A/N: Hi guys! I haven't been online on fanfiction for a while now, but I started missing it and now I have a new story for you. This is my first PLL story, but I hope you'll like it anyway. In this version Aria and Ezra do not meet in the bar, he's just her teacher and it's all (at least for now, if you know what I mean ;)). As usual, sorry for any grammar/vocabulary mistakes - English's not my native language.
Be warned: You may not except it, but this story's gonna be really dark and twisted. Believe me.
The silence of the classroom was interrupted as Aria Montgomery raised her hand and her voice to volunteer to recitation.
"Mr. Fitz? May I go first?", she asked politely, waiting for his approval.
"Of course, Aria. Go ahead, the stage is yours", he encouraged her, gesturing to the place in front of the blackboard. It was hard for him to fight the urge to smile. He knew she was going to volunteer, he just knew that. She always does. She liked to speak in public, it was as if she was gaining energy and strength from it. And Ezra had to hand it to her, she was indeed a good speaker - while listening to her, you could easily feel all the emotions, all the feelings running through her as if they were your own, and it was an overwhelming experience. He enjoyed listening to her making a speech, listening to her, even though he wouldn't have admitted it.
"Thank you", she smiled shyly and made her way through the room, filled with desks and tuneless sighs of the students feeling the evanescent relief. Spencer Hastings gave her a supportive look with a tiny spark of rivalry to it and with it she began to recite.
Suddenly the class went quiet and all the attention was paid to her. She started quiet - a soft whisper escaping her mouth, full of warmth yet somehow broken, like a silent flutter of butterfly's wings. But with each word her voice was growing louder and louder, up to the point when it felt like a scream, a scream of determination, filled with charisma that could easily lead the crowd, and now it was leading her, and it was leading him, because, damn, life is a fight itself and she deserves to win it, because she's better off than those people sitting here, not even knowing what she's reciting.
And then her voice began to shake as the fear crept in it, trying to take control over her. She smiled helplessly, even let out an inaudible laughter, because she was losing it. The words that had just materialized from her lips were now surrounding her, building a wall which separated her from the world and left her alone, far away from anything and anyone that could hurt her, yet so close to the desperation and pain that was filling up the space around her that she was almost able to touch it, to taste the metallic bitterness of it on the tip of her tongue.
As the last world rolled out of her lips, the wall immediately came down and she was again the same Aria that entered the classroom, that sat in the third row and had read every book he mentioned on his lessons.
"Excellent as always. I'm giving you A, but you know you're out of scale." he said, inscribing her grade in the register. She whispered a "thank you" and smiled bashfully before hiding her nose in the book.
After Aria's recitation, the whole lesson was a pure torture for Ezra. Well, maybe besides Spencer Hastings's performance which went out pretty good, yet seemed somehow dull in comparison with Aria's one. When the bell finally rang, its sound was sweeter than ever.
The students started to pack their things and leaving the classroom as Ezra ordered Aria to stay in the classroom for a while. She seemed a little startled, probably wondering what was wrong, what she did wrong, but did her best to keep her head up, her posture straight.
"Aria, I have an enquiry for you. Well, more like an offer. I am forming a school's theater group and I was wondering if you would like to join it. The class will be on Mondays and Thursdays at 4pm.", he asked, waiting for her to reply.
She stared at him for a second in unbelief, her lips curving in a joyous smile. "A theater group? That's great! I would love to join, of course if you think I'm good enough to-"
"Yes, you are. You're a great speaker and I'm sure you're a great actress as well.", he cut off, happy that she said yes. She was his best student and he felt like this group couldn't exist without her. She will be a light of it.
She smiled a little, her smile showing her unusual modesty. "So I'm in", she said and then, while exiting the classroom, added: "Thank you. For creating it and for wanting me in it. Goodbye, Mr. Fitz"