Made For You

Prologue

Eight years ago;

(Damien)

Everyone laughed hysterically as they read out the love letter which was pasted on the marker board.

"He sure does have vocabs to put them into a letter!"

"I didn't know Damien could write poems, He's so poetic!"

"He actually thought Ruby would write him back, look where his letter is!"

"Some nerves he's got! Even I, would take no two glances at him, what a nerd!"

Their voices hushed when they saw Damien walking down the veranda. He was coming towards the classroom. Nudging each other, they waited for him to enter the class.

"Ho, ho!" Someone said loudly as Damien walked to his desk and they began to laugh again.

He wondered what was so funny and why they had assembled in front of the board. Then shifting his gaze from them, he saw something on the board; the letter he'd written to Ruby :The pink note pasted in the middle of the board.

He immediately glanced her way. She sat two desks away from him. Damien looked at her wondering why she'd done that.

He'd had a crush on her since elementary and before they'd complete junior high school and not see each other again, he'd decided to make known his feelings to her. He was ready to profess his love, finally!

Ruby was pretty and smart, all the boys liked her and the girls envied her. Her complexion was that you'd call a 'half-cast', born by a Ghanaian mother and a French dad. She was slender, legged and had large brown eyes which melted anyone she glanced at.

"Ruby..." Damien called softly as he continued to stare at he, engrossed in a novel.

The class was silent as they watched the two of them. The anticipation of what would happen was killing them.

Hesitating for a while, Ruby lifted her head to look at him.

"Is there a problem?" She asked, closing her book and placing it on her desk. She lifted her chin and arched an eyebrow at him.

"Why did you do that? I... I mean, how...?" He began to say but the words were not flowing, which made him stutter.

"What?" She said, standing up from her chair and walking to him. "Why did I do what? Hang your letter there for everyone to see? Is that what you mean?"

He said nothing. Just looked at her.

She scoffed and shook her head. "That's very funny, Damien Owusu. To think that I, Ruby would like a guy like you." Her eyes, steadily fixed on him, she clicked her tongue in disgust as she sneered.

The class laughed.

Trying to keep his composure, Damien held his shaky hands by his sides and clenched his fists. 

"You're ugly, you're dumb and your parents are poor. Wouldn't it be smart enough to concentrate on your books instead of writing love letters? At least that way, there'd be something that'd look appealing on you." Ruby continued as she gave him an impassive glare.

When he said nothing, she lifted her chin again and glanced at him from the tip of his hair to the tip of his toe, and finding nothing amusing, she rolled her eyes and walked back to her seat.

The class ridiculed him so much he walked out of the classroom. Her words were the ones that hurt him so much.

He hadn't imagined that would be her reaction when he'd written the letter. Since they used to be great friends in elementary, he'd thought she might have had feelings for him too. He was clearly mistaken. He thought with a saddened heart.

    ***********
(Ruby)

It had been almost a week and Damien was absent from school. Everyone wondered if Ruby's words had made him sick.

It was funny to them, but it was no longer to Ruby. She felt bad for talking to him that way and hanging his letter on the board was something she deeply regretted.

Was it because of her he was absent from school? She thought as she sat by her desk, unable to read her novel.

"Hey, what are you thinking of?" A friend walked to her.

Ruby shook her head. "Nothing." She said and feigned a nonchalant composure. She smiled at her.

"Okay, if you say so." Her friend shrugged. "Here, this is for you." She handed Ruby a letter.

Reluctant, she took it and began to unfold it. Was it from Damien? She wondered.

"I hope you're not going to hang this one too?" She asked Ruby.

Ruby shot her a glare. Then focused back on the letter.

It was indeed from Damien.

He told her his father had been transferred to another region that was the reason he hadn't been coming to school. She read on and the sentence that caught her attention and made her almost choke was, "I still love you, Ruby, remember that. No matter where you go or how far we're from each other you'll still remain in my head. I believe I'll see you again because we're meant to be, and when that day comes you'll come to realize we're destined for each other."

What? This guy must be totally crazy!  She thought. His words almost sounded psychopathic. She shook with fear. 

"What's wrong?" Anna asked.

"Nothing." She said and tried to calm her nerves. She shoved the letter in her bag and said, "He's no longer going to school here and that's a relieve." She sighed.