Nate hated summer time, which is odd for someone his age. But for a normal teenager, it meant being out of school and hanging with friends. Sure, he liked it around three years ago, but that was before Nate was part of the huge band, Connect Three, and normally in the summer is when they toured. Now, he loved touring, it was just Shane's attitude that annoyed him. Shane always acted like he was the only person that mattered in the band that and irritated Nate beyond belief. Even Jason was sick of it. That's why this summer was going to be one that Nate thought he wouldn't mind as much because Shane was being sent away to some camp to get his act back together.
"By the way, we told the press you'd be recording a duet with the winner of Final Jam." Nate informed his older bandmate as he switched seats in the limo and buckled himself in.
"What?" Shane yelled inside the window.
Nate, enjoying the look on Shane's upset face, just waved as the limo took off and he smiled at the fact that he wouldn't have to see Shane until the end of the summer. Leaning back on the leather seat, he watched the scenery that flew by out the window. He thought about all the things he would do this summer without having to tour or deal with Shane; there were so many possibilities. He was about to drift off to sleep when suddenly something caught his eyes. Quickly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and flung himself at the window. Thank God the speed limit was only fifteen miles per hour on these dirt roads because Nate had just enough time to take in what he was seeing: the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
She had dark brown hair with bangs. She was smiling at another camper and Nate noticed this adorable gap between her front two teeth. Nate smiled to himself as he watched her interact with the other camper. His eyes never left hers as they drove away.
Suddenly, he was really excited to visit Shane again.
The other two Connect Three members surprised Shane at Camp Rock about a month after dropping him off. Nate had wanted to go look for the beautiful camper he had seen a month ago right when his feet his Camp Rock soil, but he figured he'd see Shane first. He was shocked by how relaxed Shane seemed to be here; it actually made Nate like him again, which was definitely good news for the band's future.
Shane planned for the band to perform a new song he had written in front of the Camp Rock crowd. About a week ago he had sent the lyrics and had sang it to them over the phone, so Nate and Jason had time to practice it before the performance. Shane had mentioned that it was inspired by some girl he had heard singing.
Brown announced to the crowd that Shane was going to sing, but then the front man of Connect Three surprised the crowd by introducing the rest of his band.
The first thing Nate noticed when he took the stage was that the girl was sitting in the front row directly in front of him. His heart began to race as he placed his hands on his guitar and began to play the introduction to the new song. As he sang, Nate kept stealing glances at her but noticed that her eyes were directed toward someone else: Shane. Nate didn't take this as a bad sign though because almost everyone in the audience was focused on Shane.
The song ended with roaring applause from the campers and counselors. The band bowed and then ran off stage to have a brief meeting. All three of them were excited about the song and introducing it to the label. When Shane declined the suggestion to record the song tonight, Nate wanted to protest and blame his attitude, but it wasn't Shane's normal arrogance getting in the way. Shane actually wanted to stay here and finish something he started. Nate had to respect that, so Jason and he walked away.
Nate began to walk through the groups of people, searching for the girl, when he found everyone crowded in one area. Standing on his tip toes, he noticed that some confrontation was happening and he noticed that one of the three girls involved was the one he had been searching for. He smiled, but it didn't stay on his face too long because he noticed that this girl was crying. Something bad was happening and Nate wanted to stop it. He was just about to run into the circle when the blonde girl asking all the questions left the group. The girl he had been desperately trying to talk to since he first saw her turned around and then she was faced with more people yelling at her because Shane was there.
Shane didn't even let the girl talk; he kept interrupting and Nate was becoming furious with Shane all over again. He couldn't believe Shane was doing this. Didn't he see how hurt she was? Didn't he care about her side of the story? Didn't he see how that blonde girl had cornered her? Nate's anger boiled and he was about to punch some since into Shane when Jason took a hold of his arm.
"Come on. Our limo is waiting." Jason stated.
Nate wanted to say he'd be there in five minutes, but it was no use. When he turned back around, Shane was gone and so was Nate's girl. Nate kicked the dirt under his converse and followed Jason back to their black limo.
The next time Connect Three got together at Camp Rock was the last day of the season, which meant it was Final Jam time. Nate always love the Final Jam when he was a camper; he and his band had won the year they were there and it was one of the greatest feelings he'd ever had. He couldn't wait to be a judge this year. Jason, Shane, and Brown all sat together at the judges table and watched as the campers competed.
The blonde girl, whose name Nate now knew was Tess (thanks to Shane for that information), flopped her performance. Nate would've felt bad had she not made a fool out of the girl of his dreams. Margaret came on and won over the entire crowd.
When it was time to make a decision, Connect Three joined together in the back of the cabin and talked it over. All three were just agreeing that it was going to be Margaret when notes from a guitar started ringing throughout the place. Everyone hushed and looked at the stage. Nate caught his breath as he noticed his girl on stage. Her voice rang through his ears and he was sure it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.
"That's the song!" Shane exclaimed as he watched this girl on stage.
"So, that must be the girl." Nate answered.
Jason commented back with "Ya think?" but Nate barely heard it.
All summer long, Shane had been describing this girl he had heard singing and how he was going to find her. Nate had teased him about how it sounded like something out of a Disney movie, but he was secretly happy about it because this girl was changing Shane. Now that Nate knew that the girl he wanted was the girl Shane also wanted, he was feeling the exact opposite of happy. Obviously Shane would get the girl because he had spent time with her over the summer and he was the front man. Nate was just the guy with a guitar and he was forced to watch as Shane and this girl started to sing a duet.
See, this is why Nate hated the summer.