3 Years

99 - Two Ton Death Trap

"It's fine," Ricky said. "You'll learn soon how to judge distances better.

"You're much more relaxed than Mom was the first time."

"You can't blame me at all," Nini defended.

Ricky just shrugged. "I don't really have that much to be afraid of."

Their new route was going around East High and through the neighborhood roads. Lauren gradually started doing much better with her braking timing and her turns became smoother (the left still needed some work).

After they had finished that, she went back into the parking lot, and Ricky instructed her to aim for the parking spot near the front directly next to the accessibility one to give her an easy reference point. She didn't have a wide enough angle, but Ricky still told her to step out of the car to see what it looked like.

When they did, Lauren could already tell that she was way off. "Well, there is good news," Ricky began. "The car is in the spot. Now, if this was any other place, you may not be so lucky. Just be thankful that school spots are oddly wider than most. You just need a wider angle next time and for all future occasions. If there is no one coming, go ahead and get onto the left side of the road; that way you'll have the perfect angle. The whole angle thing is what makes parking on the left easier."

She nodded and got back in the car. Ricky directed her on how to fix the car, and after five attempts, it was a success. They tried parking a few more times from different sides, each one having a similar problem and making Ricky realize a small pattern.

Once she was done, Ricky turned around and asked, "You guys ok back there?"

"Yup," Nini answered, still holding onto the door and passenger seat.

Now... it was Jayden's turn.

He was much more ambitious and possibly overestimated his abilities and knowledge already. He put far too much pressure on the gas from the start, causing the car to jump.

After going around the parking lot in circles just as Lauren had, Ricky decided to put Jayden on the road. Nini was much more petrified this time because she could easily tell that his turns were too fast. (It didn't even feel like he was using the brake.)

When he made the turn out of the parking lot, he took off way too fast. He wasn't exactly speeding, but Ricky still chose to warn him. "Careful, it's still a school zone. Those tickets are much harsher compared to regular speeding," he advised.

Jayden eased his foot off the gas and let the car go on its own. The same stop sign as before was approaching, and he began to press gently on the brake. They slowed down in time, but the car still jumped because he didn't gradually release the brake. "Sorry," he said, just as his sister had.

"Don't worry about it," Ricky reassured. "If you'll start letting off of it in the last few seconds before the car has finally stopped, then it'll turn out much smoother."

After they did that loop a few more times, it was the dreaded parking practice. Ricky told Jayden to first aim for the same spot Laurean had; once he was parked, they went to assess the result, which was a little more horizontal than Lauren's had turned out to be.

Ricky gave Jayden the same spiel about angles, and then they got back into the car to fix it. It took him a similar number of tries to fix the first mistake before they began to park in different areas.

Once he was done, Ricky turned and said, "You both did very well. Some areas need to be worked on, but that's expected with your first time. You just need to practice as often as you can, so you don't forget what you've learned."

Jayden and Nini switched places, and they went back home. Once they pulled into the driveway, the twins decided to eat ice cream and bolted to the kitchen.

Nini went around the car to Ricky and asked, "Ok, be honest with me. How do you think they did?"

"Honestly, I think they did very well. Sure, there are obvious areas of improvement, but I'm not going to call them terrible drivers just yet."

"I don't think they're going to be getting licenses anytime soon though," she answered honestly. "I just don't think they're ready."

"They're not ready, or you're not ready?"

"Yes."

Ricky just chuckled and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. Nini leaned her forehead against his chest, squeezing him tightly. "They're gonna be fine on the road. You raised them with enough sense."

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Very little time or motivation when it came to writing this.

This was such a filler, but I didn't have anything else for today (or yesterday). I wanted to have something different for today that would have fit the flow of the story a little better, but it wasn't done and was far too short, so I had to put this here. (This story is already all over the place. Anyone who reads my stuff should be used to it by now.)