As she finished packing everything up in boxes she realised something. All her life was in these boxes, when she'd leave in an hour or so she had no reason to ever come back.
Her parents had gotten back together and decided they need a fresh start last year. They were now living in New England. Mike had gone with them, he'd had no reason to stay. But Aria... she'd wanted to finish her senior year with her friends; Spencer, Hanna and Emily. She'd moved in with Spencer's family as they had more than enough spare rooms.
Of course she'd missed her parents, but she felt it was for the best. They all needed space.
But now they've all graduated, she could finally leave Rosewood for good.
Hanna has already packed up and moves to New York. She got an internship at Vogue.
Emily left for Arizona last week. She scored a swimming scholarship. Her parents were so proud.
And Spencer... Well she's gone Ivy. She left for Dartmouth 3 days ago. She deserves it. Damn she was always the brains of the group.
That left her... She was the only one left. There is no-one left to say good bye to she thought as she loaded the final box in her trunk. Only as she look down to close in did she realise what that final box contained.
It was all the memories she had of him. The only man she has ever fallen for. A single tear streamed down her cheek as she remembered the first time she'd ever met him.
As she stepped inside that musty old bar she'd realised how different America was to Iceland.
The bars there were warm, homely. There was always a crowd of regular in the dark back corner debating some insignificant issue, laughing and cheering as they did.
But here... it was deserted. A song she'd never heard before paying faintly in the background. As she sat on the wooden bar stool, she saw the old poster.
MISSING
It was safe to assume she was past missing. She took a deep breath and order a cheeseburger, wondering whether or not she could stomach it.
She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a husky voice. "You alright down there".
She turned slowly to see the face that matched the voice. He was handsome to say the least. He had dark hair with bushy curls, and deep blue eyes that were mesmerising. He was tall, and muscular in a subtle way but they were definitely there. He was beautiful.
"I'm a bit jet-lagged... just got back from Europe." She replied, casually.
"Where in Europe?" he'd asked eagerly.
"Iceland" she replied with a little more interest.
"I spent some time in Reykjavik on my way to Amsterdam, great city" he added. She was surprised, he seemed open and real.
They talked for a while. She'd discovered that he'd just graduated from Hollis, and was going to teach. She always thought of being a teacher. When he'd asked her, her major, she slightly panicked before stuttering that she was leaning towards English. She felt bad for letting him believe she was older, but they had so much in common, she never felt a connection like it before.
She'd never really dated many guys, before Iceland. She'd gone through phases trying to discover herself, boys found her strange. But in Iceland everything changed. She'd found her inner voice and confidence. So now as he led her towards the toilet she didn't feel nervous... but more ... intrigued. As soon as the door closed he took he face in his hands and kissed her passionately. She could tell it was not just her who felt this connection. In one fluid movement he lifted he and hoisted her on the counter top without braking the kiss. Their mouths were moving as one, whereas their tongues seemed to be battling for domination.
At the time neither of them had realised the complexity of their relationship. He was just Ezra and she was Aria. It wasn't until the next day everything changed, she though to herself as she got into her car. As she pulled off she thought about him and how wrong their relationship was.
The next day she'd found out that he was her teacher! MR FITZ! She was horrified but neither of them could deny their feelings for long. Even though it was wrong they'd dated secretly for 2 years before they were discovered.
It was horrible. A had texted her father with a photo of them kissing with a caption saying "Is this the extracurricular activity your daughter's encouraged to do. Alas like father like daughter."
He'd gone straight to the police. They barged straight in to Ezra's apartment while we were together and arrested him. I still remember how I'd clung to him refusing to let go, how the police forcefully ripped me of him and dragged his down the stairs of his apartment to the police car. I'd screamed after him. His last words were "I love you Aria, remember that".
At first my father was furious because he thought Ezra had forced me, but after I'd explained everything, attempting to make him see sense, he was purely livid with me.
My mother on the other hand was merely confused. She didn't understand our relationship but she'd chosen to accept the past. I moved in with her for a couple of months, but then were both decided to move back home. Little did I know that my parents had planned to move to New England for a fresh start. So after a lot of persuading I moved in with Spencer for my senior year.
But Ezra... he left me. As we had never slept together and I refused to press charges he was advised to leave. His family disowned him after they were informed of what he'd done. Ashamed of him. I went to see him when he was released, and he told me the officials had advised him to leave. And even though he loved me he agreed it was best, but he promised he'd be back for me. I'd begged him not to but even I knew he was right. The day he left he wrote me a letter.
The letter that now causes tears to stream down my cheeks as smear my mascara. To crack holes in my perfect facade.
This is what I thought of as I drove away saying my final goodbyes to my home.
3 weeks later.
Washington was ... different. She was living in Seattle now an would be attending the university in the Fall. But she was used to the small suburban town, not the big city. Even in Iceland she had never been completely at ease with the cities. But this was why she moved here... wasn't it? She moved here because it was different, it was new, it was... change.
She blocked out the main reason why, which was he had said this was one of the places he'd dreamed of living. Next to California of course but she didn't fancy that.
She pondered over all this as she queued in the local coffee shop. When she finally got her black coffee she sat at the secluded table in the corner where no-one would bother her as she read. So she sat quietly and read her favourite book (to kill a mockingbird). She was at the part where Tom Robinson has just been found guilty when she heard a familiar voice curse as he spilt his coffee.
Sirens went off in her head as she realised her dreams had come true. As she glanced up in shock her eyes met his.
Ezra she thought.
