Here's a new lil treat. It's gonna be a short-ish one. Maybe 20 chapters or so. Frequent updates. Leave a review and follow me on twitter for more xoxo

PROLOGUE

It was the summer before college when I first laid eyes on him.

Dusty sand brewed in the air behind puffy orange clouds of pink and yellow dusk. The beach lay out in front of us, as warm and inviting as the promises of a long summer and endless possibilities that lay before us. High school was officially over, and we were officially adults. The beach was crowded with students, all gathered here on our first weekend as high school graduates. The weather was a little chilly and the stones were hard beneath my feet. I couldn't wait for the warm soft sand in California and never-ending sunshine. Seattle was gloomy the majority of the time, and I craved the sun as I craved air. Summertime was the time I shined the most and I was looking forward to the days where I would drink it in like water.

"You okay?" Kate asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Kate was my best friend, and had been since first grade when we both cried at the gate together after our parents left on the first day of school. We were paired together as 'class buddies' and had both promptly ignored each-other all week until one day I dropped my milk and Kate offered me some of hers. After that, we had pretty much stayed by eachother's sides through everything else.

I nodded, hugging my knees close.

"Just thinking," I said, staring out at the cool blue water.

Jose Rodriguez from English class was busy splashing about and playing the goof in front of his little group of friends. In eighth grade, he had asked me out in front of everyone and I was so humiliated I could have died. Safe to say, I hadn't really spoken to him since that fateful day. I rolled my eyes and Kate noticed.

"We'll be in college soon," she said, reclining back on her beach towel.

It wasn't very warm, but she was still in a teeny floral bikini showing plenty of skin. She had a flawless body and loved to show it off at every occasion.

"You'll find real men there," she assured me, donning her sunglasses. "Not stupid boys."

"Real men?" I quipped, raising my brow. "Like Elliot?"

She flushed and shrugged. "Yes. Like Elliot," she clarified.

Elliot Grey was twenty-two years old and four years our senior. Kate had met him a few months ago at one of her gym sessions and had been obsessed ever since. They weren't officially dating, but they hung out sometimes and she was massively into him. He was huge and burly and she talked about him non-stop. In her eyes, Elliot was the perfect man and he could never do any wrong.

"Older men are much better," she confirmed, giving me a little wink. "They know what they're doing."

I flushed, looking away and back to the water.

Kate laughed. "Come on Ana," she said. "Don't be such a prude."

"I'm not a prude."

"Yes, you are. When's the last time you even kissed a boy? Seventh grade was it? Are you ever going to get a boyfriend? It's not like you're not pretty."

I bristled, growing irritated. "Mind your business," I snapped.

She huffed out a sigh. "You can't go to college still a virgin," she insisted. "You won't know what you're doing when the time comes."

"Who needs to know what they're doing when the time comes?" Sophie asked, finally joining us.

I breathed a sigh of relief that she was back.

"Ana," Kate confirmed. "Whenever she decides to lose her virginity."

Sophie sat next to me, passing me a can of Coke.

"Leave her alone Kate," she said, backing me up. "It's her body and her decisions.'

I threw her a grateful smile and she gave me one back.

Sophie and I had met in seventh grade and had clicked instantly. She was kind and soft and loyal to a fault. It took Kate a while to warm to her; she had liked it when it was just the two of us but I loved Sophie and wasn't turning my back on her. Eventually, she'd come around but sometimes the tension between them was obvious.

Kate sighed, admitting defeat before sitting back up.

A car pulled up at that moment to the left, and a big group of boys stumbled out. I spotted Elliot straight away, the biggest and tallest of the group shouting and hollering.

"Does he always have to make a show of himself?" Sophie asked distastefully.

Kate shot her a look. "It's not his fault he's so charismatic," she defended.

Sophie and I both glanced at one another, stifling a giggle.

Kate stood, waving to Elliot who noticed her and started to walk in our direction. Most of the group stayed behind, but two of them followed him. One was a blonde guy, tall and lanky. The other was just half an inch shy of Elliot's height, with unruly light brown golden hair that hit the sun in all the right ways. His eyes were a beautiful green and he was well defined and athletic. He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen, and I looked away quickly before he could catch me staring.

"That's Christian," Kate said, who had obviously been watching me. "Elliot's little brother."

"He doesn't look so little to me," Sophie mused, her too entranced by him.

"He's a dick," Kate confirmed. "Everybody else says so too."

They were almost in front of us now and she sauntered toward Elliot who wrapped her in a tight hug. Christian looked at Sophie and then at me and I looked away quickly, fumbling with my hair as self-consciousness enveloped me like a cascade. I became hyper aware of everything, from my hair and to my lack lustre outfit of jeans and a t shirt.

He nodded his head at us in acknowledgment and I gave him a small smile. He then said something to Elliot before walking away, back down to water with the blonde kid following in his footsteps.

I barely took my eyes of him all night long.