Racer's Heart©

Epilogue

That summer Maia raced with S3WP to her heart's desires and with her  father's blessing. Something had changed that night when Optimus had come. When Henry had seen Maia save the Autobot-he noticed a bravery and determination inside her that he had not recognized before. He realized the girl's childish demeanor had disappeared and in its place was the brave and responsible mind of a young adult. It was time and that she was ready.

Maia and S3WP won every race they came up against in the state of Pennsylvania. Though many large famous racing sponsors had stepped up and offered to sponsor her, she had chosen the sponsorship of Chris' Trash and Treasure Junkyard.

Her biggest fan was none other than her father, grandfather and her new boyfriend-Jacob. Of course, through all this the autobot's identity was  kept a secret as were the events of that night.

The autobot became nicknamed Sideswipe with the crazy maneuvers he took in races passing by other cars and crossing the finish line first. He had also developed a somewhat competitive personality and attitude of sarcasm along with his racing trophies-though he was still loyal in all ways to Maia and she adored him-ego and all.

A few weeks after the eventful night, the Stevenson Firm had closed down after their leader, Craig Stevenson was successfully indicted for murder with the evidence Jacob had recorded on his phone. Maia never found out what he had been trying to hide from her mother-but she did not care. It was in the past to her. She was in the present.

Now with Chris' help Henry had also started a mechanic shop at his garage where people of the town could bring their cars to have them fixed. Maia watched over the days her father began to open up more-though his eyes never lost the tint of the sad expression in them from the sorrow of the loss of Melissa.

  Before Maia knew it, Summer had ended. It was time for her to go college as she had promised her father. She had been offered a full scholarship to the University of New York, in the upstate vicinity.

Resolutely she had accepted the offer and her father-though he was mournful at her leaving, knew he must let go and agreed with her choice....

There was revving as a stunning corvette with fresh shiny red paint coat pulled down the alley besides a tall classy modern-looking building. Darkness had fallen and the suburban city was quiet.

"Thanks for the ride, Sideswipe," Opening the door, Maia patted the seat and then climbed out. She slung her satchel over her shoulder and grabbed her suitcase out of the backseat. Everything else had already been brought to her dorm apartment last week.

The corvette clicked and swiveled up into a robot. Bending over, he held his hand out. "Thanks for fixing me." His English had improved drastically under Maia's guidance, as did his Earth knowledge. "Stay safe and if you ever need me, I'll be there within moments/seconds."

    Smiling, Maia felt tears forming in her eyes. "I'll be fine, besides you should worry about your job with Optimus-he needs you," She hugged him, the teardrops starting to fall, and he patted her on the back with his arm.

    "I'll miss you," she whispered, tears dripping down her cheek into his metal arm. "We had such a fun summer-it went too fast."

    "Melissa would be proud of all the wins we got," Hugging her, Sideswipe said and then looked at her with a grin. "We'll win many more races again someday, okay? After college."

    "Okay; after college," Maia tried to hold back the sob in her throat.  Stepping back, she wiped the tears out of her eyes with her hand and sniffed.  "You better go before someone sees you."

    "Alright," Sideswipe waved once in farewell. "Thank you for saving my life. Goodbye Maia Langston." With a whirring sound, he spun back down into his shiny red corvette form. He revved his engine and beeped once in farewell as he shot away.

    "Goodbye Sideswipe," Waving her hand, Maia whispered, as the autobot drove away down the road. Tears filled her eyes again, blurring her sight as she watched him disappear around the corner. "Be careful."

Acknowledgments

When I first started this story, it was in a notebook before I had seen any Transformers movies. The most I had seen was an episode or two from the cartoon and some season from the kids show: Rescue Bots.

On a whim, I started recently watching clips to the Transformers movies. Then I pulled out the notebook for this story from the dusty storage bin it was in. I began writing-typing the story up.

On a visit to the library I, again on a whim, decided to check out some Transformer movies.  I started with Bumblebee (2018) and made my way through the Transformer movie series as research for this story.

Now, on this day I have finally finished typing up this novel-it differs slightly from the storyline I had started out with months ago. But I feel the change is better and more fitting for Maia's tale.

Maia Langston is just a normal eighteen year old yearning for freedom-yearning for excitement.

Like any human being, she makes mistakes-lying to her father–and this mistakes have consequences-the anger and fight that follows.

But in the end with the help of her grandfather, Maia has learned that to have the rights of an adult-to be able to fulfill her dreams, she must show herself and her father that she is ready for the challenges that lay ahead. She does just this.

By the end of the story, we see Maia as an eighteen year old starting a new chapter of her life: college. She must leave behind her father and her friend Jacob as well as her new protector: Sideswipe. But Maia is hopeful knowing that though much change is coming her way she will triumph through it all-even the dangers that are soon to come.

(Oh yes, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention, there is a sequel? https://www.wattpad.com/story/343561493-blood-allies-sequel-of-racer%27s-heart)

If you are wondering about Jacob and Maia-that kiss they shared-if they shared more. Well, the sequel touches upon their relationship as well as on the war with the Transformers and Decepticons--so stay tuned :D