Driving Lesson

A short story about a teenage girl's first time driving in the snow.

Sweat trickled down my forehead as my knuckles turned white gripping the wheel. Today was the first time my dad was taking me out driving in the snow, and to say that I was nervous would be an understatement; terrified was more like it. Not only was I at the tender age of fourteen, but I haven’t been taking driving lessons long; only about two weeks. Every couple of days, my dad would drive me over to the middle school parking lot to teach me the basics of driving. Every time I got behind the wheel, I was always hyperaware of everything around me: the pedals that were slightly further away from me than I would like, the sound of the engine as it was running, and the smell of cigarette smoke from my dad’s cigarette. Ew. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Couldn’t he at least wait until after I was done with my lesson to ruin our health?

 

I turned off the car. Driving was scary enough, but add in one of my least favorite smells and I’m running for the hills. The blanket of snow on the ground and the thin layer of ice on the road weren’t helping matters.

 

Dad turned to me with an irritated expression on his face. “Why’d you turn off the car, Emily?” he asked me.

 

“I’m not driving this car while you’re smoking,” I retorted. “You know how much the smell of smoke bothers my nose.”

 

Dad didn’t say anything more; he just turned his head and continued smoking his cigarette.

 

There was complete silence while I not-so-patiently waited for Dad to finish smoking the cancer stick. You could cut the tension in the car with a knife. I could tell from Dad’s expression that he was annoyed that I wouldn’t drive the car yet, and I was nervous about driving in the snow. I was just barely used to driving when it wasn’t snowing!

 

I was just about ready to start the engine and drive, despite the fact that Dad was smoking, when he suddenly flicked the remains of the cigarette out the window. He smirked at me before putting on his serious face.

 

“Okay, Emily,” Dad started, “Put the key in the ignition and slowly turn it until you sense that the car is on.”

 

I rolled my eyes at Dad’s request, but did it anyway. It was always better to go along with what he says than tell him that what he said made no sense at all.

 

“Good job,” Dad praised. “Now, put the car in drive, and follow the road.”

 

I took a deep breath before putting the car in drive.

 

God, please don’t let me crash today, I thought.

I drove in a straight line, doing my best to follow the road. I started off by going about 5 miles an hour, trying not to tempt fate. If I listened close enough, I could hear Dad sighing softly. I knew that he didn’t like the fact that I always drove so slow that a snail could beat us in a race, but I wanted to be extra- cautious. The ice on the road made me nervous, and I really didn’t want to crash.

 

“Turn left here,” Dad said suddenly. I could feel my heart pounding in reaction to being caught off- guard as I successfully made the turn. I was amazed. I was actually driving well, with ice on the ground!

 

This pattern repeated for the next half hour or so. By now, I was so used to the ice that I was trying to drive faster. 5 miles an hour quickly became 10, and 10 miles an hour quickly became 15. I wanted to try for 20, but Dad stopped me whenever he saw the speedometer inch closer to 20 than he would like.

 

“Go easy there, Em,” Dad said. “Don’t push yourself. I don’t need you crashing the car. I still need to get around.”

 

I mentally rolled my eyes. It took most of my willpower to keep myself from telling him how selfish he was being, thinking only of himself. I’d be willing to bet money that he drove a lot faster than this when he took driving lessons.

 

We were right at the front entrance of the school when Dad told me to stop the car. “I want to see how you’ll do on your own,” he said. “I’ll just have another cigarette.”

 

With that, he opened his door and climbed out of his car, walking towards the door to the school.

 

I was nervous again. I never drove without Dad in the car, and frankly, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it. I snuck a glance at him before taking my foot slightly off the break.

 

I slowly drove around the parking lot, the butterflies never quite leaving my stomach.

 

Eventually, I made it back to the front entrance. I was so proud of myself. I had just driven around in an icy parking lot without an adult in the car. I felt like I just won a million dollars. Okay, maybe not that excited, but you get the picture.

 

I stopped right in front of Dad. He motioned for me to roll down the window, and I complied. “Do it again,” he said. I gave him a heartfelt smile before rolling the window back up.

 

I started off slowly again, testing the waters. After a few minutes, I decided to pick up speed. I watched the speedometer go from 5 to 10, 10 to 15. I wanted to reach 20. The little voice in the back of my head decided to make itself known.

 

This isn’t a good idea, Em, it told me. You heard what Dad said. High speeds are risky when the road is icy.

 

For once in my life, I decided to be rebellious. Why was everyone else allowed to have fun and bend the rules except for me? I told the voice to shut up. What Dad didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

 

I was watching the speedometer with fascination as it finally reached 20 miles an hour. I made a mental note to try this again. I felt like I was flying! Nothing could bring me down.

 

I was so in awe of driving fast that I didn’t notice the sidewalk was getting closer and closer with each passing second. Panicking, I turned the wheel sharply to the left. That was when I felt one of the tires hit something hard with extraordinary force, and the car began shaking around me.

Author's Note

thoughts are appriciated :)