End of August

"Alec, I swear to God! Would you just put that down and leave?"

I couldn't believe I let my parents talk me into letting my brother bring me to school. He was the most annoying person I knew.

"Ah, Belly Smelly, come on. I won't see you until Thanksgiving. I have to get my fun in now."

I rolled my eyes. "You live, like, two hours away from me, dumbass. You can come see me anytime you want."

He put my suitcase down, finally, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "You love me, Smelly, you really really love me."

I pushed his shoulder. "Fuck off, you big jerkface." I stuck out my tongue at him.

He grabbed me around the neck, putting me in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles on the top of my head. I squealed, squirming to get away from his grasp.

"Alec! Stop. Please."

From the open door of my dorm room, I heard a quiet chuckle, glancing up in time to see some guy walking by my door. He was tall, taller than Alec, with messy bronze hair. He gave me a small wave and continued down the hall, towing his suitcases on a trolley he must have gotten from downstairs.

Alec finally let me go, leaving me breathless and panting from the exertion of trying to get away from him.

"I can't believe you did that to me!"

"Hey, I had to get my shots in now, Smelly. I don't know when I'm going to be able to come see you. But I'll try for soon, 'kay?"

I walked him to the door and out into the hallway. I couldn't tell you why, but suddenly, the thought of being without my older brother made me incredibly sad. Tears welled in my eyes, and I sniffed.

"You okay, Bell?" Alec asked, and gently touched my shoulder.

I nodded, even as I sobbed.

"Come here, you." He grabbed me, pulling me into a hug.

"Don't be sad. I'll see you as soon as I can, and if you need me, I'm only a phone call away. Okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed my forehead. "Love you."

"I love you, too."

He squeezed me one more time, then let me go, turning to head to the elevator. I stood in the hallway, watching him until the elevator doors closed, sealing him inside.

I heard a quiet, "Excuse me," from behind me and turned to see the guy from earlier standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, moving out of his way.

"No problem. Saying goodbye to someone you love is hard." He gave me a small smile. I could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Yeah." I bit my lip, not knowing what else to say. "Well, I suppose I should—" I motioned behind me to my open dorm room door.

"Me too."

I turned to go back into my room, but felt compelled to turn around one more time.

He looked back just as the elevator doors opened, and with a small wave, walked inside and was gone.

I waved back, then closed my door and started unpacking my stuff.

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Three days had passed, classes had started, and I was finally starting to feel as though I had settled in. I was thankful too that my parents had sprung for the private room. I'd met a nice girl named Lauren and her roommate Jessica, who'd done nothing but party since they'd moved in, much to Lauren's dismay. I felt bad for Lauren, but not enough to let her move in with me.

I got to see Bronze, as I'd taken to calling him, in most of my classes. I didn't talk to him, but we'd waved a few times. He was even more attractive than I had noticed at first glance. I wondered what his story was... Was he from around here? Did he come from farther away? Did he have a girl back home? I sighed. A guy that attractive definitely had a girl at home.

The teacher came in to the lecture hall I was currently sitting in and started class, drawing my attention away from Bronze. I blushed when I realized I had been staring… again. It was a good thing he hadn't noticed. I would have been mortified.

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Weeks had gone by before I learned that Bronze's name was actually Edward. It was kind of an old fashioned name, but I liked it. The teacher had set a group project and he was part of my group, along with another guy named Riley—coincidentally Edward's roommate—and some girl named Bree, who I didn't know well.

We met up after class to work out a schedule for meeting in the library, and I volunteered to book us a study room at the library for those weeks.

"I don't mind doing that, Bella," Edward said. "I'm heading that way anyway."

"I have some studying to do for Banner's class, so I was going there too."

"Ugh, yes. Banner's a dick. Who has a test this early? You want to study together for it? I could really use someone to quiz me."

I bit my lip before agreeing. "Sure, let's go."

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Our walk to the library was fairly silent; I didn't know what to talk to Edward about. Every time I saw him, the butterflies in my belly would take flight. Thankfully, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my bag, glancing at it. I got excited when I saw it was Alec.

"Hello?"

"Smelly, how's it going?"

"Good! I can't believe how much I miss you, though!"

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hold on a second." I turned to glance at Edward.

"I'm going to go inside and get us a table. Take as long as you need, okay?"

I nodded my head, and watched him walk away.

"Smelly? Was that a boy you were talking to? Do I need to drive down there and check him out? Make sure he's not a killer?"

"You are such a dumbass, Alec." I laughed. "He's a guy in my group project. I don't even know him that well."

"Sure, Belly Smelly, sure. I bet you like him. I bet you want to jump his—"

"Alec! Enough!" I groaned.

"Seriously though, Belly, be careful."

"I will. When are you going to come and see me?"

"Soon. I'll be there in a couple weeks. I'll stay for the weekend."

"Sounds good. Okay, I'm going to go and study for a test I have. I'll talk to you soon."

"Talk soon, Bella. Love you, sis."

When I entered the library, I stopped first at the counter to book a study room for the pre-arranged dates, then made my way to the tables to find Edward. He wasn't hard to spot with his odd-colored hair.

I could see he was on the phone as I approached.

"Oh, my study partner is here. I gotta go. Yeah. I love you, too. Talk soon."

My stomach dropped when I heard him say, "I love you, too." I had kind of figured he'd have a girlfriend, but thinking it and knowing it were two different things.

"Everything okay, Bella?"

I nodded my head as I pulled out a chair. "Fine. Everything is fine. So, where should we start?"

Surprise! It's not Edward's POV... but I hope you like it anyway! Thanks to the usual suspects Annie, Missy, Kenny and Mid! This is going to post a chapter a day until completely posted. It's completely written though!