The Follower by Kate Doughty (ebook reader with built in dictionary TXT) 📕

“C’mon, Steve. Hands off the designer goods,” Miles jokes.

Bella leads the triplets around and makes more introductions. Several partygoers cut through the crowd to talk to the them—well, to talk to Amber’s siblings. She tries not to let her confidence fade as small crowds form around Cecily and Rudy. Someone turns the music back up, and the drinking and dancing and chatter resumes. Even the kids who haven’t come to introduce themselves are clearly intrigued, sending curious—or jealous—glances their way.

Amber looks around. While some people approach them, clearly fans, others make sour faces and whisper what she assumes are snide comments behind red Solo cups. Are they just jealous? Or is it something more sinister?

When Amber’s attention returns to her siblings, they’re both occupied. Cecily, Bella, Alicia, and a small crowd of girls are deep in conversation about evolving makeup trends, like which brands are going vegan and cruelty-free, and who has the best range of foundation for diverse skin tones.

“I’m so glad that a lot of brands are moving away from animal testing,” Cecily says. “I have a rabbit, too, and to think about what all those other bunnies go through—that’s why I really encourage my followers to go vegan when it comes to makeup.”

The girls crowd around Cecily to gush over pictures of Speckles—Amber catches cries of “Oooh, he’s so tiny!” and “I want to meet him!” Then someone asks Cecily which ingredients are vegan and which aren’t, and Cecily goes off on a tangent about how Carmine is a common animal-based product used in a lot of red pigments. Amber watches with a small smile. Cecily is in her element, and the girls around her actually seem . . . interested. Someone switches the topic to affordable, drugstore vegan makeup, and Amber notices a few other girls detaching from the crowd, hooked.

On her other side, Rudy is talking workout routines with Miles and a couple of the other boys. Amber figures he’s about two minutes away from getting roped into that game of Frisbee. All it will take is for someone to mention jamming, and she’ll never see him again.

And then, all of a sudden, Amber is alone.

So she decides to do what she always does when she feels pushed off to the side: She snaps back into picture mode. The fire would make good lighting; they could go with some kind of rustic, camping theme. As she sets the frame, she notices that the girl from the hardware store, Jada—as if Amber would forget her name—has broken off her conversation to stare at Amber from across the fire. Amber locks eyes with her and confirms what she thought the first time she saw her: that this girl is beautiful. She has rich dark skin and hair tied up in bantu knots, and her look—skinny jeans, an oversize T-shirt, black combat boots and a denim jacket—broadcasts complete confidence. The kind of confidence Amber wants to have. When they make eye contact, Jada doesn’t look away. She just smiles and nods her head at the log next to her.

Amber takes a deep breath, then walks over and takes a seat.

Jada slides closer. “Hey. Good to see you again. Jada, remember? Jada King. From the hardware store.”

“Of course,” Amber says. How could she forget? She feels her confidence falter. “But, uh, you probably want to talk to Cecily. She’s that one.” She points a joking thumb to her sister on her left.

But to her surprise, Jada cocks her head. “What are you talking about? I’m here to talk to you.”

Amber blinks. “Oh,” she says awkwardly. “Well, then, hi.”

Jada laughs and slides closer. “So tell me, how does the life of the rich and famous compare to little ol’ Norton? Bored to tears yet?

“It’s quiet,” Amber admits. “But that’s kind of nice. It has pretty good pizza, too, so that doesn’t hurt.”

“That’s the only thing it has. Besides bonfires and football, the only thing to do around here is hunting—if you’re into that sort of thing. And drink, I guess,” she adds, reaching for the bottle that’s made its way over to them. She takes a pull and passes it to Amber. Across the bonfire, one of the boys starts making exaggerated revving noises. Jada rolls her eyes. “Of course it took them about five minutes to start talking about ATVs. Welcome to the sticks.” She shoots Amber a bright smile, and Amber realizes that she’s been staring. But Jada doesn’t seem to notice—or if she does, she doesn’t seem to care. Or maybe . . .

Amber returns the smile. Jada laughs and points to the bottle Amber is still holding. Amber hands it over and Jada takes another swig from it.

A few feet away, Miles is talking loudly to Rudy about the best trails. “We should go,” Ambers hears him say. “But don’t wear your Yeezys. They’ll get trashed.”

Amber wonders how her brother will respond to that offer; riding ATVs is not exactly his thing. But then something in the woods catches her attention. A movement, just off to the side of the clearing. Miles must see it too, because he raises a hand as he looks out into the woods. “Hold up,” Miles calls out. “Hey! We’re over here.”

“Let’s go see who’s coming,” Jada suggests. Amber gets up and follows her over to the group of boys.

“Whatcha looking at?” Jada asks, peering out into the darkness. “I didn’t think anyone else was coming.”

Miles shrugs. “Thought I saw someone out there. Guess not.”

Amber doesn’t add that she thought she saw someone, too.

Cecily and her new group of friends wander over. Cecily loops her arm through Amber’s and smiles. She’s definitely having fun.

“What’s going on over here?” Cecily asks.

“Miles thought he saw someone, but no one seems to be coming. And they’re not expecting any more kids to show up,” Amber explains. She’s suddenly feeling a little nervous.

“Maybe it was Alex Grable’s ghost,” the boy named Trent says, eyeing the triplets.

“Okay, you have to tell me,” Alicia says, cutting in.