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 2: A Collision of Negative Feelings…

Where we left off…

“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.”

---

Lila strode in with her husband, six-year old son (Francisco) and four-year old daughter (Selena), waiting for her utterly late sister and just-as-utterly-late brother-in-law to be. She chatted away with her future in-laws, hiding the fact that she’s a very famous psychotherapist.

By the way she acted, you’d think she needed a therapist.

“Oh, there she is now,” Lila’s husband, Bob, said in a voice that gave no emotions away. He got up, like any good brother-in-law would and went to retrieve the said girl. He whispered something like, ‘I know how it feels… don’t worry. You’ll learn to love him in time…’ but Leila wasn’t really sure, as her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears.

“Good evening darling,” a woman, whom she assumed was Ed’s mother, said in thick British accent, leaning to kiss Leila’s cheek. She had lots of rings on her fingers and from the looks of it; they weren’t the fake ones you get from the pub in the other side of town. She wore clothes that screamed ‘expensive’… in short, she was filthy rich— and Leila hadn’t even had time to notice her shoes yet.

Leila gulped inaudibly before sitting down on one of the two seats that were left. From one rich family to another… More expectations… She felt something rise to her throat and she had the feeling that she was going to throw up, but before she could get off her chair, a bang resounded throughout the otherwise quiet dinner hall.

“Good evening to you too,” said Lila in mock courtesy at the tall athlete who was glowering over them. Unlike the rest of them, she was used to crazy people bursting into rooms at the weirdest of times.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Ed, “why did you call me from a thousand miles away and tell me there’s a family emergency?”

“Emergency dinner, dear,” his mother said lightly, unnerved and used to her son’s rude behavior, “you didn’t let me finish. So, have a seat. Meet Leila, my dear friend’s daughter and your…”

“Pleased to meet you,” muttered Leila, cutting off her future in-law, knowing that it would cause her further embarrassment.

Ed raised his eyebrow at her and stormed off.

---

Laurence sighed and rested his head against the pillows on the headrest of his bed. He had just finished 2 grueling hours of soccer practice for their match against St. Scholastica (Ed’s soccer team) this Saturday. He knew that if they lost this one, he’d never be able to forgive himself.

He sighed again, thinking about what Lila had said.

Ed ‘die’ was Leila’s fiancé… That meant her family would never allow their daughter to marry a middle class person— if that was the case then…

He’d better back away and start avoiding her— so it won’t hurt as much when she finally leaves him.

He made his decision before turning off the lights and pulling the covers to his chin.

The decision might be right… If only it didn’t hurt as much as it did.

---

The next morning, the infamous Jean Smith rode past the suburban streets in a blur, singing loudly to punk songs (or as far as they went in the 1980’s… XD) and speeding up her pace with each passing second.

She managed to park her bike on her usual spot in— 45.4 seconds… Not bad, she thought to herself after locking the chain on her precious blue bike. She suddenly felt the scent of a man very familiar to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she said, standing up to face the illustrious Laurence West, “I didn’t know you stalk people.” She gave him a light punch on the shoulder as some sort of twisted greeting and laughed out loud when he pretended that it hurt.

Jean Smith was one of the most breath-taking sights in the entire town. Literally. She’s got this long silky straight black hair, which she never takes care of but manages to maintain in top condition. Her icy-gray eyes would scare the hell off of any normal human being— yet attract the same person at the same time. She was one of those utterly few people who just generally didn’t care that she was the most attractive person in town.

“You punch like a girl,” he told Jean, grabbing her bag and swinging it over his shoulder. I have to do this… for both of our sakes… I’m sorry Leila— but no matter how hard I try, it looks like I can’t do anything against your family’s wishes…

“Oh yeah?” retorted the hyper-active raven-haired girl, bringing Renz’s thoughts back to Earth, “you punch like a bean bag…”

“Bean bags don’t punch, dude,” said Renz matter-of-factly, earning himself another death glare and a punch.

Unbeknownst to them, hazy green eyes were watching them from a distance, and their owner was feebly trying to wipe away the tears that were falling down.

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Poor Lei eh? (shrugs) there’s nothing one can do… it’s human nature— ugly girls (like Jwei Lih) get hurt a lot of times before finally becoming happy… (but I haven’t found happiness yet… wish me luck! Though I have found my passion now… XD)