Blue Monday|Transformers.

Chapter 6: Take On Me.

It was complete silence as Bumblebee drove down the road, Memo in the backseat with Clara and Charlie sitting in the front. Clara had told Memo what happened, not the specifics of what Charlie said, but that everything blew up and that they all needed a breather. No one had said a word since Clara explained everything to him. It was sore for Charlie and Clara could understand that. Hurtful things were said between her and her mom. Clara honestly had never blown up at her own mother that way, she was a bit on the fence since Sally had brought her mom into it. No doubt she'd already called her mom by now and her mom was on her way home. Clara shifted in her seat slightly and looked at Charlie in the corner of her eyes when Memo finally spoke up. "Hey, you okay?" He asked quietly, the boy genuinely concerned for his new friend.

"Yeah," Charlie answered after a pause.

"Charlie, you know you can tell us whatever you need to say. Don't feel like you have to shove it down." Clara softly spoke with a small sigh and Charlie swallowed hard. That was when the dam burst for her.

"You know, I just feel like ever since my dad died, I've become this drain on everyone, and I hate it." Charlie's voice broke as she told the two of them. Clara reached over and squeezed her hand gently. She could understand that.

"Charlie, I get it. I was like this for a period of time after my dad left, you know this." Clara calmly says, taking a deep breath and turning her head toward the road. "No one wanted to be around me. I was bitter and angry. I'm shocked I never blew up on my mom like you did." She let out a breathless chuckle, she wondered if the reason didn't was because she accepted that it was never her mom's fault. Charlie's eyes flickered to her friend and she quietly nodded, she did remember.

"You know it's like everybody expects me to act like nothing ever happened, and it's...impossible to do that." She struggled slightly in explaining the way she was feeling. However, Clara and Memo were listening and they understood, they weren't going to judge Charlie. Clara turns her head and shares a look with the quiet Memo.

"About your dad, I'm...I'm really sorry." Memo says.

"Thanks," Charlie utters.

"We're here for you, Charlie." Clara assures her, looking at her friend sympathetically.

"You know, there's this quote that I like. 'The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.'" Memo recited and a small frown grows on Clara's face in realization.

"That's nice." Charlie nearly whispers after a moment.

"My mom got it from Weight Watchers," Memo confessed which made both girls glance at him and Charlie chuckles softly.

"Then Weight Watchers got it from Khalil Gibran's novel Broken Wings." Clara blurted out and Charlie smiled to herself amused when Memo paused and stared at Clara.

"Teddy...how do you just know that?" Memo asked flabbergasted.

"My mom has a wide taste in novels. It's an Arabic poetic novel from 1912." Clara shrugged with a small smirk and Memo shook his head while Charlie let out a small snicker.

"Of course, of course you would. You are a strange girl, the strangest I've met. More so than Charlie." He said lowly and Clara just chuckled, turning around in her seat and facing the windshield. Charlie smiled in amusement but the smile was wiped off her face at the sight in front of her. Clara's expression morphed into a confused one when they came upon a huge group of military people and vehicles. Bumblebee was forced to a screeching stop when they got close.

"What the hell...?" Clara uttered with furrowed brows. Her confusion grew when more military vehicles drove up behind them and she whipped around, peering out the back window. "Crap. There's more of them, we're boxed in." Her eyes went wide and she shared looks with Charlie and Memo.