This is the first story in a series I call - for want of
a better name - Ordinary People. It isn't a series
about the Sailor Scouts or the Star Guardians, or
anything like that. It's about the secret identities of
the super-heroes/heroines.
Catch The Stars
By Fiona Lim
flim@hotmail.com
Ken glanced nervously at the clock. It was only
five, not even close to the...the...
*Think it, man. It's only a few words.* he tried to
force himself to think the words. And remembered a time
when he'd been just as nervous and unsure of himself.
Ken forced himself to sit down in a chair and grimaced
as he remembered that long ago time...
***
Ken's bedroom was silent and dark, he hadn't bothered to
change out of his school clothes, and hadn't bothered to
turn on the lights since he'd slammed the door shut when
he first came home. Not even close to eight, when Lita
would be meeting with that boyfriend of her's. Ken bit
his lip and threw himself onto the couch. Trying to
think - trying *not* to think. Trying to do nothing and
everything at the same time, as long as it had nothing
and everything to do with Lita. He sighed in
exasperation.
"Ken?" his mum poked her head into his room, "What
are you doing in here. You haven't been out since you
came home from school."
Ken grunted, "I just want to be alone, mum."
With a sigh, his mum closed the door. Ken knew what she
was thinking - that he was in one of 'those moods'
again.
*I can't help it.* he thought in despair, *Everytime I
think of Lita and that stupid boyfriend of her's.*
He closed his eyes, but that didn't help much. It felt
like it was branded into his brain. That scene he'd
accidentally heard - well, maybe not so accidentally...
*Alright, I was eavesdropping on that bastard.*
It had been a warm Saturday, and Ken had been at the
arcade, when he'd seen Lita's boyfriend: Josh. It'd
been warm, and he'd ducked into the arcade to get some
of the air conditioner. Obviously Josh had needed the
air-conditioning as well because he was there as well.
With a blonde hanging off him. Ken had gotten close
enough to hear the conversation:
"You've got to let me date you at least one, darling."
Josh was whispering as he kissed the blonde.
"Aren't you dating that other girl? What's her name -
Lita." The blonde demanded.
Josh had shrugged, "I'm dumping her next Saturday.
She's too tall for me anyway, and all that cloying 'love
yous' get on my nerves."
It'd taken all of Ken's willpower to stop himself
from grabbing Josh then and there, and punching his
lights so far out that they'd never come back on again!
Not only was Lita his best friend, but he - he...
*Think it, coward!* Ken snapped at himself.
Not only was Lita his best friend, but he loved her.
Had ever since she'd fought next to him when he'd been
picked on in the playground at their first day of preschool.
Sure both she and him had ended on the ground with two black
eyes and the reputation of being geeks, but he'd fallen in
love with her... When he sat down to think about WHY he loved
Lita, it seemed like so many small things... And yet - the few
times he'd dated any other girl, he always felt empty, because
whatever they did, it was never the way SHE would have done it...
So many little things that he loved her for -
The look in her eyes when she cooked -
That great laugh when she thought something was funny -
The way her hair bounced when she was running -
The way she could always help him, no matter what -
The way they could always talk about everything -
But most of all because she was *Lita*.
HIS Lita, his love, irrevocably, utterly, endlessly...
*And the only problem is?*
Ken could almost laugh at how absurd it all was.
It'd been years since he'd been called a geek by the opposite sex.
His hair had turned blonde from holidays at the beach, he'd grown
taller, and swimming and exercise made him slim and muscled enough
not to look fat. He got invitations from enough girls to boost his
self-esteem, but he couldn't get the one girl he wanted. The *only* girl
he'd ever wanted.
*Lita.*
They were friends, *close* friends. Lita spoke to him about everything
- which was good sometimes, and bad other times. He'd been planning to
ask her out since the day he'd met her. He'd had it all planned out
in his mind to - she'd be just thirteen, and they'd be in his mum's
kitchen eating after school, and he'd ask her out to the local fair.
They'd go, and then Lita would start falling in love with him as well,
and then, maybe, one day, they'd get married and then, they'd live
happily ever after.
*OKAY, so I was a trifle young at the time, and MAYBE Mum told me
too many fairy tales for my own good - *
But in essence, he had it planned straight. He'd ask her out on
her thirteenth birthday, after school. Except two days before, she'd
been asked out by one of the local jocks at their high school.
And he'd had to wait, and wait, and wait and wait! Watching as she
got dumped, and hurt, and came to him to find solace in her 'best friend's'
words, then go out and date again. Every guy - EXCEPT HIM!
*And now she's going to get dumped again.* Ken finished with a sigh.
He didn't know what to do. Lita might not appreciate
knowing that Ken had eavesdropped on her boyfriend, that he hadn't
trusted Lita's boyfriends (which he didn't, but he wasn't going to
tell HER that!), and she definitely wouldn't want to face Josh
if she believed him, which would only make matters worse for both of
them. It could mean the end of their friendship!
Ken sat straight up, he loved Lita, and if that love had to
be one sided, and if she only thought of him as a friend, it was better
than *nothing*. And either way, there was no chance that he was
going to let her face Josh by herself.
It was raining, pouring actually. In fact, it was raining
about as hard as it'd been hot last week. Ken knew where Lita and
Josh met every Saturday to start their lunch-dates. In the centre of
the park, in the little open aired building with it's blue tiled roof
and circle seats and railing. He stayed hidden underneath the shadow
of a massive tree. He didn't know what to do. Just knew, in his heart
of hearts, that he must be there - if anything, to watch them, to be there
to pick up the pieces...
*Or to punch that bastard's face so hard that they'll be finding in SYDNEY!*
He watched as Lita ran eagerly up to the building, her face eager.
She hadn't even brought an umbrella, and the rain made a soft mist
around her. The bouncy pony tail at the back of her hair was
limp from wetness, but it didn't stop that everlasting spirit that seemed
to surround her, was part of her - was part of what made Ken love her.
He couldn't hear the words, could barely see Josh. Lita's bastard boyfriend
was half hidden in the shadow underneath his own umbrella. Instead of
letting her into the building, he walked out, not even offering the
shelter of his umbrella as he said the words. All Ken could see was
her shoulders dropping. Her clinging to Josh, and being pushed back.
Then Josh walking away in the rain.
Lita stood there in the rain. A tear rolled down her cheek, lost in the
pouring rain, and Ken ran to her, sheltering her underneath his umbrella.
For a second, she didn't seem to notice, then she turned to him.
"You're my best friend, Ken." She whispered, smiling, and hugging him,
"My best friend."
He held her, and even though his heart was breaking he hugged her back
as a best friend would.
"He wasn't good enough for you, Lita." He said softly.
That was all he needed to say. Lita had trusted his advice, going with
him back to his house, and crying into his shoulder. But she'd
been as open as ever, and he had been her best friend...
He'd watch her fall in love with boy after boy after boy, seen her eyes
fill with stars as she fell in love again and again and again...
If only he could gather the courage and reach for those stars.
***
Ken clenched his jaw as he found himself pacing. He forced
himself to stop, then started again as he couldn't keep still. Almost
six. She'd be here soon. It'd been almost three weeks since they'd
last met each other. He wondered what she'd been so urgent about on
the phone.
*Did she passed those tests she was worried about last time? Did she
get an award in cooking? Has she got another boyfriend?*
The last thought made him want to hit his head against something hard.
*Not AGAIN.* he didn't think he'd be able to survive this time.
His thoughts were thrown apart as the doorbell rang. He nearly broke
something running over to open it.
Lita was standing there, a bag of chicken and chips in her hands.
And he those familiar stars in her eyes. Ken felt his heart sink, but
knew that if anything, her friendship was better than nothing.
"Who is the lucky man?" he asked her as he took the bag from her
hands and started unpacking the food onto the table.
"What man?" Lita asked, confused, "I wanted to tell you first,
Ken!" she threw herself into his arms, "I won the Verbo Deyvonae award
for Cooking! If I finish school and go to college, I've got a full
scholarship to the Verbo Deyvonae College of Cooking!" she stared up
at him, her face lighting up with happiness, "A FULL scholarship, Ken!
No fees, no worrying about how much I can afford to spend anymore -
with the money from Mum and Dad's insurance, and the inheritance,
I'll be able to finish college and maybe have enough to start my own
restaurant!" She hugged him then, her eyes wide with wonder, "I just
found out, and you were the only person who I want to share this moment
with." She said, her eyes softening, "You were always there when I was
down, and broken. Now I have something that is so amazing, and you were
the one that I could share it with."
The stars were in her eyes.
The long ago thought he'd had, back then, before she'd been expelled from
the high school they'd both been part of. Before she'd gone to that
Crossroads Junior High and started drifting away so they only saw each
other occasionally.
*If I can only get the courage up to reach for the stars. Just to touch
them, just once.* He thought, and pulled out of her hug, holding her at
arms length.
"Lita, I've been in love with your for so long." He whispered, not
daring to see her face, "I've been in love with you for longer than I can
remember." He didn't dare look, what if he saw rejection - or worse yet,
revulsion in her face? But he should take his own advice.
And reach out...
To catch the stars...
The End
Please send any thought at all about this story to: flim@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The idea of the characters of 'Lita and Ken' belong to the
creators of Sailor Moon. The actual character potrayal of Ken belongs
to me as I didn't base him on anything I found from either the series:
Sailor Moon or any fanfic on the net.
Author's note:
I thought of this one day when I was staring at my computer screen.
~Grins~ It's been sitting in my files along with every other story I've
ever writen since then, and I finally decided to ask someone to put it up
on the net. Please tell me what you think, because if you hate it, the
best way to stop me from writing things you hate is to tell me what you
hate so I don't write it or correct it. :) The same applies to those
who like what I write and want me to write some more. I won't if nobody
replies. :) In anycase, send your comments to me!
Copyright: Fiona Lim and all other names she may use, 1997
All rights reserved.
