CHAPTER 4

"That girl's cute looking," Hardy pointed out to Ezra as they walked away from the brunette that approached them.

"You thought every girl was cute, Hardy," Ezra reminded.

"No, I thought every girl was hot," the man emphasized, "this one's got a cuteness to her."

The two best friends simultaneously looked back, seeing the girl rapidly walk off, her her long brown locks flying around as the wind made quite an effort to thrust her small frame down. She seemed young, eighteen years old at the most. Ezra watched as she regrouped with a blonde. For a second, he assumed it to be Hanna Marin, but shook his head in disbelief.

"Just give up and choose one of the lovely ladies tomorrow," Hardy persuaded.

"Be calm," Ezra said, "it's only been two days. We're going to find her."

He wasn't going to give up. If it was the last thing he was going to do, he was going to find his mystery girl. He hadn't felt something so strong for anyone, not even Jackie. It was his chance to get things right and better in his life.

"And if you don't, you'll die?" Hardy teased, nudging him in the arm. Only he knew how strangely drawn the curly haired man was to love. When Ezra found a special girl, he wanted her to see what he saw.

"I think I might," he retorted.

Somehow, Hardy managed to convince him to go to The Late Night Crew, a bar on the outskirts of Rosewood. If it hadn't been for Hardy's reminders of helping him find his soulmate out at center city, Ezra would have ditched his task of being a wingman. Instead, he watched Hardy buying girls a ridiculous amount of drinks and become engulfed in the ambiance of them.

"See you tomorrow, Z," Hardy waved off Ezra after he informed him of his latest plans, which was ditching him and taking two new acquaintances of his to his house. Ezra couldn't help but to laugh at the sight of his friend trying to get the drunk women out the bar stably. He wasn't upset in the least of Hardy ditching him. In fact, he kind of hoped for it. Being stuck at The Late Night Crew was the last place he wanted to be at.

He made his way outside, running through the pouring rain. He stepped inside the car, turned the engine on, and drove towards the town lights of Rosewood. Casually, he rolled his fingers in his hair to get rid of the excess precipitation that cascaded his curls. The silence in the car brought him into his thoughts.

So many women arrived at the stand. His mystery girl was out there somewhere, and for piles of other people to lie and say they were the girl who he danced with at the ball made him feel hopeless. Lies, lies, they were all lies. Every girl that stood in front of him and recited the poem incorrectly was another step in the wrong direction for the plan. It made him think that she would never be found in the crowd.

Was Hardy right? Was it in his best interest to stop looking? Did she even want to be found? Hell, his doubts that she was even in the crowd could have been valid. He couldn't get her out of his mind. Her masked image was in his dreams, taunting him, showing him that the longer it took for him to find her, the less ambition he'd have.

It was getting harder and harder to see, the more the rain continued to downpour against the framework. The windscreen wiper went left and right, left and right, faster and faster. He struggled to see the traffic lights in front of him. A blur of green and yellow and tons of unnameable colors were in the hazy picture. He took a hard brake and almost let out a holler when a black figure suddenly located itself in front of him. His breaths intensified, noticing it was a person he was so close into running over.


The lights of the car almost blinded Aria. She took a deep breath and made her way across, waving to whoever the person was inside of the car apologetically. If they hadn't stopped, she would be one second away from death. At least it would escape her from Meredith.

She began to walk past, the rain hitting her wet hair and the rest of her clothes. She tried as hard as she could to shield the box of sweets her stepmother demanded she'd go and buy, but they were already soaked and she had no money to go back and buy more or to buy a taxi to get home. Meredith had taken all of her work money after she managed to find a speck of dust on the kitchen counter. Another ten blocks in the thunderstorm awaited her.

She could faintly hear a voice from behind her. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see where the noise was coming from, just out of curiosity. To her surprise, it was the person in the car that almost ran her over. And they were calling her. What interest did they have in Aria?

Her dripping legs guided her way back. There were no cars around except for the one, which put frightening thoughts into her brain. She shook them off and proceeded. She held back a gasp when she saw the ever so familiar Ezra Fitz.

"Are you alone out here?" he asked kindly, his cloudy muted grey eyes laying fixedly on hers. Aria hesitated, looking around to make sure it was her who he was talking to before looking back at him.

"Yeah, I am," she replied, trying to be audible above the wind and the incredible rainstorm.

"How many more blocks do you have left?" he inquired. She noticed that the rain was beginning to pour into his car and onto his hair, which made her feel guilty. He was standing there to see if she was okay when he had a life he needed to attend to.

"Just a few," she lied.

"A few?" he repeated, "I know your mom's probably told you about not getting into a stranger's car, but if you need a ride, the passenger seat's all yours."

Aria shook my head almost immediately — not because she didn't want to go, but because she didn't want to bother him.

"I wouldn't want to delay you," she told him.

"Really, you'd be no delay at all," he affirmed, flashing a smile. She stood there hesitantly, captivated by his kindness, before making her way to the other side and entering. She resisted the urge to squeeze the water from her hair like a dog. Manners were everything to her.

As soon as the car picked up, her tense muscles loosened up. She didn't dare bring her entire body back, in fear of making a giant wet mess.

"I feel like I know you from somewhere," Ezra suddenly said. Her loosened muscles went right back to its tensed position.

"I think I came up to you today," she stuttered quickly, looking down at her lap to shield her face with her long, brown hair. She didn't know why, but it was imperative that he wouldn't know who she was until she was ready to reveal her identity. The way he shrugged her off earlier made her feel humiliated. She knew it wasn't his fault, not in the least. She'd be quite irritated herself if the roles were reversed. Still, something about it just didn't sit right with her and it would take her a while to get settled with the circumstances.

"Oh, right," he muttered, tapping on the steering wheel in a nervous manner. "Look, I'm sorry about that. Are you going to come tomorrow? To the stand."

"Probably not," she shrugged. The irony of their conversation almost made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. If he would just turn his head and get a good look at her, he'd finally see who he was looking for. Maybe the mask hid her face, but she was sure that he'd know who he was just by her eyes. He did stare into them for two straight hours.

"Why not?" he questioned. Judging by the tone of his voice, she could tell he was merely concocting small talk. He didn't really care if she would be there or not. Her discouraging thoughts made her feel even worse. There was no way she would show herself to him now.

"You're probably just not looking for me," she said. The air around her was being to suffocate her. She took drawn in breaths, her attempts to ravish the sheltered air failing. Panic arose in her chest. All she knew was she had to go before she passed out. When the next red light came up, she hopped out of the car and shut the door behind her, running out to the sidewalk. She knew exactly where she was. Two more blocks until her house came up. Using the bagged goods to cover her head, she set off on her journey to a place she could no longer call home.

The day after, when the previously grassy grounds were now mud-filled and slushy and the sun peered out of the partly cloudy skies, Aria wanted to lounge in her bed forever. But knowing that finals were the week after, it was too risky to miss another day of school where preparation of the exams was vital to her future. In five months, she wanted to see herself in her brand new apartment in New York City instead of painting Meredith's fingernails. She anticipated big and would do anything to reach her goals. It would be what her mother wanted her to do.

After getting dressed and stepping out of the house, she peered at her palm, which had four quarters stacked upon one another. It was just enough to get her breakfast at Minnie's bakery. The lovely lady that worked there always reduced the price for Aria. Unlike the rest of Rosewood, she was a nonjudgmental person and treated the seventeen year old with the utmost kindness and respect, which Aria always appreciated of her.

Remarkably, Emily sat in front of the bakery, eating a pastry and staring at her cell phone intently. Aria gave her friend a big smile, forgetting about her life troubles and the incident from the night before and approaching her.

"Coffee cake?" Aria guessed her entree, leaning my hip against the table. The copper-skinned teenager took her creamy brown eyes off her phone and up at her, mimicking her smile.

"Fruited orange bread," she corrected, "want some?"

Aria shook her head, tightening the fist that contained the quarters. "I'm going to go grab something for myself and we can walk to school."

"Sounds good," she agreed. The brunette gave her a tiny smile before walking into the store, the door chime clanging together to create a soothing ding. The aroma of pastries filled her nostrils, a smell she enjoyed a lot. Stares were being shot at her, but she tried to ignore them to the best of her abilities. Talking assembled to harsh whispers as she stepped up to the counter, where Minnie stood, a joyous grin plastered on her elderly face.

"How are you, Aria?" she asked genuinely. She was already preparing Aria a bag.

"I'm alright," she nodded, forcing out her previous wary thoughts of Ezra. She unclasped her fist and placed the quarters on top of the counter, where they made a brief, clank sound. "Is there something here for a dollar?"

Minnie gave her a look, not one of pity or disgust, which Aria kind of liked. "Don't be silly, baby girl. Choose whatever you're up for."

Aria replied with a smile and stepped to the left. An assortment of pastries awaited her; buns, cakes, breads, pies, tarts, you named it, she had it. She didn't have much of a sweet tooth in the morning, so going for the fruit muffin and raspberry flavored ice tea was her final choice. As her eyes flickered over the Boysenberry pie, she thought about the rant Hanna gave her relating to Ezra's favorite pie. A frown came across her face, but she hadn't noticed it until Minnie asked her why she was so down.

"It's nothing," Aria replied, "really. Thank you for the food."

"No problem at all, m'darlin," she said, handing her the bag and the plastic cup containing tea, "I'll see you around!"

Aria waved at the friendly owner and exited the store. Emily had already been standing, waiting for her to finish ordering. They commenced onwards, beginning to talk about Emily and how she's been especially happy with Paige. Aria noticed the spark in her eyes as she described her. She couldn't help but to feel jealous, though she was extremely excited for her friend. After Alison and her disappearance, it'd been hard for her to get back up on her feet.

"But there's one problem," Emily added, "she doesn't want to come out of the closet. And I can't help her get out of the closet as long as Spencer's around. She's going to judge her. She hates her, Ar."

"She doesn't hate her," Aria said, "she just strongly despises her. But if she cares about who you're with rather than your happiness, then that's her problem."

Emily soaked in the advice, nodding her head leisurely. "Thank you."

"For advice?" Aria looked at her peculiarly. It was normal for them to be there for each other. They were good friends.

"Yeah, and for supporting me," she cleared up. "I just feel so bad. You can help me with my problems, but there's nothing I can do to help you with yours. If Mr. Fitz was a teenage boy, I'd be able to try. Having a personal conversation with my English teacher would be... bad."

Aria chuckled nervously, imagining how that talk would come to pass. She tore off a piece of her fruit muffin and slipped it inside her mouth. "It's fine, Em. It's really not a big deal to me anymore."

"But you're still going to try to show him that it's you, right?" she asked. Aria knew the answer, but it was embarrassing to show how defeated she was. She shook her head slowly.

"What?" Emily stopped in her tracks, almost dropping her cup. "What do you mean—" she imitated her head shake. "Not trying isn't an option. Not as long as I'm around."

"Who's not trying anything?"

The voice didn't come from either of them. They watched as Hanna and Spencer skimped towards them. They were a few feet away, but easily caught up.

"Aria's not trying anything," Emily filled in as Hanna shredded a piece of Aria's muffin, "meaning she's not going to tell Mr. Fitz about her." She looked down, waiting for her friends to formulate a controversial debate that she would have, by no means, an interest in discussing.

What did she have to hide? Nothing. There was nothing to be ashamed of. Aria was a minor and Ezra wasn't, hadn't they forgotten? Heck, she had forgotten it herself for a moment. It would be wrong of her. The last place she wanted him to be was in an orange jumpsuit surrounded by violent human beings and tiny bunk beds when he had made a living for himself. A clean, wonderful life that she had no right to take away from him. If she made the decision to exhibit her identification, chances were that she'd be the one getting hurt first.

Ezra's words filed into her head. 'I feel like I know you from somewhere.' If she didn't go ahead and quickly identify herself to the shy, heartsick girl that stood on the edge of the curb rather than the nameless dancer, would he have come to the understanding of who she was? The girl he was looking for?

No, she thought. He isn't looking for you. He's looking for a goddess, a woman that he can be with. They could never be together, she was almost positive of it.

But what if they could?

The compressed thought was washed away as Hanna's manicured fingers snapped away in front of Aria's eyes.

"Back on Planet Mars?" she questioned.

"I think you meant 'back from Planet Mars,'" Spencer corrected.

"Whatever, okay?" Even though Aria's eyes were planted on her combat boots that paced down the sidewalk, she knew they were exchanging looks.

"Aria, I really think you should give it a chance," Emily recommended, "look at where I'm at. A week ago, I probably would have better imagined myself with Hanna than Paige—"

"Aw, really?" Hanna placed her hand over her chest, "I think I have that affect on most people like you."

Emily rolled her eyes at her sassy interruption before proceeding to finish her speech. "What I'm saying is, you should give it a shot. Just one more try. I know you'll be relieved to get it off your chest once it's done. After it's done, you'll be able to go on and live your life and look back and say, 'I did it.' With no regrets. Whether it works out for the best or doesn't work at all."

Aria soaked in every syllable Emily pronounced, now beginning to come into war within herself. The possibility that it could come crashing down on her was colossal. But like Emily said, she'd never have to look back and say 'what if?' There were many things she passed up in life in fear of disappointment, but it dawned on her that if she wanted to learn how to live her life, she had to start with this.

"Okay," she merely stated.

"Okay?" all three girls questioned in unison, which brought a cheeky smile to Aria's face.

"I'll do it," she finally complied.

"Then it's time to come up with a plan," Hanna nodded, a mischievous smirk crossing paths with her cherry tart lips. Whatever the blonde had in mind, Aria knew she was in for a twist.


"We're going to do what?" Hardy uttered, a little too loudly in the midst of The Brew. Ezra looked behind him, sheepishly smiling at the customers who had turned their heads at his friend's sudden outburst, before eyeing him again. He knew he'd be a little upset at his request— or more, his demand— but this was essential to his health. After a good nights' sleep, all of his doubts were wiped away and he started the day with a positive outlook on his search.

"If I say it again, are you going to scream it to the top of your lungs?" he asked mockingly as he took sip of his strong, black coffee.

"You know, I think I just might," Hardy confirmed, shaking his head, "c'mon, Z. Why are you planning to stay outside until eleven at night for this girl? How do you know she wasn't only visiting Rosewood for a night, hm?"

"Because the poem was up on the wall, Hardy," he reminded. "It was people that contributed their work from weeks before."

Ezra didn't even need the poem anymore when he went to his stand. He had it memorized from top to bottom. Every word was ingrained into his lovestrucked brain. He had it in his head the entire day at the high school, while he was teaching or sitting in the district of his silent room and eating his fast food lunch or even zoning out to Hackett's requests. That poem was everything to him, and even after reading it over and over again, he still managed to find the same joy in it. That was the thing he loved about her writing. He just couldn't get enough of it.

"I still think you're doing a little too much," Hardy shrugged, indulging his beverage for seconds while Ezra went off about how amazing she was for God knew how many times.

"If you saw her, you'd know what I meant," Ezra suggested, "she's amazing."

He pretended not to notice the eye roll Hardy gave him, but instead looked over his friend's shoulder. A mini stage was built inside The Brew, in case small events were being held and were needed to be used at that location. A petite woman made her way up the small steps to the stage, her brown curly tresses covering her face. It was the first time since the Ball that someone had caught his eye. But when she finally adjusted the microphone and lifted her head, Ezra's eyes grew wide.

It was the girl in the rain.

A flashback of her soft, illuminating face flashed into his head. She was unimaginably beautiful with the rain soaking her hair and damping her face, but she was even more beautiful up on that stage, the fluorescent light hitting her the correct way. She was young, very young, he could tell. But her face had an indescribable maturity he didn't spot before, like she had the invisible scars of an wise, old woman.

"What are you looking at?" Hardy questioned, looking at the direction Ezra's eyes had been captivated at. He knew he was supposed to be in love with his mystery girl, the masked girl at the Masquerade, but the bedazzling female that stood twenty feet away from him was too alluring to look away from.

"Hi," she spoke shyly through the mic, "I'm Aria Montgomery."

Aria. Aria Montgomery. He had heard that name before, on a few different occasions: one when Ella, his colleague, was mentioning her kids and another time when Hanna Marin's unimaginably loud gossiping before the bell rung could be heard. Was she a high school student?

Aria's eyes swept the crowd, coming into contact with Ezra's. His breath caught into his throat, and for a moment, he wasn't able to inhale. Even from the other side of the room, her green eyes mesmerized him. He coughed it out as her eyes averted elsewhere.

"I'm here today to introduce a poem I've written," she informed, her fingers fidgeting around before residing on the belt loops of her low waist jeans, "I've never come up with a name for it until today. It's called A New Chapter."

Ezra watched her carefully as she cleared her throat and flicked her tongue against her bottom lip. She gave herself a moment to regroup peace in her mind. He knew that because it was a technique he, too, did when he went to read his books and poems at an open stage.

"Revolve around a certain frown," she started, "hindrances cast aside, deterrents torn asunder; help make the picture clearer and keep us from going under. Enraptured by the smile, saddened by the tears, encouraged by the hugs, and frightened by the fears..."

She continued to speak, her confidence growing by the stanza. After minutes, every single person but one cheered for the blushing beauty. The only person that had no desire to clap was Ezra. Instead, the curly haired man was standing on his feet, almost unable to keep his slightly wobbling legs from buckling down. It was the poem. The poem that he held at night, the poem that he read over numerous of times. Which only meant one thing.

Aria Montgomery was his masked princess.


A/N: wow okay, so i'm kind of proud with how this turned out. i was actually going to go a different route, but i did promise myself i wouldn't take too long with this story because i want to finish up 'Kiss Me, Not Her' as soon as i can with no distractions, and that route would take at least another five chapters. still, i'm really happy with this and i hope you are too! review and let me know if this could have been done better or if you like it just as much as i do and i'll update the last chapter sometime this week.