~Easier To Run~

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AN: Well here I am again. For those wondering who Teilen is, her story is up but not quite finished. If you want to read it, it's called High Voltage, at least for now anyway. It's worth it, I promise...I think. Anyway, I'll put up some info later in this story about her as well in case you don't want to bother reading more than you have to. So anyway, thanks for the reviews you guys, at least I know someone likes my stuff.

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Chapter Two: The Driver's Ed Lesson from Hell
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Mare had walked into school the second day with confidence that she could get through this. She had practiced walking on two legs all afternoon and evening the previous day, deciding that running could wait. She also had homework, although that was not a problem for her; she did it all in under a half hour.

Mare's second day of school was going quite smoothly. She'd only had one clumsy moment (falling sideways out the third period classroom door. Even she couldn't understand how it had happened) and now it was already time for sixth period class. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Mare realized that it was Driver's Ed. She had known right away that Driver's Ed was going to be a nightmare.

She took a deep breath and opened the classroom door.

"How nice of you to join us, Makino," the teacher, Mr. Broderick, looked up at her from where he was at the board writing something down. "You're five minutes late, but don't worry--I'm sure that Shuuichi doesn't mind having his driving lesson shortened." He didn't give her a chance to respond. "Well, let's go. The Driver's Ed car is in the parking lot. Bring your permits."

Mare was so thankful that she had thought to get a permit. She had never driven a car before, though, since the permit test was a multiple choice written test. She watched the teacher exit the room and waited for Kurama.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," she apologized. "I didn't realize I was late."

"That's quite alright," he answered. "To be quite honest, I'm not exactly looking forward to this lesson."

"Oh, I know. Me neither," she sighed. "Well anyhow, I certainly hope the driving goes all right. I can promise that I won't drive us off a cliff in flames, but nothing more."

Kurama smiled politely. "Shall we go?"

Mare took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm ready. I can do this," she muttered to herself. "Hopefully I'll get out of this alive..."

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"You need to go faster, Miss Makino. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour, not 5," Mr. Broderick told her.

Mare was clutching the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Her arms were stiff in front of her, and her back was pressed into the seat. It was hard enough to concentrate on the driving without all his criticism. Mare didn't know what his problem was. She was driving so slow because he kept telling her to look this way and look that way... If she went any faster, she feared she'd crash into another car while looking at the stupid pedestrian a mile away.

"Miss Makino, a little faster please?"

She turned her head to look at him. "Hey, at least I'm not hitting anything. Isn't that the point?"

"The point is to be able to keep up with the rest of the traffic," he replied. "Just look at all the cars behind you!"

Mare turned around to look out the back window. Kurama was sitting in the backseat, awaiting his turn to drive. He looked very calm--in fact, he always seemed to have a calm demeanor. There was something about him, though...something that gave Mare reason to believe he wasn't exactly human...

"Miss Makino!"

"Huh?" Mare snapped out of her thoughts and turned back around. "WHOA!" She swerved hard to the left to keep from going off the road. "OH NO!" That had been a bad idea, because now she was about to hit another car. Mare swerved to the right again and, not knowing what else to do, stomped on the gas. The car went from 5 to 75 miles per hour in about 30 seconds.

"What are you DOING?" Mr. Broderick shouted. "SLOW DOWN!"

"Okay, okay!" Mare nervously felt around for the brake pedal, but accidently pushed the gas down again. As the car continued to accelerate, Mare had to take a few hard turns to narrowly miss creaming the other cars on the road. "What do I do, what do I do?!" She shouted over the teacher's screaming. In the back seat, Kurama had pulled his seat belt as tight as it would go. He was watching the blurs of the scenery outside as they flew past it.

"THE BRAKE, MAKINO! THE BRAKE!" Mr. Broderick shrieked.

"STOP YELLING AT ME! WHERE IS THE DAMN BRAKE?!" She yelled back as they almost crashed into a telephone pole, and then another, and then another.

"OH GOD!" Mr. Broderick screamed in terror. "IT'S RIGHT BESIDE THE GAS PEDAL! YOU CAN'T MISS IT!"

Mare looked down quickly, and was able to find the pedal. She moved her foot off the gas and slammed on the brakes. The car came to a screeching halt, throwing the passengers forward, right in front of a very large building.

Mare stared directly ahead at the building they were about six inches away from and breathed deeply. "Okay. Nobody told me death had four-wheel-drive." A single second after she had said that, the airbags burst forth.

"M-miss--mmph!--Makino!" Mr. Broderick cried out as he struggled against the airbag. "You'll be getting an "F" for today!"

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Mare walked stiffly out the school doors, arms crossed loosely and looking downward, her long, thick maroon-colored hair hiding most of her face as she followed Kayko. She still wasn't feeling so great about the driving episode. Kayko had tried to cheer her up, but to no avail. Mare had declared that never again would she ever set foot in "one of those death machines," saying that it was healthier to walk anyway. Kayko had assured her that things would get better soon, but Mare was severely doubting it.

Kayko turned back and put a hand on Mare's shoulder. "Don't look so down, Mare. Everybody has a bad day."

"I know," Mare sighed. "I just feel so bad about almost killing my teacher and Kurama. I've appologized hundreds of times. I feel so awful."

Kayko, saddened by this, gave Mare a hug. "It'll get better. Trust me," she said again, letting go of her new friend.

"Thank you," Mare said, managing a small smile. "I needed that. Listen, I can't hang out today. I've got to get home and do some things."

"Alright." Kayko shrugged. "But if you want, some of us are going to get together at the park later. You can come if you aren't busy then."

"Okay, maybe I will. See ya," Mare smiled at her as they went their separate ways. Mare was heading back to the Makino's. She absolutely HAD to run. There was no getting around it. The stress was building up so fast inside her that if she didn't find a way to relieve it she felt that she would burst, and running was her stress reliever. She walked briskly down the sidewalk, not making eye contact with anybody; not wanting anyone to get in the way of her plans for that afternoon. Mare's thoughts went back to the driving lesson, and how she had nearly got everyone killed. She couldn't stop thinking about that. She felt absolutely terrible. Kayko had been shocked when she first heard about the incident, but had told Mare that it could happen to anyone. Still, it didn't make things any better.

The fact of the matter was, Mare had almost killed...again.

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AN: okay, that was the second chapter. See, it wasn't as long that time. Anyway, be sure to tell me what you think of my story so far. Does it suck, or is it good?]