A/N Hello again!I want to thank all of you that are following, liking and, reviewing this fic. Just to let you know unfortunately I have to take a trip next week and although I do have the next chapter I am not sure I will be able to posit on time but I do my best to do it or maybe I will post it sooner, I hope you enjoy this chapter and if you do please let me know!

As always I have to thank and give a huge shout out to Girlfriday3000 for being my beta for this multichapter! She is the best!

Chapter 3 The trip to the unknown.

As soon as Donna left the beauty salon she went straight to the bus station, she already had in hand a backpack big enough to carry a couple jeans, skirts, a black dress and a blue one, some shirts, some sexier than others, her new underwear, very different of her white and beige boring ones that she used to wear, a bathing suit, pajamas, accessories, a strawberry and watermelon perfume, bathroom necessities, a towel, flip flops and black high heels (just in case), some of this stuff was gifted to her or even exchanged for her own clothes.

She carried an acid wash denim jacket and a black patent leather mini backpack, where she had her purse with money, some travel checks and a fake ID stating that she was 25, her diary, a pen, her new makeup, her Walkman CD player, a CD holder, some extra batteries and charger and a worn copy of "100 Year of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (she was venturing into Latin-American literature lately and although the novel was complicated, it was very interesting), some gum, an apple and some candy. She also managed to get a paper bag with some sandwiches and a bottle of water for the trip.

She had the 3 o'clock ticket to Wilmington, North Carolina and it was going to be a 37 hour trip all across the country, from Los Angeles. She had to make some bus changes until she reached her destination after all a plane ticket was more expensive and didn't gave her the road trip experience of seeing the country coast to coast; and the bus trip was going to allow her to read her book, listen to her music, maybe write a bit and above all to do more soul searching, and make some hard determinations about her life. How she was going to handle her finances and her school situation, what she was going to do after finishing college, she wanted to go to New York and act on Broadway.

The trip was not a piece of cake, it was too long and hard, but she had made a friend on the bus, an old lady named Susan who traveled to Los Angeles to visit her daughter and grandkids. Her home town was Wilmington, a nice little city near Philadelphia, ironically closer to New York and the town upstate where Donna's parents lived. They wouldn't suspect such boldness, to hide in plain sight.

Although Donna was going to improvise the whole summer, she wasn't irresponsible, she was going to stay with her godparents Christina and Andrew Miller, and the parents of her best friend since childhood,Sheryl, and her brother Joe a few years older.

Donna had always stayed in touch with Sheryl either by phone, letter or post cards no matter that her best friend was studying in Philadelphia, they were confident and knew all their secrets, adventures and sorrows.

As soon as Sheryl knew about Donna's plan, she went along with her and also skipped a trimester to be in her home town and save some money, she knew Donna needed her, she wasn't well and she was going to support her through thick and thin.

After Sheryl finishes her school, she was going to set her psychology practice and the rent of an office space in a private practice but it would be pricey; although she had her parents' full support and they had money she wanted to do things by herself.

Sheryl had it all figured out; they were going to stay at her parent's house and work their asses off all summer to get together enough money so they could achieve their goals

When Donna got off the bus, she immediately recognized Sheryl and Joe, but her friends didn't have an Idea of who she was. she looked so different. Donna had to approach them.

"Hello strangers, what does a girl have to do to get a good greeting after 6 years of not seeing you?" Donna asked, Sheryl and Joe were perplexed; Donna didn't look like the girl they left behind when their family moved to Wilmington or the picture she sent by mail. Sheryl just received it just a month ago.

"Jesus Christ, Donna? Is this really you? Oh my god you look so different, who are you and what have you done to my friend?" Said Sheryl with admiration. She was very impressed with Donna's makeover, she was definitely another person.

"Yes, it's me, but now I go by Roberta or Roby this is part of the new me."she said proudly and with a big smile, just very happy to see her friends, making a wonder woman pose with her hands in a fist leaning on her waist and her legs slightly open. She looked really funny and all laughed.

"Ok Roby, as you wish," said Sheryl rolling her eyes, "by the way you should be hungry, let's go to a restaurant to eat something, my parents are not home, and I´m not cooking. Joe, take us to somewhere nice where we can grab something to eat." Sheryl chuckled.

"I know the perfect place to go, but let me tell you Don –" Joe was interrupted by the glares from Donna and Sheryl but he continued "-Roby I mean, it's going to be difficult to call you by your middle name. After all, I've known you as Donna since we were both in diapers."

"Well you will have to learn to do it. This is an acting exercise and I am going to stay in character all 3 months that I am going to be here."

"Ok, you win, let's go I know this perfect place to grab Italian food they have pizza with yellow tomatoes your favorites Don… I mean Roby," he repeated one more time "Roby, Jesus this is going to be difficult". Joe said while taking her back pack from her and carrying it over to his jeep.

The dinner was very nice, the tree of them were talking and laughing, reminiscing about their childhood when they were really happy. They remembered when Joe broke his arm trying to catch a neighbor's cat because both of the girls wanted to pet it, and how Donna's sister had been the first girl ever to break Joe's heart. Joe was imprudent with Donna when he asked about her parents. A dark shadow appears on Donna's face but she manages to say that they had recently divorced and that she didn't want to elaborate on the topic. Sheryl elbowed Joe in the rib and almost took the air out of his lungs. All of a sudden, the table went silent. But the tension was broken by a silly comment from Sheryl.

After paying the bill, Joe took the girls to his parent's house and left them there. He had already moved out and had his own place, a small cabin near the beach, the perfect place to take the ladies, have parties, and was also near his current work place. He was a contractor and was starting his own business, and was doing very well. Donna was going to have her own room, the one that used to belong to Joe and now was a guest room.

Sheryl's parents were doctors, Andrew was a trauma surgeon, a very good one, he had to travel back and forward to Philadelphia almost all the time, Christina was a gynecologist and worked in a private practice downtown. They had a very good life, and a very nice house. The kind of life that Donna had wished for her family, not the one she had, where there was yelling and screaming over money and resentment. She and her sister were very different and they didn't get along either, so normally they just acted like the other one didn't exist.

As soon as Donna was greeted by her godparents, she was very grateful to them for letting her stay in their house. Sheryl had already told them Donna's problem and her plan, they were very fond of Donna. She had always been a good girl and a great influence on Sheryl who was a bit too much of a free spirit and sometimes reckless. On the other hand, they were estranged from Donna's parents because Andrew had invested in one of Jim's businesses and lost a big deal of money from it, also Donna's mother and Christina grew apart when she moved to another town.

When they saw Donna, they were a bit concerned about her. She was not the girl they knew and loved, on the surface she was different and had a dark aura of pain and frustration. They took the time to talk with her and listen to what was going on, surprisingly they understood her right away and assured her that they were going to give her their full support. Sheryl had never been so proud of her parents like in this moment.

Donna after taking a day to rest from the long trip, took a newspaper and started to search for work. She got very lucky, she landed some part time jobs in the same district and with schedules that didn't interfere with one and other. She was going to work in a Blockbuster in the afternoons from Mondays to Fridays, she was going to work as a barista in a local coffee shop in the mornings just 3 or 4 days a week part time, and she was going to work for an employment office doing odd jobs around downtown, as a wildcard, the only day she was not going to work was Sunday to enjoy a family day with her godparents and friends who were more like siblings to her than her own sister.

She was very happy for the opportunities she was given, she knew this kind of work was going to be exhausting but the money would be worth it, as well she was very fortunate to get a job were her best friend was working, working for Blockbuster was Sheryl's idea, she had worked in this place for a long time and was very good friends with the manager, unfortunately the only one to get a full time job was Sheryl because she already knew how the system worked and honestly they didn't need an extra employee, Donna got the job as a favor, but this was not as bad because with her other jobs she was going to earn more money anyway.

The first week was very overwhelming with all the training she had to take, the second week was less stressful since the odd jobs she had to do were easy enough. Sheserved ice cream at Ben and Jerrys for a 2 or 3 weeks to cover an employee who had twisted his ankle and couldn't walk at all he needed to rest his foot or he was going to make the injury worse Another odd job she had was to fill in as a sales woman in a small boutique and also as a hostess in a local bar a couple of nights a week. Sometimes she helped Christina with paperwork at her practice. She didn't earn much in this work but she only did it when the agency didn't book any job for her. She had to earn every penny that she could; this was her goal.

The uniforms were a blessing because to be honest she didn't fully emerge in her character, but she was going to get it.