by Jenni James
Veera smiled as she said, “If that’s the creepy house 2 miles away from mine with all the vines covering it, then yes, I live by the old Crawford place. I’m Veera by the way, Veera St. Pierre.”
“Knoah,” he replied as she walked over to the passenger side and got in the truck.
Veera smiled a little mischievously as she said, “I know.”
Knoah and Veera became inseparable after that night. Their junior year flew by and not a day passed that he didn’t see her. She seemed to want to be with him every bit as much as he did with her but it was hard to know for sure. What he did know was that everything was always perfect when they were together.
The only thing that wasn’t perfect in their relationship was the fact that Veera’s parents definitely weren’t his number one fan. He tried his best to fit in with her family, but he knew he was too poor and too crass to fit into the rich, powerful, squeaky-clean lives of the St. Pierre’s. Veera’s father was a hot-shot lawyer with A-list clients, and he seemed to know his way around the stock market too. Veera’s mother, Katrina, had an art history degree from one of the ivy’s and was always very nice to Knoah but he couldn’t help but feel like he would never measure up to her expectations. It didn’t seem like a small-town country boy was someone they wanted their daughter to spend large quantities of time with.
When senior year started, Knoah felt a change in Veera’s relationship with her parents. She never wanted to talk about it and most of the time she acted like everything was fine. But it was hard not to notice that she wanted to meet him places instead of having him pick her up like usual. She also stopped inviting him over to her house and always just wanted to go to his house. One night during Christmas break, as they were cleaning up the kitchen after making sugar cookies, she finally let him in on what was happening.
“My dad sent an Early Decision college application out for me last month and we just heard back that I got accepted.” Veera wasn’t looking at him as she said it and the tone of her voice did not sound as if congratulatory remarks were in order.
Knoah wasn’t sure what to say, “Okay…? That’s great that you got accepted right?”
She ignored him as she said, “He signed the tuition agreement already for me.”
“Again, I say okay…? That sounds like a good thing but you don’t sound like you think it’s a good thing. So what’s the problem?” Knoah had stopped wiping down the counter and was watching her closely. It was only December and he hadn’t given much thought as to what the next month would bring, let alone the next year.
She stopped doing the dishes and turned to look at him. “The problem is that my parents went behind my back, picked a college they wanted me to go to, forged my signature on an application that binds me to that school now that I’m accepted, so no other schools will take my application now. Then, they forged my signature again on a four year tuition agreement that forces me to pay $280,000 even if I don’t go to the stupid school that’s on the other side of the country!” her voice had raised bit by bit as her rant went on and by the time she ended she was yelling at him.
Knoah’s younger brother Riggs walked into the kitchen and grabbed a neatly decorated snowman cookie. “Geez Knoah what’d you do? I’ve never heard Veera yell before,” he had stuffed the cookie in his mouth and cookie bits were falling onto the floor as he walked out of the kitchen.
Ignoring Riggs, Knoah walked over to her and gently grabbed her shoulders, “Veera,” she still wouldn’t look at him, “it sucks that your parents did that. And I’m sure it sucks even worse because your dad is a lawyer and probably made this thing binding in every court in America.” She huffed at this, confirming his suspicions so he went on. “But we’ll figure it out. Maybe I can get in there—“
She cut him off, finally looking up at him with anger and sadness filling her beautiful face and said, “Well unless you’re thinking about becoming a female then I’d forget that idea.” He looked at her questioningly and she said, “It’s a woman’s college.”
A woman’s college? Did such a thing still exist? He took a breath to speak but she cut him off. “And before you say that you’ll try to get into the next closest college, don’t bother. It’s Columbia.”
Knoah hadn’t researched any East coast colleges so he wasn’t an expert on Ivy League schools but he was pretty sure Columbia was one of them. And although his older brother Travis had been smart enough to get into a prestigious University like that, he was pretty much the polar opposite. Basically colleges with open admissions would have to be good enough for Knoah. If he even decided to go. Veera’s eyes were cast down again and he could tell she was fighting back tears.
He lifted her chin and said, “Hey, it will all be fine.” He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. “We’ll figure something out. We don’t have to do it tonight but we’ll find a way to make everything okay again.”
She didn’t smile and she didn’t look convinced but she gave a little nod and pulled away. As he stood in the middle of the kitchen staring at the mountain of dirty dishes, he noted that the sick feeling that had been growing in the pit of his stomach since her confession was still there and was growing by the second.
Chapter 2
K
noah opened his eyes and couldn’t believe that today was the day. It felt dramatic and life-changing and maybe a little poetic. It was like those mushy sayings girls liked to post on social media all the time, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life,” or something equally as cheesy. Only today, it didn’t feel all that corny. It was his birthday, May 29th, he turned 19 today. But that had nothing to do with what made today so different from every other day.
His and Veera’s high school graduation took place the previous day so he was now an official graduate. He’d never really graduated from anything before and he didn’t realize it would make him feel so old. Well, except Hunter’s Safety but that didn’t really count since they let five-year-olds take the course now. He probably should have graduated from high school last year but when you start kindergarten as a 6 year old, you take the risk of graduating as a 19 year old. Luckily he was still technically 18 when graduation took place. And even though graduation was a pretty big step, it was nothing compared to his and Veera’s plan to run off to Canada together.
Knoah’s mother woke him up early when she slammed the door on her way out of the house to go for her morning jog. That was her way of waking up him and his three brothers without actually telling anyone to get out of bed. That morning though, he was glad to have her for an alarm clock. He quickly dressed, brushed his teeth, combed his hair and practically flew out the door in his hurry to get to the St. Pierre’s house.
His plan was to pick Veera’s stuff up first thing that morning and then load his things on top of hers so no one would suspect anything. Then, on his way out of town a few hours later, he would pick her up at the Northeast corner of her yard and they would head off for Canada together. If Veera’s parents decided to come get her, which they most certainly would, they were going to have a very hard time finding them.
Knoah parked his truck on the corner of Veera’s street, and looked toward Veera’s house. He instantly felt like something was wrong. He pushed down a wave of semi-panic as he stared at the huge house with its large picture windows that were void of all signs of life. He zeroed in on the window in the Northeast corner of the house, the window that was part of Veera’s room. It looked especially dark.
He prayed that she just overslept. Maybe he kept her out too late the night before and she’d been too tired to pack her things before going to bed. Or maybe she just wasn’t able to haul it all out to the street. It’s not like the girl knew how to pack light.
He kicked himself for not forcing her to let him sneak into her room after he dropped her off last night so he could help her. Why was she so stubborn! She’d said that her parents would already be angry that she was late for curfew again so she couldn’t risk getting caught sneaking him i
nto the house but now he worried there was another reason she didn’t let him come in.
He walked over to the spot in the St Pierre’s iron fence where, last year, he had loosened enough balusters so he could easily pull them out and slip through. Her parents didn’t need to know about every visit he made. As he reached to pull the first baluster loose, he saw something that made his heart sink. Wrapped and taped around the bottom of the baluster was a piece of pink paper. Knoah wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen it. He wanted to take off running through the yard and scale the wall to Veera’s window. Instead, he grabbed the small paper, rolled it out, and read the four short sentences typed there.
Knoah — I will not be going to Canada with you. Now that graduation is over, I’ve decided to get an early start at Barnard College for Women. My family and I have left for New York. We had fun but it is time for me to focus on my future. —Veera
His stomach felt as if he’d swallowed an anvil. He read and re-read the note over and over again. It felt surreal. It couldn’t be happening. They had a plan! They were going to run away to Canada where she would take classes online and he would start working as a hunting guide for a fancy lodge and one day he would open his own guide business and she would do whatever she decided she wanted to do. It was perfect. It would have been perfect. It was no longer perfect.
He couldn’t stop himself from running across the lawn toward her window. His heart was racing and his adrenaline was pumping as he scaled the rain gutter that ran down the corner of the house. He grabbed the window ledge and pulled himself over so he could see into her room. It was like he was staring at the remnants of his future. Her room was dark and completely empty except for a cardboard box that lay haphazardly in the corner. He nearly lost his grip as reality sank in. He couldn’t believe what he’d just read, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and he most certainly couldn’t believe that the girl he was in love with was gone.
In a last ditch effort to make sense of it all, he slid back down the rain gutter, sprinted half-heartedly back to his truck and pulled out his cell phone. The last text she sent had been around 12:30 am when she sent him three orange hearts with a dash V right after. ♥ ♥ ♥ - V.
That had always been their thing. The three hearts meant I love you, orange stood for his truck where they had first met, and she always signed her texts to him with just V because that’s what he always called her. Veera’s parents hated when he called her V but Veera loved it so he never called her anything else.
Knoah started a new message to her but didn’t know where to start. What should he say to her? “Where are you?” “Why didn’t you call me?” “What’s going on?" He didn’t know what to say so his muscle memory took over and he typed out three orange hearts and pressed send. He paced for what seemed like an eternity before he heard the sound of an incoming message. He looked down at the screen and his heart sank even further. The words, “Message Delivery Failure,” were staring back at him.
He dialed her number and prayed he would hear her voice. Instead, it went straight to her voicemail, “Hi! Veera’s phone. Text me ‘cause ya know I’ll never listen to this message!”
Knoah was too frustrated to let the smile form that usually came after hearing her voice, “V, what’s going on? Why didn’t you call me? Is there a new plan? I don’t know what to do, what’s going on V. Call me.”
After ending his message, Knoah got in his truck and headed back home. He checked his phone for the time. 7:00 am. He was supposed to leave for Canada in 3 hours. There was no way he was leaving without hearing from Veera first. When he pulled up in front of his house he saw that his mom had returned with a car full of groceries.
He got out of his truck and heard her yell from the kitchen window, “Knoah, can you grab those bags and bring them in? I want to get breakfast started because we have a lot to do before you leave and I know you’ll be anxious to get on the road soon. Oh and happy birthday honey!”
Feeling like a zombie, he walked over to his mom’s car and loaded his arms up with grocery sacks. He didn’t know if he could even leave today let alone in a few hours. What was he going to do? He didn’t want to go to Canada without Veera, but he was supposed to report for work the next morning. His soon-to-be boss was expecting him to get his first real training this week so he could see how everything was run. This was his dream job and he didn’t want to screw it up. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to get paid to camp in the mountains.
Veera had been the one who found the job for him. Her father had booked an expensive hunting trip with the lodge and she used his name to get Knoah a Skype interview with the outfitter for the lodge. The outfitter was responsible for employing all the hunting guides and with Knoah’s experience with guns, hunting, wilderness survival, and rough mountain terrain, he was able to land a job he used to only dream about. How had his life, that was planned perfectly last night, fallen into disarray before 7:00 this morning?
He grabbed all the groceries, including 3 gallons of milk and hauled them inside in a single trip. His mom was asking him something about pancakes or eggs but he was too consumed with thoughts of Veera to pay much attention as he headed back upstairs to pack the rest of his things.
His phone chirped in his pocket and he whipped it out to see if there was a text from Veera. Nothing. It must have been his email. He pulled up his inbox and his heart surged. An email from Veera was at the top of his unread emails. He opened it and read:
Knoah,
I am so sorry things had to end this way. I wish I could give you more of an explanation, but all I can say is that it’s for the best. Please don’t come find me. It will make everything worse. HBD BTW
♥♥♥ - V
So many swear words were playing in Knoah’s mind he could hardly hear the phone as he rang Veera’s number again. But after the first ring a recording sounded, “You have reached a non-working number. Please check the number and dial again.”
He pressed end and was about to dial again when he saw Max, his oldest brother standing in the doorway.
“Nice birthday surprise this morning? You can’t be shocked that your little plan didn’t work bro. She was way out of your league.” Max’s eyes were blood shot as he stared at Knoah. He didn’t know if it was because Max was tired or from something else.
Max was 4 years older than Knoah and so far hadn’t done anything but flunk out of college and move back in with their family. Max had never been as driven as Travis, the second oldest brother who had just finished his first year of the astronomy program on scholarship at MIT, but he was definitely smart enough to keep a 2.0 GPA. Knoah had a sneaking suspicion that the money Max had been making recently wasn’t exactly legal but all Max kept saying was that he didn’t need to finish college because the stock market was a cinch. Knoah called BS on that but he couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation for Max’s influx of cash and the increased time spent on his computer. Maybe he really did have a knack for the stock market.
“What do you know Max?” Knoah tried to remain calm but he couldn’t keep the edge from creeping into his voice.
“I know Veera’s dad found out about your little runaway plans and I know the St. Pierre’s left last night. I saw your little girlfriend practically running to the limo to get out of here. It couldn’t have been too long after you dropped her off last night. She probably jumped at the opportunity for an excuse not to go with you to live in the wilderness like a couple of mountain men,” Max sounded a little like he was enjoying this.
“You’re lying. Veera wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t have left unless there was a good reason,” even as Knoah was saying the words he knew he didn’t believe them himself. Because Veera had left and she hadn’t given him a reason why. ‘It’s for the best,’ wasn’t that what her email said? What did that mean? Had she never wanted to come to Canada with him? Had he been selfish to think she wanted to go with him so he could start his dream job? Did she have a dream he didn’t know about? Had
he even asked?
“How do you know Veera’s dad found out about our plan?” Knoah hadn’t realized that Max knew about their plans and now that he did, he thought he knew how Mr. St. Pierre had found out about Veera going to Canada with him.
“Because I told him,” Max said. To his credit he didn’t look exactly pleased with himself. It was almost like he wanted Knoah to know the truth so he didn’t have to keep the secret from him. This didn’t make Knoah want to punch him any less though.
As he stood there, feeling sick and confused and incredibly angry, he watched Max turn away with a shrug. Just as he was about to take a swing at Max, he called over his shoulder, “There are other ways to talk to your ex-girlfriend you know.”
The ex-girlfriend comment ticked Knoah off even more but Max wasn’t wrong. He hurriedly pulled up the only social media app he had an account with and searched Veera’s screen name. He found her page and felt like all the wind had been knocked out of him again. The page looked completely different. Of all the pictures Veera posted, at least half had him in them. Today though, they were all gone. The only pictures left were ones that didn’t show his face. She had deleted him. It was like they had never been together. But why? Why would she do that?
Chapter 3
Four Years Later…
A s Knoah’s truck crested the top of the hill, he strained his eyes to see beyond the distance his headlights revealed to him. If the sun were up he would be able to see a complete layout of the valley between the two mountain ranges that he knew were on either side of him. The view would have been spectacular and gone on for at least 30 miles to the South. But a late start that morning had put him behind schedule. His subconscious was probably just manifesting how much he didn’t want to be here. But late or not, he was here and the road leading him to his parent’s Montana home was now covered in darkness.
