Hello everyone! This is a collaborative fic between myself and babypeach16 (she is awesome and you should read her stuff). Each chapter will be from an alternating POV: Bella written by babypeach16 and Edward written by me. We hope you enjoy what we have so far! We have a publishing schedule set up, so expect a new installment every week on Fridays. xoxo

Chapter 1

BPOV

The human race will never fail to astonish me. People are amazing, and heartbreaking, and brave, and cruel. People have the capacity for incredible love, strength and determination. They perform feats that once seemed impossible, dream up creations were previously unthinkable.

Still, it is not any one of these human virtues that currently astounds me; it is their shallowness.

"Seriously?" I gaped at Alice as yet another random sporty-looking guys gave me a once-over and an awkward compliment relating to my hair.

It was the middle of the dining hall, and I just wanted to eat my lunch. In peace.

Don't get me wrong; I can take a compliment! Mostly...I mean, I'm not so ungracious as to grumble about them. But, that's in a normal situation. In a normal situation, I wasn't the recipient of quite so many compliments.

I was actually quite flattered by most of the comments and attention I'd received since my return three days ago, but others were really starting to piss me off.

This was my first week back at Dartmouth after a full year away, and all my vague worries that I might have been forgotten or rejected turned out to be totally unnecessary. I'd been anxious that - though well-liked - my introverted little self would be easily forgotten on a campus filled with interesting faces and stories. A year was a huge amount of time in college student years, and I was on a totally different continent.

To my great surprise, though, my time in Italy had made me an object of interest to people I had met before my trip, and many I hadn't.

Alice laughed indulgently, and swatted my arm. My tray wobbled, and I frowned at her in dismay. Did I really need a dropped food tray so early in the semester? No. I did not.

"C'mon, Bella, give them a break - they're only trying to be nice," she assured me.

"Nice?" I scoffed. "Please, Alice, that guy was in my Bio in the Tropics project group last year, and he wouldn't even look at me! For a group project...with three people! And now he's all, 'hey...good to have you back...Italy's done great things for you'?"

Alice tried to interject, but I was on a tear. It had been three days in the making.

"I mean, really, Alice - I appreciate that people think I look good, but these boys are just SO. DUMB." I plunked my tray down on a table to punctuate my point, rattling my mug of tea and sloshing a little over the side.

"Did I gain or lose five pounds either way?"

"No..."

"Have I changed my clothes or make-up?"

"Not really," Alice sighed.

"Precisely." I stabbed a beet in my salad. "All I did, was change my hair color. Not even a hair cut! Just the color."

Alice propped a hand under her chin, looking bored.

"And it wasn't even on purpose!"

Alice rolled her eyes. She'd already heard the story of how I had walked into a Parisian salon on the way home from Italy, wanting to try a couple of little highlights to spice things up, and ended up with a full head of auburn-dyed hair. Language barriers, man.

"So now," I speared a piece of steak and chewed it viciously "these stupid guys who never acknowledged my existence before are all, 'Hey, Bella, right?' instead of 'Bella, who?'!"

"I don't see what you're griping about! Most girls would be so happy for half the looks you've been getting," Alice said sternly.

"It's the principle of the thing! Having red hair does not alter who I am as a person, and-"

"Are you done yet?"

I huffed in annoyance. "Yes. Rant over. For now."

"Thank the Lord, Ms. Humble-Brag!"

I opened my mouth to retort when a pair of cute soccer boys approached our table.

"Bella, Alice - will you be joining us for the Tour de Franzia this weekend?"

"Hey, Tyler," Alice responded, pressing her little foot down on mine with surprising force. "Yeah, we'll put in an appearance."

"Excellent. Hardy House basement at 10. Yo, Edward," he called, turning away from us at the sight of one of his teammates. "You coming, bro?"

I had been following the whole exchange with mounting irritation, but I was distracted at the sight of Tyler's teammate. Edward Cullen.

Even after a year away, he was just as stunning. That messy bronze hair - not too far from my own shade now - that lean, muscled body...those beautiful green eyes...

I quickly snapped my jaw shut to prevent any accidental drooling. A year in Italy had taught me how to give the impression of elegance, which was very different from actually being elegant. Alice said I was like a klutzy Grace Kelly.

Edward looked over at us from the tray he'd been clearing. Ever so briefly, his eyes passed over me. I kind of hated myself for the little shiver that coursed through my body.

"Sure," he said simply, dropping his fork and knife in the silverware bin, and walking out.

Alice stared at me with a smug little I-know-what-you're-thinking face.

Oh, what the heck. If this stupid hair could turn the average Dartmouth boy to shallow, superficial mush, let's see what magic it could work on Edward Cullen...