It came to my attention that some members of the fandom will not read this story because it is about 14 year-olds and I rated it M. Although it is rated M there will be no lemons (well, maybe in an epi that takes place years later?). I rated it conservatively because I don't want young teens reading it. It's not appropriate for them. It makes me feel a little skeevy that some people thought I'd be smexin up a bunch of kids! ::Okay, I'm climbing down off my soapbox now::

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything twilight.

Thanks EmilyD for your help and encouragement.

~E~

I thought about my swim partner all the way back to my cabin. Iz. What kind of name was that? It certainly didn't fit the kind and considerate person who sacrificed herself for me. It had to be a nickname of some sort.

I climbed the steps up into our cabin, immediately seeing that it was empty. I assumed the next activity of the day must have already begun. I'd noticed the mess hall was empty as I passed it on my way back from the lake. So, I grabbed clean dry clothes and headed over to the showers. I preferred being there when they were empty, not that I was ashamed of anything. I just didn't like company so much. I turned the water to warm and began to scrub. Once I was good and clean, I leaned my head forward against the wall and enjoyed the feel of the warm water as it rolled down my shoulders. Then I thought about swimming. I replayed the moment in my mind when Iz sealed the deal with Emmett. God, I could have kissed her. I really could have. I'd never really even thought about that seriously before, never having met anyone I'd trust to be that close to. But Iz, she was different. I could tell, just like that. And, for a minute, when she came up from the water the first time, it was as if she was seeing me differently than anyone else ever had before. I even heard her say "You?"

I wondered what she had been thinking at that moment. Watching her move up the path reminded me for a minute of the girl that saw my goods. I mean, I couldn't be absolutely certain it wasn't her. She did have brown hair and it was long. And, she didn't seem like the type to run and tell everyone. I decided that if someone had to have seen me that way that it might as well have been Iz. So, until I knew any different, that's just what I would assume. Not that I'd ever mention it to her. No way.

I thought I'd been excited about guitar lessons with James, but swimming quickly took its place as the highlight of my day. I figured I was missing Woodworking. Oh well. I could make a birdhouse or a jewelry box some other time. Maybe I could make something for Iz this summer, if she'd even want anything I could make.

I finished up in the shower, grabbing my towel from the hook. As I worked my way down my body with the towel, I discovered I had a problem. And it was pointing straight at me. Thank God I was alone. I tried thinking of horrible things, like the foster mom who drank too much and always tried to kiss my cheek for too long. Or the beatings I'd get when something got broken with no explanation. It'd always become my fault, no matter the home or the parents. As horrible as the thoughts were, they had no effect on my problem.

So, I carefully slipped my clothes on, tucking and camouflaging the best I could. I grabbed my towel and headed back to the cabin. I climbed the steps to discover James sitting in a chair he'd pulled out onto the porch. I smiled...which was probably his first clue that something was up.

"So, you liked swimming, huh?" he winked.

I stared at his face. He was trying hard to keep it straight.

"Um. It was okay."

"Sure it was just okay? You can talk to me, if you need to."

I ran through the events in my head, trying to remember if I'd done anything wrong. Then I saw James motion toward my shorts.

"You might want to get the monster under control before you go in. All the guys are in there." He said smirking and looking past me, over my shoulder.

"Shit." I said when I looked down and saw.

"Here" he said standing and pushing the chair over to me before leaning against the screen.

"So, really, how was swimming?" he asked in a way that told me he already knew.

"I won a credit to the canteen."

"Really? How much?"

"$25 dollars."

"Cool. How'd you do that?" he asked.

I could have just said I did it all by myself...won the contest. But, for some reason, I couldn't take all the credit. Not that Iz would ever even know. But I still found myself spilling the whole story.

"That was really nice of her." James said. "Is she pretty?"

I didn't answer. But I didn't have to. The redness on my face told it all.

"That good, huh?" James laughed. "Way to go, Edward!" He said as he slapped at my hair, teasing---both of us laughing. "But I'm sure you probably have lots of girls, a good-looking guy like you."

My laughter stopped. "Yeah right." The words fell from my lips before I could even stop them.

"Well, no chick gives up $25 for nothing. I'm guessing she probably likes you." James said.

I couldn't stop from smiling.

"Probably thinks you're cute." James continued, slapping me in the stomach until I stood up and slapped him back.

"Tough guy, huh?" He said. "Girls like tough guys." he added, making his eyes look all wild.

"Oh, Edwaaaard---you handsome stud, yooou!" he sang in his girliest voice. "How's about a little kiiiisss?"

James was chasing me about the porch, his lips all puckered out. I was laughing my ass off, slapping at him as I ran small circles around the space. That's when we noticed the other guys standing at the screen door...their mouths hanging open...watching.

James and I froze as the five of us just stared at one another. Until HipHop, the only one of the three to close his mouth even if it was just to smirk said. "I think we'll just leave you two alone."

And, with that, the three of them left for their next activity.

James and I stood on the porch for a few moments, trying to look much cooler than we had just minutes before. Then we both cracked up laughing.

"C'mon" he said. "Time for boxing."

"I can make it there. You don't have to walk me."

"I'm running it. But don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you or anything."

"Are you kidding? For the amount of crap I'm gonna get from the guys---I owe you an ass-whipping!" I said to James.

It was nice being able to joke with someone and not worry that they could snap and turn on me at any time. James had walked in my shoes. I knew he was cool.

Boxing was great. Of course, anytime I can knock people around and nobody gives me any crap---it's a good thing. Plus, I have a bunch of garbage to get off my chest---what better way than to pummel volunteers!

That night at dinner, the guys gave me a ton of shit.

Wuss started it. "So, Edward. When you and James start dating?"

"Right after I dumped your mom."

Not really having had one myself, I wasn't sure what it was about the "mom" thing. No matter what you were ragging about or who you were giving shit, insulting someone's mom trumped anything else you could say. And Wuss was no different. So he retaliated.

"I thought we were gonna have to report that fag James for deflowering our little Eddie." Wuss quipped.

Before he could even blink, my fingers were wrapped around his throat. "Don't fuck with James. Just cuz he's not here to kick your ass, doesn't mean I won't." I could feel the movement of Wuss' Adam's apple as he swallowed. Before releasing him, I added. "And don't ever fucking call me Eddie."

"Shit Edward. We were just kidding." HipHop said. I glared at him. As my eyes grazed Gates, he looked like he would have liked to have melted into the bench if he'd had the power. He added "Yea...it was only a joke."

"Ha ha." I said before leaving the table.

I needed to get away from them, from everybody. I was pissed off and I had to calm down. I got out of the Mess Hall and just walked. I didn't even realize where I was going until I was halfway down the path to the lake. Before I could stop myself, I was walking into the water, discarding my shirt and shoes on the edge. Learning from experience, I kept my shorts on this time. Just in case.

The moment the water hit my skin it was as if the anger simply washed away. The more I moved around in the lake, the better I felt. I hadn't been floating in the water for long when I heard someone nearing. It was the guy I'd noticed when I'd first gotten to camp. Neanderthal. That guy was fucking HUGE. I froze there in the water, making a point to remain silent.

The monstrous kid looked back and forth over his shoulders occasionally as he warily made his way across the shore to the area where the canoes were docked for the night. His eyes never stilled in my direction, letting me know I was still unseen. The giant stood there by the lake, cautiously, his hands in his pockets. Waiting. Then, I noticed movement from across the lake. Someone else was coming from the other path. As she neared, I could see it was a tiny, blond girl. The same one I'd seen at the lake before. The girl I knew from the picnics with Miss Esme. She ran to the overgrown boy, leaping into his arms. Kissing him like...like nothing I'd ever seen. I looked away, made uncomfortable by their display. I took that opportunity to slowly and carefully move onto the island where I could benefit from the thickness of the trees there. Now hidden, I stood, looking anywhere but at the spectacle on the shore. Finally, after what seemed like a decade of slurping and groaning and god knows what else, the night air went silent.

I cautiously ventured out from the trees, looking around. Nobody. My eyes went to the canoes. They jostled slightly, most likely prompted by the summer breeze and the movement of the water. I slowly, silently swam back out to the center of the lake, my eyes on the boats. Nothing.

I figured the lovebirds must have parted ways, heading back to their camps for the nightly routine...campfire ghost stories. I already knew enough scary stories to last me a lifetime, and mine didn't end with the man sporting a hook or someone running out of the trees screaming BOO. But I didn't want to think about that.

Being in that lake where I'd had one of the best moments of my whole life just hours before, I found myself thinking of Iz. Just thinking about her made me feel...wonderful. The thoughts were completely unfamiliar and kind of scary, but nice. What would it be like to kiss her, to stand with her in the moonlight and to gaze into her eyes? Her beautiful, brown eyes. My brown-eyed girl?

"Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow,
Playin' a new game,"

I found myself singing another song from Miss Esme's car.

"My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl."

And then, as if it were a mirage, I saw her. Iz! I blinked a few times, just to make sure.

Yep, it was really her! She was sitting on the picnic table that stood along the path from the girl's camp.

Shit! And I was singing...like a dumbass. But if I stopped, would she notice? Would she leave?

Do you remember when we used to sing,
Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da"

I watched as she lay back onto the table, her eyes looking straight up toward the stars. Her stomach flat. Her knees bent. Oh my God!

"Slipping and sliding
All along the water fall, with you
My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl."

And she was tapping her foot to the song I sang. It even looked like she knew it. So, I kept singing. And I'm not sure, but I think she may have been singing, too.

"Do you remember when we used to sing,
Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da"

It was as if we were the only two people on the entire planet at that moment; singing to the same stars in the same night air on the same lake. She didn't acknowledge me, nor I her. But we were sharing a moment together; separately. And it was perfect. Then I got to a part of the song that I'd never really thought about. Not until the sweetest, most attractive girl I'd ever met was lying on her back on a picnic table just a few yards away as I sang the words.

"Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium with you
My brown eyed girl
You my brown eyed girl"

Fuck! I felt it immediately, even in the cool water. For cryin' out loud---three times in one day?

I had to get out of there fast. What if Iz decided to come over...to talk to me? I mean, I wanted to see her and to talk to her and to maybe hold her hand and... Dammit Edward, STOP! I couldn't let her see me. Not now. Not like this. Not in my... current condition!

So I quickly walked through the water, grabbing my shirt and shoes along the way and made my way to the path as fast as my feet would take me. I never looked in her direction, acting like I didn't see her. Once on the path, I practically jogged---the best I could anyway, considering. I didn't slow until I'd made it to the showers. Thank God nobody else was in there. Everyone still seemed to be at the campfire. It was beginning to become a habit, me and that shower. Jeez! I looked around for a place I could maybe hide a change of clothes and some soap. As long as I was taking Advanced Swimming and having thoughts about girls...a girl, I figured my little problem wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

If you smiled, at least once---please let me know!

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