Chapter 4: Weather Patterns

Eric shifted his weight against the cold hard surface of the toilet seat, eyeing the unsent tweet on his phone:

Attention fans. You don't love me. You don't even know me. I'll never, ever love you back. So put down the phone, go outside, and get a life

Just make believe, that tweet. Pure fantasy. What was he even thinking, writing out those words? He knew exactly what would happen if his finger slipped and hit the Tweet button. His manager's voice, telling him to do the follow spree, still rang in his ears:

"If you don't do it, the label's going to take your twitter account away from you and let some publicist over there run it. Then you won't have any control at all."

Who knew what kind of idiotic crap they might decide to tweet if that happened. He shuddered, just thinking of it. He couldn't let that happen. It was bad enough that the publicists scripted all his interviews, but at least he got the final say over what words actually, physically passed through his lips. With twitter, whoever had access to the Tweet button held the puppet strings. They could put any words they wanted in his mouth, and 14 million followers would have no idea it hadn't really come from him.

He couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk alienating the fans either, for that matter. He only needed one nutcase out there to flip out and come after him with a butcher knife. How many of them were hovering on the brink, just waiting to be pushed over the edge?

A shiver ran down the length of his spine at the thought. He tilted back his head and ran his hand up and down the length of his throat, rough with stubble. Had Dorian seen it coming, Eric wondered. Or had that girl surprised him from behind?

No, he could never tell his followers what he really thought of them. Way too dangerous. In fact, he should probably tweet the exact opposite right now, just to be on the safe side - something to soothe the raging disappointment for all the ones he'd just passed over.

He hastily tapped out a new message and hit tweet.

***

Tessa's finger hovered over the Tweet button, re-reading her unsent reply:

@EricThorn FOLLOW ME! I LOVE YOU! I'm so upset I missed this! Grrrr :(

She was just about to send it when another notification flashed onto her screen:

New tweet from Eric Thorn (@EricThorn)

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.

She couldn't help but sigh as she read the words, soothing her disappointment like a. . . Like a healing balm on a nasty burn after falling asleep in the sun. . . .

Tessa chuckled softly to herself. She really was obsessed with him, wasn't she? Sometimes it seemed like every thought that passed through her head had something to do with Eric Thorn. That whole metaphor came from his latest single, of course. He'd called it Aloe Vera.

Come on and soothe this sunburn.

Baby take away my pain.

The light, it lured me under

On a perfect sunny day.

Supposedly, he'd written it while vacationing in Cozumel at some fabulous beach resort. And then he'd made the same self-deprecating joke about it, over and over and over, on all the late night talkshow interviews afterward.

"Yes, Jimmy. I wrote a love song to my skincare regimen. I'm working on another one about my aftershave now. Not that I'm obsessed with my looks or anything. . . ."

Tessa had felt a bit worried about him when she first heard the song. He had a weather motif running through a lot of his lyrics, but she couldn't help noticing more cloudy days than sunshine in the recent stuff. He could joke all he wanted, but she knew that song wasn't really about a day at the beach. It was about getting burned.

But obviously she'd read way too much into it. There was nothing wrong with Eric Thorn's mental state. This tweet just now didn't come from someone riddled with depression and anxiety. No, those words came from a guy who was sensitive. Thoughtful. Someone who really cared about his fans' feelings. Most celebrities wouldn't have bothered.

She could just picture him, typing it out and then watching his phone light up with the replies. All those words of love pouring back at him. No doubt he had that crooked grin of his plastered on his face as he basked in the adoration. He deserved it too. Every word.

Where was he right now, she wondered. Probably not the beach, but somewhere luxurious at least. Maybe lounging in the backseat of a limo with heated leather seats.

Was he watching his phone, right at this moment? She felt a reluctant smile curve her own lips at the thought. She abandoned the tweet she'd been composing and hastily tapped out a new one:

@EricThorn You sweetiepie. SMILE IF YOU SEE THIS! #EricThornObsessed

With that, Tessa flicked over to her music app and slipped in her earbuds, unwilling to let her mental image die just yet. She closed her eyes and sighed with satisfaction at the sound of Eric's voice singing the poppy opening hook.

Come on and soothe this sunburn.

Baby take away my pain. . . .

She could almost see him now - looking at his phone when her reply came up. The grin on his face grew just a shade brighter as he read it.

***

Eric scowled down at the tweet he'd just sent:

Eric Thorn (@EricThorn)

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.

Did they actually buy it when he put on his sugary sweet I-love-my-fans act? Apparently so, by the looks of his Notifications tab, lighting up with thousands of new replies.

His scowl grew a shade deeper as he watched them rolling in.

Maybe he should write a song about it, he thought bitterly. A nice, sappy ballad about how much he loved his fans. Call it. . . Snowflakes. Yeah, that was good. Special Snowflakes.

I watch the snowflakes falling

Too many for me to see

But I know each one is beautiful

Special and unique.

God, that was awful. The label would probably love it though. They could release it in time for Christmas, and the fans would eat it up with a spoon. Well, assuming anyone actually listened to his music anymore. . . and had the mental capacity to understand a simple metaphor. . . .

He snorted. Who was he kidding? Anyway, a song like that would only serve to spur their obsession further. Just like this tweet of his. He eyed it again now with a stab of regret. Why had he just sent that? It would only egg them on.

But he had to do it, he told himself. It was a matter of survival at this point. No telling what kind of deranged lunatics might be following him. He had to keep leading them on, telling the what they wanted to hear - even if it meant lying through his teeth.

***

"Tessa? Are you there?"

Tessa's eyes popped open and her head snapped around in alarm. Her daydream of Eric reading her tweet vanished in a flood of panic at the sound of the voice behind her. She yanked out her earbuds with a harsh intake of breath.

"Tessa? Are you OK, babe?"

Scott, her boyfriend since sophomore year of high school, peered back at her uncertainly from just inside the bedroom door.

"Scott," Tessa replied with a hiss, once she could finally breathe again. "You scared me!" She clenched a fist and pressed it to her chest. "Do you have any idea what that does to me?"

"Sorry. I knocked. I wasn't sure you were in here."

She crinkled her forehead in confusion. Not in here? Was that supposed to be a joke? And how many times did she have to tell him not to surprise her from behind? Every time he did it, she ended up having nightmares and flashbacks for days.

Scott lowered his gaze to the phone Tessa held in her lap. With her hands still shaking slightly, she tapped the music app closed. She didn't want him to see whose song she'd just been playing on repeat.

"Nothing," she said. "Just listening to music."

"Honestly, Tess. I don't know how you stay cooped up in here all day. I would lose my friggin' mind."

Tessa's mouth fell open in disbelief at her boyfriend's unthinking words. Had he really just said that to her? Was he even trying to understand what she was going through? No wonder she spent all her time fantasizing about a celebrity. Eric Thorn didn't even know she existed, and yet he seemed to care about her feelings way more than the guy who supposedly loved her for real.

"Wow, Scott," she started to say. "Thanks for the support."

But she forced herself to swallow the words before they were out of her mouth. She shouldn't snap at Scott. At least he still came to see her, right? She couldn't afford to alienate him - one of three people in the entire world that she felt safe enough to allow inside her bedroom door. Aside from her mother and her therapist, Scott was the only person Tessa had spoken to in months.

Tessa knew it couldn't be much fun for him either, having a total head case for a girlfriend. His life kept moving forward the whole time she remained locked up here in her room. He was about to enter his second year at the local community college, with a whole new set of friends that Tessa had never even met. And Tessa knew some of them must be female. Some of them must be cute. He could have easily left her behind and moved on to greener pastures, but he'd remained by her side throughout the whole ordeal. She needed to remember that.

He grinned at her now and kicked off his shoes as he came to sit beside her on the bed. Tessa forced herself to smile in return. She rested her head on his shoulder and laced one arm around his waist.

With her other arm, she silently set her phone back on the nightstand, face down - any new notifications for @TessaHeartsEric safely out of her boyfriend's line of sight.

Dear Readers:
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{Banner Image thanks to VictoriaKaer}