Author's Note
I don't own Pretty Little Liars or anything mentioned in this fanfic in any way. This is rated M for a reason. This first chapter is pretty K rated, but it will get a lot more mature. If you can't handle sensitive subjects or get offended by things such as cussing, I suggest that you click the back button right now.
Aria's POV
Beep. Beep. Beep.
My alarm screamed at me like a young child screaming at her mother to buy her candy. I slammed my hand around my end table until it hit the "snooze" button. I really did not want to wake up today.
Today was the 3 year anniversary of my dear friend Alison DiLaurentis' death. Previously, I just laid around in bed and cried on the anniversaries of her passing. Even in my high school days, I would just skip school that day and not care. Unfortunately, I'm a responsible adult now and I have to suck it up and haul my ass to work.
I work at a local pizza joint called Joey's Pizza that is just right down the street from the college I board at, Hollis College. It's not exactly the classiest place to work, but it's just to hold me over until I graduate college and pursue my dream career as a big time journalist. I just started my sophomore year at Hollis, so I definitely have to wait a while until I get anywhere with that.
I threw on my usual work clothes, which consisted of a red polo shirt that had a tiny Joey's Pizza logo right above my left breast, black straight leg pants, cheap sneakers from Walmart that I only wear to work in, and a nametag that read "Aria Fitz". My nametag was my favorite part of my completely unfashionable outfit that I'm forced to wear 5 days out of the week. It reminded me of the only thing that's currently going right in my life, Ezra Fitz.
I met Ezra at a bar at the beginning of my junior year in high school, and it was pretty much love at first sight. We hooked up the night I met him. He's 6 years older than me though, and when you're in high school, that's like 50. The worst part was that he ended up being my English teacher that year, and at the time he thought I was in college majoring in English, which I'm actually doing at the moment. When he saw me in his class, the look on his face was unforgettable, and I'm sure mine was too. I knew he was plenty older than me, but I thought it was just a one night thing and I'd never see him again. I had no idea he would end up being a figure of authority to me the day after it happened. And he had no idea he would begin the first class he ever taught with the realization that he had sex with a minor. We had to hide our relationship from the rest of the world for about the first 9 months, but then something that I'd really rather not bring up happened, and people started to find out. I decided to tell my parents before anyone else did, and that was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But eventually, it all blew over and my parents began to accept it, even though they weren't exactly happy with it. Ezra and I's relationship stopped being all caged up, and it's all been perfect ever since.
I married Ezra right out of high school. I know that's not a good idea to most people, but it was the best decision of my life. He works as a professor at Hollis, and he actually teaches one of the courses I'm taking. Even though I board at Hollis, I'm moved into his apartment, and I stay there over the weekends.
Occasionally, I go home with him after classes are over and stay the night there, even though I'm really not supposed to because it's against the rules of Hollis to stay the night elsewhere on weekdays without permission, but it's extremely easy to get away with. I just cannot even fathom what I feel for Ezra, what I've always felt for Ezra.
I grab my purse before I head out the door of my boarding room. I retrieve my phone and check it. Two new messages. One from Ezra, and one from...Spencer? Spencer Hastings? I haven't seen her since my wedding, and I've hardly even spoken to her since. She's been ridiculously busy since she graduated high school. She got into her dream school, Yale University, and she hasn't really had the time to speak to me, or any of the girls from our high school posse, who I'm also guilty of growing apart from.
I assume the message is about Alison's death anniversary. She probably just needs someone to talk to. Which would be nice for me too. The sorrow I feel on this day every year is indescribable. I open the message, hoping for a Hey, Ineedsomeonetotalkto or something along those lines. But what I read is definitely not what I wanted to;
Aria, I don't know if you still have my number or not, but this is Spencer. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. In person. I'm flying down to Rosewood in 2 hours to visit family, and I'm staying there for a week. If you could get ahold of Hanna and Emily and tell them I'm coming down, that would be great. I need to talk to all three of you, and I've completely lost contact with the other girls. You're the only one who's number I still have. So, tomorrow at 5 PM, meet me at the Brew.
For most people, that isn't something you should be insanely worried about. But...no. It can't be about what I'm worrying about. I just cannot be. It's impossible. I'm just paranoid. That's all.
I text Spencer back with a simple Okay. Will do.
I realize that Spencer really HAS completely lost contact with Emily and Hanna. Emily completely messed up her life after her girlfriend Paige died. It was the second girl she was in love with that died. The first was Maya. Maya was killed by this guy that was insane because she chose Emily over him. The summer after she died, Emily drank a lot. But she quit when Paige came into her life. Then, Paige got killed in a car accident. Emily then turned back to alcohol to ease her pain. Alcohol turned into weed and alcohol. Weed and alcohol turned into weed, alcohol and cocaine. Weed, alcohol and cocaine just turned into every possible drug you could think of. Poor, unfortunate Emily. I haven't spoken to her since my wedding either. She showed up drunk off her ass, so it wasn't even the sweet Emily I was expecting to show up. I have absolutely no idea how to get ahold of her now. Her mom kicked her out of the house after the cops showed up at their house with Emily in handcuffs for both public intoxication and possession of cocaine, and I have no idea where she went.
And then there's Hanna. I'll be able to get in touch with her. She lives in the same apartment complex as Ezra and I, and she owns a boutique in Rosewood. I still talk to her whenever I see her around town, but we've grown apart. We just never have the time to hang out anymore. She's always either working or busy with her husband, Caleb. And I'm always either working, busy with my husband, or busy with classes.
I scroll through my contacts and find Hanna's name. I text her Hey. Spencer's coming down to Rosewood for a week, and she wants to meet us at the Brew tomorrow because she has to talk to us about something important. I hit send.
After all this texting and thinking, I look at the Hello Kitty alarm clock I've had since I was five years old and realize I've been standing here for 20 minutes. I'm gonna be late for work! I throw my phone back in my purse and run out the door, down the halls of the boarding rooms, and out the building doors and into my old Chevy.
As I put my keys into the ignition, I feel my phone vibrate in my purse. It's probably either from Ezra since I didn't text him back, or Hanna, but whoever it is has to wait. I have a thing with being late to something, I just can't let it happen. Whether it's an event, work or classes, I hate being late. Even though Joey's Pizza is literally down the road, I'm still five minutes late, so I hurry and speed down the road.
I enter Joey's with a worried look on my face. The co-manager, Louis, greets me with a "Good morning, Aria." I apologize for being so late. "Aria, you're only 6 minutes late. It's no biggie. Calm down," Louis says gently. I nod my head and get to work.
It's only 9 AM, so we're not getting much business. We usually don't get any until lunchtime. So, I decide to check my phone since I'm not doing anything. Saturday, September 1, 2015 9:07 AM 1 New Message
Really? Smartypants Spencer has time to kill for once? But yeah, in all seriousness, I need to talk to you guys too. I was actually going to text you later today about it. I think that...you know who...is back.
No. No. No. "You know who" ISN'T back. That can't be. Spencer's has to be talking about something else, and Hanna has to be overreacting. Or maybe talking about a different "you know who".
The phone rings.
"Aria, can you get that?!" Louis calls from the kitchen.
"Hello?" I answer.
A deep, computerized voice talks on the other line. "I'm back, bitch."
Fuck.
