Secrets |Toby Cavanaugh|

Chapter 3

When we got to the party, we met up with Emily and Aria. We noticed how she wasn't around Ben, so we asked her about it and told us about Ben and Toby.

"He tackled Ben? What was Toby even doing in the girls' locker room?" Aria questioned.

"Why are you shocked?" Spencer replied, "Toby's a perv. We caught him peeping through the windows, watching us undress."

"Alison's the one who saw him do that. We never did." I said.

"What's up?" Hanna asked.

"Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily." Aria answered.

"It wasn't over me. God." Emily corrected her, "He just... saved me."

"For what, himself?"

"Ew."

"If we hadn't asked you about Ben, would you have told us about this?" Aria asked.

Emily didn't answer and Spencer spoke, "Toby is not a good guy, Emily. He could be seriously dangerous."

"If he's such a bad guy, why'd he take the fall for us?" I questioned.

"Why are you talking to him like he's an old friend of yours?" Spencer retorted.

"Spencer's right, Gracie. Like she always is."

"You told her?" I said to Aria.

"Look, can we talk about this later? When we're alone?" Hanna asked.

I glared at Spencer before leaving the group to grab a drink. But, unfortunately, she followed.

"You should stay away from Toby." Spencer said.

"Why?"

"He isn't a good person, Grace."

I turned around to face her, "Toby wasn't the one to set that shed on fire." I stated, "And let me guess, you think he's A."

"He could be." Spencer replied and I scoffed,

"I'm outta here."

From Noel's cabin I began to walk home. Once I hit concrete, I took off my heels. I saw Toby sitting on his front steps and I walked towards him,

"Hi."

"Hey." He looked down at my outfit, "You look nice."

"Thanks, I was just at a party in the woods." I replied.

"And you walked all that way?" Toby asked.

I shrugged, "Spencer was my ride, and we got into a fight."

"About what?"

I sat down next to him, "Just girl stuff."

"So boys, clothes, makeup...?"

I smacked his arm and he laughed. My phone buzzed and I groaned. I took my phone out and checked my messages.

If only Spencer can see you now.

-A.

"Who's that?" Toby questioned.

"No one." I answered before standing up, "I better get home."

Toby stood up also, "I'll walk you."

"You don't have to-"

"Grace," Toby put his hands on my shoulders, "I want to."

"Okay."

He smiled, "Come on."

Toby and I walked towards my house and he took off his plaid shirt and put it over my shoulders. When we got to my front door, I thanked him and kissed his cheek before going inside.

"You're lucky I'm not there, Gracie."

The next morning we all met up in the woods and Spencer told us about Ali threatening Toby.

"That's why he took the fall for us."

"Why are you waiting until now to tell us?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. Ali made me promise, and... I guess I was scared. I thought if we never talked about that night again, it would just go away." Spencer answered.

"Well, it's not going away, not unless we toss our phones and join the Navy." Hanna said.

"Look, there's five of us, and one freak sending messages." Emily began as we walked further into the woods, "If we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything."

"I think Emily's right. There's way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this in the middle of nowhere. We should do it where we can see it every day." Aria said.

"You mean, like, somewhere in school?" I asked.

"No. In town. We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere." Aria replied. "Wait, and you know what? Whoever did this to her, if they're still in Rosewood, we should make them look at it everyday, too."

Hanna sighed and we all looked at her,

"What, you hate the idea?" Spencer asked her.

"No. No, I just... I had a rough night."

Sticks were cracking and we heard someone running away. I dropped my bag before running after them. I stopped running and looked around as the other girls caught up.

"Look." Hanna gasped.

We all looked down and saw a purple bracelet on the ground,

"Is that yours?"

"It's Alison's." I stated, seeing her name written on it.