"Ezraaaaa!" a three year old Aria Montgomery shouted as she tumbled down the stairs. Ezra, who had just turned six turned to face the toddler.
"Hey Aria!" Ezra paused, remembering that it was her half birthday. "Happy half-birthday Aria."
"How was school?" she asked. She had heard Ezra talking about it a ton, and sometimes he even let her read some of his books.
"Great! We have this really nice teacher and I got some awesome new friends!"
FOUR YEARS LATER
"Happy half birthday Ar!" Ezra shouted at the newly 7 and a half year old reading a book.
"Happy first day of school!" She shouted back, lowering her voice as Ezra pulled into her driveway on a bike. "So, how was it?"
"I'm not the shortest, so I guess that's an improvement."
"What's the deal with your friends right now?"
"It's bad. Good thing I have you though." Ezra looked at the petite girl's face. "I love you Ar."
"Ditto." Aria heard some boy shouting above her. Aria was a pretty creative child, with a very vivid imagination, but she could tell the difference between real and pretend. "Ez, what's that?" She pointed above them to see a couple kids operating some sort of chariot, with flying horses.
"That's them!" the boy called out.
"Aria. Please tell me you see that too."
"I do."
"What is that?"
"I don't know. But the horses are called pegasi."
The chariot slowed to a stop next to them. the boy, who Aria could now see was about 15. "Great. She's like 5."
"I'm 7 AND A HALF!" Aria shouted defensively. She could hear giggles from the chariot.
"She's just short. Who are you?" Ezra questioned, grabbing his best friend's hand to protect her, and to comfort himself. He could hear Aria whimper. "Ar, it's gonna be okay."
"How cute. I'm Chris Lake. You're a demigod."