This is a story that will mainly focus on Spencer and Toby (Spoby), but I have included Emily and Alison (Emison) as a pairing because they are also going to be a main part of the story. I don't know how heavily I will feature other couples, but we will see over the course of the story. There will probably be mentions of other pairings, as well as appearances, but they will not have significant storylines like Spoby and Emison will. The story begins during their junior year of high school, so they are around 16 and 17 years old. Thanks for reading my story!

CHAPTER 1

Spencer tapped her pen on her desk repeatedly, unable to concentrate on the lesson that her teacher was teaching. All that was going through her mind was, Been there, done that. It was simple: she already knew all of this material. She was usually ahead of the game in her classes. Sometimes, she read ahead just so she could be ahead of them. She was more advanced than the others, even in her large load of advanced courses. There was no other way to describe it than the fact that she was smart... intelligent... ambitious... and driven. So, this information about U.S. history that she was receiving was nothing new for her, and she didn't have to pay attention. She had already done the textbook reading weeks in advance, and had a superior understanding of the content, compared her classmates.

The only reason her head suddenly bobbed up was because her teacher mentioned something that she couldn't anticipate. Something that she couldn't self-study for in advance. Something that she couldn't already know everything about. A partner project.

She knew she had to listen now. There was nothing in the textbook reading about doing a historical partner project. She would have preferred to work alone, but it was no big deal. Any of these students would be more than happy to work with her. In fact, they'd practically be fighting over who got to be her partner, because they knew that whoever got to be her partner would be getting a solid A grade on whatever project it was. Unfortunately for them, their teacher had decided to take it upon himself to randomly assign the groups.

And then she found out the identity of her project partner.

"Spencer Hastings and... Toby Cavanaugh."

She turned her head to the back of the classroom, where Toby was practically falling asleep. Unlike her, it wasn't because he was ahead of the game on the content. It was simply because he didn't want to pay attention. The class was far too boring for him. He knew he didn't belong in an AP history class, but he was there anyway. He was there, and he got lucky enough to get Spencer Hastings as his project partner. Maybe he'd finally get an A grade on something in the class since he was working with her, and she'd probably do everything for the both of them, so he didn't even have to worry about trying to put in effort.

Spencer rolled her eyes at the sight of him, and flipped her head back to facing the front of the classroom. She never really talked to Toby Cavanaugh. All she really knew about him was that he was a slacker. She was also a firm believer that he didn't belong in an AP history class. She wasn't really sure why he was even there. He didn't seem to enjoy the content at all, plus he wasn't doing so well, either, so there seemed to be no benefits for him. She wasn't worried about the project at all, though. She was more than content with doing the entire thing. He could happily accept his A grade, and they could both move on.

"Together, you and your partner will created a presentation. Put as many images as you need, and as much text as you want, but make sure not to be reading off of the slides in your presentation! You need to project your voice to the class. Loud and clear! And to make sure both parties are working as hard as possible, I'll give you both a total grade together for your oral presentation, as well as the physical presentation that you create. So, you can't just worry about yourself on this project! I'll hand out the papers with more instructions, as well as your assigned topics. Your presentation should be around ten minutes total. I'll try and give you guys a little bit of class time over the next week to get some work done, but the majority of it should be done outside of the class. So, yes, get talking about schedules and free up some time, because you're going to have to be working together on this! I think I've covered everything that's necessary, but are there any further questions before I hand the sheet out?"

Now, Spencer was annoyed. She groaned internally. She was fine with doing the entire thing herself, but now she would have to work her ass off to push Toby Cavanaugh to make sure that he didn't give a crappy presentation, which he most likely would. She was not about to receive anything lower than an A grade just because of him! She couldn't let him drag her down. Therefore, she knew she would have to put in some time to make sure he actually knew what the hell they were doing.

Their teacher handed out the instruction sheet, which all of the students skimmed over quickly.

"Alright. Once you have a good understanding of the project instructions, go ahead and get out of your seats to meet up with your project partner and get some rough planning done. Figure out some times for work if you can. Maybe divide up which parts of the presentation that you're each going to cover. Get something done right now!"

Reluctantly, Spencer got up out of her seat and went to the back to meet up with Toby. She figured he wouldn't be willing to get up out of his seat. He looked freaking tired and lazy.

"I'm guessing you're disappointed because Mr. Hayes is grading you based on my presentation, too, huh?" Toby smirked.

Spencer grew more annoyed at the smug look on his face. It was like he was actually happy that her grade was going to go down because of his unwillingness to participate.

"Why are you even in this class?" she rudely remarked. "I've seen your test scores. They're not so great."

"My parents wanted me to take at least one advanced class, but I don't like any of them. I figured history would be the easiest, and the least time-consuming, but man, I was wrong," he chuckled, almost unaffected by it.

She didn't understand how unconcerned he was about his bad grade in the class. It was like he didn't care that colleges would see his horrible grade!

"No advanced class is easy," she scoffed. "At least not for most people..."

Toby knew how she was. Condescending and conceited about her brains. She had the right to, though, didn't she? She wasn't wrong about her superior intelligence. He just didn't like hearing about it.

"Whatever. We're not here to discuss this," he rolled his eyes, now annoyed by her.

He was planning on being cool with her, but he lost that when she made a condescending remark about her intelligence.

"Oh, really? And we're here to discuss, in detail, what we're going to for our project?" Spencer raised her eyebrows. "Forgive me, Toby, but I'm just not buying it."

He ignored her.

"When are you free to work on it?" he asked calmly.

"Almost never. I've got clubs, sports, studying. I don't really have openings on my schedule to work for extra hours on a project that should only take a little while for normal people," she snapped.

Toby gritted his teeth.

"What the hell is your problem?" he demanded. "I mean, I heard you were a conceited bitch all over school, but I was hoping that people were just talking crap for the sake of it when Hayes assigned me as your project partner. I never did anything to you, so what the hell is your problem, Hastings?"

She felt a little bad now. She knew she was going too far.

"Nothing. I'm sorry. I'm just not willing to take a lower grade because you're unwilling to help out," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Unwilling? Didn't I just ask you when you're free to meet up to work on the project?" he scoffed. "You're really over the top."

"Fine. What about Friday, after school, at the library?" she offered.

"Yeah, that works. Thanks for freeing up a little time on your busy-ass schedule to work on the assignment. Much appreciated," he sarcastically remarked.

Spencer was still annoyed about the events of her history class. She knew she was being unnecessarily bitchy to Toby Cavanaugh, but she couldn't help it. She was frustrated by the whole situation. She groaned as she sat down at her cafeteria table where her group usually sat. She greeted her friends with an obviously weak and forced smile.

"What happened?" Emily asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I got an annoying partner for my history project. And Mr. Hayes is grading our presentation together... so, if he sucks ass on our oral presentation and has no idea what he's saying, I get penalized for it, too. It's totally unfair!" Spencer cried.

"Wow, that sucks. I'm betting you'll do all the work on the actual presentation, too," Aria sympathized.

"Who is it?" Emily asked. "Who's your partner for the project?"

"Toby Cavanaugh," Spencer said with a venom on her tongue.

She didn't have anything against him before, but now she did. Something about him ticked her off from history class.

"I have no idea why the hell he's in AP history if he can't handle it at all," Spencer shook her head. "It's disappointing, and it's hurting my grade."

"Oh my God!" Aria cried. "I hate to leave in the middle of your huge crisis, Spence, but I totally forgot that I have an art club meeting today. I'll see you guys after school or something. Later!"

Aria got up from the table before they could respond and dashed off. Emily laughed quietly.

"Hanna's making up a test, and Aria's off to art club. I guess it's just us three today," Emily shrugged her shoulders.

Alison bit her lip, gazing over at Emily.

"I almost forgot that winter formal's coming up," Alison reminded.

"Will I even deserve to go to formal after the B I may be receiving on this project?" Spencer whined.

Emily laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Spencer, you can push through. Toby was my lab partner in chemistry. He wasn't that bad, okay? He was actually quite smart when he put in the effort. Maybe if you push him, he'll put in the same effort for this project you two have to do," Emily explained.

"The thing is, I don't want to put in my time and effort just to push him to try. It's annoying!" Spencer cried.

"Hey, it's okay. You're gonna do really well. You always do," Emily laughed.

"Yeah, and who cares about this one project, anyways? You probably have an A plus in the class!" Alison laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. "If there's anything you should be worrying about, it's who you're going to be going with to winter formal!"

"Is that really the big concern she should have, Ali?" Emily chuckled.

"Yeah, it is! Because I heard something... a little rumor that's going on around school," Alison smirked. Spencer and Emily were both visibly intrigued. Alison elaborated, "I heard that Andrew Campbell's going to ask you to winter formal, Spencer. I mean, he's a little annoying and pretentious... and a pretty big nerd. But he's kinda cute. And he's like the male version of you!"

Spencer was stunned. She pressed her lips together. Andrew Campbell was going to ask her to winter formal? Spencer had been so consumed with school that she had barely even taken a moment to worry about her love life or her social life, and now she was hit with the bomb that a guy wanted to ask her to winter formal? She and Andrew were somewhat friends. They were co-presidents of the volunteer club at school. She knew he was smart. He was sort of controlling and bossy, but she wasn't one to complain about that trait. And to top it off, Alison was right that he was cute. He was really cute. He was on the water polo team, and Spencer had heard from some girls on the water polo team that Andrew had a killer set of abs. She wouldn't mind a date to the dance. It would be one night to loosen up and have a little fun, right?

"How do you feel about that, Spence?" Emily asked. "Are you interested?"

Spencer thought about it again. It seemed clear to her... of course she was interested! She didn't know him too damn well, but that was no reason to say no. Maybe it was time to get to know him.

"Yeah... I mean, he seems pretty alright. Maybe it could be a good thing," Spencer shrugged her shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant, but on the inside, she was pretty happy that something was happening for her love life. Her friends were pretty active with dating. Aria had dated a wide variety of guys since the ninth grade, along with Hanna. Alison was vague, but she was always hinting at these 'things' she was having with other people. Emily kept her love life on the down low, but Spencer figured that a gorgeous girl like her was reeling people in. Spencer raised her eyebrows and shot a glare at Alison. "I just realized that you called me annoying and pretentious... and a big nerd. Since apparently, I'm the female version of Andrew Campbell?"

"Well, I'm not wrong," Alison laughed. "The more I think about it, the more perfect I think he is for you. He matches like all of your interests, as annoying as he is. Your ambitious attitudes are a match."

"So...? Would you say yes?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I think so. All I'm saying is that I'm not opposed to the idea of going with him to formal at all..." Spencer revealed, a small smile forming on her face. "It's been a while since I've even thought about dating somebody."

"It's a good thing. You totally need to loosen up!" Alison exclaimed. "You were actually sitting here and freaking out about getting a B on a presentation because you have to work with Toby Cavanaugh. That is not a big deal at all!"

"Thanks for reminding me about that..." Spencer groaned.

She decided not to dwell on the project too much. She was feeling pretty happy that Andrew was going to ask her. She hoped the rumors were true.

"So, since you're so concerned with winter formal, Ali... who the hell are you going with?" Spencer asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Alison blushed a little.

"Oh my God! Is there someone you're into? Or someone you're seeing?" Spencer asked.

Alison shook it off.

"Don't even worry about it, Spencer," she shrugged her shoulders.

Emily felt her heart sink at this information. For some reason, it bothered her that Alison was interested in somebody... probably some sleazy boy, maybe even an older boy who was in college. She did that sort of thing all the time. Okay, maybe it wasn't such a mystery why Emily was visibly upset by this information: she had kind of had feelings for Alison since freshman year. She didn't know how those feelings developed, but they just did. She had always been the closest one to Alison. Maybe it was because of the late nights that they spent at sleepovers, cuddling each other, talking about everything they could. She didn't know what the direct cause was.

All she knew was that she felt something for the blonde. It was electric.

"Come on, Ali... who is it?" Emily asked.

"It's not a good time to say," Alison shook her head. "I'll tell you if it becomes serious."

Emily felt bittersweet from hearing that. A good thing was that whatever she had with this guy wasn't a serious thing, but if this was more than just Alison being interested in a guy, it meant she was seeing him. And if it wasn't a serious relationship, it meant that they were probably just fooling around with each other. Emily felt disgusted thinking about that... thinking about a sleazy guy touching her. She just wished that she knew who this guy was, so she could at least feel secure that it was a good guy, and not some asshole that would end up hurting her horribly, or using her to fool around.

"You are so sneaky, Ali," Spencer laughed quietly, shaking her head. "You never tell us about the guys that you're seeing."

"I don't kiss and tell," Alison smiled proudly.

Emily's mouth went sour. Now she was imagining Alison kissing some sleazy guy. This was not going well for her at all. She had a crush on her straight best friend. She hated to compete with Spencer, who was the master of complaining about how miserable her life was, and how hard her problems were, but Emily felt like she had a bigger problem than having to work with a supposedly incompetent Toby Cavanaugh on a history project...

But she wouldn't tell Spencer that.

She wouldn't tell anyone that.