A/N: I was cleaning out all my notebooks from seventh grade (because it's SUMMER now!) and I stumbled across this, which I wrote a few months ago during some boring class or another.
Aria fingered the inscription. When you need to leave Rosewood. Love, Ezra. She hadn't seen him since the night when they talked to Ella. For all she knew, he could be flying off to New Orleans at that very moment.
She didn't know.
She didn't know where he was, what he was doing, if he had taken the job, if they were broken up or not. Too many questions were unanswered.
Aria was still mad at him – who just leaves their (ex-)girlfriend sobbing in a car alone? She couldn't forgive him for that, but she also couldn't get him out of her head.
The question was: Did she still love him?
She pictured Ezra in her mind. That perfectly-combed hair, the smooth skin that she loved to rub against when they were kissing. How he sometimes grew a little stubble, which gave his perfect boyish charm an accent of manly grace. How they cuddled together on Saturday mornings and watched the cheesy cartoons that were on.
Aria sat up straight when she realized that tears were rolling down her cheeks. She knew that she was being selfish. She knew that their situation could be a lot worse. After all, A had forced Spencer to break Toby's heart and drive him out of town.
But still.
She glanced at her cell phone. Not once had Ezra called, or left a message, or even sent her at text. How hard was it. He could at least have spent the meager amount of time it too to type, I'm sorry, but we're over. Apparently, he was just too busy for her.
"Is everything all right?" Byron asked, glancing worriedly in at his daughter.
"Yeah. Yeah, Dad, I'm fine." No, I'm not fine! she wanted to scream. Can't you see that I'm crying? But she just stuck with the demure, the quiet. It was easier.
"Oh. Okay," he responded, and walked on by her door.
Aria stood up from her bed and put Sherwood down on her nightstand. She couldn't torture herself like that. With a rueful glance at the phone, she walked out of her room.
And then she heard a buzz. It was her cell phone ringing. She practically ran over to where it lay and scooped it up eagerly. Her heart leapt. The caller I.D. read: Ezra.