Disclaimer: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. I don't own Edward either *sigh*

When I got off the plane, I couldn't help but smile. This was going to be my first time to be away from my parents. And here I was, not just in any place, I was in New York. I wanted to shout 'Hello, New York!' but I stopped myself. I giggled and walked towards the baggage claim area. It was an adventure that I had been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. This was the first time I ever set foot out of the rainy state of Washington and the thought of actually living here for the next four college years of my life was exhilarating. However, I was a bit worried what it would be like to live here without my parents, especially my mother, Renee. I had always been with her and the thought of being away from my mother made me sad.

I grew up in a dark place called Forks, Washington, where it felt like we had more rain than any part of the state. My dad, Charlie, was Forks' Chief of Police, and my mom stayed at home. I was an only child. Alice Brandon, my maternal cousin, was the closest person I have as a sister.

Alice lived in the wonderful city of San Francisco, California. Her mom and my mom were sisters. They were both from Washington, but when Aunt Cynthia got married, she and her husband moved to San Francisco. Alice, also an only child and I were the same age so it was no doubt that we grew up like sisters, only separated by another state, Oregon. Almost every summer, one of us spent the summer in each other's home. It was not until junior in high school that we had stopped the summer vacation since both of us took college level classes over the summer for college credentials. The summer classes paid off for me because I was admitted with full scholarship to NYU. Alice applied and got admitted to Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

It took days of convincing before dad agreed to let me go to NYU. Mom helped me present my case; she told him that this was a good opportunity for me to explore the outside world. Dad wanted me to go to University of Washington in Seattle, wherein I also got accepted, but the thought of being on my own weighed more. Besides, I got a full scholarship with NYU; it would be such a waste to pass up on it.

"Bella!" I heard my name called out from the crowd of the people shuffling around the airport. One would think that my short pixie-like cousin would be hard to spot among the crowd, but with her hands flailing was hard to miss. I quickly rolled my luggage to where she was standing.

"Alice!" I shrieked when she was in full view. We hugged each other for a long time; a lot of people in the waiting area were looking at us, but both of us didn't really care so much. "It's been a long time," I said to her when we both loosened our arms around each other.

"That's because you never came down to visit," she pouted.

"We were both busy, remember?" I said. "You're lucky Mom convinced Dad to let me go. He was ready to handcuff me in the car if Mom wasn't there to set him right." My mom cried when I was leaving, but we both knew that I needed to be independent and this was my chance to learn how to fly, so to speak.

"Uncle Charlie is so funny," Alice chimed as she grabbed my hand carry. "You pack so light," she chuckled. Alice always had at least four suitcases every time she visited Forks even though she was only going to stay for a few weeks.

"I don't have a lot of clothes," I said as I rolled my luggage after her.

"Well, we're going to be New Yorkers now so you need to 'polish up' a bit," Alice said and I rolled my eyes at her. "Not too much, Bella, don't worry. I'm glad that you listened to me in terms of your outer wear. It's just the make up I'm a bit worried about with you." Every summer, Alice played Bella-Barbie until I got tired of her and started to do it myself. I became a bit choosy of the clothes I wore, but I still hadn't gotten used to putting make up. The most I ever put was a little powder, eyeliner and lip gloss. Apparently, it wasn't enough. "I won't have to do all the work. Rosalie will do it with me," she continued.

"Rosalie? As in your new roommate Rosalie?" I asked. Alice met Rosalie during her orientation in Fashion Institute of Technology. Alice applied for Fashion Design, while Rosalie applied for Advertising and Marketing Communications. "She already moved in?"

"Yup, yesterday. Don't worry, I already assigned the rooms before she moved in so it's not like you were left out. I was the one who found the apartment anyway," Alice answered. Alice had everything planned out even before she got accepted to FIT. She said that she had a premonition that we would be both accepted in the schools in New York so she started looking for apartment early this year. She scored a three bedroom flat and it worked out perfect since she met Rosalie and we wouldn't need to find another roommate. "I'll have the biggest bedroom, of course, with the attached bathroom. You two will share the other bathroom, but don't worry; I got you the bigger bedroom." Uncle Corvin, Alice's dad, was loaded so the rent of the flat was paid for. All we need to worry about were utilities and food.

"What is Rosalie like?" I asked as we rode the taxi to our new place.

"You know Heidi Klum?" she asked and I nodded. After being dragged to Victoria Secret over and over to buy matching underwear although I didn't see any use of it, I started to familiarize myself with their models. "Kinda like that, but a bit toned down." I gulped. "Oh, don't worry, she's very nice. I wouldn't have asked her to move in with us if we're not going to get along," Alice assured me and I believed her.

--

Alice helped me put my stuff in the drawers. She inspected everything in my luggage and I was glad that she didn't think anything should be thrown away. I was still traumatized when she first chucked almost half of my closet one summer. After that, I learned my lesson.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"She's on a date. She met this guy yesterday while she was waiting for the bus," Alice answered. Our apartment was conveniently located near a Metro stop that would take us both to NYU and FIT.

"She went on a date with a guy she met in a bus stop?" I asked. "That was an unlikely place to get picked up on."

"That's what I said but she said he looked decent," Alice answered. "She said he goes to NYU, too. Who knows, maybe you'll even meet him there."

"I doubt it. I'm taking English Literature and NYU is a big school," I answered as I closed all the drawers. I flopped on my bed for the next four years, at least. Alice got the place fully furnished; she just bought new beddings.

Alice sat at the edge of my bed. "I'm calling dibs," she said and I arched my eyebrow at her. "There's this really cute blond who lives across the street." She grabbed my hand and we went by the window. She pointed to the building directly in front of ours. "He just moved in the day before yesterday. I told Rosalie that he's off-limits since I saw him first."

"Alice, you moved in less than a week ago and you already scoped out the place for hotties?" I laughed at her. Alice was a walking guy-radar; she could easily spot a cute guy from afar. She was the first to point out that my next door neighbor back in Forks was hot.

--

Jacob Black. He was the son of Billy, my dad's best friend and our neighbor back in Forks. He was my best friend, next to Alice, of course. We grew up together, played together, got in trouble together and went to school together. He became my defender and I was his. We were inseparable until we started high school. A lot of things changed with Jacob physically. They said that boys developed slower than girls, but when he did, boy oh boy, did he develop. He grew tall, more than six feet, and he was muscular. I guessed his Quileute blood came into play with that.

When we were in high school, we would still go to school together, but he would go with his own friends and I would go with mine. I figured it would be different when we started high school anyway because it was the time that peer pressure became really strong. I was just glad that the peer pressure didn't affect any of us in a bad way. Jacob joined the football team while I was in Literature club. Total opposites, as Alice described it. But regardless of our differences, we still found some time to hang out during lunch time.

A lot of girls ogled over Jacob which I didn't understand why at first. He was a guy, yes, but he was still Jacob. It wasn't until the Spring Dance in sophomore year that I saw what the other girls and Alice did, he was hot.

"You clean up well," I teased him when he picked me up for the dance. It was a girl's choice dance and I asked him right away so that I wouldn't be left out. I was never into dances, but since my other best friend, Angela, begged me to go, I asked the guy who I knew wouldn't turn me down.

"You don't look so bad yourself," he chuckled and led me to his car. At sixteen, Jacob got his license right away. It helped since his Billy suffered the consequence of diabetes and was now on a wheelchair. His mother died of childbirth complication and now he was the one taking Billy around town.

After I got the pictures from that dance, I sent the email to Alice. She called me right away and started blabbing about how blind I was for not seeing what a catch Jacob was. I looked at our pictures and couldn't help but smile. Alice was right. Jacob was a catch. I looked pale against his russet skin, but we looked good together. That's when I developed a little crush on Jacob.

--

"He's right there," Alice squealed. I looked at what she was pointing at and saw a tall blond guy standing on the balcony across the street.

"He's cute alright," I said, "and probably rich too. They got an apartment with a balcony."

"It only has two bedrooms," Alice said without looking at me.

"And you know this how?"

"I asked when I saw him at Starbucks yesterday," she answered and I pinched her. "Ow! What? It was an innocent question!"

"You are unbelievable. I can't believe you already made your move," I laughed while she rubbed her arm that I pinched.

"I'm all first moves but that's it, you know that," Alice said and looked at the guy across the street. "If he's interested, he'll ask."

"Did he at least ask for your number or you freely gave it to him?" I asked her.

"I never give out my number," she shrieked. I knew she hated it when I accused her of giving away her number to guys. "And I didn't give him a chance to ask. After I got my Chai Latte, I left. Let him work a little."

"You're crazy," I said.

"I have a good feeling about Jasper and me," she said.

"You always have a good feeling about everything," I exhaled and sat down on the sofa.

"I have a good feeling about his roommate and you," she said and I jumped up to see who she was referring to. My mouth fell open when I saw Adonis standing beside 'Jasper.' Adonis has bronze hair and was just as tall as Jasper but not as lanky. He was wearing a slightly fitted shirt and I didn't need to be near him to notice that his body was built. I saw Alice move but I didn't realize what she was doing until she shouted, "Hey Jasper!" Damn pixie opened the window. I jumped out of the view.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked.

"We are going to meet the man of your dreams," she said and pulled me out of the apartment before I could protest.

--

A/N: What do you think so far? I am going more into detail about Jacob and Adonis, who is obviously Edward.