Love, Audrey xx
‘There’s an after-party if you’re interested,’ Sky told me before throwing her arms around Jacob who had made a beeline for us. I hugged him, mentioning that he was way better on the catwalk than a hamster could ever be, and then pulled Sky away to talk to her privately while Ethan stepped forwards to congratulate Jacob.
‘I have to go.’ I waved my phone screen under Sky’s nose. ‘I’ve been busted.’
Sky bit her lip. ‘Is she angry?’
‘Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be attending any after-parties any time soon.’
‘And you’ll be ducking under many more tablecloths?’
‘Right.’ I smiled, rolling my eyes. ‘I’ll call a taxi.’
Sky nodded and turned back to Ethan, who was now standing on his own watching Jacob pose for photos with another model from the show.
‘Flick’s got to go home,’ Sky explained.
‘I can drop you if you like,’ Ethan offered quickly, his expression serious. ‘I’ve got a driver. He’ll be waiting right outside.’
‘No, you don’t need t–’
‘It’s not a problem, I’m leaving anyway.’
‘You’re not coming to the after-party?’ Sky asked, looking confused.
‘No,’ Ethan said gravely. ‘Have a good time, though. Come on, Flick, let’s get going before your mum sends out a search party.’
Sky wished me luck and Ethan put his hand on the small of my back to guide me through the crowd. The paparazzi were still waiting outside and they leaped into action as we came out of the show, flashes going off everywhere. As it was darker now, I hadn’t thought to put my sunglasses on – so I was immediately blinded by the flashing lights. Luckily Ethan was a pro at this kind of thing, and walked in front of me so I could look down and follow his shoes as he stepped confidently through the chaotic sea of photographers. His feet stopped suddenly and a car door swung open. Ethan held it as I clambered in and then slid in next to me, slamming the door behind him. ‘Hotel Royale first, please,’ he said to the man behind the wheel, who carefully pulled the car out into the road.
I watched the reporters lower their cameras, check the shots and then launch back into a frenzy as the door of the building opened again and someone else emerged.
‘You must be used to that kind of thing.’ I smiled, fiddling with the buckle of my seat belt.
‘Not really.’
‘Isn’t that part of what you do, though? The whole being-on-camera thing?’
‘Yeah,’ he replied thoughtfully. ‘It’s different when you’re not in control, though. With my vlogs, I’m in charge of what is being filmed and how it gets edited. I ask all the questions and decide on the angle. Being photographed like that, you never know what they’re going to write about you under the pictures.’
‘Better than not being written about,’ I pointed out. ‘Isn’t there that saying? Any publicity . . .’
‘Is good publicity,’ he finished. He looked down at his hands with his forehead creased. ‘I’m not so sure. You should see some of the stuff people leave in the comments on my channel. I always feel scared about what they’ll say.’
‘People say mean things?’
‘Yeah, all the time.’
I stared at him. ‘What mean thing can anyone possibly say aboutyou?’
‘Plenty, trust me.’ He smiled weakly.
I hesitated. Ethan had been so cool and confident up until now, it was weird to see him like this. Like a normal teenager, worried about a piece of homework or something.
‘Who cares what those mean people say?’ I said firmly, attempting to be useful. ‘Your fans definitely don’t. If you need any evidence of that, then you should just come to my school sometime. No one there has anything bad to say, I can assure you.’
He laughed. ‘Is that right?’
‘Are you kidding? You’d be ambushed. You shouldn’t worry about the bad comments. You’ve done so well being yourself, you should just keep doing that.’
