Joanne sat in a chair in her room attempting to read a book. While her eyes slid across the page, her mind wasn't really taking in any of the words. She had tried reading the same section over a dozen times and was not really making any head away.

Sighing to herself, she closed the book and looked around her room. For a personal bedroom it was quite large. It was one of the largest rooms in one of the largest houses in Tower City. The only reason her family was able to obtain such a large house was because of her father's Tower climb. The reason they were able to maintain such a lifestyle was due to her father's current position as head of Climber Academy.

Many would look at this room and think of the luxury and comfort that it afforded someone. Joanne just saw it as a metaphor for her life: large, lavish, and always in reference to her father. It’s not that he was a bad man, far from it. He was a kind loving father. It was just that people held him in such high regard for a single accomplishment. Honestly, if people treated her based on who she was instead of who her father was, she would be much happier. But the problem was everyone knew who he was. Just the fact that he had managed to complete the Medium Difficulty ensured that anything he said, any word he spoke, any stray thought he had was held as law. Not that it was always a bad thing.

It had been about 12 hours since she had said goodbye to Mike and John. Twelve hours where she had contented herself with the knowledge that her and Miki were truly over. Their relationship had been waning for over half a year. While she wished she still had the passion for it that she did initially, she knew there was no sense in continuing. It wasn't that he disobeyed her, it was that he didn't even consider her feelings at all. He really hadn’t thought about her feelings for a long time. In fact it was John who had sought to comfort her before the Tower climb.

She tried to hide the feelings in her heart. The ones that were happy that she had backed Miki into a corner. On one end, her father had pressed Miki to climb the Tower if he wanted to propose to her. On the other end, she had told him that if he climbed the Tower she would break up with him. No matter what he did, their relationship was over. She was free.

To the outside many would see them as a perfect loving couple. In fact, she was sure that was how Miki thought of their relationship. How could they not be in love? He was the son of the richest merchant in town. What girl would not be content with the man who had beaten every record at Climber Academy? And she was the beautiful daughter of the most famous climber in modern history. A match made in heaven for many, but not to her.

For the better part of a year, it was not Miki who she thought of at night. In fact, whenever they had made love she had often been thinking of somebody else. Okay she couldn't fool herself, she'd been thinking of many different men.

The only reason she had continued her relationship so long with Miki was his enthusiasm in making love. While he was not the most skilled lover, he more than made up for it with eagerness and a desire to please her. Hell, she almost stopped sleeping with other men since she started seeing him because of his enthusiasm. Almost.

The truth was that if Miki found out her propensity to take multiple lovers, he would freak out. It was this knowledge that led to her current attraction to John. While he was not the most dashing man about town, she was sure he would look the other way when she took the occasional lover. And she would be a good wife to him once he warmed up to the idea. In fact she would promise that any child she bore would be his; a promise she would keep.

She didn't understand the obsession with monogamy. It was like finding a book you enjoyed and deciding that that was the only book you were going to read for the rest of your life. No matter what other amazing books you were told about, you would stick with that one same book and never be tempted to read another. At the time it may seem like a great idea, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that you would get bored without a little variety.

Just like her father became bored of her mother and started sleeping around. Just as her mother became bored of her father and had taken additional lovers. She knew they pretended not to know, but even she knew from a young age that they were not faithful to each other. As soon as her mother told her of the birds and the bees, she realized their hypocrisy. She knew it from the moment her parents insisted she only have a single lover, her future husband.

No, Joanne knew she was a much better person than her father and mother. She would be honest with her husband prior to marriage and outline exactly what she expected. Did she relish the thought of her future husband sleeping with other women? Of course not. Perhaps that is another reason she now looked at John in such a favorable light. She knew once she married John, he would remain as faithful to her as possible. Certainly there would be one or two other women, but nothing like her father, who seemed to have a different lover every other day.

Once her two friends returned from climbing the Tower, she would finalize the end of her relationship with Miki. She would then use John as a shoulder to cry on. In a month or two, she would press to begin their relationship. Within a year, John would agree to her marriage stipulations and as a climber her father would have no issues with the engagement. And as for Miki… perhaps he wouldn't mind being her lover on the side. After all, he was very enthusiastic.

She knew Miki's parents fretted and worried about him climbing the Tower, as if he was a fragile pot that would break if put down too hard. She was confident that he could easily beat the Tower.

John and Miki wouldn't have any trouble climbing the Easy Difficulty. She would spend the next few months having a mini vacation from the two. There was always a young man or two who were interested in a little fun. Now she didn't have to worry about running into her two best friends while with other men, she could fully enjoy herself.

Abruptly there was a distinctive knock on her door. Her father always knocked on her door the same way since she was old enough to request privacy.

“Come in.”

“Good evening buttercup,” he greeted her. Something was wrong. The last time her father wore that expression on his face was when he had come to tell her that her grandfather had passed away.

“What is it? What happened?”

“I assume you know that Miki and John started their climbs today?”

“Indeed, I do,” she said, relaxing. Was her father really their climb would have her in a panic? “I spoke with both of them when they were on their way to the Tower. Surely you aren’t worried about them, Dad? I thought you would have a little bit more faith in those two.”

“Joanne I…damn this is difficult to say. Did either of them say anything about their plans? Did either of them tell you what difficulty they were going to choose?”

“No. From my discussions with Miki, I assume they were both going to choose ‘easy’. Don't tell me one of them chose ‘medium’.”

If one of them had chosen ‘medium', she hoped it would have been Miki. She was fairly confident John could complete the Medium Difficulty, but she would rather not have her future husband putting himself in such a dangerous situation.

“No sweetie, one of them did not choose medium.”

“Both of them?” A sudden sinking sensation hit her. They were both idiots. Miki never thought of anything other than himself. That blockhead would walk straight through a wall if he assumed there was a door there. And John had far too much loyalty to Miki. If he heard Miki was attempting the Medium Difficulty, he might attempt to do the same as some sort of false moral support.

“That is not it either. One chose Easy Difficulty, and the other Hard.”

“You can't be serious! How can you be certain?”

“I had three different people verify the change in the number of climbers attempting all the difficulties. We always keep track and as soon as they found out another climber had attempted the Hard Difficulty they notified me immediately.

“John and Miki are the only two who started the climb since we last checked. Additionally, our records indicate that no one else has attempted the Hard Difficulty since that crazy Ferris girl seven years ago. I’m sorry to tell you this but we know one of them decided to try the Hard Difficulty. I wanted to tell you before you could hear it from anyone else.”

She tried to form words. She tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Before she knew it, she started sobbing. Her father ran over to her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight.

They were her friends. They were her best friends. While she was ready to stop dating Miki, she still considered him one of her best friends. For the past several years they had been a trio.

How did this happen? Who had chosen to do the Hard Difficulty and why?

Could it be John? He mentioned feeling like a third wheel numerous times. Did he do this as an attempt to remove himself from coming between her and Miki? Choosing the Hard Difficulty would be viewing as a brave but stupid by most people around the town. Perhaps John viewed it as an attempt to distinguish himself from Miki. Maybe, he thought it was a way to fade into the background and have people keep a pleasant memory of him.

Or was it Miki? He didn't seem like the type to choose the Hard Difficulty. She knew he had never wanted to join Climber Academy and only did it out of his friendship for John. Perhaps he felt he had to exceed her father's accomplishments in order to truly “win her hand”.

Her father held her until the tears stopped. Scooping her up as if she was a little child he brought her to her bed and tucked her in. She wanted to argue. She wanted to say something to indicate that she would not be treated like a little child, but the words would not come.

“I know this is hard, sweetie. Try to get some rest. If you're up for it in the morning, I will need to speak to Miki’s family and let them know. I know it will be hard for you to talk with them, but they will share your feelings.”

Giving her a kiss on her forehead her father walked out of her room and quietly shut the door.

How could she talk with Miki’s family? She was sure his parents would blame her. And his little sister was wholly devoted to him, she would be absolutely crushed. They would be devastated by the news. She didn't want to go with her, but she knew it would be best if she was there when they found out. They wouldn’t know for certain who had chosen what difficulty until one of them returned. If it was Miki who chose the Hard Difficulty, they need to be prepared to accept his death. And if it was John, they needed to prepare to comfort Mki.

She wanted to hold out hope for both of them. Her heart tried to say that just because nobody had ever completed the Hard Difficulty did not mean it was impossible. However she logically knew millions had died trying and no one had ever succeeded.

Closing her eyes, she tried to think of John and Miki and she wanted to remember them. They were kind, loving and positive people.