Page 50 of Someone Just Followed You

Dammit. I click my tongue so loudly that the bartender looks up. He must think that I’m trying to get his attention, because he nods at my now-empty glass, and for some reason I nod back. I watch him place a third vodka and soda in front of me. This will get me drunk. There will be consequences if I drink it. But Maple and Garrett have already caused terrible consequences for me, so why should I hold back?

I take a gulp and refocus on my phone.

I need to get Maple in front of Blake, somehow. And Jesus, my daughter owes me after all the trouble she’s caused. But it looks like it’s going to take time, especially with all this Ella Hart drama going on, which means I need to keep Blake sweet. I type again, the new message looking blurrier than the last.

That’s kind, thank you. Hopefully she’ll be better soon. I’ll be in touch, but do let me know if there’s anything I can help with in the meantime.

Blake doesn’t respond so quickly this time, and I wonder if this is it. If she’s already lost interest again. I stare at my phone and sip my drink and pray for it to light up. And finally, it does.

We would like some insight into how Maple’s bone structure will develop in the next few years. Could you possibly send some photos of Maple growing up? Unfiltered, natural. Holiday snaps would work. Thanks.

Bone structure? Wow, modeling is so scientific these days. And holiday pictures are easy; I’ve got albums for all our different trips. I switch to photos and choose a selection. Camping in Zion National Park when Maple was seven and eight, Oak Creek Canyon at nine, then Bear Lake when she was eleven and twelve. I send them over to Blake, a little giddy now, or drunk maybe. And I get a two-word message back – Thank you.

I sit back, pleased with myself. For taking the initiative.

But suddenly I remember that I still don’t have the name of Blake’s modeling agency. I quickly type another message, my fingers more slippery on my screen now, and wait.

But it seems that Blake’s gone dark on me again.

Chapter 58

Maple & Dylan

@Unicornsarereal<3, TikTok

Maple is SO into Dylan, you can tell. And that kiss they had was so cute! Not gonna lie, I think them doing this thing together is SO romantic #findElla

Maple: Hey, everyone, thanks for, um, you know, coming.

Dylan: Yeah, thanks for watching our live stream. There are literally thousands of you this time, which is wild, isn’t it, Maple?

Maple: Huh? Yes, amazing. So cool.

Dylan: Anyway, we’ve got a lot to share with you tonight, so we should start. Do you want to go first?

Maple: No, you go.

Dylan: Right, okay. So after our last show, we had a comment from someone called Brandoninthesky. Now we’ve had lots of people say they’ve seen Ella over the last eighteen months, but this guy, well he claims to know where Ella is right now. But he doesn’t say where that place is. I guess you could say we’re skeptical, but Brandoninthesky, if you’re watching today, will you get in touch please? DM either of us on TikTok or Instagram. We’d really love to hear what you know.

Maple: We really would. Unless it’s bullshit, of course. Because while we love that you all care so much about Ella, we’re both getting heaps of really sus DMs. I know we can delete them so it’s not that deep, but it still takes time away from what we’re trying to do. Which feels more urgent now.

Dylan: Yeah, because Maple discovered something pretty bad last week. Can you tell everyone about it?

Maple: I can, yes. Sorry, give me a minute.

Dylan: Sure. No stress.

Maple: So yeah, last Friday I was tipped off, by an anonymous account, that Ella was working in the porn industry. And that her image was on the dark web. I was happy that she was alive, of course, but freaked out about what state she must be in mentally to do that. I also didn’t know whether to believe it or not. It’s not like an account that starts ‘anon’ screams genuine.

Dylan: So you did what any decent investigative journalist would do.

Maple: Well yeah, I found my way onto the dark web. And the tip-off proved to be right because Ella was there, on this website, and it was a photo of her topless, plus the chance to click for a thousand more photos. Except … well, except it wasn’t Ella now. Sorry, guys, this is rough, but the photo was from when she was younger. More like my age, I guess.

Dylan: Which is both shocking and illegal. We’ve talked about it, and we think that this could have been what Selena and Bodi were arguing about that day. Because if they’d just found out that their daughter was on the dark web, it makes sense that they’d be mad as hell about it, throwing their phones, blaming each other. And if they then told Ella, her reaction fits too.

Maple: Her content became darker after that. She changed her style, dyed her hair, used makeup like a mask. Maybe that was her first way of hiding. And then ten months later, she did it for real.

Dylan: Scatsforbratz is asking whether that means we think she ran away, and if so, if it was her choice to go, shouldn’t we let her stay hidden.