Caroline & Michael & Scott

Chapter 3

It was mid-February, a few days before Caroline's sixteenth birthday. Fred, Caroline's dad, had taken her to the parking lot by the park. He nervously handed Caroline the keys, then got out from the driver's seat to walk over to the passenger side, while Caroline slid over.

"Now Puddin', I know you're anxious to go to the DMV on your birthday to get your probationary license, but we gotta practice some more to make sure you're ready."

Fortunately, the weather had been clear for several days, there was no snow on the ground. The family car, a Buick, had an automatic transmission, making it easier for Caroline to learn and pass the test. After passing a written test, Caroline had gotten her temporary instruction permit several months back. Whenever she could, she had gotten her dad to take her out to practice actual driving. Caroline had gotten to the point where she could drive passably well, albeit slowly, around town. She still had trouble parallel parking and merging onto a busy freeway. Caroline would have to master both if she wanted the freedom to drive without an adult watching over her.

"Okay Puddin'. Why don't you pull out of the lot and onto the street…? Good, you're getting a lot smoother… Why don't we just drive around town a little first…? Take a right here… Take a left… Good, good. Hmm… Puddin', instead of me just telling you to turn right or left, why don't I tell a place to go to, then you figure out the route. That's what you'll be doing when you're really driving. Okay, let's head to the school."

"This is going well" Caroline thought.

" Okay Puddin', pull into the lot… Okay, turn off the ignition for a second and give me the keys. I want to get something out of the trunk."

Puzzled but obedient, Caroline did as she was told. Fred popped open the trunk and got out two large plastic garbage containers that he had secretly placed there previously. He then walked forward about 50 feet, then placed them both about a car width from the curb and two car lengths from each other. He got back into the car and handed Caroline the keys.

"Okay, Puddin', you're gonna practice parallel parking. We won't do it with real cars because… well, because it might get expensive" he chuckled. "Pull up beside those two containers and try to park between them."

As she pulled up ahead of the front container, Fred advised "Now remember Puddin' – put it in reverse, turn it hard right, back up slowly until the car is at about 45 degrees from the curb, then turn it hard left. You just have to sorta watch to see if you're cutting it too close to the front car, or into the curb, or too far from the curb."

The first time, Caroline turned back left too soon and hit the front container. After Fred put it back, she tried again. This time, she turned back too late and hit the curb before she finished parking. Caroline tried again, this time starting four feet further from the curb than the container. She didn't hit the container or the curb – but ended up three feet from the curb. She tried again and this time, got it right. She tried again and made it a second straight time.

"Very good, Puddin'. Okay, let's head to the 41 on ramp."

"The freeway…?" Caroline nervously asked.

"Yep. You're gonna have to learn sometime."

When they reached the last stop light before the on ramp, Fred said "Now Puddin', you gotta go against your instincts when you merge onto the freeway. Since you don't have experience yet, it's hard for you to judge where you'll be in relation to the speeding cars behind you headed in your direction. You tend to slow down when you're unsure of yourself. That's the worst thing you can do. The more you slow down, the bigger the speed difference between you and traffic, and you'll never get in. You need to speed up to match traffic before you merge. Just trust that there'll be an opening or that someone will let you in when the ramp meets the freeway. Most people are courteous, they'll slow down to let you in – if you're not going too slow."

"Okay, Dad."

They reached the start of the on ramp. Caroline took a deep breath and floored the accelerator. "So many cars… How will I ever get in?" As she neared the end of the ramp, the Buick reached almost freeway speed.

"Turn signal, Puddin'" reminded Fred.

"Right." Caroline pushed down the turn indicator.

"Not much space…" Caroline worried. Then the car behind her slowed a little and Caroline merged into the larger opening. She flashed a glowing smile at her dad.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it Puddin'?"

"Piece of cake."

******

That night, while studying in her room, the phone rang. "I'll get it!" Caroline shouted out her door, then picked up her extension.

"Hello?"

"Caroline… it's me."

"Hey Sally. What's up?"

"Uh… I don't know exactly how to say this…"

"Since when have you been shy? C'mon, spill."

"Well…"

"Sally…! I'm starting to get worried. Out with it!"

"It's about Michael."

"Oh my god! Is he hurt? Is he okay?" a panicky Caroline asked.

"Relax, relax. He's fine. Physically, I mean… As for Michael, the man…"

"Yeah…?"

"He's a pig!"

"Sally…! What do you mean…? Don't tell me… He went out with Mary Beth, didn't he?"

"No, no… that's not it. It's not another girl."

"What are you talkin' about then?"

"Remember back in November… You were so disappointed about missing the Macy's parade…? And you said, at least you and Michael had each other, for consolation?"

"Yeah…?

"Well, he knew he was sick."

"What??!!"

"Yep. Knew he was sick, didn't want to be alone missing all the fun, kissed you anyway, hoping you'd get sick too."

"Sally…! Are you sure?"

"I heard it from Doreen. She's Bobby's girl. Bobby's Michael's best friend. Doreen said that Michael bragged about it to Bobby."

There was a long spell of silence.

"Caroline…? Whatcha gonna do? You gonna break up with Michael?"

"Yeah…! No…! Yeah… Oh Sally, I don't know."

"Caroline…! You gotta break up! Not only that, you gotta get even! Let him know Caroline Duffy is not to be messed with!"

"Oh… I don't know…"

"Caroline…! Why would you want to stay with him? After what he did to you…? I know, I know, you're always depressed after a breakup… But let me ask you something, Caroline."

"Yeah?"

"One week after you find a new boyfriend, which you always do, are you sad that you broke up with the last one?"

"Well… no…"

"So, it's not the end of the world, right?"

"Well… I guess not…"

"Do you really wanna still be Michael's girl?"

"No… not really…"

"Then you're gonna break up, right?"

"I… I – I guess so… But it's easier to say than to do, Sally."

"Why…? 'Cause this time you're doing the breaking up, not the boy? Oh Caroline, you're just too nice… But you know what, knowing you, even if you wanted to, you won't be able to just walk up to Michael and break up, you'll chicken out for sure. You gotta plan what you're gonna do and rehearse it in your head, over and over, then stick to it. Otherwise, you'll never break up…"

"You're probably right."

"You know I am. So, whatcha gonna do?"

"I'll think of something."