As Aria walked through the airport with tears in her eyes she heard a big cheer from behind her. When she looked back she saw a group of soldiers getting off their plane and greeting their families. It was great to see families being reunited, but her heart ached for Ezra to be standing here with her. As she turned around to walk off she saw a familiar face. She turned toward the soldiers and there stood Noel Kahn. He was hugging his brothers and parents. Aria hadn't seen Noel since high school, and she was now a Junior in college. It had slipped her mind that he had gone into the Army. Then, she decided she needed to see an old friend right about now, so she walked over to Noel.
As she walked toward him, his face lit up with that beautiful Noel Kahn smile. He walked over and gave her a hug and asked,"What are you here for?" Aria simply said that she had to say goodbye to someone and noticed him when she went to walk away. They talked for a few more minutes, but the Kahn family started getting hungry so they said their goodbyes. As Noel walked away he called over his shoulder, "Maybe we can hang out sometime, you know if you're not busy." He gave a shy smile. Aria replied,"Yeah, if I'm not busy."
3 days later
Aria had been in her room for three days, and could not get Ezra off her mind. As she was sitting in her apartment all by herself she heard a knock at the door. When she answered there stood Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. They rushed in the door and started cleaning up around the apartment. After an hour, they finally settled down to talk to her. Ezra had called her last night and said that he loved it in New Orleans and that she would too. She told him that he had already discussed that she couldn't leave her brother or her parents or her friends. They hung up and they still said I love you. Her friends told her that she didn't need to talk with him anymore that it just made her feel worse. It was his choice to leave and he left a great girl behind. Aria didn't feel so sad anymore, just a little hurt. She told herself that it would get better with the help of her friends. Then, her phoned began to ring. The caller id said Noel Kahn.
Her friends looked at her with weird faces. They told her to let it go to voicemail and start explaining. Aria sat the phone down and told them the airport story, and they encouraged her to hang out with him and get her mind off Ezra. Aria picked up the phone and called him back. She just told him that she didn't get to her phone in time to answer it and he bought it. Then, Noel said,"I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight."
Aria answered,"No my schedule is clear for tonight."
He laughed," Great. Maybe we could get some pizza and catch up on these last few years."
Aria replied,"That sounds great. Eight o'clock at the Pizza Place."
They hung up and Aria smiled from ear to ear and so did her friends.