Sorry, i meant to mention a thanks to those who reviewed and those who put this story on alert/favorite. it makes me so happy to think you guys could like my little story! plus i do appreciate any comments to help benefit this story.

so, fyi the line breaks help separate time shifts and whatnot

and obviously this is in edwards point of view. i don't know if i'll continue to put some chapters in his pov or not. if you like it, let me know and i'll make sure to include it.

and because i feel like i have to, but shouldn't have to because it's obvious, i'm not sm, twilight and its characters/plot do not belong to me

EPOV

I had finally reached my last semester here at Northwestern. I couldn't be more thrilled about that. All those semesters crammed with too many credit hours were paying off. I wanted to graduate a semester early, with as little credits left as possible for a reason. The extra time I had would be spent preparing myself for my future career. My plan was always to attend medical school, become a doctor just like my father. I was pretty young still when I asked him what his job was.

"Well son, I'm in the business of helping people." I didn't quite understand what he meant. If he had just said "I'm a doctor" I would've understood. But as I aged, his answer showed me how he really viewed his chosen profession, an act of service as opposed to a chore. I've always admired him, but when I realized just how much he revered being a doctor, my admiration grew exponentially. So as I got older, I asked him questions nonstop. Every answer proved to me how much he loved what he does.

Even now, I know my father misses being at the hospital. But for so many years, he had to keep insane hours and was often rushing out the door to help some poor soul in need. We never resented him for it, but we did miss him sometimes. Now that all the children were out of the house, my mother and father wanted to more fully enjoy each other's company.

It was amazing the love they had for each other, especially after all these years. That kind of love and devotion was hard for me to envision in my life. True, I dated and had quite a few girlfriends throughout the years, but I was never serious with any of them. If I was being completely honest with myself, they were merely a source of release. I'm not proud of the fact. My only condolence was that I treated them all well, just not well enough to stay for long. I was much too focused on my future career. I told myself that once I had established a position in the medical field, I would look for my other half. I really was too busy for any kind of romance. With this semester being relatively stress free, I could focus more on getting a head start on the MCATS. Nothing would get in my way of accomplishing this.

The only set back was a promise I made to my father: to TA for his beginner's biology class. As a BioChem major, I saw the course as laughable. I know I was bordering on arrogant, but this just seemed beneath me. But Carlisle insisted he needed the help, saying someone "as qualified" as me could really benefit the incoming freshmen. I had a hard time saying no to him out of the love and respect I felt. My only source of relief in this mess was my baby sister Alice. She was a freshman herself, taking biology to fulfill a credit requirement, and also in my lab section. At least if I got bored I'd have Alice to entertain me.

I was really lucky to have my family so close by. We'd always been very close, a fact that helped persuade the three of us to attend the same college. Emmett was my roommate, naturally, and while he was sometimes too boisterous for his own good, he did help a lot in distressing my seemingly constant bad moods. My only big issue with living with him was his girlfriend Rosalie. I don't hate her, but I can't honestly say I like her either. She is just…Rosalie. But oddly enough the two of them work well together. At least Alice was dating someone I liked. Jasper was my best friend, practically family. And as luck would have it, he was at Northwestern too, just a year behind me. If only he and Alice weren't so vocal about their love life (part of the reason I chose not to room with him. Ugh, that's my baby sister!). Come to think of it, Emmett and Rose were like that too. It's just too disturbing to know what goes on behind closed doors, and to sometimes hear it too. Just the thought caused me to violently shudder in disgust.

Emmett had been gone for awhile. I know he was finishing helping Alice. He had told me to go relax for the move while he brought in the last box of stuff. That guy was a machine. With all the crap Alice had, I was exhausted. But he didn't seem to mind. I probably slowed him down more than I helped. But if he was just finishing up with Alice, what was taking him so long? As if on cue…

"Dude, Eddie, I just met the perfect girl for you!" I just shook my head at Emmett's casual use of the nickname "Eddie." Only he could call me that and get away with it. For whatever reason, I despised the name Eddie. It was just so juvenile.

"Em, how many times have I told you that I don't need help finding women. You know I'm capable of that."

"Sure, capable of finding a good lay, but I'm talking about a girl you could bring home to Mom."

"Whatever, Em, just don't worry about it. When I'm ready for something serious, I'll find me a girl."

"So you don't even wanna know her name or anything?" He looked so down hearted I almost agreed to meet her. Almost.

"No. Seriously. Leave it alone."

He let out a low, heavy sigh and lay down on his bed. Yup, nothing was going to stand in the way of my dreams. I'm too close to attaining the life I've always dreamed of.

First day of classes and I'm already running late. Carlisle's class was the first one for me. I only somewhat rushed to make it on time. I'm usually really punctual but since I've been dreading this for awhile, I was in no hurry. Plus, I knew I'd have no trouble finding a seat. Carlisle requested I sit up front to help if needed. I knew there'd be plenty of seats up there since most like to sit in the back. Vaguely, I wondered were Alice would be sitting. But as I walked into the lecture hall I spotted her right away. For someone so bite size she sure was hard to miss. Flaunting her newest fashion find, Alice was in the last row, on the end by the aisle. I walked by, smiled at her and was about to ask her to sit by me when I noticed her expression.

Alice, eternally perky, was extra exuberant right now. She was trying to discreetly move my focus to the person next to her by shifting her eyes in the girl's direction and waggling her eyebrows at me. It's a wonder she didn't go cross eyed from how quickly she was moving her eyes between me and this girl.

I have in, curious at Alice's persistence, and looked at the girl sitting next to her. I noticed her beauty right away. She was definitely the most beautiful girl I'd seen on campus, well anywhere actually. But she was just that, a pretty face. I watched her as she slowly met my gaze. I was mentally preparing myself for some skanky comment, but instead she blushed. The sudden pink in her cheeks looked stunning in comparison to her milky complexion. I was confused at her reaction. I was really not expecting that response. It was odd and very frustrating because I was so used to girls throwing themselves at me, sometimes literally, just to get a response from me. I decided to not even bother asking Alice; she was obviously staying with the gorgeous brunette. I had to clear my head a little bit and resumed my walk to the front of the class.

"I'd like to welcome everyone to class," my father began, "I know this will be an amazing semester for us all." Yeah, amazing was a good word to describe that mysterious girl.

For the rest of that week I had a hard time keeping the brunette out of my mind. I must've looked weird to Emmett because every once and awhile he'd ask if I was ok. I tried to play it off like nothing was wrong. There was no way I would let Emmett know a girl had an impact on me or he'd be sure to try and set me up.

It was Friday at last and I couldn't be more grateful. I was looking forward to finding something/someone to get my mind off that puzzling girl.

I got an early start to my lab. I briefly thought about calling up Alice to walk to campus together, until I realized she was probably still getting ready. I'll never understand the amount of effort girls put into getting ready.

I reached my destination and sat down waiting somewhat impatiently for the rest to arrive. People started trickling in and I scanned the room for Alice. Nothing yet and it was 2:00 exactly. She knew I hated tardiness. It was now 2:10. With a sigh I started to get up and walk towards the door to close it. I was in the middle of introducing myself when Alice came bolting through the half closed door, muttering out a hurried apology.

"Sorry Edward, we didn't mean to be la…OW!" I watched Alice stumble forward as a girl came hurtling into her. She looked like she had bounced off of Alice's motionless body, as if she were made of granite or something, and was about to fall when instinctively I reached out to catch her from the fall.

She quietly started to apologize when I realized who it was. This girl was the girl. The girl who had plagued my thoughts and dreams for the past 4 days. I quickly took in her appearance. She was too damn sexy for class. Sure a lot of girls wore more provocative clothes, but this girl's more conservative approach emitted a sexiness they could never achieve. I realized that this must be Alice's handywork since the first time I saw this girl she was dressed in just a casual shirt and jeans.

"Sorry for the disrupt…" She had finally looked up to see who her savior was and immediately blushed that same color I had grown fond of. But my mind was working at a million miles a minute. It suddenly clicked. Alice, trying to get my attention in lecture. Alice dressing this girl up. Alice bringing her to lab. Alice. She was trying to set me up with this girl.

I was angry beyond belief. Not just at Alice, either. I was beyond angry at this girl who was looking too good for my own good. And for what purpose? So I could hook up with another bimbo? Even though she was much more than beautiful, I could not stand the thought of another dumb girl.

"Please find a seat so we can start." She looked a little frightened by my angry stare and hurried off to the other side of class. I repeated my introduction and out of the corner of my eye saw the girl turn even redder. The stupid girl! I would not let her beautiful blush distract me. Even still, I found myself glaring in her direction to see if she was watching me.

The period had barely ended before I was out the door and on my way to see Carlisle. I don't think I could handle being her TA. I could just imagine her using her lack of intelligence as an excuse for a "tutor." There was no way I would let her try and seduce me. I could not give in.

I walked in and started to talk in the calmest voice I could manage, but my annoyance and anger built with every thought of this girl. I was almost to a full blown rampage when I heard a knock on the door and then the devil spoke with the voice of an angel.

"Excuse me, Prof Cullen? May I speak with you for a moment?" Damnit, why now? I tried to ignore her as much as possible but couldn't help listening. She introduced herself as Bella and I found it a fitting name. Beauty. Yes she was. When she started discussing the placement test I gave up trying to ignore her.

"I've reviewed the course material and noticed I've already learned all of it." I was glad my father asked why she was taking the course because I desperately wanted to know at this point.

I watched in awe as she blushed furiously while explaining that her school didn't offer AP courses. Why should she be embarrassed about her intelligence? Did she not realize that a girl with intelligence was by far the most beautiful? Damnit. My hatred towards her was completely off base. I should've known better than to think Alice would try and hook me up with some ditzy bimbo. Because she wasn't either of those. She was gorgeous and smart, a dangerous combination. I could not be in this room with her anymore because I might give in and try to get to know her. Like I said before, I could not let myself get distracted. And she was the perfect distraction for me.

So it was all I could do to not flee from the room right then. I handed her the paper Carlisle requested and left the room as quickly as I could without actually running. I heard my dad yell after me, but I didn't care. I had to get out and I had to do something to forget about Bella.

But when I got to my room I discovered I had no desire to do anything but think about Bella. I found myself recalling details I had tried to shut out. She was so beautiful. Her silky brown hair smelled of strawberries (something I had noticed when I caught her) and made the perfect frame for a stunning face. Her amazing eyes were chocolate colored but with the most subtle flicks of gold, which created a mesmerizing effect. Her lips were a captivating natural pink and looked good enough to taste. As I remembered the feel of her body in my arms, I silently thanked Alice for the choice in clothes. They hugged her curves in all the right places.

Damnit. What the hell am I going to do about this ever growing attraction to Bella? I had no choice but to ignore her. Maybe then I could forget her and get back to focusing on med school.

so another thing, i don't know which you'd prefer: longer chapters that maybe get updated every other to a few days apart, or shorter chapters that come more often. because i'd like to say i'll update every day (which obviously this time didn't happen) but in all honestly i can't say that. you gotta understand i like writing everything down in a notebook first and then transfer it to a comp. somehow it just helps me think and flow better. i'll try super hard to update often because i know how impatient i get with a story i like, and if you guys really do like it, then i wanna do this for you!