Aria's POV
"Schneider, wait." I begged, tugging on his sleeve to stop him from opening the door of the Alvarez apartment
"What now?" Schneider asked, raising his eyebrows at me
"I don't understand why I have to come. Alex and I aren't speaking right now, and I think it would be uncomfortable for everyone." I said, tugging on the strings of my purple sweatshirt
Alex and I broke up about two months ago, and haven't spoken for weeks. We had a huge argument, which resulted in us picking each other apart. Not speaking to him killed me, but neither of us was completely ready to be friends again, yet.
"Aria, listen. Everyone else agrees that you and Alex have been fighting way too long. You two have never had an argument that lasted this long. We want you guys to at least be friends again. Please." Schneider begged
"By we, you mean you and Lydia. I'm also assuming that you two were the one's who planned to drag me here." I decided, crossing my arms over my chest
"What? Never." Schneider laughed, as his voice rose an octave
"Uh-Huh. Sure, let's just get this over with. You're going in first." I said, pointing my finger at the door
Schneider gave me a thankful smile, before balancing the popcorn bowl in one hand and using his other to open the door, "Hey, fam!"
I greeted everyone in the room and gave Alex a small awkward smile, before focusing my attention back on Schneider.
"Hey, Dr. B. Hey, New guy." Schneider said, continuing to greet everyone before noticing the strange man in the middle of the Alvarez apartment
"Wait. New Guy? It's movie night. Am I being replaced? By an older model?" He ranted, making me laugh
"No, I'm- I'm from the census." The mystery man greeted
"Oh. Great. So important for our Latinx community to be counted." Schneider cheered as if he was apart of it himself
"Oh, okay. So you're Latino." The guy assumed
I loudly laughed before shaking my head, "No, no. He's about as white as you can get."
"Schneider. Cis, White, male ally. Privileged, but super-woke." Schneider said, holding up a fist
Alex and Elena both groaned at Schneider's comments, and fell back onto the couch
"Does he live here?" The guy asked
"No!" All the Alvarez's shouted
"Pretty much." Schneider said, shaking his head
"That I'm going to have to agree with Schneider on." I spoke, remembering the many times we'd busted in with no invitation
"I got to go. So, I'll see you all again in ten years." The guy said, walking to the door with Penelope and Lydia
I moved from my standing position, to sit besides Elena and Syd on the couch.
"I feel like you haven't been here in forever. I miss you." Elena said, tightly hugging me to her chest
"I know, I know. I just didn't think it'd be fair for me to impose on Alex's life everyday when we aren't in the best place." I sighed, returning the hug from my sweet friend
"Who cares? I'm your friend too, and Abuelita really misses you and Alex. I think she misses dancing with you more, though." Elena laughed
"Well, tell Lydia she's always invited to accompany me to ballet class. I'm sure everyone would love her." I said, imagining Lydia stealing the spot light
"Speaking of ballet, did you ever find out your part for the recital." Syd asked, joining in on the conversation
"After being out for a couple of months last year, they don't think I'm ready enough to do a solo so they paired me with our newest dancer to do a duet." I said
I had quit ballet for a couples of months last year, because I felt like I didn't love it as much anymore. I realized my mistake when I continued to get bored from sitting around all day
"New dancer? Who might this mystery person be?" Elena smirked
"His name is Eric Myers and he's so sweet. He moved from New York a couple of months ago, and instantly joined our studio. He's also super talented. He does ballet and hip hop, and even danced back up for Beyoncé, once." I said, recounting the stories Eric had told me
"Beyoncé! Are you freaking kidding me? If I weren't a hundred percent gay, I'd marry him just for that." Syd exclaimed, making me and Elena laugh
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Elena drug me to the kitchen with her and Syd to help them clean dishes, after movie night.
"I got to say, I'm surprised you two are gonna break up the day you leave for college." Alex said, walking into the kitchen
He hesitated when he saw me, but quickly shook it off and replaced it with his normal personality.
"You guys are planning a break up? I thought those just happen?" I asked, avoiding eye contact with Alex after bringing up break ups.
"Well, we're mature." Elena smirked, drying off the plate she was holding
"Supe-dy dupe-dy mature." Syd agreed, making me and Alex laugh
"Actually, can we talk about how this is going to work?" Elena said, quickly beginning to freak out
"Same page- I have no idea." Syd agreed
"You guys didn't talk about this?" I asked, confused as to why they even made it a plan
"Isn't talking all you do?" Alex joked about the two girls
"That is a lesbian stereotype... which would have been really useful in the case." Elena said, attempting to defend herself
"Why don't you do a trial run? Like, you go to the bathroom, and, Syd, you try not to file a missing-person ms report." Alex said, taking another jab at the couple
"Ha Ha. We can be apart, Alex." Elena insisted
"And they make you wait 24 hours." Syd, sassily, replied to Alex's comment
"Do you think you can even spend a day apart?" Alex asked
"We can spend a day apart." Elena insisted
"How about two days?" Syd challenged
"Make it a week." Elena said, continuing to elongate the challenge
"Two days it is!" Syd cheered
"Hold on. If we have to spend two days apart, then you two have to spend a day together." Elena smirked, pointing between me and Alex
"What?" We both asked, hesitant to be left alone together
"Uh-Huh. I thought you two wouldn't back down to a challenge." Syd said, joining in on Elena's teasing
"Fine." I agreed, looking to Alex for approval
"Okay. Challenge on." Elena cheered
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The next afternoon, Alex and I sat on his couch with a large amount of distance in between us. We were both on our phones to distract us from the awkward tension around us.
"So... how are you?" Alex asked, finally breaking the silence
I put my phone in my pocket before making eye-contact with him, "I'm good. How about you?"
"I'm okay." He said, clearing his throat
"This is stupid." I sighed
"Yeah, I know. There's no way Elena and Syd are gonna last twenty four hours." Alex said
"No, Alex. I meant that us giving each other the silent treatment is stupid. I know our fight got out of hand, and I still thinking breaking up was the better decision. But, I don't want us to hate each other forever." I sighed, leaning against the couch cushion
"I don't hate you, Aria. I said stuff I didn't mean, and I hope you didn't mean some of the stuff you said. I know it'll take time to get back to where we were, but I want to try and be friends again. I miss having a best friend." He confessed, turning to completely face me
"Friends sounds nice. Even if it takes a long time, at least we can say we're trying. You can even still come to me for girl advice." I laughed
"I missed you." He smiled
"I missed you, too." I said, leaning in to give him a quick hug
I checked the time on my watch, and quickly started collecting all my stuff.
"Shoot, I'm gonna be late for practice. I'm sorry I have to ditch, but I'm really glad we're trying." I said, giving him a final hug
"Me too." He said, smiling as I walked towards their apartment door.
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Season four y'all. I know some of y'all may be conflicted with how I started this season, but I'm really excited to introduce Eric Myers. I think all of you are gonna love him. I know Alex and Aria not dating or being best friends is odd, but I want them to slowly re build their friendship. Please tell me what you guys think so far!!