Diary of a New Driver - Cover Reveal & First Chapter

     It's here!!! The cover and first chapter of Diary of a New Driver are here! Ready for the reveal? Here it is....

in 3...

... 2...

... 1...

Chapter 1: Left, Right, BRAKES

    The high school parking lot was empty except for one lone car sitting in the far corner under the shade of a tree. Its owner was on the field practicing soccer.

“Ok, let’s begin,” Dad declared.

“The thing you’re gripping right now is called the steering wheel. The key hole right there is where you put the key to start the ignition. This stick here is the gear shift. The letters stand for park, reverse, neutral, drive, and low. Park and reverse are obvious. You use neutral when…” 

My mind whirled. Ignition… right, that’s where I stick this key. Park… ok, I see we’re parked right now. Same as that guy over there. Really like the color of his car! And man, he can play soccer! I should practice more… wait…. neutral?

“The two pedals at your feet are the brakes and acceleration. The pedal on the left is the brake and the one on the right is the acceleration. Don’t press them too hard or too fast because…”

Brakes, yeah those are important. Which one was it? Left, yeah that was it. Hmmm, left is the brake, right is acceleration… left brake, right acceleration, left brake… GOAL!!! He kicked that ball right into the net. Nice kick bro, that was a long shot! Wait…. right brake?

“Well, those are the basics. Think you can handle it?”

“Uh... yeah.”

“Alright, go ahead and stick the key in the ignition and turn it clockwise until you hear the car’s engine come on.”

“Ok…”

“Now we’re sitting still because the gear shift is in ‘park’. Go ahead and move it to ‘drive’.”

“Alright.” Gloria you should’ve been paying more attention. Let’s see… ‘drive’... ok…. WAIT, WHY IS THE CAR MOVING???

“Uh… Dad…” I started feeling panicky. “Why is the car moving? We’re gonna hit the curb, what do I do???”

“It’s ok, just press the brake.”

Brakes, right… it was right… right?

Suddenly the car lurched forward.

“No, wrong pedal!” Dad exclaimed.

AAAAHHH GLORIA YOU IDIOT IT WAS LEFT BRAKE

My foot quickly found the correct pedal and the car jerked to a stop, causing the seatbelt to catch me suddenly.

OH MY WORD, OH MY STARS, SWEET SUGARY PANCAKES I ALMOST DIED!!!

“You doing ok Gloria? You’re looking a little pale.”

“Uh…”

I. ALMOST. DIED.

We had barely gone five feet but my heart pounded as if we’d just entered a fast-paced, multi-lane highway.

“I… I think I’m done for today.”

Dad chuckled. “Ok, we can practice more later.”

This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

~

Aaand that's the end of chapter one! In case you're wondering, yes that did happen. All the incidents in the Diary actually happened... although the monologue and dialogue may have been embellished. :) 
What was your first driving experience? Have you ever confused the brake pedal with the gas pedal?