Bella remembered her first day of school with amazing clarity.

She had been so scared, so lost, and so confused. This was a huge change for her. She had been used to just blending into the scenery, whether she was in Phoenix with her mom, or in Forks with her dad. She just blended in. In Phoenix, she was so pale, she blended into the white washed walls and in Forks, her paleness blended her into the general population.

But this was something completely new to her.

Volturi Academy was an elite, private, boarding school. Home of the richest kids in America.

Bella had never had much money growing up. Her parents fell in love young, married young, had her young, and divorced fast. Her mother was a wandering soul, who had always been happy being able to pick up and move onto the next exciting thing, and such never held a stable job to save some money. Her father, Charlie, was as different from Renee as was possible. He had dug his roots into the damp soil of the Pacific Northwest as far as they could go. He had been the Police Chief of the tiny town of Forks, Washington. Being the Police Chief of a town that has less than 1000 people in it did not pay much, though.

So Bella had grown up loving the simple things in life. You can only pack so much stuff to travel, and penny pinching can get you a surprising amount of food to live off of.

Bella was quite happy with her life, though. She really did not have much to complain about.

Then her world got torn to pieces.

One morning, Bella woke up pretty excited. Her father was actually taking a weeks' vacation and coming to Phoenix. He was due to arrive at their house around lunch time, so she wanted to get a nice meal set up, and ready when he got there. Her mother, Renee, stumbled out of bed around eleven, and Bella got her coffee ready. Bella and Renee looked very similar. Both had soft, rounded faces, and wide, innocent eyes. Bella also shared her mother's dark brown hair. Where Renee's lips puffed out in a small pout naturally, Bella had gotten Charlie's uneven ones. She had also gotten her father's nose. It wasn't too big, really, but Bella would have been happier if it was a teensy bit smaller. Nothing to cry over, though. Bella had also inherited Charlie's skin tone. No matter how much she laid out in the sun, she couldn't catch a tan. Renee had perfected the sun-kissed glow; while Bella worried she would glow in the dark.

Bella was starting to make lunch when Renee left to pick Charlie up from the airport. Since it was just lunch, she didn't try to make anything too fancy, so she was done well before they would be back. So, she headed to her room, and lay down with her favorite book to pass the time. Without even realizing how long it had been, Bella read until she fell asleep. She woke, a couple hours later, confused. Not hearing any sounds in the house, she got up to go see if her parents were out back, they wouldn't have wanted to wake her. The back patio was empty, so she looked out front. As she was walking to the front door, she heard someone knock three times.

Peeking through the front window, she saw two police officers standing on her front step. She slowly opened the door, and faced the officers silently.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" The one in front asked, and she just nodded at him.

"Ms. Swan, we are here –"he started, but was cut off by his partner.

"Do you mind if we come inside, darling?" The other officer spoke softly to her, and Bella nodded.

She stepped aside, and let the men walk past her, and into the living room. Her mom had not furnished the place very well, as they were always moving around, she never spent much on things like couches and tables, she got a lot of décor that they could easily move with them. Bella took a seat on bean bag chair she had begged her mother to buy last year, as the officers took to the couch that had been left here when they rented the house.

Bella curled her legs up, and rested her chin on them. At fourteen years old, this was her first ever encounter with police, aside from her father. She silently stared at them, waiting for the reason they were here.

"Ms. Swan, do you have any relatives that live nearby?" The second officer asked her softly.

The two men shared a look as she shook her head no. Renee's parents and sister had disowned her a long time ago, when she ran off with Charlie. Bella couldn't remember her mother ever getting a phone call, or even a birthday card from anyone in her family. And Charlie was an only child, his father passed away a few years ago, and his mother was in a home with Alzheimer's. Bella had never met a cousin or any relative aside from her grandmother, and she couldn't consider that as really meeting or knowing the woman, as she never seemed to remember her.

"I am so sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, but today, your parents were in a car accident." The second officer continued. Bella could see the sorrow in the man's eyes, and knew what was coming next. "They didn't make it."

The next couple weeks were mostly a blur for Bella. Someone had gotten ahold of Renee's sister, and she flew out. At first she was nothing but the doting aunt. She mourned the death of her sister, cried over her niece being orphaned, and immediately agreed to take care of the young girl. But, all of that changed in the blink of an eye. Charlie, being the Chief of Police, had several life insurance plans through work, and had even invested in one himself. So, between the city policy, the state policy, and the federal policy, plus his own personal one, Bella was left with close to two million dollars. And, unbeknownst to her, Renee had set up a college fund for her as well. She had not been able to save much, but there were several thousand dollars stashed away for Bella there, as well. Apparently, her aunt had gotten wind of the amount of money, and that is what had caused her to come running. Once she had found out both Renee and Charlie had named Bella as sole recipient of all their benefits.

So with her Aunt getting none of the money, but having already vowed to care for her niece, the woman did the best she could to spend as much of the money as she could. As Bella was still a minor, she could not have a bank account by herself, her aunt was listed on it. The catch being, all the money belonged to Bella, and the only way her aunt could touch it, was for Bella. For a place to live, for school, for food – all for Bella. So, she decided to spend a healthy chunk of the money, and send Bella off to a fancy boarding school until she was 18.

So, today is Bella's seventeenth birthday. She has one year left to go at this school, and is torn between how happy she is to be getting her freedom, and being terrified to leave this place she now thought of as home. As her aunt unsurprisingly has wanted very little to do with her, she has lived year round at the school. There are a handful of other students who don't have families to go home to for holidays, as well, and Bella has made many friends.

Where, growing up, she had always been the shy, quiet one; at Volturi Academy, she decided since she didn't have a mother or father to stand up for her anymore, she had to do it herself. She has come out of her shell, and blossomed into a strong and beautiful girl. She is still the quietest out of her group of friends, but she has grown a strong backbone, and with the worries about having fashionable, expensive clothes taken away by the use of uniforms, she has found it easier to fit in with her classmates.

This story begins on the first day of the fall semesters classes. Bella is determined to make her last year at the Academy a memorable one. It will be difficult, with strict rules, but where there is a will, there is a way. So, teamed up with her two best friends, Bella is setting off to see what life can be like.

So now, let the good times roll.