Kens Story

Ken has always been Caitlyn's best friend. They have known each other for a long time. In this short story, Caitlyn finally decides to broadcast the story of her relationship with Ken over the national radio. 2012 Skye Jayne

Kelly cued me in, "In 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.." I sighed and started, "good afternoon everyone and welcome to this special edition of Radio 54.8 'this is hot' live from the studios!" I cued the short intro jingle. After it ended I began speaking into the microphone in my peppy radio voice. "As I mentioned earlier, this is a special edition! Why? Because I am going to tell you a special story about me and my best friend. For that reason, this broadcast is titled 'My Best Friend and I'. His name comes first because of grammar issues but this story is about why he is such an important person so I guess we can give him special attention." I chuckled. "Before I start off with the story, I want to give a shout out to those in the studio. We have our producer Mr Kelly, my best friend's mom, Jane, my best friend, Ken, and me, Caitlyn. Okay, that's a lie. My best friend Ken couldn't make it for this broadcast but I'm sure he's here in his spirit! "So let's get started. I've known Kenny since high school, which isn't that long, just five years, but what an amazing five years it is! Did I just say Kenny? Damn, that's my nickname for him and he's gonna kill me for using it in front of an audience." I cringed, but continued. 'Ken' and I were something special. A teacher paired us up together for a project and as we got to know each other, we connected instantly. It was as if we had known each other all our lives. We started hanging out together and we labelled ourselves 'BFFs'. Nothing more, nothing less. We would meet up at least five times a week. We didn't really do anything productive, but we did get to know each other. I swear I have never ever been bored in his presence. "Towards the second year of our friendship he started getting hotter, therefore landing him more girlfriends. I was completely supportive, of course! I gave him tips and everything. Noticed how I used plural? Man, he never was satisfied with just one girl!" I shook my head at that. "They always lacked something to him. I found it really amusing. His tragedies were my comedies, as he describes it. But he got his chance at comedy too. You see, I've never had a boyfriend. He found that extremely amusing too. He'd call me a loser, and as soon as I would release my crocodile tears, he would give me a good tight hug." I let out a painful sigh. "I love his hugs so much."

Kelly gave me an encouraging smile. I shook my head and started in a peppy tone again. "Anyway! Recently, maybe a few months ago, he found a girlfriend. Yes, my friends, he found one who was completely flawless. He couldn't believe his luck. His words, not mine. And you know what? He was right. That girl was amazing! She was nice to everyone, she was beautiful, she had amazing hair, and she was so... 'Perfect.' He started spending more time with her than with me. I was okay with it at first, but I started getting lonely. How can I have fun without him? He's my best friend! I never did anything without him! I guess he realised that too so he set me up with this guy, Brandon. Before I continue, I want to mention that Brandon is a really sweet guy, and is available, as far as I know. Why is he single? Because things didn't work out between us. My fault, not his. The thing was, the dates with Brandon were textbook perfect. I should've loved the dates. I should've loved him. Brandon was really nice to me. But there was a problem. I could never like him because I loved someone else." I paused. "Yup, you guessed it. I'm in love with my best friend in the whole wide world! I'm in love with Kenny!" Exclaiming it like that felt so good. But it didn't matter. I continued talking. "Ken was everything to me. I don't know why it took me so long to realise it. I could be wrong, but I think I know the definition of love now." I smiled. "You don't have to know someone for a long time to fall in love with them. You don't even have to want to fall in love with them to fall for them. Love is a moment of realisation. Love is when you realise that they are the only person who can give you happiness. This one particular feeling of joy that no one else can give you. Love is when you realise that you can't live without the other person. Suddenly your life feels so incomplete without them. It's when you let out a sigh and say 'damn, I really love him so much!' "When did I realise that? While Ken was on a date with that perfect girl. Wow, I can't even keep the jealousy out of my voice. But I'm the kind of girl that does something. I wasn't going to sit back while my love was with another. Okay, so there was a high chance that he would leave me because, for one thing, I ruined our friendship, but he wouldn't leave his flawless girlfriend for a rock-music loving girl like me. Maybe he would? But it didn't matter, I felt like I should tell him." Kelly signalled me to take a short break. I nodded and spoke into the microphone again. "We are going to take a short break and I will continue this story about my

best friend. Don't go anywhere and feel free to send us an email with your thoughts!" I cued in the line of advertisements waiting to be aired and sighed. I smiled at Ken's mom and asked, "Are you okay?" She nodded and gave me a brave smile. "You're a sweetheart for doing this," she said. I said, "I'm doing this because I love him and because I owe it to him." "I'm sure he's listening and he's probably waiting for those damn commercials to end!" She chuckled and then wiped her tears. I blew her a kiss, drank some water, and started my show again. "Welcome back, my listeners! For those who tuned in late, this is Caitlyn with this special edition called 'My Best Friend and I'. If I had to throw grammar to the wind I really would put my name first!" I chuckled and continued. "So where were we? Right, I was going to confess to my best friend that I was so in love with him! I had nothing planned really. I would just go up to him and say, 'Ken, you're my best friend and I don't know how you feel about me, but I'm in love with you.' Simple enough right? In my head, he ditched perfect girl, carried me bridal style and took us home. But here's what really happened. "I called him up and told him I had something important to tell him. I don't think he read much into what I told him, but he said he would come over as soon as he could. He was at the mall buying his girlfriend a gift for their anniversary. What a waste of money! Or maybe he would give it to me." I took a shaky sigh and continued, "But I never got the gift. I never got to tell him I loved him. He never came to my house. This is what happened that day. He was walking on the streets when he saw a little girl on the road. A car was approaching her and she didn't seem to realise it. He rushed to shove her out of the way, but he got hit by the car himself. My poor Kenny!" I glanced at Jane and noticed her crying. I controlled my tears and continued. "It is another case of drinking and driving. But the driver is getting away with this because he is a rich kid. This really isn't fair to my Ken! Ken didn't deserve to die! Not now. Not when I had the biggest truth to tell him. Not when his mom needed him. Not when it was his anniversary the next day and not when he had an exam coming soon! He didn't have to go!" I allowed myself to sniff. "Ken's

story did make the newspapers but it didn't have an impact. I don't want that bastard thinking just because he has money he can go around killing people! This is an awareness broadcast. Please don't let something like this happen again. Please don't get that rich bastard get away with this. For Ken's sake. He couldn't join us in the studios because he isn't physically here, but I'm sure he won't leave us until he gets justice. "Also in a way I told him how I felt. You hear that Kenny? I'm in love with you! This stupid freak loves you!" Kelly signalled me to end the show. With a smile, I said, "That is all for this broadcast. Thank you all for the emails, I will reply to you all. Have a great day. This is me, Caitlyn, signing off." I cued in the exiting jingle. The first voice I heard was Kenny's mom. "I'm so proud of you, darling!" I smiled and said, "I'm proud of him."

About The Author

Skye started writing at the age of 16. She started off writing on a website called Scribd.com where 3 of her creative works have been featured by the website. She loves writing short stories and poems. She sometimes dabbles with writing full length stories too. She has written stories under the names of Skyler Jayne, Skye Jayne and Skye J Cardoz. She also sometimes refers to herself in third person!

~Writing Tales of Love and Heartbreak~ Xo Skye Jayne