The Follower Kate Doughty (general ebook reader .txt) 📖

flushes, but she can’t keep the smile from breaking on her face. “I actually used to do a lot of fashion content.”

“Used to?”

Amber shrugs; isn’t it obvious why Cecily gets all the clothes from sponsors? Breaking the silence, Bella sifts through Cecily’s closet.

“Here,” Bella says. “Screw being normal. Cecily, do you have any other weird clothes? We should do a makeover featuring the weirdest stuff you’ve got.” She scrunches up her face. “Although, now that I think of it, you’re tiny! I don’t think I’ll fit into any of it—might have to raid Amber’s closet instead,” she says with a wink. Amber laughs. She’ll gladly lend Bella her clothes anytime.

Cecily perks up. “Or, I could spare you from the hideous green jumpsuits and give you a hideous green makeover instead.”

Bella instantly perks up. She grins at Jada. “Her makeup is in—get this—the turret room.”

Jada doesn’t seem as excited. “The turret room? The one where—”

“It had the best lighting,” Cecily says apologetically.

“Excellent,” Bella says, throwing the green jumpsuit over her shoulder. “Let’s go!”

“You’ll look ridiculous,” Cecily says. Amber is smiling in spite of herself as she leads the girls upstairs. At least Cecily’s expensive makeup is a bit less . . . obvious than designer goods.

When Cecily pulls on the turret door, it doesn’t open. Nothing. Cecily lets out a panicked half-laugh.

“Uh, good thing you have the key,” Amber says, stumbling into recovery mode.

“Is it really locked?” Jada asks. She takes a step toward Amber.

Amber grazes Jada’s fingertips with hers, then, on impulse, grabs her hand. She gives Jada a smile. “It’s the old house. Mom calls it ‘quirky.’ A lot of the doors seem to have some kind of auto-lock or something. Cecily has the key though, right?” She gives her sister a pleading look.

“Of course.” Cecily pulls out the key and opens the door. “See? Easy. We’re in.”

The girls walk up the narrow staircase and enter the small, hexagonal room.

Amber watches Jada scan the space, then follows her eyes to the window. “That’s where it happened?” Jada asks. Amber nods. Jada’s fingers slip out of hers as she walks over and stares at the descent. “That’s a long way down.”

“Is that painting new?” Bella asks. “Are you an artist, too?”

Amber and Cecily explain about finding the paintings underneath the wallpaper, and the letter R carved into the dumbwaiter shaft from their last couple days here. The girls seem suitably spooked and impressed by the “old house secrets,” but it doesn’t take long for Bella to get distracted from the ghost and start flipping through Cecily’s makeup collection.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much makeup in my life,” Bella says. Amber thinks her laugh sounds a little weird—maybe even a little bitter. Is she jealous? Amber doesn’t blame her; she knows the feeling all too well.

Cecily nods. “Yeah. I get a lot of good loot for free to test out, but I don’t promote all of it, of course—only the stuff I like.”

Jada turns a palette over and yelps. “Ninety bucks?”

“Oh, is it?” Cecily asks, oblivious. “I don’t really check the prices when I get ’em. I haven’t bought makeup in ages.” Amber cringes, but her sister continues. “If you ever want to use any of them, seriously you’re always welcome. I have more than I can get through.”

“You can say that again,” Jada mutters.

Bella sits at the desk and sifts through the eyeshadows until she finds the most neon palette in Cecily’s entire collection. “I want the neon ones. Oh—no—wait, I’ve changed my mind. I want your formal go-to. The Cecily Cole signature look! I want to say that I got the Cecily Cole signature look. You know, so I can brag about it once you’re a guru with her own makeup line.”

Cecily laughs. “Hey, I don’t have a line yet . . . ,” she jokes, and she turns around to rummage through her palettes. Amber watches her. Does Cecily want her own makeup line one day? It seems like the logical next step for her, but would she really do it as part of a home renovation channel? Cecily wouldn’t leave the channel, would she?

“You can’t be far,” Bella says. “I mean, isn’t that what all the beauty influencers do? Break off and make their own product lines?”

Amber stares at Cecily, trying to read her sister’s face as she responds. “I mean, that would be nice, maybe, but we’re, uh, a three-person account, and . . .” Cecily falters. With a jolt, Amber realizes that Cecily has to at least be thinking about leaving them.

Cecily catches Amber’s eye, and without speaking, it’s settled. They will talk about this later. Not in front of their friends.

“All right, so this is my favorite palette,” Cecily says a moment later, reaching for a square compact. “I absolutely love the pearly shimmer of this one. I think it’s made of bismuth—and it’s vegan, unlike some other palettes that contain things like carmine.”

“I thought I recognized it from your vlogs!” Bella giggles. “Yes, yes, let’s do that one—”

“If you’re okay with doing makeup in the suicide room,” Rudy says suddenly. He pokes his head through the door. “The parents are asleep. Please tell me you’re not doing makeup. I found something.”

“What’s up?” Amber asks.

“Well, I finally untangled the cassette,” Rudy says. He quickly recaps the story for Bella and Jada. “And it’s not a mixtape. It’s a recording. I think . . . I think it’s a recording of Alex Grable.”

CHAPTER 14

Rudy

The room is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Rudy waits for the girls to respond. He’s not quite sure how he wants them to react. He’s not quite sure how to react himself. He had debated going up to the girls, debated even listening to the tape again—but there was too much on it. He had to tell them. And, although he hates to admit it, he doesn’t think he can handle being the only one to have heard the tape. Have heard her. He waits with bated breath.

Amber is the