If I Knew Then: Chapter 1

Young and Restless

The first time that I saw you
Looking like you did
We were young, we were restless
Just two clueless kids

Aria never thought that she'd actually be able to finally see Rosewood again. It felt like forever since the last time she saw it the small town she grew up in. The familiar sights, sounds, and people called to her like an alcoholic to a bottle of rum. She knew that it'd be a long bus ride from Chicago, but she was willing to wait as long as she had to be able to see her family and childhood friends again.

She gazed out the window as she mentally said goodbye to the large city she'd been living in since college; a star student who majored in English at Illinois University. She graduated with high honors and went to work at an elementary school in the rough of the city where she wanted to help low-income kids. That was where she'd met her long term boyfriend Hayden. He was a basketball coach and second grade teacher. They've been dating for more than two years and she was so ready to settle down with him.

Hayden sat beside her, his big chestnut brown eyes shining at her, his hand caressing hers. His short spiky blonde hair burned amber in the dim lighting of the bus, "Are you excited to be visiting your family, Aria?"

Aria leaned over and kissed his soft cheek, "I've missed them so much. I want to be able to hug them. That's all I really want."

Hayden nodded. This was only the second time he'd ever met his girlfriend's family. They seemed to like him fine and Ella, her mother, even told Aria how respectful and handsome he was. So, that seemed to be a big win in his eyes. He shot her his signature smile at her and kissed her temple, "We'll be seeing them in just three days."

"You make it sound like forever."

"I promise it'll go by quickly, my sweets." Hayden wrapped his arm around Aria and they settled into their cushioned seats, getting ready to endure the next seventeen-two hours they had alone together.

Ezra awaited the bus by the station, two small suitcases in his hands, his dark brown curls falling over his forehead, his dark blue eyes darting around. He was on his way to Rosewood, Pennsylvania to start his new teaching job at a local college. Hollis College. That's where he went to college before he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to work at a small newspaper. Unfortunately, it'd gone out of business with the growing technology.

While he was searching for a new job, one of his old professors had contacted him on an opening at the small university and he, being a bachelor and nothing holding him back, took the job at that very moment, not even thinking. His older brother, Kenneth, offered his guest bedroom at his house in Phillie where he, his wife, and two year old daughter lived.

The early November air ripped through his thin jacket and sent a chill go down his spine, making him shiver. The sooner he got away from this cold weather, the better. That's one of the many things he would not miss about Ohio. Plus, the rivalry between Ohio State and University of Michigan got on his nerves; especially since he was a big UVM fan, since that was where his father went. Then his old apartment was in the middle of the rough of Hamilton, a microscopic town just a few miles northwest of Cincinnati. He just wanted to escape Ohio altogether.

When the bus finally arrived, he took a deep breath and stepped on. He showed the bus driver his ticket and looked over his shoulder at the old city he once called home, "Goodbye. I won't miss you."

The bus driver smiled at him and shook his head, "Please get on, sir. We have to make it to Cleveland by six so then we can all get a bite to eat."

"Okay." Ezra clambered onto the bus and saw that there were hardly any seats left. He gazed at the back of the bus and saw an open seat beside a young couple; a petite brunette and a spiky haired blonde. They were watching the movie playing on a portable DVD player, their heads against each other. When they saw him coming, the petite brunette picked up her head from her boyfriend's shoulder and smiled sweetly up at him. He was unaware of words coming out of her mouth as he stared at her. Never in his life had he ever seen such a beautiful woman. And that was saying something since he spent a year abroad with a bunch of foreign girls who wanted to get him drunk all the time.

She had this stunning very dark brown brunette hair that fell over her shoulders in a magnificent waterfall and her eyes burned a brown hazel at him. Her smile contained pearly white teeth between perfect soft pink lips. She was tiny; at most 5'2. She probably didn't way more than a hundred and ten pounds and around the age of twenty. She just screamed perfection at him.

"….Dude, are you okay?" The man that sat beside the woman asked him. Ezra scowled at him. He was this punk kid with gelled spiky blonde hair and big brown eyes. His shirt was too tight and his jeans were too baggy. He had two piercings in his right ear and a tattoo on his arm. His girlfriend deserved better than him, that was for sure.

Ezra finally found his voice, "I'm alright." His tone was a mumble and barely comprehensible. He mentally cursed himself and rose his voice slightly, "Would you guys mind if I sat in that extra seat."

The punk kid rolled his brown eyes and narrowed them at him, "Aria just asked you if you wanted to sit there."

The girl, or as her smart ass boyfriend called her, "Aria," gently slapped his arm, "Oh, Hayden, stop being an ass. If you want to sit here, you can."

"Thank you." He pointedly said in the direction of the punk kid, "I'm sorry. My name is Ezra."

Aria shot out her hand and shook his, "Hello, Ezra. I'm Aria Montgomery."