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Quickly checking for traffic first, Clyde made the left turn. Once that was done, he heaved a sigh. The examiner had admitted he wasn't convinced. Claiming that the fact he appeared to be a kid was due to an obscure medical condition might have worked on some, but he now knew that it didn't quite cut it with this guy. Well, if he was going to be forced to explain himself, at least this was a far better place than back at school.

“Let's put it this way,” he stated. “Not all mutants shoot deadly stuff from theah hands.” He was coming as close to admitting it as possible without actually saying anything direct. His mutant status wasn't something he liked people knowing, but this guy seemed to have caught on. “You mutant friendly?” he asked hesitantly. It was a little worrisome that the man was catching on. After all, what if he was a mutant hater?

For Clyde was still driving, he returned his full attention to the road. He pulled the car towards the curb and toggled the blinker, preparing to do the three point turn.

Sixteen, Clyde mentally corrected her. It was annoying how people always got it wrong, but this time, just maybe, the mistake might work to his advantage. It was indisputable. Children were usually terrible liars. If questioned, they'd most likely cry. However, he wasn't a kid, and she didn't seem to care enough to realize it. As long as he calmly told the shop owners the truth about the incident, he figured it'd be enough to make them want to look at the footage and for him to clear himself of all charges, should he be initially blamed.

“I don't kick and scream,” he crossly replied. “Let's not forget you wuh the one dramatically mourning those dumb shoes. You put scenes from Shakespheah plays to shame.” It was true the way he saw it.

The woman's walking was getting faster. Evidently, she wanted to go fast enough for him to give up. But, it seemed those monstrously tall heels, as well as those bulky shopping bags, were slowing her down. Clyde quickened his pace as well in repsonse. Keeping up with her was not all that difficult, even despite his short legs.

She'd get a prettier shadow? That was hardly an insult. It wasn't as if guys strived to be pretty. And what man would want to be stuck carrying her bags anyways? Or serve as her escort, for that matter? The part about him being the silly one did bother him, though. He was as intelligent as anyone else. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't the one who broke the display window, so he was in the right, and she was plain psycho.

“True, yo shadow's large enough already,” he snarked. “But pah-don me fo not enjoying getting framed. It wasn't as if I evah wanted to have anything to do with someone as pompous as you.” He paused a moment before speaking again. “You really hate children, don't you? Well, I bet the feeling's mutual. Kids probably think you ah a selfish b-I mean a witch. I could point out the obvious and state that you wuh a child at some point, too, but you'd act all snobbish and say that yo case was somehow special.”

Somehow, he got the feeling nothing he could say would matter to her. She might have been clueless, but he was all too aware of what it was like being looked down on.

Clyde was embarrassed, but the examiner's story did show a point. Having his mom insist on being in the car would have certainly been worse. Still, he wished she wasn't cheering for him like that in public. With any luck, though, he'd never see most of those people again.

Relieved that the man hadn't laughed too much, the age shifter lifted the parking brake and set the gears into reverse. Since he had a hard time seeing the ground, and he had to keep looking behind to check for people, it took a bit of time just to wiggle the car out of the parking slot, but he finally managed. He set the gears to drive, carefully drove the car through the lot, and turned left as he exited.

“Okay, what's next?” he asked as he put on the signal and checked the traffic before pulling out onto the street.

According to the examiner, there were just a few turns, a three point turn, and parallel parking. The first two didn't sound too bad. As for parallel parking... ugh, he hated that! That was definitely not a part he was looking forward to.

Yeah, Clyde knew they didn't have microphones. He wasn't dumb. The woman was still likely convinced that he was just a little kid, and therefore, incapable of complex thought. Well, she'd be in for a surprise if she ever found out.

Really, she was making a 911 call? Either she was putting on an act to taunt him, or she was actually going to attempt to frame him for what she did. Clyde was not about to let her, of all people, do that. Instead, he quietly trailed behind her, determined to take her down. Oddly, he hadn't seen anyone come out of that shop yet. It was strange, but maybe it was closed. Maybe. He wasn't entirely sure.

She was acting like a royal... well, a royal certain word that cannot be uttered in polite conversation. Oh, heck, he really wanted to call her one, anyways. But, he'd save that for later. Right then and there, he had to stand up for himself, and profanity wouldn't help.

“I think that shop ownah would be very interested in knowing who really smashed their window. Since you can't make me admit to something I didn't do, the only way foh the police to be satisfied would be to find the recordings,” he stated, breaking his silence. “As foh why you ah going so fah as to pin yo act of vandalism on me, the only reason I can think of is that when we bumped into each othah, yo new shoes touched the ground. Do you realize how silly that is?”

Maybe the lady was going to such extreme measures simply because he didn't bow down to her. Or, perhaps she was just crazy. She seemed like the type that needed to get some perspective. Sometimes, Clyde felt that he was the only sane person on the planet.

As soon as the other mutant let go of his hand, Clyde let it drop to his side. He noted the teen's apparently amused expression. He wasn't being taken seriously at all. Typical. And, he was accused of throwing the “balance out of sync.”

“Uh-huh, evening the scoh. Collection's ovah theah, Robin Hood,” he said dully, nodding at a charity stand set up across the street. It was like what his mom said a lot when he was younger. She said that if you decided to steal from the rich, that you'd better be prepared to give it to the poor. In other words, the fact that the target is rich doesn't justify stealing from them for one's own gain. It was what he was taught.

Though, the other guy was definitely not of the same mindset. Was he actually trying to give him advice, or was he just fooling around? Sometimes, serious people like him simply could not understand people like that.

However, he did understand the question. Seeing how he came so close to directly admitting he was a mutant, he wasn't all that surprised when he was asked if he was one as well.

The age shifter looked up to lock eyes with the other mutant. “Yeah, you could say I'm one, too,” he confirmed, keeping his voice down. “Anyways, you know why it makes us mutants look bad? It's because whenevah a mutant say, steals something, people don't go, 'That idiot!' Instead, they go, 'Dang mutants!'” He narrowed his eyes. “I was just going to return it befoh that man found out. You know how it's been lately, with that video and all. A stunt like that could equal big trouble.”

One could say Clyde was trying to impose his morals on the other mutant, but he felt this was dead serious. He could easily imagine that a mutant caught pickpocketing could become the target of an angry mob.

Seeing that the examiner was entering the car, Clyde figured it was about time for the next phase of the test. Inwardly, he was eager to move onto the part that actually required driving. But before that, he had to answer the examiner's question. Of course, the procedural stuff always came first.

“I check the seat's position and buckle in. Done both already,” he responded. “And theah's this.” Reaching up, he tweaked the rearview mirror's position. He then glanced over at the sideview mirrors. “Those too, but they look good already.”

He looked back at the man, waiting for his response and hoping that he'd done everything correctly.