Chapter Three: Accident

Jasper had seemed a bit moody lately. I suppose it could be due to some old wounds being reopened in the past year with everything that has happened. Most days he has spent off by himself—probably hunting.

Today, Alice had convinced him to come shopping with us in Port Angeles. I was not particularly thrilled with shopping—nor about spending time with Jasper, who seemed a bit irritated with me—but when Alice makes plans, no one can help but to go along with them.

Edward, Jasper, Alice and I climbed into Carlisle's Mercedes for the trip—Edward took the driver's seat, Jasper sat in the passenger seat, and Alice and I were in the back.

I watched the scenery fly by as we passed. Edward drove fast, but I could still make out every detail. Soon, we were in Port Angeles, and Edward came to a stop at a red light. A few cars passed us perpendicularly with their green light. I could see a few people walking along the row of shops around the corner.

All of the sudden, I heard tires squealing and a sickening crunch—metal on metal. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and neither were the others. We were flung forward. I crashed into the back of Jasper's seat as I heard him hit the dashboard. It cracked at his impact. Of course, we wouldn't be hurt, but that was more than I could say for the car. It took me a millisecond to realize what had happened—we had been rear ended.

We got out of the car. I turned around and saw the driver of the other car get out at the same time. The other car was a 2-door, white BMW 328i. The front end of it was smashed enough to look pretty scary.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked the other driver.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. She didn't appear to be hurt; thanks to the magic of modern car safety, no doubt; though she was visibly shaken.

I saw that the few people that I had seen before had come around the corner to see what had happened. Most of them were on their cell phones; whether they were talking to their friends about the excitement, or talking to the police, I wasn't sure.

"I'm so sorry," the young woman was saying as she walked closer to us. She chuckled—probably from shock. "You know," she continued, "I live in New York City and I've never been in an accident. Can you believe it?" She was rambling now. "I guess feeling safe enough to text while driving, just because I was driving through a small city like Port Angeles, wasn't the right way to think." She laughed a little again.

"You're from New York?" Jasper asked in an uninterested tone; he had come around the car to stand next to Edward. It looked like the young woman was going to faint; it was good that Jasper kept her talking.

"I've lived there all my life," she said. "I'm actually here on business. I'm a fashion consultant for Macy's."

"And what better place to study fashion trends than here," Edward said and laughed.

She laughed too—a little too loudly. She walked closer to Edward. "I was actually up in Seattle for business, but I'm really into the outdoors also. I heard that there were a lot of good places to hike and mountain bike around here, so I was on my way to the Forks area. I decided to spend a few days of vacation down here after I was done in Seattle."

"I'm sorry Miss," Edward said, "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh," she said, wearing her nerves on her sleeves. "I'm Ariel." She placed her hands on Edward's upper arms like they were old friends—or worse. Nerves or no nerves, I didn't like the way she was gazing up into his eyes and smiling. "I'm so sorry," she said; though I didn't get the feeling she was apologizing for the way she had her hands on my husband. "Here, I should give you my insurance information. Do you have a pen?"

"Should we call you a cab?" Jasper asked, his tone a little short-tempered.

"Oh no," she answered, "Really, I'm fine. Honestly I should probably call the rental car company. This is a rental. Can you believe it?" She chuckled as she tapped Jasper's shoulder with one of her hands. "I knew I should have bought their insurance. You know, the kind you buy from the rental place so if something happens, you don't have to file a claim with your own insurance company." Was this line of conversation her idea of flirting? "My premium is going to be so high next year after this," she continued.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Edward asked. What I knew to be flirting, he seemed to just attribute to nerves.

"Yes, really I'm fine. Here, just take my info down really quick."

"It's really okay," Edward said in a comforting tone. "We're not going to file a claim with your insurance. That's what you get when you get into an accident in a small town." He smiled, flashing his bright, white teeth. "By the way," Edward continued. "I'm Edward Cullen. This is Bella, my wife, Jasper, and Alice," he said as he pointed to each of us. Ariel didn't seem deterred at all by the way that Edward had introduced me—her hands were still in the same spot as they had been almost the entire time.

She shifted her gaze back to Edward. "Okay," she continued, "I promise you I'll be fine, but you need to promise me something."

"What's that?" Edward asked.

"You'll all go straight home and take care of yourselves. You can probably still drive your car."

It was true—there seemed to be more damage to her car than to ours. The back of the Mercedes was badly dented, but it would be drivable for now. I was saved from a shopping trip—at least I was happy about that. "We promise," Edward said.

We waited until the tow truck came for Ariel and her car. Then, we got back into the Mercedes and drove home. The ride was a little slower than usual—the car was having a hard time with top speeds.

"She couldn't figure out if we were really sincere back there," Edward said, letting us in on what she had been thinking. "Can't blame her, being from a place like New York."

"What else was she thinking, Edward?" I asked sarcastically.

He chuckled a little. Alice chuckled along with him, and Jasper just stared out the window. "Nothing that would change the way I feel about you," Edward said to me. I wasn't amused.

We went up the drive toward the Cullen house and parked in the garage. The other Cullens were waiting there—Edward had called them to tell them what had happened. Their eyes took in the damaged back end of the car. I doubted Carlisle would have it repaired; he would probably just get a whole new car.