On Mastodon, if you've clicked a "Follow" button and it turns into "Pending" or "Cancel Follow" or "Request Sent", it means the follow hasn't actually happened yet.
Usually it's because the account has follow requests switched on, so you just wait for them to approve your request.
However, sometimes it's due to other reasons, and you may have to do something special to get the follow to work. Lots of info and full instructions at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/why-does-it-say-follow-request-sent-when-i-try-to-follow-an-account
