A Drone Named Jeffrey

Chapter Eighteen

Ocean

It was hard to admit that I was starting to worry about Riley. Her first encounter with another Vehicon hadn't been the best, but what other way would it have happened? Vehicons don't even care for their own lot—they most definitely didn't care for stray humans.

At first, I had been worried that she had been hurt worse than I had originally thought. She hadn't complained on the way back (in fact, she hadn't spoken much at all), but I noticed that every time she moved, she had winced. From pain or general discomfort, she wouldn't say.

It was after we got back to the house and everything had somewhat settled down that I started to really worry. I figured she just wanted to spend more time with her dad since he seemed to be working a lot more. I watched them leave in his truck every morning and get back really late. Certainly too late for her dad to allow her to hang out in the garage with her car.

Then I started realizing that it wasn't necessarily just to spend time with him. Riley was just flat out avoiding me. She had actually argued all the reasons she needed her dad to drive her to the store instead of driving herself. Here I was, sitting in my garage day and night, worrying about her, and there she was inadvertently saying to my face that she didn't wanna be around me.

That stung a little. Right in the spark.

So, here I was, left pouting to a cat on the top of my roof while it played with its dinner. Go figure. "She's acting like I'm a completely different person now! Like I didn't just save her from being squished. Where's the appreciation for that, huh?"

I groaned as a tuft of fur landed on the side of visor and glared back at my fur ball licking its jaw. "Hey! Watch where you throw around food. You act like you're some kind of animal."

The cat stared back at me with half-lidded eyes—"No duh, you dolt."—before going back to licking its paw. Is this the point of insanity I've heard there is no return from? Talking to animals and then making up responses from them?

I vented and leaned against the side of the garage, flicking a finger at the trashcan beside me. "She just acts like I'm the one that tried to kill her, not some brainwashed Vehi—"

I cut myself off with a jolt. "Like I'm the Vehicon that did it! It's because we look the same. She's just having a hard time differentiating, which I guess for a human who was nearly killed makes sense. At least I think that's what Dr. Phil would say. Now I just have to show her that I'm not like that."

My cat growled when I suddenly jumped up, and I quickly poked it in farewell before transforming and speeding down the driveway.

There was only one other time I felt as I proud as I did at this very moment, which is kind of sad, but considering I only started feeling anything a couple of months it's a pretty good accomplishment. With two steps I was standing outside Riley's bedroom window on the second floor, and I lightly tapped the glass.

I tried not to think too much about it when I saw her nearly jump off her bed at the sound. She stared at me with wide brown eyes and remained completely frozen for a long moment. I tapped the glass again, and she began to move.

Riley opened her window enough to hear me. "I've got something for you."

She hesitated. "What?"

"You've gotta come see!" I held my hand just below the windowsill. "Come on."

"I think I'll take the stairs."

"Those take too long! Just trust me."

Riley blinked and nibbled her bottom lip before opening the window more. I stayed perfectly still while she slowly crawled into my hand and held her close to my chest to ensure she wouldn't fall. I may have exaggerated my slow steps a little too much because Riley slapped one of my fingers. "You're moving at the speed of a snail!"

I released a hard vent, one that made Riley squeal when the air nearly knocked her over. "Just making sure."

Riley stared up at me with blank eyes, and I took the last step I needed to reach the fence. I held her over the neighbor's backyard. "Surprise!"

Riley stared down at the patio furniture I had moved around and the empty pool. "Wow, Jeffrey. You got me the neighbor's pool; I'm so shocked."

I dramatically placed my empty hand over my spark. "Ooh! Your sarcasm—it hurts. But there's more to it. See?"

I held her close to the water and nudged her towards it. Riley hesitated, looking up at me and then back in the water, before she leaned down towards the surface. She hadn't even touched it before she jerked back. "Ew! What's that smell?"

"Salt." I held her closer and splashed the water. "You were saying how you wanted to visit the ocean during the summer, and the summer is almost done. So, I made you a mini-ocean because they're not using it right now anyway. And I thought it would you feel better after...the other day."

Riley tensed in my hand and tilted her head back up to stare at me. "Jeffrey…I have to ask something."

"'Kay."

"Were you like…that? You know, before we met?"

"Yes."

Riley jumped and stared at me like she hadn't expected an honest answer. I vented and held her close. "That's the way we're shown to act. It was that or be deactivated as a defect."

Riley's eyes grew wider before her expression turned fierce and determined. "I like you better this way."

"I do too."

Then I dropped her into the salty water with a hysterical squeal.