Here I was. Sitting in a bar with a man two seats down from me. He had curly, brown hair and, from what I could tell, he was very handsome. He was reading a book and had a beer sitting in front of him. The beer was half empty.
"Can I have a cheeseburger please?" I asked the bartender. Technically, I wasn't even of age to be here. But who the hell cares. I mean, it's Rosewood! The town known for secrets. Everyone is bound to have at least a couple secrets in this town. I have some. Wait, let me rephrase that, I have lots.
"You got it." The bartender replied. I was lost in thought as I looked around the room. Then I saw it. That poster. The first picture I had seen of here for one whole year. My best friend was on a friggin' missing poster. 'STILL MISSING'. Alison DiLaurentis was still missing? I was never able to get over her disappearance. It still haunts me to this very day. My thoughts were invaded by a voice.
"You okay down there?" I head the man sitting two seats down from me ask. I looked at him and he had one of those boyish charmed smiles spread across his face.
"Yeah, I'm just a bit jet-lagged. I…just got back from being in Europe for a year." I replied to him, sending him the best half smile I could manage to pull.
"Where 'bout's in Europe were you?" He asked again, after taking a swig of his beer. I tapped my fingers on the table, again, giving him my half smile, trying to sound like I really wanted to talk to him, but in my head, I just wanted my damn cheeseburger. "Iceland," I replied to him.
"I spent some time visiting Reykjavik." He started, "It's a great city." He finished. I suddenly became interested in this man.
"So, do you got to Hollis?" It was my turn to ask some questions now. "Just graduated. I'm gunna be starting my first teaching job." He replied to me.
"Yeah, I think I'd like to teach." I told him. Suddenly, 'Happiness' by The Fray comes on and the music fills the bar. "B-26." He flirtatiously told me. I spun my head and looked at him suspiciously. He tried to hide his smile, but it failed miserably. "What's your…major?" He asked, trying to change the subject quickly. I smiled at him. He's cute… I thought to myself before replying to his question.
"Uh, I'm-I'm leaning towards English," I started. "That's what I'm teaching!" He replied excitedly. We both smiled at each other. I couldn't help but laugh at how this encounter started.
"I write too, but so far it's mostly personal stuff. Just for me, I guess." I told him confidently.
"Wow, I'm impressed."
"Why?"
He scooted over to the seat beside me, bringing his beer and book with him. "Well, I tried writing, but I didn't get very far. You're really lucky. If you're writing for yourself, it's just pure passion. You do it, cause you love it." He sloshes his beer back and forth in his glass, "Maybe, you'd let me read some of yours?" He asks politely. I was surprised by his question. At first I was a bit hesitant, but then I thought why not?
"Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, you're smart, you've travelled…you've got a great taste in music, I'd like to know more about you." I smile as he says this. I was never one of those girls to get hit on all the time. But I had a feeling this guy was special. He was worth fighting for.
"Yeah, I'd like to know more about you too," I say to him.
We both smile at each other. From the moment we both smiled at each other, I knew this relationship would go somewhere. I didn't want to rush things too fast, but I couldn't help my feelings.
"If you would excuse me for a moment, I have to use the restroom."
"Can I come?" He asked out of the blue. For a moment, I hesitated. I didn't know what to think, I was only 17. But, I trusted my gut.
"Why not," I told him. He smiled brightly and followed me to the ladies room. We were careful not to drag attention to ourselves, so we tried to do it sneakily, but failed because we were laughing so hard. When we got to the bathroom, he lifted me on top of the counter and I was sitting with my legs wrapped around his back and resting on his hips. He was attacking my lips and the kiss was starting to get intense. He slipped his tongue out of his mouth and gently rolled it on my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I granted it to him by opening my mouth a bit more and he greatly accepted it by battling with my tongue. I knew that if we took this too far, things were going to get out of control. I pulled back from his mouth a couple minutes later. He looked at me, confusion written all over his face.
"Is something wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asked me worriedly.
I laughed at his sympathy, "No no, you didn't do anything wrong. I just want to stop this before things get too…steamy." I put emphasis on the word steamy, just to make his laugh, because I loved his laugh.
"I think you may be right." He said, laughing in between his words.
"Well, thanks for the chat and the steamy moment, but I better be off. I have to do some errands before I head home." I told him. I was just about to head out the bathroom door when I heard him yell to me.
"Hey, wait! I never caught your name," he began.
I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from my bag and wrote him my number down and handed it to him. He looked at it and smiled to himself.
"See ya!" I told him.
"Bye, Aria." I heard him seductively call to me.
I smiled to myself as I left the bar. I paid the bartender before I left and said thanks to him.
On my way home, reality kicked in and hit me hard. He mentioned that he was going to be starting his first teaching job, but he didn't tell me what school. What if he's my teacher?! I asked myself.
What have I gotten myself into..