Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Chapter Five

(Flashback)

I held the picture of Jacob and me together, at a bonfire, in my hand. I don't know who snapped the photo but there we were sitting side by side on a log. The breeze was blowing through my hair as I smiled looking at Jacob. He was also smiling back at me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders. Even frozen in time, you could still see his eyes filled with so much love for me.

My hands shook as I read the letter he left next to my pillow.

I love you, Bells.

Please don't forget about me.

Someday you'll see, we're meant to be together.

Come back to me.

Jacob

I stifled the sob that was working its way out my mouth, when I heard Charlie yell from downstairs, "Time to go, Bells!" I placed the picture and the letter in my suitcase and left.

I was brought back to the present by Alice calling my name. "Bella? Did you hear what I just said?" She glanced at me, and then turned her eyes back to the road.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" She glanced at me again. I realized I was fiddling with the charm bracelet I got from Jacob and forced myself to stop.

"I was saying that we aren't very far away from your present. You're going to love it." She began to drum her fingers excitedly on the steering wheel.

We were somewhere in Hanover, I wasn't exactly sure where but I think we were in Lebanon. Looking out the window, Hanover didn't look too different from Forks. The town looked small and picturesque, surrounded by beautiful New Hampshire woods. Thoughts of nature hiking took me by surprise. I'd never been much of a nature person but that probably had a lot to do with the fact that every time I ventured into the woods in Forks, I ran the risk of being mauled or drained by a vampire.

In Forks, I was constantly told I was a danger magnet. Over and over again. But before I came to Forks, I managed to get by just fine. It was only after I moved to Forks that the danger and madness that had taken over my life began. I made up my mind. Despite the gnawing pain in my heart, I would try to be happy here.

Alice drove up a street and parked in front of a large, beautiful apartment building.

"We're here," She said in a sing song voice.

"And where are we exactly?" I looked around.

"This is Everson Place. Your present is inside." I assumed this was where she was staying. We got out of the car, walked through the front doors and took the elevator to the fifth floor. The walls of the hallway were painted a cream and beige color scheme with brown carpeting. We walked down the hallway, passing three doors, until Alice stopped in front of apartment number twenty two. She unlocked the door and walked in while I trailed behind her. We walked into a fully furnished living room, containing a beige couch and love seat, mahogany center table with matching side tables, a book shelf and a television set. The apartment walls were painted cream and the drapes in front of the window were also beige. The place looked elegant yet homey.

As I looked around the place I began to wonder why Alice was staying in an apartment instead of a hotel. I turned to Alice and was about to ask when she shouted, "Ta-da!"

"Okay." I said slowly and raised my eyebrows.

"This is your present from the family." She clasped her hands together and started bouncing again.

"Alice, this is really nice but I can't accept th-," It's not that I didn't like the apartment. I did but I'd already pretty much resigned myself to living in a dorm.

Instantly the smile vanished from her face. She placed her hands on her hips and scowled at me, "Bella, I swear if you say that you can't accept the apartment, I will scream bloody murder." Her expression softened. "Bella, just let us do this for you. You've been through a lot, more than most girls your age. You deserve this and it makes us happy to do things for you. When you're a vampire with endless time on your hands, there's very little that makes you happy, Bella." She finished sadly.

"Fine, I'll take the apartment." I gave in. Besides I really liked the place.

"Great, let me give you the grand tour."

She then showed me the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms and the laundry room. We then went back downstairs to the car to get my things. While we were unpacking my things, I asked her why there were two bedrooms.

"The other room belongs to your roommate." I was a little worried. I didn't want to live with a weirdo.

She saw the expression on my face. "Don't worry, Bella. I've already checked her out. She'll be really good for you. I promise." She smiled gently. We walked into my bedroom.

I relaxed and we finished unpacking the rest of my stuff. When Alice turned to my closet and paused with her hand on the handle.

"Now, for the rest of your presents."

"Alice!"

"The apartment was from all of us. These are gifts from each of us." She defended.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. She then opened the door to a large closet filled with clothes and pulled out a large bag.

We sat on the bag and she gestured to the clothes and shoes in the closet. "Those are from me."

She dug into the bag and pulled out a large box. When I opened it I discovered a laptop. "That's from Edward. The makeup set and perfume are from Rosalie. The taser and pepper spray are from Emmett and the relaxing gift basket set is from Jasper."

She pointed towards to the envelope on my dresser. "That's from Carlisle and Esme. Wait till I leave then open it."

She got up and I knew it was time for her to go. I walked her to her car and when she hugged me, I didn't want to let go. I felt scared. For the first time in my life, I would be on my own and it scared me. I was crying again.

Alice broke our embrace, held me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "Bella, everything will be fine. This is what you need. You're so brave. You can do this. If you ever need anything, Bella, don't hesitate to call. You're still our family and you'll always be my sister." Saying whatever she could, to calm me down.

I managed to muster up a smile. "And don't worry about Edward. He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks, Alice." I sniffled.

Alice got a blank look in her eyes, which meant she just had a vision. "It's time for me to go. You should go upstairs and get settled. You'll meet your roommate in a few minutes." Then she mumbled something under her breath, that sounded a lot like, "I guess you meet him later…"

"Him? Him who?" I asked Alice but she was already sprinting to her car.

Alice jumped in and started up the engine. But before the evil little pixie drove off she smirked, "Oh, by the way, the grey Honda over there is yours. The keys are in the envelope too. Call me later. Bye." And with that she peeled out of the parking lot, completely oblivious to my cursing.

I shook my head and watched as she disappeared down the road. Oh, she was going to get an earful from me that night. With that thought I walked back into what would be my home for the next four years.

I went back to the apartment and called Charlie and Renee to let them know I got in all right. I decided to check out what was in the envelope from Carlisle and Esme. When I opened the envelope, I found keys, a letter, a credit card and bank account information with my name on it for a hundred thousand dollars. My legs gave out and I sat on my bed speechless. I opened the letter which read,

Hello Bella,

Please accept this gift from our family to you. We know you spoke about getting a part time job, but we chose to set up this account and credit card for you instead. We want you to enjoy being a student and to have fun with your new friends. Your studies will be intense enough without having to worry about money. - Carlisle and Esme.

I hope you love the clothes. You'll have lots of opportunity to wear them. Send pictures. – Alice.

As I will not be there to help you relax, please use the gift set. It will help. – Jasper.

You're already beautiful enough on your own but I got you a makeup set anyway. – Rosalie.

Keep the pepper spray on you at all times and don't hesitate to use the taser gun. I'm only a phone call away. – Emmett.

I hope you love the laptop. I placed copies of my lullaby on it, in case you ever have trouble getting to sleep. Send me lots of emails. I love you. - Edward.

I put the envelope and the contents in a drawer and decided to take another look around the apartment. Of course, my exploration took me to my roommate's bedroom. The walls were the same cream color as the rest of the apartment and her bedroom was much different from my own. I opened her closet to see if I could get an idea of her personality from what she wore. The many expensive looking, various colored clothes gave me the impression that I might have another Alice on my hands. I groaned out loud. I would get Alice for this.

I closed her closet and continued to look around. I gathered my roommate was also a shoe person by the many pairs littered all over the room. I didn't open any drawers and I only got to look at one photograph of a beautiful woman, before the front door opened and closed, alerting me that my roommate had arrived.

I scampered out of the bedroom and tried to make it look as if I was just coming out of my own. But I guess my attempt was unsuccessful because as I rounded the corner to the living I was met with a pair of green amusement filled eyes. I knew I was caught.

She held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Reed and I'm guessing you're my roommate." Elizabeth was a leggy, curvy Spanish-looking woman with long, voluminous brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Her green eyes gave her an exotic look. She wore a red v-neck sweater, black jeans and black high heel boots. She was beautiful but it was okay because she was human beautiful. This was the kind of beauty I could deal with.

"I'm Isabella Swan." Elizabeth looked me over as I shook her hand. She then pulled me over to the couch where we sat down.

She then turned to me. "So you were snooping?" If I even had a thought about lying, it was ruined by my tell tale blush.

"It's okay; I snooped around in your room too. Nice clothes, by the way." She laughed and I instantly felt better.

"So can I call you Izzy?" She beamed. Maybe it was time for a new nickname.

"Only if I can call you Liz?" I quipped. I liked her already.

"It's a deal then. We are going to be such good friends. I can tell."

"We'd better be, especially if we're going to live together for the next four years."

We talked for a while and I found out that her boyfriend, Ryan and her twin brother, Taylor had an apartment together in the building. They would all be attending Dartmouth together. Her brother and boyfriend had been best friends since junior high school. Elizabeth planned to major in Art History.

"So that's where you were earlier?"

"Yeah, I was helping them unpack their stuff. You'll meet them any minute now. So do you have a boyfriend?" She scrutinized me with her green eyes.

I winced. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. Not anymore." I glanced down at the charm bracelet on my wrist.

She followed my gaze and asked, "Was that from him?" She reached out and traced the wolf charm with her fingers.

"Yeah." I decided to change the subject. "So where are you guys from?"

"Boston. We all came here to get the hell away from our parents." She grimaced. I guess we all had things we were running from. "My boyfriend, Ryan, he's on the football team. He's a total jock and my brother used to be on the swim team in high school but he gave it up." She looked a little sad. I sensed there was a story there somewhere but I didn't want to pry. At least, not yet.

Elizabeth told me some funny stories about when Ryan and Taylor were younger. They once kidnapped the dog of a girl that used to pick on her and when the girl found out, she got her big brothers to beat the crap out of them. By the time she was finished telling me the story, we were rolling around on the couch laughing. She really had a twisted sense of humor.

Suddenly the front door banged open and two guys strolled in. The first one had brown eyes and black hair with tanned skin and a hulking 6'2 frame. I assumed that he was Ryan. He wore a green t-shirt and jeans and totally had the look of a party loving frat boy.

The guy behind him was a green eyed olive-skinned man with dense black hair. Taylor wasn't as tall as Ryan (around 6'1 ft.) but he had a very fit and athletic looking body. He had the look of a more serious minded guy. There was something about his eyes that made his gaze so intense. He was also wearing jeans but his t-shirt was black.

"About time you losers got here." Liz grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where they were standing.

"I want you guys to meet my roommate, Isabella Swan. Izzy for short. Izzy, this big goon here is my boyfriend, Ryan Sinclair." She pointed to him.

"Hey Izzy." His big booming voice and the mischievous glint in his eyes reminded me so much of Emmett. I smiled back and shook his outstretched hand.

"And the guy who won't stop staring at you is my brother, Taylor." She laughed and of course, I blushed.

He smiled. "Hello Isabella. It's nice to meet you." He spoke with a slight Spanish accent as I shook his hand. I wondered how it was possible for him to have an accent when his sister did not. I almost corrected him when he called me Isabella but decided against it. I kind of like the way it sounded coming from him. Even though Taylor was gorgeous, I wasn't interested. The thought alone of kissing someone who wasn't Jacob, was unbearable.

We were sitting in the living room again. Liz was sitting with me on the love seat while Taylor and Ryan sat on the couch. I didn't realize I was off in Jacob-land again until Liz nudged me. "So what are you doing tonight?"

"Hmm… I was thinking of maybe staying home and watching a movie…" Or maybe hiding in my room. Taylor was staring at me again and it was making me nervous. It felt as if he was looking into my soul and I didn't need that. My soul needed to stay closed.

"Great idea. I'm in. I want to know more about you." Liz gushed.

Oh great. I turned to Ryan. "Is she always this forward?" I smirked.

"Yeah. Annoying isn't she?" he guffawed.

We spent the rest of the evening lying on the living room floor pigging out on potato chips, burgers (Liz ordered out) and soda. We really got to know each other. They asked me a bunch of questions about where I was from. I told them about Forks and my 'police chief' Dad and 'crazy' Mom. Ryan asked me about past boyfriends and I did my best to evade those questions. For the questions I was unable to dodge, I tried being vague. I decided to leave the Cullens out of the conversation for another time.

Gradually, I was warming up to everyone. Ryan was the jokester of the group and loved to tease me mercilessly. He would get along great with Emmett. As far as Ryan's major went, he was still undecided. Liz was the fashionable one, full of drama and excitement. I could tell that living with her would never be boring. Taylor was the passionate, intense one with a warped sense of humor to match his sister's. He wanted a career in anything to do with music. He also played guitar and had thoughts about starting a band. He promised to play for me sometime.

At some point I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up and glanced at the clock around 3 a.m. I was in my bed and much too sleepy to wonder who put me there. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

A/N: Okay, so Bella meets her new roommate and makes some new friends. My aim in this story is to introduce you to a newer, healthier Bella. Enjoy the story. Thanks for the reviews and alerts.