than anyone that there are things in the past I don't like bringing up. But what exactly did happen?"

"Spencer and Hanna were friends with a girl named Alison, she was the queen bee and a total you know what. She didn't like me because I was the one guy that didn't give the time of day. When she found out that Spencer and I were hanging out she tried to get us to stop. But we never listened."

"So what, did the control freak decide to make you pay for going against her?" He asked sarcastically and I laughed despite myself at his description of Alison.

"It was the 4th of July back in '09. I was cleaning out the garage and Jenna came in...to talk." I told him and vaguely hinted at what Caleb already knew. "I was trying to make her leave when the door slightly opened. At first I thought it was wind but then I saw somebody throw something in. A few seconds later a firecracker went off and the shed caught on fire. I was standing closer to the door so I could've gotten out. But Jenna was stuck and I decided to help her."

"You're a lot nicer than I am." Caleb mumbled.

"The fire spread really fast since there were a lot of cardboard boxes. I was trying to figure out the best way to get out when Spencer came running in. She helped both of us get out, but the worst part came after we got out of the garage. The glass in the windows shattered and flew everywhere. I got a couple of cuts on my arm but Spencer and Jenna..."

"Is that how they ended up...?" He asked quietly with a sympathetic look and I merely nodded.

"Someone saw the fire and called the fire department. All three of us were taken to the hospital. I was treated for the cuts from the glass and I also had a burn on my leg. The nurse stepped out for a minute and Alison came in. Told me that I was going to take the blame because someone had to and it wasn't going to be her."

"Of course she was going to shift the blame to someone else and get off clean." Caleb rolled his eyes.

"I told her to leave me alone and that I wouldn't do it. Then she said if I didn't Spencer would get hurt more than she already was. I made the mistake of asking about Spencer and Alison threw it in my face that she probably wouldn't be able to see again. She said it was my fault, that if I hadn't been friends with Spencer, she wouldn't have run in and would still be okay."