Chapter One One Problem: The term given to the path a climber must follow to complete a climb correctly. "The bouldering problem the pretty brunette climbed was rated a V6. Getting her to talk to me? Off the scale." --From The Friedrichs Fundamental Guide to Speaking Dirtbag Kiley was halfway up the rock when she sank back in her harness for what had to have been the tenth time. She looked down at me and shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging side to side. "I''m sorry, Cara," she said. "I just." "You hate it.
" "No!" She looked away, wrinkled her nose. "Okay. Kind of. I''m sorry." How could she not love this? Open Book was a classic, a route I''d handpicked because it had great holds, great movement, and just enough exposure at the finish to make it feel epic without the risk of wigging her, or Sarah, out. "It''s okay," I said, forcing a smile. "Now I know how Sarah felt when she made us watch The Notebook ." Sarah looked up from her phone.
"You''re both heartless, soulless monsters." "I think we can live with that." Kiley looked down at me, arched one eyebrow so high it disappeared under the rim of her helmet. "Right, Cara?" "Yeah, I''m good," I said, shrugging. "Monsters." Sarah bent back over her phone. The three of us had been tight since ceramics sophomore year. Sarah and Kiley were the only people I was actually going to miss from high school.
With graduation behind us, and the end of summer racing toward us, we''d made it a mission to do all the stuff we''d always said we were going to do but somehow never managed to find time for. That included suffering through Sarah''s favorite ugly-cry romance movie a few nights ago. And Kiley had made us all go to Nordstrom the week before, where I''d watched them try stuff on and pretended to consider buying a dress that I couldn''t afford, until I caved and bought a forty-dollar T-shirt that I also couldn''t afford. Today it was my turn. It seemed impossible that I''d never managed to get them out to Mount Erie for a climb before now. They''d been stoked to finally try climbing outside, and I was giddy at sharing my favorite place with my favorite people. The day had started out perfectly. When we parked at the summit, the sky was the hazy washed-out blue of old denim.
The sun warmed my shoulders. Blue-green spruce and fir towered above, the lacy maples and alders rustled with the breeze, and patches of wild blueberry poked up around us. It was quiet, except for the sound of a boat puttering around Lake Campbell some eight hundred feet below and a few groups of climbers calling out to one another. But from there, things flatlined. Sarah got sketched out by the narrow trail and ten-foot drop that led to the base of the climb. Kiley tripped, scraped her knees up pretty badly, and ripped a hole in a pair of hiking pants she''d just bought for the occasion. The strugglefest continued once I got them tied into their harnesses. On Sarah''s first lap, she went up about ten feet and then her foot slipped, she lost her grip and then dangled there in her harness, refusing to let me lower her, instead insisting on climbing down.
Kiley''s first attempt was even rougher. She had a hard time getting off the ground and kept hangdogging on the rope while reminiscing about all the times in PE class where she failed to execute a single pull-up. Sarah had bravely tried again and made it a little farther, but after she reached for a hold and got a handful of slimy moss that hadn''t dried out since the last time it rained, she was done. And now Kiley was on the way back down after only climbing a dozen or so feet past the spot she''d tapped out before. The whole thing reminded me of when I fell hard for Doctor Who reruns and tried to get my brother to obsess with me, but he thought the show was stupid. It always kind of sucks when the people I love don''t love the things I love. As I lowered Kiley to the ground, Sarah pointed at the GriGri I was using to belay. "What''s that called again--what you''re doing to keep us from falling?" She scrunched her face like she was trying to remember something important, as if she was trying to make up for her lack of enthusiasm for the actual climbing with curiosity about the gear.
She''d already asked me why the shoes were so tight and what kind of rock we were climbing. "Belaying." "Right. It looks hard." Now I smiled. "Not really. You just hold the rope," I said, echoing the line my dad had used to teach me a lifetime ago. My phone buzzed in my back pocket just as Kiley touched down and started to untie.
It was a message from Jeff. Can you open the gym tomorrow morning for me? My shift at the Espresso Hut started at eleven. Then it was coaching practice at the climbing gym in the afternoon before babysitting--wait, no, babysitting was tonight, wasn''t it? Three jobs was a lot, but I needed all the hours I could scrounge. So, I typed: Sure He texted back immediately. Cool. I''ll be there by 10:30. Have to take Laura to dentist. You can still run practice tomorrow night, though, right? I sent him a thumbs-up and dropped the phone in my pocket.
"You ready to try it again, Sarah?" She looked up the rock face and then back at me, twisting the end of her braid around her index finger. "Um, I''m good. Do you want to go again, Kiley?" Kiley unclipped the helmet and passed it to me. "Nope." They were done? But we''d practically just gotten here. "Maybe I could set another climb for us, one you''ll like more--" "Why don''t you teach us to do the rope-holding thingy," Sarah said. "We can watch you climb." Belaying involved pulling rope through a braking device as a climber ascended and being ready to catch the climber by locking the rope off if they fell.
It was pretty simple, but yeah, there was an art to mastering it. Sarah could have learned quickly enough, but I couldn''t teach her without letting Dad memories creep into the moment even more. The day was already sort of underwhelming; I didn''t want to pile on by thinking about him . "That''s okay," I said. "I don''t really need to climb." "You''re bummed--" "A little." There was never any point in pretending otherwise with Sarah. "But it''s fine.
For real." I shrugged. Luckily, I''d top roped this route--actually run the rope through the permanent anchors at the summit before tossing the rope down. I pulled at one side until the rope fed through and whipped down the twenty yards to my feet. "Besides, what if you guys had been better than me? What would I bring to this friendship then? You''re better at school and nicer and--" Kiley shook her head and smirked. "You are such a dork." "Here." I passed her the rope and she began coiling it with total concentration.
Sarah started posting pics, cracking herself up as she narrated them with witty captions. I crouched down to gather the rest of the gear when my phone buzzed. Jeff again. BTW, have you heard from your dad lately? Okay. A little weird. Jeff knew I hadn''t heard from Dad in a while. In fact, he''d been more upset than me when Dad didn''t show up at graduation. My thumbs started keying in a reply before I changed my mind.
I tucked the phone away. Dad couldn''t hijack the day if I didn''t let him. "Look!" Kiley thrust the rope at me. "I did a climbing thing, Cara. Aren''t you proud?" "You''re amazing." I strapped it to the outside of the pack. She gave a little bow and started wriggling out of the harness. Sarah looked up from her phone.
"Tagged you guys in all the pics. Can I take off these shoes now?" She pointed at the rentals I''d borrowed from the gym. "Yep. Should we go find something to eat?" Kiley froze, eyes wide. "Out here? Like berries or mushrooms or something?" "Um, I was sort of thinking maybe a burger?" Kiley''s relief that I wasn''t going to make her forage was obvious. "You know a spot?" "Yeah, me and Seth and Dad used to stop at the Net after a climb." Used to. We hadn''t been to the Net in ages.
and then I was back to thinking about Jeff''s text message, now flashing like a warning sign. Dad''s absences always felt like snow days during the winter: kind of a break when they were happening, but I knew I''d pay for them later. More than once, we''d had to bail Dad out of various situations, usually after he''d been missing for a spell. Jeff asking now? And asking me? Probably meant something was up. Crap. Nope. I gave my head a hard shake. I was not going to worry about this now.
Whatever it was, it would keep. I crammed my gear into my pack. Five minutes later, rounding the bend in the trail to head back up to the parking lot, we saw the climbers we''d heard earlier. They were starting up Queen of Hearts , a stout 5.10+. Beyond them, the trail hugged the rock face, which meant we''d need to pass right between the belayer and the rock. Since the guy on the route hadn''t made the first clip yet, we needed to wait until he was secure. "The rope-holder guy is hot ," Sarah whispered behind me.
He was cute. Dark hair, just a little too long, brown skin, eyelashes that outdid mine even when I actually wore mascara. A sprinkle of acne scars dimpled his cheeks, but they tipped him back from being almost too pretty to being interesting. Just then his climber peeled off the route, groaned and swore, popping back.