Cursed, A Pretty Little Liars Novel

1: Michigan, Where Memories Are Made

Aria Montgomery walked into County Lane Airport, her purple and teal beaded suitcase rolling behind her. There was no turning back now, not that she'd want to anyway. She took a sip of her coffee, the beans were grown in Iceland, and it was the best-and most expensive- coffee in the world. Then, she headed for the bag drop for American Airway.
She got in line, behind a grumpy looking old man. Slowly, the line moved. As the woman two spaces in front of her stepped up for her turn, Aria noticed the boy working behind the counter. He was cute with light browned messy hair and emerald green eyes. He looked like he could he could be a typical Rosewood lacrosse playing boy. Then again, the typical Rosewood boys she'd dated had been nothing like she'd expected. They actually had feelings, unlike her younger brother, Mike.
The woman stepped away from the counter, and the guy stepped up. In a few minutes, it was Aria's turn.
"Hey, cutie," the guy behind the counter greeted her.
"Oh," Aria said, blushing nervously. "It's um, Aria."
She wanted to slap herself in the face. He called her "Cutie", and she corrected him? Why did she have to do stupid things when she was nervous?
"I think I'll still call you cutie," he said, his eyes twinkling. "I'm Tom."
Aria handed him her luggage.
"Nice bag," he said, feeling the beads beneath his fingers.
"Oh, I glued them on myself," Aria bragged. This guy was obviously flirting with her. But why? It was too early in the morning to look pretty, and Aria had thrown on some sweats, tied her hair up, and rushed out the door, without even putting on makeup.
Tom clipped a luggage tag onto Aria's suitcase, then paused to read it. "You going to Bloomfield Hills?"
"Uh, yeah," Aria answered, fluttering her eyelids. "Going to college."
"Cool, I'm going there too," said Tom. "I'm attending Cranbrook Academy of Art."
Aria sucked in her breath. That was where she was going. It was the college of her dreams. Maybe she'd see Tom there and the two of them could get together some time.
She paused. This was... wrong. She still had Noel. Aria frowned. This long distance thing with Noel was going to be a lot harder then she thought.
As Aria started to walk past the counter, Tom suddenly stopped her. "If you ever want to, you know, grab some coffee sometime, here's my number." He slipped a scrap of paper into Aria's palm, and winked.
Aria smiled, her heart melting. So he did like her. The feeling was mutual.
Even though she wanted to stick around longer; the next customer came up to the counter, though, and she flounced away.
Since her flight wasn't for another hour and a half, she walked around for a little bit, thinking about Tom. It was just like a typical airport, waiting rooms, restaurants, gift shops.
Aria fixed her eyes on a television set, which was tuned to the news. For once, it wasn't about her, or anyone else related to Alison. Then, the news broke for a commercial.
"What if you were stalked for a year?" A voice asked. Aria rolled her eyes. It was two years. They were always making different commercials for Pretty Little Killer. "Now, available on DVD," said the person again, showing a photo of the actresses they'd chosen for Aria and her friends. They couldn't have chosen worst.
Everyone stared at Aria. The lady who worked at the gift shop. People wearing cropped tops and mini skirts. Even an old woman glanced up from her laptop, and met Aria's eyes. She hated the unwanted attention. She walked, away, pretending not to notice the gawkers.
Aria's cell phone buzzed. Her palms got sweaty, thinking of A. But then she remembered that A was gone. Instead, it was a text from Emily.
Driving to the airport, the text read. Aria responded, Cool. I'm already there.
"Hey, it's you."
Aria turned around.
"You're that Pretty Little Liars girl, right?" The girl looked about 19, and bore a strong resemblance to Alison. "Will you sign my notebook?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Aria lied, and hustled away. She should be used to all the publicity by now. People all over the country knew all about her and her best friends, and not in a good way either. More like in a you-were-stalked-by-a-creep-who-was-your-best-friend way.
Aria Montgomery, please report to terminal 6," said a voice over the loudspeaker. "Your plane is leaving."
Her flight. She was late. Aria quickly clomped to terminal 6, eyeing the lady who checked tickets. She quickly searched through her jumbled leather purse. She found old receipts, a twenty dollar bill, a container of lip shit... but no ticket.
The flight attendant tapped the heel of her shoe, waiting.
Finally, Aria found it in the side pocket along with her new Galaxy S3.
"Thank you," said the flight attendant, as Aria rushed onto the plane. She walked to seat 27, and ended up next to a business woman in the window seat, and a pretty brunette with cat eyeglasses on the edge.
"Hey," she said.
"Um, hi," said Aria, not certain who the girl was speaking to.
"Why are you flying?" she asked.
"Going to college," Aria answered, crossing her left leg over her right. She seemed to do that when she spoke to strangers.
"Me too!" said the girl. "I'm going to Cranbrook Academy of Art."
"I am too," Aria gushed. Maybe this girl wasn't so bad.
"Cool," the girl replied. "My boyfriend Tom's going there too. He works as a luggage guy here."
My boyfriend Tom. So he was a player. He was just like a typical Rosewood boy.
She took off her glasses. "I'm so glad I'm getting contacts soon," the girl said, cluelessly.
"I, um, have to go to the bathroom," Aria said. She had to think this over. Should she tell this girl Tom was a player? But, they weren't like, together. And she didn't want to cause unnecessary drama over what was probably nothing.
"You can't go yet," said the girl, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "The seatbelt light's still on. By the way, what's your name?"
"Aria," Aria answered.
"Cool, I'm Tiffany," the girl replied.
The plane started to move. And Aria decided not to tell Tiffany, she didn't want to cause drama. From here, it was off to Michigan. No more Rosewood, that was history. And for the first time, in a very long time, Aria felt safe and free.