"You useless piece of crap! I told you to do the dishes, but instead you did your stupid piece of homework! My needs are more important than yours! Do you understand me!?" He yelled, pulling my hair. I nodded, sobbing.
My face was covered in bruises and scars from the hits. He used my hair and forcefully dragged me across the hallway. H
"Get out of my house!" He ordered, leaving me in front of the door, crying. My scalp hurt alot from the pull. There was blood tricking down the side of my face.
I obeyed him, not wanting him to hurt me more. But as soon as I opened the door, I ran smack into none other than Jack.
It was just a moment of shock.
I was standing in the doorway, a mess and he was standing right in front of me with a shocked and concern expression on his face, with his helmet in his hands. He didn't know how to react.
But I did.
Without thinking, I just hugged him and cried. He was taken aback. I soon pushed away from the hug, scared that my father would see us.
"Who did this to you?" He asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
I hesitated.
My father. But please, I just want to go somewhere else. Away from here. I don't care where.
He calmed down when he read my sign. He grabbed my hand as we both ran out of there.
We hopped onto his motorcycle, and I swore, as soon as I sat down, I heard it groan. Maybe I was just imagining things. He sped off into the familiar direction of the hospital.
We reached the hospital and Jack called his mom, who was waiting for us at the lobby. She ran over to me and was shocked when she saw my face. By then, blood from my bruise on my forehead was dripping down both sides of my face.
She quickly brought me into one of the rooms and proceeded to clean up my wound.
"How did this happen Erin?" She asked, biting her lip. I took out the small notebook I always kept in my pocket and wrote down something.
I was reaching for a plate at home, but didn't use any chair to get it, so it dropped on my head. I was about to leave the house to come here, and bumped into Jack, who gave me a ride here.
Ms Darby seemed to buy that story. She nodded once and said she'll be back soon and left the room. I heard Jack's footsteps near me and he sat down, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Why'd you lie? How long has your father been treating you like this?"
I looked at him with sad eyes.
Ever since my mom died. I don't know what got into him, but he's been abusing me like this for weeks. He made me swore to not tell anyone. Evan doesn't even know because he went somewhere else for college. I'm begging you, please don't tell anyone. Not even your mom. I don't want him finding out. I don't want to get hurt even more. And I know you don't either.
Jack exhaled.
"Erin, you know a situation like this can't just be let-off just like that. And you really should've told me earlier," he says. I look down.
Please? I promise the first thing it goes too far, I'll tell you. I promise.
He sighed.
"Fine"
I woke up on the cold hard tiles of the living room floor. It was bright outside, and when I checked the time, I was shocked to find it to be 7.50am! School was starting in 10 minutes!
I sat back up and my head hurt alot. I looked around and realized I was still in the living room, my father gone. He didn't even bother bringing me back to my room. I looked at the floor where I slept and gasped.
A pool of blood.
My blood.
He left me there, passed out, and didn't even bother to...
I sighed in disbelief. But I didn't have any time to waste. I had a big test today and can't risk not attending. My head was pounding and I felt like throwing up.
I ignored it. I picked up my school bag and ran out of the house, my hair in a mess, with blood still staining it, dried blood from my nose bleed earlier, my clothes all wrinkled and my stomach growling in hunger and nausea.
I reached school just as the first lesson bell rang. Before I opened the door to my class, I wiped away the blood from my nose to make sure the teachers don't see it. I can't let anyone know or be suspicious of this.
Curse my father
"Miss Storm. I know the recent death of your mother has been affecting your daily life, but please, try not to late. I understand your grief and I sympathize with you, really, but try not to make it late to class next time. If you want, I can set up a private counselling session with you with our school counsellors," the principal suggested. I looked at him dead in the eye and shook my head.
No counsellor can ever understand what I'm going through.
"Very well," the principal sighed. "Next time, I have no choice to suspend you from school for a few days, as this has been repeating from you almost everyday. For now, I'll let you off with a simple detention everyday for a week. You may now return back to your lessons"
I bowed my head down to thank him and left the office.
Oh sweet. Detention
I winced when I realized it wasn't sarcastic. Much better than being home.
I entered class and handed over my late pass from the principal to the teacher. She nodded once and I sat down on my seat as the teacher started going through yesterday's homework, which I successfully managed to complete at school before going back home.
"You're late again?" Jack complained.
Yeah, sorry. I overslept
Well, technically it was the truth. Except not for the right reason.
*On board the Nemesis*
"Soundwave, have you finished decoding the next set of coordinates for the next Iacon relic?" Megatron looked at his trusty assistant. Soundwave only gave a single nod in response.
"It appears to be located in a populated area, Lord Megatron. In a place called Jasper Nevada. The same place where the autobot's human pets live. Should we proceed with stealth?" Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, asked.
"I do not want to attract unnecessary attention. Knockout should probably be the best choice for this mission, as he can blend in with the other human automobiles. But please Knockout, refrain from taking your own time, or else I will launch a counter attack on the city. Is that understood?" Megatron looked at Knockout. "And do not return empty-handed, is that clear?"
"Crystal, my liege. I will not let you down," Knockout saluted as Soundwave opened up a groundbridge two clicks away from the location of the relic so no one will notice him.
*Autobot base*
"Optimus, I detect a decepticon signal two clicks away from Rafael, Jack and Miko's school," Ratchet informed the large red and blue mech.
"Understood, Ratchet. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Please make your way over there now so that the decepticon will not inflict human casualties. Especially that of human children," he informed the three autobots, looking at them for a brief moment before continuing to decode the coordinates for the next set of Iacon relics.
"Curbside duty, got it!" Bulkhead gave him a thumbs up as three of them transformed and made their way out of base.
"Ratchet, I have decoded the next set of coordinates! But it would seem that the relic is nearby, inside the town of Jasper," the Prime looked at Ratchet.
"The decepticons probably had decoded it too, and followed the track to Jasper. I hope Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are prepared for what's about to come," Ratchet looked into the distance.
"I'm going to keep Ms Darby on the line, in case of any medical emergency," the medic said. Optimus just nodded.
*Meanwhile, around the same time the decepticons received the signal...*
*Erin POV*
I stared at the clock. The hand always seemed to move very slowly in the last minute of class.
"The Krebs cycle is used by organisms that respire, as opposed to organisms that ferment to generate energy, either by anaerobic respiration or aerobic respiration. In addition, the cycle provides precursors of certain amino acids, as well as the reducing agent NADH, that are used in numerous other reactions," the teacher explained, just as the bell rang. The whole class exploded into a burst of chatter and started packing their bags.
"Now class! I hope all of you remember this or wrote this down somewhere, because there will be a quiz about this!" She announced, which caused the whole class to groan. No worries, I could study this during detention.
Oh wait.
Detention.
Ugh great.
"You wanna go to the library to study for the test later? I'm meeting up with my two other friends and we can hang with them" Jack asked.
Can't. I have detention for being late to class for the like 20th time this month.
"Oh yikes. That sucks. At least you didn't get suspended. Or expelled," he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hey, Jack?"
Both of us turned around and saw the most popular girl, and the cheer captain of the school, Sierra.
"Say, do you want to hang out later?" She glared at me. I shrugged at her. I looked at Jack and saw him blush. I chuckled and elbowed him.
Lovers boy.
"Sorry, Sierra. I have some other stuff to do. Like my, uh, science-fiction club," he hesitantly said. I could tell he felt bad about rejecting her.
"Oh. It's no problem. Maybe next time?" She said, disappointed. Before she walked off, she gave me a look that had jealousy written all over her face. I don't get why she hated me that much. Jack and I were just friends.
My head was pounding in pain
"So, I'll be seeing ya?" He waved me goodbye as I walked out of the classroom to the detention room.
On the way there, I was stopped short by none other than Vince Raider, the school bully. I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, where ya going?" He asked me, blocking my way. I took out my notebook.
Detention. Now please, move. You're in my way
I shoved him away as I quickly ran to the detention classroom. As much as I did, I couldn't be late to detention.
I opened the door, and took a seat somewhere, sitting next to a girl from one of the grades below mine. She had black hair in pig tails which had pink highlights with one long plait in the middle, pink bangs nearly covering her eyes. She was doodling something in her notebook.
I managed to peek at it and it was a drawing of some green robot. It was bit and round and it was punching some other robots. The drawing looked like a kindergartener drew it.
"Hey! Eavesdrop much?" She glared, snatching away the paper so I couldn't see it anymore.
I opened my notebook and pointed to a word there.
Sorry.
The girl looked confused. I flipped the pages until I found the one I was looking for.
I'm Erin Storm. I'm mute and always have been.
I've had that sentence in my notebook since my first day in high school. I never erased it because I knew I'd need it some day. The girl's eyes widened and nodded, mouthing the letter O.
"I'm Miko! And sorry for being a little snappy. I'm just really protective over my drawings. And you're Jack's friend, right? He tells me about you from time to time how you've always been childhood friends or whatever," she introduced.
I took out my pen.
How do you know Jack?
"We are both part of Team Prime!" She said like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Once she realized what she had said, she covered her mouth.
"Oops, I wasn't really supposed to say that. Team Prime is the name of our, uh, science fiction club! Yeah that's it! Anyways. First time in detention huh?"
I just nodded.
"Trust me, the first few days of detention are boring and it will always seem like you need to pay attention to whatever the teacher says or whatnot, but after a few weeks, the teachers don't even care and don't even see you when you secretly escape detention. Piece of cake!" She put her hands behind her head and placed both of her feet on the table.
My mouth dropped. A few weeks? How many detentions has this girl went to?
How many detentions have you had? And for what reason?
"Most of them from skipping assignments. Nothing much. Sometimes for playing pranks on teachers or students," she said it casually. "What's your reason?"
Late to school for like the 20th time this month.
Miko's mouth dropped.
"Aw man that is so lame! If I'm going to detention, I'd rather the reason be something epic! Like fighting evil alien robots from outer space! Or watching alien robots fight evil zombie alien robots!" She exclaimed.
I don't think so. Aliens don't exist
Miko shrugged.
"Well believe what you want. But hey, I have an idea! Let's escape detention together!"
My jaw dropped. Is this girl crazy?
"Come on! It's not like my first time doing it! And there's nothing you can do in this hellhole. Trust me, the teachers won't even notice! And don't even worry about my parents. They live all the way across the globe in the city of Tokyo! And my host parents won't even care. Yeah, I'm an exchange student here," she tried to convince me.
I mean, it's not like my father would care anyways.
I just sighed. I took my pen and wrote down my answer.
Fine, but I swear Miko, one day, you're gonna be the death of me.
Miko grinned as she suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat, and before I knew it, I was standing right outside the school.
Woah.
I was panting heavily because of the rush.
"See? It's that simple! Anyways. Wanna get a milkshake?" Miko asked. I looked at her in disbelief. I began to write.
I honestly can't believe you Miko. We just escaped detention, one of the major school crimes, and you are just asking me if I want to get a milkshake?
"Sooo. Is that yes or no?" Miko asked swaying back and forth. Before I could reply, she stopped short. Her face started to look pale as she looked behind me. When I looked behind, I saw nothing but a red sports car. What was so scary about that?
"Uh, Erin. We need to get out of here, now!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me as she started running, dragging me behind. I nearly fell over, but managed to regain my balance and run with her.
When I turned around, I was surprised to see the same red sports car following us.
Oh, I really wish I could speak so I can yell at Miko and ask her what the hell was going on.
We couldn't run forever, so Miko dragged me into a small alley. I plonked myself against the brick wall to catch my breath. I was sweating furiously and my lungs burned. I felt like passing out as I hadn't eaten or drunk anything for the past few hours.
"I'm so sorry Erin, it's quite hard to explain... Okay maybe not that hard. We are being chased by an alien robot that can transform into a car and it's after is coz I don't know why and he's probably gonna kidnap us!" She explained without stopping a beat.
If I could laugh, I would've. But know, I was too tired to do anything. I just smiled and shook my head.
"I'm serious! He-"
"Well, well. Looks like the two of you are trapped with nowhere to run," I heard a deep voice say. Miko and I turned our heads to the source of the noise, and gasped when we saw the same red sports car.
Did it just talk!?
"What do you want doc-Knock?" Miko crossed her arms.
Did she know this car?
Just then, parts of the car started to move together and just like that, it turned into a giant robot! It shadowed over us and took a step forward. I gaped at the giant robot. I immediately ran behind Miko to hide.
Oh this was bad. Real bad.
A/N: welp. They're in trouble now, getting caught by Doc Knock himself XD. I wonder what he's gonna do to them. Maybe bulkhead will come in and rescue them?
And the worst part is, Erin is now in the know. What's going to happen to her next?
Enjoy :)