Pretty Little Liars: The Beginning {Episodes 1-10} (REVISED)

21. Aria 📚

Aria made her way quickly down the hallway, trying to avoid the looks from all the kids ogling her like they had been since the funeral. It was hard enough to walk after that awful breakfast encounter that morning; she didn't need the entire student body to watch her as she walked around minding her own business on top of everything else. Besides, she didn't want to talk to any of them anyway. She was looking for Ezra, and she wouldn't stop until she found him.

She had to find a way to escape the never-ending thoughts of Ezra. Ever since the funeral, she had been thinking of their short-lived relationship, and she had to make it stop or else she would keep trying to pursue something that would never happen. Ezra had made it clear that they couldn't be together, no matter what they tried.

She finally saw him approaching, his eyes glued to a flier held up by his favourite leather binder. She would give anything to not have to have this conversation with him, but she had no choice. "Can I talk to you?" she asked as he approached.

He pulled his eyes away from the flier, and his face lit up in that goofy smile Aria remembered so clearly from that day at Hollis. "Yeah, of course," Ezra said brightly.

Aria took a deep breath and braced herself. "I'd like to transfer out of your class," she said.

She had rehearsed this moment everyday for over a week. There was a moment where Aria had caught herself monologuing aloud to herself in her bedroom, practicing exactly what she was going to say when she finally saw Ezra face to face. She could see the precise moment that he processed what she said.

"Can you come inside for a minute, please?" Ezra said softly, glancing around the hallway to make sure no one could overhear them.

Aria sighed. She was having a hard enough time convincing herself to go through with the request, but this conversation could sway her vote either way. She knew that he could bat his eyes and make her heart race, and she would throw all caution to the wind. It was just that easy. Against her intuition, Aria led the way into the empty classroom.

The silence in the room was deafening as she watched Ezra pace the front of the classroom, debating what to say. Aria didn't know how much more she could take. The thought of just leaving the transfer request form on his desk and leaving before he finally spoke.

"I understand where you're coming from," Ezra said. He took a step closer to Aria. "I just wish that you could stay in the class."

"This isn't an easy decision, but I feel like it's the right thing to do," Aria said.

Ezra looked her in the eyes and gave her the smallest of smiles. Aria knew that look. It was a look of sadness and longing masked behind happiness. "I can keep my feelings in check," he said.

"I can't," Aria said softly. "And even if I could, I don't want to. It's too hard to sit in this classroom everyday and call you Mr Fitz, okay? I can't pretend like I don't know you." She pulled a piece of paper with the words 'Transfer Request' written in big letters across the top. Ezra looked at it as if it was poisonous. "So, will you sign it?"

Ezra read it over, the light behind his eyes dying with every word he read. Every portion of the request had been filled out in full, except for his signature. He looked back up at Aria, a sad smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Aria hesitated. She didn't want to do this, of course not. But in order to keep herself from making what could very well be the biggest mistake of her life, it had to be done. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

He stared down at the paper for a moment and signed the request form. As he handed it back to Aria, the memory of their first meeting played through her head, almost as if it was flowing into her mind through Ezra's fingertips, tracing lightly against the back of her hand.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Aria walked around him, forcing herself to stare straight ahead as she went. She couldn't look back at him, sitting sad and sullen on his desk, or else she'd throw all caution to the wind and run back into his arms. Instead, she pushed into the crowd of students that had formed in the hallway, hanging out at their lockers. She had to act normal again.