Chapter 1 – An Exchanging of Words

I h8 the rain. I tapped the message out quickly, sending it without even caring about my shorthand. If Jules doesn't like it, that's too bad for her. I'm a busy girl with only a bit of time on my hands. Text-speak is quick and simple and doesn't need a lot of thought. It's an easy way to say what I mean in a small amount of space. A lot of people don't like texting lingo, but I love it.

My phone beeped loudly at me from my leather Coach purse. I whipped it out expertly, rolling my eyes at the reply. Get used to it, girly. You're here for a month. Does she really need to rub it in? As if I didn't realize that this trip was probably one of the stupidest decisions that I've ever made. What had possessed me to agree to this…expedition? I hated cold weather, I hated rain, I hated nature, and I hated small towns. This trip had clearly been the product of a bout of insanity.

Where r u? Im tired of w8ing. See how she likes that. I smirked in satisfaction as my nail clicked on the touch-screen phone's 'Send' button. I'll admit, I'm a rather impatient person, but it goes with the territory, just like the abbreviations. When you're someone like me, time is not something that you have a lot of. Juliette should know that by now.

I was sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair near baggage claim. My four suitcases, all of which weighed individually about a quarter of my weight, were parked in front of me. They took up quite a bit of the walkway's space, but maybe people should learn to dodge. It's not that hard. They have a whole other half of a walkway, so why do they keep glaring at me like I've committed some sort of sin? I shrugged to myself. People are just stupid. Or maybe they're angry that I'm so much prettier than them. That's probably it.

"Teagan!" I heard someone shout my name, and I sighed to myself. It was probably a fan of mine wanting an autograph. I rose slowly, brushing off my favorite black Burberry pencil skirt, and scanned the area for the source of the summons. Thank God, it wasn't a deranged fan. Rather, it was the brunette loud-mouth that I considered my best friend. "Teagan!" she cried again, running towards me and swiftly maneuvering between the mass of people between us.

A few feet away from me, she launched herself in my direction. I'm a rather dainty person (just another part of the territory), so when Juliette Emerson crash-landed into my skinny frame, I toppled back onto my seat, my black Miu Miu patent-leather pumps providing no leverage for my poor feet. I uttered an unseemly "Oof!" sound as I found myself seated once again. At least my skirt was tight enough that no one would see my undergarments. It's the small things, you know.

"Jeez, Jules, how do you plan on competing again if you put on weight?" I asked, pushing her onto the chair next to mine. I slightly cringed, realizing that my comment could be considered as rather insensitive. Just like everyone said behind my back, my congeniality was only present on stage. Luckily for me, Juliette's only reaction was a small fit of giggling.

"Silly Teags! I'm not doing any more competitions. I told you already, I only participated in that one because my mom bribed me with a car, which I happened to drive here to pick you up, just so you know." Grinning, she righted herself in the seat. Her smile went from ear to ear, and I couldn't help but smile back. I couldn't remember the last time that someone was honestly this pleased to see me. It was a nice feeling.

"Are you sure you don't want to compete anymore? I mean, you seemed pretty okay with the idea when you were winning second place in Seattle," I reminded her, smiling back. Seattle had been a fun competition, not only because I'd won first again, but also because I'd met Juliette. And to think, I'd protested vehemently when Catherine had first brought up the idea. I reminded myself yet again to send her a fruit basket. Everyone loves fruit baskets.

"It's really not my thing," she explained, "I don't even know how I managed so well in front of all those people. I can barely stand up in front of my classmates for a presentation, and I've known most of them for the majority of my life. No, Seattle was a one-time thing, never to be repeated." This was a conversation that we'd already had several times before, so I knew that she was pretty firm in her decision. That didn't stop me from being upset about it, though. I really would've liked having a friend in the circuit, I think. Someone to gab and gossip with would've been a blessing.

"If you're sure –"

"I am. Now, get your little butt up," Juliette instructed as she ungracefully regained her standing position, "We have a four-hour long car ride ahead of us, and the sooner we get started, the better. I don't have a lot of stuff planned for while you're here, but one of the few things I'm dead-set on happens tonight. And I've already told you how I feel about being late."

This was true. Apparently, she came from a large family of procrastinators and late-arrivers. Rather than gain that shared trait, she'd ended up being the one person in her house that enjoyed punctuality and promptness. I bet that caused a lot of strife at times. This should be an interesting month, that's for sure.

I sighed again, this time for dramatic effect. "Fine. If you're that eager to return to your Podunk town, I guess I'm ready to go." Standing, I quickly brushed off my skirt again before grabbing the handles of two of my matching Louis Vuitton suitcases. "Grab the other two. I only have so many hands," I instructed as I began to make my way towards the exit.

"So now I'm your servant?" Juliette grumbled from behind me. Maybe this trip wasn't such a bad idea after all. If nothing else, I'd at least be able to work on my kindness and manners. Even I have some imperfections, as impossible as that may be to believe. And Catherine thought this was going to be a waste of time.

A/N: This is just a trial chapter for this fic. I'm contemplating writing more, but I'd like to know how you guys feel before I make a decision to continue. So please review with comments (good or bad, I take it all). If you're not a fan of author's notes, you can just stop here and review now. But if you don't mind or actually like author's notes, there's more below.

It feels weird to be writing a Twilight fic again. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? If this is your first time reading one of my fics, welcome. If you've read any of my other fics (Twilight or other fandom), welcome. And if you're actually one of the people that read any of my Twilight fics when they were still being updated...well, you're in the minority and I thank you for giving me another chance. The last time I actually updated any of my Twilight fics was back when I was in...probably eighth grade, so I'd like to think that my writing style has matured since I last wrote for this fandom.

I've been reading a lot of imprint fics lately, and as much as I like them, I'm getting tired of seeing pretty much the same few characters being used over and over again with only a few variations between each fic. A lot of the imprintees I've been reading about have been abused or raped or neglected or are just extremely self-conscious and shy. It's true that there a lot of people like this in the real world. But that's old hat by now. I wanted to give a voice to a new imprint. That's what I hope to do with this fic, if I continue it.

I don't really have anything else to say right now, so I guess I'll wrap this up. Thank you for reading this test run of Beauty Queen, and I hope to hear from you soon. The fate of Juliette Emerson and Teagan rests in your hands.

Ciao for now!