Pretty Little Liars (The Story)

Chapter 4: The School Teacher

Emily Fields could not believe it. It was Aria Montgomery in the flesh. For almost a year, she had just been a ghost, a memory, a long lost figure from the past that was no longer in its physical state, just an idea. But here she was, back in Rosewood again. Emily would've felt weird not saying hi to her. They still texted while she was in Europe but not as much as best friends would usually text. Aria going to Iceland definitely put a strain on their relationship. It put a strain on all of their relationships. Or at least that's what Emily told herself. It was much easier to blame the fall-out of the four girls on Aria than on the plain fact that the notorious leader of the group decided to leave them all alone and disappear. Emily shook these resentful thoughts out of her head. It was a brand new school year, her junior year of high school. Maybe things would change after all. She inhaled deeply as she took in the humid summer air. She boldly walked up to Aria.

"Hello!" Emily greeted as she smiled sweetly.

"Oh my god, Emily!" Aria squealed as she hugged her on impulse. She hesitated at first because they haven't talked in months. But Emily warmly hugged back. Aria had always liked Emily's hugs. They were the hugs of a caretaker. After all, Emily was probably the sweetest of them all. Aria smelled the scent of fresh baked goods and air freshener as she pulled away from the hug.

"It's really great to see you, Aria. How was Iceland?" Emily asked as they walked towards the entrance of the school.

"It was great. But I was ready to come back home." She lied. She didn't want to really tell Emily how she felt about leaving Iceland and how much she loved it there. After all, they weren't really friends anymore. "You ready for the school year?"

"Yeah. Junior year is going to be tough but I'm really excited about it. Especially swimming season." Emily replied.

"It's great that you still swim!" Aria exclaimed awkwardly. They entered the building and walked through the school hallways.

"Do you need to go to your locker?" Emily asked Aria.

"No, I'll go after first period. What do you have by the way?"

"Literature." Emily answered.

"Same!"

"That's awesome!"

Ahead of them hanging out in front of a few lockers was Noel Kahn along with Sean and a bunch of other jocks. Noel Kahn had to be the most popular guy in school, even more popular than pretty boy Sean. It was those eyes that kind of mesmerize you into doing anything for him. He was also known as a heartbreaker though. A pretty boy jock who breaks hearts. What a shocker. Let's just say he did not change at all from how Aria remembered him. He just made some hilarious joke as his entire posse laughed. He turned his head down the hallway.

"Ummm.... why is Noel Kahn staring at you?" Aria asked.

"He's not. He's staring at you." Emily responded.

"Me?" Aria looked at Noel Kahn. He waved at her as he sent a flashy smile. Aria hesitantly waved her hand back. Noel then turned back to his group of friends. "What was that about?"

"Maybe he likes you." Emiily suggested. "Remember when you had that huge crush on him?"

"I haven't even had a single conversation with Noel before and I have only been back in Rosewood for a couple of days. Someone can't just "like me" all of a sudden." Aria said as she shyly looked away.

"Well, you've changed. No pink streak, you seem very mature. So, maybe he does like you."

Aria looked down at her feet. Has she really changed that much? She'd just like to think that she is expressing herself now and more of her true self is coming out. But maybe she has changed. Her experience with Ezra in the pub should've told her that. And even her first kiss with Iceland was a hint. But it's for the better, she convinced herself.

Emily and Aria walked into their English classroom and took a seat towards the back. Aria slinged her shoulder bag off of her shoulder and started pulling out her English notebook. Hanna walked into the classroom with Mona gossiping as Aria glanced up. Her eyes bulged out of her head. She tapped Emily on the arm.

"Is that Hanna?!?!" Aria exclaimed.

"Ah... yes. After Alison... after you left, she lost some weight and changed her image. She's now the most popular girl in school."

"Wow." Aria said as she shook her head in disbelief. "And is that Mona Vanderwaal?" she said as she squinted making sure she could see.

"Yes it is." Emily said. "Those two joined forces and, well, changed their lives around."

"Wow. Talk about a makeover."

Hanna glanced over at Emily and Aria. She lifted up her hand and did a hand motion as if she was doing a spell with a wand.

"Was that supposed to be a wave?" Aria whispered towards Emily after she lifted her hand to wave back. "Are you guys fighting or something?"

"Well, first of all, that's how Hanna waves now" she said looking at the sly smirk on Hanna's face. "And, we didn't just fall out of touch with you, Aria. We all fell out of touch with each other. It seemed... pointless to be together. We didn't have anyone to..." Emily said struggling to find the words.

"It's okay, Emily. I get it."

Spencer walked into the classroom. When she saw Hanna, she grimaced a smile.

"What about them?" Aria asked noticing the exchange between Spencer and Hanna.

"Oh." Emily said. "They say hi every now and then and have conversations about nothing. But that's about it."

"So they're friendly but not friends."

"Exactly."

All of a sudden, the teacher walked in. He had his back to the class and started writing on the board.

"Ooh. That's the new teacher. I heard he's really young and cute!" Emily said.

Aria smiled at Emily as she took out her pens and started writing in her notebook. The teacher cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He turned around and looked at the class. Ezra Fitz's eyes zeroed in on Aria. All of a sudden, he froze.

"Holy crap." he said out loud. The entire class turned back to Aria. She felt eyes on her so she glanced up and gasped. "Oh my god." she whispered to herself. The guy that she just made out with in the bathroom a couple of days ago and who she called and talked to all last night was standing in front of the classroom ready to teach her. She could not believe it. She was so out of it that she didn't even realize her phone was ringing.

"Aria!" Emily whispered loudly. Hanna turned back towards the front with that same bitchy smirk of hers while Spencer looked away. Mona and Hanna were whispering to each other.

"Sorry, Ez---, sorry." Aria said and made sure to shut her mouth for the rest of the class as she rummaged through her bag looking for her phone so it could stop ringing.

"Uh, I'm Mr. Fitz. Your new English teacher." he said avoiding Aria's eyes. Aria shook her head again as she grabbed her phone. It was a text message, from an unknown number. At least it finally stopped ringing. She was about to put it away but she couldn't help but read some of it. Then, she had to read all of it. Her eyes widened as she read the text.

Maybe he hooks up with students all the time. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your mom. - A

Holy crap, Aria thought.

And Holy Crap was right.