“Wait—what?” she said, as a panic she hadn’t expected clutched at her chest while her hands and feet burned with a surge of adrenaline. Clare watched her mother reach for the passenger door handle, intent on forcing her out of her seat and behind the wheel of the car. On reflex, Clare’s hand shot like a bullet from her lap and locked the door. She met her mother’s surprised eyes through the closed window and shook her head.

“Clare?” her mother said, a worried frown sprouting between her eyes. “Don’t be silly. Unlock the door.”

Clare closed her eyes. Her heart thundered in her ears. As surprised as she was by her own behavior and reactions, she was far more terrified that her mom was going to force her to do something she suddenly realized she couldn’t. She couldn’t move, was barely breathing. Her hands were sweating profusely just from thinking about driving. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her mother was still standing outside the car but had taken several steps back. Her arms limp at her sides; she looked shocked.

“I can’t,” Clare whispered. “I can’t.” Her eyes welled up with tears that spilled down her cheeks.

Her mom walked back around the front of the car, got in the driver’s seat, and closed her door. They sat for a moment, both staring out the windshield, the silence humming in Clare’s ears. After several seconds her mom reached for the key, turned the ignition, and shifted the car into Drive.

“We’re going to have to fix this, Clare. You know that, right?” She pulled the car back onto the desolate road and accelerated. “I had no idea you were so afraid to drive now.”

“Neither did I,” Clare whispered.

So her mother started her slow. “Just open the driver’s side door.” And for the next three days, Clare opened and then closed the driver’s side door several times a day. “Today, I want you to open the door and sit in the seat, for as long as you can.”

At first, she was only able to sit for a few seconds before the racy, panicked feeling clawed up out of her gut and spread throughout her back and chest. But after a week, Clare was able to sit there for ten minutes, especially if she turned on the radio to distract herself.

“Now,” her mother said, standing next to the open door and handing her the keys, “start it up.”