Chapter 14
Maple
Coco is sitting at her desk, leaning forward over crossed arms. Her face is so close to the screen that it’s shimmering, and I feel an urge to reach out and touch it. Except it quickly folds into a frown. ‘Hey, babe, what’s up? You look sad.’
‘Do I?’ I feel self-conscious, like she can read my mind as well as my face.
‘Sorry, that came out wrong. I guess I just thought you’d be super happy after yesterday,’ she explains. ‘Your posts made it all look amazing, by the way. I can’t believe they built a glass box just for you!’
‘It was pretty cool,’ I admit, reminding myself how I felt being the center of attention, Lois giving me loads of compliments. ‘But there was this one gross guy.’
‘Eurgh.’ Coco sighs. ‘What did he do?’
Coco’s question makes me realize that he didn’t actually do anything. ‘I guess he just looked at me funny,’ I mumble. ‘But a ton more bad stuff has happened since then.’
Coco tips her head. ‘Oh?’
‘You know Dylan Dope?’
She looks at me, confused.
‘Yeah, you do,’ I tell her. ‘The skateboarder; does all those tricks. You must have seen his content?’
Her face clears and she smiles. ‘Duh, Dylan Dope, of course. What about him?’
‘Mom has invited him to stay with us. He’s coming on Monday.’
‘Woah.’ Coco leans back in her chair. It’s a gaming chair, but not because she’s into gaming – she really isn’t – but because her dad got it for her at a garage sale.
She says she likes it because it’s super comfy, but I think it’s more to do with it being a gift from him.
He’s not that interested in Coco usually – something else we have in common – so she takes the scraps, same as me. ‘Have you met him before?’ she asks.
‘Nope. Haven’t chatted either. I don’t even have his snap.’
‘So this is another one of your mom’s crazy plans?’
‘She wants us to create content together,’ I explain with a sigh. ‘She thinks collabs are good for my channel.’
‘Well, I guess she’s right there,’ Coco says. ‘And Dylan Dope is huge on TikTok.’
‘Yeah, and he’s a year older than me, and a boy, and his style is so gas. And worst of all, he’ll be hating this idea even more than me.’
‘You don’t know that,’ she counters. ‘You are the girl who’s just been to Vegas, remember?
Azione is a huge brand, and it’s got skateboard vibes.
And jeez, Maple, you have like two million subscribers on YouTube!
You’ve been famous since you were a baby.
Maybe he’s the lucky one, getting an invite? ’
My mouth lifts into something close to a smile. I don’t believe her, but it’s good to hear her say it. I wish it was Coco coming to stay next week, not some stranger. We would never run out of things to talk about.
In fact, maybe she could come to stay, later in the holidays. She might not have as many followers as me, but she’s got plenty. And if Mom thinks collabs are such a great idea, then she should be up for me organizing another one.
‘Hey, do you have much on this summer?’ I ask.
Coco shrugs. ‘Not really. Why?’
‘I just wondered if you wanted to come and stay with me for a while?’
She blinks, and for a moment I think she’s going to say no. But then her eyes widen. ‘In Utah? Oh my God, yes! When?’
Shit. Maybe I didn’t think this through.
Of course she would be excited. ‘Um, I’m not sure exactly, but I’ll check with my mom.
’ I watch Coco’s enthusiasm fade as she realizes it isn’t an actual invite.
‘But I guess you’ll be busy investigating the Sophie Lyle murder anyway? ’ I say, trying to change the subject.
And it works because her face brightens a notch. ‘Yeah, I want to use school break to do more digging. The police are so shit; they’ve done absolutely nothing for her. While that man is still out there, free, doing anything he wants. Killing other girls for all we know.’
I think about the man with the chocolates, Taylor’s comments about him carrying a gun. ‘Was Sophie on social media much?’
‘Why d’you ask that?’
I shrug. ‘You hear stories, don’t you? Stans online becoming psycho stalkers for real. And school is always going on about online predators.’
Coco sighs. ‘I know what you mean. That stuff freaks me out sometimes too. But then I remind myself that there are thousands, probably millions, of influencers out there who are safe, and getting to do what they love without any hassle.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m being stupid.’
‘And if it helps,’ Coco adds, ‘Sophie Lyle wasn’t on social media.’
‘What, not at all?’
Coco shrugs. ‘Maybe her parents were super strict. She didn’t even have a phone. So he can’t have found her that way.’
‘Thank you,’ I whisper. ‘I think it does help.’
She beams. ‘Anytime, babe. But sorry, I need to go now. You’ll be okay?’
I nod, smile. When I cut the call, my phone drops back into Instagram, and I notice that Mom has a new reel up on her own channel. I wonder if it’s content from our shopping trip and whether I feature.
But when I click into it, I see it’s Mom in our kitchen, talking direct to camera. I hit the unmute symbol and hold my breath.
She’s talking about parenting. How tough it is to see your child upset when she’s the butt of a classroom joke.
But how hormones and menstruation and neural pathways all play a part in making teenage girls overdramatic or morose or too emotional.
How she’s learned that the most important thing is to just be there for me.
I confided in her, and now she’s telling the world about it.
I scream and throw my phone across the room.