So, not just a party—a room full of strangers watching her. Great idea, Scott. Hey, maybe the week after that, she could go recite poetry in her underwear on America’s Got Talent.
Tessa sniffed. What was wrong with him? She hadn’t told him the exact events that triggered her phobias, but he should’ve gotten the gist. Honestly, he was the one being selfish and unreasonable, not her. That wasn’t the way you should treat someone you care about. Someone you love. How long had it been since he said the words “I love you”? She couldn’t even remember. She could only think of someone else who said it just that morning.
Follow spree complete. Don’t be upset if I missed you. I love each and every one of you more than you could ever know.
Tessa shut her journal with a snap. To hell with Scott. Why shouldn’t she tweet about Eric Thorn all day long if it made her feel better? She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen to see what she had missed. Her eyes landed on a new Twitter notification, but not from Eric Thorn. Not from anyone she knew. Her eyes narrowed as she read the unfamiliar username: Eric @TheRealEricT
@TessaHeartsEric Follow back please?
The sight of it made Tessa’s mouth go dry. It was one of those weird Eric Thorn impersonator accounts that popped up from time to time.
@ErricThorn…@ErickThorne…@EricThornOfficial…
Tessa seemed to be the only one who found them disturbing—fan accounts pretending to belong to Eric Thorn himself. Some of the more gullible fans actually believed in them. “Maybe Eric really has a second account,” they’d suggest to one another. “Maybe he secretly tweets with all of us, all the time.” They fangirled up a storm whenever @ErickThorne retweeted one of them, and Tessa could never quite tell if they were kidding.
Eric (@TheRealEricT) was proving to be a real pest. He’d just tweeted at her two more times.
Eric @TheRealEricT
@TessaHeartsEric Follow for follow?
Eric @TheRealEricT
@TessaHeartsEric Why don’t you follow back? I’m asking you nicely.…
Why did this account keep hassling her? Could it be someone she knew? It couldn’t be Scott spying on her, could it? Or even Dr. Regan? She’d told her therapist about her Twitter account this morning. But Dr. Regan wouldn’t… Tessa dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. She’d obviously been watching too much Catfish on MTV. It was probably the second account of some other Twitter friend, some Eric Thorn fan that she already followed. She should keep an open mind. She didn’t hit Follow, but she tweeted in reply: Tessa H @TessaHeartsEric
Do I know you, @TheRealEricT? Who are you?
The answer that came back only unnerved her more:
Eric @TheRealEricT
@TessaHeartsEric Who do you think, dummy? I’m Eric! And I’m getting really pissed that you won’t follow me back.
Pissed? The word hit Tessa like a slap. This was no friend. Why did Twitter bring out the worst in some people? This was what she got for trying to open herself up to strangers. No wonder she had an anxiety disorder.
Ignore it, Tessa commanded herself, feeling her stomach knot. She pulled in a long, slow breath and held it deep in her lungs, reciting the usual mantra inside her head.
Eric one…Eric two…Eric three…Eric Thorn…Eric five…
Better. See? Everything was fine. Tessa navigated to the mute option. She wouldn’t let one creep-o cyberbully chase her off Twitter. If this account ever tweeted at her again, she wouldn’t have to see a single trace of it.
Tessa’s finger shook slightly as she input one last tweet.
Tessa H @TessaHeartsEric
@TheRealEricT I don’t appreciate your tone. Go bother someone else, please. Bye.
With that, Tessa tossed the phone onto her bedspread. So much for social interaction. She didn’t feel like journaling about it either. Right now, she needed something mindless to distract herself from the nervous tension bubbling around in her chest.
Her eyes wandered to the small TV she kept on top of her dresser. Maybe some morning talk shows would do the trick. She reclined against the pillows and reached for the remote control as another notification lit up her cell phone’s screen: @EricLove333, @ThornAddict98, and 173 others just retweeted a photo Tessa sat up straight again. A hundred and seventy-five retweets? That must be something new. Normally only a tweet from Eric himself would spread so quickly among the users she followed. But it couldn’t have come from him. She had her account set up to notify her instantly every time he tweeted. What, then?
She swiped her thumb eagerly. Not another message from Eric, but from his biggest fan: Mrs. Eric Thorn.
Of course it would be @MrsEricThorn, or MET as everyone in the fandom referred to her. The girl never slept and somehow discovered every Eric Thorn–related tidbit five minutes before the rest of the pack. She’d started following Eric back in his lowly YouTube days, and she’d maintained her status as queen bee of the fandom ever since. These days, her follower count stood just north of 500K. No one knew much about her—not even her real first name—but that didn’t stop the whispered rumors from spreading among the other fan accounts: she must have gotten inside information from somewhere. Maybe even from Eric himself. He’d followed her for a while now, and MET sometimes hinted at a secret message exchange, although she always added a wink emoji for punctuation.
Tessa didn’t know what to believe. It would certainly explain how the girl knew so much. She’d been tweeting up a storm just last night about trying to meet Eric at his hotel. Had she succeeded? Tweeted a selfie of herself and her Twitter husband, arm in arm?
Tessa let out a startled gasp as her eyes skimmed across the tweet: MET @MrsEricThorn
WHYYY IS THIS SO HOT???? #EricThornObsessed
And then that picture… Tessa knew she’d never seen it before. She wouldn’t have forgotten an image like that.
She hit Retweet as a matter of course and then switched to her timeline to read what all the other fans had to say. Everyone was online right now and buzzing—and no wonder. First the follow spree. Then the second tweet. And now this picture surfacing out of the blue like a gift from above.
But where had it come from? Everyone seemed too busy making new #EricThornObsessed tweets to ask any questions.
Tessa flicked onto MET’s account again, her lips curving with satisfaction at the header:
MET (@MrsEricThorn) FOLLOWS YOU
She still felt a glow of pride at the sight. Five days had passed since MET had followed her, and Tessa’s own follower count had skyrocketed as a result. Everyone knew that MET only followed the accounts that really mattered.
But a follow from @MrsEricThorn meant more than just a vote of confidence. It also gave Tessa access to the coveted, little button beside MET’s name—the one that allowed her to send a private direct message.
Tessa entered a DM now, and she let out a small sigh of pleasure when a reply popped back within seconds.
Tessa H: Where did that pic come from??
MET: Some new kid tweeted it earlier. This one’s going viral. WOOT!