A/N- Hello again. Curious enough to read past the prologue, eh? Alright then. Enjoy your stay. Or don't, it's up to you.

Disclaimer: Transformers is owned by Hasbro. I only own my OCs.

Even though she'd convinced herself the night before that she was looking forward to her first day of school…the same couldn't be said for how Ellie felt the next morning. It was like all of her confidence had sapped out of her body while she slept restlessly that night, only to wake up three hours earlier than planned. Granted, she's always had trouble getting a full night's sleep, but this time was different. For most of the night and the early morning, all she could do was stare straight up at the white ceiling above her, not even trying to get any last-minute rest.

Until finally, when her clock struck six-fifteen, Ellie heard her grandmother trudge down the hallway from outside of her door and head for the kitchen, intent on cooking breakfast. Ellie took that as her cue to push herself into a sitting position. She shifted until she was sat on the side of the bed, staring down at her left leg and her right stump hanging over the edge.

Might as well get ready, she thought, reaching for the clothes that she'd chosen and placed within her reach the night before. After putting them on and checking over to make sure that the residue limb area was good and clean, she slid on her prosthetic sock, followed by her dark grey prosthetic leg with a careful yet habituated disposition.

With the mindset that perhaps, even with the lack of sleep, she could still try to find some positives to the upcoming day, she rose into a standing position to further get ready. However, when she joined her grandmother at the kitchen table for breakfast a little while later, she found that she didn't have the stomach for it.

"Ellie, eat your oatmeal," Isla ordered her granddaughter some minutes later, not looking up from her newspaper.

"I'm not hungry," the fourteen-year-old girl mumbled. She continued to idly stir up the apple and cinnamon-flavored oatmeal with her spoon.

"Tough. I'm not coming home to you pigging out on the couch tonight because of a brief case of the jitters."

Ellie groaned. "I'm gonna die."

The elder woman casually turned a page. "Of course you're going to die— just like everyone else someday. Now, drop the dramatics and eat your breakfast."

Despite the churning in her stomach, Ellie smiled ruefully at her grandmother's impassive jab and glanced up at her, but she could only see her dark but greying hair in a high bun over the newspaper. She swallowed thickly before she relented and started to eat the food in front of her, albeit she ate slowly. She still felt like she was going to be sick.

While Ellie ate, Isla finally lowered the newsprint and regarded the girl closely. "You're wearing that? You sure?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"It's the only ensemble that stank the least. Everything else is still in the wash," Ellie replied. Her attire consisted of a sea-green sweater worn over a rose-pink, collared casual tunic dress that reached her knees, and loose, black leggings tucked under her socks. She glanced down briefly before adding in a softer tone, "Besides, it still covers enough."

Her grandmother narrowed her eyes, looking like she wanted to say something, but her "pick your battles" thoughts convinced her otherwise. Instead, she merely shook her head and let her granddaughter finish her breakfast in peace, until several minutes later when she looked up at the clock.

"You've taken your medicine already, right?"

"Yep."

"Good. Now get your shoes on. Time to go."

Ellie hoped to God that the pitch in her throat that time was just her imagination.

The ride to school was short and silent, such as Ellie expected it would be. She looked up at the building as they pulled into the drop-off line, taking in its scale.

"They'll be expecting you in the office, so you only need to tell them who you are and everything will be set," her grandmother said, breaking Ellie out of her thoughts. "And we're clear on how you'll get home?"

"It's a fifteen-minute walk, I know. I can handle that just fine," she said minutely.

Isla frowned, but didn't say anything else until they inched closer toward the front entrance. As they did so, Isla met Ellie's gaze, her face softening ever so slightly. "I know you're nervous, Ellie," she said. "But trust me, it'll be fine. It's only school, after all. Remember—"

"I know," Ellie sighed. "I'll work hard and pay close attention."

Isla arched an eyebrow at her. "Oh, I know you'll do those things. I'm not worried about that. What I am worried about is how you'll do on a more social basis."

Ellie just looked at her. "You want me to make fast friends with the first person I see?" she asked with feigned innocence.

Her grandmother's eyes flashed at her, and she was immediately sorry.

"What I want, Elinor," Isla emphasized severely, "is for you to interact and be more proactive with your fellow peers. But don't be stupid about it, either. If anyone gives you a reason not to trust them, then don't affiliate with them. Simple as that. You know better— at least you should."

Ellie held up a hand. "I do. Promise."

They finally slowed to a complete stop in front of the entrance. In the short pause between the two, Ellie had gathered her bag, ready to disembark, before she looked back at her elder one last time.

Then Isla gave Ellie a pointed smirk and added, "And of course, if anyone gives you trouble at all, you let me know, and I'll set them right. See you tonight, dear."

The corner of Ellie's lips inched upward at the threatening-yet-affectionate address. "Ten-four."

"Over and out."

The elder woman watched Ellie closely as she stepped out of the deep blue car until the passenger door closed shut. After walking a couple paces onto the pavement, Ellie spared a glance back to see her grandmother already pulling out of the drop-off line without so much of a wave.

Not much for lingering goodbyes, that one, Ellie thought when she noticed some other parents/guardians giving their kids longer, fonder farewells behind her— not that those kids really appreciated it; they were teenagers, after all.

That suited Ellie fine, though. She'd grown accustomed to it in the four years she's been living with the stern, but well-meaning woman.

She looked ahead at her soon-to-be fellow students filing through the double doors on this warm, clear Monday morning. She took a deep breath. What was it Gene always said, right before doing something scary or stupid?

"Into the belly of the beast, we go," she muttered aloud to herself. She retightened the band that kept her hair pulled back. Then, gripping the strap of her bag tightly, she walked into the school.

The best part about starting at a new school when you're already nervous enough as it is?

Nobody cares.

Seriously. To Ellie, it felt like all those movies she's seen over the years really overhyped the sensation of being the new kid; the best-case scenario being promises of mesmerized onlookers asking her endless questions regarding who she was or where she was from, and worst-case being mercilessly bullied just for being new.

Nope. After a quick trip to the office to get her class schedule and locker number in order, she simply walked to and from her designated classes throughout the day, almost blending right in with the other students. Other than the teachers who helped get her up to speed on what they were covering with their subjects, nobody bothered her— unless she counted the occasional passerby doing a quick double-take, but only because they've never seen her before. As quickly as they looked, they just shrugged it off and moved along, like, Oh, a new girl. Cool. Welcome aboard the hell that we are all in together known as high school.

Even the transfer student from Japan in Ellie's world history and economics classes was hardly ever spared a glance — and she had bright pink highlights in her dark, pig-tailed hair.

She couldn't help but notice throughout the day, though, that some of her teachers threw a quick, worried glance her way whenever she walked into class. Well, of course the teachers know. Why wouldn't they? However, when they saw that she was getting along just fine, they relaxed and went on introducing her to the class and catching her up with assignments, like nothing happened.

All in all, Ellie went through her first day of Memorial High without a hitch. She didn't have any trouble, she didn't cause any trouble, and she didn't talk to anyone.

In other words: it was underwhelming.

Now Ellie felt like an idiot, wondering what she was working herself up over earlier that morning.

"Did you even say three words to anyone?" her grandmother asked with a tight look later that evening at home, as they were exchanging stories of how their day went over dinner.

"Uhh…" Ellie uttered feebly, looking down.

"Yes or no question, Ellie. The easiest kind in the world. Answer it," Isla said sharply.

A short pause later, Ellie admitted, "No."

Her grandmother huffed in exasperation, with a look that clearly said, what am I going to do with this child? "No wonder," she muttered.

She fixed Ellie with a piercing look, her lips thin. "It was only your first day, so I'll let it slide. But you need to make more of an effort from now on. I don't want you spending anymore of your time shutting yourself away like the last time. Now, I know it's been hard for you to make new friends since—"

"I'm trying," Ellie suddenly insisted, hands clenched. "I really am. I promise."

Her grandmother stared at her. Her cold, blue eyes remained steadfast, but her lips became less thin. Ellie took that as a good sign. "Very well," she said finally. "But my statement still stands."

"Yes, Grandma."

"Also, you could stand to go out and explore the town in your free time."

Ellie emitted a doubtful grunt. "Don't know if there'd be much for me out there."

To the girl's surprise, her grandmother smirked at her, followed by a short chuckle. "That's not how you would've reacted back home, you know, once upon a time. I remember a girl who wouldn't hesitate to run off into the blue, in search of something new and exciting."

Ellie looked down at the table, her face hardening. "Yeah, well…" she murmured, gently rubbing her right arm, "…guess I'm just not in the running mood right now."

"Elinor—"

"So how was your first day? Was it busy? Because it usually always is on the first day," Ellie cut in, steering the conversation in the other direction.

Her grandmother just sighed with a slight shake of her head in disappointment that almost made Ellie feel guilty, before she answered, "Of course it was busy. I oversaw thirty-five patients."

"What kind?"

"Twenty-nine dogs and six cats."

Ellie looked disappointed. "Nothing else? Not even a lizard? Or a budgie?"

"No, just dogs and cats." Then Isla scowled, but not at Ellie. "But of course, some of the owners made up for lack of variety with sheer ignorance."

Oh, boy, Ellie thought before asking, "What now?"

"Some idiot, a grown man, thought it'd be okay to feed his dog 'just a little bit of chocolate,'" she finished in air quotes.

Ellie winced. "Oof. Really?"

Isla nodded, rubbing her eyes with a groan.

"And let me guess, that 'little bit of chocolate' still had a high amount of theobromine in it?"

"Air sgàth Dhè!* See? Even you know that, and you're fourteen," Isla muttered with frustration.

Ellie smiled in amusement. It's been a while since she's seen her grandmother get frustrated enough to swear in Gaelic, not that she blamed her. Sometimes being a vet in the private practice had its share of stress, as does most every other job.

"I bet that was quite the mess to clean up," she remarked.

Isla shot her a dark look. "Don't remind me."

Ellie was about to say something along the lines of it only being the first day, and it'd get better in time, but she realized that that would kind of make her a hypocrite. And her grandmother would never let her live it down. So instead she kept silent and let the subject drop.

Hopefully, in due time, she could practice what she almost preached.

For the rest of the week, Ellie decided to least attempt to hold up her promise to her grandmother, and make an effort to actually talk to someone. That, however, proved to be difficult at first, as it seemed the other students had their own group of friends to talk and spend time with— that and Ellie just felt intimidated by them. She didn't know who to go to. Still, she owed it to herself and her grandmother to give it the old college try.

It wasn't until she was in her afternoon world history class on Tuesday, when they had free study time in the last fifteen minutes of class, that she finally found her first chance. It came in the form of a certain black and pink-haired, punk-style wearing girl sitting next to her— Miko Nakadai, as Ellie had learned was her name after hearing the teacher constantly reprimand her for not listening in class. It appeared that it only took a couple of weeks for the girl to feel right at home in America, though she didn't seem to belong to a specific group of friends; she mostly liked to do her own thing. Ellie could respect that.

Ellie watched as Miko sat in a slightly hunched position, a smile on her face, as she drew in a sketchbook with enthusiastic determination. Often she'd switch colored pencils, though that didn't slow down her drive.

Ellie leaned over a little, wanting to get a better view of the sketchbook. Squinting, she could make out an almost complete picture of what she guessed was a blue and green monster truck crushing another monster truck with red and yellow flames under its big tires, set in a muddy arena.

It was…colorful. Ellie had to give it that.

Then Miko's drawing hand stopped, the red pencil centimeters from the parchment. Ellie lifted her hazel eyes up to meet Miko's amber eyes; the latter had noticed her staring.

Ellie blanched. Crap. Say something. Don't be weird.

"Um…cool drawing," she said with what she hoped was a friendly tone and a pleasant smile. Maybe the worst she'd get was an odd look for being nosy.

The reaction she actually received, however, was what she was least prepared for.

Miko's already bright face somehow got even brighter, grinning broadly at the blonde girl.

"Thanks!" she said unreservedly as she spun in her seat to fully face Ellie. "It's the best moment from the monster truck rally in Denver I watched on TV last night! It was uh-may-zing! So much fire and explosions and debris and mud flying everywhere! Do you like monster trucks? You look like you'd be a fan of the Skull Crusher! No, the Warmonger! Yeah! Do you think he'll make it to the finals? I really hope so!"

She continued to carry on about what was evidently her favorite sport, occasionally asking Ellie a question only to quickly replace it with another excited statement, not giving the recipient any time to answer.

The entire time Miko prattled, Ellie just sat there, her smile slowly but surely becoming tighter. Her eye twitched.

Oh, no. Too much. Too much! What do I do?!

Thirty seconds later, like a miracle, the bell rang, indicating the end of class. Ellie gathered her things and got up with the rest of the students. She was only a few steps toward the door when she was abruptly stopped by a loud, "Hey!"

She turned to face Miko once more, nervous. The other classmates herded around her to leave.

"What's your name?"

"Um, Ellie?" she answered, like she wasn't so sure herself.

Miko beamed before she— to Ellie's shock— pounced her into a rather tight hug. As quickly as she did so, though, she broke away and started running off, but not without calling over her shoulder with a wave, "Nice to meet you, Ellie! I'm Miko! We should hang out sometime!"

Ellie was rooted on the spot, staring ahead with wide eyes.

"Okay," she called back, though weakly. Whether the rambunctious girl heard or not was unclear, as she was gone and out of sight before Ellie knew it. For a moment, Ellie only stood with a dazed look before she briskly shook her head.

"What just happened?" Ellie asked herself.

Uh, I think you just made a friend, dummy, came an awfully familiar voice in her mind. You sure know how to pick 'em, don't you?

Ellie grimaced. No, none of that now. "Shut up," she whispered before she quickly moved along for her next class.

She didn't talk to anyone else for the remainder of that day.

She did, in a sense, do what her grandmother wished, and spoke at least three words to someone— she said four words, technically. One thing at a time.

The second time she interacted with someone the next day went somewhat smoother than the first. Third period, Computers and Design class, and she was not having the best time with her assigned work for the period. She was attempting to complete a graphing chart for the day's exercise— emphasis on attempting. However, every few minutes, a notification would pop up on her screen with an annoying ding, advising her to update all her systems. And when it wasn't doing that, every time she so much as shifted part of her chart the wrong way, all her typed work would suddenly disappear or move somewhere else.

I am not good with machines, aren't I? she thought when yet another restart request showed up on her screen. She rubbed her temples with a stressed sigh, which grew in volume into a groan. And what a time for the teacher to be out of class taking a call.

"You need some help with that?"

She looked over her shoulder to find a boy standing behind her — who appeared to be a couple of years younger than her—with wild brunet hair and wearing red-rimmed, square-shaped glasses over his brown eyes. He looked back with a helpful smile. "I'm done with all my work, so I can help you if you want."

"Yes!" she answered easily, not caring at all about how desperate she sounded. All sense of pride was out the window by that point. "Please and thank you."

The boy's smile turned sympathetic but still friendly as she scooted over to give him room, and he sat down next to her and reached for her keyboard. "The programs in these computers are pretty outdated, so it's no surprise that there will be some bugs and pop-ups. And yours happens to be the worst of them all."

"That and I can't program anything worth a darn," she muttered.

The boy laughed good-naturedly as he kept typing away. "Yeah, these graphs can be pretty case-sensitive. It takes practice, like everything else. Done."

She looked back at her screen. She had no idea what he did, but it apparently worked. No more windows showing up on her screen. No more annoying dings.

"Oh, thank you. You're amazing," she praised.

The boy readjusted his glasses on his nose, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "No problem," he said. Then he looked at her with a smile. "You're new, aren't you? Started this week?" At her nod of confirmation, he held a hand out to her. "I'm Raf. Raf Esquivel. Welcome to our school."

She glanced down at his hand with raised eyebrows, but then she smiled back at him as she took it in her own hand and shook. "Ellie Barron. Thanks."

Then, clearing her throat, she turned back to her computer monitor and placed a hand on it, starting to tilt it in her direction so that it was facing her. "So, um, you think you can show me how you took the—"

The screen suddenly flickered into blackness. Ellie stared, horror-struck. "Nooo! I killed it! I didn't even save any of it!"

Raf snorted, trying very hard not to burst out laughing, before he quickly reassured her, "It's okay! It's only adjusting to the movement; all of them do that. See? It's back on. It's all still there."

"Oh." Ellie blinked, then blushed furiously. She covered her face with her hand as Raf finally broke out laughing. However, she couldn't stay embarrassed for long, as Raf's laughter proved to be contagious. She chuckled quietly while trying to ignore the strange looks they were receiving from every other student in the room.

Raf, his laughter dying down, scooted closer. "Okay, here. I'll show you how to keep it working."

Ellie removed her hand from her face, managing a half-smile of relief that she'd managed to not scare him off with her awkwardness— twice.

"Thanks again," she said quietly before listening in on his advice.

The day after that, however, turned out to be one of the worst days she's had in a long time.

Well, perhaps "worst" is too strong a word, because it wasn't like she's never had any bad days before. This time, though, was not what one would call pleasant. It definitely didn't play out in a way that anyone would've anticipated whatsoever— and most of it didn't even happen at school.

It all started when she had her first bad encounter with another student.

The day was going well enough, as well as she'd liked. She was just waiting for her last class of the day, Economics, to be over, with Miko sitting next to her and chatting her ear off— like what she's been doing pretty much since they've met. Apparently, showing the slightest bit of interest in what Miko was doing was enough of a green light for her to stick to Ellie like glue. She's never heard someone talk so much about extreme sports, monster trucks, demolition derbies, or some band called "Slash Monkey" in the three days she's been acquainted with the transfer student.

Funnily enough, though, as talkative as Miko was— and despite the initial shock of her bold attitude at first— Ellie wasn't entirely annoyed by it. Overwhelmed at times, definitely, but not annoyed. After all, Miko was only talking to her, and hardly demanded she talk back.

And if Ellie was being honest with herself, there was something almost touching about how comfortable Miko was with sharing her interests with her. She couldn't remember the last time someone's done that before— someone from school, that is.

Not that she really gave them much of a chance before she moved.

"…And then he flew, like, fifteen feet in the air before landing with a sick crash!" Miko concluded her story about a dirt biker who'd wiped out badly in a race earlier that week.

"Did he now?" Ellie said, absentmindedly chipping away at a dent in her desk with a pencil.

"Uh huh! He was really messed up afterwards, but he still wanted to finish! It was so cool! I've been wanting to go for a spin on a dirt bike myself, but my host parents don't want me to— too dangerous," Miko said with a small pout on her face, before it quickly disappeared. "Doesn't stop me from trying, though."

"Cool," Ellie replied, while secretly asking herself, This girl's practically begging for a trip to the hospital, isn't she?

"We should totally try ramping on dirt bikes sometime! It'd be so awesome!"

Yep, definitely begging.

Ellie merely hummed that time. Miko opened her mouth, ready to spiel out yet another story, but like last time, Ellie was saved by the bell. Ellie made to leave with the rest of the students, but not before Miko bid her goodbye with an excited vow to find them a way to get their hands on dirt bikes so they could go off-roading.

Ellie watched her go for a moment. Then she shook her head with a small smile. She's relentless.

She proceeded to walk through the now crowded halls, gather her things from her locker, and head for the front exit with a slight sense of consolation. Just one more day of this, and it'll be the weekend.

She was about to round the last corner at an intersection, not really paying that much attention to her surroundings— until she collided with another person who was nearly half a foot taller than her, nearly knocking her off her feet. Luckily, Ellie had quickly reached an arm out against the wall, stopping herself. After regaining her balance, she looked up at the other student, a boy much older than her.

"Sorry," she said automatically, trying to disregard the fact that this kid had the orangest head of hair she's ever seen.

The boy brushed his green jacket off where Ellie had made contact, before he turned to face her and scowled.

"Watch it, limpy," he sneered at her.

Ellie blinked, startled, feeling like she had just gotten slapped in the face. What did he just…?

Then another boy of the same age— with messy black hair and blue eyes— who happened to be walking nearby and saw as well as heard what went on, stopped in his tracks. He regarded the first boy with a disapproving glare.

"She said she was sorry, Vince, now move on," he said in a warning tone.

The redhead— apparently named Vince— scoffed, not the least bit intimidated by him, but then he said snidely, "Whatever, Darby," and sauntered off.

The dark-haired boy shook his head in disdain. Then he focused his attention onto Ellie, his face softening into one of concern. "Hey, you alright?"

Ellie briefly met his gaze, only to quickly avert it and give a short, curt nod in response.

"Sorry about hothead over there. He doesn't have an ounce of tact in him at all. Been that way for as long as I've known him."

Ellie looked back at the direction that Vince had gone off to, expressionless. "Charming," she deadpanned. She removed her hand from the wall and continued on her way towards the exit, her steps and overall demeanor more subdued than before.

"Yeah, exactly," the boy concurred just as sardonically, falling into step with her. "But, you know what they say, there's at least one in every school."

Of course, she thought bitterly. She didn't need to be told this knowledge when she's experienced it before. She's learned a long time ago that no matter where you go, no matter how many nice people you meet, there will always be that one person who just rubs you the wrong way, or overall ruins your day. Didn't think I'd cross his path so soon.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not exactly Vince's number one fan either," the boy said, pulling her out of her grim musings. "He's always giving me grief for not owning a car, instead riding a bike."

Ellie glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not interested in getting a car, though. I'm hoping to save up some money to buy another bike— a motorbike."

Ellie hummed with faint interest as they both pushed open the front doors, stepping out into the afternoon sun. "That's neat. Bit dangerous, but neat."

He laughed lightly. "Yeah, I always have to assure my mom that I'm careful; I even have a helmet ready and everything. I'm not far from my goal now. Just a few more paychecks and I'll be good. I work at the KO Drive-In, by the way. You've probably seen me there already. It's the only fast-food burger joint in town."

Ellie looked away awkwardly. "I guess," she muttered.

I mean, I'm a vegetarian, but sure.

The two teenagers slowed their pace when they neared a single-sided bicycle rack, Ellie coming to a stop while the boy approached a silver, ten-speed mountain bike, undoing the lock connecting it to the rack. Once he had the lock removed and started to slowly back his bike out, he looked up at Ellie with a smile.

"I'm Jack, by the way," he introduced himself.

"Ellie," she replied. She rubbed her arm and bit her lip in thought for a moment, before she said tentatively, "Oh, and uh, thanks…for what you did back there."

His smile widened. "Don't worry about it. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. I better head off to work; gotta get those paychecks somehow, right?"

She sent him a brief smile. "Yeah, right."

As Jack was mounting his bike, Ellie's attention was grabbed by the growing growl of an engine. Sure enough, a vehicle was passing by through the pick-up lane— a black muscle car with screaming orange-yellow flames all over its front and in parts of the back.

"That…is the loudest-looking car I've ever seen," she murmured as it came closer, the driver side window rolling down.

And who should be driving such a car other than Vince.

"Later, Burger Boy," Vince called out to Jack as he slowly drove by, a smug smirk on his freckled face.

Jack, clearly agitated by the insult but still knew better than to pick a fight with the other student, simply rolled his eyes and gave a dismissive wave as he started to pedal away.

Ellie quickly turned her back on the scene to walk her usual route, but Vince wasn't finished with his goodbyes. She was barely ten yards from the school before she heard his taunting voice hit her from behind.

"Don't trip over yourself on your way home— if you get there anytime soon, that is."

Ellie froze, then turned in time to see him speed out of the parking lot with a deafening roar of his engine and screech of his tires, dust picking up from his trail.

Good God, can he be any more overcompensating? came that voice in the back of her head again.

Ellie would've been inclined to agree if she wasn't so hung up on that comment. She could practically feel her face burning, her vision clouded. She heaved a deep breath and let it out, frantically wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"Okay, it's okay. It's fine," she told herself in a low, weak voice in an attempt to calm down. "It's not the worst thing you've heard. There was that one time someone tried to shame you and Gran for parking in a disabled spot."

In spite of herself, Ellie let out a hoarse laugh. Gran nearly tore that jerk right in half.

As quick as the amusing recollection came, though, it vanished, replaced with an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. While it was true that this wasn't the first time someone's made a negative comment at her like that, it still stung.

And furthermore, Vince's remarks raised the question: did he actually know about her condition? Other than the fact that she did indeed walk with a slight limp— and also couldn't stand for long periods of time without getting uncomfortable— she's never given much implication that she had a prosthetic leg. Did he hear about it from a teacher? If there was one thing she knew about small towns: they loved a good gossip, and it spread fast. But she hasn't had any trouble from anyone beforehand.

Or maybe Vince didn't need to hear it from someone; maybe he was just one of those people who could just look at you, single out any flaw you have within seconds, and point it out without hesitation.

There's always that one person...

Ellie released a dejected sigh. She gazed ahead at the sidewalk lane before her, weaving alongside the streets of suburban Jasper. She was about to step forward and start for home. Instead, however, she stayed put.

Every other time she felt this way— like she was at a low point— she just went straight home and shut herself away in her room. But now, for once, she didn't feel like doing that. Partly because she knew, deep down, that it never really made the feeling go away. All it did was confine her to nothing but her thoughts that end up going to a dark place that was already difficult to get out of, thereby making it worse.

And partly because she didn't want her grandmother coming home later to see her like that. The last time it happened, Isla walked through the door to find Ellie just lying flat on the floor, with Elvis Presley singing "Heartbreak Hotel" very loudly through the speakers.

Yeah, that was pretty pathetic, she thought, cringing in embarrassment from the memory. No wonder she wants me to get out more.

She glanced down at her feet, subtly adjusting the position of the prosthetic, before looking back up.

Well, Gran did say I could stand to explore the town some.

Her jaw set, she diverted from her usual path towards home, instead heading for downtown.

She didn't have any type of destination in mind, seeing as she was still quite new to the surrounding area. All she knew was that she purely felt like walking a different course, and was curious to see what she might find along the way. At first, she didn't come across much; a multitude of generic shops, cafés, and apartment complexes all clustered together in the form of the town square. She even saw the KO Drive-In at one point, where that boy Jack worked. She considered stopping by to say hello, but she immediately dismissed the idea, figuring it'd be rude to interrupt him while he was on shift. Not to mention, she wasn't even going to order anything, so her presence would've likely been unwanted anyway. And so she moved along.

The further she went, though, she discovered some places that had sparked her interest; a little park with a trail, where she saw people walking their dogs, a decently sized public library, and a locally owned gardening center. She made a mental note to eventually register for a library card and to also check out what type of plants they grew at the center.

She continued onwards, passing by various vehicles and pedestrians who barely seemed to notice her, only stopping every once in a while when she happened to spot an oddly shaped rock on the ground.

She wasn't sure how long or how far she wandered, but the next time she looked up at the sky, it had changed from blue to mostly a warm, orange-ish color.

The sky sure is pretty here, Ellie observed appreciatively. To think that she'd been missing out on it when she was usually indoors by this time.

One thing was for certain, she did feel at least a little better than when she started from the school grounds. She was definitely farther than she had ever gone away from school or any other signs of life, as she found herself trekking down a wide drainage canal, which was thankfully empty and dry. A highway bridge, stretching out into the open desert outside town as far as anyone could see, stood several feet above her while she walked unhurriedly along, singing to herself.

"Some people say I'm wasting time, but they don't really know. I like what I see, I see what I like. It gives me such a glow. First thing in the—"

She cut herself off with a yelp when something small suddenly rammed into her foot— not hard, but enough for her to feel it and be surprised by it. She jumped a step back and looked down to find that the offending item was…a toy car?

"Sorry!" a voice called out, and Ellie lifted her gaze up to find Raf Esquivel sitting up against the concrete wall just across the way, his backpack resting beside him. In one hand he held a remote control. He waved over at her with the other.

"I lost control there for a second," he explained before putting both hands to his controller. He fiddled with the switches, and a nanosecond later the yellow race car by her foot sped off with a tiny squeal.

"It's okay," Ellie said after a pause, watching as Raf made the car do a couple of spins in front of him.

"So, what brings you out here, Ellie?" Raf asked casually, not taking his eyes off of his toy.

"Oh, um…nothing, really. I'm just, you know, walking around. Exercise and all that," Ellie replied, before she looked away and internally groaned, realizing how idiotic that sounded.

Fortunately for her, Raf accepted that without qualm. "Cool. I like to come here a lot to race my cars. There's plenty of space and no one bothers me much."

Until I came along, she thought with a sigh. She started to back away. "In that case, then I guess I should—"

"Wanna join me?"

She stopped in her tracks. "Wait, what?"

"You said you're not doing anything right now, right?" he said with a smile, patting the space next to him. "I wouldn't mind some company."

For a fleeting moment, Ellie stood still. She looked at him; his face was young and innocent and kind— a kind of face that seemed almost achingly familiar if she looked hard enough. Her expression loosened into a soft smile.

"Alright, if it's no problem," she said as she approached him.

"Not at all," he reassured her.

She slowly lowered herself until she was sat down beside him. Then she leaned back against the wall and relaxed, content to be off her feet after walking as far as she did. She stretched her legs straight out in front of her.

"By the way, did I hear you singing Elvis earlier?" Raf asked as he went back to driving his car all around the canal area within their view.

"Ah, yeah. I know it's a bit old school."

"My dad loves him."

"Oh…I mean, I don't want to assume your dad's age or anything."

They both chuckled, allowing for a comfortable silence to settle in between the two for a good while until Raf turned to offer the controller to her.

"Wanna give it a whirl?" he asked.

"Oh, no. No, thanks," she said, holding a hand up in polite decline. "I'm fine just watching. Besides, I don't want to accidently break it or something."

Raf shot her a slightly impish smile as he took back the remote. "You mean, you don't want to accidently kill it?"

She was only taken aback for a second before she huffed out a breath of laughter. She ran a hand down her face.

"Yeah, sorry," she muttered, "for being so…"

"Weird?" Raf provided with a grin. "I like weird."

For a moment, Ellie just stared at him.

Just take the compliment, she concluded, managing a half-smile as she rested her head in her hand and watched as Raf manipulated the car into doing donuts. He started to make little vroom sounds with his mouth.

Ellie's smile widened. Cute.

Some minutes later, Raf's racing was interrupted by digital beeping sound coming from his pocket. Stopping the car, he reached in and pulled out a light blue cell phone. He checked the caller ID.

"It's my mom. Gotta take this," he told Ellie before flipping the phone open and putting it to his ear.

"Hi, Mamá….Yeah, I'm racing, just down the street….Okay, but five more minutes, please?"

Ellie smirked as Raf got the "okay" from his mother to finish up and ended the call. Five more minutes, the world famous lie, she thought humorously.

Raf looked over and caught Ellie's expression. He shrugged. "She worries sometimes."

"Can relate…except I can never be able to negotiate with my Grandma," she said.

Raf's brows furrowed slightly before he returned his own smirk of amusement, going back to racing his car. "Your Grandma has eyes on the back of your head, too?"

Ellie snickered. "I wouldn't call it that, but…"

She trailed off when she heard the sudden revving of an engine— originally coming from somewhere on the highway behind them— become louder with each second. She looked at Raf, who had heard it too, his smirk fading away. Then she frowned when she heard a person screaming over the now deafening engine, coming up fast from right behind them.

Both Ellie and Raf looked up— only to see a dark blur leap off the edge of the barrier and sail over their heads. Then it landed in the middle of the canal, not far from where the two were sitting, and spun to a screeching halt.

Raf and Ellie got to their feet, staring in astonishment. It was Jack, sitting on probably the sleekest blue motorcycle Ellie's ever seen. The older boy appeared to be quite winded and…distressed?

"What?" Ellie whispered, bewildered.

Meanwhile, Raf dropped his controller as he smiled in amazement at the stunt he had witnessed. "Whoa!"

Jack managed to lift his head up to look at the two of them. "You have no idea," he said breathlessly.

Ellie watched with concern as he shakily dismounted from the motorcycle and backed away from it, almost like he was afraid of it. "Jack?" she said as she and Raf quickly approached him, not noticing that the motorcycle was actually staying upright without the kickstand down. "Are you okay?"

Jack turned to face them, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Yeah, but, there's…"

Something caught his attention behind them, and his mouth clamped shut, his face going pale.

Ellie heard it before she saw it: the roar of another engine, much louder than the motorcycle. She and Raf turned around, and there at the top of the ridge, two pairs of bright headlights appeared, beaming down on them. Ellie squinted her eyes; they were identical, deep violet cars with tinted windows.

"Oh, no," Jack gulped. "Not them again."

Ellie glimpsed back at him. "What?"

Before she could get an explanation out of him, the twin vehicles shot forward, barreling down the hill toward them. All three of the kids backed away with growing fear as the cars came closer. They showed no signs of slowing down, even when they were about run out of ground to drive on. Then they ramped right off the edge, becoming airborne.

"What?" Ellie repeated, her voice rising with disbelief.

What happened immediately after, though, made her freeze in shock.

While in midair, the entire structure of each vehicle began to break apart and unfold, the sound of their engines replaced with the screeching of metal grinding together. It was like the cars were rearranging their body parts, bending and shifting at a blurring speed until they had morphed into something not car-like at all. They had the same color scheme, but their shape was almost human-like, with arms, legs, torso, even a head; however, the similarities strictly ended there. They were completely made of metal, looking more robotic than anything. Not to mention, gigantic, over twenty feet at least.

The ground tremored as the two mechanical beings landed before the three kids with a thud, towering over them ominously. Their silver heads were inclined towards them, the red visors in their faceless masks gleaming, as they each raised an arm that looked disturbingly like weapons of some kind.

Ellie could only stare up with wide eyes and a dropped jaw as they stepped closer with an air of malintent, with only one thing running through her head…

WHAT?!

A/N- *Air sgàth Dhè! = For God's sake!

I'm only going by Google translate; I'm not actually fluent in Scottish Gaelic. If it's wrong, I apologize.

And yes, this is going to be following roughly the same storyline as the show, but because of my somewhat mixed opinions on certain plotlines and choices made, along with my own added OC, it's going to turn a bit AU-ish. We'll see how it goes. So if you're not into that kind of thing, feel free to back out now.

Nonetheless, thank you for reading!