Ella's Pov:
"What's Ezra doing here?" Byron asked in a confused voice.
"Uh, why don't you hear Peter out, I'll be right back." I said and began to walk towards him.
"Ella…" Ezra said, as he saw me approaching. I took a deep breath before responding.
"I know why you're here." I said
"You need to understand that I-"
"Stop. This is a very small town. People see things, and they talk. I actually thought you were an outstanding teacher."
"I'm in love with her."
"I'm going to give you one chance to walk away from this. Not because you deserve it, but because this is the last thing we need to deal with right now. And when you go, you need to keep going, because if Spencer's parents find out about this, they will ruin you."
Ezra's Pov:
Spencer's parents? What did they have to do with anything? I didn't have time to respond though because the girls started filing out of the room they were in. Spencer was first, followed by Emily, Hanna and finally, Aria.
"Ezra!" Aria cried when she saw me standing there. She didn't even care about who was watching, because she ran into my arms and started to cry. I held her close to me, forgetting about everything else. I hated seeing her cry.
"It's ok, I'm here." I said trying to comfort her. She looked up into my eyes and kissed me. I kissed her back and we stayed like that for a few moments until..
"Ahem"
We both turned at the same time. Spencer, Emily, and Hanna were all against the wall, smiling. They didn't look surprised to see us together. All of the parents, besides for Ella, were huddled together, with their mouths hanging open in shock.
Crap, I thought. Busted.
Aria's Pov:
The first think I saw when I turned around was my mother's glare. She looked pissed.
That was so stupid! I thought
In the police station, too!, but it was already too late, so I wrapped my arm around Ezra's waist and pulled him closer to me. He put his arm around my shoulder, still trying to comfort me. My father started to walk towards us, just as my mother began to speak.
"What is going on here?" she said in a loud angry voice.
"Ella" my father said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Just let them explain."
"I'm waiting for an explanation, Byron!" she yelled at him.
I watched her turn to glance at Spencer, then back at Ezra, a confused look on her face. The anger soon returned, though. Ezra, who was clearly uncomfortable, squeezed my hand.
"I don't know what to tell you mom." I said. "Except that we're in love."
I looked up at Ezra, still squeezing my hand, and he smiled at me slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes. You could still see the fear in them. His grip on my hand did not release.
"You're what?" my mother exclaimed.
I was about to repeat myself, when my dad stepped in.
"Ella!" he yelled. Then, he reached for my hand and pulled me to him, leaving Ezra standing there, open for my mother's glare. "Why don't you tell me what happened."
"The day we got home from Iceland, I was hungry, so I went to the bar to get some food. That is where we met. BEFORE I knew he was my teacher. We have been seeing each other ever since."
He looked at me with sad, understanding eyes. It was like he was trying to tell me that it was ok. Then he looked over to my mother, who clearly was not as understanding. She took a step towards Ezra. He didn't move. After a moment, he looked her in the eyes.
"We tried to stop once we found out I was her teacher, but it was too late, Mrs. Montgomery. We were already falling in love and we couldn't stop it."
She took another step towards him, anger and betrayal in her eyes. Seeing her closing in on him, I walked back over to Ezra and took his hand in mine.
"Mom, please! Just listen! Try to understand."
Ella's Pov:
"Understand? You want me to understand? He was your teacher, Aria!"
"Mom, the key word in that sentence is was. He was my teacher. But he isn't anymore! And I just got done saying that we met each other before we knew!" she said as she began to cry again. "We didn't-". She started to say, but I cut her off.
"Aria, I don't want to hear this right now. We're going home, we can talk about this later. Ezra, I think you better go."
She pulled him closer and was about to protest, but he stopped her.
"Aria, maybe I should go." He said and wiped away her tears. "I'll call you later, ok?"
"Ok" she replied with more tears welling up in her eyes. She leaned up to kiss him and they embraced for a moment. She pulled away and went straight to her father. She buried her head in his shoulder and he led her out towards the car. I back to Ezra, who was still standing there, then turned to go follow my husband and daughter.