Sleep. He needed sleep. The dark circles under his eyes were growing deeper by the day. He’d heard the makeup artists whispering about it behind his back. They could only cover it up for so long before the record label got on his case.
He rolled over in bed again and reached to plump his pillow, but a flash of color from his nightstand caught the corner of his eye.
His phone?
A notification?
He grabbed it and let out a yelp of triumph. At last. She’d answered. A new tweet:
Tessa H @TessaHeartsEric
@EricThornSucks thanks for ruining my life.
The message probably should have discouraged him, but he couldn’t prevent the crooked grin that popped onto his face. She was still out there somewhere. He hastily sent back a reply, before she could ghost on him again.
Taylor @EricThornSucks
@TessaHeartsEric ok now who’s catastrophizing?
Eric waited to see if she would tweet back, but the minutes ticked by. At least she’d unblocked him. Her profile was visible to him again, no longer hidden away behind an error message.
He longed to DM her, but Twitter wouldn’t let him go that far. She hadn’t refollowed him. He could only reply by tweeting at her again.
Taylor @EricThornSucks
@TessaHeartsEric what happened??? follow me back so we can DM
Eric had gotten out of bed now. He paced back and forth across the spacious room with his phone gripped in his hand, and he bounced on the balls of his feet when the next notification hit his screen.
Tessa H (@TessaHeartsEric) followed you.
“Yes,” he murmured, as he flipped back to the message tab again. She had already added another new DM, but he barely paused to read it.
Tessa H: Don’t think this means I’m talking to you again.
Taylor: Tessa, I’m sorry you thought I was a girl. It was an innocent mistake. I swear.
Tessa H: Right…sure…and you just happen to be the ONLY male Eric Thorn fan on the face of the earth. Is that it?
Taylor: I never said I was a fan! I believe I called him a narcissistic douche nozzle. Does that ring any bells?
Tessa H: And you know all his songs by heart because…why exactly?
Taylor: It’s complicated.
Tessa H: In other words, you’re full of shit.
Taylor: No. In other words, it’s gonna take me more than 140 characters to explain. Take a breath, please.
Eric sat down on the edge of the bed. The truth was, she had a point. He’d seen the demographics from his recent album sales, and males didn’t even make up one percent. Not that he needed a pie chart to tell him that. All he had to do was look out over the crowds of screaming girls at his concerts.
Eric scrunched his mouth to the side as he cast about for some kind of believable explanation.
Taylor: OK, here’s the deal.
Taylor: I used to be a fan back before he got signed. He used to be good.
Taylor: I mean, he still is. I listen to all his new stuff too.
Taylor: I just think he shouldn’t need to do the Magic Mike routine to sell it. That’s why I get so pissed off at him sometimes.
Taylor: And with the fangirls too. Maybe he wouldn’t parade around half-naked if he didn’t have girls screaming at him to take his shirt off every five seconds.
There. He hadn’t technically lied, had he? He really was his own biggest fan, back before he got his record deal. He’d started out as nothing more than a kid with a guitar and an unshakable belief in his own talent. He’d refused to listen whenever his friends laughed or his parents told him he was wasting his time. He’d spent two long years posting video after video on YouTube before he finally got his big break.
It was a half-baked version of the facts, but technically not untrue. Eric held his breath, waiting to see how Tessa would respond.
Tessa H: So why did you start talking to me if you hate fangirls so much?
Taylor: I didn’t start talking to you. I attacked you. Remember? You’re the one who started talking to me.
Tessa H: Reverse psychology
Taylor: I’m not that smart.
Tessa H: How do I know that?
Taylor: I’m stupid, OK? You caught me. Guilty. I’m very, very stupid. But I’m not some kind of predator. C’mon, you know I’m not.
Tessa H: Why should I believe a single word you say?
Taylor: I don’t know, Tessa. What reason would I possibly have to lie?
Eric covered his face with his hand, reading the words between his fingers. Why did he feel like a total creeper right now? It wasn’t like he could tell Tessa the whole truth anyway. How would that conversation go? Surprise! I’m actually Eric Thorn, and this is my secret second profile! She’d write him off as a compulsive liar and unfollow him once and for all.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, he told himself. It was a little white lie at most. If it ever seemed like any harm might come of it, all he had to do was end things. Say good-bye. Deactivate the account. And Taylor the phantom fanboy would disappear into Twitter oblivion.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Eric knew that he probably should have deactivated already. He’d been on the receiving end of his share of little white lies. He knew they had a nasty way of changing color when viewed from someone else’s vantage point.
But he couldn’t deactivate now. Not when he finally had her talking again.
Taylor: So are you going to tell me how I ruined your life or what?
Tessa H: Scott
Taylor: What about Scott?
Tessa H: I fell asleep to the sound of your voice whispering to me…
Taylor: What does that mean?
Tessa H: Hmmmm. I thought you were such a huuuuge fan
Taylor: I know it’s a line from “Aloe Vera.” What does it have to do with Scott?
Tessa H: We lingered on your terrace. I drank up all your wine.
Taylor: Is this a test?
Tessa H: You tell me. What’s the next line?
Eric let out a growl of irritation. Honestly, Tessa. If she’d had the faintest clue who she was talking to…
Taylor: You said, “Baby, take your clothes off. Get rid of those tan lines.”
Tessa H: No. YOU said, “Baby, take your clothes off.”
Taylor: Isn’t that what I just wrote?
Tessa H: I believe your exact words were: “Take it all off, baby.” Scroll up. Our last conversation.
Taylor: What? That thing? I was talking about feet!
Tessa H: Scott didn’t find that very amusing for some reason.
Taylor: What happened?
Tessa H: I fell asleep to the sound of your voice whispering to me. What’s the next line?
Taylor: But you left me there to blister. Ran off with the only key.
Tessa H: Exactly. I got burned. I was depressed, I fell asleep, and Scott found my phone.
Taylor: He broke up with you?
Tessa H: Let’s just say he wasn’t very pleased that I’d been flirting for the past month with some guy I met on Twitter.
Taylor: Shit, Tessa.
Tessa H: Yup. I believe his exact words were, “I’m killing myself playing the dutiful boyfriend over here, and you’re off sexting some loser.”
Taylor: Sexting? How were we sexting?
Tessa H: “C’mon. Tweet a nude. I’ll do it if you do…”
Taylor: It was a picture of your bunny slippers! He’s never heard of sarcasm?
Tessa H: I don’t think he actually looked at the picture.
Taylor: Well, it sounds like you two just need to talk. I’m sure if you explain…