Prologue

How can this be so wrong, but so right? I always thought that love was straight forward - you love someone, or you don't. But I was so wrong, because it's not just about you and he, your feelings and his, it's the whole world. Some people just can't be together, because the world will never accept them as a couple, but how can you please the world and move on when you are in love with somebody else. My mother used to tell me - "screw 'em all and follow your heart". I guess that's what I'm going to do...

Chapter one

Alison Di'laurentis disappeared when aria was 15. She was the queen bee at rosewood high school - blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin and a figure to die for, and she was one of Arias best friends. Every guy wanted Alison, and every girl wanted to be Alison. That was just the way it was. When she went missing, Aria never really thought about what was going on. Part of her had always thought that she'd just show up, but it never happened.

Aria's family moved to Iceland the next month, which was like a breath of fresh air for her. She needed to clear her head, and Iceland was perfect, but it was never permanent change - it was a work thing for arias dad, Byron. Well, he said it was...

"Aria?" her mom, Ella, called. "Are you ok?"
Aria was sitting on her bed with Moulin rouge on mute, looking out to the unfamiliar sights of rosewood.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird to be back, you know?"
"I hear you! I just went out to put the snow chains on the car, and then I realised I wasn't in Iceland, I was in sunny rosewood! But I think I'm glad to be back."
"I'm not so sure..." aria mumbled to her self, a little too loud.
"Lighten up, aria! Could you give mike a ride to lacrosse for me?"
She sighed. She guessed that, now we were back, she'd have the lacrosse duty again. It was nice to have a year off.

"Yeah, sure."...

Aria dropped Mike off at the gates of rosewood high quickly, she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and go to the most dingy bar she could find. As she started to reverse out, a tall, dark figure tapped on my window. Was that... Noel Kahn! He looked as gorgeous as ever, a tight sweat shirt clinging to his body, his dark hair gelled back and his round face smiling. He blinked at her with his long lashes and grinned.
"Aria!" he shouted happily, "you're back!"
"Noel! Hey! How are you?" Aria asked back. Noel was her biggest crush all through middle school, but she'd never had the courage to approach him before.
"I'm great! How was Europe - where did you go again?"
"Iceland," she replied, smiling. "It was great, thank you!"
"You staying to watch practice?" Noel asked.
"No, I'm gonna go grab some food, but I'll see you around!"
Noel grinned and waved her off, and she decided to ditch the whole dive of a bar thing and settle for Hollis bar and grill - Hollis was the local college and the bar was on campus. It wasn't very big and was never busy, so Aria figured it would be the perfect place to get some alone time.

She sat down at the bar quietly and ordered a coke. The bar was dusty and plain, with brown walls and a dark, stained wood floor. It was practically empty, as she expected. She took by coke and paid the guy with a smile. At that moment, something from behind the bar caught her eye - a poster. "MISSING", it said, "ALISON DI'LAURANTIS". Arias stomach churned as she looked at the picture of her old best friend; it was took at arias 15th birthday sleepover just over a year ago - the police liked to use it because it showed her face clearly. Aria took a swig of her coke and turned away, closing her eyes to keep in the tears.
"Are you ok down there?" someone asked. Aria jumped as she looked for where the voice was coming from.
"Sorry" the voice chuckled. Aria realised the voice was coming from a guy three stools down from her. He has chestnut brown hair that was slightly curly and a round face. His eyes were a brilliant blue, and his smile was slightly crooked. Aria felt her heart flutter as he smiled at her - it was a pretty amazing sight!

Aria pulled herself together just in time to reply.
"I'm a bit jet lagged," she admitted, "I just got back from Europe."
"Where in Europe?" the guy replied.
"Iceland."
"I spent some time in Reykjavik, on the way up to Amsterdam. It's a great city!"
Aria nodded, smiling. "So, do you go to Hollis?" she asked.
"Just graduated"
Aria smiled again. "I'm Aria, by the way."
"Ezra. So, what's your major?"
Aria paused. Major? He thought she went to Hollis? But she was only sixteen! A lump formed in her throat as she remembered something her father had said; 'I don't like to lie, but sometimes, telling the truth does more harm than good.' She gulped.
"Err; well I'm leaning towards English..."
"that's what I majored!"
"And I write too, but it's kinda personal at the moment," aria continued. At this point, Ezra moved up the bar towards aria.
"I'm impressed!" he smiled, staring into arias deep brown eyes.
"Why?" aria laughed.
"I tried writing, and it ended up being stressful, more than fun - I guess I was writing what other people wanted to read. But if you're writing for yourself, it's pure passion! I'd love to read some of your work, if you'd let me?"
Aria grinned. "You may be disappointed..."
"You're smart, you've travelled," Ezra placed a hand on Aria's knee, "I'd like to know more about you..."
Aria jerked her leg away from his touch. Whoa. This was scaring her. She looked up at Ezra, who was awkwardly staring at the floor, embarrassed. This wasn't Arias style, but she figured it was a once in a life time opportunity.
"Yeah," she replied "I think I'd like to know more about you too."
I didn't take long for Ezra to drag her to the toilets and hoist her on the sink. He put her hand on her waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They smiled at each other for a moment, before their lips locked, there mouths fitting together perfectly...