Being a college student is hard enough. Pulling all-nighters, trying to make friends, and a never ending work load, but if you add the fact that you're studying in a foreign country, completely alone and barely able to afford enough food to live off, then you'll understand the situation I'm in right now.

Today is my first day at the University of Alaska, having moved from Coventry in England last week. I'm still not quite sure how I managed to convince my parents to let me leave, but I have a feeling that lying about how much financial support I'd be given by the university might have helped… But here I was, ready to start anew in a new country, hoping that for once people might actually like me for who I am.

I shook the negative thoughts of high school back in England out of my head, not wanting to taint the day before it even started, and turned to check my reflection in the mirror before I left my dorm.

I'm not vain, but I know that first impressions mean a lot, and I was taking every chance I could to fit in. My auburn hair fell just below my chest in waves, and my makeup was still looking okay. The red lipstick was the focus point, and I felt so much more confident because of it. I wasn't sure if I was too overdressed, in a black mini skirt, cream jumper and knee high boots, but there was no way of knowing until I saw everyone else who was in my classes. The thought of being surrounded by so many people for so long made my palms go clammy, and my stomach cramp up with anxiety, reminding me that I hadn't taken my anxiety medication for the day. Like it ever made any difference. I knew that the longer I stayed in my room worrying, the less likely I was to make it through the day, so I convinced myself to to grab my leather jacket and rucksack and leave. Not taking a chance to second guess myself.

The walk to campus was pleasant, the cool air of late summer Alaska refreshing, reminding me of home, and putting a bounce in my step. The building I would be spending the next four years in loomed over me, but I checked my watch and saw I still had 40 minutes until induction started, and instead decided to grab a cup of coffee and breathe in the fresh air some more before I was trapped inside for the next four hours.

The sun didn't shine today, it never seemed to here as I quickly found out, but it didn't bother me. It just means I don't have to worry about sunburn I guess. I took a huge gulp of the boiling coffee, realising too late that I had burnt my tongue, but I suddenly forgot the pain when my eyes landed on a small girl, tiny, even, with short, almost black hair, in a cropped pixie cut, her skin the same paper white as mine, and eyes that could only be described as… amber? As I took in what she was wearing I suddenly didn't feel overdressed, with her lilac mini dress, platform boots and black knee length coat. But it wasn't her outfit that entranced me, it was her almost ethereal beauty. I'd never seen anyone quite like her, her pixie-esque features were magnificent, and left me breathless. I could feel a crush developing already, but only an insane person couldn't find her so attractive. I wondered to myself if she was in a relationship, before realising that I wouldn't stand a chance anyway, and decided that friendship would be a good compromise. And then I did something very unlike myself, and grabbed my bag in one hand, and my coffee in the other, and walked straight over to the stunningly beautiful girl who was stood by herself, typing away on her phone, and she looked up as I was a few meters away, immediately smiling at me, which, you know, can't be a bad sign?

I smiled back, for some reason already feeling more comfortable with this girl than I had with most people I met in life.

"Hi, I'm Beatrice, sorry if it's weird I just walked over to you, but I don't know anyone and you seemed really nice."

The girl smiled even wider, "Nice to meet you Beatrice, I'm Alice, and don't worry about it, I'm always happy to make a new friend. Is that an English accent I detect?" she questioned.

I blushed slightly at the question, not quite sure as to why, and replied "Yeah, born and bred, just moved here last week."

"My father is from England too! But he's been here a while…"

I wondered to myself why Alice didn't show any signs of an English accent when she talked, when, as if she'd read my mind, she added "I say father, he adopted me and my siblings from a young age, so we all have American accents. Oh, the bell for our first class of the day is about to go, are you in room 209 too?"

I nodded, incredibly relieved to already have made a friend who was in my class. We turned to the main building, just as the bell rang, like Alice had predicted, and we made our way up the steps to the old stone building.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Alice continued, "My family consists of me, my biological brothers Edward and Emmett, Bella and Renesmee are my 'mothers' nieces, Jacob is Renesmee's boyfriend" The tiny girl took a huge breath as she took in my shocked expression before finishing the list, "... and then Rosalie is Emmett's girlfriend, and Jasper here, is her twin brother." Alice finished her seemingly never ending list with a flourish, and I barely had time to comprehend how much work it must be for Mr and Mrs Cullen to care for nine teenagers, when I first saw Jasper. He must have approached while I was distracted listening to his family tree, because he was suddenly right beside Alice. My breath caught in my throat. He was… beautiful didn't seem like the right word, he was so much more than that. He shared his adopted sister's golden eyes and sheet white complexion, but he had honey blonde hair that reached his jawline, emphasising his impressive bone structure. Jasper was far taller than Alice, and maybe five inches taller than I was, and he was slim, but definitely toned and muscular. Basically, he was perfect.

I composed myself after a few seconds of staring at the inhuman beauty in front of me and held out my hand to shake his, somehow managing to introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Beatrice, nice to meet you!" Jasper smiled slightly in reply, and took my hand hesitantly, for the shortest of touches, and said "Nice to meet you Beatrice, I hope Alice hasn't been annoying you too much?"

I was silent for a split second, shocked by the coldness of Jasper's hand, before realising that of course it would be cold, we were in Alaska and unlike myself, Jasper wasn't clutching a cup of coffee to warm his hands against the chill.

Alice made a sound of indignation and punched Jasper on his arm, but the boy didn't even flinch, just grinned down at his friend.

We walked together to our class, as it transpired that Jasper would be joining us for our first session of still life drawing, and when we entered the class room, I realised that they weren't the only members of their family that I would be meeting today. The woman who stood at the front of the classroom smiled warmly to the two, and was no doubt one of them, with the exact same skin colour and eyes again, this time with caramel curls that fell just below her shoulders. How peculiar that they were adopted yet all shared the same features.

Maybe amber eyes are just more common here in America. I thought to myself. And afterall, how could I question their complexion when I too shared the exact same shade of ice white.

I took a seat behind an easel, with Jasper to one side of me and Alice on the other. Other students stared as they entered, clearly as entranced by the three as I was, and like me, they were probably wondering why I was sat with them.

Once everyone had sat down the professor stood to introduce herself as Mrs Cullen "But please, call me Esme!", and that's when I realised that Esme was not one of the Cullen siblings, but she was their adopted mother. When Alice had said her parents had adopted young I didn't realise how true that was.

As Esme introduced the module and what it would entail I couldn't help but let my eyes wander to the boy next to me, somehow hyper aware of our proximity, and two out of the five times I glanced at him I saw him watching me too.

There was no way I could not feel flattered at his attention, but I knew it was in no way justified, there was no way he would actually find me attractive. He was probably just confused as to why Alice was talking to me, or why I was here at all in Alaska at all and with no friends. As I started to second guess myself I felt panic rising up in me, and knew that an anxiety attack was imminent as I tried to control the feeling of fear, but then a wave of calmness washed over me. I was completely thrown off balance. What happened? My anxiety never just disappears, it normally stays until I've escaped and ran back home to curl up in my bed and hate myself for being so weak. I didn't like this new sensation; it felt unnatural. I was so used to how my anxiety acted that I was now at a loss, knowing that this wasn't normal.

Jasper was now intently staring at me, perhaps he'd noticed my internal freak-out and was wondering what on earth was going through my mind. And then the bell rang, and I couldn't believe a whole hour had passed whilst I had contemplated my anxiety and sudden lack thereof. Nevertheless I packed up my notepad and picked my bag up off the floor, and went to leave before Alice's firm grip stopped me from walking out the door. Turning back around I saw Jasper and Alice grinning at Esme, clearly proud of her for her lesson today. She was thanking them for their kind comments when she drew her attention to me, and her smile widened as she took me in.

"Beatrice, right? Nice to meet you. How did you find my first class? I hope my children have been behaving?"

"It was great, I can't wait to actually start drawing, it seems like you really know what you're on about!" I praised Esme, seeing that she was clearly nervous about her first day at the university. "Thank you Beatrice, that's so kind of you. I'm glad Alice and Jasper have befriended someone so lovely." She beamed. And I truly believed what she said, feeling a warmth and maternal feeling radiate from her.

"We need to get going Mom, we've got a quick break and then our next class, but we'll meet you at the end of the day." Jasper interjected, and I smiled at Esme and stepped backwards to leave, and then out of nowhere Alice shouted 'Jazz, don't!" before I stumbled over the leg of the easel to the left of me, and fell backwards with no way of stopping myself, my hand grabbing at the shelf next to me, pulling the whole rack of glass vases on top of myself, my head hitting the desk behind me with a crack, and then nothing. Blackness. The last thing I remember was Jasper pushing the shelf out of my way with an inhuman quickness, and in the process protecting me from the glass that would have sliced my skin.

Please leave me a comment if you're enjoying my story :) I own no characters apart from Beatrice. All rights belong to Stephanie Meyer.