Chapter 5

Ezra POV

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday went by fairly quickly. Ezra noticed the change in Aria. She didn't seem to be as flirty with him ever since Monday when he had seen her with Clark. He didn't feel her eyes on him when he paced back and forth at the front of the classroom like he used to. She was too enthralled with Clark. Ezra hated to admit it but he was missing that. He knew it was wrong, especially since he's dating Maria, but he couldn't help it.

His first period class filed in as the bell rang on Friday morning. Ezra was actually anxious to hear everyone's free writes. He was especially looking forward to hearing Aria's. Not only her story but her voice.

After the morning announcements, Ezra turned to the class. "Okay, so today is free write day!" he grinned excitedly. Groans were heard throughout the room. His eyes landed on Aria. She was smiling excitedly. He figured she would be. Her eyes connected with his and her smile faltered. He gave her genuine smile which she returned before looking away. That brought his hopes back up. Hopes? He should not be hoping his student will go back to flirting with him.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he addressed the class once more, "Anyone want to go first?" Before Aria could stick her hand up, Spencer's shot up. Ezra nodded to her before walking to the back of the classroom. He gave Aria an apologetic smile as he passed and leaned down next to her ear. "You can go next," he whispered huskily. She swallowed and nodded numbly. He continued to the desk behind her and sat down to face the front where Spencer now stood with her paper.

When Spencer finished, everyone who was awake clapped. Ezra clapped his hands loudly to get everyone up. He stood and put his hand on Aria's shoulder. "Aria, you're next." She looked up at him with delightful eyes. She smiled at him as she stood. He slowly removed his hand from her shoulder as she walked to the front of the class. He caught himself looking at her butt as it shook from side to side and cleared his throat before sitting back down.

Suddenly, she looked nervous. She kept glancing at him before averting her eyes to the rest of the classroom. Looking down at the paper in her hands, she began,

Falling For You

Glances are all we share in a crowded room.

Your eyes say so much.

I feel myself falling.

Falling into the abyss of your eyes.

My heart is torn between what is right and what is wrong.

You're with her.

I'm with him.

But yet,

I'm falling for you.

Ezra stared at her as she spoke. In between lines, she would meet his eyes during that brief pause before looking down and continuing. When she was done everyone clapped. Ezra couldn't move. Blushing, Aria sauntered back to her desk, her eyes never leaving Ezra.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ezra saw Clark clench his jaw. Ezra faintly heard someone offer to go next as she took her seat. He nodded, looking at the back of Aria's head. He couldn't focus on the readers. All he could think about was Aria's poem.

Was she talking about him? Is that really how she felt? He was surprised at how much it mirrored his own feelings. Now, he was even more confused as to what to do. He liked Maria. She was beautiful, caring, intelligent, and everything he was looking for in a woman. So, why was he so drawn to Aria?

He wasn't able to finish his thoughts before the bell rang. Clearing his throat, he stood up and asked, "Was there anyone who was not able to read theirs?" A few kids raised their hands and he told them they'd read theirs on Monday morning. "Aria? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Aria nodded and watched as Clark stalked out of the classroom. Looking down, she took a deep breath as she waited for everyone to leave before trudging up to his desk.

"What's up?" she questioned innocently. Ezra looked her in the eyes to gauge whether or not he should say something. She refused to look him in the eye.

Sighing, Ezra softly asked, "You want to talk about your poem?" Snapping her head up, Aria's eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. She didn't say anything. Just looked at him. "What-Who was it about?" he asked, hoping to get her to open up to him.

Aria looked down. Ezra didn't think she was going to respond and was greatly surprised when she looked up at him with determination her eyes. "Who do you think?" One eyebrow raised, she tilted her head to the side.

Ezra raised both his eyebrows at her boldness. Pursing his lips, he sighed closing his eyes. "Aria…"

"Look, let's just forget it, okay?" Aria bit her lip.

"I don't think I can," he said honestly.

"Why?" she whined. "It was a stupid poem. I shouldn't have even read it out loud. I was stupid."

Ezra quickly looked up at her and scrunched his eyebrows together in disbelief. "You are not stupid. It was brave to put yourself out there."

"A lot good that did me," she whispered.

Ezra looked down, not sure what to say. The bell rang. Groaning, Aria headed for the door. Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, she said without turning, "You. It was about you." With that, she left.

Aria POV

Aria knew he was aware it was about him. It just felt really good to say it out loud. She quickly slipped into the bathroom and leaned against the door to a stall. She was supposed to be in second period but after the class she just endured she did not feel like going to History class.

She told him. She actually told him. Even after talking to him, she was still unsure of whether or not it was good that she had told him. Would he look at her differently? She had completely forgotten about Clark while she was writing that poem. In fact, she completely forgot about him until after she read it and saw the hurt etched on his face.

After the bell to end second period sounded, Aria walked to her car. She wasn't going to be able to concentrate on any of her classes now. Getting in her car, she took off. She drove home, hoping neither one of her parents were home and was thankful when they weren't. She walked through the front door, dropped her stuff onto the couch, skipped over to the stereo and hooked her IPod up to it. Her favorite song, Only You by Josh Kelley softly played until she turned the volume up so it could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

Aria was in the kitchen fixing herself something to eat when the doorbell rang. Curious as to who would be at her house at this time of day, she peeked behind the curtain beside the door. She pulled away eyes wide when she saw Mr. Fitz standing at her door. Closing her eyes, she reached for the doorknob and opened the door. Mr. Fitz looked up at her and squinted as the music filled his ears.

"What are you doing here?" she yelled. He pointed to his ears and shook his head. Aria sighed and ran over to the stereo, turning it down. She turned to walk back to the door and halted when she saw Mr. Fitz was standing in her living room not far behind her. "What are you doing here?" she reiterated.

"I'm not really sure." He strode over to a few pictures that were hanging on the wall and smiled. She smiled at the memories each picture held. "Is this you?" He was pointing at a picture of when she was about ten. The picture showed her in a cheerleading uniform with pompoms in each of her hands and she was jumping up with her knees hooked under her. She quickly walked over to him and snatched the picture off the wall. "What? It was cute!" Aria shook her head and blushed.

"That was a long time ago. I hate cheerleading."

"Didn't look like it to me," he mocked.

Squinting at him, she rephrased, "I hate cheerleading, now. I liked it then. I don't know why."

He was quiet for a moment. She looked up from her shoes that she had been staring at only to see him continuing his scan of the wall. He grunted as he picked up a picture of Aria and her four friends before Alison went missing off the top of the TV stand.

"Is this Alison?" he asked softly. Aria nodded silently. "You're parents told me what happened. How are you doing with being back here?"

Aria stared at him. "Fine." Mr. Fitz raised an eyebrow not believing her. Aria sighed. "It was a long time ago," she whispered, staring at the picture still in his hand. He set the picture back down and turned to her.

"It was a year ago." He stated. Suddenly, she realized how close they were. He was towering over her. The smell of his aftershave invaded her nostrils. "What was she like?" he asked completely oblivious to how close they were.

Aria chose her words carefully. "Manipulative," she settled on. Mr. Fitz looked at her completely confused. Aria smirked slightly. "Sometimes…Sometimes it was hard being friends with Ali," Aria paused. "If she knew one of your secrets, she made sure to hang it over your head." Aria was lost in the memory of the day she and Alison had come across her father and a woman at Hollis College, the school her dad taught at. Aria thought nothing of it until she saw them kiss. Until the day she went missing, Alison held that over her head.

"What did she hang over your head?" he questioned bringing her out of her thoughts. Aria went to answer when she heard a ding from the kitchen. She smiled apologetically before walking into the kitchen with him hot on her heels.

"Is this why you're here? To ask about Alison?" she asked him as she pulled her lunch out of the oven. She looked at him.

"Uh, no. I thought we should talk about your poem and your…feelings." She could tell he was nervous. So was she, suddenly. Aria nodded slowly. She continued to look at him.

"Only my feelings?" She hoped he would tell her how he felt.

"Aria…I can't…" he didn't finish. His cell phone rang interrupting him. Sighing, he pulled it out of his pocket. Aria watched him as he looked at the caller ID. He flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Maria." He stated.

Ezra POV

"Hey, the principle said you went home early. Everything okay?" he heard Maria say on the other end of his phone. Aria's face visibly dropped when she heard who he was talking to. Leaving him in the kitchen to finish the conversation privately, she headed back into the living room.

His eyes followed her as he answered Maria, "Yeah, I just wasn't feeling well. I'll be fine though. In fact, I'm already feeling better." He prayed to God Maria wouldn't head over to his apartment on her lunch break and find out he was lying.

"Oh okay. Well, I'll let you go. Hope you feel better. Love you." Ezra heard her end the call but was too shocked to pull the phone from his ear. She loved him? What? Slowly, he pulled the phone from his ear. Making his way into the living room, he slipped the phone back into his pocket. He plopped down on the couch beside Aria and kept his eyes forward still in shock.

"You okay?" she asked him taking a bite of her Philly cheese steak. He nodded his head. He saw her eyebrows rise from the corner of his eye and his nod slowly turned into a shake of his head.

"Maria just said she loved me," he stated emotionless. Aria visibly tensed. She nodded her head curtly.

"Oh." He looked over at her. She had lain her sandwich down on the table beside the couch. Her feet were tucked under her. Ezra just stared until she turned her head and looked at him. Suddenly, he was filled with confidence. Quickly, without hesitation, he moved his head toward her. Her eyes widened as his lips softly touched hers for a moment.

Ezra didn't pull away from her but he stopped kissing her and just stared into her eyes. She was thinking. He could tell from the clouded look in her eyes. Suddenly, her lips were on his again. Tenderly, she kissed him a few times.

Ezra's brain suddenly clicked back on and he instantly pulled away, mouth agape, in shock of his actions. He worked his mouth as Aria closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he got up and left.

Aria POV

Aria opened her tear filled eyes to an empty room. The tears silently fell from her eyes as she looked up. Sniffing, she wiped the tears away but only more fell. She untucked her knees from under her and pulled them to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and sitting her head down on her knees. She faintly heard Fearless by Colbie Caillat playing from the stereo as she let the tears fall.

She didn't realize how long she stayed like that until she heard the front door open and close. "Aria?" she heard her mother question. When Aria looked up, her mother blew out a breath and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later she came out with a tub of Oreo ice cream and two spoons. Aria smiled softly as her mother sat next to her and handed her a spoon. "You want to talk about it?" Aria shook her head silently. Ella didn't say another word.

So, I would just like to take the time to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews(= When I was writing this, I didn't even realize that Maria was just Aria with an M until Iceyhearted mentioned it in a review. Haha. Also, the songs Only You by Josh Kelley and Fearless by Colbie Caillat are beautiful songs. They fit well with the story but you don't have to know them. Well, once again, thank you for the reviews and I'll be sure to post chapter 6 as quickly as possible(=