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A/N Unbeta'ed is unbeta'ed so please overlook my mistakes.

Age 11

BPOV

New York was such a crowded city. It was so different from what I was used to. I hated my dad for making this decision to move here. It took so long for me to make some friends in Phoenix, and when I finally found someone I thought related well to me, I had to move on. It was as though the only friends I could have had to be miles away – in Forks.

The sun in beginning to soak into my small bedroom but it was still a little chilly. I didn't want to know if this was going to be a good summer. I was either going to stay here, with Dad, and Mum could come over, or we were, hopefully, going to visit Edward again. I missed his face, his easy laughter, and his humor that was so rare in this populous city. I can smell my dad cooking breakfast. It was such a distinct smell – like something was burning.

"Dad!" I yelled. "You're burning the bacon, or eggs, or whatever it is you're cooking."

I could hear the chair scraping on the wooden floor as he scurried to the kitchen to fix his breakfast before he sets the apartment on fire.

My dad was a businessman. He works in an office every day with air conditioner. He would get up early every morning, and get home late at night. It was a complete different schedule than when we were in Phoenix and Forks. Being chief police in a small town meant an easy life. There were no big cases, no murders, no schemes – nothing but rain.

Living with my dad only made me wonder why he didn't get married again, or why he didn't try dating again. Surely, it would be lonely to live alone when I move out.

I went to a private school in the city. I had everything but friends. I was the social outcast. By living in Phoenix, according to the students here, meant that you were a natural cheerleader, a natural blonde, and a naturally tanned person. Which I wasn't. I was the exact opposite.

My skin was pale, and my hair was a dark shade of brown. I wasn't clumsy or anything, but playing volleyball was awful for me – I preferred football or the sports guys play. The only person who ever kept me company was Angela. She was like me, studious, and whatever it entailed.

I flickered off my night lamp and grabbed the granola bar off the table.

"Bye, Dad. Have a good day at work," I mumbled on my way out.

He grunted as a response.

I checked the mailbox for any letters directed to me and there it was: Edward's response.

I flicked it open in excitement.

Hey Bella

How are you?

School's awesome. I got into the football team and I'm stoked. It's AMAZING. Emmett got in, too.

Too bad it's almost the holidays, but I guess the good thing is that you're going to be coming over. You will, right?

I hope so.

I get bored sometimes.

From your best friend, Edward

No one would ever have any idea how happy I was seeing how Edward signed off his letters to me. He would always end with 'your best friend'. I couldn't believe I was so lucky to have a friend like him.

I knew he would get into some sport teams. He was amazingly agile, and fast, like me. I remembered back two years ago, when we were on the beach, playing with water guns. We had so much fun. A thrill went down my spine as I thought about what could possibly happen this year. I missed him last year, because his parents took him to Paris for the summer.

I kept by Angela for the whole day. There wasn't gym, which for I was grateful but Kate and Charlotte were the most horrible girls I have yet to encounter.

I have never sworn in my life, and hearing them say stuff like 'dumb bitch' or 'stupid shit' really hit me somewhere close to heart.

"How was your day, Bells?" Dad asked, trying to making conversation during dinner.

I smiled at him. "It was great, dad."

"Has Edward said anything yet?"

I grinned big this time. "He asked me to visit him! We can go, right?"

Charlie chuckled. "Sure thing, baby girl."

I let out a whoop and leaned across the small table to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you so much!"

Dinner was much more enjoyable. After I finished it, I quickly wrote back to Edward.

Hey Edward

I'm great. School's not, though.

I miss you heaps. Dad just told me that we will go to your place (or La Push again!) for the summer!

Can't wait.

This summer is going to be awesome.

From your best friend, Bella

The letter was short but it explained a lot. I was going to Forks! This summer! And Edward was going to be there with me!

I suddenly couldn't contain my excitement.

…

My stomach was clenched with excitement and fear. I knew it was just Edward I was seeing, and it didn't seem like a great deal to me, but I wondered if he changed. At all. People do all the time. I just wondered if he did.

"Bella!"

The door opened and there Edward stood. He was definitely taller than me now. His hair was wild and messy, like he had just rolled out of bed but I liked it. It suited him.

"I missed you so much!" He said, pulling me in for a hug.

"Me, too," I laughed.

I put my hands on his shoulders to get a good look at him, my eyes searching for any changes.

"You're taller," I managed to say. I was still mesmerized by his green eyes. They haven't changed, but it seemed that they got brighter every time I saw them.

"I know." He grinned big. "Hey, shorty."

"I'm not short," I defended, crossing my arms. "You're just unusually tall."

Edward smirked at me and it was beginning to irritate me. I could tell he was going to make fun of me again. "Or maybe you're just unusually short."

You guessed right, I thought irritably.

"Whatever." It was best to shrug it off.

Don't let it get to you, Bella. He's Edward, remember? You're best friend?

"Come on in, then."

I raised my eyebrows. "What? I thought we were going to the beach again."

He smiled at me. "We are. But I forgot to pack. Just let me get my stuff. You're going to help me, okay? I'm not good at packing stuff."

I huffed. "So, just because I'm a girl it means that I usually know how to do all this stuff?"

"No, but I could really use a hand right now, you know?" His eyes were begging me to understand.

"Okay."

"We're going to rent the beach house next to yours this year," he continued, while packing.

I squealed in excitement. "Really? That's awesome!"

He laughed loudly. "I know! And Alice is coming over too. So is Emmett."

"And Rose?" I asked, with sick anticipation.

"Nope! She's not coming."

"Awesome!" I exclaimed and I meant it. I didn't really like her. She was more or less like the girls back at school.

"So how's the big city?" Edward asked.

I shrugged. "It's not too bad. I don't have many friends, though."

"Don't worry, Bella," he said, helping me dump his clothes into the backseat of the car. "One day, you'll find someone who wants to be friends with you."

"Really?" I asked, my heart not taking it in.

"Positive. And Bella," he added with a smile on his face. "They're just stupid. Everyone who hates you are stupid."

I smiled back.

If only that were the case.

I stared at the car, not knowing what to do.

"What are you waiting for?" Edward asked, hopping into the car. "You're going to walk there?"

I laughed and shook my head. "I guess not."

I jumped into the car and waved hi to Carlisle and Esme.

"Where's Charlie?" Carlisle asked.

"Already at the beach, fishing."

I loved fishing with Charlie, not that I get much chances in New York to do that.

Carlisle chuckled and turned to look at me. "I guess he doesn't have much opportunity to do that in the big city."

I grinned. "Nope. It's easier to fish cars than anything there."

"Are you settling down well?" Esme asked, her voice concerned.

"It's okay over there. It's just so big," I said exasperatedly, wishing that Esme would understand. "I could get lost anywhere."

Esme, Carlisle and Edward laughed.

"Not funny," I grumbled. "It really is that big."

"Can we go there, Mom?" Edward asked. "I want to see where Bella lives."

"I'll ask Charlie if we can make an arrangement," Esme decided.

"Maybe this summer we'll be fishing cars, not whiting," Carlisle mused.

"Really?" Edward asked, with a hopeful expression on his face. "Really?"

"That would be so awesome!" I exclaimed.

"I want to meet your friends," Edward added.

My heart sank. "I don't have many," I answered sadly. "No one like hanging out with me."

Edward's eyes widened in shock. "What? But you're nice and smart! Who doesn't want to hang out with you?"

I laughed bitterly. "You'd be surprised."

"Don't worry," Edward said confidently, trying to make me happier. "I'll find you some."

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Carlisle said softly. "It's only because you're a new girl and everyone's just curious about you."

I wished that were the case. What if Edward came to New York with me and saw that my only friend was Angela. One friend only, and the rest were enemies? Or at the least, only classmates?

"Daddy!" I yelled as I ran over to him. "Did you catch any fish?"

"Well hi, Bells! Didn't expect to see you so early. What's up?" Dad chuckled as I grabbed the fishing rod from his hand.

"Edward wants to visit New York," I said excitedly. "Can he come?"

"Aw, looks like someone doesn't seem so excited about the beach anymore," he teased me.

I rolled my eyes and leaned into him. "Please, Daddy?"

"Of course, baby girl. How about we spend a few days here, and then head back up?"

That plan seemed great. "Thanks, Dad!"

I handed him back the fishing rod and skipped back to Edward, who was waiting for the answer patiently on the sandy beach.

"What did he say? I can come?" he asked, standing up.

"Yes!" I squealed. "You're coming with us to New York!"

"Ugh, isn't that fantastic," a snotty voice behind us muttered.

I turned my head around and saw a tall girl with strawberry blonde hair. Her face was so beautiful it almost hurt to look. The striking blue eyes reminded me of the flashy cars in the city.

"Hi, Tanya," Edward said. "Are you okay?"

"Fine thanks," she said flippantly. "I just want to ask you if you were busy, because I want to go see a movie with someone."

Was this really how to ask a guy out? I wondered. No, it couldn't be. They were only friends. Edward would have told me.

"I'm kind of busy right now," Edward laughed nervously, running his hand through his wild bronze hair. "This is Bella."

"Hi," I said as warmly as I could.

Tanya didn't pass me a glance and I lowered my head. What did I do now? I asked my feet.

"Say hi to Bella, Tanya," Edward said sharply. "She's my best friend so you better be nice to her."

"Hi," Tanya said, her eyes piercing me. I felt like I was being x-rayed or something. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"So, this is Edward's best friend, huh?" Tanya huffed. "Doesn't matter. After all, you're dating me, right Eddie?"

Both me and Edward's mouth dropped in astonishment.

"What?" I whispered. Edward never mentioned this to me. Was this a secret or something?"

"It's nothing, Bella. I'm with no one. I would've told you," he said softly.

"Wow," Tanya said sarcastically. "So you tell her everything do you? Did you tell her that I was your first kiss, too?"

I was completely shocked by this new information.

"No," I gulped. "No, he never mentioned that."

Edward's face was unreadable.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything about the girls."

"It's okay," I said, even though my heart felt like it was cracking. I didn't know why I was feeling this way. I knew from the beginning that I wasn't good enough for him, but it still hurt to see him being closer to someone else.

"I'm the stupid head now," he groaned. "See, Tanya? Now my best friend won't even talk to me."

"I'm talking to you," I said. "I just…I just spaced out for a few minutes."

"Oh."

The silence was so uncomfortable. Tanya was looking very pleased with herself. She was now looking between me and Edward with a smug smile on her face. Edward, on the other hand, was grimacing, staring into nowhere.

"So who wants to go rafting?" I asked, hopeful to break the ice.

"Rafting?" Edward raised his eyebrows. "Really? You know how to do that?"

I nodded happily.

"Awesome!" Edward yelled, fist pumping into the air. "Come on! Time to build a raft."

"We're going to sail into the ocean," I sang.

I saw Tanya staring at me like I had grown two heads. "What?" I asked her, with a sly smile on my face. "Too scared are you?"

"The water is disgusting."

"Naw," I answered her. "It's fun."

It was good when it was just me and Edward. We found some logs in the forest and dragged them into the sand.

"What about strings?" Edward asked.

"Oh," I said, then I thought of an idea. "Hang on, just wait here."

I ran to my dad who was still sitting on the dock.

"Dad!" I called out. "Do you have any rope?"

Dad grabbed the bucket full of knotted ropes and threw it to me. I caught it in my hand, pleased that I could and Tanya probably couldn't.

"Edward, look what Dad gave me!"

We tied the logs together with rope, and knotted it to the side. Edward helped me push the heavy raft onto the shore.

"It's floating!" he said in surprise.

"I know, right?" I laughed, surprised also. It was only my first attempt and it was a success. Maybe the few days here were going to be enjoyable after all.

"That's awesome,Bella!"

"Wanna try?" I asked him, pointing to the floating raft.

Edward smiled nervously. "It might not hold my weight."

I laughed. Edward was a thin but toned boy – he surely didn't weigh much. "Just try."

I watched in amazement as he lifted himself lightly onto the planks of wood. His hands gripped the edge tightly as he slowly managed to put both his legs onto the raft.

"Just your body, now," I whispered to him, hoping not to break his concentration.

"I can't do it," he spoke through his gritted teeth. "Not working."

"You can do it, Edward!" I attempted to cheer.

It didn't work, but I could see him with renewed determination.

"Edward!" I called out, surprised. "You're on! You got on!"

"You're turn now!" he said, diving into the water.

Oh crap.

"C'mon, Bella," he said, smiling softly. "You can do it. You saw me going on."

I nodded. "I know, but…"

Edward covered my mouth, forcing me to be silent. "No buts. Get on!"

It was a lot more difficult than how I imagined. The raft was wobbly and unstable; I was almost certain I was going to fall off. I got my body onto the wooden planks first, leaving my legs hanging in the water. I was thankful the raft didn't get further out into the sea incase my dad saw me. He would kill me. For a chief police, even this was considered dangerous.

"You're on, now!" Edward said, bringing me back to present. "Try standing up!"

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "You didn't do that."

"Just try."

I rolled my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Here it goes…

The next thing I knew, I was completely soaked.

"Told you it didn't work," I looked at Edward, accusing him with my eyes.

He wasn't paying attention to me at all. Edward was laughing himself silly, lying on the sand. I grumbled and waddled back to shore.

"That was funny, B," he said, controlling himself when he saw my pissed off face. He was holding his tummy, which was probably aching right now.

"Whatever, E," I said. "It wasn't you anyway."

"We could try again tomorrow. And I could go first," he offered.

I shrugged, not in the mood to talk to him.

"Or," he added with a smile. Okay, it was really beginning to tick me off. "Or, we could swim to New York."

"You don't swim to New York, Edward," I groaned and rolled my eyes at him. Didn't he know this sort of stuff? "You catch a plane there. How can someone swim on land?"

Edward smiled. "Okay, B. You get a point for that one."

"One hundred points," I bargained.

"Sure," he agreed easily. "But I'd still have more points than you if that were the case."

Four more days to go…just four more days to go.

…

Four days later

We were all set to go.

We were at Sea-Tac airport ready to depart. Edward was squealing excitedly next to me. He had never been to a big city, never mind New York.

Dad's phone rang and to my surprise, he handed the phone to me.

"Hello?" I said nervously into the phone.

"Bella! It's me."

Oh. My mom. I felt guilty for not thinking about her as often as I should.

"Where are you now?" she asked. "Are you in Forks? In La Push? In New York? In – "

"Mom," I interrupted her loudly. "I'm fine, and I'm currently on the way to New York with Edward and his family."

"I'm coming then," she said confidently. I wondered vaguely if it was a snap decision.

"Okay," I said.

"Bye, honey. Take care."

"Love you lots, mom," I muttered. "Miss you heaps."

"Miss you, too," she whispered before hanging up.

"Mom's coming to visit," I told my dad.

"That's great. More company, the better."

Esme was ecstatic that she was going to see her best friend again, so much that she immediately called up my mom to check up on her again.

Edward snorted as we got into our seats on the plane. "Never seen my mother like this."

"It is a little weird," I agreed.

"I'm so excited, too!" Edward said. "Dad said we could visit the Statue of Liberty and – "

"It's not New York City, though," I reminded him. "We're going to Syracuse."

Edward's face fell. "What's that."

"It's in New York, but it's not that interesting," I told him.

"Oh."

"But of course we can go visit the Statue of Liberty!" I said, feeling sorry for Edward, who was looking like Christmas has been cancelled. "It's not far away. We could take the ferry and get close with it."

"Really?" Edward asked, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "We can actually touch it?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"You're right," Edward decided. "This is really going to be the best holiday ever."

…

I had never been to the Statue of Liberty National Monument, but it sure didn't disappoint.

"Just move a little to the left, sweetheart," Renee said to Edward. She was trying to capture a picture of all of us together.

"This is awesome," Edward whispered in my ear. "This is so awesome. I'm going to show all my friends when I get back to school."

"Me, too," I responded.

"Angela's a nice girl," Edward said after a while.

I nodded, trying to focus on Esme and Renee who were taking turns snapping pictures of us together.

I didn't really want to think about the past few days. They weren't horrible – but it left a somehow bitter taste in my memory when I recalled them.

Flashback

"This is Angela," I introduced to Edward.

"Hi," she smiled kindly at him and I was relieved that he did it back to her, too. "I'm Angela, Bella's friend from school."

"Oh wow," said a nasally voice behind the three of us.

I turned around and it was Kate and Irina. Why did I choose to meet up with Ang in the shopping centre again?

Crap.

"This is Edward," I said to the two girls. "He's my best friend from Forks."

"Oh really?" Kate asked sarcastically. "Forks…as in, like Spoons?"

"Hey!" Edward said defensively and I groaned internally. This could be bad. This could be very bad. "Don't say that, and don't be mean to Bella. You know she doesn't deserve it."

"Looks like little Bella got herself a boyfriend," Irina smirked.

"He is not!" I argued hotly. How dare they say that to someone they didn't know at all?

"Don't worry, Bella," Angela said smoothly. "Just ignore them. They're idiots."

"Exactly, Bella," Edward said. "Everything will be fine."

End Flashback

That was the last time I ever went into that place again.

Once I knew what kind of people went there, I would always avoid it like a plague.

"Irina and Kate aren't very nice, though," Edward mused. "They're a little like Rose and Tanya."

I nodded. "I know. I was just thinking about that."

"They're gonna realize you're an awesome friend to hang out with one day."

"Hopefully," I said, fidgeting with my shirt hem.

"Done!" Esme said happily. "Who's ready for the last picnic?"

"I'm not," Edward grumbled to his mother. "Why does this holiday have to be so short?"

"You know we can't stay long with Bella. She has her friends and you're going to be taking up all the time."

"It's fine," I injected quickly to Esme. "Edward can stay longer." Please, please let him stay longer. Forever would be even better.

"Bella, you've got other friends, too. You mustn't be with Edward all the time. He doesn't live here after all."

"Yeah, I know," I replied glumly.

"Still best friends, B?" Edward asked with a small smile on his face.

"Forever and ever and ever," I said, reaching out to hug him.

I wished I lived closer to him, and that I could see him every day. I wished that that divorce never happened and that my parents were still happy in love together. And…and finally, I wished so badly that I was Edward's first kiss, and that I was somehow worthy of him.

Wow! They're growing up fast, aren't they?

Next update will be not longer than two weeks. I'm sorry for this notice but this story is now going to be beta'ed by PTB so that there will be no more stupid mistakes and everything. This should only be for this week. After the next chapter, updates should return to normal.

Thanks to all who read and reviewed.