"Oh," Bella said, getting over her initial nervous reaction. "I'm really not all that interesting," she shrugged. Alice shook her head.
"I doubt that's true," she said, a small giggle in her tone. Bella gave a tight smile and looked away, causing Alice to frown and let go of her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry; I'm being pushy and weird, aren't I?" She asked. She sighed and shifted away from Bella so as not to be too invasive to the other girl's personal space. "You must be thinking 'oh my god, do I really have to live with this weird speed freak for an entire year?'" Bella looked at her as Alice gave a small shrug. "I just…got kind of overexcited about….you know, getting to have a roommate….But, I shouldn't have just assumed we'd be best friends or anything." Bella pursed her lips, her shoulders slumping a bit as she realized she'd somehow hurt the little pixie's feelings. Crap, this isn't going well, she thought to herself.
"N-No, Alice, I don't think you're a 'weird speed freak'," Bella assured her. She gave her a small friendly smile. "It's my fault, I'm just…." She let out a sound that was part chuckle and part puff of air. "A little overwhelmed here," she said. Alice looked up at her.
"Overwhelmed?" She asked. Bella cringed, fearing she'd used the wrong word.
"No, no, no, I don't mean it in a bad way," she quickly said, backpedaling so fast she could've shot through the wall if she were able. She took a deep breath. "You're just…..um……really……excitable……and I'm….not excitable……..but it doesn't mean I think you're weird or…don't want to be your friend…" Alice tilted her head as she peered curiously at Bella as she tried to get her point across. Bella sighed in defeat and shook her head. "I'm not going to camp out at the housing office to get a new roommate or anything, if that's what you're worried about," she said. Alice grinned. Okay, the perky pixie has returned, I'm not a shithead, awesome, Bella internally rejoiced.
"Great!" Alice said. She went to hug Bella again before pausing, unsure if she should hug her again. Bella laughed and gave a small shrug.
"Go ahead, I know you want to," she said with a friendly groan. Alice giggled and gave her a tight hug.
"I promise," she said once she let Bella go, "I'm not usually this….hug crazy, I think it's just…all the…"
"Excitement?" Bella supplied, to which Alice nodded.
"Yeah. And you know what, if I ever start to get……too overwhelming again…..just tell me," Alice said, shrugging, "I'll tone it down." Bella laughed and nodded.
"I'll remember that," she said. Alice smiled before tilting her head again as her eyes wandered across the room. She rose to her feet and wandered over to the bed situated against the opposite wall. Bella was relieved to see that she was momentarily sidetracked from needing to know 'everything there is to know about Bella Swan'.
"Hey," Alice called over her shoulder, dragging Bella out of her thoughts. She turned to face her as a tentative smile came to her lips. "Would it be okay if I take this side of the room?" She asked. Bella blinked. She was almost expecting there to be a need for some sort of discussion as to who could get what furniture. "I mean, if you want it, it's so totally yours," Alice quickly added, taking Bella's expression to be leading to a negative response. Alice gave a small sheepish shrug. "My room back home, it's on the left side….so…." Bella quickly waved her hands, signaling she didn't need to hear another word.
"It's yours," she said. She smiled. "I kind of had my sights set on this side, to be honest," she admitted, gently patting the mattress she was sitting on. Alice let out a small round of giggles.
"Oh my god, how perfect of a match are we?" She asked.
"Sweetheart," Carlisle called as he walked into the room carrying a large box. "Which desk is yours?" He asked. Alice went over to her father, pointing out the desk against the same wall as the door. Carlisle seemed relived to see that he only had to carry the box to the side as supposed to going to the other end of the room. He set the box down. "Do you need help setting up your computer?" He asked as Alice began opening the box up. Alice shook her head.
"No thanks, daddy," she said. She looked back at Bella. "Do you need any help with yours?" She asked. Bella shook her head.
"No, thanks, it's just a laptop, pretty simple….plug in….open….and all that," Bella said, cringing a bit at how lame she must've sounded.
"Alright then, guess I'll go help your brother with the TV," he said before leaving again. Bella stood up from the bed as Alice busied herself with pulling out her keyboard and speakers from the box her father had brought in.
"A fridge and a TV?" Bella commented as she went over to her own desk and began opening one of the boxes on it. Alice paused and looked back at Bella.
"Oh is it too much? I could ask my parents to take some stuff home with them…" Alice fretted. Bella laughed and shook her head.
"Don't you dare," she said. Alice's face quickly brightened as she gave a swift nod.
"So, would it be safe to assume the DVD player would be welcomed as well?" She slyly asked. Bella froze and slowly turned to gape at her.
"…..You of course do realize that you're never getting rid of me, right?" She kidded. Alice giggled.
"Goody," she said just as Esme came in with a suitcase in each hand. "Oh, mom, just put those by my bed for now," she commented, pointing to the bed she had claimed. Esme moved over to the empty bed and set the suitcases beside it.
"You don't want me to help you unpack?" She asked, a definite frown in her tone. Alice turned to look at her mother.
"Oh," she said, pursing her lips. "I didn't want to hold you guys up," she commented. Bella returned to pulling out her laptop from the box she had opened as the mother and daughter chatter go on behind her. From what Bella gathered through the art of overhearing, it was clear that Alice was the youngest in the family and Esme seemed hesitant to not be involved in as much as she possibly could before leaving. Bella made a mental note to inquire where it was exactly these people were form that made weekend visits home a less than likely occurrence. After some back and forth Esme retreated to get more of Alice's things.
"Sorry about that," Alice apologized. Bella simply shrugged, unsure what it was Alice needed to be sorry for. "I think my mom's feeling a little sad that she couldn't do this with Edward so she's trying to overcompensate with me," she murmured.
"Edward?" Bella asked, confused as to who Alice was talking about. Alice shook her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she gushed, feeling silly. "Edward's my brother." Bella furrowed her brows.
"You mean Emmett?" She asked, beginning to wonder if she was too quick to call this girl 'not weird'. Alice giggled.
"I have two brothers, silly," she said. Bella blinked.
"Oh…….right, sorry," she said, suddenly feeling several different kinds of stupid.
"He wanted to come help with the move," Alice said, feeling the need to explain Edward's absence. "But he had to get back to England."
"England?" Bella asked as she set her laptop on the desk and began pulling out the power cord.
"Mmhmm," Alice said. "He goes to a music conservatory in London," she said. Bella nodded.
"Wow, that's impressive," she said, putting one end of the power cord into the laptop and bending down to reach behind the desk for the outlet.
"He's a whiz on a piano," Alice went on to inform, resulting on more nodding from Bella. "His place is really nice," Alice said. "He has this nice little flat in the city….so cute," she said, a bright smile on her face. "I spent the first half of the summer there visiting him. It was my first time going there since he moved out of the dorms last summer," Alice explained. She paused for a moment, causing Bella to look up from her outlet search. Alice had a strange expression on her face. It looked troubled, sad, lost. Bella frowned and rose to her feet.
"Alice?" She asked, going over to her. She placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "Alice, are you okay?" She asked worriedly. Alice blinked and looked at her.
"What?" She asked, almost confused as to how Bella had gotten from the desk to standing right in front of her.
"Are you okay? You kind of spaced out for a moment," Bella said. Alice blinked, taking in Bella's word, processing them, seemingly rolling them over in her mind. She gave a slow nod.
"Yeah, sorry, just….blanked out for a second," she admitted, stepping away from Bella and turning back to the desk behind her. "Um, so….," she mumbled, shaking her head. "Sorry, what was I saying?" She asked, giving a small nervous chuckle.
"You were talking about visiting your brother," Bella replied. "Alice, are you sure you're okay?" She asked. Alice looked back at her. She gave a small smile.
"I'm fine, but thanks for asking," she said sincerely. Bella nodded.
"So, um….England, was it fun?" Bella asked as she walked back to her own desk. Alice gave a tiny laugh, a laugh that sounded a lot like the Alice Bella had grown accustomed to in the small amount of time around her. Welcome back, perky little pixie, Bella thought to herself as she bent down beside her desk again.
"So much fun!" Alice replied. "Edward felt so guilty that he couldn't make it home for my graduation," Alice explained. "He practically ordered me to come visit him so he could make it up to me," she giggled. "So, I went out to stay with him for a few weeks, and then he came back home with me so he could hang out with all of us before his next term started," Alice continued. Bella smiled, partly from how Alice talked about her brother. It sounded like the two were very close. And partly because her outlet search finally bore some fruit and she could slip the plug into the wall.
"Wow, my mom missed my graduation," Bella said, getting back up to her feet. "All I got out of that was a phone call and a promise for a shopping trip the next time I visit her in Florida," she frowned. "Sounds like you got the better outcome of the whole 'family member missing graduation' thing," she joked. Alice laughed.
"Hey, don't knock mom sponsored shopping trips," Alice said, playfully wagging her finger at Bella.
"You certainly don't," came Emmett's straining teasing voice as he entered the room, single handedly carrying the decent sized television set on his own. It wasn't incredibly huge but it was by no means small either.
"Is dad bringing up the TV stand?" Alice asked. Emmett groaned as he shifted the television, careful not to drop it but clearly beginning to tire under the weight. Bella quickly sprang into action and unplugged her laptop, moving it to her bed.
"Here, put it down over here," she offered, gesturing to her now empty desk. Emmett heaved a grateful sigh and moved to the desk, carefully setting down.
"Thanks," he said before turning back to his sister. "And to answer your question, dad's comforting mom because she's upset over someone saying she didn't want her help unpacking," he said, his tone close to scolding his little sister. Alice frowned.
"I didn't say I didn't wanther help," Alice said. She sighed. "Why is mom getting so bent out of shape?" She grumbled.
"Face it kid, you're the baby of the family. House's going to be kinda empty from now on. Mom's not all that happy about it," he said with a small shrug. Alice looked down. Emmett sighed, shaking his head. "Not your fault," he added. "But maybe you should go downstairs anyway," he said. Alice nodded. She turned to leave the room before stopping and looking back at Emmett and Bella.
"No telling my new roomie embarrassing stories about me while I'm gone," she ordered. Emmett gave a barking laugh, much like he had before.
"I make no promises," he said. Alice stuck her tongue out at him before striding out of the room.
"You guys all seem really close," Bella commented. Emmett nodded as he walked over to Alice's desk. He figured since he was there he'd help with more heavy lifting by pulling the large computer tower out of the box his father had brought up.
"I feel bad though," he admitted. "I mean, we're all spread out now….Alice is here, our brother Edward's all the way in England, I—hey, would you mind helping me with this?" He asked.
"Oh, sure," Bella said, going over to Emmett.
"Thanks just hold the box down while I pull this out," he said, his hands squeezing into the box and taking hold of the computer. Bella nodded and took hold of the box. "Anyway," Emmett continued as he lifted the computer out, "Ed's in England, I go to school in Indiana. I mean, Alice's so over the top I think she made up for me and Edward not being home before," he chuckled, setting the computer on Alice's desk. "Now, I'm almost afraid the only time mom's going to be happy is when we're on school breaks," he said.
"Oh," Bella said. Emmett shook his head.
"I don't mean to make it seem like mom's like unstable or anything," he said, chuckling. "She's just….one of those moms that……..is really into being a mom, ya know?" He said. Bella nodded.
"Oh, yeah, totally," she said. Not at all, what's that like?
"But you know what, now that I think about it, she'll be okay," Emmett idly muttered as he reached in the box to bring out Alice's computer monitor. "Dad'll make sure she doesn't get too gloomy," he said in a certain tone.
"Dad'll make sure who doesn't get too gloomy?" Carlisle's voice rang out as he entered the room carrying a large rectangular box under his arm.
"Is everything okay downstairs?" Emmett inquired as he took the box out of his father. Carlisle nodded.
"She started feeling better once Alice promised to call home every day," he chuckled. Emmett nodded and sat down on Alice's bed, placing the box between his legs as he began to open one of the ends. Carlisle turned to Bella.
"Bella, I would like to apologize for holding you up. If you like, I could call your parents and speak with them myself. I'd hate for them to get the wrong impression." Bella gave him a blank look, confused as to what her parents had to do with anything.
"My parents?" She asked. Carlisle nodded. "Why would you need to speak with my parents?" She asked. Bella suddenly felt like she was back in high school sitting in the principal's office, horrified that her father would be called over her horrendous grades in gym class.
"Well, to apologize for making them wait," Carlisle explained as if it were obvious. Bella stared at him for a long while before finally realizing what he was implying. He thought her parents had come up to campus with her, just like he and his wife had for Alice, but left after getting fed up with waiting for the Cullens to arrive.
"Oh," Bella finally said. "No, no," Bella said. "They didn't….." She paused, suddenly feeling self conscious, like she was some pathetic little orphan for moving into her college dorm all alone. "They couldn't make it," she muttered, stuffing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Carlisle's eyebrows rose a bit before an abashed look donned his features.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried…….or assumed…….that was rude of me," he said. Bella shook her head.
"It's okay. My dad wanted to come," she said, giving a small nod, hoping that expressing that a parent did want to accompany her would make her seem less pathetic. "But he had to work." Carlisle nodded.
"Ow, damnit!" Emmett exclaimed. Bella turned back to look at him. He was busy putting together what looked like a small TV stand. Well, actually now he was painfully waving his right hand before sucking his thumb into his mouth. "Stupid pinching piece of crap," he muttered. "Damn you IKEA," he cursed before going back to his work.
"Everything all right over there, son?" Carlisle asked, trying to hold back his snicker.
"Yeah, yeah," Emmett replied. Bella couldn't help chuckle a bit at his expense. She quickly covered her mouth and gave an apologetic look when he stopped to throw her a glare.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"So, Bella, where are you from?" Carlisle asked, bringing her back into their conversation.
"Forks," she replied. "It's this little town not too far from here," she went on to explain. Carlisle nodded.
"You know, I think we passed by it on the way here," he said. "The scenery did look lovely," he added, "very lush." Bella chuckled.
"You'd have to thank the constant rain for that," she commented wryly, causing Carlisle to chuckle. Behind him, Esme and Alice returned to the room. Alice carried a medium sized elegant metal case in each hand while her bother carried a box in her arms.
"Oh, Esme, you should've let me get that," Carlisle stated as he went over to his wife and took the box from her. Esme smiled, shaking her head.
"I'm not as weak and dainty as you'd like to think, Dr. Cullen," she teased. "I can actually carry things other than clothing." Carlisle grinned and ducked in, placing a quick kiss on Esme's cheek.
"Of course, my darling Mrs. Cullen" he grinned, humoring her. Esme groaned and gently smacked his shoulder. Bella smiled as she watched the two interact. They were the epitome of sweet.
"Knock, knock," a new, unfamiliar voice called as a gentle rapping sounded on the open door. Everyone turned to see a tall girl with flawless skin and long golden blonde hair flowing past her shoulders carrying a clipboard in her hand. She looked like she just walked off a fashion shoot, even though she was dressed similarly to Bella in jeans and a university t-shirt. She gave a bright, breathtaking smile to everyone. "Hi," she said, walking into the room. Her eyes focused on Bella and Alice. "I'm Rosalie Hale, the resident advisor on this floor," she said, introducing herself. Ah, so you're the one to blame for the nametags on the door, Bella realized.
"Hi!" Alice said, setting her two cases down on her desk chair before bounding over to Rosalie. "I'm Alice," she said, sticking her hand out. Rosalie chuckled and accepted her hand.
"Hi there Alice," she replied. She went to look at Bella. "So, I guess that makes you…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her clipboard. "Isabella?"
"Bella," Bella corrected. Rosalie nodded and grabbed the pen from her clipboard, making a small correction on the sheet she was looking at.
"Bella," she repeated, with another nod. She looked back up the other occupants in the room. "Well, you two are really lucky," she said, she paused as a small laugh escaped her lips. "Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it," she said. "My room's right next door, so if you guys ever need anything I'm just at the other side of that wall," she smiled, gesturing to the wall beside Bella's bed.
"Oh! It's like I've got two roommates," Alice giggled, making everyone laugh.
"Sure," Rosalie smiled, shrugging. "I'm all alone in my single, so chances are I'll be bugging you two pretty often," she chuckled.
"Well," Emmett suddenly spoke up, quickly stumbling to his feet and rushing over to Rosalie. "Since you're going to be my little sister's unofficial roommate, I think it's only right we have a proper introduction," he said, a wide grin affixing his features as his eyes took in her beauty. "Emmett Cullen," he said, taking her hand in his and bringing it up to his lips, kissing the back of her palm. Rosalie laughed and slowly pulled her hand away from him.
"Nice to meet you, Emmett," she said. The two stared at one another for a moment, Emmett's grin never leaving his face as a tiny smile graced Rosalie's lips.
"Emmett, quit flirting with my RA!" Alice exclaimed. Rosalie blushed and quickly looked away while Emmett groaned and shot Alice the hardest glare imaginable.
"Thanks, sis," he hissed as he went back to working on the TV stand. Rosalie bit her lip before looking back at the others. She was met with Esme's warm glance.
"It's lovely to meet you, Rosalie," she said, stepping forward and taking hold of her hand, welcoming her with as much tenderness as she had Bella. "I'm Esme, Alice's mother, and this is my husband, Carlisle," she said, gesturing back to Carlisle. Rosalie nodded.
"It's nice to meet you all," she said, smiling back at her. She looked at the two elder Cullens. "Now, I'd understand if you two have any questions or concerns," she said, going back into official resident advisor meeting parents mode. "Lots of parents do," she said, assuring them that should they have any fears settled, they shouldn't feel embarrassed to voice them.
"Oh, I think we're fine, thank you," Carlisle replied. He paused for a moment. "Actually," he said. "Could you tell us of any nearby restaurants?" He asked.
"There's a booklet of all the businesses close to the campus in the orientation folder," Rosalie said.
"Oh, how convenient," Esme said. "Sweetheart, where did you put your folder?" She asked her daughter.
"It's in my purse, mom," Alice replied, pointing to the Louis Vutton bag she had set down beside her desk upon her arrival. Esme nodded and went to retrieve the bag. Alice looked over at Bella. "Oh, you have to come to dinner with us," Alice gushed, grasping her friend's hand. A loud, somewhat obvious, cough came from where Emmett sat assembling the TV stand. Alice blinked and looked at Rosalie. "Oh, you too, Rosalie," she said. Rosalie smiled.
"I'd love too," she said, "but I've still got a lot of rooms to visit," she said, the regret clear in her tone.
"Aww," Alice whined gently. "Well, we could wait for you," she said. She stopped and looked back at her parents. "Right?" She said.
"Of course," Carlisle replied. "We still need to finish unloading Alice's things as it is," he added.
"Okay," Rosalie said. "Well, my cell phone number should be on the back of each of your orientation folders," she said to Alice and Bella, "I guess…if you want, give me a call and we'll see what happens?" She asked. Behind them, Emmett secretly made a mental note to himself to be sure to snag Alice's folder before he left.
"Yay!" Alice smiled. She paused and turned back to Bella. "You are coming with us, right?"
"Um, sure?" She said. She gave a small snicker. "Something tells me you won't let me refuse." Alice laughed.
"You're learning fast," she said. Rosalie chuckled.
"Alright, well, I need to go back to making the rounds," Rosalie said. She peered over Carlisle's shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Emmett. "It was great meeting you all," she said. Subtext: It was great meeting you, Emmett.
"Likewise," Esme smiled. "I do hope you'll be able to join us for dinner," she added. Rosalie returned the smile before giving a parting wave and walking out of the room.
"She seems nice," Bella noted. Alice simply nodded.
"Alright," Esme called, opening up the small booklet she found in Alice's folder and finding the section on eateries. "What is everyone in the mood for?" She asked.
"Oooh, could we do Italian?" Alice asked, her eyes alight with excitement.
"Why not," Esme grinned, flipping through the pages.
"Cantante's a good place," Bella spoke up. She gave a small shrug. "My dad and I had dinner there after we visited the campus back in April," she supplied. "It's a really nice place, and the food's pretty delicious."
"Well, then Cantante it is," Carlisle smiled. "Alright, now that that's settled, I'm going to go down and get some more of your," he said, punctuating the 'your' with a gentle tap of his finger on Alice's pert nose, causing Alice to scrunch up her face and giggle, "things," he concluded.
"I'll be down as soon as I'm done with this….thing…" Emmett said, gesturing to the pile of parts and screws before him. Esme shook her head.
"Oh no, honey, you just stay here. You've already done your fair share of heavy lifting, I wouldn't want you to hurt your back," she said. Emmett chuckled at his mother's concern.
"Don't worry mom, your son's spot on the football team is quite safe, thanks," he said.
"Em's on the football team at Notre Dame," Alice explained for Bella's benefit.
"I see," Bella said, with a small nod. Esme grabbed a pen from Alice's purse and drew a circle on the open page of the business booklet, no doubt marking the address for Cantante, before dog-earing the page and setting the book down on the desk.
"Alright, I'm going to go down and help your father," she said before leaving the room.
"OW! Sonofabitch!" Emmett suddenly roared as the TV stand he was trying to assemble pinched his thumb yet again. Bella and Alice laughed before shaking their heads and going to deal with unpacking their respective luggage.
--
AN: Sorry for the OOC-ness concerning Rosalie, but for the purposes of this fic, couldn't make her be the ice queen we all know and love, lol. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews of the first chapter; they made me all kinds of happy :
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter; the next will be up hopefully later on today.
Also, sorry if these chapters are a little dry and drawn out. I promise the good stuff is a-coming. Just need these chapters to set up the friendship since that leads to everything else, including the good stuff.
