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Atronus didn't feel too bitter on my tongue anymore. I started calling myself that in my thoughts, never out loud, out of fear of what Jack might think. I thought about him more often, too, and it slowly got more and more frustrating as time went on. Worrying about what my father thought of me was proving to be far different from worrying about what Jack thought of me, and even though the nightmares had been less frequent, some of them started to include him. The same hate in his eyes he used to have when he looked at me had burned itself to a part of my brain I couldn't reach.

The next semester started without a hitch, at least for us humans. I started strong in physical education and was on the track early almost every class. I didn't dabble in the change rooms with other girls, having trained to get dressed quickly. For the first week, I was out in the gym early, just standing around an empty room. Eventually, I started my own warmups without really thinking about it. The teacher, Mr. Coats, started to sit on the bleachers and watch me after the third day of the second week.

I approached him after my last lap, this time he'd sat right beside my water bottle.

"Good morning, Mr. Coats."

"Good morning." He replied with a smirk, handing me my bottle, "Were you on the track team at your old school?"

"No." I answered.

He looked shocked, "Really? Running like that?"

I shrugged, not sure what to say to this. My only strategy for pretending to be someone else was avoiding telling too much about myself. If they didn't know anything, they would never be able to pick up on any inconsistencies.

He sighed, "Listen, Elaine. From day one you were coming out early, and after just a few days, doing your own warm up on the track. Then, you'd come inside and do the next warmup with everyone else. You're an exceptional athletics student."

"It's only been two weeks."

He chuckled, "I know. But, it doesn't take more than a few days to figure out when you've got a level four-plus kid."

I thought for a second, "Are you trying to imply I should join the track team?"

"If you want to." He quickly said, "No pressure if you're not interested."

"I'm not." I replied simply, walking past him back to the indoor gym as I heard the other teacher's whistle.

If I'm on the track team, I can't spend as much time with the auto bots.

Rafael and I were spending every second we could get studying cybertronian writing, making our own translation dictionaries and practicing how to write proper sentences and understand different phrases. I tried speaking to my English teachers but not a single one of them had a language background. They had only studied contemporary British and American English Literature. It was kind of embarrassing for the face of education in America, but we found ways to do our own research.

Smoke Screen was making a name for himself on the team, a sort of rebel rookie name, that kept on making every basic mistake in the book while simultaneously being an incredibly strong addition to their ranks.

During some down time while Jack was at work, Arcee asked me to help with a routine check and I asked her about Smoke Screen, and why he was so foolish if he was trained by the elite guard.

She laughed, which was an odd sight for me.

"I was surprised myself. His station in the elite guard was reserved for the best of the best, to be Alpha Trion's direct security." She paused, sighing, "But, eventually, the Decepticons started winning. Taking more ground and lives with it. It's possible Smoke Screen was forced to graduate early without a proper ceremony because he was the only option left."

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