Prologue

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"Lewis NATHAN Alexander! Give me back my underwear, NOW!"

She always used his middle name whenever he annoyed her to the upmost extreme, mainly because her little brother hated it so much.

Funny how it wasn't really working now.

Lewis disappeared around the corner into the dining room. His sister, Lydia, ran after him and swore as she turned too soon, slamming her shoulder in the doorway. The anger and pain gave her an extra burst of energy and she vaulted over several toy trucks, coming down right over her little brother.

"Alright you little brat, give it-"

"Hey Milo, catch!"

Lydia grabbed for the stolen piece of clothing from her wriggling brother, but it was already airborne, landing successfully in the hands of her younger brother's best friend and underwear stealing accomplice, Milo.

"MILO whatever-the-heck-your-middle-name-is DE LUCA. Give it back or-or…I'll tell your mom!"

Funny how threatening didn't seem to be working either.

The little boy stuck out his tongue at her before running off to Lewis' room where the two would soon investigate their latest pilfered item, and promptly claim it as their new official slingshot.

Lydia sighed and got off of her brother, knowing that she wouldn't be seeing her thong for at least a week until they got tired of it and planned another kleptomaniac mission for some other yet to be decided object of hers. She punched her brother lightly before he ran off to join Milo in his room.

"Loser," she mumbled.

It was almost her thirteenth birthday, and in honor of the occasion, her mother had taken her on a special shopping trip, one of the purchases being her first thong. Now she would have to wear something different to the party that Saturday, unless there was by some miracle a way to reclaim her underwear without going into a full out war with her brother and his little friend.

She thought about how Lewis and Milo had been inseparable since that fateful day in second grade when Lewis thought it would be fun to welcome the new kid to class by rubber cementing him to his seat. Milo behaved rather calmly about the whole ordeal, especially after successfully gluing Lewis' hands together. They had been friends ever since.

It was Lewis who showed Milo how to get along in the suburbs of America, so very different from the De Luca's hometown in rural Italy. Lydia had to admit that she loved visiting the De Luca's for dinner, for Mrs. De Luca was a phenomenal cook, even if it meant having to put up with the dynamic duo's shenanigans while the adults had coffee.

Lydia sighed again, dusted herself off, and slowly climbed back up the stairs to her room.

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Author's Notes (updated 2007.03.30): This is a sort of pilot for the story. I was recently reminded of my love for the cliched 'sister-falls-in-love-with-older-brother's-best-friend' story line, but didn't want to do the same old thing everyone else does (even though there are some wonderful stories out there with that as their base).

And to answer those questions that I know are swarming around in your brain:

1. Yes, right now, they are much too young for any romance; that'd just be gross; this is just an intro.

2. "Isn't three years a bit much?" Technically, it's two-and-a-half, and yeah, it's a bit much. It's supposed to be. Otherwise I wouldn't have nearly as much fun torturing the characters in this way :evil laugh:

As for the rest, well, you're just gonna have to read to find out! Thanks for reading so far!

Hugs and cookies to all!