Dear Karma

A Transformers Story

Co-written by Mein Benutzername and A Humble Reader

Beta and Advisor: sacrificialHarmony

Note: The first (official) installment. The authors of this fiction lay no claim to any of the characters except Samantha Johnson, one of our own creation.

Please allow us to give credit to a helpful friend who makes an excellent sponge to bounce ideas off of, sacrificialHarmony. He has been a huge help in developing the universe that this fic is placed in, and incidentally, turning this into more than the crack fic that was originally intended. Also an excellent beta, and good at spotting possible plot holes.

Enjoy, and leave a comment if you deem us worthy.

Words: 5589

Pages: 16

Chapter 1

Part 1

If Only I Had Stayed in Bed

In which early morning premonitions are correct and one can only dream of having listened to them in the first place.

There was no movement in the bedroom of one Samantha Hope Johnson. A feeling of calm and relaxation drifted like the tiny dust particles dancing in wayward beams of sunlight.

Light pink walls, decorated with delicate, fluttering fairies and winding green vines, complimented the various pieces of furniture, painted in bright colors to contrast the softness of the room. Bookshelves spilled their varied contents across the hardwood, mingling with the clothes, toys, and stuffed animals strewn about with them on the floor.

In-between two windows and stretching to the middle of the space, was a four poster bed. Decorative Christmas lights were strung around the rim, glowing dimly down on a colorful nest of quilts, pillows, and more stuffed toys.

It was within this jumble that Samantha was sleeping peacefully, in a bedroom that quite frankly, would be just about every little girl's dream.

...A dream that was shattered when the princess-castle themed alarm clock on the nightstand beside her bed flashed its numbers to eight o'clock, and that glassy silence was broken by the sound of epic guitar rips and a screaming that was hesitant to be called words by even the most devoted of listeners.

With a surprised shout and a panicked flailing, the girl who was previously snuggled warmly in the blankets, managed to bodily throw herself from the bed and onto the floor. There was a frantic scramble for the alarm, and then a sigh of relief when the air was left in silence once again.

Taking a moment to appreciate it fully, she smiled to herself happily.

Before letting it drop abruptly and releasing a painful groan, allowing her body to fall limply to the floor in a rather un-happy heap. She laid there a while, breathing deeply and glaring at the hardwood with dark green eyes, as if the dead trees were the cause of everything horrible in the world. Sighing again, she lessened her glare and studied the cracks between the boards.

"I shouldn't get up." She murmured gloomily. "It's going to be a bad day today, I can just tell. I should just lay here. And go back to sleep. And not worry about anything. Because...ugh, I just shouldn't get up." She debated with herself internally for a few moments, wondering if it was worth the effort of moving to either get herself off the ground and standing, or at the very least into her bed.

With a resigned feeling, she groaned again and slowly raised herself up on shaky arms, until she was on her knees, and then standing on her feet. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the palm of one hand, she yawned and reached out for the sticky note stuck to her lamp on the nightstand. Once she had wiped away most of the blurriness, she squinted and read her note.

"Remember to take Sweetie into town for a walk, and pick up the cake. Mom's birthday is Thursday, and you still need to get her a good present, too. Oh yeah. Thursday is...like...the day after tomorrow isn't it? Huh." Shrugging to herself, she tossed the scrap of paper back onto the nightstand and instead made her way over to her dresser with a large yawn. Pulling open the second drawer sluggishly, she dug through the assorted T-shirts lazily until she found one to her liking. Grabbing a pair of shorts from the drawer above, she quickly changed and went onto her next order of business; attempting to tame the wild rat's nest that sat atop her head.

Samantha awkwardly slipped on a pair of socks before heading to the bathroom, weapon in hand. She glared at herself in the mirror before taking a deep breath and attacking her hair with the brush.

After a few minutes of curses and grunts, she managed to change it from an untamable mess of matts and knots, to a much more manageable wall of frizz. Grumbling slightly, she cursed herself again for keeping it so long as she grabbed the hair straightener lying ready for use beside the sink. She made a mental note to herself to make a physical note later to man up already and get a shorter haircut. And maybe use conditioner every once in a while.

Once she had flattened her bush-woman hair to something well within the range of normal brown locks, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, just like she did every other morning she managed to drag herself out of bed before noon.

"Alright Sammy." She said, addressing her reflection in the mirror. "Go into town and take Sweetie for a walk. Get mom's present, don't forget, and maybe grab some snacks so you can invite *Pens and Anna over for a sleepover or something. Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Nodding, she made her way back out of the bathroom and into her own room again, digging through the clutter on her floor so she could find a pair of shoes. Once she had them, she left her room again, closing the door firmly behind her. Samantha walked lazily into the kitchen, humming to herself as she went.

"Sweetie!" she called. As she opened up the pantry door, a huge beast came loping joyously into the room and pranced up next to its owner happily. Sam looked down and smiled at the golden retriever, leaving her searching for a moment to cuddle with the dog.

"Who's a good girl!" She cooed, giving her pet a great big hug. The dog just pushed further into her embrace, tail wagging happily. "You are! Yes you are! Because you're my Sweetie Pie! Mhmm!" In response to her meaningless noises of comfort and love, said Sweetie Pie gave the girl a great big slobbery kiss on the cheek, to which Sam just giggled.

Satisfied for now, Sam stood up and looked through the pantry a little longer, before snapping her fingers after having found whatever she was looking for.

"Here it is." She crooned. "Cookies for the road! Alright." She placed the plastic bag full of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen table and went to the living room to find her bag and the leash for Sweetie. Once she was ready, she pulled a sticky note and a pen from her purse (with cookies now resting safely inside) and left a message for her mom, saying she had gone out for a walk and to maybe buy some snacks. She stuck it firmly to the door before replacing her items, hooking her dog up to the leash, and stepping outside.

And she groaned as soon as she did so.

Why hadn't she checked the weather? It was sweltering outside, and even though she dressed for a little heat, this was ridiculous.

"I knew I should have stayed in bed." She muttered. Shutting the door behind her and locking it with her key, she began the slow walk down the neighborhood and into town. "Look at this weather. Ugh. By the time we make it to the grocery store I'll be sweating enough liquids to end a drought and you'll be fried Retriever on a leash." Samantha wiped a hand across her forehead, which already seemed to be sweating bullets. She groaned again, and sped up a little. "I bet my cookies will melt too!" Eventually the girl and her pet settled into a light jog, and they made it to the local store in about ten minutes. The door opened with a tingle of bells, and the cashier looked up giving a big grin as the sweaty, grumpy customer entered.

"Hey there Sunshine! What's kickin'?" Sam glared half-heartedly at the girl running the register, but gave in and approached her anyway, making sure to keep Sweetie Pie close.

"My name ain't Sunshine, Anna-poo. But besides melting in this heat? Not much." Anna waved off her grumpiness with a smile.

"Whatever you say, Sunny. What brings you to ye olde shoppe of blandness today?" Sam allowed a small smile at the joke, despite the abhorred nickname, and absently opened her purse up to grab the bag of cookies.

"Actually I was thinking of grabbing some snacks so me, you, and Pens could have a slumber party before Mom's Birthday comes around. So like, tonight. Oh, and I might need one of you guys to help me pick out a present, because I really have no idea what to get for her. And I'm running out of time." Anna, who by this time had managed to set her whole body on top of the counter so she could reach the dog happily panting by her friend's side, gave a little nod before responding.

"Sleepover tonight means Momma Bear's B'day is the day after tomorrow, right? And your mom...hm..." suddenly, the brunette flipped herself upright again and back on her side of the counter, a grin splitting her face.

"I gotcha covered, Sunny dear! Follow me. Boss won't mind, anyway, no one has really come in yet." Sam sighed and followed her friend, giving Sweetie some slack on the leash so she could go in front of her and sniff what she liked. Anna practically skipped down the aisles and eventually she was led to the store's meager supply of books, leaving Sam to frown.

"A book? I don't know if Mom would like that." Anna snorted and gave Sam a look that said 'Seriously? Are you for real?' Sam just glared in return.

"Well Sunshine, you're worse at this than I remember. No, wait, it's my fault. I should have thought of all those birthdays where I was given less-than-suitable gifts at the last minute because of your inability to think for yourself. My bad, next year remind me to just get the gift for you ahead of time and save your mom the disappointment." The glare only intensified at this statement, which was soon accompanied by a smirk.

"Anna." The girl went from a sly smirk to an innocent smile in nano seconds.

"Yes, darling?"

"Just help me find a present." She growled. Anna pouted but it was quickly smoothed into a smile again.

"What do you think I'm doing, Sunny? Here, look. Your mom is a woman, right? I think you are too, but that's up for debate, especially since you haven't seemed to have caught on yet, but of course, that's a whole 'nother discussion entirely-"

"Anna so help me God-"

"Alright alright!" The girl quickly placated, holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender. She quickly passed over the shelves before grinning again and pulling one of the copies off. "Here, see?" she asked, handing the paperback to her friend. Sam took it and seemed to turn it around experimentally, until she found the summary.

**"Eloquent Dysfunction is the heart wrenching tale of two lovers separated by fate. They face tragedy and heart break as they fight through this world's woes to find each other, and challenge the designs the refuse to conform too by- is this a sappy romance novel?" Anna hid her giggles behind a slender palm, and gave her friend a sly look.

"It took half of the summary for you to figure it out?" Sam just scowled but tucked the book under her arm anyway, praying to somebody that her mom wouldn't see her present and throw it in the fire place.

"It's not inappropriate, is it?" she asked. "My mom won't try to burn it or gouge out her eyes?" Anna chuckled and began walking out of the aisle, Sam and Sweetie falling into step with her.

"No, it's perfectly acceptable, even by you and your mother's prude standards." She teased. Sam scoffed.

"As if you or Pens are anymore vulgar or comfortable with that kind of stuff than I am."

"Despite what you believe, you are a little more touchy on the subject of things like sex, or even kissing-" Sam gasped and shoved Anna's shoulder.

"Don't say that out loud! We're in public! That's disgusting." Anna just gave her a knowing look, to which Sam blushed, but only a little. "Okay, okay, I'm a prude, shut up. That should be a good thing." Anna just smiled again.

"Whatever you say, Sunshine."

"That's not my name! And my name isn't Sunny, either!" Anna laughed at her friend's expense, and the two continued harmlessly teasing each other as they picked out snacks for the anticipated sleepover that would happen later that evening.

Once she had gathered her supplies, Sam followed Anna back to the register, feeling maybe a little less grumpy that she had earlier in the heat that came with living on the edge of Arizona, practically halfway into the Nevada deserts. They chatted as they found, grabbed, and checked out her items, and Sam almost wondered if she would need help carrying all of these bags home with her. Or maybe if she should have been smart and taken the truck instead of walking.

Somehow, she managed to get ahold of every bag, and keep a firm grip on Sweetie's leash. Her arms were loaded to full capacity, and she was questioning her ability to walk. With no help from Anna, of course.

"You look like a walking coat rack, except with bags instead of coats." Anna told her, hands on her hips while her friend wobbled dangerously. Sam grunted.

"Yeah, thanks. You're such a huge help you know. Offering to carry some bags, get me a cart. I should find Boss and tell him how great an employee you are." She shuffled the bags on her arms again, trying to be more comfortable.

"You really should, you know. I'm so underappreciated around here. In fact, you should just go ahead and tell him to give me a raise. I really do deserve it after all of this hard work." Samantha snorted.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, call Pens and tell her to come to my place at eight. Hopefully by then everything will be set up, and we can watch a movie or something." Suddenly Anna's eyes lit up and she smiled hugely.

"Oh oh oh! Can we watch some more G1 episodes? You know you love them! I mean, the movies are okay, well, actually the first one is great, and the second one is meh, but the third one, jeesh, I wanna kill somebody-" Sam sighed.

"Anna."

"-you haven't watched them in so long! We have to finish season two and get onto season three, and quick! I think Pens might be watching ahead of us, and-"

"Anna..."

"-so really you don't even have a say in the matter, Sunshine! It's practically required! And-"

"Anna!" the girl's rant was cut off and she stared at Sam with large, pleading eyes.

"Please Sunny? Please oh please oh please?" Sam sighed.

"I was going to say yes in the first place before you decided to impersonate Bluestreak, but yes, since you asked so nicely, we can." Anna fist pumped the air with a quite 'Yes!' before hugging Sam happily.

"Awesome! We'll be there at eight, Sunflower! Be ready!" and with that she was back behind the counter with another wayward townsperson, leaving Sam to wobble on unstable legs out the door on her own. Sam was almost to the door when she realized what Anna had said there at the end. Turning around, she growled and yelled at her friend's back;

"My name is not SUNFLOWER! It's SAM!" Sam about faced, ignored the peals of laughter from behind her, and grumped her way right out of the store.

Again, she was hit with by heat as though it were a wall of bricks, and her previous frustration with Anna was redirected at the unsavory weather conditions.

"Ugh. C'mon Sweetie. Time to start our death march back home." As she sluggishly made her way down the slowly busying main road of the little town she lived in with her mom, her thoughts drifted from topic to topic carelessly, leaving most thoughts incomplete or flat out confusing. Her thoughts bounced from the sleepover, to the heat, to how cute Sweetie was even when it was hot, to how hot it was like jeez it should be illegal to be so hot, to G1, the show Anna had mentioned, The Transformers.

She was by no means a die-hard for it like Anna seemed to be. And Pens wasn't either. This aside, all three girls did enjoy the silly, corny eighties cartoon, and the live action movies. (And Pens in particular was fond of the new Prime show, or whatever it was.) Anna was really the only insane one.

She had gone about learning each and every bot's name (if she could help it), their personality, their faction. She suddenly knew every single car brand out there and was working her way into knowing the make and model by sight alone.

Sam wouldn't deny that she enjoyed it, but sometimes it did seem like Anna was getting a little out of hand. She had almost mauled the owner of a yellow and black Camaro once when she saw them exit the vehicle, raving on and on about how much she loved their car and where did they get it and wow what a nice interior what was the model again? Oh and did you know this and that and-

And the girl nearly had to be dragged off of the flattered but quite terrified woman. She had never done anything so ridiculous since, (especially after a proper scolding) but she did her very best to incorporate it into her life. And Sam and Pens' lives too.

Like the Valentines card that Sam kept in her purse. It was something she would never admit to, but she really adored it. She thought it was funny, and cute. It read; 'If you were a transformer, you'd be Optimus Fine.'

Anna would never know that she kept it in her purse either. It would only result in bodily harm to one or both parties, whether it was intentional or not.

Suddenly Sam was brought out of her jumbled thought processes by the low growling noises coming from Sweetie at her feet. A part of her brain registered that that was odd; wouldn't the Golden Retriever be up ahead sniffing willy nilly across the sidewalk like usual? Sam finally took the initiative to look down at her dog, who was practically hiding between her feet. Sam frowned. Looking up and in the general direction of where her poor puppy was glaring at, she couldn't help but let a small smile cross her lips.

"Ha. Really, Sweetie? It figures my dog would be afraid of a cop car. Come on girl; we have to go home before I melt in the heat." Sam tugged at the leash a little and attempted to take a step forward, but Sweetie wouldn't budge. Sam nearly tripped over the dog when the normally, well, sweet, animal began growling at the car more openly.

Her hackles were raised and the fur along her back bristled in fear and hostility. There was something very wrong sitting across the street from her master, and it needed to leave. Now.

Sam didn't know any of this, of course. All she could see was that her dog was spooked by something as simple as a cop car and was acting pretty weird about it. Hopping awkwardly on one foot to regain her balance, she frowned again and squatted beside her dog, the grocery bags hanging off of her arms banging annoyingly against her legs and the ground.

"Sweetie Pie? Honey, what's wrong?" The dog didn't move, and in fact it only seemed to growl louder. Sam's frown deepened. What was wrong with her? "Sweetie! Stop it! You're scaring me!" Sam stood up again, looking down at her dog, who was now barking in between her growls, and backing up into her owner's legs, forcing her to take a few steps back.

Across the street, the door to the cop car opened and a single man in uniform stepped out. He slowly approached Sam, who was trying to tug her dog away from the edge of the street again. He stopped far enough away that he wouldn't be too close to the dog, but close enough he wouldn't appear rude.

"M'am?" He asked. The woman jerked her head up to look at him, smiling sheepishly, her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment.

"Oh! Uh, Officer, I'm really sorry about this. My dog doesn't normally bark at all, I don't know what's gotten into her, she just started growling at your car and-" the man held up a hand for her to stop.

"It's alright. I just came to see if there was anything wrong." The woman shook her head.

"No, no really, it's fine. I'll just have to be more careful. C'mon Sweetie! We have to go! Now." Sam gave another tug on the leash, and Sweetie slowly took a step back, growling now at the man instead of just the car. The dog sniffed frantically, and apparently didn't like what it found, because the next thing Sam knew, Sweetie had lunged at the cop. The man didn't even bat an eye or take a step back. Sam yelped and nearly fell forward from the sudden jerk, but managed to stay standing. "Sweetie!" she yelled. The officer was staring down at her dog, who was now only about a foot away from him and still growling, with a thoughtful frown on his face. Slowly he bent down and rested a hand on top of the dog's head. The growling stopped abruptly and for a moment, Sweetie Pie looked almost confused.

It was this moment that Sam decided she really had caused enough trouble and quickly came forward, grabbing the leash of her dog as close to the collar as she could, pulling her back a little as the man stood up again.

"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen her act like that before, I swear! I don't know what made her go crazy like that!" The man allowed a small smile and looked at her reassuringly.

"It's no problem. I guess I should have realized coming out here wouldn't be such a good idea. My wife owns a lot of cats, and it usually makes most dogs a little antsy." He released a small chuckle. "In fact, I probably smell like cats too. I'm sure your dog didn't mean anything by it. It's my fault for taunting her with the prospect of chasing her arch enemy up a tree." He tipped his hat at her and began walking away. "Have a nice day M'am. Tell your dog I'm sorry for the smell." Sam smiled in relief.

"You too! Bye!" He gave one last wave before climbing into his car again. Sam turned away with a sigh as he drove off, giving her dog a weird look.

Sweetie, however, was acting as though nothing had ever happened, looking up at her owner adoringly with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. Sam shook her head, and brushed it off as cats, like the man had said. Giving the leash a little tug for good measure, and to make sure Sweetie wouldn't act up again, Sam started on her way back home.

"Well, there was the embarrassing part of my day. Maybe after this it will lighten up." She muttered to herself.

Sam didn't see the door shut on its own when the officer got into his car, or the weird look his partner gave him as he flickered out of existence and the car rolled away. Instead she kept on walking down the road, blissfully ignorant that she had just witnessed and been a part of something very strange for such a sleepy little town.

About half an hour later when Sam finally made it back home, skin slick with sweat and clothes practically dripping, the teen had to physically restrain herself from collapsing on the couch and not moving until the next ice age. Instead, she quickly unclipped Sweetie from her leash and allowed the dog to happily trot to her water bowl, lapping up the cool liquid noisily.

Sam wondered, not for the first time, if her sweet baby girl was actually a demon in disguise. It definitely seemed like she did some things just to taunt her.

Arms weak and shaky, Sam stumbled blearily through the hall and into the kitchen, barely managing to lift the snacks onto the table. When she had removed all traces of plastic from her arms, she quickly lay down in a heap on the floor, panting.

For a few minutes Sam didn't move. She just panted as her body cooled down on the hardwood, silently thanking whoever it was that invented the glorious thing that was air conditioning. Sweetie moseyed on over to join her, laying her head on Sam's thigh as she too decided a bit of R&R was in order after their exciting walk.

Sam breathed deeply as she studied the off-white ceiling of the kitchen, her eyes finding all the little cracks and places where the paint was peeling. She roamed the walls, covered in some cheap fruit wallpaper, and the small table with its miss-matched chairs. She released her breath in a long-suffering sigh, and closed her eyes to enjoy the serene peacefulness that the quiet and familiar surroundings gave her.

There was a shuffling to her left, in the direction of the hallway, before a familiarly amused voice spoke.

"And good morning to you too, Mrs. Drama Queen. My my, not even twelve o'clock and you've exhausted yourself. What's on today's schedule to merit so much early morning shopping?" the woman speaking stepped carefully over her daughter's prone form to give a cursory inspection of the bags laying haphazardly on the table, not unlike her lazy teenager resting on the floor. "All I see is junk. Planning something?"

Sam only groaned in response, and flung one arm over her eyes as if it would make the voice go away.

There was a small chuckle, before the older woman stopped rifling through the bags and instead took to squatting down beside the teenager.

"What's up Sammy-mammy?" She asked teasingly. Sam sighed, but allowed the childhood nickname to slide. She really wasn't a fan of nicknames, at least not for herself, but for her mom? She could make an exception.

"Was planning a sleepover. Anna and Pens. I got dragged all across the store and back at least five times by the crazy devil. You cool with it?" She mumbled, barely moving her arm so she could see her mother's expression. Amused chocolate irises greeted her, framed by a brown halo of well-kempt curls and waves. Her mom was smiling and put one finger to the upturned corners of her lips as though considering.

"Hm. Well, you definitely asked me at least a day in advance. It's not like you went out shopping and left a note innocently saying something about 'snacks' and not even mentioning sleepovers. Nor did you dump it on me right as I was about to leave for work. No, you've been nothing but responsible." Her eyes glittered and Sam was rewarded a victorious smirk when she groaned.

"Auuugh. Mom, okay, okay, I get it, I should've asked. But I already told Anna, and she's probably blabbed to Pens about it by now, and Pens is probably close to manslaughter because of her rambling. Unless you suddenly want to be the cause of at least one murder and have your daughter under scrutiny as the lead suspect, you should just let it happen." With this statement Sam moved her arm completely from her face and allowed it to fall limply beside her on the floor. Her mom's smile twitched.

"Me the cause? And you the prime suspect? I thought Miss Yorkshire was the one committing first degree murder?" Sam rolled her eyes with a dramatic sigh, as though the answer were obvious. Which, in her opinion, it should have been. Because seriously, she had known her crazy friends long enough to have at least a rudimentary understanding of how these things worked.

"Well, duh. Pens is too smart to let the blame fall on herself. She'd either peg it on me or her sister, and I bet she'd even come forward as some kind of traumatized witness to boot. So unless you want to be the mother of a wrongly imprisoned criminal, you should totally let me have a sleepover tonight." Her mom looked at her a little longer, before caving and laughing at her daughters antics. Sam smiled. She loved being able to make her mom laugh like that.

"Well, since you've provided such a compelling argument, it's almost as though I have no choice! Of course you can have a sleepover honey. Just ask next time, okay?" Sam nodded and slowly began to sit up, groaning with effort as she did. Her mom, who had only been squatting, rose to her full height and extended a hand to help her struggling girl up as well.

When she was standing again, Sam took a moment to brush herself off before returning her attention to her mom. She was dressed in a slick navy business suit, pencil skirt and stiff jacket included. Her heels clacked noisily on the floorboards.

"You're heading to work before lunch?" Sam asked, moving around her to the table to begin unpacking her supplies. Her mom nodded absently, leaning against one of the chairs and twirling a strand of her hair.

"Mhmm. It seems there's a special business partner that they need me to help convince our company is worth the risk. Of course, why me, I'm not sure, but you know. When your boss comes up to you and says 'Katherine. This is something that only you can do for us.', well, there's usually not much of an option for a 'no', now is there?" She shook her head and dropped the hair she was handling. Sam looked to the only parental figure in her life with a quirked eyebrow.

"Really? 'Only you'? That's weird. You can't do anything." Her mom gave an offended huff.

"Excuse me? Please remind me, young lady, who does the laundry and cooks...well, when she can? And who is it who always moans about wishing her cooking was as great as moi?" Sam laughed and held up her hands in surrender.

"Yeah, I know, I know! Whatever mom, have fun kissing up to more people. Do you want me to make you dinner? And by make dinner I mean order takeout for you instead of just me and Anna and Pens." Her mom pushed off the chair and grabbed her purse as she headed to the front door. Sam followed behind her, eating her forgotten and half melted cookies from her own bag.

"No, this meeting is actually more like a small trip. I'll be leading them on a tour of the facilities, and then we'll discuss over dinner. We'll be staying at a hotel since tomorrow we're also going to be going over some of the more distant compounds. I'll be back around seven tomorrow night, sweetheart." It was then that Sam noticed the small briefcase her mom had been carrying, even in the kitchen.

"Really? Oh. Okay." Sam mumbled. She didn't particularly mind when her mom went on these trips, but she had been kind of looking forward to having her mom there with her and her friends to watch movies and goof off. She always had been more like a best friend than a mom.

Though she wasn't sure if it was because of the hint of disappointment Sam let drift into her words, or maybe just her mom being her mom, she suddenly found herself in a nice, warm hug. Sam wrapped her arms around her in return, smiling.

"C'mon, you big sap." Katherine spoke soothingly. "Don't tell me you'd rather have me here to embarrass you to the best of my abilities? I could tell them about that one boy in middle school you know-" Suddenly it seemed as though Sam couldn't wait for her mom to be out of the house, and made as much clear as she began bodily shoving the woman out the door.

"Love you mommy, but I think you're right! I am being a sap! Have fun kissing up and eating fancy half-cooked steak!" Sam called when she managed to get her mom walking toward the car with laughter seeping out of her big smile.

"Just don't burn down the house while I'm gone, you hear?" Sam grinned and waved.

"No promises!" After her mom blew one last kiss and drove away, Sam shut the front door firmly, determined to keep the heat out. She sighed happily, and then started when she noticed a note on the door. It wasn't the one she had left that morning; this one was covered in doodles and smily faces. Peeling it from the door, Sam made her way back into the kitchen while she read the sticky's message.

She grinned before tossing it on the table and getting back to unpacking her supplies for the sleepover that was sure to be a blast later that evening.

She was also looking forward to the lunch her mom had prepared for her before she left. Reheated Mac and Cheese, straight out of the microwave, really was the best.

*Pens – The nickname for one of Sam's close friends. It stands for Penelope, and, however ironic, the girl's notable writing capabilities. Not that her friends knew about that.

**Eloquent Dysfunction – As far as we are aware, this is not a real novel. We mostly just came up with some sappy, stereotypical plot fixtures and shoved it into a somewhat half-assed summary. If this is a real novel and we somehow managed to give a verbatim description of the summary, well, first of all please work on writing a better one. And secondly, we apologize for unintentionally using your title/idea or offending you.

Note: Chapter 1 Part 2 has been completed. Very soon things will start to happen. We thank you for the support given to just the prologue, and hope you enjoyed.

Thanks much, and please come again.