"Oh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away,"

- Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones

Ch. 1 Graduation

Maggie POV

I sighed and looked at myself in my blue graduation gown. It went all the way down to my feet, only gently covering my flip flops. My hat was all set out on my head, the tassel in the right place. I smoothly dawned my Salutatorian banner and took another mirror check. The girl staring back at me wasn't the same girl as four years before. Nope. This girl had a group of amazing friends, a newfound confidence in herself, and the best boyfriend in the history of the world.

None of which managed to make it to her graduation.

I groaned and hit my head against the mirror as my Mom called, "HONEY! TIME TO GO!" I groaned again. I was her fifth daughter. Graduations weren't special. They were to be endured.

I grabbed my bag and sprinted down the steps. My sisters were all standing there looking amused at me. The oldest had also been Salutatorian, the second oldest Valedictorian, the third oldest number three, and the forth oldest number four. I wasn't really all that special. I rolled my eyes as my Dad came over and insisted upon taking millions of pictures of me. I smiled warmly and convincingly in each one as we all piled up into the mini van. My parents were laughing and talking and I managed to become invisible in all the din.

The only people who had legitimate excuses to not being at my graduation were Mitchie and Shane. Mitchie's graduation, surprisingly, was today as well, and it was obviously more of a priority for Shane to go to his girlfriend's graduation than mine. No one else had a legit excuse when they told me they couldn't come. Caitlyn's was that she had to clean out her apartment, when a.) She kept things clean constantly and b.) She didn't live at her apartment; she was living with Shane, Jason and Nate! Jason's excuse was that he had a very important meeting of the Hollywood Birder's club, and this hurt that the birds were more important than me. Peggy and Ella's excuses were the same; they had a huge end-of-high-school bash they had to go to. Lola's excuse was that she had been to help someone with something. Barron, Sander and Ricky all had some break dancer contest to go to that repeated every week. And my lovely boyfriend, Nate? Oh yes, his excuse was the best of all.

The day after I left a message telling Nate the date of my graduation, I received a little text from him.

Sry Mags. Got a previous engagement. I luv u, hv fun!

I didn't talk to him for a few days before calling back to let my intense fury wear off. No one was coming to my graduation. I didn't cry, though. I was very careful not to cry about it.

We pulled up to my High School and my dad went to get tickets for my family while my mom walked me up to the door.

"Well, I'd better go help your father save seats. Practice your speech with Becky, it'll be fine," my mom smiled at me. I raised my eyebrows.

"Why do you need to save seats? You're all here," I rolled my eyes. But my mom didn't blush like she misspoke; she blushed like she had given something away.

"Yes, well, you'd better hurry up. I love you!" she called after her as she ran off to my dad. I rolled my eyes and went inside. My grandparents were probably coming or something.

Becky, my best friend outside the Camp Rock group and the Valedictorian, was already pacing back and forth. She was dressed as well, her thin light brown hair pulled up into a bun in her cap. I ran over and gave her a hug.

"Come on, Maggie, we have to practice our speeches!" she sighed. I nodded, unfazed. Before last summer I would have died having to give such a huge speech. Before none of my friends could come I would have been completely calm. Now I felt like I was going to die again.

We both went through our speeches time and time again. Becky's boyfriend, Kevin, came over and gave her a pep talk that I chose to ignore. When he left, she turned back to me.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry Nate can't come. Are you sure he can't come?" Becky asked for the, I don't know, millionth time.

"Yes, positive. Why do you care so much?" I groaned.

"Well, he's Nate. From Connect 3. He's so darn cute," Becky sighed, "And so sensitive, and goal-oriented, and such a good singer and guitar player, and funny, and shy, and…"

I rolled my eyes, "And taken."

"Yes, that's the downside," she sighed dramatically.

"And you are saying this right after Kevin came up because?" I chortled.

"Because he always reminds me of your infinitely awesomer boyfriend," Becky moaned dramatically once more.

"Okay, line up!" one of the teachers barked. Becky went in front of me as we stood near the door.

"Lead that procession, Becky!" I hissed in her ear. She gulped, now pale white. I had to give her a small push when the same teacher, Mr. Shultz, blew his whistle.

We marched through as the Junior Band played the alma mater. I rolled my eyes at their horrible playing. The juniors were the worst musicians yet at our school, but it was tradition to let them play at the graduation. I followed Becky up to the rostrum and sat next to her. I reached out and grasped her sweaty hand to give her confidence as the principle, Mrs. Wilson, walked up to the podium and held out her hands to silence the cheering crowds.

"Please welcome your class of 2011!" she cheered, and the audience burst into fresh screams. I let out a soft groan and held my face in my hands.

"Maggie!" Becky hissed, "People can see you!"

"Right," I muttered, lifting up my head. We watched as the principle gave a long speech about how this class had some of the most talented students in music, academics, art and even sports, which my school was notorious for being sucktastic at. Becky and I both grinned at each other, her being one of the best artists in the school as well as having the highest GPA and me being one of the best musicians in the school as well as having the second highest GPA. Number three, a sad, short, blemish-faced boy named Morton, snorted and refused to look at us. The reason why we called him 'sad' was because he was horribly sexist and racist. The fact that two girls beat him for Salutatorian and Valedictorian? We heard his screams from across campus.

I looked up and around the crowd as Mrs. Wilson continued to talk. I searched the crowd for the faces of my family, but was at a loss for it. I mentally groaned. My family couldn't even come?!

Becky watched me look around frantically and jabbed me in the arm. I looked at her mouthing What? And she pointed eagerly into the stands, but not so that the entire audience could see. I rolled my eyes and looked at the row of people where I had already looked.

My jaw dropped so that everyone could see. The entire row of bleachers was taken up by my family and my friends!

My Mom waved happily from the bleachers upon seeing my shocked face. On my mom's right were my dad and my sisters, but on my mom's left was the group. Nate, Jason, Caitlyn, Lola, Barron, Sander, Ella, Peggy, and Ricky all took up the rest of the row on the bleachers. I continued to look shocked up at them and Nate gave a hesitant, mischievous wave. I glared at him in annoyance.

"Did you know about this?" I mouthed to Becky. She shook her head while stifling laughs.

"And now, without further ado, let me introduce you to our Salutatorian, Margarita Dubois!" Mrs. Wilson began clapping. I shook as I stood up and reached the podium. My row of fans all stood up and screamed their heads off. Again, I mentally groaned. I was going to kill them for surprising me like this.

"Hello, everyone. I know that everyone in my class is excited to finally leave the house, and I'd wager a guess that some of the parents in the audience are glad that their senior is finally leaving the house," I smiled and the crowd laughed appreciatively. I looked up at my row and my parents were shaking their heads while laughing.

"The miracle is that we made it this far. High school is filled with surprises," I emphasized the word surprise and looked over at my boyfriend of evil, who grinned widely again, "Bumps and smooth spots alike. It's a journey that you have to get through, and we all got through it. Yes, we've lost people along the way, but isn't that like any journey? The sad part is, it's over. We won't have any more jammed lockers, thank God, but then again, we won't have any more proms or dances. We won't have the ups and downs, the huge hormonal highs, the SATs and ACTs, or the firsts that helped us grow throughout high school. Most of us are relieved, and so am I. But we all are a little sad. But who is the saddest of all? Us, or our parents, the ones who helped us get through all of this? I think the cheers today shouldn't be for the kids, who certainly deserve cheers, but not as much as our parents. They were the ones who kicked us out of bed. They were the ones who made sure we studied for all of our tests, turned in our homework on time and researched colleges at the beginning of junior year. Our parents were the ones who drove us before we got our licenses and who paid our tuitions. Our parents deserve a cheer for putting up with our hormones and our mistakes. And most of all, our parents deserve a hug for watching what they so carefully crafted leave off for the real world, for college and for jobs and apartments. Give it up for our parents, everybody!" I raised my arms in the air and everyone cheered. I left the podium and Mrs. Wilson went up chuckling.

"And now a speech from our Class President, Sam Buford!" she clapped again and Sam, my ex boyfriend, came up. I didn't even look at him as he went up to the podium. Becky patted my arm and listened to his lame-o speech about the spirit of the class. I pretended not to listen.

He left the podium and tossed me a flirtatious smirk. I didn't look at him, but I directed my eyes to Nate in the stands. He saw the pleading look in my eyes even from over there and I could see him begin to glare at Sam's retreating back.

"And now, without further ado, our Valedictorian, Rebecca Anderson!" I clapped madly and cheered as my best non-camp friend went up. Her speech was awesome, about how this journey might be over but our lives had only just begun. The best part about being best friends was that where my speech left off, hers could easily pick up.

When she was done, which was after a good fifteen minuets, the senior band began playing. I was part of the chorus, who didn't get to perform, which was annoying. After that, the sporting teams assembled and got special certificates, along with the musical groups and the academic competition teams (I got two for Science Alliance and chorus, Becky got three for the Math Team, Softball and Orchestra.) Then, that lovely and long list of names began, in alphabetical order. We left the rostrum and went into our places in line, Becky the second one in line and me something like number 55. I was behind Will Donaldson and in front of Chelsea Dunois. Chelsea didn't even look at me, but Will and I had a nice conversation standing in line.

"So I take it your boyfriend showed up by that shocked look you had at the beginning?" he laughed. With all the practicing we had to do for this, I easily had time to complain in great lengths to him.

"Yeah. I don't know whether I should slap him or kiss him," I groaned. Will chuckled.

"A little bit of both, I'm thinking. My girlfriend's cheating on me, I found out yesterday," he muttered. I gasped.

"No!" and he nodded.

"Yup. With a college sophomore. I quite literally walked in on them naked and doing it on my couch," he sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Isn't she a junior? In high school?" I gaped. He nodded again.

"Yup. The little slut. She isn't even eighteen yet, I could have the guy arrested if I wanted," he grinned mischievously.

"Well, if you want ultimate payback…" I chortled as we slowly reached the rostrum.

"Seriously. I tried to have sex with her and she's all like, 'oh, but we'll get in trouble! I don't want to!' Do you think she was even cheating on me then?" he grumbled.

"I dunno, but we're almost there, shutting up might be appropriate," I hissed. He grinned and nodded, stepping up.

"Congratulations, William Donaldson!" he grabbed his diploma and his small family cheered. I braced myself for the screaming I was about to receive.

"Congratulations, Margarita Dubois!" I reached up and grabbed my diploma, shaking his hand, as a roar went up from the stands. I mentally groaned, grinned and waved before jumping off the rostrum.

Will rolled his eyes at me and I laughed. We went and took our seats, and I looked back at my family and stuck my tongue out at them. All of them simultaneously waved with wide grins, an entire row waving guiltily.

I loved them, no matter how much they exasperated me.

CampRock

After the ceremonies and I retrieved my hat, I rushed over to where my family was waiting. I gave each of my sisters hugs and my parents giant hugs before turning to Nate.

"So, I suppose you were planning this?" I raised my eyebrows. He nodded guiltily.

I slapped his cheek and he nodded as if he knew that was coming, but then I leaned in and kissed the same cheek.

"You know I hate surprises," I smiled. Nate shrugged with a grin.

"Are we all going to get slapped too?" Barron called from down the line. I shook my head.

"I'm assuming that Nate planned it," I reached over and hugged Caitlyn, "So I'm just going to hug you all." I hugged each of them as they all laughed. I ran back and gave Nate another hug.

"Now, come on, your graduation party awaits! I also invited your friends Becky, Kevin, Will and Kristen," Nate added casually. I groaned and gripped his hand.

"So they did know about this! Becky claims she did not," I grumbled. Nate laughed as we walked out to his car.

"They all knew about the party, none of them honestly knew we were going to surprise you at the graduation," Nate smiled and kissed my cheek, "I loved your speech, by the way."

I grumbled and got in to the shotgun seat. Caitlyn and Jason climbed into the back.

"Are Shane and Mitchie coming, too?" I laughed. Nate shook his head sadly.

"They wouldn't be able to make it in the traffic. They're coming over tomorrow for a giant day-after bash with just us," he explained, pointing to Caitlyn and Jason in the back as well.

"Dang. Do you know what they're doing then?" I asked casually. Nate shrugged, rolling his eyes and starting down the road.

"Don't you think I should be driving, being the graduate?" I asked after a while.

"NO!" everyone screamed.

"Okay, okay, geez!" I laughed, "Thanks for making my driving skills clear."

They all laughed as we pulled into my driveway. Caitlyn and Jason quickly jumped out of the car, but I held Nate back.

"Thanks," I smiled at him. He grinned back goofily.

"No problemo," he laughed, "Look, I spoke Spanish!"

"You wish," I leaned over and kissed him softly. We kissed for a few more moments in the car, oblivious to the fact that my sisters were watching from the window (I found that out a month later.)

"I love you, Mags," he smiled, pulling away. I grinned sheepishly.

"I love you too, now c'mon, Jason's bound to realize that we didn't follow… eventually," Nate laughed at that and we jumped out, running to the doorway hand-in-hand.

AN: Yippee! The sequel! Please review, my lovelies! :-D