Author's Note: The following "article" is from the actual version of the Camp Rock book. It ends until the line after it, and that is when the story continues, my version. My other fic' is all fluffy and warm, but I wanted to write a new fic', this time, drama.
Disclaimer: I do own Camp Rock.
Shane was going over and then saw Connie nearby. This was her chance. It was act now, or never be the star. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Mitchie and in a loud voice, asked,
"Mitchie, tell us about your mom again."
Hearing Tess, some campers turned. Connie, also within earshot, paused and listened. Mitchie felt like a deer caught in the head-lights.
"Her mom is a great person," Caitlyn said, jumping to Mitchie's rescue.
"What's your mom like?" she asked, turning to Barron.
Barron was confused. "Um, she's like, a mom."
But Tess wasn't going to be swayed. She had zeroed in on Mitchie and wouldn't let her go until she was finished. "I mean, I know she's president of Hot Tunes TV China," she went on, louder this time. "But tell me again about how important she is."
Now everyone was listening. Connie looked at Tess and then at Mitchie. Mitchie dropped her head, ashamed. All eyes were on her. Brown and Dee, by the stage, exchanged confused looks.
Mitchie began to speak in a low, almost inaudible voice, "She...uh...she..." she squeaked.
"I'm sorry, what?" Tess egged her on.
"She...uh... she's pretty cool," Mitchie said, a little louder.
Tess was relishing this. "And?" she prompted.
"And...uh..." Mitchie stammered.
She looked for her mother, to try to make her understand that she hadn't meant to hurt her, but Connie had vanished.
"She's not president of Hot Tunes TV China." Mitchie finally exhaled. Tess faked shock.
"What's that? She's not president? You mean you...lied? To everybody? A ripple went through the crowd. "So, she's what?" Tess continued. "Vice President? Treasurer?" The kids waited breathlessly for Mitchie's answer.
"Tess," Caitlyn said sternly, having heard enough. Tess shot Caitlyn a look.
"Go on. Tell us." She bullied Mitchie. Mitchie was almost in tears.
"She's a cook," she said, wanting to swallow the words. "A cook? At Hot Tunes China?" Tess said, in mock confusion.
"No, here," Mitchie said, her shoulders slumped in humiliation and defeat. This was all Tess wanted to hear. Her face broke into a satisfied grin.
"So, you lied," Tess said again to Mitchie. "Your mom cooks our food. And you help her. That's the only way you can afford this camp, right?" Mitchie stood dumbfounded. She was embarrassed and ashamed at the truth, but mostly at herself for lying.
"You're a real jerk," Caitlyn hissed. "Maybe," answered Tess. "But I'm not a big fat liar."
She pinned Mitchie with her eyes, then turned to Peggy and Ella.
"Come on," she commanded. Peggy and Ella gave Mitchie one last disappointed look before turning and following Tess. The other campers whispered among themselves. Mitchie could hear the words, "liar," "that's really sad," and "poser," drifting through the crowd. Some campers giggled and laughed.
"Mitchie..." Caitlyn started, moving to comfort her.
"It's okay." Mitchie shrugged her off. Shane, who'd heard everything, had just stepped in front of her.
"Shane..." she started, tears welling up in her eyes.
"You were lying?" he asked, his voice hard. "Yes, but I--" "Wow," he said coldly. "You know, I'm used to people pretending around me--"
"I wasn't pretending," Mitchie interrupted, wishing she could explain.
The last person she'd wanted to hurt was Shane. "I really thought you were different. But you're just like everyone else. You wanted to be friends with 'Shane Gray,' not me. Trick's on me, huh?" He gave a forced laugh.
"I was just trying to--" "Save it for your interview with Star Scoop magazine," he said. "I know I gave you an earful."
Shane kicked at the grass and walked away, his guitar slung heavily over his shoulder. As Mitchie watched him go, the tears finally began to fall, salty and heavy. "Not here, you don't," said Caitlyn. She grabbed Mitchie by the hand and whisked her away.
All Mitchie longed for was to be popular and accepted; to fit in, but that all came crashing down because of a little, white lie. She knew it was wrong, but she was intimidated. Her lower lip trembled, emitting a light gasp. She fastened her eyes, shut tightly, her hand over her mouth. She had a beaming, lopsided smile; tears tricking down with her melancholy smile. She resentfully fiddled with her fingers, but she knew she was hurt emotionally inside. She started to forget why done such a thing in the first place.
She pierced the lake with her broad eyes; sorrow weakly forming among her blank stares. The atmosphere was awkward; ill at ease, at that moment, she felt as if she sank down; she had as she curled up and embraced her knees.
She gathered a few pebbles at her feet and tossed one in the lake. She watched her rippling reflection as she whispered to herself, "This is me."
A lost, far-off gaze remained on Mitchie's face when she drifted off in a canoe, not knowing where she was headed to. She had no realization of what the others would think of her disappearance. She tried to gather her thoughts, but they were all jumbled up inside her head.
On the other hand, Shane was disappointed and upset that Mitchie would've been the best thing that happened to him this summer, let him down. He frowned, pondering why he was making such a big deal for just an ordinary girl. "I need to calm down," Shane said to himself as he spent some time in a canoe.
Peaceful waters soothed him, the shifting of the canoe irritated him a bit, but he started to settle down.
A figure in the distance caught his eye, but he couldn't make it out who it was. The dense fog gave off a murky feeling, and clouded his vision. He started rowing towards the outline hesitantly.
Mitchie turned her head at the sound of paddling of the water, a little startled that someone would come out this late. Her lengthy brunette hair swayed in the minority of light breezes, her bangs were draped across her forehead, settling gently on her eyelashes.
She let out a small squeak, which meant to be a gasp. Her breath was wedged in her throat, and tears were threatening to spill over.
She quickly paddled away from the other canoe, uncaring who it was. Little did she know, that her canoe had suddenly collided with a boulder. A shriek pervaded the air, which sent a shiver down Shane.
"What the?" Shane whipped his head around, attempting to paddle where he heard the chilling shriek.
He could see a few bubbles at the surface of the water aside the flipped canoe.
Mitchie couldn't perceive any sound at all, everything slurred around her. She was being dragged down by the murkiness of the waters and she did not have the strength to pull herself up. Her eyes were shut tightly, being persuaded in the comfortableness of the water to soothe her into a deep slumber. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, the gloominess clouding her sight.
A gasp left a trail of bubbles; she was in the deeper part of the lake now. There was no going back; she began to cry but she couldn't tell since she was underwater.
This is how it feels like to be drowning.
She wondered if anybody would miss her, if anybody would weep for her. She was disappointed that the last moment of her lifetime was when Tess had exposed her, when everybody rejected her, especially Shane.
She felt like the water filled up all of her lungs. She took a last breath, full of water, and shut her eyes, knowing she would never wake up again.
"…chie. Mit…chie!"
Faintly, she could hear her name being slurred together, but it didn't matter to her.
While Shane, swam to her, almost at the last second, he supported her head and her legs to bring her back up to his canoe.
"Mitchie!" he exclaimed, almost frantically, "Why did you!"
He then frowned that this was partly his fault. He pressed his ear to her chest to perceive no heartbeat. His eyes widened, but he didn't give up yet. In the movies(which was not a good time to think about), they always performed CPR if something like this happened.
Shane leaned down to brush his lips against hers to meet in a hesitant kiss until he had to catch his breath. Fortunately, she began coughing, expelling water from her system and gasping continuously.
He supported her head and pressed it against his chest, relieved. "I'm sorry, Mitchie."
She could hear him speak, but she was too weak to reply.
"I was so concerned," Shane said, wondering if she could hear him, "but I'm glad you're okay. I could've lost you because of something stupid."
He knew he sounded a bit sentimental.
She blinked as she slightly opened her eyes. "Y-You…mh…upset…"
"I know, and I'm sorry."
A small grin came on her face. "I-I…sti…ll hate you."
Shane frowned, and he didn't know what she meant.
"I hate you too?"
"Wha…why…"
"Because you made me fall in love with you."
