Later that Day. 7.pm
Aria's POV:
After the funeral, we have just been freaked out all day. We have stayed together and now we are sitting at the Rosewood Grill still in our black funeral dresses.
Except for a few servers and one older couple, the place is empty but we are still talking in a hushed tone.
"Why was Jenner there?" I ask.
"I guess she's back" Spencer answers.
"That cop acted like we were suspects or something" Hanna says.
"Do you think we look guilty?" Emily asks.
"Why would we? We haven't done anything wrong" I say.
"Except lie about 'The Jenna Thing'" Hanna chimes in.
"We promised we would never bring us 'The Jenna Thing' again. Remember? It never happened" Spencer says.
"Well have you found a way to forget? I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night" I add in.
"Aria, it was an accident," Spencer says.
I watch as Emily looks down at a friendship bracelet and nervously plays with it. She definitely hasn't forgotten.
Hann then grabs out her flask from this morning and dumps the last bit of booze into her diet coke. The older couple sees this and Hanna catches their stare.
"It's medicinal" Hanna says as they continue to judge. 'Cramps" Hanna says and he finally looks away.
"I don't get it. How does 'A'm know something about me that only Alison knew? Emily says.
"Ali knew all of our secrets, but we didn't know any of hers" I say.
"I knew some," Spencer reveals. We all snap our attention to Spencer.
"Go on" I say.
"Talk" Hanna says.
"I can't," Spencer says.
"Spence, you are not going to drop a bomb like that and clam up" I tell her.
"She would kill me if I told you" Spencer says.
"She's dead!" Hann says.
"Ali was seeing someone that summer," Spencer finally said.
"I knew she was keeping something from me. From us" Emily says.
"Why didn't she want us to know?" I ask.
"He was an older boy. And he had a girlfriend" Spencer says.
"Who was it?" Emily asks.
"She never told me his name," Spencer says.
"That's only half a secret," Hanna says.
"Well it's more than what you ever got from her" Spencer says.
"How was it that Alison told us nothing and we told her everything?" I ask.
"She made us feel like we were a part of something special" Emily chimes in.
"We were," Hanna says.
"I miss that" I say.
"Me, too," Spencer agrees.
"I miss Ali" Emily says as we have a little moment remembering Ali.
"I can't believe you still wear that" Hanna all of a sudden says.
"We swore we'd never take them off. Alison still wears hers. Wore" Emily explains. We then again have another little moment.
"So for the entire year I was gone, Jenna was away?" I ask.
"She left Rosewood that night and never came back" Spencer says.
"If Jenna is 'A' then this is about revenge" I say.
"Sorry, but 'A' is 'watching' us and that rules out Jenna" Hanna says and we just shoot her a look. Did Hanna really just say that? "Those sunglasses aren't a fashion statement. She's blind" Hanna says before she grabs a potato fry from the communal plate on the table. She mindlessly munches on it.
"When Ali didn't come home I knew something terrible must have happened to her, but there was a part of me that imagined someday she would just show up" Spencer says.
"I used to think that maybe Ali had run off with some guy" I chime in.
"That she was laying on a beach somewhere" Emily says.
"Getting a tan with that hot lifeguard who worked at the pool," Hanna said.
"What was his name?" I say to join the joke.
"Who cares? 'Save me!'" Hanna says. We all laugh and at this moment is when I start to feel like we are four friends again who never fell apart.
"I can't believe she's gone," Spencer cracks.
Then the rhythmic sound of a repeated TAP TAP grows closer and louder. We all look in the direction of the sound. A white cane with a red tip tapping back and forth, it's Jenna. She's wearing her dark sunglasses as she stands in the doorway of the restaurant.
We all practically hold our breath as we watch Jenna find her way to a seat at the counter. We exchange silent looks. Spencer is the first to stand and we all follow her.
We don't utter a sound as we walk past Jenna and out of the restaurant. We all walk off in four different directions. I start to walk home. I look up ahead and see Ezra walking towards his parked car.
He has taken off his tie, but still wears the dark suit he wore to Ali's funeral. As he is about to climb into his car, he looks up and sees me. We lock eyes for a long moment. He then offers a charming and disarming smile that invites a smile from Aria.
"I thought about you all day. Are you okay?" He asks.
"I will be"
"It's hard to lose someone you're close to. It changes you"
"We lost Alison a year ago. Today was more about admitting it to ourselves.
"I'd offer you a ride..."
"But I'd have to say 'no.' I meant what I said, Ezra. I'd never do anything to get you into trouble"
"And being alone with you in my car would probably lead to trouble"
"Yeah" I say in a sort of upset tone.
"But if it's only a few miles.."
"Ezra..." I say as I notice he's holding a small shopping bag. "So what did you buy?" I ask as he pulls out a CD. It's The Fray.
"B26" He says as I look at him and recognize the significance of his purchase. He wanted to savor our moment.
Next minute, Beth, a girl from school starts walking towards us.
"Hi, Aria. Hey, Mr Fitz" Beth says as both Ezra and I shift our personas to a student-teacher dynamic.
"Hey" I start.
"Hi Beth," Ezra says.
"Cute car" She says as I lock eyes with Ezra. God this just sucks.
"Good night, Mr Fitz" I finally said to break the silence.
"I'll see you at school" He says as he gets in his car and drives away.
"Bye Beth" I say before I continue to walk home.
"See ya Aria" I hear her say as I continue to walk.
YOU ARE READING
Ezria - Broken
FanfictionThis story is about the struggles Aria has to face after her mother moves on from the family and she has to deal with her abusive father after Byron, Mike and Aria move to Rosewood because Byron's sabbatical finishes. She also has to deal with the u...
