The Cookie Girl (One Direction)

Chapter 4

   "Please tell me you're joking," I choked, looking at each of the four boys. I was searching for something — anything — that would reveal that they were messing with me. "You're the most famous band on the planet," I said shakily. "If my name is all over the Internet because of this... I'm never going to hear the end of it. Have you seen how the girls react when you boys even hug a fan? They go ballistic! If they think I've made out with Harry... I can't even..." As my voice grew louder and louder, I was finding it harder to breath, and I knew I could burst into tears at any moment.

   "Relax, love," Zayn said reassuringly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We'll work this out, I promise."

   I looked up at him, and as soon as my watery eyes met his warm chocolate ones, I found myself slowing starting to calm down. "Okay," I said quietly. I bit my lip and tried to hold back my tears. "What should I do, then?"

   "Delete your Twitter," Louis answered, speaking up from the chair on the other side of the room. When I widened my eyes at him in shock, he just shrugged. "If the fans have no account to attack, they're only left with a name."

   After a brief silence, I noticed Harry nod from his spot beside me. "He's right."

   I looked between the two boys incredulously. "Really? But maybe if I tweet or something... I can deny everything. I can tell people I didn't kiss Harry and—"

   "And what?" Louis interrupted me. "You'll get even more haters? No offense, Cassie, but our fans are more likely to believe Harry than you."

   "So he should tweet to them!" I cried, waving a hand toward the curly-haired boy. "One little tweet is all it takes."

   "The fans don't let things go that easily," Harry said solemnly. "You said that yourself, just a minute ago."

   I opened my mouth to argue, but when his words sunk in, I realised I had nothing else to say. Harry was right, and so was Louis. Deleting my account — however small and cowardly the act might be — was probably my safest option at the moment.

   "Fine," I sighed. "Fine, I'll do it." I looked down to pull my phone out of my pocket, but after noticing I was still in my pajamas, I let out a groan. "My phone is down in my room."

   "Here, borrow mine," Zayn immediately offered, taking his black iPhone out of his pocket and passing it to me. "Just make sure you log out of mine first, yeah? Wouldn't want you deleting my account," he chuckled.

   I laughed at that, and as the sound escaped my lips, I realised how good it felt to laugh after being serious for so long. "I'll be sure to do that," I told him.

   I opened the Twitter app and logged onto my account. After waiting for all my mentions to load and going into my settings, I looked up at Harry nervously. "Are you sure I should do this?"

   "I honestly don't know." He shook his head. "But right now, we don't really have any other options."

   "Okay," I nodded. "Well, here goes." My finger hovered over the Delete button as I silently said my goodbyes to my account. All my years of tweeting celebrities, of gaining followers and friends; it was all about to go down the drain.

   It's for a good reason though, I told myself. It'll be worth it in the end.

   I clenched my teeth and lifted my finger, but just as it was falling back down to hit the button, Liam's loud voice suddenly filled my ears.

   "Wait!"

   I looked up at him immediately, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry, Zayn and Louis do the same. Liam was looking down at his MacBook, his thick eyebrows high in surprise. "Listen," he said urgently. "A fan posted this as a Twitlonger, and everyone's retweeting it to us.