Summary

"After her parents died in a car accident, Bella is left alone. She's heading to Seattle with the only thing she has—her truck, but an unexpected turn of events means she may never arrive."

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

I'm Bella Swan and I'm not running away. Well, at least not yet. You see, I'm heading to Seattle, the nearest big city to Forks, Washington. It's not really what I was expecting. Who am I kidding? It never crossed my mind that I would be going to Seattle today after losing everything.

Two weeks ago, my parents were killed in a car accident. The driver of the other car was drunk.

Was it destiny? No, I don't think so.

Anyway, long story short, my parents had debts that I never bother to know about; of course, no one expected for them to die anytime soon. How many teenagers really take this information into account into their everyday lives? Yes, not many I do know, I was one who didn't.

So, here I am in my piece-of-crap old truck, heading to a big city where I don't know anyone because the banks took the house and everything they could, leaving me with my truck because—let's face it—nobody wants it and it has no value. Thinking about it, maybe I do like the truck. At least, I think I should start loving it, since from now on it's officially my home.

It's twilight now—the only time of the day where I always doubt if it's really day or night. I've been driving for over two hours now; it's raining, as it usually does in this part of the continental U.S. But, I'm trying to enjoy the world and not think about the life I had.

Maybe it's just my inner self trying to not think about how much I miss my parents and my life. It wasn't a great one; however, at least I had someone that care about me that loved me for being me. Now, I have nobody but myself to keep going through this journey called life.

As much as I like driving around, this is not easy route; therefore, I keep my eyes on the road as I try to eat my sandwich. I could've have stopped to eat it; in fact, nobody was expecting me to arrive. Nevertheless, I do not like driving my truck in the dark and rain, so instead I continue driving; while still eating a sandwich I bought at the last gas station. This truck wouldn't go all the way to Seattle, not even half-way with one tank of gas, so I have to stop twice.

I turn the radio on and try to tune it to any station that I can get; I can't even afford to listen to the one station that I like, not in this old truck. The drive is nice in this part — total straight line where I can appreciate the mountains and the pine trees that are on both sides of the road. I even spotted a bear eating on the side of this part of the road once while I was traveling with Renée to Seattle. We went there to buy some clothes for my last birthday. I'm always curious if I will get to see something like that ever again.

I keep driving. There are so few cars passing on either side that I can spot them a mile before they pass me.

I can now see one, white lights, xenon probably, which means an expensive sport car of sorts. The rain is not heavy but its enough for me to not know if its black, blue or dark grey.

As the car approaches the back of my truck it seems to continue. Certainly, it is easy to pass me here, as a result that, you can see straight ahead for a couple of miles and nobody is heading our way. In other words, it probably wasn't going to slow down.

Yeah, it didn't slow down and now it passes me, like the rest.

I continue at the same speed; in fact, I'm almost to the next gas station but my truck can keep up until I get to Seattle. There is really no need for me to stop.

I keep trying to entertain myself, so as I approach the gas station I notice a few cars parked, and well, like five of the cars that passed me a while back. I laugh; they probably passed me, stopped to eat, and will for sure pass me again after they take to the road. If that happens, I know I will for sure stop on the side of the road because I will be laughing so hard that I will not be able to drive. I try to check the license plates; it will be easier for me to remember them than the make and model of the cars. Well, that one is easy: "EAC-007" I say, as I spot one of the cars.

I keep driving; this is really boring, so I start singing along with the radio. It's that or listen to half of it; the reception here is terrible. I open a can of iced tea, drink some, and stick it between my bags.

Another car approaches, I get excited; will that be one of the cars at the gas station? I keep my speed and keep my eyes on the road; meanwhile, I use the mirrors to see how it approaches at a fast speed. Well fast for my truck anyway, this truck doesn't go above 40 mph. This is another straight part of the road, so I know it will not slow down. It keeps approaching and I try to read the license plates.

"Bingo!" I scream, jumping up and down on my seat.

It's the same car, and I start to laugh at my stupid joke. It passes by my side; there is a puddle on the other side of the road and the fast car splashes all my truck; leaving me with absolutely no visibility. I panic and hit the brakes, but my truck just keeps going and starts to spin. I must have hit the side of the road because now I am starting to see everything going upside down. As I keep turning, I lose all track of what is up or down and left or right. It seems to be taking such a long time to stop. Suddenly, my head hurts like the worst nightmare. Furthermore, I cannot get enough air into my lungs; I try to breathe but nothing goes in.

My world is now very dark and I forget where I am.