Every Penguin Has a Song

By angellwings


Ella

Summer 2009


Nate came off the stage after Final Jam and smiled brightly. He hadn't had that much fun in a long time. But he suspected that was all about to change. The label loved the new stuff they'd sent them and were all set to let Connect 3 have control of their own music for once. Something landed at his feet and Nate immediately picked it up. He groaned the minute he realized what it was.

A small stuffed plush penguin.

He looked around for Jason and found him smirking at him knowingly. He waved at Nate and Nate glared at him in return. About a second later someone ran into him. He blindly reached out to steady whoever it was and hopefully steady himself as well. He opened his eyes to find a very pretty and very short girl staring at him. He remembered her from the Jam. She was a part of that Hasta La Vista group. She blushed and bit her lip as she looked down at the floor.

"Sorry," she said as she brushed her black hair out of her eyes. "I wasn't really watching where I was going."

He shrugged and gave her a small grin. "No harm done." He reached out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Nate, by the way."

Her warm chocolate eyes connected with his again and the thought suddenly struck him that this girl was uncommonly pretty. She smirked and nodded. "I know." She shook his hand and bit her bottom lip again. "I'm Ella."

His eyes flashed to the penguin plush in his other hand and then back to her. "Ella as in…Eleanor?"

Her eyes widened. "Yeah, how did you know? Are you like…psychic or something?"

Nate's eyes found Jason again as he chatted up some girl in a leopard print top. He sighed and shook his head. "Not psychic. It was just…a guess."

Suddenly Ella made a gushing high pitched noise. "Is that a stuffed penguin?"

"Oh," Nate said with a gulp as he held up the small plush animal. "Yeah, it is."

"Is it yours?" Ella asked. Nate immediately shook his head no.

"I—I just found it on the stage."

"Oh," Ella said with a smile. "Well, do you want it?"

He flashed a lopsided grin at her. "Why? Do you?"

She smiled shyly. "Only if you don't. Since you found it."

He placed the stuffed penguin in her hand and smiled pleasantly. "Go ahead, take it."

"Thanks!" Ella said excitedly. "Penguins may not be as awesome as dinosaurs but they're still completely adorable."

"You like dinosaurs?" Nate asked.

"Why do people always sound so surprised when I tell them that?" Ella said with a shake of her head. "Dinosaurs are amazing."

"It's just that you're so sparkly and dinosaurs…aren't," Nate said with a smirk as he motioned to her bright pink sequin covered shirt.

She shrugged. "I think we all like at least one unexpected thing. Like I bet you'd never guess that Peggy loves country music. She has every single album Dolly Parton's ever released."

"The girl who won Final Jam listens to country music?" Nate asked in disbelief.

"Yep, every day," Ella said with a smile. "What about you?"

"Me?" Nate asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, you," Ella said with a grin.

"Well, Honestly? Honestly I really like—"

"Nate! Time for press photos, man," Shane said loudly as he called Nate over to where he stood with Peggy. Nate breathed a sigh of relief at the interruption.

"Sorry, I gotta go," Nate said apologetically. "But it was nice to meet you."

"You too. Hopefully I'll see you again soon," Ella said as she watched him walk away. He could feel her eyes on his back.

It was clear Ella had been sent to him on purpose. Whether Jason or Shane was responsible was the real question. They were obviously trying to set him up for something. It couldn't be a coincidence that they sent a girl his way who liked penguins and whose full name was Eleanor. He smirked to himself as he met his brothers for Pictures. He had to hand it to them, Ella certainly was cute.

But, regardless, they could all use a musical re-awakening in his opinion, and Camp Rock was the place to do it. Maybe he and Jason should come back with Shane next summer. They had a new sound to develop and perfect, after all.