I was sitting in the hallway, my elbows on my knees and my hands clenched in my hair, trying not to hyperventilate. Trying to forget what was happening.
Based on the edgy voices of my classmates pounding steadily against my eardrums, I was obviously failing. Epically.
I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, hard, trying to see if the darkness could get any darker, and trying not to kill myself.
Graduation. A word I'd hoped for- and dreaded- for four years now. My whole life, actually. And here I was, five minutes before it happened, wishing it wasn't happening at all. Not right now. Not today.
Because of course, based on my luck, this was the day when everything went wrong.
Horribly, epically, hideously wrong.
I heard a snicker above me, and knew it wasn't even worth the glare. It wasn't the first I'd heard today.
They were pretty old, actually. And had holes in them- battle scars from the first fight in Mission City, I had thought proudly at the time. The final beat in the ensemble of the outfit I had saved from that day. But worn sneakers didn't exactly go with sapphire-blue graduation robes. And that was why I was here moping instead of bouncing on the balls of my feet like everyone else.
They had gotten lost. Again. With my shoes. I could understand, usually- we were on the East Coast, practically a world away from California, but c'mon- on graduation? Who does that? I didn't think even my parents would be that ridiculous, and yet here I was, stuck in ancient sneakers and without anyone out there to watch the first Witwicky ever to go to college to graduate- after living through alien invasion part two- except for a crowd of spectators waiting for the next kid in line.
And to make matters worse, Mikaela had gotten hung up in airport traffic due to a thunderstorm the night before and an apparent wreck on the interstate, so I could pretty much count my hot, warrior goddess girlfriend out. That meant I didn't have to see Wheelie, either, but hell, I'd put up with even that creep for days just for her to be here now.
And that reminded me of another missing addition; Bumblebee.
Where the hell was he, anyways? Last I saw him, I had just gotten off the phone with Mom and Dad, who were in some county I had never even heard of when my car tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell, car tires screeching and everything. He nearly hit a semi on the way out, too. Bee, after throwing a fit about not letting me take him freshmen year and practically tailing my every move for the last three, hadn't thought to stick around long enough for graduation? I was going to kill him when I got my hands on him. Super robot or not- I minored with flying colors in mechanics, and I would personally exact whatever toll my alien-fried brain could think off.
And then I'd call in Mikaela.
Whatever I had learned, I was still nothing compared to her in that department. And revenge was usually her forte, not mine. I thought briefly of Simmons chained to a light post in his underwear for simply threatening her dad. It shouldn't take too much convincing to get her to help me. She would have wanted somebody to be here for me today, right? Even if it was my alien sports car.
"Dude." I looked up at the voice I'd learned to live with the past four years. Leo came to slide onto the bench next to me, his faithful followers Sharksky and Fassbinder looking even more tricked out than usual, probably at all the conspiracy of the name roll or the aliens that were hiding in outside beneath the chairs.
Nope. I thought with a sinking feeling. No aliens today.
"'Sup?" I asked, rubbing at the imprint my hands had no doubt left on my face.
"Nice footwear." my roomie commented, looking a touch impressed, though here was a flash of contempt in his eyes. "Way to resist the Man."
And I buried my head in my hands again. "My parents have them." I mumbled around my palms.
"Tough luck, dude." Leo replied, leaning back against the wall. "Girlfriend?"
"Yeah, when do we get to meet her?" asked Sharksky, sounding way too interested for my comfort.
I dropped my hands to glare at him. "Airport."
"Ouch." muttered Leo. "Well, hey, at least you get to miss out on a bunch of bitching from-"
I elbowed him. Hard. The last thing our conspiracy roommates needed to hear was the name "Wheelie", or they'd hack into every camera feed for a mile around looking for another alien, and knowing the little idiot's disregard for discretion, they'd probably find him.
That was one thing I did not need to explain to Will.
They looked only mildly curious as Leo tried to cover it up with a cough and a weak "-your mom." They had learned that we'd had some secrets since freshmen year, but they assumed it was all to do with the Man warping our minds after I got snatched by Starscream and dumped in that warehouse. I really preferred to keep it that way.
"I just wanna get this over with." complained Fassbinder, pulling at the bowtie around his neck that he had tied too tight. "When's the after party?"
"I don't know, but there better be some bailarinas exotica, or I'm going to sue." Leo growled.
I rolled my eyes at him. We were in a long hallway just to the left of the stage, while all the girls, much to Leo's disappointment, were in the hallway on the right. It did kind of suck, too, cause now I didn't have any of the 55 here to distract them from my shoes.
"Five minutes." yelled the Dean, poking her head around the corner before vanishing again.
I swallowed, nerves back full-blast. I was going to go out there, get my diploma after four years of working my ass off, and not a single friend or family member would be watching.
A completely random thought jumped into my mind as I stood and got in line, near the back, and Leo offered one last parting clap on the shoulder before vanishing where all the other S's were. I knew Megatron had been keeping careful tabs on me for the past four years. Would he be watching?
Well, at least it was someone. I guess.
The murmuring was growing a bit now, excited, and I checked my cell phone one last, desperate time before conceding miserable defeat and slapping it shut. If they were on their way, they would have called. I set it to vibrate and slipped it back into my pocket beneath my robes.
And then suddenly there was a total silence.
And I mean complete silence. You could have heard a pin drop.
Then soft strains of classical music floated through the air and back towards the very end of the line, and I knew it was starting. People would start walking out in an alphabetical line and pause right off to the side until their names were called. Then they would walk across that stage, shake hands with the dean and several other professors, get a fake diploma (just a prop), and then it would be over and we were officially done.
I closed my eyes in defeat.
There weren't that many people in my year, being and Ivy League school, so the line moved forward pretty fast. Too fast, actually. It seemed like in just a blink, I was standing at the front of the line waiting to go emerge outside. I could see the people lined up before me, off to the left of the stage, waiting in the shade before there name was called to walk across a crowd of so many people and into the sun. My stomach clenched in anticipation. This was almost it. I would be alone.
Zzzz! Zzzz! ZZZZZZ!
The two people in front of me turned around, and several people behind me snickered. Hurriedly, hands shaking and heart pumping, I dug my phone out of my pocket, daring to believe.
"Hello?" I squeaked into the receiver, and hurriedly cleared my throat.
"SAMIE!" shrieked a voice.
I winced and held the receiver a few inches away from my ear till she calmed down. "Mom?"
"Hey honey, how you doing?" she asked, cooing.
"Um, where are you?"
"Oh, we are so sorry about that!" she laughed, as if it was no big deal at all. "Your dad tried to use the GPS and screwed up again-"
"I did not screw it up it malfunctioned." I heard my dad snark in the background.
"You did too screw it up Ron, goddamn it, look at the crappy seat we got!" she snapped at him.
My heart nearly dropped out of my chest. "Seat?" I squeaked, looking out and searching the crowd. "You're here?"
"Yes of course, we wouldn't miss you graduation for anything- well, not on purpose anyways, but it's not like we intentionally set our course for West Virginia, but oh well-"
"It's okay, it's okay!" I exclaimed, cutting across her tirade. That was always how it worked with mom. You had to beat her to the punch, or she'd still be talking to me when I finally got up there. "I'm just glad you made it…" I blinked. "Do you have my shoes?" I asked, glancing down at the worn, hideous sneakers painfully visible beneath my robes.
"No, Sammie, we gave them to-"
Tap-tap-tap.
I glanced to my left, out the window, and my jaw dropped. "Mikaela?" I said in disbelief.
"Yeah, she took them from us- we met up on the freeway-"
"I have to go, Mom." I said bluntly. "See you in ten."
"Well good luck baby!" she cooed.
"Bye." I snapped my phone shut, then hurried over to the window, hoping it wasn't a fake, and lifted it.
First one red high-heel came in, then the other, and then my sex-warrior-alien slaying goddess dropped down onto the tile floor in tight jeans in the middle of a crowd of twenty-one year old boys, with my shiny dress shoes in one hand.
I could just kiss her.
"Not too late, am I?" she whispered, deep eyes sparkling, handing me my shoes.
"You are a goddess." I told her, mentally noting I would have to do something wonderful for her later, taking them from her soft hand.
"I couldn't miss my man on his big day." she said, smiling. "I would have, though, but I texted Bee and he came and got me. We passed your parents on the interstate- picked up the shoes from them and gave them the right directions."
"Really?" I asked, struggling out of my sneakers. "That's where he went? I thought he went off and ditched me to catch a carwash or something."
She rolled her eyes. "We did kind of make the whole trip in speeds yet unclocked by NASCAR, but it worked. He has a surprise for you too." she added mischievously. Then she looked me up and down, and smiled that smile that just melted my heart and blew that last part completely out of my mind- for now. "You look great, by the way." she said, straightening my bowtie. "Really, really blue, but…smart, too." she looked into my eyes, still smiling, and she was just so beautiful and I had missed her so much that I pulled her in right there, not caring if the entire male half of my school was watching, and kissed her.
There were quite a few wolf whistles and even scattered clapping by the time we finally pulled away, and I noticed with a start that the person in front of me had just walked out to line up on the side of the stage- and I was next.
"Good luck." she whispered, kissing my nose one last time, then turned and slipped out of the hallway like a shadow.
On any normal day, I would have just stood there and stared at her, but I was about to go out in front of hundreds of people, and I didn't have any shoes on. I stood there, hopping around trying like a lunatic desperately trying to pull them on, noticing that I mad missed my cue to line up behind Tamara, Went.
I finally staggered out on the side of the stage, with a glare from the Dean, realizing as I did that I had completely forgotten to tie my shoes.
Oh well. I'd just have to make sure I didn't trip.
Which reminded me. What if I did trip? My stomach clenched in nerves and my heart started pounding- again- and sandwiched in between a frat girl and a jock, hidden in the shadows of the oak trees that grew ancient in the courtyard on the side of the stage, I tried desperately to finger-comb my hair back into control while panic began to overtake me.
What if I fell flat on my face? What if they pronounced my name wrong? What if the handshake with the Dean was awkward? What if-
"Tamara, Went."
The blonde in front of me took two steps forward, then crossed the stage, got her diploma from the professor, shook hands with the Dean, and went down the row of teachers, smiling and waving to the camera as she did.
And then it was my turn.
Just then, my eyes flickered out into the crowd, and I finally spotted my mom and dad, sitting in the very back of the cool, shady courtyard; Mom was looking down the lens of a digital camera, Dad was fanning himself with the ceremony pamphlet, and they weren't alone.
Mikaela had somehow joined them just in time, and there were several other tall, brawly guys standing around them, all with brilliant blue eyes that I could see even from here.
My jaw dropped.
Bee's holoform, standing next to Mikaela, winked.
"Sam, Witwicky."
And just like that, every fear and thought I'd had dropped away. I crossed in front of the speaker's podium, and paused to receive the thin scroll from my professor, wonder taking over as I realized I had worked so hard for four years just for that little slip of paper.
I could hear mom and dad screaming from the moment they called my name, and glancing out across the crowd, I saw them both on their feet, with Mikaela smiling like and angel and Bee whistling so loud I could hear it from here. All the holoforms of the Autobots around them- and it looked like they had brought everybody- laughed, and I even saw Optimus give me a proud, dignified nod.
I grinned like an idiot, and then a crazy thought hit me- what would Fassbinder and Sharksky think? They had been searching for aliens for years now, and lo and behold; pretty much all of them had come to my graduation.
Laughing at my roomie's expense, I crossed the rest of the stage and shook hands with the confused Dean, offering her a genuine smile, seeing as she had put up with a lot to get me back after freshmen year. And seeing as I had been one of the top in my class, after getting shocked by the Allspark (there had been one upside to all that), I think she thought I had been worth it. I passed on to greet my other teachers.
"Out at last, genius." my Astronomy teacher snarked sarcastically. I only smiled, and then turned to sit with the rest of my classmates, behind the podium. I turned when I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Leo sitting just behind me.
"Nice shoes." he hissed.
I grinned at him and muttered, "Thanks."
Sitting there in the sun, watching as my mom started sobbing uncontrollably and clutched Dad's shoulder for support, before turning and burying her face in a very alarmed-looking Ratchet (did he know that women Mom's age were still on the prowl?) I realized that, though it was absolutely not the graduation I had imagined for the past four years, and even though I nearly had a panic attack (multiple times), I wouldn't have changed a single thing. It was perfect- as perfect goes with us, anyways. And there was still the after party to look forward to…