A/N:
Hey everyone! This is totally completely AU; it's Camp Rock but turned into Another Cinderella Story, because of course the whole small-town girl finds big famous rock star was just too compelling to let up. The character roles are really different from the book, so I'm warning you in advance. It's probably been done before, but this is my take on it. I hope you like it, it's my first time ever publishing my fan fiction. I don't have a beta, so please don't expect utter perfection! If anyone would like to beta it, I would love you forever and ever and ever. Reviews would make my day, so pretty please with sugar and cherries on top, leave a little review for me! I'd love constructive criticism, but no flames please.
Oh, the title is from the song in the original 1950-something Cinderella movie. I thought it fit so perfectly!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Camp Rock franchise or Another Cinderella Story, or any of the dialogue and songs in it.
MPOV
The shrill sound of my alarm woke me up. Groggily, I opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the pitch-black darkness of 4:30 AM. I groaned, remembering that it was the first day of camp and I was needed in the kitchens. As I snapped the light on, I thought back wistfully of the days I enjoyed camp like a regular kid.
My name is Mitchie. My father's name was Brown Cessario, famous guitarist and founder/director of Camp Rock, a summer camp dedicated to encouraging children in their love of music. The operating word of that sentence is was; a drunk driver killed my father three years ago when I was 13. My mother passed away when I was 2, and dad and I had only each other. He felt that I needed a mother in my life, so he married once-successful-but-past-her-prime-and-trying-to-be-cool diva extraordinaire, TJ Tyler. Along with TJ Tyler came her daughter, Tess, from another marriage. They were honey and sugar with my dad; they were demons to me, calling me worthless and a waste of space. When my dad died, they basically turned me into their maid. They never found his will, so TJ got ownership of everything, including Camp Rock and me.
TJ was horrible to the staff - myself included, she made me work for free in the kitchens to cut costs - and didn't pay them well or treat them kindly. To me, she was worse. It was a miracle that the staff had not quit, but they stayed because of the children that came to camp. Camp Rock was still esteemed for the quality of its music program, thanks to Dee, the musical director, who had always been able to run things her way, despite TJ's horrific visions for the place.
Dee and Connie, the head cook, were the two who always looked out for me and are able to stand up to TJ, and I don't think I would have been able to survive without them. They managed to lessen my workload and/or cover for me so that I was able to practice music, my one true joy in life. My dad taught me to play guitar, piano, and sing since I could talk, and I always looked to music to feel close to my dad and express myself. Not many people knew that I was my dad's daughter; he didn't want me getting any special treatment when he ran camp so only my closest friends knew. Now, TJ didn't want the world to know so she made sure I didn't tell anyone else, and I didn't care, because I didn't think it really mattered.
As I headed into the kitchens, I was startled by a bear hug from Connie. I laughed and asked her, "Why so excited?"
She winked and replied, "You'll see. Now come on and help me with these burgers. They're not going to make themselves, you know!"
We chatted and worked, until we were interrupted at 12:00 by an ear-splitting shriek of "MITCHIE!" and I was trampled.
"CAITY!" We giggled and got up from the ground where we had ended up. Caitlyn Gellar was my best friend, and she had been since we were 9 and she had been coming to camp. She was with me when my dad died, comforted me when TJ or Tess decided to be especially nasty, and helped me out with my kitchen duties so I could come to all the camp activities. "I've missed you!"
"I missed you, too! When did you wake up today?"
I sighed. "4:30. Evil, right?"
"Aaw, you poor thing," she frowned. "But enough depressing talk for now! Dee is about ready to make the welcome announcement, so hurry up!"
I looked at Connie. "Go dear. Come back when she's done, though!" I kissed her on the cheek and Caity and I left to the outdoor stage where Dee was waiting.
She winked at me and Caity before shouting into the microphone, "Hi, gang! I'm Dee La Duke, the musical director here at Camp Rock."
"Hi, Dee," we said. Caity and I shared a look; we knew what was coming.
"Here at Camp Rock, we… sing. So let's try that again." We shook our heads and sang the same greeting. She gave us a thumbs up. "Sounds good. A little pitchy in places, but we'll fix that by the Final Jam."
Barron and Sander surprised us by going onstage and rapping. We all moved to their beat, having fun, and Dee took the mic back. "Haha! Okay, okay, settle down. Y'all are too much fun! Okay, this summer is not just about Final Jam. We have a lot of work to do. You're going to get new music skills, you're going to find your sound, create your own style - holla! - and figure out who you want to be as artists, but most of all: have fun!" The same speech she gave every year. She had more to say this year, however. "For the first time, we're going to be joined by very special celebrity instructors!" That must have been what Connie was so excited about.
SPOV
I was angry. Beyond angry. "I don't want to waste my summer at some camp! I'm Shane Gray for crying out loud!"
Nate appeared to be slightly amused at my fury. "Hey man, we used to love this place. Three years ago, we were campers."
Jason butted in, "Yeah man, this is where Connect 3… connected." This was true; our now wildly famous band Connect 3 had formed at Camp Rock 3 years ago, the summer right before Brown died. It had been the best summer of my life. It wouldn't be the same without Brown; he became an uncle to me during that time. I knew he had a daughter but I didn't know whom, maybe I'd get to meet her. OK, so maybe the idea of going back to camp didn't seem so bad after all.
"Look, man, right now you're the bad boy to the press, and the label has a problem with that, which means we have a problem with that." Nate was always the more business-minded of us three.
Jason, being his oblivious self, mused, "Actually, I don't really have a problem with that." After a pointed glare from Nate, he amended, "We have a problem with that."
"This camp thing is supposed to fix it. It's good P.R., so do your time. Enjoy the fresh air. Get a tan. And we'll be here with you." Nate and I got out of the car grabbing our guitars, waiting for Jason.
"Ugh, fine!" I grabbed my guitar and got out of the car grumpily.
I made my way to our cabin, where none other than TJ Tyler and her she-devil of a daughter, whose name I could not be bothered to remember, assaulted me. "Shane, baby! What's the haps?" TJ had been trying to get Connect 3, or at least me, to record a single with her to bring her non-existent popularity up.
"TJ, Jess, please get out of my cabin."
"If I am not mistaken, Shane, this cabin belongs to me, because Camp Rock belongs to me."
I scoffed, as did Nate and Jason, who had arrived behind me. "And that's where you are mistaken, TJ, because Camp Rock rightfully belongs to Brown's daughter, wherever she is."
Not many people knew Brown had a daughter anymore; TJ did a great job at erasing any evidence of her. If I knew TJ though, his daughter was still at camp, and I was determined to meet her. TJ gasped. "How did you know about that?"
"Brown was like our uncle, of course we would at least know that he had a daughter, even if we don't know who she is. And rest assured, we will find out who she is," Nate smirked.
TJ and her daughter fled the room, but not before Bess attempted to flirt, "I'm going to practice. You're welcome to watch." I ignored her.
MPOV
I went back to the kitchens to help Connie, and Caity came with me.
After a while, Connie said, "I hear there's an open mic today."
"Yeah…" I trailed off, seeing where she was going with this.
"Are you going to sing?"
"In front of all those people and with Tess watching? No way!"
"Sweetie, I've heard you sing! You're really good! Honorary Mom's honor. And if you're nervous, so what? Everyone gets nervous. That's why I'm making so much food tonight because people eat when they're nervous."
"Not me, I don't think I can eat another burger, ever," I joked.
"But Connie's burgers are so amazing!" Caity said with a hungry gleam in her eyes.
"Okay, then, why don't you go take the trash out to the dumpster and then set up in the mess hall? Caitlyn and I will finish up here." Without realizing it, it was almost 2:00 in the afternoon.
I walked out with the trash and heard horrible singing, so I decided to investigate. It turned out to be Tess practicing with her lemmings, Peggy and Ella. At least they weren't as horrible as Tess.
You think you're hot
But I'm sorry, you're not
Exactly who
You think you are.
Can't tell you what,
That you haven't got,
But when we walk
Into the room.
The song was as egocentric as the girls who were performing it. With a shake of my head, I left.
When I got to the mess hall, I set the plates before looking at the grand piano. The grand piano was beckoning me to play it, so after I checked to make sure the coast was clear, I opened up my songbook that I always carried with me. As my fingers hit the first chord, I went into my own world as I sang the first few lines of my song.
Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way
This is real, this is me
I'm exactly
Where I'm supposed to be now
Gonna let the light shine on me
Now I've found who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me
I quickly got up, smiling because I had figured out the perfect chord sequence for the melody. I ran into the kitchen, hanging up my coat and grinning ecstatically. What I didn't know was that someone had heard me play.
SPOV
I decided to take a walk, the encounter with TJ and her daughter left me wanting to punch something at their stupidity, but of course, the minute I set foot outside of my cabin, I was almost run over by rabid fangirls. I ran near the mess hall, and dove into bushes to escape them. As I tried to catch my breath, I heard the most enchanting voice in the mess hall. The lyrics had so much depth, and her voice was like that of an angel's, with raw emotion. After the fangirls cleared, I raced into the mess hall, only to find it disappointingly empty. "Hello? Hello? Who's in here?" I tried calling out to no avail. That music, though, it reminded me of the music I used to write before the label forced us to auto tune and do things their way. I would do anything to find the girl with the voice, I knew that much.
MPOV
In a few hours, it was Opening Jam. I went over to stand over by Caity and Lola, another of my closest friends who knew I was Brown's daughter. We enjoyed the music, and soon Dee announced, "Hey Camp Rockers! Next up, let's have a big Camp Rock welcome for Lola Scott!"
"Wish me luck," Lola told us with a smile, and then she walked to the front of the room with conf
Who's got, what it takes to be my guy
What it takes to make, me shine
What it takes to get me. Fired. Up?
Who's got, what it takes to be my beau.
What it takes to make, me glow.
What it takes to make this, beat, flow.
Everyone talks about what they think they need
They make up a list of things: 1, 2, 3…
Everyone is different, but where we can't agree
Every girl wants a boy to treat her sweet.
Don't think that bein' mean will get you anywhere
Don't think that acting cool will make me wanna care
I need your respect, if you're gonna be the one.
And if you must apply then try to get the job done.
Who's got, what it takes to be my guy
What it takes to make, me shine
What it takes to get me. Fired. Up?
Who's got, what it takes to be my beau.
What it takes to make, me glow.
What it takes to make this, beat, flow.
I've been contemplating
What it takes to make me give my heart.
Could you be, the one?
Standing in the crowd?
I'm waiting to find out.
I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, oh.
Who's got, what it takes to be my guy
What it takes to make, me shine
What it takes to get me. Fired. Up?
Who's got, what it takes to be my beau.
What it takes to make, me glow.
What it takes to make this, beat, flow.
Lola was amazing as usual, and we cheered loudly for her. Caity noticed something and said, "Great. Something wicked this way comes."
Tess came up to Caity and me. "Hey, Caitlyn. Your folks still wowing them on the cruise ships?"
"Actually, they work in-"
I cut her off. "It's not worth it, Caity. Let's go."
We walked away and most people were laughing at a beet-red Tess screaming, "Don't you walk away from me!"
Soon, it was getting late, and we all went to sleep. Caity and Lola bunked it my cabin.
The next morning, Caity and I woke early again to help Connie in the kitchens, but not as early, because now we had 4 hands instead of 2. I thanked god for small favors. When we were done, we sat with Barron, Sander, Lola, and a couple of others.
Barron smiled at me teasingly and said, "Hey, plenty of room here next to me and Murray."
Lola joked, "Yuck! You're going to chase her away!"
Caity shook her head and addressed the table, "As usual. Good morning."
"Hey guys," I greeted.
Barron laughed, "Wassup?"
We saw Dee getting up to the mic to make an announcement. "Good morning, Camp Rockers! I am very excited to tell y'all that we are having a black and white masquerade formal this year! Of course, there will be an open mic for those of you who want to perform without anyone knowing who you are!" The hall erupted in cheers, and Lola, Caity, and I started talking about dresses animatedly.
SPOV
The next morning, I was very rudely awoken by Nate pulling my sheets off. "What?" I growled.
"Rise and shine, super star." Nate was taking pleasure in this, I was sure of it. I sighed angrily and turned over to the other side of my bed. "Don't make me do this Shane," Nate laughed.
I mumbled, "Go away." Nate took the vase from the side table and dumped the water on my face.
"Hey!" I bolted out of bed.
"Oh, sorry. Don't say I didn't warn you," Nate snickered. I hated him.
"Fine, I'm up, okay? I'm up!"
Nate said, "Alright, we've both got classes to teach, yours starts in five." He turned to leave, but then added, "And you might want to put that mattress out in the sun. It's the only one you're going to get. Oh, and can you put some water in that vase? Flowers look parched." Then, he left and called, "Four minutes!" behind him.
MPOV
Our first class of the day was Advanced Voice. The instructor was late, so in the mean time, all of us were making music and dancing. The door opened and our instructor was… Nate of Connect Three. After the class got over the initial shock of Nate being our teacher, most of the girls started screaming. Caity, Lola, and I were some of the few that did not and put our hands to our ears, so as not to turn deaf from the high frequencies. After the screaming died down, Nate quipped, "Whoa! If the class is a rockin', I'm-a glad I came a knockin'! So, let's hear what I'm working with this year. Who wants to sing first?" My heart ached; the manner in which he started was exactly how my father would talk to us. Everyone eagerly raised his or her hands to go, but I didn't. I always had had stage fright; I didn't want to sing in front of anybody. Nate looked like he already had somebody in mind as he started to say, "Eenie, meenie, minie." Then I realized what he was doing as he pointed at me at last and declared, "you!"
"Me?" I was dreading this.
"Can't argue with the finger," he smirked. I cursed him in my mind.
Tess volunteered gleefully, noticing my hesitation, "I'll do it!"
"Ah, no. The finger picked her."
I made way to the front of room and shyly sang, "Who will I be? It's up to me-"
Nate interrupted me, "Alright, I know you're singing a solo, but it's so low I can't hear you. Alright? So, a bit louder."
I mustered up my confidence and sang clearly.
Who will I be? It's up to me,
All the never-ending possibilities
That I can see, there's nothing that can't do.
Who will I be? Yes I Believe
I get to make the future what I want to.
If I can become anyone and know the
Choice is up to me-
Who will I be?
The thundering applause I got after made my confidence soar. It was the first time in forever, really, that I had been able to sing in front of people. The opportunity never came up before; I had always kept my head down in classes before. Nate came up to me and said, "That's not bad, not bad at all. Is that an original?" He had a curious look in his eyes.
"Yeah, but its - it's mine, but -"
"No buts, it's good. High five."
We high-fived, and Tess glared with jealousy.
NPOV
I opened the door to my first class, Advanced Voice, to find the class singing and dancing. When they saw me, there was a moment of absolute silence, and then extreme fangirling. I covered my ears, and I noted with interest and relief that there were some girls that were not squealing. After the screaming died down, I quipped, "Whoa! If the class is a rockin', I'm-a glad I came a knockin'! So, let's hear what I'm working with this year. Who wants to sing first?" I channeled my inner Brown, wanting to make a good impression. I hoped I would be a good teacher. I noticed that only one girl wasn't raising her hand to sing, and she had a faraway look in her eyes. My curiosity was peaked, and I said, "Eenie, meenie, minie," then pointed at her, "you!"
"Me?" She was clearly dreading this.
"Can't argue with the finger," I smirked. I was sure she was cursing me.
Tess - yes, I knew her name - volunteered gleefully, noticing her hesitation, "I'll do it!"
"Ah, no. The finger picked her." Seriously, she needed to back off.
I heard her curly-haired friend with the bold fashion choices encouraging her. Her friend was the most beautiful person I had ever seen, but I couldn't think about that now. She said, "Go on, Mitchie." So the shy girl was Mitchie, now I had to find out her friend's name.
She made way to the front of room and sang, "Who will I be? It's up to me-" Her voice faltered.
I interrupted her, "Alright, I know you're singing a solo, but it's so low I can't hear you. Alright? So, a bit louder." I thought that was rather clever of me.
She mustered up my confidence and sang clearly, and I was amazed.
Who will I be? It's up to me,
All the never-ending possibilities
That I can see, there's nothing that can't do.
Who will I be? Yes I Believe
I get to make the future what I want to.
If I can become anyone and know the
Choice is up to me-
Who will I be?
She was amazing and I could see her confidence growing. I went up to her and said, "That's not bad, not bad at all. Is that an original?" Her style of singing and the way she carried herself reminded me of someone. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't say whom.
"Yeah, but its - it's mine, but -"
"No buts, it's good. High five." She was amazing, and I found myself wanting to look out for her as a brother would. Any amorous feelings were reserved for her friend.
We high-fived, and Tess glared with jealousy. "You call that singing?" she asked. She opened her mouth to sing and sounded like a duck. The entire class laughed at her, and I made no efforts to stop it. She sat down with an undignified huff. The rest of the class passed uneventfully, but I caught Mitchie's friend's name as they were leaving. Caitlyn. It suited her. I hoped she would be in my producing class later on; she seemed like the type who wanted to go into music production.
SPOV
I didn't teach my first class, I really didn't care about teaching. I never signed up to be here in the first place. I hadn't eaten breakfast, so I decided to go down for breakfast. I was very annoyed when I saw that I couldn't eat anything due to my allergies, so I went to rage at the kitchen staff.
I walked into the kitchen and called, "Hello? Hello?" I couldn't see anyone, but I heard a clatter. "Hello? I can hear you!" I said when I got no answer.
A girl with flour all over her face rose from under the table. "Hi," she muttered, keeping little eye contact.
"Do you work here?" I asked.
"Yes."
I appraised her casually and took a cupcake. "Wow, you really get into your work… I'm Shane, but I'm sure even the kitchen help knows that."
"Of course, it's nice to meet you."
"Actually, it's not so nice." Her eyes snapped up to meet mine and I was stunned at the sparkle in them. They were beautiful. I shook my head and continued, "See, my manager said he sent over my food allergy list, but since I couldn't even go near my breakfast this morning… Can I just talk to whoever's in charge?"
"Excuse me?"
"What?" She was cute when she was mad.
"Well, you're kind of being a jerk."
Something inside me was telling me to apologize - shocker, I know - but I antagonized her a bit more to see how she would react. "And you are?" I questioned with venom.
"A person! And there's a way to talk to a person, and that's not it!"
Deciding I had pushed her temper enough, "Well, I'll have my manager send it over again."
"Fine," she huffed.
Just as I turned to leave, she cleared her throat. "Thank you?" Is that what she wanted from me?
"Much better." Her smug smile and her eyes had me thinking about her for the rest of the day.
MPOV
I breathed a sigh of relief after Shane walked out. Caity walked in on me like that. "What happened?" I relayed the incident to her. "Oh my god! What a jerk!" I laughed and agreed. Although I'd never known him personally, I had heard a lot of great things about Shane and his brothers from dad, and I wondered how deep his old self was buried inside him. "Forget about him! Come on, I want to show you a new beat I've been working on!"
SPOV
The next afternoon, Nate found me and he literally marched me to the next class I had to teach. I protested, "I don't need a chaperone!"
"Seeing how you blew off your class yesterday, you sort of do."
"I didn't sign up for this! Get our agent on the phone!"
"Get our agent? What happened to you, man? That kid on that T.V., that's not who you really are." Nate pointed at my chest. "In there Shane. What happened to the dude who just loved music?"
"He grew up."
"Big whoop! Stop acting like it's all about you!" Nate looked really hurt, and I started to feel bad. My attempt to rebel had affected him and Jason - who was happily teaching junior rockers and making birdhouses - the most.
"In my world, it is."
"Oh, look! We're in Dee's world. And in her world, you're considered an instructor at this camp, which means you've got to instruct. Starting with hip-hop dance at 2. And 5,6,7,8." He did a little robot dance and walked away, genuinely angry and not amused at my antics. I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to teach. Maybe I would find the girl with a voice or Brown's daughter.
I walked into class, and much to my dismay, none other than Bess, - or was it Jess, or maybe Tessie? - TJ's daughter was in this class. She giggled and blew me a kiss. I turned away in disgust and surveyed the class. I thought I recognized a voice in the class, but brushed it off. I commanded their attention with, "Grab a mic and hat. Follow me if you can. Hurry!" I decided not to go easy on them, at least at first, so I could scope out who actually had an affinity for dancing. The song started and I started dancing, but I saw no one was following but 4, a curly-haired brunette, a girl with reddish-brown hair and the most beautiful eyes - I knew I had seen them before, but where? - and two boys that I knew to be the resident rappers, Barron and Sander. Finally deciding to mellow it down, I said, "Across the floor," and gave them generally easier moves. At least they could learn by watching me, and the only time I had to give them a verbal command after was "Crisscross." As we neared the end of the song, however, a lanky boy that I could somehow sense was a drummer fell.
Jess ridiculed, "Talk about dancing to the beat of a different drum," and laughed maliciously. The rest of us went to help him up.
"You any good on the drums?" I asked. He took out his drumsticks and played an elaborate sequence on the floor extremely well. "Man, you're a drummer, dude. The drummer controls the beat. The rhythm's in your hands."
"Yeah, I guess," he muttered.
"Now we just got to work on getting that beat from your hands to your feet."
The rest of the class went by uneventfully, and I asked Barron, Sander, and the two girls who I learned were named Caitlyn and Mitchie to stay back. I congratulated them on their ability to dance so well, "That was some seriously amazing footwork today from all of you. Great stuff and keep it up!"
Barron and Sander man-hugged me and laughed, "Thanks, man." Caitlyn and Mitchie just smiled.
My eyes landed on Mitchie. "Do I know you from somewhere? You seem really familiar, like I've seen you before. Or maybe you look like someone, but I don't know who."
Her eyes nervously scanned around and she chuckled in a high-pitched voice, "Nope, you've never seen me before! I would know if I had met Shane Gray before!" and bolted out the door. That was odd, but I let it go.
I had no classes for a while, so I went back to my cabin to play guitar. The girl's song was haunting me.
I was strumming a tune inspired by This is Me when Jason came in. "That's cool. It's like our old stuff."
"Yeah, I was thinking we could change up our sound, do some different stuff."
"As if the label will let us," Jason said in derision. "Anyway, so you coming up to the campfire?"
"Ha, yeah right."
"Alright. You sit in here by yourself, super star, 'cause you're right. Way cooler." Jason seemed crushed by my attitude and trudged outside. Maybe it was time to become who I used to be. I put my guitar down and made my way to the campfire.
Dee was talking as I got there. "So, we call this the Campfire Jam! It's about freedom of expression, the freedom to be who really want to be. Hit it!"
TJ Tyler's awful daughter sang the most terrible song, and only TJ was clapping enthusiastically.
I'm too cool for my dress
These shades don't leave my head
Everything you say
Is so irrelevant
You follow and I lead
You want to be like me
But you're just a wannabe
Love it or hate it
Me, myself, and I agree
You'll never catch up with me
Cause I'm too cool
Yeah I'm too cool
To know you
Don't take it personal
Don't get emotional
You know it's the truth
I'm too cool for you
You think you're hot but I'm sorry, you're not
Exactly who you think you are
Can't tell you what you haven't got
When we walk into the room
I'm too cool for you
You see I'm all beauty, brains, and talents
I got it all
Well others have to try all their lives
Still they never get the call
That's the difference between you and me
Obviously
I'm a natural
I'm the real deal
I can't help the way I am
Hope you don't misunderstand
But I'm too cool
Yeah I'm too cool
To know you
Don't take it personal
Don't get emotional
You know it's the truth
I'm too cool for you
I left the campfire, not bothering to stay for anything else. Early next morning, I was out on the dock working on my new song.
As I was playing, I heard a noise, and I snapped, "Can't a guy get some peace?"
A girl emerged from behind the tree, Mitchie. "Sorry." She came closer. "Sorry."
"You said that already."
"I'm sorry. I… Was that you playing? It sounded kind of different."
Of course. "Than my usual stupid cookie-cutter pop star stuff? Sorry to disappoint," I retorted.
"You didn't. I liked it. I mean, it was good… for stupid cookie-cutter pop star stuff."
I think I needed to hear that and I smiled. "Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel better."
She asked, "I thought you loved your sound. You created it. You're like, a Camp Rock legend."
Ha. "Some legend. I only play the music that the label thinks will sell. That's it."
"You don't think that song would sell?"
"I don't know." And we were too scared to try.
"Well, you never know unless you try. And by the way, I know one girl who would buy that song." With a grin, she left. I was still trying to place why she looked and sounded so familiar.
A/N: So... What'd you think? Review please :)
Xoxo