Aria Montgomery remembers the first day she knew she had a crush on Noel Khan. She knows it's weird to remember stuff like that, but with somebody as amazing as Noel, it's kind of hard not to.
It was the middle of October, it was getting cooler in Rosewood, but not too cold for the Rosewood Day students to go outside to play kickball. The guys were all for it, at least the jocks were. Aria could see Lucas (whom Ali had called "Hermy" at the time) hanging back and looking nervous. Most of the girls weren't excited (except for athletic Ali, Spencer, and Emily) but they'd deal. Even Hanna was okay with kickball.
Aria, on the other hand, hated kickball. Like, with a passion. The same way you'd hate someone if they hurt one of the people you loved. Part of the reason she hated it was because she was the worst player, even worse than Hanna (not by much, but still). She tried to avoid it as much as possible.
The coach split them into two teams, Aria sighed with relief when she saw Hanna and Spencer were on her team. She wished Ali and Emily weren't on the opposing side, though. The coach called saying that her team was up first and then she wished she was on the other team because of all the things she hated about kickball, kicking was the worst.
"God, I just love kickball, don't you guys?" Spencer asked them and she and Hanna both gave her a "what drug are you on?" look. She let the subject drop, thankfully.
A few moments later, Hanna turned to Aria and whispered. "You know Noel Kahn? He's kind of hot, right?"
Aria looked over at the dark haired boy on the other team that most of the girls were staring at and giggling about with their friends. He was probably a huge jerk, not that she'd ever talked to him, but she could tell. So not her type. She settled for a shrug. "I guess." The subject dropped after that.
The game continued, Aria getting an out every time she kicked the ball. She knew most of the boys on the other team were laughing at her, the girls giving her sympathy looks.
Finally, the game was almost over and Aria was the last kicker, much to her dismay. The coach even said this play would be worth five points. Aria wanted to smack the woman for putting so much pressure on her. She had to know Aria wasn't a good player by now, right? She was obviously doing this to torture her.
"MOVE IN!" The other team's pitcher, Matt Brewster, yelled and Aria's cheeks reddened. She hated this game. She hated herself more for sucking at it so badly.
Matt rolled a nice, gentle, easy pitch that would've been easy for a five-year-old to hit. Something about that made Aria mad and she kicked the ball with as much force and conviction as she could muster. It rolled to the outfield, people scrambled to catch it. Aria ran around the bases, smiling triumphantly to herself. She had did it!
But then, out of nowhere, Bobby Marcus, who had gotten the ball, held it out so that she ran into it, knocking the wind right out of her. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Ali, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna all came running over, followed by a lot of other kids and their PE teacher.
The PE teacher (along with Ali, Spence, Han, and Em, of course) asked her repeatedly if she was alright. She nodded. Her stomach really hurt and it was still a little hard to breathe, but she was okay. The PE teacher told everyone to give her some room, and everyone left (even her friends, who were almost forcibly pulled away).
Noel Khan, on the other hand, walked right over to Bobby and asked, "Don't you know you're not supposed to hit a girl?" before decking him square in the mouth. Aria was shocked. Why had he done that?
A moment later, Noel was next to her, reaching a hand down to help her up from the dirt that she was resting on from her knees. She took it gratefully. "Thanks…" She said weakly. He had really pretty eyes.
"No problem. It was the right thing to do, even if I will get in a buttload of trouble. I just hope you're okay, Aria." He said and she nodded.
"I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting it. And it hurt… a lot. But I'll be okay."
He smiled at her and she almost melted. His smile was even better than his eyes. She didn't think that was possible. "Good. And let me know if you have any more problems with Bobby. I'll take care of him for you." Noel said, shooting her one last smile before walking ahead of her.
It was at that moment Aria started liking Noel, even though he was completely out of her league. There was a certain… kindness that he possessed that drew her towards him. She just hoped he felt the same about her.
This is kind of a random, pointless fic, huh? But I've always wondered how Aria started liking Noel. Maybe it says so in the book (I'm reading them now… I'm on the first one) or on the show (I don't remember if it did). But this is how I imagined it. I suspect Noel is a little OOC and probably Aria, too. But I wanted to write this. I hope more people write Noel/Aria fics. They're SO cute together.
Oh, and I want to know if you guys want me to continue "The Plan". Nobody's been reviewing so that gives me the impression that no one's interested. I'd love to continue it, but I want people to actually be interested. So, let me know.
Anyways, back to this fic, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review. I'll give you all a virtual cake if you do!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or the characters, sadly. But I do own the plot, please don't steal it.