AN: Hi. :) I'm so unbelievably stoked about the turns this story is about to take, guys, it's incredible. I don't want to stop writing it. Thank you for the review on the last chapter I posted, I'm glad you guys liked it so much. No big announcements in this one, but this is the beginning of the Saturday arc. The big one is coming up soon, but for this one, I've set up some character arrivals, and Ella is very, very sneaky. I love writing Aria. I don't know why, I just do. Her character just comes so easily to me that I have a blast writing her. I hope I do her justice.
That's it, please enjoy the beginning of the Saturday instalment of 'Hopeless'.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Saturday morning had dawned all too early for Aria Montgomery, and she stood in her mom's kitchen nursing a cup of coffee. Thank God for mothers, she thought silently as her mom and brother sat with Ellie in the living room, going through her various artwork. 12 year old kids were exhausting enough, but when you're running on less than five hours sleep and had been packing art work into a Camry after being woken up by said 12, turning 13, year old kid, it was the beginning of a rough morning.
Aria leaned against the counter in the apartment her mom had called home since she found out about her dad's affair. When she'd been a teenager, the place had been a negative one for Aria; even with the A disaster, it was a reminder of what her dad had done, and it had taken a while for her to really forgive him for breaking their family apart. Granted, she was in no place to throw stones, as her lies had almost gotten Ezra arrested.
The familiar twinge of her heart at that name had her doing a rapid backpedal, away from the memories and back into reality. The reality being that her daughter was sitting in the living room, alive and enthusiastic, and her brother was busy debating the merits of different wood types for the frames she wanted, and her mother was standing in the doorway looking at Aria.
Ella smiled as Aria came back to the world around her, and shook her head as she walked by to the fridge. "I know that look. Rough night?", Ella asked, opening the fridge and handing Aria the container of milk. If anyone could consume far too much coffee for their own good, it was her daughter, and with the bags under her eyes, Ella figured Aria needed to wind down.
"You could say that.", Aria agreed, rolling her eyes and setting down the coffee cup. She poured a glass of milk for herself and one for her mom, then handed the container back. Taking the drink in hand, she took a sip, then said, "Ben stopped by Emily's house last night."
Ella stopped. She turned to look at Aria, then slowly placed the container back in the fridge. Shutting the door, Ella leaned against it and crossed her arms around her waist. "Really. Well, we should have seen it coming. Is Emily alright?"
"Shaken. I was up on the phone with her until two. Ellie was almost in tears, she was so scared.", Aria sighed. "He was waiting for her when she got in from dinner with me and the girls last night, mom. If Jenna and Toby hadn't driven by when they did, who knows what would have happened?"
"Don't think about it, Aria, you'll only hurt yourself. The important thing is that she's safe now. Has she contacted the police?", Ella asked.
"Pfft, who, Sean?", Aria scoffed. "Mom, Ben is his best friend. Even if he did take it seriously, it would just give Ben another line on Emily."
"Maybe you should ask her about moving back in with you until her place is finished?", Ella suggested. "Ellie would love it, and you know Mike enjoyed having someone to play basketball with."
"I suggested that to her last night, but she said she didn't want Ellie or me to be involved incase Ben came back. She didn't want us getting hurt.", Aria explained. "I wish there was something I could do."
"Do the others know about this?"
"Hanna's on her way to a B&B outside of town with Lucas for her anniversary, Emily didn't want to spoil it for her. And with Spencer pregnant, Emily didn't want to put her in any danger, or under any stress. Ben is going to Chicago apparently for the weekend, so Emily figured she'd be okay until the week. Then, I don't know. I'm going to try to get her to stay at the house until her parents get back from vacation, just for her piece of mind, and mine.", Aria answered.
"Probably for the best, honey. But don't go getting yourself sick over this. Emily is a strong girl, she'll be alright.", Ella told her, and when Ellie was heard laughing in the living room, Ella changed the subject. "That's quite the kid you've got out there, Aria."
Aria laughed. "Yeah, she's … She's something else. I'm so proud of her, mom. You should have seen her going through her artwork this morning."
"She's her own greatest critic, I've always said that.", Ella agreed. "She's very talented, and I'm glad she's getting the chance to have her work shown in Toby's gallery. She's over the moon about him, as well."
"I know! I had no idea Jenna had been showing her clips of his past showings at his New York gallery. She knew all the lighting details, the layouts he's used. I learned more about Toby Cavanaugh's gallery in the car ride over here than I ever thought I could.", Aria exclaimed with a smile. "Pretty sure Toby and Jenna are the coolest people ever to her right now."
"Honey, I promise you that'll always be you.", Ella assured her with a smile. "So, excited about Ellie's party coming up, and school starting so soon?"
"Ellie's party, yes. Work, not so much. Like seven are coming in, so I'll have to take over training and stuff for the new English teachers." Aria wrinkled her nose. She loved people, but training fellow teachers always felt so foreign to her.
Ella had a secretive smile on her face as she turned back to the over, then replied. "I'm sure it'll be fine, honey. You might even get a surprise or two. So, what's the plan for Ellie's birthday party? Dinner for the family at the house, and a party for the others?"
"Sounds good. I spoke to the management at the Grill and rented out the game room and dance floor for next week, so that takes care of feeding the kids for the actual party. Spence, Em and I are taking her to the mall tomorrow so she can pick out her birthday present. Hanna was so upset that she wasn't going to be there.", Aria explained with a chuckle, and Ella laughed.
"Remember when Ellie was little? Hanna would babysit her, then you'd come home to Ellie turned into a dress up doll.", Ella laughed, and Aria shook her head with a smile.
"Oh I remember. The number of times I told her not to put make up on my kid. It's no wonder Ellie hates the stuff."
"Give her time. You hated make up too, until you discovered the wonder of pink hair dye."
"No. Absolutely not, Ellie isn't allowed to do that to her hair.", Aria ruled out. "I can't believe you let me do that! I looked ridiculous!"
"It was a phase, I knew you'd grow out of it.", Ella shrugged.
"Thankfully.", Aria sighed.
"I can't believe my granddaughter is turning 13.", Ella commented, sounding bewildered. "Where did the time go?"
"Who knows?", Aria agreed. Ella's hands were fidgeting slightly as she turned to go through the cupboard.
"Have you heard from Noal lately?", Ella asked. Aria's back went stiff, and she shrugged.
"No, but he'll probably call. Usually does for Ellie's birthday.", Aria answered, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Aria-"
"Don't, mom. I'm not asking him to come back.", Aria shot down quickly.
"Does Ellie know he asked you if he could stay the weekend for her birthday?", Ella asked.
"No, I told her he called, but not about what." Aria raked a hand through her hair. "Mom, he left me high and dry when Ellie was born. I know he wants to be in Ellie's life, and that's fine, but if I let him come back, he's going to think that he can just pick up from where we left off and that's not an option. I don't love him anymore."
Ella began to chew her lip, then shut the cupboard and looked at Aria. "I'm not saying you have to give him a chance to be a better boyfriend, but give him a chance to try being a father. At least tell Ellie he wants to come see her for her birthday and let her make up her own mind about it."
"Maybe... I don't know. If it went badly, it would really sour Ellie's birthday, and make a really bad start to the school year... But, I'll talk to her about it when we go home tonight."
"That's my girl.", Ella told her. "So, any gossip on the new teachers? I feel so out of the loop since I stopped going to PTA meetings."
"Not really.", Aria answered, thankful for the topic change as the two of them sat around the counter top in the kitchen. "All pretty clean cut, a couple are straight out of school. There is one I'm just now hearing about. Mrs. Walsh was very hush-hush about it so I don't even have a name, but apparently there's one coming in from Delaware, I think. She's not telling anyone anything about him, but from what she's said, he's an awesome teacher, great reviews."
"Hm. Could be interesting.", Ella replied, not saying anything further. Aria's eyebrow arched.
"Mom, something you want to share with the class?", Aria asked.
"Hmm? No, just thinking.", Ella shrugged. "Seems the new year is bringing a whole bunch of people back to town. It'll be good to see how everyone's changed."
"Huh?", Aria asked when Ellie bounded into the kitchen.
"Mom! Uncle Mike had this great idea. What do you think about steel?", Ellie asked, her hands on the table and her wavy brown hair tied back in a pony tail. One of her favorite t-shirts, a black one that Alex had given her with the Batman logo on it, had paint splotches on the hem, as did her jeans, but to Aria, Ellie was the most perfect child she'd ever seen.
"The metal? Nice jewelery, but I really have no strong feelings for it either way, honey. Why?", Aria asked, confused.
"Well, Uncle Mike and I were talking about some new art mediums I could think about getting into, and he was telling me about metal work. Mom, I could make some awesome abstract-"
"Ellie, sweetheart.", Ella broke in gently when Aria turned pale. "Let your mom breathe for a minute."
"Metal work?", Aria asked, stunned. "Ellie, I don't think-"
"But-", Ellie began to interrupt, and Ella sent her a quick reproachful look.
"El, I'll make a deal with you. Take a shop class this year or next, and if you still have an interest in it, we'll talk about getting you into a studio to do some metal work.", Aria bargained. No way was her kid doing metal work unsupervised.
"But mom, classroom work is so stuffy.", Ellie complained.
"Regardless. Those are my terms, honey. Take them or leave them.", Aria told her, putting her foot down.
"Deal. Thanks mom, Grandma!", Ellie agreed, then ran back into the living room. Aria had no doubt that she was going to plan a way around her promise, and that Mike would help her do it. Those two had been as thick as thieves, as the saying went, since Ellie had been old enough to talk. Having Mike around to help had made raising Ellie so much easier but also more hectic, and Aria, though right Mike was going to get an earful for this, was thankful for his help.
Aria turned to Ella, who had a slight smile on her face. "Mom? I'm going to kill your son for this."
"I assumed as much.", Ella answered.
"Metal work? What was he thinking?", Aria asked in shock.
"You know your brother. I'm going to get a burn treatment kit ready and waiting, just in case.", Ella commented.
"I'll get one and keep it in my car.", Aria sighed, putting her head in her hands. "This is going to be one hell of a year."
Ella thought she had that right as she remembered the email from an old friend in Delaware, telling her that he was moving back to Rosewood, and asking her not to tell Aria about it, and the one right after it from Noal, saying that he was coming in to town to surprise Ellie for her birthday. One hell of a year, indeed.
AN: Enjoy what's left of your Tuesday, and your Wednesday, everyone. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Reviews are both loved and welcome.
Much love,
Oracle. (L)