Jwei Lih’s note: Hello! I know… I know. I used the most utterly sneaky trick in the book… But it’s not my fault! You won’t understand either story if you don’t read both… (I’m talking about this and “This is No Romeo and Juliet”) This is the PREQUEL… But it stands quite well on its own…

New readers… friends… loved ones… I welcome you all to “Oakwood Drive”… twenty years ago.

Element 1: Two different worlds…

Their families knew nothing that they were more than friends. They just thought that they were pretty close since Jean was Leila’s second-degree cousin, and they believed that Laurence had eyes for the more beautiful cousin. They had no idea of the reality of the emotions involved between the two.

Leila Cruz was a studious girl with a pretty face. Although her beauty was nothing like her cousins’, she was smart, friendly and attractive in her own way. Her brown hair and green eyes gave one the impression that she came from a Latin-American family, which was actually true, and her slender form mostly gave the idea that she was in fact part of the Cruz family.

Laurence West was one of the most wanted guys in campus. He was tall, lean, with silky black hair that covered almost half of his face, giving him that mysterious and sultry look most girls in the campus would die for. He was head of the school band and the captain of the football team. Although he came from a middle family, he fitted in perfectly with the ‘popular’ group.

No one, aside from the Cruz and Reynolds families, knew that Leila was already betrothed to Ed Reynolds, a spoiled son of a rich business man, from a rival school… not even the young girl was aware of the said commitment.

It was one rainy Monday morning when Laurence ran into the College of Arts and Sciences building. He was soaking wet, his hair covering his eyes in that attractive way.

“Hey Renz,” a girl said, waving enthusiastically at the future composer.

“Hey,” he muttered in response in that utterly deep, sexy voice that immediately caused heads to turn and more girls to wave and greet him. He noticed the effect he had on people but he just carried on as if he hadn’t noticed.

He entered the classroom, about fifteen minutes later, when practically every girl in school had finished greeting him.

“You’re late,” muttered Lei impatiently; her arms cross over her chest.

“Nah,” he said, “you’re just early.” He sat on the seat beside her and positioned his arms on the desk, bending his head slightly forward. He had every intention to sleep since he missed most of his slumber last night… doing… uh… stuff.

“And you plan to sleep throughout the class?” Lei continued in a hushed voice, “I can’t believe you…” She adjusted her glasses before positioning both arms on the desk and leaning her chin on the polished surface.

“I’m tired. And it’s your fault that I’m in no condition to play mind games with you…”

Lei blushed slightly, knowing that Renz meant… She ignored the sickening jolt in her stomach and covered her face with her arms. She was ashamed, this she was sure, because she thought that Renz liked her cousin more.

“Hey,” muttered Renz, resting a hand on Lei’s back, “I didn’t say that what we did was wrong…” He yawned and edged closer to Lei’s seat, draping a lazy arm across her shoulders. “So… don’t worry, okay?” he muttered soothingly against her ear before kissing her cheek softly. He relaxed, and a few seconds later, he was asleep.

Lei sighed and leaned into her boyfriend’s touch, drifting into a dreamless sleep.

-

A few minutes later, Renz awoke upon hearing Lei’s phone ring.

“Hey,” muttered Renz, poking at Lei’s ribs, “yo… phone!!!” He bellowed into her ear.

But all it was worth, the only response her earned was a grunt and a roll to the other side.

He decided to answer the phone and maybe blackmail her later on.

“H—” before he could say utter a word, a woman’s voice boomed into his ear, almost erasing his common sense.

“Lei. Eddie’s coming! Get your butt off of school and come meet your loving fiancé!” Laurence recognized the other Cruz sister’s happy voice. He sighed, unable to do anything more.

“Lei,” she said in an exasperated tone, “are you listening to me man?”

“Look— she’s…” the future composer began.

“Oh. Renzy…” He gritted his teeth at that. “Will you please tell my sister dearest that Eddie is coming? I’m sure you know Eddie…” He held the cellphone away from his ear, which he suspected was pretty sore by know. He didn’t know what the rest of Lila’s sentence was, because he immediately placed the phone on its owner’s ear.

“Okay…” Leila automatically said, although unsure of what she was saying ‘okay’ to.

Lila hung up the phone and Lei signaled Renz to take it away from her ear.

“Hey,” said Renz, remembering what Lila had told him, “who’s Eddie?”

“Eddie?” Lei frowned slightly, trying to remember, “ah. The guy from that rival school, which beat our soccer team last week.”

“You know nothing else about him?”

“Nothing else… why?” Lei was puzzled. All she knew that Ed Reynolds was a snobby and spoiled brat. Period.

So no one could ever imagine the shock she felt when Laurence looked away and said, “He’s your fiancé.”

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so…? How was it for a start?! Reviews are utterly, utterly appreciated!!!

Oh yeah… if you think my stories have a pattern— I’ll explain… have you ever heard of the saying, “Time repeats itself.”? That’s kinda the whole point of this “prequel” thing… :) Oh yeah… those who know me well enough will know that I usually start writing short elements to build up tension and then utterly long ones to thicken the plot!!