Page 45 of Someone Just Followed You

‘Right.’ I pause, conflicted. The New York Times has a reputation around here, and not a good one. But still, they don’t visit often. I stand a little straighter. ‘What do you want? Because if it’s to talk about this Ella Hart stuff, then the answer’s no.’

‘I wanted to ask about Maple, actually.’

‘Well, that’s a bigger no.’

‘How she’s coping with being in the spotlight.’

‘Maple loves the spotlight, so she’s doing just fine. Now, would you mind stepping back from my car?’

‘Would you mind if I quoted from her channel?’ Meg parrots back. ‘Because I thought it was interesting that she said, “To me, it makes sense that Ella wanted to get away; having millions of subscribers follow your whole life is intense.” That sounded like a cry for help to me.’

‘That’s complete bullshit!’ I ram my lips together. I mustn’t lose control, especially with my face this bare, no makeup, no camouflage. I find a smile. ‘Maple is just a normal teenager who loves to share her life with her friends online,’ I go on. ‘It’s as simple as that.’

‘So you’re not worried about the stats then,’ Meg says, not missing a beat. ‘That a third of teenage girls say Instagram makes them feel worse about their body, and half have received unsolicited sexual content. Or the risk that Maple’s online fame might spill into the real world, like it did with Ava Majury. Kirsten, do you worry that Maple will blame you for monetizing her childhood later in life?’

‘No!’ A bright light flickers in my eyes, sunrays bouncing off the windshield maybe, and I blink. ‘Maple and I are the closest mother and daughter you’ll ever meet.’

‘So you support her takedown of Selena Hart then? Are you worried how Selena might react?’

I shake my head at the subject swerve. ‘What? No! Please, leave me alone.’

She steps back, and I whip open my car door and tumble inside. But her smug smile remains in front of my eyes. Alongside an image of the guy across the street with a big camera and a matching grin.

Chapter 53

Kirsten

@feministrageclubTX, TikTok

So my question is, why is it always the mom’s fault? Where’s the dad? #findElla

‘Maple!’ I shout as I walk into the house. ‘Get down here!’

‘What’s wrong, Mommy?’

I look into Ash’s questioning face, his worried eyes. ‘Nothing’s wrong, sweetheart,’ I say, trying hard to hide my anger. ‘So what have you been up to this morning?’

‘Um, me and Aspen made lemonade with Maple. It was really fun.’

‘You did, huh.’ Another wholesome activity not captured, not shared. God, this is so frustrating. Maple is sabotaging everything I’ve built over fourteen years, and Garrett is behaving like a dinosaur about the twins. How the hell have we got here?

I look up to the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

‘Yeah,’ Maple says. ‘What’s up?’

What’s up. Like she doesn’t know. Rage bubbles through my every pore.

‘We need to create some content for Maybe Maple,’ I say in my most professional director’s voice. ‘You know, the channel you’ve been dedicated to your whole life? We haven’t put a video up since Dylan left, which is so off-schedule I can hardly bear to think about it.’

‘I’ve been busy with my new channel.’ Maple’s voice is quiet, but there’s a steeliness there I don’t like. ‘And keeping up with all my new followers on TikTok. I hit half a million this morning.’

I waver. Those kinds of numbers are what we’ve been aiming for since Maple joined TikTok a year and a half ago. But what’s the point of popularity when the content that got her there also got her fired from our PR agency? It’s like me being approached by a journalist from a national newspaper; it should be something to celebrate, but it’s not.

‘Even more reason to show them the real you then,’ I say. ‘You don’t want to only be known as the girl who brought down the Harts.’

‘Ella’s missing, Mom. Can’t you be proud of me for trying to find her?’

‘I’m proud of you, Maple,’ Ash pipes up.