When my twin sister, Amanda, and I were little, everyone thought she would get her license and would drive me around. She's much of a "think things through" kind of girl. I'm much more "live in a moment." She's practical and logical. I'm not. Well, the day before my permit expired, I finally got my license.

Oh, and it feels good.

In the beginning, I never really cared about getting my license. I might have wanted it, but not enough that it was on my to-do list. Since I was holding a steady job and my parents would always complain about driving me, I knew I had to get it. My friend, Elizabeth, who got her permit a couple months before me, hooked me up with this online driving school (which didn't help at all, but was needed to get my permit) and this local driving school company, Delta.

Elizabeth was helping Amanda and I study the day before the written test. (In California, people take the written for the permit test and behind the wheel for the license.) I remember that Amanda was answering all the questions right and I was answering all of them wrong. This was going to be horrible! Amanda was sure to pass and I would fail. I remember wanting to cry.

That's what saved me on the written test. I couldn't sleep the night before. Delta gave me a list of practice questions. I studied those questions for hours. Elizabeth didn't go over them with us. We took the test at the DMV in Glendale. I was nervous; I had never been in a DMV before, nevertheless taking a permit test in one. They sat me in a really uncomfortable chair. I took a deep breath and realized: The test was made up of the same questions that Delta gave me! I was free! I was totally going to pass.

I turned my test in and it seemed like the lady took forever to grade it. She was so casual when she handed the test back to me, telling me to take it to some window. I stared at her blankly. Hello? Did I pass? She said I did and I clapped. Everyone in the DMV stared, but I didn't care. I passed! I knew Amanda would, too! She was so much better. Amanda didn't pass. She failed by one question. I felt horrible. I knew if she looked at the questions from Delta, she would have passed. Amanda retook the test two or three weeks later, after looking at the questions from Delta. She didn't miss one question.