"I am paying you to make her shine! Do not make my Mercedes Benz look like all the other trashy cars here!" Torryn practically screeched at the poor workers, all the carwash employees quivering as they buffed the Mercedes harder, desperate to make it shimmer.

She was almost as bad as the man who occasionally came with his red Aston Martin.

Torryn tapped her foot impatiently from where she stood, her red locks looking as if they were made of flames by the bright Nevada sun. The few other people getting their own cars done eyed Torryn, wondering what in the hell a sixteen-year-old was doing here while she was supposed to be in school.

Not only that, but they also frowned upon the fact that she was so young with a Mercedes.

Yes, it was currently the second hour at Memorial High School and Torryn Wilde was nowhere to be found within the premise. Instead, she was at the car wash getting her Mercedes washed, determined for it to sparkle so she could flaunt it once more. It was not that the Range Rover was doing her bad when she drove it, she just preferred to drive the Mercedes.

Large sunglasses sat at the tip of Torryn's nose, the girl tilting her head so she could get a better look at the car. For a split second, she considered simply ditching the rest of the day (she was no stranger to skipping school), but decided against it as she remembered Smokescreen would be taking her from school to the base.

Unlike yesterday, Torryn was not wearing pajamas, but rather actual clothes. Of course, with the hot weather, her wardrobe was limited to light shirts and shorts or skirts, but she did not much mind. Today was simply another day of wearing a tank top, shorts, and to top it all, her usual white converse.

Ah, yes, the essential teen trash look. Then again, in more ways then one, Torryn Wilde could easily be considered teen trash.

With a nervous breath, the man in charge of cleaning Torryn's beloved Benz looked up toward said teenager. Torryn rose a brow from behind her stark white sunglasses, chomping on her bubblegum in an obnoxious manner.

In the eyes of those who did not take the time to meet her, Torryn could be mistaken as the typical bubblegum-popping shallow rich bitch. This was not true, by most means, as Torryn did try to be kind and did not purposely flaunt her wealth. In other words, Torryn tried not to act like the brat she was.

Torryn Wilde was a pretentious and spoilt brat, but she was also a kind loyal friend. While in some aspects she was the crude princess strangers often labeled her off as, she was additionally a caring and devoted person who would die before allowing those she loved to come to any harm.

"Ma'am, your car is finished!" The car wash employee called, praying to god the ginger-haired teen was satisfied with their job.

Sauntering over, Torryn carefully examined every outside inch of the Mercedes, humming in content when she was able to see her own reflection through the sleekness of the midnight colored car. Opening the driver's door, Torryn was immediately greeted by her chosen scent of 'Black Ice'.

She nodded her head seeing that the inside was just as pristine as the outside. Shutting the door, Torryn spun around reaching into her pockets and pulling out a folded twenty-dollar bill. Handing it to the male who had done her car, she nodded in thanks.

"Oh, thank you!" The male thanked her graciously, Torryn taking the time to read the nametag of the carwash worker.

Crossing her arms, Torryn looked back up from his nametag now knowing the name of the male who made her father's car gleam so perfectly. Albeit, part of the reason was probably that Torryn was standing on the side screaming at them the whole time.

"You're welcome, Francisco. Keep doing work like this and next time I come back, that tip might be bumped up by ten dollars." She patted his shoulder as she reopened the door to the Benz.

Entering her car, Torryn inhaled deeply, smiling while she rubbed her hands over the steering wheel of the car. After allowing the fact that; yes, there were alien-robots living amongst them, Torryn found herself becoming extremely curious about them.

Questions like how their biology worked or how fast Smokescreen could drive flew through her mind. She absolutely could not wait to see Smokescreen again.

A sudden "bing" noise took Torryn away from her thoughts, the teenage girl quickly pulling out her phone and checking to see who had texted her.

MR. CLEAN (jack d):
Where are you? Don't tell me you skipped again.

TORRYN:
omw b there soon

Torryn's thumbs raced across her phone, her terrible texting grammar taking hold. After pressing send, Torryn set her phone in the cupholder of the car while flipping on the radio. A random pop song burst through the speakers, Torryn bopping along with the beat as she put the car in drive.

The preppy cheerleader ripped out of the carwash, her thoughts not focused on driving as they should be but rather whether or not the autobots had the capability of texting. She assumed they did and made a mental note to ask Smokescreen or one of the others about it later.

✸✸✸

Alike to always, at the end of the school day Jack, Miko, Torryn, and Raf walked down the chaotic hallways of Memorial High. Except today was different because unlike before, Torryn Wilde would not be left behind by her friends. Not only was she herself excited by this, but the other three were as well.

"Dude, this is going to be so awesome!" Miko jumped in the air with her fist raised high. "Just think of all the fun we're going to have together, we can sneak out on missions—" Miko's excited rambling was cut off by Jack.

Breathing out, Jack shook his head. "No, you won't. We're not allowed to go on missions, remember?" He stated pointedly, Miko and Torryn both rolling their eyes at him.

"Rules smules." Torryn waved him off. "You're in, right Raf?" Torryn looked to the younger boy who toggled his glasses.

"Um, I don't think Ratchet would ever let you guys through the ground bridge." He explained as they exited the school building.

"Duh, that's why it's called sneaking out." Miko shook her head in disappointment that Raf was taking Jack's side.

Once they were outside, Torryn had to stop herself from reaching in her backpack and pulling out her car keys. Seeing Smokescreen sitting by the curb in his alt mode just behind Bumblebee sent her heart soaring with excitement.

Nudging her with her shoulder, Miko smirked. "Ready?" She questioned, Torryn smiling while nodding eagerly.

Raf was the first to begin racing to Bee, the younger boy leaping in Bumblebee with enthusiasm. Miko was next to run over to Bulkhead, Jack and Torryn watching as the slightly younger girlto them happily hopped into Bulkhead. Preparing herself to begin running to Smokescreen like she had seen the other two do, Torryn was stopped short by a familiar voice yelling out her name.

"Hey, ditcher!" Torryn watched Jack freeze out of the side of her eye, seeing a blush creep onto his face at Sierra's voice.

Sniggering, Torryn delivered a wink while grabbing his arm so Jack could not escape. The blue-eyed teen glared at his friend, trying but failing to get out of her grip so he and Arcee could leave before he was faced with his long-time crush.

Jasper, Nevada was extremely small, and most children who lived there had grown up together. Miko and Torryn were obviously the exceptions as they had both moved here during high school, but other then them, mostly everyone had known each other since preschool. In Jack's case, Sierra had been his crush since she gave him a pencil in the fourth grade.

Back then, Sierra was just little red-haired Sierra Landrace, not one of the most popular girls in school or captain of the cheerleaders. No, she was just a girl that wore her hair in pigtails who could always be found with her nose stuck in a book. She was also Jack's best friend for the fifth and sixth grade.

That all changed in the seventh grade when Sierra was suddenly swept away from Jack by all the other girls in their year. No longer was Sierra the innocent readaholic, but rather a flurry of preppy pink plaid and glittery glossy lips. It seemed she was no longer interested in staying up late talking with Jack about the latest superhero comics on the phone, but more interested in the newest column of "Perfect Girls" gossip magazines.

For Jack, the transformation happened in the blink of an eye and he had lost his closest friend to the status quo of middle school. Before Jack knew it, high school had come and Sierra Landrace was now one of the most popular girls to ever grace its halls. But his feelings for her never changed, even if she wasn't that same pigtail wearing book-lover.

"Dude," Jack looked to Torryn who was snapping her fingers in his face. "Your crush on her is literally the saddest thing to hit Jasper since like... ever. So you can thank me for this later." The bouncy redhead smiled, ignoring Jack's pleas for her to not do whatever it was she was about to do.

The two teens were only a few feet away from their respective guardians, and she imagined both had to have been watching and listening to the exchange.

"Hey, Sierra." Torryn grinned as Sierra finally stopped in front of her and Jack. "You know Jack, right?"

Sierra looked to Jack wide-eyed, giving him an almost shy wave. "Oh, hey Jack." Torryn watched the interaction, taking note of how Sierra self-consciously brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Sierra, hi!" Jack scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks gaining an almost invisible tint of pink.

Torryn shook her head at the ghastly discussion, nearly sighing out loud as an awkward silence overtook the two. Finally, after a few more seconds, Sierra worked up the courage to ask him a question. A question which Torryn nor Jack was expecting.

"So, how is your girlfriend doing?"

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Both Jack and Torryn exploded at the same time.

Sierra bit her bottom lip. "Yeah, you know that girl who was on your bike awhile back at K.O. burger?" Jack's eyes lit up in understanding, Torryn only flashing him a face of confusion.

Jack simply mouthed that he would "explain later" before going back to addressing Sierra. "She is definitely not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend." He deadpanned, Torryn nodding along.

"Yeah, trust me, he does not have a girlfriend. In fact, he has been on the market for quite a while; unless you're counting his mom or his motorcycle, Jack is as single as they come. He absolutely positively does not have a girlfriend—" Torryn's words came out a muffled mess as Jack suddenly threw his hand over her mouth, glaring at her.

"I think we get the point, Torryn." He narrowed his eyes at her, Torryn simply shrugging while throwing his hand off of her mouth.

"Um..." Sierra began backing away, flashing them a polite smile. "I think I better get going." She turned around, shaking her head at the uncomfortable encounter with her old best friend and cheer teammate.

Waving her hand, Torryn grinned. "Don't be a stranger, Sierra!"

With a groan, Jack rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Torryn." He stomped toward Arcee with Torryn on his heels.

"What? I think it went great!" She yelled as he and Arcee rode away, Jack only holding his middle-finger up in reply as he went down the road.

Smokescreen had rolled up a few spaces so he was next to her, his engine purring.

Scoffing, Torryn quickly got into the passenger's side of Smokescreen, the mech immediately greeting his new charge.

"Good afternoon, Torryn!"

Torryn yelped in surprise when Smokescreen shot away from the curb, speeding through the streets as if the speed limit meant nothing.

"How was school today?" He asked, Torryn still amazed as she watched the Autobot symbol on his steering wheel light up with his words.

His interior was still as sleek and cool as Torryn remembered from the previous night. As Smokescreen shot past Arcee, she was sure she had heard the motorcycle honk at him. However, Smokescreen had either not heard her or he opted to ignore her by the way he only increased his speed.

"Um, fine." Torryn gaped as Smokescreen shot through a red light, nearly hitting a truck in the process. Yeah, Torryn was a reckless driver, but she was never this careless. "I skipped first and second period, I was getting my car washed." She explained, deciding not to confront Smokescreen about his driving.

He was a car, after all, he had to know best. But then again, didn't Optimus say something about Smokescreen being new? Perhaps he didn't know the laws of the road yet? Shrugging, Torryn figured that as long as Smokescreen did not kill them then she was fine.

"Oh, cool!" Smokescreen exclaimed, not realizing that students were not supposed to skip school.

Had he been any other Autobot, Torryn would be getting an earful. Smokescreen did not know enough about Earth quite yet to understand their customs and such, all he knew was that the native life seemed rather cool.

"What have you been up to today?" Torryn questioned, watching as they raced passed both Bulkhead and Bumblebee.

This alarmed her as the two of them had left a considerable amount of time before Smokescreen. She wondered how fast he had to be going to not only catch up but completely surpass them. Pursing her lips, Torryn nearly had a heart attack when she noticed Smokescreen going just under 150, he was going a hundred miles over the speed limit!

   That was going to be one hell of a speeding ticket. Actually, never mind that, if they were pulled over then Torryn would be going to jail and Smokescreen would be impounded. And that was just before the cop realized that Torryn didn't even have the legal paperwork to be driving Smokescreen.

   Smokescreen did not seem to mind though as he continued on explaining how boring his day was and how he had practically been counting down every minute until he was able to come to pick her up.

"So yeah, now I'm here, driving you back to base!" Torryn nodded, trying to ignore the high speeds by overlooking Smokescreen's radio.

"Sweet sounds like a productive day." She said sarcastically, Smokescreen not picking up on it.

"Nah, the opposite actually." Torryn giggled silently at his mannerisms, finding the alien adorable in an odd way.

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Torryn slowly brought her perfectly manicured hand to graze over the radio controls on Smokescreen. She smiled when she felt him shudder, tilting her head at the sound of fans going off from somewhere inside of him.

"What's that?" She questioned, looking around trying to find where the noise was coming from.

"Nothing!" Smokescreen practically shouted causing Torryn to jump. "I mean, it's nothing." Smokescreen quickly mumbled, his words giving away how flustered he was.

Laughing to herself, Torryn quickly flicked the knob of the radio. She once again noticed how Smokescreen shuddered and how the fan noise got louder. Smiling to herself, Torryn had a guess that fans turning on meant Smokescreen must have been flustered. Keeping this newfound information to herself, the redhaired teen decided to tease her new guardian a bit more.

"This is such a great song!" She exclaimed while playing with the volume, Smokescreen only shuddering harder.

"What is that?" He asked, though his voice was coming out in statics as Torryn moved her wandering fingers to his dashboard.

"What? The radio?" Torryn asked while rubbing her hands over his dashboard.

She truly had no clue what she was doing anymore. Was she really feeling up a car right now?

"Y-Yeah." Smokescreen stuttered. "Is this the music of the Earth?"

     Torryn bit her lip, deciding to have mercy on her new guardian and gently pulled her hand away.

"Hell yeah, it is!" She fist-pumped the air. "And it's fucking awesome!" She practically screamed, Smokescreen immediately screaming in agreement and getting all riled up from her attitude.

"HELL YEAH!" He yelled, going even faster as they began approaching the base.

Once they entered, Smokescreen came to a screeching halt. Gripping her backpack, Torryn vacated Smokescreen, watching in utter amazement as he went through the transformation sequence. In a matter of moments, Smokescreen was standing in his magnificent titan form, gazing down at Torryn through friendly blue optics.

Ratchet stood at his normal spot by the dozens of Cybertronian sized computers, Optimus next to him gazing intently at encryptions in a language Torryn had no hope of recognizing.

"Hello, Smokescreen and Torryn." Optimus politely acknowledged them without looking away from the encryptions.

Ratchet only grunted what Torryn vaguely recognized as a "hello".

Standing straighter, Smokescreen saluted Optimus with a wide grin. "Greetings, sir!" He happily chirped, Torryn shivering at the word "greetings".

At that moment, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee suddenly drove in. Torryn watched as her friends hopped out of their respective vehicles, Miko quickly making her way to Torryn. Jack, on the other hand, was still annoyed with Torryn for embarrassing him in front of Sierra and simply dragged Raf upstairs to the human comfort area.

"Smokescreen, you could have killed Torryn with how fast you were driving!"

   Everyone's attention was suddenly on the scowling Arcee who watched Smokescreen with her hands placed on her hips.

Optimus turned toward Arcee, Ratchet following in suit.

"What happened?" The physician of the Autobots growled, the leader sternly turning to Smokescreen who wholeheartedly looked innocently confused.

Arcee pointed to Smokescreen accusingly, her gaze resting on Optimus. "This slagger was going one-fifty the whole way!" She cried, Torryn biting her lips when she realized Smokescreen was probably going to get in trouble.

She silently cursed Arcee for being a tattletale, the teenager wanting to do nothing more but take the immature route and stick her tongue out at Arcee repeating the phrase "tattletale, tattletale, tattletale" a hundred times. However, Torryn refrained from doing so as it was only her first time in the base, and though the teen was a spoilt brat with barely any respect, she was courteous enough toward the Autobots to not do that.

    Instead, she settled for something else. "Yeah, and it was awesome! We ran so many red lights!" She cheered earning a wide grin from her guardian who preened under her warm enthusiasm.

   The other autobots simply blinked, Optimus already wondering if he had made a mistake with this pairing.

"What?" Smokescreen laughed with Torryn, not understanding what he possibly did wrong. "Are you upset that I beat you?" He questioned Arcee.

In Smokescreen's defense, the young mech had only been on this planet for a week. With that week, Smokescreen had only left the base to go on missions, drive around the sand dunes with the other bots, and take Torryn to and from school (only once): he was not accustomed to the ways of the road (or the planet for that matter).

Thankfully, Optimus realized this and therefore did not completely blame Smokescreen.

Growling, Arcee whirled at Smokescreen. "Are you scrapping kidding me right now—?" Arcee was cut off by Optimus holding out a servo, his gentle but stern gaze landing on Smokescreen.

"Arcee, Smokescreen has not been on this planet long enough to become accustomed to the laws." Arcee backed down at the look Optimus threw her, Optimus's attention going back to Smokescreen who watched him curiously. "However, Smokescreen you must understand that there is a speed limit posted for a reason. You especially should not be going as fast as you were with a human in the car, while we may survive a crash at those speeds, our small friends will not."

Torryn watched Optimus give his speech with awe, finding that the older mech seemed to leave you hanging with his every word.

Miko smirked while nudging her arm against her. "Awe-inspiring, isn't it?" She whispered, Torryn nodding in agreement.

"For sure," she mumbled back just as Smokescreen stomped his foot, nodding his head like a true soldier.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He hollered just as a car which Torryn recognized as Jack's mom's entered the Autobot base.

"Uh oh," Miko groaned causing Torryn to give her a curious look. "Here comes helicopter mom and Agent Dude." The foreign exchange student sighed, Torryn watching as a woman wearing scrubs and an African-American male wearing a suit got out of the car.

Torryn immediately recognized the woman as Jack's mom, the redhead raising a brow while turning to Miko. "Jack's mom knows about this?" She couldn't help but snicker lightly, Miko laughing back while nodding.

"You're telling me." Miko sighed as Agent Fowler and June Darby froze upon the sight of Torryn.

"What in the sam-hell?" Agent Fowler threw his arms up, giving Optimus Prime a glare. "You got another civilian involved!"

June Darby while she was a pretty woman, she had a scary resemblance to her son. That was what Torryn thought after she met the woman a few weeks ago for the first time. The meeting was brief as she was only at school dropping off Jack's homework which he forgot, but she seemed pleasant enough to Torryn. However, she never would have imagined June was actually involved in all this, she just seemed too soccer mom-ish.

Furrowing her brows, June brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Torryn?" She stated in a confused but polite manner.

Flashing Jack's mom a smile, Torryn rocked on the balls of her feet. "Hey, Ms. Darby." The fox-haired teen waved, June only scoffing while waving her off.

"I told you to call me June."

"Alright, June." Torryn nodded, moving her gaze back to Agent Fowler who was running his hands down his face in a stressed manner.

Torryn bit her lip looking around as she vaguely heard the Agent mumbling about what he was going to tell the Pentagon.

   Arcee rolled her optics jabbing an accusing digit at Smokescreen. "You can blame this one for all of this," She stated, Smokescreen awkwardly trying to hide behind Ratchet who scoffed at the younger mech.

   Agent Fowler narrowed his eyes at the new recruit. "I knew another one of you 'bots was bound to cause havoc, especially a rookie..." the agent was mumbling in a sour tone.

   "Do I even want to know how she found out?" Agent Fowler finally asked, Optimus preparing to explain but Miko beating him to it.

   "Probably not," Miko said honestly causing the agent to nod in an agitated manner.

   "In which case, save me the dramatics Prime — as long as she is the only is who knows...?"

   "Of course, Special Agent Fowler," Prime confirmed gruffly.

Clearing her throat, Torryn regained the attention of the base. Even Jack and Raf who were looking down from the banister of the rec-zone watching the exchange.

"So, who are you?" Torryn asked, the agent glaring at her in response.

"Special Agent William Fowler, the designated human-Autobot liaison." He gruffly replied, taking a few steps closer to Miko and Torryn. "And who might you be?" He questioned, deciding that he needed to know the name of the newest civilian involved.

"Torryn Wilde, nice to meet you." She nodded, Fowler, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Hmm," He hummed before shaking his head. "Name sounds familiar, but I can't put a finger on where from." He shrugged it off, not realizing the familiar name went further than he believed.

"Well, the children have homework to do—" June did not even get to finish her sentence as Miko and Torryn were groaning obnoxiously loud.

Torryn shook her head as her voice came out in a whiny tone. "But I don't do homework."

June tilted her head looking to Torryn in concern. "What do you mean you don't do homework?" She was not the only one interested as the rest of the Autobots and Fowler were watching her as well.

She only shrugged, Jack snickering before giving Torryn a look that practically screamed he was giving her payback.

   "She means what she said, Torryn has not done one page of homework since she moved here." Jack lulled lazily, his lips pulled into a smirk.

   Torryn glared at the Darby boy for throwing her under the bus like that.

June gasped while Ratchet only growled in irritation. "Yeah, well that's changing right about now. Now that you're involved with us, that also means doing your homework." The grumpy medical bot said while Optimus nodded from next to him in agreement.

Slowly, Torryn began edging her way toward Smokescreen's large ped. Her guardian saw her coming and gave her a wary look as if he sensed where her mind was going. However, with one begging flash from her big caramel irises which looked bigger and sadder than normal, Torryn had Smokescreen on his knees and ready to do anything for her.

"You can't make me do homework!" Torryn screeched dramatically, turning toward Smokescreen. "Let's get out of here, Smokey!" Smokescreen shivered at the nickname but quickly collapsed in his transformation sequence turning into his familiar race car with screaming 38s printed in bold on both his doors.

Torryn was quick to hop in the driver's side, Ratchet trying to grab Smokescreen but missing as the young mech floored it out of Outpost Omega One. The sounds of Torryn and Smokescreen's laughter followed after them, the Autobots watching wide-eyed at what just happened.

Turning toward the others, Miko scratched her head looking to Bulkhead hopefully. The big mech caught the eye of his charge, immediately shaking his helm.

   "Nope, absolutely not." He denied her silent request for them to do just as Torryn and Smokescreen had.

They would both no doubt be getting an earful from Optimus and Ratchet later, but Smokescreen would get the brunt of it. He was the one technically in charge after all.

Fixing his glasses, Raf looked toward Jack from their place on the banister. "Did that actually just happen?"

Sighing, Jack nodded his head. "I think it did."