A/N: I had this image of a 13 year old Ella and a 13 year old Nate and decided to write a one shot to go with it. This is pre-Camp Rock movie by the way. Enjoy! Happy reading!
Lost
By angellwings
Ella was lost. She had no idea where she was. There were trees, but they didn't really help her find her way back to camp. Why had she gone off on her own? Oh yes, Tess had banished her from the cabin for the afternoon. All because she'd suggested Tess wear brown. What was wrong with brown? It was a very nice color, and it would look amazing with Tess's skin tone and hair color.
But apparently Tess didn't agree.
Well, whatever. Ella would just have to keep her fashion advice to herself when she was around Tess. She could do that if it kept her in Tess's circle. Camp was different. At Camp having a famous dad was a good thing. At home it wasn't good on any level. It was a problem. The kids at school looked down on her because of it. They expected her to be like Tess. They thought she was a spoiled princess who got whatever she wanted.
That couldn't have been further from the truth.
If she got whatever she wanted she wouldn't have to have two separate birthday parties to keep her parents from seeing one another. If she got whatever she wanted Camp wouldn't be the first place she'd actually made friends. Or something similar to friends anyway. She thought Caitlyn could maybe be a friend. Caitlyn was the other girl staying in her cabin. The girl that was currently Tess's favorite. Caitlyn was honest. Well, she was honest to everyone who wasn't Tess Tyler.
But Ella had a feeling Caitlyn's pleasant attitude toward Tess couldn't last long. Ella knew Caitlyn to be a very different person than who she seemed to be around Tess. But it was their first summer here. There were all looking to make friends. Some of them just worked harder at it than others.
She hated being thirteen. Mostly because thirteen year olds are mean. She couldn't wait until they were all old enough to get passed this phase in their lives. She couldn't wait until they all started to care less about popularity and more about each other, but until then she would survive by any means necessary.
She huffed and leaned against a tree. She gave up. She would just stay right where she was until someone found her. For all she knew she was just going deeper and deeper into the woods. She heard a guitar in the distance. She heard soft, gentle strumming. She bit her bottom lip, and walked toward it. Maybe it would lead her back to camp.
She reached the edge of the trees and found a small ledge that dropped down onto the small sandy shore of the lake. She looked to her left and right and saw a boy about her edge sitting on the ledge a few feet away from her. His feet dangled over the sand and he had a guitar across his lap. She hopped off the ledge and walked along the sand until she reached him. She tilted her head to the right and squinted.
"You're Brown's nephew, right?" She asked.
The boy jumped and nearly dropped his guitar, but Ella rushed forward and steadied the neck of his guitar with her hand. Her fingers brushed the side of his and she blushed. As soon as he had a hold of his guitar again she pulled her hand away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"Y—you didn't. I just wasn't expecting anyone to be out here," He told her.
"Well, if it helps. I didn't mean to be out here. I actually have no idea where I am," She said with a sigh. She bit her bottom lip and then held out her small manicured hand. "I'm Ella."
"I know," He said with a blank expression. "I've seen you hanging around with Tess."
"Oh," Ella said. She motioned to the spot next to him. "Do you mind if I sit?"
"Help yourself," He said with a shrug. "I was just about to leave anyway."
Her brow furrowed. She knew the sound of avoidance when she heard it. She looked away from him and sighed sadly. "You're leaving because of me, aren't you?"
"Look, no offense, but I don't have the patience to deal with Tess and her flunkies."
She nodded and tried not to sniffle or let her bottom lip quiver. She was working hard to make friends and yet she was still all alone. "No, no. You stay. I'll leave. You were here first." She started to walk away, but turned at the last minute. "You could have at least told me your name. Not that it matters since you seem to hate my guts, but it would have been polite."
He huffed and stood up. "I—I'm Nate, and, to answer your other question, yes Brown is my uncle."
She gave him a small smile. "It was nice to meet you, Nate. I'll see you around."
"Ella," He said quickly. She turned expectantly. "I don't hate you. I just don't get you or that other girl. Katie?"
"Caitlyn," Ella corrected him.
He nodded. "Caitlyn. What do you see in Tess? She's not very nice."
"She's better once you get to know her."
"Really?" He asked suspiciously.
"No," Ella said with a sigh.
"Then why?"
Ella shrugged. "Because she actually wants to be around me. Believe it or not, I don't get much of that back home."
"C'mon, really? You?" Nate asked in disbelief. "Where I'm from girls like you are normally pretty popular."
"Girls like me?" Ella asked in confusion.
He looked down at the guitar in his hands. "You know, talented…pretty."
She smiled shyly. "Pretty?"
He scowled. "Don't pretend like you don't know it already."
"You're right, I know I'm pretty. I just didn't know you thought so," Ella said with a blush.
"That's not what I meant. I meant…most of the other boys here seem to think you are. That's all."
Her face fell. "Right. Of course. Um, look, I know I said I'd leave but I don't exactly know the way back. Could you…maybe show me?"
"If you don't know your way around why did you come out here?" He asked with a quirked brow.
"I needed to get away for a bit so I took a walk."
"Alone? In the woods?"
"You came out here alone."
"Yeah, but I know my way around. There's a difference."
"Are you saying I couldn't figure it out?" Ella asked with a glare.
"Well, you're lost, aren't you?" Nate asked with a glare of his own.
She let out a loud frustrated noise and turned away. "Whatever! Just forget it. Stay here and sadly strum your guitar. I'll find my own way back. I don't need your help."
She walked into the woods and he rolled his eyes as she started off in the opposite direction of camp. "Hey, Sacajawea, Camp is the other way."
She stomped and let out another groan as she turned on her heel. He watched as her walk slowed to a stop and she looked around. He could only see her back but even he could tell she was clueless.
He followed her and stopped beside of her. She looked scared and angry, and frustrated. "Come on, I'll show you the way."
"Why?" She asked. "It's not like you like me or anything. I'm just one of Tess's flunkies, remember?"
He growled and looked toward the sky before turning to talk to her again. "You're not just one of her flunkies. You don't have to be anyway. If making friends is what you're worried about I'm sure you'll be fine. Lots of people would love to be your friend."
She rolled her eyes. "No, no one wants to be my friend. They all think I'm just like Tess. Spoiled and selfish. Either that or their parents don't think their children should be friends with 'The Rock Star's Daughter'. Bad influence or something."
"I'm related to a rock star. And I have friends."
"Yes, but Brown is your uncle not your dad. Believe me, it's different."
"So, then Tess is your only option?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Ella snapped. "She's my only option. She's the only friend I've got and I plan on keeping her."
"Some friend. She orders you around like a slave," Nate said with a roll of his eyes.
"What is with you?" Ella asked. "Why do you care? Earlier you didn't want to talk to me and now you can't seem to stop."
"I'm sorry," Nate huffed. "I just think you could do better if you really tried. That's all."
"You don't think I'm trying?"
"You're not trying," Nate told her. "You made one friend and you're not even trying to make any others."
"If I make another friend and Tess doesn't approve then I'm out," Ella told him.
"Because that would be absolutely terrible," He said sarcastically. "Can't imagine you having a friend that's actually nice to you."
"You're not being nice right now."
"Sometimes you need a friend that stabs you in the face," He told her. She froze and looked at him.
"F—friend? Did you just say you were my friend?"
"N—no," He lied. "I said you need a friend. I didn't say I was that friend."
Ella gave him a small smile. "Sure." She sighed, "I took a walk because Tess kicked me out of the cabin for the afternoon. I told her I thought she should wear brown and she freaked. Tess isn't a fan of the color brown, I guess. Or maybe it was the idea of me giving her fashion advice. I really don't know."
"That's…ridiculous," Nate said with a scowl as the edge of the woods came into view.
"Well, she is the queen. It fits somehow."
They reached the end of the trees, and Nate scratched the back of his neck and looked away from her. He glanced back at her awkwardly. "We're back."
"Yeah, I see that," She said with a sigh.
She started to walk off but Nate grabbed her arm. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't exactly been nice to you, but I do…I do hope you make better friends someday. You know, ones that actually care about you. Everybody deserves that."
Ella smiled softly at him. "Thanks, Nate. I hope so too. It was interesting meeting you. See ya around."
He watched her start to walk away and was surprised when she suddenly turned and ran back to him. She hesitated in front of him for a moment before she leaned up on her toes and quickly pressed her lips to his. His eyes widened and she pulled back barely a second later. A girl had just kissed him for the first time ever. No, wait, a crazy girl had just kissed him for the first time ever.
She blushed and smiled shyly at him. "Thanks for being my friend, even if it was just for an afternoon. Bye, Nate."
He waved at her in a daze. "Bye, Ella."