Disclaimer: The Sisterhood and the Pants were not my creation, although I wish I'd been that brilliant!

Prologue:

When a pair of pants fits four very different girls, you know there's something a bit magical about them. I'd kept the Pants for part of this year, folded up in my dorm room closet. Carmen had gotten home one night to discover that her roommate had chosen to go gallivanting off in the Pants - our Pants - for a date. They were in the next post to Brown University, along with hugs and kisses from Carma.

But I digress - you might not have any idea who Carmen is. Or Tibby or Lena, for that matter. Our mothers took aerobics together before we were born, at Gilda's in Bethesda. The "Septembers" class. After we were all born a few months later, and had grown a bit, our mothers drifted (particularly after my own died), but we girls managed to hold on to each other. For eighteen - almost nineteen - years now.

It's hard to explain the four of us, metaphorically or literally. My thing is soccer - that's where I make my comparisons.

Lenny would be on defense, cautious and careful. Guarding not only others, but herself, and reluctant to kick the ball unless it was almost upon the goal. Reluctant to draw attention to herself. Always longing for something that wasn't there - in soccer, the ball, in life, something - someone - different.

As for Tibadee, she'd be goalie. Guarded, like Lena, but in a different way - not in a timid way, in a way that said she was scared of the world and scared of getting hurt. Scared to be out on the field, scared to show that she loved it. Scared to show love for fear that what she loved would be taken away from her.

Carmen would play midfield - comfortably average, but helping out whichever of her friends was in need, any time of day or night. Carma would disagree with me on that - she hasn't quite gotten out of her Good Carmen/Bad Carmen phase, despite the fact that she and Win have been dating for nearly a year. Still, he was good for her - flattery never hurt anyone, especially not Carmen.

And me, Bee... I'd be on offense, dashing across the field. Nothing - no one - gets in my way. I'm different about it now than I used to be, more mature, more understanding, but I still get what I want. Sometimes not fair, but in a lot of ways, it's just how things are for me. I have fun with life, I don't let it get me down. I did once, and when I think back on it, I was so un-Bee-like, it was depressing. I was depressed. But now I'm back, stronger than before, but also wiser, back on the field and letting my hair stream out behind me.

At least, that's how they had been since last year. I wondered what it would be like, coming home this summer... it wasn't as though we'd seen each other in school each day; email, letters and phones were all we had to stay in touch. Our friendships were too strong to break under that strain, but I worried. What if they had changed? What if I had?

So I kissed Eric a temporary goodbye, threw my suitcase and the Pants in my trunk, and headed home towards Bethesda, Maryland. Who knew what this summer would have in store, but me being the Bee I was, I'd make of it the best that I could.

A/N: Okay, let me know - should I write more? Yes, no?