"Today is way too hot…" I grumbled to myself as I shoved my feet into the crappiest pair of flip-flops I owned and slammed the screen door behind me. I smirked grumpily as the windows shook from the force. Mom can confront me later. If anything, I would tell her it was just an accident; mom was gullible when it came to small mishaps such as that. I hopped down the fading front porch steps leading to my kitchen, and started walking towards Wills house, the gravel sliding under my feet as I trudged up the slope of my driveway.

I was used to my Mother kicking me out to the house to help Will and Sarah, with them having a new baby and all. Saying it was the "neighborly way" since we live right next door to them. Though she never would come to admit it, me cleaning for them was her silent way of making me perform a community service. I have cleaned dishes, vacuumed carpets, cleaned gutters, and have even have changed a few of little Annabelle's diapers-in fact I have become a pro at changing Annabelle's diapers. Now don't get me wrong, I have grown to enjoy doing odd-end jobs for the Lennox's, and they have come to expect me over at least three times a week, thinking of special tasks just for me to perform.( And with Will being a hard-core soldier, thinking of things just for me is really not hard thing to do.)

I stopped on the gravel road and picked up a bright yellow dandelion, one of the many that decide to grow along the sides of the desolate country road.

"Hmm…smart flower…"

I knew fully well dandelions were weeds, but why should such beautiful things be ignored just because they were titled like such? Such little beauty should receive more attention than they are credited for, especially since they grew in such abundance in a place where they will receive no harm. Smart flowers deserve attention. I slid it behind my right ear and continued to walk towards the Lennox's, with still a good mile to go.

Their cream colored two-story house, hidden behind large oak trees and lush fields abundant with wheat and corn, was right in the horizon, the hazy, red-orange country sun framing the barn where Will kept his workshop and some "casualties" as he put it in case of an emergency. I rolled my eyes. What he doesn't know is that I have snuck into that barn more times than he can count and his "casualties" consisted of a bag of gob stoppers and a paintball gun. I squinted towards the house as I spotted Soldier, their 120-pound golden retriever, laying lazily in the shade of one of the oaks. I raised my eyebrow.

"I wonder if he could hear me from here...?"

I pinched my lower lip together using my thumb and index finger, and blew, a loud, high pitched whistle emitting from my lips.

I waited. Using my hand to block the glare of the sun, I squinted towards the old dog. I smiled as his ears slowly perked up and looked in my direction. Recognizing who it was, Soldier bolted from the shade of the oak, and disappeared into the tall stalks of wheat.

A mischievous grin formed on my lips, as I bent down, hopping on one foot, to take off my flip- flops.

"Two can play that game Soldier!"

I jammed my shoes into the back pocket of my faded shorts, and booked it into the wheat, starting at the opposite end of the field from Soldier.

I sprinted the last mile to Wills, the warm muggy air whipped past my face, while wheat stalk after wheat stalk lodged into my hair, the dandelion now long gone. But at this point it didn't really matter to me. Being able to experience those rare moments of your life, this moment in my life, where you have the chance to enjoy these minor instances, is one experience I was not about to waste. I sprinted faster. I heard the pounding of paws against the soil as Soldier found me among the wheat, tongue and ears flopping as he ran up behind me.

We broke through the final mass of wheat, as we slowed down, energy drained and the momentum lost, in the Lennox's front yard. Both me and Soldier, collapsed onto the green grass under the oak in a massive heap, chests heaving from the exerted sprinting. I turned my head to look at the retriever.

"No wonder you lay under here all the time!"

Soldier scooted himself closer to me, panting heavily in my face as he licked the side of my cheek in response.

"Attend hut Soldier!"

I groaned loudly and tilted my head towards the demand.

"Will, it's too hot…"

"You heard me!"

I sighed heavily, and slowly pushed myself up off of the ground, wiping my legs free of grass.

"Where's my salute Soldier?"

"Will…"

"Salute!"

I glared at him as I snapped my legs together, feet spread apart, and sharply moved my arm into the salute stance, my hand colliding into my head.

"At ease…"

I slouched exhaustedly.

"Do we have to do that every time I see you?"

Will laughed as he reached over to rumple up my hair. I grumbled to myself as I combed through my hair with my fingers, trying to tame the frizzy mess he created. I hated it when he did that.

"Well where would I be Soldier if I didn't do that?"

Again, I grumbled.

"I feel like the dog when you call me that…"

After I started to come to the Lennox's regularly, Will and Sarah routinely started to call me "Soldier", due to my persistent attempts at tasks and stubborn behavior very similar to Will's. And from that day forth it stuck, and with Will naming their golden retriever after my nickname-he now had two Soldiers under his command.

Will glanced over at me and laughed again when he saw the grumpy look I had set on my face.

"You better change that attitude Soldier!" he mocked.

I snorted and started to walk towards his house, Will grabbed a hold of my shoulders and started to steer me towards the backyard.

"Soldier, I have a job for you…"

"Don't you always?"

"Yes, but this one is of higher importance."

I halted in my tracks, and turned around, folding my arms across my chest as I raised my eyebrows. Will sighed.

"And yes, you will get paid for this one…"

I smiled and continued to walk towards the backyard, unfolding arms and swinging them back and forth.

"How much money are we talking about?"

"About 200, 300 if you're lucky…"

I smirked. Will always paid in high amounts even though he believed them to be small, considering the paychecks he receives. But in the eyes of a teenager, receiving 200 dollars for a one day job was a once in a lifetime miracle, or for me a reoccurring miracle since he has paid me that amount more than once.

"And what is it exactly that I am doing?"

"Why don't you take a look for yourself…?"

I looked up, us both already in the backyard. A blinding glare of sunlight made contact with my face, as I lifted my head up, squinting, at the source of the glare. A 2009 yellow Chevy Camaro, its yellow shine barely triumphing the caked on mud and scratches, sat in the middle of the yard, a black racing stripe running down its middle, blending into the dirt.

"I'm washing Sam's car?"

Will walked over to the Camaro.

"Yes and no. I'm going to have you wash four cars, including this one…"

He signified, using his fingers as he tapped the hood of the car.

"…Supplied by the government. They were having issues finding someone to clean them up, so I offered to help."

"You mean you offered me to help?

Will smiled sheepishly towards me.

"Exactly."

"So why am I washing Sam's car?"

"Well, since the government supplied him the car, they still use it to their advantage…"

He rambled, pointing at the dirt.

I raised my eyebrow at him, putting my arm on my hip.

"So this is Sam's way of getting a freebie car wash?"

Will raised his arm to rub the back of his neck.

"You know how he is Soldier…"

I sighed and started to scan the yard.

"Where are the other cars?"

"They should be here soon, but in the meantime, you can start cleaning Sam's…"

Will walked over to the back of the car and bent down reaching for a hose, sponge, and a bucket of water. The bucket tilted slightly, soap foaming and sloshing over the rim and onto the grass. He walked back over to me and handed over all of the materials.

"I'll bring you out something to eat in a while; Sarah's making some brownies and lemonade…"

I smiled at him as he started to walk away.

"Sure thing Commander!" I smiled, saluting goofily.

Will laughed, as he continued to walk towards the house, but quickly turned around.

"Hey Soldier, due to these cars being from the government…their going to have a few… glitches…" I turned to look at him quizzically.

"Like what, area 51-like glitches?" I laughed, using my fingers to create temporary antennas on the top of my head. He laughed nervously.

"More like governmental-experiments-gone-wrong kind of glitches..."

I snorted and gave Will a dorky smirk, picking up the bucket.

"I'll be fine Will!"

I shook my head as I rolled my eyes. I looked at the car. I sighed, as I felt the sun burn the back of my neck. I hobbled over to the car, supporting the weight of the full bucket, its contents again overflowing, and set it down in the now wet grass. I rubbed my wet hands through my short hair, as I inspected the vehicle. Mud seeped itself into every available crevice, while blades of grass inserted itself into the caked on soil. I smiled temporarily; thinking back to my rusty blue Ford pick-up. The smile dissipated as I remembered I was cleaning Sam's car. I grumbled briefly. I would get revenge on him later, and with Will's experience in combat and pranking tendencies, it shouldn't be too hard.

I bent down, locks of my golden brown hair falling into my eyes, as I dunked my hands into the freezing soapy water to retrieve the bright pink sponge. Holding the sponge with both hands, dripping with soap and water, while holding the hose between my teeth I slapped the sponge in to the hood of the Camaro.

"Ice Ice Baby…All right stop…Collaborate and listen…"

The song "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice blasted from the Camaro's radio right as the sponge it the hood. Startled I jumped back ten feet, hose falling from my mouth. I clutched my chest breathing heavily as the car broke into another verse:

"Ice Ice baby too cold too cold…word to you mother…"

I put my hands on my knees to balance myself out and looked up, glaring at the car. Of coarse right as Will tells me the cars are glitched, they start to justify their reputation.

"Well too bad, because I am not warming up the water just for you!"

I knew I was talking back to a car, and I wasn't expecting it to answer back, but clearly if they were from the government, they would have abnormal behavior that was not anywhere near average. I received a blaring honk in response and more musical personification.

"Burn baby burn…burn baby burn…"

I marched back over, and started swabbing the front of the car with the soapy sponge.

"No!"

Another honk erupted from the steering wheel, as the engine growled softly, it succumbing to the defiance. I smirked as the car continued to mumble childishly.

For a while I received no further actions and I was able to scrub and rinse the whole front of the car. I went back to the bucket of water and rinsed the sponge. I walked back, hands dripping from the soaked sponge and slapped it onto the bumper.

"You spin my head right round…right round…when you go down…when you go down down…"

After having no reaction out of the Camaro for the last hour, this eruption was not expected. A squeal escaped my lips as I fell backward, head hitting the dusty grass filled with the Camaro's debris, sponge flying into the air, as dust clouds materialized around my head-causing me to erupt into a coughing fit.

I sat up coughing as I kicked the bumper with my bare foot, receiving another loud blast from the horn.

"That…" I started to cough again. "Was stupid you rusty piece of scrap! Now where's the friggen' sponge?!" I looked around, having no luck spying the neon pink piece of foam. I felt a loud slap as I felt grimy, soapy water running down between my strands of hair and onto the bridge of my nose. I smiled dangerously towards the Camaro as I heard the engine rasping, sounding like a hard chuckle. I slowly stood up, pulled the sponge off of my now soaking wet head, and brushed the dirt off of my legs, causing dust clouds to once again form. I calmly walked over to the hose, now lying in between a large mass of clover, bent over to pick it up, and started to adjust the nozzle, eyeballing the Camaro.

"I said it's too late to apologize…it's too laaaaaattttteeeeee…"

"Oh yeah..." I scoffed as I continued to adjust the nozzle, "Way too late!"

I twisted around and squeezed the handle, sending a jet of water as cold and sharp as pure ice, and doused the car, spraying has hard as I could into every visible and not visible crevice.

Wanting to get as much revenge in as possible, I would halt the constant spray for a few seconds, enough to adjust the nozzle, and continue. I continued this ritual for the past half an hour, ignoring the continuation of Timbaland's "Apologize" coming from the Camaro. At some point during my rampage Will had snuck out and was watching from afar, in fear of getting hosed down as well. At some point, I felt a finger tapping on my shoulder, and I halted my hosing. I turned around to Will smirking at the car.

"Wow, you did a great job cleaning this guy up!"

I turned to look at the car, completely forgetting during my rampage the fact that I was supposed to be cleaning the car. The Camaro, free of dirt and debris, brilliantly sparkled back at me, a small hint of jealousy forming in the back of my mind. I put my hands on my hips as I blinked. I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I did huh?" I replied, winking at the camaro. It honked back grumpily.

Will wrapped his arm around my shoulder and briefly shook me side to side.

"I can see I picked the right person for the job…"

I looked up at him, smirking.

"Like you could find anyone else to do the job…"

He slapped me on the back and started to trudge back over to the house.

"Well, while you're waiting for the others to arrive, Sarah has those brownies and lemonade waiting for ya…"

I licked my lips.

"Yeah she better!"

Will laughed as he continued to walk back. I turned to follow after him; small swishing sounds erupted from near my ankles, as my bare feet trudged through the grass. Tall green blades got caught between my toes as my feet left cool, dark imprints, towards the house.

Gotta love Bumblebee! ;) Stay tuned! What will happen when Soldier cleans Ratchet?

Oh and please Review me your opinions! ;D