Chapter 7
Ezra POV
"Aria, can I see you after class? I wanted to talk to you about your free write from Friday." Aria was standing at her locker with her friends when Ezra walked up behind her. From the corner of his eye he saw her friends give each other a look. Ignoring it, he raised his eyebrows waiting for a reply.
Her back still to him, she stated simply, "Can't." Ezra opened his mouth to ask why when Clark walked up to them.
"Everything okay?" he questioned. Clark stepped in front of Ezra. Aria turned around for the first time since Ezra walked up to her and she still completely ignored him. She looked up at Clark with a smile spread across her face before standing up on her tippy toes and lightly pecking him on the lips. Ezra cleared his throat.
"Yeah, everything is fine," Aria spoke up. She glanced over at Ezra. He practically froze from the icy stare. Ezra bit the inside of his cheek before sighing and walking to his classroom.
The shrill of the bell sounded throughout the school and the hustling of kids could be heard in the hallway. Ezra didn't bother looking up from grading a few papers until the morning announcements had come to a conclusion. He gave them silent work for the whole period making the excuse that he didn't feel well enough to give a lecture.
"Mr. Riley. This is silent work. That includes passing notes to Ms. Montgomery," he barked when he saw a piece of paper being passed between the two. Clark looked back down at his work sheepishly while Aria clenched her jaw and gave him a cold stare which he returned. Ezra broke eye contact when the door opened.
A smile broke out on his face as Maria appeared in the doorway. She bit her lip and smiled back, motioning with her head for him to join her outside. Leaving Spencer in charge of the class while he was outside, he stepped out. She closed the door quietly and turned to face him.
"So, I just wanted to let you know that a close friend of my fathers has passed away so I will be heading back to Ohio for a week or so to help him through it."
The smile slowly fell from Ezra's face. Blinking rapidly, he opened his mouth but uttered no words. Closing his eyes, he found the words, "So, um, when-when do you leave?" he bit down lightly on the end of his tongue as he waited for a goodbye.
Maria looked down and whispered, "This afternoon. One o'clock. The principle said I could take the rest of the day off so I figured I'd catch an early flight." Ezra nodded unsure of what to say. Touching the side of his face with her palm, she smiled reassuringly. "I'll miss you," she barely whispered. He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. He touched his forehead to hers as he placed his hands on her hips. Closing his eyes, he whispered the same words back to her before wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Soon they pulled apart and returned to his classroom.
He felt Aria's gaze on him but he refused to look up. With Maria gone, would the strong urge to admit his feelings to Aria return? Since Friday night, Maria was the only thing that was on his mind. Aria had been long forgotten. Clenching his jaw, he returned to his grading until the bell rang.
Sensing he wasn't alone, he peered up. Aria stood in front of him with a blank expression upon her face. "You wanted to see me?" she asked harshly.
"Thought you couldn't stay after class," he replied with the same harshness. She stared intently at him remaining silent. Blowing out a huff of air through his nose, he nodded his head looking back down at his work. "I think we should talk about what happened Friday."
"It won't happen again. I can guarantee you that." Ezra looked up at her. The feeling that erupted through him confused him. Was he happy about that? Or disappointed? Looking down, he cleared his throat. "Look, I have to get to my next class. Mr. Marks hates it when someone is late." The harshness from earlier had faded and now it was just frustration in her voice.
She turned to walk out. "So, you and Clark?" he questioned. She spun on her heels and paced up to him. She pulled him out from his desk and spun his chair around so he was facing her. She placed her hands on the arms of the chair and leaned in close to his face.
"What's it matter to you? You kissed me and ran. Now you want to pretend like nothing happened. You have no right to ask me about who I may or may not be dating." The intensity in her eyes scared him. She straightened but didn't move away. "But yes. Clark and I are dating." With that, she turned and left.
Ezra didn't move for what felt like an eternity. It was his planning period but he couldn't get the energy to move. He couldn't help the attraction he felt the instant she took control and spun him around. It aroused feelings in him he didn't know he had. When she leaned down he had a clear view of what was under her shirt.
Flaring his nostrils in disgust of himself, he placed his elbows on his knees and threw his head into his hands. What was he doing? Maria hadn't even left yet and he was already looking at Aria in ways he shouldn't. Not even an hour down, and a week to go.
Aria POV
Aria didn't go to class like she had planned. She had felt bad about getting in his face and was just going to pop her head into his classroom and apologize when she saw him with his head in his hands. She knew what it must be like to know you have these feelings for someone you shouldn't. Especially when it could cost you everything you've worked so hard for.
She softly opened the door and stepped in. "Hey," she whispered. He didn't look up but she knew he was aware of her presence by the tension that appeared in his shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get in your face like that." Finally he sat back up and looked at her. She was surprised by the defeated look etched in his face.
"I have feelings for you." He blurted out. He laughed harshly and looked up and out the corner of his eye. "I have feelings for my student. My sixteen year old student." He shook his head and grinned in despair.
"I have feelings for you, too. I know we can't…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. "I have this incredible guy and you have Ms. Sanchez. I think it's best if we just ignored the last week and just go back to teacher and student."
Mr. Fitz looked at her. "We have to. I can't risk everything I've worked for. I can't risk my future for a physical attraction."
Hurt filled her eyes. "Is that all it is?" she whispered.
Shaking his head, Mr. Fitz replied honestly, "I don't know. All I know is that I hardly even know you yet I can't keep you off my mind."
Aria nodded. She stepped up to him and held out her hand. "So we forget this past week and go back to teacher and student. Deal?" he shook it and smiled. Still holding his hand, she leaned forward. "Before we go back, I need to say something. In the kissing department, you get an A+." Smirking, Aria turned and left for the second time that day.
Aria felt good about their decision to just forget about everything. She knew deep down she couldn't but she hoped that on the outside they'd both be able to pull it off.
She was strutting past the bathroom when she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth. Her eyes widened in terror and she tried desperately to scream. They managed to pull her into the darkness of the bathroom.
"Shhh. It's me," she let out a sigh of relief when Clark's voice filled her ear. He let her go and she spun around. She smacked him on the chest hard. "Ouch!" he shrieked.
"You scared the shit out of me!" she whispered loudly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't feel up for class so I hid here and waited for you to walk by. Everything okay with Fitz?"
"Yeah, he was just asking about my poem." He hummed and leaned down to kiss her. She ran her fingers through the blond hair at the nape of his neck as she deepened the kiss. They pulled apart and Aria said she had to go. Clark nodded and let her slip out the door.
Ezra POV
It had been ten minutes after Aria left when he heard a hard knock on the door. He yelled for them to come in expecting it to be Aria but was surprised to find Ella standing there. "Mrs. Montgomery." He stood up with a smile and extended his hand out to her which she gladly took.
"Ella, please, Mr. Fitz"
"Ezra," he corrected her. She nodded and smiled. "So, this is your first day, right?' she nodded to him again. "How's it going so far?"
"Good. My first period students were great." She chewed her bottom lip in thought. That must be where Aria gets it from.
Quickly ridding himself of that thought, he asked, "Everything okay?"
Ella glanced back at the door before stepping closer to him. "You know Clark, right? Aria's boyfriend?" Ezra nodded begrudgingly. "Does something seem…off about him to you?" she asked hesitantly.
Ezra knitted his eyebrows together. "No…" he drawled out. "Why? Does he seem off to you?"
Ella pursed her lips and looked away from him and out the windows. "I don't know. Something about him seems weird. He's too friendly. Too perfect, you know?" Ezra nodded. He seemed to always know the right things to do with Aria. Ezra was the complete opposite. He had no idea what to do with Aria.
"I think maybe it's just your motherly instinct kicking in. The desire to know who your only daughter is dating." Ella smiled and nodded.
"Thanks." Ezra lifted one side of his mouth up in a half smile as she walked out. He turned to the windows and thought. Ella was right. Clark was too friendly. In the halls, he seemed to have everyone wrapped around his finger. From what Ezra saw, the guy talked to everyone.
Aria POV
"Clark is so hot!" Hanna said as she took her seat across from Aria. Aria looked away from Spencer and Emily who she had been talking to and smiled at Hannah. "And he adores you. It's…"
"Adorable?" Aria questioned. Hanna smirked.
"So judging by the blush and smile that's been gracing your beautiful face lately, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you've slept with him."
Aria's jaw dropped in shock. "No! We have not had sex. God, Hannah, I've only known him a little over a week! Besides, I don't think I'm ready to take any relationship that far yet." Hanna rolled her eyes.
"What about Fitz?" Emily asked. All eyes turned to Aria.
"No, I'm not going to have sex with him either."
Emily chuckled, "No, I mean, you're feelings for him. Are they in the past or what?"
Aria bobbed her head slightly in understanding. "I talked to him about it. We agreed to not act on them…"
"So he has feelings for you, too?" Hanna interrupted. Aria nodded.
"We also agreed to just forget about each others feelings and focus on the relationships that we're in." The other three girls shared a few glances. Aria rolled her eyes. "What?"
"You going to be able to do that?" Spencer was unsure.
"Yeah. In fact, it was my idea." Aria looked at the table which she knew made the girls smirk. Aria jumped when she felt a vibration in her purse. She quickly sifted through her bag for her phone.
The caller ID read mom so Aria answered it without a second thought. "Hey mom. I'm on my way home. I was just having a quick coffee with the girls." Silence was heard on the other end. "Mom?" Aria questioned worriedly.
"Miss. Montgomery?" a male voice responded.
"Um, who is this and why are you answering my mother's phone?" Aria asked. Her friends were giving her weird looks which she returned with a shrug.
"I'm Officer Hamilton with the Rosewood Police. I'm afraid your mother has been in an accident." Aria's eyes widened in fear. Her friends looked at her confused.
"Aria, is everything okay?" Hanna whispered.
Aria cleared her throat as tears filled her eyes. Ignoring Hannah, she responded, "Is she okay?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry. She's on her way to Rosewood General as we speak." Aria immediately hung up and grabbed her purse. She faintly heard her friends calling for her as she jetted out the door.
"Ella Montgomery?" The receptionist held up a finger to tell her to wait as she took a call. Aria got frustrated and leaned over the counter, plopping her finger down on end button on the desk phone base. The woman looked at her in disbelief. Aria raised her eyebrows.
The woman set the phone down on the receiver before slowly turning to Aria. "What can I do for you?"
"Ella Montgomery? She was brought in here not long ago. She was in an accident." The receptionist's hands flew over the keyboard a few minutes before she looked up.
"Mrs. Montgomery was in a car accident. The doctor is taking a look at her now. Her husband has been informed and is on his way. Now please take a seat in the waiting room." She hastily picked up the phone again. Aria huffed as she turned to head to the waiting room.
Not long after she sat down, her dad showed up. The receptionist told him to wait in the waiting room also. An hour and a half passed before a doctor showed up.
"Family of Ella Montgomery?" Aria and Byron stood up and rushed to the doctor.
"Is she okay?" Byron asked panicked. The doctor looked down, sighed, and then looked up with sadness in his eyes.
