Texas in my story is, quite possibly, nothing like it is in real life.
My trip was silent as I slowly woke up in the truck. I loved sleeping in vehicles, of any kind, really. Many times when my family and I travelled, I would always fall sleep, simply because I loved sleeping. So when I sat up, the first thing I noticed was that I was in the back of a cab and that there had been a blanket over me. I yawned and stretched in the seat, later rubbing my eyes and regaining my darned, blurry vision. Maybe I should see a doctor about that? I've had this for so long maybe it's not even reversible? Or maybe other people are like me as well? It wasn't that big of a deal, anyway.
"Good afternoon." Ron said from the driver's seat. Oh, good, at least I slept a couple of hours and not the whole day, like I usually do. If we started driving in the morning, then we were on the round for about four to five hours.
"Hey Ron…" I greeted him back sleepily. "How far are we? How many more hours?" I asked. I used to ask my parent that all the time.
"About two hours until we get to her city, and about half an hour to her home when we get to the city." He stated. I moved up back into the passenger seat and slid the seatbelt in its lock.
"Wait, that means we've crossed the border, right?" He nodded in response. I scratched the back of my head as a thought popped into my mind. "How does a robot get to be a legal guardian?" I asked him.
"You forget your uncle has contacts in the military and law enforcement." Well, sure I knew somewhere in the back of my mind he had to have some sort of contacts, I never pondered on it. I nodded silently as I thought about my future interrogations of Ron. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to sound like I was probing or sticking my nose into somebody else's business.
"Wanna tell me about your space buddies?" I asked. He seemed to take the hint and he knew what I was up to. "Why are Skids and Mudflap such idiots?" I asked again. He gave a good laugh.
"They are young and don't know any better. Though you're not the only one they vex. They have a tendency to get on everyone's nerves, human and Autobot alike." He made a frown. I guess he remembered some incident with them.
"And what about Arcee and Elita? They seem like nice Autobots."
"They are. Elita is Optimus's sparkmate." I stared blankly at him. The hell was a sparkmate? "That is the same as a wife."
"Oh, so he's married?"
"In a way, yes." He said, putting it all into 'human' terms. "Arcee used to be Bumblebee's girlfriend at the Academy. They were both scouts."
"What happened to them?" I didn't see any awkwardness when one was in the presence of the other.
"The War." He said flatly. "Bumblebee found Nicole here, and their relationship grew, so Arcee and Bumblebee had a talk, as serious a talk sparklings can have, and they came to a solution. They decided to be good friends, and let their previous relationship be just a memory, something left behind in the past."
"Very poetic." I chuckled.
"It's the truth."
"What about Optimus? And Ratchet?" Optimus has that mega-awesome voice.
"Optimus Prime…" Ron said at length, probably recalling numerous stories that included him and his leader. "He's the oldest and the wisest of us. He is our leader. Ratchet is our medical officer, and a pain in the aft, let me tell you that." He said, though he touched the back of his head subconsciously.
"Why?" I chuckled. He didn't like Ratchet.
"He and his slagging wrenches."
"What does he do, throw them at you?" I laughed.
"As a matter of fact, yes, he does. The fragger." He added. So beware of Ratchet. Good to know. I saw us approaching the city limits. Now, we had to find Amanda's house.
"And what about Sideswipe? He's the only one left."
"Sideswipe is also young, though older than Bumblebee. He has a twin brother, Sunstreaker, who hasn't arrived on Earth. Both of them are incredibly protective and possessive."
"More protective than you?" I chuckled. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are cool names.
"Depends. They are good warriors, and they are pranksters. They love to screw with people." He had another frown on his face. He must have been a victim of their pranks one too many times.
"Is there some kind of weakness they have?"
"They are horrible liars. Terrible. Though they do get away with it. Every. Time." He almost growled as his British accent came to life again. We turned on a street and Ironhide stopped at the corner.
"What's going on? Why did we stop?" I asked as the seatbelt undid itself. "Ron, what are you doing?"
"We have to switch places. I may be your guardian, but we don't want to raise suspicion within your friends. I will pretend to be just a truck, until absolutely necessary. You must never tell them about us." He exited the truck, but I just went over the center console and into the driver's seat. Ron got in the passenger and closed the door.
"So you're going to pretend to be my truck? I'm not going to tell them anything, but, listen, I have to tell you something." His holoform flickered off, making me shiver a bit. I started driving. "Amanda is suspicious about everything. She thinks everyone is a robot or something and robots have been her love for pretty much her whole life. You can't go playing songs or shivering or something, because she will tell that to everyone."
"I don't shiver." The radio said.
"That you know of."
"Shut up." My own voice greeted me. My brows shot up as I stared at the radio open-mouthed.
"You cannot use my voice against me!" I half yelled, half laughed. "No, you shut up. Listen, you have to be careful around Amanda." I repeated.
"I heard you the first time." A clip from a movie I didn't know played.
Ironhide turned on another street and I saw Amanda's house. My heart started to fasten its beating as Ironhide parked in her driveway.
"Remember, be good! No giving away!" I said. The truck grunted. I managed to smile as I got out of the truck, careful not to fall flat on my face. I got to her door and knocked and I could hear the conglomeration of voices inside.
"Guys, pizza's here!" Someone from the inside yelled. As that 'someone' opened the door in mid-sentence, they stopped and looked at me.
"Do I seriously look like a pizza delivery man to you, Amanda?" I asked her. Her mouth hanged open in shock. I laughed at her as she jumped on me. I didn't see it coming so I fell on my butt. I could almost see Ironhide coming a bit closer.
"Oh my God! Melissa, I don't believe it!" She hugged me so tightly, as if afraid to let go. I hugged her back just as much. "You're h-here!" She began to sob.
"Dude, where's that pizza?"
"Come here, you fat ass!" I yelled. I knew it was Dave yelling from the inside.
"Dude, is that…? Melissa?"
"No way!"
"It is!"
Suddenly, both of my guy friends stormed out of the house and looked at the sight before them. Amanda was crying on my shoulder with me being on my butt on the ground.
"Hey, share her, will you?" Pete said as both of them jogged to us.
"Yeah, she our best friend, too!" Dave added. Amanda let me go, just barely. I got up, and wiped the little dirt I had on my butt. We were on cement, after all, not on mud.
I leapt into Pete's hug when he opened his arms. "God, Melissa, we thought-"
"We thought you died!" Dave said, stealing me from Pete.
"Hey, inappropriate much!" Pete complained, but a fake complaint.
"Oh smother me, will you!" I said, my words muffled in Dave's chest. I hugged him back.
"Good to see you too, Mel." He smiled as we let go of each other. I was so happy when I saw all of my best friends around me.
"I missed you guys so much." I said as a tear escaped my eye and trailed over my cheek.
"Dude, are you… crying?" Pete said incredulously, staring at the tear trail as if he saw a worm crawling on it. "Dude, she's crying! I don't believe it! Melissa never cries!" I managed to chuckle at their remark, wiping the single trail of tear on my cheek, and I regained myself.
"Ha! No crying!" I said, bringing a smile on my face. "Wanna go to Pablo's?" I offered immediately.
"Yeah, but we don't have a ride. Who's truck is that anyway?" Dave said, eyeing the truck. He and Pete loved games, machinery and guns. They'd get along with Ron perfectly. If they could meet him.
"Yeah, um, that's my truck." I said.
"Ha ha, Mel. Nice one." Amanda said. "If they don't move the truck, I'll have to call the towing company to tow the truck away, because my mom i-"
"No, I'm serious. It's my truck." I repeated, this time being very serious. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." I got to the driver's side. The boys came to the vehicle, eyeing it.
"Why are you driving a truck? It's freaking huge, Mel." Pete said.
"I happened to like the truck. Now come on, get inside." I said as I got in the driver's seat. "Ironhide, be good." I whispered to the console. The radio replied quietly.
"As long as they don't touch… everything's gonna be fine."
"You're supposed to be a truck! Of course they're going to touch you!" I whisper-yelled at him. He didn't reply. "Come on guys." I said and turned on the truck. The boys put the luggage away and got in.
Amanda, influenced, got in the passenger seat.
"It's a cool truck." Amanda said. "Where'd you get it?" I wanted to say outer space.
"Erm, my uncle. He gave me this truck."
"I wish I had your uncle. He's a cool guy." I smiled in response and turned on a street. Amanda pushed a button to turn on the radio, but it didn't respond. "Is the radio broken?" She asked me.
I shook my head. "Not that I know of."
"Why won't it turn on then?" She took her hands to herself as I fiddled with the radio. I managed to press the right button and the radio turned on.
"It likes to stall sometimes." I said. She turned the radio station to a different one, but the radio just kept playing the one we were listening. "Come on, work with me." I whispered. The radio made a whirring sound and changed the radio station.
"Maybe the radio doesn't like me." Amanda offered.
"Yeah, that must be it." Pete said from the back.
"Hush you." Amanda turned back to mock him. We laughed a bit, but I think I could hear the engine groaning. Eventually we got to Pablo's and I parked the truck. My guys went outside and I pretended to look for something inside the center console.
"I'll be there in a sec, go get a table!" I called to them. They went away into the building to get a table. Once they were out of earshot, I yelled at Ironhide. "What was that?!"
"What was what?"
"Oh, don't you play innocent with me! You know exactly what you were doing! You can't do that! You're my truck and you better behave!" I yelled at him some more.
"Your truck?!" The radio blasted. "Nobody owns me."
"You'll see, when you break down or need a wash, don't be calling me!" I didn't let him reply as I got out and shut his door angrily. I got inside, the anger gone from my body. I found their table and took a seat next to Amanda.
"You know, you didn't have to shut the door that wildly." She commented. I shrugged.
"We ordered your favorite." Dave said. "So what's up, Mel? We haven't heard from you in so long."
"Oh, so much has happened." I said. "It wasn't really a walk in the park. It was more like a damn rollercoaster ride." I told them.
"What happened?" Dave asked. "If somebody touched you, I swear to God, I'll kill them." Dave added. Ah, Dave, the protective wingman.
"No, don't worry." I said.
"Well, what happened?" Pete pressed on. I sighed.
"After that hurricane, I found out that… that my mom and dad didn't make it." I cringed a bit.
"Oh Mel…" I heard all of them say. Amanda gave me a hug. "Honey, it's okay. Listen, it wasn't easy for me either. It wasn't easy for any of us." She said as she let me go, so I could stand up and get hugs from Pete and Dave over the table.
"It's going to be okay, Mel." Pete said, his voice filled with worry and compassion.
"Girl, you are the strongest person we know. You're gonna be okay." Dave contributed.
I sat down back on my seat, fighting back the tears. I won the fight as no tears on my side were shed.
"Wait, what do you mean 'it wasn't easy for you either'?" I turned to Amanda as our ice-cream cups were served in front of us.
"My dad…" Her gaze shifted down to her lap, where her fingers locked together as she stared at them. "...he didn't."
"Oh dear God…" I said as I gave her a tight, warm hug. I mouthed to Pete and Dave. 'Did you know this?'
They nodded.
I mouthed a 'Did your parents…?' and they shook their heads. "Come on, hon, it's alright." I said to her, but she didn't cry.
"Hey, if you can be strong, I can be strong too." She said assertively. "Now, I want my ice-cream, thank you very much." She broke the hug and took her ice-cream that arrived at our table. Despite all of us, we laughed at her remark. We grabbed our ice-cream and started talking about how their lives have been without me in them.
Both Pete and Dave had girlfriends now and Amanda found a guy that likes her and she liked him in turn.
"So, what, you're in college now?" I asked them all.
"Yeah, we're all on the same one." Pete said, finishing his ice-cream. "What college are you attending?" Pete asked.
"None." I said. "I haven't had the time to get applied to one."
"Why?" Dave asked. I couldn't tell him it was because of the Autobots, so I just shrugged.
"You know, my mom can get you in." Amanda said. "She helped me and the guys."
"Sure, though I'd have to ask my uncle first." I'd love to go to college and be with my buds. But, what would my uncle say?
"You ask him, but I think he'd give you a chance." Amanda shrugged as she put her cup aside.
"You don't think it's too late?" I ate the last few bites of the ice-cream and put the empty paper cup among the other three on the table.
"No way." She said and then she yawned. We all followed suit.
"Damn, you started the yaaaaawning chain." Pete said, putting a hand to his mouth. We all yawned after Amanda, sharing a good laugh.
"I say we go back?" I offered.
"You leave Pete at my place." Dave said. I nodded as we all paid the bill and got to the truck. The guys circled around the truck and for a second, I thought Ironhide went stiff.
"It's really a cool truck, Mel." Dave commented.
"I know, right?" I said, secretly knowing I was feeding Ironhide's ego.
"These are some custom smokestacks and huge ass rims." Pete said.
"Hey, what's with the symbol?" Dave said, catching all of our attention. I went back, trying to think of an explanation on the way.
"Oh, looks awesome!" Amanda said, as all three of them began to trace their hands along the embossed symbol. "It looks like a... robotic face, of some sort." She squinted at it.
"When you're done touching my truck, get in." I smirked as I got in the driver's seat. "Ha! Take that, you rust bucket."
"Danger, danger… alarm!" The radio said.
I knew he said that he didn't want them touching him, but… "Seriously?" Apparently, the ear deafening alarm told me so. I hit the radio and the alarm stopped. "If I could I would beat you up even in your robot mode." I turned to my friends as I lowered the window with the press of a button. "Come on guys, I ain't got all day!"
They got in the truck rather quickly and we rolled out of the parking lot and onto the streets. We headed to Dave's house as Amanda reached for the radio again and pressed the button. It didn't turn on.
"Again?" I said. Amanda nodded. I suddenly hit the window wit the back of my hand, purposely, then I let my arm rest on the armrest. The radio turned to life obediently.
Amanda watched me warily, then asked. "What does the window have to do with the radio?"
"Absolutely nothing, I just hit… myself." I pressed on the gas pedal a bit so that we could get them home faster. I could sense Amanda was plotting something.
After a couple of minutes, we got to Dave's house. I exited the truck as the boys and I needed to say our goodbyes. Right now, I was in the mood for the cheek-to-cheek kind of farewell. The boys complied and hugged me, telling me how happy they were I wasn't dead. I thanked them and got back in the truck and started to drive Amanda and myself home. It was night time now.
"Wow. It's been a hell of a day, hasn't it?" I said. "And where'd the pizza go?" I asked her.
"We'll order a new one." She said. She looked around the interior, and then fixed her gaze on the console. She began to touch the various buttons and I think she liked to push Ironhide's buttons. Ironhide's engine sputtered a bit, concerning Amanda, but angering me. "Is the truck gonna die on us or something?"
"Nah, he likes to do that. It's supposed to be normal." I lied. I didn't know two things about trucks.
"Are you sure?" I gave a reassured nod along with my pursed lips. She bought it. I'm going to kill Ironhide for making me lie to Amanda. But I guess I should be getting used to that... Should I?
We rolled into her driveway and I turned off the truck. Amanda and I got out as I spoke. "I'll be in there for a bit, I have to get the luggage out of the back of the cab."
"Need help?" She offered.
"Nope, go get that pizza ordered." I commanded.
"Yes, ma'am." She laughed, saluting me. I chuckled as I opened the back doors of the cab. "Ron, now would be a good time for you to come to life." I said. Nobody could see him, and if they did, he could just be a stranger on the street.
He came right behind me, but it was expected this time. "Need help with the baggage?" I nodded. He got in the back and took the baggage out for me. He put it on the ground as the door shut itself.
"Thanks. Listen, please don't go transforming in the middle of the night. And when Amanda wants to turn on the radio, you do that for her. Don't be such a hard-ass." I scolded him. He snorted in response.
"Fine. You go to sleep. I'll be here." I nodded at his words.
"I'm going to call my uncle. See you in the morning." I guess the feeling of kissing on the cheek didn't leave me, because I accidentally gave him the cheek-to-cheek goodbye. I blushed as I realized what I did, but it was already too late. I got my luggage with all possible alacrity and got inside the house. As I got in and started to close the door, I looked to the truck and saw Ron standing next to it. I motioned him a 'shoo' and he disappeared into the air.
I can't believe I actually gave him the cheek-to-cheek.
What the hell was I thinking?