Spot Light

Chapter 13

Toby didn't go to school on Friday. Instead, he stayed home and laid in bed all day just staring up at the ceiling. Ezra stopped by in the morning to try to get him going, but the door was locked and Toby would not open the door.

When Ezra got to school, he looked for Aria. He spotted her standing at Hanna's locker talking with Mona and Hanna. He smiled and walked up behind her. Aria turned around and smiled.

"Hello, Aria."

"Hi. Um, you know my friends Hanna and Mona."

"Yes, nice to meet you guys again," Ezra says.

"Is Toby here today?" Hanna asks. "I heard he went home early yesterday."

"Is he sick?" Mona adds.

"Actually, I came here to ask you guys. I'm not suppose to tell you this. Toby would kill me if I did, but I think something went down between Spencer and Toby," he says.

"They were only study buddies," Aria says.

"So they've said," Hanna smirks. "More like bed buddies."

"You guys I'm serious," Ezra says. "One day I came in and he was writing a song about her. For the past two days, he's been keeping himself locked in his room. I've never seen him like this before. Toby has had crushes before, but not this extreme."

"Now that I think about, I haven't seen Spencer yet today either," Mona says.

"Something is definitely going on between those two," Hanna says.

"We'll just have to confront them when they come to school on Monday," Aria says.

"If they come to school," Hanna says.

"Then we'll drag them both out of bed and force them to talk it out whatever's going on."

After spending a good bit of her day in bed, Spencer finally decided to get up and go for a drive. It's almost 11 now, so not many people are on the streets. As Spencer drove down the road, she noticed a few cars parked in the parking lot at some bar. When she got a closer look, she noticed a car that looked like Toby's truck sitting in the lot. Spencer drove by for a few miles. She then shook her head and turned her car back around.

She parks her car next to a blue Toyota then runs inside. Luckily there was nobody out front to check for ID. She walked through the door and scanned the crowd of drunk people. As she gets closer to the bar, she notices a guy sitting slouched over on a stole. She could tell by the back of the guys head that it's Toby. What is he doing here? Doesn't he know that he could get caught by the paparazzi for underage drinking? It will not look good for him to see his drunk self on the front page of Teen Magazine. Spencer knows she has to get him out of here.

"Toby."

She walks over to him. He slowly raises his head up and looks at her. His eyes are bloodshot and his pupils are dilated. She could smell the alcohol on his breath from five feet away. He's totally smashed.

"Spincer," he slurred. "You's have come to me rescue."

"How much have you been drinking?" She asks.

"I don't know," he laughs. "I stopped counting after my 2nd thing of beer or whiskey or maybe it was vodka."

"Excuse me," she says to the bartender. "How long has he been here?"

"Since four this afternoon."

"Holy shit, Toby! You've been drinking for the last nine hours!"

"I ran out of alcohol at home, so I came here." "Hey, Will!" Toby slams his hand on the table. "Give me another of whatever you gave me the last time."

"Um, No, Will," Spencer says. "Do not give him another. You shouldn't have given him any at all."

"Spence, don't be such a party pooper," he wins.

Spencer tugs on his hand and helps him stand up.

"Come on, Toby, we're living."

"But, I don't wanna go," he whines.

"If you come with me, I'll buy you ice cream."

"Let's go!"

Toby took one step and fell flat on his face. Two men at the bar helped get Toby out to Spencer's car. Once he was settled, in the back seat, she got in the driver's seat and drove to her house. Getting Toby inside was a struggle. He kept wobbling when he walked. Thankfully her mother wasn't home yet. Spencer managed to get him up the stairs to her bedroom.

"You have to get some sleep," Spencer says.

"I don't want to sleep," he slurs.

Spencer sighs and starts taking off his shoes. She then takes off his jacket and lays him back on her bed. Toby rolls over and plops on his back. Spencer sighs and starts to walk away. Toby reaches out for her hand and looks up at her with pleading eyes.

"Don't go," he begs.

She practically melts under his gaze. He's looking at her like a little-lost puppy.

"I'm just going to get a bowl filled with cold water, a bucket, a glass of water, and some aspirin, okay? I'll be right back."

He nods and lets her hand go. Once again she sighs and walks out the door. A few minutes later, Spencer came back with everything she said she was going to get along with a rag. Toby is now reaching his rambling himself to sleep stage. Spencer sit next to him on the edge of her bed and he begins rambling about something that doesn't make any sense. He's saying something about him as a kid, a pet turtle, a rock, and something got crushed.

"And when I heard my dads car crush something with his car, I cried and cried because I thought he ran over my turtle, but it turns out it was just a rock," he half mumbled, half slurred. "Looking back now I feel kind of sad for the rock. I mean this poor rock was just laying out on the sidewalk and then it gets crushed by a monster truck. That poor rock. What did that rock ever do to my dad or anyone?"

"I don't know," Spencer says trying to deal with his drunk rambling.

Spencer dips the rag into the bowl of cold water to get it all wet. She then wrings out the rag and gently dabs it on his hot, sweaty forehead.

"That's cold," he whines.

"I know, but it will help you sober up quicker and your head will hurt less in the morning."

She dips the rag back in the water and repeats this cycle until he seems to be cold down enough. After she cools off his forehead, she uses a damp, cool rag and dabs it down each side of his face to help clean up his sweat. Toby's breathing came out rough and heavy. Spencer feared he would start hyperventilating if he didn't calm down. Toby sits up and leans over the side of the bed. He grabs the bucket and throws up. Spencer didn't even scoot back. She just stayed beside him rubbing his back gently. She has to be beside him encase he chokes. Once he finishes, he takes a deep breath and lays back down on the bed.

"You should be feeling somewhat better soon."

"Spencer," Toby mumbles sounding less intoxicated.

"Yes?"

"That day at school," he says with a shaky breath. "I was... I mean that wasn't. I didn't mean what I said."

"Shush," she places her pointer finger over his lips and continues to dab his head with the damp rag.

"I'm sorry."

"Shush, I know."

After that, Toby's eyes closed. His breathing got lighter as he drifted off to sleep. Spencer put the rags in the bowl of water and set it on the bedside table. She then took the bucket he threw up in and cleaned it out. After she did that, she put on the t-shirt that she took from him and put on some running shorts. She walks back over to the side of her bed and sits down. She watches Toby while he sleeps. He looks so peaceful, yet sad. She brushes her hand down the side of his cheek and smooths out his hair that's sticking up. After a few more minutes of caressing his face, she stands up and turns her bedside lamp off; then walks over to the red chair in the corner of the room, curls up with a blanket and keeps a close eye on him while he sleeps.