Three months later and I don't really have anything to say except I hope you'll forgive me because this is an extra long chapter. I honestly didn't realise how long it had been until I checked this morning.

"It's not exactly extravagant, is it?"

My mum pulled open the wardrobe door and examined the critically small space. Her nose was almost turned up in distaste and I was tapping my foot in impatience. Cathy hadn't been half this bad. She had helped Caitlyn drag her bags on, hugged her daughter goodbye and then left.

"How on earth are you going to fit three months worth of clothes into this?" Mum was mumbling. "Not that you really packed any. You've only got about six outfits with you!"

"For the last time, all of Demi's clothes are on their own bus, with everything else we could possible need on stage! I've only got my own clothes for any free time I might have!"

Mum raised her eyebrows but said nothing as she moved on to the tiny kitchen. "Well this is just a joke!"

I gritted my teeth as she opened the door of the little fridge. I had to admit that the kitchen was nothing thrilling: two cupboards, a fridge and a microwave. Shane had told me that we wouldn't be spending much time on the buses and I could see why. Caitlyn and I would be incredibly cramped on this bus by ourselves, whoever knew what would happen to the boys, whose bus was no larger than our own. Ours contained two bunks, a toilet with a sink – no shower because that was dangerous – the tiny kitchen and a row of padded seats in the front corner, situated around a table and in front of the television.

That was it.

No fancy recording studio on board like the fans all thought I would have, no computer to help keep up to date with life. I was eternally grateful that I had thought to buy myself a new laptop on the way to the bus. Mum hadn't been too pleased, but then it wasn't any of her business. I had paid for it with my own money and I was going to use it for my own purposes. There wasn't even a bookcase, although I could see the logic there. Clearing up a pile of books every time the bus hit a bump in the road would not be an enjoyable task.

As mum explored the bus, making sure that everything was suitable for my usage for three months, I caught a glimpse of Rebecca out of the window. I waved frantically until I caught her attention and gestured for her to come onto the bus. She changed course and stepped through the door just moments later.

"Ah, Connie!" She greeted in a cheery voice. My mother and manager had met earlier that morning. "Look, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, we're leaving soon and we need to do the final security checks."

"Oh, but-"

"Bye mum!" I broke over the top of her protests with a hug, wrapping my arms around her. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Mitchie." She pulled out of the hug and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Promise you'll call me tonight and let me know how you're doing? I'll keep an eye out any news of you and I don't want to hear about anything inappropriate, okay?"

"Okay, mum. I'll come and see you as soon as I get a break."

"Bye honey," She hugged me again.

I watched her leave the bus with a sad smile. I had only just started getting to know my mother as the real me, and now I was leaving her. Only for three months, admittedly, but I was still leaving. As soon as she was off of the bus, a thought occurred to me and I raced for the door, yelling after her.

"Mum, mum!"

"What's wrong?"

"If Lauren calls or comes round, can you tell her I'm really sorry and ask her to ring me, please?"

"Of course I will. Bye Mitchie."

"Bye mum."

I stood on the step for a long moment, watching my mum disappear into the crowd of people shuffling around in last minute preparation for the tour. I could see her car across the car park and watched as she climbed in and drove away.

I was alone now. It was just me and my friends – and boyfriend – on tour for three months. I had no mother to scold me or tell me what to do, no adults with any parental consent around at all. Although that in theory gave me a lot more freedom, it also made me quite scared. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to be completely alone.

I sighed. It was too late to change my mind now.

"Thanks for that Rebecca, I thought she'd never leave!"

"No problem, Mitchie."

I grinned at my manager. "I'm Demi now."

"No you're not. Until you have that wig on, you're Mitchie."

"Is there a point when I've got to have the wig on?"

"Now would do. Somebody saw the buses about half an hour ago and there's been a crowd outside ever since. We've been struggling to keep them back."

"Oh." As much as I loved my wig, wearing it constantly was likely to give me a headache, or at least an itchy scalp. "So how did my mum get out?"

"We had a guy standing round the corner telling everyone to go out the back way."

I smiled slightly at that. I could just imagine my mother's enthusiasm at being forced out a back route, possibly down a narrow alleyway or onto a dark street. She had never been keen on New York to begin with, but the idea of driving through the back streets of Brooklyn was probably not an idea she fancied herself.

We had only arrived in New York early that morning. The record label had paid for the flights for Caitlyn, Cathy, Connie and I, and had then arranged for hire cars so that we could discreetly drive over to the old building the buses were being kept in. It was a derelict place, but three of the walls still stood high and firm, shielding the activities of the tour preparation from the public, at least until now.

I groaned and opened the one case that my mother hadn't stacked neatly at the back of the bus. I had managed to convince her I would need it somewhere between getting off of the plane and stepping onto the bus for the first time. Honestly, I had known I would need my wig almost immediately, which was why I had packed it separately.
"See you in a bit, Becky."

The bathroom on the bus wasn't particularly big, but it had a single shelf that was perfect for my purposes. I put my case – a sky blue box that opened up to almost twice it's size – down on the floor and fished about for my bald cap and wig. They had, typically, fallen to the bottom, but I pulled them both out and got to work.

It took me a quarter of an hour to get ready. I was certain that I would have my wig on for a long while, so I wanted everything to be perfect. I scraped every last hair back into a knot on the back of my head, snapped the cap over the top and then dropped my wig over that, sliding a few discreet pins under the cap to hold it all in place. I took extra care with my makeup; smoky eyes, red cheeks and long eyelashes that made my face appear just that little bit different to its natural state.

I secured the wig with a few more pins just for good measure and admired my handiwork in the mirror. Mitchie Torres was barely visible now. As I was finishing up and packing the case back up, there was a knock at the door. I frowned and opened it up.

"Mitchie!"

Somebody, I wasn't quite sure who yet, had thrown themselves at me as soon as the door was open. The hugged me tightly and I wrapped my arms around them uncertainly. It was definitely a girl and apparently somebody who knew me, but that didn't narrow down the options very much. I waited until she pulled away and then my jaw dropped.

"Peggy?"

"Hey Mitch. Or Demi, I should probably call you."

"Peggy, what're you doing here? Don't you live in Chicago?"

"Yeah, I do." Peggy smirked.

"So why are you here? In New York?"

"Well, my school organised a week away here so we could see a different way of life, and on the way someone told me Demi Lovato and Connect 3 were in Brooklyn, so I just had to come and see you."

Grinning, I left the bathroom and peeked out of the nearest window, expecting to see a group of teenagers standing waiting for Peggy. Or, at the very least, a strict teacher waiting around. There was nobody. I could see the crew members carrying ladders and toolboxes, but there was no sign of school-aged children anywhere around.

"Did the school just let you wander off then?" I asked quizzically. Peggy blushed and looked down.

"Well not exactly, no."

"Peggy?"

"I... I kind of, maybe, might have run away?" She fixed me with her innocent gaze.

"Peggy!" I gasped. "You ran away from your school so that you could come and see us? You're going to be in so much trouble!"

"I know, but... well my tickets for your tour aren't until the very end and that's not for three months. It was just that you were here and I was here and it was too tempting. I'd rather come and see you guys than wander around an art museum."

I sighed. Peggy had already gotten herself into trouble, why should I bother worrying? "Alright," I grinned. "With a mother like mine, I totally understand. Do you want to come see the others with me?"

"Yes!" Peggy almost jumped. "Please." She added as an afterthought.

The two of us hopped down from the bus and crossed the space to the bus I hadn't been on yet. I squinted up at the paintwork, a picture of the three boys staring seriously at the camera, and chuckled to myself. You couldn't see in through the windows, but apparently you could see out, because before we could even set foot inside, Jason appeared and scooped us into a big hug.

"Demi! Peggy!" I grinned as well as I could as he squeezed all of the air out of my lungs. "I've missed you guys!"

"Alright, Jase, let them go."

I heard Shane's voice but I couldn't see him. Jason let us go painstakingly slowly and it seemed like an eternity before Shane strolled around from behind his older brother. As soon as he did, things sped up and I launched myself at him. He caught me easily and kissed me gently until Caitlyn broke us apart.

"Alright, not in public."

I scowled at her as I pulled away. "Hey, Shane."

"Hey Mitch." He kissed me again, this time on the cheek, satisfying Caitlyn's glare.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

He looked down at me with a burning gaze and was leaning in for another kiss when a loud shout interrupted us.

"Demi! Demi!" I jumped and turned as Becky ran over to us as fast as she could, her ear glued to her phone. "Is Peggy here? The girl from camp?"

Peggy blushed and tried to back away but Jason grabbed her arm and waved it in the air.

"She's right here!" He said completely innocently.

"Peggy, thank god!" Becky placed a hand on Peggy's shoulder. "She's here with us, officer. Yes, I know. I'll personally make sure of it. Of course, I'll have security let them straight in. Thank you."

Becky hung up the phone with a serious expression. She slid the handset into her pocket and pulled her hair into a ponytail before she spoke.

"Peggy, do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

"A lot?"

Rebecca sighed. "Peggy, your school teachers have spent the last hour looking for you all over the place. They only managed to get hold of me because some person remembered you knew Demi Lovato. For all your teachers knew, you'd been kidnapped, or hit by a car."

"I know, I'm sorry." Peggy bit her lip and looked up. "I just..." She sighed. "Never mind. I'll go back and find everyone."

She turned away, her head hanging, and started slowly towards the gate. But I could feel that something was wrong, I knew there was something that she wasn't saying, and I didn't like it. I tugged out of Shane's arms and raced after her.

"Pegs, wait!" She turned with a sad smile, but stopped and waited for me. "What's wrong? Why'd you run away from your school?"

"I missed you guys."

I knew that was a lie. Although we might have grown closer towards the end of summer, Peggy and I had never been particularly close friends. Sure, she had figured out my secret, but I had spent much more time with Sierra and Lola. If there was anybody that Peggy missed it would be Ella, or maybe even Tess, not me. I was pretty sure that Ella lived in New York, too, which caused the question; why me?

"Peggy, tell me the truth." I fixed her with a stare that I hoped was understanding and when she looked up and met my gaze, she gave way.

"I've never been a very popular girl at school. I was always a music freak. There were a few girls who used to hang out with me sometimes, but I never had a real friend of my own. I was always the last one picked for sports teams and I never had a partner in anything.

"Then, I went to Camp Rock and everything changed. I made some really cool friends, I even met Tess, who I thought was absolutely amazing back then, and for the first time, I felt like I fitted in. I met the Grey brothers –they weren't Connect 3 back then - but when I went back to school, it was like it had never happened. Nobody would believe that I had met Tess Tyler and when I said that I knew the boys who had suddenly become everyone's favourite band, they all thought I was lying.

"It was hell for me, the next few years at school. I got used to being alone and I even grew to like it, but I grew wise to talking about camp and, gradually, everyone forgot about me. I became this quiet little girl who sat at the back of the room. Nobody really paid any attention until a few weeks ago. It was when I won Final Jam. Everyone made this huge deal out of it and I felt really happy, but the girls at school turned it into a joke.

"They were really friendly at first. I knew they were only sucking up, but I told them that I'd met Demi Lovato and been reintroduced to Connect 3. The next day, they told the whole world I was delusional and that I was making up stories about meeting celebrities. Everyone believed them, even though they'd all read the paper and... now they all hate me."

There were tears in Peggy's eyes as she looked at me. I could feel my mouth hanging open, I was staring in shock. How could people be so harsh to somebody like Peggy? Peggy was kind, she was clever, she was trustworthy and although she had made a bad decision in befriending Tess, she was a very bright girl.

"Why on earth would anybody be so mean to you, Peggy?" I asked softly.

She shrugged, and I caught a tear falling from her eye as she looked away. There was a serious look on her face that I would never have expected to find on somebody as lively as Peggy had been at Camp Rock. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's easy for you lot," she muttered. "The boys are the biggest band in the world, even if somebody doesn't like them they can just shake it off because they know that there are millions of people who do. If you don't feel happy, you just become yourself again and besides, everyone loves you."

"Not everyone." I said softly.

"Oh yeah? Name me one person who doesn't."

I sighed as Lauren's face came to mind. "My best friend hates me."

"Sophie- or Caitlyn, or whatever her name is?"

"No." I shook my head. "My other best friend. Lauren, she's been my friend for years, but when she found out that I was Demi, she left and she's been ignoring my calls ever since."

"At least you have other friends."

"Isn't there anyone at your school that you get on with?" I asked. "Surely there's someone who doesn't believe the rumours?"

"Well... there's a few girls who will chat to me if there's nobody else around, but I'm not cool enough to be seen with them in public."

I frowned. "We're going to change, that, Peggy."

"How?"

"Wait and see."

Half an hour later, we were ready to leave. The buses were ready, the six vans full of equipment that we would be taking with us were packed and locked, most of the crew had already began the short drive in their own cars and Becky was shepherding Caitlyn, Peggy and myself onto the bus. Peggy had cheered up marginally; being teased by the boys and chatting to the two of us seemed to remind her of camp.

I had spoken to Rebecca and she had allowed me to talk to Peggy's teacher for a short while. Even over the phone, I could tell that the teacher had no idea how lonely Peggy felt when she was with her class and she was easily persuaded by my plan. Becky had been a little harder to convince, but she had given in after a few minutes of nagging.

Now, unknown to Peggy, the tour buses were heading in the opposite direction to the first venue of the tour and instead towards the museum that her school were at. I knew exactly when her school was due to come out and as we turned the corner, I knew I was right. There was a crowd of more than a hundred students the same age as Peggy standing on the street outside the museum.

Peggy noticed this seconds after I did and ran to the window in horror.

"Mitchie, what's going on?"

"I thought we'd prove your so-called lies true."

"What?" Her jaw dropped and I saw her give a true, wide smile. "Are you serious? Oh my god, Mitchie, I love you!"

I smirked at her as the bus stopped, drawing to a stop at the side of the road. The students were all watching the huge metal vehicles, some with wide eyes and disbelieving looks.

"Go on out there, Peggy." Caitlyn grinned, shoving Peggy towards the door. Our friend stumbled blindly out, turning back to shout her thanks and wave goodbye. As the door closed behind her, I heard a loud shout.

"Peggy, no! Don't go without saying goodbye!"

Jason had broken off of the second bus and was sprinting towards Peggy. He grabbed her in a bone-crushing hug and spun her around before depositing her on the floor and patting her head softly. He said a cheery goodbye and they practically skipped back onto his own bus. Caitlyn began to chuckle as we waved goodbye to Peggy through the window.

As we pulled away and the distance between us and the museum greatened, I distinctly saw the crowd of students swallow up Peggy, hounding her for more information and undoubtedly asking hundreds of pointless questions.

Caitlyn pulled away from the window and threw herself onto the nearest seat, taking hold of her wig and pulling it off of her head before grinning at me.

"Well that was an interesting start to tour, wasn't it?"

This chapter was awkward to write for three reasons. Firstly, I have no idea what the beginning of a tour is like (duh), secondly, I didn't have much to put into it (hence the reason I invented Peggy's little back-story, and lastly, because I've been way too busy reading fanfics to be writing. I apologise for that.

**Spwarkle**