Was it possible?
Eric shook his head, uncertain. How could it be love? Real love? And more importantly, if it was real love, then what on earth was he going to do about it?
He knew Tessa was still waiting for his answer on the other end of the line.
Tessa H: Taylor, do you know how many selfies Eric Thorn must get? He wouldn’t even notice it.
Eric’s shoulders slumped. For now, he changed his tune. Maybe he didn’t want to see her picture after all. Not yet. He suddenly realized where that might lead, and the thought of it made him tremble. If he fell for Tessa, he knew he couldn’t hide behind a fake profile any longer. Not if he wanted it to go anywhere. He would have to tell her the truth. And that meant showing her his own face in return.
Taylor: Nah, you’re right. Too many fans. Too many faces for him to see just one.
Tessa H: He probably didn’t even follow me himself. I bet some publicist was using his account just now, and her finger slipped.
But Eric knew the truth. He’d already noticed her in the crowd. Now he couldn’t look away. He hadn’t even meant to talk to her tonight, and yet somehow there he was.
He stood up from the piano and padded toward the bedroom, typing out another message as he went.
Taylor: You’re right. Probably wasn’t even him. Because if Eric ever noticed your existence, Tessa, I think he’d be the one DM’ing you.
THE INTERROGATION
(FRAGMENT 6) December 31, 2016 9:17 p.m.
Case #: 124.678.21–001
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF POLICE INTERROGATION
—START PAGE 6—
HART: You have to understand, I never thought it would turn into something real. Something face-to-face. The two of us talked on Twitter, and I figured that was the start and end of it.
INVESTIGATOR: Did you suspect at any time that @EricThornSucks might be someone other than he purported to be?
HART: Of course. I’m not completely naive. I had some concerns. There were a lot of details that seemed sketchy.
INVESTIGATOR: So your suspicions were of a general nature?
HART: Yeah. Just general paranoia. I don’t know. I thought it would be like it always is on Catfish.
INVESTIGATOR: On the television program, you mean?
HART: Right. Like, it would turn out Taylor was actually a married mother of eight in the witness protection program. Something random like that. Dr. Regan kept encouraging me to move the relationship over to the phone. She wanted me to keep pushing myself for therapy. I was too scared though. Twitter’s so nice and anonymous. It felt safer that way.
INVESTIGATOR: Did @EricThornSucks ever suggest communicating more directly?
HART: No, but I was pretty open about my phobias.
INVESTIGATOR: OK, Tessa. Can you walk us through how this plan for the two of you to meet in person first came about?
HART: I can’t believe I fell for it.
INVESTIGATOR: Tessa? Do you recall which one of you first suggested meeting in person?
HART: He did. It was all because of the contest.
INVESTIGATOR: Contest?
HART: It was his idea for me to enter. I never thought in a million years that I would win.
INVESTIGATOR: When did this exchange take place? Can you show me on your Twitter account?
HART: Not too long ago. It might have been Christmas Eve… [pause] Here. Here it is.
INVESTIGATOR: Yes, I see. Let the record show that Ms. Hart is indicating a message exchange that took place on December 24. Tessa, was there a message from the other account directly requesting a meeting?
HART: No. I mean, not directly. It was more like… [pause] Here. This. And this one. See?
INVESTIGATOR: I see. That’s very helpful. For the record, Ms. Hart is indicating a direct message sent from the Twitter account @EricThornSucks. The time stamp is December 24, 2016 at 2:12 p.m. The message states, and I quote: “I don’t know, Tessa. Maybe you just need the proper motivation. Wouldn’t you leave your house if Eric Thorn came to your town to play?”
19
SMALL STEPS
December 24, 2016
Tessa stood at her bedroom window. She tilted the blinds half-open, rolling the plastic wand between her fingers. She’d felt more comfortable looking out lately, ever since the fall had come and gone. The cluster of tall sycamore trees had long since lost their leaves. Now, she could see through the empty branches all the way to the road.
See? she told herself. No one out there. There was no place in that barren, windswept landscape for some lurking threat to hide. It was all in her head. Pure paranoia. So why couldn’t she rid herself of this irrational sense of dread?
Hot tears pricked her eyes, and Tessa quickly blinked them away. She shouldn’t dwell on her shortcomings. Better to celebrate her progress and strive to keep moving forward. She should probably work on her thought journal. She had a lot to chew over since her last session with Dr. Regan. Her therapist had zeroed in on the one topic that occupied most of Tessa’s waking thoughts these days—even more than Eric Thorn.
Taylor.
“I hear you saying that you care about him, Tessa. Can you tell me more about that?”
Tessa had lost her cool for a moment at the question—the sheer repetitiveness. Her laughter had sounded a bit unhinged, even to her own ears.
“Did I say something to amuse you?”
“I know what you’re trying to ask. You want to know if I have feelings for him, right?”
Dr. Regan’s answer had surprised her. “No, Tessa. We both know you have feelings for Taylor. The question is how deep those feelings go.”
“You mean, am I in love with him?”
Dr. Regan had merely cocked her head, waiting for Tessa to answer for herself.
“I don’t know,” Tessa had whispered. “Love? That’s a scary word.”
But it was more than just the word that frightened her. When it came to Taylor, no matter how close they became, she could never quite shake the thought that he was hiding something.
Was it all in her head?
Tessa sprawled across her bed, reaching for her phone. Forget the journal. She needed to go back over their last conversation and search for clues.
Time Stamp 12/22/2016, 1:49 a.m.
Tessa H: I can trust you, right?
Taylor: Sure. What’s not to trust?
Tessa H: Maybe I’ve just seen Catfish too many times…You’re not catfishing me, are you?
Taylor: Ummm, I don’t think so. Define catfishing.
Tessa H: Don’t you ever watch MTV?
Taylor: It’s been a while…
Tessa H: Pretty much the same plot twist every time. Are you secretly a girl?
Taylor: You can’t seriously think I’m a girl, Tessa. Not after all the shit you gave me when you found out I WASN’T a girl!
Tessa chewed on her thumbnail as she reread it. She assumed he found it funny, but it was so hard to read someone’s tone over text. Was he laughing at her total lack of logic? Or was he annoyed by the cross-examination?