I watched, entranced, as he rose from the water. My brain was on slow motion, and I felt slightly delirious. No one ever affected me this way. No one.

But Adonis held me spellbound as he entered the world of the dry. He was wet, long, and delicious. And I'm sure that applied to every part of him.

Wearing a Speedo jammer, his body was covered only from mid-waist to knees, and I stared shamelessly at his lean chest. The fabric devotedly clung to all the sinew and muscle of his thighs.

When he removed his goggles and swimming cap, I sighed like a fool. Somewhere in the background, Alice giggled.

Then the guy looked up and waved.

If I were an iota less confident, I would have begun hyperventilating. But I was wearing my favorite bikini, so I managed to continue converting oxygen to carbon dioxide. Somewhat normally.

"Get a grip, Bella," Alice said. "He's waving to me not you."

What the fuck?

"That's my brother."

Oh, okay then. Wait, what the fuck?

"I should have mentioned I have a twin too, huh? We're fraternal though, so we look really different. Let's go before he comes over. We don't necessarily want him remembering that Jasper has a twin sister."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the locker rooms, but I put my weight on my feet and resisted the spiky-haired liar.

"We are best friends," I managed to say when she turned to look at me. "Yet you forgot to tell me you have a fuckhot twin brother? You deserve to be drawn and quartered. Or taken to the time of the French Revolution and turned in as an aristocrat! Maybe I should—."

"Miss?" a voice asked from behind me.

"—kick you so hard that your genitals are disfigured—."

"Hello, brother!" Alice squeaked.

I froze. The world was going down in flames. I was sure of it.

Meanwhile, Alice nudged me in an effort to turn my body around towards the angel in a swimsuit. But I refused to thaw. My pride was melting as it was.

"Alice, is this Bella?" he asked. The voice was like water: comforting, familiar, and beautiful.

I tensed even further.

Alice smiled at me. Then the little traitor pulled me around with her surprising, pixy-derived strength.

"Yeah, Edward, this is my best friend Bella," she said. "She visited me for years in the orphanage, remember?"

Reluctantly, I lifted my heavy head. Edward was tall, even taller than my 5'8''. Longer than six feet, he had the stunningly chiseled face of a marble sculpture, and his porcelain skin was so flawless I wondered if he could be human. His drenched, dark bangs clung to his forehead before he raked a hand through his hair to tame the messy locks. While wet, I could not determine their natural color. Water poured from his body as he stood there panting slightly from exertion. My eyes longed to rake over his entire body, to drink in this man before me like I never thought I could desire to know any man, but his face and its expression had me immobilized. As I gazed into his gemlike green eyes, I was thrust into memories of the past.

Year ago, my middle school class was taken on a trip to a small orphanage. It was the Friday before Mother's Day, and the school meant to spark appreciation in students for their parents. I entered a small room filled with children of various ages and glanced around. The walls were a dreary gray, and the ugly toys on the floor lay broken and disregarded. My head hurt as the depressing atmosphere sucked me into its numbing vortex of nothingness.

But in the midst of all that grey, a girl in the corner was bouncing up and down in her seat while singing softly.

Loss hung like the ropes of the gallows from her stunning blue eyes, but the ephemeral joy in her upturned lips was a stark contrast to her thinness and misery.

I stared at her for a minute until she looked my way. Her smile grew until it bloomed into a grin. Thinking that this weird field trip might actually turn out fun, I took a step towards her, but a little boy reached her first.

She looked at him and bowed her head in an oddly submissive gesture. He was clearly younger than she was, but she allowed him to pull her ponytail viciously. Silent tears trailed down her gaunt cheeks, and I darted across the room. I pulled the little boy away and took her frail, shuddering body into my arms. I would later learn that this girl named Alice was my age, but she looked years younger and alarmingly smaller.

As I rocked her, I noticed a different young boy to my left. The dim light in the room flickered, and I blinked. His arm was lifted as if reaching out to the girl in my arms. His hair was dirty and mussed, and I thought he must have been on his way to help too. Jade green eyes locked with mine, and I remember staring into their depths for a full minute before I could tear my gaze away.

Now, I realized I was staring right back into them. But they were deeper. More intense.

Something in my core shook, and my lower lip trembled.

"I remember, Alice," he said, looking straight at me. A corner of his mouth crooked upwards, and he quickly pressed his soft, full lips to my burning forehead.

My eyes widened, and my breathing sped. His sweet greeting should feel awkward or abrupt for a first meeting, but I tingled all over as he just smiled warmly and turned to Alice. At that point, the blush on my body must have covered me like the paint on a fire hydrant. I felt like he had branded an "X" on my forehead, and the mark would never fade.

He hugged Alice lightly in her swimsuit, careful not to soak her, and then Edward left without another word. His V-shaped body flexed as he headed towards the water. At the edge, he stepped back before diving into the deep end. He entered the water so perfectly that he barely disturbed it. Scarcely any waves or bubbles marked the spot in the pool where his feet disappeared last. I could not have described my feelings in that moment if anyone bothered to ask. My heart stuttered, my lips shivered, and my eyelids fluttered ridiculously rapidly. The staccato beat of my pulse was like the background music to the climactic scene of a movie.

In a daze, I simply turned to Alice, who had cocked her head expectantly. The glint in her eyes told me she knew what I was about to say.

I inhaled deeply. "Okay, I'm in."

We told Jasper of my decision when we arrived home, and he gave me a bone-crushing hug in thanks. I wanted to say this was all for him. And mostly it was. But I think Adonis also gave me another great incentive to attend Coldridge.

That night, I lay atop my covers in the summer heat. Sweat glistened on my body, but the energy I was expending was of my mind alone as I thought about the benefits attached to living under the guise of Jasper Swan.

First, I could make Jasper's dream come true.

Second, I could see Alice all throughout the year and not only during holidays when she was allowed to visit home.

Third, I could join a swim team to make my own dreams come as close to true as possible.

Fourth, I could stare at Edward Masen—no, Edward Cullen—in class and maybe in the water where he was clearly in his element.

That last benefit had me drooling in my sleep. I woke up with a tingling between my legs and an odd, clenching feeling somewhere deep in my stomach. I couldn't remember my dream too well, but there had definitely been water, tongue, and skin. Lots of skin.

"Jasper, have you ever met Alice's twin?" I asked later in the day.

"Edward?" he asked, glancing away from his game of Wii to search my face for a brief moment.

I nodded, and he said, "I've seen him around, but he's never made a real effort to get to know me. I think he wants to stay out of Alice's love life." He shrugged, and I left him to his game.

A few hours later, I returned to Jasper's room. Alice sat on his bed with her hands and arms folded. Jasper was sprawled across the floor with one hand in the air, the other clutched to his chest, and his red-rimmed eyes blurry with tears. "Please," he whimpered. "Don't go! You are my better half."

Sobs racked his body, and with what seemed a tremendous effort, he sat up. "Please!" he cried. "Oh, Lord, please, no!"

"So," I said. "Rehearsal looks good."

Jasper turned his head and smiled. "Thanks, I thought so too." With that, he rose to his feet and pulled a bunch of tissues from a box. "You know, I think the lines suck, but the emotion is good."

Alice nodded. "Yeah," she said. "There's a line in there about chinchilla droppings that makes me think the scriptwriter was on crack."

Jasper nodded solemnly. "Very true."

I chuckled and sat on the bed. I put my head in Alice's lap, and we watched Jasper practice his lines for a summer drama club production.

At one point, he lifted his arms to the heavens. "Oh, Beatrice, I am nothing without your sweet pussy."

"Now I know you did not just slip that in there for fun!" Alice screeched.

I rolled my eyes.

Jasper handed over the screenplay, and we both glanced at the words to which my twin pointed. "Well, fuck me if that isn't an actual line," Alice said in surprise.

"Gladly," Jasper breathed.

I threw up in my mouth a little.

Alice smiled and said, "The character is referring to a pussycat, Bella. Do you believe this garbage?"

"I've seen worse," I replied. I eyed Jasper and we both burst into song,

"Oh, my darling, kiss my hairy ass.
Oh, my darling, you're such a spaz.
When we walk to the zoo,
All I can think is, 'Fuck you, too!'"

Alice fell to the floor in hysterics and rolled around uncontrollably as Jasper and I basked in the glory of our double ridiculousness.

The weeks passed too quickly, and Alice and Jasper began preparing for two departures. Jasper slyly packed clothing and necessities for Madrid. Alice began shopping for men's clothes, chest bandages, and reliable wigs. She played with thickening my eyebrows and even stuffed various articles into my pants.

"You lack a cock, remember?" she said pertly.

Firmly, I decided not to shorten my hair. It was only mid-back length anyway, and I thought I would lose touch with myself if I truly cut it for an entire year. Acting like a boy and feeling like a boy were two entirely different things. I accepted the former, but the latter would have to fuck itself because I am a girl, danggit!

We practiced my swagger, my voice, and my hand gestures. Apparently putting a hand on my hip when I felt upset was too girly. I was forbidden from carrying anything in the crook of my elbow, and Jasper threatened to flay me alive if I ever used the word "sweetheart" when conversing with a male friend.

"Death," he said. "Do you understand? Slow, painful, and torturously lingering death."

Finally, it was the day we had all dreaded. Jasper, Alice, and I stood outside the airport. Charlie thought I was flying to Arizona, but it was Jasper whose plane would be ascending into the blue sky today.

After Jasper finished sucking Alice's face, though I have to admit their teary farewell was sweet, I hugged his long frame. We were the same height, so I hunched a bit and laid my head on his chest. I looked up into his warm, fraternal eyes.

"Go kick some ass, dear brother," I whispered solemnly. "If you forget me when you're famous, I will make a living selling embarrassing pictures of you to the tabloids."

He smiled down at me, and his chuckle vibrated in his chest. "Okay, but blow my cover and I will eat you alive."

I growled and he hugged me tighter.

When he left, Alice and I clutched each other tightly for a few minutes. Stumbling slightly, we walked slowly towards our waiting taxi. We returned home for our luggage and Alice's car.

We were headed to Coldridge.

A/N: Review if you want to motivate me!