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Ocean considered herself a fairly responsible person. In all her years at school, she had never once lost a paper or turned in homework late. So of course, it was no surprise to her that she got her driving license first try, and first out of the entire choir (given, she was pretty sure no one but Mischa qualified for it yet, but still!).
She pulled up outside of Blackwood Bakery for the first time ever, fighting the urge to bounce her leg up and down. There was no reason for her to be nervous at all; she always picked up Connie on the way to school, ever since they had been preschoolers. Sure, this would be the first time she was the one driving them without her mom or dad in the car, but she was certified! There was nothing to be nervous about, not at all. Still, Ocean let out a relieved sigh when Constance came bolting out the door of the bakery, grinning at her.
"This is so exciting! I can't believe you're going to be the one driving from now on, it feels so surreal." Constance said, climbing into the car and shutting the door behind her. Ocean couldn't help but smile with her, even as she resisted the urge to get out of the car and start walking to school, just in case.
"Did you grab everything you need?" Ocean checked, her foot hovering over the gas. Once, back in fourth grade, Connie had forgotten her backpack at home, and only remembered once Ocean's mom had already driven away. Ever since then, Ocean had made an effort to remind her, just in case.
"Yeah!" And with that, Ocean shifted the car into drive and hit the gas, doing her best to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. There was nothing to worry about, nothing! She had triple checked her bag before she left, she had scrubbed her dad's old car clean practically the second she got her hands on it, and she had remembered her driver's license before she left.
Constance was talking about something, she wasn't sure what, and the car was moving and she was nodding and making the appropriate comments and she was stopping at red lights and everything was going perfectly, but it could go wrong at any second. What if she hit someone? What if the brakes stopped working for some reason? What if she took too much time and they were late for class?
By the time they pulled into the parking lot, somehow without any incident, Ocean was sure it had taken an hour to get there, at the very least. It was like time had moved at the pace of a slug the entire time, but when she glanced at the clock, prepared for the worst, it had only taken eleven minutes. Eleven short minutes. It usually took her parents fourteen!
How on earth had she taken less time than usually, when she spent the entire ride nearly vomiting all over the dashboard? Connie got out of the car, still talking about some show or book or something, Ocean wasn't sure.
It was like as soon as the car stopped, the world came back into focus. She could feel the leather on the steering wheel, see the rhinestones that had survived her scrubbing glinting up at her from their nooks and crannies they had fallen into. She breathed in, and out, like she had been holding her breath the entire ride, even though she knew she couldn't possibly have.
"Ocean? Are you coming?" Her best friend asked from where she stood, hovering outside the car.
"Yeah!" She said, climbing out of the car and smoothing her skirt out, slamming the car door behind her. Ocean smiled, trying her best to appear normal. Nothing had happened, nothing at all. Why was she so shaken?
And yet, she could never fool Connie, no matter how hard she tried. Her friend's eyebrows knitted together as she stumbled out of the car, as if her legs didn't currently feel like soggy noodles. "Are you okay, Ocean?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" She bluffed, glancing around the empty parking lot. At least no one else was here to witness her make a complete fool of herself because of something that might have happened. They got to school early for choir, and knowing everyone else, they had at least fifteen minutes before Noel showed up. Fifteen minutes of pretending she hadn't spent the whole ride feeling like she was about to get them both killed.
"You're really, really pale, and you sort of look like you're about to cry." Connie said, looking Ocean over with concern.
Nervously, Ocean threw her arms around her best friend, a little too aware of how much she was shaking. Her friend squeezed her back, and she nearly broke down right there. It helped, a little, to be less focused on the what-ifs, and more on the present. Everything was fine, really this time.
"We should go to the choir room now," Ocean said, pulling away, but still gripping Constance's hand tightly. Her best friend grinned at her, giggling a little.
"Of course. Can't let Noel beat us there!"
"The day he does is the day I die. Come on, I'm sure Father Markus is waiting for us!"