The Aspiring Journalist Chapter 4

Ezra apologized right away and said, "I'm so sorry Aria. I shouldn't have done that. You are my TA."

"It's ok. I know you shouldn't have done that. But please don't feel bad Ezra. I shouldn't have broke down here with you." Aria said as she looked down at the table. She seemed a bit embarrassed.

He put his hand on Aria's cheek, "I do mean what I said, you are worthy of love."

Aria said, "Thank you for being so kind to me. I should also thank you for not treating me like I'm some useless cripple."

"Don't you dare say that again Aria. You aren't useless. You are out there getting a Master's Degree and you have had jobs before. The good work you do at the library is very valuable to those kids and the community. Any man would be lucky to have you." Ezra said.

Aria wheeled closer to Ezra and hugged him.

Ezra didn't want to let her go and he wanted to kiss her again. But it would have felt wrong in some way. He began to wonder if he could maybe date Aria and maybe no one at Hollis would have an issue with it.

Aria finally let go of him and said, "Let's just move on from this."

Ezra responded, "If it is ok, I would still like to accompany you to the Halloween night party with your friends."

Aria said, "Yes, it would be ok. We'll just go as friends."

The young woman then turned her focus back to the decorations and crafts she had been working on.


A few hours later, she drove Ezra back to the campus so he could get his car. She headed home. She still thought about the kiss and she didn't admit to Ezra, but she liked the kiss. She felt that it was a small miracle that a man would kiss her.

It was a little after 7 pm, when the front door opened and Emily came in with a Chinese takeout.

"Hey Aria. Sorry about not being able to go shopping with you." Emily said as she put the takeout on the kitchen counter.

"It's ok Emily. Ezra went with me."

"That's good, I was kind of worried about you shopping alone. I know that some people at stores aren't too helpful to you." Emily said.

"Ezra helped me out well. We came here after the party store to work on some decorations. We got to talking and he kissed me."

"He did. What happened exactly?"

Aria wheeled closer to Emily and said, "We had been talking about disabilities. You see Ezra has a minor disability. He made me promise not to tell others. But I think I'm ok telling you. Before he got into teaching, he was an embedded journalist in Iraq. A Humvee he was riding in was hit by a bomb. He lost the lower part of his leg as a result. He showed me the prosthetic. He still isn't completely comfortable with it. Anyway, when we were talking, he told me that he envied me. He envied the fact that for the most part, I'm well adjusted to my disability. I broke down crying because I'm not well adjusted to the fact that my disability keeps men away from me. I told him that and how I fear that nobody will ever want me."

Emily asked, "That lead him to kissing you?"

"Well, he told me that I shouldn't put myself down and that I was worthy of love."

Emily bent down and hugged her friend and said, "You are worthy of love. You survived that accident along with me. You have done good things in your life. I also envy you because you don't have bitterness towards Ali."

Ali was Alison DiLaurentis. She was the driver in the accident. She had been friends with Emily, Aria, Spencer, and another friend Hanna Marin since middle school. But the accident changed that. The Montgomery family and Aria felt that Ali didn't mean to cause the accident. They knew that her inexperience as a driver was part of the reason, but they couldn't hate her for it. Emily on the other hand, was angry at Ali and they had also been dating at the time. She was angry about the shoulder injury that effected her swimming career. Spencer and Hanna were also angry at Ali. Ali stopped being friends with them and became friends with other people. Emily, Spencer, and Hanna never talked to her much after sophomore year. Aria sent her letter once saying that she wasn't angry about the accident. Emily had grown bitter towards Ali.

Aria said, "It was an accident, Emily. Ali was so young and so were we. It could have been any one of us driving and causing the accident. I know you are hurting Emily because you loved her and maybe you still do love her."

Tears streamed down Emily's face and she said, "I do. But I don't know how to forgive her."

"You don't have to forgive her now, but just work towards letting go of some of the anger. I know you are still pissed that you couldn't swim in college. But you are still amazing Emily. You are a good coach and someday that might pay off in a big way."

Emily took a seat next to Aria and hugged her friend tightly and said, "I should take your advice. I shouldn't be bitter at all, you would have more of a reason to be bitter. You are in a wheelchair."

Aria said, "At times, I do get sad or angry and I'm more sad about the fact that I haven't' found anyone yet. But I can't be bitter or hateful towards Ali. I have managed to have a good life since the accident. Earlier, I think Ezra tried to show me that."

Emily said, "I hope you do find someone Aria and I'll help you."

Aria kissed Emily on the forehead.

The two friends decided to eat the Chinese takeout and watch a movie to get their minds off of the accident and Ezra.


That night at Ezra's apartment, he was alone drinking beer. Sometimes drinking helped him with the stress of the difficulties of his life. Sometimes he had nightmares about the war and the things he saw. He was still a bit mad that he couldn't find other journalism jobs. He was now a bit upset about the situation with Aria. He was falling for her, but he knew she wasn't falling for him. He continue drinking beer after beer. He laid down on his bed and turned on the radio to an AM talk station. The radio reporters started talking about the war in Iraq. Ezra in his anger grabbed an empty beer bottle and threw it at the door. He cried himself to sleep that night. The next morning, he woke up with a hangover, he noticed the broken glass on the floor. He swept it and wished that he could forget about Iraq.


Halloween arrived . Luckily, Aria didn't have any classes or have to work with Ezra. She and Emily went to the library. The set up for the party with help from the library staff. Aria was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and she had a picnic basket over her lap. She wanted her costume to be from a children's book. Emily was dressed as Pocahontas.

Children and teens started filing into the library. All of them knew and loved Aria. She had helped many of overcome reading difficulties through tutoring. The smaller children sometimes climbed onto her lap to hug her. Aria and Emily handed the party-goers, favor bags which consisted of candy, and Halloween favors related to books like Frankenstein, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Casper, and Dracula.

Ezra came into the library. He immediately noticed some of the decorations he made hanging. He then saw Aria surrounded by a circle of children. She was reading to them from a book, and he heard her recite a line from the poem, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

He smiled as he saw how relaxed she was with those children. He saw Emily behind her.

After Aria finished reading the poem. One of the librarians announced that they were going to watch The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, in one of the nearby media rooms. The kids filled out.

Aria saw Ezra in the library. She wheeled over to him.

"Hi Ezra, why did you come here? I thought you would want to get caught up on things before the night party." Aria said.

"I got caught up on my work and I wanted to see how the library party was turning out. Everything looks great and you are so good with the kids."

"I have been working with most of them for a few years now. When I first started, I wasn't sure how they would take to me. Some kids seemed scared or unsure of me because of the wheelchair. Others took to me right away. Maybe when you aren't too busy, you could come here and help out with the literacy program" Aria said.

"I would like to try it at least once. I'm not sure if I would be good with kids."

"You are a warm person and you would do fine with kids. I could help you out in the beginning." Aria said.

"I guess I could try. About I come here during the winter break." Ezra said.

"That would work well." Ezra said.

Aria said, "I'm glad that things are ok between us now. I hope we have fun at the party tonight."

Ezra was also hoping to have fun at the party. But he also still longed to have more with Aria and he decided that he would find a way to make Aria fall in love with him and he would also have to make sure that neither was hurt professionally.


Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or left reviews. I appreciate the support. The next chapter probably won't be up until Saturday or Sunday. I have it planned out for the most part. But I need some help from readers. I'm not sure about Ezra's Halloween costume for the night party. I thought about having him dress as the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, but I think that might be creepy. Please PM me or leave suggestions in the reviews. Thank you in advance.