Three Years Later
Valerie was just about to head out of her house when her phone beeped. She pulled it out of her pocket and read the text. It was from Shane. "Did u leave ur house yet?" he had asked.
She frowned, wondering why he would want to know that. She wasn't even late; she was headingn to one of the mini rally races that Shane and some other racers had set up, just like she had gotten into the habit of for the past three years. "No," she texted back. "Y?"
He responded in a second. "My navigator is sick, so he's not coming tonight," he answered. "Was wondering if u could bring someone to sub."
Valerie stared at her phone in disbelief for a few seconds. Shane wanted her to bring a navigator? Who did he think she was, a person who had friends galore? She hadn't socialized much with the locals in Texas; her only friends were Shane, her navigator Deanna, a few other racers, Cade, and... Tessa.
She headed upstairs. "Hey, Tessa!" she called, still climbing the stairs.
Tessa opened the door and stuck her head out of her room. "Yeah?" she responded. "What's up?"
Valerie reached the top of the stairs and walked up to Tessa's door. "Are you doing anything tonight?" she asked. Tessa shook her head, and Valerie grinned. "Up for some action?"
Tessa raised an eyebrow. "What type of action?" she said warily, knowing what Valerie was capable of thinking up.
She shrugged. "Oh, just some car racing," she answered. "A friend of mine needed a navigator, and you came to mind. You in?"
Tessa jumped up. "Definitely," she agreed. "And not a word to Dad."
She nodded. "Not a word to Cade," she repeated. "Unless we want to end up skinned alive."
A few minutes late, the two of them were in Valerie's flashy BMW (she had junked her Honda about a year ago) and driving towards the location that Shane had given her for the race. Valerie was attempting to explain the modifications that their group had made to rally racing.
"Basically it's a regular race, you know, each car for itself," she was saying. "But we have some elements from the rally-race: it's a long and dangerous track, and the drivers can't practice on it. The navigator is the one who tells the driver what's coming next on the course."
Tessa nodded. "Ok, I think I got that," she said, sounding a little nervous.
Valerie rolled her eyes at Tessa's tone. "You'll be fine," he reassured her. "Remember three years ago when you told me how to get to Ben's house? You gave me such good directions that I didn't get lost once. Being the navigator in rally racing is basically the same thing, except you can die if the driver is going at the wrong speed on a turn." Tessa gave her a look that told her that she wasn't being very helpful.
Thinking about her first days in Texas reminded Valerie of how much she had changed since she had first driven up to the Yeager's farm. She had gotten used to living in the middle of nowhere. She had raced a lot more and had the reputation of always being in the top three finishers for every race. From racing, she had gotten a lot of friends and, when she decided to bet on the winner, a lot of money.
He ties with Cade and Tessa had strengthened, too. Valerie helped out Cade in his barn a lot and had even helped him with a few of his inventions; the robotic dog at the door recognized people twenty five percent of the time, and the machine that brought beer to you moved about six feet before breaking down. It didn't seem like much, but it was better than it had been when it started. Valerie and Tessa had formed a sisterly relationship; whenever Tessa had a problem, she talked it over with Valerie, who did her best to try to help.
Despite her new life, Valerie still missed the Autobots. She would do anything to see one of them or sense a piece of Transformium besides the one that she still carried in her pocket. If she just had a reminder that they were actually real... any reminder, even if it was Megatron. She could deal with Megatron, but being alone was something else.
After about half an hour, Valerie and Tessa reached the track. It was a windy road that curved sharply around hills. Valerie frowned, knowing that the course was going to be tricky. It didn't help that it had rained earlier in the day, so the road was going to be a little slippery. Well, if Valerie would have trouble, so would everyone else.
"Who's the newbie?" a voice asked as Valerie and Tessa climbed out of the BMW. Valerie turned to see Deanna standing there with a grin on her face.
Valerie pulled her into a quick hug. "Tessa," she answered. "She's subbing for Shane's navigator."
Deanna raised an eyebrow. "You must be pretty good for Shane to ask for you," she commented.
"He didn't," Valerie corrected. "He told me to get someone for him, so I picked Tessa." Valerie smirked. "Honestly, if we haven't been friends for three years, D, I would take Tessa over you."
Before Deanna could retort, Shane walked up to them. "Hey, Val!" he shouted, and the three girls turned to him. "Did you get me a..." He trailed off when he saw Tessa. "...navigator," he finished, sounding shocked. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds. Valerie's gaze went from Shane to Tessa before cracking up, breaking the spell and causing both of them to turn red. "Who's this?" Shane finally asked, trying to move off of the awkward moment.
Valerie answered. "Tessa," she told Shane. "She's the best navigator there is."
Shane raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "How many races has she been in?"
"I'm sorry," Tessa interrupted with an annoyed tone in her voice. "I didn't know that I had to have a racing background."
After hearing what Tessa had said, Shane turned to Valerie incredulously. "You're giving me a newbie?" he demanded. "A newbie? Seriously, Val. I thought you knew better than that."
Tessa crossed her arms and glared at Shane. "Oh, so now nobody wants me because I haven't been in a race?" she challenged. "That's nice. I'm here doing you a favor, Irish Boy, so it's either me or you don't race."
It seemed like Shane was going to retort, but Valerie interrupted. "Okay, how about we all calm down here," she suggested. Both of them turned to her with almost identical glares on their faces. But Valerie had faced down Decepticons; two angry teens didn't bother her. "Shane, Tessa's good at giving directions, even though she hasn't raced before. You want her as a navigator. And she has a point- you don't have any other navigator to take her place."
For a few seconds, Shane was quiet, looking from Valerie to Tessa. Then he sighed. "Fine," he agreed unwillingly. "Fine. But if I lose because of her..."
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "And if you win?" she challenged. Shane didn't have an answer, and Valerie smirked. "C'mon, Deanna. Let's get ready for the race."
A few minutes later, Valerie's BMW was lined up next to Shane's new Chevrolet, the dream car that he had wanted. Shane and Tessa seemed to be having an argument in Shane's car, and Valerie watched with an amused expression. Deanna, sitting in the passenger seat of Valerie's car, raised an eyebrow. "You're just going to watch them argue?" she asked.
Valerie shrugged. "They're not toddlers," she answered. "They'll figure out a solution when the race starts and they have to depend on each other."
"Ready!" one of Valerie's new friends, Karen, shouted. Valerie, Shane, and the other three cars revved their engines. "Set!" Another tremendous roar of the engines. "GO!"
The cars took off, and Valerie and Shane instantly took the lead. "Sharp turn coming up in twenty yards!" Deanna warned, reading the course manual that she was holding. "To the right! It's about twenty-five degrees!"
Valerie grit her teeth as she slowed down, turning carefully so that she didn't skid off the edge. Behind her, she heard a screech of tires as Shane almost drove straight off the turn but braked and turned into the turn in time. She could picture Shane shouting at Tessa for being careless about giving him the directions.
Deanna spoke again. "Wide left turn, one hundred fifty degrees," she reported. "In twenty yards." Valerie made the turn with ease, barely slowing down. She assumed that Tessa had gotten better at giving directions, because Shane didn't drive straight off the road this time. It seemed like he and Tessa were getting used to each other, but there was no way that he could catch back up to Valerie after his near-catastrophe with the first turn.
A few turns later, Valerie was still in the lead, and Shane was wrestling for second place with a silver Hyundai. She wasn't sure if the other two cars had crashed or were just farther behind the three of them, but she didn't care. "Three-sixty turn!" Deanna shouted panickedly. "Coming up in fifty yards."
"What?" Valerie demanded. "What the hell is a three-sixty degree turn?"
Deanna's eyes widened, and she pointed ahead of them. "That!" she replied, fear clear in her voice.
Valerie turned to see what Deanna was talking about. There was a circle in the road ahead of them, but it wasn't easy; the road was extremely narrow and only barely had enough room for the width of one car. Also, on the side of the circle that was facing the outside of the hill, there weren't any rails.
Instantly, Valerie hit the brakes, slowing the car. When they reached the beginning of the circle, they were practically stopped. Valerie took a deep breath and glanced behind her. Shane and the Hyundai were still fighting for second place and nearing the three-sixty turn. But by the time they reached the circle, they would have to have someone in the lead, or else neither of them would get past the circle.
She started easing the car forward, moving forward slowly and making sure that she wasn't too close to the edge, which would result in her falling off the hill. Next to her, Deanna seemed to be petrified in terror, but Valerie was loving the thrill. Even though it wasn't the exact same thing as fighting Decepticons, it still got her heart beating and adrenaline rushing through her veins. Whenever she was in a dangerous racing situation, she felt alive; she could sense the smallest movement, knew where the other racers were, and was focused whole-heartedly on the race. No other thought invaded her mind, not even the ones of Optimus.
When Valerie was about halfway around the circle, Shane had entered the entrance of the circle. He had somehow gotten ahead of the Hyundai and was now easing his way around the circle at about the same speed as Valerie. She could tell that he was nervous about attempting the turn. Maybe it was because Tessa was in the car with him, since Valerie had never known Shane to take turns as cautiously as he was now.
Valerie reached the three quarter mark of the circle. "D, what's up after this turn?" Valerie asked.
Deanna didn't reply right away, and Valerie turned to see that Deanna was still scared. Valerie nudged Deanna, which seemed to cause her to pull it back together. Deanna glanced down at the booklet in her lap. "Forty five degree turn to the left," she said.
A few minutes later, Valerie was neck to neck with Shane. The finish line was in sight, and at that moment, it didn't seem like either one of them could pull ahead. Behind them, a blue Camaro had caught up and was trying to get ahead of both of them, but Valerie and Shane worked as a team to block the Camaro from getting in front of them; it was okay if one of them won, but it wasn't okay if somebody else did.
Valerie and Shane had just finished doing a tricky maneuver which involved driving horizontally when they crossed the finish line at the same time, the Camaro right behind them. Deanna let out a sigh of relief as Valerie pressed on the brakes, slowing the car. A little bit after the Camaro, the silver Hyundai that had been giving Shane some problems before crossed the line, and after him, a hunter green Mercedes that Valerie hadn't even known was on the course with them.
"Woo-hoo!" Deanna shouted, throwing her hands up in the air and letting out a whoop. She rolled down her window. "We beat you!"
Shane chuckled as he and Tessa climbed out of his car. Valerie and Shane walked up to each other and shook hands. "Good race, Dyson," Valerie said.
"Good race, Val," Shane agreed. He gestured to Tessa. "You made a good call with the navigator. She did good." Tessa seemed to glow at the comment.
Valerie smirked. "Told ya," she reminded him.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't rub it in, Val," he told her. "Just because you were right this one time-"
She interrupted. "One time?" she repeated incredulously. "One time? Seriously? How many times have I told you to watch your right side more while driving? The silver Hyundai almost got you there!"
It seemed like Shane was about to retort, but Tessa interrupted. "Hey, Val, bad news," she said. "Dad's wondering where we are."
Valerie groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "Shiiiiiit," she muttered.
Shane raised an eyebrow. "You came here without your parent's permission?" he asked.
The two girls ignored him. Valerie grabbed Tessa's wrist and pulled her towards her BMW. "Tell him we went to go see a movie," Valerie ordered Tessa. "Just the two of us. Make it clear that there weren't any boys there and that it was a harmless movie. A comedy or something." She climbed into the drivers seat of her car. "Shane, text me with the date of the next race."
She was about to take off when Shane knocked on the window of her door. She rolled down the window. "Bring Tessa for the next race," he told her. "I'd have her for my navigator any day." Valerie nodded and pulled away from Shane, heading at full speed back towards the Yeager's farm.
XXX
"Valerie!" Cade shouted from downstairs. "Someone's here to see you!"
Her head snapped up, turning away from the sketch of Optimus that she was drawing. Someone was here to see her? None of her friends would be dumb enough to come to the Yeager's house, because they would have to explain how they knew Valerie, and Valerie had clearly told them that Cade didn't approve of her racing. That left...
The Autobots.
Had they come to pick her up at last? She knew from watching the news every day that they hadn't stopped being hunted. So what had changed? Had they decided that she was safer with them, after all?
Valerie hurried down the stairs and into the living room, expecting to see Optimus in holoform standing there with Cade. But when she entered the room, there was a Spanish boy standing with his back to her. She felt a rush of disappointment; it wasn't the Autobots. It was just another Texan.
Cade noticed that she was there. "This young man here is visiting his grandparents that live fairly close, only a few houses away," he explained. Valerie scoffed; "a few houses away" in Texas speak was probably about a mile. "His grandparents sent him here since they knew that you're the same age as him." The Spanish boy turned around, and Valerie's jaw dropped open in recognition. "Valerie, meet..."
She finished for him. "Leo Spitz," she said.
Leo looked just as shocked as she was. "Valerie Hudson," he replied, an incredulous expression in his face. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the-"
"You know, let's take this conversation somewhere else," she suggested before he could blurt out "Autobots" and let Cade know that she wasn't who she claimed to be.
However, Cade looked at each of them suspiciously. "Do you two know each other?" he asked.
Valerie nodded. "He was the college roommate of my best friend," she answered. "We were introduced a few years ago." Cade nodded, still eyeing them suspiciously. Valerie grabbed Leo's wrist and pulled him out of the house and to the tree that was in the Yeager's yard. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You disappeared off the face of the Earth after Egypt. Did you even care about what happened in D.C. and Chicago?"
Leo held up his hands. "Whoa, slow down, girl," he said. "First of all, I did not 'disappear off the face of the Earth.' I was in San Francisco. Second of all, of course I care about what happened in Chicago! Just because I didn't want to stick around and get my ass shot at by alien robots doesn't mean that you guys aren't my friends!"
She raised an eyebrow. "So basically you're saying you're a coward who puts his life above loyalty," she stated. For a second, Leo stared at her, considering her accusation. Then he nodded, even though he seemed ashamed. Valerie sighed. "That took some guts to admit that, Leo. I guess you're not too bad after all."
Two Years Later
"Watch out!" Leo shouted to the actors onscreen as the vampire snuck up behind them and started attacking them. The actors let out shrieks of pain as the vampire bit them, and Leo threw up his hands in exasperation. "People need to learn how to look for danger!"
Valerie rolled her eyes. "It's a dumb movie, Leo," she said as she took a handful of the microwave popcorn that she and Leo were sharing. "I don't see why you want to watch these black-and-white horror movies. They're corny." Leo didn't respond, causing Valerie to roll her eyes again. She turned her attention back to the screen, where the vampire had just finished drinking the blood of a young woman.
Over the last two years, Valerie and Leo had grown closer and closer. To Valerie, Leo was her link to the Autobots; he had shared some experiences with her. Her memories of the Autobots stayed alive through him. He came to her in a time that she had felt that there was no way that the Autobots could have been real and that they were just her imagination. They were now best friends and spent most of their time together.
Now, they were at Leo's grandparents' house, watching an old vampire horror movie. It was probably the last time that Valerie would ever see him, since he was leaving Texas the next day. Valerie was dreading the day; once he left, her link to the Autobots would be gone, and without his class clown personality, she doubted that life would have much humor in it.
On a completely different note, Shane had become a professional race car driver and drove in rally races. Tessa was his navigator, even though Cade still knew nothing of it. The two of them had started dating a few months after they first met, and seeing them together reminded Valerie of how she and Optimus had been. It had been five long years since she had seen him last, and he hadn't even bothered to contact her through the Autobot symbol necklace that he had given her before she left Chicago.
Leo rolled his eyes at her. "Man, Valerie, you need to do things for fun for once." Then he grinned. "Hey, remember TheRealEffingDeal-dot-com? We should start something like that up again."
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "You really think I want to be part of a low-budget pathetic website?" she asked skeptically.
He glared. "Yo," he said. "Don't insult the website, dude." Valerie laughed.
There was a horrible shriek from the TV, and Valerie winced as the vampire attacked the small town. Then she tensed. The sounds from the movie covered it up, but Valerie could hear a muffled, weak voice coming from her Autobot symbol necklace.
"Calling all... Calling all Autobots."
It was Optimus.