Ugly : clifford a.u

Spencer

Sitting in the trunk of Luke’s car next to Michael, I looked down at the mustard, ketchup and relish filled bun in his hands.

“Is that good?” I questioned.

“What?” he asked turning to look at me, a smear of ketchup staining the corner of his mouth.

“You have ketchup on your face.” I informed him.

“Oh sorry.” He mumbled blushing and fumbling around for a napkin.

Smiling, I leaned over and using my own napkin lightly wiped his mouth.

“Thank you.” He mumbled sheepishly.

“Don’t mention it.” I replied, ripping my cold hot dug into hunks and tossing them down to Lola who was lying at our feet.

“Is your brother still watching us?” Michael questioned.

Glancing across the parking lot to where Luke and Michael were staring at us, sucking down slurpees and splitting a bag of chips I sighed.

“Yup.”

“I must say.” Michael said slowly, “I don’t know much about dating and what qualifies as a strange date, however that being said I’m fairly certain having your girlfriend’s older brother tag along like a chaperone is a tad on the strange side.”

Laughing, I nodded.

“I don’t mind it though.” He admitted, “It’s defiantly none traditional but it’s fun.”

“You don’t have to eat that.” I said randomly, referring to nasty looking bun in his hands.

“You won’t be offended?” he questioned.

“Not in the slightest.” I laughed.

Sighing in relief, he tossed the bun to the ground and Lola eagerly ate it.

“Are you two done?” Luke called out, making his way towards us, “Are you ready for part two of your date?”

“What’s part two?” I questioned.

“Well.” Luke said excitedly, “Spencer, you won’t get a license because you won’t let anyone take your picture and Michael, I don’t mean to be blunt but they don’t regularly allow visionless individuals behind the wheel, so I thought, why not let you both give it a try.”

“What?” I demanded, “Drive?”

“Yeah.” Luke laughed, “It’ll be fun, come on.”

“I can’t drive.” Michael said quickly, “I have no vision, nothing.”

“This should be exciting then.” Calum chuckled, “Come on.”

Twenty minutes later we were back in Gut Ditch, parked in the empty parking lot of the abandoned mall. Swallowing nervously I looked over at Calum who was sat beside me in the backseat then at Michael and Luke who were infront of us.

“Okay.” Luke said, turning in the passenger seat to face Michael who was behind the wheel.

“You don’t need to see to drive. I’ll tell you what to do, you just have to feel where everything is.”

“Okay.” Michael said nervously, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

“Is your foot on the break?” Luke questioned.

“Yes? Maybe, I don't know.”

“It probably is, if not it’s on the gas and the other one is the break.”

“What?”

"Don't worry about it you'll figure it out."

"Lure are you sure this is a good idea?" I questioned.

"Nope." he laughed.

"What if we crash?" Michael whispered, squirming in his seat.

"We won't." Luke assured him, "There's like a solid half mile of open parking lot infront of us. You jsut have to look out for poles and stuff."

"I'm blind!"

"I'll tell you where to go. Ready?"

"No!"

Ignoring him, Luke shifted the car into drive.

Aparently it had indeed been the gas that Michael had been standing on because we rocketed foward.  Gripping the door handle with one hand and latching on to Calum with the other I closed my eyes, opening them only when we jerked to an aprupt stop.

The few bites of my hot dog which I'd eaten threatening to come up I took a shaky breath.

"Okay." Luke said nervously, running his fingertips through his hair, "You know where the gas is now?"

Swallowing nervously, Michael nodded.

"Okay." Luke laughed, "Now I want you to take your foot off the break."

Nodding again, Michael tightened his grip on the steering wheel and then eased his foot off the break. Rubbing my sweaty palms on my skirt I looked out the window as we rolled along at a snail pace.

"Are we moving?" Michael questioned.

"Yeah, a little bit." Luke replied, "Now, I need you to gently press on the gas with your big toe. Don't stomp on it, press it gently."

Nodding, Michael took a shaky breath before following Luke's instructions. Craning to see around his seat, I watched through the windsheild as we crept along the empty parking lot, veering to close to poles and the brick walls of the mall at times, however Luke would reach over and manuver us back on course.

Michael wasn't actually a bad driver. He looked like he was going to pass out the majority of the time, his face a sickly shade of white and his hands trembling, however he wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he'd be.

Reaching the end of the parking lot, Luke helped him turn, drive back and even talked him through parking.

"How was that?" he questioned, turning to look at Michael who was shaking alarmingly yet grinning uncontrollably.

"I drove a car." Michael said slowly.

"That you did." Luke laughed.

"I drove. A car." Michael said again, louder, "I-I never thought I'd get to drive a car!"

"How was it?" I questioned.

"Amazing." he breathed, "I....I don't even know what to say. Thank you. I'm never going to forget this. Ever."

"You did good buddy." Luke laughed patting him on the back.

"Thank you." Michael repeated, his voice wavering.

Confused I watched as he turned to look out the window and removing his glasses wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve.

"What's the matter?" I questioned, leaning forward and rubbing his arm, "Are you okay?"

"I'm cried." he laughed, his eyes filled with tears, "I'm just so happy. This is by far the best date ever."