The Girl Next Door

*Picture above is of Isabel "Izzy" Connell!*

There was something strange going on at the nice lady's house that was directly next door to ours.

And I should know strange, I do declare myself to be the strangest girl on the block!

Oh maybe I should introduce myself....how embarrassing! My name is Izzy, or to adults Isabel Connell. I'm fourteen years old and probably the shortest in my family. I have a natural hair color, but I like to keep my hair dyed pink. It gives it a certain flair to it. I usually swap out the ribbons in my hair since I'm obsessed with anime characters keeping their hair this way. My eyes are an unusual shade of red, making some people believe I'm not natural. And that's right, I am nothing natural! I also have this lollipop fetish, you won't see me without one in my mouth at all times. I have tons of favorite flavored pops stashed everywhere around the house!

Wait...you aren't here to talk to me? Then why did I just explain myself to you? Oh! You wanted to know my connection to the nice lady!

Well Miss Drake has known my family for years now. Mom always has her over to chat over a nice cup of tea. Dad likes to help her with her outside chores like mowing her lawn. My big brother had a crush on her when he came home from college. I've always hung out over at her place after school to do my homework with her. She's an excellent math tutor!

So what do I have to do with those cute robots she keeps around the house?

Well...you see...one afternoon I happened to run into her on her daily walk...

Gathering the robots together out the house was the easy part.

But for Penny, the hardest part was trying to keep them from running off.

It was such a nice day to take a walk. The rain had finally let the area so the ground was a bit damp when she walked out of the house. She had even worn a nice outfit to go take a walk in. The bots had followed her to the porch, curious of where they were going. Penny turned around and smiled at her bot babies.

"Come on you guys, we can't stay cooped up in the house forever! We need to get some fresh air and sunshine!" She told them, walking down the stairs. She saw massive puddles on the ground, making her think of childhood. Splashing in puddles was her favorite pastime. She often would wait for rain to come so she could go play out in it. Her thoughts of childhood made her smile at the cuties. They were so young, so innocent to the world they lived in. They probably never had splashed in a puddle before.

"Hey watch me!" Penny said happily, jumping up and allowing her feet to hit the wet puddle. Knockout immediately freaked out at this and ran over to pull her out of the puddle. Appearance was everything to him and seeing her ruin those perfectly good shoes was spark breaking to watch. Penny stumbled at the cherry red mech's strength. What the heck was he doing?

"What's the matter Cherry? You don't like me splashing in puddles or something?" She asked him, seeing him nod frantically. "I'm just having fun! Puddles are meant to be splashed in! How else are we going to get to the park?"

Megatron could only groan as Knockout started to beep so fast and frantically at Penny's words. The vain mech would have to deal with a few wet puddles to get to the fun establishment. Breakdown had to pay his back a couple of times along with Penny to calm him down. The orange haired girl tapped her chin as she tried to think of an alternative way to take her kids to the park.

"Hey Miss Drake!" A cheerful voice came from behind her as Izzy walked down the walkway to her neighbor. "I was wondering if you-HOLY CRAP! ARE THOSE BABY ROBOTS!?" The lollipop in her mouth fell out as she gave the bot group a bugged out expression. Her words startled the group, making Penny scream a bit. Hearing her screams, the group tackled Izzy to the ground, feeling her to be a threat. The poor pink teen squirmed and struggled as she felt multiple cannons, swords, and other weapons being pressed against her body.

"HEY! Get off of me...is that a wrench?" The pinkette gave Ratchet a scared look as he wiggled a wrench in her face. "I'm going to die by a wrench? What a way to die!"

"Everyone calm down!" Penny shouted, getting all the bots off the girl. "She's okay guys, a bit weird, but okay!"

Izzy shook the wet mud from her pigtails as she blinked at the scene in front of her. Penny was patting the backs and rubbing smooth circles on twelve small robots. She was wondering if she was going crazier than usual or Miss Drake had love affairs with mechanical beings.

She hoped it was the second one.

"Um...who are these little...uh...things?" Izzy asked her, examining the bots with interest.

"These are my adopted children, my littles bundles of bot heaven." She replied, trying to pry Bumblebee and Starscream from her chest. "Otherwise known as the Bot Babies."

Izzy saw that most of them, mainly the ones with the red eyes, we're giving her wary looks or glares. Her body shook in fear as she caught the murderous look of the small grey mech. Was he the one with the cannon?

"Does the rest of the neighborhood know about them?" She asked, turning her direction back to the sweating Penny. "Did you get them from a research facility or a crash site? How long have you had them? Why do some have blue eyes and others have red? Can I keep one?"

Penny clamped her hand down on Izzy's mouth hole to keep the girl from chatting her ear off. "No the rest of the neighborhood doesn't know, no I found them in the alleyway, I found them yesterday, I have no idea, and you can't have one." Izzy gave her a pleading look, but Penny had been around Starscream and Bumblebee for too long. "My answer is still no."

"Bummer...the red one looks so cute!" Izzy said through the muffled hand. Penny took her hand off the teen's mouth as she picked up Knockout. "He's covered in scratches from head to toe! Don't you keep a buffer in this house or something?"

Penny looked at the bot in her arms as she remembered she would fix him. "I guess we'll have to make a trip to the downtown hardware store instead. I need to get him fixed up and pronto."

Izzy smiled to herself as she popped in a raspberry flavored pop in her mouth. "Why don't you take him with you while I watch the bots? I'm a great babysitter, or in this case, botsitter!" She put her thumb against her chest as she proclaimed that. "I mean, how hard can it be?"

"Izzy, it's not that I don't trust you or anything, but these babies are high maintenance! You can't just play with them or feed them like normal babies." Penny gestured to the group in question. Optimus was sitting on the ground with Ratchet as they watched the others play. Arcee had found a Frisbee lying on the ground and started to toss it towards Smokescreen who caught it. Bulkhead was making something with mud, Breakdown helping him. Soundwave was taking pictures of the various flowers in the garden while Dreadwing picked some. Bumblebee chased a butterfly around. Starscream was sunning himself on the porch, his wings fluttering in the breeze. Megatron was standing next to Penny, giving Izzy harden glares.

"I see...so what if I followed you around and watch you take care of the bots! That way, I can learn how to take care of them!" Izzy said, hopping up and down. "Then when I've learned how to deal with them, you will allow me to babysit them!"

Penny had to admit that was a good idea. She would need some extra help around the house while she dealt with her kids, she knew she couldn't do this task alone. Izzy was a trusted friend and neighbor. Besides, if she did end up slipping about the secret, they would only call her crazy.

This works out well in my favor. I get to learn more about the bots, Izzy gets to help me with the bots, and no one would be the wiser. This plan is full proof! Penny thought, a smile curling up on her face.

"Oh alright Penny, we'll give you a trial run! If you can manage to charm all the bots in the house with your "expert" babysitting skills, then you can become the full time babysitter!" Penny said, shifting her arms before Knockout slid down. "However, if just one of my bots are unhappy with you, your services are no longer required."

"You have a deal Miss Drake!" Izzy saluted her, the stick of the lollipop hanging askew in her mouth. "When should I start?"

"I'll give you till tomorrow, that way you have time to prepare." Penny gave her a push on the back, making Izzy slide down the walkway. "Now goodbye Izzy! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye nice lady and her adorable bots!" Izzy kissed Knockout on the helm. "And I'll see you real soon Cherry!" She giggled as she walked back to her house, readying to do research on babysitting.

If Knockout could blush, his face would be full on red. Penny noticed this and rubbed his helm.

"Hey, you are too young to be crushing on teenagers! But we need to get you fixed up." Penny but her lip, knowing exactly what would need to happen for her to do so.

"Everyone! I need you all to get here!" She called throughout the front yard, gaining their attentions. "I need to go to the store to pick up a few things! Who's up for a shopping trip?"

..........................

And there we are! The introduction of Izzy! What role will she play in the story? Find out next time!

Until then, Penny loses her sanity as she realizes her car is not "child safe"!