Chapter Four

Aria hated the sound of her alarm on the best of days. It's loud shrill beep ripped through the the room obnoxiously until she finally managed to stumble out of bed and hit the snooze button. She instantly regretted getting out of bed so fast as her head pounded and spun in a confusing haze. She steadied herself for a moment on the near by desk until the spinning ceased, but groaned out loud when the painful pounding in her head remained. She massaged her temples with her fingered tips hoping for some kind of relief, but after a few minutes she knew painkillers were her only hope.

The house was silent beyond her bedroom door, which oddly did not help the feeling of unease that was now settling in her stomach. It was 7:05am which meant her father would be on his way to Hollis with the biggest hangover of his life. Aria hadn't stuck around the previous night to see if her father was alright, she had instantly fled to her bedroom and locked the door behind her. She didn't think she would get any sleep that night, but finally after hours of crying under her sheets, she had fallen asleep. It was a strange sensation waking up that morning; she wasn't aware she was even falling asleep. One minute she was sobbing into her pillows and the next her alarm was blaring in her ear.

Aria carefully unlocked her door and opened it slightly before putting her ear to the crack. A moment of silence confirmed that it was safe to leave, and as she opened her door she sighed in relief at the sight of her fathers empty bed in the room across the hall. Even though she was alone in the house, she moved quietly down the hall to the bathroom. Entering the bathroom and flicking on the light, Arias stomach dropped as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.

An angry purple and blue bruise sat on her cheek; a sickly reminder of the previous night. She rushed forward the mirror in a panic, hoping it was just her imagination. But the tender flesh protested painfully under her touch confirming that it was real. She stared at her reflection with a mixture of sorrow and annoyance. It was another bruise she had to hide, another memory she had to bury and another lie she would have to tell.

Aria sunk back against the cool tiles of the bath and folded her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. Who knew keeping such a secret could take so much energy out of a person. The fake smiling, the constant battle to swallow the lump that made home in her throat and the feeling of dread that never ended. It was all so overwhelming.

After bumping into Ezra yesterday she knew she had no choice but to attend school. If she skipped today he would get worried, ask to many questions and make assumptions that might actually be true. So she set to the task of concealing the bruise with as much foundation and powder as she could manage and straightened her fringe to a side part to cover the bruised cheek. Once she was happy with her appearance she changed into her red turtle neck sweater and plaid skirt. By time she had dressed, taken some painkillers and grabbed her books, it was time for school.

As she drove to school, she took comfort in the fact that it was Friday and there was no English class, which meant she could avoid Ezra all day. All she had to do was make it through one day with out drawing attention to herself. As she pulled into the parking lot she noticed that's he she couldn't see any of the other girls cars. She looked at her watch; there was five minute until the first bell for home room rang. She took a park and reached into her bag for her phone which she had not turned on since last night. Almost instantly her phone buzzed with missed calls and messages.

She flicked through the dozens of missed calls and messages from her friends and her father, asking where she was, why she wasn't answering and if she was okay, deleting them one by one, but her finger stopped dead as she reached the message from Ezra.

You know my number, you know where I live and you know that you can come to me with anything.
-E

He wasn't asking her what was wrong or pressuring her to talk, he was just...there. She smiled sadly to herself, wishing that he was indeed someone she could go to, but her heart broke at the thought of what stood between them.

She flicked to the next message from Emily.

Aria, not sure what's going on, we have been calling you all night. Spence found a receipt from Ravenswood in Ali's stuff last night. We are all heading there tomorrow. If you get this message before then meet as at Spencer's at 8:00am. Xo

Shit.

The bell rang in the distance and she shoved her phone back into her bag before rushing to home room. She was thankful that she would not have to spend the whole day with them; avoiding their gazes and questions about her bruise, but she was also afraid that they now had another day together that they could spend discussing her sudden change in behaviour.
As she rushed through the halls she thought of excuses at to why she missed their calls, and maybe even get out of hanging out with them over the weekend.

"Aria!"

She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She stopped in her tracks and turned slightly as Ezra came running up to her.

"I'm late for home room." She blurted out as she turned to leave.

"This will only take a sec." He assured her as he glanced around the hall to make sure not one was there.

" About last night-" He began.

Aria went rigid, afraid of what he was about to say next.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry, it was not my place to ask questions. I know I'm not apart of your life anymore."

Her throat began to choke up and she blinked several times to try and stop the tears that threatened to spill over her eyes.

"I'm sorry about my dad." She replied, not entirely comfortable with him apologising for caring to much.

He shook his head.

"He told you he called me?"

Aria nodded.

"I didn't tell him I was going to the coffee shop to study." She Lied. "He was just so worried." She made a move to leave, a silent message that she had to go.

He nodded in understanding, not wanting to push his luck.

"I just want you to know I'm here. " He reached his hand out to squeeze her arm, but stopped himself and let his hand drop back to his side. She chanced a look up at him and almost broke down in front of him. His appearance looked just as bad as hers did but his eyes still gleamed down at her warmly. She could loose herself in the pools of dark brown.

And then the feeling shattered into a million pieces around her as she saw his eyes flick to her bruised cheek.

A look she couldn't work out washed over his face and his mouth open to say something but closed again as two sets of shoes came thundering down the hall.

"Miss Montgomery, just the person I need to see."

She gladly broke eye contact with Ezra and looked to Mr Hackett who was standing beside a Police Officer.

"I was just on my way to home room." She assured the older man.

He shook his head and held up his hand.

"It's not that. I'm afraid Miss Montgomery, that your father has been arrested for drink driving."

She froze, hopping she had heard him wrong.

Stupid, idiot man!

She could feel three sets of eyes bore into her as she stood deathly still in front of them. Her heart pounded uncontrollably and the same dizzying feeling she felt that morning had crept back into her head. Her father had been arrested! Now the whole town would know he was an alcoholic, now they where free to work out what's was happening to her.

"Arrested?" She breathed and the police officer nodded in confirmation. Her eyes flicked to Ezra, who was looking at her sadly as if everything had clicked into place. She could see a million questions behind his eyes, all of which she couldn't answer.

"Miss Montgomery?"

Her breathing became shallow and her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest. Her brain swirled in a thick haze and she could feel her knees become weak.

Ezras eyebrows pulled together in concern and he moved beside Aria.

"Are you ok?" Aria could tell he was trying to contain himself, especially since the Vice Principle was right behind him.

She shook her head.

"I think I need to sit down." Ezra grabbed her arm and ushered her into an empty classroom, sitting her down in the teachers chair. She vaguely heard the Officer say he would get some water and Mr Hackett tell Ezra he would get the school nurse.

She kept her eyes closed, now fully aware that she was alone with Ezra. She tried to keep her breathing even, but she could feel herself getting weaker by the second.

"You're so pale." He whispered as he kneeled in front of her. "Have you eaten anything today?"

As if on cue her empty stomach rumbled in protest.

"I was running late for school, I didn't have time to grab anything." She said in realisation.

Ezra nodded and opened his shoulder bag and pulled out a Musli Bar.

"Here." He offered, putting it in her hand. Her breath hitched as his fingers made contact with her own and she felt a jolt of electricity rush through her body. It had been so long since she had touched him; felt the warmth of his soft skin. Every part of her wanted to jump forward and wrap her arms around him and never let go. Their eyes held each other's gaze only to be broken by the entrance of the school nurse.

"Not feeling well dear?" She moved to Aria, pushing Ezra out of the way and held her wrist to take her pulse.

"I was in a rush to school and forgot breakfast." She admitted to the older woman feeling ashamed.

The nurse smiled reassuringly at her.

"Your pulse is a little quick. Have you taken any medication today?"

"Yes, some paracetamol." She answered, thinking back to earlier that morning.

The nurse nodded. "I suppose that would be for the massive bruise you have on your cheek?"

Aria felt her stomach churn. She wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach and chanced a look at Ezra but regretted it immediately.
He looked angry, hurt by the fact that she was hurt.

"Mr Fitz, dont you have a class waiting?" Mr Hackett asked with an accusing tone as he watched the exchange between Aria and Ezra.

Ezra cleaned his throat. "Yes, right. I should go." He picked up his bag and faced Aria.

"Hope you feel better soon Miss Montgomery." He gave her one more meaningful look and left the class room.

Aria didn't think things could get much worse, but they had; she had just added to Ezras troubles.

Sorry about the mix up with this chapter, I'm not sure what happened. Hopefully it is fixed now :)

Thank you all so much for your reviews! Please keep them coming!

Snellee