Everyone believed that the year after Mitchie's initial arrival at Camp Rock would be the most drama-free period at Camp Rock in its history. Ella, however, knew that it was impossible for camp to be so dull, especially since she was pretty close to doing the unthinkable.
Tess was the queen of the camp; everyone knew it, and any efforts to dispute the fact always failed. The same applied to the fact that Ella was the princess. She was friends with everyone at camp; even if she didn't remember everyone's name the majority of the time. Any newcomer would instantly pick up on these two facts; as well as the fact that Ella and Barron were the camp's most beloved couple.
Ella could not believe what she was about to say. She paced around the cafeteria, jumping when she heard Barron's familiar voice.
"You wanted to talk, Ella?" He said casually, draping an arm around her shoulders. She forced a smile on her face before guiding the both of them to the nearest table. "Sit," she said, a little too forcibly.
"Alright," Barron said complying and looking back at her.
She took a deep breath, she could not believe what she was about to say to him. What she was the most uneasy about was about to accuse Barron of. Barron; probably the nicest guy in the whole camp. She looked at his unsuspecting expression and mentally scolded herself for doing this.
"Sorry to make you take time out of your schedule," she said. It came out awfully formal, causing her to let out a nervous chuckle. As an afterthought, she placed her hand over his.
"No problem, we haven't talked in a while. And now we're here. It's what couples do; spend alone time," he insisted, giving her a cheesy grin. She grimaced with guilt.
"That's just it, Barron," she paused, "we're not much a couple anymore, are we?" She stared at him with panic, hoping that she would not see any hint of heartbreak in his eyes. It would be too much for her to take.
"Oh," he said, trying his best to smile in the situation. Both sets of eyes darted to their hands; hers were still sitting on top of his left hand. She flushed and immediately let go. This had to be the most awkward moment.
"This is awkward," she mused out loud. Barron responded with a slow laugh. She found it amazingly hard to believe that there was more she had to say. At that moment, she wanted to either take back her words, or flee and hide under a rock. Pushing a hair out of her face, she once again forced a smile on her face.
"What I mean to say is," she said, her fists clenched tight, "I think...that-you-like-someone-else." It was hard not to meet his gaze, she stared at him, wondering if he heard what she said. The last few words of the sentences had come out of her mouth faster than she expected, and she was not sure if he caught them. However, she knew that there was no way she could possibly force herself to say them again.
Her eyes pressed for answers, and Barron sighed. The guilt Ella was feeling was unbearable. She didn't want to put him in that position, but she had heard a rumor. What was worse was that she desperately hoped the rumor was true.
"How are you taking it?" Barron finally asked, raising an eyebrow. How was she taking it? She also raised her eyebrows. "Well," she started, her voice strained, "I'm happy for you."
She let her forehead fall to her arms. "Barry," she said, immediately reprimanding herself for using his nickname, "I have a confession."
"I can't really hear you Ella," he said uneasily, trying to move her arms, " Your voice is kind of muffled."
She looked back up, "I like someone else too."
The two sat there for a second.
"Wow."
"I know."
"How did you find out about me?" Barron asked, with a smile. She looked back at him, stunned. "You're taking my news pretty well," Ella noted.
"That's because you just confessed," Barron reminded her, raising his hands as he shrugged. "To me, it looks like we're on the same boat," he said with a laugh.
She could not help but smile either. "I'm so sorry Barron." Debating on whether she should bring up the prospect of being "just-friends," she decided to let him respond first.
"So, Ells, who is it?" he asked.
"What?" she quipped, not expecting the question, as shown through her blank expression.
"Oh. Don't call me Ells, please? I think we both find it kind of awkward," she admitted. He nodded. "I'm not sure I want to tell you."
"But you can tell me. I'm your boyfrie--" He stopped himself and let out a laugh.
"Breaking up proves to be harder than we could have imagined, huh?"
"Well, El-la, that's because we've wasted, no, spent the last 3 years in this relationship."
__________________________________________________________________________________
"You guys broke up?" Tess shouted.
"Yup," Ella said, resting her chin on her hands. She chewed her gum loudly, not wanting to hear whatever it was that Tess was muttering under her breath.
Yanking the pillow from underneath Ella, Tess threw her hands up in anger. "What the heck?"
Tess scrunched up her nose in confusion, "I'm totally confused Ella, who was the other girl?"
"Oh, well--"
"You can tell me. I'll knock her lights out."
Ella instantly sat up, reclaiming the pillow. "Whoa, Tess, no need. It was a mutual breakup."
Snorting, Tess patted Ella on the shoulder. "Fine, if you say so. This, in my opinion, is a classic case of denial."
"Tess," Ella whined.
"Okay, okay. I'm just saying that you're handling this awfully well."
"It's just that…what's done is done. No use in dwelling in it."
Tess scoffed, "You know, you sound exactly like my mom when she got rid of step-dad number 2."
"Uh-huh." Ella said. She finally laid back down on her stomach. "Tess. The reason why I'm handling this so well is because I like someone too."
"Who?" Tess said, dumbfounded.
"Stop pretending," Ella pleaded, "I know that you think 'Ella & Barron' is a match made in heaven, but I know for sure that you have noticed that I have started liking someone else."
"Nope, no way, never would have thought--"
"It's Jason."
"Connect 3 Jason?" she said, adding some false doubt in her voice.
"Tess, seriously."
"Alright, I'll admit it. But honestly, Ella! You just ended a three year relationship, who knows if you and Jason will work out? And its not like you can get Barron back, he's probably on a date with that---"
"Tess, are you going to help me or what?"
