Chapter 1
Memories

Bella was alone. Her Father just died two weeks ago and as for the rest of her family. Her mother had died while giving birth and she had no one else of- or so to speak. How was she expected to pick up her things and leave to go to NYU?

"Bella, I want you to continue your dream of singing. Your mother would've wanted it too. And remember I love you, and that I will always be near you," Charlie Swan said his last dying breath.

That is why she had to continue on and get an education- She had put it off for long enough. At 22 years old she had skipped out in college so she could stay with her father and nurse him back to health.

Off to college to pursue my dream of singing. I have to do this for my father. Bella sighed.

Arriving at her apartment around noon that day Bella started to take her things up to her new apartment building. The apartment was spacious but comfortable. She hadn't known that her father had it all planned out for her. He had rented her apartment out for a solid two years. Had he been sick that long? She wondered –At least she had a place to call home without all the pain of losing her family.

She had also inherited all of her father's assets. His money now belonged to her-and she could live off of it for half of her life. She didn't even know that her father had saved up so much money and left behind for Bella. She was taught growing up to always sustain a job, treat others nicely, and to not judge on inward or outward appearances. So she never had. She was always shy while growing up but had always attracted unwanted attention with her voice. She had promised herself that while in college she would only sing while in her vocal classes.

Bella's POV

Going back down the stairs to retrieve more boxes to take upstairs, I literally ran into a girl. Most likely a neighbor. I thought.

"Hey watch where you're going," The girl said, "Oh I'm sorry I can see why you can't watch where you're going. Your arms are filled with boxes 3 feet above your head, Let me help you with those." she said grabbing two heavy boxes out of my hands.

"Thanks a ton, you're a lifesaver. Those boxes were about to fall to the ground anyways." I laughed.

"Well you're very welcome. By the way I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Alice Cullen. But everyone calls me Alice." She said.

"OH! It's very nice to meet you Alice. My name is Isabella Swan. Some people call me Bella and you are very welcome to do so too."

"Well Bella," she said with Emphasis, "Let me help you finish moving in and then we can go out to lunch. I know this great place to eat."

"Sure, why not I have absolutely nothing to do today. Other than unpack." I replied

"So, Bella how are you enjoying your first day in the big city?" Alice asked while taking a large bite of her Spicy Alfredo pasta.

"I like it so far. Other than the fact that I almost ran over five pedestrians and almost got in three car accidents. Does everyone around here drive like maniacs?" I asked

"Only a few drive insane. It's best to walk around here, it's much faster and in a car you could hit heavy traffic and be stuck in the same spot for hours."

"Oh I see. I guess walking it is then," I said while taking a bite out of my bruchetta chicken garlic sandwich, "Oh gosh I think this is the best sandwich I have ever had!" I exclaimed.

"This is one of the yummiest places here in New York. It may be small and not get much business, but I love it." Alice said.

"This place has just gone to the top of my list of favorite places to eat," I said taking the last bite of my sandwich.

"Well we had better get going back to our apartment building. You need to finish unpacking and I have a hot date tonight." Alice said.

"Ok I am ready to go. Thanks for showing me this place Alice. I'm very glad I met you."

"I'm glad I met you too. It looks like we'll see a lot of each other more and I have a feeling we will be GREAT friends," Alice said with sincerity.

Unpacking seems an easy enough task. Bella thought.

"Hmmmm I will just turn on some music and sing along and hopefully time will go by fast," Bella said to herself.

Digging out her IPod and her adapter- she plugged it in a turned it to her "Phantom of the Opera" Soundtrack. It was easily one of her most favorite movies of all time she had fallen in love with the music and had even gone to Las Vegas with her friend Angela to see it at the Bellagio.

The song Angel of Music came on and she just had to sing along. Once it came to the part of Bella she had to sing louder- seeing as how Bella is one of the main characters of the movie.

Little did Bella know that someone outside of her apartment was listening to her sing?