We Got You

What If She's Wrong, But What If She's Right

Aria and Hanna were quietly talking about Ezra's son and Maggie when Emily sat down.

"Em? What's wrong?" Hanna asked when she saw Emily. "You look almost as bad as Spencer does anymore."

"Speaking of Spencer, I need to talk to you guys."

Hanna and Aria became concerned, they were already worried about Spencer and the rise of fear in Emily's tone didn't make them feel better about the last few days.

"Do you know what's going on with her?" Aria asked. "I tried talking to her the other day, but she snapped so I just left."

Emily's eyes got wider, as if possible. "You left?!"

Aria was shocked by her outburst. "Yeah, she was talking crazy. Saying that maybe we are to blame for all the bad things that happened to us."

Paige's words flashed into Emily's mind. "Aria, you shouldn't have left her alone. I shouldn't have left her alone."

Aria and Hanna exchanged a look.

"Emily, calm down. What is going on?" Aria asked.

Emily nodded and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Paige and I were talking and she's worried about Spencer too. She thinks that Spencer may be... harming herself." Emily told them trying to force the words out.

Hanna chuckled. "Paige thinks what? That's crazy. This is Spencer we're talking about not some mental nutcase."

Emily glared at Hanna. "Paige used to hurt herself." Hanna looked down ashamed of her comment. "She knows the signs and she has been noticing them with Spencer." She finished looking over at Aria.

Hanna looked up again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. You didn't know, but Hanna, Spencer isn't exactly... not a nutcase." Emily said as nice as she could. Aria nodded.

"Yeah, she has always been a stresshead."

"I know, but stressed enough to... hurt herself?" Hanna asked in denial.

Aria looked from Hanna to Emily and bit her lip. "Why exactly, uh, did Paige do that?" She asked carefully. "It's okay if she doesn't want you to-"

"Alison." Emily said. Aria and Hanna looked down. "Back when Alison was bullying everyone. She targeted Paige and at first Paige would fight back, but we all know how Ali was. Paige reached a point where she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to disappear."

Hanna gulped. "How did we let Ali hurt this many people? How did we just stand by while she went around destroying lives?"

Aria blinked back tears. "We were targets too, Han. Maybe not as bad, but Ali controlled us and manipulated us."

Hanna nodded. "So Paige knows the signs and she thinks Spencer is-"

"Yes, and I think we need to talk to Spencer."

"Wait, Em, what if she's wrong? We can't just accuse Spence of that." Hanna said and Aria nodded in agreement.

Emily sighed. "What if she is right? Are you willing to risk something happening to Spencer?"

Hanna and Aria shared a look. "No." They replied.

"Where is Toby in all of this?!" Hanna demanded.

Emily sighed and looked down. "I told her that I wouldn't say anything until she was ready, but Spencer and Toby broke up, I don't know why."

Hanna and Aria frowned.

"This can't just be about Toby though. They've broken up before and Spencer never..." Aria trailed off. "or maybe she has and we just never knew about it." She said.

Emily sighed. "I never thought Spencer would breakdown so much."

"Yeah. Mona was wrong, Emily, you aren't the weakest link. It's Spencer. Who would have thought it would be Spencer?" Aria commented.

"I did, maybe not self harm, but I always kinda thought Spencer would just come apart one day." Hanna admitted.

"Why?" Emily and Aria asked at the same time.

"Because there's a down side to being that smart... and that perfect. Spencer was bound to break..." She sighed. "I just thought she'd talk to us about it."

"Well, we need to find her and talk to her right now." Aria said. "I saw her earlier today, but she walked away from me and went into the bathroom stall. She wouldn't unlock the door so I...left." Aria admitted starting to feel guilty.

"Okay, so let's check the bathroom." Hanna said.

They stood up and when they turned they saw Paige walking up.

"Paige, I told them what you thought and we're gonna go talk to Spence." Emily told her so she wouldn't worry so much.

Paige looked from Emily to the other girls, then back. "Em, Spencer left."

"What?" They all asked in shock and confusion.

"I saw her get in her car and drive off so I came to tell you." She told them.

"But school isn't over." Emily mentioned.

Aria sighed. "Didn't seem to matter a few days ago when she left my mom's class and went home."

"Well then we'll go to her house. We've left before." Hanna said. "Plus this could be an emergency."

"I'll tell Mrs. Montgomery that you guys had to leave." Paige said. "Uh, should I tell her why?"

They traded looks and Emily hugged Paige.

"Thank you and yes." She whispered in her ear then they left to go find Spencer and talk to her.

Paige watched Emily walk off with her friends and tried not to worry too much. She walked back inside, but instead of walking to her class she walked down to Mrs. Montgomery's, relieved that she had an empty classroom at the moment.

She knocked on the door and Ella looked over.

"How can I help you Miss McCullers? Don't you have a class this period?" Ella asked suspiciously.

Paige entered the room and closed the door behind her earning Ella's full attention. "I do, but I have to talk to you about something important."

Ella frowned. "It can't wait until after school?"

Paige licked her lips. "No. It might be very serious."

Ella put down her pen. "It might be very serious?"

Paige approached Ella's desk then she sat down at one of the desks in the front row, unknowingly sitting at Spencer's desk.

Ella stood and sat down in Emily's desk. "Well I'm not going to turn away a student, but I think you should be in class now."

Paige nodded. "I know, but Emily and the other girls are worried about Spencer. She left school and they went to talk to her." Paige explained.

Ella sighed. "Spencer walked out again? And this time Aria and the other girls followed her?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, but they're really worried and so am I actually. I think Spencer may be hurting herself and when I told Emily she told the others and then they-"

"Hold on." Ella held up a hand to stop Paige's nervous rambling. "What do you mean by hurting herself? Did you see her doing something?"

Paige shook her head. "No, but I, um, I know the signs." She admitted.

Ella gave her a sympathetic smile. "We can focus on Spencer now and if you want to talk about yourself later I have an open door policy, but unless it's a dire situation, please, wait until after school."

Paige nodded. "I know. I understand, but Spencer left school and they, we, are really worried."

Ella nodded. "Alright. Tell me what you've noticed, Miss McCullers."

Paige bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath.