I am so excited to be sharing this story with you! This will be my second story, and while I'm sure there are still plenty of kinks, I've been working so hard to get this ready for you. I hope you love it! Please follow and shoot me a review if you enjoy this first chapter.

I will warn that there is non-Edward/Bella present in this story. However, I will be marking this story as Edward/Bella, and you'll have to trust me that it'll turn out that way. Both of these characters are going to grow and develop a lot throughout this story, and the end result will be worth it, I promise!

Bella is our main narrator, but Edward's guest appearances as narrator will be specified within the chapters.

One summer, just after we turn 21, we packed our bags and head to my stepfather's summer home on Meadow Lane in Southampton.

Rosalie, Jacob, and I have been friends since we were in diapers. Our mothers ran in the same social circles, and we grew up going to the same east coast private schools. Now that Rosalie is at Harvard, Jacob at Dartmouth, and I at Brown, our time together has been significantly cut down, but our friendship has managed to stay intact.

We had grown up in the richest neighborhoods in Boston, and had wanted for nothing. It made had made us spoiled, but it was what made us who we are.

Besides, everything that had happened in my life up until then made what happened that one summer possible.

"Pass me the sunblock," I demanded lazily, adjusting my huge sun hat before holding my hand out for the bottle. "I'm burning up."

Rosalie tossed the bottle to me, barely looking up from her magazine. "Well, I'm bored. We've been out here for hours and have seen exactly zero hot guys walk by. It's appalling."

I rolled my eyes, liberally applying sunscreen over the wide expanse of my body that my tiny bikini didn't shield from the sun. "What's really appalling is the fact that you've been at Harvard for three years and couldn't come up with better vernacular than 'hot guys'. Besides, it's two o'clock in the afternoon. It's not like we can just go to a party this time of-"

"How about the party comes to you?" Jacob's voice was suddenly in my ear, and his hands immediately took over my sunscreen application. I smiled and rolled over indulgently, fawning at the attention. My relationship with Jacob was a little more involved, even though we were always friends first and foremost. We had spent the last six years in and out of bed with each other, even losing our virginities to each other when we were fifteen and high for the first time at a house party in the city. It's a comfortable relationship, with no jealously, no commitment, and no shortage of good sex.

"Ugh, could you two knock it off? It's depressing." Rosalie threw her magazine over at us, narrowly missing Jacob's head.

"Get over yourself, blondie," Jacob said teasingly, leaving my side to pull her into a huge bear hug. "You know you're both my girls. Besides, I come bearing good news. A couple of my brothers are down the beach with a bonfire, booze, and a bong. You girls down?"

Rosalie pushed him off of her, but the wicked grin on her face gave her true feelings away. Jacob and Rosalie are always stomping all over each other's nerves, but it's just how they show their love. "It better not be lame," she warned, tying her sarong around her thin waist. "Come on, Bella. Let's check it out."

"You mean check them out," I snickered. "Haven't you already fucked most of Jacob's fraternity brothers by now?" I asked, eliciting a dirty look from Rosalie. Jacob helped me into my floral cover up, letting his hands linger at the side of my breasts longer than necessary. "Watch those hands," I said primly, brushing sand off of my shoes and slipping them into my tote.

Jacob just laughed, true to his usual no worries attitude. "I'll be on my best behavior," he said lecherously, offering an arm to both Rosalie and I. "Now let's go."

…..

"Slow down," Jacob said, laughing boisterously. He pulled the solo cup out of my hands, drinking the remains himself. "That was your third cup!"

"I know it was," I laughed, snatching the empty cup back. "It's summer break, Jacob. I'm just having fun."

He rolled his eyes as I refilled my cup. Surrounded by privileged frat boys and their many female admirers, I was finally having fun. Last semester at Brown had been tough, with not nearly enough time for letting loose. My part time internship at the RISD museum, plus taking two seminar classes, had been rewarding, but stressful. This summer was going to be about crazy, stupid fun.

Growing up as an extremely privileged WASP with an affluent father and, thanks to my socialite mother, even more affluent stepfathers, had groomed me to one day rule the world. It was time with my peers, especially Rosalie and Jacob, that had taught me how much fun growing up with that background could provide.

"Hey, Jacob!" A group of polo-clad guys started waving in our direction, beckoning Jacob over.

"Go ahead," I said, pushing at his chest. "Your loyal subjects await you."

He rolled his eyes at me, but planted a sloppy kiss on my lips and headed over to join his brothers. I watched from afar, an amused smile on my face. Seeing Jacob in his element like this reminded me of how much I loved him. Not the romantic type of love, not the type of love that would ever lead to anything serious, but the type of love that made him my best friend.

Rosalie was most likely sequestered off somewhere with the first guy that had caught her eye, true to form. She must have found a previously untapped fraternity brother. I didn't blame her, because these Dartmouth boys sure do know how to show a girl a good time.

"Need a refill?"

I glanced over at the source of the unexpected voice, a tall, scruffy guy in a Red Sox shirt and shorts. A backwards baseball cap sat perched on his head, but a few wayward locks of golden brown hair stuck out haphazardly. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

"I don't take drinks from strangers," I said coolly, maintaining a semblance eye contact even though I couldn't really see his. "Haven't you ever watched Dateline?"

He cracked a smile, offering me his hand. "My mistake. I'm-"

"Edward!" Jacob suddenly reappeared, throwing his arm around my shoulders and tucking me in close to his body. "Bella, this is Edward. He's our supplier this fine afternoon. Most afternoons, really," he added with a loud laugh. "How much do I owe you, man?" He reached for his wallet, and Edward gave us both a tight smile.

"Three hundred is fine," he said, pocketing the cash as soon as Jacob extended the bills. "Thanks."

"Nah, thank you. Edward always has the best shit," he said, looking down at me. "He goes to Dartmouth with us. Edward, this is my friend Bella. Sorry, I think I missed that part of the introductions."

"It's nice to meet you, Bella," Edward said politely, finally removing his sunglasses. His eyes were so green that I wondered if he was wearing colored contact lenses. Jacob, having played host and made his introductions, was called back over to his posse and left the two of us alone. "Well…now that we're not strangers, can I get you a drink?"

I shook my head, cracking a smile. "No, I've had enough. Thank you, though."

We stood in silence for a moment, and I felt the awkward tension growing between us. "Well-"

"How about a joint?" Edward asked, interrupting me before I could excuse myself.

"Uh, sure," I said, a little taken aback. "Here?"

"Here's fine," Edward said, a sly smile on his face. "Or we could get out of here."

I laughed, shaking my head at him again. "Are you insane? I don't think so. I'm a little out of your league, don't you think?"

"Damn, what gave me away?" Edward asked, and I could tell that his feelings weren't hurt. I was glad, because that hadn't been my intention.

"I think it's the lack of a polo and khaki shorts," I said with a friendly laugh. "Plus the baseball hat is kind of a dead giveaway. C'mon, let's just sneak off to a corner and smoke." I gestured for him to follow me, and I saw him slip off his baseball cap out of the corner of my eye. "Here," I said, stopping at the outskirt of our group of people and sitting down in the sand.

Edward sat down next to me, careful to leave the appropriate amount of space between us. I saw Jacob through the crowd, a concerned look on his face. He gave me a questioning thumbs up, and I smiled, blowing him a kiss. He returned the smile and disappeared back into the crowd. "Are you guys, like, together?" Edward asked as he carefully rolled a joint. He glanced up at me briefly, his green eyes barely visible through his messy hair.

"No," I said, laughing. "He's my best friend. Done?", I asked, gesturing to the finished joint he held between his fingers.

"Yeah, yeah. Ladies first." He handed me the joint and offered his lighter. I light up and inhaled deeply, letting the sweet smoke fill my lungs. I didn't smoke that often, especially with school getting more serious, but I had a feeling that I would be making an exception this summer. "Good shit?" Edward asked, grinning as I smiled lazily and passed the joint back over.

"Good," I agreed, leaning back in the sand and staring up at the bright blue sky.

"You look so sexy," Jacob moaned, his hands moving dangerously low on my hips as we danced, my back to his front. I threw my head back onto his shoulder and smiled wickedly, knowing that I chose this short, red lace dress for the exact purpose of making him look at me like this. He kissed my neck, turning my insides to mush as he did so. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck, swaying back and forth as I smiled up at him.

"Do me a favor and go get me something to drink," I said, pressing a brief kiss to his lips that left him wanting more. I knew I was playing hard to get, but I didn't care. I just wanted to have fun.

As soon as Jacob's hand left my body, they were replaced by someone else's. "Fancy seeing you here."

I rolled my eyes, putting some distance between Edward and I but also putting my hand on his chest. We danced halfheartedly, and Edward just grinned at me. "Are you following me?" I asked, pulling an exaggerated disgusted face.

"No, I came looking for Jacob," Edward explained, his hands reaching out and guiding my hips. "And, as luck has it, he seems to always be with you."

"He's my best friend. And besides, he and our friend Rosalie are staying with me at my stepfather's place," I said, even though I knew that I didn't owe him any kind of explanation. "What about you? Where are you summering?"

He snorted, making me grimace. "What is with you WASP's, turning nouns into verbs so liberally? I'm staying with my cousin and her family. Alice Cullen? She goes to RISD but her folks are from Manhattan and have a beach house here."

"We don't really call them 'beach houses'," I corrected, being condescending just to get a rise out of him. "They're summer homes."

"Well, excuse me," Edward said, his voice over the top snotty. But he broke into a smile, and I couldn't help but smile back. His smile was beautiful, and infectious.

"Hey, man, you looking for me?" Jacob reappeared, two drinks in hand. "Here, babe," he handed me my drink before doing that weird half handshake- half hug thing that guys seem to do with Edward.

I turned away from the two of them, bored with the conversation, in search of Rosalie. I spotted her across the room, dancing with two girls we knew from Portsmouth Abbey, the private school we had all attended in Newport. Before I reached her, I felt a hand at my elbow and turned around to find myself face to face with Edward.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it…I know it's different than Four Hundred and Twelve, but I have big plans for this story and I really love it.

Leave me a review!