Chapter 10

Aria sat there listening to her ipod as the bus pulled out of the school parking lot. Emily sat beside her and Ezra sat in the front by himself. There were two more buses besides this one and Aria was not feeling that great about having to be on the same bus with Ezra after yesterday. She felt like she got his hopes up and then crashed them down into a million pieces, she honestly felt awful about herself for doing that to him. It didn't take long before she was fast asleep her head up against the window. The past few days had been exhausting for Aria and the fatigue had taken its toll on her. As the three hour drive ticked on Emily got up and moved down the aisle to Ezra who was writing on his ipad.

"Go to her"

"What?" he whispered not wanting the students to hear the two of them.

"I am feeling a bit car sick and I want to sit up front."

She lied easily and without waiting for an answer she made him get out of his sit and sat down shooing him off. Rolling his eyes at her he went and sat down in the seat next to Aria. Her dark brunette locks cascaded down her face as she instantly moved her head and placed it on his shoulder as if she could tell he was there while she slept. Her breathing slowed and got steady, relaxing a bit as the bus rumbled on down the interstate towards New York. The students talked the whole way and a couple of time Emily had to tell the students to behave so that Ezra would not have to move and wake Aria up from her deep sleep. At last at what felt like a mere twenty minutes to Ezra, but in reality had been two hours the buses pulled up in front of their hotel and the doors opened.

"Aria wake up" Ezra said as Emily led the students off the bus and into the hotel.

"Huh?" she said as she lifted her head and looked around. "What are you doing? Where is Emily?"

"About an hour into the trip she had to have me come sit with you because she was feeling car sick."

"Emily doesn't get car sick." Aria grumbled knowing that Emily lied to get him to sit with her. "Are we there already?"

"Yea come on we have to go check the students in and give them their room assignments." He said as the two disembarked from the bus. "Are we taking a group of kids to the 9/11 memorial and another to the Statue of Liberty before the show and dinner tonight?"

"Yes Emily and I are going to take them to the statue of Liberty with Noel and the other teachers are taking the other group to the 9/11 memorial where there are more students in that group."

"I will come with your group where you guys will have to take a boat and as principal I will like to be there for the safety of the students." He did not want Aria to have too much time with Noel considering their history together; he did not care if Noel was married and taught math at the high school.

"Are you sure it is about the safety of the students and not the history between the teachers?" Aria asked in a low whisper as one of the teachers began the check in process and the two stood beside each other in the back making sure all the students stayed in the lobby.

"History proves us that it is not always safe" he retorted snapping his fingers at a student who was trying to sneak away. "Back with the group Mr. Meadows"

"Well history does not matter anymore all of that is in the past Mr. Fitz"

"Mr. Fitz can you come sign the papers? Apparently when the district made the arrangements they made it so you had to check everyone in"

"Of course Mrs. Garth"

He gave Aria a look and went up to the front desk leaving Aria there by herself. A half hour later after bringing all the students to their rooms Aria and Emily were finally in their own room getting ready for the trip to the Statue of Liberty. The teachers had decided to take the students out to dinner after their respective trips before meeting at the hotel to get ready for the show so that after the show the students could go right back to their rooms. Even though Aria had packed a suitcase for a few days she could not decide on what to wear for the trip. After twenty minutes she decided on a simple white cotton t-shirt, white and black polka dot A-line skirt, a black cardigan, nude flats, and a white fedora with a black strap leaving her hair in loose curls. Emily nodded in approval and the two left to gather their students and meet up with Noel and Ezra in the lobby.

"You look amazing" Ezra blurted out to Aria as she walked in with Emily and the students. The students snickered and Aria blushed and looked down at her clipboard.

"Ok everyone listen up!" She said clearing her throat and turning to the students to avoid the glares from Noel and to just plain avoid Ezra. "We will be going to the Statue of Liberty then after that we will be going to a diner that is not that far from there. If you guys have any questions please direct them to myself, Ms. Fields, Mr. Kahn, or Mr. Fitz" A student's hand shot into the air almost immediately. "Yes Deena?"

"Is it true that Mr. Fitz is actually the son of the famed Fitzgerald theater owners?"

"Yes I am." He answered his voice clearly strained and Aria wanted to hold his hand to make him calm down, but knew she could not. "Any more questions?"

"Is it true you and Ms. Montgomery used to date while she was your student?" another student asked from the back of the group.

"That is not an appropriate question Mr. DiLaurentis" Ezra warned Alison's nephew, a freshman at the high school and a secret love child of her brother Jason that no one knew about until four years ago when his mother died and she left him to Jason, as he walked up beside Aria. "Any more questions that pertain to what Ms. Montgomery just told you?" no one raised their hand so Ezra nodded. "Alright then lets load up onto the bus and go learn some history why don't we"

Noel and Emily led the students out and Aria and Ezra followed from the back. The pair walked in silence as they got onto the bus and sat down in a seat together in the front. Ezra and Aria had to remain professional in front of their students, something that they had let slip on the bus there and in the lobby a few minutes ago. It did not take long for the bus driver to get them to the port to go to the Statue of Liberty and soon they were off on the boat that took them over to it. As the students ooed and awed at everything Aria stood there at the edge of the boat looking over at the waves that crashed up against the boat as it sailed through the waters. Something about being on a boat put her mind at ease and she kept thinking of how much Lilia would love to be here with her. Smiling Aria took out her cell phone and texted Hanna asking her how Lilia was.

"She is fine you know" a voice said and Aria looked up to see Noel standing there.

"Yea, but I am a mother I worry too much." She said a smile on her face as she thought about her daughter.

"She is with Hanna how much trouble could she get into?" Noel asked and the two burst into laughing together. "Ok never mind it is Hanna we are speaking of."

"Yea I know, that girl is a trouble maker" Aria agreed as she looked around and saw Ezra standing across from them on the boat glaring at Noel. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. "How is married life?"

"Not good. She filed for divorce last week and kicked me out of the house. I haven't seen my kids since then"

"Oh my god I am sorry Noel" Aria said and without thinking anything of it she hugged him.

Preview:

"Yea, but I killed a girl who will never get to grow old and have kids and grandkids of her own."

"If you hadn't defended yourself none of you would have had the chance to do any of that either" He grabbed her head between his hands and made her look him in the eye. "If you hadn't done that what I did for you wouldn't have made a difference because the love of my life would have been dead and our child as well." Aria lifted his shirt and rubbed the edge of her thumb on the scar that was still on him from the bullet wound.

"I am so sorry Ezra"

"I don't want you to ever say you are sorry again"