CHAPTER 3 - Meetings
The next day Sam excitedly bounded out of the house, all was good in his world. He had his shiny, okay maybe not so shiny, new car, the sun was out and today was 'Lake party day', which meant lots of girls in fewer clothes than usual. Although he knew the chances of any of the girls ever actually looking at him were minute, he refused to let that stop him. Even the whimpering of Mojo for his usual dose of drugs could not pop his balloon of happiness. His smile only grew wider as he looked at his car parked in the drive as he went to walk across the grass, every time he looked at the slightly battered Camaro he felt a sense of pride in it. However the balloon was in serious danger of being deflated as Sam was stopped in his tracks by his dad moaning about 'the footprints on his grass'.
From his spot on the drive, Bumblebee watched as Sam grumbled something under his breath before complying with his fathers wishes and stepping onto the path taht wasn't yet finshed. Bee chuckled as he saw the disgruntled expression on Sam's face as he heard Sam's mom joining in with the lecturing. It was a look Bee himself often wore after getting a lecture from Rachet or any of the older 'bots, 'It really does suck being the youngest sometimes, whatever planet you're on obviously'. However Bee's musings were interrupted by Sam climbing into the driver's seat. Just as Sam felt a sense of pride ever time he looked at the Camaro, Bee felt the same sense of belonging every time he was near Sam, and had Bee been in his bi-pedal mode he would have grinned just as widely as Sam had earlier. Once he was settled in the seat, Sam leant forward to place the keys in the ignition, and Bee detected a strange smell coming from Sam. Opening his vents slightly, his sensory receptors identified it as something called 'aftershave'. As Sam turned the key firing Bumblebees engine into life, whatever the smell was didn't agree with him and Bee found himself needing to sneeze. However a sneeze in alt-mode often resulted in a huge cloud of smoke and it had been a very strong smell. Sam smiled to himself, putting the smoke coming from the exhaust down to a tweak on his car that needed sorting, but Bee was mortified, especially when his receptors picked up Judy Witwickys comment of 'You're so cheap Ron' to her husband.
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"Hey babe, we're here". Mikaela looked at Trent, "Yeah I kind of guessed that as there's the lake". The sarcastic remark sailed over Trent's head as he laughed at her, before climbing out of the Escalade.
"Careful of the paintwork". Mikaela glanced over at Trent and resisted the urge to slam the door on purpose, just to see if it would bring on the coronary she thought it might. Closing the door extra carefully instead, Mikaela took a moment to scan the cars that were already parked there and found her heart sinking slightly as she saw no sign of Sam's new car, obviously he'd decided to ignore her advice from last night.
"A lake party sounds cool. I can show in my new car. The females of Tranquility are gonna love it. Seriously Mikaela, it looks a bit aged but its great'. Mikaela was already beginning to regret mentioning the lake party but she'd been backed into a corner when Sam had asked her if she wanted to spend the day with him and his new car, when he'd phoned to tell her all about the new purchase. Mikaela would have far preferred that to spending the day listening to Trent, but she'd already made the date with him, and had tried to explain to Sam that she was busy and had somehow inadvertently ended up asking him if he wanted to come along too.
"Sam please listen to me. Get there early then Trent will have no excuse to try to kick you out". Ignoring Sam's retort of 'It's a public lake' by reminding him that the sandbox at kindergarten had been 'public' too, but that'd never stopped Trent from kicking Sam out of it, Mikaela tried to impress the importance of timing on him, whilst realising she was more than likely fighting a losing battle, as Sam could be as stubborn as concrete when he wanted to be.
"Yup a losing battle". Trent glanced over at Mikaela, "You say something?". Mikaela shook her head, and watched as Trent went back to talking to his buddies. Scanning the car park one last time, Mikaela cursed Sam for being so bloody stubborn, but more importantly for leaving her on her own with Trent all afternoon, whilst secretly cursing herself for not having the guts to blown Trent out.
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"So what do you think?". Sam had pulled up outside his friends Miles house who had agreed to go along with Sam to the lake party as some moral support. It was Miles' disparaging comments about the state of his paint work that had caused Bumblebee to instantly take a dislike to Miles. 'Don't see me bitching about the state of your hair do you', Bee thought mutinously, 'It's not like I had a lot to work with when I landed'. However Bee's spirits had been lifted when Sam had vigorously defended his Camaro, "Hey leave it out Miles. At least I have a car, and I like the paint the way it is, it gives my car some character. Plus its the only way you're gonna be able to get to this lake party today". Miles nodded his agreement as he reluctantly climbed in, "I guess. Hey can I have a drive maybe?". Before Sam could reply, Bee instantly switched his engine off, 'Not happening after the paint comments, friend of Sam's or not'.
Miles raised an eyebrow as he closed the door, and Sam shrugged. "Its an old car Miles, it has a few issues". When he felt Sam turn the key, Bee fired the engine back into life. On hearing the perfect purr of all the cylinders, Miles eyebrows climbed further up his head and Sam smiled triumphantly, "See he looks a bit rusty but there's more to this car than meets the eye". As Sam pulled away from the kerb, Bumblebee chuckled inwardly to himself as he heard Sam's words, 'Oh more than you know Sam'.
When they finally arrived at the lake, Bumblebee had to admit he may have been a tad hasty about Miles. On the ride to the lake, he'd quietly observed Sam and Miles and had seen that there was a real bond of friendship there, and Miles had kind of redeemed himself for his earlier comment by complimenting Sam on his choice of car when Bee had maybe gone a bit faster than he should have done, however Miles still wasn't convinced about the paintwork, which still left Bee feeling a little disgruntled with him. As they reached the edge of the parking area, Miles looked at Sam, "Dude are you sure we're invited to this party?". Sam gazed back at Miles, his voice more confident than the look in his eyes, "Of course we are, Mikaela wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise".
As they both climbed out of the car, Bumblebee watched as Sam raised his hand to wave at the same dark-haired girl Bee had seen yesterday. Getting a better look at her today, Bee felt a strange warmth in his spark as he noticed her blue eyes checking him out before she crossed over to the direction of where Sam and Miles had headed. Watching her for a second longer, Bumblebee sighed to himself, 'Okay so maybe not Sam's friends are that bad. Some I could get to like'.
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Mikaela had heard the Camaro before she saw it but unlike Miles, she could appreciate the engine over the paintwork, which was lucky as the paintwork did really needed some attention. 'Custom faded my ass Sam', Mikaela muttered to herself as she waved a greeting to Sam, before spotting Miles. Shaking her head she gave the Camaro one last lingering look, wishing she could go over and investigate properly as under all that faded and scratched paint, it sounded a beauty; before hurrying over to intercept Trent, who Mikaela could see, was heading towards Sam with a predatory look in his eyes, one which Mikaela knew would probably not end well for Sam. Reaching where Trent was standing, she wrapped her arms round him and whispered something in his ear, which distracted him long enough for Sam and Miles to actually reach the lakeside. Mikaela heard Sam whispering furiously to Miles a list of instructions about acting normal, which Miles either followed or disregarded completely by suddenly climbing a tree. Mikaela raised her eyebrows and glared at Sam from behind Trent's broad shoulders, as Trent kept an eye on Miles for a moment before turning his attention to Sam.
"Hey guys check it out... Nice car!". Mikaela smiled her fake smile again as she looked at the Camaro once more, before flicking a glance at Trent's Escalade; before thinking to herself, 'Its nicer than this shiny piece of crap you own'. Unaware of Mikaelas thoughts, Trent continued his baiting of Sam, "What are you guys doing here?". Sam turned to look at Trent, pretending to have only just seen him, even though the comment about the car had hurt, "Oh we're just here to.. uh.. climb this tree".
"Yeah looks like fun. Hey I thought I recognised you, you tried out for the football team last year right?". As she heard the mockery in Trent's voice, Mikaela winced as she recalled Sam's one and only try out for the team. Looking at the pained look on Sam's face too, Mikaela was pretty sure he could recall it as well and could probably still feel all the bruises. However Sam had his comeback ready, "Oh that, no that wasn't a real try out. That was just research into a book I was writing".
"Oh yeah, whats it about... Sucking at Sports". Sam bravely ignored all the laughing and carried on, "No it's about the link between brain damage and football. You know it's a good book, you and your friends would love it. It's got mazes, and you know little colouring areas, pop up pictures, it's a lot of fun". Mikaela bit down hard on her lip so as not to alert Trent to her laughter, Sam had nailed him beautifully, and she swallowed it down ever further as she stood between Sam and Trent, who had finally realised that Sam had been mocking him and looked ready to go for the kill, "Hey Trent. You know what, just stop". Mikaela then steered him back towards the Escalade, though not before she shared a grin with Sam.
Watching Sam walk back towards the Camaro with a sense of pride in her best friend, Mikaela turned to Trent; "Hey how about you let me drive?". As she saw the horror that had suddenly filled Trent's eyes, Mikaela felt a twinge of temper which burst into life as he replied, "Oh no, no no no. This is not a toy. These 22's? I don't want you grinding them.
"Hey why doesn't my little bunny just jump in the back seat?".
Mikaela stared at Trent for a full minute before she trusted her temper enough not to launch a punch at him straightaway. Glaring at him, Mikaela finally found her voice again, "Oh God I can't even tell you how much I'm not you're little bunny right now". Pushing past him, she snatched her bag from the seat of the truck and walked away, trying to ignore the hurt feeling when he didn't even call her back. Shouldering her bag, Mikaela fought against the urge to cry and put her efforts into walking away briskly, ignoring everyone as she did so, including the concerned shouts she could hear from Sam.
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A/N: This chapter feels really bitty to me, hope it doesn't feel the same to any of you readers! As always reviews are more than welcome :) xx