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A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Three

Reality

"So, there I was, minding my own business and patiently waiting for you like I always do. Then suddenly, this big—huge!—guy comes busting out of the school. He's got one arm filled with the stuff he stole and the other waving around a gun as big as he was. He dives into the car idling next to me and takes off out of the parking without even pausing to notice that he's dinged the front of me.

"Naturally, I take off after the perpetrator. I swerve in and out of traffic like a boss—eeeehh, eeeehh! He notices I'm following him, and he leans out of the car and just starts blasting me. Pew pew! Pew pew! I ducked this way, and I ducked that way, but even I—in all my greatness—could not escape the few bullets that grazed my sides.

"He finally noticed he was no match for me and tried to lose me by veering off onto a side road. One that would have taken him out of the county in no time. I knew I couldn't let that happen—having previously watched those crime shows—so I kicked myself into high gear and practically flew down that dirt road. That must have been where all those dings on my hood came from; the rocks were just flinging everywhere at the speed I was going!

"By the time I finally started hearing the police sirens in the distance, I was already pulling up beside this hooligan. I ordered him to stop, but he tried to shoot out my tires. So, I did the only thing I could—I transformed and knocked a good one into his hood. Crushed that thing like…like a can!

"You should have seen him! I've heard the phrase multiple times now, but I've never actually seen a human wet themselves from fear. He instantly jumped out of the car and fell to the ground begging me not to hurt him. Of course, I roughed him up a bit—had to teach him a little lesson about going up against Vehicons.

"By the time the cops finally arrived, I had the guy swearing he would right his criminal ways, and he willingly submitted to law enforcement while I was being profusely thanked. They even let me break the speed limit so I would be back just in time for your club thingy to end.

"And that's the entire story."

I set my elbows on the top of my knees and balanced my helm in my hands as I patiently waited for Riley's reaction. She stared back up at me from the beneath the brim of her hat, her face surprisingly blank while she wielded the buffer in her hands. The only sound to break our silence came from beyond the familiar room we were in—mechanics hard at work to fix the cars they were entrusted with, and the occasional shout or burst of laughter among them.

Riley finally lowered the buffer and propped one hand on her hip, her brown eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Alright, what really happened?"

I emitted a burst of static and placed a hand over my spark. "What do you mean what really happened? Do you think I'm lying?"

"I don't think—I know."

"Prove it."

I resisted the urge to snicker when Riley flinched, her eyes widening and mouth falling open. "Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"Fine." I will never admit to shrinking in on myself when Riley put the buffer down and stepped closer, a finger dangerously lifted my way. Nope—that never happened. "One: if someone had stolen from the school, every student still in that building would have been front and center taking pictures on their phone to post on whatever website they obsess over. Two: who's gonna waste their time robbing a high school when there's a bank literally right across the street? Are our third place basketball trophies really that valuable? Three: you never transform in public. Like ever. You either have to be in a completely enclosed room like this or it takes you a whole hour to make sure there's nobody else around. And four—"

"Do you really need a four?"

"And four." I ducked my head to avoid Riley's glare. "I'm not nearly as good as my dad when it comes to assessing damages, but none of the scratches I see on you look anything like a near miss from a bullet. So, what really happened?"

I keep my head down and muttered the answer. "Jeffrey."

"It was the squirrels!" Riley jumped back as I launched into the air. Well, as much as I could "launch" in a room that didn't even allow to stand at my full height. "Those stupid squirrels you park me under every time you stay after school. They just attacked me with their little claws and projectile nuts!"

"What about the dent in your front bumper?"

"…I may have nudged their tree a bit…and made one of them fall. But that was all justified revenge!"

"What's all this yelling about in here?"

I swiftly transformed into vehicular mode just as the side door swung open. Riley smiled at her dad as he ambled over to us. "Oh, you know me, dad. Always talking to the cars."

He grunted and rubbed his thumb against one of the many scratches along my hood. "What did you do to him? Sic a hoard of squirrels on him?"

Fortunately, he was too busy worrying over Riley's sudden fit of maniacal laughter to notice me slumping down onto my tires.