Clueless Kai

Driving Lessons

"Jonathan! I have to talk to you." Cher exclaimed, approaching the blond boy in the hallway. He had been putting away his textbooks in his locker when she approached. He shut the locker door, leaning against it.

"It's just Johnny. What's up, dollface?" 
"I need you to teach me how to drive. Preferably sometime soon."
"Oh, yeah? How come?"
"Daddy grounded me from the jeep until I get my license, and I can't drive around without a licensed driver. Josh is going to be a total bonehead about it if I ask him, I just know it."
"So why don't you ask Dionne to help you out? Don't get me wrong, I like you a lot, but Dionne doesn't want you hanging around me and the guys." Johnny said, beginning to walk out of the school. Cher followed behind him. Her heels clicked against the tiled floor as she struggled to keep up with his quick pace.
"She can't drive either! Besides, I like you too. She doesn't have to find out about you and me hanging out, and isn't this a good way for us to get to know each other better privately?" She took to holding onto his arm as they walked, which Johnny didn't mind.

"You got a point there, but.." He went silent once he looked over at the blonde girl. She was pouting a little as she gave him puppy eyes. Curse her being so cute, "You're gonna keep bothering me until I say yes, aren't you?"
"Hmm.. yep. I could also bother Danny about it, but something tells me he can't drive either."
"Danny?" Johnny snorted, starting to frown at the mention of the kid's name. There was no way in hell he was going to let him turn Cher against him now that they've got this thing going on between them. "Alright, fine. I'll teach you how to drive, but I want fifty dollars for the lessons."
"Works for me. Can I give it to you later though? I don't carry around cash with me, and I just have my cards."
"Yeah, sure. When did you want to learn anyway?"
"How does this weekend sound? I'll tell Dee that I'm hanging with my dad."
"Works for me. Should I pick you up from your house or…?"

She nodded, taking out her fluffy pink pen and a piece of paper. She neatly wrote down her address and handed it to the boy with a smile. She hesitated for a moment before hugging him. Johnny tensed up for a moment before relaxing and patting her on the back.
"You're the best, Johnny. I mean it."
"I know, don't mention it."
"You're not very humble, are you?" Cher rolled her eyes playfully once she pulled away from the hug, "It suits you though."
"What's that supposed to mean, huh?"
She shrugged as she made her way out of the school. Johnny followed behind her, trying to get her to answer him, "Talk to me, dollface. What did you mean by that?"

Of course, Cher didn't tell him a thing.

Johnny drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for Cher to come out of the large mansion. It was way bigger than Sid's house, that was for sure, and he was even more surprised when his stepfather mentioned knowing Mel Horowitz off-handedly. That somewhat made him nervous since he knew what Sid was like in the past. Still… Cher was a sweet girl. Maybe Mel was alright.

He had honestly been surprised when Cher approached him first the day after they officially met. He was expecting her to avoid him like Dionne and Daniel had warned her to do, and he was expecting to have to be the one to try and talk to her. She spoke to him like they were old friends, and like Dionne and Daniel hadn't said anything about him. At lunch that day, she had even looked like she wanted to eat with him and his friends instead. Yeah, that didn't help ease his growing affection for the girl at all.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the car door. He looked over at the passenger door to see Cher's grinning face. He smiled a little, stepping out of the car.
"Hey." He said, nodding at her.
"Hey yourself. We should probably get going before Daddy finds his .45 or his baseball bat." Cher casually said, walking over to the driver's side. The smile fell off of Johnny's face as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car. 
"You don't really mean that, do you? He's not really looking for that stuff, right?" He was genuinely nervous, and Cher's smile wasn't helping either.
"I mean, he said he would.. but I don't think he's actually used them on someone before. Don't be afraid of him though!"
"I don't know how you expect me to be calm when your dad's so protective. Should I even be hanging around his princess?" He shook his head, "Anyway… why don't you show me how you already drive and we can work with that?"
"I know Daddy would really like you though. I've known him my entire life after all." With that said, the two teens clicked in their seatbelts and Cher peeled out of the driveway.

Johnny immediately regretted agreeing to teach her how to drive. He gripped onto the car door as they nearly hit someone's car.
"That was a stop sign."
"I totally paused!"
"No, you didn't! Now keep your eyes on the road."
A few minutes later, Johnny asked her to stop in a nearby parking lot. There was no way in hell he'd be driving with her again.
"So, how'd I do?" She asked. Ugh. He'd feel bad telling her that her driving sucked and she'd probably tell her dad about the whole thing, which would probably lead to Mel killing him. It'd get him away from Sid, at least…
"You did… great." Johnny lied. Based on the look on Cher's face, that wasn't the right answer.
"You hesitated."
"No, I didn't."
"Come on, you paused. I'm not dumb, Johnny."

That was debatable to some people.

"Alright, fine, you did pretty badly." She looked dejected. "With enough practice, I know you'll do better though." He quickly added.
"Are you going to be my teacher again?"
Shit. Well, she was giving him $50 out of her own pocket for this. It was the least he could do.. they wouldn't be using his car again though. He loved it way too much to let Cher wreck it regardless of if he liked her or not.
"You know what? Sure. You wanna meet up tomorrow to do it or something?"
"Actually, I wanna go out with you tomorrow night." Wait, wait, wait, what? "Take me somewhere fun."
"Like.. a date?" He was kinda hoping that she said yes.
"If you want to call it that, then sure. I really want to go to the mall."
"You go there everyday though."
"So? It's fun."
"Yeah, but don't you want to try something new for once?"
"Like what?"
"There's this place me and the guys go sometimes. It's called Golf 'N Stuff."
"I never really pegged you as a minigolf kind of guy, honestly."
"It's not just golf. There's a waterslide, and an arcade too."

Cher went silent, thinking it over for a moment. Finally, she looked over at him, "When did you say you were picking me up?"
"How does five sound?" He asked, grinning.
"I say.. it's a date."