Ain't It SALTY

So what are you gonna do when NOBODY wants to fool with you?

Hayley's POV:

I wake up to someone knocking on the door. An older guy opens the door, looks at me and Dalton, and seems panicked.

"Dalton! What are you doing? You have to be on stage in 30 minutes! Go get ready!" Dalton gets up to freshen up, and I make my way to to the door but the guy is still standing in front of it. I wait for him to move aside but he doesn't.

"Hayley? What are you doing here?" I blush and force myself to smile politely. "Oh, nothing. Just visiting with Dalton. And you are?" He crosses his arms. "Dean. Dean Tarpley, Dalton's manager." "Oh okay. Well, um, nice to meet you." I reach for his hand, but his arms remained crossed. I pull my hand back in awkwardly, and squeeze out the door. I run to my room to freshen up, but I couldn't help but sense that Dean what's-his-face wasn't too keen on seeing me with Dalton.

Dalton's POV:

Hayley runs off to her room while I get up to get ready for the fourth Parahoy show. Dean is still standing in front of my door, with his arms crossed. "Dalton, please don't tell me you're getting involved with the lead singer of Paramore..." I emerge from the bathroom in my skinny jeans and Green Day tee shirt. "Ummm why does it matter? We really like each other..." Dean shakes his head disapprovingly. "Now, don't get me wrong - I'm the biggest advocate for love. But have you ever considered what could happen when your fans find out?" I nod my head. "Umm yeah - Hayley thought it would benefit both of us." Dean shakes his head. "Oh I wish that was the case. In reality, some will be thrilled... But other won't be. It's a polarizing situation which will cut your fan base in half, best case scenario. Worst case scenario, you'll lose most of them." My mouth falls open. "I refuse to believe that's true - my fans, I mean, my friends - the nobodies - love me for who I am and what I stand for."

Dean shakes his head. "Well okay, you'll learn the hard way. I really wish it didn't have to be this way... You had so much potential." And with that, he walks out of my room and closes the door behind him ominously.

Will comes in sipping a juice pouch. "Hey Dalton. Ready for the show?" I'm still frozen where I stand with Dean's chilling words. He's always been so helpful to me at School of Rock and beyond, so I take what he says to heart. But I'd like to think that I'm still pretty logical, so I try not to let what he said get to me.

"Dalton! Are you okay?" I'm shaken out of my thoughts with Will's question. "Yeah... Yeah I'm okay. It's just..." I sit down for a minute in the couch. Only twenty minutes up until I have to be on stage, better make this quick. "Dean said that my relationship with Hayley could essentially ruin my fan base." "What? Why?" Will raises his eyebrows and sits on the chair across from me. "I don't know, something about it being a polarizing thing that could make people either love or hate us both." Will scratches his head. "I really don't think it would bother any of the nobodies... Unless, of course, they get jealous of Hayley... Some of them are really crazy Dalton fans. I can relate to being a crazy fan..." I smile a little at his self-depreciating comment, but it was riddled with a harsh possibility underneath it: that the nobodies might become jealous. And jealousy does very ugly things - I know that all too well.

"I really better talk to Hayley... This is... Concerning." Will nods his head slowly. "Okay... But don't let the fear of what could happen stop you from realizing your dreams... If you want to be with Hayley and you want your fans to know, then just go for it. I really doubt any of the nobodies would hate you for that... I mean, how could they?" I smile at the thought, but I know that's not true. The nobodies are amazing, yes. But there are plenty of haters out there that already give me crap for being "goth" or "emo". And although I've since learned how to brush it off, it used to really bother me.