He Promised to Catch Me. Then He Pushed Me Off the Edge Chapter 04

He Promised to Catch Me. Then He Pushed Me Off the Edge Chapter 04

My fingers clenched around my phone until the knuckles turned white. It took me a long moment to find my voice.

“The gondola’s glass-bottomed. You want me to ride it alone?”

I’d seen the promotional photos for these gondolas once. Just the pictures had made me throw the brochure aside.

Silence on the other end.

Then Vivian grabbed the phone.

“Yes, alone. That’s the whole point, Nora. This is the final step. Before, we had to push you. You didn’t know it was coming. Now you have to choose to overcome it yourself.”

Push me. They finally used the right word.

“Why?”

“Nora.” Ethan sighed. “I’ve been way too easy on you for four years. What choice do I have? The clock’s ticking. You can’t depend on me forever.”

I looked up at the departure board. Big red letters. Two minutes.

Just the act of standing up and taking a step drained every ounce of strength I had.

“Ethan, I—”

“Stop stalling. If you can’t get down, fine. Stay up there tonight. We’re done waiting on you.”

My mother, irritated, snatched the phone and hung up.

The sky was darkening fast. A wolf’s howl echoed from the forest, then another. I tried to stand. A gust of wind slammed into me. I collapsed. My ankle cracked against a sharp stone edge. Blood welled up immediately. I couldn’t feel the pain. The fear swallowed everything.

In the distance, the empty gondola cars swung gently. One after another. They looked like gaping mouths, ready to devour me whole.

Tears poured down my face. A gondola attendant found me. He listened to my stammered explanation, his frown deepening by the second. He radioed for a ranger to drive me down in a service vehicle. The whole way, I sat curled in the passenger seat, eyes squeezed shut.

An eternity later, the car rolled to a stop at the base. The ranger talked to me softly for a long time before letting me out.

I spotted them immediately. Vivian, draped over Ethan’s arm, still chattering away about the apartment. When she saw me, her eyes rolled.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. We did that entire climb for nothing. She got a ride down!”

She elbowed Ethan with a nasty grin. “Wow. So the future Captain Vance is gonna be stuck with a wife who screams climbing a stepladder. That’ll look great.”

Ethan’s eyes were fixed on me. Cold. Disappointed.

“We flew your mother out here just to help you. Why can’t you see how much we’re trying?”

The disgust in his voice felt like gravel grinding into an open wound. Every heartbeat scraped.

My mother grabbed Vivian’s arm and started pulling her away.

“Forget it. It didn’t work. Let’s just go. What a waste of time. God, why do I even bother with you?”

None of them. Not one. Not one of them noticed the dried blood snaking down my leg.

I didn’t speak. I turned around and walked away, limping.

Ethan’s roar chased after me.

“Nora! What is that attitude supposed to mean?! Do you know how much crap I take from my classmates because of you? It’s just a little fear of heights. Is it really that hard?!”

I didn’t look back.

While they were busy touring the new apartment, I grabbed my suitcases and got on a plane.

When I landed, the flood of messages hit.