Follow Me Back (complete first draft of the published book)

Chapter 16: Exposed (Part 2)

Chapter 16: Exposed (Part 2)

Eric rolled over in bed and buried his face in the pillow. He couldn't bear to look at his phone anymore, with that ever-elongating string of unanswered tweets. He'd been trying to get through to her for hours now - ever since it happened.

He needed to stop. Let it go. Get some sleep. Forget @TessaHeartsEric ever existed.

She was just a fan, after all. Just a fan girl. A nobody. A nothing.

Why was he even upset about this?

He'd come to rely on her way too much.That was the truth. He'd known it, too, even before it happened. He'd grown too dependent on her instantaneous replies - always available to brighten his mood and take his mind off his worries. It had gotten out of hand. Even when he didn't have time to talk to her lately, he still thought about her all day long. He replayed their conversations in his head. He filed away little things he wanted to tell her and imagined her response.

He'd known in the back of his mind that he was playing with fire. He'd grown too attached, too quickly, and he'd known it would come back to bite him in the end.

But still he hadn't seen it coming. Not today. He'd been having too much fun. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that way - so happy he couldn't wipe away his goofy grin.

Happy because he'd made her happy.

He'd just wanted to see it, that was all. Eric Thorn had followed her, and he wanted to witness her excitement. He'd wanted to see it with his own eyes, and not just in his imagination. He'd wanted a picture that he could keep - that he could save to his camera roll and go back to look at, anytime he started to forget what true happiness felt like. Just a picture. That was all he wanted.

And look what it had gotten him instead.

No, it was no use trying to sleep. He flicked his phone back on again and saw at a glance that nothing there had changed. Not that he really expected to see anything different. With a sigh, he blinked and swiped his hand across his eyes.

How had he gone from such a high to such a low in the space of a few hours? Not even a few hours. A few moments, really. The bottom had fallen out from under him, and he'd come crashing back down to Earth. He'd been like the coyote in the cartoon, following his prey - running so fast that he didn't notice the cliff looming before him until he'd run right off the edge.

Could he have avoided it, he wondered, if he'd seen the danger in time? Or had he been doomed from the moment he started following her in the first place?

His fingers sought out the message thread again now, as if the answer might be contained there. He scrolled back to find the message he'd sent her this afternoon, during the break in filming. First, he'd followed her from @EricThorn, and then he'd switched accounts to @EricThornSucks to send her a DM:

Taylor: Tessa? What happened?

Tessa: ERIC FOLLOWED ME!!!!!

Taylor: Whoa!

Tessa: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Taylor: Are you freaking out?

Tessa: IM SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taylor: That's amazing!

Tessa: OMG MY HANS AR SHAKING SPO BAD

Taylor: Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Don't have a heart attack on me now

Tessa: ok ok ok ok ok

Taylor: You're good?

Tessa: I can't stop smiling. OMG. I can't believe that just happened.