MHJ: HI GUYS :) Missing a Piece lovers: welcome back! :D People who are new to my writing: nice to meet you! :) So basically I was looking over Missing a Piece, which I wrote a long, long time ago, and I was kinda weirded out by it. I have tons of awesome ideas that I wanted to do, but I didn't wanna mess with the original Missing a Piece so I figured I could just do a remake! :) This isn't exactly a remake though.

PLEASE READ: The timeline of the movie has been altered. Dre moved to China when he, Meiying, and Cheng's gang are all entering the tenth grade (15 to 16 years old), otherwise known as the first year of high school in China. I think this is a more realistic age for the things that happen in the movie, plus it works out with the stuff I've got in mind. Admittedly, this is a remake. I reuse a lot of characters, but don't get me wrong—THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY. Of course, some parts may be kinda similar, but don't worry, it won't feel like you're reading Missing a Piece all over again. :)

I'm only saying this once: Bold is English.

Edit August 2013: I have deleted Missing a Piece.

Chapter 1

"Cheng, I know Meiying is really smart and all, but I don't think you'll find the answers to our math homework by staring at her."

"Hmm," Cheng hummed distractedly, tearing his gaze from Meiying to look at the girl seated beside him. "You say something, Jiayi?"

At first glance, she almost seemed like any other fifteen-year-old girl in China with her long black hair wound up in a loose bun and dark grey eyes usually mistaken for black. However, her eyes were neither friendly nor snobby, but rather mischievous; she was seated comfortably in her chair, but he could tell—even through her baggy sweatpants and t-shirt—that her body was lean and toned and probably stronger than those of half the boys attending Beijing High School.

She was glowering at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Either go and ask her out right now, or stop ogling at her and do your homework like you're supposed to."

Cheng bristled. "Who said I was ogling at her?"

"Cheng's ogling at Meiying again?" asked a quiet-looking boy as he approached their table just in time to hear the last snippet of their conversation

"I was not!" Cheng protested, scowling.

"You can't even deny it anymore," Jiayi snapped back, rolling her eyes. She moved out of her seat, gathering her stuff. "Here, Liang, you can sit here." Before either of them could question her actions, she moved around their library table and seated herself across from Cheng, blocking off Meiying from his view. Looking quite satisfied with herself, she picked up her pencil again. "Now, every time I notice you trying to look around me to stare at Meiying, I'll kick you. Now get back to work."

"Fine, fine," Cheng sighed, picking up his own pencil. "Not like I was staring in the first place."

"Don't start," Liang and Jiayi chorused, exchanging exasperated looks.

Opening one of his own books, Liang glanced at his two friends curiously. "How much homework did you guys finish?"

"A lot more than Cheng did," Jiayi replied, shooting daggers from her eyes at her best friend. Her foot shot out, making contact with Cheng's shin. "Hey, eyes on your paper."

"Cheng, you know the agreement we have with our parents!" Liang sighed, ignoring Cheng's sharp inhale from the pain of Jiayi's kick. "All homework must be completed if we want to have sleepovers. If you don't finish, you'll miss the movie marathon at my house tonight!"

"I've been telling him that," Jiayi whined softly. "He won't listen!"

"Guys!" Cheng snapped, a little too loudly. Several people hissed at the three teenagers, but upon recognizing them, most quickly turned away, suddenly nervous. Cheng lowered his voice, "Yelling at me isn't helping me concentrate on math. If you really want me to finish, you'd help. Someone want to do my English homework for me?"

Rolling his eyes, Liang sighed and closed his book, setting it aside. "Fine, hand it over."

"Thanks, buddy," Cheng said in relief, sliding a folder towards his friend. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he found himself leaning slightly to the side.

A sharp pain shot through his shin again.

"I wasn't staring this time," he hissed across the table towards a peeved Jiayi. "Meiying's coming over here!"

Jiayi's delicate brows shot up to her side-swept bangs and she whipped her head around. Meiying was indeed walking towards them, her books already packed neatly within her backpack. Turning back, Jiayi had just enough time to shoot Cheng a sly grin and a wink before Meiying stopped at their table.

"Hey Jiayi, thanks for letting me borrow your history homework," she whispered, handing the other girl an orange notebook labeled 'History'. Her eyes flickered to Cheng and Liang, and she smiled shyly. "Hi guys."

"Hey," Liang replied while Cheng merely grunted in response, staring intensely down at his homework.

Jiayi's lips pursed slightly; despite how much Cheng seemed to like Meiying, he always seemed to have trouble showing it. If he kept up his actions, she was positive he would end up pushing Meiying away. Naturally, as his best friend, Jiayi knew it was her responsibility to help him out as much as possible—not to mention, this was a great opportunity for some good old-fashioned humiliation.

Grinning cheekily, Jiayi leaned towards Meiying as if she were about to divulge in a secret. "Hey, did you know that Cheng was staring—" She broke off suddenly when Cheng kicked her.

"Yeah," he said slowly to Meiying while still glaring across the table at the wincing Jiayi. His dark eyes flickered to Meiying and back down to his paper. "Staring…at…your book! Liang wanted to know what you were reading, being a bookworm and all."

Liang stared at him, partly amused yet partly annoyed for being dragged into the pitiful excuse.

Meiying, not knowing Cheng as well as his friends did, actually seemed to buy the ridiculous excuse. She smiled politely at Liang. "I'll let you borrow it when I'm done then." She shifted her weight awkwardly. "Um, there's one more thing I wanted to say to you guys."

Jiayi perked up. "Oh? Are you going to ask Cheng ou—" Cheng kicked her again. "Nevermind…"

Meiying eyed her in confusion before shrugging it off. "Actually, I heard that we're having a new student soon. He's moving in tomorrow, I think."

Cheng, Liang, and Jiayi looked confused.

"Okay," Jiayi said slowly. "So?"

Meiying shot the three of them a skeptical look. "Oh, come on. I know for a fact that you guys have beaten up almost all the new kids we get."

"Only the ones that challenged us! They deserved it anyway!" Cheng exclaimed incredulously, snapping his head up.

"How so?" Meiying shot back, boldly meeting Cheng's eyes.

Stiffening, Cheng's expression darkened and he impulsively snapped, "We don't have to justify anything we do to you."

Jiayi and Liang nearly face-palmed.

Meiying frowned at Cheng. "Fine. Just try to be a little more accepting, please?"

"Whatever," Cheng grunted, turning back to his homework.

"We'll try," Liang assured Meiying.

Jiayi nodded. "We won't do anything unreasonable."

It was the best answer they could give, and Meiying knew that. Sighing, she nodded. "Alright, that's all. I'll see you later, Jiayi. Bye, Cheng, Liang."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Liang and Jiayi whirled on their friend.

"You idiot," Jiayi sighed, shaking her head.

Liang seemed to agree. "If you keep up this behavior, she's going to hate your guts."

Cheng sank in his seat, looking slightly remorseful. "I know… I can't help it. Things just come out wrong!"

Smiling sympathetically, Jiayi reached across the table and patted his shoulder. "Well, nothing we can do about it anymore. Now, come on. Let's get our homework done."

Later that night, seven teenagers clad in their sleepwear sat in Liang's living room. The room was dark; the only light source was the television currently displaying the ending credits of a movie. In the dim light of the rolling credits, empty soda cans could be seen stacked on the floor and the table pushed to the side. Two almost-empty bowls of popcorn sat scattered amongst the friends, forgotten.

"Well," Feng, the tallest of the group, quipped. "That's three movies. What time is it?"

Zhuang fumbled for his cellphone. "About four in the morning."

Silence descended upon the group of close friends.

"Should we go to sleep?" yawned Qing, the youngest and shortest.

"Might be a good idea," mumbled Xiang, taking another swig of his soda in an attempt to stay awake and alert.

"I know how we can wake ourselves up," Jiayi suddenly said, her giggles sounding dull from exhaustion. Turning her head to her right, she nudged Cheng with her elbow. "Let's talk about our dear Cheng and his hopeless crush on Meiying."

At this, everyone laughed, sounding considerably more awake.

"He was staring at her in the library today," Liang chuckled, swatting away Cheng's half-hearted attempt to hit him. "Then, she actually came over and he completely blew it. As expected."

"Geez, Cheng, you're so hopeless," Zhuang snickered. "Why are you so obsessed with her?"

"She's pretty," came Cheng's feeble explanation.

Liang and Jiayi rolled their eyes, simultaneously deadpanning, "There's more to a relationship than looks, Cheng."

"Alright, fine," Cheng said. "She's nice too. Talented, accepting, funny…"

"She thinks we're bullies," Jiayi quipped. Suddenly, the light-heartedness in the room dulled. "Sorry, totally ruined the mood, didn't I?"

Feng waved his hand dismissively. "Well, in all honesty, we kind of are."

"Should we feel bad about that?" Qing asked.

"Nah," Cheng snorted. "Life's unfair. The sooner people understand that, the better. Most of them deserved it anyway."

"True that," Jiayi mumbled.

They were all quiet for a moment.

"Do you guys want to go to the park tomorrow?" asked Cheng, yawning.

"Sure," the others mumbled.

Jiayi giggled. "Maybe Meiying will be there."

"Shut up."

MHJ: Well, hope you guys liked it! :) I'll update in a week or two. Don't forget to review! ^_^