Chapter One

My brother, Edward, and I have always been close. When we were little, sure we tried to beat the crap out of each other, but sooner rather than later Edward was bigger than me. Basically he could beat me to a pulp. I was the runt at 4'11". It's a hard life being smaller than him. I still don't see how we came from the same gene pool. Naturally he's 6'2" and built. He's not a bulky build, it's a swimmers build. Most girls, they drool after my brother. Unfortunately, I'm not his girl equivalent. While my brother has bronze tousled hair, I have long thick black hair. Edward got out mother's eyes as the ever rare green, and mine? A light grey color, sometimes I wonder how we're related. He can tan, bronze a little in the sun; I burn. As if it's not hard enough being short, I look like a vampire freak. My skin is like porcelain, my hair is jet black. It's not exactly a desired look.

Edward decided that the Ivy's were for him and went off to Dartmouth, and he studied neurobiology for his undergrad, and is now in the first year of Medical school. He's two years older, so my parents expected me to apply to Dartmouth to follow my big brother, like I always had in the past. This time, I decided it wasn't for me. I applied to schools for Fashion Design, and got accepted to almost everywhere. I didn't want to go to New York, it would be in the same region as my brother, so I decided on a place I had never been before. I ended up going to the University of Cincinnati, which is in the top ten design schools in the nation. It's a five year under-grad program, and I'm currently in year three.

I lived in Siddall hall for the previous two years in a single, but now I have an apartment. I moved in with Rosalie, a girl that is an Interior Design major. We met in the elevator on our freshman move-in to the dorms, and ever since, we've been attached at the hip. We're always joking that I'll design the clothes that match her rooms. A lot of people think Rose is stuck-up and crazy, but in reality I think people are intimidated by her beauty. She's tall, blonde, and complete with a perfect body; it's sort of scary if you don't know her. We're living a little ways outside of the city, in the suburbs for security that our parents insisted on having. The area we snagged an apartment in is called West Chester. It's about a twenty minute drive without rush-hour traffic to school. It's not too bad, with Rosalie's M3, or my Porsche it's an enjoyable ride.

The funniest thing about Rosalie and me is the fact that both of our brothers go to Dartmouth. They're from the Dayton, Ohio area and Rose wanted to stay close and her brother wanted to go far away. Her brother is studying history, and hoping to go into law. Someday we're going to road trip up to New Hampshire to visit them. Let's put it this way: I've seen pictures of Rose's brother and he is so cute! I just know we're going to hit it off and get married. We'll be the perfect power couple. I'll design the clothes, and suits he'll wear in his big law things and he'll be a great lawyer.

I used Facebook to tell Edward at the beginning of college that I knew some-else that was at Dartmouth. He wasn't keen on the idea of tracking down a freshman history major, but it turns out that Jasper and Edward are now really close friends. I guess Edward had not been making friends as easily as he did in high school, and people didn't care about his stellar looks. After two years of almost friendless times at Dartmouth he agreed to find Jasper. I laughed a little because now three years later they're still close as ever. Edward's at Medical school and Jasper is studying history. They go out and drink together, pick up girls together, and go on hikes together.

My brother and I talk at least once a week on the phone. I miss him in a weird way, and I'm honestly sad that he doesn't have many friends. He doesn't have a girlfriend, which I find hard to believe. He's always been that guy that always gets the girls. He says he doesn't have time for girls much anymore. I always make the point back he has time for his bro-mance with Jasper. I wish he could find the girl he deserves, and I wish Jasper could find me. I always joke to Edward that I think Jasper is cute from the photo's I've seen. Edward always replies the same, "He thinks you're cute too, kid." It annoys me. I can't tell if he's telling the truth, or if he's a total liar.

Rose and I were almost done setting up the apartment, when there was a knock on the door. Rose was putting up a picture of New York City above our sofa, so I dashed gracefully to the door and opened it. Standing outside was a guy that could have easily eaten me for breakfast. He was taller than Edward, and built. He looked like he spent at least a couple of hours at the gym each day bench-pressing about 4 of me. He had a goofy grin on his face, and his dark brown hair was a little shaggy around his face. His blue eyes sparkled as he spoke, "Is your mom home?"

If there was one thing that got under my skin was people that didn't think I was grown up. I wore designer clothes, my hair was longer, and I had great cheekbones!

"No, my mother isn't here, but I am one of the adult occupants of the apartment. What can I get for you pea-brain?" I huffed. I wasn't in the mood to deal with annoying neighbors. I still had to unpack the clothes in my room. I had to sort by color, then by designer, and finally by type of material.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you—"

"Whatever, what can I get for you?"

"Well, this is going to sound stupid. My roommate wanted to make you cookies to welcome you, and um… She ran out of sugar, and then I lost rock, paper, scissors, which meant I had to ask all the neighbors for a cup of sugar, but no one has any. So do you have a cup of sugar so my roommate can make you some cookies?" He nervously laughed at the situation.

"Well, as rude as you were at the beginning, I shouldn't give you the sugar. However, since the cookies are for us, I suppose I could loan you a cup. I expect it back though," I grinned, "Come on in, I'll get you the sugar." I walked in the apartment, and then started digging around the kitchen. Rose and I knew basically nothing about cooking, but bought a whole bunch of stuff before we moved. He stepped inside the apartment, and looked around.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie," Rose finished hanging the picture and walked over to the big guy. She had a grin like I had never seen before on her face. She looked-- smitten? He shook her hand, and they stood there grinning like fools in love.

"I'm Emmett, I live across the hall."

"That's cool, so um… Emmett… um…" Rosalie was at a loss of words, yet another thing I had never seen.

"You're gorgeous," He blurted out. She smiled brightly at him.

"I'd say the same thing about you," She giggled. Oh my gosh, Rosalie, the ice queen to most people was bluntly flirting with the guy in the living room. I finally found where I put the sugar, and returned with it. I handed him the bag.

"Thanks, I'll see you ladies later," He turned out the door and directly across the hall, he walked into that apartment.

"Rose, something you want to share with the class?" I asked. She just blushed furiously, and went to her room to unpack. I was left standing there trying to figure out what happened. If Rose was going to be in a serious relationship, who would I spend all my time with? I pulled out my phone and walked into my room. I hit speed dial number two, and waited for three rings until Edward finally picked up.

"Hey Alice, what's up?" He asked.

"Rosalie—she's—she's--- she's" I started. I couldn't finish.

"Is she hurt?"

"NO! She's in love!" I felt like an emotional girl sobbing about my best friend that was in love. Truth be it, I was so jealous. I wanted that, more specifically with a guy named Jasper.

"I didn't know she was dating anyone. Why are you so upset Alice? It's a part of life."

"She's not seeing anyone. This someone just came to our door, and now she's blushing and giggling! Giggling EDWARD! She's not exactly the nicest girl to people, most people she makes them jump through hoops for her! Now she's letting this guy into our apartment and drooling over him! What am I supposed to do?"

"Alice, my little pixie, here is an idea: don't do anything. Let Rose fall in love with the boy next door."

"Across the hall," I corrected. He chuckled at my literal take on the situation.

"Alice, I asked you this before, but why does it matter that's she might have a crush on the guy across the hall?"

"Because everyone is falling in love that I know! They're coupling up, and pretty soon I'll be the only single person I know! I want to be in love Edward! I want someone to look at me like that! I don't want to be alone and have twenty cats!" I started sobbing harder than a light trickle down my cheek.

"Alice," His voice was velvety smooth, but also firm. I stopped to listen to what else he had to say, "Alice, Alice, Alice, you're not going to be alone. Maybe you haven't met the right guy. He might be in New York, L.A., Milan, Paris, not Cincinnati, Ohio. What's in Ohio anyway? Hell, the boy of your dreams might be in New Hampshire, which could be remedied if you'd visit your brother once in a while."

I laughed at his attempt to get me to visit him. He never came home from breaks anymore, so I never got to see him. That's when I decided this Thanksgiving, I was going to take a trip to see him. It was only two and a half months away.

"You're right. Maybe Mr. Right isn't in Ohio. I just—I just want to find him so badly. Do you ever feel like this Edward?"

"Alice, there isn't a person in this world that doesn't hope to find love. I push it out of my mind a lot, I have to concentrate on school, but yeah, I want to find her."

"Edward, you're such a girl," I giggled into the phone. He laughed back with me. Somehow, Edward always seemed to understand me. I think the only thing that made us related is that we're on the same brain-wave sometimes. He always knew how to get me to see the other side of a situation. It always seemed to make sense too.

"Hey, be good kiddo. I've got to go. I'm going to get ready. Jasper and I are going out tonight as the last night before school."

"Later. Don't get too drunk," I practically snorted. I knew my brother, and one thing he was not was a big drinker. He'd go out to bars, and have one beer.

"Oh, I plan on it," he retorted. I heard the soft click on the other line.

I stared on sorting my clothes. I forgot I had half of them. I heard another knock on our door when I had gotten to Black Prada Silk Dress. I was almost done. I decided I'd let Rosalie get the door so she could drool over Emmett some more. I heard her bound to the door, and open it. She greeted Emmett, and introduced herself to Emmett's roommate. Then the idea came to me, maybe I could date Emmett's roommate! I quickly hung the dress up and walked towards the door. Then I saw it, Rosalie looked pissed. I kept walking to meet Emmett and his hopefully hunky roommate. When I could finally see past Emmett, I realized why Rosalie was mad. His roommate was a girl.

"Hi, I'm Alice," I introduced myself.

"Nice to meet you Alice, I'm Bella," Her voice was soft. She had long slightly wavy brown hair. She had full pouty lips, and big chocolate brown eyes. She was probably around 5'4", and slim, but not athletic. She bit her lip, as if she were nervous about meeting us. She was wearing an old high school t-shirt, and a pair of Levi's that should have been thrown out years ago. She was also wearing black flip-flops from Old Navy. All of those clothes would have to go. It was Alice Cullen Originals for her, or designers. I could tell that we were going to be best friends.

"So," Rose started with a little more venom in her voice than necessary, "How did you two become roommates?"

"Well, Bella was my tutor for English. I had to keep my grades up for football, and English is tough for me. After I finished the class, we kept talking. She's my lifesaver and best friend. She tells me what to wear on dates, and edits my papers for other classes. I guess it just sort of happened."

By the end of Emmett's speech Rose had softened now realizing that they weren't together. She and Emmett walked off to the kitchen and continued chatting about school and life.

"So, you guys go to UC?" I asked Bella. She was still holding a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies. She nodded, "Do you want to set those down?" I asked. She nodded again, the quiet type.

"What's your major?" I asked setting down the plate of cookies and taking one. They were perfect. Warm, slightly not fully cooked in the middle, and had the best tasting dough ever.

"I'm an English Major, what about you?"

"I'm in the Fashion Design program. What are you planning on doing with an English degree?" I asked genuinely curious of what a person does with a degree in their native language.

"I want to be a writer," she answered as if it were the simplest explanation in the world.

"What do you want to write?" I asked. Getting a conversation out of this girl is like pulling teeth, but she seems sweet.

"Fiction, I know this sounds lame, but I'd really like to write romance. Maybe even historical romance, that's why I have a history minor."

"That's not lame; I think it's really cool."

"Really?"

"Really. These cookies are great, why aren't you going into the culinary arts? Are these seriously home-made?"

"I've always had a thing for cooking. My mom is terrible, and my dad thinks cooking comes from those little paper Chinese boxes. I took on cooking a couple of years ago. Apparently my parent's lack of cooking helped me be the amazing chef I am today," She laughed at the situation. I had to admit there was irony in the situation.

"That's funny because my mom makes great meals, but I can't even boil water!" I admitted.

"Looks like I'll be cooking for more than just me and Em, now. Maybe if you hang around, I'll even give you a few lessons. You could learn how to boil water, make pasta, maybe we can even get you to make scrambled eggs."

"Sounds like fun. I mean, how hard can cooking be, right?"

"Exactly! That's what I keep telling Emmett, but he's still convinced he's going to be the person to invent the burned ice-cube," She giggled again. This girl was actually an open book once you got her going. I liked it a lot. She was a lot more fun that Rosalie could be, so far. She was that kind of innocent girl that you knew had a wild streak that hadn't shown up yet.

"So, Bella, what year are you in school?"

"I'm a senior, so is Em, but he has 3 semesters left. He failed a few too many classes his second semester freshman year. I'm starting to think about graduate school and such, which is making me nervous. What about you and Rosalie?"

"We're both technically juniors, but we have a 5 year program."

"That's cool, is Rosalie in fashion design too?"

"No, she's into interior design."

"Wow, you two are quite the dynamic duo aren't you?" I gave her a mischievous smile. She had no idea. If we remained friends, she's have a new wardrobe within a couple of weeks, and their apartment would be redecorated in a couple of months.

"You have no idea." I thought I heard her groan at the thought of Rose and me in her life, but there was a crash in the kitchen. "That better have not been my new dish set! They were hand painted!" I screamed.

"It wasn't your dishes!" Rose yelled back. I got up to see what had happened. I looked at the floor that there was crystal shattered all over the floor. I assumed that was Rose's crystal vase. It hadn't even been used once. It had been sitting on the counter. I was trying to figure out how it got to the floor, but I decided I would ask later.

"So," Emmett cleared his throat, "Where is the broom?"

I looked at Rose, and she looked back at me. Neither of us thought about buying a broom. We got a Swiffer, what more do you need? We didn't exactly plan on things dropping onto the tile floor in the kitchen. We just thought sauce would spill, which Swiffer wet could take care of.

"Um, we don't have one," I admitted sheepishly. Bella was out of her seat on the couch in a second dashing across the hall to get a broom. She stumbled back in a minute, and Emmett began sweeping, cautioning us girls to stay away because we might cut ourselves on the glass.

After he finished thoroughly sweeping our kitchen free of glass Bella and Emmett decided to turn in for the night. The second the door shut, I turned to give Rosalie that look. She looked as if she were already on the defensive.

"So, Rose, care to tell me how your three hundred dollar vase just happened to break?" I asked casually as if it were nothing important. She turned a deep crimson, and started to walk away ignoring my question. Her hips were swaying and she held her head high. I darted after her, pulling her hand back to the living room. I bounced onto the couch and she hesitantly sat down next to me.

"So…?" I prompted.

"Alice, it's really not that big of a deal!" She defended.

"I never said it was Rose. I am just wondering why you aren't upset or mad that your vase that you had to have for the kitchen is smashed into a thousand pieces. I am just trying to understand my best friend. I mean if I were you, I would be crying."

"Really, Alice, it's not that big of a deal. I didn't have to have the vase. . ."

"Cut the shit Rosalie, what happened?"

"He kissed me, the vase fell. That's it. Night!" She tried to talk fast, and get out. I pounced after her into her bedroom with her.

"So, how did he kissing you lead to the vase falling?" I asked innocently. I could tell she was embarrassed that she had ruined the vase for a kiss, but I wanted details. If it were dropping-that-vase-she-had-to-have-good of a kiss, I didn't only want details, I needed to hear it. I decided that since I didn't have my own prince charming, I'd live vicariously through her.

"Well, I ended up sitting on the counter," She started. She sat on the bed with me, now not as embarrassed with the confirmation I wanted to hear her story, "And then the vase was in the middle of the counter, where we left it. So I was a slightly blown away by this kiss. I thought I was pushing the vase to the back of the counter, to save it. Then it sort of fell off! I just wanted it out of my way, because I don't like vases digging in my back during a mind-blowing kiss. Oh my gosh Alice! He is sweet and gentle, his kiss was so hott! I thought I was going to combust! I've never had a kiss like that in my life! I think . . . maybe, he's the one!"

"The one?" I squealed, trying to be happy for her. She nodded with a Cheshire cat grin plastered on her face. I squealed and hugged her tight. We were bouncing on the bed like complete idiotic girls, and I loved every moment. I was going to miss this, because between school and Emmett, I doubted I'd see her much this year.

"Oh Alice, when we get married, will you be my maid of honor?" She asked. I laughed. She knew the guy for less than 4 hours, and she was already planning the wedding. It was so typical Rose in love.

"Naturally! Oh my gosh! I can't believe your luck! I'm so freaking excited for you!" I was trying to focus on the fact that I was happy for Rose. I felt that pang in my stomach, and I knew I could only be so happy for a little bit. I needed to escape soon. I didn't want to bring Rose down, but it sort of hurt.

"Alice, I'm thinking a spring wedding, the semester after he graduates. Probably in May, so I'm done with school that year. Bridesmaid dresses will be pink, and the flowers will be pink roses! You can design my wedding dress and the dresses for the bridesmaids! Start working on it! Oh Alice, it's going to be so perfect!" She exclaimed. I smiled, and I knew after that speech I needed to get out, now.

"This is so great Rose, but I still have to organize my clothes. Have a goodnight!" I finished in a sing-song voice. I walked out of her room and into mine. I shut the door and slumped down the door. I ran my fingers through my long silky jet black hair. That's when it hit me. Maybe it was a time for a change in my life. First thing to change: my hair. I looked at the clock, and it told me that no salon or spa/salon would be open at this hour. I decided that first thing tomorrow, I was getting it cut. I was cutting it short, and I was donating my hair to locks of love. Maybe it wouldn't be bad to change my style a little too. I was always classy, and simple. I designed things that were crazy and fun. Maybe I need that in my life. I should buy a pair of those gross shoes everyone is wearing… Chucks, they're called? I wasn't sure if it was Rose, or Rose and Emmett, or maybe I just decided to reach out to something different, but I felt like I had just had the biggest epiphany in the world. I was gorgeous, talented, energetic, maybe I just looking and trying too hard to find a guy. Maybe Mr. Right didn't want someone so serious that dressed in Channel or Burberry.

The next morning I woke up, and you know how sometimes that epiphany is gone? That wasn't this morning, I felt stronger today about my choices. I didn't want to wake Rose on the way out of the house, because she would talk me out of cutting my hair and give a bullshit speech about how someone would love me for who I was now… blah blah blah. What happens if that really isn't me though? What happens if I want to wear holy jeans and an oversized t-shirt with a slouchy leather bag? That's me too, it's not just boring, serious Alice in here! I walked out of the apartment, being careful to be quiet. I shut the door and locked it. At the same moment, Bella came out of apartment.

"Hey Stranger! Thanks again for your broom last night. I'm going out to get one today."

"It's an early start to get a broom," She commented.

"Well, I'm getting a few more things too. What are you up to?"

"Um, well I was going to go to Starbucks and get some coffee, and then figure out what to do today."

"Want to come with me. We can drive through a Starbucks, and then we can go shopping!"

"You know what? That sounds great," She replied.