Chapter 2

Ezra POV

For the rest of the day, Ezra couldn't help but catch himself thinking about Aria. He mentally slapped himself each time he thought of her. She was his student for crying out loud! He should not be thinking about her. Especially, since he had a date the next day. Ezra was shot out of his thoughts as the bell ending the day sounded. Having not handed out any assignments today, he had nothing to grade. He packed up his briefcase and headed for the door. He cut out the lights and stepped out, turning to lock his door. He turned back around to walk to the exit when he ran into someone.

He blew out a huff of air as the body hit him. "I'm so sorry!" he stated, bending down to help her gather her things. When he looked up at the girl in question, who had also bent down to gather her things, he was met by Aria's beautiful green eyes. He paused and stared. Luckily, she was able to look away. She whispered her thanks as she grabbed the items from his hand and rushed down the hall toward the exit. Ezra simply stood watching her back. He sighed to himself before going off in the same direction.

When Ezra looked up after throwing his briefcase into the backseat of his car, he saw Aria leaning against her car talking to boy her age. He didn't recognize the guy but based on his body language he was clearly interested in her. Ezra stood there motionless watching from afar. Aria didn't seem all that fascinated with the boy but maybe that was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

"Ezra!" He quickly spun around toward the high pitched voice coming from behind him. He smiled boyishly as Maria walked up to him. She stopped in front of him showing her pearly whites. "We're still on for tomorrow night, right?" Ezra nodded. "Great! See you in the morning!" She gave a small wave before retreating to her car. Ezra gave a small wave and turned to look at Aria only to find her, her car, and the boy were gone. He sighed to himself and got in his car to head home.

Aria POV

Aria rushed to her car after accidentally running into Mr. Fitz. The fact that she ran into him wasn't what made her blush uncontrollably the whole way back to her car, it was the fact that she hadn't expected his body to be so…hard. Like he worked out everyday kind of hard.

She was hoping to throw her bags into the back of her car and tail it out of there when Noel Kahn walked up behind her. "Aria?" Aria turned around to face him. "You remember me?" Aria nodded. How could she forget? Noel Kahn was the most popular guy at Rosewood High. All Noel had to do was smile and he had girls melting at his feet. Aria used to be one of those girls but ever since she got back from Iceland she felt different. She wasn't interested in any of the guys at her school. They all seemed immature to her.

Noel was talking to her but when she glanced over his shoulder and saw Mr. Fitz watching them from his car, she zoned him out. His voice faded into the background. Aria watched Mr. Fitz spin around as Ms. Sanchez, the secretary, sauntered up behind him. A weird feeling grew in her stomach when she saw the smile that Ms. Sanchez was giving him.

Facing Noel, she interrupted, "Look, Noel, I have to go. My parents want me home to help unpack." She got in her car and drove away.

"Aria how was your first day back?" Ella, her mom, questioned as she walked through the door. Aria walked into the living room to find her mother and father sitting on the sofa watching television.

"Fine."

"Anything interesting happen?" Byron, her father, asked still looking at the television.

Aria thought back to Mr. Fitz. The way he walked around the room with such elegance, the way his blue eyes shined, his rock hard body. She pursed her lips and shook her head, "No." She turned toward the stairs and walked up them. She walked into her room and threw things on the ground by her desk before jumping on her bed and shoving her face into her pillow. Within minutes she was asleep.

Ezra POV

The next morning, Ezra awoke with a smile upon his face but it quickly vanished when the dream from last night played in his head. He had dreamed of Aria. Her luscious lips kissing him, her long brown hair surrounding his face. He shook his head quickly to rid himself of the thoughts. He got up and threw on a pair of shorts and light blue sleeveless tank top. Grabbing his Ipod, Ezra headed off for his run.

Aria POV

Aria walked into the local coffee shop and looked around at the few people who occupied it. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer had agreed to meet there an hour before school started to chat. She walked up and got her coffee. She had just sat down and taken a sip of her coffee when the door to the shop opened. She choked on the burning liquid when she saw Mr. Fitz walk into the shop. His hair was wet and messed up. He was breathing heavily. He pulled out the headphones in his ear and walked up to the cashier. He smiled at her. She grabbed him a water and smiled at him. He went to get his wallet when she held up her had signaling it was on the house. Aria rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee.

Mr. Fitz took a long gulp of the water as he turned around. Pausing slightly, he swallowed slowly before walking up to her.

"Hey," he smiled down at her.

"Hey," she squeaked. She looked away and closed her eyes in embarrassment. She looked back at him only to find him grinning at her. She cleared her throat and asked, "So, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was out for a run and needed some water," he stated motioning to the water in his hands. Aria continued to kick herself at the stupid question she just asked.

"Right," she sighed. She looked at his toned biceps and bit her lip to keep from grinning. She usually found sweaty guys disgusting but with Mr. Fitz it just made him hotter.

"Well, I got to go. Need to take a shower before school. I guess I'll see you later?" Aria thought she heard hope in his voice when he asked the question but she brushed off the thought. Aria nodded. She could have sworn his smile got a little wider. She smiled back. He turned and walked toward the door. She took a sip of her coffee and watched his retreating back. She let her eyes wonder a little further down and bit her lip as she smiled.

She noticed him slightly wave to someone as he walked out the door and looked over. There were her friends just looking at her smiling. She blushed, looked away from them, and sipped her coffee. They got their coffee and walked over.

"So…" Hanna said as she sat down. Aria stared at her. Hanna's eyes bulged out of her head. "What were you two talking about?"

Aria shrugged. "Nothing. I just asked him what he was doing here and he said he was getting a water." She took another sip of her coffee hoping Hanna would drop the subject. No such luck.

"So, how's it look?" she question smugly.

Aria looked at Emily and Spencer in confusion. She peered over at Hanna and furrowed her brow.

Hanna smirked as she responded to my silent question, "His butt? I noticed you looking."

Aria worked her mouth to form an answer. Finally, she did, "I did no such thing!" Hanna pursed her lips and shared a look with the girls. They giggled. Aria couldn't help but smile.

Ezra POV

The run back to his apartment was filled with thoughts of Aria. If he didn't know any better, he would say that Aria was checking him out at the coffee shop. He grinned at the thought. The fifteen minute run back to his apartment seemed to fly by and before he knew it he had taken a shower and was picking out his clothing.

Ezra pulled up his black jeans to hang loosely on his waist. He wrapped a belt through the loops of his pants and fastened it. Walking over to his closet, he sifted through his closet for a nice dress shirt. He found a dark purple skin tight shirt and put his arms through the sleeves. Standing in front of the mirror, he buttoned up the front of the shirt. The shirt was so tight, you could make out the outline of his well toned chest. Grabbing the black vest from his closet, he put it on. Looking at the watch on his wrist, he began to rush when he realized he was going to be late. Grabbing a black tie, his coffee, and briefcase, he was out the door.

Just as the bell rung to start the day, Ezra stepped through the doors to his classroom. He closed the door and breathed out the air he didn't realize he had been holding. Looking at his students who were staring back at him, he smiled. He walked to his desk and set down his briefcase. He walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it.

"Okay, class!" he said clapping his hands together once. "Today, we're going to begin our first novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Can everyone pass the form your parents signed to the front please while I pass out the books?" The rustling of binders being opened and paper being passed sounded throughout the room as he handed the right amount of books to the person in the front row to pass behind them. He gathered the papers from the front row and stuffed them in his briefcase.

The whole class period, he made sure to keep his eyes adverted from Aria. He looked anywhere but her. He knew if he did then he wouldn't be able to turn away. The period seemed to procrastinate longer with each second he didn't look at her. Ezra assigned his student the first three chapters of the book. He allowed them to get started on it in class. He swiftly sat behind his desk and watched his students work.

The looks on their faces told a lot. Some of them had their focused gaze set on the book. A few of those focused faces actually seemed interested while the others just seemed be reading it as punishment. The several students who weren't focused on the book, he assumed, would be the ones to struggle in his class.

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Ezra ran his hand down where his tie was supposed to be and sighed when he remembered he hadn't put it on. He reached into his briefcase and pulled out the tie as students rushed out of his classroom. Standing, he sighed at their eagerness to get away. Was English really that bad? He wrapped the tie around his neck and attempted to tie it without looking in a mirror.

Frustrated, he became forceful with looping the tie. Not paying attention to anything but the tie, he jumped when he felt a hand on his elbow. He looked up startled until he saw it was Aria. Then the butterflies in stomach started acting up again. She smiled at him and motioned for the tie. He let go of the tie and she grabbed them. Clenching his jaw, he peered down at her through frosted eyes as she tied it. As she finished, she looked up and pulled it closer to his neck.

Staring into each others eyes was a mistake. Neither one of them was able to look away. Ezra's breathing became ragged as did Aria's. Her hand lifted away from his tie and softly moved his bangs a little to the sighed. Ezra closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. She pulled her hand away and just stood in front of him. When he opened his eyes he was faced with an empty classroom. No Aria in sight. Mouth slightly open, he gazed over at the door a let out a breath of air.

Aria POV

Aria felt the tingling sensation rise to her face as she stared into Mr. Fitz's eyes. She was going to kiss him. She was determined to. She watched him close his eyes and could see the struggle on his face. He also wanted her to kiss him. Along with that want, she saw fear. Fear of kissing her. What that would mean for him as a person. Him as a teacher.

Suddenly, she realized. If she kissed him, there was no going back. There was no way they'd be able to go back to teacher/student if they kissed. He'd get in trouble most likely. She could tell, in just the two days that she knew him, that he was the type of man that usually didn't do anything wrong. And kissing her would definitely be wrong in his book. More than wrong in fact.

So, she left. Didn't say a word to him or anything. Just left. She walked slowly to her locker. Once she got there, she turned and leaned against it beating her head against it softly. She was thankful her friends weren't around. She couldn't handle one of Hanna's smartass comments at the moment.

She swallowed when she saw him walk to the doorway of his classroom and look at her. He stood there a moment before he softly closed the door. She stared at his door until the bell rang, and she began to rush to gather her belongings for her next period and prepare to receive a tardy slip.