I had been 18 for a little less than a week. It was Thursday the week after my birthday. Of course the guys and I had snuck out again. We stayed out until 2 in the morning, so I was tired. After homework, I decided to take a nap. I groaned when my godmother poked her head in the door and called "Eva, get up! There's something you've got to see!" I muttered under my breath about it being cruel and unusual punishment to wake a tired child like this, but stopped short when I saw the clock. It was 5:30. "How is it that late already?" I asked. I decided to forget about it and just got dressed. I wasn't supposed to meet the guys at the park until 6 anyways. I rolled out of bed. I yanked through my bed head, threw on a T-shirt and jeans and walked outside while shoving my iPod and cell phone into my pockets. My earbuds quickly joined them in the depths of my denim legwear.

I walked downstairs to see what Molly wanted. I found her in the front yard. "Hey honey!" She called from her spot next to her husband. Molly was about 3 inches shorter than Jim. Molly was probably an inch taller than me. Molly had bright green eyes and curly hair. She was a natural carrot top. Molly was slender and preferred to wear patterned long sleeve shirts and bootcut jeans. She was usually in heels, but they were only about and inch tall. Jim was usually in a polo and jeans. He had neat brown hair over his brown eyes.

I walked out to meet them. "What was so important?" I asked. "You got your inheritance!" Molly said happily. "What?" I asked. "Your parents left you something in their wills." Jim said. "First, they left you this." Jim said. He held his hand out, balled up into a fist. I skeptically put my open palm under his fist. He dropped a necklace into it. I inspected it closely. I considered chucking it in the garbage as soon as my godparents were gone, but decided it looked cool and put it on. "And this!" Molly said. Whatever it was, she was excited about it. Jim opened the garage door to reveal a dusty old tan van. "My mom's old car?" I asked. "All it needs is a good wash and a new paint job." Molly said.

They left to go back into the house, leaving me with my inheritance. I walked into the garage with the van. I wiped my finger across it. When I looked at my finger, it was completely brown. The spot where I'd wiped was at least 5 shades lighter than the rest of the dusty car. "I agree with the wash. This thing is filthy!" I thought aloud. "And ugly." I added. I could swear I saw the seatbelts inside twitch when I called it ugly. I disregarded that and moved away from its hood to the driver side door. "Not to mention it's size. This thing is a monster van!" I commented further. I saw the keys stuck in the door. I unlocked it and sat in the seat. It was actually pretty comfortable. And I liked the grip of the steering wheel. I noticed the logo in the center of the wheel. It was a red thing that looked like a face. "I've never seen a car dealer with that logo... Hm. This hunk of junk must be older than I thought."

I looked at the time. 5:45. "Crud! I'm gonna be late!" I jumped out of the car, locking it hastily. I shoved the keys into my back pocket and ran inside, hitting the garage door button as I went inside the house. The door shut behind me when the garage door was halfway closed.

I arrived at the park, and of course was the last one there. When we couldn't think of anything to do, I told them about my car that needed a wash and a paint job. They said it was a good idea and we went back to my house. I rolled the car out onto the driveway and got out the hose, soap, and buckets. By the end, I wasn't sure what was getting washed, us or the car. But I swear I heard that thing purr while I was scrubbing. Josh pulled paint and finish out of his shed at home. By the end of the day the van was actually presentable. We'd even cleaned out the interior of dust bunnies and put in the essentials; stock of water bottles in the trunk, map in the glove compartment, and of course, we'd put a pair of fuzzy dice in the review mirror. We were ready to drive the thing by the time we snuck out that night.

I sat at the steering wheel. I'd had my driver's license for a while, but by law you can't drive people under 18 until you're 18. Now I could finally drive us anywhere we wanted to go. Derrick was in the front. He had his iPod out. "Hey Josh, I got the new album. Wanna listen?" he asked as he looked over the back of the passenger seat. "Yeah!" Josh said. The album they were talking about was from their favorite band. Becky and I didn't care for the group. "Hey, Becky. Switch." Derrick said as he unbuckled. He flipped over the center console and landed on Josh's lap. We all started laughing and Josh pushed Derrick on the floor. Becky slid into the passenger seat with more dignity and buckled up. Derrick scrambled off the floor and buckled in as if nothing had happened.

We went to the arcade. We played DDR tournament style. Josh was against me and lost. Becky went against Derrick and lost. Derrick and I were in the middle of the finals. "It's time to close." The manager came up behind us and said. "Can we finish out tournament? This is the last song." Becky pleaded. "Fine, but then you have to go." the manager said. The two other workers that were there also in the arcade came over to watch us dance. I beat Derrick by 340 points. The manager showed us out with a smile on his face. He complimented my dancing before he turned and left in his little green car.

We decided to go back to the park. We chatted and walked around the familiar greenery. After half an hour, we decided it was time to go home. "You guys want a ride?" I asked. "Nah. We can walk." Josh said. Derrick and Becky nodded their agreement. We said our goodbyes and parted.

I walked down the path until I stepped off dirt trail and onto sidewalk. The van was just around the corner. I saw light flood around me from behind, so I glanced over my shoulder. It was a cop car. I turned my head around again and kept walking. The police car pulled right up to me and revved its engine. Only then did I take the time to look at it more carefully. The police logo wasn't a police logo at all. It looked like a pointed face. The slogan didn't make me feel any better. "To punish and enslave..." As if a weird cop car stalking you isn't bad enough, it cut me off by driving up onto the sidewalk.

Before I could even yell "Are you crazy?" The car started to split. Metal popped out and twisted in ways that shouldn't have been possible. In a matter of seconds, a giant black robot stood in front of me. It glared at me with bright red eyes. "Where is the shard?" It demanded of me. "Shard? What shard?" I yelled in reply, panic constricted my throat and made me squeak as he reached for me. I dodged out of the hand's way and sprinted for my van. I dove back into the park running through close knit trees. Can't fit in here, big guy! I thought. I glanced over my shoulder without stopping to find that statement utterly wrong. The cop car was back and picking its way through the miniature forest. I stepped up the pace and sprinted out to the cover of the trees. I jammed the keys in the lock, dove in and shoved the keys in the ignition. I slammed on the gas and sped away just as the cop car emerged from the trees. Adrenaline pumped through me as I held the steering wheel in a death grip and had the gas pedal down to the floor. I made turns I didn't think possible and lost the creepy car in a matter of minutes. I stopped the car in an alley.

Out of breath and heart pounding, I sat there and collected my sanity again. After a minute I breathed "I didn't know I could drive like that!" "That's because you can't, honey." I jumped about a foot in the air, or at least I would have if the roof didn't get in my way. I landed back in the seat and instantly clutched my sore skull. "That had to hurt." said the same voice that had made my jump in the first place. It seemed to come from all sides. "Who said that?" I asked, releasing my head and starting to freak out. "The car of course." The voice replied, he (at least it sounded like a he) said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "So then, if you're a car, how are you talking?" "I'm no ordinary car." "No shiz Sherlock! ...Wait a second... I'm talking to a car... And It's replying! I've gone crazy! That's just peachy!" "I assure you, I'm completely real. Here, step out of the car for a moment. I'd like to show you something." After that last statement, the door swung open of its own accord. I flinched back away from it. "Gah! That can't be normal!" I yelped. Suddenly, I felt something touching my back. I jumped away from it and squealed, ending up outside the car. The door shut as I asked "What was that?" "A seatbelt. Calm down." The voice said. Now that I was outside, the voice wasn't surrounding me. It was definitely coming from the car.

"Ok, watch this. And don't freak out." the voice said. The van spilt in a fashion similar to the cop car. A giant tan robot ended up kneeling in front of me. His eyes glowed a soft blue as he looked down to me. "I assume explanations are in order?" he said. "Yah think?" "Alright, don't get hysterical. I'm Jumpstart. I'm an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron." "What a mouthful." "And that's why we've got a shortened name too: Autobots." "We? There's more?" "Very few, but yes." "Why are you here?" "That's a long story, which we will save for tomorrow." "But-" "No buts. Even I can tell that you're tired. Adrenaline rush is finally wearing off, am I right? I'll still be here tomorrow, as will you if I have anything to say about it. Let's get you back home." I was too tired to argue.

He folded back into his car mode. The door swung open and I slipped into the driver's seat. The door shut and the seat belt snaked over me. I flinched away from it as it clicked into place. "What?" Jumpstart asked. "Sorry, I'm just not used to seatbelts moving themselves." I replied. "You'll get used to it." Jumpstart said as he took off and headed for home. For a minute, I just stared at the wheel in front of me. It twisted all on its own. Then I took a second to actually think about my surroundings, and it got awkward. "Am I even allowed to touch the wheel anymore? Am I allowed to touch anything for that matter?" I asked of the Autobot. "Why is it so different now? You drove me before." "Yeah. Before I knew you were alive." "Yes. You can touch stuff. Jeez, just because I'm a giant robot, doesn't mean I'm a god."

At this point, I didn't really know what to make of Jumpstart. Whatever he was, he was obviously on my side. I leaned back in the seat and idly wondered if I'd wake up tomorrow and find out this was all a dream. Doubtful. This was way too real.

We reached my house at this point. Jumpstart parked in the driveway and opened his door. "Gee, now I feel bad leaving you out here." I told the van. "I'll be fine. Go back to bed." Jumpstart said. I smiled and said "Goodnight." "Goodnight." he replied.

I climbed back up the tree and into my window, using the key strung around my neck on the lock. I paused only long enough to hide the key and put on PJs. Screw brushing my teeth. I'm too tired. I thought with a yawn. I climbed back into bed and fell asleep instantly.