All recognizable characters are property of Stephanie Meyer and the author makes no financial gains from using them. I just like to make them spoiled little rich kids.

This story will bounce back and forth between the present time (senior year) and the summer before. Please do not hesitate to PM me with any questions you may have.

Big thanks to Shepeppy for betaing this for me.

Check out the banner for this story made by the very talented MsRason (link can be found on my profile).

Physics dragged by on Thursday, the empty seat next to him claiming all of James' attention. He knew she was at school that day, he'd just seen her at lunch. How fun that had been to watch as J and Emmett sandwiched her between the two of them, constantly touching her and trying to make her laugh. Even Demetri had been completely focused on her, leaning halfway into Rosalie's lap as he tried to talk to Isabella. It hadn't escaped his attention that Emmett had been missing from weight training the period before as well.

James tried to tell himself that it was just a coincidence and that Emmett was probably under the bleachers with some sophomore, but he knew it wasn't true. Isabella's words from the day before echoed back to him full force.

"I think, if you asked them, they prefer me to you; especially Emmett," she'd said with a wicked gleam in her eye. He'd implied that he couldn't care less what she did with Emmett, but the truth of it was that he really didn't want her with any of them, Emmett included. He knew he was being a hypocrite, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Last night had been particularly difficult. He knew that Edward had seen right through him when he'd shown up, but that hadn't been what bothered him. When he'd seen Isabella, it put him in a completely different frame of mind. For just those few minutes as they'd traded flirtatious quips about music, everything was back to how it had been before he'd screwed it all up. She'd looked at him with that soft expression that only she had and her teasing voice made him smile in spite of himself. Then, like a switch had been flipped, it was gone. Ice took over her features as she implied that their first time had meant nothing and he'd basically agreed.

It was with an amused expression that James watched Emmett drop out of his Turbo alone on Friday morning, but he became extremely irritated when J opened up the passenger side door of the Viper and Isabella stepped out. Emmett watched J with obvious disdain as he made no attempt to leave Bella's side.

"There's our missing girl!" Alice squeaked as she bounced to Bella's side.

"I'm not missing, I'm right here," she said, smiling brightly.

"Well, inquiring minds want to know where you were yesterday," Alice replied.

"I was around," Bella said, but James didn't miss the sideways glance she shot at Emmett.

"You have to tell me!" Alice demanded.

"I think I'd rather not, thanks." James could tell by the look on Isabella's face that she knew exactly what she was doing to Alice. Everyone knew the girl couldn't stand to not be in the know about everything.

"You don't have to give her any details, but you do have to tell us the next time you'll be missing from gym," Tanya spoke up in an authoritative voice. "For Christ's sake, that frizzy Jenny girl wouldn't leave us alone since there were only three of us."

"I'm pretty sure I don't have to do anything," Bella responded as she moved to stand between Rosalie and Angela. Bella wasn't sure whether she'd had enough of Tanya's superior attitude, or if she was just finally comfortable enough with the whole group, but the tone in her voice was challenging and everyone had taken notice.

Angela slid her bookmark into place and shut the book she had been reading. She had been sitting cross legged on the hood of Edward's car when everyone arrived and had lost herself completely in the words on the pages and the feel of Edward's hand in her hair. It wasn't until she'd heard Tanya's commanding tone that she'd even taken notice of the others, and even then she had written it off as something of no importance. When she'd heard Bella's responding tone though, she knew this was something she should pay attention to.

"I think she was just saying that it would have been nice to have a little heads up," Kate spoke up before Tanya could respond. She'd quickly taken a look at the several shades of red Tanya's face was turning and decided to intervene before anything really got started.

"Oh, I told Rosalie," Bella informed her, throwing a sly glance at Rosalie.

"It must've slipped my mind." Rosalie shrugged as Tanya and Kate glared at her, neither catching the small smile shared between her and Bella. "It really was quite fun to watch Tanya try and ignore Jamie," she whispered to Bella.

"All the same," Tanya began, calling the attention back to her, "I really don't think it should be repeated."

A small smile played on the corners of Bella's lips and James wondered what she would say next. He knew Isabella well enough to know that she was never going to end up pinned under Tanya's thumb. He silently wished they were on better terms so that he could take more pleasure in this, but for now he'd settle for silent pride.

"If I need to miss class for something I feel like doing, I will." Bella's eyes burned a deep chocolate as she stared down Tanya, a look on her face daring to be challenged. "I'm sure there have been times when you've needed to skip out on class, right?" she asked in a completely patronizing tone. She didn't need to glance over at Edward so that Tanya would know what she meant; the message was clear enough.

It was Tanya's eyes, however, that did momentarily land on Edward. She knew exactly what Bella was getting at, and as she watched his long fingers wrap themselves around Angela's boring brown locks, she instantly wished it was her own golden ones instead. She hated that they only saw each other behind closed doors and that occasionally it was the janitor's door they were behind.

"Just let me know next time then?" Tanya spoke it as more of a question, her tone vastly less superior. Bella nodded once to her as Kate wound her arm through Tanya's and headed for the school.

Angela hadn't missed the way Tanya's eyes ran over Edward and while most would have expected her to get slightly jealous, if not extremely pissed, she couldn't help but feel smug. Yes, Tanya was doing things with Edward, a fact of which Angela had never been naive to. In part it bothered her that it was Tanya that Edward did these things with and not some nameless freshman or sophomore like the rest of the guys, but she would be damned if she was ever going to be the girl on her knees in the janitor's closet. Therefore, she put up with it as long as it suited her and currently it did. Because while Tanya may have been in Edward's bed, it was she who would be on his arm at the Hale Ball next Saturday and not Tanya.

"You ready to go to class?" Edward asked in a soft voice, his fingers trailing lightly over her cheek. She nodded once and smiled softly at him before allowing him to take her hand and lead her into school.

"I seriously thought her head was going to explode!" Angela heard Rosalie saying to Demetri as she took her seat behind her in first period. Edward slid into his seat behind Demetri before turning his body towards Angela once again. A small smile appeared on her lips every time he did this. It wasn't something big, but to her it was important. She was very into body language and the fact that Edward always angled himself towards her told her that she was his focus. She also found it quite amusing that even if he was talking to her, his body was never angled towards Tanya.

"I mean did you see how red her face was?" Rosalie's voice broke into Angela's head once again and she turned slightly towards her to listen to the conversation she was having with Demetri. Angela wasn't overtly fond of the girls that Edward hung out with, but Rosalie bothered her the least. She was always friendly and tried to include Angela, whereas Tanya and Kate preferred to ignore her if they could.

"I have to say that I was certainly surprised to see the new girl respond to her like that," Demetri replied with an amused look. "It's a rarity to see anyone other than you, Kate or Alice stand up to her." Angela had to agree; very few people stood up to Tanya Hale and it was always interesting to watch.

"Bella can hold her own," Rosalie replied with a proud smile. "I think she's going to fit in just fine around here."

"Did you really not tell Tanya that Bella would be gone yesterday?" Demetri asked, obviously surprised.

"I did," Rosalie confirmed. "It's always amusing to watch Tanya have to deal with someone she doesn't like when she isn't prepared for it."

"You know, part of me wishes that Kate hadn't spoke up when she did," Demetri said, looking off into space and rubbing his chin.

"Why?" Rosalie asked.

"It could've been incredibly hot to watch Tanya and Bella go at it." Demetri laughed as Rosalie smacked his chest. "I think the new girl's pretty tough. I'd take a note on her. What about you Cullen, you take that bet?" Demetri asked turning and facing Edward.

"You trying to make bets on things that'll never happen?" Edward asked, quirking an eyebrow at his friend. "You must be pretty desperate for Emmett's tonight."

"I have been looking forward to Emmett's for the last month," Demetri replied. "New girl will be there, right?" Demetri turned his attention back to Rosalie waiting for an answer.

"As far as I know," Rosalie replied. "We filled her in on everything over the summer."

"You're coming tonight, right?" Edward asked, turning his attention back to Angela.

Angela hesitated for a moment. The idea of going to Emmett's Friday night poker party slash, let's tell each other how beautiful and awesome we are, did not appeal to her in the slightest. In truth, there was a lecture being given at the local college tonight that she would prefer to attend, but she knew there was no way Edward would give up the traditional Friday night. Being coupled with Edward meant attending the same functions he did, it was expected that he would be there tonight and therefore, she was expected as well. She took a deep breath and reminded herself of all the people she would be introduced to next weekend at the Hale Ball. All of Mr. Cullen's friends and colleagues who had ties to all the important universities and all the important people. Angela's future was about the right connections and the perfect person to help her make those connections was Carlisle Cullen's youngest son.

"Where else would I be?" she finally responded to Edward with a small smile. He grinned back at her before turning his attention to the front of the room. Angela sighed internally before focusing her attention there as well.

Emmett stared at the board in front of him full of Italian words unable to take them in. He couldn't get Bella out of his head. He kept seeing the door of J's Viper opening and her stepping out.

Why did she show up with him this morning when she usually rode with Kate or Edward? Was there something going on between the two of them?

He'd noticed that J seemed somewhat interested in her, but he hadn't shown much more interest than he would any other pretty new face. Yeah, there was a bit more because she wasn't just some random girl, she was one of them, but still, J didn't seem to be overtly interested in her.

Maybe she was interested in him?

No, that didn't seem right. Bella normally gave J a bit of the cold shoulder and never sought out his attention.

Maybe she's just playing hard to get with him. Or maybe she's playing hard to get with me.

This thought agitated him more than the other. Emmett was quite used to girls falling into his lap. When it came to the vast majority of the girls in the school, all he had to do was flash them his perfectly dimpled smile and they'd follow him a round for a week at a minimum. Granted, some of the upper class girls didn't seek out his attention as much as the underclassmen, but any of them he'd wanted, he'd already had.

The girls in his circle were different though and he knew that going into perusing Bella. Kate had warned him that his usual means of getting what he wanted wouldn't work with Bella and that's why he'd taken her where he had yesterday. Emmett was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice when Demetri entered the classroom and took his seat next to him.

"Some craziness this morning, eh?" Demetri said.

"Yeah, it still doesn't make sense though," Emmett responded, still thinking about Bella showing up with J.

"You know how girls are." Demetri shrugged. "Always trying to show each other that they're better than everyone else. We've seen Tanya do it since we were kids. It is always interesting when someone doesn't back down to her though."

"Huh?" Emmett asked, turning his attention fully on Demetri. "What're you talking about?"

"Bella and Tanya this morning?" Demetri quirked an eyebrow at him as he looked on in confusion. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Emmett shook his head, trying to clear it of the conversation he'd been having with himself. "Any idea what all that was about though?" he asked, picking up on the last words Demetri had said.

"Dunno, maybe Bella just didn't want Tanya to think she could walk all over her," Demetri mused. "Where were you two yesterday anyways?"

"What makes you think I was anywhere with Bella yesterday?"

Demetri rolled his eyes at his friend. He never understood why any of them tried to keep things from each other; they all found out about everything one way or another, well, almost everything. "I have history seventh with Angela and Bella and when I noticed Bella wasn't there yesterday, I asked Angela where she was and she said Bella had taken off with you after lunch," Demetri explained. "And don't make up some dumb ass story; just tell me what's up."

Emmett thought about it to himself for a minute before replying. He could lie, but Demetri would see right through it and of the whole lot of them, Demetri was the most trustworthy. "You know that old theater over in Woodsborough?" he asked and Demetri nodded in confirmation. "They were showing The Seven Year Itch yesterday afternoon and I have it on good authority that Bella loves classic movies and is partial to Marilyn Monroe."

"Who isn't?" Demetri smirked. "So you bailed during the first week of school to take Bella to the movies?"

Emmett could tell by the tone in Demetri's voice what kind of questions were coming next and he knew he needed to change the topic fast. "Yeah, so what?" he responded casually. "I passed by the library on my way out and you and Angela were sitting pretty close."

"Angela?" Demetri sat back with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, there something going on there?" Emmett asked, pleased that his distraction seemed to have worked.

"With Angela? Edward's Angela? No." Demetri laughed lightly and shook his head.

"Ya'll seemed awfully close from where I was standing." Emmett gave him a knowing look as he tilted his head.

"Yeah, we normally sit together in study hall because we know each other and she can keep up a decent conversation because she reads something other than Vogue, but come on, really? You think I've got something going on with her?" Demetri asked, his tone unbelieving.

"Bella's into Dickens," Emmett replied casually.

Demetri almost did a double take at Emmett's words. Emmett never cared about what a girl read and that statement told him everything. "So, you and Bella are a thing, or what?" he asked, trying to further gauge his friend's feelings for the new girl.

"I don't know, maybe," Emmett replied his tone annoyed with the continued thoughts of Bella arriving this morning with J.

"Well, she'll be there tonight, right?" Demetri reminded him.

Emmett wasn't sure he wanted to continue on this path of conversation and quickly found an excuse to change topics. "You think they know that Alice has a website where she grades their sexual performances?" Emmett asked, nodding to the four soccer players in the front right corner of the room. The guys had been openly staring at Emmett and Demetri and quickly looked away when Demetri turned to look at them and then back to Emmett.

"I doubt it." Demetri chuckled softly. The teacher shot him and Emmett a look before continuing on with his lesson.

I doubt the majority of them would care though, he thought smugly to himself.

July 1st

James glanced at Isabella out of the corner of his eye as he sped out into open water. She had on a deep blue one piece bathing suit that may as well have been a bikini because there was only a strip of material in the center connecting the top to the bottom. She sat deep in the seat with her legs stretched out in front of her slightly hanging over the edge of the boat. The water bounced up onto her legs making them glisten in the sunlight. Her hair blew out behind her making her look carefree and he smiled knowing that he was giving this to her.

"It's so quiet out here," she said, looking over at him.

"One of the few benefits of coming out before the rush," he acknowledged.

"But not the only one," she said, smiling at him.

"No, not the only one," he agreed, returning her smile.

"Do you spend a lot of time on the boat?" she asked, returning her gaze to the water.

"Ever since I was a kid." His eyes lingered on the exposed skin of her stomach.

"It must be nice," she continued.

"I've always thought there was something freeing about being out in the open waters," he confided, realizing he'd never shared that thought with anyone.

"It is." She smiled at him once again. He continued to take in her form and felt the overwhelming need to just touch her.

"Have you ever driven a boat?" he asked, drawing her attention.

"No," she said with a slight laugh.

"Come here," he requested, offering his hand to her.

"What?" She turned towards him, bringing her legs back inside the boat. "No," she said as he motioned for her to take the wheel. "I'll crash into something!"

"I'll help you," he said as she finally took his hand.

He sat her in his lap and took in the coconut scent of her sun tan lotion. He placed one of her hands on the wheel and the other on the throttle.

"To go faster you push it up." He placed his hands over hers. "To go slower you bring it down." His breath blew across her shoulder and tickled her ear slightly. She shivered in pleasure and James resisted tracing his lips across her skin. "Then you just steer like you would normally," he explained, moving the wheel slightly. "Nothing too fast or jerky." Once her hands were settled in position, he removed his hands and let them wander up and down her arms.

"See," he said after a couple minutes, "you're driving the boat." She bit her lip but didn't turn around.

"I think this may have just been a ploy to get me onto your lap," she accused, not looking at him.

"Maybe." He chuckled. "It worked. Plus, how am I going to wake board if I have to drive the whole time?"

"You're going to make me do this by myself?" she cried hysterically.

"You'll be fine," he said in a soothing voice.

"What if I crash or turn to hard or something?" she panicked.

"Then I'll die," he said seriously. She turned and looked at him, her face contorted in fright. "I'm kidding! Today's the perfect day. The water is somewhat calm; there are hardly any other boaters…" He slid a finger under her chin turning her face to his. "I trust you." He looked deeply into her eyes and he realized that he really did.

"Okay," she stuttered.

James bobbed slightly in the water as he grabbed for the rope. The water was slightly cool but felt great under the heat of the sun.

"You sure about this?" Bella hollered to him from the driver's seat.

Silly girl, he thought as he positioned himself. "Yes, I'm sure. Just ease into the speed slowly and you'll be fine."

"It's not me I'm worried about," she mumbled to herself, turning forward. She moved the throttle slowly up trying to keep the boat on as straight of a path as she could while glancing back at James constantly.

"You're gonna have to increase the speed if you expect to get me out of the water, Duchess!" James hollered as he was dragged slowly through the water.

Bella pushed the throttle up and the boat jerked forward causing James to do a somersault over the top of the water. He regained his footing quickly as many summers at the beach had made him completely comfortable in the water and soon he was skimming across the surface. He let go of the bar with one hand and ran his fingers through his damp hair shaking the water out of his eyes. He smiled as he noticed Isabella's constant glances at him and decided to show off a bit.

"Make some turns or something so I can jump the wake!" he called to her.

He jumped several of the wakes doing twist and turns here and there knowing how sculpted his arms and chest looked. He knew he had a good body and used it to his advantage when it came to girls. Most of the time he didn't even have to pursue them, they just came to him. Something told him that Isabella was completely different than the girls at Cromwell Academy and for some reason he felt the urge to try harder when it came to her.

Catching the next wake he tried to flip himself over, a task he'd only accomplished three or four times, but instead of landing gracefully back on his feet, he landed face first into the water inhaling a bunch of salt water up his nose. He came to the surface coughing and trying to clear his sinus to hear Isabella's laughter filling the air. He looked up at her surprised that she wasn't concerned about him being hurt.

"That's what you get for showing off," she said as he swam back to the boat.

"So you were paying attention then?" he asked as he got closer.

"I had to make sure you weren't going to hit anything," she explained.

"Whatever you say, Duchess," he said, shaking his head as he climbed back in the boat.

"You're all wet," she stated as he dripped onto her.

"And salty," he said, leaning in to kiss her.

She pushed against him trying to get away, but her shove took him by surprise and he lost his footing falling off the back of the boat. Bella covered her mouth with her hands in shock as James popped back above the water.

"I am so sorry!" she apologized with wide eyes.

"Geez, all I wanted was a kiss," he said, pretending to be hurt. "And you go and push me in the water."

"I didn't mean to," she said with heartfelt honesty.

"Whatever," he said, trying to convince her he was angry.

"Here, let me help you," she said, offering out her hand. The look on her face was so remorseful he almost felt bad for tricking her. He gripped her hand and with one quick tug, she was in the water next to him.

She popped up next to him rubbing the water out of her eyes. "That was mean," she said, slapping him, but the grin on her face told him he wasn't in trouble.

"We're even now," he shrugged, pulling her into his arms. "Now, how about that kiss?" He moved in towards her lips.

"I don't know if you deserve one after that," she said, turning her head quickly so all he met with was her cheek.

"Come on," he said, his voice turning sweet. "You know you want to kiss me."

"What on earth would give you that impression?" she turned back, her eyes smoldering.

"Your whole body tells me you want to kiss me," he said, grazing her neck lightly with his lips.

"You're pretty full of yourself, you know that?" she asked before his lips finally met hers.

"Yes, I am," he admitted after they'd ended the kiss, "but we all are."

"I'm not," she said, taken aback as he climbed back into the boat before offering her his hand.

"No, not you." He tugged her back into the boat. "I meant my friends. It's like a prerequisite or something."

"So all your friends are this cocky?" She lifted an eyebrow as she settled back into her seat.

"The majority of them." He shrugged as he took off his life vest.

"Why?" she asked, turning and crossing her legs as she watched him pull in his board and the rope.

"Part of our upbringing I guess," he said. "We're given practically everything and have essentially no rules to follow, so we realize pretty early on that we are the 'gifted' ones so to speak."

"Gifted how?" she asked, intrigued.

"I'm not sure you want to know," he said honestly, looking back at her.

"I can take it," she said, mesmerized as he stood, the water making pictures on his skin as it reflected from the sun.

He took the seat next to Isabella and leaned back with his head resting in his hands. "We have money; the majority of us have stunning good looks." He smirked at her. "Myself included." Bella rolled her eyes at him and he continued. "We're shown that we pretty much have no one to answer to and that we can do as we please as long as we don't embarrass the family name, and then on top of all that, the majority of us have brains as well."

"Too bad you're excluded from that one," Bella joked.

"Touché." He waved a finger at her. "I have brains where they count," he acknowledged. "So you take all that in and honestly it just feels like the world is our playground and everything in it our playthings."

"I'm no ones toy," she stated seriously, staring at him.

"I didn't say you were," he corrected her; "I said that's how it seems to us. Really, the girls are worse than the guys."

"How so?" she asked, still intrigued even though she found herself slightly disgusted at some of the things he'd said.

"Seems like there's so much more backstabbing with girls than with guys, ya know?" he asked, pulling a bottle of water out of the cooler and taking a long drink. "One guy screws with another and you punch it out and then you're done."

It was Bella's turn to smirk. "That's because when girls fight, it's an art form."

"Whatever," he said, taking another swig.

"Tell me something they've done then," she said, taking the bottle out of his hands.

"Alright, Duchess, I'll play," he said, sitting up. "Sophomore year, Tanya was hooking up pretty frequently with my buddy, Emmett, and at some party he ends up getting blown by some senior. Now I can see why Tanya would get all pissy at this girl because she and Emmett were a thing or whatever at the time, but she doesn't say anything to the girl. Two weeks later Tanya was busted for hooking up with this random guy in the locker room! Doesn't make any sense!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"Oh sure it does," Bella said, smiling and nodding. "The girl that blew Emmett had a crush on the guy that Tanya hooked up with in the locker room," she explained as if it were as easy as two plus two.

"How do you figure that?" he asked, looking at her like she was nuts.

"I told you, art form," she said, raising her eyebrows. "She was pissed at that senior girl for taking something that belongs to her…"

"I doubt Emmett thinks he belongs to anyone," James interrupted her.

"Even so, she feels he does. So, she finds something important to the girl that has nothing to do with her and takes it essentially."

"That's way too complicated," he said, stealing the water back.

"Art," she said simply.

"Would've been easier if she'd just decked her," he said, shaking his head; "Hotter too." He laughed and Bella just shook her head.