Trust Me
-a one shot-
"Dear Lord, please don't let us die today--ah! Damn, Massie, if you could just stay still long enough to let me pray for my life first!"
"Shut your trap, Harrington! We aren't dying!" Massie Block growled, as she turned around in her seat, her brown curls flipping behind her to reveal angry amber eyes.
Derrick Harrington's brown gaze widened as he toppled across his seat. "We sure as hell will if you don't be more careful and watch the road."
"Derrick, watch your mouth," Kendra Block ordered calmly, "Massie turn on your next right, it should lead to a few empty back roads."
Massie quickly righted herself, gliding her ring clad hands over the steering wheel as gently as possible and flitting her left hand over the blinkers signaling for the turn. Despite her efforts, the shiny red car Massie had gotten early for her birthday jerkily twisted onto the empty street.
She bit her lip, trying hard not to step on the break too hard. Even then, the car jolted to a stop, sending everyone flying forward. Derrick cursed again, maneuvering so he could see Massie. The dirty-blonde boy's eyes narrowed and his mouth opened, but before the comment could leave his mouth, Kendra placed her hand sternly on Derrick's shoulder.
"Massie," the older woman soothed, tapping Massie's knee affectionately. Massie's eyes were deprived of their earlier anger, and instead were wide with fear and tears. "Aw, Mass, calm down, sweetheart. It wasn't all that bad."
Massie sniffled, her hands shaking nervously as she wiped her eyes. She and Derrick had been best friends since they were toddlers, but she still didn't like crying in front of him.
Massie couldn't help that she was freaking out; it wasn't like she chose to suck to the tenth degree at driving. No, quite the opposite. Massie had figured that, sure, it'd be easy peasy. I mean, she passed her permit test with flying colors, only missing two out of the five that were allowed. Wasn't driving just your permit in action? Wasn't driving supposed to be easier then the permit test? Weren't most kids supposed to actually be good at driving?
Well, Massie thought dryly, I most definitely am not good at it.
This was strange for the amber eyed brunette. She'd never had such trouble with something like this. She was usually at least halfway decent at the things she did. But no, not this, the one thing that she'd been way too eager for since she even knew that kids can drive. That you don't have to be a grownup to do it.
She never figured that she'd be so terrible at it, almost hitting a fence before being even a mile out from her house. Taking up the whole road, causing the car on the other side of the street to honk at her. Being just so plain terrible that her dad desperately made excuses so he wouldn't have to ride with her:
"You coming Dad?" Massie asked her father as he shuffled about the dining room. This wasn't much unusual when it was time for Massie's unwanted driving lessons.
"I'm sorry, kiddo, but I've got a ton of work to do." William Block replied nervously, quickly averting his eyes and focusing on an orange that was lying on the kitchen table. Massie noticed a sheen of sweat across his brow and narrowed her eyes.
"But it's Saturday…" she stated.
William laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, well, you know how I've got to bring work home with me sometimes." He finally leveled his eyes to hers, sending her a pleading look. Massie sighed, placing her hands on her hips with frustration. He ruffled her hair, "Drive safe!"
"Massie you need to just chill out. You're over thinking things and only making yourself more nervous." Derrick smiled kindly at his friend. "Don't worry so much, it's really not that hard."
At first, Massie felt that usual fondness for the boy, but almost instantly it left. How dare he tell her to calm down! He was the one praying for his life seconds ago, for God's sake!
"As if you make it any better, you stupid! 'Dear Lord, please don't let me die.'" Massie mimicked, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "I just don't understand why I can't keep Isaac around to drive me," she pouted.
Derrick snorted. "Well, Jesus, Mass! I'm sorry that I'd like to live to see another day!" His jaw tightened in frustration, and he gingerly pushed his way past Kendra to take a good look at Massie. "You're the one that wanted me here in the first place!"
"No," Massie snapped, nostrils flaring, "you said you had nothing better to do and then showed up at the door five minutes later. I did not want you here."
"Yes, you did," Derrick argued.
Massie huffed, pushing the boy's head out of the way so she could see her mother. "What about Isaac? He's been driving me since forever. What's a few more years?"
Kendra merely sighed. "Honey, you've got to be able to drive yourself around. And we've already got you the car."
"Then take the car back! Sure I'd love to keep it, but I can't drive it."
Derrick groaned. "Massie, stop being such a spoiled brat." He rolled his eyes at her glare. He'd seen way too many of them to be scared anymore. "Mrs. B, could I try to teach her?" When she looked at him doubtfully he simply shook his head. "We'll stay on these roads and I won't let her anywhere near the actual street. We'll stick to places without other cars for the moment. You know as well as I do that no one comes back here, so it's safe."
"Well, I'm not so sure…"
Derrick grinned. "I've had my license for a year now. I promise I won't let anything happen to her. I just don't see why you guys are still all worried about my driving."
"Aw, Derrick, hon, it's just that we've known you for so long. Since you were both small. It's still just a little strange is all. I suppose you can, though." She smiled back at him and then turned to face Massie again. "Alright Mass, try to be careful now when you're pulling out."
"Um, alright…" Massie muttered as she shifted into reverse.
"Massie! This is why I was praying!"
-----
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Okay, so what do you want me to do?" Massie asked, tapping on the steering wheel nervously. With each tap from her rings, her nerves escalated one step higher. "Should I just--"
"--Mass, what I want you to do is just relax, alright?" His gaze flicked over to the brunette who was staring at him with round eyes, her face slightly purple. Laughing out loud, he said, "Breathe, Mass! Just breathe for a sec."
Massie obediently inhaled and exhaled, the purple draining from her face to turn a rosy pink. After a minute of breathing she slowly relaxed against her seat. Closing her eyes, she ran her hand through her hair, letting it then fall on her thigh along with the other.
Derrick watched her evenly. She really was a nervous wreck, he noticed. He never had that problem. As far as he could remember all he did was hop in his brother's truck and zoom along, without a care in the world. Well, except for what song was playing, of course. His sister did always like all the lame ones.
"Derrick."
"Yeah?"
"We're gonna die."
It took a minute before the blonde was able to laugh. Before, he really had felt like they might die. Between swerving back and forth in the road and almost hitting that fence, there wasn't much doubt that something was bound to happen. But not on my hands, he promised.
He chuckled heartily. "Maybe so, but if we do, you can blame it on me. You're sort of in my hands, as of the moment."
Massie thought about that. It kind of made her feel better, despite the fear that was creeping through her veins. She always felt safe with Derrick, whether it was the fact that she knew him her whole life or just that she felt like she could trust him with anything, she didn't know. Either way…
"Um," she slowly opened her right eye to look at the boy, "now what?"
"Let's go over where everything is first."
Massie nodded, sitting up.
"Blinkers? Gas pedal? Gear shift?…" Derrick went along the line as Massie carefully pointed out each thing and how to work it. After reciting everything needed to know, Derrick heaved a weary sigh. "So, I guess we should get started."
"Seriously? I'm pretty sure we must have left something out of that list. What about…"
Derrick ran a hand through his shaggy hair and turned so he was facing her better. "You'll do fine. I'm not your mom or dad. I'm not Claire or Josh or even Plovert. I won't do anything to discourage you. I promise it'll be okay."
Massie briefly closed her eyes again, gave a curt nod, and buckled in, giving a pointed look towards Derrick. "Huh? Oh, sure." he said as he, too, buckled in, ready to start.
Turning the ignition, the car started with a low rumble, and everything came to life. Instantly reaching for the air control and the radio volume, Derrick swatted her hand away. "Distractions, Mass," he said. "Until we have this down, you can't have everything going."
"Okay, mom," she mumbled, replacing her hands on the wheel. "You know I don't think we even need to be doing this," she said halfheartedly. "My birthday is still a long ways away. There's no need, really."
Derrick rolled his eyes, already getting slightly annoyed with each attempt at distractions and excuses. "Could you please shut up? Damn, Massie. I'm surprised you haven't lost your voice you've complained so much today."
"Well, did we not go over already that you didn't even have to come over, let alone try and teach me." Massie hissed. Her amber eyes flared to life once again.
"See? Just shut up! Your birthday's in two weeks. You need forty hours of driving experience. You have to fucking do this, like it or not."
Massie quieted up after that, a little taken aback by his outburst. "Jeez, okay."
The boy next to her laughed easily now, his handsome face instantly lighting up. "Well, next time I need you quiet, I know that all I have to do is throw the f-bomb out there. Easy enough." He clapped and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Now, shift the car to drive. Good, ease forward just a bit until you get nice and comfy with the breaks and all that jazz." Massie looked over at him, only to see him smiling goofily at hisself in the mirror. His eyes flitted back to her. "Eyes on the road, Miss Daisy."
"Unless your gonna drive for me you can't say that. Miss Daisy didn't have to drive herself. That's the whole point of the movie, retard." The brunette grumbled mostly to herself.
"Alright, see, there you go. You're getting it. You just had to relax." he complimented. "Now let's try turning up here." Gesturing to the cul-de-sac to the left of them. "Blinker. That turn was a little sharp but a hell of a lot better then earlier. Now when we get to the circle I want you to try backing up and out of that spot over there."
"What the hell? I can't back out!" Massie frantically slammed on the breaks midway down the road, causing Derrick and herself to jerk forward. She heard the little unf Derrick made, losing his breathe. "I can't even drive in a straight line! No. No! No."
Derrick grabbed her arms, restraining them by her sides. "Calm. Down." he said in her ear.
Massie felt a little spark at his touch. She instantly melted in his hands. "I'm sorry," she answered automatically. "Just had a little meltdown there. I'm okay."
"You sure?" He cautiously let her go. You never knew if she was going to go wild and stomp out of the car, that's just how Massie was.
"Yeah, yeah. Now let go of me." she snapped, pulling completely free from his grasp. She heaved a huge, exaggerated sigh and pressed the gas gently.
Derrick leaned back in his seat. "See, just take it slow and it'll all be good." He looked over at her slightly widened eyes as she slowly--very, very slowly--did each task.
He smiled widely. "MASSIE DO YOU REALIZE YOU'RE GONNA BE SIXTEEN?"
"Gah!" Massie jumped and slammed on the breaks again, causing another unf from the blonde boy. "You are distracting me! Don't say a word!"
Derrick rubbed where the seat belt cut into his chest and frowned. "What about if I'm correcting something?"
Massie's brow was furrowed with concentration. Derrick glanced at the speedometer. It read seven miles per hour. "No corrections. Just silence."
"I have to correct you though or this whole trip is pointless--"
"I said silence, Derrick!"
-----
"I am such an amazing teacher."
"You do realize I failed the first time, right?"
"Massie, I have no clue what you're talking about."
"The first time I tried to get my license, I failed and--"
Derrick turned to look at Massie as she drove contently down the road. "What happened to that whole silence thing?"
"You're the one talking."
"But--"
"Shush, Derrick. Distractions."