𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟕𝟏

"𝚃𝚘 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕..."
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘵
𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕠𝕟

"ALRIGHT, now slowly press the gas," Emily says as she watches Noah's foot from the corner of her eye. The teen puts her foot on the gas, the car still jerking a little.

"I don't understand," Noah sighs as she presses the break.

Emily has been trying to teach Noah how to drive in an empty parking lot. She picked Noah up from school, seeing as she has the day off today to get in some practice hours.  The teen is starting to get the hang of it, but they have yet to actually drive down a street with other cars. Emily tries to hold in her nerves and relax, but it is difficult when her daughter has become a "heavy-footed" driver. Noah knows that she is not the best, but she appreciates Emily's attempt at remaining calm.

"Well, the car is gonna jerk forward if you put your whole foot on the gas." Emily says, "You just want to use the top of your foot, especially if you're trying to go slow." She explains and watches Noah's foot again. The teen lightly presses the gas, the car taking off at a smoother pace.

"See, there you go!" Emily beams and claps her hands.

"Okay, so now what about turning?" Noah asks.

"Your turning isn't awful, you just need to work on when to let the wheel go," Emily says and shows her daughter what she means. The woman takes the wheel, telling Noah to press the gas a little, allowing her to show the teen how to let the wheel go.

"You're really advising me to completely let the wheel go?" Noah questions her mother with a worried expression.

"Well, you're gonna keep your hands right over it, but the car won't jerk if you just let the wheel fix itself," Emily says and tells her daughter to try.

Noah tries a couple of turns, slowly understanding the concept. Emily is nervous but proud to see her daughter learning. She never knew how quick of a learner the teen is. Emily has always known that Noah is intelligent, but she is very quick to fix a mistake when it is pointed out.

"Do you wanna try parking?" Emily asks after a couple of practice turns.

"I don't know, that seems a little out of my skill set," Noah says, making Emily chuckle.

"C'mon, just try it at least once," Emily replies. The teen straightens out the car along the parking lines as Emily directs her. The teen turns into one of the spots and looks over at her mother.

"I think I'm dead in the middle," Noah says, slightly proud of herself.

"Uh, yeah, try again," Emily tuts as she opens her door and sees that Noah is in the middle of two spots.

"But the lines were right there, how did I end up on the line?!" Noah exclaims.

"You didn't turn quick enough. You really gotta turn it in," Emily answers and tries to show Noah what she means.

This goes on for another half hour. Emily is shocked that Noah has made it this long without complaining. It already took a lot of convincing to get the teen in the driver's seat anyway. Emily thinks it is because Noah likes making her mother be her chauffeur.

"Prentiss," Emily says as she answers her phone. The teen looks over at her mother, putting the car in park.

"Alright, I'm on my way," Emily says and shoots her daughter an apologetic look, "There's a case," She tells her.

"Can you drop me off at the apartment?" Noah pleads with a pout.

"I don't know, bub, I think you should be with Penelope in case you have to go home with her," Emily says, not giving in.