Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock.
Caitlyn had never been a Connect 3 fan; she thought that they were a stereotypical boy band who cared more about their hair and wardrobe than the music. And to Caitlyn, it was all about the music. If she stopped to give them any thought at all, she probably would have decided that they were cute. But Caitlyn found traits like talent, drive and dedication to be attractive, and Connect 3 had never struck her as being big on any of those. Give her someone like Andy or Barron any day.
As she sat in the front row at Beach Jam next to Mitchie and watched the members of Connect 3 run on stage, she had very low expectations. It would probably be another reworking of their same old, worn-out sound. But the moment the guys began to play, her head shot up. This was totally new…and surprisingly, she liked it. A lot. As she focused on the three musicians, she began to see past the popstar image. Nate and Jason were awesome on their guitars, and Shane's voice was much better than she had ever given him credit for. Whoever had been producing their songs should be shot.
And then, Nate started singing, and Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure how someone could go from sort-of-cute to gorgeous in the space of a second, but suddenly Caitlyn couldn't take her eyes off the curly-haired boy. He was amazing. It was a good thing that Mitchie was too absorbed in watching Shane to notice the almost carnal looks Caitlyn was sending Nate's way, or Caitlyn would have never heard the end it. All too soon the song ended, and Caitlyn jumped up with everyone else, clapping and cheering.
Part of her really wanted to go find Nate and talk to him, but that was something some crazy fan-girl would do. Caitlyn really hated girls like that. And honestly, what was the point? It wasn't like her opinion would matter to him anyway. Caitlyn was way too practical to indulge in some silly school-girl fantasy.
Even during all the drama leading up to Final Jam, Caitlyn found her thoughts drifting back to Nate. She secretly borrowed Mitchie's copy of Connect 3's last album and burned it onto her computer just to hear his voice. Although she was thoroughly disgusted with herself, she still found herself listening every night before she fell asleep. The old sound was totally cheesy and overproduced, but it brought back the memory of the Beach Jam performance.
During Final Jam she glanced out into the audience to see if she could see him, but the judges had already headed to the back of the auditorium for their conference by the time she and Mitchie took the stage. Later, She was acutely aware of his presence on stage during "We Rock". It would have been so easy to just watch Nate play, but she concentrated on the words to the song and the dance moves so she would not make a fool of herself in front of him. Not that she thought that he would notice what she did. There were tons of people on stage.
After the performance, Caitlyn hung out backstage. Mitchie had disappeared somewhere with Shane, and Barron and Sander had decided to hold an impromptu party at their cabin to celebrate Peggy's win. Caitlyn was planning to head over eventually, but she was vaguely aware that something magical had happened that night and wasn't ready to let go of that feeling. She was almost afraid that if she left the theater, she and Mitchie would still be outcasts, Peggy and Ella would still be Tess' puppets and Tess would still think she ruled the camp. So she sat on the edge of the stage and enjoyed the moment.
"Nice work tonight," a voice said behind her.
Caitlyn turned to see Nate standing in the middle of the stage. She looked around to see if there was someone else he could be talking to, but they were the only ones there. "Thanks," she stammered. "It was really Mitchie."
"Hey, don't get me wrong," Nate said, "I think that Mitchie was great. But you didn't miss a beat when Shane joined in. It was so smooth that most of the audience didn't know that it was unrehearsed. I'm not sure a professional could have pulled that off as well as you did. It was really impressive."
"Thanks. That really means a lot to me. I love producing." Caitlyn looked up at him and grinned. "I'm Caitlyn, by the way."
"Nate," he said as he sat down on the edge of the stage next to her. "Nice to meet you."
The two sat quietly for a moment before Nate ran his hands through his hair nervously. "Do you want to go for a walk or something?" he asked. "I would love to talk to you about music. Maybe get your take on the band's new sound." His voice trailed off and he waited for Caitlyn to answer.
Caitlyn grinned. "Sounds good. Let's go." A gorgeous, talented musician who wanted her opinion on his music – she was pretty sure that it couldn't get any better than this.