I had fallen asleep again. Again. My body must really not have liked that Energon blast. When I opened my eyes again, I could hear Miko and Jack racing each other on the old TV. I sat up slowly and tried to look around the corner, but my eyes couldn't reach them. I didn't hear Raphael. Where was he?

I glanced around to see which Autobots where here as well. Optimus stood high above Ratchet near the monitor, discussing something that seemed very serious with him. Ratchet listened and commented just as grimly.

I could hear Bulkhead and Bumblebee cheering Miko and Jack on. They sounded like they were having so much fun. Where was Arcee? I tried to look to the medical booth, but then I realized my bed had been moved a bit around the corner, which is why I could no longer see the game and the medic booth.

'Maybe I should just wait until they are done.'

Then my stomach rumbled loudly.

'Now  you're hungry? You weren't last time I tried to eat something,' I thought, heat rising to my cheeks.

Suddenly, Raf was jogging up the stairs. He saw me sitting up and brightened coming over and handing me my red cellphone. "Ratchet said you needed a com link, so I put one in your phone for you." He stopped, realizing something. "I hope you don't mind that I did without asking first..."

"No, that's fine! Thank you," I replied, holding my phone to my chest. 

"Is that Taylor? Is she awake?" came Miko's voice. She came running over a second after.

Jack was right behind her. "Hey, good, you are up."

"Hi, guys," I said shyly, mostly because I was happy to see them.

Miko squeezed me with a hug again. "Oh, look at you! You are so cute!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Don't give her any funny ideas, Miko."

"So, what did you do while we were at school?" Raf asked curiously.

"Lucky. You don't have to go to school," Miko sighed. "It's so BOOORING!"

I laughed. "Nothing much. I just.. sat around and thought, I guess."

There was no way I was going to tell them about my embarrassing episode with Ratchet earlier. They could stay between me and him.

"Hey," Miko whispered darkly in my ear. "Do you know what happened to the Autobots while we were gone. When we got picked up from school, Arcee wasn't they and I had to suffer with Jack on my ride here with Bulkhead."

I shook my head, worried now. "I know they went on an Energon scouting mission.. and got caught. Bulkhead was here, but was called for back up."

"I meant, like, exciting details," she growled with a huff.

"She's just frustrated she couldn't go with them this time," Raf whispered to me. "There's no way Bulkhead would have let her anyway."

I shuddered. After having such an.. exciting  first encounter with their kind of action, I wasn't in any hurry to see some of it again any time soon. Jack and Raf gave me understanding looks.

"Is Arcee okay, Jack?" I asked, since Arcee was his guardian. From the little time I had watched them, I could guess that they were close.

"Yeah," he said, though he sounded a little depressed. "It's nothing majorly bad. Ratchet just wanted her to rest, so Bulkhead had to give me a ride."

"Like I said, I had to suffer with Jack," Miko teased.

"What do you mean by that?" Jack shot back. "Worried I was going to depress your fun? You listened to your disturbing music anyway."

"I can't wait until you go on some adventures with me!" Miko said to me, changing the subject. "It's gonna be great!"

I gave her a wary smile, and Raf laughed. "Um, hey, do you have anything else I could eat?" I forced my stomach to stay quiet.

"Yeah, Jack had work today, and brought you some food," Raf told me. "I'll go get it!" He hopped off the edge of the bed, where he had been sitting, and raced around the corner.

"Seriously, though, you must get pretty bored here with nothing to do," Jack told me. "Even I would."

"Is there anything we can get you to pass the time? A video game? You could come and watch us play over there, or you could watch a movie or something." Miko offered.

"Um, I don't think I should be walking around yet," I told her awkwardly. "I like books."

"What kind? My foster parents have a lot at their house, and I bet Raf does too," said Miko.

"Um, fiction. Mostly action and adventure and stuff like that. Or space novels. I like those."

"Eh, I really don't like to read," Miko groaned. "Too much sitting still and doing nothing. But since you're doing that anyway, I can find interesting ones."

 "I know I have some book you light like!" Raf said cheerfully, running back with a sandwich wrapped in plastic. He hopped on the bed again and handed it to her. "I don't read them all that much, so you can have them if you want."

"Thank you!" I told him happily. I could already picture the books in my hands. I wonder if I had read a few of them already. 

"My mom won't be here to check on you today," Jack told me. "She has a late shift tonight and won't be able to make it." He shrugged. "Is that okay?"

I nodded. "It's fine. I don't mind."

'Another night in the Autobot hideout.' I thought as they began to ramble on about a past adventure. 'Today was kind of mellow but... okay. My chest feels a little lighter now.'

I lay down on the bed, hearing my new friends chatter in the back of my mind, closed my eyes, and smiled.

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Yeah, I know. Another short chapter. I really don't know what I was doing with this chapter, anyway. It felt like I was rambling. I'm sorry if this was a boring chapter.

I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER THOUGH, DON'T WORRY.

I can and will figure this book out. I will make it good, I promise!

I guess I was able to portray my character more....? I don't even know.

I again, sorry for this short, uninteresting chapter.

*waves then thinks hard how to make this book work*