Page 28 (1/2)
Chapter 26
DIDN’T ARIA’S MOM TELL HER NO BOYS IN HER ROOM?
On Friday afternoon, Ezra poked his head into Aria’s bedroom at Ella’s house and smiled "Wow It’s just how I pictured it"
"Really?" Aria said, thrilled that he’d bothered to picture her bedroo kids off Ella was at the gallery, and Mike was at a lacrosse clinic, which meant Aria and Ezra had the place to themselves for the hour Then Aria had to meet Klaudia to talk about the art history project Now, Aria gazed around her bedrooh Ezra’s eyes There were the old bookshelves Byron had found at a flea azines A jumble of necklaces,table Ella had started refinishing before getting bored halfway through On her bureau was her collection of stuffed aniathered up froht be co this afternoon Ezra didn’t have to know she still slept with Pigtunia, Mr Knitted Cat, Mr Knitted Goat, and Ms Knitted Square-Thing-With-Noodly Arms, which Noel had won for Aria at a carnival last summer In fact, Aria didn’t knohy she still had Ms Knitted Square Thing sitting out any darts at the balloons until he got Aria exactly the toy she wanted, but she was sure Ezra would be even cuter at a carnival if given the opportunity
Ezra ran his fingers over a pleated lae shop, smiled at the pen-and-ink self-portrait Aria had drawn in tenth grade, and gazed at the Canada geese in the pond out the"This is such a great little hideaway Are you sure you want to leave it?"
"You o to New York?" Aria flopped down on the bed "I have to leave soh school online? Have you talked to your parents about it?"
Aria bristled, irritated that Ezra was bringing up her parents like she was a child "They’ll understand They lived in New York once, too, when they were young" She tilted her head, sudden panic gripping her heart "Why? Do you not want me to coh herup the fact that he had let Klaudia read his e
"Of course I want you to coh "It’s justyou’re not leaving for some other reason, are you? I saw Noel Kahn yesterday at the McDonald’s drive-thru"
Aria laughed aardly "This isn’t because of Noel"
What else could she say? Well, there’s a certain so I’ve ever done? And, oh yeah, A also wants to kill ht and told her that A had pushed her down a steep hill at the Stockbridge trail It scared the hell out of her She needed to get out of toay from psycho A, and enor place
She took Ezra’s face in her hands "I want to go because of you and only you I’ve been looking at places in Brooklyn--we could get so Or a cat, if you’re more of a cat person We could walk the cat around on a little leash"
"That sounds perfect," Ezraa piece of hair out of Aria’s eyes "If you’re serious about this, I’ll start ements, and we can leave in a couple of days"
Aria leaned forward to kiss him, and Ezra kissed her back But when she opened her eyes for aacross the room
"Is that a first edition?" He sat back and pointed at a book on the bookshelf The Sun Also Rises, it said in gold lettering on the spine "It looks really old"
"Nah, my dad stole that from the Hollis library" Aria rose, pulled the book out, and brought it to hie, a musty, old-book sh"
Ezra poked her knee "I thought , but he looked serious Was he really asking her to coway? "Well, I mean, The Sun Also Rises was a literary ood"
Ezra pulled his hands away from hers and balled theroan Had he always had this insecure streak, or was his novel bringing it out in hi his nose "Now come lie next to an to stroke his hair Seconds later, the door slammed downstairs "Aria?" Ella’s voice called out
Aria shot up, her heart in her throat "Shit"
"What?" Ezra sat up too
"It’s my mom She wasn’t supposed to be back for hours" Aria jumped up from the bed and pressed her feet into her shoes She handed Ezra his wingtips "We have to get out of here"
A corner of Ezra’s mouth drooped "You don’t want to introduce me to her?"
Downstairs, Ella’s heels clacked on the wood floor Aria’s mind scattered in ten different directions "II haven’t had time to prep her" She stared at Ezra’s blank expression "You were my teacher last year My mom went to a parent-teacher conference with you Don’t you think that’s a little aard?"