I slept well that night, despite everything that went on. It was now morning. I glanced at the illuminated clock by my bedside. 6:00 am. I was so accustomed to getting up early in order to perform in the city. Shaking my head at the thought, I dressed and got ready to meet Lennox for the day's tentative. Suddenly, I remembered: I had no idea how to walk with an artificial limb. Granted, I did blindly run on it the other day. But in my defense, my brain and limbs are two separate beings. They each have their own mind. So, I sat there unsure of what to do. My wheelchair from the hospital wasn't in my room.
Crap.
Ok, Emily. It's easy. Just put one foot in front of the other.
I sat at the edgeof the bed and swung my feet to touch the ground. My left leg made a click sound as it tapped the concrete floor. I pushed myself off the bed and wobbled, frantically swinging my arms to balance myself. My heart and head pounded furiously against my skull and ribs. Finally, I managed to regain my balance and cautiously took one small step forward. Instantaneously, pain shot up my leg as I brought it down to rest on the floor.
"Ow ow ow!" I hissed while hopping and then sunk to the floor. Someone must have heard me because seconds later, there was a knock at my door.
Must be Lennox or Ratchet.
But to my surprise, it was neither . The door opened to reveal a dark-skinned man with dark colored hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a white sweat pants and a matching jacket.
"Good mornin' sleepin' beauty!" He said.
Wait what? Who is this? He sounds so much like...wait...
"Jazz?" I asked hesitantly.
"'Da one an' only!" was the cheeky answer.
Oh, so this was his..what was it? A holoform?
"What are ya doin' outta bed this early, lil lady?"
"Oh I, um, wanted to meet with Lennox this morning. But I didn't get very far." It came out more as a hesitant answer than what I wanted. Jazz nodded in understanding and looked around, noting the lack of my wheelchair.
"Ah take it dat ya havin' trouble?" He asked. I nodded meekly. I didn't want to show that I was this helpless girl who couldn't walk and was without a family. Compared to the Autobots, I was this little kid was lost and constantly getting in the way. Jazz must have read my expression because the next thing I knew, I was being supported with his arm wrapped around my shoulders and waist. He was acting as my crutch.
"Thanks." I said.
"No problem, lil' lady. So how are ya feelin'? Ah dig that since last night, ya've been through a lot."
"Oh, um I'm not really fine. A lot has happened. I really don't know what to do, where to go. It's kind of like I'm stuck in-between." I stared ahead, trailing off deep in thought. Jazz frowned in response and silence followed as we made our way from my room, down the hall and to the mess hall. Once we got there, it was noisy with people everywhere. I tried looking for Lennox, but I didn't see him. Sighing in defeat, I limped (with the help of Jazz) to a nearby empty table and sat down. Jazz sat down and joined me. I smelled the variety of foods being eaten and wrinkled my nose. Jazz laughed at my expression.
"Smell somethin' ya like?" He sarcastically asked.
I glared at him and replied:
"For your information I am normally not hungry in the mornings."
He quirked an eyebrow.
"An' why is dat?"
"Because I'm not." Was my response. I really didn't want to get into it with him, especially since I didn't know him well enough to let him in. Frankly, I didn't exactly trust anyone fully but Lennox. Anyways, Jazz suddenly got up and left. I sat there alone, wondering what I did or said wrong to cause him to leave.
Did I offend him? I thought. I did, didn't I? Great. Nice going, Emily. The one person who offers you help, you go and ruin everything.
I stared at the empty seat in front of me. It seemed like half an hour before movement to my right caught my attention. Two men with identical facial features and the same height came over to my table. One wore a yellow jacket with matching pants and the other sported red jacket and pants. They both had the same striking blue eyes as Jazz. I remained quiet as they both nonchalantly sat down across the table.
"So you're the little femme that everyone's been talking about." The one in red said.
Femme? What does that mean?
"Why? What makes you so special?" The yellow one asked. His stare seemed to look into my soul. It was creepy. I didn't say anything in response. I didn't know nor feel like talking to this guys, so I gave them the silent treatment.
"Cat got your tongue?"
Silence.
"My brother asked you a question."
More silence.
"Come on, Sunny. She isn't going to talk. She's just being a orphan brat."
Oh no. Did he just..?
My body shook in anger at the guy's remark. I felt myself slowly ghosting in and out. I tried to get the ghosting under control. For those of you who don't know, if I get very emotional, my body (when it ghosts) begins to flicker like a candle.
"I am not a brat." I seethed out.
The two guys, who getting up to leave, whipped around and stared. Before the one in yellow was able to say something, I heard rushed footsteps from behind me.
"Emily? Emily!" It was Jazz! So I didn't offend him!He slowly put down whatever he brought with him on the table and came in front of me. He intervened before things got ugly... For the two men.
"Sides, Sunny, Ah really hope ya weren't terrorizing our newest guest."
He said a little menacingly. The two men glared at the saboteur.
"We were just asking her questions, none of them she answered." The red one said defensively.
"No asking her questions. Boss bot told everyone to give her space for now. Go bother 'Hide or somethin'."
And with that, the two left, slinking off to probably cause trouble. Jazz turned back to me and slightly bent down to my eye level. (A/N: I know Jazz is the shortest Autobot, but I wanted his holoform to be a little taller than Emily.) I was still ghosting, trying to calm my anger from Red's little comment.
"Hey. Emily, look at me. Calm down." His soothing words reassured me to stop flickering. I looked really distraught as I slowly sat back down. Jazz, still bent, cautiously asked:
"What did he say to ya?"
I shook my head, not wanting to answer.
"Oh come on. Ya can tell the Jazz man anythin'."
"He called me an orphan brat." I whispered. Jazz's face grew concerned as he thought for a moment.
"Ya know that's not true. Even tho' we just met, ah can already tell you're an amazing kid. Don't listen to anything that Sunny an' Sides tell ya. Dey are the trouble makers around base."
I slowly nodded. But the thought still lingered in the back of my mind: I was an orphan that was a brat to be pulled into this mess. But I didn't want Jazz to know that. Seeing that I was okay, he sat back down and slid the tray of food that he had brought over when he first came back. I looked down at it and then back at Jazz.
"Thanks anyway, but I'm not hungry."
"Ya need to eat. Ya need your strength." Was his simply reply. I returned my glance to my tray and hesitantly picked at the food. Just as I was about to eat, a question suddenly popped up.
"You didn't poison this, right?"
All I got in return was a chuckle and a:
"Just eat your Rice Krispies."
I smiled and ate my breakfast as Billy Joel's Matter of Trust played through my head.
I've lived long enough to have learned,
The closer you get to the fire, the more you get burned.
But that won't happen to us,
Because it's always been a matter of trust.