Bella POV

I can hear my alarm going off, and grumble at it. Morning is not my favorite time of day, of that, I am certain. Today is going to be a long day. After hitting snooze a couple times, I force myself out of bed. I have an hour before breakfast, and if I stay in bed any longer, I won't make it. And a hungry Bella is no good for anyone.

I wave to some of the girls I pass in the halls to and from the bathroom for my nice, long shower soak, and then pull my uniform out of the closet. It is a very basic uniform, nothing fancy. Black, knee length skirt, white polo t-shirt, white socks, and flat black shoes. That is what every girl at Volturi Academy wears 5 days a week. We are allowed to add one item to our uniform a day, so today I am simply adding a bright blue hairband.

I glance at the clock and see that I need to run to make it to breakfast before they close the doors. As I swoop up the bag full of my books, I run out of my bedroom door, and book it for the cafeteria.

I don't know how other boarding schools set up their cafeterias, but ours is kind of beautiful. The seating area itself is not anything special, a bunch of round tables sporadically spaced around the main area, with soft chairs surrounding each one. The best part, though, is that one whole wall is glass. You can see right outside, and it even has a doorway where, when it is nice outside, students can sit out in the sun while they eat. There is a cute little fish pond, with benches and trees surrounding it. There is a little hill – you can barely call it that, but a small upward slope that plateaus before a much larger downward slope to the sports fields.

I paused as I walked in the cafeteria to take in the view. Then, made my way to the line for food. Every day, they served the same things. And almost every day, I eat the same thing. So once my tray was full with a breakfast wrap, a fruit cup, juice and a bottle of water for class after breakfast, I made my way over to the table I sat at with my best friends every day. When you live in a school for several years, you tend to do the same things every day.

Which is why I had decided this past summer that I needed to make some changes this year. Nothing like those crazy 'coming-of-age' movies where the angsty teen girl ditches her friends for popularity, then realizes that she shut out the only people that truly cared about her. My friends are amazing; I would be an idiot to leave them. I know it, and they know it. We love each other. The best way to describe them, well the easiest way, is that Alice Brandon is the artsy one. She is short enough that a micro-mini skirt is normal length on her, and her hair is dyed a deep, rich black. She cut it super short last year, and where normally she has it spiked all over the place, today she apparently decided was Mohawk day. She always uses her one accent item a day to be something crazy. Once, she wore a neon pink tiara all day. Rosalie Hale is the tom boy. She is stunning enough to be a super model: tall, long blonde hair, painfully skinny. She always wear her accent red lipstick as her only splash of color, and on weekends, when we get to dress down, she lives in her sweat pants and an oversized hoodie. She comes from old money, and hopes, once she bails out of the Academy, to open her own business. She is torn between something car related, or something musical.

Alice was actually the first student I met here. She was my designated driver, so to speak. When I started here, they paired me with a student who had been here for a while. Alice and Rose practically grew up here. So, she was a perfect tour guide. We became friends pretty much instantly. I don't know that I would say it was so easy with Rose, though. She is very laid back, but it took almost a full year before she really opened up to me. Our school, catering to families with money, saw students coming and going constantly. It seemed normal occurrence for some new student to show up, and a day later, someone else disappeared. I heard about plenty of my classmates getting acting or modeling jobs. It was absolutely crazy in my mind.

And then there is me. I have always been seen as the innocent one. Rose and Alice are used to having money, and know who they are deep down. I don't. Parts of me are still the shy girl who came to this school, but I have worked hard to be more confident, and to break out of my shell.

For the past three years, I have had no interest in dating. Why date when your entire dating pool lives with you? If you break up, that's just not cool to have to live with your ex. Rose and Alice have both dated a few guys, and while it WAS awkward for a while, things settled down and were fine. So, this year, I decided that if a guy were to ask me out, I would go for it. I have just over a year until I turn 18, and if I end up living with someone I used to date, it will be over soon. That is all I keep telling myself.

The three of us sit silently eating our breakfasts. None of us really do well with waking up. When we have about ten minutes left before classes start, Rose finally speaks up.

"Give me your schedules." She says, no please, not even holding her hand out for us to give her. Just flat, monotone, waiting for us to slide them over.

She stares at them for a second before talking.

"Well, yet again, Bella got the best fucking schedule. Alice you and I are stuck with Banner first period, while she gets to skip along to Mrs. Cope." Rose handed the schedules back.

I glance down at my schedule for the first time, and smile when I see what she means. At Volturi Academy, they do a sort of block scheduling. Four 2 hour classes a day and you basically do a year's worth of study each semester. So, instead of having to take a math class all year long, you only take it for half the year, and then pick another class for the second half the year. So, this semester, I have English with Mrs. Cope first period, then Photography, followed by Water Sports, and finish out my day with Journalism, right back in Mrs. Cope's class. She is my favorite teacher, as I am looking to go into the journalism field; she and I get along amazingly.

I stick my tongue out at Rose, while Alice glances at my schedule and mutters "Bitch."

With a quick glance at my watch, I start packing my stuff up, and the girls follow my lead. My constant need to be on time makes it so they know they don't have to worry when they are with me. As we walk out of the cafeteria, Rose reminds us that her cousin starts here today, as well. So we will meet him at lunch.

I make my way to Mrs. Copes' room. She was the first teacher I ever had here, and with both of us having a deep respect for classical literature, we bonded quickly. She smiled warmly at me when I stepped into the room.

I moved smoothly over to my normal seat in her classroom. I have had at least one class with Mrs. Cope every semester since I came here. I want to one day become a journalist, and Mrs. Cope is doing everything she can to help me achieve it. She has some friends at a few different universities, and has vowed to both write me an amazing recommendation, as well as to personally talk to everyone she knows who has any say in college admissions. She truly believes in me, and that has helped with my confidence a lot.

English class flew by, with a really good reading list for the semester. I am really looking forward to this class. Well, honestly, I look forward to any English class.

Second period comes, and I make my way over to Photography. This is a class that I am new to. Since I want to go into journalism, I figure I need to cover most sides of it. So, I enter this classroom a little nervous. I have never been one to take many pictures.

For any class that this school offers, if there is any sort of equipment needed, they provide it for you. Since tuition is so high, it is sort of a sign-on bonus to people who are unsure as to if the money is worth the place. So, instead of us having to run off and purchase all new cameras, and film, and whatever else goes into a photography class, I see that a counter in the back of the room is covered in boxes. There are a few students who already have cameras strapped to their necks, and I assume this class is a mix of novice and near expert students. I grimace slightly at a guy I have never seen who is sitting in the back with a rather worn in camera sitting on his desk. He is definitely going to ruin the grading curve for me in this class.

I look carefully at him for a minute. Having been here for a few years now, I don't pretend to know everyone, but I have at least seen most, if not everyone. I search my memory to see if I can remember seeing him around. He has long blonde hair that is pulled back into a messy man-bun, and I can see a small rock showing an earring. He seems very comfortable, especially for someone who is being forced to wear a uniform. The male version of our school uniform is really quick similar to the girls. Change the black skirts we all wear, into black slacks, and bam, there you have it. The guys are supposed to wear ties, too but the school does not enforce that part of the dress code.

I think he could feel me staring, because suddenly his eyes shoot over to mine. And in that instant, I know who he is. Without even giving it much thought, I walk over and sit in the chair next to him. He turns slightly to face me better, as an amused smirk lights up his face.

"You are Rose's cousin." I say simply.

"You must be Bella." He says after a moment's pause. "Either that, or she is horrible at describing people. Since she said Alice was tiny and you, while not being big, are not quite what I had pictured."

I laugh a little and he joins in, obviously happy he hadn't offended me.

"Yes, I am Bella. The other one. Do you like the Academy so far?" I smiled warmly at him.

"I'm Jasper. This is pretty much the same as my last school. Mom and Dad wanted to move closer to family, and decided that I needed to be uprooted from my old home, during my final year, so I could be closer to family, too." He sighed.

I felt for him. I mean, Rose had said wonderful things about him, but it sucks he had to be moved to a new school where the only person he knew was his cousin. Most families who sent their kids here didn't even live close by; they shipped their lovely children across the country to get a 'fine education'. So, there was a chance both their families were somewhere far away, and his parents idea of being closer to family was literally to move him somewhere close to one relative, while they did who knows what. I would never understand rich families.

Jasper and I got to chat for a few minutes before class started. We found out that we had similar interests. He wanted to be a photographic journalist, so we decided we would work together this semester. Hopefully that would help both of us with building portfolios. It felt good to have someone, other than the girls, who understood my goals. Rose and Alice both planned to open their own businesses, and couldn't understand how my life goals involved working for other people. I held nothing against them, but they just didn't understand the drive I had to make sure that real, important news and issues were made public.

After second period was over, Jasper and I walked to the cafeteria together. We were laughing about something that happened during class when we approached the table that the girls and I always sit at.

"Oh, ok, you two have met. Good. Alice is skipping lunch today to try to convince her design teacher about something." Rose said, smiling at us.

"Yea, we have photography together. Bella is pretty awesome, what is she doing being friends with you?" Jasper asked Rose, with a smile.

Rose and Jasper bantered back and forth for a few minutes while I looked around the room. Everything was pretty normal, until I saw a guy I had never met before making a bee-line for our table.

"Uh, guys? Do either of you know him?" I questioned around the straw in my mouth.

Rose and Jasper turned to look at who I was talking about. Rose shook her head no, but Jasper spun around quickly and tried to duck down in his seat.

"I think it's a little late for hiding, sparky." Rose laughed at her cousin, who promptly gave her the middle finger.

"That's Mike. He is apparently new here, too. He was in my first period and tried to become insta-best friends. Something about the 'new dogs, needing to stick together'. Why did he have to see me?" Jasper sighed. Mike reached our table then, and invited himself to sit down next to Jasper.

"Hey Jazz-man. You already picked up a couple of hotties, I see." Mike said, then slapped Jaspers back.

"Mike, this is my cousin Rose, and her friend Bella." Jasper grunted. I couldn't hold back my giggle. This Mike guy was really messing with Jasper. And Rose looked horrified that he was sitting at our table.

"Ooh. Bella. Bella. Your name suits you perfectly, Bella." Mike said, reaching across Jaspers tray, and almost knocking his soda over, to touch my arm.

Rose had to work hard to hold in her laughter, while Jasper stared at him with contempt. I was ready to pull my arm away and tell Mike he had no chance, but then remembered my goal of having a year worth remembering. Mike might just be the perfect way to start that. So, I smiled at him, and didn't say anything. If I opened my mouth, I would say something to offend him in some way, and I didn't want to do that. Yet.

Lunch passed by quickly enough, and soon we all parted ways to go to our next classes. My third class was Water Sports. Which was going to suck. Out of the many changes I had made to myself over these last three years, coordination was not really one of them. Back in Phoenix, I had gone to the pool a few times with Renee, and I could swim well enough. So, I thought Water Sports might not be so bad.

Water Sports went pretty well. It was the first day, after all. So we were assigned lockers, and given our uniforms for the class – simple black and white bathing suits, and goggles. The teacher went over the different sports we would be doing during the semester, as well as first aid training for the pool.

I happily made my way back to Mrs. Cope's classroom for my final period of that day. I walked in the door, and saw Jasper was in this class, too. Smiling, I made my way over to where he was sitting. It wasn't my normal seat, but no big deal.

The last class of the day flew by, and I was happy with my schedule. Water Sports may later prove a little more difficult than I had originally hoped, but other than that, I was looking forward to this semester. There was a little time before dinner, so I went to my room to waste the time.

I was actually really surprised with how smoothly today had gone. I tried not to make a big deal, because as much confidence as I had gained, I still didn't like the way Alice and Rose always made today a big deal. My Birthday. Today I turned 17, and I really expected them to shower me with balloons and flowers, and cake. They did every year. I was happy that they had finally listened when I told them over and over that I didn't want to make a big deal.

I was a little surprised that neither of them stopped by my room before dinner, since they normally did. My room tended to be the cleanest of all three of us, so during down time, usually they were sitting on my bed, watching TV or something. I didn't worry, though, they were big girls. I assumed Rose was introducing Alice to Jasper finally.

So, after going over the syllabus for each of my glasses again, I checked my watch, and headed out the door. I was almost to the cafeteria, when I saw one of our other friends, Angela, jump up from sitting on the floor, and race to the cafeteria. With a bad feeling in my stomach, I finished the walk down the hallway. I tried to just peak in the door, but that didn't work. I let out a shriek when the door was suddenly yanked away from me, and revealed a room full of people yelling 'SURPRISE!' Alice and Rose were front and center, grinning from ear to ear.

I felt the blush creep up my face as I looked at all the people they had here. The entire cafeteria was covering in cheesy, colorful paper, and balloons. Our regular table had a bright pink table cloth covering it, and balloons tied off to one of the chairs. I laughed as I looked around the room. It was covered in handmade signs screaming Happy Birthday.

"You guys! You know I hate to make a big deal!" I whined when my two best friends wrapped me in a big group hug.

"Bella!" Alice mocked my voice. "You know we don't care!"

Rose and I laughed as they escorted me over to our table. There was another table next to it covered in gifts. Shaking my head, I sat between my best friends.

The night went by really smoothly, and it was so much fun. As much as I hate being the center of attention, the girls let me do what I wanted. So, I sat at my table, ate my dinner, and talked with my favorite people all night. About 20 minutes into the night, Rose had gotten a text from Jasper saying sorry he couldn't make it, but he had made a few new guy-friends, and was hanging out with them. That didn't bother me at all; I would have felt bad keeping him from making new friends just to sit in a room full of people he didn't know. Alice was a bit put out by not meeting Rose's cousin yet, but she got over it fast enough.

The next day, life continued on as normal. Most of my gifts had been simple enough to find space for in my room, but some had to be shoved into my closet. Luckily, Volturi Academy was large enough to give each of its students their own rooms. The rooms are not too big, but big enough for one person to sleep and study in. There was a simple, small bed, a computer desk – mine holding my neon pink laptop – a dresser, and a closet. I had a decent sized television sitting on top of my dresser, with a DVD player shoved under it.

I went through classes for the next couple days, without any bumps. Jasper and I chatted every day during our classes, and by Friday, Alice still had not met him. It was really starting to get to her, too. She had heard Rose talking about her cousin Jazz for years now. Rose and him were close, both of their parents had basically shoved them together for every family vacation all their lives, so it was either be miserable, or try to get along. When they were younger, it was harder; Rose had felt like she had to be the perfect little lady for her parents, and Jazz was raised to feel free to do and say what he wanted, he parents encouraged him to express himself however he saw fit.

After a few years, Rose's disposition relaxed, and she became her own person. Her parents did not enjoy their little lady dissolving into a moody, teenage girl who went out in pajamas, but Rose stopped caring.

So here Alice had the opportunity to meet this person who was so important to Rose, and who she had been hearing about for years, and it seemed she kept missing him. Jasper had instantly made several friends, which was not surprising at all. I liked him instantly, myself, so I can't be shocked that others did, too.

After the next week, Alice was starting to take it personal, though. So, when Friday came around, and we were planning a movie night in Rose's room, Alice was beside herself. She demanded that Jasper come, refusing to spend another night not knowing her best friends favorite family member. At 7:25, I was seated on Rose's bed, watching Alice pace back and forth in front of the door. We had told him to come at 7:30, and Alice couldn't wait.

Seven thirty came and went. Rose and I were enjoying ourselves, chatting about our classes so far, patiently waiting. Alice was still pacing, but now she would open the door and glare down the corridor every other pass. At ten minutes to 8, the room phone rang, and Rose left to grab the pizza's we ordered from the front door. I laughed at Alice's frustrated expression.

"This isn't funny Bella. This boy is supposed to be her closest relative, the only one she can actually be herself comfortably with. And he is disrespecting her by being so late!" Alice snapped at me.

"Rose doesn't seem upset by him being a little late." I shrug.

"Just wait til he gets here. I am so- Gah!" Alice leapt to the middle of the room. She had just opened the door to glare down the hallway again, but right as she opened it, Jasper seemed to have been about to knock.

Behind him were two other guys, one I recognized from seeing around, and the other I didn't. Jasper looked a little frightened, too, from the close encounter with Alice. His eyes glanced around the room, and then landed on me, and he relaxed.

"Hey Bella." He smiled, and started to walk inside. "This is…" He trailed off as an angry Alice suddenly blocked his entry.

"What the hell is your problem?" She hissed at him.

"Uh… excuse me?" He took a step back, and glared right back at her.

"You are late, and you bring uninvited people with you? How rude can one person be?!" Alice spat in his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? I was invited by my cousin, who, by the way, told me I could bring someone if I wanted to. And -"

I sat in silence, watching it all unravel. Really, from what I had gotten to know of Jasper over the last week, I thought he and Alice would hit it off. I was apparently wrong.

"SomeONE. Not someTWO." Alice cut him off.

"AND, we just ran into her downstairs. She didn't seem too upset by us being late, as the food just got here."

The other two guys slipped past Alice and Jasper, and came over to introduce themselves to me.

"Hi, I'm Emmett." The first one said, holding out his hand to shake. He was the one I remembered seeing around. He was huge. Easily over six feet tall and built like a train. I shook his hand, and was surprised by the gentleness he had.

"Mike." The other said. He had over-greased hair, and a few pimples. He was cute, but reminded me of a golden retriever. Something about him just gave me that vibe.

"I'm Bella." I smiled at each of them.

"Oh, you are the chick who they threw that party for last week. Sorry we kept Jazz from going, but we had a wicked game of touch football going, and it ran later than expected." Emmett gave me an apologetic smile.

"No problem! I'm glad he is making friends so quickly. He is a cool guy." I waved off the apology, and smiled at the guys. I liked them; they looked like they could be real assholes, but seemed really nice.

Alice and Jasper were still yelling at each other when Rose came back. She paused at the open door, and her mouth dropped open at them.

"What the fuck is going on?!" She yelled, stepping inside and handing the pizzas over to Mike, who set them on her desk.

"This asshole has no concept of socially acceptable behavior." Alice turned and yelled at Rose.

"This bitch needs to get laid, or something, so the stick can be removed from her ass." Jasper defended.

"Both of you shut up!" Rose yelled again, effectively silencing the room. "Alice, its fine that Jazz was a little late, we were waiting for the food anyways. And who cares that he brought a couple friends? And Jazz, next time, just shoot over a text for a heads up. Now, both of you cunts untwist your panties and let's watch a movie!"

We all settled in, with Alice and Jasper sitting as far from each other as possible. I ended up being squished between Emmett and Mike the whole night. Over all, once the fighting ended, it was a fun night.

Edward POV

I slowly woke up from a deep sleep. This had been, quite possibly, the worst family vacation in the world. I was going to a new school for my last year, and I was almost two weeks late. The utter ridiculousness of my parents is astounding.

I chose to lie in bed for longer than I should have. The sheets were so comfortable, I almost convinced myself to lie here all day. School be damned. But, if I wanted to maintain my g.p.a. and get into a good college, and then become a world renowned surgeon, I had to get out of bed.

And so, with a heavy sigh, I was able to drag myself out from under the covers. I quickly showered, and packed everything I needed into my suitcases, and called for my driver to pick me up. I had to be at the airport soon if I wanted to catch my flight.

The first class section of the plane was near empty, I only saw about five other people. One woman who was a few rows ahead of me looked suspiciously like Beyoncé, but I just stuck my ear buds in, and ignored everyone else. After landing in Seattle, I grabbed my 2 bags – the rest of my things were shipped to the school last week, so I shouldn't have to worry about them.

The Volturi Academy came into sight just shy of 4 hours after my plane landed. The main building looked like some old, Transylvanian castle. I watched as the car pulled around to the side of the castle, and I saw several smaller, more modern buildings. These were obviously the dorms, as I saw students wandering around. The care stopped outside a building with a large number 3 on the side of it.

The driver carried my bags for me, as I took out a slip of paper with my room number on it. I was up on the fifth floor. Thankfully there were elevators, so the trip up was smooth. As I turned down the hallway towards my new room, I could hear music blasting from one of the other rooms. As I recognized the song, I hoped that meant that my new hall mates wouldn't be completely annoying.

The driver dropped my bags off on my bed, and after I gave him a healthy tip, he disappeared. I looked around the small room, and then flopped back on my bed. The room wasn't bad, my room at my old school was just a tiny bit bigger, but this one came equipped with a television, so at there was that. I sat up when there was a knock on my door.

"You alive in there, bro?" I heard a muffled voice through the door.

When I opened the door, I saw 3 guys standing there, waiting. One was so big, I didn't think he could possibly be a student, until I saw the youth in his face. He held no intimidation at all, with the grin on his face, and dimples. The next guy was a little shorter than my 5 foot 11 inches, and had over greased blond hair. He was quite forgettable. And the third matched my height, and he had a thin, muscular build. Where the first one was a body builder of some sort, this guy was built to grapple. And he had long blond hair that was pulled back into a man-bun. I nodded to the big guy by way of a greeting.

"We saw you just moved in, so wanted to stop by and welcome you to the neighborhood. My name is Jasper, I just started here, too. This is Mike, and the ogre is Emmett." Jasper smiled warmly at me.

"Edward. Nice to meet you all." I nodded again.

The guys offered to show me around after dinner, so I grabbed my wallet, and keys, and we were off. They seemed like a decent enough group.