What We've Become

Chapter Five: Twenty-Four Hour Difference

Chapter Five: Twenty-Four Hour Difference

Spencer's POV:

As Cody left the room, Spencer wondered what he thought of her. How she's changed since high school. If he might even like her back.

She contemplated this as she washed off her makeup and took off her accessories. She got changed into a comfortable spaghetti strap shirt and short shorts.

She badly wanted to believe that he had some feelings for her. The only thing that made her think twice about it was Jack.

He was such a sweet man, and by yet again falling hopelessly in love with Cody, she would break Jack's heart. She couldn't do that to him.

At least she thought she couldn't

After grabbing her Env3 (iPhones were so mainstream), she went downstairs, and laughed when she heard the theme music of Jeopardy playing as Cody was setting the table.

When they were in high school, they would watch the show every weeknight, and she usually got most of them right. It was their tradition.

"It wouldn't be the same without it," Cody grinned as if he'd kept up with her thoughts.

As Jeopardy's legendary host, Alex Trebek, was announcing the categories for the first round of Jeopardy, all the food was on the table, and they settled down to eat.

While dishing out a serving of steamed vegetables and macaroni and cheese, like she always did in high school, Mrs. Henry started to question her about her life that had become estranged to them.

"So what do you do for a living?" was the first question that she expected to be followed by many others.

"I work at my local hospital where I live in New York as a general surgeon," she answered with an air of accomplishment surrounding her words.

"That's wonderful!" she congratulated.

"What is potassium," she said.

"What?" Mrs. Henry asked, bewildered.

"She's answering the question on Jeopardy," Cody explained with a small laugh. Her heart did flips when she saw it. He knew her well enough to answer that question without thinking twice about it.

"That's great," Mrs. Henry said, pulling them back to the first part of their conversation. "Do you live in an apartment?"

"Actually, I own my own beautiful house in Manhattan by Central Park," she answered. She didn't include that she didn't lived in it alone.

"That sounds fabulous," she agreed, moving on to the next question. "Where did you go to college?"

"Harvard," she replied with pride.

"Wow, Spencer! I'm so proud of you!" she said, filled with excitement.

"Good going, Spence," Cody added.

"Thank you," Spencer said to both of them. She just wished her parents reacted the same way they did.

Her parents never cared about her, so Spencer was left to practically raise herself. She met Cody in her freshman year of high school, and he was like the role model she never had. She aspired to be like him, and she never thought another way of being. That's when she learned to dream big and achieve. Because of him.

When they all finished eating in comfortable silence, Spencer offered to do the dishes.

"Oh don't be silly," Mrs. Henry replied. "You just get to bed and get a good night's rest. We have a big day planned for tomorrow!"

"Thank you," she told her. After hugging her goodnight, she said, "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Spencer," she answered.

Cody led her up to her room, and said, "goodnight" before hugging her.

"See you in the morning, kitten," he whispered in her ear before disappearing into his room for the night.

She went to her room and closed the door behind her, realizing how much has happened in the past 24 hours. And tomorrow would be just as big as a day, if not bigger, if that was even possible.

When she finished cleaning up in the bathroom and changing into her pajamas, she laid down on the soft and cozy mattress, burrowing herself under her warm blankets. She was out like a light in a matter of seconds with the smile glued on her face still intact.