These chapters will slowly but surely get longer, so don't worry. After this one I'm going to try to set it more as an actual story rather than a small collection of seemingly unrelated events, so it'll be more "full" and fleshed out, much more dialogue etc, just not necessarily this chapter. Also, thank you to both the people who left me a review, they really truly mean the world to me!

"Bella!" Angela's voice carried across their sparsely decorated dorm, catching Bella and pulling her from her daydream.

"Hm?" She muttered, hoping she hadn't missed anything too important.

Thankfully, Angela simply laughed and shook her head. "The party tonight. We're going, right? That cute guy from your class just texted me asking if you'll be there." The words came out and dread filled Bella's stomach. That cute guy looked exacty like James. How was Bella meant to say that to Angela? Granted, he was cute with his huge, Thor-like mane of hair, but that didn't make him any less terrifying when Bella caught a glimpse of him.

"You know, Edward and I are engaged, right?" Bella chuckled humourlessly, twisting the bulky ring that hung on the chain around her neck. One of Edward's many gifts since they had spoken about his behaviour. Oddly, the words brought her little comfort and even less joy.

Upon returning home from the trip with Rosalie, Bella had done a lot of thinking. Sure, she still loved Edward, but was she in love with him? She didn't truly know. She eventually voiced her concerns, partly expecting to scare him away to another country again, unintentionally sending him into some strange spiral that lead to a proposal and a mountain of gifts. He vowed to earn back her trust and deserve her love, so she gave him a chance, but since leaving for college all she could think about was the fact that she didn't want his damn gifts.

The thing that really punched her in the gut though was his parting words. "Take all the time you need. Do whatever you need, even if you need to see other people. Experiment. Just come back to me."

Yeah. A free pass to cheat during college. Despite his fucked up efforts, Bella just saw it for what it was. He trusted her in their relationship just about as much as she trusted him.

"You know, most people wear rings on their fingers, right?" Angela teased back. Bella tried not to let the hurt show, but it must have failed. "Too far?" Angela questioned gently.

Smiling a little, Bella shook her head. "Don't be silly." She muttered, hoping to ease her friend's discomfort. "But yeah, sure, let's go." And immediately, without skipping a beat, Bella wondered if there would be alcohol. Edward would probably frown at such a thing, but that was a human experience, right? Getting drunk at college? "I have no idea what the hell to wear."

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After all her worrying, it turned out that Bella had no reason at all to worry about what to wear. When she and Angela arrived at the party they both noticed that most people were either in fancy dress or were in super comfy looking clothes. The two girls had thankfully just gone for a gentle, casual look. Angela was wearing some jeans, boots, a nice cami and a cute leather jacket, whereas Bella had found herself in jeans and a hoodie.

The party, like most of the ones they'd been to since starting college, was in a frat house. A bunch of the guys that lived there were running around with beer in one hand and stupid costume props in the other, chasing girls. The music was loud, the beer was flowing and the guys were cute. This, in Bella's book, was a win.

Granted, she and Edward were still together, but she had found herself at least appreciating the male form in its varying forms around her. She'd even checked out a few girls since arriving, but she didn't really know at what point that stopped being about appreciation and turned into attraction, so she ignored that little part of herself.

Later that night, however, she found herself forced to take a long, hard look at herself, including that part.

In case you haven't guessed it, Bella is going to experiment a little in college. That means sex with women, sex with men, sex in general really, drinking, maybe some drug use, so if any of that bothers you, feel free to drop me a message or a review and I'll happily put TW/CWs on the relevant chapters or section out the offending areas to make them easier to skip. That being said though, its still going to be written and will, therefore, still be part of the story, so please read at your own discretion.