I’d hated dodging Holly’s question, but I didn’t want her to think badly of me. The truth was, I’d gotten so caught up in the competition that I’d let it go too far—so now it was on me to clear it up and say sorry if I needed to.

Earlier he’d posted on his stories telling his followers to “give the hottest US ambassador to Britain a follow.” I wasn’t 100 percent sure it was me until he followed up with one of my posts of my silly smiling face. It had given me a follower boost, but I knew it had to stop.

So here it came. The awkward slide into Logan’s DMs.

Thanks so much for the support. This ambassador can report that this trip is brilliant.

Such a Fred word. But getting to the point was hard.

Could I actually do this?

Looks it. How about we meet in person when you’re back so you can tell me all about it?

I almost spat my Vimto out. I looked at Fred in the line to see if he’d noticed, but he just gave me a goofy wave—and something about it made me feel as brave as I normally pretended to be. It was now or never.

It would be great to put a proper face to the…internet face! And it would be nice to say thanks for all the support. Just friends though, right?

So brutal.

But I’d done it. Dropped the friend bomb.

Logan was typing back. I didn’t mean to, but I stopped breathing as I waited.

Whatever you want. I’m still gonna back ya—a local girl’s gotta win right? #AlpinePeaksPatriots

Jeez. That went way better than I thought. Maybe I should have given him a bit more credit from the start? I was so relieved, I did an accidental fist pump.

“Two tickets to probably one of the most confusing nights of your life.” Fred held them out. “And can I say you look surprisingly happy about it?”

“What can I say? The Vimto was a pleasant surprise.” I smiled at Fred, who just gave me a happy shrug and asked if it was okay if he went to say hi to his neighbors.

After months of having a crappy time, finally things felt like they were going my way. I felt so good, I even posted on my account to nudge everyone to get ready to help me get my followers up tomorrow. @_Beckywiththemediocrehair_ immediately replied to tell me I was going to smash it. Then Dove commented too.

Big day tomorrow. Fifty things is epic! Did you see my suggestion? A photo at Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross. Can’t be a proper London challenge without it

Ermmm, okay. It wasn’t on the plan, but I guessed I could make it work. But before I could reply, someone else did. @tooblessed2bstressedxx was back in full force.

@DoveAllLove @CallMeClaraT any spare good ideas? Think someone could give them a good home when London doesn’t work out @OneElleOfATime xoxo