Aria sat nervously at her desk waiting for her first period English class to start. On any other day, Aria loved her English class. But every other day her ex-boyfriend Ezra Fitz wasn't substitute teaching.
"Aria, stop bouncing your foot up and down like that!" Hanna whispered "You could seriously supply power to an entire village with all the nervous energy you've giving off!"
"I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Aria told her, "I haven't seen Ezra since we broke up 2 weeks ago."
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Aria" Spencer said grabbing Aria's hand, "we're all here for you!"
"Here, have my coffee," Emily offered setting her coffee on Aria's desk. "I hardly touched it and I know how much better a late can make you feel!"'
"Are you kidding, Em?" Hanna interjected, glaring at Emily "The girl is practically having a panic attack and you're feeding her caffeine?" Spencer rolled her eyes, "If she starts convulsing, we'll call 911, but seriously, it'll be ok!" She told them.
The door opened and Ezra—Mr. Fitz—walked in. The girls gave Aria a sympathetic look and turned to face the front of the room.
"Hello, Again" Mr. Fitz said addressing the class, "it's good to be back teaching at Rosewood!" The class collectively shouted their "yay's" and "woo-hoo's" letting their former teacher know that he had been missed; everyone except Aria that is.
"As you know, I will be substitute teaching this class for the rest of the semester, and I am excited to re-connect with you all again," Aria tried to avoid it, but she looked up at her ex- boyfriend only to find him staring directly at her. Mr. Fitz averted his gaze, cleared his throat and continued addressing the class "I will be introducing some non-traditional literature into the curriculum this semester, and of course, I will help everyone get started with their college-application essays".
Ezra went on talking, and for the first time in Aria's life, she couldn't wait for English class to end. She despised Ezra for walking back into that classroom like he never left; for looking at her like nothing had changed. And, she felt a strange urge to rip the hair from the heads of all of the girls who were drooling over him. Could she blame them though?
No! Aria thought. I can't think about him like that! I refuse to let his boyish smile and sweater-vest get to me again! We are not meant to be!
The bell finally rang signaling the end of class. Everyone was up and out of their seats, high-fiving Mr. Fitz on their way out and telling them how happy they were to have him back. Did he have to be so damn charming? Aria grabbed her book bag and all but ran out of the classroom leaving Spencer, Hanna and Emily behind. She didn't want to talk to anyone, not even her friends! At her locker, Aria tried to get a grip on reality. "Breathe" she told herself, "you only have to see him for an hour a day, you can handle this!" But she wasn't sure she could. She wiped away a stray tear, and headed to her next class.
Later that day at lunch Aria sat with the girls, barely touching her food.
"Earth to Aria!" Hanna said trying to get Aria's attention, "Want to explain why you bolted out of English this morning faster than the speed of light?"
"That's not how the speed of light works, Hanna" Spencer noted
"That's not the point, spencer, something is wrong with Aria," Hanna said directing her attention towards Aria, "So spill it!"
Aria wanted to talk to her friends, but the mere thought of Ezra made her want to break down and cry, so talking about him was not an option! "Maybe later," Aria said, "I'm gonna head to the bathroom to touch up my makeup before lunch ends. I'll catch up with you guys later"
Aria walked down the empty hallway towards the bathroom finally allowing the tears she had been holding back all day to fall. She rounded the corner and continued down the corridor speeding up as she passed Ezra's classroom. She was just five steps from the bathroom…
"Miss. Montgomery, is everything okay?"
It was Ezra's voice, she knew that. She knew she should just keep walking and ignore him. She willed her feet to move her forward, but he moved quicker than her will. Within seconds, he was pulling her into his classroom and handing her a Kleenex. He sat her in his desk chair and stared at her for a few moments before talking,
"I'm sorry" he said leaning against the corner of his desk. Aria buried her face in her hands letting out an embarrassing sob, "God, Aria, I am so sorry! I didn't know it would be this hard for you; I didn't know it would be this hard for me" he continued "I miss you and—"
"Stop it, Ezra!" Aria interrupted, "Did you think really you could just walk back into this classroom like nothing changed? Because a lot has changed, Ezra, everything has changed!" Aria caught her breath, "There are 30 other students in that classroom that you can look at; 30 other students who you can divert your attention to when it's too hard for you to look at me. But there is only one teacher, Ezra! Where am I supposed to look when it's too hard for me to look at you?" Ezra looked at her with a pained expression on his face. She wanted him to scoop her up and hold her like he used to when she was upset. She wanted him to kiss her like he used to and make all of the pain go away. Aria began to question whether or not she had done the right thing in breaking up with Ezra. Clearly she still loved him, and clearly he still loved her. But there was Malcolm and Maggie and the fact that he was her teacher again… so much working against them. Was it so wrong for her to want a normal high school experience? Or to want a relationship that she didn't have to hide from everyone in town?
When Malcolm came into the picture, it's not like she didn't try! I gave it everything I had, Aria thought, but being a mother figure at 17 is a little too much for me to handle, however much I wish I could. Guilt washed over Aria as she thought about everything Ezra needed her to be, but that she wasn't strong enough for, and the tears started again.
"Aria, you know I didn't take this job to hurt you. I needed to teach, and since my days at Hollis are officially over… I didn't really have a choice"
"You had a choice, Ezra"
"I have a son to think about now. I have to work so I can support Malcolm! You know that If I had another option, I would have taken it."
"I'm sure you could have found something else at Hollis"
"Do you not remember your dad practically demolishing my reputation at Hollis. No one wants anything to do with me on that campus. I was lucky to get re-hired here!" there was a long pause. Ezra noticed something change in Aria's face. She stopped crying and looked him square in the eye, "I can't sit in your class every day and pretend that I don't love you," Aria stated, "Because as much as I tried convincing myself this morning that I could, it's painfully obvious that I can't"
"So come back to me! We can work all of this out. It's not like I haven't been your teacher before; we found a way to make it work for us then and we can do it again!"
"And risk getting caught? What happens if word gets out that you're dating a student? How will you support Malcolm then?"
"I'll deal with that if and when I have to"
"What if I can't be everything you need me to be? Mother-figure, role-model-"
"Aria, I'm not asking you to be any of that! I'm only asking you to be mine" Ezra could tell he had won her over. He knew that their relationship would be far from easy, but he also knew that there was nothing harder than not having Aria in his life. "Come over after school, we can talk more" he almost begged her. She agreed to meet him at his apartment at 4:30 that evening. Relieved, Ezra reached his hand across the desk to put it on top of Aria's, desperate to feel even the tiniest bit of her warm skin on his. But before he could get too caught up in the moment, the door swung open and Aria instinctively pulled her hand away.
"Aria, Mr. Fitz," Ella Montgomery acknowledged them with raised eyebrows, "What's going on in here"
"I was just leaving mom, nothing is going on" Aria stammered standing from the chair and heading for the door
"I sure hope nothing is going on" Ella said, skepticism written all over her face
"Really, mom, Ez—Mr. Fitz was just reviewing my term paper for me, that's all"
"Yes," Ezra chimed in, "And it's coming together very nicely, Aria"
"Thank you Mr. Fitz, I'll see you in class tomorrow morning" Aria said closing the door behind her as she exited the classroom leaving her possibly-ex- ex-boyfriend in a room alone with her mother. What could possibly go wrong there, she thought.