A.N. Hey guys, so I hope you weren't too freaked out by the last chapter, because although that type of thing will occur throughout the story it is not the whole tale. We're going to step back, starting from the beginning and moving forward. This will be where we see her introductions to most of the gang. Here's the start of Bella's college career, enjoy!

Chapter One

Walking into the dorms was the most horrendously anxiety-inducing thing I'd done in my eighteen years of life. As comfortable as I was with myself around people I was familiar with, this was a whole new ball game with a new set of rules. No one knew anything about me; nothing about how I was a nerdy, clumsy, and weird kid in high school. This was why I chose a school so far from home, to get away from that reputation and, as cliché as it was, make a new identity for myself. As excited as I was to remake myself, beginning that process was extremely tough, and I was about to have a panic attack as I saw the smiling faces moving toward me like sharks approaching a baby seal.

"Hello there friend! My name is Tyler and I'll be one of your residence life advisors this year! Can I get your name so we can get your room number and key and get you settled in?" All of this took a minute to process, and I blushed as I stuttered out my response.

"Um, my name is Bella, Bella Swan." I punctuated my sentence with an awkward wave that encouraged the sympathetic smile of one of the female RAs sitting behind Tyler, who could see how uncomfortable I was with the whole ordeal.

Tyler didn't seem to notice my discomfort, and responded with a chipper "Nice to meet you Bella! Let me just grab your key and we'll head right up!"

As my parents and I waited while the RAs searched through the stack of key pouches, a herd of people entered with the contents of my life in their hands. Before I could vocalize my surprise, Tyler grabbed my key and ushered us upstairs. Renee's smile was suspiciously wide as she surveyed the male students holding my clothing and toiletries, clearly plotting which one she'd try to push me toward. Luckily, Charlie quelled my horror by nudging her and asking her if she was going to get some pictures of my new room. Simple but effective, as she quickly pulled her camera out of her purse and started snapping pictures of everything from the overly cheerful RA to the view out of my window.

Luckily for the skin on my face which could not possibly get redder, the RA finished his introduction and took his leave. Renee finally stopped taking pictures to help me unpack my things, while Charlie awkwardly placed himself in my new desk chair, wanting to avoid any awkward encounters with the very scary girly things in my possession. Luckily I only brought a couple of duffle bags and a few boxes, so once we finished unpacking we headed off to the cafeteria to try the local fare.

After a flurry of tears, hugs, and pictures, Renee and Charlie headed out on the eight hour drive home. I plopped down on my chair, unsure of what to do as it was the first time I'd been left alone since arriving on campus. Although my roommate's side of the room was full of her things, there had been no sign of her as of yet, so I decided to occupy my time by figuring out how to hook up my laptop to the campus Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, because of my complete incompetence when it came to technology, this turned out to be a fool's errand. I decided it was high time to put on my big girl panties and venture out, in hopes that maybe I'd find someone to help me out.

Deciding to just knock on the first door I came saw, I ended up in front of the room next door. I heard a huff and the door was whipped open by a petite blonde with a raised eyebrow. Pasting on an awkward smile, I introduced myself and mentioned the problem I was having.

"Well I have a different type of computer, I have no idea how to set up your internet. Anyway, I have too much to do to worry about someone else's crap, so you'll have to find someone else to help you." With that the door was slammed in my face, and I quickly decided that avoiding contact with this girl when at all possible was the best plan of action.

Feeling even more uncomfortable after dealing with that response, I trudged down the hallway, hoping someone would have an open door and the same kind of computer that I had. A few doors down I found my salvation, both in someone who would help me with my computer and who would become my first real friend at college.

"Hi, the name's Rose, who are you?" I poked my head in only to see a strawberry blonde head with ice blue eyes looking out inquisitively from behind stylish glasses. She sat next to a desk, the only light aside from that coming in through the mostly closed shades came from the computer in front of her.

I blushed, and rattled off an introduction. Smiling at my awkwardness, she extended a hand to shake and then invited me to sit with her. "So, you're having trouble connecting to the campus web? Don't worry, it's not too tricky, let me walk you through it."

Later that night we found ourselves parked in the lobby of the dorm, board games in hand and smiles on our faces (hers open and friendly, mine awkward as all get-out). After we rounded up a few people who seemed interested in the opportunity to do the meet-and-greet thing, we started on introductions.

A nerdy but cute guy with dark hair started things off. "Hey guys, I'm Ben and I'm from Washington, I plan to study physics".

Next to him was a tall, gangly sort of guy with curly brownish hair. "Hi, I'm James, I'm from Arizona and I'm hoping to study physics." He seemed nice, awkward and a little loud, but nice. As we continued around the table, I proceeded to meet two others, a tall and quiet girl named Leah and one of the RAs, Sam.

The six of us settled on Pictionary, and the games began. As we got further into it, it became clear that James and I were somehow very well coordinated, because although neither of us had any drawing skills to speak of, we seemed to give the right clues to each other and our team ended up winning the game. Rose groaned about how it was her game while Sam and the other two congratulated us on our win. Feeling confident for the first time since my arrival, I smiled over at James, only to blush when he smiled back widely and offered a high five.

Later that night, Rose and I had settled into the lounge and were chuckling as the already-drunk fellow freshman stumbled by on the way to their rooms. As we got to know each other and giggled over some of the guys in our dorm, two very intoxicated guys stumbled in and plopped down on the couch across from us. Our eyes went wide as we glanced over at each other and then back at them. They both sat with their eyes closed and heads on the back of the couch. One of them was an attractive and tall brunette with a chiseled jaw, while the other was short with red hair and a sweet looking face.

Suddenly, Chiseled jumped off of the couch and started doing pushups. I gave Rose a shocked look as she raised her eyebrow and snorted. At the sound, he jumped back up and introduced himself, not seeming perturbed by Rose's derision. "Hey guys, I'm Emmett and I'm drunk!" I choked out a giggle as Rose's other eyebrow joined her first very high up on her forehead. They slowly descended as she nodded with a smirk.

"No shit Sherlock, I didn't know we were playing the 'let's present obvious facts' game today." I gasped at her bluntness as Chiseled, aka Emmett, took on a confused and irritated look. Before things could get too tense, the quiet redhead across the way threw a hand over his eyes.

"Guys, I just blew some guy out by the steps." This time it was Rose's turn to be unable to contain her laughter, and she laughed until she cried while I blushed fifty shade of red and Emmett just looked stunned. To say I was shocked and also very unused to people talking like that was an understatement. This was the first of many slaps to the face that proved I was definitely in college, and the sheltered life I'd left behind was about to change. For better or worse remained to be seen.

A.N. Hey guys, so sorry that this was much less exciting than the last chapter, unfortunately there was exposition to get through. The next chapter has a little more of that, but should also get to the more exciting stuff. We're stuck with innocent Bells for a little longer, but only in a sexual sense because yay college. Please review if you can, and depending on how many people end up reading I may be in need of a beta, so later on if anyone would like to volunteer I'd be grateful . Thanks for reading!