The Lady with the Clipboard

'Okay Stuart, easy on the breaks,' I said to myself as I lightly hold down the breaks as my mother's car slowly went in front of a roundabout. As I pulled up, my driver instructor was on her clipboard taking notes on my driver's test.

This is my second attempt and I was more nervous than the first time. The last instructor was a middle aged man who never once hinted a smile and had a cold demeanor. Meanwhile this lady with the clipboard seem genuine nice for she smiled here and there yet she was too wasn't much talkative as the last one. Both of the driving instructors were from the local DMV.

The reason I didn't pass the first test was because I had speed at a school zone. I legitimately thought I was able to be at the same speed limit if there was no kids around which happened to be none present at that time but I was unfortunately wrong. With that mistake, I was dock points off of the test and have to retake it so here I am doing it once again. I was very fortunate to have my dad, mom and even Ms. Lu taught me on how to drive and I was hoping this was the test where I pass this time around.

The coast was clear at the roundabout after I had yield. Once I process I continue on my lane which gave me two options to go straight or turn left. I chose straight and we were off of the roundabout like it was nothing. The lady with the clipboard was still taking notes as I had done so.

The reason I call her that title is that when I introduced myself, she just said "Alright Stuart. Let's started." I of course made a funny comment by saying: "Let's get this car rolling shall we?" Yet she didn't show any amusement of any sort when I had done so. The only times I have saw her smile was anytime she was on her clipboard which made me think she enjoying taking these notes even if it's that I had failed or not.

It has been seven minutes into the test and none of us have said anything. Even the radio, where I've always listen to 80s music, was turned off for this awkward and stressful occasion.

A couple of instances I've tried to make conversation but everytime I tried so, the lady with clipboard didn't seem interested. All she ever was doing was judging my decision making and taking notes on her clipboard.

Once we had came to a long stoplight, my eyes wonder for a bit. I looked ahead us and there were cars going left and right through the intersection while the cars across from us and the ones behind us waited for the light to turn green. Seriously throughout my life, this light has always been the same. It lasts way too long than it usually be.

As I turn my eyes to check up on my passenger, I couldn't help but notice something on her clipboard that caught my eye. On the clip was a small photo of a young blonde kid smiling with a desert lynx cat with a reward medal as it sat on my boy's lap.

My mouth moved before I could think for I asked the lady with the clipboard: "Is that Trevor Bluestill? The owner of the hero cat Mute which had saved a puppy from drowning in a strong current river?"

The lady with the clipboard looks at me with a displeased look while she asks me: "Shouldn't your eyes be on the road?"

I responded with a slight cough and replied truthfully: "Yes ma'am, but this intersection takes too long and my eyes just got a glimpse of that photo of yours."

She then says: "You are correct, this intersection does take too long. I never like this intersection as much as the next person. And to answer your question: yes, it is Trevor and Mute. Trevor happens to be my grandson."

My reaction to that was quite a surprise but I kept my composure and remain respectful. I then replied: "That's incredible! You must be very proud!"

She smiled and says: "Yes, I am indeed. He's my baby boy after all." The lady with the clipboard even asks me a follow up question: "I'm taking you got your information from the paper?"

"Yes and no, ma'am. I found it through all the social media platforms. Very inspiring. Your grandson must love his cat."

The lady replied: "At first he wasn't very fond of it. In all honesty, he wanted a dog but considering he wasn't being responsible, my daughter and her husband decided to give him a cat instead. Now him and Mute are inseparable."

"I bet he is now learning to be more responsible with that amazing cat he has."

She smiled even wider and replied: "Yes, he most certainly is. My daughter and I was just talking about that about a few days ago on the phone. We are all truly proud of him."

I mentioned: "And you all must be very fond of little Mute there."

"Most definitely. He's a sweet boy as well. I got a pleasure of meeting him a month ago when I visit Iowa. He's such a cuddle bug too."

My heart melted just picturing that in my head. "Awww," I go, I then continue on by saying: "cats are such amazing creatures."

"Yes, they can be," she agreed with a smile.

The light finally changed and I was now able to drive us to the freeway which eventually became a highway. We proceed to talk more about her grandson and his lynx cat. She even asked me what I plan on doing with my education. I gladly told her that I was thinking about being a counselor once I'm done with high school. The kind lady was impressed and said to me that she could see it.

After another ten minutes of me driving us, we arrived at my high school where we had started the test My mother was patiently waiting at a nearby picnic table as we pulled up with her car. The lady and I got out of the car and walked towards my mother.

Once the three of us were in arm's reach, the lady with the clipboard reaches for my hand and says: "Congratulations Stuart! You have passed! You'll shall have your license printed in a day or so at the local DMV."

I responded with a genuine smile while returning the gesture and replied: "Thank you miss..." I left my comment as it trailed there.

"It's Suzie, young man," she said with a smile.

I then comment: "Nice to meet you, Suzie. It was a pleasure meeting you and talking with ya."

"The same goes here. If you all excuse me, I got other students to be put to the test."

"Totally understandable Suzie. Thank you for being my instructor today."

"The pleasure is all mine. Have a good roll of a time, Stuart," Suzie smiled.

"Haha, you too," I chuckled.

After that, she left while I proceeded to give my mom her keys. But instead of taking them, she goes: "You can drive us home, Stuart. Congratulations my love. Very proud of ya."

I smiled: "Okay, sounds good. Let's go tell dad and Ms. Lu the good news." And like that, we drove back home where my dad and our dear neighbor were greeting us with warm cookies and cold milk. They had planned on doing this special occasion regardless if I failed or not. Of course both my dad and Ms. Lu were very proud of me as we had our milk with cookies. Eventually we got full and watch a Hallmark film shortly afterwards.

Later that evening, I called my friends Ivan and Tracy on Skype to tell them the good news of my accomplishment. I even told them how I got to meet the grandmother of Trevor Bluestill, the owner of Mute the heroic desert lynx cat. They were of course amazed as I was earlier that day. This was a driver's test I surely will never forget, not one bit!