A/N: Okay, I know there are a bunch of "fourth summers" out there, and a lot of them are really good. But I thought I'd post mine anyway. I've been working on it since the third book came out, but I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that there was a section on ff.n for it. So here it goes…

THE FOURTH SUMMER OF THE SISTERHOOD: Prologue

"The wave of the future is coming and there is no stopping it." -Anna Morrow Lindbergh

You've probably heard of us. Or if you haven't, maybe you've heard about our Pants. They tend to precede us, sometimes, in a weird sort of way. If you know the story, you might as well skip this intro. I know how much I hate having to sit through intros that I don't need to hear. So I'll spare you.

If you haven't heard our story, though, you're going to be totally lost, so don't skip this just because you have a short attention span. That would be lame. But, hey, if you're one of those people who like to be totally lost and confused (this happens if you skip prequels), go right ahead.

For those of you who care, I'm Bridget Vreeland, and it's my turn to narrate the introduction of our fourth summer in the Pants (we only wear them in the summer, that way they are extra-powerful after about ten months of rest).

The Pants, in case you don't already know, have some pretty magical characteristics. For instance, they fit all four of us, and have an uncanny ability to tell whether or not you're being true to yourself, and sometimes even refuse to fit because of it (I've had this happen to me, and it's not fun).

But most of all, they keep us together.

It all started when Carmen found the Pants in a thrift shop at the beginning of our first summer apart. Actually, if you want to get technical about it, everything started one fateful summer almost nineteen years ago, at Gilda's gym in Bethesda during a session of prenatal aerobics. Our (rather large, at the time) mothers met there, and after another rather humid and unwieldy two months or so, they had us: Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and me. Well, and my twin brother, Perry, too, but he's not really part of the whole Pants-thing.

So basically, we've been wearing these magnificent Pants for the last three summers. Lots has happened since that first summer. We've made mistakes (me more than anyone, I think), fixed them, fallen in love (and been rejected), and had a great time. Most of all, though, we've grown closer. And that's thanks to the Pants.

The 'us' I'm referring to is us (obviously), the Sisterhood of the Pants: Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and me. A good, basic way to describe us would be coffee:

Lena would be a Chai tea, (okay, so it's not exactly coffee, but who cares? You can totally get a Chai tea at Starbucks, so it counts. Right?) because she's (mostly) calm and sensible. She's usually the one who talks sense into one of us when we're spazzing out about something. Sometimes she's too calm and sensible for her own good, though. But Lena can be stubborn and determined, too, like when she ignored her father and went to Rhode Island School of Design, anyway. So she can come off kind of strong.

Carmen would be something unbearably stylish, like a mocha frappocino. That may seem slightly superficial (like somebody saying their favorite rock band is Nirvana), but in reality, it's genuinely good. Actually, Carmen had some issues last summer with the whole "superficial/genuine" thing when she met this guy named Winthrop (ha, ha), who turned out to be just as genuine and quirky as Carmen herself.

And Tibby would be a straight-up Americano. She's strong, and sometimes a little bitter. But she's still a classic, and just as likeable as any other. Besides, an Americano is perfect for things that anything mild just couldn't handle. I think that Tibby softened up last summer, though, between Brian (I mean, come on, we all saw that one coming!) and Katherine falling out Tibby's window and fracturing her skull.

And me? I think I would be a latte with whole (not skim, thank you very much) milk, lots of whipped cream and, Tibby would insist, lots and lots of caffeine. Only, not as much as I would've had four summers ago. I like to think that I've grown up since then. Things have changed, mostly for the better. For me, soccer camp was a lot better the second time around, when I was coaching it, and despite all of my efforts, there were some uncanny similarities with the summer I spent in Baja. Eric made a surprising (but not a wholly undesirable) appearance, though with a much better outcome than the last time.

Last summer was great: Tibby took the leap and got the guy (or Brian got her, more accurately), Carmen got a brother and a guy, and I had a blast and got the guy. Lena got a scholarship, but all of us – Carmen, especially – have high hopes for her this summer. We all survived our freshman year of college, with all relationships (plus a few new ones) in tact. Maybe even better than before.

Frankly, all of this means that this summer is sure to be the best, by a long shot.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review, this is the first real story I've ever posted here! I am in the middle of preparing for finals, but hopefully I will be able to update soon.