The Summer it All Began

The Twilight Saga is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I am just playing around with the wonderful characters of her creation. No infringement is intended.

Warning (kinda): I intend for this to be an eventual Carlisle/Bella shipper. Don't like it? Then don't read it.

There won't be any mentions of Carlisle in the first chapter because it's more of an intro. You gotta be patient to get to the good parts. First Bella will like Edward, but then she'll meet Carlisle and yeah, things will change. ;) Enjoy!

Crashed on the floor when I moved in

This little bungalow with some strange new friends

The taxi dropped me off on a dirt road amidst all the chaos, before pulling out. I hoped I had made the right decision in coming here. I left all my friends the summer before senior year, all to pursue this performance arts camp that my dance teacher encouraged me to attend that she applied me for without my knowing.

I was anxious to say the least, but at the same time excited that I would be spending my entire summer dancing. Dancing was my passion, it was the way I truly expressed myself. Although my friends understood that, I knew that the kids at this camp lived for the very same thing and that excited me.

I grabbed my suitcases and walked down the dusty road for about a quarter mile. I groaned thinking that the taxi could have at least drove up as I saw cars drive by and honk with teenagers laughing passing me by. Freaking taxi driver.

Finally, there was a clearing with a set of buildings in the distance. There were people everywhere milling about with luggage or forms in their hands. A few of them were smiling and giving each other hugs or pats on the back. I wondered how many of these teenagers knew each other from other camps. I hated feeling like the new kid in school. I consoled myself with the knowledge that there were probably were lots of kids here that did not know a soul either.

Multiple lines had formed at various tables and I was a little lost. A petite brunette with spiky hair was walking by. I touched her shoulder. She jumped from surprise at first but then upon glancing at me, had an easy smile. I gently pulled her aside.

"Excuse me, but do you know where exactly I should register?"

She smiled again and with a bounce to her step, pointed in the direction of a table to the left with a long line of students. "Over there. But I would suggest going to cabin assignment table first and finding out where you will be staying and dropping off those bags. Registration will be open for a long time." She winked at me. "The cool kids all wait til right before dinner to register anyways. Shorter lines."

I laughed, staring at the girl as she glided away. Well, she was perky. I thought to myself as I took her advice and moved to the cabin assignment table. The line there flew by, and within five minutes I was face to face with a woman who had a long list in front of her. "Name?"

"Bella Swan."

She skimmed down the list. "Swan... swan... Swan... ah, there you are." She raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. "You are in Bungalow 7 with four other girls. You lucked out, you got one of the eight bungalows by the lake. Most girls would kill to have that instead of the cabins, most have an "in" to get one. Here is a map of the housing. I'm afraid you have a bit of a hike, but it's the trade off for the nice housing. Good luck."

"Thanks." I replied as I took off in the direction she pointed in. It was yet another dirt road and I studied the map as I made my way down it. There were 4 bungalows for girls and 4 for the boys. The rest of the cabins were by the main campus. The bungalows seemed a lot more private. The bungalows went all the way around the lake it seemed, with the exception of a pair of them that were right next to one another on the other side of the lake. Those would suck to have.

I made my way to Bungalow number one. They all appeared to be white houses, with a small covered porch on the front. They were cute and much nicer then I expected. Of course, I needed to remember, I got here on a scholarship, most of these people came from money, so of course their mummy and daddies would not want them living in nothing but the nicest facilities. I shook my head at how awful that sounded.

I realized quickly that Bungalow seven was one of the houses across the lake. I groaned, dragging my luggage with me along, the dust kicking up around me. Sweaty and agitated, I finally saw the number seven. Again, the house was painted white. I entered in the cabin,and came into a common living room and small kitchen. The overall feeling of the cabin was nice. The furniture looked warm and inviting, and the downstairs was well lit from the windows. Well, at least I would not be bunking it for the next two months.

A gorgeous blond walked down the stairs just then. Her hand slide along the rail, and I could not help noting that she looked like a movie star. She smiled, but I could tell she was taking in my appearance and making a snap judgement on if I was worthy to be in her presence.

"Hi." I stated simply.

She finished walking down the stairs and stopped right in front of me. "Hello." She stuck out her hand. "I am Rosalie Hale. Who are you?"

I shook her hand firmly. "Bella Swan."

"What are you here for, Bella? I am guessing dance from your figure."

I nodded. "Exactly. And you must be here for acting, I am guessing. You already have that Hollywood look."

I could tell that this was a great compliment to her. She positively beamed. "You're right. I can tell we are going to get along. You are the last one here, so I'm afraid that you don't have your choice of rooms. The others will be back. Yours will be the 2nd door on the left."

I walked up to my room. It was a relatively plain room, not very big, but at least it was mine. No view of the lake. Damn. Well, I figured we couldn't all have views, but I was thinking that there would at least be... a bed. Sighing, I put my bags on the floor next to where the bed should have been and walked downstairs. Rosalie looked up.

"Um.. I was thinking there should be a bed."

She laughed. "Oh yeah, well, Alice notified the groundsman that there was a bed missing. No idea how that happened. So, hopefully you will have one tonight or tomorrow."

I groaned. Looks like I was sleeping on the floor tonight if it did not show up tonight. At least Alice, whoever she was, reported it right away. "So, where is everyone else? Do you know them?"

"They are around. There are five of us total in the cabin and we all know each other in some format. There is myself. I am here for theatrical arts. Alice, she is a really perky person and is here for dance as well. You would be surprised because she is short, but she is the best dancer I have ever seen. You will probably be around her a lot. Then there is Jessica. She is here for vocal. Finally, there is Lauren. She plays the Violin. I think you will like them a lot."

"Sounds like you have known them for a long time."

"Lauren and Jessica have been going to performance camps for several years now and last year, the camp we went to, Jessica and I were bunkmates, so I got to know her really well. Lauren is Jessica's best friend, so I became good friends with her as well. And Alice, well, Alice I have known since we were kids. Our families run in the same circles. Last year, Alice had toured over the summer with her dance troupe, so she did not go to camp with me. But with the exception of last year, our parents always sent her, Jasper, Edward, and I to the same camps. We are like the four musketeers."

Great. I really was the new girl. "Who are Jasper and Edward?"

"Oh! You will meet them tonight, if not sooner. Edward actually lives in the same neighborhood as me. He plays piano. He is a prodigy if you ask me. He is an overall nice guy. Edward is a bit reserved, but the girls love him. At every camp I have been to, he is like the local celebrity. People know that he is going to be somebody someday. Hell, he already is somebody. Honestly, I don't know why he even goes to these things. He is already advanced beyond what the teachers can teach him. I think he just likes getting away from his family. The Cullen's are really nice, but intense and they expect him to excel at everything he touches. He is a straight A student, class president at our prep school, on the football team, as well as a genius at the piano. The nice thing is, despite all that, he still hasn't let it get to his head really."

I thought on that for a moment. How hard it must be for your parents to expect you to excel at everything. I guess the only worse thing is for your parents to expect you to excel at nothing.

"And Jasper…" she paused dramatically. I guess I would need to get used to that. "Jasper has been my best friend forever. He is my cousin on my mother's side. He plays guitar, and mostly came here because we were all here. I don't think he really appreciates the arts the way the rest of us do. He is not bad at it, just doesn't have the same passion about it we do. But he is a fun guy to be around. Him and Alice dated for a couple of years and broke up about six months ago. It was not a pretty breakup. It was mutual, but there is still a little underlying tension there, so don't be surprised if those two aren't exactly friendly."

"So where are they, on the main campus?"

Rosalie smiled broadly. "Hell no! Mom and Dad made a heafty contribution to the camp this year, so they are next to us in the next bungalow over. Should be a fun summer!"

Fun summer indeed.