I feel his chuckle in his chest, slightly shaking me. He sets me down in the driver’s seat. Buckles me in and presses a button on theside, and the seat slowly moves up till my foot rests against the gas pedal.
He goes around, hopping into the passenger seat.
I look at him now. My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty against the leather steering wheel. “I can’t do this.”
“How are you going to escape this town and spread your pretty wings if you can't even drive a car?”
“The bus.”
He shakes his head. "And what about when you're far away from here, living your life. How did you plan on getting around?"
"Uh… Walk?"
Rolling his eyes, he immediately disregards my absurd solution. Then dives into professor Everett mode. “Okay, so that one is the gas. The one to the left is the brake. Check your mirrors so you can see behind you and then each side of the car and some of the road.” He points to all the mirrors, and I adjust them as instructed.
“Then when you’re ready, press on the brake and put the car in Drive, here.” He points to the gear shift and tells me what each letter means.
“Once in Drive, take your foot off the brake and gently press on the gas till we start to go forward. The more you press, the faster we will go. If you want to slow down or stop, take your foot off the gas and press on the brake. Only ever use your right foot. Don’t use your left.”
I sit there nodding, processing all he just said. “Okay.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay.”
Two minutes pass.
“Leo. You’ve got this. I’m right here.”
“Yeah. I've got this. Hey, you have health insurance right?” I pull my foot off the brake and press it to the gas as he chuckles at my question. "You think I'm kidding? I'm serious." I continue to slowly press. And press. And press. And press. We barely move.
“Yes, I have health insurance but we are fine. A little harder now.”
We jolt forward, and I yelp and let go of the wheel to cover my face. He laughs and catches the wheel. “I forgot to mention, don’t let go of the wheel, you goof!”
"Right. How much do you think an ER bill cost?" I peer through my fingers, and he has a big grin on his face.
“Stop. We will not need to go to the ER. Try again.”
I do, and I successfully get us going. He was right. I don’t have to do any turns. On the long straight road, he has me practice doing the gas and the brake. The first time I try the brake, the car jolts to a stop and Ev has to brace his hand on the dash to keep from slamming into it.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“It’s okay. I love getting tossed around. Really, I’m not car sick at all.”
I smack him in the chest, and he gives me that beautiful laugh again.
“I hate you.”
“No, you really like me.” He winks, and those stupid dimples make me smile. He will never let me live that down.
Finally, Ev asks me to pull over to the side of the road. He grabs a blanket from the back seat, and we walk the rest of the way. After ashort hike through the tall, deep-green trees, with him leading and holding my hand the whole way, we come to an opening on a ridge. The small dirt area, covered in leaves and small branches, overlooks our small town. The lights are just coming on as the sun begins to set. For such a small town, it looks so big from up here. It makes me feel like as rough as my life is right now, one day all these lights will be a memory. Nothing more.
“What is this place?”
“I found it a few years ago while hiking. I was upset and needed to escape. I pulled over and just started walking. I ended up here. I come here anytime I need to escape. I thought maybe, since you can’t escape this town yet, you could at least come here. I was going to take you here tomorrow, for our homecoming, but I felt like you—we—needed it tonight.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.” I wrap my arms around him and he tucks me into his warm jacket. Closing my eyes, I breathe in deep, inhaling his leather and cinnamon scent. Combined with the trees and wet ground, my body feels alive and free up here. Like nothing or no one could ever hurt me.
“You’re welcome.” He lays out the blanket, and we both sit with me between his strong legs, leaning back into him. His warm arms surround me, protecting me.
