A Party Trick at Thirty Thousand Feet Chapter 03

Night falls completely.

The temperature in the mountains drops sharply after dark, and the howling wind sounds like a wild beast roaring through the night.

I hover above the bonfire, watching the orange flames dance.

I can’t feel the warmth, but I know the cold must be unbearable.

The dead forest never gets much sunlight, and the snow there is deep enough to reach my knees.

But if they can find me, there’s still hope for me.

At the campsite, the others have changed into heavy winter jackets designed for extreme cold.

Jonathan rubs his numb hands and tosses another log onto the fire.

“Juli’s got some serious nerve.”

“It’s freezing out here, and she still refuses to come back and admit she’s wrong.”

Will’s expression darkens.

He checks his watch. It’s eight in the evening.

“She’s doing this on purpose just to piss us off.”

“She knows it’s Rebecca’s birthday, yet she deliberately pulls this disappearing act to ruin the whole celebration.”

Caleb sits back in his folding chair, his brows furrowed.

He picks up his phone and calls my number.

The screen lights up, and I see the name he’s saved me under: [Troublemaker].

[Sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.]

The automated female voice sounds especially harsh in the quiet campsite.

Caleb angrily tosses his phone back onto the table. It lands with a dull thud.

“Forget her.”

“Let her spend the night out there. Maybe a little discomfort will teach her that the whole world doesn’t revolve around her.”

Rebecca suddenly sneezes.

Will immediately gets to his feet, takes off his jacket, and wraps it tightly around her.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Jonathan quickly rummages through their supplies for a thermos.

“The temperature swings are crazy out here. I’ll get you some hot water.”

Caleb walks over to the tent and unzips it. He takes out the portable hand warmer he’d originally packed for me.

Then he walks over to Rebecca and places it in her hands.

“Here. Keep yourself warm.”

Rebecca holds the hand warmer, looking at him hesitantly.

“Caleb, isn’t this Juli’s?”

“If she comes back and sees me using her things, she’ll definitely throw another fit.”

Caleb lets out a cold laugh.

“Does she even have the right to complain?”

“We went through all this trouble and even brought people along to help her overcome her fear.”

“And what does she do? She turns around and cuts off all contact with us.”

I stare at the hand warmer resting in Rebecca’s palm, remembering the winter training camp during our junior year of college.

It was the same snowy mountains. The same four people.

Rebecca accidentally twists her ankle and bursts into tears.

Will, Caleb, and Jonathan take turns carrying her back.

I’m left at the back of the group, struggling with the mountain conditions. Every step feels harder than the last.

I ask Caleb to slow down.

Then I grab his sleeve and beg him to wait for me.

He turns around, his eyes filled with disgust.

“Juli, can you stop pretending to be so fragile? Rebecca genuinely can’t walk anymore. Can’t you just be a little more understanding?”

He shakes my hand off.

I fall into the snow, but not one of them even looks back.

I spend the next four hours making my way through a blizzard, alone in temperatures twenty degrees below freezing.

By the time I finally make it back to camp, I can barely stand.

But nobody cares.

They’re all gathered around Rebecca, looking at her with concern over a tiny mark on her ankle.

The bonfire crackles.

Jonathan takes a sip of hot soup, then suddenly chuckles.

“Where do you think Juli is right now? Hiding in some tree hollow and crying her eyes out?”

“By the time we head down the mountain tomorrow, she’ll probably be trailing behind us with her tail between her legs.”

Will responds coldly.

“Nobody better pay her any attention tomorrow. She needs to learn her lesson.”

Caleb says nothing.

He simply stares into the dark night sky.

There isn’t the slightest hint of concern in their eyes.

They don’t even notice the tiny plea for help I’ve written in the snow:

[HELP]