Chapter Seven

"Thanks for having my back in there." I glare at Stephen.

"What are you talking about?" Stephen shrugs. "I gave you complete veto rights to this whole thing if it doesn't go well. Against my better judgement, might I add."

"I meant with that comment he made about my music. You just smirked. I thought you were supposed to be MY manager."

"I mean . . . he did kind of have a point. Don't get me wrong, I love your music, but your lyrics are one-sided."

I shoot daggers at him with my eyes.

He throws his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it does leave the other side open for someone to do exactly what Archer did."

I take a second before responding because he does kind of have a point. I don't like it though.

"Okay, fine. You're right. He's right. This whole thing sucks though," I moan as I flop my body down onto the couch behind me.

"I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you need to change your attitude about this whole thing. It might end up being great," Stephen pushes as he types away on his tablet, probably hammering out last minute details.

"Doubtful," I mumble.

"Well, you can apologize to me later when this ends up being your best tour yet." Stephen stands up and starts to head to the door.

I stick my tongue out at him and cross my arms over my chest. He rolls his eyes as he walks out. I know I'm being childish, and I'll probably regret that later, but right now I'm okay with wallowing in self-pity for a bit.

"So, tell me what's on your mind now," Willow says, interrupting my strumming as we both sit in my hotel room.

I lower my hand from my guitar and slip the glittery yellow guitar pick into my sweatshirt pocket. "I'm honestly not sure. I mean, I'm definitely against it. One hundred percent, but what if Stephen is right? What if it ends up being a good thing?"

"Well, what kind of vibes did you get from Archer?"

"I'm on the fence. Honestly, he had an attitude that I definitely didn't appreciate. I felt like he was mocking me and my lyrics, too, which is obviously not okay."

Willow's eyes go wide at that. "Oh no he didn't."

"I know, but he did end up apologizing. And he said some really nice things after that. Although, I'm not fully convinced that he wasn't just trying to suck up at that point." I head over to my vanity, grab a cotton round, and start pouring makeup remover on it.

"I get it. That would've pissed me off, too. How did the whole thing end? Did he agree?" Willow rattles on, playing music at a low volume on her phone. She starts bopping her head to the beat.

I nod. "Archer agreed. As long as he can work things out with his family that is, which was kind of endearing because most people would've just said yes with no care about anyone else. I mean it's an amazing opportunity for him so the fact that his family played a role in that decision was sweet." I swipe at a particularly stubborn bit of winged liner on the corner of my eye.

"So, you're okay with it, then?"

"I wouldn't say okay with it. I'm only tolerating it because Stephen gave me full veto rights to get rid of Archer if it goes south. Which it will. Pretty quickly." I wipe the last bit of red lipstick from my mouth and toss the cotton round into the garbage.

"Ali." Willow hits me with a pointed look.

"What?" I ask, shrugging.

"Don't ‘what' me. I know exactly what you're planning to do."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I pull the blonde ponytail holder out of my curly hair, letting it fall to my shoulders.

"You're going to find every little thing wrong with this guy until you can convince Stephen to get rid of him. You're not even going to give him a chance. He's already a dead man walking in your book and you know it." Willow's voice holds firm.

I roll my eyes. Dang, she knows me way too well. "That's not true," I try to rebuke.

"Don't even start." She presses pause on the music on her phone. "You do it all the time in your dating life."

"No, I don—" I start, but she's one hundred percent right. "Well, that doesn't mean I'm going to do it with this."

"Very convincing." Willow shakes her head at me.

I stand up and grab the stack of clothes sitting on the couch. "I'm going to go shower," I say as I head towards the bathroom.

"Fine, but do me a favor when you're done."

I turn back towards her, frowning.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." She looks down at her phone. "Just watch his video again and scroll through the comments. And not just a couple of them. Go through a bunch. Get a feel for the overall reaction to it."

I hear my phone ding on the table next to her.

"There's the link again." She sets her phone down and looks at me, waiting for my response.

"Fine," I state bluntly, "But you're my best friend. You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am on your side. I'll always be on your side. But sometimes, being on your side means getting your stubborn butt to see something differently. No offense, but sometimes your view tends to be one sided." She winks at me. I choke on air.

"Are you serious right . . ." I start.

She cuts me off. "Go shower. I'm going to order our traditional after show pizza."

She blows an air kiss at me. I roll my eyes and stomp off towards the bathroom.

A little while later, I'm still scrolling through a few more comments, moving my lips with the words as I read.

I'm honestly not sure what to think. Almost every single comment is positive. They love Archer's song. Even my fans. And I don't mean they just enjoy it or just think he did a good job, but like they're obsessed with it. Listening to it on repeat. Asking when it'll be available to download.

"Did you get to the one about the duet mashup yet?" Willow asks as she takes a bite of pizza.

I look up at her over the screen and then dart my eyes back down. "No," I huff. I scroll down a bit more. "Oh, there it is."

Everyone tag Alison in this. Maybe we can get her to do a mashup with Archer. Could you imagine that duet!

"Are you kidding me?" I let out a breath that lifts my bangs up off my forehead.

"I mean, they are right. That would be a killer duet," Willow points out through a mouthful of food.

I want to disagree with her, but she's right. The songs compliment each other so well. Almost like they were made to be sung together, which I guess in a way, was exactly Archer's intention. I'll never admit that out loud though. I keep scrolling through more of the comments.

We sit in silence as I continue scrolling and Willow enjoys more of her pizza. After a few minutes, Willow breaks the silence again. "Update on your thoughts?"

I wait a few seconds trying to sort everything floating through my brain at the moment. "Well, I guess . . . I guess . . . I no longer loathe this whole tour idea."

"I knew it! I knew you'd come around!" Willow shouts.

"No! Absolutely not. I haven't," I make air quotes with my fingers "‘come around' yet. I just don't completely hate the idea anymore. Just a fraction less hate than I had a second ago. Still not welcoming this whole thing though."

"You're so stubborn," Willow says as she pours another glass of pop. We sit in silence for a few minutes as my thoughts swirl around in my head.

"Willow," I say in a small voice, "What if this completely ruins this whole tour for me?"

"Then, we'll schedule another tour." Willow laughs. "But I don't think that's going to happen. I think once you move past all of this, you're going to enjoy it. You're standing in your own way right now. Everyone thinks this is going to be a good thing. You're just holding on to bitterness because of how it all went down. You just need to shake it off and open your mind to it all."

I nod my head as I reach over and grab a piece of pizza from the box. "Shake it off. Got it."