Side Effects may Include

Ken slammed his locker shut after he had taken everything out that he needed to take back home. He loaded all of his belongings into his backpack and slung it across his back, carrying it with one strap.

"Hey Ken! Wait up!" said a familiar voice behind him. Ken smiled, stopped, and turned around, waiting for his buddy to catch up. It was James, Ken's best friend. The two hadn't known each other sense kindergarten or anything (his life isn't THAT cliche) but they had met around junior high and maintained a good friendship through high school.

"How's it going bro?" Ken said as the two were side by side and started walking.

"Good, you?" James replied. "Meh, okay I guess."

"Let me guess" James said with a smirk "History Exam?" "You know me!" laughed Ken. "Where are the others?" "Probably hanging around the main entrance, come on, we shouldn't keep them waiting longer than we have too.

Ken nodded as they both walked down one of the long halls of their High School. Those "others" mentioned earlier were Ken's other 4 friends; Ethan, Grant, Kyra, and his girlfriend Rachel. Ethan was the quirky and creative type guy, who always had an idea for a new story but never got around to finishing one. This was frustrating because the stories Ethan wrote were really good, and it was a shame that they were never completed. It was also somewhat annoying because Ethan came up with a new idea every other week, and it was obvious he wasn't going to finish any of them. But either way, Ethan was still a fun guy to hang out with.

Ken and James pushed their way out of the school into the warm Houston air, seeing their posse waiting for them. “You’re just in time.” Kyra said as the two approached to join them. “Ethan here was just about to explain story idea number 420.” “Nice use of sarcasm.” Ethan grumbled. “I’m telling you guys, I really think I can finish this one.” He said with certainty in his voice.

“Give it a rest E.” Kyra replied. “This isn’t exactly the first time you, “really thought you could”.” Ken nodded his head in agreement, this was one of the things he appreciated Kyra for. She was always the one who could pull you back down to earth. Whenever one of them got over excited or incredibly nervous about something, Kyra would be there to apply some logic and reasoning. Now saying that Kyra was a girl who only believed in things that were either logical or only science explained would be an understatement. She still accepted other people ideas and beliefs, and if they were different from hers than she would respectfully disagree and give her opinions on the subject. But she was in no way a girl who only thought her answer was the right one.

“Personally I think writing is a little to mainstream for me, I’m more into spending my time buying a bunch of weird looking cloths at some vintage store somewhere!” The person who said THAT weird statement was Grant, Kyra’s boyfriend. Right now he was into being a hipster for everything he could possibly find.

Notice though, that I said, RIGHT NOW, because for Grant, he could be anyone. Grant has this weird system of having a different personality every week, it was like he had some sort of multiple personality dis-order that he was in control of. (A NON dis-order if you will) Last week, he apparently was some sort of old veteran guy who served in WWIII that lasted for 45 seconds or something like that. It never made sense, but it didn't matter, because it was just another wacky character in the zany world of Grant.

Ken glanced at his watch, his eyes widening at the realization of the time. “Crap!” Ken said aloud. His friends looked at him with puzzled faces. “Forget to turn in your homework AGAIN Hot Shot?” Said James in a teasing voice. “Surprisingly no, I actually have a date with Rachel in a few hours, so I need to get home to get ready!” Ken explained as he slowly started to walk away.

“Aw come on! Can’t you stay for a little longer?” pleaded Grant. “It’s no use!” said Ethan. “For thou Romeo has to find thy love.”

“Oh hey look, Romeo and Juliet, a story that was actually FINISHED!” Ken replied with a smirk. Ethan frowned but then quickly regained himself and smiled back.

“Can you at least tell us where you’re taking her?” asked Kyra. “That’s for you guys not to know, and her to find out.” Ken said as he opened the door to his car.

He set his backpack down on the seat next to him, started up his car and backed out of his parking spot. He waved to friends as he drove by, they waved back, and continued waving until he was out of view. Ken then turned his focus to driving home. But in the corner of his mind, he just couldn't help but think of how blessed he was, to have such good friends. He was filled with so much joy, that it seemed nothing could go wrong for him. But knowing how there must always be conflict, you’ll know that what awaits Ken is anything but.