A/N: Hello everyone to the first chapter of Volume 1! I'm so anxious because first impressions and all that, but I guess some of you already passed that with the prologue. Honestly, I didn't feel this anxious when I posted the prologue, but rather excited. Well, I guess we'll see how this goes.

This is a new and edited version of what I uploaded last year. Well, new as in 'I kept mostly everything but added stuff and corrected mistakes and I hope I did something good.'. I really hope I did something good.

Now, I didn't have a beta and my friend wasn't able to look over this, so all the mistakes you might find are all mine. I did my best but we all know that some still remain.

Thank you for reading and please review! It would make my day! Btw, the next chapter will be posted later this day, so stick around!

I don't own anything but my OCs! You'll see the Autobots and everyone else in a few days! ;)

Enjoy! :D


Chapter 1

- Welcome to America -

"Ioana..."

"Ioana."

"Ioaaaanaaa."

...

...

A gentle shake.

"Hmm? What, Ale?" Ioana groaned, plucking her earphones out of her ears and turning her head. Hard but warm eyes locked with an annoyed pair of chocolate eyes.

Ioana had long wavy brown hair reaching to her lower back. Her almond-shaped face held brown, once warm and lively, now hard and mature eyes and a small nose. Small rosy lips were almost always pulled in a line or an impassive smile. Her body was slim, as shown her purple T-shirt, covered by a black jacket, and old and used blue jeans and a pair of black high heels. She also wore a small pink rose clip in her hair, just above her right ear.

"Don't be like that, bro." Ale said, pouting. "How much till we get there?" whined the other girl.

Just then the intercom sounded.

'Dear passengers, we'd like to announce you that we are approaching our destination. The plane will land shortly. Thank you.'.

Ioana glanced at the ceiling.

"Got your answer, I presume?" The girl asked, a hint of faint amusement in her tone. She placed her earphones back on, music loud in her ears.

"Hoff, ce dusman!"(1) Ale huffed, still pouting.

After that, she turned her head to look at the seat in front of her and at the kid making weird faces at her like a little unmannered punk. Ale glared at the boy and immaturely pulled her tongue out. She felt a sudden but firm slap at the back of her head and turned to Ioana again. The girl gave her a meaningful look and Ale pouted even more. The Universe just seemed to work against her today!

- A little later -

"It's pretty nice here, no?" said Ale putting her hands on her hips. She grinned and turned to Ioana.

Alexandra was dressed like she was going to a funeral, not visiting a friend. Black was her favourite colour, though, but that didn't mean she didn't want to wear any other colours. She just preferred black a lot more. She had short curly dark-brown hair, longer on the right side of her face and shorter on the other. Warm, big and full of energy brown eyes, a small button-like nose and oval face. She was 5 cm shorter than Ioana, who came at 165 cm tall, and had a round body. Ale was an impatient but lovable person, Ioana's best friend, but fierce and scary when challenged and very protective of her friends.

They had just climbed off the plane and stepped into the loud, crowded and busy atmosphere of the Terminal. Ioana just nodded, glancing around with an appreciative air.

"Yosh! Let's go, we need to find Tamara!" Ale grinned, placing her hands on her hips, in a pose.

"But first our things, or did you forget about them?" came the light teasing tone. Ioana looked at her friend, waiting for her to remember.

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Ale's face lit up in recognition.

"Ale, what am I going to do with you?" Ioana sighed fondly.

"Hoff, sorry." Ale sulked.

"Come." Ioana nodded toward the luggage area, tone slightly amused.

Ale grinned and took off with a boost of energy.

- A little later -

"So... where is she?" asked Alexandra, glancing around her.

"Somewhere in front of the airport." Ioana answered, her eyes hard and focused, scanning the parking lot. They landed on an orange, black and brown silhouette in the distance. "There." she said and pointed where to.

Ioana turned to Ale, only to find her already rushing ahead. She chose to walk slowly, mostly because of her many things. Tamara was a tall fair-skinned brunette. She had a heart-shaped face, a small nose and big brown eyes sparkling with happiness and one big warm grin. She was dressed in black fake leather jeans, black converse and an orange jacket opened to show the red T-shirt underneath. Her curly long hair was let down, reaching her middle back and completing the outfit.

"Hey Tamy!" Ale glomped Tamara, not even thinking about all the luggage she had. The result? A desperate-for-breath Tamara on the asphalt and Alexandra pancake-ing her to the ground.

"OFF! Off! Get off!" got out the poor girl, fighting with the combined weight of both Alexandra and her things.

"Oh dear." cold demeanour gone for the moment, Ioana rushed to get Alexandra to the side, as she was too heavy to lift up. "Alexandra be more careful!" she scolded, making sure Tamara was still alive.

"Oh, sorry, Tamy! I didn't mean to!" Alexandra apologized when she could finally get off the ground. Tamara gasped when she felt the other girl move off of her and tried to lift herself up, but only managed with the help of Ioana.

"I-it's okay, j-just don't do it ever again. At least with all those things! Phew! Heh, I think that everyone is looking at us." Tamara laughed, fixing her clothes and giving her friend a reassuring smile, while trying to catch her breath.

"Thanks." Ale smiled sheepishly. She was just so happy to see her friend after three years of only Skype-ing and talking on the phone.

"Ale, be more careful." Ioana looked at the girl, disapprovingly. Then, she looked at Tamara. "Are you alright?"

Tamara smiled warmly, and patted Ale's shoulder, trying to reassure the sad brunette.

"Yes I feel fine, there's no need to worry so much." she gave Ioana that warm motherly grin and stepped forward and hugged her. "Welcome to America." she whispered to her.

Ioana sighed heavily and sunk deeper into the hug. She allowed herself a moment of warmth and calm. It lasted a few meaningful seconds and when Tamara let her go she already felt at more peace.

Feeling the change in the atmosphere Ale grinned and put her arms over the girl's shoulders.

"So, where's your car?" asked Ale trying to slowly, not suddenly, break the nice moment that happened between the two of her friends.

Tamara pointed to the left, to a red Toyota.

"Come on, we have some distance to go till we reach my town." she said, grasping some of the girls' luggage, trying to balance their weight between the three of them.

"What town more exactly and more importantly, can I drive?" required Ale, handing Tamara one of her many bags.

"Hmm, Jasper, the name of my town is Jasper and, no you can't. From what I heard, I think I shouldn't let you drive for a while!" Tamara laughed, and accepted the bag.

Together, the three girls got to the car and started the long road to Jasper, Nevada.

- End of the chapter -

(1)= Romanian: "Hoff, what an enemy!"