Chapter One

Mitchie

Girl, you got me going crazy
Knock me off my feet
Now you've got me beggin, baby
Beggin, baby, please
All I wanna know is do you wanna get away
Get away with me
Cuz girl, I don't know what to do
Cuz I'm so in love with you

I stared in digust as Shane grabbed the microphone and got down on his knees to sing to some random girl in the crowd. Did he NOT realize that he had a girlfriend? Having a rockstar boyfriend could be extremely annoying. With all the girls going goo-goo-ga-ga over him, it made me want to puke.

"And this one's dedicated to a very special friend of ours, Mitchie Torres!" Nate cries into the mic. I smile. He was always so nice to me, even if he didn't exactly LIKE me that much. I sigh as the song begins.

Well, here we are again
Throwing punchlines, no one wins
As the morning sun begins to rise, we're fading fast
And we won't work this out

Huh. I'd never heard this song before. Maybe Shane wrote it for me?

No, we're not gonna work this out tonight
(We won't work this out)
No, we're not gonna make this right
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye
(Give a kiss goodbye)
'Cause we're not gonna work this out
Tonight



Cool song, I think, as they begin to sing the second verse, I wonder why they dedicated it to me? Hm. Must be Shane, I decide, bobbing my head with the beat. Shane could be a pain, but he was always such a great boyfriend (besides the whole flirting factor). The song finishes and all of us burst into applause as the band runs off the stage. I skip over to talk to them.

"Shane!" I squeal and jump into his arms. He kisses the top of my head.

"Hey Mitch. How'd you like the show?" He asks. I smile wide.

"I LOVED it! The song you wrote for me was great." I tell him as he sets me down. He looks confused.

"Uh, I didn't-" He starts.

"So anyway, it's so great to be back at camp, don't ya think?" As him and I walk off towards the lake, Nate gives me a weird look. I shake it off and act like it never happened.

Or at least, I try to.

Nate

Damn it, Shane! DAMN IT!

I wrote the friggin' song, not him! Mitchie, you b-

"Hey bro, wanna get something to eat?" Jason interrupts. Geez, perfect timing, eh?

"Not really. I think I'll just head back to the cabin." I tell him. He shrugs, and replies.

"Suit yourself. I hear Connie's makin' lasagna. Your favorite." He twirls around and starts walking to the dining hall, a posse of five girls trailing after him. I laugh and turn to go back to my cabin, but I see the piano in the rehearsal room and decide to check it out. Sitting down on the bench, my fingers begin to skitter across the keys.

Got the news today
But they said I had to stay


A little bit longer and I'd be fine
When I thought it'd all be done
When I thought it'd all been said
A little bit longer and I'll be fine

But you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know, no, no.
You don't even know.

Mitchie

As Shane and I laugh and run past the rehearsal room, I hear the familiar sound of the piano being played.

So I'll wait 'til kingdom come.
All the highs and lows are gone.
A little bit longer and I'll be fine.
I'll be fine

The sound is so beautiful, I stop and lean in closer. I hear the bench slide out and footsteps cross the floor, approaching the door. I duck around the corner so the person doesn't see me. Nate? It's Nate? Wait, so does this mean that….

Shane didn't write the song?

It was Nate?

So many questions are fluttering through my mind that I don't notice Nate come up behind me.

"Hey, Mitch." He says coolly. Does he suspect I heard him playing? I hope not.

"Oh, hey Nate." I reply, willing my voice not to shake. He smiles.

"So…like the song?"



Like the song? Like the song? He knows I heard him? Yikes!

"Um…but I didn't hear it…." I begin. He laughs.

"What are you talking about? You were sitting in the audience the whole time we played. Tonight, remember?"

Tonight! He was talking about the other song. I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Yeah! Shane did I great job, didn't he?" I grin. Nate's smile fades instantly.

"Shane? Shane did a great job?" He hisses, turning away. I bite my lip.

"Well, you did too-" He spins back to face me.

"I WROTE THE FRIGGIN' SONG! NOT SHANE!" He screams. In that moment, I feel so small and helpless that I don't even yell back. I just let him keep going.

"Shane, this, Shane that! IT'S ALL ABOUT SHANE! AM I INVISIBLE OR SOMETHING?" He shouts. I shrink back a few steps. He glares at me.

"And I actually thought we could be friends." He spits, storming away. I watch him go, my body overwhelmed with a feeling of anger. He hardly knew me! It wasn't fair to hate me from first site! I stuck my tongue out at his back and spun around to leave. Shane was probably wondering where I was, anyhow. He was my boyfriend, not NATE. So why did I care what Nate thought of me?

I honestly didn't know.

Nate

I stomp across the lawn and down to the dock, where Shane is standing, searching for Mitchie, no doubt.

"Hey bro, your bitch of girlfriend is back by the rehearsal room. Oh, and tell her to get a life, would ya?" I snap before running down to the end of the dock and diving head-first into the water. The coolness wraps around me like a comforting blanket and I swim deep down and out across. I feel so free in these few moments, that I don't ever want them to end. Swimming always clears my head when I stress. It's 

like my heaven on earth. When I bob up from under the water a half-hour later, the one and only Tess Tyler is standing over me on the dock.

"Nate?" She squints to make sure it's me. I smile fakely at her.

"Ah, Tess, it's nice to see you again, too." I smirk. She looks taken aback.

"Well geez, Nate. It's not my fault Mitchie hates you." She snaps. Then she peels off her clothes (and yes, she's wearing bathing suit. I'm not THAT perverted). Before I know it, she's screaming "Heads up!" and diving in after me. I quickly twist around and swim after her, laughing. "Tessss!" I call, diving down and grabbing her foot. A burst of bubbles escapes from her lips and we both emerge to the surface, laughing.

"I hate you." I tell her and splash her. She yelps.

"Hey!" And splashes me back. We keep laughing and splashing and swimming around until Jason walks down the dock and calls my name.

"Nate! Uncle Brown wants you, me, and Shane to meet him in our cabin. Come on!" He motions for me to come, and turns to walk away.

I look over at Tess, who shrugs.

"Go ahead. I don't mind." She tells me. I kiss her cheek.

"Thanks." I look back at her one more time before swimming to the shore and taking my shirt off to let it dry. She waves goodbye, and I trudge over to the cabin I share with my brothers, where, to my surprise, Shane, Jason, Brown, Connie, and Mitchie are sitting with my….dad?!

"Dad?!" I cry. He grins.

"Hey son! Long time no see." He tells me. We quickly hug and I sit down between Jason and Brown.

"So…I bet you're wondering why we called you all in here." Connie stands up and claps her hands together, teacher-style. I cover my mouth to surpress my laughter. "Last year, for Mitchie's birthday, her father and I took her to a Connect 3 

concert. I was walking back from the concession booth to our seats when I ran into someone…" She smiles at my dad. Weird.

"Long story short, I introduced myself as Evan Gray, we really hit it off, and well…." Dad trailed off before reaching for Connie's left hand and holding it up. When we saw what was on it, all four of us kids gasped.

"We're getting married!" Connie grinned the biggest grin I've ever seen in my entire life. "Which means…"

"YOU'RE GOING TO BE STEP FAMILY!" Dad cried, hugging Connie.

Mitchie and I both jumped up at the exact same time a yelled in perfect unison. "WHAT?!