Aria's POV
Ever since Ezra Micheal Fitzgerald moved into the house next door when we were six years old, I'd been in love with him. Some people would find that crazy. How could you possibly be in love with someone so young? But for some reason, I did. I loved him. At first, it was like that little elementary school crush where you dream of holding hands on the playground and then it became the middle school crush where you dreamed of going to the movies together and lastly there is the high school crush where you dream of spending every second together for the rest of your lives. That's exactly the way I felt about Ezra, but he was always out of my league. He was cute and popular. He had a happy loving family, he was the star football player, he got all the girls, he was overall amazing. That's defiantly not someone you would expect to find on your balcony, tapping on your window. But there he was.
"Aria" He said, as I opened the double doors.
"Ezra" I stutter, holding a firm grip on the door.
It wasn't that I was scared of him. He had always been the one that I played in the sandbox with and rode bikes up and down the street but it wasn't like that anymore. We weren't care free, missing our two front teeth, six year olds anymore. It was different.
"Want to have some fun?" He asks and I shake my head.
"What kind of fun?" I ask.
I never wanted to get in trouble. I followed the rules, I got home way before curfew, something I must add that Ezra didn't do. The fence separating our houses wasn't that thick.
"But mom, me and the guys were at the pizza place down town and we lost track of time" He would say as I would sit, cross legged on the balcony watching his mother tap her foot on the porch as he approached.
I would wince at his grammar.
"I don't care where you and the guys were" She would say, pushing him inside the house. "It's 12:00"
The Fitzgeralds blinds were always open, revealing everything that went on in their house. From the balcony, I could see straight into their kitchen where they spent most of their time, running around, eating dinner, getting ready for practices and training. It wasn't that I was a obsessed stalker. It was just that their life was much more interesting then mine. Their parents were home all the time while mine were away. Their parents would make them dinner, while I made mine for myself. Their parents would ruffle their hair and hang their report cards on the fridge, while my hair stayed straight and the fridge stayed blank.
"Adventurous kind of fun" He said, chuckling.
"I don't know" I pick at my finger nails, a habit of mine.
"Come on Ar" He says, using an old nickname he had always called me. One I'm surprised he remembered. "You need to hang loose. Live life a little"
"Fine" I say, as he makes his way down the rope ladder. It wasn't like my parents would notice I was gone.
We run down to the end of my driveway where I'm expecting to see the blue mustang he got for his sixteenth birthday, but instead see a tan minivan. Something I know his family would never let anyone see them in.
"I didn't know your mom had a minivan" I say as I open the door.
"She doesn't" He starts the car. "Can't let anyone recognize me while we're having our fun"
I realize now that I'm in for a ride. "Is anyone of the stuff we're doing legal?"
"Some" He smirks, slamming down on the gas.
I jerk forward, thankful that I was wearing my seatbelt. Ezra wasn't which doesn't seem to faze him. We pull into a super market and I watch as Ezra throws many objects into the cart. When we reach the check out, the cashier gives us a funny look. Two teenagers, buying weird things at one o'clock in the morning must be a little suspicious.
"We're having a party" Ezra tells her, giving her his dashing smile.
He grabs the bags and walks towards the car, throwing them into the back seat where I can hear the items rolling out onto the floor. He keeps one bag in his lap, cradling it as if it's a baby. We skid to a stop in front of a house I recognize.
"Isn't this your girlfriends house?" I ask as he gets out of the car, still holding the bag.
I sit in the passenger seat wondering if I had been pulled into a prank of some sort.
"Ex- girlfriend" He corrects me, opening the door. "You coming or not?"
I follow him until we're in front of her house, staring at her new Porsche she got for getting "good" grades. Although I knew she barely got B's.
"Ready?" He asks, pulling out a carton of eggs and handing me one. He takes the other.
Before I can answer him, he's chucking eggs at her car. With his sports skills, he's hitting it with every throw. One hits the wind shield, one hits the hood, another hits the top of the car.
"Are you gonna have some fun?" He asks and I noticed he asks a lot of questions.
I aim for the car but miss. The egg smashing before it even hit the car, landing in front of it.
"You gotta give it more power" He says, taking my arm and moving it farther into a football throw position. "Now throw"
I throw and it connects with the hood. I stand back astonished.
"See I knew you could do it" He claps his hands. "Now let me borrow an egg, I'm all out"
He drops his empty container onto the ground as he reaches into mine. On his third borrowed egg of mine, the car alarm sounds which causes me to jump.
"Holy crap" He says as the alarm blares through the silent night.
He stands there laughing, throwing the rest of my eggs at the car. While he's enjoying himself, I see a porch light turn on.
"Ezra" I say, hitting his arm.
A man opens the front door as we run for the minivan who I recognize as Mr. Dilaurentis.
"Who's there?!" He shouts as we peer out from the closest bush we could hide in without getting caught.
Ezra finds this hilarious, holding his hand over his mouth while he laughs. Mr Dilaurentis finally goes inside and we creep out from the bushes where I'm expecting we'll return to the mini-van and he'll take me home and then never speak to me again, but he jumps head first into the back seat, grabbing two of the bags out of the back seat, leaving two left behind and then returning. He hands one to me where I find two cans of red spray paint. He motions for me to follow him until we're in Alison's backyard. I had never been here although that's where all of her parties were held. I had never been invited to any of those, not that I cared or anything. We creep up her porch and I pray that they don't have motion sensor lights like my house does. Ezra crouches down to the welcome mat and gets a key. No lights turned on as we leave, going under the back porch. Ezra sticks the key in the lock, slowing turning the door handle. What if Ali was down here? What if she caught me? She's make my life a living hell forever.
"Hurry" He says, pushing me inside and closing the door behind us.
He takes the bag from my hand, pulling out a can of spray paint. He shakes it and then opens the cap, dropping it to the floor. He starts spraying words onto the blank walls. Words like slut and cheater. She cheated on him, something I'm not surprised she did because that's just something she would do but something I'm surprised anyone would do to him. He wasn't the type to take for granted.
"I'm sorry if this isn't my place to ask" I start but he interrupts.
"Ask away"
"Who did she cheat with?" I bite my nails again.
"My brother" He states, grabbing the other can out of the bag and spraying.
He drops the cans to the floor and starts up the stairs.
"What are you doing?" I ask, suddenly worried.
"Don't worry" He says. "Her parents are already in bed"
We creep up the stairs, passing a room that I assume is Alison's since Ezra scowls as we walk. He opens a door to a bathroom, using his phone as a flashlight. He pulls a small box out of his pocket. I guess he ditched the Walmart bag on the way in. He holds a finger to his lips as he reaches into the shower and pulls out a bottle. He places it onto counter as I check to make sure the door is locked. He puts a few drops of blue food coloring into her white shampoo bottle and then puts the bottle back where he got it.
"Won't she notice that her shampoo isn't the right color?" I ask, actually enjoying myself.
"Alison showers at 4:30 with the lights off" He explains. "She says it relaxes her. I bet she won't even notice"
We crept back down the stairs and into the front line. I go to check my phone and realize I forgot it in my room.
"What time is it?" I ask him.
"Just about time for that lovely morning shower" He says, sitting by the window of Ali's bathroom.
We hear the water start and we stay where we are until she shuts off the water. I hear music blaring as she goes into the hallway. Ezra runs to another window which must be Alison's bedroom. I glance in and Alison is already dressed which I assume is hard to do in the dark. A towel is wrapped around her blonde or used to be blonde hair. We watch as she sits down at her makeup table. She flicks on a small lamp that doesn't give off much light, but just enough so she can plug in her hair dryer and start on her makeup. She starts applying layers of makeup and then it's time for her hair. She turns on another lamp that fills the room with light. She removes the towel from her head and screams. Ezra snaps a picture of her.
"Run" He whispers as he starts towards the minivan.
Ezra, having much more running experience isn't as winded as I am when we reach the car. He uses his phone flashlight to unlock the car and drive away. We climb back up the ladder to my balcony at 5:00.
"Thanks for tonight" I say to him as I open my door.
"Anytime you want to do something, I'm here" He says.
"That would be fun" I reply.
"You're pretty cool Aria" He says.
"You're pretty cool yourself" I reply.
Before I knew it, he was leaning in to kiss me- on the lips. I kiss back, something I dreamed of doing since I was little.
"I'll pick you up for school" He offers "and not in the mini-van"
He climbs down the ladder and runs towards his yard as I watch from the balcony. The life of the Fitzgerald's not feeling so distant anymore.
