Home > Influence(2)

Influence(2)
Author: Sara Shepard

Soon, they pulled up to a concrete-colored hotel building flanked by guitar stores. Delilah had a very limited knowledge of Los Angeles, but she was pretty sure this wasn’t the coolest part of the Sunset Strip. Her mother wrinkled her nose as though the music shops were drug dens.

“Electric guitars are very high-end!” Delilah chirped brightly.

“I think it looks awesome!” Ava piped up. “You’re so lucky, Lila.”

Delilah glanced at her sister. Ava was small for her age; today, she was wearing a striped romper from Gap Kids. But her booties were fashionable, as was her black leather crossbody. Back in Minneapolis, Ava hung out with a sweet, well-behaved crowd of girls, but the first day they arrived in California, Delilah received a follow request on her Instagram from @AvaBLove, and there was a tiny thumbnail image of Ava’s face as the profile picture.

Bethany pulled into a parking spot and shifted into park. “I’m staying here, by the way. You can go in by yourself, but if you don’t send me an A-OK text every thirty minutes, I will assume someone is trying to abduct you into either child slavery or a rock band.”

“What about me?” Ava piped up. “Can I peek inside?”

“You’re not going anywhere. I’m conflicted enough about this as it is.” Bethany pointed to Delilah. “Have you tested your glucose recently?”

“God, Mom, yes.” Delilah had been given a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes when she was nine—in other words, a zillion years ago, so she had the whole regular-testing-and-insulin-shots down cold. “I have all my stuff.” She patted her bag full of supplies. “Don’t worry.”

“I always worry!” Bethany cried.

Delilah darted out of the car, but then she circled back, leaned through her mom’s open window, and gave her mom and sister a grateful smile. “Love you guys.”

There were butterflies in her stomach as she entered the Evensong Hotel. The lobby smelled like peppermint gum. To the left was a sign announcing the Wellness Beauty party in the event space. Two polished, pretty girls in low-cut sweaters Delilah would be grounded for wearing sat behind a long table, checking names off a guest list. Delilah felt a pull in her chest when they eyed her. You’re out of your league.

Then she peered into the event itself. It buzzed with influencers and photo ops and who’s-whos. Online stars Delilah recognized smushed together for pictures. A famous beauty influencer was speaking onstage to a group of adoring fans. Every time someone new walked into the room, heads turned to see if it was someone they should know.

Oh God. This felt like too much. Maybe she should—

“Excuse me?” A tall, skinny girl with long, fake eyelashes looked at Delilah. “Did I just see you on Ellen?”

“Jimmy Fallon, actually,” Delilah admitted, astonished someone was speaking to her. “Last month.”

“Right, I remember you.” The skinny girl smiled. “What’s your handle again?”

“Lila D,” Delilah answered. Fake Eyelashes looked blank, so she added: “Puppy Girl.”

Fake Eyelashes brightened, then tugged another girl’s sleeve. “Gigi, it’s Puppy Girl! You know, the one who rescued that adorable golden retriever puppy from that fire?”

And suddenly, people were swarming around Delilah. Just like that. It was astonishing how one video could change your life. For Delilah, it was a shaky clip Busy shot of Delilah running into a neighbor’s burning shed and coming out, moments later, with a golden retriever puppy in her arms. The whole thing was a foolish, split-second decision—her mother grounded her for it, actually, because what idiot besides a firefighter runs into a burning building?

But then the video caught on. Went viral. Delilah was suddenly a hero. The clip appeared on a local news show and then, two days later, the Today show. Delilah received a flood of new followers and endless phone calls for interviews and, finally, she was asked to make a guest appearance on Jimmy Fallon—yes, the Jimmy Fallon. During the taping, Fallon kept calling Delilah “the Animal Angel.”

“Delilah?” another voice rang out.

Delilah swung around. A gorgeous, dark-haired girl with blown-out hair and a colorful dress hurried up to her. Delilah tried not to gasp. Was that really Jasmine? In person?

“So happy you made it!” Jasmine cried in her signature husky Lulu C voice, throwing her arms around Delilah’s shoulders. “I am such a big fan!”

“Me too,” Delilah spluttered. She felt people watching. It made her feel important . . . but also really, really humble.

Jasmine gestured to a willowy girl with caramel skin and gorgeous, flowing red hair next to her. “I want to introduce you to—”

“—Fiona Jacobs,” Delilah gushed, starstruck. “I watch your Sizzle or Drizzle videos all the time!” She couldn’t wait to tell Busy. The two of them binged on Fiona Jacobs’s award-show fashion critiques like the episodes were cherry Twizzlers. They loved how normal Fiona seemed, despite her otherworldly beauty. And today, Fiona lived up to that: she was dressed more casually than Jasmine, in almost weekend/athleisure attire, but the skinny jeans she had on seemed cut specifically for her body, and her T-shirt fit differently than Delilah’s rotating cast of tees from Old Navy, which stretched out after the first wash. Jasmine and Fiona were both carrying identical, U-shaped handbags in buttery beiges and grays. They had to be a name brand—but what name? Delilah doubted they were Kate Spade or Rebecca Minkoff, the “it” bags at her old high school. These bags looked like Kate Spade’s worldlier cousins.

“Your posts are so cute,” Fiona told Delilah. “Whenever I need my puppy fix, I’m like, Lila D’s my jam. And that puppy rescue! That was, like, amazing.”

“I cried,” Jasmine volunteered. “After I watched it, I cradled my own puppy and was like, Oh my God, I will keep you safe forever.”

“Were you scared, running into that shed like that?” Fiona’s eyes went wide.

Delilah fiddled with a string on her jumpsuit. “Yeah, of course. But I had no choice, you know?” After the puppy rescue, people assumed she was really brave, when the reality was she barely had the confidence to speak up in class.

“Well, listen.” Jasmine touched Delilah’s shoulder. “Consider me and Fiona your welcoming committee. Anything you need, we’re here to help.”

“We love normal, grounded people on social,” Fiona added. “And we try to be, too!”

Jasmine nudged her. “You’re so not normal. You’re lost without a personal assistant!”

“Oh my God, it’s been four days,” Fiona moaned dramatically. “And I’m losing my mind.” She looked at Delilah. “Do you know a good personal assistant?”

“Ha!” Delilah laughed. She wasn’t really sure what a personal assistant did. “So where do you go to school?” Maybe they’d be going to the same place. She was pretty sure Fiona was under eighteen.

It took Fiona a moment to process Delilah’s question. “Oh, I don’t go to normal school anymore. I do online.” She giggled bemusedly. “Are you planning to go to regular school? Five days a week and all that?”

Delilah felt her cheeks flush. “Uh . . . yeah? My parents enrolled me somewhere called Ventura Prep.”

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