Page 34 of Someone Just Followed You

‘My dad will hate it,’ Dylan says, nodding thoughtfully. ‘But how can I say I want to be a human rights lawyer and then be too scared to help someone who might be in trouble?’

‘Because he’s your dad, and you live in his house.’

‘Yeah, and I’m sixteen soon, and stronger than him, and maybe it’s about time I built a spine.’

I feel the pull of a smile, but I resist it. I need Dylan to be certain. ‘Are you sure about this?’

‘I’m bored of Dad telling me to jump and me asking how high, sometimes literally. I want to skateboard at the weekend, when it’s sunny, with my friends. Not every day. Not do the same trick a hundred times over because the light is wrong, or whatever. I want to study, make an actual difference. So yeah, I’m sure. Fuck him.’

I feel a swell of something like pride or power or shared endeavor in my chest. ‘What will we call it? Our channel?’

‘How about just Maple and Dylan?’ he suggests. ‘Then people can think what they want.’

‘Maple and Dylan,’ I repeat slowly, as though I’m considering it. When actually I’m just trying to hold my shit together. Because he said my name first.

Chapter 41

Kirsten

I hear the front door swing open, lay my palms flat on the counter, and wait for Maple to appear. She has been either moody or absent since Dylan left, and I have zero patience left. Everyone has off days, sure, but I need her to refocus now on what we’re building together. Especially with Garrett getting on his high horse about the twins, and then threatening to stop Maple too. And now he’s talking about us moving away. Honestly, it’s so tiring being the only one who knows what’s best for this family.

I managed to film enough covert content on Tuesday to pull together a reel of Maple with Dylan that was just about suggestive enough to keep followers’ tongues wagging. But there’s been a content drought since, and we’re starting to lose followers. It’s so frustrating. This collaboration with Dylan is Maple’s best chance at making it into the super league and she’s throwing it away. Well, I’m not letting it happen. Especially with a new modeling contract in the balance.

‘Oh, hey,’ Maple says with as much energy as a corpse.

‘Hi, my gorgeous Maple honey,’ I respond, injecting enough sparkle for both of us. ‘You went out early. What have you been up to?’

‘Um, I was at Martha’s.’

‘No you weren’t. I looked on Find My iPhone. You were up the street somewhere.’

Her eyes narrow. ‘Why are you tracking me? I’m nearly fifteen!’

I could remind her that it’s my job to keep her safe, and that there are real dangers out there. But that’s not the message I want to be conveying this morning. ‘I’m sorry, honey, you’re right. But listen, I’ve got some exciting news.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Maple pulls open the fridge door and grabs a slice of cheese. She peels away the plastic cover and folds it into her mouth – like it’s a stick of sugar-free gum, and not a slab of saturated fat. I breathe out, tell myself that it’s only one slice. And if the worst happens, there’s always Wegovy.

‘An international modeling agency has been in touch,’ I say. ‘They’ve seen your Azione work, and they want to sign you. Isn’t that amazing?’

Finally, she looks semi-interested. ‘Like a proper one?’

‘Yes!’ I walk closer, stroke her hair. She leans back against the countertop. ‘They’re based in New York,’ I say. ‘Which is obviously quite a trek for us, but Blake, who runs it, is going to be in Vegas next week. She asked if you’d meet her there.’

‘Meet her in Vegas?’

‘Exactly. And she’s got front-row tickets to Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand on Tuesday evening and wants to take you as her guest. Isn’t that so cool?’

‘It is cool, I suppose,’ Maple says, her forehead creasing. ‘But I don’t really want to go back to Vegas right now. Can we not just have a meeting on Zoom or something?’

‘No, Maple, we can’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well …’ I stutter to a stop. Because I’m not totally sure why not. Blake has Maple’s photos, and I offered to send her more. And modeling is all about photos, isn’t it? But you don’t offer a child amazing tickets to a Vegas show for no reason, and the last thing we want to do is disappoint her, especially with Garrett making things so difficult. I already feel like I’m hanging off a precipice and it’s Blake who’s holding the rope.

‘Modeling isn’t just about how you look, is it?’ I continue, finding my groove. ‘They’ll want to know you’re a hard worker, disciplined, ambitious. And that you eat and drink healthily,’ I add pointedly as she opens the fridge door again.

She sighs, closes the fridge, and turns back to me. ‘What’s the agency called? I’ll check them out, then decide if I want to go.’