Author's Note: I began this story at the beginning of summer, but hadn't touched it again until this month. It was meant to be light, summer reading, and it remains so for the most part, though there will be some drama in later chapters. As always, this story is complete, minus some general tweaking that I'll tend to along the way.

Over the past several years, she'd heard Alex's name roll off her father's tongue often in the months leading up to summer, always associated with the upkeep of their vacation home in Maine. As the family piled into their Range Rover for a long weekend of sun and fun, predictably, Bill Chapman would ask his wife, "Did you remember to grab the check for Alex?" Inevitably, Carol Chapman would sigh and march back into the house to retrieve the white envelope marked, Alex Vause.

Piper had never paid close attention to why the windows were always open when they arrived at the summer home or why the grass was always mowed and the flower bed was bursting with life. Those were mysteries that the blonde hadn't even considered—all she knew was that during her time in coastal Maine, she could work on her tan during the day and flirt with the Russo twins at night.

Piper had just completed her third year at Smith College and had secured an internship at the Kennebunkport branch of Weber Shandwick, a nationally lauded public relations firm. Although she didn't know if PR was the route she wanted to take in the future, there wasn't much else that intrigued her from a professional standpoint. If she could simply write short stories all summer and get paid for it, she'd have chosen that path in an instant, but her father had impressed upon her the importance of building a solid resume. Although the internship was unpaid, Piper was excited about living in her family's summer home for nearly three months with the occasional weekend visit from her parents and younger brother.

The Chapman family hadn't missed Memorial Day in Kennebunkport in ten years, and that year was no different. Not that she would've forgone a weekend on the beach, but Piper didn't even think there was an option not to go to Maine for the long weekend. There was a festival in the Lower Village, and every shop in Dock Square offered a different treat to passersby. When she was in high school, Piper had volunteered to hand out lemonade to locals and tourists outside of the Kennebunkport Savings & Loan Building, while her brother, Danny, lifeguarded at the community pool and Cal passed out coupons for free scoops at Rococo Ice Creamery.

Since she'd gone off to college and community service hours weren't a necessity for graduation, Piper no longer volunteered during the Memorial Day festivities; rather, she participated in them. Her friend, Polly, spiked their strawberry smoothies with rum as they cruised around town, looking for guys with whom to flirt.

With her long legs, blonde hair and blue eyes, it wasn't difficult for Piper to attract members of the opposite sex. Polly was typically the one whose charm coaxed them into their web, but inevitably, Piper would put her foot in her mouth, landing them in a position of being alone at the end of the night.

"What about those two?" Polly nodded towards a red head. "He kind of looks like Prince Harry."

"Is the rum going straight to your head?" Piper glared at her friend. "He looks more like a male version of Strawberry Shortcake."

"We've been walking around for two hours in this heat," the brunette complained, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Those are the hottest guys in town, Piper."

She sucked on the long, clear straw and averted her eyes. "What if we look for girls instead?"

Polly stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

She jutted her chin forward. "What about those girls over there?" Piper gazed at a group of five women at a picnic table, eating lobster rolls and laughing. One woman in particular caught her eye—her black hair glistened in the sun, and her husky laughter filled the air.

Polly put a hand on her hip. "First of all, those are women not girls, and second, because we're not gay?"

"I might like hot boys and hot girls," Piper admitted, unable to take her eyes off of the bespectacled woman.

A few weeks ago at Smith, Piper had drunkenly confessed to Polly that she found girls equally as attractive as boys, but her friend had dismissed her with the shoo of her hand and a full-bodied laugh. They hadn't returned to the conversation until that day.

"The rum has clearly gone to your head!" Polly commented.

"Hey," one of the Russo twins called from behind. "We're walking down to Goose Rocks Beach. Wanna come?"

Piper rolled her eyes. For the last two summers, she'd hooked up with Timothy Russo, but he wasn't as appealing as he'd been when she was in high school. Tim hadn't grown more than an inch since last summer, making him at least four inches shorter than Piper, and his attempt at growing a beard had failed miserably—his face looked like a splotchy drawing on an Etch A Sketch.

"Sure," Polly answered. She'd made out with Tim's brother, Thomas, last year and Piper knew that her friend still had a major crush on the more attractive twin.

Piper tossed her Styrofoam cup into a trash can. "You guys go ahead. I promised to have lunch with my dad."

Polly looked disappointed, but Piper wasn't in the mood to ward off Tim's advances. Besides, she was more intrigued by the dark haired woman at the picnic table than the 19-year-old boy who wanted to get in her pants. The thought of his thick tongue in her mouth made her want to vomit.

Piper didn't really have plans to eat lunch with her father, so instead, she hung out at the dunk tank with Danny and watched girls fall all over her older brother. He was moving to Australia in June, so this would probably be the last time she'd get to hang out with him. Piper wasn't that close to Danny, but her parents seemed to get along better when he was around.

She collected game tickets from the people in line, while keeping an eye on the women at the picnic table. The dark haired woman stood as she gathered the paper plates and walked over to a trash can to dump the waste. The woman was tall and fit in her black tank top and red shorts. She was awfully pale to be a local, and Piper wondered if she was just in town for the Memorial Day festivities. When the woman made eye contact, Piper dropped a handful of tickets on the grass and quickly knelt down to retrieve them. She was too far away to notice the exact color of the dark haired woman's eyes behind her glasses, but Piper sensed that they resembled sea foam. After gathering the pink tickets, Piper looked up, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and watched the woman smirk at her before joining the four other women on the crowded sidewalk.

Although Piper had recently admitted to herself (and to Polly) that she was attracted to girls, she hadn't done anything about it. If she wanted to experiment, Smith was a great place to do it. Trouble was, she didn't find many of her classmates all that striking. Besides, Piper didn't know the first thing about how to approach a girl. Hey, wanna makeout? Didn't sound like the best pickup line, and she wasn't even certain that she would like kissing a girl.

As Piper watched the tall, dark haired woman walk away, she couldn't help but think just maybe she'd enjoy it.

Polly texted her friend much later in the evening, asking her to go to the bonfire that the Russo twins had built on the beach, but Piper wasn't in the mood. She'd hung around the Square all afternoon and was exhausted from too much sun and chatting with tourists. She tried passing time by playing Scrabble with Cal, but he'd gotten a last minute invitation to sleep at a friend's house down the road. Since it was after sunset, the only way their mother would allow Cal to go was if Piper escorted him on her bicycle. Piper rolled her eyes as she thought about how fucking safe Kennebunkport was. There hadn't been a serious crime in decades, yet her parents rarely allowed them to explore the town on their own at night.

"Sorry you have to take me, sis," Cal said, buckling his helmet. "It's like they don't even realize I'm a teenager now."

"Don't worry about it." She shoved the kickstand up and hopped on her bike. "I could use the exercise anyway."

The sun had set only half an hour earlier, and the sky was speckled with pink and purple clouds, but the streetlamps were already glowing. Sand Point Road was just over a mile long, and there were houses on either side of the street, set apart by thick shrubs or white picket fences. Most of the homes were more like mansions, and some had guest cottages on the property as well. The wealthiest families had wrought iron gates a few feet from the street, but the Chapman home was one of the most understated and freely accessed properties around.

Piper glanced up at the tall Balsam Firs and listened to the waves crashing on the rocky beach below. She took in a deep breath of the sweet summer air as she rode her bike behind Cal.

"Wanna race?" Cal called as he peddled faster.

"Nope." She wasn't worried about her younger brother getting safely to his friend's house towards the street's entrance, so she took her time, peddling slowly in the cool breeze, enjoying the feel of her hair blowing in the wind.

Cal skidded to a stop in the Stein's driveway, and Piper waved goodbye to him as she headed back down the street. It had been a while since she'd ridden her bike for pleasure, and she appreciated the freedom of not being stuck in a stuffy car. She could hear laughter in the distance and figured backyard barbecues were still going strong during one of the most popular weekends of the summer. She followed the scent of what could only be brisket, and her mouth watered at the smell.

Piper rode past her house to see if perhaps their neighbors were grilling. Sure enough, she could see smoke rising over the Miller's roof, and she knew that they were in for a good meal. Her father grilled occasionally, but most of their meals were pre-packaged & store bought, and that night was no exception: frozen lasagna.

Piper rode to the end of Sand Point Road and heard boisterous laughter coming from the Bankston's property. Harvey Bankston was a retired Democratic congressman, and Piper's parents did not approve of his political leanings. Piper didn't know the man at all, but she was confident she'd side more with his political values than her own family's.

Mr. Bankston's ornate home was set down a steep slope, so it was hard to see the beachfront mansion in full from land, but there was a cottage not far from the main house that was within view. The property featured an expansive lawn with red Adirondack chairs surrounding a firepit, and Piper noticed that each chair was occupied. She stopped peddling and squinted at the women laughing around the fire. One passed a bottle to another, and Piper's eyes widened when she realized that it was the dark haired woman she'd seen earlier that day.

Her pulse quickened as she peddled a little closer, but she was able to mostly hide behind a thick Oak tree as she gazed at the group. The dark haired girl threw her head back with laughter as the woman next to her brought her hand up to her mouth and kissed it. The brunette pulled away from the other woman and grabbed her beer bottle with the hand that had just been kissed.

Piper blinked rapidly and swallowed hard as she watched their interactions closely. She assumed they were playing some sort of drinking game, and all of the women except one seemed to be coupled. When the dark haired woman stood, Piper slinked further behind the tree and hoped she wasn't discovered. A minute later, she peeked around the tree trunk, and the five women were all seated again. She turned her bike in the opposite direction and rode away.

As Piper made the turn into her parents' driveway, she wondered about the mysterious dark haired girl—was she a guest of Mr. Bankston? She'd never seen the woman before and had to assume she was just visiting. Perhaps one of the other women had rented the guest cottage and had invited the dark haired woman over for the long weekend.

Her head was swimming with questions—were the women lesbians? Surely the one who kissed the other woman's hand had to be. If that was the case, was she going to makeout with the woman to her left that night? Better yet, would they have sex? And what exactly did sex between women look like? Piper had seen girls kiss before at Smith, but she'd never seen two women have sex, not even in the movies. She figured it would be the complete opposite of sex with a man—instead of rough hands and a penetrating penis, it would be soft fingers and gentle tongues.

Rather than heading inside, Piper walked around the house and down the steps to the beach below, hands combing through her hair as she considered girl-on-girl sex. The crescent moon was already high in the sky, casting a glow like a flashlight onto the water. She walked as far out as she could without getting wet and craned her neck to see if she could get a glimpse of the five women around the firepit. No such luck—the properties along Sand Point Road had been built with privacy in mind. The only way she'd be able to see the Bankston property was if she rowed offshore in her father's kayak. Piper considered that option for a moment, but when she noticed the paddles weren't nearby, she decided to stay on dry land.

The phone in her pocket buzzed, nearly making Piper jump. She retrieved the mobile device and read a text from Polly, telling her to get her ass down to The Point. Six hot guys here! the text read. The blonde still wasn't interested. Instead, she sat on the beach and skimmed rocks into the ocean, wondering how she would find out more about the mysterious woman.

Memorial Day weekend came and went, and the Chapman family returned to their primary residence in Connecticut. Piper's internship wouldn't begin until the middle of June, and her father didn't think it was a good idea for her to stay alone at the Kennebunkport home "with nothing to do." There wasn't much to do in Connecticut either—she hung out with friends, read eight novels and began her senior thesis. While she was with Polly one night, the two discussed what they'd do for Piper's 20th birthday. The brunette wanted to host a party at her parents' house, but Piper had another thought.

"Let's go to Maine," she offered.

"Didn't your dad say you couldn't go there until June 14?" Polly inquired.

"He doesn't have to know about it." She shrugged as she watched the rain begin to fall outside of Polly's bedroom window. "I'll e-mail our caretaker and have him make sure the house is ready, but I'll tell him my dad asked me to do it for him. Let's start a guest list."

The girls laid on Polly's bed and began planning what they were certain would be an epic birthday bash.

The next morning, Piper waited until her dad went to work and snuck into his study in search of the caretaker's contact information. She flipped through several files until she came upon one manila folder with the Kennebunkport home address on it. She scanned a few documents until landing upon Alex's cell number and e-mail address. Piper scribbled both onto her hand with a black pen, and then tidied up the room as if no one had been inside.

She took her laptop to the sunroom and began typing an e-mail, hoping to find the proper tone that would convince this Alex that her request was legitimate.

Hello, Alex,

My father is away on a business trip and asked me to write to you to get our Sand Point home ready for next weekend. We will arrive Friday evening around 7 p.m. I realize this is short notice, so thank you in advance. If you have any questions, please reach out to me directly via e-mail or cell: (203) 555-9080.

Thanks,

Piper Chapman

She didn't have to wait long for a response, which came by way of text message.

Air conditioner is still not working properly but will get Freon before your arrival. - Alex

Piper made a fist pump in the air and immediately texted her friends. The tricky part was going to be buying booze, but Danny owed her a favor, so she was hoping he'd be willing to go to the liquor store at some point that week to buy a substantial amount of tequila and vodka—the mixers were the easy part. She was also hoping he'd be willing to sell her some weed, but her friend Bryn would likely have enough to share.

The blonde had bought two bikinis and several new tank tops that would be perfect for the 80-degree weather forecasted for that weekend. She was positively giddy that she'd pulled one over on her parents—something she had never even attempted before. Piper was the good girl, which was one of the reasons why she had so much freedom. If her father found out about this little scenario, she'd face serious consequences even at the age of 20.

Reviews are most welcome!