Author's Note: I was recently talking with some friends about driving with parents for the first time and how they always get freaked out and stuff. Then, I was driving home from my summer job, realizing how comfortable I was with it at the moment and remembering how nervous I was in the beginning. Then, this idea just kind of popped into my head. Most everything in here is pretty much based on very real memories my friends and I have of our first times driving with a parent. Naturally, this occurs about a year or so into the future.

UPDATE 2/28/2019: I revised this mostly to upload to Tumblr but also just because this was so old, haha. I didn't change it a whole lot, mostly just made character adjustments here and there in addition to flow and grammar revisions.

Driving

"But Maddie!" whined Jack.

"No," said Maddie firmly.

"You got to teach Jazz!" Jack pouted. "It's my turn now."

Maddie sighed. It was so hard to resist that face, but she knew she had to. Her husband was too easily distracted and, though she hated to think it, not all that responsible. "Jack, I'm sorry, but I'd prefer our son learn correctly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The entire Fenton family was in the living room this partly cloudy Saturday afternoon. The two teenagers sat on the couch, Jazz with her arms crossed and Danny wringing his hands.

"You're not the safest driver, Jack. Danny needs a good role model," explained Maddie.

"I can take him, Mom," offered Jazz.

Maddie narrowed her eyes. "I'm taking him."

"But Mom, I'm eighteen now! It's perfectly legal!"

"You know..." Danny spoke slowly, his voice cracking a small amount. "I just got my permit a couple hours ago. There's no need to start learning so soon, right?"

"Sweetie, you're not going on the freeway or into heavy traffic or anything like that. You're just going to drive around the neighborhood at a slow, easy speed." Maddie glanced up at the ceiling. "Or maybe we'll go to the parking lot for the elementary school since it's close by and would be empty right now. That way, you'll have more room."

"No way! That's boring. He can take on the bigger stuff." Jack clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Right, Danno?"

Danny's face blanched.

"He's just beginning!" cried Maddie. "This is exactly why you can't take him."

"You're not going to teach him using the RV, are you?" asked Jazz. "I mean, I noticed you haven't bought another car for him, and you're crazy if you think he should learn with that beast."

"We're actually going to be buying a new car just for me," said Maddie, "but for now, we're going to use your car, Jazz."

"What?" shrieked Jazz. "No way! He'll wreck it!"

"I appreciate your faith in me, Jazz," muttered Danny.

"Well, you're right, he can't learn with the RV, so your car is the only other option," said Maddie.

Jazz threw her hands up in the air. "Buy him another car!"

"I just said that we're going to but we don't have it right now, Jazz."

"But I don't want him crashing my car."

"Jazz is right," said Danny. "We shouldn't take her car. Maybe we can figure something out some other day."

Maddie studied her son's expression and scrunched her mouth. "I promise Danny won't crash your car, Jazz."

"Don't make promises like that," said Danny weakly.

"But it's my car!" griped Jazz.

"Did you pay for it? Do you pay for it now? Is your name on the title?" Maddie folded her arms. "It's our car, Jazz."

"That's right, our car," cut in Jack. "And our son! So I have just as much right to teach Danny as you do."

"For the last time, I'm taking Danny driving." Maddie checked that her small pack containing her cell phone and driver license was securely clipped to her belt.

"It's my car, though," bleated Jazz. "Why don't I take him driving?"

"It would only make your insurance bills go higher," said Danny, his voice barely audible. "Why not wait until Jazz is moved out?"

Maddie grabbed Danny by the wrist and pulled him off the couch, dragging him to the front door. "We're going now." She grabbed a set of keys from off the rack hanging by the door. "And we're taking your car, Jazz."

"I swear, Danny, if you crash it—"

Maddie pulled Danny outside and shut the door. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, knowing she had to be calm so that Danny would be calm.

"Mom, could you please let go of me?" asked Danny.

Maddie looked at his face first, then down at his wrist that she was still holding. She let go. "Sorry."

Danny wrapped his other hand around his wrist and gently rubbed it. "I never knew Jazz was so passionate about her car."

"Jazz is passionate about a lot of things."

Maddie led the way to the small car parked out front next to their RV. She unlocked it using the key remote; the car bleeped in response.

"Oh, jeez, I forgot it's pink." Danny huffed. "I'm not driving this."

"Danny, you don't have a choice. Now get in."

"This is so dumb."

Danny reached for the passenger side door. Maddie stopped him.

"Danny, you're driving, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Danny moved to the other side of the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Maddie joined him in the passenger's seat.

They sat in silence for several moments. Maddie didn't want it to show, but she was just as apprehensive as Danny seemed to be.

She had felt comfortable teaching Jazz to drive. Jazz was mature and responsible and had passed the written driving test with a perfect score on her first try.

Danny, though...

Danny lacked a lot of common sense and often did things that just weren't that smart. He had failed the written test twice before just barely passing the third time earlier that day. And now he was actually behind the wheel of a real honest-to-God motor vehicle with all the potential power to kill both of them or others on the road.

But he had to learn. And she had to be the one to teach him if she wanted him to learn properly and stay safe.

Maddie breathed deeply and handed Jazz's keys to her son.

Danny took them. "Which one?"

Maddie narrowed her eyes and raised her upper lip. "The one that looks like a car key, Danny."

Danny lowered his head. Maddie groaned and mentally scolded herself.

"I'm sorry, that was mean." Maddie leaned over and pointed out the correct key to him. "This one."

"Right, yeah, I—sorry, I'm just kind of nervous."

"You're doing fine, sweetheart."

Danny stuck the key into the ignition. He turned it once, then twice.

"Stop there," said Maddie. "Now, what you're going to do is turn it until the engine starts, okay?"

"Okay." Danny turned the key once more. The engine started, then made a horrific straining noise.

"Danny, let go!" shouted Maddie.

Danny immediately pulled his hand away. The engine settled. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I thought it would be obvious." Maddie pulled in a long breath. "All right, now—well, first, you have your permit, right?"

Danny hummed uncertainly.

"Danny, you did not forget it inside."

"No, wait." He searched his pockets and pulled out the card. "Here."

Maddie sighed with relief as he put it back in his pocket. "Good. Now, seat belts."

The two fastened their belts securely.

"Okay, now adjust everything. Pull the seat forward, fix the rear-view mirror so you can properly see out the back, and then the side mirrors as well."

She watched Danny alter everything to fit his needs, almost praying he'd never finish.

But he had to actually drive at some point.

"All right, Danny, we're just going to pull straight out onto the road. So, put the car in drive."

Danny took hold of the gear selector by the steering wheel and attempted to move it. "It's stuck."

"You have to put the brake down first, sweetie."

"Oh, yeah." Danny pushed down on a pedal with his right foot. The engine roared.

"No, Danny, that's the accelerator. Hold down the brake," said Maddie, trying to sound as pleasant and patient as possible.

Danny nodded and pushed down the other pedal. He then moved the gear selector into drive.

Maddie looked up and down the road. "Okay, keep the brake down and check for—"

The car was already moving.

"Danny, stop!" yelled Maddie.

Danny quickly slammed the brake. "What, what?" he squeaked out.

"You can't just pull out onto the road! You have to check for cars first."

"But there aren't any cars!"

"You still have to check!"

Danny huffed and checked the mirrors and out the window. "Okay, now can I go?"

"Yes," said Maddie, regaining her cool.

The car moved forward slowly. Danny put down the accelerator a little.

"In residential areas, the speed limit is twenty-five, right?" asked Danny.

"That's right," said Maddie, "but you don't have to go that fast right now if you don't want to. Oh, and get on the other side of the road."

"The other side?"

"Yes. In America, we drive on the right side of the road. We're in the center right now."

"But we're in a residential area."

"You still have to be on the right side."

"But there are cars parked on the street."

"Just get as far right as you can without hitting any of them."

Danny gently turned the wheel until the car was over on the right side of the road. Maddie nodded approvingly.

"Okay, sweetie, we're going to go to the elementary school parking lot, okay? It's just up there and down the road. There probably won't be many cars, so we can take it slow."

As they neared the stop sign, Danny asked, "Left turn?"

"Right," said Maddie.

Danny turned right.

"Danny! I said left!" yelled Maddie.

"You said right!"

"I didn't mean right as in right, I meant right as in right!"

"What?"

"Stop!"

Danny hit the brake hard, bringing the car to a clunky stop. "Okay, so now what?"

"We're going to make a U-turn," said Maddie calmly. "There are no cars, so you can take your time. So, what you want to do is keep your foot on the brake and turn the wheel to the left as far as you can."

Danny did so, his breathing sounding ragged, his gaze looking hard. Maddie patted his shoulder.

"Good! Now, take your foot off the brake and slowly let the car turn."

The car started to move. When it was turned around almost a full one-eighty degrees, Maddie instructed, "Now, gently put on the accelerator."

The car lurched forward.

"Not that much!" Maddie yelped.

"Sorry!" Danny eased off, his eyes wide. "Um, so just straight now?"

"Yes, this will go to the school."

The car followed a straight path for a while. Danny's hold on the steering wheel was tense, his knuckles turning white.

"Danny, relax. You're doing fine," assured Maddie.

"This is kind of freaking me out."

"That's normal. You'll get more comfortable. Everyone at first—Danny, you just ran that stop sign!"

"What stop sign?" shrieked Danny.

"The stop sign back there!"

"I didn't see a stop sign!"

"You didn't see that?" yelled Maddie. "You didn't see the big red sign with the big white words that said STOP?"

"No!"

"You really didn't see that?" Maddie's jaw clenched, a low growl escaping her throat. "That's because your stupid hair is always hanging in front of your face. Why don't you ever style it?"

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's too long! I'm setting up an appointment to get it cut."

"But I like my hair!"

"It's due for a cut anyway. Besides, you missed that stop sign back there because of it!"

"You're seriously blaming my hair?"

"Unless you'd rather me blame your inability to ever pay attention."

Danny pressed his lips together and sharply exhaled his nose. Neither said anything for some time as the car continued its slow trek down the road.

"Was there white around the edge of the stop sign?" asked Danny.

Maddie quirked a brow as she eyed him. "Of course there was."

"I heard from some guy that stop signs with white around the edge were optional."

"Danny, all stops signs have white around the edge."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, and you would know that if you actually studied the manual."

"I did study!"

"Obviously you didn't. You failed twice."

Danny's lower lip protruded slightly. "But I've passed now, so it doesn't matter."

"You still failed twice. It was extremely inconvenient for me to keep having to drive you to the DMV to take that test. You should've just studied and passed the first time."

"But I did study! There were just some weird questions. I mean, how was I supposed to know what the penalty is for a second DUI? I didn't think I had to know that."

"Well, if you had studied, you would have known that."

"I didn't think to study that part! I mean, I don't ever plan on drinking and driving."

"You should've studied everything in that manual. You should've known that. Jazz knew that."

"Of course Jazz knew that. Jazz is fu—" Danny's voice choked up. "—freaking perfect."

Maddie's jaw dropped. "Danny, did you almost swear?"

"No."

Maddie narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't talk that way about your sister. She has her share of flaws, too."

"No, Jazz has only one flaw, and that's being freaking perfect."

"Danny, I am sick of your attitude. Cool it right now."

"You're telling me to cool it? Why don't you cool it?" Danny glared out through the front window. "All you've been doing is yelling at me."

Maddie noted his aggressive grip on the steering wheel and leaned back in her seat. She silently collected her emotions and sorted them out, pushing away the negative ones. "Okay, okay. Just focus on driving."

Danny didn't reply. Maddie breathed out a hard sigh.

She never had any problems like this with Jazz...

She looked ahead up the road. "All right, the turn for the school is coming up. See it there?"

"I'm going to turn right?" asked Danny, his tone sounding annoyed.

"Yes, Danny. You're going to turn right," said Maddie evenly. "And move over a little. You're too close to the curb."

"It's fine, Mom. I'm not hitting it."

"You need to be in the center of the lane. You're looking too close ahead of the car. You need to look farther up the road. That'll help you stay center."

"Who cares as long as I'm not hitting the curb?"

"Bikers sometimes ride along the street, Danny."

"But there aren't any bikers here now."

"Danny, the turn is coming up," cried Maddie. "It's right there!"

"I know! I see it."

"You're going too fast! You need to slow down."

"I am slowing down."

"Danny, slow down!"

"I am."

"Danny!" screamed Maddie. "Sharp turn! Sharp turn!"

She grabbed the ceiling handle and subconsciously pushed her foot against the floor of the car, an imaginary brake. The car made a wide turn and screeched as it moved onto the road leading to the elementary school. Maddie was thrown to the left, but her seat belt held her in place.

"Danny, what was that?" snapped Maddie. "I told you to slow down!"

"I did slow down!"

"Not enough! When you're making a turn like that, you need to almost stop!" Maddie put a hand to her forehead. "Alright, maybe we should just go home and continue some other day."

"Oh, no. We're not quitting now. I'm doing this."

Maddie was unnerved by the mischievous gleam in his eye. "Danny, what are you—?"

Danny made a slipshod U-turn and came to a jerky halt at the stop sign. "There, I stopped, see?"

"Danny, if you really want to keep going, then we should practice in the parking lot of the elementary school."

"But I want to give you something to really get mad at me about." Danny grinned. "Seeing as all you want to do is yell and point out my mistakes."

"I have to point your mistakes. That's how you learn, Danny."

"Well, you don't have to yell at me."

"You made me yell, Danny! You wouldn't listen to me."

"Why couldn't Dad have taken me? You always get so uptight."

"Don't, Danny. Let's just go home, okay?"

"Okay, then."

Danny's grinned broadened. Maddie's facial muscles twitched at the sight.

"Get that look off your face, Danny. Don't do anything stupid."

Danny made a sharp left turn. Maddie grabbed the ceiling handle again.

"Danny!" she gasped.

He pushed down the accelerator, causing the car to move forward at a rapidly building pace. "Here we go!"

"Danny, the speed limit is thirty-five! Slow down!"

"But isn't this fun, Mom? Isn't it? Isn't it?"

"You ran the same stop sign!"

"Sorry, my stupid hair was impairing my stupid vision."

"Danny, stop the car!" Maddie screamed.

He shook his head, his grin morphing into a hard frown. Maddie raised a hand and smacked him in the face.

His whole expression changed, his eyes becoming round, his mouth falling open. The car swerved toward the left curb. Danny sharply applied the brake, bringing the vehicle to a screeching standstill.

The two said a nothing for a moment, just stared out the front window and panted.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Danny?" demanded Maddie.

Danny looked down at the steering wheel and said nothing.

"Get out of the driver's seat." Maddie unbuckled her belt and opened the car door, swiftly jumping out. Danny did the same, but as soon as he took his foot off the brake, the car started moving forward.

"Danny, what are you doing?" yelled Maddie. "Put it in park first!"

Danny put down the brake again and shakily shifted the gear selector. The car started to move backwards.

"Not reverse, park!"

Danny silently corrected the mistake and proceeded to get out of the car. He kept his gaze down as he passed his mother to get into the passenger's seat.

Maddie shut the door forcefully when she was properly situated in the driver's seat. She waited for Danny to put on his seat belt, then put the car in drive.

Her jaw was cramping with all this tension. She could not even believe what Danny had just done and yet how could she possibly be surprised? This was Danny, very moody and easily frustrated Danny who could never handle criticism without interpreting it as a deeply personal attack.

She exhaled hard and glanced at Danny out of the corner of her eye.

He was staring down at his lap.

And he looked so sad.

The tension in her head softened. "Danny, I'm sorry I hit you, okay?"

Danny didn't reply.

"It's just that little trick you pulled really scared me."

"You don't need to be sorry," mumbled Danny, his words breathy and shaky. "I deserved it."

His tone tugged at her heart. Maddie groaned. "No, you didn't. It was my fault. I frustrated you. I should've been calmer." She chuckled. "Then again, everything that you could've done wrong, you did."

Danny smiled weakly but never replied.

Maddie parked Jazz's car along the curb in front of Fenton Works. She locked it before heading up with Danny to the house. She placed an arm around her son, but not before noticing the bright red mark on his face. "Oh, wow, Danny. I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?"

Danny shrugged. "No."

Maddie ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess you can keep your hair this length, but it at least needs a trim."

"Okay."

Maddie pulled her boy closer. Danny didn't resist, but he made no attempt to return the affection.

Before going inside, Maddie stopped at the front door, causing Danny to stop as well. She placed her hands on his shoulders, but Danny kept his head down. She fondly lifted his chin so that she could see his face. Danny's eyes were still on the ground.

"Danny, look at me, sweetie."

He reluctantly met her gaze. Maddie smiled.

"You did just fine."

Danny stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, but he was also smiling. "You don't have to lie. I know I sucked."

"Oh, no, you didn't, Danny. I'm not lying." She hugged him close. "You're just beginning, after all. You'll do much better tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Danny flinched. "How 'bout we wait another week or month?"

Maddie kissed the side of his head before leading him into the house.

(The End! Thanks for reading!)