Page 65 of Someone Just Followed You

‘Did you not hear me when I called you down here?’ Nikki shouts. ‘Come on, we’re doing high jump now. Your mom didn’t pay for sports camp so you could sit around all day!’

‘Coming,’ Ryan calls back. But then his head lowers and he stays put.

Nikki swears under her breath. Her parents were both teachers, and she remembers long family vacations with her two brothers every summer. Taking their RV on the road, West Virginia to Florida, six weeks exploring the Sunshine State. So it kinda pisses her off that she can’t afford to do the same. That if she wants to live in a half-decent neighborhood, she needs to top up her school coach salary by working most of the summer break at camps like this.

‘Ryan!’ she calls out again, but this time he doesn’t even acknowledge her. Even though camp rules state that all tech needs to be kept in the kids’ bags until home time, she just knows that he’s nose-deep in an iPhone. She turns to the nine other twelve-year-olds in her group. ‘Wait here,’ she instructs. ‘If anyone touches anything,’ she adds, wafting her hands toward the high-jump bar and the giant blue cushion beyond it, ‘it’ll be twenty push-ups, no arguments.’

Nikki strides over to the bleachers and stands, hands on hips, in front of the errant kid. ‘Ryan,’ she says for the third time. ‘What are you doing?’

He looks up. His eyes squint in the sunshine that’s leaking over her shoulder, and he lifts his back just enough for her to spot the rectangular contraband in his hands. ‘Nothing.’

‘So what are you watching?’ Nikki asks, nodding at the phone that he’s now failing to cover. ‘Come on, what TikTok video is more fun than me teaching you high jump?’

Nikki expects Ryan to look down at his clean white Nike trainers, finally chastened after being caught in the act. But instead, he beams, his eyes glinting, like he’s excited to find a fellow TikTok fan. ‘Maybe Maple’s gone missing,’ he announces. ‘And Dylan Dope is trying to find her.’

‘Okay,’ Nikki says, wondering who the hell these people are, and how badly it will affect her cool teacher status if she admits ignorance.

‘But do you know what’s crazy?’ Ryan goes on.

‘You showing no remorse for being on banned tech when you should be Fosbury flopping over a high-jump bar?’ she asks.

He looks puzzled for a moment, but he mustn’t have learned sarcasm yet because his face quickly clears. ‘No, not that. Dylan is asking if anyone knows Maple’s friend Coco, or the name of her YouTube channel, and the crazy thing is that I do! It’s called “Coco’s Cold Case.” Do you think I should tell him?’

Nikki crouches down until her face meets Ryan’s. Then she finds her hardest Coach Herrera stare. ‘Do you know what I think, Ryan?’ She points a finger at him. ‘I think you should spend the next ten seconds putting your phone in your bag and running as fast as you can to join your group. Then you’ll get to hone your high-jump skills, and I won’t have to tell your mom that you misbehaved today. How does that sound to you?’

‘It sounds good, Coach Herrera,’ Ryan whispers, understanding finally landing.

‘Great.’ Nikki stands up, claps her hands, and watches with satisfaction as the boy leaps into action.

Chapter 75

Maple

@Anonfrom>>0, TikTok

I told you that Ella was dead. What did Maple expect if she was willing to play with fire?

Why did the Uber driver look at me like that? Like he knows me, all of me. I feel sick. Slutty. Even though I’ve done nothing wrong.

When that weirdo shoved chocolates at me, and that sweaty man in Vegas looked at me grossly, and the handsy guy at the baby contest put his arm around me, I assumed they recognized me from YouTube.

But maybe that was wrong. I mean, why would grown men watch a kid’s YouTube channel anyway? Especially when they can see me, all of me, at least a body they think belongs to me, someplace else.

‘Hey, actually could you drop me here?’ I blurt out, suddenly desperate to get away from this dirty old man in his Toyota Prius who thinks he’s seen me naked.

He looks at me in the rearview mirror. ‘You don’t want to complete the journey?’ he asks. ‘It won’t change the charge.’

‘Please. Now. Please stop the car.’

He taps the steering wheel a few times, then brakes and pulls over. ‘I know who you are, you know.’

I fumble with the door handle.

‘I’m not sure it’s safe for you out there. A girl like you on her own at night.’

A girl like you.

‘I’ll be fine,’ I stutter. I step out onto the sidewalk. He waits for a few seconds, then accelerates off, and I feel like I’ve both escaped a monster and been abandoned by an adult. I’m next to the highway, so it’s not quiet or remote, but it is almost dark now. Cars rush past, but their headlights face forward, no one noticing the kid hovering with nowhere to go.