Chapter Nine -
Aria woke up the next morning feeling really good, everything seemed to be going well. The break up with Ezra hadn't been as hard as she thought and she had Noel now. Well they weren't together. Honestly she didn't really know what they were, all she knew was Noel liked her and she liked him. I'll let him decide what he wants us to be she concluded, what kind of person would he be if he asked me out right after I had broken up with Ezra? It's a good idea to wait a while before being with someone. We can just hangout for now she thought, go to lunch, movies and stuff like that she thought, it's a good way to get to know each other. That's when she heard her phone beep.
Hey! Can't wait to see you at school - Noel
Meet me in the parking lot, I have something for you - Aria
Aria had completed her painting last night to give to Noel so why not go ahead and give it to him?
Okay, see you there - Noel
Aria got her stuff together and took it to her car. Mike came running outside after her asking for a ride, she said yeah and he got in.
"You better be glad I didn't leave a few minutes earlier" Aria told her brother.
"What? I would have loved to miss school!"
"Yeah and mom would have loved to ground you for a month" she said back to him.
"Well then... I guess it's a good thing you didn't leave a few minutes earlier" he said and she laughed at him, Mike was always joking around. It's one thing Aria loved about her brother, his sense of humor... until it was about her then it wasn't so lovable. Noel and Mike joked all the time, they would sit in her living room a few days a week playing games and talking about the Rosewood students. Aria would catch some of their conversations and laugh at what they said from the kitchen, maybe now she could sit with them and join their conversations since her and Noel were on good terms... very good terms so to speak.
"That's what I thought" she joked.
"So are you gonna be making out with Noel in the hallways?" Mike asked her.
"Are you gonna be making out in the hallways with Hanna?" she asked back.
"No..."
"Okay then" she snapped, she didn't really like how crude her brother could be. Did he really think she would just go throw herself on Noel in the hallways? That may be his fantasy, a girl to throw herself onto him, but she wasn't about to do it to anyone. I have class Aria thought to herself.
"Well sorry" Mike said sarcastically to her. "Noel waiting for you" he said in lovey dovey way to make Aria even more angry, but instead she smiled.
"I know" she said Happily as they pulled next to his car.
"Hey" Noel said to her when she got out of the car, he pulled her into a hug. Noel looked up and saw Mike get out of the car. "I'll see you at practice" he waved at Mike.
"Hi" Aria said back. "I brought you something she told him walking to her trunk.
"Oh yeah?" he asked surprised. "What is it?"
"Just wait..." she told him opening her trunk "here" she said pulling it out.
"You actually painted something for me?" Noel said grabbing it from her to look at it.
"I did, you seemed really excited for me too, I couldn't resist" she said honestly.
"I love it, you have to come over later to help me pick out a place to hang it" Noel said excited, he took it to his car and laid it in the backseat.
"Okay, sounds good" she smiled at him "I have to go to class, but you can text me or something later and I'll come over"
"Okay, well do you wanna eat lunch together?" he asked blushing a little.
"Yeah, I'll find you in the cafeteria" she said and Noel kissed her on the cheek before she left to go to class.
Aria walked to her first period class, Calculus, and sat down next to Spencer. Spencer looked at her really weird and Mr. Romel began talking about the homework assignment from last night. What was that look about Aria wondered. Aria set her question aside for after class, she pulled out her homework and passed it up. Mr. Romel made them take notes for twenty or more minutes and gave them an assignment, Spencer moved her desk closer to Aria's.
"Hey, lets work together" Spencer said pulling out her book. Aria knew she didn't really wanna work together, Spencer could do this work in her sleep, she actually meant talk when she said work together.
"Okay, what's up?" Aria said.
"Well apparently I missed a lot while I was gone this weekend"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean why was Noel Kahn kissing you this morning in the parking lot?" she asked.
"Oh... Well I broke up with Ezra, we had a fight and then I don't know Noel was there to make me feel better" she said looking down at the work, pretending to think about a question. "I really like him" she admitted.
"I thought Noel hated you" Spencer asked writing away.
"I did too, but I turns out he never did" she told her, copying everything Spencer wrote.
"Are you sure you don't wanna be with Ezra anymore?" Spencer questioned, watching Aria.
"I'm just tired of all the drama... I wanna be a normal teenager and not have to hide my boyfriend from my parents and everyone else without being judged or him go to jail for that matter" Aria answered, it was true, she still had feelings for Ezra but she was just tired of how things were and Noel was making it so easy to let go of her old teacher. It was even easier since she didn't have to see Ezra anymore, he lived on the other side of town. It's not like he was gonna be walking around the Rosewood halls for her to bump into like if she had just broken up with a student here. Ezra didn't work here anymore, she could be free of him and move on in no time, well she hoped to move on quickly.
"Aria as long as your happy I support you decisions" Spencer told her with caring eyes.
"Thank you Spencer" Aria told her smiling.
"Your welcome, your my friend and all that matter is you happy"
The bell rang a few moments later and Aria gathered her stuff and waited on Spencer outside the door. They walked down the hallway to their locker, Hanna and Emily were already standing there with weird and worried looks on their faces. Aria wondered what was going on, was A back, did someone did, did she even wanna know? What happened next was what Aria least expected.
"Why is Mr. Fitz here?" Hanna hissed in a whisper.
"What?" Aria's heart jumped to her throat.
"Mr. Fitz is in the office right now talking to Mr. Calloway" Emily told her.
Aria turned around and almost ran to the office, she wanted to run but she knew people would wonder what was going on. When she got there she say Ezra standing there talking to the principle, they were laughing and smiling. What is going on she wondered, there is no way he is getting his job back, he was in a relationship with a teacher. Well they had high suspicions and let him go so they wouldn't get in any legal trouble.
"I'm glad to have you back Ezra, you were an excellent teacher" Mr. Calloway said holding his hand out for Ezra to shake it.
"Thank you sir, I'm glad to be back" Ezra replied shaking his hand.
Aria definatly wanted to turn around and run now and she probably would have, but when she turned around Noel was standing right behind her.
