Not really in the mood for small talk right now. "Yes." I wanted to keep this exchange as minimal as possible.
"I suppose you have your license then?"
"Yes."
After my last answer Madeleine pressed her lips together into a thin line. I decided I'd better say something nice before I really regretted this day by making her upset thereby making dad upset.
"I got my license last year. I'm not allowed to drive alone in town." Madeleine brightened after my voluntary comment.
"Do you know why?" An honestly curious question.
"I'm claustrophobic." I followed it with, "Especially when I'm driving in town."
Madeleine looked startled then it changed to concern. "You're not right now are you?"
I almost laughed, but I took care to keep a straight face. I wasn't ready to be friends with her yet.
"No. Cars aren't really a problem for me, but driving through town makes me feel trapped. Then I hyperventilate and have to pull over."
"What do you do on the bus?" Madeleine's eyebrows were furrowing.
"I walk to school. But you won't catch me in my dad's bathroom for more than 5 minutes at a time." Unconsciously my mental barriers were going down. This wasn't so bad. I started relaxing. My face had turned from looking out my window to looking out the windshield. I smiled a little then looked over at Madeleine. She was not smiling.
"What's wrong?" That look was making me nervous.
Her head snapped up like I'd pulled her out of the clouds. She stared at me a second then, "Nothing."
She shook her head and looked straight again.
After 30 minutes of being lost we finally made it to the library.
That wasn't so bad. I thought as Maddie (she asked me to call her that, but I didn't feel that clse to her yet) went to park the car. I watched her a second, then turned and went inside. She's actually pretty fun.
I smiled a little to myself as I thought about one of the stories she told me. Apperently when she was learning to drive whenever she got into her car she would forget where she was going. She said the first time her dad took her out (it was ussually her mom who did) he didn't know that happened and she ended up getting them lost for two hours while he took a nap in the front seat!
We'd both had a good laugh about that. My dad would have never done that. My grandpa was the one who taught me to drive, but my dad likes to be really sure about what's happening before he trusts he fate to circumstances.
The class was fairly engaging and Tina and I did pretty well; I wasn't really thrilled about the next class though.
Tina had to go home right after, so we couldn't hang out. I hugged her goodbye then went to wander the halls of the library in search of Madeleine.
I found her
