You people...are giving me a heart attack from lack of reviews. I spent the majority of the time writing this wondering if I sucked that badly. But, writing is a labor of love, not popularity.
To the people who faved and alerted...I love you. This is here because of you and while it's not critique or input like I had hoped for it's something, and I'm greedy enough to take anything you give me...So here ya go!
Genesis
By Huldra Nix
"The cars we drive say a lot about us."
-Alexandra Paul
Even after being on the planet earth for the last four years, it and its inhabitants continued to amaze him. They were so familiar and different all at the same time, especially humans.
When he had first dropped onto the big, predominately blue globe the situation had been exceedingly grim. Sector 7 and the near overwhelming amount of Decepticons roaming around had made things difficult, but having search through 6.36 billion humans for one boy? 'On my own!' Bumblebee added to himself, quite proud of the accomplishment.
It was worse than the human expression; "Searching for a needle in a haystack." Hay didn't try to kill a bot…as far as he knew. His experiences with hay were extremely limited. 'Looks harmless enough, but you can never be too sure.'
He'd landed in Virginia, unpleasantly surprised when the human organization Sector 7 showed up hot on his wheels. He'd not anticipated that there would be an actual informed and organized agency dedicated to dealing with visitors of the extra-terrestrial kind.
'And their welcome party was awful' He thought miserably, remembering how he'd had to quickly flee to Missouri to escape capture. There after hacking into a coffee shop's Wi-Fi he discovered google, and it had been wonderful. It cleared up a lot of his confusion about the world around him, and he was thankful for that, even if it was a bit different to what they had on Cybertron. 'Pretty impressive for such a young planet…' He conceded easily.
Using that website Bumblebee searched for any information regarding otherworldly visitors. He'd found out about Archibald Witwicky and his artic expedition, who apparently after finding an Ice-man went crazy and began drawling cyberglyphs all over the place despite being blind.
The poor man ended up being admitted to a psychiatric ward in Louisiana where he eventually died, any glory he might have had faded into the obscurity of his perceived madness.
That meant Bumblebee had to track down whatever descendants the explorer left behind, and there were quite a few. While in Denver, Colorado he'd had the misfortune of running into Hardtop and managed to bury the Decepticon in some rubble high up in the Rocky Mountains 'Where he'll stay with any luck.' It would be just his sort of fortune for the exact opposite to happen though.
His foray into Tucson had been just as catastrophic, Sector 7 and Barricade coming in hot on his trail. The police themed Decepticon had put up a bigger fight then Hardtop and Bumblebee had been half sure he was going to die, but he managed to come out a little—or a lot worse for wear in the end. The fight had been bad enough to lay him low for about a week.
But, he finally managed to catch a break and track Sam down. 'Which means the mission is one step closer to completion…' Bumblebee thought, straining his hearing in the direction of the house his charge lived in. The family had been quiet for some time and he had assumed they'd been in stasis. 'Or sleeping...' he was sure that's what the locals called it. 'Or maybe its dreaming?' They had so many words that had multiple meanings and numerous synonyms it was often hard to keep track of them all.
Either way it was very early in the morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and someone was already up. It wasn't long before the ridiculously tiny canine they called Mojo was let into the back yard shortly followed by the girl called Evie. He still felt a bit badly about startling her at the dealership. He hadn't meant to react when she touched him, but it'd been so long since anyone had without the intent to kill, capture or maim him did so that he'd been a bit surprised.
It was the first altruistic touch he'd felt since arriving on the planet and it was nice to feel touch of another sentient being who was not trying to hurt him—or hijack him. 'Some espionage agent you are. ' he could just hear Ironhide chiding him if he ever found out. Thankfully she'd played off his movement and radio issues as simple glitches and put herself at ease with that justification. 'Just as well too.' Bumblebee told himself, knowing there was no need for him to start rousing anyone's suspicions.
The person of interest was still standing on the porch pulling on a pair of particularly bright green sneakers and mumbling to herself as she wobbled on one foot in an attempt to keep her balance and tie her shoe before repeating the process with the other foot. "It's too early for this crap." Evie grunted to herself, finishing off the last loop before making her way down the steps.
Scrubbing the back of her hand over her tired eyes a heavy huff of air escaped her. In a few quick steps she was across the grass she wasn't supposed to be walking on and onto the gravel, the stones crunching beneath the soles of her shoes. She paused, glancing at the beat up car gracing their drive way and squatted down about a foot away from the Camaro's bumper.
Humming to herself quietly she perused the faded and scratched surface of the chrome lining the front of the car, unaware that just as she was inspecting the car, it was making his own appraisal of her.
'Your eyes are really bright!' Maybe not optic bright, but they reminded him of a reflection nebula; blue and green with flecks of silvery white interlacing through the polished surface. It was hard not being able to speak, or make contact whatsoever, lonely really and so he often found himself talking in his head.
'Messages to and from the others are sparse.' Bumblebee mourned the lack of contact almost weekly. The more they spoke the higher the risk of being found escalated, therefore unless there was pertinent information to be shared he stayed silent.
Her hair was a bit messy, the golden filaments twisting every which way as they tumbled down her shoulders and ended below her chest. As if sensing his thoughts, she pulled the pieces up into a more tamed pony-tail—the naming of which he found to be quite silly.
In all Bumblebee really liked her face. It looked friendly, inviting—and it had interesting symmetry. 'But I could be biased…' After all she'd had nice things to say about him at the car dealership.
A yawn stretched across her face, prompting Evie to cover her mouth and mumble to herself; "I really hate that dream. I can never get back to sleep afterwards." Her lips downturned and she placed the palm of her hands against the hood of the car and hoisted herself to her feet. "I can't believe Sam didn't clean you up as soon as he got home." She tutted taking a look at her dirty, blackened hands. "You look like you've been through a dust storm."
'All that and more,' Bee silently assured her, suppressing a shudder thinking of his many fiascos. Being pretty and clean had really never been feasible. 'No time for aesthetics during war.' Unless you were someone snooty like a certain Autobot he knew.
Shrugging to herself, Evie brushed the dirt from her hands and looked towards the lightening sky. "Maybe I'll clean you up when I get back." She was honestly kind of a clean freak—at least when it came to dirt; the territory came with being a doctor.
'Papers, books and clothes are another story. That stuff is just everywhere.' There was some sort of order to it all, but it would never make any sense to anyone but her. "Now," Evie turned her gaze towards her feet, and pointed at them intimidatingly. "The sooner you run, the sooner you're done." And just like that she fled the driveway, feet pounding from gravel to pavement in no time at all.
It was strange, but she found that Sam's car gave off the feeling of being lonely. 'Maybe it's just the paint.' she thought, focusing on her breathing the best that she could. 'People assign human qualities to inanimate objects or images all the time.' It was just the way their brains were wired.
Not surprisingly her thoughts inevitably turned to the suddenly re-emergent nightmare from her childhood. From five to the age of ten it was a near continuous staple in her nightlife, occurring at least once every few months before it petered out for a while.
'Doesn't matter how many times I've had it or how long has passed since the last time, it's always the same and always scary as hell.' Evie shuddered, recalling the endlessly vast expanse of space, dark and yawning as it spread out before her eyes; the stars mere pinpricks of light falling around her. 'Or am I the one falling?' She could never quite figure that out, the streaks of light dazing her as they scorched by.
'It would be beautiful if it weren't for the crushing feeling of dissolution pressing in on you.' She always felt as though something was ending a terrible death, falling all to pieces around her.
The sensation of tumbling through space, feeling lost and infinitely alone hung over her like a knife as a swirling galaxy bright with blazing white-blue orbs that gleamed like stars unveiled itself. Each sphere converged to the center, spiraling into one huge mass, and then for the first and last time in the entire dream Evie feels as though she is not completely and utterly alone.
The sight of those merging masses feels more comforting then foreboding—as though she'd come home after a long night at work and someone she knows and loves is there to greet her.
Her skin pricked uncomfortably, goose bumps rising along the exposed skin of her legs and arms— the cropped black leggings and blue tank top doing nothing to protect her.
'And then that sound!' Like a tuning fork; metallic, long, piercingly pitched, and clear—so clear as it perforated her ears. The very noise vibrated through her every particle, every molecule—or so it felt.
Then, as if gravity was a mere switch to be turned on and off she fell like a comet, plummeting through galaxies before the earth vast and slowly spinning unfurled itself beneath her. 'They say in dreams, you don't feel pain…' But when falling through the atmosphere like an arching arrow, white hot and burning, there is a distinct impression of agony that lingers in the back of her mind—as though something has been ripped away from her.
Before she's dashed all over the ground in a terrible mess she has the fortune of waking up with a violent jerk and a breathless gasp, as though she'd truly been falling through the heavens and not just sleeping in her messy bed.
'At least that's an improvement.' Evie thought to herself dryly, remembering all the times she woke up screaming on the floor from the violence of her abrupt waking. Even now, she can't manage to fall back asleep afterwards, the feeling of burning imprinted in her mind.
'It's been so long since the last time I had it though…'She'd almost been convinced it was a relic of the past until this morning. The last occurrence had been five years ago, the week before she left for college.
'It's probably got something to do with me feeling isolated or something. Sam growing up and getting a new car…" The logical thing to do was to assign some type of real world meaning behind it and so she searched for some explanation for the eerie feeling it left her with.
'Next year he'll be off to college and so busy. Now he's got his own car and he won't be around as much.' That thought left her feeling lonely and displaced, hence the feeling of isolation and emptiness in the dream. 'And the spiral galaxy is me coming to terms with it and moving on.' Evie decided the part with the fiery descent was better left ignored and switched the subject of thought towards work.
Or rather the new job she would be starting in the next two months. 'Far away from the emergency room…' She had liked it in some ways; fast paced, long hours to keep her occupied and it often brought with it an adrenaline rush. On the other hand it was exhausting and left her feeling miserable day in and out.
There was no stability, no predictability—anything could happen, and after everything was said and done, the patient treated and gone you were always left wondering about the open ended stories that walked in and out each day. Worse still, she lived states away from the only family that mattered to her and the best friend she hardly ever saw.
It felt like being a castaway on an island. So she'd finished her residency and booked it home as soon as possible. 'And you've been slumming it here with your aunt and uncle for the past few weeks like a bum.' Sam had been right about that part.
"Oh!" Evie stopped in her tracks, realizing she'd gone quite a bit further then intended. It was more like two and a half miles now instead of her usual four. 'That's going to make this about five in total.' And tomorrow was the customary gym-social day. 'Maybe Felicia will let me skip and we can do cake instead? or milkshakes and hamburgers.' She hoped to herself. 'But on the other hand we'll miss out on ogling at the hot personal trainer.' Whose sexuality was questionable at best, but that was no reflection on his abs…
'His incredibly amazing abs!' Evie gave a lofty, admiring sigh as she walked a bit more sedately back to the Witwicky house. 'Which reminds me…got to call the realtor.' She'd put it off for a whole month, but she really should at least start looking for a new place.
Calling the realtor may have been her plan, but as soon as she got back she put it off in favor of cleaning Sam's car like the procrastinator she was at heart.
Moving into the garage she located a big blue bucket, a car sponge, a few scrap rags and some soap, placing her finds into the bucket before trekking across the yard for the garden hose, dragging the heavy, coiled plastic behind her like a great green boa constrictor. "Alright, so you're a little scuffed up—and the paint's seen better days." Evie brushed her hand over the hood comfortingly. "It's really not so bad—nothing to be done about it really, but the dirt's another story."
The cool water rushing over his sensors was a minor issue, even if the temperature was lower than he'd have liked. He was pretty content with all the attention he was getting at the moment, silently reveling in it. It was something to fill the waiting and it made him feel like she was actually noticing him when she spoke.
Soap came next, followed by the sponge working in tight circles before their radiuses spiraled outwards. The suds frothed and Evie let them settle for a few minutes to loosen up the dirt and grease.
Her ears caught the sound of the screen door opening turned her head, revealing Sam as he stumbled his way down the steps. "You're up early." She greeted watching a great big yawn spread across his still sleepy face.
By nature, habit and choice, Sam usually slept in late on the weekends, but today was a special day and he couldn't seem to keep himself in bed.
"It's fine; you can help me clean the inside out." Evie grinned eagerly, tagging him in the arm with her fist, "And then I'll make breakfast." She promised, watching in mild confusion as he bolted back inside the house at record speed, returning moments later with the car keys clasped in his hands.
Shrugging his broadening shoulders at her questioning glance, Sam opened the driver side door and turned the Camaro on. "Might as well work to some music..." He explained as the radio played a sensuous beat.
Sam scoffed and turned the dial after a moment. "Sounds like bad porno music." He said after finding a station that was appropriately enough playing Car Wash.
"Sam, Ew. I did not need to hear you talk about porn. Not even its musical aspects." Ever and preferably never again, on that Evie was absolutely sure. There were just some things she did not need to have in her brain.
Completely lost to the contextual turn the conversation had taken, Bumblebee made a note to check the internet for information later. This was probably the longest he'd been in the company of humans the entire time he'd been on the planet—pesky governmental agent's aside and hopeful carjackers aside.
"I'll get the backseats, you get the front." Sam wrung out the wet washcloth he'd been soaking in the bucket and tossed it to her, snickering when it slapped wetly against her face.
"Ha-ha." Evie grumbled, peeling the cool rag off her face to wipe down the seats and dashboards. The more appropriate use of an old paint stained rag. "At least I don't have a zit." She stuck her tongue out mockingly.
Self-consciously Sam reached up to cover the blemish. "Shh!" he rubbed it, hopeful it would come to a head so that he could pop it—preferably before he left. 'It's driving me nuts.'
'You guys make things so hard.' Bumblebee stilled the radio sputtering slightly as he mentally flinched. Circuits lined even the interior of his being, and in some ways they were more sensitive to account for the lack of sight in that particular area. He already knew that Sam was heavy in manner and hand; he liked to grip the steering wheel like it was going to fly away from him at any moment.
Evie on the other hand was the opposite, her fingers light and airy as if afraid to be noticed, not wanting to linger or stay for very long. It sort of tickled.
The two humans bantered with one another throughout the time they spent cleaning him, much to his amusement. Bumblebee had known that socially they were very much like his own kind, but he hadn't seen or heard it for himself until now—unless movies, teledrama's and talk shows counted.
Their rapport reminded Bumblebee of a similar relationship. 'Kind of like a younger, less aggressive, less prickly version of Arcee…and Sam's a bit like me.' More immature though…but perhaps if he'd never known war or loss; Bumblebee might have been just the same. Those were thoughts he never entertained for long, it never helped to think about what if's and why not's. 'Best to focus on the now…' He told himself.
Still, his thoughts lingered on Arcee and others hoping that somewhere in the infinite universe they're doing all right. 'They're probably making scrap out of anything that gets in the way.' Arcee especially, she may have been tiny, but she was resilient and tough as anything.
"Alright." Evie announced, tossing her rag into the bucket. "I'll leave the rest to you." She said to Sam. "We're having French toast." Because after all the running and cleaning she was lazy and wanted to eat something sugary and sweet.
"Okay," It wasn't like Sam was going to argue about food. He'd eat just about anything put in front of him. He lingered a while longer even after he'd finished cleaning his portion and put the cleaning supplies. "I was a little iffy about getting a car from that place at first…" He admitted, crouching down to buff a particularly deep dent. "But you're kinda growing on me." Or maybe he'd just decided to be thankful for what he had.
"Alright, so today is a big deal, okay bro?" Sam asked fidgeting with a few scratches scattered throughout the painted surface. "First impressions and all that...It's all about impressing the girl, but that's on me. All you have to do is not break down or anything." God he hoped that did not happen. "Just once, I want her to see me." He mumbled, bumping his head on the hood of the car.
"I read you loud and clear!" The radio fizzled, startling Sam out of his half prayer, half pep talk.
Chuckling to himself, Sam rocked back to his feet and brushed his pants free of dirt. "Well at least somebody listens." He told himself as he walked back into the house.
Later when the day had grown a bit longer the older Humans came out, puttering around the space of green, the older portly man laying down flat gray bricks into the earth while the woman busied herself with cutting pale colored flowers from the leafy trees they grew on.
From his spot in the driveway Bumblebee listened for Sam, hearing the teenager clamor awkwardly around his room, grumbling about EBay and money—or rather the lack of it. 'I managed to stop Hardtop before he told anyone about Sam…but that webpage is a walking disaster.' He was going to have to contact the others soon. There was no telling when the Decepticons would move in. 'Tonight.' He told himself firmly, watching as Sam bounded out of the door and made his way closer.
There was a brief conversation about the grass and not walking on it which as far as he could tell neither Evie nor Sam ever took seriously since they walked across it at every turn. It was shortly followed by complaints about the dog wearing jewelry, the significance of which was also lost on Bumblebee.
"Be back by eleven…and wear the seatbelt! And drive safe!" Judith listed nervously waving off what used to be her baby boy as he prepared to drive away. 'How can time go by so quickly?' she sighed to herself.
Evie lingered in the doorway for a moment, a pensive expression cast over her face before it broke into a wide grin. "Good luck, you'll need it with Miles around!" That kid had more than a few squirrels running around in his head. 'Way too obsessed with trees…'
Pausing in thought for a moment, she added some succinct advice to her goodbyes. "And stay away from any illegal substances; don't drink anything you didn't get yourself!" Her pale hand waved at him, still grasping her newest book. "Otherwise I'll have to whoop your butt!" she really meant it too, having seen to many cases of it leading to emergency room visits.
Sam rolled his eyes and started the car. "Yea, yea. I could take you any day!" It wouldn't be hard either since she probably barely weighed 120 pounds. Then he reeved the engine, and peeled out of the driveway grimacing at the cloud of smoke that followed.
In the distance, Bumblebee heard Sam's mother comment on his condition and sulked inwardly. 'The mod I scanned had inferior parts!' he at least had to pretend to be the age he looked. It wasn't his fault he was supposed to remain low key…or that Sam's dad was cheap.
Miles was a little strange. For whatever reason he refused to use the actual doors much to Bumblebee's annoyance.
"This is not Dukes of Hazard!" Sam scowled, shaking his head in exasperation. "Don't scratch it up any more than it already is dumbass."
Miles chewed hiss bubblegum loudly, messing with the radio dials. "Kind of junky already though, isn't it?" he asked, arching a brow when all he got for the first few moments was hissing and spritzing over the speakers.
"It's not the car." Sam defended his vehicle; knocking the other hand aside he turned the dial himself. "Lo and behold, there be music." He smirked, nodding his head proudly even as Miles threw his hands into the air as if to give up his complaints.
"You've only had the car for a day and you're already acting like an over protective hotshot." Miles harrumphed and threw his feet up on the dashboard.
Sam shot him a look of distaste but allowed the action, even if Miles was a little…odd at times, he was really one of the only friends his age that Sam had. He wasn't going to get too bent out of shape about him disrespecting his car a little.
"You sure it's okay for us to be here?" Miles asked when they finally pulled up to a curb near the lakeside park. 'Pretty lush.' He thought, eyeing a tree speculatively.
"It's a lake, of course it's okay for us to be here. What does Trent and his blowhard friends have a monopoly over Mother Nature now too?" He hated that jarhead. He'd been a thorn in Sam's side since forever regarding everything except brains and grades. He was proud to say he could run mental circles around the jock any day. 'I don't get what she sees in him…' The car door slammed shut a little harder than he'd meant to.
"Do I look okay?" Sam asked, checking his hair and breath fervently.
Miles shrugged and nodded. "You look fine and don't sweat it man."
"Okay cool…Don't do anything weird bro, just keep it cool." Sam nearly begged, almost immediately he could feel Trent's snide, arrogant gaze stabbing into him and of course Mikaela was right there with him, looking absolutely amazing even as her eyes glossed over him as if he were no more than a piece of background scenery.
Sam had to resist the urge to slap his face as Miles bee-lined it to a tree right in front of Trent's truck. 'Idiot…I know I said NOT to do anything weird.' he thought watching the blonde monkey his way up the tree.
"Nice car." Trent snickered, teeth bared in a not so nice smile. "What're you guys doing here?"
Thinking a mile a minute, knowing Mikaela's eyes could be on him, Sam fumbled for words. "We're…we're uh…here to climb this tree." He explained, glancing back towards the tree to hide his mortified expression. 'Nice one.' He thought, regretting it the moment the words slipped from his mouth.
Trent glanced at Miles as though he were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe, or splattered on the windshield of his precious truck. "I can see that…" He tilted his head to the side, eyes gleaming as though they'd found something particularly interesting. "Didn't you try out for football last season?"
'Oh! you just had to bring that up didn't you?' And before he knew it he was spouting off some smart ass answer followed by another, which led to him basically calling Trent and his posse a bunch of brain damaged, mentally handicapped idiots. 'Well…' It wasn't exactly a lie.
Trent's face had turned an alarming shade of red as he stepped closer, only to be blocked by the raven haired girl who was always the center of Sam's attention.
"Trent, no… Just let it go!" For the life of her Mikaela would never understand why the hotter a guy was, the more aggressive he had to be. It'd be a lie to say she hadn't gotten a kick out of Smarty-pants's comeback though. 'It was pretty sly.' She thought smiling to herself as she led Trent away. She couldn't place it, but he seemed a bit familiar. 'Maybe a new kid?' That seemed about right.
Her tanned arms looped and tugged Trent away, pulling him towards his shiny dark blue truck—the one she'd wanted to drive since forever. "How about I drive?" she smiled coyly, green eyes blazing with hope.
"Oh no." Trent laughed, throwing his head back in the way she was quickly starting to despise. "I don't want you to scratch the rims. Why doesn't my little bunny just hop in the back? One of my guys is going to ride shot gun."
The smile left her face immediately. Trent had done two things wrong; he called her "Bunny" and all but mocked her intelligence. "I can't even begin to tell you how so not your little bunny I am right now." She shook her head, glancing towards the sky in disgust as her feet already began walking her away from the newest ex-boyfriend. 'Bunny!?' she didn't know whether to laugh, or pummel him.
'I could drive circles around him with my eyes closed!' Hell, Mikaela could pick his little toy apart and put it back together with the snap of her fingers, Trent probably couldn't even change his own damn oil even if he had a manual. It was pathetic. 'I'm pathetic for even being with him in the first place.' She thought bitterly.
Bumblebee knew opportunity when he saw it, and this was it. 'You wanted a chance? Here it is kid.' He thought shifting through the broadcasting stations.
Sam was hopelessly watching the girl walk away when The Cars began to stream through the radio, softly singing Drive, and he knew. He just knew that this was his chance. "Get out of the car." He demanded, throwing his own body into the driver's seat.
Miles, utterly confused and aghast announced his disagreement. "Dude, bro's before hos!" he did not want to walk home. "Besides she's an evil jock concubine!" Sam would be better off with a lower maintenance girl by far.
"This is my chance, and she lives ten miles away. I'm not making her walk!" Here and now might be the only chance he ever got and Sam would be damned if he let it get away.
"We can put her in the back!" Miles protested waving his hands angrily. 'This is so not cool.'
"I'm not putting her in the back, so get out!" It was blasphemy to even think about it. Sam tried not to feel badly at the disappointed look his friend was giving him when he drove after the girl he'd been crushing on since first grade.
The beat up old Camaro pulled up beside her, the engine thundering loudly. "Mikaela, need a ride?" Sam offered hopefully, bowing his head to get a good look at her. 'Those hips...' He thought feeling flustered. "Wouldn't want you to get stranded or anything…Can I ride you home—I mean give you a ride home in my car!" he cursed himself for fluming things up so badly. 'God she probably thinks you're a creep.'
Mikaela, unamused at first figured she should take the offer or suffer from massively hurting feet the next day. 'How bad could it be?' she asked herself, sliding into the passenger seat.
"So…uh…" Sam supplied a topic of conversation as eloquently as he ever did. The silence was killing him.
"I cannot believe I'm here right now." The tanned teenager girl complained, brushing some hair from her face as she stared out the window.
Sam looked around, ignoring the slight stab her words sent through him. "You can duck down, it won't hurt my feelings." That was lie, but he would be happy for whatever time he could spend with her.
"Oh, no! I didn't mean like here with you, I just meant in this situation. The same situation I always find myself in." Mikaela interjected quickly trying to patch up her mistake.
The awkward boy behind the wheel nodded listening intently; savoring the fact that for once in his life she was giving him the time of day. 'This is a dream come true!' he nearly squealed like a teenage girl.
"I guess I just have a weakness for hot guys with tight abs and big, strong arms." She sighed, wondering why she just couldn't stop talking. Maybe it was because for once it felt as if someone was actually listening.
In an attempt to draw her eyes to his arm, even if it wasn't as beefy as Trent's, Sam pointed out the light at the top of the cabin. "Got some new additions I just put up in here, like that light." Sam strained the muscles in his arm. "And that mirror ball, so you know the light hits it and stuff."
Mikaela arched a brow, not sure what was up with his odd behavior. "Uh-huh…are you new to the school this year?" she smiled encouragingly, doing her best to be friendly.
Sam shook his head. "No…we've been in the same school since first grade."
"Do we have any classes together?" A crease formed between her brows.
Almost all of them, but he refrained from mentioning it. "Uh, well…there's math, history, language, arts…and science."
"Sam! Sam Willkicky." Mikaela cried, pointed a manicured finger at him proudly.
"Wit-Witwicky." He corrected, chuckling nervously. 'Why do people always get that wrong?'
"Oh. I'm Sorry…I just didn't recognize you." Mikaela flinched slightly. 'Stupid…of course he looks familiar, because he IS.' She remembered his family report from school just a few days ago in a moment of clarity.
Deciding that the spot up ahead was the perfect place to give them a bit more time together, Bumblebee sputtered and stalled, slowing to a stop as his radio began playing Sexual Healing.
"Oh no, no-no!" Sam panicked, fumbling with the keys as he tried to explain himself to the girl who was currently looking at him with annoyance. "This is not what you think, I wouldn't pull something like this on you, because this is a romantic thing, and we're not you know…romantic. Well, we could be! But this is just an old radio you know!" he rambled sporadically, sweat beading at his brow. 'This is exactly what I asked NOT to happen!'
'Maybe it just wasn't the right song?' The Autobot mused to himself, flipping through a few more frequencies. That only seemed to make Sam angrier because he began kicking the dashboard, which wasn't really comfortable. 'Fine, fine…you're on your own! So much for being helpful..'
"Uh-huh, right, of course not." Mikaela rolled her eyes and pulled her long black hair up. "Pop the hood." She demanded, leaving the car. 'Not like you're the first guy to try something like this.' Not By far.
She was really surprised to see how clean the engine compartment was. "Nice, A high rise double pump carburetor? Not bad at all Sam." It was impressive.
"Double pump?" Sam wondered cluelessly, he'd never even taken a look at the engine but it was admittedly awesome looking.
"It squirts the fuel in so you can go faster." Mikaela explained in layman's terms, patting a few of the cylinders inside. "Distributor caps a bit loose though." She mumbled, tightening it up.
"Oh." Sam's eyes lingered on the flat, smooth flesh of her stomach. "That's nice…I like to go faster." He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "So how do you know so much about cars?"
"My dad was a grease monkey…He taught me everything I know." Mikaela figured it was fine to tell him that much and leave it at that.
"I never pegged you for mechanical." Not even by a little, not with her body, not with the way she carried herself. 'But I like it.' It was hot.
Mikaela smiled something vaguely bitter in her expression. "I don't exactly broadcast it. Guys don't really go for girls who know more about cars then they do, especially not Trent. "
"I don't mind…I actually prefer for women to work on my engine." Sam's left eye flinched as the words flying out of his mouth caught up with his brain at last. 'Nice one.'
Mikaela nodded distantly, squinting into the setting sun. "Uh-huh, you want to start her up for me?"
'He.' Bumblebee corrected tersely, even if they couldn't hear him. 'It's HE.'
Unfortunately Sam had to keep talking, even as he made his way back to the ignition. "If Trent is such a jerk, why do you hang around him?" he really hadn't meant to strike a nerve in her but he did nonetheless.
Mikaela, sensing she was being judged decided that perhaps she should just leave well enough alone. She knew it was dumb, but more than anything she just wanted to fit in at school and the best way to have an easy time was to get in with the popular kids. You were either with them or against them, and she did not want to be against them. "You know what…I think I'll just walk thanks, and good luck with your car Sam." She sighed and started trekking down the hillside.
"Shit!" Sam banged his head on the steering wheel. "Come on, come on, please work!" he begged turning the ignition, looking towards the sky thankfully when the engine revved and the speakers came on. "Thank god!" He reached across the car and slammed the passenger door shut, before whirling the car around after her.
Smiling to herself, Mikaela couldn't help but admire his tenacity. Even if he was a bit of a dork, there was something endearing about him.
"Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that, it's not really my business." Sam wandered after her, inching the car along, his fingers gripping the steering wheel nervously. "Don't punish yourself by walking for something I did…I'll keep my mouth shut the rest of the ride, promise." His gray-green eyes were so earnest, so apologetic and unlike most of the guys she knew that Mikaela didn't have the heart to say no.
'And it's a long way home.' She added, sighing to herself as she settled back into the passenger seat.
Feeling pretty proud of himself, Bumblebee adopted a no interference rule for the rest of the ride. Allowing the radio to play itself as it liked, he left it to Sam not to run the girl off a second time.
Sam thankfully stuck to the safe topics, although he did break his promise not to talk at all. The silence had been nearly stifling, so no one really minded. The two human's idly chatted about school, teachers they didn't like, particularly juicy pieces of teenage gossip they both happened to be privy too.
By the time the sun had finally fallen, Sam had managed to make Mikaela laugh at least a handful of time much to the inflation of his pride. 'Not bad.' He patted himself on the back mentally as he rolled to a stop in front of the path leading up to the house she indicated as her own.
Feeling as though perhaps she had misjudged him, Mikaela smiled tentatively. "Thanks for the ride...I had fun." Surprisingly enough she meant it.
Sam could feel the goofy grin spreading across his face, and nodded in agreement. "Oh yea…You know, any time. Happy to help." He scratched the back of his neck feeling a bit out of his league.
Biting her bottom lip Mikaela paused upon exiting the Camaro, a look of confliction gracing the space between her brows. "You probably think I'm shallow for hanging out with Trent, don't you?" and maybe she was, but she'd spent most of her life worrying that someone would find out about her dirty little secret. Every day was just another day trying to fit in and not be noticed in the wrong way.
Startled by the question Sam's thoughts rattled around in his head, searching for the right words to say and before he knew it they were spewing out of his mouth. "No! I mean not, I just think…there's more to you than meets the eye." He resisted the urge to slam his head against the palm of his hand for coming off as some love struck guy in a chick flick. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid...'
Instead of seeming repulsed by his corny attachment, Mikaela smiled, the tiny twitch at the corner of her lips awing him. "I'll see you at school Sam. Again, thanks for the ride." She walked away, pausing to watch him from the top of the stoop leading up to the front door of the off white house she lived in to wave farewell. 'Not so bad at all.' She thought, disappearing into her home.
Sam lingered in street for a moment, astounded at his luck. It felt like something monumental had just changed within his life. It was everything he wanted. 'All thanks to this junky, glitch, fantastic car!' he nearly laughed, pressing his lips to the center of the steering wheel in pure gratitude. "I love my car!"
Maybe Bobby B hadn't been completely full of shit after all when he had yammered on about the mystical bond between a boy and his car.
When he finally arrived home Sam all but floated past his parents sitting on the couch, barely acknowledging them when they greeted him. "Teenagers…" Ron chuckled to himself patting his wife on the leg as she pouted, sipping her glass of red wine and stewing over how quickly children seemed to grow.
So, yea. Writing from a Transformers perspective; HARD. So hard, especially when they have to be mostly stationary. Hope I did it justice.
I'm actually super excited about writing this though. I think it's a real challenge. As for the sources cited so far, all that stuff about Bee's first few years on earth came from the movie comic but I shorthanded it...The relationship Bumblebee cites between himself and Arcee is reminiscent of the one they have in Transformers: Prime.
Okay so...just in case anyone is reading this, what do you think of live action Transformer's designs, versus other incarnations? Personally speaking, when comparing Transformers: Prime to the live action one's, the Prime versions make more sense to me. The live action ones have to many exposed bits for things to hook onto; it makes more sense for that stuff to be more covered to me. Also, Bee's voice in Prime...Fantastic. Just saying.
Actually, in general...I think Prime was the better version when it came to most things. Although, Optimus Prime's flames were pretty wicked despite the arguments of some people...At some point I absolutely intend to include the Decepticon doctor Knockout. Why? Because he's to fabulous not to!
Next chapter, is going to be like...Whoa.
Can you guess the Snooty Autobot Bee was talking about? Come on, venture a guess! ( I don't bite badly...)