He Just Knew

From where he stood, it looked as though she was only a few steps away, so close that he could reach out and touch her - that is, if he so desired. Her brown hair was pin-straight, gaining a luminescence suddenly as the bright rays of sunlight splayed across her face, creating a shadow that muddled with her expression, changing it to that of an illegible nature.

"Aria, you know I'm new here! Why can't you do me a solid, just this once!"

"He's my best friend, I'm not about to set you up with him, that could get real messy, real fast."

Crossing her arms, she seemed angry, and now, with the sun having taken refuge behind the mass of cottony clouds, he could see it etched upon her face: cheeks rosy, and lips downturned. He wondered what it was they were talking about.

"Don't you trust me? Come On, Ar, won't you at least introduce us?"

"If you girls have seen any well-written rom-com in the last few years, you know that this could only turn into something good."

"What the heck, Han? He's my best friend. If she breaks his heart, you better believe I will break her face."

"I'm right here, you guys!" She was saying, her voice changing in pitch - becoming higher as though to become defensive - sounding. He was amused, watching from his vintage point of the door, as the two girls were in deep conversation. Checking his watch, it occurred to him that he should begin to prep for his first class, but within a few seconds, the temptation became too strong and his feet stayed planted on the ground.

"Tessa. No. I am not budging, so stop asking."

"Alright, move everybody," Hanna sighed, slinging her purse across her shoulder in a dramatic fashion. "Cupid's coming through, and unless you want to get an arrow in the ass today, you better back off."

Watching with intrigue as Hanna came toward him, he smirked, catching the eye of the girl, whom he now knew to be Tessa, as they stopped in front of him. "Ezra. Tessa. Tessa. Ezra," Hanna announced blithely, watching the two interact with a cheesy smile. It was climactic, that first word - tumbling from her lips in a timid, quiet, manner. "Hi."

He grinned, for he was unable to bite it back. She was just so cute. "Hi."

"So," she began, as her vocality transitioned from that of a little girl's - small and tentative - to who she was naturally. "What classes do you have this year?"

"Oh," he shrugged, handing him her schedule. "The usual."

"Law, Science, English, English Literature..." she read, instantly spotting the similarities in her own. "We have English together, Science as well."

"Ah," he fumbled, dropping his schedule at the brush of her hand against his. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other then."

"I guess so," she smiled, keeping calm for the sake of those around her, but inside, she was screaming.

She said goodbye to Ezra, promising to save him a seat in Science, their first class, and traipsed back over to Aria, Hanna in tow. "We have a date tomorrow night!"

Aria stared, mouth agape: her surprise clear in the way her mouth was twisted: an 'O' formation. "Shut up, you do not!"

"Nah," Tessa admitted, blushing slightly, chewing her lip as a red-hue played upon her cheeks, dancing down her neck as the sun's heat beat incessantly on those below. "We do have classes together though, and I already have a seat next to him."

"Yeah, first it's all innocent, sitting there in class, casually writing down the notes. He'll look up first, lean over, and ask you what that word is: the one that is so obvious to read. You'll turn your head, ever so slightly, to answer, but because he is so close to you, your lips will have no choice but to touch. There will be sparks and bam!" Hanna clapped her hands together in an emphatical gesture, "Here's to every lunch hour from that day on sitting under the bleachers, his hands in your hair."

"That's a nice image," Tessa commented, after a beat of stunned silence. It was meant to come off as snide, but it only succeeded in taking on a more blissful tone, making Aria gag.

"Geez, Hanna! What kind of rom-coms have you watched?"

She shrugged, somewhat noncommittally. "The one's any girl would."

"Sure," Aria mumbled, taking Tessa by the shoulders. "Listen to me, you cannot go out with him."

The confusion was made apparent on her face, lips pursed and brows furrowed. "And why not?"

"For reason's I would much rather not get into." Aria's response was left to marinate in its ambiguity, as nobody said anything for a few precarious seconds.

"He rejected her proposal," Hanna finally blurted, finding that she herself couldn't stand the silence. "He what?"

Aria's petite hand moved to cover Hanna's mouth but her attempt was futile as she continued to explain. "When Aria was five, he was too, obviously, they went to the park together. It was a beautiful sunny day - like today - and Aria had just seen that episode of Friends - you know the one, when Phoebe proposes to Mike? - only because she was in the room when Ella was watching it. Now she thought it was the normal thing, for a girl to propose to a guy, as she hadn't been exposed to much else. At the time."

Tessa covered her mouth in shock. "So, she really did it?"

Hanna nodded as Aria groaned, exemplifying her utter mortification. "Yes. She proposed to Ezra. With daises and a ring pop. The whole production. Just what every guy wants. She went all out, got his favourite flavour. Strawberry."

"No! Oh my god, Han, you are such a bitch!"

"Yeah, yeah. I pride myself on my Ali-ness. Get over it girl, it's been years."

"I'm not going to marry him, Aria. This isn't 90-Day Fiancé. A simple date would be nice though."

Aria shook her head. "It's not you I'm afraid of. It's him. He's a player."

Hanna snorted. "Oh yeah, total jock-strap. He's checked out over 200 books, and the one's he really liked - had a connection with if you will -" she snickered, "he read again."

Aria slapped her friend upside the head, earning a giggle from Tessa, who just stared at Hanna with a arched eyebrow. "That was the worst metaphor. Like, Ever."

"I tried," Hanna shrugged, just as the bell rang. "Let's go, Tessa has a date pending."

Aria groaned again, "Whatever you say, Hanna."

Ezra sat in the class, front row, waiting expectantly for her to show. She did, just as the second bell chimed, and came to sit beside him. "Hey. Long time, no talk."

He resisted in pointing out that it was only ten minutes ago that they were engaged in a simple conversation and just nodded, "Yeah."

The teacher, who stood patiently at the front of the room, awaited quiet as he shuffled mindlessly through a stack of papers that lay atop his desk. His glasses were askew, slipping halfway down his bulbous nose as he reached for the attendance list.

"Hello I am Mr. Renast and I will be your teacher for this course. Please, everyone take your seats."

After having gotten the attention of majority of his class, Mr. Renast began to read off the list of names."

"Here," Ezra stated, without the hassle of being called twice like most of the students, those whom had continued to natter despite the request for quiet. "It's Fitz. Not Fitzgerald."

"Very well." He continued moving down the list, passing Hanna's name as well as Tessa's and soon after reaching the end. "Okay, now will you all please take out your books..."

The lesson dragged, it was boring, nothing of actual importance: course outline, learning habits, class rules - no eating - etc. Throughout the entire eighty minutes, Tessa and Ezra conversed amicably, learning a fair amount about each other. What she heard, she liked and, evidently, as the next question asked dictated, so did he.

"Would you maybe like to go for coffee after school? There's a pretty mainstream spot just uptown..."

"The Brew?"

"You've heard of it?"

She laughed, "Yeah, I'm not some foreigner, of course I have. Their coffee is great, I'd love to."

Pushing Aria's words to the back of her brain, she reciprocated his smile, biting her lip as it widened against her will. "Well, I guess I should get going," she said, breaking the spell of silence that settled between them upon the reverberative ringing that signalled class dismissed.

"I guess so," he replied, bumping her shoulder with his own. "See you at the Brew?"

"See you there Ezzy."

"I told you not to call me that!"

She smirked, moving into the crowd of bodies inhabiting the hallway adjacent to the classroom. "Well, you shouldn't have told me about it then."

He blushed, "My mistake."

Tessa grinned just before disappearing around the corner, opposite his direction. "Nah, I think it's cute."

She never caught his reply: either he said nothing at all, or it had just gotten lost amongst the burst of speech that emitted from the student body as a whole - twisted and made apart of the incoherence that was true of most conversations heard in busy areas.

When Tessa sat down at the lunch table, she was greeted by many questions having to do with Ezra. "So, are you two going out or not?" Aria wanted to know as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Yeah, we're meeting at The Brew after school today."

Aria smiled. "I hope you have fun, and hey, I'm sorry about the way I acted before."

Tessa shook her head," No worries, Ar. You're protective of him. I get it. I'll take good care of him, no worries."

Aria laughed, as did Hanna. "You better! And promise me something, okay?"

"Anything."

"I get to be maid of honour at your wedding."

Tessa smiled. "Absolutely."

Hanna smirked. "This is a cute moment, so I'm just gonna let it happen. But, you should know that spot is already taken."

"Whatever Han. I don't think Tessa's gonna want your cheap whisky all over her white gown. Knowing you, you'll be drunk before too long and when you get up to give the toast, I'm 99 percent sure you are going to trip and your drink will end up everywhere."

"I'm only having wine, and if you get merlot all over me I might just have to cut you blondie," Tessa threatened, waggling her plastic knife at her.

"Damn girl," Hanna remarked, taking a dainty bite of salad, "that knife is so threatening. I'm shaking in my Chloe boots, really."

Tessa laughed. "As you should be."

They all laughed together then, busting out into an chorus of pitchy giggles and snorts.

Unbeknownst to the girls, Ezra was only a few millimetres away at the vending machine, retrieving a Coke, and, whilst going through the process of obtaining his soft drink, he had heard every word of their not-so-quite conversation. He smiled to himself, watching, like he had before at the start of the day, as Tessa threw her head back in a gleeful laughter.

He was convinced she was a keeper.

Author's Note: So? Tessa? How'd you like it? :P Did you fangirl pretty hard? :P