I sprung up straight in my bed, my hands sweaty,  body feels jittery, heartbeat jumping up and down, eyes blinking in total darkness, and my breathing was so fast all I could hear was my blood pumping, I was finally awakened from my nightmare. I was in a car all alone. It was night time and it was so dark I couldn't see anything on the road, but in my rearview mirror, I could see the flashes of blue and red. I knew I had been pulled over, but I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe I was speeding or maybe I didn't use a turn signal, who knows. But all I knew is that I was in trouble and it was about to get worse. This nightmare gave me the feeling of confusion, fear, and anger. I have had multiple nightmares about being pulled over and ever since I got my license; it was always the same nightmare.

I’ve been pulled over before with my good pal Amber after we celebrated her birthday. Nothing major happened we just got a verbal warning because we were not familiar with the area. We have called home since we were born, but the cop didn't need to know that. But the first time I got pulled over as the driver I was like a deer in headlights; I was paralyzed by fear.

It was a cold chilly January morning when I got to drive the Jeep for the first time. I should've known that was going to be a long day. But first I should explain what this jeep looked like. It's a dinosaur being 33 years old. It has a good 17 years on me. I don't even own it. It's Deck’s car, my sister's boyfriend, and he’s rough with cars when it comes to driving. He’s just like all the Polish boys showing off their cars at Polish Fest. The sun was rising and snow flurries were whishing around with the wind. I gave the Jeeps driver door a good yank, and then a tug, and another yank, and a few more tugs. Eventually, I put my right foot on the tire and pull with all my might and fly back into the snow as the door finally busted open. Feeling accomplished I hopped into my dream car. There are many rules to driving the Jeep because of its age.

Rule 1. No speeding because the speedometer doesn't work so you have to have a feel for speed

Rule 2. It won’t start on the first try so give it a few more tries ( if not starting after 7 call Decks )

Rule 3. Heat does not work; don't play with any knobs

Rule 4. Rev it 3 times to get it into motion

There are at least 10 more rules but they get more complicated with each one. Even with all these different rules, I was smiling on my way to pick up Amber. It took me a bit to get in the same groove as the car. With each bump, the wheel would jerk away from me. Especially on this main road, I had to take to get to Amber’s. Since it was the end of winter the potholes were horrendous because of the snow plows scraping away at the pavement. I finally arrived at Amber's house and honk the horn. As she walked outside she was laughing shaking her head at me. She tried pulling the door open. No luck. After a few more I finally remember rule 15 side door does not work have to open from inside. I gave a forceful push, and she did an energetic pull. And it swung open. She hopped in even with her height of 5’7. I was in such a good mood that I decide that we should stop at the Dunkin Donuts, that's down the street from her house. I told her to stay put in the car because I knew how much of a pain it was to try to start her up again. I get back into the car and hand her her drink and put mine in between my legs as I attempt to back out of the spot, in the world's tiniest parking lot.  Until a fellow peer of mine zoomed right behind me, which led me into testing how well the brakes work on the jeep. They work wonderfully because we didn't collide. But I felt a coldness seeping through my leggings and the smell of vanilla sweater consumed the car. I looked down into my lap to see my coffee spilled on the only pair of pants on me. Thankfully I grabbed multiple napkins because Amber is constantly spilling. But this time it was me. I looked at my phone and I knew I had to haul ass to school because it was 8:03 and we start at 8:05, Amber was going to be late to English with her favorite teacher and I was going to be late to history. We finally pull into the school's parking lot, and since I was in a Jeep I had to park next to the other ones. It’s like an unsaid rule, just like waving to others who are driving a Jeep. We both jumped out of the car and start booking it to class. I was so uncomfortable because my leggings were cold, sticky, and sweet. I was a walking coffee shop. I don't know how Ambers morning was but all I know is that I got an earful from my teacher when I stepped into his class. That day was going downhill. I didn't have homework done for my next class, and since I was so excited to drive in the Jeep that morning I forgot my lunch. I couldn't catch a break. Finally, my school day ended. Amber and I dashed out to the car, hoping to leave the school before the crazy frenzy of terrible teen drivers, me included. I tried to race to her house to drop her off and I could go to work. But I twisted the key and it didn't budge, again it didn't catch. I knew from rule 2 I had five more tries. Finally, with the 5 try, she came alive. I revved her twice and we were off. I dropped amber off at her house and raced against time to work. I made it with 5 minutes to spare and catch up with the guards. I teach little kids how to swim and prevent the guards from doing their job. My shift ends at 6:00, and I had to get back to Ambers because we were suppose to lead a small group of sixth grades at church. The Jeep was good and started up right away for me. But it did take me a while to figure out how to turn on the headlights. The small group ran smoothly and I had a blast with the girls. By 8:15 we finally did one last hop in the car and began our way back to Amber's house.

It was now very dark out and temperatures had dropped to freezing. As we pulled out of the parking lot. I was finally on the main road and at a stop light, I had just pointed out to my friend that there's a cop behind me so don't do anything dumb. The light switch to a gentle green and I began to accelerate the roaring Jeep with the increasing speed. Then it happened, blue and red flashes began to engulf the Jeep. A feeling of panic ran through my body, followed by confusion. I didn't know what to do, I had no clue what I did wrong. I pulled over on a semi-busy street that was tight and weirdly alive with other cars passing by. I put the car in park and see the cop walking up to the Jeep. He almost looked surprised that I was driving the beast. He waited for me to crank my window down. It was so hard, the cold seemed to glue it shut. I whispered to myself “shit” when I realized that it's gonna take a lot of might just to crack it open let alone open it all the way. After what felt like an hour of twisting the handle in circles, The cold whooshed in and so did the cops cologne. The cold stung me because my hair was still wet with water from work. I somehow squeaked “Hi”. He asked for my license and insurance, both things I had no clue where to find it. I knew my license was going to be nowhere to find because I had been looking for it for the past few months. I also didn't know where to find the insurance because it was Decks car. I pretend to look for my license as cold sweat began to form and my hands were fumbling with everything. I eventually looked up and said, “ I can't find my license, and I don't know where the insured is because of it my sister boyfriend's car.” He glanced at me and then at my friend and back to me. “ You need to call whoever's car this is the owner and get that insurence, and tell me your full name, I'll be right back.” After I told and spelled my name for him he went back to his car. I glanced at Amber who finally exclaimed “ He’s so hot dude how can someone be that attractive, let's set him and my sister up” I laughed. He returned after ages and explained why he pulled me over “ One reason I pulled you over because Your tail light is out, another reason is because I can hear you exhaust from 75 feet away get that checked out”. I just nodded and said I’m sorry. What are you supposed to say when a cop tells you that. He finally said that he was going to give me a written warning, and I should always have my license on me. Again I apologized and I started to make my way home. I felt relieved leaving.

I dropped off my friend. The next most terrifying part was that I had to go home and tell my parents. I park the Jeep and walked into my house. I looked and my mom and said I got pulled over but it was Decks fault. She just laughed at the situation and reassured me. Finally feeling better I went to my room plopped down and slowly dozed off.

Blue and red flash in front of my eyes in a completely darkened room, a thumping in my ears, my heart racing, and my body feels jittery. It's Thursday morning.