"Haley! Oh Haley, thank God."

I lifted the sunglasses off my eyes to get a better look at the bikini-clad Michaela George running to my side. The white beach towel protected my skin from the sand, but made me the brightest one on the beach. I'd been working on a tan for the past week and so far, succeeded in gaining more color than an entire year at the beach back home. Ah, Italy.

"Hales, I need help." Michaela fell to her knees, spraying sand all over my towel. "This is serious."

"Someone shut her up," said the Latina next to me in her warning tone.

"What's wrong, Michaela?" I asked, standing up and stretching. Even I couldn't ignore the looks the men gave. My lean frame fit in and stood out at the beach. Sure, the women were gorgeous here and thin, but they have curves. I did not. I had hip bones.

Michaela pushed her blonde bangs out of her brown eyes. "Remember when you told me to e-mail Joe about what happened?"

"Yes," I drawled out, scanning the clear blue ocean.

"Well he responded and said he'd think about it!" She squealed and hugged me hard. The men already staring stopped trying to be polite. Michaela's arms pressed my breasts together in the most obvious way and though I'm no Pamela Anderson, my normal 32B sized chest could look bigger when pushed up.

"So your boyfriend forgave you," Yessenia said, still laying out in the sun. "Big deal? You think he'll just act like nothing happened when we leave Italy, assuming you don't fuck it up by fucking around."

Michaela frowned. "You could at least be happy."

"Why? You slept with your boyfriend's crew and didn't tell him. The man has a right to be angry."

"Well Hales said that things happen."

I rolled my eyes.

Yessenia lifted her glasses to look at me. "And Hales is so experienced in this category, right?"

Taking a deep breath, I turned to Michaela. "Listen, it's great that Joe said he'd think about getting back with you, but that's all it means right now. It wasn't a yes, so just keep talking and don't do anything here that would screw it up."

The girl in front of me crossed her arms and I uncrossed them. The tight hot pink bikini showed off her body a little too much and if she was serious about getting back with Joe, she needed to tone herself down.

"Told you," Yessenia snarked out.

"Would you shut up?" Michaela snapped. "Not all of us have guys drooling over us like you."

"Excuse me, white girl?" Yessenia sat up and I went in between the two seventeen-year-olds.

"First, calm down. Second, this is my birthday vacation, so can I have some fun and not make everyone else happy?"

Yessenia's mouth flew and Michaela's stared at me with her big, watery eyes. To avoid further conflict, I took my sports bag and swung it over my shoulders. I slipped my sandals on and left the beach without another word to either of them. Ever since the beginning of this trip a week ago, those two hadn't stopped fighting. Yessenia, who secretly wanted Joe, was pissed that Michaela had slept with Joe's friends before dating Joe and never told the boy. Yessenia had told Joe before leaving for Italy. Michaela had no idea, but asked me to help her get back with Joe, claiming she'd do whatever it took. How did I know all of this? Because I keep people's secrets, even if it puts me smack dab in the middle.

I walked up the gold stone steps, admiring the quaint city of Volterra. I'd never been here before, preferring Venice and Rome for city trips and Tuscany for the country scene. I'd come to Italy twice a year since I was ten and continued to fall in love with the country each time. For my eighteenth birthday, my family allowed me to go to Italy alone with Michaela and Yessenia, two of my longest friends even if they didn't get along as well as I'd like. I had decided to leave a week before my birthday, to enjoy my final hours of being seventeen in Italy, but hadn't enjoyed a single moment of it. Even walking the streets gave me more peace and happiness than my friends.

I put my bag on the edge of a large fountain and pulled out my white tank and black cuffed shorts. I pulled both over my white and gold bikini and closed my bag shut when I noticed a tour guide shuffling a relatively large group into the castle ahead. Tourists always seem to dress like tourists as if they want to be noticed. True that I myself am technically a tourist, but I've been here long enough to know how to dress and how to act. Gaping at every single thing was not the way to act. You could admire, but not gap.

The tour guide noticed me and smiled. She was beautiful, but in Italy, women are bred to be gorgeous. She had pale skin and gorgeous dark hair with legs that could last for centuries. She raised a finger for me to follow. I thought about Michaela and Yessenia, wondered briefly if I should go back and see what had happened between the two, but then the guide smiled and waved me over. The building looked like a castle, but the ancient city had to have one, didn't it? I'd never been in a castle before either. Could be cool to tell people when I returned to the States. And the group had a few cute guys in there, amidst the older and younger generations.

My feet took me to the group and the smile on the guide's face widened. Maybe the more people she got in her group, the more money she received. I smiled back. if I had helped her out, more points for me I guess. Or so Yessenia would say. I was always trying to do good and their had to be a reason, according to her. The more good I did, the more points it got me with the man upstairs. I argued, but it fell on deaf ears. Once Yessenia had her mind set on one thinking, it hardly changed.

"Hey," said one of the cuties. He had a deep tan with blond hair that flopped on his head. His eyes were a bright blue. "I'm Nick."

"I'm Haley," I said with a smile. "But call me Hales."

"All right, Hales. You ever been here before?"

"Italy? Yeah. In this castle? No."

"First time for both. Guess you get to witness my Italy cherry being popped."

I fought the urge to blush. "I guess so."

I tried listening to the tour guide explain the dazzling architecture and history of the castle, but Nick continued to make comments and I had to respond. The group walked down a large hallway, more modern than ancient. The hair on my arms lifted slightly with the chills. A secretary greeted us in Italian and a coy smile from behind her desk. Being near the back, I saw the doors open into a grand throne room. The light reflected off the marble and I stopped between the desk and doors. The others went through the doors. My feet wouldn't move. My instincts told me to run, run fast and far away from here, but I couldn't. I stayed completely still.

Like a sitting duck.

As all stories go, the beginning sets up the action. Don't worry. Alec will show himself in the next chapter (along with the Volturi) and the fun will begin! Did you enjoy it? Let me know!