Thank you so much for all the reviews on the previous chapter, it really means a lot to me.
Chapter fourteen
Simone warmly smiled at Ezra as they pulled away at the end of the song, putting an end to Ezra's daydream and making him realize who he had really been dancing with. He smiled too but his eyes immediately looked for Aria. He spotted her friends, talking together near him but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Is everything okay?" Simone asked him.
Ezra absently nodded in affirmation as his look wandered all over the room, still looking for Aria. He didn't even know why he was looking for her, she had been really clear when they had talked a few minutes earlier, but he suddenly felt the urge to see her and to talk to her.
"Look, Simone, there's something I need to do, I will be right back," he told his partner, and before Simone could say something, he left her on the dance floor and made his way toward Hanna, Spencer and Emily.
"Excuse me, girls," he addressed them. "Have you seen Aria?"
The three girls gave him an astonished look, probably wondering why their English teacher wanted to see their friend. "Yes, she wasn't feeling well so she went outside," Hanna answered.
"Actually," Emily added. "It has been a while; maybe we should go check on her."
"Don't worry, I'm going," Ezra told the girls before making his way to the entry.
He walked up the entry where the principal was, carefully watching the students.
"Ezra!" The older man greeted him. "Are you enjoying the evening?"
Ezra nodded. "Yes, actually I'm looking for a student, did anyone leave?"
"No," the principal answered. "Who are you looking for?"
Ezra was about to answer when he realized that it wouldn't be in his best interest. The principal already had some suspicions about his relationship with Aria and he didn't want to make it worse.
"Actually I'm seeing her over there," he lied pointing to a group of students.
He quickly left the principal and decided to check in the bathroom, coming to the conclusion that if she wasn't feeling well, it was the place where she would have gone to.
He stopped at the girl's bathroom entry and called Aria's name out loud but nobody answered. When he came back to the girls and noticed that Aria hadn't come back yet, he started to get nervous. He couldn't tell why, but he could feel that something wasn't right. He knew that she couldn't have left the charity ball, so there was only one place where she could be. He immediately opened the door which led to the roof and went upstairs.
When he stepped on the roof, he wasn't prepared for what he saw then. Aria was on the wall, looking above her, which left no doubt of what she was on the point to do.
"Aria, what the hell are you doing?" Ezra yelled, shocked.
He immediately regretted saying that out loud as she seemed to lose her balance for a short second before regaining it, causing Ezra to let out a sigh of relief.
She turned over and looked at him, panicked. Her tears had dragged mascara all over her face and some tears were still running down her cheeks.
Ezra suddenly realized how stupid he had been. He had been so busy trying to make her jealous that he had almost forgotten what she had told him a few weeks ago, and what this party could mean to her. It probably brought so many bad memories from the night her best friend had died. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been so selfish? He knew that she had already tried to hurt herself, why had he assumed that she would not do this again?
"Just…" Aria started to stay between her tears. "Just go away, Ezra."
Ezra shook his head in negation. "Aria, there's no way I leave while you're standing on this wall. Just get down and we will talk, okay?" He pleadingly asked her.
Aria didn't do anything and stayed on the wall without moving. He slowly got closer to her,trying not to scare her.
"Aria, please, get down off this wall!" Ezra begged her. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I need to pay for what I did!" She answered him, crying and still looking right in front of her as if she was still considering jumping.
"But you're gonna die!" Ezra panicked.
Aria turned over and looked at him. At this moment, all Ezra could see in her big hazel eyes was pain and sadness; there had always been so much sadness in her eyes, but tonight it was worse, it was as if it was the only thing she was feeling.
"Isn't it what I deserve?" She then said in a soft voice.
"Don't say that!" Ezra told her. "There are people who care about you, people who will be devastated if you do that. Have you thought of your family? Don't do this to them, Aria. Don't do this to me!"
He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if she jumped. He knew it could never get over it, he couldn't lose her.
"Aria, please," he begged her, feeling the tears starting to fill his eyes. He hadn't cried since his father's death when he was fourteen, not even when Jackie had left him. But now, as the girl he loved was standing on a wall, about to kill herself, he couldn't help himself and some tears fell on his cheeks.
"Aria, don't do this to me, I love you!"
Aria's heart squeezed even more when she heard Ezra's voice broken by the tears that she knew were running down his cheeks. She closed her eyes and exhaled sharply. She couldn't do this to him, she loved him too much for that. She couldn't destroy another life.
She turned over and looked at Ezra before getting down off the wall causing Ezra to breath out a big sigh of relief.
He walked to her and stopped a few meters away from her, not knowing what to do. The only thing he wanted was to hug her as tight as possible, but he knew that she was in a very emotional state and he didn't want to do anything to scare her.
But she was the one to get closer to him and to wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she whispered between her sobs. "I'm so sorry."
Ezra hugged her tight against him as she cried.
"I'm sorry; I didn't want to do that!" She kept sobbing. "I swear, I didn't want to do that, I just..."
"Shh, it's okay," he softly told her as he pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
Ezra held her during long minutes, until her sobs stop and her breath goes back to a normal pace. After what had just happened, he didn't want to let go of her, he wanted to hug her as thigh as he could, but he knew that they would have to go back upstairs eventually.
"Come on, I'm going to bring you home," he whispered softly in her ear.
But Aria didn't make any move and kept holding on Ezra as he softly kissed the top of her head.
"What the hell is going on here?" A voice suddenly resounded. Aria and Ezra immediately jumped apart and looked at the door where the principal was standing, surprise all over his face as his look went from Ezra to the young crying girl in front of him.
"Mr. Tamborelli…" Ezra shuttered. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" The principal said. "What are you two doing here? A student just came to me, panicked, to tell me that she saw a girl standing on the roof, about to jump!"
Aria and Ezra shared a worried look.
"Mr. Tamborelli, everybody's fine," Ezra told the principal. "I'm going to take Aria back home."
Mr. Tamborelli shook his head in negation. "No! You're not going anywhere. I'm calling her parents immediately."
"No, please!" Aria begged him. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to learn that she had tried to kill herself again. She didn't want to do this to them once again. She looked at Ezra pleadingly, silently begging him to do something.
Ezra got closer to the principal, letting Aria behind him. "Mr. Tamborelli, Aria's fine, she just needs to go home, please let me take care of her."
The principal threw a look at the young girl whose eyes were red and puffy. "She doesn't look fine. It's not our call, Ezra; we need to call her parents!"
"Please, don't do that. It's the last thing she needs," Ezra argued.
"I really think you have crossed the line with this student, Ezra!" The principal snapped.
Ezra sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation right now, not while Aria was standing a few meters away from them, freezing. "We can talk about that tomorrow if you want, but please, for now, let me take her home. Please, I will make sure she's safe, I promise."
The principal sighed and looked at Aria once again before nodding. "Fine!" He finally complied. "But don't think that this conversation is over. I want to see you in my office tomorrow," he sternly said.
"I will be there, I promise," Ezra complied. The principal threw a last look at Ezra and Aria before going downstairs, shaking his head.
"Are you going to be in troubles?" Aria asked him, worried.
"Don't worry about that," Ezra reassured her, after what had just happened he didn't want her to get more stress. "Come on, I'm going to bring you home."
He wrapped an arm around her small shoulders and they left the roof to go downstairs. Ezra waited for the last moment before removing his arm from Aria's shoulders and discreetly told her, "Wait for me on the parking lot, I will be right back."
Aria nodded as Ezra came back to the party in order to find his date. He couldn't leave like that without saying anything. He spotted her a few meters above him, talking with her mother.
"Ezra!" She said when she saw him. "Where were you? I looked for you everywhere!"
Ezra nervously bit his lip, not knowing what to say. "Look, Simone, I really am sorry, but I need to go."
The smile which was playing on Simone's lips instantly vanished. "Why?"
"It's…" Ezra shuttered. "A personal matter, I'm sorry."
"Oh!" Simone let out. "Is there a problem?"
Ezra nodded, feeling more and more uncomfortable. "Yes, kind of, it's why I really need to go."
"Okay, I understand," Mrs. Welsh's daughter said. "I will call you, okay?"
Ezra looked down for a second. He knew he had to be honest with Simone, even if it made him sound like a jerk. He had no intention of seeing her again; going with her to the charity ball had been a mistake, he shouldn't have invited her in the first place.
"Simone," he hesitantly started. "I'm sorry, I like you, you're great but… there's someone else."
The blond girl opened one's eye wide. "What?"
"I made a big mistake by inviting you tonight, I shouldn't have to. I'm really sorry, but… this other girl, I have deep feelings for her and…"
"Don't waste your time!" Simone sternly interrupted him. "I got it!" She then threw him an angry look and left him to join her mother. As Ezra made his way to the exit to join Aria, he knew that he could say goodbye to his friendship with Mrs. Welsh.
Ezra parked his car a few meters away from Aria's house as she had asked him to, not wanting to have to explain to her parents why her teacher was taking her back home. He stopped the car and turned to Aria who had been quiet all the way. "Well, there we are."
Aria looked up at him and they stared into each other's eyes for a quick second before suddenly leaning toward one another at the exact same time. Aria's mouth crashed down against Ezra's as he cupped her face between his hands, their tongues immediately battling for dominance in a passionate kiss.
They both desperately needed this; that was actually the only thing they needed at that moment.
Ezra gave up her mouth and let his lips move down to her neck, softly kissing her soft skin, making a shiver run through Aria's petite body. He then slowly went back up to her face and kissed her cheeks, tasting the salt that her tears had left on her pale skin, then her nose and her eyes, making her moan softly. He then pressed a last kiss on her mouth before resting his forehead against hers. They stayed like this for a few seconds, their eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of their closeness as Ezra gently brushed Aria's cheek with his thumb. If he had listened to himself, he would have taken her to his apartment and made love to her all night long, it was the only thing he wanted, but he knew it was impossible.
"Ezra, I'm so sorry," Aria finally broke the silence.
Ezra pulled a bit away from her and looked into her eyes. "Just promise me you will never do this again."
Aria nodded. It wasn't the first time that she was making this promise, but Ezra should know that some promises were very hard to keep.
"Yes, I promise. But I wasn't only talking about tonight. I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I'm sorry for leaving you and never picking up your calls. I know I hurt you."
Ezra didn't say otherwise, she had hurt him, he had been angry with her for the way she had acted, but after what had just happened this night, it seemed less important. He had almost lost her; he didn't even want to think about what could have happened if he hadn't shown up on the roof.
"I guess, we both have things to be sorry for. I shouldn't have come with Simone tonight, I was angry with you and I guess that I wanted to hurt you, but it was a mistake," he confessed. "I have been so selfish, you already went through so much and I just…I'm so sorry."
Aria softly smiled, brushing her thumb against his cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who pushed you to do this and…I would never prevent you from being happy. Mrs. Welsh's daughter seems great, she could make you happy."
Ezra sighed and took Aria's hands in his. "Yes, but she's not the girl I want and you know this. All the evening I wished I were with you, I wished it were you I was dancing with, you I were holding in my arms."
Aria weakly smiled to him as they both looked into each other's eyes. "I felt the same way."
Ezra smiled at her as he replaced one of her long lock behind her ear.
She then turned her look away from him, like every time she started opening up a little bit to him, as if there was still one barrier she didn't allow herself to cross.
"Ezra, nothing changed, my life is still a mess and I don't want to drag..."
But Ezra gently pressed a finger on her lips. "Look, let's not talk about it tonight, it has been a difficult evening and you need to get some rest. But please, come over after school tomorrow. Please?"
Aria nodded. "Okay, I will come."
She then leant forward and pressed a soft kiss on his lips before exiting his car and making her way to her house.
"Can I take your order?" The young waitress asked the middle-aged woman sitting at the table on the corner.
Ella looked up at her and nodded. "Yes, a vodka, please."
She knew she shouldn't be drinking, but she needed a drink, especially now.
As she waited for her drink, she nervously glanced at her watch and her anxiety grew up when she realized that it was almost time. She didn't want to do that, she didn't want to have this conversation but she had to, she couldn't keep going on like that without doing anything.
She thanked the waitress when she carefully put the glass of vodka in front of her and immediately brought the liquid to her lips.
The door of the small café suddenly opened, and her heart started beating faster when she saw the person who had just entered. She took a deep breath, trying to build her courage as she felt her hands shaking around her glass.
She watched him a few seconds before waving at him, letting him know where she was.
He sat down in front of her and they nervously looked at each other. It had been a while since they hadn't seen each other and being so close to him after all this time felt weird and almost painful.
"Thanks for meeting me," Ella said in a soft voice.
The man sighed. "I shouldn't even be here."
Ella nodded. "I know. But I really need to talk to you."
He didn't say anything and looked at Ella, waiting for her to talk. She didn't even know what to say and she almost regretted calling him. Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe nothing good would ever come from that, but she needed to do that, not for her, but for one of the person she loved the most: her daughter.
"Look, Aria is bad; it's getting worse every day and…"
"What make you think I care?" He brutally interrupted her.
"Don't do this, please," Ella begged. "She's my daughter," she said, her eyes filled with tears. "She's a total mess, I'm scared for her, I'm scared she will never be able to get over it, I'm scared she…" She stopped unable to finish her sentence.
"To get over it?" The man said in a harsh voice. "Do you think it's what she should do? Just forget about what happened?" He snapped.
"No, of course not, but she can't live like that for the rest of her life!" Ella argued.
The man shook his head. "She has what she deserved!"
"Don't say that!" Ella sternly said. "You perfectly know that she's not the only responsible for what happened that night!" She paused a few seconds as she wipe a tear which was rolling down her cheek before letting out. "And I'm going to tell her the truth!"
So, what do you think?
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I'm sorry for any mistake.
Xoxo