So in this chapter they finally get to Camp Rock. Yay!

Hope you enjoy it! :D

Disclaimer: Do we really have to go through this... again?


The Missing Piece of Me: Chapter 12

It was still early when I woke the next morning. I quickly jumped out of bed and got ready, trying to make an extra special effort to look nice today. I didn't want to look like a pumpkin on the first day of camp – who knew what sort of people I would meet there!

Camp registration didn't start until midday, but Mom and I had to get there early so she could get set up and start preparing the meals. I would have to help out in the kitchen, but I was hoping to be able to spend most of my time at the classes. I didn't want to miss anything!

When I went downstairs Mom was already up and about. She had made me an omelette and toast for breakfast. I guess that was one good thing about Mom being a caterer – she always made my meals for me! I knew not everyone was lucky enough to have a Mom who always had breakfast cooked and on the table by the time I came down every morning.

"Morning Mom," I called, going over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning Mitch," she replied, turning around to give me a hug, before turning back to the stove. "Will you be ready to leave in half an hour?"

"Sure thing, I just need to close my bags up and bring them down."

"Okay, when you're ready, would you mind helping bring some utensils out to the van?"

"No problem," I replied, quickly eating my omelette and toast and hurrying to get ready.

In only a little while everything was packed. Mom was just finishing off the dishes, so I ran up to my room to make sure that I had not forgotten anything. I danced into the room, singing happily. When I got inside my room I stopped short – looking at me through his window on the other side of the fence was Shane.

He laughed and waved, holding up his finger, in a 'wait a minute' gesture.

I waved back and nodded.

He bent over his desk and quickly wrote on a piece of paper, then holding it up so that I could see.

"EXCITED MUCH?" the paper read in black letters.

I laughed and ran over to my desk, writing swiftly on a blank piece of paper.

"TOTALLY!"

He laughed again when he saw my reply. He wrote again and then held the paper up.

"SEE YOU LATER "

I grinned back and waved. I quickly scanned the room, making sure that no essential items had been forgotten. There was nothing else that I could think of – I guess I was finally ready to leave for Camp Rock!

"Mitchie," Mom's voice came from the bottom of the stairs. "You ready hon?"

"Yes, I'm coming!" I called back. I ran down the stairs and out the front door, jumping into the front passenger's seat of the van. It had 'Connie's Catering' painted on the sides in big letters. Sometimes I was a bit embarrassed to be seen driving around in such an ancient van, but today I was too excited to care.

It took about two hours to drive to camp. I put one of my favourite CD's on and laughed and sang the whole way there. Mom sang along with me, and we laughed together about how terrible her singing was – I had obviously not got my musical ability from her!

As soon as we got to camp I jumped out quickly, looking around me and taking in the new surroundings. I sighed; it was beautiful - just how I had imagined it.

Small log cabins sat nestled on the edge of a beautiful still lake, closed in by mountains. There were a couple of bigger buildings slightly off to one side which I assumed must be the mess and concert halls.

I walked down to the lake, completely forgetting that I should be helping Mom take things to the kitchen. I stood on the stony beach, looking out at the lake. I was quite sure that this was going to be the best summer of my life.

Once again it was Mom's voice that broke me out of my reverie. "Can you come and help me Mitchie?"

I turned and ran back to the van, taking a box of food out and following Mom towards the kitchen. When we got inside there was a man standing there with a big smile on his face.

"You must be Connie and Mitchie!" he exclaimed in a British accent, a big smile on his face. He shook Mom's hand, "I'm Brown. It's so nice to meet you. And you Mitchie," he turned to me, "I am looking forward to hearing you sing. I've heard great things about you."

"Really? From who?" I asked, smiling back at him. Surely he must just be teasing me.

"From my nephew Shane," he replied, winking at me. "He seemed to think you were quite talented.

I laughed, "Shane's never heard me sing – not for years anyway. He probably just hopes I can!"

Brown laughed with me, "That sounds like Shane." His face sobered slightly, "I hope this camp will be good for him," he confided. "He really needs a bit of an attitude makeover."

Mom came over, putting her hand lightly on Brown's arm. "I'm sure camp will be good for him. Surely no one could misbehave in a place as beautiful as this!"

We laughed together and then Brown had to leave, saying that he would see us later at Opening Jam. Shane had told me about the jams at Camp Rock – he said that most of them had an open mic so I could sing if I wanted to.

Mom and I unpacked the boxes of food and started getting things out for supper. Mom wanted to have a really good meal for the first one – the cook never wanted to start out on a bad foot!

"So Mitchie," Mom said, "Are you planning on singing tonight?"

"I really don't know Mom," I replied, "I don't really think I'm brave enough to sing in front of so many people. Hopefully I'll get braver as the summer goes on though!"

"I'm sure you will, hon," she replied, squeezing my shoulder. "Now, run along. We're almost done here and I'm sure I can hear the other campers arriving."

I smiled at her, "Thanks Mom."

I ran outside to find the camp filled with teenagers like myself, laughing, playing music and talking excitedly. A lot of them obviously knew each other from previous summers at camp and they were clearly happy to see each other again. I smiled at the scene in front of me. I couldn't wait to meet some people and get to know them. Back home in Jersey I was shy and didn't have many friends. People here didn't know that though – it would be good to be able to start afresh here.

Just then someone bumped into me from behind, "Oh I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, "I shouldn't be standing in the way."

I turned so that I was facing the girl that bumped into me. She was carrying a stack of computer equipment, "No, I'm the one that should be saying sorry!" she said quickly, "I can hardly see over the top of all this stuff."

I smiled at her. She was short and thin with light brown hair hanging in tight curls. She smiled back and tried to hold out her hand, "I would shake your hand, but I'm afraid I can't right now." She giggled, "Anyway, I'm Caitlyn."

"I'm Mitchie," I smiled more broadly. "Can I help you carry anything?"

"Sure thanks, that would be great." Caitlyn handed me some of the equipment she was carrying and we set off towards her cabin.

"Is it your first summer here?" she asked me.

"Yes, is it yours?"

"No," Caitlyn laughed. "I've been coming here for a few years now. I've always gone to camp for the summer, and this is the one I like the best, so I keep coming back. You're going to love it."

"Aw thanks, I really hope I do," I replied. "So will you show me around when you've finished unpacking?"

"Of course. I've just got one more load of stuff to get from the bus." We walked back towards the bus that she had arrived in. Halfway there we had to stop. A crowd had gathered around a car that had pulled up outside the main hall. Not just any car though, a shiny chauffeur driven limousine.

As we watched the driver got out and went around to the back door, opening it. From inside emerged a slim blonde girl – hair perfectly straightened, nails perfectly manicured, clothes perfectly ironed. Just perfect in general. I sighed. She looked Andie and Bailey. There always has to be someone like them, I thought.

Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. "That's Tess," she told me. "She's T.J. Tyler's daughter."

"Really?" I gasped. Suddenly the girl didn't seem so bad to me. "I love T.J. Tyler. She's such an amazing singer. She's won 8 Grammys, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Caitlyn shrugged. "Just don't get in Tess's way. She might look perfect, but she sure doesn't act like it."

I was feeling a bit star-struck right then. I had always been a big fan of T.J. Tyler. I knew that she had a daughter my age, but because they lived in California I never expected her to be at Camp Rock.

This must be a good camp, I thought, if Tess Tyler would fly all the way from LA just to be here. And she can't possibly be as bad as Caitlyn say - her mom always seems so lovely in interviews.

"Mitchie!" Caitlyn was shaking my arm, "Are you coming?"

"Oh, right," we went over to the bus to get the rest of her stuff. I looked back over my shoulder. Tess was standing there, a crowd of girls around her listening as she laughed and told them something. I sighed again. I would never be like her – popular or pretty.

We dumped Caitlyn's stuff in her cabin before going on a tour around camp. Caitlyn pointed out all her favourite spots to me and we spent a while chatting and getting to know each other. She seemed really nice.

Soon though it was time for Opening Jam. We headed over to the outside amphitheatre and sat down on the grass.

After the Jam was over – only a couple of people got a chance to sing, which I was somewhat glad of, everyone stood around talking. While I was chatting to Caitlyn who had introduced me to some friends of hers – Baron, Sander and Lola, I saw a car pull up in the driveway.

The door opened and I saw Shane get out. He waved at me and headed through the crowd in my direction. As he got close, there were murmurs from the groups of young people close by.

"That's Shane Grey."

"I know – you hardly need to tell me that silly."

"I heard that he's been sent here on a discipline rap."

"Yeah, I heard that he was caught –"

The whispers ceased as Shane stopped next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a friendly hug. "How're you doing Mitchie?"

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows at me. I grinned at her and said quickly, "Shane, this is my friend Caitlyn."

Shane turned lazily in her direction, his arm still around my shoulder.

"I think we've met before," Caitlyn said. "Ages ago, back when I first started coming to Camp Rock."

"Mmm," Shane said, "I might remember it."

"I know I met Nate last year when he came to take a couple of classes as a favour for Brown. I don't think you were there," she frowned, trying to remember.

"No, I wasn't," Shane replied, almost sharply.

I looked at him in surprise, but was stopped from saying anything by a voice from behind.

"Shaaane!"

We turned. Standing there was Tess, in all her perfect blonde glory.

"Tess," Shane said, somewhat dully. "It's… nice to see you again." His words sounded force.

"I know!" She replied excitedly, "Isn't it? Oh and who's this?" She noticed me suddenly.

"Is this your girlfriend Shane?" Tess narrowed her eyes at me. I tried to smile back.

"No Tess, this is Mitchie," Shane said, taking his arm away from my shoulder, "She's an old friend from Jersey."

"Oh," I could hear the relief in Tess's voice, "Well I'm glad to meet you Mitchie. Do you want to come and hang with me and my friends?"

"Sure," I replied, eager to be included in Tess's circle of friends.

"I have to go," Shane said, abruptly again. "I need to, uh, go say hello to Uncle Brown."

Tess's face fell, but she still motioned for me to come and join her. I beckoned towards Caitlyn, "Come on Caitlyn!"

Tess shook her head, "No. You can come, but not her."

I paused, looking from Caitlyn to Tess and back again. I could tell that Caitlyn didn't want to spend time with Tess anyway, so I shrugged. "You don't mind do you Caitlyn?"

"No," she said slowly, "I guess not. I'll see you later Mitchie."

"Okay," I said, smiling at her, "Bye!"

And with that I was gone, swept up into Tess's crowd of friends. I knew they probably only wanted to be with me because I was Shane's friend, but I didn't care. Perhaps for the first time in my life I might be popular.


Okay so pop quiz for you guys...

You might have noticed that I'm a bit of a Taylor Swift fan. So far throughout this story I have either been inspired by or referenced four different songs of hers.

Can you guess what they are?

Love yas. :)