AN (Sorry for the long wait! I was busy with school, but anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And do review please!)
Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Camp Rock or Pride of Prejudice. I only own the character of Travis Kruse, who's based on the character of George Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. A few names of places from Pride and Prejudice will come in this story, just to let you know.)
Chapter Ten: Betrayal and Judgments
"Denny!" Tess shrieked loudly, waving vigorously to Daniel Jenkins and Travis Kruse. "Over here!" Daniel, or Denny as he was called by everyone, grinned at Tess and made his way over to her, with Travis right behind him.
"Hey Tess, what's up?" Denny asked.
"Well," said Tess, flirtatiously stressing the word, "I just wanted to introduce my sisters: Caitlyn and Mitchie. And this here is Jason Green, our cousin. He's staying for a few weeks with us cause' his house flooded."
"Nice to meet you," said Denny charmingly. Mitchie and Caitlyn just waved their hands and smiled in response. "This is Travis Kruse, as you probably know. He's our football team captain, and mighty good at it too," said Denny.
"Hey," said Travis as a way of greeting. Caitlyn noticed that he had an adorable smile and the softest brown eyes, and felt herself blushing much to her mortification.
"Hi," she said with a smile, "I'm Caitlyn Geller, a junior."
"I'm surprised I never noticed you before," said Travis with another one of his adorable grins, "I thought I knew all of the pretty girls in our school."
Caitlyn giggled, which was way out of her personality, but she couldn't help it. Coming from anyone else, she would have thought that comment a bit creepy, but coming from Travis, the hottest and most sought after guy in the school, she thought it absolutely sweet. What a nice guy he is, she thought.
The group spent a little time chatting, and were just about to walk into an electronics store when Mitchie tugged on Caitlyn's sleeve.
"Caitlyn, look who's here!" she whispered frantically, blushing and grinning like a tomcat. Caitlyn turned around to see who caught Mitchie's attention when she saw Shane and Nate walking towards them. Holding back a loud groan, she said with a fake cheerful tone, "Great, Shane's here." She didn't bother mentioning Nate at all.
"Mitchie! Glad to find you here!" exclaimed Shane happily, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss. "Actually, your mother told me you guys were at the mall, so I knew I'd find you here!" Mitchie giggled and blushed, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days. She suddenly caught Nate staring at her with those intense blue eyes of his and looked away.
Caitlyn was silent throughout the new round of introductions as Tess introduced Shane and Nate to Travis and Denny, but she noticed how Nate became paler and paler as he saw Travis. Finally, when Travis held out his hand in greeting, Nate gave him a cold stare for about two seconds and turned away, walking out of the mall with an angry step. Shane, looking embarrassed and turning red, gave a quick goodbye, promised Mitchie he'd call her that evening, and followed Nate out.
How rude, thought Caitlyn, furrowing her brow. This incident certainly did not in any way increase her good opinion of the loathsome Nate Black. Turning to Travis, she gave him an apologetic smile for Nate's behavior and said, "Our parents are having a small dinner gathering tonight, and a few family friends as well as some school friends are coming. How about you and Denny come?" She looked eagerly at Travis, waiting for an answer.
"I'd be honoured to," replied Travis in an English accent, giving a mock bow. Caitlyn, Mitchie, and Tess laughed. "We'll see you at 7:00 then," said Caitlyn as she, Mitchie, and Tess walked out of the mall without buying anything. They had to make sure their wardrobes were perfect for the evening, now that Travis and Denny were coming. Well, Mitchie really didn't care, but Caitlyn and Tess sure did.
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Caitlyn looked at herself in the mirror that evening one last time before heading downstairs. Yup, she was ready, and she didn't look half so bad, as she assured herself. She had worn casual blue jeans and a yellow blouse with miniscule green flowers. Yellow was her favorite color, and Mitchie often told her it brought out her chocolate brown eyes. Slipping on some silver ear rings and a matching silver chain her Aunt Geraldine had sent her from Paris, she declared herself ready and headed to Mitchie's room, making sure to close the door to her room behind her.
Caitlyn saw Mitchie look wistfully out of her window and sigh. She hadn't changed yet, and was still in the clothes she had worn to the mall. "What's wrong?" Caitlyn asked worriedly.
"Nothing," said Mitchie with a reassuring smile, "I'm just disappointed Shane couldn't make it, that's all."
Caitlyn walked over to her sister and gave her a hug. "You know he really wanted to come, but he couldn't let the basketball team down, could he?"
"I guess not," said Mitchie with a small smile, "Well, I'd better get ready soon."
Ten minutes later, Mitchie came down the stairs in a slightly better mood. She wore a dark green summer dress with matching green jewelry. Green was Mitchie's favorite color. Just then…
Ding Dong!
"I'll get it!" Tess cried out, bouncing all the way to the door in her frilly hot pink skirt and matching pink shirt. "Denny! Travis!"
Caitlyn's heart gave a leap, and she suppressed a blush as Travis and Denny entered the house. Travis looked really good, in his simple black slacks and blue T-shirt. When he saw Caitlyn, he grinned and walked over to greet her. Denny was dragged by Tess to the food table.
"Hey," greeted Travis.
"Hey to you too," said Caitlyn with a grin. Mitchie greeted Travis and walked away to find her mom.
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The dinner gathering was in full swing a hour later, but Caitlyn was disappointed that she hadn't talked to Travis too much, since her mother had assigned her the job of looking after the rowdy younger children. Finally, after dinner, the men had set up a table for a card game and the women gathered together to gossip as usual. Mitchie had volunteered to look after the kids, so that Caitlyn could talk to Travis. She and Travis sat facing each other in the den, where two 11 year olds were playing Monopoly and Jason, who had his face buried in his bible, was quite lost to the world.
"So how's the team doing?" asked Caitlyn, trying to start a good conversation.
"Really good," replied Travis enthusiastically, "We're going to verse Mormon in three months, and everyone knows they have a tough football team, but we feel we're going to be ready with a little rigorous practice."
"That's good," said Caitlyn, trying to sound enthusiastic. In all honesty, she didn't enjoy football that much, hearing about it or playing it. But Travis was the Captain, so she had to show her support.
"Do you know Nate Black very well?" asked Travis suddenly. Caitlyn's face snapped up in surprise and frustration. Why did Nate's name have to come up in their conversation?
"No," she replied unenthusiastically. "But his friend Shane is Mitchie's boyfriend, and since Nate is staying in Shane's house for awhile, we usually see each other whenever Mitchie and Shane meet."
"What do you think of him?" asked Travis. Caitlyn thought this a very strange question. Why should Travis care?
"Well, in all honesty, I really don't like him at all," replied Caitlyn. To herself she thought, what an understatement of the year!
Travis looked relieved, and Caitlyn asked, "Why?"
"Oh nothing; it's just that Nate and I knew each other a while back. We were friends actually, and I wanted to know your opinion of him," said Travis.
"So what happened?" asked Caitlyn, interested, "In the Mall today, Nate was really rude to you. Why?"
"Oh nothing," said Travis quickly, "I don't want to spread a bad opinion about him. It was in the past, and it doesn't really matter anyway."
But Caitlyn's interest was piqued. "Tell me," she insisted.
"Well alright, but remember, you're the one who asked," said Travis, leaning back on the couch, "The first thing you should know though is that Nate's father did not make his fortune on his computer business alone. Mr. Black is also the CEO of Pemberley Estates, a prominent and luxurious real estate business. It's been in the family for generations! In fact, he owns an estate himself in the countryside of Derbyshire, England named after his business. Pemberley is the name of that estate, and it was in that very Pemberley that I spend my childhood. You see, my father, George Kruse, was an assistant manager for Pemberley Estates, and also a very close friend of Mr. Black. My mother died three months after I was born, and the medical bills for all the treatments the doctors had done for her left my father in a very poor state. Mr. Black became by godfather, and out of his friendship to my father, he paid for my education, putting me into the same prestigious private schools he sent his own son, Nate, and his daughter, Josephina."
"What kind of girl is Josephina?" asked Caitlyn with interest. She had heard a lot about Nate's sister from Marcia, but never was she going to take Marcia's word for anything.
"Josephina's a really pretty girl, but as proud and cold as her brother," replied Travis. Caitlyn immediately imagined a female version of Nate, with the same cold eyes and a mouth always turned into a frown. She immediately decided that she would probably never like Josephina Black either, if she ever met her.
"Then what happened?" asked Caitlyn, interested in Travis's past.
"Well, eight years after my mother died, my father died of a stroke," said Travis.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Caitlyn said immediately.
"It's okay; well, after my father died, I moved in with the Blacks. I would have gone to live with my Aunt Nina, who's my only living relative, but as Aunt Nina did not want me, and I did not want to go live with her, Mr. Black offered to take me in, him being my godfather and all. I have to tell you now that there's no nicer man than Mr. Black, who for all his solitary exterior is the kindest and most generous man I know. I became a great favorite of Mr. Black, so much so that Nate felt jealous of me. He, who was a few months older than me, could not bear to see his father throw so much affection on someone other than him, and that too on someone he considered beneath him."
Caitlyn's eyes hardened. She had no trouble believing what Travis told her. It was completely easy to imagine Nate jealous of Travis; Travis, who was charming, pleasing, and all kind manners.
Travis continued. "Things were going fine until five years ago. Nate and I were 13. Nate's mother, Anne Black, who had died when we were 5, left Josephina her million dollars worth locket, passed down generations and generations from the female side of their family. The locket was secured in a safety deposit box in the master bedroom, which was hidden by a rug right underneath the bed. Josephina would inherit that locket when she turned 18. One day, the locket was gone from the safety deposit box, and Mr. Black was furious. He had the police search the whole house top to bottom, but they couldn't find it. The locket was declared stolen, and it was on newspaper headlines for a whole week. Then, I remember it was a Sunday, Mr. Black had the police search the house again for some reason, and guess where they found the locket?"
"In your bedroom," Caitlyn whispered horrified, and catching on to what had happened.
"Yup, in my bedroom. You can imagine what a scene it had caused. I never saw Mr. Black look so betrayed and angry at me, though I tried again and again to explain that it wasn't me. I never stole Mrs. Black's locket, but the so called "proof" was apparently too clear. I was only 13, so I couldn't be arrested, but the police were going to take me away for public service or whatever. But Mr. Black's friendship towards my father was still strong, and though he believed all the lies about me, he was still fond of me, his close friend's only son. I remained with the Blacks for another year, and the locket incident was hushed up. But I knew it was Nate who had played this whole drama. It was so obvious, and his calm exterior during the whole thing, and the way he kept smirking at me the whole time I was questioned made it clear. Nate had set me up to make me look bad in front of his father."
Anger was boiling through Caitlyn's veins. She knew Nate was a big snob. That much was clear, but she never knew he was this low. How could he ruin the reputation of poor Travis, who had no parents, no one to go to, just because of his jealousy? This was beyond low, and Caitlyn couldn't find words to describe how she felt. Travis continued.
"After the locket incident, the Blacks and I moved out of Pemberley and England, and came here. The estate wasn't sold, but no longer did we live there with all that publicity still with us. We moved to California, and Mr. Black bought an expensive large house in San Jose. A year later, Josephina was caught running away from home. She was only 12, and no one knew why. I mean, she had everything a young girl her age could want: money, attention, the latest clothes, and everything. The worst part in this whole deal was that I was the one who found her. This may sound horrible, but now I wish I never went to look for Josephina. After I convinced Josephina to return home, I saw Mr. Black on the threshold of the house, and he was furious, beyond furious, but not at Josephina, at me. I was totally confused, but soon found out that Nate told his father that I seduced Josephine, 12 year old Josephina, and convinced her to run away with me!"
"That's the stupidest story I ever heard!" Caitlyn said, despising Nate more and more.
"Tell me about it! But Mr. Black believed the story. Apparently, Josephina had confided in Nate about her 'feelings' for me, and when she ran away, Nate apparently put two and two together, and when he couldn't find me in the house either, he told his father, and they both deduced that I convinced Josephine to run away with me. It was unfortunate that I wasn't at home then, but I was hanging out with a friend in an arcade. What could I do?"
"Then what happened?" Caitlyn whispered, feeling extremely bad for Travis, who had gone through so much.
"Well, I was sent to live with Aunt Nina, who lives here. Mr. Black didn't want to make the whole incident public, as Josephina was a 12 year old girl, and it would have brought her unwanted publicity at such a young age. So he gave Aunt Nina a lot of money for my upbringing, which convinced her in a heartbeat to take me in, and I've lived with her ever since. The past 4 years weren't so bad. Aunt Nina pretty much left me to my own, and you see I made my own place in school by becoming Football captain."
I'm so sorry you had to go through so much at such a young age," Caitlyn said, placing her hand over Travis's.
"It's okay," said Travis, smiling at her, "I'm just relieved that you believe me."
"What's there not to believe?" asked Caitlyn, "Nate Black is the most shameful guy who existed, and my opinion of him will never change!"
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"But Caitlyn, you don't know for sure if Travis Kruse is telling you the truth," said Mitchie that night, after the dinner gathering was over. Caitlyn had indignantly told Mitchie what Travis had told her, but unlike her, Mitchie was not willing to believe so bad of a person. "Moreover, Nate Black is from a respectable family, and his father is known as an honest man."
"Even Travis said Mr. Black was a good person," said Caitlyn, "But Mitchie, you can tell from the way Nate acts that there's something mean about him, and now I have proof! Plus, have you ever known Travis to tell lies? He has such a kind personality. I don't believe he could make up such a story."
"Yeah," said Mitchie, nodding her head hesitantly, "I don't believe Travis would make up such a story, but I can't believe so bad of Nate, Caitlyn. Shane told me Nate is just shy around strangers. He's not really all that bad. Plus, why would Shane be Nate's friend if Nate is how you said?"
"Because Shane is just as innocent as you," replied Caitlyn, "The two of you think the world only has good people in it, for heaven's sake! Plus, Shane is Nate's best friend. Why would Shane believe anything bad about his friend? Moreover, why would Nate show his 'bad side' to Shane? He's probably a perfect gentleman in front of Shane!"
"Caitlyn, the problem with you is that you're too quick to make judgments. I agree with you that it was wrong of Nate to insult you in the Homecoming Dance, but ever since then, you have held a grudge against him. Life is too short for grudges, Caitlyn. Look at this whole thing without a prejudiced view, and you'll see where I'm going."
"Mitchie, I know you mean well and all, but I just know that Travis is right. You can tell from his personality. He's completely innocent!" Caitlyn exclaimed. She wasn't ready to believe Travis could tell a lie. The poor guy had gone through so much because of stupid Nate!
Mitchie sighed and said, "How about I talk to Shane at his party on Saturday? I'll ask him what he knows about Travis, and then you can make a decision about who is right, if it really matters to you."
"Fine," said Caitlyn, sighing, but only to make Mitchie happy. She had already made up her mind, and no matter what Shane said, she was going to believe Travis. There was something so honest about him.
That night, it was with feelings of great dislike towards Nate that Caitlyn fell asleep. How could a guy from such a respectable family go so low?
AN: Hit that review button, folks! Please? Pretty please? A small review will do too. And if I have any mistakes, please tell me!