Disclaimer: Author of this fic does not own Twilight
Author Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited, and liked the story so far.
Chapter One : Summertime Magic
It's the first day of summer break.
Today is the 5th of June. One would expect golden rays of light to set the tone for long days at the beach or water park, but nope, not here in Forks. We've always had to improvise when it came to having fun during the summer because it never really feels like summer here.
The clouds are out. They are rolling aimlessly but not giving much impression of a threat. The air is crisp, cool, but not cold. We're all at Jasper and Rosalie's crib, chopping it up in their backyard. It's our usual crew and a few other kids from our high school. We're waiting out the day here until the bonfire down at The Reservation begins later tonight.
This is typical summer shit for us and I rest in a familiar state of contentedness as I grip Rosalie's ass from below the film of bubbles the jacuzzi creates around us. I give her right cheek a firm squeeze and a girlish giggle cascades from between her ruby lips. She swats my hand away and turns to face me. Her ashen, blue eyes pulse with attraction.
"You feel like summertime..." She smirks and sings to the Childish Gambino lyrics that pour from the built-in speakers around the patio. The sound of her soft, feminine voice is nearly lost beneath the volume of the music. She moves closer to me, sliding her legs over both of mine. "You took this heart of mine…" I swivel one of my arms around her waist and pull her flush against my lap, holding her there. The sound of her voice makes me dizzier than the drink in my styrofoam cup. "You'll be my valentine. In the summer, in the summer…"
I'm just about to lean forward and steal a kiss when a forceful smack lands across the back of my head.
"Alright, dude." Jazz says, sending me a half-way serious look of disapproval. He's standing at the edge of the jacuzzi, directly behind the wall I have decided to rest my back against. "You're not about to feel up my fucking sister like I'm not five feet away at the grill."
A few of our friends and even Rosalie erupts with laughter. I must admit that my friendship with Jasper has always been a source of humor for those around to witness our daily interactions. Most people can't really understand how we are friends. We're nothing alike and majority of the time we can't even stand each other. I believe it was a relationship built out of necessity, not because we truly wanted to be each other's friends.
When I reply, the tone of my voice is laconic and my words are empty. "And you're gonna let the food burn while you're over here worrying about what the fuck I'm doing."
I understand Jasper's qualms about me dating his twin. She's a good girl and he wants her to stay that way. I glance at Rosalie and she's looking at Jasper with an expression any older brother would be captured by. A soft breeze sends her pale, blonde hair blowing around her face like a halo. Within her hidden expression, a warmth that emanates from her being encases the features of her face. It's a warmth I was not born with, or taught how to produce. I'm terrified of not loving her the right way and taking that warmth away from her.
"Be nice, Jasper." She instructs. The sound of her voice is lilting and it makes him soften. "It's the 1st day of summer break."
"You're right, Rosie. It's best we get along for now." He agrees with her before cackling loudly, giving me a lighthearted nudge in the shoulder. "Me and this fool are bound to have blacked each other's eyes by time we start back school."
I'm sure Jasper's words revert us all back to the legendary brawl between me and him last summer. One day, for whatever reason, we just got tired of cutting slick remarks back and forth. We were going blow for blow, and nobody stepped in to break us apart. They know it's different with me and Jazz. Rosalie was on the sideline crying for us both to quit, but everybody else just let us fight it out.
"Don't remind me." She rolls her eyes and begins to move around me so she can climb out of the jacuzzi.
I'm not ignorant to nor am I bothered by the frenzy of eyes that seek out her immaculate physique. She's perfect from head to toe and always has been. Since childhood, Rosalie's been labeled the prettiest girl in all the rooms she's stepped into. She doesn't have to be modest about it because being beautiful has gotten Rosalie special treatment from almost every person she encounters. There's a certain degree of power she knows she holds over others and she utilizes it but doesn't abuse it.
Even my eyes sweep over her statuesque frame, but Jasper throws an over-sized bathing towel around her shoulders before my gaze can permeate.
"Look, there's my guy!" He exclaims, causing me to glance over my shoulder as he and Rosalie meander towards the door that leads back into the kitchen.
Emmett is just coming out to the patio. His dimpled cheeks sit high into his smile and he holds a fifth of D'usse high above his head. His eyes are dark with mischief, which lets me know things are about to get lit. Em is the life of the party. Being a talented quarterback in this podunk town is enough to warrant him fame. He's used to being a star and everyone hoots in excitement as he follows Jasper with the bottle over to the grill.
Things are different with me and Emmett as well. The two of us are definitely friends because we have to be, but it works because we sort of just vibe without stepping on each other's toes.
I get out of the jacuzzi and head towards the grill area, catching the end of Emmett's sentence "...Jacob Black is coming in right behind me with his new shorty." His dark brown eyes brighten upon acknowledgement of me. "What's up, Eddie-boy?"
Rosalie giggles because she knows how much I hate people making a nickname out of my name. She receives the first plate of food from the grill, Jasper allowing her first pick of meats and veggies. I smirk at how naturally she accepts this treatment. My girl is a princess.
"What's the word, Em?" I dap him up and tilt my head toward the bottle. "You wanna crack the seal?"
Just as he's about to respond, Jacob Black rushes up to us and throws Em into a playful headlock. This commences a tumultuous wrestling match between the giants, widening the space of our congregation to prevent being rammed into.
Jasper, Rosalie, and I end up safely to the side next to a girl we've never seen before. I put two and two together and conclude that she's the girl Emmett mentioned earlier. She's Jake's new chick.
"Hello." Rosalie greets the girl nicely, sending her blue eyes on a search around this girl's face, judging her unfamiliar features.
The girl flutters long eyelashes in Rosalie's direction. They make her wide, brown eyes prominent and distinct. There's an awareness that crosses her face when she takes in how beautiful Rosalie is, but there's also a knowingness in her closed-lip grin that's acute to her own appeal.
I notice a dimple in her right cheek but none in the left. Her voice is soft but relaxed when she replies. "Hey, I'm Bella. I came here with Jacob."
Her eyes trail the patio until she finds Jake and she shakes her head, tucking a wavy strand of hair behind her bejeweled ears. A variety of different piercings follow the curve of her ear lobe and cartilage.
"I'm Rosalie and this is my brother Jasper."
Bella's wide browns are brought back upon Rosalie. She smiles again, still relaxed. "So, this is you guy's house?"
There's a hint of amazement in her tone. We can all tell that she doesn't come from money. She's different than us, like Jacob Black. That doesn't affect the way we regard her upon this first impression. To me at least, there are far more impressive things about a person than being born to rich parents.
Jasper nods his head, pushing his Raybans up from his eyes and onto his golden hair. "Yeah, we're just having a little barbeque … you want some food?"
"Wait." She flashes her gaze over to me. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"I'm Edward Cullen." I use my introduction as an excuse to get a closer look at her.
Bella is hella pretty. That's my initial judgment of her appearance. She has that calm, natural beauty that's not hidden but doesn't scream in your face to be noticed. Standing beside Rosalie's pale blonde hair and milky skin; the olive tones of her own complexion pop with warmth. Wherever she came from had sun and she liked to be in it. The clue is evident in her sun-streaked, mahogany tresses and hazel-specked eyes.
Her eyes linger for just a second too long to be inconspicuous and I can sense that she's found something particularly interesting about my greeting. Perhaps it's the fact that I would have been perfectly fine heading to the grill not having introduced myself at all. I don't have to always be seen. I like to just coast.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm new here to Washington." She says this as if we're not already aware. "Jacob said he would introduce me to some people but…"
"Jake and Em can't be in the same vicinity without horse playing and breaking at least one valuable item."
Bella laughs with bells in her throat. It makes Jazz and I also find humor in Rosalie's quip, even though we see this behavior from them all the time. The four of us head over to the grill and the rest of us get food to eat.
The gathering goes into full effect. After eating, everyone is in the pool or jacuzzi drinking and smoking, with the exception of Rosalie. She only participates in these types of events because of her affiliation to me and Jasper. This isn't her crowd, nor does she consider our friends good enough to be her friends.
I've always been aware that Rosalie views herself slightly better than the rest of us, even her twin. It isn't a vindictive thing, or something she even does consciously. A part of her truly believes that she's doing a good thing, that her presence in our lives is bound to rub off on us in a positive way. She thinks she can "fix" us. I've convinced myself that I shouldn't feel condensed into being someone's project … maybe she can fix us.
By time the sun is setting, we're all toasted and making carpooling arrangements for our drive to La Push. I'm not sure who I'm riding with but I'm leaving the Volvo at the Hale residence. I'm not going to chance driving under the influence. It doesn't make much sense to ride with people who are driving under the influence either but this shit isn't new to us.
Rosalie is upstairs in the shower. She's going to sit the bonfire out. Her summer internship begins tomorrow and she wants to be prepared to wake up early in the morning. I admire her ambition. I wish I had an ingrained eagerness about following my father's footsteps. Hers is a chemist; mine is a doctor. He's been prepping me to study medicine since he found out he was having a child that could carry on his legacy. But I don't have that same ambition to excel on a path that's been chosen for me.
Jazz leaves with his boo thing Maria, telling me that he will catch up to us at the bonfire. Him and his dark-haired counterpart are stark contrasts, day and night, as they disappear behind the tinted glass of Maria's matte, black Porsche.
That leaves me to ride with Emmett, Jacob, and Bella.
The three of them are at the end of the driveway waiting beside Emmett's jeep. I watch from the front porch as Emmett slides behind the wheel. Jacob climbs into the passenger seat, leaving the back to be occupied by myself and Bella. The slightest part of me wants to question the seating arrangements but I'm so fucking drunk the curiosity is gone before it settles.
"Hey."
I turn my head towards the feminine voice and Rosalie is standing in the doorway of the entrance to the house. She's changed into lounge wear, modeling a plain white short and crop-top set. It hugs her slim body flatteringly, fitting her like a second layer of skin. Her hair hangs bone straight even while damp, falling a few inches past her shoulders like frozen water.
My eyes take in her pretty, flat stomach. I'm not shy or modest with my gaze because her cock-blocking ass brother isn't here this time. I trail my attention to her thighs and then down the length of her long legs. My stomach coils with a deep, tortuous longing.
Rosalie smiles because she knows what she does to me. "Come here."
I follow her request without much coaxing, meeting her right at the screen door. She smells like fresh, citrus-scented soap. The aroma creates a tantalizing cloud above us. She is a storm that thunders and brews.
"Why don't you stay with me tonight? It's only the 1st day of summer break. There's going to be plenty of more bonfires to go to."
She looks at me with intrigue in her irises. Her voice is not demanding, nor is her delivery of words. Rosalie is always calm and kind. I don't react to what she's said. Instead, I watch her as she watches me.
My eyes drop to her lips and I lean forward to take a kiss from them. She responds with a controlled excitement, pressing her mouth against mine in that Rosalie-soft way. The coiling in my stomach constricts even tighter as she gasps at the feeling of my tongue gliding against her bottom lip.
She pulls away from me with heat in her cheeks. "Are you sure you don't want to stay in with me tonight?"
I grin at her and it feels lopsided on my face. My girl is such a tease. "It's only the 1st day of summer break. There's going to be plenty more nights for me to stay in with you."
"You're right. Have fun." She says, even as she pouts with disappointment. "Don't let my brother do anything stupid."
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I ask curiously, flipping her pout upside down into another brilliant smile.
Her eyes glance over my shoulders for the briefest of seconds. I know she's looking at Emmett's jeep. She doesn't say anything else about the bonfire, about the people who are waiting inside Emmett's jeep, or about summer.
"Of course, you can." She places her hand over my heart. "Hurry home."
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Song : Childish Gambino - Summertime Magic