This chapter is finally written. Sorry for the long wait.
After a long day of lectures and note taking, Aria was looking forward to her dinner date with Ezra. She walked quickly back to her dorm to get ready. She had a good hour or so before she had to leave and she was hoping to catch up on some homework.
When she entered the room, she noticed Jane wasn't there. Jane didn't have any late classes on Wednesdays and she was usually back before Aria. At that moment, her phone buzzed. Expecting it to be Jane, she was surprised to see that it was Hanna.
iChat, 5 mins? :)
Aria smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she saw Hanna's face. The homework would have to wait until tomorrow.
She threw her books on her bed and sat down at her desk. It was then that she realized there was a note:
Studying in the library, be back late, love Jane
"Sucks for her," Aria said aloud. She threw the note aside, turned on her laptop, and called Hanna.
A few seconds later, Hanna's face came on the screen. Aria suddenly wished Hanna was right there next to her, not three thousand miles away.
"Hi love bug!" said Hanna, while waving.
"Seeing you now makes me realize I'm a bit homesick," Aria gushed.
"A bit? Try a lot! You're all the way in California!"
"I know. It didn't seem that far away until now. I can't believe I've been here a whole month."
"Me neither! The leaves in New York are starting to change and it's getting chilly out. You should see Central Park. It's beautiful in the fall."
"It's fall?"
"Yes dummy, since like last week."
"Well how should I know, it's always summer here," Aria joked.
"Yeah that's true! Ugh I don't know if I can take this anymore, being apart from you, Emily and Spencer," sighed Hanna.
"Hmm... well Thanksgiving is coming up! And then Christmas break... Hey! Maybe we could plan a Spring break trip? Just us four?"
"Love it! I'll start googling right now!" Hanna loved shopping, whether it was for Coach purses at the mall or for vacation deals online.
"Okay...so how's things with Caleb?"
Over an hour later when the girls were done talking about Ezra and Caleb, Aria's phone rang. "Just a sec Han...hello?"
"Hey. You ready?" It was Ezra.
"Fuck. Uh yeah almost. Han I gotta go." She blew Hanna a kiss and exited iChat.
"I made the reservation for seven so if you wanna beat the traffic you're gonna have to leave in five minutes," stated Ezra.
"Okay okay, text me the address." Aria hung up and ran to her closet and started throwing clothes everywhere. Ten minutes later, she was running across the parking lot, praying to God for a miracle, asking for no traffic in LA tonight.
Ezra sat in his office, texting Aria the address. He had been at work all day, grading exams during his breaks so that he wouldn't have to do them tonight. And apparently, Aria had forgotten about their date. He shook his head and smiled, not understanding how her mind worked but loving her anyway.
He began to pack up his briefcase when his phone rang. Wondering who could be calling so late, he glanced at the caller ID: Ella. Fuck. He can't ignore both her and Byron. Reluctantly, he answered the phone.
"Hello?" Ezra tried to sound as casual as possible.
"Hi Ezra, this is Ella. I was just calling to see how things were going at your new job." She sounded concerned.
"Hey Ella, it's going really well. I'm loving all of my classes, thanks for asking."
"You're sure you're not lonely out there?"
"No I'm making new friends."
"Oh good. I'm always wondering the same about my Aria. I don't know if I told you but she just started her first semester at UCLA."
Ezra panicked for a second, than gained composure. "Oh did she? Wow that must be exciting. I'm sure she's fine, she's a very outgoing girl." He cringed at his own awkwardness.
"Yeah I know but that's what mothers do, they worry."
"Yeah, listen I got to go I have a meeting to get to."
"Alright it was nice talking to you, take care."
Ezra hung up and took a huge breath. Not so bad, he thought. He finished packing up his office, and headed out the door.
Aria sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the 405 Freeway. She only hoped that Ezra wouldn't be pissed at her when she showed up late. She turned off the music and listened to only the sounds of the night. She tried to be peaceful and calm instead of what she really was, edgy and in a hurry.
She jumped when her phone rang. She looked around for any cops and saw none, then reached in her bag and answered the phone.
"Yeah?"
"What was that all about? We were in the middle of a long overdue conversation and you ditched me!"
"I'm sorry Han. Oh crap you just reminded me I didn't tell Jane where I was going. Let me text her. Once second... Ok what?"
Hanna sighed. "You ditched me."
"Oh right. Yeah I'm meeting Ezra for dinner at a Korean restaurant and I lost track of time talking with you, sorry."
Hanna sighed. "It's okay bestie. I've done that to Caleb with Mona a few times," she giggled.
Aria smiled. "I can only imagine." Her phone beeped.
"Hey my mom's on the other line I'll call you tomorrow okay?"
"Ok bye hun."
"Bye...Hey mom."
"Hi honey are you? I miss you."
"I'm fine, I can't really talk right now I'm heading out to dinner with Ez- uh Esther, my new friend from um, my English class."
"Oh how nice. Well don't let me spoil your night. Oh by the way I talked to Mr. Fitz and he's enjoying his new job in Seattle, I just thought you'd like to know."
"Oh that's good, I'll text you later, I gotta go bye love you." She hung up and threw her phone onto the passenger seat, the traffic had finally started moving.
Ezra stood outside the restaurant, waiting. It was 7:05 and in ten minutes they were going to lose their table.
"Come on Aria," he mumbled under his breath, right before her car pulled up. He smiled at her and she waved and parked her car behind his. A flash in the corner of his eye caused him to look up. Across the street some tourists were taking pictures of the scenery. A few feet away from them was a hooded figure dressed in black, staring at him. Ezra stared back, wondering what this guy's problem was. Aria walked up and hugged him and he tried to ignore the guy for a moment.
"Oooo I missed you, what has it been, a week?" Aria gushed and squeezed him tight.
"I missed you to babe. Let's get inside so we don't lose our table," he said with a smile. "After you." Aria walked in behind him and he looked up again. The mystery man was smiling under his hood and looking at... Aria. Ezra had a bad feeling about it, but he didn't want to worry her. Probably just a pervert walking the streets of LA, happens all the time...right?
"Hey, what's wrong?" Aria called to him.
"Nothing, nothing... just some creep staring at you," he said.
Aria looked suddenly worried. "Who?"
"I don't know it's probably nothing. Come on let's get inside."
Aria looked over his shoulder, scanning the busy street. She looked more concerned then he thought she would be. "Don't worry about it," he reassured her.
"Yeah," Aria said, in a far away voice, like her mind was somewhere else. They both walked inside, hand in hand, trying to forget about the mystery man.
