Time's Up

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp!!!!

Slam! I pounded my palm onto my alarm clock without even rolling over toward the world's most unappreciated appliance. However, today I would fit into mainstream society against my digital alarm clock: I was in no mood to wake up early today. But this morning, above all others, was a very special Saturday. It was the day I took a little trip down to the Secretary of State's Office. Although it meant sacrificing every Saturday and Sunday morning for the next month, it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make: it meant I didn't have to wait until summer to take Driver's Training classes. (Yippee!)

"Lindsey? Move your tail, Kiddo." Dad knocked softly on my bedroom door before opening it a crack. As he did, a tiny stream of sunlight trailed into the room. Noticing this, he opened the door wide enough so the sun streamed into my face.

"Argh," I moaned and squinted my eyes at the light. "You just have to do that, don't you?"

"Anything to get you awake, which I'm not doing for my health. You asked for it, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I muttered and sat upright in bed, rubbing the sleep from the corners of my eyes before grabbing my glasses from the nightstand and sliding them on. Suddenly, everything became much clearer, my head as well as my sight.

"That's better," I turned and smiled at Dad, who was still lingering in my doorway. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven thirty."

"Perfect." I stood up and stretched, feeling all of the kinks in my back, pains of curling up while I sleep, dissolve. "That gives me enough time to get ready and over to the State's Office. You're still taking me, right Dad?"

"You think I want my little girl driving out on those dangerous Tulsa roads?" He asked me with a grin underneath his dark beard. I stared at him, afraid he was serious.

"Umm, I hope so." I replied, walking over to my dresser to pull out some clothes.

"I'm more afraid for the other drivers, Linds." He reached over and fluffed my already frizzed hair. I could just feel the static electricity start to build up on the top of my head at the playful gesture.

Last thing I need right now. I'm nervous enough about the driving, don't make me nervous about how I look.

"Don't," I said grumpily, jerking my head away.

"Someone's not a morning person," he remarked with an amused grin. Another characteristic I don't share with my family: bounding out of bed with a perky smile at the crack of dawn with the damn roosters.

"Someone never will be." Nonetheless, I cracked a small smile. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get dressed now."

"Sure thing. Be downstairs in fifteen minutes or fend for yourself on breakfast." With that, Dad shut the door with a quiet click and retreated back downstairs I assumed as I heard the subdued thumps his feet pounded on the stairs.

"What exactly does one wear for the first time driving?" I asked myself, pawing through my sock drawer for the last clean pair of white socks I was certain were still hiding in there somewhere. Finally finding them, I slipped off my night shirt and started searching for a bra. After grabbing one and sliding it up my shoulders, I turned around for some reason and caught my reflection in my mirror. My eyes widened when I saw how having my arms arched behind my back to fasten the bra's clasp made my stomach appear even larger than usual. After the ends of the clasp were met, I dropped my arms and examined my unflattering figure.

Am I really that huge? I asked in my head, absently running my fingers over my stomach and sucking in my breath to see if it made much of a difference. As if on command, my door burst open, scaring the living daylights out of me.

"Mom!!" I cried when I saw her barge in here. Immediately, I reached over and grabbed a shirt.

"Oh-I'm sorry Honey." If I didn't know my Mom better, I'd swear she sounded nervous. As my cheeks flushed with embarrassment, I lifted my eyes to hers and found them staring back at me, a strange, unblinking trance on her face.

"Mom, do you mind?" I asked irritably, pointing for her to leave. "I need to finish getting dressed."

"Of course." She shook her head and smiled meekly at me before shutting the door quickly, a little too quickly because it slammed loudly.

"Sorry!" I heard her call from behind the door before releasing the handle. With a sigh, I pulled on a pair of jeans faster than I knew how, slid my socks over my feet without sitting down, and stuffed my feet into my usual canvas shoes. I grabbed a hairbrush and ponytail on my way out the door and started raking the brush through my mane as I came downstairs.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Carol." I overheard my Dad say as I neared the kitchen.

"I just can't help but feel concerned." Mom replied quietly, but I still heard her.

"Be concerned about what?" I asked, standing in the doorway and pulling my hair back. I took in the sight of her sitting at the table, talking to my father about whatever the heck I'd just walked in on.

"Oh, ahh.." Mom fumbled for the words, her eyes briefly darting to Dad's face. "Just nervous about my new job."

"I don't think you should worry about anything." I gave her a funny look as I sat down next to her and helped myself to a bowl of cereal. As I was reaching for the milk, I continued:

"I mean, if you were good enough at the last one, why care now?"

"Just because it's got the same title doesn't mean it's the same exact job, Lindsey." Mom corrected me.

"Speaking of jobs.." Giving me a sly look, she pushed the newspaper sitting on the table toward my elbow. Glancing down at it, I noticed it was open to the Classified Ads again.

"Very sneaky," I put down my spoon to look over the paper. "Are you implying something?"

"Just that you need something to take up your time after school more, rather than bothering the Hansons nearly every afternoon." Mom replied. I immediately shot her a dirty look.

"I am not bothering them." I corrected her. "I'm babysitting. Besides, Zac and I have been best friends for years. You've never had a problem with him before."

"Honey.." She rested her hand on my forearm to get my attention. "I'm just concerned as a Mom. Zac's reaching that age where.. he'd want to be more than friends with girls."

"Not with me!" It was a good thing I hadn't been eating, otherwise Cheerios would've flown out my nose at what she was implying.

All hugs, not to mention that strange kiss at the skating rink aside, we'll never be more than friends. You can't have it any better than what I.. had with Zac. The thought immediately made me feel sad again. In spite my efforts to spend all my free time seeing off JoAnn, I'd missed my so-called 'last days' with Zac as well.

How on earth did I go from having two best friends to having none? I didn't want to think about how abandoned I felt at the moment, though.

"You never know." Was all she replied, interrupting my thoughts. "Anyway, there are more than enough good jobs out there."

"Good jobs?" My eyes fell to the paper again. "Roof shingler.. plumber.. offset web press operator? Are you kidding me Mom? I can't do any of those."

"Not the professional ones, silly." She pointed to another ad. As she lifted her fingertip off the print, I groaned at the suggestion:

"Pizza Palace? Not fast food."

"You've been there a thousand times, I'm sure you know the owner by first name."

"Jamie." I replied with a grin. Mom rolled her eyes before continuing.

"My point exactly. So just go up to this Jamie and ask for an application." Seeing the firm set of her jaw, I didn't even bother to open my mouth in an objection.

At least it's not McDonald's, I thought, eating the rest of my breakfast in silence.

"Lindsey Williams?" I stood up from my seat in the lobby of the Secretary of State's Office. I practically bounced out of my seat, I'd been waiting for about thirty-five minutes.

Good thing I got here early, I thought, checking the time.

"That's me." I told the woman behind the long counter who'd called out my name. She threw me a large smile and handed over a large pile of paper and a clipboard to me, before motioning to the door to the right of her desk.

"Just take these forms down the hall on the other side of that door. There's a room with some videos set up for you to watch. Someone will be in there in about ten minutes to start the class."

"Thanks." I took them from her, gave Dad a small wave good-bye, and disappeared behind the door. At first I was surprised by how quiet the hallway was, my footsteps echoing slightly down it. After my ears recognized the faint hum of conversations, I followed the sound until I found the right room. Standing in the doorway, my eyes widened at the rest of my 'class,' and I use that term loosely.

Five other people sat in desks set up in a semi-circular pattern around the television set up at the front of the room. I first noticed the young.. man I guess I could call him, underneath about seven facial piercings, including a chain that traveled from his ear to his nose. His head was shaved off down the sides, but a short Mohawk protruded from the center of his head and was a faded purple in color. He sat next to an Asian woman who looked in about her mid-forties, who squinted up at me through thick bifocals as I glanced nervously at the extremely thin, almost a rail of a man who gingerly sat next to her.

He looks like a walking toothpick, I couldn't help but think. His long, black hair was folded into dreadlocks, and I couldn't tell if he was awake or not, for he slouched low in his seat and hid his eyes behind mirrored sunglasses.

I took my chances with a slightly plump elderly lady, noticing a hearing aid in her ear as I took the open seat on her left side. Glancing across the half-circle, my eyes met a friendly pair of brown-colored ones. They belonged to an extremely attractive boy, with brown hair and freckles to match, though not as many as me (the lucky guy). He smiled back with the same sense of nervousness I felt at the moment. I managed to form a resemblance of a smile before shifting my eyes down to the floor.

I hadn't gotten halfway through filling out my forms before a familiar man appeared in the doorway. My mouth dropping wide open, I recognized him immediately.

"Coach?" I squeaked in disbelief.

He's my Driver's Ed teacher!?

"Williams!" He barked at me in recognition. Not surprisingly, he carried clipboard companion in his hands. Walking over to the chalkboard, he turned to the rest of the group.

"I've been hired by the good State of Oklahoma to get your sorry asses out on the streets!" With that brilliant introduction, he grabbed a piece of chalk in his fingers and strode over to the board behind the TV.

"Umm.. Coach?" I raised my hand timidly. "I'm, uhh, not finished filling out all my forms yet."

"Tough, Williams! Time's up. Fill them out after class." I groaned inwardly as he started scribbling away about the basic intro to driving.

This is insane, was all I could think. I could only pray I wouldn't have to drive in the same car with the man.

three torturous hours later..

As my luck turned out, I didn't end up getting Coach for the driving part of the class. No, he would've been a blessing compared to the tip-lipped Ogre who was waiting for me, tapping her black shoes impatiently on the sidewalk in the parking lot behind the state building.

"Lindsey Williams?" She called out to me in a voice so harsh I cringed.

Please no, please no.. I begged in my mind. Her tiny frame wore a two-piece gray suit that perfectly matched the gray tones seeping into her hair.

"That-that's me," I managed to reply, hurrying over toward her.

"You're late!" Her steel-gray eyes blazed at me angrily.

"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered in response, feeling incredibly intimidated by a woman who was a few inches shorter than me, not to mention how many sizes smaller than me.

"I was filling out forms," I tried to explain what had taken me. In such a small class, Coach would've noticed if I'd been filling them out during the lecture or three videos we'd watched in the first three hours, so I had to finish them afterward.

"No excuses! Get in the car." She pointed to the extremely large, rusty Suburban that was parked near us. I stared at it, unable to picture myself actually driving the abomination of a vehicle. I'm sure it was red a one point in time, I noticed under the thick trace of dust covering the entire thing as I ran my finger over the driver's side door. After reaching up and yanking on the handle, I got my first surprise when nothing happened.

"It sticks." My 'instructor' snapped at me from her seat inside the car, if I could even call it that.

More like a nightmare. I thought, watching as she stuck her leg out and slammed it against the door as I tried the handle again. This time, it jerked open quickly, nearly sending me to my backside on the pavement. I managed to hold onto the handle and regained my balance before looking inside.

How the heck am I supposed to get in that thing? I stared at the seat, about a three foot step up for me.

"Get in already!" My instructor commanded in a stern voice.

"You've already lost ten minutes of driving, don't just stand there looking dumbfounded." As I stumbled, climbing into the driver's seat, I wondered what cave the state of Oklahoma had crawled into to find this beast of an instructor.

"Ok," I mumbled, reaching behind me to grab the seatbelt and trying to ignore the clouds of dust that fluffed up around me when I'd sat down. I stiffled a cough, inhaling some of it. Didn't seem to bother my instructor, though.

"Mirrors." She spat out the first step. I reached up to the rearview mirror and adjusted it enough so I could see behind me. I grimaced at the loud screech sound that came out of the window as I cranked it open. Reaching out of the Suburban, I yanked on the side mirror until I could see the best I could.

Good enough, so what if the dang bus here takes up half the view?

"Umm.. What do I do about that one?" I pointed to the hole in the passenger's side, where I assumed the other side mirror was supposed to be. For a split second, I stared at the fact it wasn't actually there, before my instructor's razor-sharp voice cut through the air.

"Ignore it. You should've know you only need two mirrors to drive. Now start the car and let's go already." She pointed to the set of keys dangling from the ignition and tapped her watch impatiently. Now more than ever I wished my time could've been up.

As I turned the key, I nearly fell over backward at the loud roar of the motor, not to mention all the shaking of the car.

Feels almost like an earthquake. I sent a silent prayer to the man upstairs that I would actually be able to get through the driving lesson without killing myself and this modern-day Nazi posing as a driving instructor. I had a sinking feeling the next forty-five minutes would feel like forever.