Chapter 3

Far behind me in the sand, the drone whirs to life, controlled by Preston.

The propellers blast hot air, blowing the sand off my body.

The camera has a clear view of me now.

I'm curled up in a small dune. Not moving. Not a twitch.

A comment pops up in the live chat:

"Is she… dead? Why isn't she moving?"

Mom's eyes lock on the screen. The color drains from her face.

"Did Coco pass out?!"

Maisie pouts innocently.

"She's probably just sleeping… Coco's the worst. Mom and Dad are waiting for her to bring rescue, and she's out there napping."

But a bad feeling twists in Dad's gut.

"Something's wrong. She's not in a tent. Her skin is cracked and bleeding."

I clench my fists so hard my palms burn, panic tearing through me.

Are they finally about to realize I'm dead?

Preston's face goes serious. He carefully steers the drone closer to me.

The second he sees me clearly, his face goes white as paper.

"She looks unconscious! There's blood all over her clothes!"

Mom and Dad shoot up, ready to tell the captain to turn back.

But Maisie leaps in front of the screen. She points at the three bottles beside me.

"Mom, Dad, don't fall for it! Look, three bottles of tomato juice right next to her!"

"I knew the tomato juice Coco bought before the trip went missing! She was hiding it!"

"That's obviously tomato juice on her clothes! She figured out we were tricking her, and now she's pretending to be dead to guilt trip us!"

Mom hesitates.

"But… Coco doesn't even like tomatoes."

Maisie freezes for a beat.

Then she whips around to Preston and gasps, dramatic and loud.

"Preston loves tomatoes! Coco must've bought it for him."

She raises her voice like she's cracked some huge case.

"Oh my God! Coco is so selfish!"

"She didn't share the juice with you guys. She didn't even give it to Preston when he was 'dying' of thirst!"

"She didn't care if we live or die! She just wanted to save herself!"

Mom covers her mouth and nods.

"How did I raise such an ungrateful child?"

Dad's face goes dark. He snatches the drone controller and presses the intercom.

"Coco Sterling! I can't believe how badly you've disappointed us."

"This desert survival trip was your heir test."

"And you hid three bottles of tomato juice?! You wanted us to die out here, didn't you? So you'd finally be free of us!"

I can't answer him. I'm dead. Preston loses it.

He screams at my corpse.

"Stop acting! We know you're faking!"

"Apologize to Maisie. Swear you'll never bully her again. Then we bring you home!"

I still don't move.

The chat explodes.

"Hoarding juice to drink alone?? Is she even human??"

"Cold blooded bitch. Didn't even share when her boyfriend was dying."

"I was actually worried for her a second ago. This selfish psycho deserves to die out there."

Every comment stabs into me like a blade.

I scream at them, sobbing.

"No… no, it's not true… Don't listen to Maisie!"

"That's not tomato juice… that's my BLOOD… I left it for YOU!"

I'm on my knees, screaming my throat raw. But they can't hear me.

Dad's face is stone. He grabs the intercom to the cockpit.

"Captain. Turn the plane around."

His jaw is locked so tight, every word grinds out through his teeth.

"I'm going down there personally. I'll teach that ungrateful girl a lesson she'll never forget."

They're actually going to turn back for me.

Then, Maisie collapses backwards, stiff as a board.

Mom shrieks and lunges, catching her.

"Maisie?! Maisie, honey, what's wrong?!"

Maisie's shaking hand holds up a crumpled candy wrapper. Her eyes fill with tears.

"Chocolate…. Coco gave me this chocolate before she left… It's peanut-flavored…"

"She… she was trying to kill me out here!"