Author Note: This is my first Twilight fanfic, hope you all enjoy it :)
Bella blew out a sigh as she sat back on one of the bare beds in her new dorm room, letting her eyes roam over the white walls. Once every few minutes she shifted on the mattress to check her watch and look at the door, only to sigh again and slump back on the bed. It was her first day at college and she was starting to get antsy.
After driving up first thing in the morning, hoping to get the chore of unpacking out of the way as early as possible, she had checked into her hall and found her dorm. She was both relieved and a little embarrassed to see the resident advisor, whoever it was, had gone overboard in preparation for freshman arrival by posting elaborate nametags on the doors of the floor. Though it made finding her room much easier, having to not worry about forgetting the exact room number the front desk had given her and have to run back down every five minutes to hear it again as she just had to look for the door with her name on it, she couldn't help cringe at the etched flowers surrounding her name once she found it.
Bella had stumbled into the room, wincing as the wheels of her trunk caught the back of her ankles and the strap of her duffle bag slipped from her shoulder and nearly strangled her while the papers of her orientation folder slipped out. She was greatly relived that the room was empty and she hadn't made her tripping and shuffling be the first impression her new roommate would have of her. Once she was completely within the confines of the room, she set her trunk and bag in the middle of the dorm and made the four trips needed to get the rest of her belongings out of her car. After all that, she figured in order to start on the right foot with her roommate, it would be best to wait until the girl arrived before staking any claims in the dorm and unpacking.
That was two hours ago. Now, Bella was grinding her teeth and wondering if starting on the right foot with this roommate was all that important. She didn't want to unpack, figuring that, with her luck, she'd only end up having to move everything if her roommate decided she wanted the bed against the right wall or the desk against the back wall of the room, or the dresser nestled in the corner. And while she was afraid of what consequences she would meet in unpacking, she also did not want to take the time to explore the campus for fear that her roommate would arrive and take advantage of Bella's generosity and snag all the choice furniture for herself. So, instead, she had busied herself with reading her weathered copy of Wuthering Heights for the first hour and the half, and cursing this roommate's lateness the last half our.
Where the hell is this girl? She wondered. She was already beginning to hate whoever this Alice Cullen was, and the two hadn't even met yet.
"Emmett!" Bella's head shot towards the door as she heard a voice shrilly reprimand someone on the other side of the door, drawing closer. "Hurry up! Careful with that box!" Bella frowned as she started to have a sinking feeling that this was who she was waiting for. "Oh! Here it is!" The voice giggled. Bella winced; it was coming from right outside the door. She sighed and rose to her feet just as the doorknob was turned and the door flew open as a tiny girl with short dark hair waltzed in. She was wearing elegant black slacks and white cashmere sweater set, a pair of Channel sunglasses perched on her petite nose, obscuring her face and a Louie Vutton handbag hung from her wrist. Bella's frown only deepened as she self consciously looked down at her own attire--jeans and a brown shirt with the Forks High School logo across the chest.
"Oh!" The excited utterance tore Bella out of her self conscious thoughts and forced her to look up and see the tiny girl standing there with her sunglasses now dangling from her free hand. "Are you Isabella?" She asked, a large smile coming to her face.
"Uh, yea-"
"Move it, short stuff!" A booming voice ordered as a large man shoved past the tiny girl carrying a large box.
"Oh my god, could you be any ruder?" The girl snapped, sending him a death glare before turning back to Bella. The man rolled his eyes and simply shuffled to the nearest wall, setting the box down on the floor. "I'm sorry," the girl said, addressing Bella. "Emmett can be a little…."
"Seeing as I'm doing all the heavy lifting here, the next word out of your mouth better be either wonderful, magnificent, or spectacular," he grumbled as he shuffled back out the room. Bella bit her lip to keep from chuckling.
"Oh, sweetie, go help your father with Alice's refrigerator, would you?" Said a soft voice floated from outside the door, to which Emmett simply grunted out something that sounded like 'okay' as a taller woman walked into the room. She was dressed in a cornflower blue dress that reached down to her knees. She smiled as her eyes landed on Bella. "Hello, you must be Alice's roommate," she said warmly as she came to a stop beside the tiny shrill girl.
"I was trying to do introductions before Dumb Butt interrupted me," the girl huffed. The woman sighed and looked down at her diminutive companion.
"Now Alice," she gently chided. "Your brother didn't have to ride up all the way with us to help you with your things, did he? Maybe it'd be best if you played nice and appreciate the gesture." Alice huffed again and crossed her arms over her chest, making her handbag gently hit her side. Bella nervously shoved her hands in her back pockets.
"Um," she began, "hi, I'm….Bella," she said, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The girl's lit up as the smile returned to her face.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, practically skipping over to Bella. "Bella, that's so pretty," she chattered. "Well," she giggled. "Actually, it's beautiful, you know, since bella is the Italian word for beautiful…well, it's pronounced a little differently, but…you know what I mean," Bella's eyes widened and she took a small step back, totally overwhelmed by the chatty person.
"Uh, yeah," Bella muttered.
"I'm Alice," she said, closing the space between them and throwing her arms around Bella's neck. Bella gave a small gasp as Alice pulled her into an excited hug. "I just know we're going to be best friends!"
"Uh….sure?" Bella said, uncertain how else to respond. Alice giggled and released her.
"Oh, don't let Alice frighten you," the woman said with a gentle chuckle. "She's just a little excited about starting college." Bella chuckled and gave a small nod.
"I'm not scaring her, mom," Alice groaned. The woman simply chuckled as she crossed over to the two girls.
"Its okay, Mrs. Cullen," Bella stated.
"Oh, please, call me Esme," the woman corrected, sticking her hand out to her. Bella smiled and slipped her hand into hers.
"Alright, Esme," Bella said. Alice looked past Bella to see the boxes sitting on the edge of the nearest desk and the luggage on the floor.
"Did you just get here?" She asked, looking at Bella, giggling. "Oh my gosh, wouldn't it be funny if we passed each other on the road and didn't even know it?"
"Oh, no, actually…I've been here for a while," Bella replied. "I just…wanted to be fair…and wait till you got here before picking my bed and all that," she concluded, shrugging. Alice's eyebrows shot up so far it seemed like they were actually trying to disappear into her hairline.
"Oh. My. God," she said. Bella frowned.
"I…I'm sorry," she stammered, casting a confused glance at Esme hoping Alice's mother could provide some clarification. "Was I….not supposed to wait?"
"You are just……so nice!" Alice squealed, launching herself onto Bella once again.
"Oh," Bella replied, still having trouble getting used to the hugs.
"Oh my god, I was so worried I'd get some evil bitch for a roommate," Alice babbled as she released Bella. "I am so glad that's not the case," she grinned. Bella couldn't help return the grin.
"Well, I'm happy you don't have to worry anymore," Bella replied. Alice giggled before stepping away from Bella and Esme as she walked across the room, seeming to carefully eye the four walls and everything in it.
"We're so sorry you had to wait on the account of us," Esme said, stepping closer to Bella. Bella looked over to her. "It was a long drive," she explained.
"Oh no, don't worry about it," Bella stated, shaking her head. As much as the two hours of waiting had irked her nerves, Bella found it damn near impossible to hold onto any sort of grudge standing in the same room as Esme's warm gaze and Alice's excitement.
"Isn't she the sweetest?" Alice commented to her mother as she took a pause from her inventory of the room. Bella's cheeks blushed at the compliment.
"So, how far of a drive was it for you guys?" Bella asked. Her attention was then grabbed by the return of Emmett as he backed into the room carrying one end of a mini fridge, followed by an older blonde man carrying the other end.
"Careful son," the man advised, trying to hide the strain from his voice as he spoke.
"I got it dad," Emmett replied, having no trouble with the weight unlike his father.
"Oh we've been on the road since Wednesday," Alice replied, drawing Bella's attention back to her. Bella tilted her head, surprised. They have been driving since Thursday? But today's Saturday, she thought.
"Oh….wow….that's a long drive," Bella replied. Behind her she could hear the two men set the mini fridge down.
"Yes," the blonde man finally spoke as he walked over to stand beside Esme, "it probably would've been more practical to fly," he commented before wearing a sheepish smile. "But Alice wanted the whole going to college experience….including parents driving her all the way up to the campus," he said.
"I didn't know the college experience included roping the brother into the psycho road trip," Emmett muttered. Alice frowned before opening her mouth to shoot out a mean reply.
"Alice, sweetheart, remember what I said," Esme stated. Alice sighed and nodded. She walked over to her brother's hulking frame. Bella couldn't help but be shocked by their height difference as Alice barely came up to his armpit in her expensive looking high heels.
"I'm glad you came with us," Alice stiffly recited, looping her arms around his midsection in a hug. Emmett chuckled.
"How much did mom pay you to say that?" He teased as his arms went around her tiny frame to return the hug. Alice rolled her eyes and stepped away from him as the two adults gently laughed at their two children before attention was returned to Bella.
"Oh, I'm Bella," she said, extending a hand to the man standing beside Esme. He smiled and shook her hand.
"Bella Swan," Alice cooed a sparkle of mirth in her eyes as she recalled the last name spelled out on the door. "Isn't that just so pretty?" She asked. Bella's blush returned tenfold at that.
"It seems our daughter is quite taken with her roommate, Carlisle," Esme said, causing her husband to chuckle.
"Seems like it,' he said. "It's very nice to meet you, Bella," he said. Alice shrugged.
"Well, it's your fault for never giving me a sister," Alice teased her parents before looking back at Bella. Bella shot a glance at Emmett.
"Should I be afraid?" She asked. Emmett threw his head back and let out a loud barking laugh.
"I like her," he said, pointing to Bella. Alice pouted and gave him a small shove.
"Why don't you just go back to bringing my stuff up from the car," she said. Emmett glared at his sister.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked. Alice sighed, rolling her eyes again.
"Please," she said behind clenched teeth. Emmett grinned.
"Much better," he replied as he ruffled Alice's hair.
"Hey!" She shrieked, shying away from him. Emmett chuckled and left the room.
"Well, we should finish up unloading the car if we want to get back on the road before it's too late," Carlisle said, placing a hand on his wife's back. Esme nodded in agreement.
"Do you need any help?" Bella offered, which resulted in another squeal of delight from Alice.
"You are so sweet!" Alice proclaimed. Esme laughed and shook her head.
"Thank you, dear," she said. "But we can manage. Why don't you and Alice just stay here and start getting acquainted while we bring her things in?" She suggested. Bella's eyes widened a bit both out of being taken aback and feeling some fear about being left in a room with the perky little pixie.
"Oh, okay," Bella finally managed. Esme placed a gentle pat on Bella's shoulder before she and Carlisle left. Bella shot an apprehensive look towards Alice. "So…uh…." Bella began, trying to think of what to say. "I…..see you brought a fridge," she muttered lamely. Alice looked back at the small refrigerator before looking back at Bella with a nod.
"You can totally use it if you want," she said. "I mean, I really don't think I'll fill it up all by myself." Bella smiled.
"Thanks," she said. Alice smiled and strode across the room, taking Bella's hand and leading her to the bed she had been sitting on while waiting for the Cullens to arrive.
"Okay," she said as she sat down on the mattress and brought Bella down with her. "Tell me everything there is to know about Bella Swan," she said, smiling brightly, causing Bella to blush and nervously chuckle yet again.