A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Nine

Farm

Have you ever had a dirty little secret? One that was so…dirty that you could never imagine it being revealed without some horrifying consequence that would forever shape the rest of your life and the way people looked at you?

I shamelessly possessed one of those, and the horrified squeak Riley emitted that day after school didn't change that…much. "What. Is. That?"

My vision was a little limited while in my vehicular form, but I could still see the horrified expression on my human's face as she stared at the screen of the GPS-thingy that came with this form. "What's what?"

"That." Riley pointed at the screen. "That…horrible thing there."

"It's called a GPS, Ry. Have you already forgotten that?" My engine roared to life, and I peeled out of the parking lot, attempting to avoid the long line of bad drivers I would have to suffer through if I didn't leave now. "I'm starting to think this school thing is more detrimental to your intellect than helping it."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." I slammed on the brakes as an idiot squealed past me in some dingy sports car. I hate these human younglings…especially when they're in these prissy cars. "What was that on the screen before you turned it off?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, don't play coy with me, you fragger."

I gave a dramatic gasp, barely noticing the slagger that attempted to nudge my bumper…okay, I did notice it, but I'm trying to turn over a new, non-'Con thinking tree. That meant I couldn't throw myself into reverse and smash in the idiot's front. It would only put a tiny dent in my bumper… "Your first Cybertronian curse! I'm so proud of you, my little human."

"You weirdo." I wiggled my steering wheel when Riley tried to slap it. Now that I think about, Riley might not be very willing to fix that tiny dent if I slammed into the guy behind us. "And stop trying to change the subject!"

"What subject?"

My wheels squealed against the asphalt as Riley put her foot down on the gas pedal while I simultaneously worked the brakes. "No, Riley! You know I hate it when you do that!"

"And you know I'm too tired to deal with sass after school!" Someone honked their horn behind us, and I rumbled my engine in restrained annoyance. Gotta remember I'm trying to stay off the radar; if a video of me stomping on another car goes viral, there's no way I'll be able to stay hidden from Decepticons or Autobots. And military humans, I guess; Riley seems worried about those. "Were you or were you not just playing Farmville on your GPS?"

"You know what? I'm not ashamed of how I spend my time while you're in school…I was also playing Angry Birds and Candy Crush. And occasionally I co-op on Call of Duty. I'm the guy that camps a lot."

"You're dead to me."

"I love you too, Ry."