Chapter 3
Ezra POV
Ezra Fitz stared at his reflection in the mirror as he shakily tied his tie. Normally he would tie the tie without a problem whilst standing in front of a mirror but Aria kept popping into his mind every time he went to go tie it. He was getting ready for his date with Maria. He shouldn't be thinking of his student. Closing his eyes, he sighed in frustration. Finally opening his eyes, he steadied his hands enough to tie the knot. He was wearing a white dress shirt with black slacks. Wearing the light blue tie that complimented his eyes nicely, he grabbed his black trench coat that reached just top of his knees and slipped his arms through the sleeves. Checking once more in the mirror, he smiled at his reflection before grabbing his keys, cell, and wallet and slipping out the door.
He parked just outside Maria's apartment and sat in his car. He was determined to keep Aria off his mind for the night and hopefully, if things went well with Maria, for the rest of the school year. With that, he got out and walked up to her door knocking on it twice. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he turned and faced the road while he waited for the door to open. Once it did, he spun around and his jaw slacked. Maria's long blonde hair was loosely curled. Her black dress that came just above her knee framed her figure very well. Ezra was blinded by the brightness of her eyes. Her blue eyes scanned him as he did her. He grinned. Oh yeah, he shouldn't have one problem keeping his mind off Aria for the night.
"Wow," Ezra said blinking rapidly. She looked down and blushed. Ezra gave her his arm, "Ready to go?" She nodded before grabbing her hand purse from the table beside the door and closing the door behind her. She hooked her arm with his as he led her toward his car. He opened her door for her and then walked around the back of the car looking up at the sky and mouthing "Thank you" before getting into the driver seat.
After ordering their food, Ezra was surprised to find that he and Maria actually had a lot in common. She enjoyed literature almost as much as he did. She had spent some of her time in college in the drama club, starring in plays and musicals. She told him stories of her childhood. About how she used to kick her older brothers ass in basketball. They shared a good laugh when he had told her of some of his strangest relationships.
All too soon, the date was over and they were sitting in his parked car just outside her apartment. She unbuckled her seatbelt but remained seated in the car. She turned to him before saying, "I had a really nice time tonight,"
Ezra smiled and responded, "I did, also." Maria looked out the windshield again. Ezra opened his door and got out and rounded the vehicle to her side, opening the door and extending his hand to help her out. He closed the door, slipped his hands in his pockets, and walked with her to her door. Once they reached her door, she began fiddling with her keys. He touched her elbow causing her to turn to him. He leaned in and planted a quick soft kiss to her lips. He pulled away and blushed as she did. "We should do this again," he stated. "Soon," he continued after a brief pause. She nodded before opening her door and stepping in and closing it behind her. He turned and returned to his car with a grin upon his face.
Aria POV
Aria strutted through the entrance to the school and immediately halted when she saw Mr. Fitz flirting with Ms. Sanchez. She saw him kiss her before he sauntered over to his classroom. Aria looked down to keep her emotions in check. "He's not yours, Aria," she silently berated herself. No matter how much she repeated that in her head, the jealously she felt still managed to creep in. She walked into his classroom just before the bell rang.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Morning," he stated softly. She looked away from him with a frown. When she sat down and looked up, his eyes were on her but his smile was long gone. Clenching her jaw, she reached down and grabbed her binder from her bag.
"Hey, Aria! You didn't meet us at your locker as usual. Everything okay?" She looked up and was met with Hanna and Spencer.
Aria closed her eyes for a moment and plastered a fake smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Em?" she questioned noticing the missing swimmer.
"Sick," Spencer stated. Aria nodded and Spencer and Hanna headed to their assigned seats.
Aria caught herself several times throughout the period zoning out. Not only did she catch herself but so did Mr. Fitz. He called on her several times to answer questions that she hadn't even heard. She could tell by the expression etched on his face that he was concerned. The bell rang and she quickly grabbed her stuff and was almost out the door when she heard his voice asking her to stay behind. She closed her eyes before turning around and walking to his desk. He asked the last person out to close the door.
Aria watched as her friends gave her a knowing look before closing the door behind them. Aria rolled her eyes at the door. She refused to look at him. He stepped out from behind his desk and leaned against the front of it with his arms crossed over his chest. "Is everything okay, Aria?" he questioned softly.
"Why does everybody keep asking that? I'm fine." The hurt in his eyes appeared but Aria wasn't about to feel sorry for her hostility. She had every right to be mad. Then the thought from earlier crept into her mind. "He's not yours, Aria." She closed her eyes and then said, "I'm sorry. I'm fine though. Really," she added when she saw the unbelieving look in his eyes. "Can I go now? I'm going to be late for my next class." He nodded and watched her as she left.
The day seemed to go on forever. Finally, the bell to end the day rang and Aria couldn't have been happier. That is until she had to walk by Mr. Fitz talking with Ms. Sanchez. Suddenly, the jealousy had returned. She slid past them without a word. She patted herself on the back for keeping her thoughts in her head. As Aria put her stuff in her locker, she watched from the corner of her eye as Mr. Fitz smiled his boyish smile at Ms. Sanchez. Aria growled to herself, "What does she have that I don't?"
"Maybe it's the fact that she's of age." Aria shrieked and managed to drop the book she was stuffing in her locker when she heard Hanna's voice behind her. She put her hand to her chest as she closed her eyes to steady her heartbeat. She spun around to face Hanna.
"You scared the shit out of me! Don't sneak up on someone like that!" She could see Mr. Fitz and Ms. Sanchez watching her. She reached down and grabbed her book putting it in her locker before following Hanna and Spencer out of the building.
"Sorry," Hanna mumbled.
Spencer broke the tension with a question, "So, do you guys want to meet up for a coffee in an hour? I need to head home first. My parents are supposed to be getting back from New York." Aria and Hanna both nodded before going their separate ways.
Ezra POV
Ezra threw his keys on the table and slipped his jacket off his shoulders and onto the floor. He released a sigh and dropped himself onto his couch leaning back and closing his eyes. Everything had been going great until first period began and Aria wouldn't talk to him. He wasn't sure what he had done. He had managed to avoid thinking about her until the moment she waltzed into his room then, as always, she was all he thought about.
She tried to tell him she was fine when he asked her about it but he could tell she wasn't. He had done something to piss her off. It bothered him that he didn't know what exactly it was that he did. He thought back to the previous day and couldn't think of anything. He thought to before class and suddenly a loud annoying buzzer went off in his head. He harshly closed his eyes. She must have seen him with Maria that morning.
What did he care? He was free to date whomever he wanted. Aria was his student. Nothing more. "Liar," he thought to himself. He sighed in frustration. His head snapped over to his jacket when he heard a beep. Picking his jacket up off the floor, he reached in the pocket to pull out his cell phone. He looked at the caller ID. Maria. He smiled and flipped it open. It was text message.
Ezra, there's a faculty dinner on Saturday. Date?
-Maria
He quickly typed in his affirmation.
Aria POV
"I just don't see why you're so fascinated with him. I mean he's hot, yeah, but you don't even know him." Hanna was sitting across from Aria in the local coffee shop. Spencer had texted earlier to inform them that she wouldn't be able to make it. Apparently, her parents wanted to have a nice family dinner.
Aria rolled her eyes, "Can we talk about something else, please?" She was definitely not in the mood to discuss her crush on her teacher at the moment. Hanna stayed quiet, unsure of what to say. "So, how exactly did this transformation happen?" Aria asked still shocked by the changes in Hanna. She smiled and explained the whole situation.
Aria tried her best to focus on what her friend was saying but found it very difficult. She mentally slapped herself. Why was he always on her mind? She didn't understand the Ms. Sanchez situation either. When she was tying his tie for him, she knew he was using all his self-control to keep himself in check. He felt the same way she did. Or so she thought. She shook herself of the thought only to find Hanna staring at her.
Furrowing her brows together, she sipped her coffee. "Okay, I don't care what you say, we're talking about it." Aria went to protest but Hanna held up her hand to stop her. "You clearly really like the guy. Why?"
Aria opened her mouth to answer only to find she didn't really have one. She didn't know why she felt this way.
Hanna saw that it was taking a while and took it upon herself to answer for her, "You don't know. You know, it's possible this is just a physical attraction. Do you even know the guys first name?" Aria looked down. She didn't. Hanna's phone beeped and she said she had to go home. It annoyed Aria greatly when she looked down at her with pity filled eyes before leaving.
Was it possible that she was only physically attracted to the guy? It felt much deeper than that. Like even though she didn't truly know him, she knew him. To most people that probably wouldn't make sense but to her it did. She tried to shake the thoughts away but failed miserably.
She needed to get him out of her head. She needed someone else to take her mind off of him. She thought about her different possibilities. She knew of some guys that liked her but they weren't her type. She sighed frustrated. She got up with her coffee and headed for the door. She needed to take a long nap.
Ezra POV
Saturday came quickly for Ezra. Well, for the most part anyway. The only part of the day when time seemed to want to pass at the pace of a snail was when Aria was around him. Other than that hour and half she was in his class, the past two days flew by. He stood in front of his closet sifting through his wardrobe looking for something to wear. He felt like a girl trying to pick out an outfit. Clothes surround him on the floor from where he tried them on but chose not to wear them. Finally, he settled on your basic black suit with a white dress undershirt and black tie.
After picking up Maria, they headed to the faculty dinner. "So, you know Aria Montgomery?" she asked. Ezra froze and hesitated before saying that he did. He explained that she was in his class. She nodded and said, "Her mother is going to be at this faculty dinner. Ella Montgomery. She's going to be working at Rosewood starting not this coming Monday but the next one." Sitting at a stop light, Ezra closed his eyes.
"Great," he thought to himself, "I think I might like this woman's daughter, my student, and she's going to be my colleague." Ezra didn't say anything for the rest of the car ride.
They mingled with several of the different teachers that Ezra had gotten close to in the past week. Mr. Hamilton, the ninth grade English teacher, walked up to them with a brunette. He didn't even have to introduce her. Ella Montgomery. She and Aria looked a lot alike.
"Ezra, Maria. This is Ella Montgomery. She's going to be teaching U.S. History. Ezra, I believe her daughter is a student of yours. Aria Montgomery?" Ezra shook hands with Ella before responding that he did in fact have Aria as a student. Ella made conversation for a little while before a man came up behind her.
"Oh, this is my husband, Byron. Byron, this is Ezra Fitz." The two men shook hands firmly. Maria had walked off to chat with one of the other secretaries, leaving him to talk with the Montgomery's alone.
"Fitz? As in Aria's English teacher, Mr. Fitz?" Ezra was surprised the man knew him. "Aria talks very highly about you. She tells us that you traveled to Iceland and you're a writer."
"Ah, yeah, well, I'm not a very good writer. And yes, I spent a semester over there. It was very beautiful. The northern lights I saw there were just…wow." Ezra had been fascinated by the northern lights while he was over there. Every night he would go out just in hopes of seeing them.
"Yeah, we couldn't get Aria away from them. She would spend hours out there looking at the northern lights and writing. She didn't want to come back but the rest of us were getting a little homesick."
"Well, who can really blame her, Byron? After what happened with Alison I doubt she really wanted to be here." Ezra's ear perked up at this.
"Alison?" he questioned.
"Alison DiLaurentis?" Ella stated hoping to jog his memory. When he shook his head, saying he had never heard of her, Ella looked surprised. "Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, Aria, and Alison were best friends. They were inseparable. One night they were having a sleepover. The four girls wake up to find Alison missing. She still remains missing as we speak."
Suddenly it dawned on Ezra what Aria was referring to when she said her family had moved to Iceland after something had happened. Her friend had gone missing.
"Well, did the police have any leads?" he questioned, curious.
Byron shook his head, "None. I mean they talked to the neighbors and the girls but that was just procedure." Ezra nodded his head in understanding.
Feeling a hand on his back, he turned around and faced Maria. "Hey, sorry to interrupt but I'm not feeling well. Do you think you could take me home now?"
Ezra, concerned, said, "Yeah, sure. You okay?" she nodded. He turned back to Ella and Byron but before he could say anything, they ushered for him to go and walked over to another group of teachers.
Aria POV
Aria was sitting at her desk, doing some writing as she waited for her parents to come home. She looked up when she heard the front door open and close softly. She stood up and bounded down the stairs. She met them in the kitchen.
"Hey! How was the dinner?" she questioned as she poured herself a glass of water.
"Fine. Oh, hey, we met Mr. Fitz." Her father looked over at her when he heard the glass drop into the sink. She quickly grabbed it and checked for cracks before turning to her father.
"You did?" Aria's eyes widened. "What did you guys talk about?"
"Not much. Iceland and Alison mostly." Aria's smiled faltered slightly when her parents mentioned Alison. "You know, he didn't even know about her disappearance. I figured everyone in this town knew about that." Aria nodded.
"Well, I'm glad you guys had fun. I'm tired so I think I'll just head to bed. Night!" She yelled as she walked away. She faintly heard her parents respond. She fell onto her bed and beat her head into the pillow. They had told him about Alison. Now, he's going to feel sorry for and think of her the same way everyone else at Rosewood did. As the girl who's friend was murdered. Soon, sleep overtook Aria.