peace with the stars

         spencer was on the way back up to her apartment on the seventh floor as well, listening to the echoing of her footsteps as she made the trek up the stairs. she turned around as soon as she heard someone coming up behind her, and she smiled at sunny and stopped to face her. “ hmmm, nope, the stairwell has been pretty empty so far, ” she replied, trying to think if anyone passed had her at all, but nothing was ringing a bell, “ at least from what i’ve seen. he could already be up there waiting for you, ” she added lightheartedly with a small shrug. 

      “ you ask a lot of questions, ” spencer jokingly replied with feigned suspicion, as if the questions weren’t valid and everything she said made perfect sense. she really didn’t expect anything less though. in fact, she might’ve been worried had he just gone along with it from the beginning, with no questions asked at all. “ hmm, yes, there is a right answer, i’m just not sure what it is, ” she added, while looking at her phone once more with a puzzled look on her face before tossing it down on the cough beside her. her brain really needed a break. “ honestly, it’s nothing important. i took some pictures downtown the other night and i can’t decide which one i like the best, even though they kinda all look the same. i don’t know, if you feel like a certain number is just speaking to you... let me know.” she explained---or tried her hardest to---shrugging as she looked over at jack, “ anyways... what are you up to? ”

       “ gus, i know absolutely nothing about... everything, i just wanna apologize now, ” spencer replies, not even sure if what she said made sense but it’s all meant to be lighthearted. although she also had never been to any sort of trivia night before, it did sound fun, despite any of her feelings of being slightly self-conscious over potentially getting everything wrong. but this was meant to be fun, she kept reminding herself as she picked up one of the contraptions on the table. “ but i mean, how hard can these questions really be, right? ” she then speaks up with a smile on her face as she looks at the device in her hand, momentarily trying to figure out how it works, “ who knows, maybe we’ll discover we have a hidden talent for trivia nights. ” 

     it was a bit of a rare occurrence for spencer to find herself at the local aquarium, but she always enjoyed her time there as it was a nice change of scenery and felt almost like its own little world among the busy city. although she really didn’t have much money to spend in the first place, the gift shop was calling her name even if it just meant giving it a quick look around. she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a sucker for stuffed animals, and she knew they would always be overpriced, but she couldn’t help but pick up the stuffed dolphin that immediately brought a little smile to her face. “ oh, i’m okay, thank you, i was just looking around, ” she answered, her smile still remaining, “ definitely won’t solve any problems, although maybe they will temporarily just from how cute they are. ” 

       spencer always enjoyed the days where she could hang out at jack’s apartment, regardless of the fact that she wasn’t really even doing anything, but that was a welcomed change to her frazzled brain, between balancing work and upcoming finals. she was just thankful that he was here and that she had a place to bring her frazzled mind to. granted, she hadn’t said much since she settled on the couch and got caught up momentarily on instagram--her intently indecisive nature not able to settle on which picture of the city lights from a few nights ago to post. yes, they all looked more or less the exact same and yes she could feel her brain melting more by the second, but yet she was oddly determined to sort it out. “hey, i need your help,” spencer spoke up as she finally took her eyes off her phone, “can you pick a number between one and four? and this is... important, so, choose wisely,” she didn’t give any other context, yet she still felt like it was a reasonable request. @gcvalas

         so maybe this wasn’t the most thrilling way to spend a friday night, as spencer sat on the floor of her apartment with furrowed eyebrows gazing towards the jigsaw puzzle sprawled out on the coffee table. “ alright, i think i’m officially done with this, ” she says to norah, clearly not anywhere near done but she wanted to give up for the night, too frustrated and tired of trying to fit the same pieces together to really care anymore. “ what do you think? anything else you wanna do? i’m feeling defeated, ” she asks the other she leans back against the couch, an overly dramatic and exasperated sigh following. @ohnorah

      “ i think you definitely could! besides, i don’t think you could ever go too far with anything creative, ” spencer replies as she takes a look at the other’s artwork with genuine curiosity, “ well, i mean, maybe someone could --- but these are beautiful, ” she adds, knowing she was unfamiliar with the process herself, but she was full of admiration nonetheless. “ i’d love one, i could be your first customer! ” 

SPENCER: nooo sadly not :( hopefully i'll see them again around here, it felt like a huge blessing

SPENCER: i ran into a dog walker yesterday though and they let me pet their abundance of dogs, which was the highlight of my week already!

      spencer turned around once she felt the tap on her shoulder, and the first thing that washed over her was confusion as the other was holding out her wallet to return it. “ oh, i guess i did...” usually she was much more careful than this, always keeping her belongings secured and she thought everything was accounted for when she checked her bag a moment ago, but she’d also be lying if she said she wasn’t feeling a bit spaced out lately. “ thank you, you’re a life saver, i’m not even sure how i managed to do that... ” she added as she reached out to grab it, genuinely grateful along with the hint of embarrassment she felt for dropping it in the first place. 

“ you know what, you’re absolutely right, ” spencer nods in agreement, momentarily feeling like truer words had never been spoken in general, “ oh -- do they ever... say anything? or do they just hang up and immediately take you off their call list? ”

“ chocolate chip muffins. every time. ”

       “ i just really love to sleep -- and i drink a lot of hot chocolate, that always helps me feel better. ” 

     “ i hate that i really don’t know how to answer this. is that bad? i guess i need to read more often… ” 

     for a moment, spencer feels like she only catches the tail end of a conversation from what she managed to hear -- she must’ve missed something, right? -- and it’s certainly one she was not expecting as the other picked up their phone once it started ringing. “ should i be concerned? ” spencer asks, a hint of a joking tone in her own voice, but of course she was concerned, even if she knew sunny was just messing with the person on the other line,  “ who was that, anyway? ”