walking around the corner i was taken aback by the eminese happiness that immediatly rushed through my body. there she was. aria, the love of my life. but the emotion was immediatly ripped away. just as fast as it had come, despair took its place as the months events flooded back to me. the police, her mom, me and spencer, jackie. and of course, her new rule. no contact. no movie dates at my apartment. no unexpected visits to my office. no sneaky texts. no goodbye kisses. were we even together anymore? aria was with mike. he saw me first. he mumbled somthing to his sister. the look on his face made it clear that he wasnt happy to see me. did he know the supposed rumor about me and spencer. had aria told him about us. she looked up and smiled, an immediate reaction. then it disappeared. at least i could tell she still felt the same way. still in love. all of the sudden, i was mad at her. irrationaly of course. but mad all the same. we love each other why couldnt we be together? whatever it was we could get through it, together. she was walking over and my heart started to beat out of my chest.
"how are you?" she asked like she didnt already know the answer.
"numb." i replied. it was the truth. everything moved in slow motion, blurry even. nothing had really been registering. i walked the halls. i answered questions. i graded papers. but i couldnt remember a specific detail about anything from the month. even today, i had been roaming the area around hollis during my free period on auto piolot. i found my way into a old antique store and bought a picture frame. it was something aria would like. somehow, some way, i was going to give this to her. it was going to have a picture of us in it. a couple picture. one where we are smiling, without bags over our heads.
"look im sorry!" she was getting defensive.
"aria,-" i shook my head and she cut me off.
"i cant handle it." why wouldnt she let me fight for her. she couldnt handle it? that was crap, she was the strongest person i know. i was getting frustrated again. she was keeping something from me. something that kept us apart.
"my mom thinkning that you were with spencer.." she continued, "dont worry she hasnt told anybody." thats what she thought my problem was? that i cared what people said about an accusation i was with spencer? it was all about her. it always had been. why couldnt she see that?
"the trouble with the police.." she had all these excuses. i feel like its something much bigger, "i cant let anything bad happen to you."
"aria somthing bad has happened to me, you wont let me see you." i countered, she had to see how much i needed her. as much as our seriouse conversation needed to look non chalante and meaningless i needed her to see exactly how much it ment. but mike was coming. by his look i could tell he knew something, but i wasnt sure what.
aria faced her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. pretending not to notice mikes death glare, or the awkward tension.
"well, we gotta go."
"yea. i gotta go too." i said it as callose as i could but it sounded to me like a frat boy.
"it was great seeing you mike"
"mr fitz." yea, he definatly heard something about me he didnt like. it wasnt surprising. he was friends with noel khan.
as we walked away, aria and i both glanced back. parting was the hardest part. when would i see those beautiful brown eyes again... it was truley painfull.