Free The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson Page B

demonstrate, Pete snagged the waistbandof her pants with one finger, pulling it down just enough to reveal the elastic of the famous underwear. Startled, May jerked away and in the process accidentally hit the gas. There was a great heaving under them. A grinding noise. And a heavy bump. May screamed and stopped the car.
    â€œOh my God…” May clutched at Pete’s arm in panic. “What did I just do?”
    â€œIt’s okay,” he said, although his eyes had widened. “Hold on.”
    He was out of the car for about a minute, walking around the front and the back and taking a quick peek underneath. May sat perfectly still the entire time, like a rabbit, quivering and listening for signs of danger. Pete leaned in.
    â€œYou just…a concrete divider is there.”
    â€œI broke your car,” she whispered.
    â€œIt’s probably fine,” he said. “This thing is a tank. We’re just on top of it.”
    â€œ Probably fine?”
    â€œHere,” he said, indicating that she should get out. “I’ll do this.”
    As Pete eased the car over the divider, May took a look for herself, although she didn’t know what she was looking for. There were no wires hanging down. There were no loose pieces of metal. Those seemed like good signs.
    May quietly got in on the passenger’s side.
    â€œIt’s fine,” Pete assured her. “We didn’t even get started. Why don’t you try again? Well, not that , but parking.”
    â€œI can’t,” she said. “Sorry.”
    May mused over what she should do for a finale as they drove home. Maybe she could tell him that when they’d taken pictures of him naked last year, her little sister had mentionedthat she thought he wasn’t very well hung. Of course, Palmer had no idea what she was even talking about, and they had no visual proof one way or another, but the mere suggestion that a thirteen-year-old girl found him inadequate would really make his evening complete.
    â€œForget it,” she said. “Let’s just forget all of this. I can’t be taught.”
    â€œIt was my fault. It wasn’t anything you did. It’s not—”
    â€œDon’t say it wasn’t a big deal. Please. Just let it be. I screwed up. I am a screwup. Tell your mom you’re not teaching me anymore because I drove your car up a wall. You’re off the hook.”
    May could hear herself rambling but felt powerless to stop the rush of self-criticisms. Pete evidently knew that there was no point in trying to stop her either. He was being irritatingly patient, which only made her crazier.
    â€œCamper!” she finally yelled.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œWhy aren’t you saying anything?”
    â€œWhat am I supposed to say?”
    â€œThat I suck!”
    â€œYou suck!”
    It didn’t make her feel better.
    It took May a few minutes to realize that it actually hadn’t been her fault. It had been Pete’s. Instead of teaching her, he’d been his usual asinine self. But because May had been the one behind the wheel, she had mistakenly thought she was to blame.
    She looked over at him slouching down in his seat. He glanced over.
    â€œYou’re mad now,” he said. “Aren’t you?”
    â€œA little.”
    â€œThought so.”
    It was still early when they pulled back up in front of the Gold house. The garage door was open. Palmer was probably practicing out back.
    â€œLook,” Pete said, “we’re good, right? You’re going to try again?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œI shouldn’t do stuff like that,” he said. “It’s just…old habit. Sorry.”
    He really did look sorry. And they were pretty much even since she had ended up almost destroying his car.
    â€œFine,” May grumbled.
    â€œJust tell me something.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œAre you really wearing Brooks’s