Wednesday passed in a blur of shopping, Twitter and nerves. I scoured every shop in Manchester for an outfit appropriate for my 'date' with Dan, pushing through the throngs of students on holiday-break clutching onto the vague hope that when I wore the contents of the shopping bags clamped in my fingers, they would somehow improve my appearance.

Thursday evening was upon me before I knew it, and I was sitting on my bed in a layered vest and shorts on the phone to Carla.

'You're going on a date…with Dan?' she whispered, as I'd told her what had happened.

I sighed. I'd only just recovered from my shock – no wonder she was having problems coping with the news.

'Bella, I fucking hate you!' she said, laughing shakily. 'You're impossible – how did you manage it?'

'I don't know… It just happened. I can't explain – we went to Starbucks and… and he kissed me.' I said, waiting for the inevitable explosion that would erupt from my IPhone at any moment.

It came.

'Oh my fucking god Bella, Dan Howell kissed you!? Oh my god, are you kidding me? Seriously, did he actually kiss you? Oh my god, I'm literally dying right now- '

I left the phone on speaker and stood up, leaving Carla shouting down the line at me. As my eyes wandered to the mirror, a frown creased my face. I was a wreck. No way would Dan want to take me on a date like this… I glanced down at the clothes I'd bought; an acid wash ripped denim waistcoat with beaded tassels, some black hot-pants and some cheap wedge heeled Converse.

No, it wasn't at all girly or feminine… But I had to be true to myself, it was only right. I wanted Dan Howell to fall in love with Bella Levin, not anyone else.

I carefully edged my feet into the heeled Converse and stood up in front of my mirror. A small smile broke across my face. They were perfect; but as my eyes traced the lines of my legs, the smile diminished. I was hardly tanned, and the gap between my thighs made my knees look bony and thin – I had the figure of a dying maple tree.

'Bella, are you even listening to me? You haven't spoken for ten minutes.' Carla's voice shrieked from the phone line – even louder than before.

'Oh - yes. Sorry Car, I know you must be finding this hard,' I mumbled pathetically.

'Huh?' she said quizzically. 'What do you mean, Bells?'

Sighing, I began unlacing my shoes again. 'I mean, you must be jealous.'

Silence reigned for a few seconds, but of course, Carla broke it. 'Shit I'm jealous, Bells, but Dan is just… I would never consider a real relationship with him. He's just a celebrity-crush, not an actual, proper crush.' She paused. 'Did that make no sense?'

I shook my head, only remembering that she couldn't see me in the long silence that ensued.

'Bella, please stop ignoring me, it's really frustrating. I swear you're in your own little dream-world sometimes.' Carla said sharply.

'Okay, I get you.' I sighed again. 'Listen, Car. I really have to go now; I'll talk to you tomorrow.' I ended the call.

With Carla, it's sometimes necessary to just hang up. Otherwise conversations don't have boundaries – they'd last till midnight and she would still be talking full force about some meaningless gossip.

Sitting carefully down on my bed, I turned to my laptop that was sprawled on my bed, part of the keyboard obscured by a pair of jeans. As I shifted it onto my lap, something suddenly flashed on my screen.

It was a new tweet…From Danisnotonfire.

I could feel everything melting around me like a watercolour painting in the rain. My eyes hungrily darted to the screen.

'Hey B, really looking forward to tomorrow xx'

A thousand thoughts bombarded my head – all at the same time. He actually cared. Dan cared about me enough to tweet me, and tell me how much he wanted to see me, even though it was going to cause uproar from his fans.

The uproar came… in under five seconds.

'Fuck, some bitch stole my Dan.'

'Oh… you have a girlfriend now.'

'She's not even pretty. Fucking ugly bitch.'

'Dan, what were you thinking?'

'Bitch.'