Chapter One

When Tess first saw Luke Williams perform, the night of the Camp Rock/Camp Star bonfire, she was bowled over. He was amazing. On a whole other level from the rest of the people at Camp Rock. (And, she admits to herself, it doesn't hurt that he's devastatingly handsome.) How had she never met him before?

When they do meet for the first time, it's the morning after she makes the switch. Tess gets lost trying to find her way from her cabin to the mess hall for breakfast, and literally bumps into him. She blushes furiously as she picks herself up and dusts off her clothes – this was not how she'd planned on making a good first impression. "I'm so sorry," she apologizes. "This was all my fault."

"You look familiar," he says, not even bothering to acknowledge her apology. Tess decides she doesn't care that he's being sort of rude. "Tess Tyler, right? TJ Tyler's daughter?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I didn't know you went here! How have we not met before?" Realization dawns on him. "Ah… you're one of the former Camp Rock-ers." He laughs, and Tess's blush deepens. "Well, welcome to Camp Star. I'm sure you'll like it a lot better over here than over there." He points to Camp Rock across the lake, his tone condescending when he talks about her former camp. Her first instinct is to defend Camp Rock, but then she remembers that she's as good as a traitor in their eyes, and bites her tongue. She doesn't owe them anything anymore.

"I already do. This place is so much cooler… and so much bigger." Tess tries not to sound too awestruck, but it is still a little hard to believe that she woke up yesterday morning in a bunk bed in a wooden cabin, and woke up today in the equivalence of a five-star resort in the middle of the woods.

"You're lost, aren't you?" he asks, and Tess nods. "Follow me. The mess hall's this way." She does as she's told, cursing herself for acting like such a groupie with a crush around him. She was the one with a famous pop star mother, whose every move has been chronicled in tabloids since she was born. He was a nobody – granted, an extremely talented, very handsome nobody, but a nobody nonetheless.

The mess hall is nothing like the one at Camp Rock. Hell, it can barely even be called a "mess hall". It's all silver chrome and plate-glass windows looking over the lake, tables set with white tablecloths and real plates and silverware and glasses, and an honest to God menu, with uniformed staff circulating with trays that hold plates of food. The tables fit four to eight people, and the teenagers gathered in small groups, talking and laughing and gossiping, are all stylishly dressed and made-up for their day, even at eight in the morning. A far cry from Camp Rock, where most people came to breakfast in pajamas or sweats, their hair a mess and with no makeup on. Tess smiles.

If the first impression hadn't been enough, this only confirms it. Camp Star is where she belongs.

Tess makes a move to sit down at an open table, expecting Luke to go sit with his own friends or – hopefully – pull out the chair next to her, but instead he looks at her like she's crazy. "What are you doing?"

"Um… sitting down for breakfast?" She looks to see if there's something wrong with the table, but it looks fine.

"We don't sit down here. Follow me." He weaves through the assortment of tables, occasionally pausing to exchange a few words with a guy or girl sitting at one of the tables. Tess follows cautiously, watching how everyone reacts to him. Obviously, Luke is very well-liked here. She feels everyone's eyes on her, including the few of her former Camp Rock-ers that made the switch last night as well. Whispers of who is she? and what is she doing here? echo through the wide space. Like she's been doing since she was ten, Tess tunes them out, and instead watches Luke cross the length of the room to a place where the silver floor slopes upwards slightly, to reveal a sectioned-off area of the room set up higher than the rest, with a few tables also set for breakfast. A dark-haired girl sits at one of them, which is the one Luke makes his way to.

"Morning, Dana," he says, sliding into the chair next to her easily, like it was a completely normal thing for him to be sitting up here, in a part of the dining area that seems to be special. Knowing Luke, it probably was.

"Good morning," the dark-haired girl says, looking up from the sheet music she had been looking over. "I couldn't sleep much last night, so I worked a little bit on the keyboard harmonies for "Tear it Down" and I think I managed to fix the problem you were talking about on the bridge the other day. See, I think the problem was in the key change. I originally wrote this part in C major, but when you added your little rap bit I changed it to B minor, and it was throwing the whole thing out of balance. So I fiddled with the melody a little bit, and now I think it sounds better. We can try it out this afternoon, if someone else isn't using the amphitheater."

"Damn, D, you should have sleepless nights more often," Luke laughs, and Dana blushes. "Sounds good. We'll definitely check it out today. You know, I was thinking about that song last night too, and I think I–"

Tess clears her throat, shifting her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly, and Dana looks up at her for the first time. "Why hello there," she says. "Luke, I didn't know you brought in a stray." Her peach-glossed Cupid's-bow lips smile in amusement, but her deep brown eyes are kind.

"Dana, this is Tess Tyler. Tess, meet Dana Turner." Luke waves his hand between her and Dana. "Sit down, Tess. It's okay. We don't bite."

"At least I don't bite," Dana corrects him, laughing as she does. She extends a hand for Tess to shake. "Hi. Are you TJ Tyler's daughter?"

"Yeah, that's me," Tess says, sliding into the seat next to Luke and across from Dana, which conveniently places her back to the rest of the camp. "Wait a minute – Turner… like Axel Turner, the guy who owns Star Records?"

"And founder of Camp Star? Yeah, that's my dad," Dana says nonchalantly.

"He's your dad?" Tess gapes at her. Dana seemed so… normal. But then again, someone could easily assume the same about her based on her mom.

Dana rolls her eyes. "Everybody says that, and kind of exactly like that." She smiles happily for a second, her eyes closed as if remembering something good, and then snaps out of it. "But he's a really good guy when you get to know him."

"Hey, anybody whose dad has started so many careers in the music business is a friend of mine," Tess says, laughing a little so Dana will know she's joking. Dana smiles, and she breathes a sigh of relief inwardly. Searching for a new topic of conversation, she asks, "So, um, Dana – what's your thing? What are you here for?"

Luke puts a hand on Dana's shoulder. "Dana here is an incredible pianist–"

"Keyboardist, please. Pianist makes me sound like some stuffy old guy in a tux sitting at a grand piano playing Beethoven or something." Dana laughs, shrugging Luke's hand off her shoulder as she does. "But yeah, I play the piano and the keyboard – there's really no difference, even though I hate being called a pianist for the aforementioned reason. I also sing, write songs, and compose."

"Dana's such a superstar, I have her work on all my songs," Luke boasts.

"Shut up," she says, whacking him on the shoulder good-naturedly. "You know I only put up with you because my dad thinks you're amazing, for reasons that I still don't understand."

"Hey, at least somebody believes in me," he retorts. "And that somebody just happens to be Axel Turner. Plus, you know you love me, D. You'd do this even if your dad wasn't a factor."

"Yeah right." She stands up, shaking out her long dark hair, and pushes in her chair, gathering up her sheet music. "Well, I already ate, so I'm going to go see my dad – he wanted to talk to me about last night. God only knows what his problem is now, but hey, what can I do?" She sighs and shakes her head at them. "Meet you in the amphitheater around eleven?"

"Sounds good. Catch ya later." As Dana walks away, Luke turns his attention back to Tess. "You should come with me today. Watch the master do his work." A cocky smile spreads across his lips, and Tess has to bite her cheek to keep the silly grin off of her own face.

"Sounds great."

Tess sits near the front of the stage, watching Luke rehearse. Even in the daytime, the Camp Star amphitheater takes her breath away. This is where she should have been spending her summers all these years, not at a place where the biggest competition was held in an auditorium that had been converted from a barn. But she's here now, making up for that lost time, with people who are more like her than any of her so-called friends ever were.

"Hey. I thought I might find you here." Tess looks up to see Dana slide into the seat next to her, a giant composition book in her hand. She hadn't gotten a good look at Axel Turner's daughter at breakfast, but up close, Tess could see that she was really, really pretty, almost like a mini version of Angelina Jolie. "You know, you really should be seeing the rest of the camp, instead of following Luke around like a little puppy dog. Find your own niche, you know?"

The blunt way Dana says this reminds her of Caitlyn, and Tess thinks that she could like this girl, despite the implications of her last statement. She'll need friends here, after all, to replace the ones on the other side of the lake that probably want nothing to do with her now. "What if my niche is here?" she asks, sliding her hand under her hair and flipping it off her neck. It seemed that no matter what side of the lake you were on, the heat was still awful. The thought was almost comforting – at least some things weren't different. "Yours sure seems to be."

"I never pegged you for the backup singer type. And you think I like doing this?" Dana scoffs. "Please. I'm only playing backup for Luke because of my dad. He doesn't even know that I sing besides backup behind a keyboard. If he did, I know it'd be expected that I sign on to Star Records, and start producing cookie-cutter pop star hits, but that's not me. So until I can get a record contract of my own, with a label that will let me do my own kind of music, I'm stuck here, composing for Mr. 'I'm Giving You the Fire'." She does a near-perfect imitation of Luke, and Tess bursts out into laughter. After a beat, Dana joins in.

Luke looks up from the stage to see Tess and Dana in the middle of their giggle fit. "Hey, ladies, what's so funny?"

Tess's eyes widen, not knowing what to say, but Dana manages to compose herself in time to give him an answer. "Just talking about the meaning of life," she says nonchalantly, an edge of sarcasm in her voice.

Luke raises one eyebrow, then cocks his head to the side, as if to say Sure, I'll play along. "And what is the meaning of life, D?"

"That you suck."

He puts a hand on his heart and staggers backwards, like she's shot him with her words. "You're a liar. Tess, tell me she's lying."

Tess finally regains the ability to speak. "Dana's lying. You sounded incredible."

He flashes them that cocky smile that gives Tess a fluttering feeling in her stomach. "I know, right?"

"Thanks a lot, Tess," Dana says jokingly, still loud enough for Luke to hear from the stage. "Now his ego's just gonna get even bigger." Under her breath, she adds, "If it were at all possible for it to be any bigger."

"Not possible, D. I'm as humble as they come."

"Yeah right." Dana shuffles some of her sheet music around. "Look, I don't have all day, so why don't you finish rehearsing your other stupid song so we can work on "Tear it Down" already."

"Alright, alright. No need to get so hostile."

As soon as his attention is no longer turned towards the two girls, Dana rolls her eyes. "Good Lord, have you seen the ego on that guy? He must think he's the next Justin Bieber or something, just because my dad likes him. It's ridiculous."

"I think he's talented," Tess says, almost defensively, watching as he starts to sing again.

Dana studies her. "You like him, don't you?"

"Who? Luke? No!" Tess sputters.

Dana laughs. "You can keep on saying that until you're blue in the face, but I can see otherwise." Her dark brown eyes meet Tess's blue-gray ones. "Look, I'm not saying no. What I'm saying is be careful. Luke eats girls like you for breakfast."

Tess laughs. "I'm not like other girls."

"Whatever you say…" Dana stands up and starts walking towards the stage, as the rest of the band sets up for a different song. Tess watches her go, re-evaluating the dark-haired girl for her friendship potential. For now, Dana was a maybe – she was cute, talented, funny and sarcastic, but that last little comment, coupled with her need to "warn" Tess about Luke, put her into question.

Inhaling the warm summer air, Tess sighs and sits back into her seat, closing her eyes and soaking up the sun. A schedule of "activities" was lying in her cabin when she came back from breakfast, and there are countless things she could be doing right now – vocal clinics, dance classes, private lessons – but right now, she lacks the energy to do anything but sit here and listen.

A steady hip-hop beat pounds out of the speakers, followed by some clapping and back-up singers laughing and saying "Tear it down!" Then Luke starts singing, in his usual style that's half-singing, half-rapping. There's parts where a female voice cuts in – obviously a back-up singer, since it sounds nothing like Dana. Tess opens her eyes and watches the performance unfolding on the stage in front of her.

The lyrics are easy enough to pick up, and the beat is infectious. Before she knows what's happening, Tess is clapping and humming along, occasionally trying out the female part for herself.

All of a sudden, the music stops short. Tess turns around to see the reason for the abrupt halt – Axel Turner is descending the amphitheater stairs. Without any salutations, he launches straight into a critique of the music.

"Good, good, very good. But there's something that's just the tiniest bit… off. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something missing."

"I've been working on this for weeks – Dana's rewritten it about a dozen times," Luke starts, the slightest hint of irritation in his voice.

"Yes, I know, and it's very good. But I know it could be better. You there!" Tess jumps, as Axel points a finger towards her. "Who are you and what are you doing here? This is a closed rehearsal."

"Dad, this is Tess Tyler. She made the switch last night, and she was a little lost this morning, so Luke and I volunteered to show her around a bit. It was her choice to sit in on rehearsals, and neither of us minded having her watch." Tess makes a mental note to thank Dana profusely for saving her ass and buying her time to compose herself before the first time she speaks to Axel Turner.

Axel walks down a few more steps studying her. "Tess Tyler? Any relation to TJ Tyler?"

"She's my mom," Tess says quickly, mentally kicking herself. Of course the first thing she says to Axel Turner would have to be about her mom.

"You don't say," Axel says thoughtfully. "Was that you, singing along? I thought I heard a voice that I didn't recognize."

"Y-y-yes," Tess admits shyly, staring at her lap and playing with her charm bracelet. What was it with the people at Camp Star that turned Tess Tyler, Miss Diva Queen Extraordinaire, into a shy little mouse?

"Get up on the stage. Keisha – Tess here is going to take the female lead." A pretty African-American back-up singer with long dark hair in jeans and a pink tank top nods at Axel, then steps to the back. "We'll try it as it's written for now, but Dana will work with you after lunch to get a better sense of your range. If necessary, adjustments will have to be made."

Tess blinks.

"Did I stutter? Get up on the stage."

She jumps to her feet and bolts down the stairs to the stage. Within seconds she's standing on the giant black stage, the place where last night she'd watched Luke perform and dreamed of performing herself. What a difference a day makes, she thinks to herself.

"You sure about this? I mean, we've never heard Tess sing. What if–" Tess's eyes narrow, as Luke catches himself just in time.

"If she's anything like her mother, you've got nothing to worry about, Luke. Now take it again from the top!"

The music starts again, and Tess finds herself sliding easily into the groove of the song. Even when she doesn't know the words, she hums along, adding some of her own harmonies to the already written music, improvising on some of the dance steps the back-up singers behind her are doing. This time, Axel lets them go until the music stops, and when the song ends, Tess finds herself panting for air, but exhilarated, every nerve in her body a live wire.

"Just as I suspected. Tess, I want you working with Dana all this afternoon to transpose the song into a key that works for you. I liked your improvs – don't leave that out. Keisha can teach you the dance steps." Axel lowers his dark sunglasses for a moment. "You two are like music dynamite. I want you working together for the rest of the summer. If you work on this all summer long, by the Spotlight Showcase there will be record companies fighting each other to sign you up." With that, he turns around and starts to leave.

Instantly, Dana leaps out from behind the keyboard and over to Tess. "Okay, you have got a lot of work ahead of you. Knowing my dad, he's going to expect you to be on-the-dot perfect in like, a couple days, so we have to work day and night. I'll get my sheet music from my cabin and some sandwiches from the dining hall and meet you in the piano lab in half an hour." She turns to Luke before she leaves. "And you be ready for when Tess gets caught up – we're going to need lots of rehearsals in the next few days if you guys want to impress my dad, and knowing you two, you do." Already starting to run off, she pauses briefly and says to Tess, "Hey, congratulations. You did what everyone here would give their right arm to do – impress my dad." Then she's off, a blur of dark hair and gray skinny jeans in the distance.

Tess tries to keep her excitement under control, but it's easier said than done. "Isn't this awesome? Axel Turner said he liked me. Me – and not just because I'm TJ Tyler's daughter!"

"Yeah, yeah, great for you, you impressed Axel Turner," Luke says, almost mockingly. "But do you really think your mom had nothing to do with it?"

His words are like a slap in the face, but Tess chooses to ignore them. He's probably just bitter, she tells herself, that she has connections and he doesn't. "So I guess we'll be working together for the rest of the summer," she continues. "Sounds like fun."

He scoffs. "If you really think this is going to be fun, you have no idea what you're in for." Brushing by her roughly, he calls over his shoulder, "See you in rehearsals."

Alone on the stage, she watches him leave, wondering what was with the sudden 180. This morning, he'd been all charming and funny, and now he was treating her like a second-class citizen? What was up with that?

Tess sighs. She wasn't that naïve; she knew exactly what would've caused him to change. Her impressing Axel Turner. Sighing again, she adjusts her mental opinion of Luke Williams.

Cute, charming, funny, and talented… but a total jackass.

(Even this revelation still doesn't kill her stupid fan-girl crush on him. It seems like nothing will.)

Tess and Luke work side by side in rehearsals. Like the professionals they are, they separate their feelings towards each other to create incredible music and impress Axel Turner. Only Dana notices the subtle shift in mood from the first day – Tess is less bubbly and perky, while Luke no longer cracks jokes to make her smile and giggle. Instead, when they're not singing and dancing, they trade veiled insults and barbs that could be classified as banter, but pack a little bit too much poison.

Their performance never falters one bit for it. Onstage, they are flawless – like a well-oiled, totally in-sync machine.

But offstage… well, that's a different story.

Author's Note: So okay, for those of you who looked at the "Main Characters" thingie on the top of the screen, this wasn't much of a surprise. Yes, I decided to explore the possibilities of a Tess/Luke pairing. I think Mdot is an incredible singer and dancer, and I'm sad that his character wasn't given too much characterization. But I'm saving most of the deep stuff for my other fic in the work (also a Luke/Tess pairing), so this one's really only scratching the surface of my interpretation of Luke. (I see him as kind of the Alex Karev type - acts like an ass on the outside, but is a sweetheart underneath the mask. Of course, maybe I've just been watching too much Grey's Anatomy. But anyway, I'll get to that later.)

Also - why the hell is it that I'm the first person to write a story about Luke? Come on - I know he wasn't really given too much to do besides sing and gloat, but this is fanfiction. That's basically what we do - invent characterization (or different characterization) for pre-existing characters.

(Okay, I'm done with my rant now.)

Next chapter should be up soon - I'm almost done. In the meantime - reviews, lifeblood, do I really have to go over this again? Especially for this story - I need feedback on how you guys think I got Tess and Luke in-character or not.

Siagnora!

- Authoress