Followers

by Raziel Reid

  yeshii99 You’re body is fine but can’t deny your face kinda look like a man!

  katee.erin Joel can do so much better now fall off into obscurity and die

  auckland5 Why’d Jole delete the photo of you ? @lillianrhode @thejoelstrom

  jenegreen358 You look OLD af!!! You’re going to age young and not good. Then your future husband (not joel ) will find a new and younger wife. They always do, so dont get mad at me!

  It’s the worst moment of her life when Joel’s car flips. Lily has never been so terrified or felt so helpless. She and Hailey speed after the ambulance in Hailey’s Mercedes. But when they get to the hospital, they’re turned away for not being family.

  “You don’t understand,” Lily tries to plead with the nurse. “It’s…”

  She can’t bring herself to say it, but she can tell by the way Hailey is looking at her that she’s thinking it, too.

  It’s all Lily’s fault.

  If she hadn’t ignored Hailey’s call, then Joel would’ve found out about Greta sooner and he wouldn’t have been so angry before he raced. Lily made it so much worse. Joel was too agitated and worried about his sister to race.

  Hailey is silent most of the drive home. They’re both in shock. Lily checks Instagram for any updates. She can’t keep track of all the notifications. The photo Joel posted of them at dinner got his fangirls riled up; they’ve been sending her death threats all night. There are also countless references of the drag race crash. There are videos and photos. It’s in the press.

  “I’m scared,” Lily says. She fights back tears.

  “Don’t say that,” Hailey says. “There’s nothing to be scared of. Joel’s going to be fine. He was conscious when they put him in the ambulance.” Hailey takes a deep breath. “He’s going to be fine. He has to be.”

  Through her tears, Lily reaches over and takes Hailey’s hand. Hailey actually gives Lily’s hand a squeeze. In their shared worry over Joel, they’ve been brought together. Or at least that’s how it feels, for a fleeting moment.

  “Because if anything happens to Joel,” Hailey says, pulling her hand away, “it’s on you.”

  When they get home, Hailey follows Lily into the pool house.

  “I just can’t believe you hid that I called Joel from him,” Hailey says, slamming the door behind them. “He deserved to know that Greta needed help!”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Lily spins around to face Hailey. But she doesn’t have the energy for a fight. On the drive to the drag race, Lily admitted to Hailey that she ignored Hailey’s call. It was so obvious why Joel was upset, and Hailey wouldn’t stop pushing until Lily told her what had happened.

  “You’re lucky Greta’s going to be all right!” Hailey says. She won’t drop it. Lily snaps.

  “If you were so concerned about Greta, then why didn’t you call her mom? Why didn’t you get someone from the bar to help? Why did you keep partying with her? Why were you enabling her? Is it because you wanted her to OD so that you could call Joel? You knew that we were in Malibu and you wanted to ruin it!”

  “Are you out of your mind? The world doesn’t revolve around you, Lily. Tonight was about me and my best friend and her brother. In case you haven’t realized, we have a whole history that doesn’t involve you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You don’t belong here. The longer you try to exist in this world the more harm you’ll cause! Greta’s going to be okay, but if anything happens to Joel…”

  Lily shakes her head. “You’re never going to accept me, are you?” She looks searchingly in Hailey’s eyes. “I hoped that this rivalry wouldn’t last forever. That the Hailey on-screen and the Hailey in real life would meet and I’d get a whole human being. But that’s never going to happen, is it? To you I’ll always just be a piece of trash from the Valley.”

  “Do you know why I hate you?” Hailey asks. “It’s not just because you’re tacky, or even because of Joel. It’s because you’ve acted so innocent all this time. Like you didn’t know there was something between me and Joel? Like you didn’t purposely go after him?”

  “I didn’t go after Joel. And he didn’t go after me. We just…happened.”

  “Yes, Lily. I know. Things just happen to you. You’re just, like, fated. Right? That’s how you ended up living my life.” Hailey glares at her for a second and then goes on. “The real difference between us isn’t just economics. It’s that I know who I am. You talk about on-screen Hailey versus off-screen Hailey like I’m not consciously uncoupled. I’m a two-faced bitch, Lily. I like it that way! But you? You’re not even aware of your own duality. You think you’re simply good. And those are the worst kind of bad people.”

  greta.strom

  730k followers

  allupinmabizznez Classless

  nazshugaa Is joel okay?!?!??? @greta.strom @thejoelstrom

  shuffles.x Praying for your family

  sevge_shop Way to be the WORST influence on your brother

  denise.peker.39 I was so disappointed to hear you didn’t die sweetie

  As soon as she regains consciousness and learns that Joel’s been in an accident, Greta insists on seeing him. When the nurse won’t let her, she rips the IV out of her own arm. They’re giving her fluids because she’s dehydrated, which is what made her overdose. There’s a sick video making the rounds of her foaming from the mouth.

  Joel’s in bed with his arm in a cast when Greta enters his room. His eyes are closed, and even though Greta tries to shut the door softly, it still wakes him up. He looks directly at her, pressed against the door, mascara running down her cheeks and her head pounding. She’s not dead yet.

  Joel smiles. Greta can’t meet his eyes. She’s so ashamed. Joel knows her better than anyone. He knows her better than she knows herself.

  “Joel…” She doesn’t finish.

  “No big deal,” Joel says. “Just a few cuts and scrapes. They’re keeping me here for observation to make sure I don’t have a concussion. My Porsche got the brunt of the damage. Poor baby.”

  Greta bursts into tears. She can’t control it. She sits next to the hospital bed and buries her face in Joel’s chest.

  Joel puts an arm around her back. “I didn’t realize you cared,” he says softly.

  Greta was born two minutes after Joel. But it might as well have been two years judging by how protective he’s always been of her. And sometimes two lifetimes, by how distant they can be. Greta knows that no boy has ever loved her as much as her brother.

  When she was nine years old and anorexic, she refused to take off her coat in class and her teacher started yelling and threatening to send her to the office. All the kids in the class chimed in. “Just take off your coat already!” Greta started crying. It wasn’t that it was a new Burberry. They didn’t understand. She needed her coat. She hated herself less when she was wrapped in her coat. The teacher told her to go to the office, and when Greta stormed out, Joel leaped from his desk and followed after her, even when the teacher called him back. The next day he refused to take off his own coat. And Joel was the most popular kid in class. Suddenly, everyone was wearing their coats in class. It became a trend for the rest of winter and the teacher was just, like, FML.

  When the first season of Platinum Triangle aired and Greta was insecure because Hailey, Bea, and Valeria got so many more followers than her, it was Joel who took her phone out of her hand and said they’re more popular only because they’re not as honest. That it’s easy to get followers when you’re willing to manipulate them into believing an idea of who you are. When you’re selling them what they want.

  And when Joel caught on that Hailey wasn’t a true friend to Greta, he stopped crushing on her like he had been since they were kids.

  Greta lifts her head from Joel’s chest. He wipes a smudge of mascara off her cheek and looks down at his black thumb.

  “How are you doing?” he asks. “I tried to see you before the race.”

  Greta gives a litt
le laugh. “Both Strom kids in the hospital and disasters behind the wheel.” She makes Joel smile. “Twinning.”

  She puts her head back down on his chest. “Thank you for defending me against Brandon and Idris. I was too embarrassed to say it before. But you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”

  “I want you to go to rehab, Greta. Please?”

  Before Greta can answer, they’re interrupted by voices outside the door.

  “Which room is he in?” Jessica asks. “This one?”

  Greta lifts her head.

  “He’s resting,” Kathy says.

  “You are not stopping me from seeing my son!”

  Greta stands up so fast she almost knocks the chair back. Jessica and Kathy burst into the room. They just stare when they see Greta with Joel. The room goes quiet and it’s like everyone’s holding their breath, until Joel says from his hospital bed, “Looks like the gang’s back together.”

  lillianrhode

  75k followers

  jaden_199969 Hailey wannabe

  jaden_199969 U wish u were Hailey

  jaden_199969 U just wanted Joel bc of his name not him

  jaden_199969 U even use Hailey quotes

  jaden_199969 Duck

  jaden_199969 Ur racist too

  jaden_199969 No one likes u

  Lily puts a few celery sticks in the Breville blender on the kitchen counter in the Paleys’ main house. Ana is watching from the other side of the island like she’s sure Lily’s going to cause an explosion.

  It’s not Lily’s usual breakfast, but she just wants to take something to go this morning so she can head straight to the hospital and see Joel. She wants to talk to him before he’s released. She has to explain why she ignored Hailey’s call last night.

  Lily likes the sound of the blaring blender. It feels like she’s letting out what’s inside of her. She’s especially agitated because, for some reason, Sam wants “Real Home” footage of Lily this morning. Sam didn’t give her a shooting schedule. She just showed up.

  “I thought the fashion show was the end of filming?” Lily asks.

  “We want to check in with you,” Sam says, “see how you’re doing after…” Sam waves her hands around her chest.

  Lily pours the celery juice into a plastic bottle. “This really isn’t a good time, Sam.” But Platinum Triangle will not be deterred. There’s a camera, and Lily has a mic wire dropped down her back while she takes a sip of her juice.

  “Seriously,” Lily pulls away. “I just called an Uber.”

  The doorbell rings. Ana goes to answer it and comes back into the kitchen to tell Lily that it’s for her.

  “A boy,” Ana says.

  Lily can feel the camera zooming in on her. She glares at Sam. What kind of a setup is this? Lily is so not in the mood! She starts pulling out her mic-pack as she walks down the hall to see who it is. Idris? What would he want? He gave Greta the letter last night, and from what Lily has heard in her Mentions, it did not go well.

  When she sees who is, in fact, standing in the middle of the Paleys’ foyer, Lily stops dead in her tracks. She lets go of her mic-pack in surprise.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Chris picks up a framed family photo of the Paleys from the front table, next to a fresh bouquet of flowers.

  “How’d I not know you were related to Hailey Paley?” he asks. “I follow her. Think I have a shot?”

  Lily’s eyes automatically land on the camera that has followed them into the foyer. Hailey is still sleeping. At least, she hasn’t come downstairs yet. Or did she have the same idea as Lily and go see Joel early? If she is home, the last thing Lily wants is for Hailey to see her with Chis and go running to Joel, making it seem like something it isn’t.

  “Come with me.” Lily grabs Chris by the arm, pulling him past the camera.

  “Are we on TV?” Chris asks, almost dropping the frame as he replaces it on the table.

  Lily leads him out back to the pool. The camera operator tries to follow them out.

  “No way!” Lily gives a warning look to Sam. “You’re not shooting this!”

  “Okay, okay!” Sam holds up her hands. “We’ll back off.” Sam motions for the camera to stay inside the house. Lily sees that the camera is still filming them through the glass door and she remembers her mic-pack. But instead of pulling it out, she decides that this is her opportunity to get a recording of Chris admitting that he was behind the break-in.

  “Not happy to see me?” Chris asks. “Too much of a big-shot Beverly Hills princess now?”

  “Nope,” Lily says. “Still just me. The same girl who sees through you.”

  Lily pulls out her phone from her jeans to check the time.

  “Somewhere you need to be?” Chris asks.

  Lily just slides her phone back into her pocket.

  “Joel Strom?” Chris asks. “I saw the photo he posted, and deleted, last night.”

  “You don’t know anything,” Lily says.

  “I know that I hope it works out. You’ve got a good thing going here, babe. The last thing I want to do is mess it up for you.”

  “What do you want? I already told you I’m not interested in a publicity tour.”

  “Come on; you gotta help me out! I already have a record and I’m not a minor like you. I’ll probably end up serving time over that fucking sheep.”

  “And? It’s what you deserve. Time for you to grow up.”

  “Say it was your idea to do the Malibu house. You were the one holding the Lalanne.”

  “Because you made me! I tried to shove it out the window. You’re crazy if you think I’m taking the fall for this.”

  “You’ll get no more than a slap on the wrist.” Chris waves her off. “I’ve been appointed a state attorney, some jerk-off with a hundred other cases. He doesn’t give a shit about me! But you have your fancy Beverly Hills lawyer, right? Patrick Paley hooking you up or what? No way you’re going to serve time.”

  “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you agree to help. You owe me!”

  “Owe you?”

  “It wasn’t exactly a satisfactory date, you know what I mean?”

  “That’s it!”

  Lily shoves him into the pool.

  And scene.

  paleyhailey

  1m followers

  paleyhailey Surround yourself with people who allow you to blossom.

  She only wishes she could be there to see Lily’s face when Chris shows up at the house. But the whole point is to keep Lily distracted while Hailey sneaks away to visit Joel at Cedars. And of course to make Joel think Lily is a cheating ho! Hailey tipped off Sam, who was all for resuming production to get footage of Lily and Chris before the trial. It’ll bookend her storyline fabulously.

  It was oh-so easy to manipulate Chris. Hailey slipped into his DMs and convinced him to come pay Lily a visit. She won’t ever need to stick a finger down her throat to barf again after he sent her a dick pic in response.

  She thought she was going to have to pay or play him, and was willing to do it, but in the end, a follow and the invitation to Patrick Paley’s house was enough to win him over.

  Hailey parks her Mercedes outside the hospital. She pulls out her phone and shoots Valeria a text.

  Hear anything about the audition?? Fingers crossed!!

  She follows it up with another text, asking Valeria to come over later.

  Isn’t it crazy about Greta? Straight to rehab this morning. Could really use some girl time!!

  It was reported on Reality Tea that Greta checked into Cliffside Malibu. Joel’s car crash and her OD were the wake-up call she needed. Hailey’s so relieved. One less bitch to pose next to on the red carpet for the premiere.

  She checks her reflection in the rearview. Time to visit her guy!

  Joel is asleep in his hospital bed when Hailey enters his room. There’s a bottle of painkillers on the table next to him. She sits besi
de Joel’s bed, brushing a strand of hair off his forehead. He stirs and opens his eyes.

  “Hey, you,” he says, reaching for her hand. His eyes are droopy.

  “How are you feeling?” she asks.

  “Better now.”

  She lets him pull her in for a kiss.

  lillianrhode

  75k followers

  blandine_rmz Why are y desactivating your comments ?

  Lily drops the bouquet of flowers she had quickly bought in the hospital floral shop. She had rushed to the hospital after pushing Chris into the pool, promising her Uber driver a big tip if he got her to Cedars fast.

  It hits her so much harder than seeing them kiss in the extended Platinum Triangle trailer. There’s no way to trick her mind now. Joel’s arm around Hailey’s back, pulling her closer to him as he lies in his hospital bed and kisses her: it isn’t a part of the show. Joel and Hailey aren’t characters. They’re real people. With a real story.

  The rose petals squish on the soles of her shoes as she runs down the hospital corridor and outside. She calls an Uber and tries not to cry in the backseat, staring out the window at the palm tree–lined street, the razor-sharp fronds blowing in the wind like they might come flying loose and slice off your head.

  She gets her Uber driver to take her to the beach so she can clear her head. She stands at the edge of the water and remembers the night after Brandon’s party, when she and Joel ran into the ocean together, kissing for the first time, their lips salty from the water and from Joel’s tears. Lily tips her face up to the sun and closes her eyes. Sometimes she wonders if she’d be happier if she had never come to Beverly Hills.

  But when Lily gets back to the Paleys’ house an hour later, she knows it wouldn’t be any easier if she were still on her own, struggling to pay rent on the trailer, with no one to love or love to hate her. She’d rather have had this brief romance with Joel that made her feel so happy to be herself than fall asleep every night wishing she could be someone else.