Chapter 3:

ARIA POV

Three weeks had passed since my first day back at school. Since then, Ezra and I had barely spoken. The only encounters we'd engaged in were when he asked me for an answer in class, or if he was taking the class attendance. Even then, I'd only answer with a simple 'yes'. It was sad that things were like this between Ezra and I, but I guess it's what he wanted. He said so himself, that I was just another student to him. I was probably taking what he said a little bit too seriously, but it hurt me that he would even say it in the first place.

As Ezra and I grew apart, Ryan and I grew closer. He was in almost all of my classes with the exception of English, which was something that I was thankful for. Although I was extremely annoyed at Ezra, having Ryan in my English class would just make things a little bit more awkward.

I hadn't exactly been shy when showing my feelings for Ryan either. I'd been spending a lot of time with him lately. I'd walk to classes with him, eat lunch with him, and sometimes, he'd bring me home in his Range Rover. We were constantly flirting, and my friends had to remind me every so often that I might be still with Ezra and that I shouldn't cheat. I wasn't sure what was going on with Ezra and I, but spending all this time apart was just making me feel more attracted to Ryan.

The reason why I found myself attracted to him worried me though. It wasn't that he was really hot, or that he was really rich, it was that he was extremely like Ezra. He loved English, old movies and even did some of his own writing. His physical appearance didn't exactly match Ezra's, but he did have the school boy look which I would die for.

As Ezra handed back our homework assignments, I couldn't wait to get out of class. Having English every single day of the week was a nightmare under the current circumstances. Perhaps another reason why I couldn't wait for the class to end was because it was my only class that Ryan wasn't in, but the again, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

I was never really worried about my grades in English, I had always seemed to do well. However, I wasn't sure if Ezra was ever bias when grading my papers, but to be honest I didn't really care. I was doing well and that's all that mattered to my parents. I wasn't a natural genius like Spencer who had to please herself. Nonetheless when I received this homework assignment back, it was not a grade I was used to.

"Mr Fitz?" I called Ezra as the bell rang. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course Aria." He replied as his face lit up with excitement. I hadn't asked to speak with him after class since before we went to Italy.

As the class made their way out of the class room, I began speaking.

"You're giving me a D- on the homework assignment?" I asked, very confused. "Just because you're trying to make this things less obvious does not mean you can lower my grade!" I was furious. I had never done so badly in any homework assignment before.

"Aria, this -" I abruptly interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. I wasn't finished speaking yet.

"And since when have we gone this long without talking to each other? You haven't made an effort at all?" I could see he was not expecting this, but I was so angry.

"First of all Aria.." he began speaking while I began to calm down. "This is the grade you deserve. You're homework wasn't up to your normal standards, and I didn't want to be bias by giving you a grade you didn't deserve. Secondly, I don't -" I cut him off again. It was becoming a habit of mine.

"I didn't deserve this grade! You're seriously going to give me this mark?"

"I'm afraid you did deserve this grade Aria." I knew he hated doing this to me, but I could sense that it was out of spite.

"I did not deserve a D-. You're doing this out of spite!" If smoke really came out of peoples ears, there would have been a hell of a lot of smoke coming out of mine at this moment.

"I would never do that to you Aria. You say I'm doing this out of spite when you know I could never hate you." I knew he could never hate me, but I was starting to believe that he didn't love me as much as he used to

"Okay whatever." I said, trying to come across like I didn't care. "So are we over?" I was afraid to ask, but I needed to hear the truth.

"Well I don't want us to be over Aria, you know that. Things are just a little more difficult than before. Saving your life was the best decision I have ever made. I don't want to lose you completely, and I'm afraid that it might come to that if we're not careful." Ezra really got me this time. It was amazing how his choice of words could change my mood.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you." I apologised, hoping things could go back to normal. I moved in closer to him, but not too close. I interlocked my fingers in his, very discretely so no one could see.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for be-" Ezra was cut off by a knock on the door. We immediately separated, hoping we hadn't been caught.

"Come in!" Ezra shouted, half coughing, as I picked up my homework assignment and got my story ready in case of an emergency.

"Hey!" The woman, who I had never seen before said as she took two baby steps inside the classroom. She was really young, and really pretty. Her blonde hair, dark brown eyes, tall, skinny figure and perfect smile enabled her to catch Ezra's attention, as he could not stop staring. To be honest, neither could I.

"How can I, uh, how can I help you?" he asked with his mouth hanging wide open. I stared at him hoping he wouldn't start drooling.

"I'm new here. I was supposed to start teaching at this school almost an hour ago but my GPS brought me in the wrong direction." she said sweetly. She acted so innocent, but I didn't like her, simply for being prettier than me and because I could see Ezra falling for her already.

"Oh don't worry." Ezra laughed while getting up off his seat. "They're not strict about punctuality here at Rosewood High." she laughed, and so did he. I nearly vomited.

"I'm Ms. Anilom." she smiled and put out her hand, while I wondered was her hair her natural colour. It kind of looked like she was wearing a really expensive wig, but I was probably just trying to find something to criticise her about.

"I'm Mr. Fitz" Ezra replied, shaking her hand for an extremely long time. "So, what are you teaching?"

"English." she said while I nearly choked on my own saliva. Was this really happening? "I really have a passion for it, so I decided to share my love onto students. I hope I've chosen my career path wisely."

"Oh definitely. Teaching is an incredible feeling, especially teaching English." Oh Ezra, you really were flirting a lot in front of me.

"You know what, why don't I show you around? Help you settle in? I think I'm free now." he suggested while heading towards the door as she followed him.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Aria, just read over my comments on your paper ok?" he said while walking out the door with Ms. Anilom.

"Yeah yeah okay. You go, desert me and eat pasta in the teacher's lounge with Ms. Anilom. Don't worry about me. No, I'll be fine. Not like you meant anything you just said, right?" I stopped talking when I realised I was speaking to myself. It was quite fortunate that nobody heard me.

I waited in the classroom alone, thinking about what had just happened. There was something weird about Ms. Anilom, I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

A/N…. Hey hey hey! Did you like? Do you like the new teacher? What are you guys thinking? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Like if you're reading this now, please review and tell me what you think. It means a lot. Much love, Becky x