"Kayla! Breakfast!" yelled a voice.
The girl in question called back, "Be right down!"
Although she would've loved to just lie in bed, the girl called Kayla stayed true to her words and slowly slid out of bed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as her bare feet hit the soft, gray carpet; carefully making her way towards the window, shielded by white curtains. Pushing the "shield" back, she ran her hand across the pane, clicked the lock, and opened the small, glass door. A smile came across her face as she reveled in the wide variety of sounds that came forth from the outside world; birds chirping, trees rustling, little kids playing, air blowing. The wind whipped through her long, red hair, and she knew it was going to be a great day.
Content with the summer morning's activity, Kayla made her way back to her bed, holding her hand out to the side. As she passed her nightstand, she used her outstretched hand to flick on the radio that was on the stand. She hummed the tune that came forth from it as she straightened the white, cotton covers; feeling them once or twice with her fingertips. Next, came clothes. She threw off her black sweat pants and red T-shirt in exchange for the black belt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and aqua blue T-shirt hanging neatly on her desk chair. But she made sure to put her pajamas in the hamper out in the hall closet. Her room was always neat. She couldn't afford to have anything on the floor, nor did she need a mirror to give her hair a quick brush.
Turning off the radio, she scampered downstairs, knowing exactly how many steps there were from continuous repeats of the morning routine. The red-haired girl then took a whiff of the oncoming breakfast; fried eggs, bacon, French toast, and coffee. The caffeinated drink was more likely for Mom; she preferred the tangy snap of orange juice. She also heard the clang of dishes being washed as she entered the kitchen.
A framed picture of a brown-haired man in his 30's, wearing army attire, stood proudly next to the sink. The woman, sporting short, red hair; washing a dish, stared forlornly at the photo, and sighed, "Well, her 17th birthday's come n' gone…she's grown up so much…and she's pretty darn brave, that's for sure…don't know if that's a good thing or not…"
"Mornin', Mom", Kayla greeted as she found a chair and sat down at the table.
Said mother jumped, not noticing her daughter's entrance, "Oh, hey honey; got breakfast for ya'." She placed the meal in front of her teen look-a-like and put the fork on the right side of the plate, like always. As soon as Kayla picked up the fork, however, she shifted it to her left hand and dug in; being ambidextrous, it didn't matter what hand she used. Her mom proceeded to turn on the nearby TV. Kayla didn't look up from her plate, but heard the remote hit the table and slide near her. The news appeared on screen and the two women proceeded to listen.
"In recent news, the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons were at it again in this scene from just a few nights ago", the reporter announced. As told, the broadcast switched to footage of a power plant, with the 'Bots and 'Cons generally going at it. The announcer continued, "The 'Cons had attacked 'TFRID Industries' in the hopes of gaining a hefty supply of energon, but thanks to the 'Bots heroism, the 'Cons retreated, and no one was seriously injured. With a jump start from our heroes, the plant has now finished being rebuilt."
"Thank God", Kayla's mom replied, "Can't those robots take their fight elsewhere?"
"Awww, come on", Kayla said in the 'Bots defense, "The Autobots don't mean to wreck the place, it's the 'Cons that want to. Besides, if it weren't for the 'Bots, we all probably wouldn't be here."
Her mom furrowed her eyebrows in thought, "Got a point there. At least none of them have shown up around here."
Kayla nodded her head, though truthfully, she often daydreamed of meeting her Cybertronian heroes. Her mom left the kitchen, and by that time, the news had shifted to something else. With a bored movement, she found the discarded remote and lazily flipped channels as she finished up her breakfast.
-Welcome to my life, as a teenage robot-
-back to the biography of Scatman Crothers-
-I'm your basic, average girl, and I'm here to save the world-
-This looks like a job for Superman!-
-Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto-
-to boldly go where no one's gone before-
-The monster! He's behind you!-
-gotta' see it to believe it-
-Thank you for bein' a friend-
-It's the inside that counts-
-Lucy! You've got some explaining to do!-
-Just get in the car, trust me-
Open your eyes and take in everything that you see Love, love, love, la-la love, la-la love
Look at all the colors-red, yellow, blue, and green
We can take airplanes and fly across the globe
Look down upon the colors, everyone come on, let's go
Because-
Makes the world go 'round
Love, love, love, la-la love, la-la love
Makes the world go 'round
Kayla had landed on Powerpuff Girls, and her favorite moment of the show was on! With breakfast long gone, she tapped to the beat of the song on the kitchen table, mimicking Bubbles on the drums. The teen raised her voice even louder when her favorite stanza rolled from the TV.
Open your ears and listen what the world has to say
Hear the birds and bells and you will have a brighter day
Everyone has a special song deep inside their heart
And if you want, you can sing with us, it's a perfect place to start
Blossom and Buttercup then hit the electric and bass guitar and Kayla strummed right along with them…or as best she could in the air. The drums, the guitars, the beat; she couldn't get enough. But when the last notes of the song died away, it made her remember the importance of the day. Figuring her mother heard all the singing, she called out, "Hey Mom, that reminds me; I'm heading into town today; gotta' see if 'Old Reliable' is done yet."
Kayla headed towards the front door, but her mom rushed down the steps and stopped her, "Honey, wait. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Her daughter let out a sigh of frustration, "I'll be fine…but you know, you might feel better about it if you drove me…"
The distressed mother stood stiff as a cold shiver went down her spine. Trying to find her voice, she managed out, "Kayla…I. Don't. Drive…and you know why…"
The teen sighed again as she reached for a white cane leaning by the door, as always, "Look, just…don't worry about me, alright? I've done this, like, a billion times. I'm just goin' to the store; it's not that far." She then opened the door and the hot rays of the sun caressed her face. Despite the brightness not bothering her, she reached in her pocket and slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses to hide her extremely pale, blue eyes, "Besides, what's there to be scared of? I'll be back around noon, okay?"
Kissing her mom goodbye, Kayla strode off down the sidewalk; back straight, chin up; just like dad showed her. Sure, the tapping cane would signal people, but good posture would hopefully tell the populace to not take pity on her. She could handle things herself.
And besides, since when should one be ashamed of themselves for being blind?
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AN: And so enters my OC, Kayla. What's this "Old Reliable" she's talking about? You'll just have to stay tuned... Oh, and that little part with the channel flips is my way of foreshadowing a bit...*tapes mouth shut* And did ya' catch the two inside jokes there? What do ya' think the letters in TFRID Industries stand for? And what actor was in the channel flips?