A/N: I don't own Twilight. Any similarities or references belong to their own persons.
Esme Cullen's house was like one of those houses you saw on the Internet on a tumblr blog or a "house-porn" twitter account. Not because it was big, but because it was like any house you'd ever see anywhere else.
The entire back side of the house was made entirely of glass, which would've been weird and extremely creepy had their house not been in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Esme was an interior designer, apparently one of the best on the West coast, so the inside of the house was just as pretty. She herself was a beautiful woman, though her best trait had to be her caring personality.
I had often wondered why she kept the name Cullen even though she had divorced Emmett's dad.
"Because she wanted to have the same last name as me and I refused to change mine," Emmett had told me.
"Why wouldn't you want your mom's last name?" I had asked, confused.
"Because my brother and sister would've kept dad's name since they stayed with him. It would be weird not to have the same last name as the twins."
Emmett had two younger siblings. Edward and Alice, born eleven months after him. Which was weird as fuck if you ask me, but whatever. To each their own. The Cullen's were born and raised in California. Mr. Cullen was a doctor and worked late hours so they rarely saw him, which put a strain on his marriage. The breaking point however was when he cheated on Esme with this young nurse named Bree.
Esme filed for papers without a second thought, even though she loved him with all her heart. She had of course hoped that her kids would come with her, but Alice was a daddy's girl and refused to leave her dad. Edward, being the pussy twin he is, decided to stay with her.
Mind you, I had never met those kids but the thought of anyone being able to look their cheating parent in the eye was beyond me. Although, I might be slightly biased following the whole Charlie/Reneé/Phil fiasco.
If Renée Swan is my mother biologically, Esme Cullen was for the most part my mother in my heart. Esme taught me how to cook in grade ten. I had complained one night to her about always eating microwavable food and she'd promised to teach me how to make a different thing each Sunday at two.
I was in the Cullen kitchen every Sunday from two to four until grade twelve. It's safe to say I'm a fuck-awesome cook. Which is good because somebody has to feed R and I, christ. Both our mothers were disastrous in the kitchen, R wasn't any better. I would fend for the two of us in the kitchen and R would take care of any mechanical problems we came across.
On my 16th birthday, R gave me a rusty red Chevy truck that she had brought back to life from a junkyard in Port Angeles. On R's 16th birthday I won a baking contest in Seattle and got to name their starting desert after her. To this day, if you go to Volturi you will see the Rosalie as their recommended desert.
Emmett had tried to talk me out of it, explaining to me that I could never rename it and that I deserved the recognition. I didn't talk to him for a whole day and a half. He caved in first and apologized, finally grasping just how much R meant to me.
Although he never said anything, I'm pretty sure Emmett was always slightly put out by just how much R meant to me. I never really noticed anything until just before college application period, while having dinner at the Cullen household.
"So Bella," Esme had said, twiddling spaghetti around her fork with a certain amount of grace that only Esme Cullen could have. "Do you like the sun?"
"I guess. I like it as much as any other person, but I could never go for a Christmas without snow or anything like that." Honestly, how could you have Christmas without snow?
"Oh." She had said, confused. "I'm sure you'll get used to it."
At that point, I was the confused one. "Why would I have to get used to it?"
Esme had laughed, throwing her head back slightly. "There's no snow in Arizona, Bella dear."
Then, I laughed. "I know, but there is snow in New York City."
Emmett had coughed loudly beside me.
"ASU is in Arizona, Bella."
ASU. Arizona State University, alongside many other schools had offered Emmett a football scholarship.
"I know where it is. I'm going to NYU," I had said in a no-negotiation voice.
Esme had opened her mouth to contest, but had been silenced by Emmett clearing his throat. The conversation had ended there but the discussion was far from over. Later in his room, Emmett had thrown the tantrum of a lifetime.
"How embarrassing B, why would you tell my mom that we weren't going to college together?"
"Because we're not? And don't call me that," I had snapped.
"Why because she calls you that?" He had asked saying the word "she" in such a vile way I had almost left the house right there. "I thought the college issue was still up for discussion."
"There's no issue, so I don't know why you'd think we could discuss anything. Em, I'm so proud of you for all your scholarships. But I'm going to NYU. I've been dreaming about this with Rose since we were little girls."
"You were little girls, Bella. Little girls say silly things."
"Going to NYU isn't silly Emmett, I'm going to NYU and nothing can change that. If you really want to go to college with me, come to NYU."
"NYU isn't offering me a scholarship, Bella. I'm not going to plan my life accordingly to yours and Rosalie's childish plans. She's your friend not the left part of your body, you two don't have to do everything together."
"Rosalie is my sister."
"No, she isn't. She's your best friend and I'm your boyfriend. A normal teenage girl would agree that those two have equal importance in a girls life."
The argument had gone on forever. I had never seen Emmett so mad. In the end, I had applied for NYU and only NYU, a risky move but hey what is life without risks. Emmett and I had both agreed not to talk about college anymore until the very last day, when we both had no other choice but to talk about our post-secondary future.
The subject was never brought up again between the two of us. That wasn't the case with R. It seemed that that was the only thing the two of us could talk about.
"I can't fucking wait to have you as a roommate B, we'll be the only two college kids that don't live on KD."
"You're basically already my roommate."
"Yeah but B, in New York City! Do you remember-"
"When we used to watch Gossip Girl like it was our religion?"
"And we swore that we would be just like Blair and Serena?"
"We already are Blair and Serena, but in Forks."
"Whatever, B. You know what I'm excited for?"
"College boys?"
"Sororities."
Believe it or not, R and I had secretly always dreamed of joining a sorority.
"You know what I'm scared of?"
"Isabella Swan, scared? I never thought I'd see the day," she had teased, pulling a strand of my hair.
"What if one of us doesn't get accepted to NYU?"
The day we signed up for NYU together at 5:37 pm, we held hands and prayed. Everyday at 5:37 pm until the day we got accepted, we held hands and prayed. Prayed for nothing to keep us apart, prayed for the stars to align to make both our dreams come true, to give us the chance to prove ourselves and make a name for ourselves, to go to NYU, while every other kid in Forks would settle for Seattle or a school on the West Coast. We wanted to make it big, in Manhattan, like we had always dreamed of doing.
When we had went to check the mailbox, and had both gotten big fat acceptance letters with the NYU logo on it, we had screamed so loudly old Mrs. Roberts had called the cops on us.
"Bella? Is that you?" Officer Reynolds had stopped his car right beside us, stepping out with his hand on his holster, as if he would've shot us for being happy.
"Um, yes."
"I just got a noise complaint from Mrs. Roberts, would you mind explaining that to me?"
Rose and I had exchanged excited glances and had shrieked as loud as we possibly could. Officer Reynolds was not amused. Frankly, I didn't give two fucks. Because I was going to NYU with my best friend and nothing was going to stop me.
A/N: Thanks so much, reviews make me very happy and give me so much motivation to update fast so keep them coming. I probably wont update this tomorrow but I'll try to update it before this weekend.
Love, A.
