A/N: I know my last chapter was short, so I figured I should get another update going! I'm going to be fairly busy over the next couple of weeks and have no idea when I'll be able to get another chapter posted. Enjoy and review!

Today was my first shift at Newton's Olympic Outfitters. Charlie had called Karen Newton shortly after dinner to let her know that I was up for it. They were apparently as thrilled as they could be, given the circumstances of their missing son. To start me off, my first day was going to be a very simple four hours, mostly training, and for that I was thankful.

I had worked on and off in Phoenix at a bookstore, but it was nothing formal. Other than that, I had virtually no experience and couldn't deny that I was incredibly nervous.

Charlie and I didn't speak again for the rest of last night. He remained worked up and kept glancing over at me as if I were about to disappear or drop dead. It bothered me to see him so upset. I ended up going to bed around eight just to avoid any further panicked looks.

Once I had showered and dressed, Charlie was waiting for me downstairs. He seemed better today. He was no longer pale and anxious, but I couldn't say the same. I knew what his behavior meant. And for that reason, I found myself extremely on edge. I had suppressed the signs for as long as I was able. I felt shaky and uncomfortable in my own skin. I could only hope that it wouldn't hinder me too much during my training.

"Good luck today, Bells," Charlie said gruffly as he handed me my raincoat.

"Thanks, Dad." I kept it short and sweet before retreating out into the pouring rain.

I was having a hard time concentrating on the road. I had passed Newton's Olympic Outfitters on the way to Esme's office, so thankfully, I didn't have to worry about getting lost in my distracted frame of mind.

My brain had practically shut itself off. I couldn't keep a distinct thought in my head for longer than a minute or two and felt dazed, somehow. I guess, in a way, it was some sort of new defense mechanism my body had cooked up for itself. The last thing I needed was to fly into a crazed panic attack.

Up ahead, I could see raised lumps and a heap of shredded grass to the right of the pavement. As I grew closer and could make out the tire tracks, I recognized this as the section of the road where I had hydroplaned the night before last.

I scanned the trees looking for which one I had hit, but couldn't seem to pinpoint which one it was. Of course, about 80% of the trunks were covered in squishy, green moss so I wouldn't be able to see any obvious scarring in the wood, but I couldn't help but notice that something seemed off.

I pulled over on the side of the road, flipping on what I hoped were my hazard lights. I glanced at the clock before deciding to hop out of my truck. I had just enough time to investigate for a few minutes.

The tire tracks were much more unusual up close. They were in a straight line from where I veered off the road but seemed to make a strange and sharp cut to the left. The giant tree that was the closest to the end of the ruts didn't have a single mark on it. The surrounding trees were free of blemishes too. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I didn't hit them at all.

Crunching metal echoed through my ears as I remembered losing all control of the truck. Even though I had been imagining things lately, I knew I had hit something. But it was definitely not a tree.

I stepped back a few paces to get a better view. My truck couldn't have created that 90-degree angle on its own. In fact, it looked like I should have hit that tree head-on, which meant I wouldn't be standing here right now. My bulbous Chevy was a tank, but not nearly indestructible enough to withstand a head-on collision with a tree at over 80 miles per hour.

Even though I knew it was absolutely impossible, it looked as if my truck had been pushed to the side, saving me from what would have been a deadly accident. On top of that, I had a dent in my truck as proof before Edward and his brother had somehow miraculously fixed it. A dent like that certainly would have left a mark on whatever I had run into. But other than the tire tracks, there was no evidence of any mishap.

I stood there, staring at the scene for a very long time, my mind running in circles. This didn't make any sense at all. My accident should have been way worse than it was.

A clap of thunder jolted me from my reverie. There was nothing more to see here. I knew that if I dared bring the inconsistencies up to Edward, it would make me look even worse than I'm sure I already did. He would be the only one who would know.

I jumped back into my truck and continued my drive. Maybe there was a way that I could talk to Edward about this if I remained nonchalant. At the diner, he seemed to want to know more about me in exchange for giving up some information about himself. Perhaps that was a route I could take.

Just like before, my brain seemed to prevent me from thinking about the subject further. I knew I would see Edward again one of these days. I guessed I would just have to be patient and bring it up at the right time.

The parking lot at Newton's Olympic Outfitters was completely deserted. I let out a sigh of relief. The only thing more nerve-wracking about being in training was having customers watch the entire time.

The store was much bigger inside than it looked. There were aisles up and down the entire length of the building, covered in various tools and camping supplies. Having never been the outdoorsy type, I was completely out of my element.

A woman appeared from a room that was behind the counter. She was a couple inches taller than me with short, blonde hair and striking blue eyes. As she grew closer, I could see that she hadn't slept in days and had obviously been crying not too long before I arrived.

She extended a hand out to me. "I'm Karen," she said with a very unconvincing smile. Her voice was nasally and she sounded as if she had a cold. "Goodness, you look just like Renee."

Karen had been the only person to bring up my mother. Taken aback, it took me a few moments to respond. "Y-Yes," I stammered. "Thank you."

She laughed quietly. "Your mother and I were good friends when she still lived here. We lost touch a couple of years after she left. You'll have to tell her I said hello."

"I definitely will." I didn't dare bring up that Renee had been here not too long ago when she visited me in the hospital. I feared it would hurt her feelings, and from the looks of it, that was the last thing she needed.

Thankfully, Karen dropped the subject and we jumped right into my training. It wasn't a difficult process to learn and I surprised myself by how quickly I caught on. She spent one hour with me, teaching me the ropes, before telling me that was all I needed to know.

"That's it?" I asked.

She laughed and clapped her hands once. "Yes, that's it." She walked towards the front door and flipped on the "OPEN" sign and unlocked the door. I was stunned; I hadn't even noticed that she had locked it. She looked over her shoulder and grinned at me. "You didn't think I was so horrible as to train you while we are open, did you?"

I smiled back at her. I could tell her and I were going to get along just fine.

"When Mike . . ." she paused to compose herself. "When my son would train new employees, he would leave the store open. Customers would come in and the poor trainees would be so nervous. First days are bad enough as it is without any extra pressure, don't you think?"

I nodded. "I think it's safe to say I was beyond nervous myself, Mrs. Newton."

She seemed to shudder the slightest bit. "Oh, please, call me Karen. You have no reason to be nervous - you did wonderfully!"

My heart ached for her. I could tell she was trying so hard to keep herself together for my benefit. I wasn't usually an affectionate person, but all I wanted to do was hug her and tell her that it was okay to cry. Honestly, I probably needed a good cry myself. Given that my emotions were all over the place and my subconscious mind was preventing me from processing them like I should, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to cry, no matter how hard I tried.

"Thanks, Karen," I said with an empathetic smile. I knew there was nothing I would be able to say to console her.

Her eyes were glistening as she looked away. "Well, if you're comfortable, I'll leave you to it then. I just have a few . . . arrangements I have to make. I'll be in the back room if you need me."

I nodded in approval. She threw one more smile my way before disappearing through the office door, shutting it behind her.

Shortly afterward, a few customers came and went. Thankfully, I was able to help them all with their purchases without incident. The job was extremely easy and just enough of a distraction to keep my mind from wandering. Even though I thought of the tire tracks from my accident two nights ago every few minutes, I was usually interrupted before I could drive myself crazy with any ridiculous theories.

Most of the customers recognized me as Charlie's daughter, which was extremely uncomfortable. "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" seemed to be the most popular question in town for the day. I guessed I couldn't necessarily blame them. This was the first time I was in a public place in Forks for a prolonged period of time. All I could hope for was that this would only happen for a little longer before I could go back to pretending I was invisible.

Before I knew it, it was 1:30. I only had thirty minutes left on my shift. A part of me wanted to offer to work longer for Karen. Occasionally, I could overhear her on the phone in the back office. It sounded to me like she was arranging a funeral. I couldn't imagine being in her position while simultaneously running an entire store.

As I was about to knock on the office door to ask Karen if I could be of any further help, a brown-haired man that was maybe a few years older than me walked up to the counter with an entire cart full of camping supplies. I returned to the register and proceeded to ring up his items.

"You're Bella Swan," he said in a matter-of-fact voice. My head shot up in surprise. First of all, he didn't ask me, he was telling me. Secondly, he had called me Bella instead of Isabella. I was immediately suspicious and peered at him through narrowed eyes, wondering if I knew him from somewhere, but his face wasn't at all familiar to me.

I was extremely hesitant to respond but didn't want to seem rude either. I scrambled to come up with what to say to him.

He held his hands up, recognizing my discomfort. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how creepy that probably sounded," he said, flashing a smile at me. "My name is Jonathan."

Still skeptical, I attempted to return the smile but decided not to confirm my identity. "No problem," I lied.

"It's just there is someone that's been looking for you. He was showing your picture around town a little over a week ago."

I dropped the bundle of rope I had been trying to ring up. My hands were shaking as I placed it back on the counter. "What did you just say?" I snapped.

"I didn't mean any offense," Jonathan said, his eyes wide. "He seemed really worried about you. He was giving out his number and asking people to call him if anyone saw you."

The man pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as I watched in utter horror. Before I could beg him not to make that call, a flash of white grabbed his wrist, sending the cell phone flying onto the counter in front of me.

"I would not do that if I were you," Edward growled.

"Wh-what?" Jonathan stuttered, his face draining of all color.

My stomach flipped and my knees buckled. The entire room seemed to tilt as I leaned against the counter, hoping I wouldn't faint.

Edward leaned in closer towards the man, his expression absolutely livid. "This is not the girl you saw in that picture."

"That's definitely her and he was offering money to find-"

"He didn't offer you anything," Edward interrupted. "You're mistaken."

"I am?" Jonathan asked, dazed.

"Yes, extremely." His voice was now eerily calm. Edward picked up the cell phone with his left hand, his right hand still gripping Jonathan's wrist. He handed it to me. "Find the number and delete it."

I immediately obeyed, flipping through the contacts in the man's phone. I searched for Allyn's name, but it wasn't there. I focused on the phone numbers themselves, looking for an Arizona area code, but I didn't recognize any of them.

"It's not here," I whispered.

Edward, not taking his eyes off of Jonathan, held his hand out for the phone. I placed it in his palm, and with one quick movement, he snapped it in half. He placed the pieces of the cell phone in his jacket pocket and leaned in close again.

"You never saw a man. You never saw a picture. And this little encounter didn't happen. Understand?" Edward whispered, his butterscotch eyes fierce. Despite his quiet voice, there was no mistaking that this was a serious warning.

"Uh huh," Jonathan whimpered. "I understand."

"Good," Edward said with a menacing smile. He finally released his hold on Jonathan's wrist, his hand now a frightening shade of purple from the lack of circulation. "Now get out."

Jonathan immediately fled from the store, bolting out of the front door and tripping over his own feet as he scrambled into the front seat of his car. His tires squealed as he peeled out of the parking lot.

"Bella?" Edward asked, looking pointedly at my face.

I realized that I had forgotten to breathe. I sucked in a deep breath and coughed, still bracing myself against the counter. "What am I going to do?" I whispered to myself, my voice hoarse.

"Well first, I think you should sit down. I don't like the color you're turning."

I simply shook my head. I didn't want to sit down. But I didn't want to be standing up either. I focused on steadying my breathing as an overwhelming feeling of panic consumed me.

A door opened somewhere behind me, but I couldn't bring myself to look. "Bella? Are you alright, sweetie?" Karen asked.

"She had a bit of an accident a while back and isn't completely healed just yet," Edward explained.

"Oh, honey, why didn't you tell me!" Karen placed a warm hand on my shoulder. "Charlie mentioned that you had quite a fall. I'm so sorry, I wish I had known you weren't feeling well."

I waved dismissively. "I'm fine. Just tired, that's all."

Karen pursed her lips, not at all convinced. "Edward, why don't you take her home? I can finish ringing up everything left in your cart."

Edward raised his hand and threw her a brilliant smile. "No need," he reassured her. "I'll just come back for it all later." I could tell he was amused with himself.

"Alright, that's fine. And Bella? If you don't feel up to working tomorrow, I'll completely understand," Karen said, concerned.

"I'll be here, bright and early," I promised.

Edward slipped his arm around my waist, leading me to his car. Once we were both inside the Volvo, I turned to face him. "How did you do that?" I demanded.

His eyebrows came together, confused. "How did I do what?"

"You practically hypnotized that man." I regretted the words as soon as I said them.

Edward pressed his lips together, no doubt holding back laughter, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I can be very persuasive when the situation calls for it, Bella."

"I'll say," I muttered. My head was pounding. I glanced over at him again, expecting his expression to still contain anger. But to my surprise, he looked extremely hurt or worried.

"The man who is looking for you . . . who is he?" Edward asked quietly. Despite his timid demeanor, which was very unusual compared to our other conversations, his eyes were boring into my soul.

"It's . . . it's a long story."

"I've got time," he challenged.

I looked out the window, making sure no one else was around. Thankfully, it was just my truck in the parking lot. I was slowly beginning to realize that there was simply no way around this. "Alright, take me somewhere. I don't care where we go, but I'll tell you everything."