Left on the Sidelines

*Two months later; After touring ends*

-Ryan-

"They probably already have too many artists on the label," Danielle squeaked, "They're gonna reject me so I'm just gonna go home. I'll see y'all later." She spun around, only to run into Ian and have him turn her back toward the building we were walking into.

"See, I knew you were going to try to get out of it," Ian chuckled, keeping a firm grip on her shoulders, "That's why I'm walking behind everyone." She sighed as we entered the CEO's office.

"Morning, Peter," I chirped as we sat down.

"Morning, boys," he smiled, looking up from his paperwork, "Oh, and Danielle. My apologies."

She smiled slightly and gave him a quiet, "Hi."

"So," he set his pen down and gave us his full attention, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"We were curious as to how one would go about being signed to the label," Nash replied casually.

"You boys were signing to the label at one point, you know," he chuckled.

"Yeah, but it was so long ago," Ian laughed, "We barely remember the procedures."

"Well, we could get into talk of procedures and all that," he said, "Or we get straight to discussing the contract I've already written up."

"Wait, what?" Danielle asked, finally stopping chewing on her fingernails.

The guys and I snickered as Peter smiled, patting the stack of papers on his desk, "The boys already discussed the situation with me and I wanted to write up a contract specifically for you."

"There's nothing hidden in the contract that will make me despise everything about this label, is there?"

"For my sake, I certainly hope not," he chuckled, "The contract just states that you are signed to this label until two weeks after the release of your album and will be renewed should you choose to stay with us."

"You need that much paper to say that?" she asked, confused.

"Well, there's also legal things in here."

"Such as...?"

"Copyright laws and ownership, pay - things like that."

"So copyright and ownership means..."

"We - the label that is - own the rights to the album and singles as a whole, but not to the things you've written for them."

"How about the percentage of earnings from those things?"

"Artists typically make about 20% for every single and album sold."

"So what you're saying is if this album doesn't sell, I'm screwed?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "I wouldn't put it exactly like that, but pretty much, yes."

"No pressure," she sighed to herself, leaning back in her chair.

"So what do you say?" I asked carefully.

"I don't know, Ryan," she mumbled, "I don't want to put myself out there with the possibility that no one will like what I do. That's like inviting people to make fun of me for thinking I had a chance in this business..."

Nash stood up and kneeled down in front of her, "Do you remember when we were on Taylor's tour and you asked the crowd who'd heard any of your songs?" She nodded and he continued, "And how many people screamed?"

"Almost half," she answered quietly, looking down.

"Almost half of the crowd at a sold out show have heard and clearly love what you do and that was just in one country," he took her face in his hands and made her look back up at him, "If you don't do this for that reason, at least do it for people like Maddie." He kissed her forehead and sat back down as she bit her lip nervously.

After a few moments of watching her and waiting for a reaction, she sighed and said, "Give me a pen." Our smiles widened as Peter handed her a pen and she stood up to sign her contract.

She put the pen down and Peter stood up, extending his arm to her, "Welcome aboard." She shook his hand and the guys and I cheered, jumping up and hugging her tightly, causing her to finally break a smile. After discussing things like recording times and photo shoots and whatnot, we were finally able to go home.

"Let's go celebrate!" Jamie grinned, throwing his arm around Danielle as we walked out of the building. She simply smiled, wrapping her own arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Where do you wanna go?" Ian asked her.

She shrugged, "I'd rather just order pizza and watch a movie, to be honest."

"Pizza and a movie it is," I grinned as we piled into the car. Jamie called a pizza place on the way back home so it would hopefully be there not long after we got back. The rest of the girls met us in Nash and Danielle's apartment where we told them the news. They were, of course, excited, already talking about how much fun it would be to tour.

Not long after we finished eating and the movie was over, everyone was starting to get tired - aside from Danielle who passed out halfway through the movie.

*A week later*

-Danielle-

Graduation. That feels so weird to say. I'm finally graduating. My school was surprisingly okay with me being gone for two months. Apparently, they agreed that having the opportunity to take photos and film a tour diary for a famous singer would be good for college applications as well.

I was pacing around while the rest of the seniors were waiting for graduation to start.

"Would you stop being so nervous?" my friend laughed. Lindsay was the only friend I made when I switched schools. I could never figure out why no one liked me, but it never really bothered me since I would only be there for a year anyway. I was grateful for Lindsay though. She made the past year a lot more bearable than it would have been if I had no one.

"Linds, I'm a worrier. It's what I do," I chuckled.

"The more you worry, the more likely things are to go wrong."

I rolled my eyes, "Calm down, Aristotle."

"You did learn something!" she teased, causing me to stick my tongue out at her. She looked behind me and smiled, "There's my cue to leave. I'll see you in a few!" She walked away as I turned around to see Nash and everyone else coming into the room.

"Hey, guys!" I smiled as Nash wrapped his arms around me, "What are you doing back here?"

"Well, we figured you were probably freaking out, so we brought some people who could hopefully calm you down," Jamie smiled. Before I could ask what he meant, I watched as my mom and dad walked through the door. I gasped, running over to them and hugging them.

"What are you- How did you even get here?!" I asked.

"They flew us out," my dad chuckled.

"Wait," I laughed, looking at my mom, "You got on an airplane?"

She shrugged, "I didn't have to pay for it."

"You bought their plane tickets?" I asked, turning to look at everyone.

"We can afford it," Ryan laughed.

"And that's not even the best part!" Katia squealed in excitement, bouncing in her spot.

"There something better than flying my parents out here?" Nash smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and standing behind me, holding it in front of us. "MacKenzie!" I squealed when I saw he was on FaceTime.

"Hi, Danielle!" he grinned, "Congratulations on making it through high school!" He was walking down a hallway, so I figured he had somewhere to be - which made it that much more special knowing he was still taking the time to congratulate me on graduating.

"Thank you," I smiled, "It was tough, but I made it!"

"Try not to trip and fall on stage," he smirked.

My eyes widened, "Don't say things like that!" We all laughed and I sighed, "I wish you could be here."

"I know," he smiled slightly, "Which is why I'd like for you to turn around." I spun back toward the door, screaming and running over, throwing my arms around MacKenzie's neck and hugging him tightly.

"You didn't think I was going to miss my best friend's graduation, did you?" he teased when I finally stopped choking him.

"But I missed yours," I pouted guiltily.

"You're busy making an album," he laughed, "I think I can make an exception." I gave him a look and turned to Nash, raising my eyebrows. He looked back at me for a moment before caving.

"I didn't mean to!" he exclaimed, "It just came out!" I rolled my eyes and laughed lightly before facing MacKenzie again.

"Does anyone miss me? Please tell me people miss me," I begged, "Everyone but one person at this school hates me."

"Uh..."

"I wish I were surprised by that," I giggled.

"Actually, Noah does ask about you a lot," he told me.

I scrunched my face a bit, "Why?"

"Wants to know if you're still with 'your one-night stand' or whatever."

"Yes!" I laughed, "And I have been for almost a year! Longest night of my life!"

"I love you, too," Nash laughed. I jokingly blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it and put it in his pocket, winking, "I'll save that for later." I rolled my eyes and laughed again.

"How long are you here?" I asked MacKenzie.

"I'm here for the next week," he smiled.

"We definitely have to write a song together!"

"I would love to!" he said happily. I squeaked quietly, clapping my hands like a little kid whose mom let them get a candy bar at the store.

Mr. Miller - our principle - walked into the room and told us that we had 5 minutes before the ceremony started, so I gave everyone a hug and they left to go to their seats. Lindsay made her way back over to me and everyone got in line in alphabetical order. Luckily, mine and Lindsay's last names were close together so we were able to sit beside each other. The ceremony started and went on for about 45 minutes before they started handing our diplomas. Our senior class was pretty big, so it took a while until my name was called.

"Danielle Nicole Myers," Mr. Miller announced and I walked across the stage. I couldn't help but smile when I heard Katia and Jenna cheer loudly, soon followed by the rest of the group. I took my diploma and shook Mr. Miller's hand, letting out a sigh of relief as I walked off the stage, beyond excited to be done with high school.