Past In The Past

SARAH! ARE YOU OKAY?" Screamed Kevin from afar.

She wasn't okay.

"What am I supposed to tell our family?"

Tears ran down his face.

"Hey kids! Guess what? Mom slipped and died while I was a few feet away, and everyone thinks I killed her, but I didn't. I can't do this, I need you!"

Kevin laid there for 15 minutes, and then realized that we couldn't stay there. He had to separate his 5 kids from the rest of his wife's family. He couldn't have them think that he killed his own wife!

He went home and took his kids as far away as possible. And he had to make sure that they didn't ever meet up with his wife's family. If that happened his life could be over. If they met each other, he would  have immediately have been accused of killing his wife and gotten sent to jail.

Hey! I'm Jenna Kenner, and I guess I'm your storyteller. I don't have such an interesting life, but I have an amazing story about an amazing friendship.

It all started when I was 6. My dad's job moved to LA, so my family and I had to move across the country, and leave all of my friends. I have 4 siblings. Caleb, Cody, Kristen, and Michelle. We were all really small when we had to move, so it wasn't the worst. Also, it's not such a bad thing to move to a place near DisneyLand, when you have 5 little kids.

I went to ReaderBrook Elementary, where I met my Best Friend, Sarah Jeffries. We spent everyday together at her house, because for some reason my dad hated her. Imagine your own father hating your best friend. He is always telling me to get away from her, and to  find new friends. Sarah is the best thing that happened to me, and I can't let my dad take it away.

My dad also never went to “Parent Teacher Conferences.” He hated Sarah and her family so much that he wouldn’t dare run into them.

Me and Sarah were Best friends all through middle school. When we got to 9th grade, our friendship got a little interesting. We were assigned a project in our English class that had us explain our name, and where our family comes from. Sarah's presentation was absolutely breathtaking. She explained how she is named after her aunt who was murdered on a rainy day, and they never found the killer.

The weird thing about this was I had so many dreams with that exact scenario, and she never believed me. Who doesn’t believe their best friend? I mean, I understand. She was super duper close with her aunt, and the fact that they never found the killer scares her.

I did my presentation on how my name was just creative. My dad loved the name. Nothing really that interesting. I thought my dreams were interesting. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that her aunt's exact story occurs in my dreams. It has to be connected somehow. That doesn’t just happen.

That day at home I decided to tell my dad about it. Big mistake. 

“Hey Dad, I have a question. It might sound weird, but today Sarah told the class about her aunt Sarah who was murdered. Anyways, she told us how it happened, and the story sounds familiar to me.”

My dad looked up, and started to turn red. I was very confused, it was just a story. 

“HER AUNT WASN’T MURDERED” He screamed.

“What?”

Dad had always acted weird, but never like this. He didn’t have to scream at me, and he must know something about the story.

“Pack up your bags, and get your siblings, we need to go.” He said as he was turning even more red. 

“No.” I said.

“What’s going on? You know something! WHY DO I KNOW THAT STORY?”

“Don’t scream at me young lady!” He yelled. 

“I can do whatever I want! I am not a child, you can tell me what's going on!”

“Stop talking back, and go get your siblings right now.”

“Does this have to do with you not letting Sarah in the house?” 

“NO!” He shouted.

Suddenly tears start to fill my eyes. My dad notices, and looks down.

“Look, Sweetie,” He started.

“NO!” I yell at him.

“You can’t run away from something, and not tell me what you’re running away from!”

“That’s enough Jenna.” He said calmly.

“No, it's not enough, dad. Tell me what’s going on.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH! GET YOUR SIBLINGS!”

“I’m so sorry,” I cried to sarah.

“He’s making you move?”

“Yes.”

“All because of a stupid story?” She sobbed.

“I have to go.”

As I walked away, I cried. My own dad was going to ruin my only friendship. I walked home, and I saw my dad, and my siblings standing outside with their bags. Next thing I know, we are on a plane going to London. My dad was silent the whole plane ride, so that meant I was in charge of keeping my younger siblings entertained. Just like always, my dad was acting weird so I had to take charge,

Ok so that was my childhood drama, I hope you didn’t enjoy it. It’s a horrible childhood. Let me catch you up. 5 years after we moved, my dad killed himself. My siblings and I inherited a reasonable amount of money. I was able to finish highschool, and graduate college. I found a boyfriend, and got married. I still live in London, and I sort of fit in. 

Now you’re probably wondering what happened to Sarah. After I moved, we completely lost touch. It’s really sad, because I thought that kind of friendship would last forever. I guess not. My life was definitely more normal for the next few years. But obviously, things have trouble staying normal around me. 

I was at the grocery store when I saw a peculiar ad. 

“Kevin Kenner Memorial in Los Angeles, California. Call the number 310-763-9974 for more details.”

My first thought was that there is for sure another Kevin Kenner in the world. But then, I realized that it was in Los Angeles , and called the number.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hi. This is Finn Funeral and Memorial services, how can I help you?” said a voice.

“Hi, My name is Jenna, and I'm currently in London, and I saw an ad for a memorial for uh, Kevin Kenner.”

“Yes, would you like to attend?” 

I didn’t answer for a few minutes. I couldn’t afford a plane ride to Los Angeles, but I haven’t been there in ages. What does that place look like?

“Uh yes. When is it?”

“ Next week, the 4th of August.”

That was his birthday. I am now 90% sure this is for my father.

One week later, I found myself  in Los Angeles. I went and visited my old house before the memorial. My brain recolleted sall of the memories I had in that house. I remembered the fight I had with my father after I found out we were moving, I remember asking why Sarah couldn’t come in, and I remember my father saying nothing back.

I looked at the address for the memorial and headed off. Barely anyone came, and I wasn’t surprised. My father wasn’t a great guy, but he did live here for a while. 

“Hi, you must be Jenna.” Said a voice from behind me.

I looked around, and saw a tall, dark man. He sounded like the guy who answered the phone.

“Yep, hi.” I replied awkwardly. 

“My name is Joe Finn, and I am so sorry about your fath-”

“BABE!” I heard A high pitched voice say. 

“The memorial is starting!” 

“Coming! Actually, babe come here, introduce yourself.

A small uptight blonde came up next to him.

“I don’t have time! People are gonna come soon and- Hi I’m Sarah Finn.”

My face turned bright pink. It had to be her. She looked exactly the same. Blonde hair, dark eyes, and a big smile. 

“Uhh.. Hi.”          

Joe continued. “This is Jenna, Kenins daughter.”

Sarah looked up at me with a pink face.

“What?” She asked.

“This is Jenna.” Joe repeated.

“I know.” 

“Huh?” 

“Hi” I said, my face still pink.

“I’m gonna sit down.” I said. 

I raced to the nearest chair, and I realized what had just happened. I couldn’t stop looking over at her, and I think she couldn’t stop looking at me. 

The memorial was okay, but it was hard to focus when your ex-best friend is 2 feet away from you. After the memorial I decided that I had to do the right thing.

“Hi, Sarah? Can I talk to you?”

Sarah was in the middle of a conversation, and then turned around to look at me with her dark eyes.

“Yes.” She said calmly.

“Great, um, I know this is probably very awkward for you- it is for me, I don’t know, I just wanted to uh, say that uh, I don’t really know if you remember but, i’m Jenna Kenner.”

“I know.” She said firmly.

At this point, both of our faces were different colors. 

“How’ve you been?’ I asked.

“Fine. You?” She replied.

I looked her straight in the eye, and started crying like a baby. She did the same, and we hugged it out immediately. We both apologized for not staying in touch, and for not being loyal to each other, like we always said we would. 

“Look, I know the move has been hard on you all these years,” She said.

“And I want you to come back.” 

“I smiled and didn’t even think about it for one second.”

“Yes.”

My husband and I moved into the house I grew up in, and lived there. Me and Sarah caught up, and became friends again. And I still never knew why I had to move in the first place.