Chapter 4The Third Wheel's Departure

"Miss, would you like your breakfast brought up to the room?"

When the resort staff knocked on my door, I had already finished packing my bags.

It wasn't much. One carry-on, one backpack.

My camera and the heavy telephoto lens were buried at the bottom of my suitcase, pressed down beneath a pile of dresses I hadn't worn once this trip.

Maya had dragged me to the mall to buy that specific dress before we left.

She had insisted, "Chloe, you have to dress up! These graduation trip photos are going to last a lifetime."

She ended up picking out a floral sundress for me. The price tag said $250.

I paid for it without hesitating, just because she said I looked pretty in it.

Four days had passed, and I never took it out of my suitcase.

Because I wasn't in any of the photos anyway.

I ate a few bites of oatmeal and pushed the tray out into the hallway.

I checked the time. 8:30 AM.

Ethan and Maya had probably already checked out of their rooms and left for the day.

Sure enough, the group chat had a string of messages from fifteen minutes ago.

Maya: "Chloe~ We're heading out! Enjoy sleeping in!"

Maya: "We'll bring you back a cute souvenir tonight!"

Ethan hadn't said anything in the group chat.

But five minutes later, he sent me a private text: "I'll come find you this afternoon."

I stared at that message for a long time.

When you come looking for me this afternoon, this room will already be empty.

I didn't reply.

I grabbed my suitcase and headed downstairs. The front desk clerk was the same guy who had handed me the wrong room key on the first day.

Seeing me dragging my luggage alone, he asked politely, "Where are your friends? Do you need me to call a cab to the airport?"

"Yes, please."

As I settled the bill, he asked if I needed him to leave a message for the other guests in my party.

I said, "No need."

The Uber arrived quickly.

As I climbed into the backseat, I took one last look at the entrance of the resort.

A decorative wind chime hung by the door, swaying gently in the morning breeze.

I had walked through those doors countless times over the last three days. Every single time, I was walking ten steps behind them.

Goodbye.

About ten minutes into the ride, my phone rang.

It wasn't Ethan. It wasn't Maya.

It was my mom.

"Chloe, are you having fun on your trip?"

I said, "Yeah, it's been great."

"Send me some pictures! I want to see you and Ethan together."

I was silent for two seconds.

"I'll send you some next time we take them."

I hung up. Outside the window, the pine trees and luxury cabins blurred past, shrinking smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror until they disappeared completely.

I arrived at the airport by noon.

Security, waiting at the gate, boarding.

Throughout the entire process, I didn't receive a single text.

Ethan and Maya were probably still wandering around the artisan village, taking hundreds of photos that didn't require me to press the shutter button.

I sank into my window seat in economy and buckled my seatbelt.

Next to me sat an older couple. The husband was helping his wife adjust her seatbelt, and she patted his hand affectionately.

I turned my face toward the window.

The moment the plane lifted off the runway, the ground dropped away, turning the buildings and cars into tiny, insignificant toys.

My phone was on airplane mode. The screen still displayed the very last message I had received.

"I'll come find you this afternoon."

The flight attendant's voice echoed through the cabin, announcing our flight time.

In four and a half hours, I would land in a completely different state.

This trip was over.

I closed my eyes as the plane pierced through the cloud cover.