Chapter 11: Camp Rock
It's Wednesday of Homecoming Week. Today is the day of the school play. May, Drew, and Kiara are ready to be in the school play of Camp Rock. The theater classes have been working hard the past month to prepare this play.
Students and faculty are gathering in the theater, taking their seats. The actors and actresses are backstage. May and Kiara are sitting next to each other and Drew is in the restroom before the play starts.
"Ready to get out there?" May asked.
"Umm...it's really nerve racking." Kiara said.
"You'll be nervous the first couple of times, but it eventually gets better." May said. "Just remember...you practiced your lines really hard and you're ready for it, okay?"
"Okay…" Kiara said, legs shaking.
"Kiara, it will be fine. Don't worry about the audience. Throughout the entire play, I'm always on stage with you, so just focus on me, and you'll do fine."
Kiara smiled. "Right. I'll try to remember that."
"Are you girls ready?"
May and Kiara heard the voice behind them and they both turned around to face Drew.
"We're ready." May said. "But are you?"
Drew flicked his bangs. "Of course I am."
The play has already started and people are loving it. It's time for May to sing her song.
May walks onstage and sits down at the piano that the Psychic Pokémon backstage brought out. May set a notebook where the sheet music goes on the piano.
"Aah! There he is!" A voice squealed from the back of the theater. The audience all turned to see who squealed and they saw a bunch of girls and Drew.
Drew started running down an aisle of the theater with the girls chasing him. Drew hid behind some greenery that was in front of the stage. The stage was blocked with cardboard, painted like the Mess Hall in Camp Rock. The audience can still see May through a window in the cardboard. May started playing the piano while the girls that were chasing Drew are now looking side to side to find where he went.
"This is like what happens to Drew in real life." Dawn whispered to Misty.
"And he even stumbled upon a mystery singer last year." Misty whispered back.
(This song is "This Is Me" from Camp Rock.)
"Do you know what it's like to feel so in the dark?" May sang softly while playing the piano. "To dream about a life where you're the shining star. Even though it seems like it's too far away. I have to believe in myself. It's the only way."
"This is real, this is me." May continued. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now. Gonna let the light shine on me. Now I've found who I am. There's no way to hold it in. No more hiding who I wanna be."
"I think he went that way!" A girl called, pointing to the right. The bunch of girls squealed and ran in that direction towards theater doors. They opened the doors and ran out of the theater.
"This is me." May finished. Drew slowly stood up behind the greenery, looking to make sure the girls were all gone.
May took her notebook and stood up. She then walked backstage to the right.
Drew walked up the stairs on the left. "Hello?" He called, looking around the stage. He's walking towards the piano. "Hello?"
Drew placed his hand on the top of the piano, looking down at the keys. He looked up and around again. "Who's in here?"
The scene that they're on now has the stage looking like a kitchen. There's a vertical counter on stage and May is standing to the right of it. She bends down facing the audience and touches some kitchen utensils that are on the floor. That's when Drew walked onstage.
"Hello?" Drew called.
May heard him call and she took a chef's hat that was on a shelf in the counter.
"Hello?" Drew called again. He heard some clattering of pans from the other side of the counter. He looked in that direction. "Hello?" He asked again.
May put on the chef's hat, her elbow touching a pan and moving it on the shelf, creating a faint sound.
"I can hear you." Drew said rudely.
May looked at a bag of flour in front of her. She put her hands in it, shut her eyes, and then tossed the flour in her hands up at her face. The audience gasped that May really did that. May's face is covered in flour and her hair has some in it too.
May slowly started standing up from behind the counter. Drew saw her flour-covered face and his eyes widened slightly. "Hi." Was what May said, nervously, and standing up completely. Drew walked to the counter.
"Do you work here?" Drew questioned.
"I-I…" May stuttered. "Yes." She admitted, looking down.
"Wow." Drew breathed. May looked up at him. "You really get into your work."
May stayed silent.
"I'm Shane." Drew said. "But I'm sure even the kitchen help knows that."
"Of course." May said, smiling. "It's nice to meet you."
"Actually, it's not so nice."
May's smile faded.
"See, my manager said he sent over my food allergy list, but since I couldn't even go near my breakfast this morning…"
May still didn't speak.
"Can I just talk to whoever's in charge?" Drew asked.
"Excuse me?" May asked, getting angry.
"What?" Drew asked rudely.
"Well, you're kind of being a jerk."
"And you are?"
"A person!" May said, almost yelling. "And there's a way to talk to a person and that's not it." It stayed quiet after that.
Drew broke the silence. "Well, I'll have my manager send it over again."
May nodded slightly. "Fine." She said annoyed.
Drew started walking towards backstage. May cleared her throat, causing Drew to stop. He turned around, facing May.
"...thank you?" Drew asked, a bit rudely.
May gave a fake smile. "Much better."
While Drew is onstage, May and Kiara are backstage cleaning May's flour face. They're at a sink and May is washing her face.
"You really went full on flour, huh?" Kiara asked.
May stood up straight and Kiara handed her a towel. May buried her face into the towel. She moved it down her face, wiping the flour off. "I had to. That's what happens in the movie."
"I know, but...I'm just saying...you really take the roles you play really seriously." Kiara said.
"Well, I think it's because since Drew made me audition for the very first play that I was in, I've been wanting to give 100% every time to receive those nice compliments from him after the play is done." May said, slightly blushing at the end. She faced the sink and washed her face again.
"Seems like he's a good motivation for you." Kiara said. May hummed a yes.
May stood up straight and wiped her face with the towel.
"Still needs some work." Kiara said once May removed the towel from her face.
May dipped her head again and washed her face once again.
"Hey. It looks like Drew's scene is done." Kiara said, looking towards a person walking their way.
May stood up straight and wiped her face with the towel again. When she removed the towel, she saw Drew standing right in front of her and she jumped a little. She immediately covered her face with the towel.
"Drew, don't scare me like that." May said, her voice muffled in the towel.
"I told you that his scene was done, so he was of course walking this way." Kiara said.
"But, but, but I wasn't ready." May said.
"To see me?" Drew questioned.
"I mean, I'm always ready to see you, but...did you have to come when my face is covered with flour?"
Drew chuckled. He lowered the towel from May's face with his hand. "It's still beautiful."
May blushed. "I...umm…"
Kiara giggled. "I'll leave you two to chat." She walked away.
Drew gripped the towel with his hand. May let go of it and Drew walked to the sink, wetting a small section of the towel. He wrung it out and faced May. Drew started wiping the sides of May's face with the towel because they're the only parts that still have flour on it. May stared at Drew as he wiped her face and her blush deepened.
"You're really giving them a good show." Drew said.
"Umm...thanks." May said.
It was quiet for a while after that. Drew is still wiping the sides of May's face.
"So umm…" May said, breaking the silence. "I really am b-beautiful even with flour on my face?"
Drew smiled and used his left hand to brush May's hair out of her eyes. His right hand is wiping the left side of May's face with the towel. Drew traces her face with the towel down to her chin. He lifts her chin up with his pointer figure in the towel. They stare into each other's eyes. Drew's left hand brushed May's cheek, tucking strands of hair behind her ear.
Drew's gaze moved to May's lips. And then he looked back into her eyes. "You'll always be beautiful to me no matter what." He finally answered. May's blush deepened (if that's even possible).
Drew lowered his left hand and he moved his right hand to May's hair. "What are you doing?" May asked.
"You want to get the flour out of your hair, right?"
"Oh. Right."
Using the towel, Drew squeezed a section of May's hair. He then slid the towel down her hair, pushing the flour out of it. He did that a lot more times, finishing cleaning all of the flour out of her hair.
Drew is onstage, sitting on a bench, strumming his guitar. May walks onstage, carrying a guitar case. She hears him strumming and she stops in front of a fake tree. She watches him continue playing his guitar.
May lets out a fake cough. Drew stopped strumming and swiftly looked towards the tree. "Can't a guy get some piece?" Drew asked harshly.
"Sorry." May said, coming out of hiding and walking to Drew.
Drew looked up at May in annoyance. May is the one that spoke, breaking the small silence that there was.
"Was that you playing? It sounded kind of different."
"Than my usual stupid cookie-cutter pop star stuff?" Drew asked rudely. "Sorry to disappoint."
May laughed a little while shaking her head. "You didn't." She smiled at Drew. "I liked it. I mean, it was good for stupid cookie-cutter pop star stuff."
Drew smiled. "Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel better."
"...I thought you loved your sound. You created it here. You're like a Camp Rock legend."
"Some legend. I only played the music that the label thinks will sell. That's it."
"You don't think that song would sell?"
"I don't know."
"Well, you'll never know if you don't try. And, by the way, I know of one girl that would buy that song." With that said, May walked offstage to the left. Drew smiled, thinking about what May said.
May and Kiara are sitting at a square table onstage. May is sitting at the back and Kiara is on the left. There are balloons floating all around them.
"So, did you sign up for Final Jam?" May asked dully.
"Uhh...yeah." Kiara answered.
May nodded her head slightly while tying a balloon. "So, what are you thinking about doing?"
"This is freaking me out. Why are we talking?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm slumming?" May suggested. Kiara looked down at the table. May was holding a needle and she slowly moved her hand towards a balloon that's right next to Kiara. She popped the balloon, making Kiara jump. They looked at each other, Kiara's mouth open in surprise. May laughed. "Or maybe I wanted to set you up for that!"
Kiara took a needle and popped a balloon that's right next to May. May shrieked when the balloon popped. They both started laughing.
Drew is sitting on the floor against a canoe. He's looking in a notebook and he's holding a pencil.
"Turn on that radio." Drew sang acapella. "As loud as it can go." May is walking onstage towards Drew. "Gotta dance until my feet can't feel the ground."
May gets to Drew from behind and she kneels down, looking over the canoe. "So uh." May said. Drew looks at May. "Does your voice sound better over here?"
"...why don't we get in one of these things and you can tell me?" Drew asked, smiling.
It is now after the fake canoe ride. May and Drew are backstage.
"It felt weird to ride in a canoe without water, but we did it." Drew said.
"Yeah, we did." May agreed. May looked down at the floor.
"What's wrong?" Drew asked.
"Nothing. It's just…" May started, looking up at Drew. "One day I wish to go on a real canoe ride. You know...with water." She added, giggling.
Drew stared at May for a moment before he smiled and spoke. "Then I'll take you."
"What?" May asked incredulously.
Drew took May's hand. "I'll take you one day. I promise."
May smiled brightly. "Thank you! I think that will be so fun!"
"It sure will be. But you'll have to wait patiently for that day."
"I will, Drew. And remember, you promised."
Drew nodded. "And I never break my promises."