Chapter 3: Holly's very first drive
After Holly took her written driving test, she arrived at the driving school at 9:30 to take her road test. She waited in the office for a few minutes, and then a tall, slender young man with a huge afro walked into the office. He was wearing a long-sleeved dress shirt, a pair of bell-bottom pants, white platform shoes, and a large gold medallion on a gold chain. He said to Holly, "Hi. How you doin'?" Holly said, "I'm fine, but I'm a little nervous about the road test. I've never driven a car before." The man told her, "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine." He looked through his notepad, then he said, "You're Holly, right?" Holly stood up and said, "Yes, I am." The man said to her, "All right. I'm going to be your instructor for your driving test, so let's go ahead and get in the car." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the car keys, then gave the keys to Holly. They walked out to the front parking lot, and the driving instructor walked up to a silver and green 1993 Volvo station wagon with a luggage rack. He said to Holly, "This is the car we're going to use." "Okay," said Holly. She unlocked the car doors and they both got in. Holly put on her seat belt and adjusted the rearview mirrors while the instructor was adjusting his seat. Then she started up the car, put it in Reverse, and released the parking brake. Holly turned around to see out of the back window, and slowly backed the car out of the parking space. Then she put the car in Drive and slowly drove around the building to the back parking lot.
Holly stopped the car when they reached the back parking lot, which had orange cones arranged in various patterns. The driving instructor pointed to one set of cones and said, "You see those cones right there?" Holly said, "Yeah." The instructor said, "Okay, I want you to weave in and out of those cones, then turn around and do it again in the other direction." Holly took her foot off the brake pedal and the car crept forward closer to the first cone. She then turned the steering wheel to the left and gently tapped the accelerator. After she drove the car between the first two cones, she turned the steering wheel to the right and lightly pressed down the brake pedal. The car slowed down a little, but didn't stop completely. Holly managed to get the car between the next two cones without knocking them down. When she drove through the last of the cones, Holly turned the station wagon around and drove in between the cones again, and she made it through perfectly. The driving teacher pointed to a set of cones arranged in a rectangle on the other side of the lot and told Holly, "Okay, now I want you to back the car up and park it between those cones without hitting them." Holly drove towards the edge of the pavement and stopped just past the four cones. She put the car in Reverse and took her foot off the brake. She turned the steering wheel to the right and, while looking out the back window, she lightly tapped the accelerator. Holly got the car between the cones without hitting them, then she put the car in Drive and straightened out the car in the parking space. Holly stopped the car and set the parking brake, and the instructor said to her, "All right. Now I want you to drive to those cones at the other end of the lot, and parallel park in those cones. Holly drove the car to the other end of the lot where four other cones were arranged in a rectangle. She stopped the car when the middle of the car was next to the last pair of cones, turned the front wheels to the left, and slowly backed up towards the other pair of cones. When the front left wheel passed the cone next to the car, Holly turned the steering wheel to the right and gently pressed the brake pedal, and the car stopped with a few inches of space between the back bumper and the cones behind the car. Holly put the car in Drive and turned the steering wheel a little to the left. The car inched forward a little, and then Holly stopped the car and set the parking brake. The station wagon was parked evenly within the cones. The driving instructor scribbled a little in his notepad, then said, "All right. You did really good. Now I think you're ready to drive on the road, so let's go ahead and do it." Holly drove back around to the front parking lot and stopped at the entrance to the street.
While Holly was waiting for the traffic to clear so she could turn right onto Toshiba Boulevard, the instructor told her, "When you get onto the street, I want you to stay in the right lane." Holly noticed an empty space in the traffic, so she turned on the right turn signal and turned right, and the car sped up to 55 MPH. A couple of minutes later, Holly said, "I have to go to the bathroom." The driving teacher replied, "Okay, just turn into that gas station up ahead." Holly turned on the right turn signal, slowed the car down a little, and turned right into a Phoenix Gas service station. Then she parked the car in front of the convenience store. Both Holly and the driving instructor got out of the car and walked in the store. Holly walked up to Gali, who was working the cash register at the front counter, and said, "Can I have a key to the restroom?" Gali dropped the keys on the counter and said impatiently, "Here, take it!" Holly grabbed the keys and ran to the restroom at the back of the store. While Holly was in the restroom, the driving instructor was at the front counter paying for a large Slurpee and a candy bar. Holly walked up and put the restroom keys on the counter. As they were leaving the convenience store, Holly said to Gali, "See you later, Sunshine Head!" Gali yelled, "No one calls me Sunshine Head and gets away with it!" Then the driving teacher said to him, "Okay then…See you later, Brake Rotor Head!" Holly burst out laughing as they were leaving the convenience store and getting into the car.
After they got in the car, Holly turned right on Toshiba Boulevard and stopped at the Sanyo Road intersection when the traffic light turned red. Holly asked the instructor, "Should I turn or go straight?" The instructor replied, "Just keep going straight until we get to the next intersection, but get into the left lane before then." The traffic light turned green, and Holly stayed in the right lane for a few seconds, then turned on the left turn signals. She looked in her rearview mirror and glanced over her left shoulder every few seconds. She finally saw a clear space in the left lane traffic, and she carefully changed lanes. When she got to the next intersection, Holly turned on the left turn signal and gently pressed the brake pedal and the car came to a stop behind a blue Daihatsu minivan that was also stopped at the red light. After a couple of minutes, the left turn traffic light turned green, and the van drove ahead and turned left onto Panasonic Drive. Holly drove through the intersection and turned left, staying about ten feet behind the van. Although the speed limit was 45 MPH, the van was traveling at about 30 MPH. Nevertheless, Holly stayed several feet behind the van, and a white Dodge Colt was tailgating Holly's car and constantly honking its horn and flashing its headlights. The blue van stopped at a stop sign up ahead for several seconds, then continued straight through the intersection doing 30 MPH. By the time Holly approached the intersection, it had begun to rain, so she turned on the windshield wipers and headlights. The driving teacher told Holly, "Now I want you to turn right at this street." The fourteen-year-old girl turned on the right turn signal and gradually applied the brakes, and she waited several seconds at the stop sign before turning. After Holly turned onto Onkyo Street, she accelerated to 40 MPH, and it began to rain even harder, so Holly took her foot off the accelerator until the car slowed to 35 MPH. The car behind Holly continued to honk its horn impatiently and flash its lights, so Holly accelerated to 40 MPH. After a couple of minutes, the cars passed a sign that said, "Sony Expressway: 1 ½ Miles." Holly turned right onto the expressway on-ramp, and the rain eased up a little. She maintained a steady speed of 65 MPH, while the white Colt hatchback was still on her bumper. Finally, the hatchback passed the station wagon and sped away at 88 MPH. As Holly was approaching the Toshiba Boulevard exit ramp, she asked the instructor, "Do you want me to get off the expressway here?" The teacher said, "No, just keep going, and get off at the Samsung Avenue exit." A few minutes later, Holly turned right on the exit ramp leading to Samsung Avenue and stopped at the yield sign. She turned on the right turn blinker and waited for three more cars to pass, and then the teenage girl pulled out into traffic.
After Holly had been driving down Samsung Avenue for three minutes, the driving instructor asked her, "Are you all right? You want to stop and get something to eat or anything?" "No thanks," Holly answered. "I'm fine." Then the driving instructor said, "Holly, you're a really good driver." "Thanks," Holly replied. "This is the first time I've ever driven a car. I thought I would drive much worse than this." Holly saw that the traffic light up the street had turned from green to yellow, so she took her foot off the gas. As the car came closer to the intersection, Holly gently applied the brakes and the car came to a stop a few feet behind a brown Honda Civic taxicab. The traffic lights turned green a few minutes later, and the brown taxicab turned right. Holly drove straight through the intersection, and the instructor said, "I want you to turn right on the next street." Holly turned on the right turn blinkers and slowed the car down. She made the turn onto Sanyo Road, and the car headed through the neighborhood. Suddenly, a boy on a bicycle rode down his driveway and into the street, into the path of Holly's car. Holly screamed as she slammed on the brakes and honked the horn. Fortunately, the boy was on the other side of the street by the time the car stopped. Holly was shaking nervously and tears were rolling down her face. "It's okay!" the driving teacher said to her. "You didn't hit that kid. It's not your fault that he rode out in front of the car. Just relax and calm down." Holly finally calmed down, and she continued driving slowly through the neighborhood. She stopped at the traffic lights at the Toshiba Boulevard intersection. The driving teacher told her to turn left onto Toshiba Boulevard; when the left turn traffic light turned green, Holly drove slowly into the junction and turned left. After about five minutes, Holly slowed the car down and stopped in the left turn lane and turned on the left turn signals. When she saw a clear space in the traffic, the teenage girl turned left towards the driving school and parked the station wagon in the front parking lot.
After Holly's driving instructor finished jotting down some more notes, he tore the sheet of paper out of his notepad and gave it to Holly. The teacher said to her, "You were one of my best students, and you have excellent driving skills. I was just a bit concerned when you panicked earlier in that residential area and slammed on the brakes when that kid rode out in front of the car. So I gave you a 95 on your driving test. Keep up the good work and try not to panic so much." Holly replied, "Okay. Thank you very much." They both walked into the office and the instructor handed Holly some forms to fill out. Holly finished the paperwork and she went with her teacher into another room with several machines in it. The fourteen-year-old girl stood in front of a machine which took her picture, then another machine printed out her driver's license.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I may need some ideas for my next chapters.