Me & You

Chapter 1: Jane

In my personal opinion, romantic comedies have destroyed the female population. We either set standards way too high for men, or we continue to live our lives in fantasies and become blind to what is in front of us. If you're looking for a romantic story where love triumphs in the end, this is not it. I've lived my life in fantasy and I always come out disappointed, this story is my reality. This story is how I lost my hope to love, got it back, then lost it again. Let me tell you the story about Jane, and the one that changed her life.

Imagine a group of girls, standing around chatting. Some are amazingly beautiful, some not as much. All different races and styles of dress. Do you see her? Of course not, because she is basically invisible. Jeans and a t-shirt are her everyday dress. Her mom constantly nagged her about it. As her mom always used to say, "How can you expect a guy to notice you if you don't show him what you've got?" But this girl is not interested in the fashion styles of today: tops that basically look like lingerie or have been ripped apart at the seams, or shorts that are way too small to cover anything. She doesn't really wear make-up, because she likes her face to feel comfortable; not like it has been plastered on with goo. So to describe her appearance in one word would be "plain" - which is very unfortunate because it rhymes with her name, Jane. Jane hates her name, so she prefers people to call her Nic, because her middle name is Monica. But most of the time, people call her "Plain Jane". The cherry on top is that her last name is Doe. Yes, her name is Jane Doe - an unidentified body. So in other words, she's invisible to people. No one really sees her, but that's okay with her. Jane has accepted the fact that she'll be invisible to the world, but the world won't be invisible to her.

Jane is now twenty years old, and she has never had a real boyfriend and has never been kissed. Before she realized that fiction was indeed fiction, she was waiting around the prince that Walt Disney had imagined for her - but sadly he never came. After all of these years, the only wish that Jane had, was that she could've realized how foolish she had been before. That she could've broken free from the fantasy before it was too late. Now Jane is alone and realistic. She knows that there are no such things as Prince Charmings or Mr. Darcys. Jane has lost all hope of finding love in a world where it doesn't really exist. On top of that she's being forced to leave her life in the States behind; her parents are shipping her off to the Philippines.

Her parents' reasoning is that they want her to experience what they grew up with. They think that she's extremely spoiled, even though she never asks for anything and only uses the money that she earns from her barista job at the local coffee house. They also want Jane to learn her roots, speak Tagalog more, and experience something new outside of California. Not to mention, college is cheaper in the Philippines compared to colleges here in the States. Now Jane has to start a new life in a completely different place, while her family stays behind in the States. She'll be living with her grandparents and attending St. Thomas' College of Business and Arts. On the bright side, no one will call her "Plain Jane" anymore.

Today is her first day at St. Thomas'. And after living solely in California for the past twenty years, anyone could tell that she was nervous. Luckily she wouldn't have to go to school much longer. She'll be graduating within the next year, because she finished most of her schooling in the States. But none of that helped the fact that she didn't know anyone here, except for her grandparents' neighbor Nat. Jane met Nat when she moved into her grandparents' house two weeks ago. Nat is beautiful, semi-long dark brown hair, brown eyes, skinny, and makes actresses like Emma Watson look ordinary. Jane and Nat have only known each other for a few weeks, but Nat already calls Jane her "Bestie". And Jane still calls her Nat, because she doesn't know Nat all that well. All Jane knows is that Nat's name is short for something, but she refuses to tell Jane what it is. Jane only knows that it's not short for Natalie. Regardless of being "best friends" or not, Jane is seriously praying to see Nat - at least she'll have one friend.