Kelvin checked his alarm clock and dialed the phone.
Eight forty two.
The phone rang constantly, and Kelvin rubbed his chin.
He’s not home. No surprise there.
Kelvin hung up the phone, then picked it up and dialed the office. The phone rang twice, and then a weary voice answered.
“Computer Cowboy, how can I help you?”
“Hey, Dad!” said Kelvin warmly. “What’s up?”
“Kelvin!” yawned Johnny, “Hey, buddy! How’re you doin’?”
“Oh, fine, fine. Just wanted to call and see what you’re up to.”
“Well, same old thing - making something out of nothing, removing viruses from Mr. Davenport’s computer ... again, and helping Miss Ellie learn how to send e-mail - again - but other than that...”
Kelvin shook his head. Davenport might as well be putting me through school, he thought.
“Yeah, that’s sounds about right. Is that why you’re at the office so early? ’Cause I called home first, and...”
“I know, I know.”
“Yeah, anyway, I just, uh, I was wonderin’...”
“You need some money?” asked Johnny
“No, no, I’m good. Thanks. No, I was just wondering, you know, I met this girl, Audrey, and she’s really cool.”
“Oh, well, that’s nice. So, what’s on your mind?”
“Well, I was thinking about driving home sometime soon, and I thought I might invite her along.”
“Really?” Kelvin heard the earnestness in Johnny’s voice. “You’re that serious about her? Well, that’s fine, buddy, just fine, bring her along. I’d love to meet her.”
Johnny’s openness to the idea was mildly refreshing to Kelvin, as his father had always been staunchly xenophobic. Still, he had to ask.
“Yeah? Cool. That’s ... kinda why I called. I just wanted to see how you were ... like, how you were, ya know ... doin’...”
“Aw, Kelvin,” Johnny sighed. “We’ve been over this already. I’m fine. Really, I just work, and eat, and sleep. That’s it. Nothing weird.”
“And the pills?” Kelvin asked seriously.
Johnny paused on the other end of the line.
“Yes... I am taking them.”
Kelvin smiled and ran his fingers through his hair. He peeked at the alarm clock again.
Eight forty-five.
“Good. Hey, that’s real good, dad. Seriously. I’m proud of you, because-”
Johnny interrupted him.
“...Because you don’t want to bring her here and see me acting crazy, scaring her off, right?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure it’s okay with you. If you don’t think it’s a good idea...”
“I’m fine, Kelvin,” Johnny said seriously. “So, when you guys driving down?”
Kelvin knew to drop the subject and was comforted by the tone of his father’s voice.
“Well, I haven’t asked her yet - figured I’d ask you first, you know. But, if we take turns drivin’, we can probably be there in...”
Kelvin paused.
Can she even drive?
“What?” inquired Johnny.
“I, uh, I don’t know if she CAN drive,” wondered Kelvin out loud.
“Kelvin?” asked Johnny sternly. “How old is this girl?”
“Oh, no... NO!” laughed Kelvin, “Come on! I mean, I don’t know if she knows how to drive... Like, she doesn’t even have a car...”
Johnny exhaled audibly. “You had me concerned there, buddy.”
“Yeah, sorry. Anyway, we’ll come down together, sometime soon, and hang out. Maybe next weekend?”
“That’ll work,” Johnny replied. “Lookin’ forward to seein’ you guys.”
“Cool, thanks. And ... you’re taking the pills, right?”
“Kelvin...”
“I know, I know. I’ll see you next weekend, ’k?”
“Ok, buddy. I love you. See you soon.”
“Love you too, dad. Later.”
Kelvin hung up and checked the alarm clock. Eight-fifty. He grabbed his gear and headed out quickly to Dr. Syme’s class - and to Audrey.
#
Kelvin burst through the classroom door and looked around the auditorium, but he didn’t see her. He shrugged and headed up the steps to his seat.
“Mister Barnes?”
Kelvin turned toward the voice. It was Dr. Syme.
“Yeah?”
The professor motioned for him to come over and Kelvin obliged. When he was near, Dr. Syme produced a memo and showed it to him. He looked curiously at it, then back at the professor, who described it for him.
“Kelvin, it SEEMS there has been an ERROR in Admissions. Apparently, you LACK a prerequisite for this course, and I have been ADVISED that you are to be dropped.”
“What?” asked Kelvin as he scrutinized the memo. “But this is a first-year class! What prereq could there be?”
“CALM down,” said the professor. “I normally DON’T question Admissions on this, and I don’t know what your STORY is, but the message is CLEAR. I am supposed to DROP you.”
Kelvin looked around the largely empty auditorium. Some of the student’s eyes were on him, so he tried to compose himself.
“So, well... Is that it?” Kelvin protested. “You’re droppin’ me? Seriously?”
“Lower your VOICE,” warned Dr. Syme, looking out at the students. They quickly avoided making any eye contact.
“As I said,” he continued, “NORMALLY, I don’t question Admissions on this. Normally, you’d be dropped, and THAT would be the end of it. HOWEVER, Mister Barnes, you are not ... shall we say, NORMAL.”
“What do you mean?”
“I MEAN...” the professor paused, “that I’ve actually ENJOYED your being in this class - and I’m NOT going to drop you.”
“For real?” Kelvin asked elatedly.
“Yes.”
“Aw, thank you! Thanks, that’s ... that’s really, really cool of you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Kelvin turned to go back to his seat, but paused.
“Wait, won’t you get in some ... trouble?”
Professor Syme smiled broadly and crumpled the memo before shoving it into his pocket.
“Tenured.”
Kelvin smiled and headed up the steps when the door opened and Audrey entered. Her face was flat, but when she saw him her eyes widened and she smiled.
“Hello you,” he said with a grin, mimicking a line from the movie they’d seen together.
“Kelvin?”
“You remembered!” he joked. “I’m touched.”
“How ... how are you?” she asked, surprisingly serious.
“Well, fine. Better than fine, really. Professor Syme didn’t drop me.”
“He didn’t? That’s awesome!” she replied, and Kelvin looked at her oddly.
“Right... he didn’t,” he probed, a little suspicious. “And it is awesome.” He noticed that her surprised look was fading from her face, slowly being replaced with...
Relief, he thought. That’s odd.
“Yeah, that woulda sucked if we couldn’t even have one class together, right?” he asked.
Audrey smiled wide and headed to her seat. Kelvin followed closely behind.
“Say, I’ve got a proposal for you.”
She stopped and shot him a really quizzical look.
“Sorry, bad choice of words,” he apologized. “Anyways, I was thinking of going home next weekend, and, it’s a kinda long drive, and I thought maybe you’d like to ... come along?”
Audrey’s eyes lit up and she rose on her toes.
“I would LOVE to.”
“Really? That’s cool. Anyway, I figure, if we leave right after school on Friday and take turns driving, we can get there in about half a day. How’s that sound to you?”
She looked down and bit her lip.
“Is that a problem?” he asked.
“Um, no. Well, I’d love to go, but...”
Kelvin interrupted. “You can’t drive, can you?”
Audrey blushed. “No...”
Kelvin grinned and fired off another line from the movie.
“Planned for that, I did!” he said, mimicking the lead actor’s voice.
“How do you mean?”
He held up his car keys and jingled them.
“Driving lessons,” Kelvin grinned.
“Are you serious?” she asked, wild eyed.
Kelvin thought about the movie again and tried to think of another line that fit the situation. He twirled the keys on his finger and smiled.
“As a heart attack...”
Dr. Syme cleared his throat, and the two took their seats, now side by side.
#
Kelvin guided the Blazer into a secluded parking spot of the empty mall parking lot. It was late, and all the shoppers had left the mall hours ago; now Kelvin and Audrey were the only people left there. He shifted the Blazer into park and let the engine idle for a moment before turning the key and shutting off the vehicle. Together they sat quietly, with the lights of the mall parking lot illuminating the inside of Kelvin’s SUV.
“You ready to do this?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” whispered Audrey. She stretched out her hand and it found Kelvin’s. She took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
“You ought to be, you’re old enough.” He let go of her hand and reached for the steering column of his Blazer. He twisted the keys and they came out of the ignition with a telltale jingle. Kelvin looked at her, and smiled.
“Here ya go.”
He tossed the keys gently, and she caught them out of the air. Simultaneously, they nodded to each other and reached for their respective door handles. The overhead light shone on the Blazer’s interior as both Kelvin and Audrey exited the vehicle, leaving the doors open. Kelvin shuffled around the back of the vehicle and saw that Audrey was skipping around the front. She hurried and leaped into the driver’s seat just as Kelvin whipped himself into the passenger seat.
Audrey looked and him and smiled. He looked back and raised his eyebrows.
“You excited? Or nervous?” He furrowed his brow and bit his lip, anticipating her response.
She’s nervous,, he thought.
“A little bit of both, really,” she said with a smile.
Kelvin wrung his hands and closed the passenger door.
“Okay,” he said, pointedly buckling his seat belt and centering himself on the passenger seat.
Audrey smirked at the gesture and reciprocated. As the driver’s door closed, the interior lights faded, and she presented him the mass of keys on her right palm.
“Which one is it?” she asked.
“It’s the big one, there,” he replied, pointing to the key with the black plastic jacket. She plucked it out and put it in the ignition.
“Now, you’ve got this, ’Drey. So, to start her, just pump the gas pedal twice, then turn the key.”
Audrey did so and the truck fired up.
“Okay. Now, the shifter is on the column. Right now, we’re in Park. Put your right foot on the brake pedal, then pull the shifter over to where it highlights the ‘D.’”
Kelvin tapped the instrument panel.
“Now, don’t take your foot off of the brake until I say.”
Audrey carefully shifted into Drive.
“Alright, look out in front of you. Make sure there’s no people or cars around. Check your mirrors...” Kelvin motioned to the rear view and side mirrors. “When it’s all clear, let off the brake pedal ... SLOWLY, and the truck will begin to creep forward.”
Audrey gulped and did as directed. She slowly lifted her foot and the Blazer began to roll forward.
“Good. Now, this has a V-8, 4-barrel carb. You wanna be real, REAL easy on the gas pedal ... like, just use your big toe and barely press it.”
She gripped the wheel, and Kelvin saw that she was white knuckled. He slid his fingers over her hand to calm her.
“Relax. Go ahead.”
Audrey tapped the accelerator and the truck lurched forward. She immediately released the pedal.
“Okay, that’s fine. Now stop.”
She responded by stomping on the brake pedal, and the Blazer suddenly stopped, causing them both to jerk forward in their seats.
“Sorry...” she muttered.
“Whoa!” Kelvin laughed. “Yeah, that’s a bit much.”
Audrey shook her finger at him. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“You’re right, my bad,” he apologized. “The brakes are kinda touchy in this thing, too. Anyway, that’s fine, really. Now, just let off the brake pedal again, we’ll start movin’, then gently press the brake and you’ll stop.”
Kelvin motioned for her to go. “You’ve got this...”
Audrey collected herself and repeated him.
“I’ve got this...”
The truck slowly crept forward, and Audrey smiled. She steered very deliberately, and ahead of them, a parking divider filled with bushes loomed in the headlights. She curved the wheel to her left, but the truck’s front tire jumped the curb, damaging a shrub in the process. Audrey immediately stomped on the brake.
“That’s alright, ’Drey. Keep going. Just keep going.”