If I only knew back then that the boy I saw with Alison was Ezra Fitz, I would’ve stayed against that wall with one wary eye sticking out, watching her every move. Instead, I just had him in front of me.
“E-Fitz?” I pretended to act surprise but it came out blander then I wanted it to be. I covered up my tracks with a slight widening of the eyes and a shift in my shoulders. There. Perfect.
It felt false. I was counting on Ezra not remembering me but now that it did, I would have to change my outlook on the way I presented myself. Otherwise, he would know that I was acting weird.
“Aren’t you too old to be a teacher here?” I joked.
Ezra pushed back the brown hair on his forehead with one quick finger stroke and laughed, “Ha-ha Alice. Still have your charm I see.”
“I wouldn’t leave that behind,” I said, chucking a smile. “It’s my super power.”
“Ah, I see,” he smiled a full white set of teeth. No wonder Aria Montgomery couldn’t keep her hands of him. But the only guy that was available for me was a board shorts and somehow I still felt like I was competing against Alison to reach him. “A new student at Rosewood high? What went wrong at Ravenswood? I couldn’t imagine you leaving that place. You and Ravenswood were inseparable.”
No. Alison and I were inseparable.
“I think it was the abundance of crows shitting around the whole place and the fact that Alison is finally dead and gone,” I said like I just won a prize for swearing at a teacher. The shock horror on his face was not hidden.
Before he could say anything I barrelled on.
“Well I can honestly say I’m surprised that you are an English Teacher. I’m not surprised to see you here but I thought it would be down the left hall, across the corridor and shoved in between the lockers of the school jocks and the swimming team,” I said, raising my eyebrows playfully.
Now this was more me.
Ez rose his eyebrows but was clearly amused, “The Janitor’s closest? Yup, you haven’t changed.”
“Of course not. Why change things that are fine the way they are?” I said evenly, so I didn’t attract attention from the school kids around me. Don’t wont another student and teacher relationship going around.
“You changed schools. So Ravenswood wasn’t fine?”
That was blunt. I wasn’t prepared to waver so I didn’t.
“Honestly,” I said, kicking the books I had dropped on the floor between my feet. I got a few looks but it was nothing out of the ordinary. After all, this was high school. Books were soccer balls. “I was getting bullied.”
Well more like doing the bullying.
“I know, I know,” I raised my hands up defensively, “I haven’t always been the perfect pristine girl your mum wanted me to be, but the money she gave my fa-mily was never going to go to my schooling. Well- techinically it did go to school but went into the hands of others. So- I thought it would be good to move here- you know? Get a fresh start? Breathe,” I said, letting out a huge sigh like it had taken effort for me to spill that out.
The money that Momma Fitz had given the Fiend family didn’t go to them because 1. There was no Fiend family when that money way given, just me pretending that my parents were alive and 2. I had better plans with such money.
“That’s horrible, Alice. How is it going finding friends?” he said like he genuinely felt sorry for me. But see, I wasn’t a big fan of E-Fitz. He had a habit of losing money that was his. I could guess where it went to though. Alison.
“I made friends with a cat, but if you are talking about humans, then no such luck there,” I laughed at myself and then turned to more of a sombre tone. “But I get it, Rosewood is already set in stone. It would be hard getting things to come out of their natural accordance here. This town is embedded in history.”
Ezra drew himself a bitter smile and nodded as if he understood, “Well best of luck to you, Alison.”
I raised an eyebrow, “It’s Alice.”
He nodded and then apologised for saying that but all I cared about is the part he leaved.
I picked up my books and my phone and swore as I saw a large crack across the screen. It worked fine.
So I texted.
Oh my, Ezra Fitz is just as handsome as he was before. Your exboyfriend sure showed you Cece - A