FanGirl

*Trigger Warning: Swearing*

Despite social media being flooded with celebrity imposters, Jana didn’t want to lose what would likely be her only opportunity to meet one of her favorite actors, Dean Steward. She didn’t care there was a large chance it was a con artist impersonating Dean, and continued corresponding with him anyway, just in case he was the real deal. She scrimped and sacrificed to save money to order a meet and greet with him for over $1000, after corresponding solely by texts and messages for months.

“Hi, love. Hope your day is going well. Crazy hectic here. Can’t wait until you’re with me, by my side, supporting, encouraging, and motivating me. Miss you and love you. Talk later.”

The smile on Jana’s face could light up a room. Every day, she looked forward to getting messages from him. Or at least one message.

She wrote to him much more often than he did her - he was filming a movie overseas, and besides being very busy, there was the time difference to take into account, leaving them only a few hours daily during which they could communicate.

Jana’s feelings for him were evident in her response. “Hey, babe. Just reading. Glad you’re having a productive day! I can’t wait to be with you - for sure I’ll support you, you know that! Btw, why is it so hard for you to say good morning or good night? I know you’re super busy, but can you not find five minutes during the day to send a two-word message in the morning and another at night?”

Keeping her phone next to her, she waited for a response, but none came until hours later. “So sorry, love. I meant to message you goodnight, but I was exhausted and fell asleep. But, I figured you were probably still awake, given you’re six hours behind me, so I thought I would say good night to my baby girl. Sweet dreams! Send me a picture so I can fall asleep seeing how you looked today.”

“When are you going to send me a picture of what you look like one day? And not one I can pull off the internet.”

“Babe, you know I’m not allowed to send pictures or make calls to fans because of my contract with my management company. But I want to see how beautiful you looked today, so send me a picture. And a good one - sexy, no sweats!”

Less than two minutes later, she heard the notification of a second message. “Oh, love, I forgot to ask. When are you making your next payment? Jack wants to know and told me to tell you he’s waiting for it. Sorry.”

The elation gleaned from his first message was replaced by anger and frustration by his second.

“Fucking greedy bastard! I emailed Drew’s manager a few weeks ago. FYI, your manager is a total dick! All he cares about is money.”

Jana waited for an answer from Drew, but never got one. She sent him a message and noticed twenty minutes later it still hadn’t gone through, meaning the app was off. Or he decided to block her for “yelling” at him yesterday, or as close to yelling as you can do by text.

All she wanted was a simple good morning and good night since he was too busy during the day to message her. She felt her stomach turn as she thought of all the times he couldn’t be bothered to find five minutes to send two two-word messages.

Each time she brought it up, Dean apologised, saying he would do it, but he never did. Jana awoke every day hoping to find a message from him on her phone, especially since he was six hours ahead. But she never did, even though she messaged him “good morning” and “good night” daily.

Three Months Earlier

Jana was scrolling through her Facebook feed and commenting on celebrity posts when she got a message from one of her favorite actors thanking her for her unwavering support over the years. “Thank you, love, for your kind words and encouragement. It’s you I should be thanking for making me the person I am today. I’m not usually on FB but would like to get to know you better. Do you have Zangi, Telegram, or Signal?”

Jana felt a thrill go through her from her head to her toes as she messaged him back. “I have all three.”

“I use Signal. Here is my contact information. Message me there so we can continue talking. See you in a few.”

She immediately logged into Signal to respond. “Hi! I’m here!”

“Welcome to my space. I’m glad you could be here because I want to get to know you better. Send me a picture.”

Jana frowned slightly when he asked for her picture before he asked her name, but posed seductively in a white string bikini, took a selfie, and sent it to him, crossing her fingers he would like it.

“Oh, baby, you are gorgeous! Are you married? Kids? How old are you?”

Her stomach filled with butterflies as she responded. “Thank you for the compliment! No, I’m single, no kids.”

“You really are stunning. I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

Jana felt light-headed and dissociated from reality. Oh My God! He wants to get to know me better, she thought with a smile. “What would you like to know?”

“Everything and anything, love. I want you to share yourself with me. I want to know everything about you - what you do for a living, where you live, your favorite things, and wonder what you would say if I asked you on a date since I happen to be in town.” Jana was stunned. “Wait, what? You want to ask me on a date? You date supermodels, not casual people like me who go to the grocery store in pajamas.”

They spent the next couple of weeks messaging back and forth. After a week, it hit Jana he never asked her for her name! All he ever asked her was for her picture. She decided it was time to confront him.

That night, Jana got a text from Drew, saying how much he loved and missed her. “Babe, I wish you were here with me.”

My voice was ice cold as I asked him, “What’s my name?”

He hemmed and hawed and tried to avoid answering her question. “It’s been a week, and all you ask for are pictures. You never bothered to ask my name.”

I leaned forward, my hands clenched into fists under the table as I asked him again. “Answer my fucking question. What’s my name?”

He sighed. “Anna.”

“You took my name from the app, didn’t you? The name on that account is a pseudonym.”

He grabbed my arm, but I flipped him over my shoulder, causing him to land on the ground, the wind knocked out of him, and unable to breathe. I laughed. “Don’t ever touch me again, or you’ll never get another job in the art world. Now get out of my office!”

“I’m superior to you. I’ll never be punished, but maybe with the cast on, you’ll work less." Dean clenched his hands into fists, thinking about how he and other men had destroyed her heart and pushed her too far, forcing her to swear off men for the rest of her life. She vowed to never date anyone again. "Got to go. The other line is ringing, so I have to run, but I hope I’ll see you again."

She sat on a bench and cried until she could barely breathe, berating herself the whole time for being a fucking idiot. But she went anyway, knowing in her broken heart, it was too good to be true.

Onboard the plane, Jana’s phone worked long enough for her to shoot off a message to Drew. “Hi, love. Just boarded. Can’t wait to see you! I’m so looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you! Love you!”

After months of weekly payments, she paid off the bill for a meet and greet with Drew, and would see him in less than 72 hours.

His response was almost immediate. “Hey, babe. Saw your message. Just look for me or a driver with a sign with your name on it. Can’t wait til you get here! Love you so much!”

She pressed the phone to her heart. Jana was ecstatic! After so many years of fawning over him, she would finally be with the image of the man she’d adored! She felt butterflies in her stomach and was slightly nauseous at the thought of meeting Drew.

The flight was uneventful, and as she inched forward in the line of passengers deplaning, her stomach was flipping. Jana stopped a flight attendant for directions to the arrivals gate and scanned the area for a driver holding a sign with her name, but didn't see one.

Jana waited for a sign with her name for almost two hours. She called his cell phone, but it was disconnected, and she didn’t get any email messages from him, despite her leaving him several increasingly hysterical messages and emails.

“Hey, fangirl,” laughed a black-haired woman dressed all in black leather and knee-high boots.

"Pardon me?"

“Someone gave me this envelope and paid me to give it to you.”

“Excuse me? Who gave it to you and who the fuck are you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” The young woman stared Jana straight in the eye. “Oh, and you’re a fucking home-wrecking moron.”

Her words were like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?”

“He will never marry you. You’re delusional if you think he actually has feelings for an ugly, plain, dull fangirl - you got played, honey! You’ve been corresponding with strangers, not Dean. They scammed you. I shouldn’t be wasting my time on a pathetic, stupid, obsessed fangirl loser like you, but it’s the holiday season. Consider it my good deed for the year. And stay away from him!”

Dumbfounded, Jana remained seated on the bench in shock all night. As soon as the airline desks opened, she paid to change her flight home that day, regardless of how many stopovers she would have to endure. She was humiliated, ashamed, and embarrassed, and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

She was pale, sweaty, and clammy, and couldn’t stop crying.

Jana felt like a complete idiot. After hours of crying, she chastised herself for falling victim to a scam - she knew it was too good to be true, but still risked her savings and job, never mind all the money she lost, for the highly unlikely but slightly possible opportunity he wasn’t an impostor.

Jana hung her head, tears flowing, and gathered her strength to mentally and emotionally accept she was the victim of a scam.