so, yeah. well, i've honestly never written anything beyond a term paper before, but i was bored and such, so here you go. the grammar isn't perfect, but it should be fairly easy to read. it's not exactly an exciting story, but it's pretty short. i hear arial is an easy font to read online, so that's what i used here. comments and questions welcome.
The Test
by Big_John
A fictional story set in modern-day suburbia.
"Alright Amy, are you ready for the big test?" asked Mr. Parker. He was standing at Amy's front door, his right leg up on the second step, his left leg back on the walkway.
"Oh yeah! You know me, Mr. Parker. I'm all about the big tests," replied Amy with a genuine smile.
After looking at her in thought for a few seconds, Mr. Parker said, "Alrighty then, let's do it!" with too much enthusiasm, he thought. He turned to walk down the walkway with Amy. He added, "And, how many times do I have to tell you, call me Peter."
"Mr. Parker, you know every time I call you 'Peter', it reminds me that your name is 'Peter Parker', and I laugh," she said, stepping down onto the walkway, suppressing a laugh.
"Oh believe me Amy, I'm quite used to you laughing at my name."
"Yeah, but I laugh like some sort of little freak."
"What, you mean the snorting?"
"Umm.. yeah.."
"Ha! No, I like that, it's cute. It's.. good," he noted, with a grin.
"Yeah great, so anyway Mr. Parker, after this test, I'm all done, right?"
"Pretty much. If I pass you.."
"If?"
"Heh, yeah.. assuming you pass, you'll get a certificate, and.. we'll get to that," Peter stopped somewhat abruptly and turned with a curious flourish. He thrust out his right hand, indicating a car. "OK, here we are!"
------
Amy looked at the car quizzically, then at Mr. Parker, then the car again. "What is... that?" she asked reluctantly.
"It's the car."
"The car?"
"What other car would it be?"
"But, isn't this your sports car or something? How am I supposed to drive that?!" Amy was genuinely concerned.
"First of all, it's not a 'sports car or something'. It's an '87 Corvette! Second, I drove this car when I was two years younger than you." Peter put his hands in his pockets and stared affectionately at the red Corvette, "This was my very first car." Peter turned to Amy, pulled a single key out of his pocket, tossed it into her hands and added, "If I know you, you can handle it."
Amy stared at Mr. Parker blankly for a good ten seconds, cradling the key in both her hands like it was water. Her mouth slightly open in amazement.
"So, you ready or what?" His smile had become a bit timid.
Amy blinked, gave her head a tiny shake, and said, "OK, no! I am not going to drive your 'Corvette' car. Doesn't the school have cars? I'm supposed to take the test in a Corolla or something! What the heck, Mr. Parker?"
Peter's smile faded, and he looked solemnly at the red Corvette. He began nodding and slowly said, "Yeah... maybe you're right. It's probably too much car for you." Amy knew he was needling her. The last thing she wanted to be told was that she couldn't do something.. that she couldn't handle his dumb car.
Peter continued, "I think we have a station wagon back at the center. I'll go get it right now. I'll be back in ten or fifteen minutes." Peter stared back at Amy, with a hint of a smirk in an otherwise straight face. "Just give me the key, and I'll bring that station wagon right back."
Amy closed her eyes and opened her mouth into an incredulous gape. With her eyes still closed, she said, "Peter, you are such a bastard."
"Amy!" Peter exclaimed. It was the first time he had heard her use anything resembling coarse language.
"Just shut up and test me already, good grief." Amy's shock was turning to anger.
"Well, give me the key so I can.."
"No, no.. I'm going to drive your dumb Corvette sports car!" she said, walking around to the driver's side.
"Amy, if you don't.."
"Am I going to take this stupid test or not?" Amy opened the driver's side door.
"Now, you're sure you.."
"Are you going to give me the test, or am I going to take this hideous thing for a dumb joy ride?"
Peter's smile returned. He opened the passenger's side door, grabbed a 'student driver' sign off of the seat and affixed it to the top of the Corvette. He looked at Amy and said, "OK, let's do it!"
-----
Amy got down into the bucket seat, shaking her head. The black leather was hot, but not too hot. Amy was half angry and half amused but not entirely surprised that Mr. Parker would try to pull something like this. She had known Peter Parker for quite a bit longer than the three-week driving class she had just finished. Peter was a friend of the family. He lived only a five-minute walk away with his wife, Joan. Joan and Amy were good friends too, and were going shopping as soon as she passed her driving test.
Amy sat back into the seat and looked straight ahead with fairly wide eyes. She put her hands on the wheel and looked around the small interior. Peter watched her for a moment, then said, "I still can't believe how big you are."
"Oh, don't get all friendly with me now, you big jerk. You know, my dad is going to flip his lid when I tell him about this."
Peter gave a short laugh, smiled and replied, "Whose idea do you think this was in the first place?"
"You're a jerk and a liar." Amy retorted. Peter laughed again. Amy pushed her short blonde hair off of her face, watching herself in the rear-view. Mr. Parker was watching her too. She was wearing a little red summer dress, one of her favorites. It was also a favorite of his; it was very flattering on her. She was a pretty girl anyway, but she looked great in red.
Peter felt a wave of.. guilt? He wasn't sure what it was, but he always felt a bit uneasy when he noticed how attractive Amy had become. He remembered when he first met her. An awkward and quiet little girl sitting in the corner during one of her parent's parties. Peter wasn't exactly a popular kid growing up himself (his name didn't help), so he went over and talked to her. It wasn't long before that the shrinking violet bloomed into the prettiest girl in the neighborhood. And by high school, that girl in the corner with no one to talk to had to beat off the boys with a stick.
"Mr. Parker?"
"Oh.. what?"
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, sorry.. I was just remembering the first time I met you."
"Oh God! Don't start going down memory lane just yet, OK? You still need to give me this driving test before you can drop me off at the prom or whatever your demented reverie is," she said, shaking her head.
"Reverie?"
"It means daydream. Aren't you supposed to be an English teacher?"
"I know what it means. What did you do, read that in a book yesterday or something?"
"Oh, shut it. Good grief, it's like an 80's museum in here."
"What!?"
Amy glanced around and with a sinister smile asked, "Where do you keep the Jimmy Idol albums?"
"Amy! It's 'Billy'! Billy Idol! Albums!? Come on, I'm not that old! Look," Peter said, pointing, "the car has a CD player."
Amy didn't reply, but kept her wicked smile, "You've had this car since you were fourteen? Why do you still have it? You never even drive it."
"Fifteen," he answered.
"What?"
"I've had it since I was fifteen."
"I thought you said you drove this car when you were two years younger than me.. than I," she corrected.
"Yeah, you're seventeen, aren't you?"
"Oh my God, I'm sixteen, where have you been?"
"Oh that's right," Peter said, furrowing his brow. "Why did I think you were seventeen? That's weird." Before thinking about it too much, he added, "Anyway, I have this car for sentimental reasons. And hey, it's a Corvette!"
"You're definitely a sentimental guy," she said, her smile gone. Amy took a deep breath, checked her mirrors and asked, "Should we start the test sometime this week or what?"
"Good idea. Hey, see? You're not nervous about the car at all anymore." Peter's natural smile had returned.
"Yeah, it's all great until I smash your precious sentimental car in to a tree."
"Real good! Now check your mirrors."
-----
The test went fairly smoothly. Amy drove and parked very well. She was only slightly nervous in heavier traffic. She had a little trouble handling the power of the car at first, but soon it was all under control. That is, until they got to the highway. Peter didn't tell her that they were going onto the highway until the last second.
"Take the next right," he said.
"Um, that's the highway, I think."
"Yup," he said, looking down at his clipboard.
"I'm not taking this thing on the highway! Are you crazy?"
"Don't you want to pass?"
"I can't drive this on the highway!"
"Sure you can, turn here."
"Oh my God, you're going to get me killed!" said Amy, turning right onto the onramp.
"Speed up now," Peter said calmly.
"What?! No!" Amy yelled, tightening her grip on the wheel.
"OK, you need to relax."
"You relax!" she yelled. She let off the gas, and the car slowed down.
"OK, you pretty much don't want to slow down when merging. Give it gas, you have a lot of room. It's just like landing on an aircraft carrier."
Amy didn't react, she just starred straight ahead and gripped the wheel harder.
"AMY!!"
Peter's loud yell startled Amy into focus. She looked wildly at Peter, then at her mirror.
Looking ahead, Peter said, "You need to have speed in case you don't make it, just like an aircraft carrier." Then he yelled, "Now!" Amy looked at Peter with excitement and fear. Again he yelled, "Now Amy! GO!"
Amy floored the gas. The wheels screeched for a brief second and then the Corvette shot onto the highway. They were both thrown back into their seats. Amy began to howl and Peter let out a sustained, "Whooooooaaa!"
"Amy! OK, ease up Amy. Ease off the gas, Amy."
She did and suddenly noticed that there was a grand total of two other cars on this stretch of the highway, both well in front of her. Amy turned to Peter and tried to say something but she couldn't.
"Breathe Amy. Relax."
"Oh my God! This is awesome!"
"OK, Amy, it is awesome, but you need to calm down. OK?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said frantically, licking her lips and checking the mirrors repeatedly. After driving for a couple of minutes, Amy asked, "What were you saying about airplanes?"
"Aircraft carriers. Merging onto the highway is like landing on an aircraft carrier."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you want to have extra speed in case you don't make it."
"Wait.. What?"
"Yeah, when you land on an aircraft carrier, you might miss and have to take off again. So, you want to be going fast in case you don't make the landing."
"But.. wait. It's not like you can get off on an offramp or something if you 'don't make it'."
"Well, yeah, I mean the analogy breaks down a bit. The point is you want the extra speed, just in case."
"That completely retarded," she observed, fully at ease on the highway now. "Where did you hear that one?"
"Well, I kind of made it up actually."
"Oh, sorry," said Amy, with a small chuckle and snort.
-----
"Well, now. That went quite well, didn't it?" Peter asked, standing at Amy's front door in almost the same fashion as before. Now, it was his left leg that was up on one step, though, and his left elbow was resting on his left knee.
"Yeah. I can't believe I actually drove that thing."
"Is the Corvette awesome, or is it awesome?"
"It's awesome," she agreed with a nod and a smile. "Did my dad really put you up to this?"
"It was kind of both our ideas," he admitted. Then, looking at the clipboard in his left hand, he continued, "So next time, maybe you'll pass.."
"Haha, very funny."
"No, you did great. I'm proud of you Amy."
"Thanks.. Peter." Amy replied with a barely noticeable blush.
"Hey, you didn't laugh."
"I'm sorry for calling you a bastard, Peter."
Peter looked at Amy for a second, then laughed with a volume that startled Amy. "That's quite alright Amy," he said, after laughing, "you took our little surprise better than I thought you would, actually." Peter stood up straight and put his right hand in his pants pocket and looked off to his right for a second. As he returned his gaze towards Amy, he asked, "So, are you going to celebrate with your friends or something?"
"Actually, Joan is taking me shopping!"
"Oh yeah? Cool, that will be fun, I bet."
"Yeah, I'm excited," Amy replied with what Peter thought was the prettiest smile he had ever seen. Peter and Amy stood there looking at each other in silence for a moment.
Peter looked down at the ground, then back up and said, "That's a very nice dress Amy, you look," he paused, "you look very nice in red."
Amy was surprised by the compliment. She looked down at her summer dress and said, "Oh, uhm, thanks. It's my favorite dress."
After another, shorter moment of mutual silence, Peter said, "OK then, I'll, uh, see you later Amy. Tell your dad I said 'Hi'." Peter turned and started walking down to the side walk.
"OK," Amy replied, "Bye Mr. Parker."
"Peter," he corrected.
"Goodbye Peter." Amy watched Peter walk down the side walk and get in the Corvette. He waved at her and she waved back. After Peter had driven off, Amy stayed at her door for a while before finally going inside.
