Hey, I'm starting the new series. I am very excited about this story. I hope you'll enjoy.

Context: First episode of the first season. Aria just got back from Iceland and is trying to fit in again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars.

I'm back in Rosewood! There is no perfect word to describe how I feel about it. Aria Montgomery, sixteen year old me is finally back in her hometown. As excited to be back as I am my first day home couldn't be less interesting. Mike needs a chauffeur for his sports practice and the parents are both running some errands, so I was the only one with a driving license and a car.

"Ok, hurry Mike. You're going to be late!"

"Comin', gosh you're so impatient," he replies apparently annoyed by me.

He comes in the car and I drive him off to his practice. Mike and I have never been very close, but this year in Iceland has definitely brought us closer to say the least. I was the only one to know about dad and Meredith's affair and, to be honest; I don't even know how I did to not reveal it to the rest of the world. This secret has had a huge impact on my personality. I've closed myself to the world, almost became completely anti-social. I would only speak to Mike and that was why we became closer. He has never been the loving brother, while I was going through a hard time, I saw a new side of him. A good one, my little brother was a lot like me. He was the only one that could understand how I felt without even having to say why I was feeling down.

Lately, I have been feeling a lot better. Although I am positive that it had a lot to do with the fact that my father had come clean about the affair he has had with his student. I couldn't help but have the feeling that my darkest days were far from over.

"I'll be back at 5 pm sharp, be here or you'll take the bus" I threaten, knowing that he'd get out half an hour late, just like he always did.

I wait for him to get in the building and drive to the closest restaurant. I sit at a table and as I feel alone, I look around me, desperately looking for someone to talk to. In Iceland, I was a loner, couldn't stand the company of any human being, except for Mike, I spent my days without talking to anybody. This year, I want it to be different, but here I am, waiting for something to happen. If only I could just run into one of my old friends and catch up, it would be like old times and I wouldn't be left alone in a crowd of people having fun. It has been an hour and I'm still waiting, alone with no one to talk to. I'm getting bored, I take a few sips of my beverage and suddenly, something occurs to me.

I open my purse, take out my notebook and my pen and open the notebook to a blank page. Writing is a passion of mine, I only do it for me and never will try to earn money with it.

I take a deep breath, hold the pen tight and start writing with no particular purpose, I just let the words flow and set my mind free.

I've been waiting for so long for someone to notice me. A look, a smile, a tap in the back, anything that would stop making me feel so invisible. But here I am, in the middle of a restaurant with no eye attracted to me. I never chose to be a shadow, in fact, I dress with bright colors and have a unique sense of style. I have a nice personality and even laugh at the corniest jokes, I'm an adorable girl!

Why is it so hard for me to fit in? What is it about me that drives people away? Am I destined to solitude? Am I still the anti-social Aria from Iceland? The one I thought had stayed there.

I would love to understand the things that are wrong with me, because then, I could fix myself and be less of a freak. Maybe if I did get what I did wrong, I could get the life I deserve.

The worst thing is that, I'm not even that sad to be sat alone, I've actually accustomed to being lonely. What bothers me is the image that I have of myself, it's not what I want for myself, at least not anymore. I feel like I'm wasting my life, being awkward and fearful. My fear of the world is chasing the light away from my life, leaving me with the only, dark and sullen option of being a shadow. The shadow I have been for months.

I would love to see the sunlight again, open my eyes, raise my head proudly and let it shine on my face. I love heat, it warms my heart and gives me a delicious feelings of safety, love and life.

Sadly, despite my will of being free. I can't seem to enjoy the light, it highlights my loneliness and lets the anti-social freak inside of me fully exposed to the world. The more I seek for the light, the more I realize that I might not be quite ready to be seen yet. Well, well, well…. Looks like I did choose to be a shadow after all.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you. I couldn't help but notice the prettiest girl at that table," a tall, brown haired man says, pulling the chair. "Can I sit?", he flashes a smile. I nod without a word and watch him sit down at my table. "I am Ez...' he said, he couldn't finish his sentence, his phone rang and I could tell by the look on his face that it was some kind of emergency. He stood up and left as quickly as he had come. How sad is it that the only person I'd had talked to all day, except for my brother, had only said a few words before he was chased away by a mysterious phone call? Very, that is how sad it is.

I had a few hours left before I had to pick up Mike from practice. I did not know what to do so I decide to stay there at the grill. Looking at the people around me, laughing, joking and just having a great time I feel bad about myself for not being as normal. After a few minutes of watching the world go on without me, I started to imagine what it would be like if I decided to go ahead and talk to people. They wouldn't bite me if I went over and said "hello" I would get out of my chair, gather my courage and go over to whatever table, introduce myself and that would be it. It would be enough to start a conversation, but something stops me from speaking to anyone, what? I don't know. Paralysed in the middle of the crowd I decide to get away from the scary environment to have an emo moment by picking up my earphones from my bag, playing a little bit of slow, sad music to fit my mood and by locking myself in my car.

A fairly old song started to drum in my ears and the chorus seemed to fit my situation. I had not payed that much attention to the lyrics before that as it was just a catchy song I had bought on I-tunes for the plane from Iceland. Lonely by Akon was about the misery of being alone and I had spent way too much time complaining about being in that exact state. There was no lost love at the opposite of the song but how can you lose a love you never had? If anyone had looked at me from outside the car, they would be able to take the perfect picture of my life. They could then post it to instagram under the hashtag no filter. At the moment I must look pathetic, alone in my car, sunglasses on to hide the overwhelming despair in my eyes. I was happy to be back home, but that was this morning. Right now was a whole other story. I thought Rosewood would be like a miracle remedy that would immediately cure my anti-social instincts, but it had done nothing in that direction so far. But maybe I was getting ahead of myself, after I was only back for a few hours, maybe Rosewood miracles were under way, perhaps they just needed time to unfold, and it was possible I would soon be able to benefit from their blessings.

But for now I was lonely Aria, and this Aria likes to play a nice song, close her eyes and let her mind go out and about guided by the sole rousing rhythm of a good piece of music. If music could drown even some of my sorrow then I would allow it to. Sad, so sad. My head still half in my dreams a knock at the car window draws my attention. Him, it was him, what was he doing here? I was in no state to talk to any human being at the time. Well, taking a better look at the hottie waiting for me outside my car, I could make an exception. I clumsily take off my earphones and cut Akon off by mercilessly turning off the music. Akon could stay lonely alone, I on the other hand, could not let myself be alone any longer. I opened the door, threw my phone in my bag and followed the beautiful stranger in the restaurant. At the table I couldn't help but look at him, wondering when his phone would interrupt us again. It was the story of my life, I always came close to having a social life, but just close, it never really happened. My discreet looks must not have been so discreet considering what he opened his mouth to say.

"My phone is on silent. I'm all yours."

"Ok, I trust you. But let me just ask, because I have to," he nods and I keep going "Why would you talk to a loner like me?"

"A loner? I didn't even know you were alone, all I could see was you"

"Stop, that just sounds like a bad pick up line"

He laughs and looks down

"Guilty. I'm not that good when it comes to women. But it's true, I did think you were very pretty. And by the look on your face, I just thought you might like to have someone to talk to"

"Oh, I see what it is. You just thought you'd do your good deed of the day and amuse the emo freak of the town" I shouldn't have thought a guy like him would have wanted to talk to me. I get up, grab my purse and as I'm about to take a step, he throws me off with one sentence.

"Stop victimizing yourself"

What? This man, I've just met, I don't even know his name just takes one look at me and talks to me for two seconds and he thinks he knows enough about me to say that? Who did he think he was, exactly? I was not going to let this stranger talk to me like he knows everything about me when in fact, he doesn't know the first thing when it comes to how I feel. The furious look I was about to give him hadn't come up in a long time. I hadn't even been this mad at myself for being alone.

"Excuse me?" I articulate, "Did you just say what I think you said?" He remained as calm as ever althought I could see he knew I was furious.

"I did, and I'm right, you're wrong, get over it. You'll be better off recognizing it" The ease he showed in judging my life as if he knew all about it was so confusing to me that even though every inch of my body told me to run the other way, I couldn't get myself to doing so. I was standing in the restaurant, staring at his face with an urgent need to slap the only person that has ever talked to me in a while. I wanted to understand, if a stranger could say that so quickly about me, then maybe it explained why I had spent so much time alone. Maybe there was something about me that drove people away. This guy knew what it was. I sat at the table again, ready to hear what he had to say.

"Bring it on. Why am I victimizing myself?" I say, more intrigued than angry.

He smiles and I can tell he is glad that I decided to stay.

"Well, all I did was tell you I thought you were pretty and you immediately accused me of being on a charity spree"

"You said I needed someone to talk to me because I looked that pathetic!"

"You completely distorted my words. I was looking for an excuse to have the guts to talk to you. But as it turns out, you're the one who thinks she's not good enough"

This man was really pushing my buttons, but in an obvious way. Unknowingly I am sure, he was painfully accurate. Was I this much of an open book?

"It still doesn't explain why you think I am victimizing myself. Being self-conscious is a very different thing" I call for the waiter, he smiled and I asked why.

"I'm just happy you decided to stay,"

"Why is that?" I ask, why did he find me so interesting? I was just another girl. He obviously didn't expect my question, he rose his eyebrows and started stumbling upon his words

"Well look at that, mister know it all is at a loss of words," he put a hand on his forehead, apparently, he was embarrassed, it looked cute on him, unlike the attitude he was giving me earlier. "Why don't we start easy? What is your name?"

He chuckled,

"My name is Ezra Fitz. And, I was not at a loss of words. I just happened to forget what I wanted to say, that's it"

"Of course, if thinking that makes you feel better about yourself" I show the waiter what I want by pointing at it on the menu to keep talking to the stranger, or should I say Ezra Fitz?

"It is the truth..." He sighs and gives up "Ok, I just don't get to talk to that many females. So I tend to stumble upon my words,"

"Now tell me, why do you think I am victimizing myself?"

He chuckled again and it was getting annoying to me, it felt like he was laughing at me.

"You will not let this go now, will you?" He asked, still smiling

"No" I answer firmly. "Now speak" I said even more firmly.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk, no need to get all strict on me, Aria!"

I was all ears, if what he had to say could help me get a social life, I better listen closely. My phone started buzzing and I remembered Mike. I read the text.

Where R U? -Mike

I had to pick him up from practice, crap! I took a piece of paper, wrote my phone number on it, threw it on the table and yelled "Sorry" on my way out. I told Mike he that if he was late I'd leave without him and I ended up not taking my own advice. I don't know who this Ezra Fitz really is but he sure is invading my thoughts. She had to leave but she wasn't done with him, he had a lot of questions to answer.

Thank you for reading.