A/N: I'm so glad you all are enjoying the story. I came up with some of this story after looking through some old photos. You see, from about the age of 4 until I was 21, I spent my 2 1/2 month summer vacation camping with my family. I'm talking tents, pit toilets, solar showers, no electricity camping. I hate camping now. Lol.
Anyway, thanks to Heather for her awesome beta skills, and thank you all so much for reading and/or reviewing.
"Dad, do you have the laundry detergent?" I hollered from where I stood near the back of the jeep. I'd spent the past few minutes looking for it, and I couldn't find the detergent anywhere.
"It's in the backseat!" he hollered back.
"Ready?" he asked a few minutes later after he'd loaded up his laundry bag in the back.
"Yes!" I practically shouted. I loved taking trips into town, and today was no different.
It was a short drive from the campground to Bar Harbor, and we found a small laundromat located on the main street. Once our clothes were in the washer, we wandered down the street and stopped in at a small Mom and Pop general store. I bought some junk food and a handful of postcards while Dad stocked up on fishing bait.
We had a great day, eating greasy unhealthy food and watching a zombie movie starring Brad Pitt. It had been pretty good, and even Dad had enjoyed it.
"Let's order a pizza to take back, yeah?" Dad asked.
I nodded in agreement.
By the time we got back to camp, I was starving, and I couldn't wait to dive into the large pepperoni and sausage pizza that was calling my name.
As we ate dinner, we talked about the movie, and I remembered that the Cullens had invited us over for the next day.
"Oh, Mrs. Cullen invited us over tomorrow night for dinner," I told him, and he was cool with it just like I knew he would be.
After a long day of relaxing and doing pretty much nothing, I was somehow exhausted, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.
I slept soundly, and I woke up early, feeling great. I made my way to the showers and was dressed and back at camp within thirty minutes. Not long after, Alice showed up with both brothers.
"We're going on a hike. Want to go with?" she asked me, and I looked over at Dad. He told me to go for it and that he was going to go out fishing for a bit.
So, I grabbed my backpack, tossed some granola bars and water in it, and the three of us made our way to the trailhead down the road.
Emmett and Alice kept a running commentary going on, but Edward didn't say a word, so I fell back to walk beside him.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, and he gave me a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm getting there. Being dumped, especially over the phone, sort of sucks," he said quietly, and I nodded.
"Were you guys together for long?"
"Since freshman year, and I never thought we'd break up. Stupid, huh?" he asked, giving me a wry smile.
I shrugged. "I guess if you believe it's the right person, then why would you question your relationship. My parents were like that. They were together since they were fifteen, and they got married right after graduation. They had me not long after that, but then, things fell apart."
"That sucks. So, you live with your dad?"
I shook my head as I ducked underneath a low hanging branch.
"Nope. I live with my mom, but it was okay at first because we only lived a few blocks from my dad, but when I was ten, she moved us to Florida. Now, I only see my dad during the summer and the occasional holiday."
"That's got to be hard. I can't imagine what I'd do if my parents split up."
"I've gotten used to it," I told him with a shrug.
As we hiked up a rather large hill, Edward and I slowly got to know one another and at one point, I saw Alice look back at us, and she had a silly little smile on her face. I didn't even want to know what she was thinking.
"Let's take a break," Alice suggested about three miles in, and we all eagerly agreed.
The weather was starting to get really warm, so we stopped near a small stream and settled down on some large rocks for a bit. We ate a snack, drank some water, and got wet when Emmett splashed all of us with water.
"I can't believe you're leaving in two weeks," I told Alice as we sprawled out on our backs on a couple of giant boulders.
"I know, but we'll keep in touch. I promise."
"Oh, I'm not worried. I am going to be lonely, though."
She rolled over on to her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows.
"Maybe some super-hot guy will show up, and you can get a little summer romance going."
I let out a laugh because I'd already found a super-hot guy. This super-hot guy also just happened to be her brother and was also in the middle of a post breakup melancholy mood.
"Or, you could just smooch on my brother because I know you like him," she said in a whisper with a wink.
I gaped at her before looking over at Edward as he laughed with Emmett.
"I can't do that," I told her.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because," I sputtered out, unable to come up with a good reason. "Besides, he just got dumped, and I don't want to be some kind of rebound."
"I get it," she told me, "but I think he likes you, too. He's always looking at you when you aren't looking."
I rolled my eyes in her direction and did my best to ignore the little butterflies in my stomach at the thought of Edward liking me. It's not like anything could come of it anyway. He lived in Washington, and I lived in Florida.
"Hey, Bella," Edward said as he walked up to where I sat, reading by the fire.
Ever since our hike last week, Edward had been coming around more often, and we'd discovered that we had a lot in common. We both loved reading and watching crime shows, and we both had an obsession with zombie movies.
"What's up, Edward?" I asked, setting my book aside.
"Not much," he said, shrugging his shoulder with his hands shoved in his pockets. "I was just going for a walk and wondered if you wanted to go with with me?"
"Sure," I told him. "Just let me tell my dad."
It was a little after nine, and Dad had crawled into his tent a few minutes before. I poked my head into his tent and told him I was taking a short walk with Edward.
"Be safe," he told me, "Keep your cell on, and don't stay out too late."
I told him I would, and then I walked to where Edward was waiting.
"Where to?" I asked, looking up at him and admiring his strong jaw line. He'd only grown more attractive to me since we'd started talking.
"We could hit up the beach or just walk through the campground."
"Either one works for me," I told him, and we began walking.
"Are you ready to get back home?" I asked him as we made our way onto the beach.
"Yes and no," he told me. "I'm ready to sleep in my own bed, but I'm not ready deal with Tanya."
"Good ole small town life, huh?"
He barked out a laugh. "Right! Did I mention that she lives across the street from me? So, it's kind of inevitable that I'll run into her."
I winced at his words. It was always rough seeing your ex around the hallways at school, but to live across from them, especially when you still harbored feelings, had to be rough.
"Well, hopefully it won't be awful. I mean, I wouldn't go out of my way to hang out with her or anything."
"Yeah, I'll probably just avoid her for a while although I'd like a real reason as to why she broke up with me. All she said was it's not working out, and that's a bullshit excuse."
We walked in silence for a few minutes before I sat down on the sandy shore, and Edward joined me. I had a burning question that I really wanted ask him, even though it wasn't my business, and I found myself blurting out the question.
"Do you love her?"
He gazed at the water for a few seconds before answering me.
"I thought I did, but now, I'm not so sure. I'm not as upset as I thought I would be. I thought for sure I'd be devastated, and I felt like crap for a couple of days after she broke up with me, but I don't feel like my world has ended or anything."
"So, how about you?" he asked me. "Have you ever been in love?"
I shook my head. "Nope, not yet, but there's plenty of time. I'm not even seventeen yet."
"That's right. Your birthday's in September, right?"
I nodded.
We sat on the beach, talking and laughing for hours, and I found myself completely charmed by him. There was something so sweet and almost old-fashioned about Edward.
A little after eleven, he walked me back to my campsite and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek after saying goodnight.
I watched as he walked away, unable to keep myself from touching the spot on my cheek that he'd kissed. The boy was too cute for his own good.
A week later, I was saying a teary goodbye to him along with Alice and Emmett. Hell, I'd never been so attached to three people before, and I almost lost it when Edward wrapped me up in a hug. I was going to be so bored without them around, but we all promised to stay in touch.
"You gonna be okay, Bells?" Dad asked as we watched the Cullens drive away.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not like we're living in the 80's and our only means of communication is written letters."
Dad let out a laugh before nudging my shoulder.
"Amazing isn't it how people managed to stay in touch without all this technology?"
"Yeah, yeah," I said with a grin. Dad hated texting, emailing, and Skyping. He was practically a technophobe.
The summer passed by quicker than I would have liked, but the Cullen siblings and I were true to our word. We kept in touch constantly, and I sent them postcards from the various states that Dad and I drove through on our way home.
Hey, Edward!
Greetings from I-90 near Albany. I got you this lovely little postcard from a local gas station and thought I'd send it along. Hope all is well.
~Bella
Edward!
Howdy from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Dad and I had a blast visiting the place, and I had to get you a postcard. I'll talk to you soon.
~Bella
Hey Edward!
I'm saying hello from St. Louis! Dad and I didn't get to explore the city, but I did manage to snag you a postcard from the hotel foyer.
~Bella
Hi Edward!
We finally made it back to Phoenix, and I felt I should send you a postcard from here as well. I was going to send you one when we went through Oklahoma, but honestly, there wasn't much to see there. I'll call you soon.
~Bella
A couple of days after Dad and I arrived back in Phoenix, I got a call from an extremely excited Alice. Her boyfriend, Jasper, and his family were going to Orlando for a week right before school started, and she was hoping that she could see me. I let her know that Jacksonville was a couple hours away from Orlando, but that I'd love to see her again.
After we were done talking, I got an alert on my phone telling me I had a new email. I opened it up and saw that Edward had written me.
Hi Bella,
Thanks for all the postcards! I loved getting them, and I'm a bit jealous that you got to see all those places. School starts in 2 weeks, and I'm not really looking forward to it. Not to mention that Tanya came over the other day with her new boyfriend in tow. Sure didn't take her long, did it? Anyway, give me a call when you can.
Edward
P.S. I'm pretty sure that Alice will be calling you soon.
Grinning, I wrote him back, letting him know that Alice had called and that I'd be leaving for Florida in two days. I wasn't really looking forward to going home, but I always felt that way when I left my dad's. When I was with my dad, I was allowed to be a kid, but when I was with my mother, I was the adult, and one of these days, I was going to snap. I just knew it.
Two days later, I was hugging my dad goodbye and boarding the plane to Jacksonville. It wasn't a very long flight, but I had to wait half an hour for my mother to show up. She'd completely forgotten that I was arriving even though I'd texted her the day before to remind her.
"Oh, Bella! I'm so glad you're home!" she said, hugging me and rocking us back and forth.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her she couldn't be that glad to see me since she'd forgotten to pick me up, but I didn't. I hugged her back and told her I was glad to be home as well.
On the drive home, she told me that she'd been dating some guy named Phil for the past couple of months and that she was madly in love with him. I did my best not to roll my eyes. My mother was always falling "madly in love" with someone, and I'm sure this time would be no different.
"Anyway, Phil's coming over for dinner. I can't wait for you to meet him," she told me before going on about how she'd met Phil and how wonderful he was.
I'd reserve judgment until I met him for myself. I just hoped he wasn't as much of a douche as the last guy was.
As soon as we were home, I carried my bags upstairs and began to unpack. It didn't take long, and once I was done, I went online to order some picture frames. I always kept a few postcards from my trips, and I liked to frame them and hang them up on my bedroom walls.
"Bella! Can you come down and help me?" Mom hollered, and I held back a sigh before making my way downstairs.
Mom was in the kitchen, attempting to cook some strange looking concoction involving peaches, peas, and tuna. It was almost enough to make me gag.
"Um….what are you making?" I asked as I stared at the mixture in the bowl with disdain.
"Oh, Phil loves tuna casserole, but I thought I'd change it up a bit."
"Okay," I drawled out, knowing that I wouldn't be eating it. Nobody wanted to eat tuna mixed with peaches and peas.
An hour later, the casserole, the dinner rolls, and the salad were all set on the table, and the doorbell had just rung. I could hear my mom greeting Phil, and I watched as a man a few years younger than my mom walked in.
"Bella, this is Phil Dwyer. Phil, this is my daughter, Bella."
I shook his hand and told him it was nice to meet him.
Dinner wasn't as awkward as I'd thought it would be, although I almost choked to death on the casserole. Phil, on the other hand, devoured it, and I had to give him props for that because it made my mom beam, especially when he told her he loved it.
I learned over dinner that Phil was baseball coach at the local community college as well as a former baseball player himself. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy, and he really seemed to like my mom. I hoped that was the case because I didn't want to have to go through more "break-up drama."
After dinner was over, I told Phil it was nice to meet him and excused myself, making my way up to my bedroom.
I changed into my pajamas and sent a quick text to Edward to let him know that I'd arrived home safely and told him about my mom and her new boyfriend. We texted back and forth for a while before sleep finally caught up with me.
a/n: As always, let me know what you thought.