I don't own anything but this AU (sorta kinda) and my OCs. And, of course the reasons this took so stinkin long!

Two hours, and plenty of questions later, the three girl were fully informed of the fact that the human race was not alone in the universe. Zoey, forever the Sci-Fi fanatic, was in fan girl heaven until Cathie made a point.

"How much danger have you just put us in?" At the thought of more Decepticons, Zoey shut up and paled. Lauren stood up to join Cathie.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be captured again!" The cheerleader tried to keep her fear under control, but her hands shook as she put them on her hips.

"Guys, can't you see? The Autobots can't help it! It is all the Cons' fault! They started this war, and they brought it here!" Zoey tried to defend the Bots.

"And the Autobot's continue it by not leaving. You've seen the news casts," Cathie reminded.

"We cannot leave, or your world would be defenseless," Bumblebee said. He wanted to stay quiet but his acute alien hearing made it impossible.

"We've been fighting those slaggers longer..."Sunstreaker trailed off, not wanting to remind the girls of one more difference between their races.

"Long enough to know they won't go away. Kind of like Jerry's sneaker smell in his locker," Sideswipe finished then vented lightly as the girls laughed. That boy's smelly shoes were famous throughout the whole school.

Lauren's phone beeped, a text message appearing. "Eep!" the girl gasped. "Forgot to text mom about after school time. She is at the Rotary Club fundraiser and will get this later. Dad is at work. Big conference in Chicago. " Her fingers flew over the keys, a general 'I am okay and with my friends' message texting itself out.

Cathie shrugged before saying, "My parents are gone the whole week to Aspen. Ski trip again. I'm free and will send an e-mail later."

"And yours?" Bumblebee asked, kneeling down by Zoey when she remained quiet. "Mom is gone. Left when I was small. Dad is at work at the gas station. Then he goes out drinking. As long as I stay out of trouble, he doesn't care," she admitted quietly.

"Both my parental units are gone. Ironhide raised me," Bumblebee said. His yellow wing doors drooped a little with sadness.

"That explains your choice of clothes," Cathie grinned, brushing beach sand off the edge of her designer jeans.

"Why?" The young scout formed his hologram, looking at the faded jeans and yellow and black striped t-shirt.

"We noticed your clothes rarely change. Thought it was a boy thing," Zoey added. Wrapping her fingers in her hair, the young girl circled around the holographic human images of the twins.

"We chose these off the internet," Sunstreaker boasted.

"Which site?"

"A music site. Where else can we go to find out what normal teens wear?" Sideswipe asked, both the head of his hologram and his real armored form tilting to the side as he asked the question.

"The mall!" the girls chorused. A quick message and Optimus approved, provided they all kept an eye for trouble.

Later the young bots confided to Optimus the trip was one of the most unusual experiences of their lifetimes. And as old as they were, that meant a lot.

"No other planet open market matches the sheer amount of choices," Bumblebee said, his scout systems more focused on what and who were around him.

"And noise," Sideswipe complained, rubbing at an audio. He found most of the music played in the stores irritating or a distraction.

"I didn't mind," Sunstreaker said.

"That's because there were mirrors everywhere for you to look at yourself," Sideswipe teased, hitting his twin's armor arm plating with a closed fist.

"Hey! Don't scratch the paint!"

"And the human females?" Prowl asked, his white and black wing doors tilting higher with his interest. As second in command of the Autobot forces, their safety remained a concern of his.

"Had fun. Though I don't understand their obsessions with shoes," Bumblebee admitted.

The next week, Zoey woke each morning excited to see her friends, both human and alien. Nevertheless, the other two girls stood firm of their first opinion, insisting that the Autobots had put the entire planet in danger, not to mention the trio of girls. Zoey stomped her foot and pouted, but nothing she did could completely erase their fears. Or convince them that the Autobots need their help.

And the small group divided, to a certain extent. They still were friends, but it was as if a rift had come between the girls. But no matter how much Cathie and Lauren each tried to distance themselves from two certain bots, they failed.

Cathie was head over heels for Sides, loving how he was a bit mischievous, but still a bit more mature then his brother. Her heart beat faster every time his holographic image smiled, whether it was at her or not. It didn't hurt that his hologram was cute. Or he was assigned as her lab partner for physics class.

Lauren thought Sunny was hot, but that wasn't all that mattered to her. He was great, just like his brother at pranks, and with Annabelle. (Out of all three girls, Lauren liked little ones the best.) It seemed to the preppy girl, that Sunny was the one.

Zoey enjoyed all the bots, but she seemed much closer to Bee than anyone else. Their love of music, both being one for few words, everything about them just seemed to click. They wanted nothing more than to tell the other how they felt, but could not get up the nerve.

Meanwhile, in the school rumors were flying. Cathie and Lauren were fairly far up on the social chain, and when they started to hang with Zoey, and by association, the three new strange boys, it made the other students wonder.

No one seemed to connect the three boys with the alien robot attack, at least not yet. The rumors were everything from a radical change in personalities to romantic relationships. The group of six was also being analyzed by another faction. Because, unknown to the Autobots or their human allies, the Decepticons had a trick or two up their armor plating…and cassettes could be high school students too.

DUH DUH DUN! I promise to have the next chapter up very soon!