Chapter Thirty-Four: Einstein Can't Drive

I nodded and stood up, told him I was going to get a jacket for when it gets cold and headed to my room. I should probably ask my dad if it was okay for me to do this. I really wanted to, but I knew he would have a problem with it. If Jackass can keep it a secret from his wife, I should be able to keep it a secret from my dad. We walked around the house, wanting to go straight to the garage and not have to answer to Gia again. Being in his huge garage was like being in a toy store. You know you can only pick one, but you want to take them all at the same time. I loved it.

Jackass walked over to a white Mercedes A45 AMG with black windows and rims that were accentuated with a little bit of red in the spokes. This is the perfect car for me. I tried to mask my excited when I stepped in, ogling like a fool. Jackass was laughing at me, I think, but I didn't care. We drove out in silence, listening to Elaine's album. Which reminded me,

"How old are you?" I asked him. The corner of his lips quirked into a small smile.

"I'm 24." This was shocking to me. I knew he was young, but I thought he was like 27 or something. "How does a 24-year-old get to be principal of a boujee ass school like Westerbridge Academy?" we had finally driven out of the estate and he decided to open the sunroof.

"If you knew who founded Westerbridge Academy, you would have no need for an answer to this question." He's amused, I could hear it in his voice. I turned in my seat as best I could with the seatbelt fastened and looked at him. "Well, I don't know who founded WBA, Principal Matthews. Please, do enlighten me."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "My great, great, great-grandfather Albert Matthews, founded WBA. And for years, the men in our family would branch out in various businesses, to prepare for when it was time to take over the principal seat at WBA once their predecessor retired."

"But what if you don't want to be a principal of a high school filled with obnoxious teenagers?" I don't know what I thought the history of WBA was, but this was definitely not it. "That's because WBA is actually a secret society. It's more than just the principal position." I gaped at him in shock. He spared me a glance and laughed once he saw my expression.

"It's a jape Azania. It's just a jape." I had so many questions, and something in my gut told me it wasn't a 'jape'. Fucking hell, why can't he say joke?

"But Old Man Denner wasn't a Matthews, and he was principal for like 60 years." Even though I would never admit it out loud, I missed that old wrinkled prune.

"That is because the Matthews family has run out of men. My dad died. Aiden too. My uncle is a drunk, and my other uncle has been disowned by the family. I wasn't supposed to take my seat until I was at least 50. But my career ended rather abruptly, and even though I have a healthy inheritance, I wanted to work. I know nothing about education, not even having finished school. But I damn well know how to run one. My dad made sure of that." The smile that crept onto my face was unexpected. But so was Jackass telling me all of this.

"Is that even legal?" he laughed again, and turned left onto the highway, pressing hard on the gas. "Things are different at WBA, Azania."

He took me to a different race track this time; this one a lot smaller than the previous one, short steps from being abandoned with no sign of life.

"Are you planning to kill me and dump my body here because of what I did to you yesterday?" I asked as I studied his bruised face. Who knew I was capable of that? He looked like he got in a fight with a sumo wrestler.

"That actually sounds like a great idea. One less obnoxious teenager to deal with at school." he said sarcastically and brought the car to a halt. This racetrack was not in an oval shape like the other one. This one was straight and only had a small curve at the end of the track, where the track curved around it and led straight back to the beginning.

"What are we doing here then?" I asked him curiously. He turned to give me a confused smile and said, "I'm teaching you how to drive." I rolled my eyes at that. "I'm well aware of that. But why here? It's so creepy." I looked around, hugging my body.

"This is where my parents used to bring Aiden and I for karting. It was abandoned then as it is now. But it's safe, trust me." Trust him? I would never trust him again.

"Okay, then." We both stepped out of the car and switched seats. I nestled into the driver's seat, already feeling my palms start to sweat and my heartbeat picking up. He leaned in to adjust the seat for me, his face close to mine. I held my breath, not wanting to move until he was done.

"Okay, you see the three pedals down there, right?" he asked and gestured to the said pedals. I nodded.

"The one on the left is called the clutch. That is what you're going to press when you change gears. The one in the middle is the brake. If you don't know what the brake does then you can step out of my car and walk home." His humorous side always took me by surprise. But now that I knew his age, it wasn't so shocking anymore. If anything, what was shocking was that he acted like an old man, yet all the while is so young.

"Of course, I know what the brake does. I have an IQ of 123 I'll have you know." I bragged and turned to study the pedals again, taking his gaze with me.

"Okay sorry then smartass. What's the last pedal for?" he challenged, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. I knew it was the accelerator, but I wanted to rile him up.

"It's the reverse pedal. Duh." I answered and it took everything in me not to laugh. But he obviously couldn't hold it in because he immediately burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard tears had started rolling down his cheeks and I found myself enchanted by the sight. I let him laugh it off for a couple more minutes until he calmed down.

"I have an IQ of 123 she says." He chuckled to himself once more. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at him.

"I was just pulling your leg genius I know it's the accelerator." I spat and he laughed again.

"Okay Einstein." He chuckled again and shook his head. "Anyway, I'm going to need you to press the clutch pedal and push the start button." He said, all traces of laughter gone. I did as he said and jumped a little when the car purred to life. I giggled, glad about the fact that I had started the car on my own. Jackass laughed because well, because he's a jackass.

"Good job Einstein, now here comes the tricky part. On your right side below the steering wheel, there's a button with a P on it. That's the handbrake. To release it, pull it forward." he gestured to the button he was talking about, "put the car in gear 1. The gears are indicated on the shift. You use 1 when you want to put the car in drive, or park, or climb a steep hill. Got that?" he prompted, and I nodded again. "Good, now ease your pressure on the clutch while you apply the same pressure you're easing on the other side, to the accelerator." He said softly and I did as he said, but the car jolted forwards and switched off. I shrieked thinking I was about to die but he told me to calm down and that it was normal for that to happen and told me to start the car again.

"Balance it slowly Azania." He said and I followed his instructions as best as I could.

"Good, now as you put more pressure on the accelerator, lessen the pressure on the clutch." As I did this, the car started moving forwards slowly. By the time I had let go of the clutch completely, the car was moving without jerking and jolting. I shrieked happily and let go of the accelerator during my celebration, and the car switched off again.

"Focus Azania, you got this." He said patiently. I did the whole process again and the car moved easily.

"Good, now keep a steady pace, and change the gear to 2." His voice was so smooth, so comforting. I did what he said but the car made the most horrible noise and I started to freak out.

"Calm down, it's nothing major. You just forgot to press the clutch when you changed gears. Remember to press the clutch okay?" I nodded and he told me to start again. And so, it went on until eventually, I moved on to gear 3 and was driving at 40km/h.

"Good job Einstein, keep the pace." He said encouragingly as we neared the curve.

"Go back to 2 and turn gently." He said and I did as instructed. I didn't want to admit it, but I was having fun. Who knew driving was so exhilarating! We made it back to where we began, and Jackass high fived me, congratulating me on being such a fast learner.

"Ready to take it up a notch?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'm not planning to die just yet. I still want to go to prom."

"80km/h will hardly kill you. Just a scratch." He said, and that was how I ended up driving into a field, screaming like a madwoman on crack while Jackass laughed as the car spun in circles because Jackass was holding onto the handbrake. His tricep was rested on my thigh, because the handbrake was on my side of the car, and the small contact eradicated my fears and I found myself having fun drifting. I finally managed to slam the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt halt. My breathing was heavy as I calmed my fast beating heart. Jackass was still laughing his ass off, so he was caught off guard when I smacked him hard across the chest.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" I screamed and he immediately unbuckled his seatbelt and sprinted out of the car. I was hot on his heels in a matter of seconds and I chased him around the field. Jackass was pretty fast, but I was an athlete myself, so I accepted the challenge to catch up to him. The fact that he was laughing slowed him down and I used this to my advantage. A few moments later I was jumping on his back, causing him to lose his balance and topple down on the grass, taking me with him. He laughed as I smacked him on the back of his head, and somehow manoeuvred underneath me so that he was now lying on his back and I was straddling him. I stopped smacking him about the same time he stopped laughing. We just sat there in the open field, staring into each other's eyes as the air around us thickened. I blinked. And so did he. And then we scrambled apart.

We sat in the tall grass and watched as the sun began to set, not saying anything. I peeked at him through my lashes and was somewhat distraught when I glimpsed the bruise on his jaw. "I'm sorry." I breathed out; my voice small. He lifted his head and looked at me in confusion. "What on earth do you have to apologize for?" he sighed.

"For yesterday ... everything that happened in your office. I was out of line." I dropped my gaze, overwhelmed with shame.

"I deserved it." I shook my head furiously at his answers, screwing my eyes shut when I felt the tears sting. "No one deserves to be assaulted." Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. He said nothing. Instead, he scooted closer to me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pressing me into his chest. And held me there while I cried, watching the sun set.