To the several reviewers who have been wondering what happened to Thundercracker and Skywarp: their fates will be explained, but not for another few chapters. I will say now that Thundercracker will come into the storyline as a semi-important character. But more on that later.
Big thanks to my readers who left me some love last chapter.
Chapter Ten: Stand Up
Starfall sat at the kitchenette table of his family's domicile, quietly staring into the bottom of his morning cube of energon. A good amount of energon still filled the cube but Starfall couldn't bring himself to drink it. What he had managed to drink had been tasteless and sat heavily in the bottom of his fuel tank. Starfall knew he should drink more - that he would be low on energy and hungry by the time he came back home later that evening - but no matter how much he tried he couldn't bring himself to bring the rim of the cube up to his mouth to drink. Just the thought of drinking anymore of the thick glowing liquid made him feel nauseous.
Starfall glanced at the chronometer in the main living area. It was almost time to leave. Starfall estimated he had only a few more klicks before Optimus announced it was time to go. A wave of resigned despair washed over him.
It had been exactly three deca-cycles since Starfall begun school at District 11's Academy of Advanced Primary Education. Starfall was continually amazed at how much longer it felt than the three deca-cycles it had actually been. To Starfall it felt like he had been there at least three stellar cycles now. Each day since starting school played out exactly the same way. Every morning Optimus would drive him to the academy and drop him off in the transformation lot. Starfall would walk to his home classroom - all the while trying to ignore the sudden hush of voices and pointed stares of other students as he walked through the halls before murmured whispers would fill the silence as soon as Starfall walked past. He would sit in his assigned seat next to Convoy and try to ignore the pointed silence from his foreign tablemate. Since his first day Starfall had not tried to engage Convoy in conversation again. The rest of the school day would pass in a slow blur. He would listen attentively to the instructors and do his assignments and take notes, but it was the small breaks in between classes when sparklings would turn and talk to their friends and laugh and joke about the newest episodes of their favorite tele-consol show they'd seen the night before that Starfall dreaded the most. As if by unspoken consensus, none of the other sparklings ever turned to Starfall to try and talk. Perhaps it was his proximity to Convoy - who made ever effort he could to dissuade anyone from talking to him - that made other sparklings reluctant to approach Starfall, but Starfall and Convoy sat in a very noticeable bubble of isolation. Starfall knew he should try to break that bubble and make himself more engaging to others, but he had already tried that once with Convoy and gotten burned. He did not know if he had the courage or fortitude to try again. The fear of being rejected again was too much to make Starfall believe it was really worth the effort. He had not had to endure any outright hostility or antagonizing from others like Convoy did - not even from Downshift, who Starfall had come to learn was something of the class instigator and loud-mouth - but the utter loneliness of the situation was, at times, almost too much for Starfall to bear. Starfall never felt lonelier than when he was in a crowded room of sparklings.
"What's the matter, Star?" Optimus's voice startled Starfall out of his thoughts. The Matrix-bearer sat across from him at the table, working on his last cube of morning energon. "You don't look like you're feeling very well today. Your armor looks a bit dull. I hope you haven't picked up some sort of virus at school."
On the third side of the table, between Starfall and Optimus, Ironhide looked up from his computer tablet - a web-capable version of a data pad. Starfall saw it had the morning new feeds scrolling across its screen. Ironhide quirked an optic ridge at Starfall as though wondering 'what're yeh talkin' about? The kid looks fine ta me.' Starfall ignored the look. He was used to Ironhide's general indifference towards him by now.
Starfall forced a smile onto his facial plates. "I'm okay, dad. Really. Just thinking about stuff."
Optimus eyed Starfall thoughtfully, as though not fully convinced by his reassurance. He did not try to push Starfall for more, though, which Starfall was immensely grateful for. If Optimus had bluntly asked him what was troubling him Starfall wasn't sure he would have been able to deflect the question. He'd make a promise to never lie again - to Optimus especially. But that didn't mean he was about to burden his father with his troubles. His lack of friends at school didn't seem like something a Prime would care about or be able to do much of anything about anyway. His father was a powerful mech but Starfall didn't want to see Optimus use his influence to make anyone talk to him. That somehow felt like cheating. That being said, it was just better not to say anything and save his father from the burden of his own worries.
"What are your plans for the orn, 'hide?" Optimus asked conversationally. It had come about by unspoken consensus that Optimus was in charge of facilitating conversation whenever all three of them were together. He'd all but given up trying to get Starfall and Ironhide to interact by themselves.
"Hrm," Ironhide grunted and set his tablet aside on the table. "No real plans ta be honest. Things 're extremely quiet right now at headquarters. Last lil' bit 'a excitement we had was when that small asteroid come close ta hittin' one of our defense satellites the other deca-cycle. I'll probably stay home ta-day an' finish writin' up some reports General Airlock's been houndin' me fer fer the last few lunar cycles." Ironhide drained the last of his cube of energon and looked back at Optimus. "Wha' bout you? Yeh got any meetings ta-day?"
Optimus nodded. "Yes. After dropping Star off at the academy I have a meeting scheduled with the head of the Iaconian Union Worker's Association and a number of other local worker correlations."
Ironhide winced in sympathy. "No chance of gettin' outta it?"
"No," Optimus shook his helm. "Even if I did have an excuse, I could not in any good conscience skip this meeting. This labor strike has been going on for almost a deca-cycle now. As much as I do not care for Backtrack and his less than peaceful forms of union organizing and strikes, the IUWA's complaints are valid. The wages the city's transportation workers earn are barely above the minimum amount dictated by law - hardly a salary any kind of bot can live off of. I doubt I will get out of negotiations before nightfall."
"Ah'll wait up fer yeh," Ironhide promised. "Ah'll even have a nice cool cube 'a high-grade waiting fer yeh fer when yeh get home."
Optimus delicately cleared his intake line, as though preparing to broach an extremely delicate subject. "Because I will be facilitating talks between the union workers and city officials I might not be finished in time to pick up Star from the academy before it lets out. Do you think you could pick him up?"
Ironhide and Starfall both stiffened in their seats and cast each other wary glances. Since Starfall came to live in the Prime household he'd barely spent more than a few klicks alone with Ironhide, and did not really look forward to going out of his way to do so if he could help it. He knew Ironhide didn't like him. Not to mention is was always Optimus who dropped him off and picked him up from school. After longs days spent keeping to himself in between classes with no one to talk to, it was a relief to climb into his father's cab unit at the end of the day and know he was finally back where he was wanted and loved. He couldn't imagine Ironhide providing him with that same kind of sanctuary. He hadn't even ridden in Ironhide's cab unit yet. He doubted Ironhide relished the idea of letting him sit inside him either. The narrowed optics Ironhide cast him pretty much confirmed Starfall's suspicions.
"Ah can pick 'im up," Ironhide reluctantly grumbled.
Optimus smiled. "Thank you, 'hide. This takes a great burden off my mind."
Ironhide grunted.
Optimus gave him a knowing smirk. "I promise you won't have to talk to any of the senators or council members that have children there if you don't want to."
"Better not. Yeh know how much ah can't stand havin' ta listen ta all those grovelin' toadies tryin' ta request 'favors' when it's a publicly known fact ah have absolutely no interest in politics."
Optimus chuckled, deep and throaty. "After all these years of being sparkmates, I thought you would be used to such inconveniences by now." His tone was light and playful.
Ironhide snorted. "If ah had known then what ah know now 'bout what's involved with bein' yer sparkmate ah would've run screamin' fer the hills an' begged ol' Megatron ta throw me in the brig."
"Is being a Decepticon prisoner of war really more preferable than being my sparkmate?" Optimus smiled.
Ironhide vented a theatric sigh. "There 're times when ah really wonder…" he bemoaned, his face poker-straight.
Starfall watched the exchange with a thin smile. He always liked it when Optimus was in a playful mood. He was always so serious and polite when he was with anyone else except Starfall and Ironhide. It made Starfall sad that his father couldn't be that way all the time. It also made him sad to know that he couldn't be a part of Optimus and Ironhide's familiar teasing either. If he had tried to join the conversation he knew Ironhide's jovialness would have immediately disappeared and he would have become hostilely silent. It was always either Ironhide and Optimus or Optimus and Starfall that could have little moments like that. Never the three of them all together like a real family. It made Starfall even more sad to think that he wouldn't have really minded trying to get to know the weapons specialist a little bit more if he didn't think Ironhide would immediately brush off any attempts he might make. It would be nice, he thought, to be a part of what Optimus and Ironhide just shared and to have two fathers to be able to go to instead of just one.
Still smiling from Ironhide's antics, Optimus glanced at the chronometer. "Hurry and finish your energon, Star. We have to get going."
Grimacing with hesitation, Starfall nonetheless did as his father commanded and obediently drained the rest of his cube in three quick swallows. The energon sat heavy in the bottom of his fuel tank like an industrial-sized ingot of steel.
He and Optimus both got up to head for the door.
"Don't forget. Star gets out of school at twenty-five hundred joors, 'hide," Optimus said.
"Starfall," Ironhide's voice boomed just as they were about to reach the door.
Starfall froze in the entry way and slowly turned back to Ironhide, his wings stiffly trembling behind him. He couldn't remember Ironhide ever directly speaking to him before.
"Yes, sir?" he timidly murmured.
Ironhide's optics seemed to bore into him even from across the room. "Don't make me wait fer yeh after school. Ah don't wanna get caught havin' ta talk ta any of yer classmates' creators, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Starfall said.
"Good." And that was it. Ironhide had already turned his attention back to his computer tablet.
Starfall vented a sigh of relief. Optimus reached down and rested a hand on Starfall's shoulder plate. He offered Starfall a small smile of encouragement. Starfall tried to return it but it felt fake on his facial plates. It was only for one day, he tried to remind himself. He could do without his father driving him home for one day. His father was a busy mech and had obligations. He could ride with Ironhide for one day.
From there the day progressed as it did most every other day: Optimus dropped him off in the transformation lot, Starfall ignored the rounds of furtive whispers directed towards him from other sparklings as he walked through the hallways, he quietly sat at his computer terminal with Convoy as his silent tablemate, and listened to his instructors' lectures with dutiful attentiveness.
It was only after his third class that things began to deviate from the norm.
Today was the second orn of the school's deca-cycle, meaning Starfall's fourth scheduled lecture was Cybertronian History. Because Instructor Backslide taught all history courses for every age group in the academy, he had his own classroom on the fifth floor. All students had to come to him for lectures and today was class Alpha 4's turn.
Like all the other classes of younger sparklings had been trained to do whenever they had to migrate to another classroom, the students of Alpha 4 lined up in a single file and marched to the elevators that would take them up to Backslide's classroom.
Starfall kept quiet as he and his classmates piled into the lift and pressed in close together. As he always did, he tried to jockey for a place in the elevator closest to the back of the car where he could stand with his wings against the wall. He hated being in confined spaces, especially in ones where others could press in behind him against his wings without any room for him to move away. His wings were sensitive and the thought of unfamiliar people touching them did not appeal to Starfall. It was the only time Starfall ever found it advantageous to be one of Alpha 4's social pariahs; no one wanted to stand that close to him. Lack of physical space in the lift prevented his classmates from making it too obvious, but there was still a noticeable gap in between Starfall and the next nearest sparkling. As always when he was forced to ride the lifts, Starfall did his best to imagine he was somewhere else.
Twenty nano-klicks later, the lift dinged and the door slide open onto level five. Starfall's classmates spilled out of the car in a fluid-like wave of bodies before reforming in a line along the one side of the hallway. Instructor Backslide's classroom was at the far end of the hall. They could have just as easily walked to the room in formations of singles, twos or threes - forgoing the ordered structure of a line - but the network of security cameras lining the length of the hall's ceiling dissuaded them from doing so. On the other end of those cameras, sitting at some monitor somewhere in the administration office downstairs, Starfall knew was an academy staff person watching all the school's security feeds to make sure no one broke protocol or separated from the group. While outside of their classroom during school hours all younger sparklings had to stay with their class as a group. Younglings and other older students did not have to follow such strict rules. The fifth floor hallway was filled with them. Older younglings milled along the length of the hall in small groups of threes and fours. It was common practice, Starfall had come to learn, for older students to so in between classes. It gave them an opportunity to get up, stretch their tension cables and chat with friends before being forced back into their classrooms for another lecture. Starfall looked forward to when he could do such a thing and not have to sit quietly at his computer terminal waiting for the next instructor to arrive.
Alpha 4's class progressed in a single line down the hall towards Backslide's classroom. Since Starfall started academy, he'd traveled this circuit at least five times now. It did not take much processing power to follow the sparkling in front of him and stop when everybody else stopped, so trips between classes often gave Starfall the opportunity to let his mind wander. Starfall was in the middle of planning what he would do after he got home later that day when a sudden chorus of laughter startled him back to the present. The line of students in front of him abruptly stopped.
Farther up along his line of classmates a group of older younglings stood off to the side of the hallway. There were three of them, two of which Starfall recognized - Senators Scion and Klaxon's sons, Aftershock and Gearslip. They seemed to be talking to one of Starfall's classmates.
"Come on, say something!" Starfall heard Aftershock demand. "What's the matter? Turbo fox got your glossa?"
"I think he's shy, Aftershock," the third youngling said. "I think he needs some encouragement to speak his mind." A chorus of laughter replied from a number of other younglings milling around the hall. A small crowd of students began to form at the head of Alpha 4's line.
Starfall edged out of line to better see what was going on. Up ahead at the head of the line Aftershock, Gearslip and their friend had formed a loose circle around a member of his class. It didn't take long for Starfall to recognize Convoy's dark red paint job and hunched body language. Convoy stood in the middle of the ring of older younglings with both arms crossed over his chest plate and his head tightly tucked down between his shoulder rims, as though trying to fold in on himself for protection.
"I'm not gonna tell you again," Aftershock said. "Say something!"
"Leave me alone," Convoy pleaded in a plaintive whisper. "I just want to go to class." His heavy accent earned a peal of laughter from the crowd of watching younglings. Starfall was shocked and disgusted to see several of his own classmates twittering along with them, or turning to whisper something to the next closest sparkling which earned snickers from both of them.
"You still have a few klicks before class starts," Aftershock reassured him. "That's just enough time for us to give you a small crash course in how things are done here on the main planet. I don't know how you colonists do things in your own little parts of the universe, but here on Cybertron, when your senior tells you to do something you do it."
Convoy said nothing except huddle down tighter against himself as though trying to make himself so small that he would just disappear.
Aftershock leaned over Convoy and gave him a small, pointed shove against his shoulder plate. He towered over Convoy's smaller frame. "My father is a senator in the High Council. Yours is just some dumpy merchant-trader who made a lot of credits selling wheel cogs to dumpy little colonies in dumpy little corners of the galaxy. That makes my father more important than yours, and makes me more important that you. So the next time I tell you to do something, you do it!" To emphasize his point, Aftershock gave Convoy's shoulder another sharp poke with his finger. "Got it?"
Anything Convoy might have said in response was drowned out by the encouraging hoots and laughter from the crowd of watching younglings. As the catcalls and jeers of other students turned into shouted suggestions for what to make Convoy say next, Starfall felt something inside him snap. As though some kind of dam had ruptured inside him, a wave of righteous fury filled every circuit and fiber optic line of Starfall's body until it felt like he was about to explode from the sheer injustice of what he was seeing. And not just towards Aftershock. Towards everyone standing in the hallway passively watching and letting this happen. At no point had anyone told Aftershock to stop or leave Convoy alone. Instead, they egged him on, demanding that he humiliate Convoy even more for their own amusement. Rage so intense it felt like he was being burned from the inside out filled the back of Starfall's intake line until it finally burst from his mouth in an angry shout.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
All laughter and chatter in the hall immediately ceased as every set of optics there swung around to stare at Starfall at the back of the line. For a moment, Aftershock just stared at him, as though genuinely startled by Starfall's command. Starfall absentmindedly wondered if he'd ever had someone stand up to him before.
Aftershock's surprise didn't last very long, though.
Regaining his composure, Aftershock took a step towards Starfall, his body language threatening and dark. "Back off, seeker. This has nothing to do with you. Just go around and go to your classroom."
"No," Starfall defiantly shook his head. His wings flared out to his sides behind him, vibrating with tension. He strode up to Aftershock. In the back of his processor, Starfall realized what he was doing was not smart - that Aftershock was at least five vorns older than him, at least a head taller, and had the majority of the student population on his side. But the righteous, simmering anger he felt for this show of public humiliation made Starfall dismiss all logical thought and focus only on getting Aftershock and his group to stop. "Leave Convoy alone. He hasn't done anything to you."
Aftershock glared at Starfall, as though trying to intimidate him into backing down. Starfall refused to let him do so. Now that he was standing closer, Starfall saw that Aftershock was actually more like a head and a half taller than him and about twice as large in physical mass.
"Stay out of this, seeker," Aftershock warned. "My father might have told me to be nice to you because of who your father is, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stand for some little flier trying to tell me what to do."
Starfall was surprised at how unafraid he felt. It was like he knew what he was doing was right. "I'm not telling you to do anything except leave Convoy alone. All he wants to do it is go to class."
"That's not his choice," Aftershock spat. "He doesn't get to do anything unless I say so."
"Says who?" Starfall demanded. "Who are you to pick on him?"
"Do you have any idea who my father is? Do you know what kind of power he has over this academy? Him and Administrator Catalyst are old friends. I could get you and anyone else I wanted expelled if I complained to them."
"Do you know who my father is?" Starfall shot back. "My dad's a Prime. And if you don't leave Convoy alone I'm going to complain to him about you and see who gets expelled first."
Aftershocks's facial plates momentarily flashed with uncertainty, as though he'd never faced this kind of situation before. No doubt he'd never encountered anyone who'd ever challenged his authority before now. Like before, though, the moment did not last for long. "I'm not gonna tell you again, seeker. This is your last warning."
Starfall flared his wings behind him to make himself look bigger. "And I'm not gonna tell you again, Aftershock: I'm not leaving until you leave Convoy alone."
Aftershock's face contorted in an angry snarl. "That's it!" Moving faster than Starfall expected, Aftershock lunged at him with one hand pulled back over his shoulder in a fist. Starfall didn't have time to think and instinctively ducked. Aftershock's fist flew over his helm, missing him by mere centimeters. Starfall didn't know what inherent programming was directing his movements, but without any conscious thought he darted forward under Aftershock's extended arm and drove his fist into the underside of Aftershock's chest plate. The older sparkling jackknifed forward with a surprised howl of pain. Starfall scrambled backwards out of reach as Aftershock staggered, coughing and clutching his torso.
Every sparkling there was staring at Starfall with various expressions of awe, fear and shock.
For some reason their collective gaze made Starfall feel compelled to say something, like a general pressed to give a speech after some great victory. He glared at the back of Aftershock's helm which was bent forward almost between his knee joints. "Leave Convoy alone," he hissed one last time.
"What is going on here?!" a voice boomed from the end of the hallway. The crowd of students parted to either side of the hallway like a river of liquid methane as Instructor Backslide pushed his way through. The old mech took one glance at the scene and grabbed Starfall and Aftershock by the arms. "You mind explaining what's going on out here?" he growled.
"He hit me!" Aftershock wailed, still partially doubled over and holding his front. "The flier punched me in the chest plate!"
"He tried to hit me first!" Starfall protested.
"Enough!" Backslide roared. "You're both going to the office. Firelight or Catalyst can sort this out themselves. I'm too old for this." He began dragging the two towards the bank of lifts. "The rest of you get on to your next classes. Now!"
The crowd of shell-shocked observers instantly dispersed like a swarm of insecticons in a gale-force storm. Starfall did not try to resist as Backslide led both him and Aftershock into a lift and punched the button of the first floor. He remained quiet as the lift descended while Aftershock whimpered and sobbed on Backslide's other side, still holding his front. Starfall wanted to roll his optics. He hadn't hit Aftershock that hard.
The lift dinged open again and Backslide was once more dragging them through the hall. All too soon for Starfall's liking the office came into view. Backslide marched both of them straight through the glass door and up to the counter. Catalyst was talking with another teacher on the other side.
"Backslide?" Catalyst said upon seeing the history instructor's expression. "What's going on?"
"Fighting in the hallways is what's going on," Backslide replied and motioned with his chin towards Starfall and Aftershock. "Caught these two trading blows in between classes just now. I broke them up and brought them down here for you to deal with. I don't have time for this. I have a class to teach."
"I'll take over from here, Backslide," Catalyst said. "Thank you for bringing them to me." Backslide finally released his hold on Starfall and Aftershock and promptly stormed out of the office back towards the lifts.
Looking up at Catalyst's face Starfall wanted nothing more than to go after Backslide and go to class where he didn't have to face the administrator's wrath. Without a word, Catalyst motioned Starfall and Aftershock to follow him. He led them into his private office and shut the door behind them. Gesturing them towards two seats in front of his desk, he sat down on the other side. He steepled his fingers on top of the desk and gazed at Starfall and Aftershock with a stern expression. Starfall refused to shrink down into his seat under his stare. "You two mind telling me what happened to make Instructor Backslide so angry?"
"He hit me!" Aftershock loudly proclaimed. "I was just standing there talking to my friends in the hallway when this seeker comes up and punches me in the chest plate for no reason!" As though to give his story dramatic effect, he clutched his torso and gave a pained grimace.
Irritation flared inside Starfall. "That's not true! You were picking on Convoy and-"
"He punched me!" Aftershock wailed at Catalyst. "He hit me right underneath my sparkchamber. I think he might have actually broken something. I think I can hear something rattling around inside me."
"I didn't hit you that hard!" Starfall spat, utterly disgusted by Aftershock's recount of events.
"Enough," Catalyst sternly said. Starfall and Aftershock both quieted. Catalyst turned his optics onto Starfall. His gaze was steely and uncompromising. "Did you hit Aftershock?" he demanded in a low voice of authority. The tone reminded Starfall eerily of his father when he'd caught him using Sunstreaker's special polish.
Starfall hesitated. It was true he'd hit Aftershock. But he'd done so in personal defense, not out of malicious intent like Aftershock was making it sound. He'd been standing up for Convoy. Starfall's initial instinct was to lie and say that he hadn't, even though he knew he'd already admitted as much in knee-jerk reaction to Aftershock's misrepresentation of the truth. Optimus had taught him he should never lie. After the incident with the polish he'd promised his father he would never lie again. Now was the time to prove he'd meant what he'd said.
"Yes," Starfall softly murmured. "I hit him, but-"
Catalyst made a sharp slicing motion with his hand that made any explanation Starfall might have given instantly freeze in the back of his throat. "That's all I need to know." Catalyst turned to Aftershock. "Aftershock, you're dismissed. Go to the school medic for attention if you feel you need it, then return to your fourth period class. Do not let me hear about any more trouble from you for the rest of the orn."
"Yes, sir," Aftershock mumbled, still clutching his abdomen with one hand. Starfall had the sudden urge to punch him in the face for the fake grimace he used as he got up and limped for the door.
Next time I'll aim for his face instead, Starfall viciously promised himself.
As soon as Aftershock disappeared out the door Catalyst vented a long, put-out sigh. "I'm very disappointed to see you in my office like this, Starfall. Especially so early into your enrollment here. I had hoped as the son of a Prime I wouldn't have to worry about you being a disciplinary problem."
"But, sir," Starfall protested. "Aftershock tried to-"
"I don't care what Aftershock was doing. You had no right to strike another student. That is unacceptable here in District 11's academy. We frown on physical acts of violence here. I hate to do this but I'm going to have to call your foster-fathers and have one of them come pick you up. I cannot allow fighting to go unpunished in my school no matter who your caretakers are. You are going to be suspended for two orns for this, starting today. I hope this teaches you that no one is above the rules here. If you start fights you will have to suffer the consequences that follow."
Starfall stared at Catalyst, his wings stiffening behind him. "But… that's not fair! Aftershock-"
"I have already dealt with Aftershock," Catalyst sternly cut him off. "Now I will not hear anything more about this. I want you to go and wait outside in the main office while I call your foster-father to come pick you up."
For a moment Starfall couldn't bring himself to move. He was too shocked and overwhelmed by an oppressive feeling of injustice to do anything else.
"You are dismissed, Starfall," Catalyst sternly prompted.
Numbly, Starfall forced himself to his thrusters and stood. He walked as if in a daze out the door into the main part of the office. Several chairs were positioned along the glass wall. Starfall walked to the nearest one and sat down.
This isn't fair, was the thought that circled around Starfall's head as he stared at the floor between his thrusters. Dad's going to be so disappointed in me, was the very next one.
A sick feeling of dread settled in Starfall fuel tank. What was Optimus going to say when he found out what he'd done? He wasn't afraid of Optimus yelling at him or leveling his own form of discipline on him; Starfall dreaded seeing that look of quiet disappointment in his father's optics again. The sick feeling in Starfall's tank intensified. What had he done? He didn't know if he could stand facing his father. Optimus was never going to trust him again.
Starfall didn't know how long he sat there staring at his feet, wishing he could sink into the ground and disappear, but he estimated it was almost time for the fourth lecture period to end by the time he heard heavy footsteps approaching the office from down the hall. Starfall cringed into his seat. What was he going to say to Optimus? How was he going to explain why he felt - no, he knew -he had to do what he did? Surely his father would understand if he properly explained his side of the story. Right?
The door to the office opened and a pair of pedes stepped up beside him. Starfall felt optics glare into him. Slowly, he looked up, prepared to meet his father's disappointed blue gaze. But instead of finding Optimus standing there Starfall looked up to find none other than his father's sparkmate, Ironhide, standing over him like a looming shadow. Starfall froze, his optics widening into perfect circles of turquoise-blue.
Oh no. He'd completely forgotten. His father was stuck in an important meeting until later that evening. That was why he'd asked Ironhide to come pick him up after school that morning. How could he have forgotten?
Staring up into Ironhide's angry optics, the only thing Starfall could think of now was that this definitely was not a good thing.
To be continued
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