Newsies Forever

The Wheel

Ben POV:

"HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA DIE!" I screamed.

"TELL MY MOTHER I LOVE HER." Josh screamed.

"I haven't even started the car yet." Melina said.

"We're just planning ahead for what's going to happen." I said.

"Are they always this over dramatic?" Carmen asked.

"Sadly yes." Melina said. It was Melina's first driving lesson, her and Carmen both got their permits yesterday. And I'm terrified. And now I'm teaching not one but two girls to drive.

"Ok, put your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel." I said.

"Ben I know! We've been sitting in the parking lot for 30 minutes now going over the basics! Trust me." Melina said.

"Ok, start the car." I said taking a deep breath and tightening my seat belt.  She started the car and started to move foreword in the empty parking lot. "TOO FAST TOO FAST!" I screamed.

"Ben I'm going 15 miles per hour!" Melina said.

"THATS 15 MILES TOO FAST!" Josh screamed.

"You both need to chill." Carmen laughed.

"SHES GOING TO KILL US!" Josh said.

"I JUST SAW A PACK OF TURTLES PASS US! SHES BARELY MOVING!" Carmen said.

"THIS CHILD CRASHED A GOLF CART LAST SUMMER!"  I said.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FOCUS WHEN YOU ALL ARE SCREAMING!" Melina said.

"Maybe we should just switch to Carmen driving now." I said.

"Hell no! I'm ready to hit the road!" Melina said.

"BUT I'M NOT." I said.

"Ok we all just need to take a breath and relax for a minute." Carmen said. "Everybody close your eyes. Except for you Melina."

"I AM NOT CLOSING MY EYES." I said.

"Oh my gosh, why can't Jordyn teach us to drive?" Melina asked.

"Because she doesn't need this stress." I said. "Ok, do a right turn." She started to turn the wheel to left. "YOU'RE OTHER RIGHT MELINA."

"Sorry!" She said as she started to turn the wheel to the right.

"TURN SIGNAL!" I screamed.

"STOP YELLING AT ME!" Melina screamed.

"IF WE WERE ON THE REAL ROAD YOU WOULD BE DEAD." I screamed.

"BUT IM JUST IN A PARKING LOT!" Melina screamed.

"BUT THATS NOT THE POINT MELINA!" I screamed.

"THATS IT I'M DONE!" Melina screamed and stopped the car.

"Melina-" Josh started.

"NO STOP YOU JUST ALWAYS TAKE HIS SIDE!" Melina screamed. "I QUIT!" She said and unbuckled her seat belt. She pushed the door open and jumped out.

"Melina!" I said.

"Well, this has been fun. I'll skip my turn and take a rain check." Carmen said, unbuckling her seatbelt and following after Melina.

"Great driving lesson." Josh said.

"You have to agree with me, if she had been on the real road she would've hit another car and killed us!" I said.

"But it was her first lesson. Nobody is perfect their first lesson. She's still learning which is why we are in an empty parking lot." Josh said.

"I just....ugh she's growing up too fast. What happened to the big eyed little girl who was skipping down the line at the stagedoor, smiling from ear to ear. Now she's with boys, learning to drive and...I just....it's too much." I said.

"She's a young woman now. And there's two of her now." Josh said.

"I wish I had known her earlier, I missed out on 10 years of her life. 10, precious years. And 15 years of Carmens life." I said.

"Should we wait here for them?" Josh asked.

"I don't know. I don't know how to handle teen girl emotions." I said leaning back in the sear and putting my face in my hands.

Melina POV:

"Why do we even need to learn to drive? We can take the subway everywhere." I protested as me and Carmen sat on the curb.

"Because driving is a right of passage." Carmen said.

"Isn't it nice to have no paparazzi right now? Nobody shoving a camera in my face. It's great." I smiled.

"You know we have to get back in that car to go home right?" Carmen laughed.

"He doesn't trust me to drive. He was freaking out over nothing." I said.

"I will agree that he freaked out over nothing. But I think the root of the problem is him not wanting you to grow up. Driving is a huge thing with parents." Carmen said.

"He hasn't even known me my whole life." I said.

"He's only known me like 3 months and he didn't even want me to drive." Carmen said.

"What, did you get all the smart genes?" I laughed.

"No, but while you were focused on the road, I was able to focus on his eyes. He doesn't want you to grow up." Carmen said.

"Have you ever thought about our gift...how we can read people's eyes?" I said.

"Yeah, it's pretty weird." Carmen said.

"I think it's cool. If it weren't for our gift, who knows if Ben and Jordyn would be together today." I laughed.

"The only mystery I've ever had in my life was my parents." She said.

"Well moms a liar and in jail and dads dead." I said.

"Our dad isn't dead." Carmen said.

"Yes he is, mom told me when I was younger." I said.

"No. When I found out about you I asked to see my file. Our dad is alive and lives here in NYC." Carmen said.

"Get back in the car you two, we are finishing this driving lesson." Ben said pulling up in the car.

"Ben, is my father alive?" I asked standing up.

"Oh shit." Ben said.

"This just got real interesting." Josh said.

"Why don't you get in the car and we can talk about this when we get home." Ben said.

"No, I want answers now. Did you know?" I asked.

"Yes, your mom told me the truth about your father when we became your legal guardians." Ben said.

"So you just kept letting me believe this lie?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I thought she knew." Carmen said standing up.

"What else about my life is a lie? What other secrets are you hiding from me?" I asked. "Am I a triplet?

"Lord I hope not." Ben said. "Melina, we didn't know how to tell you. Your mom made up this whole lie and then put it on us to continue it. We just didn't know how to tell you."

"Um Ben...you might wanna read this." Josh said handing Ben his phone.

"What is it? No more secrets! Please Ben!" I said. He handed me the phone and me and Carmen both leaned over the phone to read it.

"Why can't the media stay out of our lives." Ben said.

"Well this day just gets better and better." I said reading the article.