A/N:My first Camp Rock fic! I love the movie and have been reading tons of fanfics before finally deciding to write my own. This is a Jason/Mitchie friendship story. It will eventually end up being a Smitchie story, but not for a while.

Disclaimer:I don't own any characters or places you recognize from Camp Rock. Their characters may be tweaked a bit, but hopefully not too much. I don't own any songs used during any chapters throughout this fic. The title and artist will be listed at the end of any chapter including a song.

Nate and Jason were waiting for Shane back in his cabin. Though they weren't entirely sure where Shane had gone, they had a pretty good idea that it had to do with the girl he kept smiling and staring at during their performance. At least now they understood why Shane was enjoying camp so much this year; there was a girl involved. The two were talking, excited at the prospect of getting to sing their own music instead of the label's. 'Play my music' was exactly what they wanted to do. The door flew open, stopping their conversation, to admit Shane, who looked like his entire world had just come crashing down and he wasn't sure if he should be upset or angry about it.

"Shane?" Jason asked tentatively.

"I don't want to talk about it," he responded immediately.

Jason looked to Nate, not sure what to do. Nate gestured to the door and, when after several awkward moments Jason had yet to leave, kindly pushed him to his feet and in the direction of the door. Taking the hint Jason left, hoping he could find some one who could tell him what happened. He made his way down to the lake. He knew in his days of camp when someone was upset they'd head down to the lake. And if Shane was upset, someone else was bound to be too. Sure enough he found two girls, one whose body was shaking with sobs and one trying to comfort the other.

"Hello," he said to make his presence known. Both girls whipped around, the crying girl trying in vain to wipe the tears away and the other looking ready to throw whoever had interrupted them in to the lake. He made a mental note to steer clear of that one.

"What do you want?" the latter asked with narrowed eyes.

"Is she okay?" Jason asked.

"Oh what do you care? Run along back to Shane and don't come back!"

"Caitlyn!" the crying girl scolded, well, the best she could in her state.

"What? Mitchie! That's Jason Paige! As in his friend!"

"You don't need to be rude though," the crying girl, Mitchie he realized her name was, sniffled while wiping at her eyes one last time. She turned to Jason then. "Did you need something? I'm not particularly in the mood to be making any more enemies right now."

"Why would I want to be your enemy?" he asked confused.

"Like you don't know!" Caitlyn snapped.

"I don't," Jason said honestly. He was sure the girl had to do with Shane's mood, but that didn't mean he wanted to make the girl his enemy. Especially when she was so upset herself.

Mitchie wasn't sure what to make of Jason. He seemed sincere and was being friendly. He should hate her just like everyone else though right, even more so because of his connection to Shane. And she knew Jason was known as the slower one most of the time, but she couldn't help but think he knew exactly what he was doing by talking to her.

"I'm not okay, but I will be, eventually," she finally answered.

"What's wrong?" he frowned. He liked when people were in good moods, not bad ones. He always thought bad moods were contagious. It was hard to be happy when someone else around was so upset.

"Like you don't know," Caitlyn muttered again while rolling her eyes.

"Knock it off Caitlyn; he's just being nice."

"You're standing up for him?" she asked incredulously.

"He hasn't done anything wrong," Mitchie shrugged. Caitlyn left in a huff.

The two were left in silence, neither sure what to say or do now. After a few minutes Mitchie sighed and patted the ground next to her; he might as well sit if he was staying. Jason only hesitated a moment before sitting down and stretching his legs out beside her.

"So what's wrong?" he finally asked again.

"Do you really not know?" she asked quietly. He shook his head. "Do you promise to listen to everything and let me explain myself before getting angry?" He nodded.

She went on to tell her side of everything. How she didn't have many friends at home. How she was intimidated by all the cliques everyone already seemed to belong to. How she just wanted to fit in so badly, just leave poor, dorky Mitchie behind for the summer. How she lied about her mom to get a chance to hang out with the "it" crowd, Tess's crowd. How her and Shane became friends and the she really was being herself; she lied about her background, not her personality. And, finally, she told him about the current situation, how Tess outed her secret, Shane overheard and he wouldn't let her explain herself.

"No wonder Shane was so upset!" Jason said as if solving a terribly difficult problem.

"But I didn't lie to him!" Mitchie protested.

"Not from where he's looking."

"I swear though," she said quietly. " I was honest about myself with him."

She started crying again. If she couldn't even convince Jason about the truth, how was she going to get through to Shane? She pulled her knees up close to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her forehead on her knees. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a large hand began to rub her back. She pulled her head up to look at him.

"Look, I know what it's like to want to just fit in."

"No you don't," she laughed. "You're famous. Everyone wants to be your friend." He rolled his eyes.

"I haven't always been famous Mitchie." She blushed. "I used to be an outcast you know. People thought I was stupid or something. But then Shane and Nate came along and things changed." He paused here and frowned, but Mitchie was unsure of what to say so stayed quiet. "I was teased a lot in my time here. Sure, I was great on a guitar, but that didn't mean people had to like me. Trust me Mitchie, if Tess is the biggest bully here you've got nothing to worry about. There was this one group of boys who used to team up on me, three of them and one of me. I had this book with all my songs in it, like almost everyone here does, and they took it one day on the way back to my cabin and starting tossing it around. I had no hope to get it back against the three of them. That's when Nate, then Shane, showed up."

Flashback

"What's the matter?" one boy taunted.

"Can't get your silly little diary back?" another said.

"Just give it back!" Jason shouted in frustration.

"Oh, guys, I think he might cry with out his diary," the last laughed.

"Hey! What's going on?" was heard from up the path, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. As the boy reached them and took in the full sight he glared at the three boys. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh yes Nate, whatever you say," the first one spoke sarcastically. His two friends laughed.

"I'm serious Andy! What gives you the right to take his things?"

"What gives you the right to ruin my fun?" he countered.

"What's he doing now?" another boy asked exasperated as he came upon the group, coming from the same direction as Nate had.

"Oh great," Andy rolled his eyes, "now my three favorite people are here."

"Just give him his book back," Nate said.

"Oh you mean his little diary?" he responded in a teasing tone.

"Andy!" Nate snapped. "Just give Jason the book." Then he paused, "Your name is Jason right?" Jason nodded. "Good. So give him his book back."

"Nate, Nate, Nate," Andy said shaking his head. "How long will it take before you realize I don't take orders from you?"

"If you won't take them from him take them from me," Nate's friend spoke up. Jason just watched, remaining silent.

"Oh please Shane, just because your Uncle runs this stupid camp doesn't mean I have to answer to you either," Andy scoffed.

"Right. You don't, but it'd probably be in your best interest to," Shane said stepping forward in a slightly menacing way. Andy started to laugh.

"And what are you going to do if I don't? Think you're gonna beat me up? That's just rich," he continued to laugh.

While his over dramatic laughter distracted him, Jason yanked his book from the other boy's grip, abruptly silencing him. Andy narrowed his eyes and glared at Jason.

"Well," Shane clapped and rubbed his hands together, "I guess that settles that."

"We're headed to our cabin Jason, you want to come?" Nate asked as they began to walk away.

"Sure," he shrugged as he began to follow the two boys. "And thanks guys."

"No problem," they both smiled.

End Flashback

"Nate did that?" Mitchie asked surprised.

"He did," Jason nodded wisely.

"Wow," she said, "I always thought him to be the more quiet type."

"He is, but he hates to see people being bullied for no reason," Jason shrugged. "You see my point though Mitchie?"

"I think so," she said slowly. He sighed. She had no idea. And people thought he was slow.

"Look Mitchie, you're not alone in wanting to fit in. Everybody wants to fit in. And at least you still have that scary Caitlyn girl." She laughed.

"Caitlyn's not scary."

"She wasn't looking at you like she was going to toss you in the lake!" he defended.

"She's not scary," she repeated shaking her head.

"Well that's not something we'll agree on I see," he said very seriously. "But really Mitchie, you should know, I don't hate you for lying. I get it. I'll try to talk to Shane, but I know he won't listen to me. I wasn't even allowed to stay in the room while Nate tried to figure out what was wrong."

"That's why you didn't know what happened?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've been told I'm apparently not very helpful in these situations."

"Well if it makes up for it, I think you were plenty helpful," she smiled.

"Thanks Mitchie. Look, Nate and me are leaving soon, but if you need to talk to anyone don't hesitate to call or message me. I'll give you my cell number."

"Thanks Jason. I think I just got a new favorite member of Connect 3."

"Who?"

"You silly," she laughed. He smiled.

They quickly exchanged numbers; Mitchie promising to use his if she needed or felt like it and Jason promising to check up on her occasionally. Mitchie left to go find Caitlyn, the only one talking to her still she was sure. Jason stayed seated for a bit. He felt really bad for Mitchie, but he had no idea how he was going to help her get on Shane's good side. For now he would just have to settle on being there to talk when she needed it. He thought about what Caitlyn had said earlier, "Run along back to Shane and don't come back!" "What? Mitchie! That's Jason Paige! As in hisfriend!" Jason knew he was expected to be on Shane's side, if any, in this dilemma, but there was something about Mitchie that he just couldn't be angry at. He sighed and got up, brushing the dirt from his pants and making his way back to Shane's cabin to say goodbye.

"I can't believe that girl!" Nate suddenly blurted out later that night.

"What girl?" Jason asked looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"That, that Mitchie girl! The one Shane was making eyes at!"

"What'd she do?" Jason asked, though he knew the answer.

"She lied to him! She used him! She played with his emotions to get popular!"

"How'd she do that?" Jason asked, making his brows knit together to play the expected oblivious part.

"She lied about who she was," Nate exploded. "She said she was some rich girl, her mom was president of Hot Tunes China! She lied to get close to Shane and enjoy the luxurious life of being a popstar's friend!"

"Maybe she didn't," Jason shrugged. Nate looked like he expected that kind of answer from Jason.

"Did you see the look on Shane's face today?"

"Maybe she just wanted to fit it," Jason shrugged again.

"You don't know Jason," Nate shook his head. "You didn't hear what happened. If Shane were here to tell you the whole story you'd understand."

Jason didn't respond to that. He should have been there when Shane explained it earlier, but he had been unceremoniously booted from the cabin. So he heard a different version, a not as biased and anger-clouded version. He briefly wondered what Nate would say if he had heard Mitchie's version of the story before returning to his magazine.

Nate sat fuming silently at the nerve of that girl before his thoughts were interrupted by Jason's phone vibrating next to him. Jason didn't seem to notice.

"Jase?"

"Yeah?" he answered distractedly.

"You've got a message." Nate picked the phone up and was about to toss it to Jason when he caught sight of the name. "Jason!" he hollered.

"What?" he asked confused why he was being yelled at all of a sudden.

"You've got a message from Mitchie!"

"Really? Good, can you toss me my phone?"

"Who's Mitchie? Not the Mitchie I was just telling you about right?" Jason sighed.

"I'm not talking to the Mitchie who used Shane for his fame," he said slowly, choosing his words ever so carefully.

"Good," Nate said tossing the phone a bit forcibly at him.

"I'm talking to the Mitchie who just wanted to fit in at camp," he finished.

"JASON!"

Jason was already checking the message though and chose to ignore him.

Hey Jason, it's Mitchie. I just wanted to thank you again for your help today. You really did make me feel a lot less awful about myself. So thank you.
Mitchie

--

Hey Mitchie. You're welcome about today. It was no problem, honest. I'm glad to see you weren't afraid to use my number. I hadn't expected to hear from you so soon.
Jason

--

It's okay that I messaged you though right? I didn't know if you were serious about going to you with problems, but I figured I'd at least thank you.
Mitchie

--

Of course it's okay. I just said I was glad to see you use it didn't I? Really Mitchie, get with the program. :P
Jason

--

Hey! Give me some credit! I had an emotionally draining day!
Mitchie

--

That's no excuse!
Jason

--

I'd beg to differ. I think it's a great excuse.
Mitchie

--

You only think that because it's yours!
Jason

--

At least you understand these things.
Mitchie

--

Go to sleep Mitchie. We'll talk another time.
Jason

--

Fine. Good night Jason, and thanks again.
Mitchie

--

Sweet dreams
Jason

Mitchie smiled as she closed her phone and returned it to it's spot on her nightstand. Jason was proving to be quite unexpected. He definitely seemed smarter than anyone ever made him out to be. And he was being so nice, sweet. She wondered what Shane would do if he found out Jason had helped her out today and instantly scolded herself. She shouldn't be thinking about Shane. He wanted nothing to do with her anymore. She couldn't wonder about him freely anymore.

A/N:So that's my first chapter. I thank you tons if you've read it and would love your opinions (maybe in a review! ;P). I've been working on this for awhile. I didn't want to post it though until I wrote more to see if I could even work this story out. On that note, I've got the next few chapters pre-written, for the most part. They need editing and touch ups and that stuff, but the next shouldn't be too far away.

Oh, and the title may change, but that's all I could think of at the moment.