"Can I get a cheeseburger, please?" Aria asked the bar tender.
"You got it," he replied. Aria glanced around the bar, taking in her surroundings. It was old and dark. Her eyes drifted over to the notice board. She sighed as she saw the all-too familiar poster of her missing friend, Alison DiLaurentis.
"You alright down there?" She heard. She glanced up and saw a very cute guy with curly hair grinning at her over his glass. She smiled slightly and shook her head.
"I'm a bit jetlagged," she admitted, "I just got back from Europe." She noticed his eyebrows raise slightly as he set down his glass.
"Where in Europe?" He asked, turning his body towards her.
"Iceland," she replied. The guy opened his mouth to say something but redirected his gaze when the door opened.
Aria turned her head to see Noel Kahn, her crush since Middle School, walk in. He noticed Aria and grinned cheekily.
"Hey, Finland," he said. Aria smiled sheepishly.
"Hi, Noel. What are you doing in here? Don't you have Lacrosse?" she questioned him. He sank down onto a stool next to her and put his hand next to hers. She couldn't stop her heart from pounding, and she hoped Noel wouldn't notice.
"Nah, those are try-outs. I'm already on the team," he explained. Aria nodded, trying to keep her cool.
"Anyway, it was nice to meet you," the guy she was talking to earlier said, as he stood up and left.
"Bye," Aria said. Noel lent on the counter towards Aria. She straightened in her seat.
"Who was that?" He asked.
"I don't know," Aria answered. Noel nodded his head and bit his lip. Aria's breath caught in her throat. Calm down, she said to herself.
"So, Finland, you wanna go for a drive with me?" Noel finally said. Aria, afraid of what her voice would sound like, nodded. Noel smiled at her and took her hand, leading her out of the bar.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked her as they cruised past the school.
"Surprise me." Aria smirked at Noel as he chuckled.
"You hungry?" He asked. Aria nodded, and as if on command, her stomach gurgled. Noel sniffled as Aria giggled. "Let's go get lunch at the mall."
"Can I get you anything?" A young perky waitress aksed, not even noticing Aria.
"2 cokes and fries to share," Noel said, staring at Aria. She smiled tentativly at him. "So, Aria," he said, "are you dating anyone?" Aria's heart stopped. Had she heard him right?
"Um, no," she replied, looking at the table cloth. "Are you?"
"Definitely not," he said, reaching across the table to place his hand on hers. She glanced up and met his eyes. "What about in Finland? Did you have something with anyone there?"
"Iceland," she said, "and yeah, but it ended a long time ago." Noel nodded, and let out a breath that Aria hadn't noticed he'd been holding. She grinned to herself.
"Here are your drinks and fries, enjoy!" The waitress said, placing their food on the table.
"Thanks" Noel said, shooing her away. Aria looked around the restaurant awkwardly as she sipped her coke.
"Aria, are you coming to my party Friday?" He asked. Aria shook her head.
"No one invited me to go," she said. Noel raised his eyebrow.
"Seriously? Wow. Well, ugh, would you like to come? With me?" He said, hesitantly. It was the first time Aria had ever seen him falter. She smiled.
"Sure." She said. Noel smiled.
"It's a date." Noel said, grinning at her. "I'll pick you up at 8." Aria grinned. She was actually invited to something. And she had a date! As Aria took another sip of her coke, her phone chimed. It was a text from Mike.
"Shit, I have to pick up Mike from lacrosse try-outs, I'm so sorry," Aria said.
"No problem, I'll drive you," Noel said, pulling out a twenty and leaving it on the table.
"No, you don't have to," Aria said, but Noel had already grabbed her hand and was leading her out of the restaurant.
"Where's your car parked?" Mike said as Aria led him away from the training field.
"Um, Noel's driving us home," Aria said. Mike's eyes widened as heat rose up in her cheeks. He grinned at her cheekily. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Hey, Noel," Mike said, getting into the backseat of Noel's car.
"Hey, Mike. How did try outs go?" Noel said as they pulled away from the lacrosse field and drove through the streets.
"Easy," Mike said, confidently. "You still having your party Friday?"
"Yep, you coming?" Noel said. Mike nodded.
"Hell yeah, there's going to be so many hot chicks there," Mike said, nodding his head to the music on the radio.
"Yeah, I only have my eyes on one," Noel said, winking at Aria when Mike wasn't looking. She smiled and blushed.
"Thanks for the ride, Noel," Mike said as they pulled up out the front of the Montgomery house. He ran out of the car and straight into the house. Aria frowned. Weird.
"Yeah, thanks for lunch," Aria said, her voice quiet. Noel turned the car off, the radio going silent. Aria swallowed loudly.
"We have to do it again sometime," Noel said, "sit with me in the cafeteria tomorrow?" Aria opened her mouth to agree, but she was shut up when Noel kissed her. His lips were soft and smooth, not too dry, not too moist. Aria sighed into them as he kissed her softly. His hand cupping her cheek slipped away as he pulled away from the kiss. Aria cleared her throat.
"Um, I will see you tomorrow," she said, opening the car door.
"See you then, Finland."