She ran up the stairs to her room, calling over her shoulder that she would eat a little later. Just that morning, her dreams had been crushed. How...

Nate.

She grabbed her phone, speed dialing #2.

"Lo?" He answered, his special way of greeting her.

"Nathaniel Jerry Black." Mitchie said, her smile growing. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mitchie." She could tell he was smiling too. "But someone with connections just may have made sure the old CR cook got an offer he couldn't refuse, and that same person just may have called Shane's Uncle Brown and told him about the amazing food from Connie's Catering."

"Is that Mitchie?" She heard someone ask in the background. Jason.

"Maybe," Nate told him, and then there was the sound of the phone being pulled away from his ear.

"Hi, munchkin!" Jason greeted her eagerly.

"Hey Jase!"

"Too bad about Camp Rock. But hey! Maybe you can come and help us judge for Final Jam!"

"Sure," Mitchie found herself saying. Then she remembered that Jason couldn't keep a secret for longer than an hour.

"Hey Jason. I think I hear your birds calling you." Nate said in the background. Ten seconds later his voice was the only one on the line. "Sorry. I couldn't tell him either. You know how Jason is with secrets,"

"I don't know whether to tell you that I love you, or that I hate you for getting yourself involved in my problems...again."

"Do I not always come through for you, Mitchie? And by the way, I love you too."

She rolled her eyes, but thanked him again. "I promise I won't screw this up, Nate."

"I know you won't, Mitch."

"We're here!"

Connie had pulled her van up and parked. She had to warn Mitchie not to jump out while the vehicle was still moving. "Yeah! Are you excited?"

"A little..." She said, though she could never hold her excitement in for long. "Okay a lot! Major! Thank you mom! I'm gonna have so much fun!"

"Whoa!" In her hometown of New Jersey, there were no limos. But here, at Camp Rock, things would be very different.

"Whoa." Mitchie said as she watched the blonde girl exit. She had long hair, and wore the best clothes. She was beautiful.

"Okay sweetie let's get settled in." She handed her daughter her bags. They walked into the cabin the owner had offered to them.

She threw her things down onto a bare bunk. "Settled."

"That's great!" Neither of them had heard the man enter. He spoke in an Australian accent. "Brown Cesario: Camp director slash founding member and bass guitar of the Wet Crows. And you must be Connie Torres: Our new cook!"

"That's me!" Connie took his outstretched hand. "And this is my daughter..."

The screen door swung shut.

"Ugh...Who's...already gone."

"Ahh no worries, she probably just wanted to get out there, get to it, you know what I mean? When the music calls, you've got to answer"

She nodded. "I can't wait for you to meet her though; she has got a great voice! Look at me I'm already bragging."

Mitchie was afraid she would get lost; she had visited here before once summer, three years before. She had gone to see Shane preform with his cabin mates Nate Black and Jason Howard. Shane, still himself back then, had led the thirteen year old around proudly.

"Sorry!" She stammered, as she bumped into the girl from before. "Sorry, I didn't...I didn't see you!"

"Obviously." The girl hissed, brushing past her. She acted just like the girls at school.

"That's Tess Tyler, the diva of Camp Rock." A curly haired girl informed her. She was sitting on the edge of the stage, focused on her laptop. She hadn't even looked up to speak.

"Is she really good?"

"She's good at trying too hard to be good. Understandable cause her mom's T.J. Tyler."

"The T.J. Tyler?" She asked. "She's got like a trillion Grammy's!"

"A trillion and one, I think." The girl finally looked up. "Hi, I'm Caitlyn: camper today, top-selling music producer tomorrow. Check me out."

Caitlyn pressed a button and a beat began to play. Mitchie smiled.

"Cool! I'm Mitchie."

"Hi,"

She stared at Mitchie, and then smiled. "Hey! You're like, really good friends with Shane Gray, aren't you!"

A loud, vibrant woman running onto the stage scared Caitlyn, sending her to her feet and almost making her lose the computer.

"Hi gang! I'm Dee La Duke: the musical director here at Camp Rock!"

"Hi, Dee." The campers responded, some groaning.

"Here at Camp Rock we siiinng! So let's hear that again!"

"Hi, Dee!" They sang, the enthusiasm forced. Caitlyn looked at Mitchie and rolled her eyes.

"Okay! Okay! Settle down! You're having too much fun! Okay, this summer is not just about the Final Jam, we have a lot of work to do! You're gonna get new music skills, you're gonna find your sound, create your own style Holla! And figure out who you wanna be as an artist but most of all, have fun! Aaand, drum roll please! For the first time, we're gonna be joined at camp by a very special celebrity instructor!"

"I don't wanna waste my summer at some camp! I'm Shane Gray for crying out loud!" He had thrown the same tantrum since he had found out three days ago that this was where he would be spending his summer.

"Hey man, we used to love this place. Three years ago,we were campers."

"Yeah man, this is where Connect 3...connected!"

Shane continued to glare at them in his now-famous way. Almost every picture of Shane Gray that surfaced showed him with the expression.

"And you get to see your Uncle Brown." Nate tried. He knew if he had said Mitchie would be spending the next four weeks keeping him under control, he might have been more reasonable, but he decided against it. With the way Shane was acting, he didn't deserve the knowledge that he would be reunited with his #1 girl.

"Ha." He scoffed. "Not a selling point."

They continued to stare each other down. This could, as is had in the past, go on for hours.

"Look man, right now, you're the bad boy of the press, and the label has a problem with that, which means we have a problem with that."

Shane rolled his eyes.

Jason, who was sitting beside him, shrugged. "Actually, I don't really have a problem with that."

Nate shot him a look.

"We have a problem with that." He corrected himself, before going to stare out the window again.

"This camp thing is supposed to fix it. It's good P.R., so do your time. Enjoy the fresh air, get a tan."

Jason spoke up again, grinning. "Oh! And can you make me a bird house or something?"

Nate slammed his head back against the leather seat.

"One word." Shane warned them, preparing to leave. "Payback."

"That's 2 words!"

He rolled his eyes again, before grabbing his guitar and slamming the door to the limo.

"By the way, we told the press you'd be recording a duet with the winner of Final Jam." Nate called after him, moving into his seat.

"What?!"

Shane got to watch his friend wave as the car drove away.

"Shane," Brown wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "How's my favorite pop star?"

"Rock star," He corrected, dodging his uncle. "And it wasn't my choice to come here."

As they pulled out of the camp, he took his phone out and sent Mitchie a quick text.

He's here. If you have any trouble, don't be afraid to get a hold of me or Jase. Good luck, Mitch. XOXO