12:00ish pm – Jason and Ezra

Jason
Jason smirked when he found WIlden spying on Emily. he wasn't surprised seeing him stalking one of the girls after what Aria told him. Jason was not stupid, not even during his drug addled days and he had noticed the way Emily looked at his sister and had picked up that Emily was into Alison as easily as he had picked up Aria was into him. He knew that Emily would never vandalize Alison's memorial much less murder her. he didn't understand it, but Emily had loved Alison. The pain and grief she was still suffering was not guilt.

"Wilden, why are you stalking a teenage girl instead of looking for my sister's murderer?" he asked in a calm voice. Jason smirked when he seen the other man jump.

Wilden was so intent on watching Emily he had missed Jason DiLaurentis coming up to behind him, much to his humiliation he was taken unaware by the other man. "Well if it isn't Jason DiLaurentis, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he said sarcastically he could not stand this guy, ever since Wilden had been assigned to the case this bastard had been making his life a living hell as he did the detective assigned to the case before him. It was his constant badgering and wanting to make sure that his sister's case didn't get forgotten that moved him completely of the detectives' radar as a suspect as he had been when Alison first disappeared.

Jason didn't even bother answering him he just gave the police detective a condescending stare that made Wilden's blood boil. "So why are you at a high school chasing around a bunch of girls instead of getting answers for my family and her friends?" he asked.

"Your sister's memorial was vandalized last night." he noticed Jason didn't look surprised by this news. " Maybe I should look into your whereabouts, you don't look all that surprised.

Jason just looked at him with an intense and steady gaze and suggested. "Why don't you concentrated on my sister's murder instead of her memorial?"

"Whoever vandalized Alison's memorial seriously hated your sister. When we find the someone or someone's that vandalized your sister's memorial, we will find her murderer or murderers and I can guarantee that your sister's friends you are defending, will be involved with both up to their pretty little ears."

Jason began laughing and shaking his head. "Alison was my sister and I loved her even if we didn't get along, but I can tell you there were plenty of people in this school hell, even this town that hated her enough to vandalize her memorial given the opportunity." He looked the detective directly in the eyes as he added "You better widen your net detective Alison knew secrets that some people would not want to come out. She wasn't afraid to threaten others with what she knew to get her way."

Wilden felt himself sweat a little, had Cece or Alison told her bother anything. Did Jason know about the relationship he had with Alison that summer or that she thought she might be pregnant by him. Was Jason threatening to expose him. Trying not to look like he was running away, he said in as commanding a tone as he could. "I think we're done her DiLaurentis." Silently he added, you entitled prick.

Jason watched him walk away with a smirk and then his eyes sought out Aria and noticing her worried look he gave her a wink and then decided to go for a little walk for old times' sake.

Before Jason went back to the main hall he made a side journey to the nurses office, he tried the door and was happy to find it unlocked and went inside he looked inside a cabinet and found what he was looking for and the left, closing the door soundly he walked back to the main hall. Once he went back in Aria was talking to Spencer, Hanna and Emily and he thought maybe he needed to apologize to the girls for his behavior this past week.

"Um hey," he said a little uncomfortably.

"Hello Jason." Spencer said acting as the leader, Emily smiled nervously, Hanna was twirling a stand of hair as if unsure what to do and Aria was once again studying her amazing shoes that on further inspection he would like to see wrapped around his shoulders with her still in them obviously.

Spencer was looking at him expectantly " So I wanted to apologize to the four of you for how I acted this week, WIlden just told me about the vandalism and I am sorry about that. I do realize all the work you did to make that possible." He thought it was probably best the other girls not know it was Aria that told him, since that might raise questions about their relationship and right now he had was just as confused about them as Aria was. "So, I'm sorry, about everything."

Spencer gave him a small smile as did Emily. Hanna smiled more enthusiastically and said "Thank you Jason." Aria's smile was surprisingly shy and she was blushing a little and thanked him also. He caught her eyes just for a second hoping he conveyed the message to follow him and then turned and walked away, he could feel Aria's eyes on him the whole time.

"Well that was unexpected, I still don't trust him though."

Aria looked at her friend in disbelief. Really? But, before Aria could say anything Hanna did, "Spencer, just give it a rest, he apologized so just except it and move on." Emily nodded in agreement.

Spencer sighed in annoyance but shrugged her slim shoulders, "Fine, I need to find Alex anyway, he got a call from home earlier and I haven't been able to find him since." Hanna headed back to Sean, Mona and Noel who were flirting outrageously with each other and one of Emily's team mates called to her and she went over to join them.

Aria looked around and took off in the direction she had seen Jason walking in. This time she was the one snatched through a doorway and spun into his arms. "What took you so long?" he asked between kisses.

"What did you want me to just leave my friends standing there and follow you?"

"No?" he said while nodding that yes that was what he wanted and she laughed slapping his arm. "Come on." he took her by the hand and began leading her down the steps.

"Where are, we going?" she asked

"Some place special."

"Really?" she said looking around the creepy basement that looked like someplace Freddy Kruger would be at home.

Jason laughed, "Just trust me."

They walked through the maze until they ended up in a tiny room that was surprisingly well lit, "How did you know this place was here?"

Jason laughed a little uncomfortable about admitting this. "When I was in high school I would look for places to get high. I never got caught here."

"And this is a special place because?" she asked confused.

With a grin, he held up a couple wrappers "I wanted to see if you would help change my memories of this place?"

Aria arched a perfectly shaped brow, "I thought you said you were out of condoms? ", wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I was" he said with a laugh," the nurse's office wasn't." his green eyes were gleaming with laughter and some other emotion Aria couldn't quiet define.

"In that case, let's make some new memories."

Ezra
Ezra didn't want to be here today, but he had to take of the last three days this week and Principle Taggert had strongly suggested he volunteer today. When he woke up this morning he just wanted to go back to bed and cover up his head. Things weren't going according to plan in Rosewood his work, his job, even his love life was a mess, that was until about around mid-morning when he heard some idle gossip being discussed by a school secretary and a teacher who were trying to call parents that lived nearby to see if a few of them could come chaperone what has turned out to be something of an ordeal. By the time, they had cancelled the exam the weather service had issued a warning and they couldn't release the students and now motorists were being directed to the high school to seek shelter. it was during the overheard snippet of gossip his day started to look up. The secretary had just got off the phone and was shaking her head sadly, "Such a pity after seventeen years of marriage for it to end like that and Ella Montgomery is such a sweetheart." Ezra sat up suddenly interested, "Byron is nice as well, but you know he probably found a younger woman, why else would they separate." Ellen and Byron were separated!

When did this happen? he waited, but they she said nothing else and moved to the next name on the list. When Ella showed up at the school with Veronica Hastings Ezra was ecstatic, but decided to play it cool, after all he should make sure his student wouldn't have a problem with him asking her mom out and he'd had the perfect excuse to seek her out, Ezra was impressed with her short story the feeling and emotions of the heroine, the hero never admits his feelings, but they are obvious to the reader, the heroine is clueless. After talking to Aria, he now felt he could move forward.

His next stroke of luck, he had just happened to be standing nearby and overheard one of the teachers ask Ella if she would mind searching the kitchen to find something to feed the now hungry and complaining student. She had agreed and another parent was about to help her when Ezra stepped up and said he'd be happy to help her and smiling Ella agreed to his help

The first time he met Ella was about a week after school started, the theater was playing It Happened One Night and he ran into Area standing out front, they started talking about their shared love of classic movies when he happened to notice a beautiful woman running up the steps, she was several years older than him, but he was instantly attracted to her. She smiled and he initially thought maybe she had felt the same intense attraction he had only to realize she was looking at Aria not him.

"Aria who's your friend?" she said looking him over a feminine appreciation in her gaze.

"Mom, this is Mr. Fitz, my English teacher." Aria told her.

"So, you're the infamous Mr. Fitz? Aria talks about you all the time, she never said how cute you are?" she teased "I don't remember teachers looking like him when I was in school," she said jokingly to Aria, for whatever reason, mothers get a kick out of embarrassing their offspring, "if they did I might have been a more enthusiastic pupil." she said with a conspiratorial wink at Ezra, but because of his instantaneous attraction to her he felt himself blush even though he knew she was messing with her daughter.

"Mom!" Aria took the bait and Ella laughed delightedly. then told her daughter.

"Oh, lighten up Aria he knew I was joking, didn't you Mr. Fitz?" she turned her happy smile toward him and he felt his knees wobble a little.

He nodded, "Ezra." he told her, cheek bones tinged pink.

"Ella." she answered and misreading the situation thought she had embarrassed him reminding herself he was still a very new teacher and not used to parents yet. "Seriously you are Aria 's and her best friend's favorite teacher. That takes skill to be able to connect you either have it or you don't, my husband is a professor at Hollis he teaches art history.

"Oh, you're married to Professor Montgomery from the history department." Ezra went to Hollis he'd never had Byron as a professor and had only heard of him through reputation. Suddenly, Ezra felt like a deflated balloon, he had forgotten that Ella was married, he had known Aria's parent were still married when he reviewed the file on her. Shortly thereafter they went in to buy their tickets, his plan was to sit somewhere alone, but Ella noticed him and asked him to join them. Both Ezra and Aria were nervous, Aria had already been on edge wondering what A was up to ever since she had received the picture of her making out Jason by her mother's car and A's threat to tell her mom about Byron and Meredith if she didn't do it herself, then they ran into Mr. Fitz. Now she was worried he would think his mom was trying to win brownie points with him. Ezra could not stop thinking about Ella sitting just beyond his reach. Whether it was offering to share her popcorn or the sound of her laughter during the classic romantic comedy, He could not forget her presence even with Aria sitting between them. Luckily, he had watched the movie enough times to know the appropriate responses at the right times. At one point Ella, had put her arm around Aria to whisper something to her and her fingers had brushed against his shoulder and he wondered if she felt the heat as he had and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but she seemed to blissfully unaware. The tension had been thick but Ella had been clueless to both her daughter and her teacher both lost in their own personal torture.

A couple weeks later and he found out that Ella would substitute teach on the days the art gallery she worked at were closed. She was substituting for one of the history teachers. Unfortunately, his attraction had not diminished and working with her had only intensified his feeling. He had even resorted to engineering situations where they could be alone and it would never work out, one of them was a poetry reading, he was reading one of his, she found out about it and he had invited her She brought Aria so she could support her favorite teacher, Ezra's best friend Hardy had also showed up to support him.

They had been having a great time when Hardy called him aside and asked "What are you doing? She is a beautiful woman, a MILF I get it, but her gorgeous daughter that she brought with her is your student, she has mentioned her husband Byron and their son Mike more than once. She is not looking to have an affair with her daughter's young hot stud of a teacher or leave her husband for you. Dude as your friend you need to stop this now, you're not looking for friendship with her. The only reason she hasn't noticed is because she thinks of you as a kid."

"She knows I am twenty-seven and that I have a PhD, doubt she sees me as a kid." Hardy just rolled his eyes

Ezra knew Hardy was right, but he couldn't stop himself. He asked her to a lecture a few teachers were around and before he knew what happened the evening he was hoping to spend with Ella turned into a group event and he didn't even get to sit next to her. Afterward he mentioned going out for coffee, the other teachers all agreed, but Ella said she needed to get home and joked that Byron was already worried that the young teaches was trying to steal his wife with the poetry and lectures. Ezra laughed with the rest of the teaches, but thought to himself, if they only knew. he had tried other things as well but everything just blew up in his face, he had spent a whole evening at an art gallery in Philadelphia where he planned to accidentally run into her only to find out the next day she had car trouble and ended up having a date night with her husband. Now was his chance to ask her out. and maybe have a shot with her.

They had been rummaging through the kitchen for a while and so far, came up empty handed much of it needed to be thawed and neither of them know how to work the industrial kitchen appliances. "Ella, I just wanted to say that I was sorry to hear about you and Byron." Crap he hadn't meant to say that and it was a lie anyway he had almost done a happy dance like a Peanuts Gang character.

"Thank you, Ezra," then she gave a harsh laugh, "that is the thing about small towns, the rumor mill works fast. I guess they are theorizing what went wrong?" she looked up at him tears shining like diamond in her eyes and Ezra couldn't take it and knew he would not be asking Ella Montgomery out tonight or any or time soon.

Ezra wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him and Ella for the first time broke down and cried instead of trying to be strong. After a few minutes, she pulled away embarrassed having literally wet his shirt front her eyes red a swollen. Ezra grabbed paper towel from over the sink wet in a little and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry about that." she said embarrassed " I don't know what came over me.

"it's fine Ella, I'm just glad I could be here for you, anytime you need a shoulder to cry on I'm always available for you." Thinking she'd probably want to change the subject, "So, I guess we need to find something to feed the masses." he said turning back to searching the pantry to give her a little privacy, but he said from the pantry "For the record Ella, he's an idiot."

Ella laughed. "You don't even know why we separated, you just biased because we're friends."

"I don't have to know, whatever it was he let you go and that makes him an idiot. If you were mine, I'd fight to keep you."

"Thank you, Ezra, that is the sweetest thing anyone said to me in a while." Ella had no idea how serious Ezra was. He hoped that one day she would be take him seriously.

With a cry of triumph Ella found a large box of protein bars, in total they found three of them. it wasn't much but it was better than nothing. When they were passing them out she idly wondered where her daughter was she didn't see her anywhere, but then the hall was very crowded.