Unexpected turn //Jaria+Ezria

Two

ARIA
I was not at all excited for today, except the fact that Jason was going to meet up with me today for coffee. School was boring, except for the private conversation Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and I shared at lunch at my house.

I couldn't stand to be around Ezra after what he told me, so the girls and ditched school during lunch, making sure we skipped Ezra's English class but before we left, Emily went into Ezra's classroom, between classes.

EMILY
I walked into Mr Fitz's classroom, holding my books. He looked up at me.

"Okay, I don't know how much you know but as close as you are to Aria, I can assume that you know everything. I really want to talk to about this, Emily, but I would really prefer if it were outside of a classroom." Mr Fitz spoke, trying to reason with me.

"I don't think that's going to happen. I've already talked to you outside of the classroom. I let you help me with my college essays. You tutored me. You helped me when I lost my girlfriend. Why did you do all of that? What did you get out of it?" I asked, trying to get a suitable answer out of him...but nothing. He didn't say a word.

"There's an assignment due today, But I won't be staying for the class, neither will Aria, Hanna or Spencer. Will you make sure a real teacher gets this?" I asked, disgusted. I placed my assignment down on the desk in front of Mr Fitz before leaving the classroom. I caught up with my friends before we made our way to Aria's place.
———
ARIA
"Did you actually read any of this book?" Spencer asked me, while I sat on the opposite end of the couch, trying not to cry as I looked at the floor.

"Bits and pieces. Ezra knew who I was before we met. He knew who all of us were. And he knew Alison too and besides, Ezra didn't try to kill Alison. His whole book is trying to piece together who did it." I spoke, my eyes filling up with tears.

"How is he gonna do that when the police can't even figure it out?" Spencer asked, trying not to sound sarcastic.

"I don't know. He has a theory though. He thinks that one of us did it." I said, placing my attention to my friends.

"You're kidding, right? Well, now we know it's a work of fiction. Which one of us is he trying to pin it on?" Spencer asked, having some idea of who he was trying to pin it on.

"I didn't get that far" I said, lowering my voice.

"Just because he wrote a book doesn't mean he's not 'A'. You know, he could be using it as a way to place the blame on one of us and keep suspicion off of him." Hanna spoke, trying to stop Spencer from saying something she would later regret.

"No, he doesn't need to do that. He knows that Ali is alive. But he didn't know that when he started writing the book. Guys, listen, Ezra's not 'A'. He's a writer who found a great opportunity to make a name for himself and he used me. He used us." I said, defusing the situation.

"So wait, what are we saying, that all of that stuff in that room in Ravenswood, that was just research, for his book?" Emily asked.

"He's been working on it for years." Spencer said, still creeped out.

"Well, we've seen the surveillance equipment, so we know he's been watching us." Hann said.

"He's probably just hoping that we'd lead him to Alison, so he could finally get his big ending." I said, full of sarcasm that at this point, I didn't really care.

"If he's been watching us, then he has to know about 'A'. I mean, how could he sit back all this time and not do anything to help you?" Emily asked, confused.

"It's simple. He never really loved me." I said, letting a tear slip down my cheek.

The girls spent the rest of the school day, comforting me at my place, while we watched a movie, trying to get my mind off the confrontation that I had shared with Ezra the night before.
———
Eventually, everyone left, leaving me to cry in my living room. Ezra was going to pay for what he did. I wouldn't let -A take the revenge from me. I got up, leaving my house, having a little over 30 minutes before I had to meet Jason for coffee.

I drove to the police station. Getting out of my car, I walked in and asked to file a police report. The nice lady passed me a form and let me sit down so I could fill it out. I decided to leave the precinct, not wanting prying eyes to know what I was doing.

Once I got home, I walked up to my room, sitting at my desk. Placing the file on my desk, I began to write. I got to the end, where I just had to sign my name before I would head back and hand it in. I had written Ezra's name and what he had done to me. I put it away, wanting to continue it when I wanted to. I locked the drawer at my desk that the file was currently held in, before I headed out and drove to The Brew, seeing Jason.

"Hey Aria!" He said, giving me a hug.

"Hey Jason" I said, returning the hug. I genuinely felt happy being around him.

For the next hour, we talked about school, but the conversation took a weird turn.

"Aria...if you don't mind me asking...but last night, when you bumped into me, I noticed that you had been crying. You had been running away from something..." Jason began. He was clearly a very clever observer.

"I was running away from Ez-Mr Fitz." I said, looking down.

"Wait...as in our AP English teacher, Mr Fitz?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. We...were...dating." That's all I said. Jason knew there was more, but he didn't push me any further. I didn't feel ready to tell anyone apart from my friends about what happened with Ezra. For now...I would just keep it a secret.