drive // luke hemmings

driving a car: luke.

"Luke, you have too many hours of driving left, and your test is in a month." Liz yelled from the kitchen toward Luke, whose eyes were glued to the TV. 

"Yeah, yeah. We can drive soon." He spoke halfheartedly. 

Liz walked into the living room, grabbed the remote, turned the TV off and stared at Luke. 

"Now." She walked toward the front door, and left it open behind her as she walked toward the car parked in the driveway. 

Luke groaned as he stood up, and headed to the door. 

--

"Take a breath, you can do it." Liz assured as Luke attempted his fifth parallel park of the day in the Target parking lot. "How can we make this a better situation for you? I know you're nervous." 

"I just want to be calm. I want to not feel like I'm going to kill us at any moment." 

"I mean with the way you whipped that turn earlier-" 

"Mom, stop. I'm so scared. I really don't like this." 

Liz rested her hand on his shoulder, as he looked down at his lap with his lip in between his teeth. The familiar iron taste of knowing that he has bit too hard filled his mouth slowly. Liz pulled her phone up to her ear. 

"Who are you calling?" Liz stays silent. "Mom?" 

"Hey, Kasey." 

Luke's eyes widened. He quickly mouthed the word no, over and over again. Liz ignored him as she asked Kasey if they could come pick her up. As Liz said goodbye, it was apparent that Kasey's house would be the next stop. 

"You know how to get there. I'll take you guys for ice cream if you make it there without killing us." 

Luke's entire body went cold. His sweaty hands gripped the steering wheel. 

Kasey's house was only about a 10 minute drive. And he got ice cream after. 

But more importantly, he got to have his best friend by his side. 

--

Kasey sat beside Luke in the passenger seat. She saw his pale hands and knew he was anxious. He'd confessed his anxieties about driving to her, and she knew that being forced made it even worse. She connected her phone to the bluetooth. 

"Alright Luke, you know how to get to Dairy Queen from here, right?" 

He nodded his head, focusing on everything he'd learned in driver's ed. Was he supposed to yield on French Avenue? Or was it a stop sign? Did Kasey know that he was worried about killing her? Was Kasey worried he would kill her? 

"Breathe Luke, it's pretty much a straight shot." She rubbed his back softly, and suddenly the sweat glands in his hands decided to knock it off, just in time for him to pull out of the driveway. 

Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas began echoing through the speakers, and the sound of Kasey and his mom's voice singing the intro filled the car. Luke's head started bopping, and the nerves slowly left his body. 

So as the car filled with singing, Luke's driving improved significantly. He only nearly ran one red light, and Kasey would probably have done the same thing. As they pulled up to the Dairy Queen, Luke's worst fear appeared. 

"There's only parallel parking?" Why hadn't he remembered that? How had his mom roped him into this? 

"Oh, I didn't remember that!" Liz was lying. Sneaky sneaky lady she was. He made a mental note to go super hard on April Fools day next year: the only day his mom would allow pranks. 

"Luke, you can parallel park, can't you?" Kasey asked. 

No, Luke could not. He failed five times in the parking lot. But was he going to tell Kasey that he was a failure? 

"Of course I can." He smiled nervously. Liz gripped onto her seat subtly. 

He maneuvered the car into the space that was the best option, and he smiled as he finally put the car into park. 

"Wow! You're even better than me! You must be practicing a lot more than I am." Kasey laughed, opening the door, ready for ice cream. As she shut her door, Luke made eye contact with his mom in the backseat. 

"She's good for ya, Lukey." 

Luke rolled his eyes, and hopped out of the car. 

Luke knew his mom was 100% right.