Chapter Two

Aria sat in the front seat of her fathers Subaru. It was her first day back at school after the summer vacation, and she was feeling kind of nervous. Since Alison disappeared, she hadn't had any other friends. Although she and Alison used to hang around with Emily, a jock, Spencer, an all-round academic buff and Hanna, someone who was sensitive about her looks (and weight, she was never slim, let's say), they drifted apart after that fateful day. They were all sleeping at Ali's house, and when they woke up, she was gone, never to be found. They were friends because of Ali - without her, they were nobodies.

"thanks for the lift, dad.", aria's brother, mike, called from the back. He shot into the school gates before Byron could even say bye.
"later, dad. See you tonight," aria murmured as she went to get out of the car.
"wait. I love you aria, you know that, right?" Byron asked.
"yeah, i love you too dad," aria replied, confused.
"and you know that I love your mother..." he continued. Oh. This again.
"do you?" aria shot back. Byron sighed, and put the key in the ignition.
"I made a mistake, I just hope one day you'll forgive me. Now go, I don't want you to be late."
Aria sighed and got out. She stood on the pavement for a moment, remembering...

It was the winter before Ali went missing; she and aria were wondering around Hollis gardens, chatting about life and guys they thought were cute - in arias case, Noel Kahn. They were just passing the fountain when Ali pointed to a car down a back alley.
"hey, isn't that your dads car?" she'd said. Aria looked at where she was pointing and froze. It was her dads car ok, and he was in there. Making out with a girl. Who wasn't Ella.

"aria!" some one called.
"Emily!" aria replied, recognising her instantly.
"when did you get back?" she asked, smiling. They started to walk into school as they talked.
"yesterday! Do you have AP english first? We can walk together?"
"yeah! I here the new english teacher is really hot!" she answered.
"cool, so, how are you?", aria asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. Are you ok?"
Aria nodded as she walked to a free desk in the English classroom. She pulled out her notes as the new teacher came in - Emily was right, he looked pretty hot from the back. He turned around, smiling, looking over his class, but when he came to aria, his face dropped.
"holy shit." he whispered. Aria snapped up her head, wondering what the commotion was, and just for a second, she linked eyes with the new teacher. Standing in front of her, was Ezra, the gorgeous man she had fallen for at the bar. Her jaw dropped, and people started to whisper.
"hey aria, did you sleep with the teacher!" someone said.

At that moment, arias phone vibrated in her pocket. One new text. She opened it, feeling sick.
"I saw you and mr Fitz in the grill. Score for aria!"... Holy shit indeed.

Aria stood up, feeling dizzy. Without saying a word, she ran out the classroom, heading for the toilets. She was halfway there when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Ezra.

She spun on her heels to face him, her head still spinning. He glared at her, worry in his eyes.
"I really need to go-" she started.
"you told me you went to Hollis." Ezra muttered.
"I didn't. I told you I was thinking about majoring English. And that's true!"
"I... Have to get back. Just, don't be long."
"I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"it's ok." he gave aria a crooked smile as he walked back into class.

Aria stood there for a minute, her feet froze into place. She looked at the text again. Who could of known? She didn't even remember anyone else in the bar. She sighed for a moment, and then trudged back to class.

"arias been getting kinky with mr Fitz?" Noel hissed, poking aria in the ribs. At this moment, Ezra coughed.
"please excuse my language. I, um, stubbed my toe on the desk." he said. What a lame excuse. Everyone knew something was up, buy except aria, Ezra and the sender of her strange note, no one knew what...