(A/N): This story is partially based on my own experience at a music conservatory. However, Stephanie Meyer owns her characters & the places and people in this story that are outside the Twilight universe are not real and simply an amalgamation of classic conservatory tropes. There's a lot of music slang in this story, as I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible, so please let me know if any terms need clarification & I will post them at the beginning of the next chapter!*

CHAPTER 1

"Honey, are you sure you have everything? You have all your chargers, your pillows, your music…?"

"Yes, mom, I swear I have everything."

"Okay, did you pack the shampoo and the laundry detergent I got you?"

"Yes mom, really, I have everything. And it's not like I'll be in the middle of the desert, if I need anything I'll just go pick it up."

"Yes, but—"

A gruff voice interrupted. "Renee, please. She'll be fine. Just get in the car already, we're going to be late to the hotel if we leave any later."

Renee rolled her eyes and begrudgingly climbed into the passenger's seat of the dusty black van. "I'm just making sure Bella didn't forget anything, so we don't have to drive another 36 hours and back." Her eyes darted over to Bella, a last plea.

Bella cringed. The 36 hour trip from Phoenix to New York would be grueling, especially since she knew that, like always, it was going to be filled with listening to her parents bicker against a background of classic rock while she sat uncomfortably cramped between bags and boxes. But hopefully, the prize at the other end would be worth it. Bella sighed inwardly and, for the last time, took in her surroundings—muted browns and the occasional barely-green of the desert punctuated with the textures of craggy stone and smooth sand. Turning away from her house, she climbed into the back of the overloaded vehicle and a silent goodbye to the place she'd always known as home.

One unbearable day of driving and an uncomfortable night at a sketchy hotel later, Bella Swan was back in the stuffy van and more than a few hours into the second half of her journey. Although she tried to drown out the constant arguing in the front seats with loud music of her own, it was a futile attempt. She settled for playing an endless and maddeningly boring series of solitaire games on her phone while blasting the loudest music she had through her headphones—Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. After so many hours on repeat, she now knew every note, melody, and unusual syncopation by heart.

Bella had watched as the soft and comforting colors of the desert, illuminated by the blinding sun, slowly but surely transformed into flat and seemingly endless green fields, and then, more and more trees dotted the horizon, growing into hilly forests. After a lifetime of beige and heat, the cool, damp, and verdant forests whipping by her window were a strange and welcome sight. They reminded her of places she'd seen in movies & books, places that seemed so foreign yet familiar. Soon enough, these forests would turn bright sunshine yellow, and then a fiery copper, and finally skeleton-bare, covered with white snow, only to repeat the process again. Bella was excited to be able to watch this process for the first time in her life, finally being able to experience Autumn to the fullest, with her jeans and sweaters and the crunch of leaves under her boots, the light brushing noise they would make as they fall to the pavement and the sweet-autumn smell of the decay that would hang in the air. Not that it didn't get cold or even snow in Phoenix, but this would be different. It would be so perfect, a stereotypical scene of college on the East Coast and the background to her new life. I've never had a pumpkin spice latte, I mean, sure, they're well past cliché at this point, but maybe I'll get one so I can finally experience everything 'fall'. Maybe I'll be a fall kind of person.. who knows, she thought as she dozed off.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

A car horn blared and was followed by a loud crash. Bella was lurched forward against her seatbelt as she awoke, startled, scared, arms thrust out in front of her, and with a massive headache. Colors and shapes swirled before her, her eyes not focusing on anything she recognized. Panic-stricken, she darted her eyes around and took in Charlie's furious expression, Renee's petrified one, the boxes and items in the car that had been jostled, some of which had fallen forward into the front of the car, and turned to see the lights of the car that had just hit them from the rear. Swearing under his breath, Charlie put the car in park, clicked off his seatbelt, and dashed to the other car. Renee swung around in her seat and grabbed Bella's hands, asking if she was okay. Bella nodded. Aside from the pulsing pain in her left wrist from hitting into the front seat, she was perfectly fine.

The driver's side door was yanked open. "Jesus fucking Christ, I can't believe this fucking guy. I walk over there and he says, "Sorry for bumping your car." Bumping my car? I said to him, "You rear-ended us and almost killed my daughter! I'm calling the cops and you're gonna wait here with me." Un-fucking-believeable." Charlie, clearly incensed, took a deep breath. "The cops are on their way, so hang tight in here, I'll figure it all out… Bella, are you okay?"

"Yeah dad, I'm fine"

"Okay, thank god. Renee, can you come out here with me to wait for the cops and get this guy's email and phone number or whatever? The car's not too badly jacked up—honestly I think that guy's bumper took most of the impact—but it's smashed in and I'm making sure that fucker's paying for it."

"Alright." Renee turned to Bella. "Honey, just take it easy for a few minutes, try to sleep or something, we'll get this all sorted out."

"I don't really know if I can, but I'll try." Renee nodded and Bella's parents returned to the rear of the car. She heard muted sounds of argument from the back of the truck and eventually saw the flashing red lights. After a while, her adrenaline faded and she was reminded of the throbbing in her wrist and her sore neck. She folded up the sweater she was wearing into a makeshift pillow and stuck it between her head and the car window, willing the pain away with the power of sleep.

"Bella, wake up, we're here!"

Bella opened her eyes to see the excitement on her mother's face. Once she registered what was said, her own heartbeat jolted and she was suddenly invigorated. A smile crept up on her face as she quickly turned in her seat to see the unmistakeable landscape of New York City surrounding them—large, tall buildings, grey concrete, bright LED signs in all shapes and sizes, people flitting by on the sidewalks and through the crosswalk, the lights of the other cars staring back at her. And the noises—a loud jackhammer somewhere behind them, car horns, conversations loud and soft, music spilling out of the other cars, sirens, and…. oh! In the distance, the sound of Mozart, of the music Bella held especially dear.

When it came time to choose an instrument in 5th grade, Bella was torn. She knew for sure that she wanted to be part of the Band because the Band teacher was known for being super funny and nice, and she really liked when they learned recorder in 4th grade, but she couldn't decide between flute or clarinet. Flute sounded cool, but she knew that it was a "girly" instrument, meaning it would draw in the types of girls that would giggle and make fun of Bella on the playground for being a clumsy, hand-me-down wearing tomboy. Bella didn't want to have to spend any more time around those girls than necessary, so clarinet was the next choice.

But Bella didn't want to play clarinet either; during recess, a short, snotty boy in her class, Embry, had already announced that he was going to pick the clarinet in front of practically the whole class. He then turned to grin at Bella. It was no secret that the obnoxious child harbored a crush for Bella, and she was painfully embarrassed by it; he would give her flowers on the playground, try to buy her snacks at lunch, and attempt to ask her to play checkers with him and only him, but Bella was simply repulsed by him and the way he wiped his snotty nose on his shirt, leaving a wet mark that would seem to last all day. There was no way that she could handle sitting next to him—or even near him—for her entire Band career.

And so, in this predicament, Bella begged Renee to email Mr. Molina, the aforementioned Band teacher, to see if there was any other solution. Mr. Molina set up a meeting with the mother and daughter, in which he introduced Bella to an instrument that he though suited her best—the oboe. He unpacked the petite instrument from its small, black case and explained how to put it together and take it apart. He warned that she would have to be especially careful with the instrument's reed; that she would have to quickly soak it in water before playing, as it was paper-thin and hand-made by a friend of his. Bella noticed that the instrument before her possessed the high notes of the flute and a look similar to the clarinet, but had a quirky sound that was entirely its own due to the vibrations of its fragile double reed. Bella fell in love instantly; she took the oboe home that day and squawked out her first few notes to her delight and her parents' growing annoyance.

When Band finally started with squeaks and fracks and loud trombone glisses, Bella found a love for the Band camaraderie and an appreciation for being a spall part of a big project. During her transition from elementary to middle school, this appreciation transformed into to a love of the instrument to a love of the music itself. Over the years, Bella had become quite good at the oboe, surpassing what Mr. Molina and the middle and high school Band teacher Mrs. Thompson could teach her and taking on a new determination to become the best oboist she could be. When Mrs. Thompson suggested she take private oboe lessons with a professional oboist, Bella's mother contacted the principal oboist of the Phoenix Symphony, Ms. Williams.

Weekly, she made her way to Ms. Williams' apartment nearby Symphony Hall, learning about the tenets of oboe playing, which included pieces like the Strauss oboe concerto, and orchestral excerpts like Le Tombeau, La Scala, and Scheherazade. She learned about the other instruments she would be expected to learn if she were to become an oboist, like the english horn (a slightly longer oboe with a lower register) and the oboe d'amore (a baroque version of the oboe). Ms. Williams guided her to audition for the Phoenix Youth Orchestra and attend summer music camps in Michigan and Massachusetts.

And so she did; she immersed herself in music and the oboe, learning to make reeds, attending summer programs, making new friends across the country, and making her way through standard orchestral and solo oboe repertoire. She fell into this life, never having to make the decision to pursue music as a career, knowing innately that she would attend a music conservatory and win an audition for an esteemed orchestra job. She got her own shiny new grenadilla wood oboe for her 17th birthday, a couple of months before college auditions started. She flew all across the United States to view colleges, meet their oboe teachers-in-residence, take lessons with them, and finally, perform her auditions. When a slew of manila envelopes arrived in the mail months later, each with a "yes" or "no", Bella knew where she would end up.

Which brings us back to the present moment. Bella's car slowly inched by the New York Symphony Hall, where the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro played from outdoor speakers. Just one more block, she thought, until my future starts. And sure enough, one block later, she saw people in "New York Conservatory Move-In Crew" tee shirts ushering her car to pull over and park.

Renee rolled down the passenger's seat window and one of them, a petite girl with glasses and short, spiky black hair, walked over and poked her head inside the car. "Hi guys! You guys can park here and I'll bring down some rolling bins for you to put her stuff in. But first, you have to sign her in-" she gestured to a table covered with papers, "-and then I can show you up to her room. Okay?" Renee and Charlie nodded, giving their thanks and waiting for the short girl to walk away before they opened the car doors. Bella opened hers and climbed out, her entire body feeling sore and wobbly on her feet after so many hours of sitting cramped in the car. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She looked over and saw that Charlie and Renee were doing the same. "So Bella, we're finally here! Are you excited?" Renee turned to her with a toothy grin.

Bella grinned back at her. She was excited to be back; the last time she was here was during her live audition in February; the streets were covered in slushy grey ice, and a sharp, cold breeze whipped past her face. Even then, it was beautiful, but now, in the heat of late August, it was also vibrant and happy. Bella looked up at the two buildings before her—the one on the right was old and stately, built with sandy grey, square stones and arched windows, stairs led up to a grand entrance, a wood and glass door that was currently propped open wide, giving a glimpse to the front desk and the maroon and cream interior. During her last visit, a student tour guide explained that this building was the "Old School", the original building that housed the Conservatory. It now housed the conservatory's concert hall, smaller performance venues, and practice rooms. The building on the left was, in contrast, huge, modern, and minimal, all glass and steel, looking like an architect's dream. Its transparent exterior revealed staircases and high ceilings, and people that were walking about and milling around large rectangular tables, colorful dots in a landscape of grey steel and bluish glass. This building was the imaginatively named the "New Building", which housed everything that the "Old School" had not—the dining hall, library, classrooms, and, above those, the dozens of dorm rooms. Even though Bella knew this was a small school, she was surprised that everything they needed could be squeezed into these two buildings.

Snapped out of her daze, she made her way over to the folding table with the papers in front of the New Building and got in line. Another tee shirt student sat at the table, speaking to a blonde student and his parents and handing him folders, papers, and various brochures. He had a rectangular instrument case slung over his back. I wonder if that's a viola…. maybe a saxophone? Bella wondered. Finally, the boy and his parents stepped away and it was her turn to sign in. She approached the desk and the tee shirt girl looked up. She was wearing a MY NAME IS tag that clearly read "SIOBHAN".

"Name and instrument?"

"Bella Swan and oboe."

The girl scanned a list of names. "Ah okay, there you are." She turned to rifle through a box of manila envelopes. "And you're from Phoenix?"

"Yeah."

She glanced over at the Swan family's car. "…You drove here?" Bella nodded. "Wow, that's crazy, how long did it take you? 3 days?"

"It was 36 hours of driving," Renee butts in, "But I think we made it in 33 or 34. We drove one day, stayed overnight somewhere in the middle of Missouri, and then drove out here the next."

"That's insane, I would have just flown. Are you guys driving all the way back?" Siobhan continued to rifle through a box of labeled manila envelopes.

"Yeah, but you know how expensive flights can be. We're staying here for a day and then hitting the road again." Renee sighed.

Siobhan locates Bella's envelope and then goes to grab a couple papers and a brochure.

"Phoenix is cool though, I have a violinist friend from there…. Maggie Howard?" She looked up at Bella, but Bella shook her head; she wasn't familiar. "That's okay, you'll probably meet her at some point. This school is really small. Anyways, I'm Siobhan and I'm the head RA. In this packet you'll find your room and mailbox key, a lanyard, some health forms, the handbook for your department, and a packet about dorm rules and such. For the forms, make sure to fill them out by the end of the day because your RA will be coming around tonight to collect them." She hands Bella the stack of papers. "And in these papers, there's generic information like a map of both of the buildings, building hours, a list of offices and their phone numbers, some information about the clubs here, and this brochure about the history of the school that they're making us give out." She turned around and saw the short, spiky-haired girl, who was back with some large rolling bins.

She gestured towards her. "It looks like Alice is back already, so you can start unloading your stuff into the bins and Alice will take you up into the elevator and show you to your room. If you have any questions, you can ask your RA, or, if they're not available, the phone number for the RA on duty is inside the envelope. Good Luck!" Head RA Siobhan pointed Bella, Renee, and Charlie towards Alice and scribbled something in her papers.

"You can start loading stuff into here," Alice gestured towards the bins. As they filled them with boxes, Alice turned towards Bella. "So what instrument do you play?"

"Oboe," Bella responded, pointing at the inconspicuous black backpack case that held her instrument. Alice's eyes lit up.

"Wait…. are you Bella? Bella Swan?" Alice inquired, the hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, I am"

Alice grinned wide and thrust out her hand excitedly. "I'm Alice Brandon!" Bella shook her hand, confused. She went on, "We're going to be in the same studio! You know, studying with Mr. Ferrucci?"

Ohhh… Bella thought, but was suddenly elated at the idea of knowing one person already.

"I'm just so excited because last year, I was the only girl oboist and it was kind of lonely. Like, don't get me wrong, all of the other guys are nice and all, but the only thing they really do besides practicing and making reeds is online gaming…. I think. I'm not too sure because they're not too talkative."

"Well it's nice to meet you. Are you also my RA…?" Bella questioned.

Alice laughed. "No, just volunteering for the day as a PL… it stands for 'Peer Leader'. You know they give you 2 credits if you volunteer during move-in? It's kind of a great deal. But I could never be an RA…. the things they put up with…" she cringes and then laughs, Bella joining in nervously. She glances over and sees her parents unloading the last of the boxes from her car. Even though it was filled to the brim with boxes and bags, a good portion of it was actually Renee's overnight bags, and it seemed they would only need one trip with the two bins to unload Bella's personal items. Alice grabbed one of the pins and pulled it into the propped-open doors of the New Building, gesturing for the Swans to follow. They passed the grey metal security desk, the plump but stern looking officer behind it giving them a nod, and pressed the 'UP' button for the elevators at the back of the large entrance.

"Bella, what's your room number?"

"Uh…" she glanced at the envelope, which had 'BELLA SWAN OBOE 702A' scrawled on the front. "I think 702A?" Bella tilted the envelope so that Alice could better see it.

"Yeah, 702A should be the room number" Just then, the doors to the massive elevator opened and Alice waited for the Swans and their bins to fit inside before pressing the '7' button.

"Wow, this is one big elevator…" Renee marveled. Alice explained to her that they have to be large enough to transport large instruments like marimbas and timpani.

"So do you live on campus too?" Charlie ventured into the conversation.

"No," Alice responded, "I'm a sophomore; only freshman live in the dorms, you know, because there are so few of them. But I don't live far from campus, maybe 2 or 3 blocks away." She turned to Bella. "If you want, I have a lot of reed tools and stuff over at my apartment, my gouger is way better than the school's. You can come over and make reeds with me and we could watch a movie or something!" Alice smiled hopefully.

Bella smiled back. "Yeah actually, that would be pretty cool."

"Okay, give me your number and I'll give you mine; I know you guys have a lot of orientation stuff going on this week, but text me when you're free and we'll arrange a Reed Night." The elevator doors finally parted with a 'ding!' and Alice and the Swans maneuvered the rolling bins out into a common room, carpeted in blue and containing two red couches and a TV, as well as a "WELCOME!" sign. Alice led them down a hallway to the left, stopping in front of one of the first doors. Bella rifled through envelope of papers Siobhan had given her, finally pulling out a black lanyard with two keys on the end.

"Huh. Looks like your roommate is a singer, Bella." Renee remarked, and Bella looked up to see two glittery name tags, one that read 'JESSICA STANLEY- VOCAL PERFORMANCE' alongside another that read 'BELLA SWAN- OBOE PERFORMANCE'.

She slid her key in the door and turned, revealing a small and simple room with two beds, two dressers, two desks, and a large window centered on the back wall. The walls were a grayish white and the floors a beige linoleum, a blank canvas.

As they unpacked Bella's things, Alice made small talk with her parents. They filled Bella's drawers with her clothes, fitted the mattress with new purple sheets, unloaded her books and music onto her desk, and unfurled a small carpet to cover the floor. They placed a single cactus—Bella's only reminder of home—on her windowsill and finally turned to face her. Renee was teary eyed, and Charlie was silent, taking in the newly set up room with sadness in his eyes.

"Um, so Bella, here's my number, let me know when you want to come over to make reeds… or just hang out. Bye!" Alice placed a piece of paper on Bella's desk and left the room quickly, giving the Swans some privacy for their goodbyes.

Renee threw her arms around Bella, making her promise that she would call home often, and that she would stay safe. "Work hard, don't go to parties, don't drink, and watch out for the boys," she said shakily. Bella assured her that she would be fine, but Renee held on tighter, until Charlie coughed, clearly looking to say a goodbye of his own.

"Be good, kid. Call home if you need anything, okay?" Charlie suddenly pulled her into his arms and held on tight, trying to mask his pain as best he could. When he released her, Bella noticed the raw hurt in his eyes, if only for a brief second.

Renee and Charlie departed the room, taking one last look at their daughter, eyes brimming with pride. The door squeaked shut behind them and Bella was finally alone. She plopped down on her freshly made up bed and stared at the ceiling.

So what now?