Author Note – My original idea for this story was to have each of the Liars have to deal with making a big, possibly life-changing choice. But I'm not always so good at focusing on a large group of characters, so I decided to focus on Aria instead. I've come up with a good choice for Emily to have to make, so I've decided to make this into a series and focus each story on a different Liar. This one is obviously Aria's Choice.
"Are you sure you want to be at school today?" Spencer asked as she and Aria joined the rest of their friends at a table in the cafeteria before school.
Aria sat between Paige and Spencer. "No, but I really don't want to miss any more school. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Spencer asked. She was worried about her friend and had become somewhat of a mother hen the last few days.
Aria nodded, but didn't reply.
"Are you sick again?" Paige asked, concern showing on her face. All of the girls had been acting a little jumpy lately. She knew A was still messing with them and couldn't help but wonder if it had gotten worse. They were usually pretty good at handling all the A drama. She was the one that freaked out over it.
Aria flashed her a small, grateful smile. "A little, but I'll be fine."
Paige glanced across the table at Caleb. He didn't look convinced either. Something was up.
Aria was nervous as she walked into Ezra's classroom later that day. She had taken the second medication two days ago. Wren had said that it could take a couple of days for her to abort, but that most women aborted within a few hours of taking the misoprostol. She hadn't, but she didn't think it would be much longer.
This morning she had decided it would be safe to come to school, but now she wasn't so sure. She was starting to have some light cramps, which was a sign that the medication was working. She tried not to look too freaked out as she walked into the room and took her seat beside Emily. She could only hope that the abortion waited until after school. She would much rather go through this at home, or at least not in front of her entire English class and the man that was half responsible for the situation she was currently in.
Ten minutes into the class she started feeling sick to her stomach and the cramps were getting worse. Ezra was standing in front of the class teaching, but he was watching her. He had noticed that something was wrong and was worried about her. The idea that she was pregnant was still in the back of his mind thanks to that text from A.
Emily leaned over and touched Aria's arm to get her attention. "Are you okay?"
Aria shook her head. "No. I need to go to the bathroom right now."
"Emily, Aria, is everything okay?" Ezra asked, somehow managing to sound like he was simply a concerned teacher that had noticed that one of his student looked like she wasn't feeling so well.
A severe cramp hit Aria suddenly and she doubled over in pain. Emily remained calm and acted quickly. "She's not feeling so well. Can we go to the bathroom?"
"Of course." Ezra said calmly. Now he knew something wasn't right and he wanted to follow them out of the room and help Aria, but he couldn't. Instead he watched as Emily and Spencer helped her out of her seat and toward the door. He didn't argue when Hanna and Mona got up to go with them. It would be useless to tell them to sit back down, and he knew that he would feel better if he knew that Aria had her friends with her. He wondered if he should send someone to get Ella, but decided to let the girls handle it. They seemed to have everything under control.
Just before they got out of the room Aria muttered something about feeling dizzy, doubled over, and vomited. The floor and at least three pairs of shoes were soiled and Emily and Spencer had lost their grip on Aria, who was swaying as if she might pass out.
It was clear that the girls had lost control of the situation. The class was panicking, and so was Ezra. He rushed forward to catch Aria before she hit the hard tile floor; something any human in their right mind would do no matter what the situation. Their teacher/student relationship had no bearing here.
Ezra was so worried about Aria as he held her hair away from her face while she continued to retch on the floor that he didn't even hear himself tell someone to go get her mother.
Hanna was closest to the door, and although she knew that Aria didn't want her mother to know, she was scared and worried about her friend. She dashed down eh hall to fetch Ella, who was alarmed when Hanna told her what had happened.
Mona had had sense enough to call 911 and announced that an ambulance was on its way to take Aria to the hospital.
Ella was worried about her daughter. She knew she had been out sick, but she had thought she was fine now. That clearly wasn't the case and she had to fight to keep herself under control when she saw her child curled up in the floor crying and throwing up. She didn't want to, but she let Ezra and the girls tend to Aria while she attempted to calm the rest of the class, calmly telling them to sit down and put their phones away. She couldn't believe that a few of them had actually decided to take video of the incident with their cell phones and had to make herself remain calm and not scream at them.
Her baby was obviously ill and in pain and these stupid teenagers were only worried about having the next Youtube sensation. She was appalled at their lack of respect for Aria, and extremely grateful that Ezra and the girls were able to remain so calm and help her daughter.
Aria was vaguely aware of the fact that her head was resting in Emily's lap and that Ezra was washing her face with a wet rag someone had mysteriously produced. She knew what had happened, and didn't think there was anything wrong. She had just lost her baby and the bulk of her reaction was emotional now, not physical, as she lay in the floor crying, knowing that she would be rushed to the hospital and her parents would be told that she had either miscarried or aborted a baby they had known nothing about.
Her heart was breaking for the child she would never hold and she was afraid of how her parents would react, but she was more afraid of how Ezra would react. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he would soon find out what she had done.
