History Always Repeats Itself

Chapter 1

Spencer and I have been talking a lot lately, more than I have with Emily and Hanna… I guess Spencer and I just have more of a connection in that way. She still asks about how I'm doing with Ezra, and I always tell her that I'm fine. Everything is fine, I'm ok, and I'm completely over what happened two years ago. Somehow maybe I figured the girl going to UPenn was smart enough to figure out that nothing I said was true, but maybe I'm just a really good liar, something all four of us have had far too much practice in. The truth is, I really don't know how I'm dealing with the whole Ezra situation, a relationship that seemed so true and honest was just one big lie. I haven't even spoken to Hanna since the four of us last got together; I guess I'm still not over what she said to me when I first found out about Ezra. I suppose it wasn't too terrible, but it definitely caught me off guard. When your best friend calls you an attention-seeking slut who sleeps around with her teachers and her enemies… well that can put some strain on a friendship, even one as good as ours.

It was a few days after graduation when I went over to Ezra's to tell him that I had finally been accepted to UCLA, the college in his favorite city. Originally I had been wait listed and I was planning on attending Hollis to be near him, but apparently a few people rejected and I was high enough on the list. I knocked on the door but I was too excited to wait, and when I didn't hear a reply I just opened it myself. Despite how excited I was, I never did get the chance to tell him. That day, as it turns out, would be stuck in my brain forever; the day I saw the black hoodie, the same black hoodie that had been terrorizing me and the people who I love for years. At first I was trying to convince myself that it wasn't what it looked like, there are a lot of people who own black jackets right? It was the black gloves he had wrapped around his hands that finally told me the truth. He just sort of stood there, staring at me from across his apartment, and I was paralyzed. It was all a blur after that, maybe the only memories I have are what I saw through the tears in my eyes, but all I knew then was that I had lost the love of my life. The one person I trusted more than anyone had been fooling me since day one. He probably never even loved me, it was just some sick game to him. He was just as cruel as Mona, no, he was worse. He stepped closer to me but I screamed at him to stop. He was trying to explain something, but all I could think about was the giant hole that had been punched through my chest. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't speak… I was completely frozen. When I could finally feel my legs I turned to the door and it was as if everything was slow motion. I slammed the door and started running down the hall and I could still hear him yelling after me. I left the next morning for California early and I never spoke to him, or saw him, again. Part of me wishes that I had let him speak, maybe then I would have gotten answers to the millions of questions I still have, but that was years ago, and I need to forget. As soon as I boarded the plane I knew that I would never be going back.

It had been awhile since the four of us had been together like this, it felt good just to spend time with them. At least I was already going back to visit my family because traveling from California to Pennsylvania for one lunch didn't sound like a lot of fun. But being together like this, it felt like old times, only this time we all felt safe. It wasn't the Rosewood Grill, but the food was decent. For old times sake Emily and Hanna got some cheese fries to split,

"So, have you signed up for your major yet, Spence?" Emily asked.

"Please, she's had her schedule picked out since she was a toddler…" Hanna said, "What about you, Aria?"

"English."

"English?" Emily said, "Isn't that a bit…"

"Useless?" I said, "Yeah, but only for someone who wants to actually do something with their life."

"Aria, you're going to eat those words once you become a best-selling author," Spencer said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You better write about us!" Emily said, "Our lives make one hell of a story…"