When I finally got back to the dorm room I found Rose and Emmett with Alice and Jasper, they all turned to look at me when I b

When I finally got back to the dorm room I found Rose and Emmett with Alice and Jasper, they all turned to look at me when I barged in.

"Boys. Out." I demanded sternly, looking them both in the eye. Emmett opened his mouth but Jasper punched him on the arm and he ran out of there with him, grumbling something about "pushy little freshman" or something like that.

"So, Bella, how was your walk?" asked Alice, all innocent.

"Hmm, let me think, the campus is gorgeous, the foliage is just like they show in pictures, there's a really nice coffee cart around the corner from here and, oh yea, YOUR BROTHER PUT THE MOVES ON ME !" I roared the last part. I was practically foaming at the mouth I was so angry, who did this guy think he was?! Rosalie looked stunned, Alice did too, but in a different way.

"You mean, you didn't want to make out with him?"

"No Alice! I don't make-out with guys that I've just met!" Rosalie smiled and said,

"Oh yea Bella, we're definitely going to be good friends."

"What are you talking about?!" I asked, thoroughly confused.

Alice took a deep breath and sighed, looking at me. "Bella, when you went off with Edward tonight I really thought you were going to be just like every other bimbo whose ever met him. Most girls throw themselves at him, and he's a willing participant. He's kind-of a man-whore if you will. I thought you would spend your time with him and that would be that. I can see that your different and not like them." She smiled at me knowingly, there was something in that smile that allowed me to see right through to the wheels turning in her mind.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I joked. Okay, so Alice knew, but really, given Edward's history what else could she think? She'd known her brother all their lives and me just a few hours.

"Good, you should." Rosalie added. We sat in silence for about a minute until Rosalie asked, "So what'd he do?" They were both looking at me pretty expectantly so I gave them the play-by-play of Edward's wishful thinking.

"I mean, no matter how good-looking he is, a girl's gotta have morals !"

"Oh man Bella, you're tough." Rosalie giggled.

"Psh, of course." We sat up talking for a little while longer and then I decided it was time for bed, I would be getting up early the next day anyways.

……………………………………………….

I woke up the next morning around nine and showered and dressed, doing my best not to wake Alice. After I had my shoes on and was tip-toeing through the dorm, Alice spotted me.

"Where're you going Bella?" I'm almost certain I jumped about three feet in the air.

"Oh, Alice! You scared me! What are you doing, I thought you were still asleep?"

"Well, I'm not anymore, so what's doin? How come your dressed so nice?" She asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I was almost positive she thought I had a breakfast date that I had neglected to tell her about.

"I'm actually headed to church." Alice raised her eyebrows at me.

"No, really, where're you going?" I just looked at her.

"To church Alice." I answered.

"Oh, wow, that's definitely different." She looked at me like she was pondering something.

"Would you like to come with me?" I asked. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before to take Alice along, it would be great to be able to share this with her. I looked at her and her expression signified that she was deep in thought.

"You know, actually, I think I do." She said grinning. I smiled at her.

"Great. Well go change, you've got 20 minutes before we have to leave for the next service." Her eyes got huge.

"Bella. TWENTY MINUTES?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"19 Alice, and don't worry about how you dress, God only cares what your heart looks like." I said winking. Alice smiled at me.

"You really are full of surprises, Bella Swan." She said as she skipped away.

Alice was dressed incredibly quickly and we took off for the church just around the corner.

"So have you ever been in a Catholic Church, Alice?" I asked, if not I should probably warn her she might feel like a yo-yo from time to time. It was totally worth it though.

"Yea, I was raised Catholic, I've just never been practicing… To be honest, I always hated the hymns that sounded like they were from the year 1100 and the bread that tasted like cardboard."

I laughed, that could be true of many churches.

"That's actually why I picked this church, the music here is amazing, a live band plays their songs, it's geared towards the college students which makes it that much better. The bread, well, you can't really help that, but we don't exactly eat it for the taste now do we?" I asked smiling. Alice looked up at me with that knowing grin on her face that I saw last night.

"You're right, we don't….You know Bella, I think you're going to be good for all of us, even my womanizing dolt of a brother." I thought I'd heard her mumble "Especially him." But I couldn't be sure.

We went in and got our seats, with the band doing their sound check in the background. "Bella, have you always been religious." Alice asked me.

"No, actually. To be real, I was against religion for a really long time…everything changed about two years ago… but we'll talk about it after, mass is starting."

Mass was great and it was really helping me get ready for the start of school, and from the occasional glances I threw over at Alice, I could tell she was enjoying this too.

When we left mass, we decided to get a little bite to eat from a diner across the street from the church, it was really cute and had a lot of character.

"So how'd you like Mass?" I asked Alice after the waitress had taken our orders.

"It was great, I think I'll come next Sunday too if you don't mind the company, just please wake me up before hand, you know, so I have enough time to prepare for the day," she winked "Esme would be so pleased." Alice looked off into space for a few seconds then a thought seemed to jar her back to reality.

"What did you mean by 'everything changed about two years ago' and that before you were 'completely against religion'? What happened?" she asked, and I could tell she was genuinely curious, it surprised me but at the same time tore my guard down.

"It's kind of a long story…" I trailed off blushing.

"Please tell me Bella?" Alice pleaded.

"Well…"

"Bella Swan spill your guts right now!" she demanded. Geesh, Alice was scary when she wanted something.

I'd never told anyone what I was about to tell her, no one knew except for the people who had witnessed it and gone through everything with me, not even Emmett had any clue as to what had gone on with me just a few years ago. I decided to start from the beginning, praying she wouldn't turn her back on me the minute she found out about my past, it wasn't exactly a happy place.

"Okay, well, when I was fourteen I met this guy. His name was Drew, he was sixteen, older, experienced, and gorgeous. I mean this boy was a knock-out, next to him I always felt special, he made me feel pretty. We ended up dating for almost a year. He was always a perfect gentleman around my parents but in reality he did a lot of drugs, and drank way too much. It was one of the few things that I viewed as a fault. We were out almost every night and he was always trying to get me to drink or smoke, or shoot something into me." I shuddered at how hard he'd tried to get me drunk one night, I ended up with a bottle smashed over my head, he called my parents telling them that I'd be at my friend's house where I fell asleep. In reality I spent the night at his house, that was such an awful night, but even then I couldn't bring myself to break it off with him. I continued,

"Sex was a big issue with him, after weeks of pressure I finally gave in, he was scary when he was angry and I thought that maybe if I slept with him he'd be happy more often. I was wrong. He was only momentarily happy during sex, he'd tell me he loved me, that I was the only girl for him, then the next day he'd be back to hitting me and calling me names. I really thought I loved him, but I was completely wrong. Turns out I didn't have to worry about being the one to end things, he did it for me, the day before our one year anniversary." I stopped, this is where it got really bad, this was the point in my life where most people had given up on me. I looked at Alice, and she looked like she wanted me to continue, something told me she wouldn't be like them, she'd still be here when I was done telling my story.

"That was when I lost it, I'd built my life around trying to make sure I kept Drew happy, kept Drew from being upset, I had nothing to keep me grounded when he left me. I dug myself into a hole, a really deep one with lots of booby traps and barbed wire that I never planned on getting out of, until he came and got me himself. He never did. I got into alcohol and drugs more than I ever had before, I slept around with all of his friends trying to make him jealous when really, I just became the school slut instead. I ended up in rehab by the time I was 15 after getting drunk at a bar and the bouncer having to throw me out because I picked a fight with a middle aged cross-dresser. Yea, I was a complete mess. When I finally came out I found a suitcase lying on my bed, fully packed, with a note on it saying:

Isabella Marie Swan,

You're going away for this upcoming week. We're not saying where but we know this will be a good trip for you. There will be a bus coming in 3 hours. Be on that bus Isabella.

-Renee and Charlie

"And that was it, I thought about running away, but I knew I'd get caught and just be sent away anyhow, so I decided to go on this bus and let it take me wherever it wanted to, so long as I didn't have Drew, it didn't matter where I went, I'd still be unhappy.

"Oddly enough, my mom and dad thought it would be cute to send me on a retreat. At first I was completely horrified, where they kidding?! Seriously, the queen on anti-religious actions and the send me to a RETREAT?! I was bullshit. I always thought that Christians were crazy people who didn't know anything except what was in their precious Bible. That they didn't have any fun, that they had to be perfect, and most of all, that they were just ignorant and annoying people. I was wrong. I was so wrong it's ridiculous. These people were absolutely amazing, there was some guy jumping around in a banana suit, a live band, and lots of really interesting, not at all boring, and not at all perfect, people there. I've gone back every summer since then, I don't know what happened, I completely fell in love with the place, I stopped sleeping around and haven't since, I'm waiting for true love. I developed a relationship with God that I never dreamed possible and I'm totally comfortable with myself now, it's an amazing freedom to not have to be perfect, but to be your best. I learned that through that place, and the people there who to this day are some of my closest friends. I came home completely changed that summer, and looking back now I know it was because I had to, and it was God's plan for me." I ended, smiling, the memories of that summer still fresh as though it had been yesterday. Alice just looked at me, with an odd emotion written across her face, I couldn't tell what it was, until she came over and wrapped her arms around me.

"Bella Swan! You have no idea how glad I am to know you! You're going to be such a great influence on all of us!" I felt my eyes start getting wet with tears, she'd accepted me, not that I was that worried, but I was so used to people not accepting that side of me, and not understanding how I could live the way I do. Alice got it, I felt like she got me, I knew we'd be friends! I just knew it! Edward on the other hand…

No Bella, stop it, you can't think about that right now!

Alice finally stopped hugging me, and we went on to other subjects, school, Alice and Jasper, and finally Jacob. It was a tough subject to talk about but Alice and I were quickly becoming good friends, and I trusted her with my story. When I was finished, Alice said,

"Hot damn Bella, you suck at choosing men!" I laughed, she was right. I did suck at it, but hey, atleast I could say no. That was I was immensely proud of. Alice got a call from Rosalie asking if she and I would like to go dancing tonight to celebrate the last night before summer was officially over, we both agreed and Alice dragged me shopping, she promised nothing to revealing, but I had a feeling that she didn't really mean what she'd said. Oh well, I'd find out eventually I guess.

I know you guys must really hate me for taking so long with this! please forgive me!

I'm anxious to know what you think of the OOC Bella, & if her being Christian offends you, sorry, but I won't change it. It took me a while to rest on what she was going to be like and this is how it ended up. so please no flames, just constructive criticism.