Hey y’all! I’m still working on a post, and I didn’t want to rush it for you guys, so I’m going to share the short story I had to write to get into MSA. This story was the very first short story I ever wrote. I don’t want to say too much, so enjoy! Let me know what you think! Should I revisit this story??
Veronica was always the type to do what she wanted. I told her that, one day, her outgoing personality would kill her. She never did listen. She would hear one thing and it would go through one ear and out the other. She was just like that; it’s what made Veronica who she is… well was. The day I got the call that Veronica killed herself… that was the day I lost a piece of myself. Not many people know, but Veronica was the love of my life. The way she conjured apart of myself that I never knew I had was the reason I was completely and utterly in awe of her. I would stare into her eyes and see our entire life planned out. Twins, both girls, living in a suburban house in Utah with a dog named Roxie. We would be the family who color-coordinated whenever we went out. I loved her, better yet, I was in-love with her. But… she didn’t know and now I never have the chance to tell her.
I knew she saw the way I stared at her and the way I would try to touch her body whenever I had the chance. I knew she knew, but she never said it. Veronica never voiced her thoughts when she didn’t have to. And what she knew was not hers to tell, it was mine. I had planned to tell her on her birthday. It was next week, October 31st. She was going to be 18 and I had the perfect plan to make her mine. It’s rare to come across many people like her, and I had the pleasure of being her neighbor. The day I met her was on her birthday 5 years ago. I came home to see her unloading boxes from a truck.
“Hey! Are you my new neighbor?” I asked.
“Well, I am obviously bringing boxes to the house beside yours,” she sassily replied. “ What do you think?”
I was taken back by her spitfire personality. I never had someone talk to me the way she did.
“You’re right, but you don’t have to be such a jerk about it,” I angrily replied.
The look on her face at that moment was the first and last time I saw that expression appear. She looked broken. A look so bleak, devoid of any emotion appeared on her face and then she started talking again but not with the same confidence as before.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I’ve had a real crappy day, and you took me off guard for a second.”
I couldn’t help but take notice of how her golden, flawless skin glistened in the sun. She was the epitome of beautiful in that moment. From that day, I knew I was in-love with her. I knew I had to protect her from the biggest evil in her life… herself.
The rumors are flying around on why she did it. Some said depression, some say she was pushed, some even say it was an accident. It’s all false. She wasn’t depressed, no one would want to murder her, and she wasn’t dumb enough to accidently jump off a building. She wanted something. She needed answers for something and whatever it was, I am determined to find out.
I called her parents, but they weren’t in any condition to figure out why their daughter committed suicide. I called the few other friends she had, and the most they had to say was, “She was acting different.” I didn’t know how to approach this investigation since my only lead was to talk to the people she talked to. I failed. I am a failure. I failed Veronica, I failed myself, and now I’ve failed an investigation.
That night, I got a call. The blaring sound of the iPhone Chime woke me out of my sleep. It was 3 A.M and the only person to ever call me at this time was Veronica. I checked the caller I.D and it was an unknown number. I would usually ignore calls like this, but something told me to answer.
“Hello?” I asked.
“It was a mistake,” a frantic voice said, “It wasn’t supposed to be her.”
“Who is this?” I asked, “Who are you talking about? Veronica?”
The voice replied, “I was a… friend of Veronica’s. I was there when it happened.”
I was confused. The police reports didn’t say anything about a witness.
“Is there any way we could meet and talk about this? I asked.
The voice replied, “Sure, meet me at Martha’s Café in 20 minutes, I’ll be wearing a red sweatshirt.”
I hurriedly ended the call and threw on jeans and a sweatshirt. Once I arrived at the Café, I walked in and searched for a red sweatshirt. Once I spotted my target, I walked to the table and rapidly started to fire questions at this person.
“Who are you? How did you know Veronica? Why were you the only one with her when she died? Answer my questions now!”
The person looked at me and in a calm voice answered my questions in the same order that I asked.
“My name is Nick, I knew Veronica from therapy, and I was the one going to kill myself and she was there to stop me.”
I sat back in my seat and pondered over the information I just learned.
“What do you mean she was the one there to stop you? Over the phone you said it was a mistake. What was?” I was eager to get the answers I wanted.
“She knew I was going to do it. At first she supported me, but when I actually got serious about it she started acting differently. She started trying to talk me out of it. I didn’t want to listen to her, I already made up my mind. The day it happened, I told her I was going to do it on top of the Trademark Center building. She followed me the whole way and kept trying to talk me out of it. We started arguing after that. I tried to tell her to respect my wishes just this one time… but she never did take orders well, huh? When she started getting closer to the edge of the building, I realized she was never trying to stop me… she was trying to stop herself. It all clicked in my head that she always saw the actions of others as a reflection of her actions. She never truly thought my death would end me, but it would end her. She started rambling about how she couldn’t stop thinking about it, how she wanted to do it. Before I could stop her she just… jumped.”
In that moment, I think I stopped breathing. Veronica wasn’t who I thought she was. The Veronica I knew would never do that to herself; she loved life. She lived everyday like it was her last and in the end… I guess she was the only one to know which day was going to be her last. I got up and said a quick thank you to Nick. I heard all I needed to hear. I went home and just cried. I cried over how stupid I was to think I was inlove with this stranger. I thought I knew who she was, but again I failed at that. The Veronica I knew will forever be in my mind, but the Veronica I know has made a lasting mark on my life. From this moment, I vow to always remember where I came from. I vow to always remember Veronica.
