30. Elody

30ELODY

The door swings open, making me flinch, but it’s just Logan stomping inside, Kira right behind her. Both of them are soaked, standing in the doorway like little wet rats. Logan’s definitely been crying.

“Everything okay?” Corinne asks.

Obviously not, but Kira nods, glancing at Logan.

“Yeah,” she says. “I think so.”

Logan doesn’t say anything. She just marches on over to the stairs, her hand shoved deep into her hoodie pocket.

“Wait, I’m serious about staying together,” Corinne says.

Logan stops. “Yeah, well, I’m kind of soaking wet, so.”

Solid point. Corinne sighs, pulling at her necklace.

“Okay. Maybe we should all take five minutes to get our stuff from upstairs and bring it down here.”

“Wait, why?” I ask.

“We should camp out in the living room for now,” Corinne says. “It’ll be safer.”

I make a face, but don’t argue. Because actually, I don’t love the idea of sleeping alone in a locked room with Kira. And fine. Maybe I want to know if she and Max are going to do any more sneaking around. Like, for murder reasons.

“Whatever,” I say. “Let’s have a sleepover, then.”

We clear up breakfast and start heading upstairs, but Aaron doesn’t follow us. I catch him in the living room, squinting at the bookshelf.

“Um, what are you doing?” I ask.

He turns around quick, ears going red, like he got caught doing something bad. “Nothing. Just thought I saw something.”

I make a face. “Okay, creep.”

Maybe I should ask more questions, but honestly, I don’t want to spend any more time talking to Aaron than I have to. I go upstairs, leaving him behind.

When I get to my room, Kira and Corinne are almost ready, their bags at their feet and their bedcovers folded. God. This is about to be, like, the most depressing sleepover ever. Their faces look like they’re at a funeral.

And then I realize that Corinne has something in her hand.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“A DVD,” she says. “It’s from our ‘Sponsor.’ And it was in your stuff.”

“Wait, you went through my stuff?”

“Not on purpose,” Kira says. “It was on top, kind of sticking out.”

Yeah, right,I want to say. Sweet little Kira would never ever go through somebody’s stuff. I’m so pissed at her that I almost forget what’s actually happening. The Sponsor put a DVD in my bag. Wait, why the hell did the Sponsor put a DVD in my bag?

I put a hand on my hip, trying to keep it together.

“Okay, and? I haven’t seen a DVD since I was like four. What even is it?”

Corinne turns the case around to show me the front: ELODY EVER AFTER, PILOT.

I forget to breathe. And then I see the message, scrawled on a piece of paper and stuck to the cover:

THOUGHT YOU HAD US FOOLED? THINK AGAIN, BABE.

—YOUR SPONSOR

Everything slows down. Stops.

“No,” I tell them. “No. We’re not watching that.”

Kira takes a step toward me. “Elody—”

“No!”

I reach out to grab the DVD from Corinne’s hands, but she dodges me.

She looks at me like I’m crazed. “What’s on this DVD?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head, my throat closing like I’m going to cry. I’m not going to cry in front of them. “Whatever. Just put it away.”

Corinne nods. Then she tosses the DVD to Kira.

“Go,” she says.

Kira’s out the door so fast, I don’t even have time to try to stop her. All I can do is look at Corinne, stunned. Hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Corinne says. “But if the Sponsor planted this, then we need to watch it. It could give us another clue about who they are.”

Suddenly, I remember how to move. I run after Kira, the panic building up like a scream that gets cut off by someone’s hand over your mouth. Like Mom’s voice in my head. Never let them see you weak.

“Elody?” Max is coming down from the third floor with all his stuff. “What’s going on?”

Like he even cares. Max looks away from me and down to the living room, where Aaron’s on the couch, staring up at us.

Logan appears in her doorway. “What’s happening?”

“Everyone downstairs,” Corinne says, coming out of our room. “Now.”

When she sees my face, Logan looks like she’s going to say something, but I don’t wait to hear it, because she doesn’t give a shit about me. None of them do. I run downstairs, trying to think of how I can stop this. Anything to keep me from having to watch that DVD. But when I get to the living room, the TV’s all set up, and Kira’s about to press PLAY.

I want to scream, but I’m too tired. All I can do is sit on the couch and close my eyes, waiting, thinking I should have known this would happen. It was all too easy. The lie. Getting away with it. I trace the spot of my birthmark, and I know it’s probably just in my head, but I can still feel it. The pain there.

Sorry, El. Some things you just can’t fix.

Kira presses PLAY.

TRANSCRIPTION:ELODY EVER AFTER

SEASON 1, PILOT

[INTRO-SEQUENCE MUSIC.]

MONICA

Elody? [Knocking.] El, what are you doing in there, honey?

ELODY

Oh my god, Monica. What.

MONICA

Come out here for a second.

[FOOTSTEPS. DOOR OPENS.]

MONICA

What’s going on in there?

ELODY

Um, I’m taking pictures?

MONICA

Oh good, for the sponsored post with—?

ELODY

Literally none of your business.

[PAUSE.]

MONICA

Okay, well, do you think you should change into your new shorts?

ELODY

Why?

MONICA

Those old ones make your legs look big.

[DOOR SLAMS.]

[MUSICAL TRANSITION.]

ELODY

Hey. My name is Elody, and I’m sixteen.

MONICA

And I’m Monica, better known as Elody’s mom. Although some people think we’re sisters.

ELODY

Um, no?

[CUT.]

ELODY

How many followers do I have? Um …

MONICA

Just over five hundred thousand as of yesterday, right, baby?

ELODY

On Instagram, yeah. Three hundred K on TikTok.

MONICA

The growth over the past year has just been amazing, you know? It’s unprecedented.

ELODY

… Sure?

MONICA

But I wouldn’t call it an overnight success. Obviously, luck and timing are important, too, but there’s so much work you don’t see.

[CUT.]

MONICA

As a mother, of course I worry about so much of her life being online. But I like to think of it this way: in our circle, a lot of girls Elody’s age—you know, girls who’ve grown up with a certain amount of privilege—

ELODY

Ugh, Mom.

MONICA

Well, honey, it’s true! We’re so blessed to come from our kind of family. And plenty of girls in our situation, like the girls from Elody’s boarding school … they’d be thrilled to just sit back and be waited on for the rest of their lives.But Elody … she’s created something. She’s got this gift people want to see, and it’s like—

[OFF-SCREEN KNOCK.]

V.O.

Ms. Elody? Your smoothie is ready.

MONICA

We’re in the middle of recording.

V.O.

Oh! I’m so sorry, Ms. Monica. I didn’t—

MONICA

What did you think we were doing here with all of the cameras, Sonia? [Pause. Door closes.] I’m sorry. Sonia has been with us forever. She’s like family.

[CHAIR SHIFTING.]

MONICA

Elody, we’re—

ELODY

Whatever. This is boring.

MONICA

[Trying to cover mic.] Are you [censored] serious, Elody? Come back here right—

[FOOTSTEPS. DOOR SHUTTING.]

MONICA

[Laughs.] Teenagers, right?

[PAUSE.]

MONICA

We can—we can edit that out, can’t we?