Chapter one

"Sam! Wait up!" Lyla rushed after her friend who was running down the sidewalk, long red ponytail flaring up behind her. It had been another beautiful day, sun shining bright, wide robin egg skies, but as usual the air was muggy and it was hard to breath. The heat was almost suffocating and Lyla took in deep lungfulls of air as she dashed after her friend.

Finally Sam stopped, Lyla almost running into her, and turned to grin at her, "I found it!"

"Found what?" Lyla gasped, wiping perspiration off her face, "Why the heck did you run off?"

The blond girl's teal eyes brightened, "I forgot earlier, but I found this really cool place."

They stood in front of a small brown stone building. It was nothing special and Lyla raised an eyebrow at the dusty windows. She stepped forward under the shade of the building glancing down at the thick cracks in the sidewalk, "This place looks…lame."

Sam rolled her eyes and pushed past her, opening the door, "Come in, it's really neat. There's all sorts of cool old junk."

Lyla opened her mouth but the girl had already disappeared inside, leaving her behind. She grumbled under her breath, reaching an arm under her shirt to wipe the sweat off her back and tightened her ponytail, then walked in after Sam.

Inside to Lyla's relief, this place fortunately had air conditioning. She sighed and leaned against the counter that was beside the door, noticing that no one was sitting behind it. Lyla glanced around at her surroundings. She noticed boring grey walls and shelves stacked with all sorts of objects. A row of wood shelves at the wall to her right held some thick books, a large stuffed horned owl glared at her from its place on the top of the shelf. She made a face at it and stepped past the counter, starting down the first aisle.

She started looking through a mess of items on the first shelf when someone touched her shoulder. Lyla jumped slightly and made a face at Sam who had her hand on her shoulder, "You're really good at sneaking up on people."

"I know." Sam said cheerfully and grabbed onto her hand, "Follow me; I have to show you something."

The peppy girl dragged Lyla past three aisles and past a wall covered in various mirrors, all different shapes and sizes, a few missing glass. Soon she was standing in front of a door. Lyla read the sign on it, "The treasure trove?"

"Yup." Sam said, "This is where the best stuff is."

Inside they found themselves in a dimly lit room. Lyla sneezed into her arm when her nose started acting up, most likely because of the thick dust lacing the air, "Geez!"

Unlike the first room this room was devoid of shelves, and small. Lyla was startled when she noticed the walls. Various styles of jewelry were hanging, some held up by nails, others with clips. Rings, necklaces, and even watches hung from the walls. Next to each one was a slip of white tape, where the price was listed in black marker. There were no glass cases to separate the viewer from the jewelry, but Lyla felt that there should have been one. These did not look anything like 'play jewelry' or casual wear, these items sparkled, each one unique.

"Aren't they just gorgeous?" Sam sighed. She fingered one of the necklaces on the wall, a long silver cord with a gold ring on the bottom, "I would love to buy oodles of these, but I have to save for summer break, for souvenirs when we go to Hawaii."

"Lucky you." Lyla said and looked at one of the bracelets hanging on the wall. This one was a thick silver tone, possibly true silver, but she couldn't be sure. It was covered in stones, none set in linear patterns, just wildly placed, all different autumn colored rocks, "This one is neat."

Sam glanced at it, "Not a bad price, only twelve bucks."

"Good afternoon." Both girl's squeaked and turned around quickly.

A tall man gave them an amused look, Lyla flushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Hello." Sam said, "You have such lovely jewelry."

"Why thank you." The man gave her a warm smile, "I collected most of it in my travels. When I was a young man I enjoyed collecting all sorts of things."

"Are these real? I mean some of them." Lyla said.

He nodded, "The ones right here are faux stones." The man walked past them to the next wall, "These however are real."

Sam bent down to look at the lower set pieces on the wall while Lyla glanced up. Something caught her eye and she reached up to grab it. It came free and Lyla held it in her hand, "Whoops. Sorry."

"You're fine." He said, "Let's see what you have here." He pulled some glasses out of his shirt pocket and took the necklace from Lyla.

He looked at it for a long moment before handing it back to her, "Silver and tanzanite."

"Cool." Lyla took it from him and looked up, "How much?"

He reached up to pull the jewelry's tape off the wall, "Let's see…125."

"Dollars?" Lyla gaped.

Sam laughed, "What? Did you think he meant cents?"

"Way out of my budget." Lyla laughed uneasily and handed the jewelry back to the shop keeper who smiled and pinned it back into its place on the wall.

"What sort of thing are you looking for?" He asked Lyla who shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure," Lyla admitted.
The man looked thoughtful and stroked his short beard, "Hmm. I'll be right back." He turned and walked away, heading out the door. Sam and Lyla gave one another a curious look and but a minute later he appeared with a small smile on his face, "I found just the thing."

He held out his hand and Lyla reached out to take it from him. She was startled at how beautiful it was. The girl looked at the necklace in her fingers, more than taken by its allure. On a curvy silver cord, thin and cool in her hands hung small stones, they shone with both the colors of dawn and the colors of dusk.

Sam gasped and touched the necklace, "Oh Lyla! This will look so gorgeous with your hair!"

Wordlessly, Lyla slipped it around her neck and held the large center stone in her fingers. The center stone was like a drop of crimson, with deep facets. The most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever laid her eyes on.

She looked up at the man, "How much?"

"I will let you have it for 30."

That's a lot, Lyla thought, but it will be worth it.

"What are the stone's?" Lyla asked.

"I'm not sure, but I believe the center may be ruby."

"Ruby?" Sam said in disbelief, "That gem is worth more than 30, right?"

The man smiled softly but sighed, "Yes love, it is, but…I can let it go. It just brings back some memories I prefer to forget. He seemed to ponder something in silence then shook his head, scratching the back of his neck, "I didn't plan on selling it, but I feel I must."

"Are you sure?" Lyla asked, "I mean, this is really nice, you can get more out of it."

He shook his head and tucked away his glasses, "No. I'll take 30, nothing more."

"Alright." Lyla paused then reached into her pocket for her wallet. She pulled out the money and handed it to the man who looked tired all a sudden.

"I'll have to close down now, I feel a storm coming in, and I don't much enjoy walking in the rain." He said.

"Thank you." Lyla said, "I love it." She did. She felt a sense of glee having this jewelry in her hands.

He looked at her with tired looking eyes, but smiled, "I'm glad. Come back again when the sun is shining."

The girls left the store, Lyla still fingering her new necklace.

"What did he mean by that?" Sam laughed, "It's been outrageously hot all day."

"I dunno." Lyla rolled her finger around the gems, the smaller ones cool on her skin, the center gem however feeling warm.

"Bummer that he had to close early because of non-existent rain." Sam sighed. It was at that time that a shade came over them and she glanced up, "Well lookee here, dark clouds."

Lyla laughed and the two girls raced home as a down pour started.

00oo00oo00oo00

"Dad! I'm home." Lyla stepped into the room and kicked off her wet shoes. She started down the hall and entered the kitchen. The girl opened the fridge and pulled out a coke can, she opened it and sat at the table, smoothing back her damp hair.

"Hey sugar bug." Her dad entered the room, and she smiled when she saw that he wore his pajama bottoms, the ones covered in pac man faces.

"Hey." Lyla greeted and sipped her soda. He took a seat at the table across from her and gave her a wide grin.

She smiled while drinking her coke, the bubbles tickling her nose. She felt his eyes on her and sat the can down, hiding a smile, "Dad! Why are you staring at me?"

He just grinned and passed her an envelope.

Lyla wiped the stickiness from the soda off her lips and took it from him with a raised eyebrow, "What is it?"

"I think you know."

With wide eyes she scanned the address at the top of the envelope and a grin enveloped her face. She quickly tore it open and unfolded the slip of paper within, her eyes scanning the print.

"Well?" Dad said.

She squealed and leaped up, the paper clenched in her hand, "I got in!"

He stood up and moved to embrace her, "I knew you would."

"Oh my gosh!" She cried, "I have to call Sam!" She quickly made a mad dash upstairs.

00oo00oo00oo00

"Sam!" Lyla practically shouted into the phone.

"Yeesh Lyle!" Sam squeaked, "My ear!"

Lyla laughed, "Guess what!"

"What?"

"I got in."

"Got what?"

"Sam! Georgeton!"

"Wow! Really? That's awesome!"

Lyla laughed again, feeling ready to twirl around in joy, "I know! Right? I can't believe I got in!"

"You're like the top of our class Lyle." Sam snickered, "I'm not surprised."

"Did you get any letters yet?"

"Nope, but I applied late so no surprise there either." Sam laughed.

"We should celebrate somehow." Lyla said.

"Let's spread the news online via a glorious spread of spam!" Sam suggested. "Or tweet in joy."

"I have to make an account first."

"Don't." Sam said, "You don't want to get stalkers."

She laughed, "Will do."

"I gotta head to the shower Lyle." Sam said, "Let's meet up at the mall later tomorrow, we can blow what money we have left."

"Sounds fun." Lyla laughed, "See ya later."

"Laters."

Lyla sighed feeling almost exhausted with the buzz of happiness she felt she lay back on her bed, her arm wrapped around one of her throw pillows. After lying there for awhile she stood up and went over to her dresser. She pulled out the first drawer and instead of tucked away clothing there was what would appear at first glance to be a pile of toys. To Lyla however, these were far more special.

She sat down with one of them in her hand. "Hello Optimus." She looked down at the toy in her hand, playing with one of his legs. Lyla hadn't messed with her figures for awhile so pulling out her transformers felt like a whole new experience. She had been busy the last few weeks with the last minute rush of senior year, college coming fast at her, so many preparations, she had found that she had left behind one of her loves: her fandom.

"Transformers robots in disguise." Lyla sang softly, and yawned.

The girl lay back on her bed, the Optimus Prime figure in her right hand. She stared up at the ceiling and she mused. Lyla loved fan fiction and comic books but she had not read any for about a month now, the same for watching any of the TF television series. There had been a new series out for awhile now, Transformers Prime, but all she had done was scan the wiki page, she had yet to surf YouTube for any vids of it. She had just been so busy.

"I'm leaving all the good stuff behind." Lyla sighed and closed her eyes. "Is this what it's like to grow up? If yes then it's pretty lame."

While she thought of the past, the now, and the possible future, the girl kept fingering the jewels at her neck, biting her lip. She thought of responsibilities, boring cubicles, and she imagined stress and grey days. Lyla remembered when she was younger and her dad bought her the first transformers videos she had ever seen, one of the original and one of armada. She had fallen in love with it all and afterwards had pleaded for more.

She recalled the time when she had dressed up as a transformer for Halloween; she had used small boxes and a lot of tape. Her dad had helped. And after awhile she remembered a wish she had made when she was a child.

"I wish." Lyla laughed aloud when she recalled the silly wish. "That transformers were real."

Yeah, like that would ever happen.

With a yawn she pulled the string of her bedside lamp and the room darkened. Lyla laid there for a long time, clutching both her necklace and the childhood toy, eyes slipping closed. After only a few minutes she had fallen asleep.

Yes! I did it. After forcing myself to type I have done it! If anyone is curious I posted a story called 'Wish Upon" a long time ago and didn't continue it. I deleted it and I will be starting anew from this one instead! I have improved a bit and I want to give this another go. Review and tell me what you think. Suggestions are also approved. :3 Be aware that I am in school and nearing some deadlines so don't expect immediate updates, though hopefully I won't leave you all hanging for a long time. I won't give this story up, I am challenging myself. Thanks for reading!