MBTI Type: ISFP

Charlie works on the car her dad loved so much, in an effort to connect to him and let him “hear me” (if she can get it started), but also to work through her feelings. Her mother has remarried and moved on, but Charlie cannot. She quickly identifies with and befriends Bumblebee, the Transformer she finds hiding in her uncle’s service garage. She gives him a human-like personality, insists that he is “not just a machine,” fights for his right to be himself, and even takes his rejection of her musical choices in stride. She’s so wrapped up in her feelings at first, she fails to notice the boy next door likes her, and even at the end, she’s not quite ready to hold his hand. It has taken her several years to be able to talk about her dad dying of a heart attack, and how upset it made her, and she only confides in Bumblebee because he seems to understand and empathize with her. Charlie is very physical, always looking for things to do (fixing cars, working in a busy carnival, chasing down her mother and pretending to care about the family dog, driving with “no hands” and thinking it’s awesomely fun when Bumblebee outruns the cops after they’re almost caught for speeding, enjoying standing on the seat while joyriding, and turning off the power during the Transformers fight, then jumping into the flooded pathway to make sure Bumble is all right after his trouncing). She shows flits of intuition, such as when she finally figures out why Bumble is playing with the radio (“you’re trying to talk, aren’t you?”). And she can be quite blunt under stress, such as when she yells at Bumble after he has trashed their home while being told to stay home and hide today.

Enneagram: 4w5 sp/sx

Charlie has not moved on from her father’s death, but has allowed it to take over her life. She gave up swimming because it triggers her into having memories of his heart attack. Her new stepdad annoys her by complaining that she never smiles and tries to get anyone to like her, going so far as to give her a self-help book for her birthday. Charlie is caught up in her own pain enough to not notice a boy trying to get her attention. She identifies with Bumblebee because they are both broken – him with his vocal cords gone and her with her dad being gone. She learns through the story to face up to her loss, accept it, and begin to heal as she moves forward in her life. Her 5 wing is introverted and withdrawn, spends most of its time encouraging her to stay away from other people and not create dependencies, and is somewhat afraid. She doesn’t want Bumble to get caught or reveal himself and wind up being taken away from her, so she shows flits of cautiousness.