All Characters and familiar story line belong to E.L. James!
My Thanks to MrsCTGrey for agreeing to be my Beta on this story. Making the changes and will update soon! Thank you all for reading!
Prologue
The Grey's were the first to move into our neighborhood, Mr. Carrick and Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey. They have three children that they adopted. Elliot is the oldest, then there is Christian, and last but not least their little sister, Mia who has way too much energy for anybody. She's pretty, and she is always such a princess. She is fun to be around. She loves to bake, and her mom helps her, or they have a housekeeper who helps. They live in the biggest house in our neighborhood. When they have get-togethers and barbeques, we invite everyone, and the pool is fantastic.
The Kavanagh's moved in next. Katherine or Kate as we call her, she is the same age as Mia and me. She has an older brother, and he is about the same age as Elliot. His name is Ethan. Their dad is Eamon Kavanagh, but they don't have a mom because she died three years ago from cancer.
My name is Anastasia Rose Steele.
My biological father died the day after I was born in a military accident. My mom is Carla Mae Wilkes Adams, depending on what day it will determine her last name. My mom's husband number two was Raymond Dale Steele. He adopted me after my mom married him. He is who I consider my dad. He has always treated me as if I were his own. He was a military man also and was friends with my father. So, Carla married him. We moved to Bellevue not long after the Kavanagh's. We have a nice small House that Carla hates because she wanted something bigger like the Greys.
The Grey's house was custom built. I guess you can do that if one parent is a pediatrician and the other is a big-time lawyer. Another thing my mother didn't like was that we were across the street and not on the water. Ray told her to get a job, and maybe they could afford to have bigger and better things. As it was Ray worked his regular job on the docks and came home to work half the night making furniture.
Kate, Mia, Christian, Elliot, Ethan and I became quick friends. We all went to the same school; a private school where I got in on a scholarship. Dr. Grace would always get me new uniforms to wear. My mom would have been happy to get them at the Salvation Army or Goodwill, nothing wrong with that right? I didn't mind the used uniforms at all, but the few new ones Dr. Grace would get weren't as faded and dull. Dr. Grace is one of the best people I have ever met.
When we moved into our little house, it was July. I met Kate; first, she lived directly across the street from me, and it was really by accident. Mom sent me to go and check the mail and Kate's dad did the same with her. We said hi, and we introduced each other. We found that we were the same age and the same grade in school. She asked me to come over to play, so I went to ask my mom. Since she was busy being a mom, she said go.
Kate's older brother Ethan liked to tease her and play tricks so when I was there that included me. It was fun though, and the house is huge. I have never been in a house so big and beautiful. I thought people from these types of houses were stuck up and snooty. Kate is neither. She told me about her neighbors; they lived too far for me to think of as neighbors. You could build ten houses the size of Kate's between them. They are the Greys. So, this is how I got the scoop on the neighborhood.
My dad, Ray, is the best dad ever. We didn't have a swimming pool, but he made our back yard into a super playland for my friends and me. He built playhouses, general store, post office, a library for me, and everyone liked coming over to play in Steeletown. He made pathways with mulch instead of roads and sidewalks.
When we moved in, I was eight, so were Kate and Mia. Christian was 10, and Elliot and Ethan were 12. They would play with us to appease our parents or us, whatever reason, they made it fun. My town was finished by my birthday which is September 10. My mom and Ray invited the Greys and Kavanaugh's over for a birthday bash bar-b-que. That is when I met the Grey's, except I already met Mia at school. Mia, Kate and I were all in the same class at school and were already becoming fast friends. Elliot was always the comedian, and Mia was, well, Mia. That left Christian, who was very quiet and stayed to himself for most of the day.
My little town had some houses but not enough for everyone to have their own so Kate decided that she and Elliot, much to his surprise, would share one house. She put Ethan with Mia in another, and then the last house was my house, it was a little bigger because my dad made it special for me, so she said I should share with Christian. I thought Christian was the sweetest boy I had ever met. The boys were all nice, and I think they enjoyed playing with us in my little town.
We would spend hours playing in my town. Sometimes Dr. Grace would send a picnic basket over, and we would all have 'dinner' at Mia and Ethan's house. Sometimes the Kavanaugh's housekeeper would send a basket, and we would go to Kate and Elliot's. Then there were the days my mom, and I would make a 'dinner,' and they would come to mine and Christian's house. We had so much fun for several years in my backyard town.
As Elliot and Ethan got older, they didn't have time to come over. They had friends to hang out with. We still had Christian, but he wouldn't play as often, and once he was 15, he stopped altogether. He was always in trouble; drinking and fighting all the time. My dad didn't like him coming around anymore at all. He would come to gatherings with all the families, but other than that we didn't see him.
It was around that time that Dr. Grace's new friend started coming to all the gatherings. She was pretty, but I didn't like her, she gave me a bizarre feeling. Something just wasn't right with her, but I couldn't figure out what. She would always watch Elliot, Ethan, and Christian, but what did I know I was only 11, 12, and 13 at the time. Mrs. Elena Lincoln and her husband Richard were, to me and my girlfriends at least, creepy. Like I said, what do we know? Right?
This is how it all began, and we have all gone different ways. Kate and I are still together, we are roommates and are closer than ever. We are in Portland going to college at WSU. Kate is studying to be a journalist as she wants to be a big-time reporter. Me, well, I am an English Lit major. I love books, and I want to be an editor in a publishing house one day. Mia is in Paris studying to become a chef. Ethan is at Stanford; he wants to be a Psychiatrist. Elliott finished college and has started his own construction company, Grey Construction. Christian dropped out of Harvard to start his own business which he named Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.
As far as our parents, they are all still doing their thing. Kate's dad never remarried, and my mom left Ray and me. She married someone else and finally settled down for several years now with husband number four, Bob Adams. He is ten years older than mom, but I think he seems to be good for her.
My story doesn't end there. That was just a review of my beginning. I am about to graduate in only a few months. Kate's dad bought a condo for us to share when we start our lives after college. We will be moving after graduation to the Pike Place Market district in Seattle not far from Christian's home. I hope I will be able to see more of him because I have missed him over the years. We will see, he doesn't seem to have time for anything but GEH.