The Search for Ken

Chapter 1 - Arrival

"Do you take Joanna Carter-Lòpez to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" Ken looks up at me, and says the words "I do". I can't help but to smile, I've finally found my one and only Ken! He grabs my hips to pull me in for a k-

"Joanna, I'm heading out, try not to go to bed too late sweetie!" I hear just as soon as I drop my pen. It's my mom, whom just barged into my room. I look up from my notebook and see a tired looking face, covered in makeup with messy and thin curly hair covering her forehead. She turns around and I see her trembling from her high heels. I don't say anything, I just look back at my notebook. As I hear the front door being slammed, I start reading what I wrote. I might not know who my Ken is, but I do know that he exists! And I will find him... some day. My legs stand up and I pick up my notebook. I walk towards my bed and put the notebook under it. As soon as I turn around to walk to the bathroom, I hear glass shattering.

My legs stand still, for some reason I can't move. I'm shaken by fear, and just to tell you, I am really slow at reacting to stuff... My brain starts to think about what possibly can be behind me, but all I can think about is my Ken. "Ken! have you come to save me from this lonely life-" when I turn around, I see nothing... Oh well, that's embarrassing. My feet moves to the window, and when I look down I see... a small person! Maybe that is my Ken after all! See, I'm not as dumb as you think! I scream out to them, but I get no response. "NO! Ken, behind you! I'm here!" They still don't respond. I start to worry and burst out of my room. I run to the front door, which is just a few meters from my room. Without even taking on my boots, I twist the door handle and run after the person, they're not that far away! They start to become larger, and larger in my eyes, as closer I get. When they're only two meters away from me, I jump, as high as I can towards them. "Ken! You don't have to worry anymore, I'm here!" I shout as I land on top of their back, they look behind themselves and I start to notice their mask and a bag in their hand. But that's not any ordinary bag... that's my mom's bag! They're not my Ken, they're a thief! My aggressive side starts to take control, I kick the thief with my barefoot feet. And then snatch the bag, but then I hear a noise. "Joanna...? JOANNA!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" A woman yells, I look at her and notice the same tired face as before. "Mom! This thief tried to rob us!" I yell at her and she looks confused, she then pushes me aside and takes the bag the thief was holding. "Joanna, this man is not a thief. He's my taxi driver! He was just carrying my bag." She yells but then looks even more tired, and her eyes look down. She whispers to the man, I can't hear what she says but I think it's something with the line "I'm sorry" she then grabs my hand aggressively and walks back to our house. "But mom... why did the window break then?" I mouthed softly but I'm not sure she heard me, because she didn't respond.

It's been 7 years since that incident, I'm 15 now and I've decided to NEVER decide who my Ken is without knowing who they are first.

Frizz Academy, a school with a high reputation, I suppose not as high as Harvard's though. I really hope that this is where my Ken is! Otherwise, I just spent my mother's last money to pay for a year here, for no reason! I guess it was bad of me to just take her money... but, I have a really good feeling about this school. I don't see anyone else near, although this is the day all the new students arrive, including me. Am I early? I touch the doorknob and it opens gently, not that much of a heavy door. But just as that happens I can hear a ton of voices inside, I suppose I was just late then. I don't really know where to go so I just follow where everyone else is walking. Due to my boots, I'm taller than everyone else, so I can easily skip through. We walk into this huge room with a ton of chairs facing towards a stage, people are sitting down so I also take a seat. Footsteps come towards me, my eyes wonder off to see what it is and it's two girls. One of them sits down while the other whispers to her. I turn back to looking at the stage but then the girl says something. I was distracted so I didn't hear what she said, so I look at her with a confused smile. "Could you sit somewhere else? My friend wants to sit here" she says and I just freeze for a moment. They stare at me, which really is embarrassing, I hate when people stare. "Uhm, yeah s-sure!" I say and stand up with a smile, a fake one, or just a weird smile. I don't really know, but I wasn't happy or anything. The other girl sits down on the seat that used to be mine, and I realize that no other seats are free. Yikes... People start coming in on the stage and I become stressed, where do I sit? Or do I just stand up? But no one else is standing up... then everyone will look at me. As hard as it is, I decide to... sit on the floor. Uhm, I don't know if that was a good idea but now I'm on the floor so. A lot of eyes glare at me instead of looking at the stage, so I realize that I've made a big mistake.

"Good evening! Welcome to Frizz Academy, I am Elijah Kennedy, your principal! Before the studies start, there are things we need to address. Everyone will be divided into two groups, the Red Spirit and the Blue Spirit. I'm not that creative with names... uhm, the Red Spirits will have uniforms that are red and the Blue Spirits will have uniforms that are.. blue, each team will have to work hard to get better than the other, in the end of the year one team will get a gift. So study and listen and you could get a present! We've already sorted everyone into their team, you will be able to check at the dorms list. Now when we've got that out of the way, it's time for you to meet some of the teachers!" Everyone applauds as Mr. Kennedy walks away, but I'm too embarrassed to applaud. Maybe I'll clap... weirdly? And everyone will stare at me, but if I don't applaud will everyone also stare at me? Maybe I'm just overthinking. A man with a black suit comes up to the stage, he has strong cheekbones and slick black hair. The two girls start to whisper to each other, talking about how attractive he is. Personally, I'm not going to find my Ken through the teachers or adults, that would be weird... But I have to admit that he is attractive. Don't think weirdly of me now... I'm sure if you saw him you would think the same. Let's just move on before I say something weird. "I'm professor Yīkào, I will be teaching Science to s-" as he speaks, he gets interrupted, by what possibly? Everyone's eyes look back, even the teacher's. I look back too, to see what they're looking at but only see a wall. I get confused, what are they looking at? But then I hear it, the phone ringing. And I realize that it's coming from my bag...