"Mitchie..." Shane began, quickly shutting his mouth. "Um..."
Mitchie managed to give him a tired smile despite the situation. After announcing that the police had been called, the parents had been escorted to the mess hall, while the campers had been sent back to their respective cabins to start packing. Shane, Nate and Mitchie had been ordered to stay in Shane's cabin, while Brown, Steve, Connie and Jason waited for the police to arrive just right outside.
And despite the fact that the four adults were doing their best to use soft tones during their conversation, the three teenagers had heard everything that had been said so far.
Mitchie, who had been made to lie down on Shane's unmade bed, had tried to lighten the situation by cracking bad, and very Jason-esk type jokes, but after she overheard Steve and Connie admit that when they found out they were unable to have any children on their own, they had paid a mystery woman over five-thousand dollars to adopt her five year old daughter, she went quiet.
The adoption had gone through an agency, but Steve was now beginning to suspect that Mitchie's birth certificate had been forged. When Brown asked the two parents when Mitchie's birthday was, in a strained voice, Connie told him that she had been born on August 20th, and Jason paled.
August 20th was Michelle's birthday. Each year he had been without her, he would release balloons in the most serene place he could find. He always made a wish as he watched the purple hearts, two of her favorite things, float up to the sky.
Please let this be the year that I find you.
"Mitchie." Shane said again. "Please... Say something."
She didn't know what to say. Her entire life might have been a lie.
"Shane." Mitchie whispered, struggling to sit up. "Do... Do you know what happened?"
Shane nodded solemnly. Jason had told him the story years ago, and even during the time that he had been transformed into a jerk, he had never once brought it up to hurt his friend. There were days that he knew to leave Jason alone, so he would do just that.
"Yeah." He said, reaching out to take her hand. "I do."
Nate caught the older boy's eye, and shook his head. He knew that Mitchie is curious, and while she deserved to know the truth, it was Jason's story to tell her, not Shane's.
"Tell me what happened."
He felt like laughing when he realized that she had sounded exactly like him during his 'pop star' days. He had always demanded something, never asking for what he wanted.
"Mitchie..." Shane began. "I don't know if..."
"Please." She begged, squeezing his hand. "You don't have to tell me everything. I think I'm gonna go insane if I don't get some answers soon!"
Mitchie startled him by jumping her feet so quickly that she stumbled. He had to rush to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Mitch." He snapped, sounding annoyed. "Lay down. You already fainted earlier, we don't need a repeat."
Slowly, he lowered her back onto the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin before returning to his seat directly beside her. He let out a long sigh, reaching out to take hold of her hand again.
"Okay."
Mitchie looked confused. "Okay?"
'Okay." Shane repeated, rolling her eyes. "I'll tell you what happened."
He thought back to the night Jason had told them the story. How long had it been, five years? Six maybe? It had been their second year at camp, and the three boys had once again shared a cabin. During a thunder storm, they had been forced to stay in all night, and with nothing else better to do, they had decided that they were good enough friends to disclose their deepest secrets to one another.
"Shane?"
"When Jason first told me he had a sister, I didn't believe him." Shane admitted. "He had never mentioned her before, and I'd known him for almost two years."
Mitchie blinked. "What changed your mind?"
"A picture." He replied, squeezing her hand absentmindedly. "Of you... I mean of Michelle. Jase was like ten in the picture, it was taken a year before his dad sent him to Camp Rock for the first time. Michelle was five, and he was giving her a piggy back ride. They both looked so happy, I knew he had to be telling the truth."
She was staring at him, her eyes full of confusion. How had a picture of his band mate looking happy proved to Shane that Michelle Parker did, in fact, exist?
"Why would anyone lie about that?" Shane asked, guessing her thoughts. "Mitchie, I have never seen Jason look as happy as he did in that photograph, and we've been friends for years!"
"What happened after he showed you the picture?"
"He got really quiet for a few minutes." Nate piped in. "Prompting me to ask why we had never met you... I mean, her, before."
At the time, Nate had just been so excited to have two of the coolest guys at Camp Rock as his cabin mates. It had been Shane who shot him a warning look, making the pre-teen zip his lips, and wait patiently for the oldest boy to start speaking again.
"He told us that the last time he saw Michelle, she got scared in the middle of the night, and came into his room to sleep with him. His mother stormed in the next morning, and dragged her out by her hair. He tried to wake his dad up, but by the time they got to the garage, the car was gone, and so Jason's mom, and Michelle."
"My dad called the police." Jason added, stepping into the room. "But since they were married, the police told my dad that my mother had every right to take Michelle and just leave. They didn't report her missing until three months later, when my wonderful mother was found at a rehab facility, no Michelle in sight."
He paused, glancing over at Nate, who sat on the floor, before moving to settle on Shane and Mitchie. She was still lying on his bed, something Jason had mixed feelings about. On one hand, he was happy that she was lying down, because ever since she'd fainted, her skin had become ghostly-white, and her hands were still shaking, but on the other, he couldn't help but notice the way that his band mate, and long-time friend was looking at the girl.
He didn't know for sure if Mitchie was really his Michelle, but his older brother instincts were already taking over.
"Mitchie..." Jason began, moving to stand by the bed. "I am so sorry... I didn't know..."
"I know." She whispered, but she couldn't look him in the eye. "This isn't your fault, Jay..."
His eyes widened at the use of the old nickname, and Mitchie blushed despite the situation. Why did she keep calling him that, she had no idea.
"Jason!" Brown called. "The pol... They're here, and they need to talk to you..."
Jason and Shane shared a look.
"Take care of her." He whispered, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Please, Shane."
"I will, Jase." Shane promised, taking hold of Mitchie's hand again. "Everything's gonna be okay."
The second the police led the four adults away, someone began to frantically knock at the cabin door. Mitchie could just make out Caitlyn's figure. She was still dressed in the leopard print shirt she had worn for Final Jam, her backpack was slung across her shoulders, and she would not stop pounding on the door.
"Mitchie! Are you okay? Mitchie!"
"Nate." Shane hissed, jerking his head towards the door. "Help me out here a little, will ya?"
Nate sighed, slowly rising to his feet. He and Caitlyn had been friends for years, but he was the worst one to try and calm her down during the most stressful of situations. He'd caught sight of her as Shane carried Mitchie away from the Final Jam stage, he hadn't missed the look of worry in her eyes. He should have guessed that the second she found a way to escape without a counselor stopping her, she would have taken it.
"Hey, Cait." He greeted, quickly standing in the doorway before she could see inside. "Um... What... What are you doing here?"
Caitlyn shot him an annoyed look. "I was worried about Mitchie. Is she here? Can I talk to her?"
"Um..."
Shane shook his head. Jason had asked him to protect her, so that's what he was going to do. He didn't want to worry Caitlyn, in fact, the less anyone knew, the better.
"She's sleeping, Caity." Nate replied. "Maybe you can come back later..."
"Nate." She said, shoving the door open with her foot before he could slam it in her face. "You are a horrible liar."
The two band mates shared a look, Shane nodding reluctantly.
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on, or... Mmph!"
Before she could protest, Nate had an arm locked around her waist, lifting her feet off the ground as his free hand covered her mouth. He carried her into the room, pausing to lock the door behind him before he moved to stand beside the bed.
"Caitlyn. Shh." He muttered, his grip tightening slightly. "If you promise to keep your voice down, I'll take my hand off... Ouch! Damn it, Caitlyn! She bit me!"
Caitlyn grinned back at him innocently, though clearly proud of herself as Shane and Mitchie lay doubled over in laughter. It may not have been appropriate, but it was a welcome distraction from the events unfolding.
"What the hell was that for, Cait?" Nate demanded, shooting her a glare. "Damn it, that hurt!"
"Sorry!" She sang, not sounding very sorry at all. "But you know better, Nathan."
As Caitlyn caught sight of her friend, the amused look faded away from her eyes. She reached out to squeeze the brunette's hand.
"Mitchie..." Caitlyn whispered. "Are you okay? What happened?"
She glanced up at Shane and Nate, as if asking for permission. Nate tried to give her an encouraging smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"Um..." Mitchie drew out, slowly struggling to sit up. A gentle but firm hand forced her back down. "Well... There's a chance that I was kidnapped, illegally adopted, and I may or may not be the little sister of 'pop teen sensation' Jason Green."
While Caitlyn seemed to be in permanent shock, Shane and Nate shared another look. Somehow, she had managed to keep a somewhat humorous approach towards the entire situation, and it only made the two boys further believe that Mitchie Torres could, in fact, be Michelle Parker.
"Caity?"
Nate waved a hand in front of her face, his eyes full of concern. He took hold of her hands, this time she let him, and led her over to the edge of the bed, gently easing her down with a hand on her shoulder.
"Cait." Mitchie muttered, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "Say something. Please. Anything."
"I..." Caitlyn drew out, blinking rapidly. "I... You two have the same color hair."
Nate and Mitchie couldn't help but laugh. For someone so smart, Caitlyn had a bad habit of pointing out the obvious.
"I..." She said again, suddenly breaking free from her shock. "Oh my god... Mitchie!"
"Cait!" Mitchie echoed, rolling her eyes. "I'm okay, I promise. Hey... Do you have your laptop?"
"Um, yeah." Caitlyn replied, pulling it out of her bag. "Here."
Shane raised an eye brow. "Mitchie..."
"You're been really helpful, Shane." She said. "But I need answers, more than you can give me, and since Jay... I mean, Jason, isn't here, this is the only way I can do it."
She went to the Google search box and typed in: Michelle Parker missing.
There was more than a hundred links to go through.
Elizabeth Parker, mother of missing five-year-old claims girl was abducted while in a McDonald's playroom.
DPD Lead detective admits there were 'mistakes' made in Michelle Parker case.
Father of missing five-year-old refuses to comment on missing daughter.
She clicked on the first link she could find. The page refreshed as an image of a little girl with beautiful dark brown eyes, and long reddish-brown hair loaded on the screen. She was smiling up at the camera, a wild flower in her hand.
Mitchie paled immediately. She had seen that picture, a thousand times before. It was currently hanging in her parents New Jersey home, right where everyone could see it. Now that she thought about it, her parents also had at least a dozen pictures of her before the age of five, though they had never been able to identify anything in the background of the photos.
"Mitchie!"
Her grip on the laptop loosened, and she waited for the sound of it crashing to the ground before Caitlyn would once again go into shock. That laptop had everything she had been working on that summer saved into protected files, and although she would claim that she was okay, that it had just been an accident, but Mitchie knew secretly, inside, the curly haired, future producer would be seething.
It didn't come.
Shane, always graceful, had reached out and caught it, handing it to Caitlyn, who shot him a grateful smile. He took hold of her hands, leaning down until they were at eye level. With one hand, he hesitantly reached out to cup her cheek.
"Mitchie." He muttered. "What happened? What did you see?"
"She said we were going on vacation..." Mitchie whispered, her voice once again childlike. "I didn't want to go without Jay, but she promised we would be back in time for his birthday party."
Shane's jaw tightened. The birthday party hadn't happened that year.
"M-Mitchie?" Caitlyn asked, taking her hand again. "Nate... Shane... What the hell is going on?"
"That's the question of the day, love."
It was not Jason who entered the cabin, but Brown himself. She hadn't seen him since he'd ordered Shane and Nate to get her back to the cabin. Now he stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
"Uncle Brown?" Shane slowly rose to his feet. "What's happening? What's going on?"
Brown sighed, suddenly feeling uneasy. This was the biggest thing to ever happen at Camp Rock, but he wasn't sure if it would have a happy ending for both parties involved.
"I need Mitchie to come back to my office to take a DNA test."