TAG You're It!

*The teacher of the TAG group is of Indian descendant? What more does her story tell us?*

Welcome to the TAG group, you must be the audience I have today. I hope you enjoy your stay.

My name is Trayi Banryee. Yes I am of Indian descent, for those of you who read the author's note. My class is vigorous and hard-working. I don't tolerate tardiness of any type. Take your notes and pass your test and you'll be fine. But of course I will give you a chance to recover from a poor grade. Please try not to get below a C average.

Oh and if any of you pick on my dear Amir, there will be consequences.

"Okay Soundy, here's your classroom right here!"

Penny stopped in front of what she thought was the strictest teacher in the entire school. Her door was a purple color decorated with wires and discs. In bright LED lights, the teacher's name was on full display.

"Now Soundwave, you have to be very careful with this teacher. She is known to have the strictest curriculum in the whole school!" Penny said, opening the door. "So you have to keep your grades up and interact with others a lot!"

Soundwave smiled under his face mask. He was surprised that Penny had put him in a higher class than the rest of the group. He didn't think he was that smart to be in the specially designed TAG group. But then again he helped with everything technical that broke in the house.

And everything finacial.

And everything wireless.

Maybe she was on to something.

The first thing he saw when she opened the door was the rows of desktops that greeted him. The blank screens showed no sign of life at the moment, but that didn't bother him. He could feel his tentacles creeping out from underneath his purple hoodie. He wanted to plug in and play those online games that Penny had introduced to him. The walls had algorithms and formulas in neatly printed letters. A giant table was smack dab in the middle of the classroom and unlike the other classes, this one had a new SMART board in the front.

"Oh...so this is where the school budget went." Penny replied offhandly. "Figures, only the smart, brainy students get the best stuff."

"That's not always the case." A small voice said from behind them. Soundwave turned around to see a small Indian boy smiling at them. He looked like the typical nerd; a red and white checkered shirt, brown slacks, and brown loafers. He had a brown knapsack on his side. "Mother just likes to spice up the class a bit for all of us."

"Oh so she's...wait she has a kid?" Penny said surprised.

"Had a kid more like it Miss Drake. I am Amir Banryee, I was supposed to be in first grade, but my mother put me in her class to get early advancement to a nice college on day." He shook Soundwave's servo. "This must be the new student she was telling me about. Is that mask digital?"

Soundwave slowly nodded as the small boy grinned. "Oh I can't wait to see what your brain has in store if you wear a mask like that!"

"Well I have to head to my classroom." Penny placed a kiss on Soundwave's forehead. "Be nice and try not to hack into the school! I don't have to remind you not to also use your extra appendages either. And if you let Lazerbeak out, do it outside."

Soundwave pushed her towards the door as she talked, eager to get himself to one of the computers. Penny smiled at his rare show of emotions and left the classroom without a fuss. Soundwave sighed on the inside as Amir walked over to him.

"Your mother seems nice. Is she like that all the time?" He asked, getting another nod from Soundwave, who went to the table to set up his section.

Amir was curious as to why Soundwave never talked, but brushed it aside. Perhaps he was a natural mute like Lotus. Or maybe he didn't like to talk like Nakisha. Whatever he was, he wanted to find out. He sat next to the silent mech who had now taken out his tablet to study a bit more of what the teacher had assigned to them for summer research.

"You did the summer work huh? Did you find it difficult?" Amir wondered, remembering how he struggled on a few questions.

Soundwave showed him the tablet. Amir hawked at how detailed and precise it was. It was as if he scanned it from a textbook! But it was all in his own neat handwriting!

Before he could say anything else on the manner, another person walked in the door. She had pale skin and white hair along with purple eyes. She wore a large hoodie, a knee length skirt with shorts underneath, and red NIKE shoes. Her nails were painted pastel red to match her shoes. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun. She glanced around the room until she spotted Amir and Soundwave and started to walk towards them. She sat in the chair in front of Soundwave.

"Hey Amir, how was summer?" The girl asked, looking at Soundwave with full intensity. Amir and a selective few were only allowed to hear her voice which was sweet to the ear, but cold to the voice.

"It was fine Nakisha." Amir replied happily, gesturing towards Soundwave. "This is Soundwave, he is the new student in the TAG group."

"I can tell, what's his deal? Why doesn't he talk?"

"Dunno, he seems to communicate with just nods and shakes of the head."

Nakisha leaned forward and tapped his screen. "What's with the mask? Is it digital?"

Soundwave decided to play around a bit with this girl. "Is it digital?" He repeated to her in her voice. Nakisha jumped a bit, startled a bit at first before her eyes widen in amazement.

"No freaking way, he can talk with the mask!" She exclaimed, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Did you make this or something?"

"Make this." Sounwave said, smiling under his face mask.

Nikki gasped again as she thought of how cool he was. Finally, a student who shared her love of robotics! Maybe he could help her with her "special" project and join her club too! Her heart started to flutter at the thought of the aloof mech helping her with her robotic cat.

"You have got to teach me how to make one! I want to wear a cool mask like that!" Amir asked, reaching over to touch it again. Soundwave leaned backwards out of his reach, only to bump into someone trying to sit on his other side. There was a slight shift in movement before a thumping noise was heard behind him. He turned to see a small girl on the ground looking up at him.

The girl had long brown hair that was in a braided ponytail. Her skin was also pale, making Soundwave wonder why all these girls had such lack of color. Her slightly dull brown eyes were trained on his form. She was wearing a light blue turtleneck sweater, black leggings, and brown boots that looked too hot for the weather. Tears had started to form in her eyes.

"Oh no, you knocked Lotus over!" Amir exclaimed, pulling Soundwave backwards. "You shouldn't have done that."

Nikki went around the table and brough Lotus into a hug, patting her back. "It's alright Lotus, Soundwave didn't mean to hurt you. He just didn't see where he was going."

Lotus sniffed a bit, looking at Soundwave through her misted eyes. His faceplate showed a picture of a broken heart with tears running down the face. Then it flashed to show a heart that said "I'm sorry!" on it. She realized it was an accident and smiled at Soundwave before taking a small blackboard out of her bag. With a piece of chalk in her hand, she wrote something for him to read.

That's okay, you just startled me.

Soundwave was surprised to see her write out her response instead of saying it. Nikki saw the confusion in his body language and started to explain. "Lotus is a mute, she doesn't talk at all. The only way we know what she wants is if she writes it down."

"You get used to it actually. She rarely gives trouble, so you have been placed in good company." Amir said.

"Uh huh! Being the smartest in the school usually makes us targets for bullies!" Another girl walked in the class, smiling at the group. Her silver hair was casted to the side in waves while her aquamarine eyes showed curiosity. She wore a blue t-shirt, white shorts, and white and black sneakers. "But not to worry, we keep each other in packs!"

"Catherine, you always have something perky to say every day!" Amir said, making the girl blush deep red.

"N-N-No I don't!" The girl protested, waving her hands. "I just like to keep all my friends happy!"

Amir and Nikki laughed while Soundwave and Lotus just stared at them. Lotus tugged his hoodie arm before bringing her black board up to show him what she wrote.

You must be mute like me too. I haven't seen you talk once. Do you want to be my friend?

Soundwave nodded, making the small girl smile brightly. She never once thought that she could make friends with any of the new students. Lotus felt her heart flutter at the strange boy. Perhaps this school year was going to be just fine!

"Alright boys and girls, settle down and get to your seats! School will be starting soon so I expect a report on your desk about your summer vacation!" A woman walked in carrying a large brown purse as her stern face scanned the class. "Amir, Nikki, stop teasing Catherine and get to your seats! Lotus, pick yourself off the floor! Catherine, go get Benjamin and Joshua! They are down the hallway to the left!" Trayi finally noticed Soundwave and gave a small smile. "You must be my new gifted scholar! Soundwave wasn't it?"

Soundwave nodded, picking up Lotus from the floor and placing her in the chair next to him. The small girl's cheeks flushed crimson before she went back to her backpack.

"Soundwave, I hope to see good things from you! You are in a high class, but you had the best score on the test! I will push beyond your boundaries and test your limits of learning!" Trayi gave him a look. "There's no turning back now."

"Bring it on." Soundwave said, using Smokescreen's voice.

Trayi crossed her arms and nodded. "Then let us begin."

TAG group done and out! The next chapter will be lunch for everyone and maybe some recess! Thanks to all the students in TAG, we may get some special robotics chapters! I think I have more to put, but that will be for next time!