Sadly we weren't all able to stay together after that. The Autobots split up in order to minimise the chance of being detected by either humans or rouge Decepticons. Optimus took Ratchet and Ironhide and went with their new military team in order to perform cooperative missions, forming the very first human-Autobot alliance. They worked together to keep the world safe and hunted down all Decepticons they could find, taking them all over the world. Of course, Bumblebee stayed with Sam to continue as his guardian and Jazz volunteered to stay with me.
At first I was worried that this would cause a problem as I understood him to be Optimus's second in command, however Optimus advised that I accept their protection. He didn't have to say but I could tell that he was worried about me. We still didn't know much about what was going to happen to me now that I was a walking catalyst of human and alien DNA. With Prime's energon and spark energy kicking around inside me, he wanted someone close by to keep an eye on me and make sure I was safe and who better than my own guardian? Jazz and I got along great so it was a no brainer and I was actually really glad I wasn't left behind. It was easy to fit Jazz in at my home and my parents didn't even bat an eyelid as they walked past a new Porsche. They didn't even ask me where it came from. They just walked in and demanded to know why I had dismissed the nurse they had employed.
I then sat through the entire lecture of being ungrateful and not knowing what was best for me since I was still an ignorant child all the while Jazz listened outside. My parents lectured me for a solid twenty minutes until my father got a call from work and interrupted himself to take it and after that, my mom lost interest so I grabbed my bag and study materials, hurried out the door and jumped into Jazz so that we could escape. "Those are your parents?"
"Yup, that's them. Now you can see why Optimus is like a premium upgrade in comparison. They don't really care about what happens to me. I once fell out a tree and broke my collarbone but neither of them noticed. One of the maids had to take me to hospital because they were busy." Jazz was silent for a moment before snorting.
"Humans are strange." With that we escaped and I camped out with him, reading and studying for my finals with some tunes in the background. Life became pretty normal, even with the alien presence around. Some government officials came by a day or so after I recovered and made me sign a contract of discretion which basically meant if I breathed a word about anything that had happened, they would sue me blind and I'd be arrested with a life sentence of imprisonment. I was fine with signing it, it's not like I'm going to sell out the Autobots and their secrets anyway, they were like family now.
Ratchet checked in every day, wanting to know of any changes and Jazz scanned me for him and sent over the information each day which thereby kept Optimus informed. I even had my own radio link to talk with them whenever I wanted. It was like an earpiece which hooked over my ear and I could communicate with them whenever I wanted. Most days Optimus radioed in just to ask how I was and make sure I was being well taken care of, but after that, we ended up talking quite casually. He took an interest in my daily activities and seemed particularly intrigued by my school life. I guess such a concept would be fascinating to an autobot who probably didn't even have schools like we do back on Cybertron.
To say school was different was an understatement. After literally going through hell in Mission City, I took on a new attitude to life, which was the fact that you had to live in the moment and enjoy as much of it as you could. I got permanent streaks in my hair, the different colours standing out boldly and to make the colours work better, I'd dyed the rest of it a rich chocolate brown. I wore different style clothing every day, never wearing the same thing twice and some days, I looked pretty hot. Enough so to draw the attention of people around me. One time, Michaela had come over to my place for a slumber party and had insisted on picking out my outfit for school.
She'd ending up choosing a pair of ripped skinny jeans, a black crop top with long fishnet sleeves, a pair of black stiletto heels and made me let her do my makeup. Unfortunately, that meant no glitter or bright crazy colours however Michaela did bend a little and let me take my hot pink furry backpack and I added a touch of glitter at the corner of my eyes. What can I say? If I don't sparkle then I'm not me. Needless to say when I'd walked in that day beside Michaela who always looked like a Runway model, more than a few heads turned.
The entire school was talking about the fact that Michaela was now dating Sam Witwicky. Sam Witwicky, the weirdo, the nerd, the one no one really knew about, the guy who sucked at sports and had zero socialising skills to speak of. It flummoxed everybody but to her credit, Michaela never backed down or backtracked, she stuck with him and held her head up high with pride. High school was hard enough without the jocks and bullies making it worse and I seemed to spend most of my time defending Sam from them, especially Trent. He made it almost impossible to eat lunch in peace so eventually the three of us simply head out to eat, though when he started following us, it became even more annoying.
"Seriously? This guy just doesn't seem to take a hint." I exhaled as I looked in the rear view mirror to see Trent and his big flashy truck following behind us. Of course usually I rode with Jazz, however we had already arranged to switch cars today in order to lose him, which meant I was with Bee whilst Sam and Michaela took Jazz. We were together so often anyway, it hardly made a difference which guardian was with which human. "You ready for some kickass driving Bee?"
"Ready and waiting." He responded with an edge of anticipation to his voice, making me laugh before I kicked up the gears and hit the gas. I jerked to the right, peeling away from Jazz and instantly Trent took the bait, following after me which left Sam and Michaela in the clear. Bumblebee and I expertly manoeuvred our way through the traffic, increasing our speed to overtake with Trent struggling to get his larger car through.
"Aw come on, this isn't any fun if the person chasing us sucks at driving. I almost miss being chased down by Decepticons, at least they knew how to keep you on your toes." The radio beeped and whirred in answer and I chuckled in response, patting the dashboard affectionately. "Don't worry Bumblebee, those days are well behind us so don't be alarmed." The radio flickered through a few stations before finally landing in an adrenaline pumping song, perfect for a highway chase. We taunted Trent for a while, taking him all the way into town and turning a few tight corners, doubling back and going around him so that each time he stopped with a puzzled look on his face, we would streak out of hiding and he'd chase after the bright yellow of Bee's paintwork like a bull made to charge.
After I was certain that we'd solidly gotten Trent off of Sam and Michaela's trail, I pulled in at a rest stop and had Bee switch off to cool down for a while. This heat was bad enough, I didn't want him getting exhausted by it. A few seconds later Trent screeched to a halt then reversed, blocking the entrance way with his car before he came storming out, slamming the car door. "Remember Bee, don't do anything a normal car wouldn't do, alright? Stay out of sight no matter what happens."
"Rodger that." Bee blipped before going totally silent. Getting out the car I turned around to face Trent, a knowing smirk on my face as he stopped short and stared at me.
"Any reason why you've been tailing me all across town? You know, stalking isn't legal and it's downright creepy Trent. Maybe you should go get your head examined, too many blows to the head can make you do weird things and to be honest, you've taken far too many in that stupid ball game of yours."
"It's called football you dumbass." He retorted snappily as he closed the distance between us and looked down on me with his huge folded arms in an attempt to intimidate me. You know, after facing down several giant alien robots that wanted to blow me to pieces, Trent just didn't seem that scary anymore. In fact, he looked miniscule to me. "Where are they? I know you know so you might as well tell me."
"Tsk, a girl never tells. Too bad for you, looks like you lose today. Maybe next time you won't be so gullible, I mean come on. Did you really expect them to just parade around in a bright yellow car forever just to make it easier for you to follow them? Maybe I should just report you to the principal, this has to be harassment." I wasn't too sure about how this conversation was going to end but I was doing my best not to goad Trent too much and end this peacefully, though I still suck at controlling my sarcasm and that seemed to be my downfall.
Trent snarled and hammered a fist down on top of Bee's roof, causing me to suddenly grow incredibly quiet and cold inside. A surge of protectiveness flared up inside me as Trent continued to spout off threats and insults, practically spitting in my face however when he went to strike Bumblebee again my hand jerked forwards and punched him in the throat, causing him to choke and fall to his knees, turning a deep purplish red. "Don't ever hurt my car again." I don't what came over me, I mean this wasn't even my car, but I still felt fiercely defensive and overprotective as this wasn't just any car. This was Bumblebee and I considered him a friend. I don't take kindly to people hitting my friends, metal or not.
I left Trent recovering his breath at the rest stop, climbing back into the seat and drove away with a large satisfaction in the knowledge that I'd just taken out one of the most feared guys at our school. Small victories were the best though I was a little disappointed that no one except Bumblebee had witnessed my triumph. "You okay Bee? He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, I didn't even feel a thing. Don't worry about me in cases like that, Helen, you should worry only about yourself and your own safety. Since Optimus placed both you, Sam and Michaela under our protection, it is my duty to always ensure your safety." He said to me however when he tried to talk more his voice guttered out so he switched to the radio and I listened to snippets of voices and songs, piecing together his words and carried on conversing like that. Similarly to Jazz I found it easy to talk with Bumblebee. The two were very different but I could relax in their company. Whereas Jazz made me laugh and smile, with Bee I felt safe and secure, like I could close my eyes and I knew I wouldn't have to worry about anything because he'd be there with me.
This was my family now and I was proud of it. Those last days at high school came and went in a blur, the weeks passing by until it was prom and I went with Sam and Michaela though I refused all the guys who asked me to go with them. I wasn't much for tradition, so of course I showed up in a dress with a heart shaped neckline, flared skirt of neon coloured tulle built up in layers with a longer train at the back and a large petticoat underneath just to make it flare more. I had glitter and sequin gems all down my arms, my shoulders, up my neck and crowning my face with intense colourful makeup of all the colours of the rainbow, my hair done up in a bun with fairy lights. I wanted to be as wild and whacky as I could and when I entered the hall and stood on the stairs to descend inside, everybody turned and applauded my entrance like I was some celebrity.
It's funny, the clothes that people had once ridiculed me for made me popular in the end, one of the most popular and well known girls in the school. Everybody knew who I was, some even tried to copy me however nobody could pull of the looks I went for quite like I could. To me there were no limits and as I descended the stairs in my highest platform boots and my hair twinkling with little glowing lights I stuck my middle finger up at everyone, earning a chorus of laughter. People had expected me to show up in something unorthodox and I did not disappoint. Everybody wanted their picture taken with me until I became something of an idol.
In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I only bought one photo, however. The one where Sam, Michaela and I stood together and stood under the archway with our graduating year painted upon the banner with cheap balloons and confetti flying everywhere. I didn't really stay long at prom, it wasn't really my thing but I stayed long enough to enjoy a few dances with my friends, witness one of the popular cheerleader bitches and her jock boyfriend be named prom king and queen, had a couple of drinks of alcoholic punch which some of the other students had kindly arranged for us, sneaking in the alcohol and pouring it in without the teachers seeing, then left.
Sam and Michaela stayed longer, spending the rest of prom together and I didn't like to be a third wheel in their relationship, I'd come to terms with the fact that I now had to share my best friend and actually, it usually ended up with me having to share Michaela with Sam. I don't know how, but we'd become really good friends. Better friends than I'd ever thought and when I found out that Michaela liked the same foods as me as well as music, cars and even liked the same movies, we just hit it off and didn't stop there.
"What a beautiful night, am I right Jazz-man?" I giggled as I tottered over to him, a little light headed and giddy from the drink which also made me a little clumsy, evident with how I practically crashed into him. "Wow, what a night. I mean, whoever thought that I would actually have fun at something like that, I can't even dance!"
"What's up with you? You're acting all weird cherry."
"M'okay, just a little tipsy." I whispered to him loudly as I tugged off my shoes and groaned. "Ugh! Why do I put myself through this torture? I mean, sure my shoes are gorgeous but they hurt a lot! Anyway Jazzy, do you mind taking me for a drive? I wanna clear my head a bit and I don't wanna go home." I asked him as I practically fell into the car, a mass of tulle and ruffles which I patted down until I was comfortable.
"Where too 'lil cherry? Anywhere?" I hummed in agreement, gazing out the window with my chin on my palm. Jazz started up his engines and we glided out of the school car park and away into the night. The air did me good and soon enough I was able to think clearly and walk in a straight line. I was glad that Jazz had brought me to my special place overlooking the town which was outlined with the bright moon, turning the buildings into polished glass. "How you feeling now? That world web of yours says that human adolescents such as yourself sometimes get intoxicated at social events. You're not gonna start throwing up in my interior are you?"
"Don't worry about that Jazz, I'm not drunk. I feel fine." I assured him as I got out then climbed up onto the hood so that I could lay back against him and gaze up at the sky. "Hey Jazz, do you miss your home?"
"Don't really think about it much. There's not much use in missing something you can't have, I like to focus on the here and now. You planet is pretty cool, it's got things we never even thought about before, and I totally dig the music." I chuckled softly, smiling at his enthusiasm for our urban culture. "Why you ask?"
"No reason. It's just that I have a memory of a place that isn't my home, but I can still feel myself yearning for it. Missing it. I guess it's just to do with the bond thing, I still haven't got used to that." Instinctively my hand rose up and rested over my chest, feeling that now familiar warmth there as it thrummed against my fingertips. "Sometimes it's like he's standing right here next to me, other times it's like he's as far away as can be. I miss him. I worry about him. I'm starting to feel connected to him on a whole new level. Hell, I think I even feel love towards him." Turning over onto my side I curled up slightly and placed my hand against the smooth glass of the windshield. "I'm guessing this is what it's like to have a dad you actually feel connected to. I don't know what it is with my parents, but it's like there not even there. I don't even particularly feel anything towards them, like they're just parts of my imagination which crop up occasionally." Pausing for a while I smiled weakly. "Sorry, you don't have to listen to me drone on and on. You can switch off any time you like."
"No need cherry. Sounds like you got a lot on your mind so lay it on me. Maybe it'll make you feel better. As for the boss, don't worry about him. Like I said before he's the best of us there is and he's not going to go down so easily. He'll be back before you know it and if you need his help at all, I know he'll come running. You might not get it now, but to him you're nothing less than his sparkling. That's a pretty serious thing you got going there."
"I know. I do understand. It's just I still have trouble believing it." I murmured before shivering a little. "It's getting cold so I'm coming inside. Heads up, girl in a massive tutu coming through."