Esme POV:

A death in the family is not something easy to get over. Especially when you're seven and you have no idea what just happened-why you never saw the person again. You don't understand why she's gone forever. You think she'll come back soon.

The last words I said to my mother as I left for second grade were, "Bye, I love you! See you after school!"

But I never saw her after school. I saw her car and yelled, "Mommy's home!" She wasn't home. Dad had taken her to the hospital because she was having a heart attack and giving birth to my little sister Gianna at the same time.

She never survived, she failed to pull through. All Dad told me at that age was "Mommy's in a better place now,"

I asked if she was coming back to see me. He said no. Just like that. Her death made my father in a bitter mood. He had to raise his daughters all by himself. I took care of Gianna until she was about ten. I had to be her mother, since she never had one. Dad worked all the time, so I was her dad, too. I didn't have the best childhood. No one kissed me good night-I kissed Gianna good night and she kissed me back, but I learned how to be a mother on my own. Gigi said I'd be a great mother someday.

I met my best friend, Renee Sweetling, when a boy pushed me off the swings in third grade. She beat that guy to a pulp. She had a wild side, and I liked that.

Now, my father had a goody-goody, wannabe rebellious teen on his hands. I was part of the popular crowd at Forks High, but the most innocent out of our group of five.

Renee did everything imaginable-she said nothing was impossible. She was the one who looked the most like me, but we were complete opposites. Her mom taught me everything about boys, along with her, when we started puberty. She was nicknamed "Sweet Thing" or "Sweet Thang" by some of the boys. She was the daredevil of our group, and also, the leader. People made bets that she'd be the first non-virgin by the end of senior year. And she was.

Carmen Perez was the hot Spanish beauty that all the girls envied. She stole everyone's boyfriend just by walking past them in the halls. Even I envied her. She had good looks and she looked like a woman by the time she was twelve. She was the hot mama of our group.

Charlotte Walker was from Texas originally-so she had a slow Southern accent that made all the boys faint at her feet when they heard her. Carmen's accent had the same effect. Charlotte was the only one out of all of us who could ride a horse, square-dance, and enjoy a hoedown.

Siobhan McCarthy was the fiery redhead, with so many freckles that we thought she was in the sun for too long. She stood out in our crowd of dark-haired girls, and that's how everyone noticed her.

But me? I was just plain. I was one of the followers. I didn't turn heads. I was shy and naive. I was conservative and didn't wear skimpy clothing. I was only part of their group because I was best friends with Renee. I had heart-to hearts with her, most of the time. She helped me out a lot when I was sad about my mother. Opposites really did attract when it came to me and Renee. The other girls didn't understand our strong connection. We were all best friends equally, they thought. But really, I liked Renee the best, and she liked me the best. We were so close, we were meant to be sisters. I was the mother of the group, and my friends liked calling me an old lady, but really, I just wanted my girls to stay out of trouble.

The five of us were at a restaurant, reading fortune cookies. They were all giggling and saying these fortunes were never real. But I believed in true love. I'd read about it in fairytales, and I figured it could happen in real life, too. All five of us just so happened to have love fortunes. We opened them at the same time, and they allowed me to read first.

"You will meet a tall, blonde doctor," I read. "Well, if that's true, then I'll soon be extremely rich!"

"And girl, you get to tell him to play doctor," Carmen said slyly while licking her lips. "Hella fine!"

"Nice," Renee commented. I continued blushing and looking down at my plate.

"Chin up, Ezzie!" Charlotte laughed. "Darlin', don't you be blushing'!"

"He better be hot too," Siobhan added.

"Mmm-hmm, and you better grab him before I get my hands on him," Carmen said, rubbing her hands together and smirking. The girls cheered and whistled. I couldn't help but giggle.

"All right, enough embarrassing Esme. My turn," Renee smiled. "Oh my god. This is so stupid. I hate cops,"

"You hate-wait, let me read it!" Carmen shouted, grabbing it out of her hands.

"No, come on," Renee whined. Without warning, she slapped Carmen's hand away and read it. "You will be with a dark haired cop. Hmmm. Maybe he's hot,"

"You will marry someone tall, dark, and handsome," Carmen read aloud. "Oh, yes, muy caliente!" She fanned herself and motioned for Charlotte to go next.

"A cowboy will attract you when you go to Texas this summer. You gotta be kiddin'! Oh yeah, if only!" she giggled.

"It could happen. Ok, mine says…your soulmate is the one you're with at this moment. Liam? Yeah, he's good enough," Siobhan said with a grin. She was the first one to have a boyfriend. You'd think it would be Renee, but she was a wild player. She flirted and played around with everyone's heart. A true heartbreaker. She was looking for the right one. No one was bad enough for her.

The summer after senior year, all but one of our fortunes had come true. Mine. Charlotte brought home a Texan, Peter Whitlock. She was determined he was the one. Liam promised to marry Siobhan and gave her a promise ring. They'd marry after college. A new boy named Eleazar Weber, who was indeed tall, dark, and handsome, won Carmen's heart.

One day, I let Renee loose, and for once, I didn't regret it. It found her true love.

She was driving us someplace to celebrate her eighteenth birthday-she was the oldest of all of us-and she was speeding, playing loud music, and we were all dancing in our seats. We didn't know the one who stopped us would stop her heart-Chief of Police, Charlie Swan. He looked like he was just starting the job-around 24.

"Shit," Renee muttered. I was in the passenger seat, and I ducked my head when the policeman came to Renee's side. He tapped on the window. "You'll have to step out of the car, ma'am,"

Renee looked dazed and smitten by the man outside her window. He was smiling at her slightly.

"Will you arrest me if I give you a strip tease down at the station?" Renee asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Oh god," I muttered. "I don't know her as of now," I said to the three girls in the backseat. They laughed quietly at our friend's major flirting.

"Shut up," Renee said as she turned to me. Then, she turned back to him. "You know you want to," she looked at his nametag. "Officer Charlie Swan," she said in a seductive tone, licking her lips. I just shook my head and covered my eyes, just glad that this was not happening to me. "I'm Renee Sweetling,"

"No ticket…I'm taking you to jail, sweetheart," he said, winking at her. She opened the car door, rolled her eyes, and slammed the door. He took her hands in his and handcuffed her wrists together. "We can fuck later," he said, but I don't think we were meant to hear that. We stifled our laughter while Renee gave us all the finger. She got on his motorcycle, straddling his torso, leaning the side of her face against his back.

"You are such a bad girl," I said, shaking my head and sliding into the driver's seat. Carmen moved next to me. She was my second best friend.

"Yeah, I'm naughty," Renee admitted with a laugh. The motorcycle sped off with a 'vrooom!' as we drove away, howling with laughter. We knew she'd found her future husband. And she'd no longer be a virgin. I called Renee when we got to the teen club.

"How are you doing?" I asked her, amused.

"Oh God, that's good, baby! Fuck me harder! Oh, that's it! That's it!" she moaned. I couldn't resist my laughter.

"Nice…see you later!" I hung up and told my friends, "She's good!"

"Now, it's just you, baby," Carmen teased me.

Charlotte poked my side. "Go to a hospital to find your honey,"

"Oh no, I couldn't," I said nervously. "See, hospitals make my stomach act up, because of the blood…"

"You're the only one left. You're young and hot. Go for it!" Siobhan cheered.

"I'm not hot! I'm just…me. Esme Platt. Nothing special,"

"Oh, girl, we could make you into the most spicy vixen that a man would go hard for! You're beautiful, trust us! You're a chica loca if you think you're the least bit plain!" Carmen said, putting an arm around my shoulder and hugging me close to her side.

"Do you want to grow old and die alone?" Charlotte asked.

"No,"

"Then we're calling Renee," Siobhan said, and without me approving, she dialed Renee's number. "Hey, Renee. We got a plan to make Esme come out of her quiet little shell. Oh, we should? Yeah, we definitely could do that! Whooo!"

"Um…what were you guys planning?"

The three of them stared at me with devious smiles on their faces. I was suspicious.

"What?"

"When Renee comes home from her night out, we are going to do things to you that are out of your comfort zone for your own good!" Charlotte reported. My eyes widened.

"Time for you to turn into a hot mama," Carmen growled sexily.

"Me?"

"Yes, my pretty one, you. You will not die a virgin!" Siobhan declared.

"But I'm seventeen…"

"And have never had a boyfriend before," Charlotte said. "Darlin', sometimes, you need a man to do all the dirty work,"

"You're right, guys. I want to be somebody,"

"So, you agree?" Carmen asked excitedly.

"Yes,"

If only I knew exactly what they were going to make me do…

This is the first chapter! Read and review, please!