Glazed Hazel

It was the last day of school, first night of summer. Spencer, Hannah, Emily, and I were over at Ali's house. The air already felt like summer: you could feel the excitement and the party building up. There was going to be a big party at Jasmine Carlson's house soon.

All five of us were ready to go; we just had to wait for Ali's mom to give us a ride. Ali, Em, and Spence were all in Ali's room. Hannah was in the bathroom, probably touching up her makeup. I walked down to the DiLaurentis' kitchen, searching for a quick snack to stop the rumbling in my stomach.

I was rooting through the fridge when I sensed someone else enter the room. I looked behind me and saw Jason, Alison's older brother, leaning against the island. He was drinking from a water bottle and watching me. Biting my lip, I turned back around and grabbed a handful of grapes.

"Hi, Jason," I said, popping a grape into my mouth.

"Hey, Aria." He said back, looking at me with his hazel eyes. His voice was warm and made me feel so... molten lava-y inside. 'God, I sound so girly!'

A grape rolled out of my hand and bounced across the floor. I looked down at my toes, my hair falling in front of my face. One pink streak was right in front of my face. Brushing it away, I picked up the grape and tossed it into the sink, anything to avoid looking at Jason. I'd had a bit of a crush on him for about a year and a half. Not even Ali knew about it, though. How awkward would that be? I hurriedly left the room and went back to my friends.

Minutes later, we were all piling out of Jessica DiLaurentis' car. The party was already in full blast. People were bursting out of the house just like the music that was booming. Half of the people were in the backyard where Jasmine had a swimming pool, hot tub, tennis court, and most of the guy's lacrosse team playing around.

As soon as we saw the pool, Em and Alison stripped down to their bikinis and jumped in. Hannah and I went back inside to find Spencer who'd gone into the kitchen to get a drink. There were more people outside than in, but there were still a lot if people crammed inside.

We found Spence talking to Kristen, a girl on the field hockey team in the living room. So we all four stood there talking for a while, Hannah self-consciously tugging at her clothes every now and then. A while later, Ali walking in drying her dripping hair with a towel.

"Fun's over!" she declared. "Jason's here. He always ruins my fun." A pout crossed her face before being replaced by a smile. "I'm going to find something better than that." The blonde wrinkled her nose at the beer in Kristen's hand.

Hannah went with her leaving me with the two field hockey players. "Aria, I love the pink in your hair." The voice came from behind me. I turned to see Noel Kahn standing there with an adorable smile stretched from ear to ear. I blushed, tucking my pink and brown hair behind my ear. "Thanks."

We talked for several more minutes. And by 'we' I mostly mean him. I'm sure the basically one-sided conversation would've continued if not for the shout that someone was shooting off fireworks. Noel rushed outside as did most others. Now alone, I wandered into the kitchen where flashed of light shone through the windows.

It was directly after one of those flashes, that I registered a shadow behind me in the windows reflection. With a sharp intake of breath, I whipped around to face...

Jason. I released the breath while saying "You scared me!" He smirked and took a step closer. A hand shot out towards my face and I winced away from it, unsuccessfully.

The mysterious boy caught the pink streak in my hair between two of his fingers. "I saw you talking to Noel. What were you talking about?" His fingers brushed my cheek. I looked up at his eyes. Instead of that beautiful hazel I'd become accustomed to, they were glazed over.

Jason's high. Again, I noted. He'd been like this the last time I'd been at their house. Ali claimed that she hardly remembered what her brother looked like; he was only a distinct smell these days.

He leaned closer, his dirty blonde hair falling into one eye. "You're pretty," and as those words left his lips, he was less than an inch from mine.

"Aria!" Someone shouted from just outside the room. He jerked back from me. I ran from the room, one thought pounding through my mind: Jason DiLaurentis was about to kiss me! Me! Aria Montgomery!"

...

At the end of that simmer I sat there at the memorial service for Alison. His baby sister. Jason sat up front with his parents. I could see the side of his face and noticed he barely even looked sad. I mean, I know he and Ali had their problems but she was his sister!

When it was over and they got up to leave, I looked at his haze eyes. Glazed over. Again. His eyes flickered clear for a second, right in my direction. Taking me in. Me and my pink hair.