A/N Sooo it's been a while! I'm so sorry, but I've had a lot of stuff to do and I've never really had time or inspiration to write. But now! And it won't be that long until next time, because I have the rest of the story ready! ;) I hope you'll enjoy it! I'm sorry if there are some grammatic mistakes (which there probably are) or spelling error. Still developing my English! ;) so – ENJOY!
"Hey, Aria!" Aria whirled around and saw Noel walking towards her. She swallowed a sigh.
"Hey Noel."
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" His face was just inches from hers. His breath smelled like mint gum. He probably thought that the odds was in his favour for a kiss. Aria took a step away from him.
"Actually, yes." She focused her gaze on her feet. "Sorry." She met his eyes again. At least, she wasn't lying.
An expression somewhere between hurt and irritated came upon his face.
"As yesterday. And the day before that. So, tell me. What is more important than me? Or should I say who?"
"Please, don't do this Noel. I..."
"Forget it. Just forget it."
"Noel, wait!"
As Noel started to walk away from her, Aria panicked. She grabbed his arm so he turned to her again. She leaned forward and kissed him deep and as passionated she could get for a boy who she was using to cover up for another relationship.
They pulled away and she smiled a little.
"I have a thing to do tonight, but how about tomorrow?"
"Sounds good. I'll text you." Noel seemed much more pleased and kissed her again. Suddenly Aria felt like someone was watching them. She pulled away and turned around. There stood Ezra, staring at her and Noel with burning eyes. She met his gaze and Aria felt her stomach drop. Without a word, Ezra walked away.
Aria knocked hard on the wooden door for the third time. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes but she did her best to fight them.
Don't cry, idiot. She told herself
"Ezra, open the door! I know that you're there. For God's sake, just open the door!" She screamed to the brown door infront of her. She didn't care if his neighbours thought that she was mad. All she cared about was Ezra.
The door flung open and Ezra stood in the doorway. His face was similar to a stone wall.
"What do you want? Wanna play me some more and make me look like a complete fool? Because if that's what you want, you should know that I'm totally done with you." He made a move to close the door but Aria was faster. She stepped into the apartment.
"Ezra, please." Aria fought the tears with all her strenght. "You know why I'm seeing Noel. I'm doing this for us, Ezra! If I end it now, he'll try to figure out who I left him for."
"Really? Just say the truth Aria. I saw you two kissing and it didn't look like you did that without feelings. Just say that you like him, because I know you do. And you're just playing with me. A foolish teacher is probably a nice topic to giggle about with your friends."
Ezra spoke with a cold in his voice that Aria never thought was possible for him to have. Every word he said felt like knives into Aria's body. Her heart was slowly ripped into pieces.
"H-how... ho-ow can you say something l-like tha-at? Ezra, you know that's not true! We both know it!"
Ezra took a step forward. She could smell his breath – a mix between scotch and cinnamon – and feel his bodyheat.
"Then tell me that you'll never see him again. Tell Noel that you're not into him and that you two just can't happen. Tell him that he's not right for you and that you don't wanna see him anymore."
"I..." The words were stuck in her throat. How was she supposed to tell Noel that without revealing her relationship with Ezra?
"You what?" Ezra looked at her impatiently. His eyes was filled with something that Aria figured was jealousy and hurt. The feelings was reflected on his face, and the expression made Aria pretty scared. She had never seen him like this before.
"I have to meet him, we go to the same school and take classes together! And you know that I'm not into him, but if I tell him that we can't be together, he would suspect something! We can't risk that!"
"You don't know what you want." Ezra sighed. "Listen to me, Aria. I'm risking everything to be with you. And what do I get for that? You're playing with my emotions. Give me a reason to trust you when I see you make out with Noel right after we nearly..." He cut off himself.
Aria swallowed. Maybe he was right. If she wanted Ezra with whole her heart, why was she still seeing Noel? She was telling herself that it was to protect Ezra, but was that really the whole truth? Maybe Ezra was right. Maybe she liked Noel more than she let herself feel. But why couldn't she look at Ezra without wanting to rip off his clothes and kiss him all over his body?
"Ezra... I..." Her voice broke. "I-I don't know why you should t-trust me... but... I..."
"Tell me when you know, until then, I don't wanna see you. Please, leave. Now." He didn't even touch her, just pointed straight out of the door. Aria was so torn apart that she wasn't even able to think. She shot Ezra one more gaze and then left his apartment – more confused than ever.