Lord love a duck if I don't give props to my schawesome beta, Juliebly! Honestly, this chick made my characters come to life! If you haven't read anything of hers…she and Sparklingtwilight have this small story…Anywhere But Here.
Read it.
Some may have read this before. I have made some changes, but specifically with this chappie, I just added details and clarified things.
Overall, the changes to this story are going to be noticeable in the upcoming chappies. It's going to be a bit darker. In my opinion, real. Are things going to magically fall into place? Maybe…but not likely.
I hope that you enjoy this…
JustJo94
Moving In
I stumbled out of the elevator and down the long hallway carrying a small box of personal items and pulling my suitcase behind me to the room that would become my new home for the next year. The doors were evenly spaced apart so that it gave the appearance that you could walk forever, and never reach your room. It was kind of creepy, and it reminded me of the scene in the movie The Shining.
I couldn't help but think to myself that this was what I had been waiting for, a fresh start.
I want to find out who I am…to give myself the opportunity to be the real me. I have the chance to change who I have become. I want to finally try and fit in. Granted, I'm
working with a limited pallet, but it's something, none-the-less.
My history was just where I wanted it to be…in the past. I couldn't stand continuing to live my life the way it was any longer. The truth of the matter was that people that I went to high school with wouldn't let me change. It appeared that the more I tried, the more they made my life difficult, tying to keep me for making that change.
After a while, I simply conceded to their "game". I chose to just live with it, and instead turned my focus on my school work. It simply made life easier when I just conformed to the role that they wanted me to play. I hated being that submissive, but like I said, it was just easier. To me it wasn't worth the angst, and to be honest, the idea wasting my time and energy with them didn't appeal to me either.
Life wasn't all that bad though. I had to admit that they socially constrained me into doing my school work. It was a good thing because it helped, rather it enabled, me to earn my full ride scholarship to college.
As I reached my dorm room I found the door slightly ajar and could hear the most melodic and beautiful voice humming from inside.
Here goes nothing, I thought to myself and tapped on the door in an effort to announce my presence.
I received no response.
"Hello?" I called, wondering if whomever was in the room hadn't heard my knock.
Yet again, no response.
I nudged the door open a bit further to peer inside and noticed a person that I assumed was my roommate fluttering around the room unpacking while listening to music on her Zune. I wanted to walk up and tap her on the shoulder to get her attention, but it would be somewhat embarrassing if I frightened her. What a first impression that would make.
I knocked a little louder on the door, as I set down my bags, yet she still hadn't heard me. Her music was so loud I could heard it coming through her headphones, so when there was a pause between songs on her shuffle I knocked once again. This time she acknowledged my presence.
"Can I help you with something? Are you lost?" she clipped in an icy tone, though her beauty overwhelmed me as she spoke.
She was wearing a basic Pink lounging suit from Victoria's Secret, yet she made it look like she just stepped off a Parisian runway. Her golden blond hair was loosely pulled up into a basic pony-tail which allowed a few strands to frame her perfectly defined face.
I broke out of my befuddled expression and blushed while I searched for the letter I received a few weeks ago from the university. I double checked the information that they gave me; Room, 520. Roommate: Rosalie Hale.
"My name is Isabella Swan. I'm assigned to room this room for the year. Are you Rosalie Hale?"
"I'm sorry, this has to be some mistake. I was promised to have a single room this year." She quickly snatched the letter out of my hand in a huff and mumbled something under her breath, much too quick for me to understand.
It figures, I had expectations of a start fresh here. No one knows me. None of my history is here to define me. Now, with the very first sentence I speak, I already feel like the leper I was in high school.
Rosalie sighed, "Let's go find the RA. Maybe she can help to fix this catastrophe that you caused."
She shoved past me, never even so much as looking me in the eye, and stormed down the hallway to where the resident advisor lived.
Wait, the catastrophe I caused? How was this my fault?
I followed after her, trying not to fall over my own feet in the process. I wasn't happy with her choice of words; I just met her for goodness sake. And I would hope that she understood that I didn't cause anything, the university made the room assignments, not me. While I could see where she was coming from, it didn't excuse her quick judgment of me or the situation.
Rosalie swiftly made her way to the RA's room, and as I got closer, I could hear their conversation from inside the room.
"…nothing that I can do. If the university assigned her to that room with you, there is nothing that can be changed. We were told during our training that all of the rooms were filled up due to the large number of freshmen and transfers in attendance this year."
"But why do I have to suffer because the university screwed up? This isn't fair. I was looking forward to having my privacy this year and now I'm stuck dealing with a sniveling freshman."
This was going to be a long year if I was to be rooming with Rosalie. She was the type of person I tried to avoid all during my high school years. I hated to make presumptions about people, but her actions spoke volumes to me.
I stood there in the doorway with my head down, listening to their banter back and forth about the situation. This was just the type of interaction that I was used to dealing with. I wanted nothing more than to blend into the walls and be on my own as well, but it looked as if fate was not on my side.
I was tired of this self pity. This was precisely the situation I was trying to avoid getting myself into. I wanted to be a strong person and stand up for myself. I opened my mouth, as if to say something to defend myself to Rosalie, but a small pixie like girl who had suddenly appeared beside me spoke before I could find my voice.
"Rose, Emmett is looking for you. Are you done unpacking yet?"
"Alice," Rose sighs in defeat. "No, I'm not done unpacking yet. I've been dealing with a certain issue. Evidently, I have a roommate this year," Rosalie shot a disapproving look in my direction.
It was then that I noticed her eyes, which I expected to be blue, given her blond hair. Instead, they were an intense shade butterscotch, almost like a liquid topaz. I could feel the surprise on my face, and fought to keep my mouth from gaping open. I had never seen such a color before, and I couldn't even make sense of how such a color would come out in nature.
Alice turned her attention toward me and smiled. "Hi! I am Alice Cullen, Rose's sister. It's nice to meet you."
As she spoke, I struggled to pay attention to her words as I took in her appearance. She was a beautiful girl with a short stature. Her outfit was very well put together, like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Her make-up was subtle, yet it enhanced her beauty, if that was possible. Her jet black hair was short and spiky and fanned out evenly in every direction. It would probably take me years, if not a lifetime, to try to achieve that level of beauty, and yet she stood before me, pulling the look off as if it only took her five minutes.
I also noticed that her eyes were a topaz that rivaled Rosalie's. What were the chances that two people would have the same atypical eye color, even if they were siblings? They also had the same pale, almost iridescent, skin, which was unnerving. Maybe they were related, though physically, they were almost polar opposites.
I caught the inflection on 'you' in her greeting. I turned my head to the side and my eyebrows furled together as if to question, but I didn't trust myself to say anything. Maybe I misheard her. I shook my head to try to clear my thoughts.
"I'm Bella, it's nice to meet you," I stammered, perplexed by the entire situation. Their beauty, their eyes, Rosalie's immediate hatred, and Alice's seeming immediate willingness to accept me. Even their opinions of me fell upon the two extremes of an opinion scale.
Alice turned to Rosalie, "Emmett is really looking for you. Do you need any help in unpacking?"
"It's nothing that I can't finish later. I will catch up with you in a little while, Alice." With that, Rosalie gracefully walked off, not even bothering to acknowledge me standing there.
Shaking my head, I turned to Alice, "It was nice to meet you. I should go and unpack my things now." I said quickly turning to walk back down hall towards my room.
"Wait! Bella, do you need any help? Do you have any more boxes to bring up?" she asked falling in step beside me.
"No, I have all my stuff already in the room. I think I just need to be alone to unpack my things. I don't have much, and it shouldn't take long. Thanks for the offer though." I said, as I entered my room.
Alice watched me carefully as I spoke, "Alright, I guess that I'll be seeing you around," she smiled at that, walked out the door, closing it behind her. I couldn't help to think that there was some underlying joke that I missed during our brief exchange.
I slowly turned around to take in my room. It was very simple, with two full size beds, two closets, two dressers, two desks and two large windows that allowed me to view the entire campus. I slowly walked over to the window and peered out to admire what was going to be my home for the next four years.
What will campus life bring for me? Will things be better for me here, or will I suffer the same fate as in high school?
I quickly shook my head at these thoughts. My focus now was to get my stuff unpacked before my roommate decided to make another appearance. I didn't hold any animosity towards Rosalie. I knew that people who looked like her, definitely didn't care for people like me.
I unzipped my suitcase quickly and emptied its contents into the dresser that Rosalie hadn't claimed. I shuddered as I looked at her closet, bursting at the brim with clothes and shoes. I barely had enough clothes to fill two of the four drawers in my dresser.
Maybe I can earn some points back with her by relinquishing my closet for her to use.
I smirked to myself with that thought as I headed over to my desk and empty the box of supplies that I brought. I took inventory of the items that I still needed to get for classes and such and made a quick list to ensure that I wouldn't forget anything.
Grabbing my bag and keys, I locked up the room, hoping that Rosalie had her key with her, and headed down to the main floor of the dorm and out toward the center of the campus.
I appreciated Alice's offer to help with the room but I knew that when siblings looked as beautiful and well put together as they did, they generally came from money. Thinking back to Rosalie's closet, my suspicions were confirmed. The last thing that I needed was for anyone to take pity on my lack of 'style'.
It wasn't that my family was dissolute. We could afford the necessities such as clothing, cars and smaller 'want' items. I was just very frugal with my money. I didn't see the use of wasting money on things if they weren't necessary.
As I walked out the main doors of the dorm onto the campus, I couldn't help but to feel a
little excited. I looked around at the other students who were wandering around the sidewalks taking in the sights and orienting themselves to their new home just like I was.
Home. I liked the sound of that.
