The car ride is silent, only the roar of the engine is heard over the wind blowing in from the open windows. Everything passes by in a blur of beige, red, and green. It brings a whole new look to the passing buildings and scattering of trees, combining them into one.
As time passes, the buildings get more scattered, until there are none at all. The sky-high masses of green fill in the empty gaps. Even after living in this town for so long, I had never ventured outside of the city perimeter. I had never had to. Besides, who was I going to share the adventure and the excitement of discovering new things with?
To break the silence, I turn towards him and ask "where are we going?"
Expecting him to reply back, I am disappointed when the gentle purr of the engine becomes a roar as his heavy foot presses down on the gas. Sneaking a glance at the speedometer, the marker starts to rapidly climb. It passes 80, 100 then 110, and my heart pounds in my chest.
I have always wanted to do this, but never had the courage to do it. I was always so paranoid about the cops and other cars on the road. Looking around, I realize that there has not been a car- aside from us- on the road in at least 10 miles. We are alone. There are no cops to fear, no other drivers to interfere. It was just us on abandoned road with the quiet nature surrounding us.
"I want to drive," I say, my hands covering my mouth from the surprise of the words I just said out loud. I mean, of course I want to drive, but to dream about it and do it are two very different things.
"Are you sure? Do you know how to drive a manual transmission?"
I pause. I don't know, but this may be my only chance to drive a car that is worth more than anything I could ever dream of buying. Not to mention, a car that goes over 300 miles per hour. I could only dream of getting this chance. This is my chance and I need to seize it.
"No, but I'm a fast learner."
With a moment's hesitation, he pulls the car on the side of the road and parks. Unbelieveably, I gape at him. Is he really about to let me do this? What if I crash?
"Are you serious?"
Giving me an incredulous look, he moves his hand towards me, the keys dangling from his fingertips.
"Yes, but you need to listen to everything I say and if you crash, I'll be pissed."
Oh, no pressure, Rose.
With trembling hands, I take the keys from his hand and we switch sides of the car. Opening his car door and sitting in his seat, I felt unmistakably small. The seat was pushed so far back, my hands could barely touch the steering wheel and my feet could not touch the pedals.
With laughter coming from the passenger seat, I adjust the mirror and the seat so the car is a better fit for my much smaller frame.
"You're so small, like a little child."
"Yeah, a little child that's about to drive your insanely fast car," I mumble, unaware that he could hear me.
"I could just not-" he begins, but his sentence dies as he watches my face drop in disappointment.
"First, the basics."
Putting his hand on the shifter, he moves it up and slightly to the left, "first gear." Moving it directly down "second gear." Slightly to the right and back up, "third gear." Directly down, "fourth gear." Again to the right and up, "fifth gear." Down, "reverse." He moves the clutch back to its starting position, "this is neutral. In this position you are not in gear. You can let go of the clutch in neutral, but if your foot isn't on the brake, the car might move up or down a hill."
Giving me a minute to process all the information he just threw at me, he takes his hand off of the gear shifter and looks out the window.
"Okay. Let me try."
Thinking back to what she showed me a few minutes ago, I move my hand to the left and up, "first." Moving it down, "second." Slightly to the right and up, "third." Straight down, "fourth." All the way to the right and back to the top, "fifth." Directly down, "reverse." Moving my hand back to the center, "neutral".
"Do it three more times and we can move onto the next lesson."
Moving the gear stick into each gear, the action gets easier and easier as I commit the movements to memory. At the end of the third time, he nods his head and gets out of the car. Walking around to my side of the car, he opens the door and a warm breeze, one you will only find when spring starts to come, blows into the car, my hair going with it. Quickly, I grab my hair tie and put it into a bun at the nape of my neck to keep it out of the way.
"Relax your legs," Damon says, crouching down next to my feet.
Untensing, I let them hang loose, and continue to relax as he places my left foot on a pedal I never used before.
"Look down. This is the clutch. You need to hold this down when you first start the car. In order to move, you push down on the gas, you slowly release this pedal, but only when you're in gear. If you don't hold this, the car will stall. Show me where your feet would be if you were to start the car".
Placing my left foot on the clutch and my right on the gas, I then put my hand on the gear shifter and go into first gear. My left foot puts the clutch to the floor as my right foot sits on the gas. Slowly, I begin to lift my left foot and push with my right. Even with the knowledge of the car being off, I'm still disappointed that the car didn't move, didn't react to my commands.
"Just like that. Do it five more times. The gas pedal is probably going to lock because the car is off, but the clutch will still go down, so keep doing it as you just did, but be mindful if the gas pedal stops moving".
Hold down the clutch. Place the shift into first gear. Apply pressure to the gas and let up on the clutch. I do this for another four times, and each time I have to think about it less and less. It quickly became a muscle memory.
"Alright. Let's start the car this time and see what you can do."
With a heart beating out of my chest and adrenaline coursing through my body, I wait impatiently for him to get back in the car and put on his seatbelt.
"Are you ready to do this? Do you feel confident? Want to go over anything again?"
Taking a quick moment to think through everything he taught me, I shake my head side to side, pumped to be able to drive a machine that could be considered a beast.
"Start the car."
Taking one final deep breath, I slowly exhale as I push the start button, the engine roaring to life. Goosebumps cover my body as I realize the sheer power I am in control of. It's intoxicating.
"Still holding the clutch, put her in first gear."
Following his instructions, my right hand moves the gear up and to the left from its neutral position. My left foot pushes the clutch to the floor and my right hovers, anticipatingly, over the gas.
"Very slowly, release the clutch while applying pressure with your right foot."
I place my right foot on the gas, applying pressure. My left foot starts to let the clutch rise from its position on the floor. Excitement fills my entire being.
I can't believe I'm doing this. I really can't believe I'm doing this!
The wheels start to turn and the car moves forward ever so slowly.
"Add more pressure to the gas, if you go under 1000 on the rev meter the car will stall."
My right foot applies more pressure, my left alleviating the clutch a little faster. The car moves more urgently. I feel it beginning to gain power. It wants to take off as much as I want to make it take off. My left foot is completely off the clutch and the car moves. The speedometer is climbing at a rapid pace.
"When you get to 3 or 4 on the rev meter, hold down the clutch all the way and switch to second gear. How do you get to second gear?"
"From first gear, you move it straight down."
"Good. What should you do right now?"
Choosing to let my actions speak for me, my foot slams the clutch down to the floor and I push the shifter into second gear. Releasing the clutch, I let out a little squeal of delight. That felt amazing. The shift was smoother than I expected and I didn't stall.
The speedometer still climbs ever higher. We reach 60 mph before I shift again into third gear.
I feel as the car climbs past 80 mph to 90 mph and while shifting to fourth gear I surpass 100 mph and I have never felt more alive in my life.