Yupper's your getting two chapters today. I feel like I own you guys something for waiting. So enjoy and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with pretty little liars
Aria had dreaded going into work. During the past two weeks of craziness she had forgotten all about the incident that she had Steven had caused at the bar. She had forgotten who was outside to witness it and never once thought about what it would be like to step foot inside of school
Sitting in the parking lot sipping at her coffee she rested her head on the head rest and looked up at the building. For some reason everything looked different when no one was there with you!
All alone at 6:30 in the morning, only a few cars in the parking lot she felt alone. Aria felt as if the weight on her shoulders to get her to open the door was just holding her down. She wasn't ready to go back to school. She wasn't ready to stand in front of a class and teach.
Hearing a car pull up next to her Aria made no attempt to notice that person. At this point she really didn't care. As thoughts about what happened a few weeks ago still in her mind and how people will react to it, the person next to her was nonexistence.
But then the tapping on the window happened and she knew in that moment that her train of thought was to be dismissed. Closing her eyes she turned her head and opened the door. Not bothering to put the key back into the ignition to roll down the window. That person lent down next to her and took her hand. It was Ezra.
Smiling tenderly he told her, "You don't have to come back if you're not ready too!" he rubbed her hand with the ball of his thumb "I can speak to Sheppard-" he trailed off when Aria made no effort to speak, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Aria told him and took her hand back, "I'm just tired that's all"
Not believing her story Ezra looked around the parking lot before leaning in and giving her a quick loving kiss, "You'll be okay Aria. I promise I won't let anything happen to you"
Rolling her eyes Aria reached over and grabbed her purse, "You will have to move in order for me to get out" Ezra looked at her for a few seconds not making an attempt to move, "I'm fine Ezra. Maybe I feel a little uneasy but I'll be okay. I just have to get back to things"
Moving out of the way Ezra stood up from his spot and saw a few other cars pulling in. Aria then got out and in that split second Ezra felt like he was back in Rosewood and Aria was his student. This deal that they've made wasn't something that he agreed with. But for the sake of argument he went along with it.
Aria opened her trunk and grabbed her book bag and Ezra hesitated before he offered to help her. With coffee in one hand and the other holding a few loose books that couldn't fit; Aria felt reluctant and nodded when Ezra reached for her things, "I'm just a friend remember?" he told her
"Are you upset about that?" Aria asked him already knowing the answer "We've done this before"
"But that was different Aria," He bit out, "You were my student."
"Yes, Ezra I was." Aria began to walk towards the building, "But look at it from my point of view. Everyone here knows me and Steven, not Ezra and Aria."
Licking his lips Ezra stopped short of the entrance and asked, "So if people ask you about Steven what are you going to say?"
Feeling the words leaving her mouth and her head going blank she just shrugged. Aria thought about it but she still came up with the same answers. She had nothing. To her, she and Steven were over. But to Steven, he was fighting for a second chance.
"I'm going to hate it here" Ezra retorted and opened the door for them to walk in, "I can feel it already"
With narrow eyes Aria walked into the building and went straight to front office. Ezra wasn't too far behind and a few other teachers were hot on their trail.
Upon checking in Aria was greeted with a few office staff. Hugs and are you okay's were given and asked. But the person that really stood out was the one that Ezra forgot all about. 'Lynette' or what most people call her was 'Lyn'
Lyn is the one that Ezra had hired. She and Aria had met right after Wesley had told him about what his Aunt Ester said about Aria and Steven. "That she saw hope and one day hey will get married"
Seeing Lyn act as if another was going on and ignoring Ezra, he thought that she was very good at her job. Aria and Lyn laughed together as if they were friends since childhood. Watching with intense eyes Ezra tried his best to look discrete; with promises that he made to Aria, all of his acts had to go unnoticed until he was able to take back the damage that he had done. All the lies that he has told.
"Mr. Fitzgerald," Sheppard greeted, "How did the wedding go?"
"Fitz," he told her annoyed, "It went well. Thank you for that time off," he told her with a fake annoyed smile that couldn't be recognized from people that didn't know him too well, "And thank you for allowing Ms. Montgomery that time as well. It was best for her to take time for herself"
Nodding in agreement she answered, "I agree. Aria, has been a great aspect for this school" she picked up her notes, "It's just ashamed that we had to pull the plug on her production"
Knitting his eyebrows together in confusion Ezra responded, "What do you mean?"
"Well," She gestured towards the air, "Super Intended found a copy of the play and thought it was too" Sheppard shook her head, "Vile, A student-teacher relationship isn't what we teach at this school"
"And Aria knows about this?"
"I've sent her an email stating the problems and we have a meeting this morning"
"Right," Ezra rushed out, "I have to go, thank you for the heads up."
LINE BREAK
Steven had just walked onto campus with his satchel over his shoulder and two cups of coffee in his hands. Spotting Aria and Ezra in the main office and Sheppard hovering over them he only knew what they were all talking about.
Over the last two weeks he had been on his own with the production, well more like a week and a half. But after the school board found out about the play everything was out of his hands. He tried to call Aria last week but she never answered only a few short text messages. If it wasn't for Stacy the first week he would have never had that chance to even put in a few words.
"I'm sorry Aria; this is out of my grasp. We had to pull the plug" Sheppard announced, "You'll have to go with something else this year"
Aria looked at Steven as did Ezra, "So what you're saying is that you'll approve Romeo and Juliet, but you under no circumstances will approve a Fiction story about romance. About a student and teacher finding their true love when they hadn't even met during school?" Aria asked annoyed and clearly frustrated.
"Let's step into my office" Sheppard opened the door and took off her coat before talking, "What kind of message will that send to our kids? That a student-teacher relationship is okay? Think about it from a parent's point of view"
Rubbing her head Aria told her, "I did," Ezra looked at her, "I've gotten parent's consent before I even gave out the script. And let's be honest here, my kids have fundraised every penny for this production. None of it was taken from the school fund. How is this fair?"
"I'm sorry…" She trailed off
"What if we change it?" Ezra offered, "Change the story line"
Shaking her head, "It wouldn't make a difference; the story line for each character is beyond vile. They won't allow it. You have one character with identity crisis, we can't allow that here. You have another one taking drugs to stay awake so she can figure out whom's stalking her and her friends and too top it off you have a shop lifter!"
Aria looked to Steven who just shrugged; he really didn't know what to say and how to approach the matter so Ezra spoke again, "What if it was held off site? Then the school board would have nothing to say about this."
"Ezra just drop it" Aria told him, "It was a stupid idea anyway!" she picked up her bag, "We all have class in 20 minutes so let's just go on with our day!"
"No, Aria-"
"Stop," Aria yelled, "Just drop it"
"So that's it?" Ezra got defensive, "Aria, we can make this work"
"You never even wanted to do it in the first place, remember?" Aria argued, "You called it stupid and a waste of production space!"
"I never said it like that" Ezra hissed, "Ar-"
"What do you have to say about this Steven?" Aria cut him off with a deep glare, "You've been here, with every piece of information and yet I see you as a mute"
Steven opened his mouth to speak but Sheppard cut him off, "Aria, Steven has been by your side. There was nothing he could have done"
"You know what?" Aria laughed harshly and opened the door, "This is stupid, and it's just away for the school board to once again- get what they want. No one is willing to fight for what the children want. Have they even been notified?"
Licking her lips she nodded, "We told them on Friday that this production was cancelled yes!"
"And how did that go?"
"Not too well"
"Hmm," Aria shook her head, "Thank you! This is just what I wanted on a Monday morning" And with that she stormed out of the office. Ezra eyed Steven and he did the same. Before Steven followed Aria out the door.
Ezra stayed behind and took a seat in front of Sheppard, "How much will it take for this to happen?"
Laughing Sheppard answered, "There isn't enough money in this world that would make this production happen." She sat back in her chair, "We don't want an angry mob outside because of it"
"It's not that bad" Ezra told her, "It's love"
Crossing her arms over her chest she asked, "And how would you know? It's fiction"
"But it's not, this type of situation happens every day. Aria's just trying to expression the situation. We do have gays and thieves and teachers who do fall in love with their students. We have teenagers that are taking drugs to oversee their problems. And I think that we, as people, sometimes overstep ourselves and overlook things. These are the type of people that are calling out for help." Ezra looked her in the eyes, "People who are trying to express themselves but don't know how, or the people who find true love in all the right places. This student-teacher relationship didn't take place in just a classroom, she had to lie and sneak around from her family and peers to be with someone she loved the most. Do you know how that feels? It feels wrong but yet you know deep in your heart that everything is right. That maybe if you open up your mind to the possibility that it could happen, it is happening. That just maybe it is love. But people don't do that. They close themselves off and think that the world is just in black in white." Sheppard opened her mouth to protest but Ezra went on, "These are daily situations put into a story. From four girl's point of view, their trying to express themselves into words that their peers will understand."
"And what's that? That everything is okay in the world?" Sheppard argued loudly, "Ezra, this is the real world and not everything is at it seems. But we don't have to address the issue if there isn't any. We don't have a problem like that in our school so why should we focus on what's going on outside these walls. That's why people fail. Because instead of looking at what you have right in front of you and trying to address that situation, people are worried about others!"
"You don't know that!" Ezra stood up ready to fight, "I can walk out and call out those who are hiding from their sexuality, I can walk out that door and pick out at least six people that I know are taking pills just to stay awake and pass their courses. But we're not doing a thing about it other than telling them that it's okay to talk to us. But are they really going to talk to us just because we say it's okay? NO" he yelled, "We need to take a stand and let them feel it… Talking, that's just words. Emotions speaks the truth"
Sheppard was a little taken back from Ezra's outburst. Never had she ever had a teacher that was willing to push the topic. Just as the bell rung Sheppard told Ezra, "I understand what you're saying. But until the matter is brought up from students there isn't anything we can do about it. Talking, and showing is all we have!"
Ezra looked at her with no words and walked out of the office. With stares coming from the staff he held his head high and headed down to his classroom where students had already piled in. All he knew for sure was today was going to be a long day.
