'Did you see the look on Shane's face Caitlyn?' Mitchie asked her best friend miserably, wiping her eyes. 'What have I done? He'll never trust me again - no one will.'

'Mitch,' Caitlyn said softly, rubbing Mitchie's back soothingly. 'Shane will forgive you if you can get him to hear you out.'

'Yeah,' Mitchie snorted skeptically. 'Sure he will. But it's not like I deserve his forgiveness.'

Caitlyn didn't know how to reply. Sure, Mitchie shouldn't have lied about her mother working at Hot Tunes TV China but Caitlyn understood that Mitchie had felt intimidated by Tess and just wanted to fit in for once. Mitchie had gotten in way over her head with the lie and she hadn't meant to hurt anyone, and Caitlyn knew how terrible Mitchie felt about the whole thing.

'No one will talk to me again,' Mitchie mumbled.

'Well I'm not no one,' Caitlyn argued. 'You've got me. It'll be okay, I promise.'

Mitchie looked up at her friend gratefully through swollen eyes and gave her a small smile. 'Thanks, Cait.'

'Talk to Shane tomorrow,' Caitlyn added. 'He'll come 'round Mitch.'

Meanwhile Shane had stormed back to his cabin and was venting to his best friend on the phone.

'I trusted her, man,' Shane said furiously into the phone. 'And I really liked her. But she's so not who I thought she was.'

'Shane, mate, you're a rockstar,' Nate said patiently. 'This is nothing new, people pretend around us and try to use us every day. You need to forget about her, man.'

'I know,' Shane said, frustrated. 'I just can't. I really thought she was different.'

'Seriously dude, she's not worth your time,' Nate replied.

'I know that,' Shane sighed. 'I'm just so fucking pissed off.'

'Yeah, she's a bitch from the sound of it,' Nate said. 'Now forget about her for a second and try to be excited about the news I have.'

'Yeah?' Shane asked dully. To be honest, he didn't give a damn.

'Jason and I are coming to visit you!'

'Really?' Shane said, trying to sound enthusiastic. 'That's great, Nate.'

'Yeah, we'll be there tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow?' Shane repeated. 'Oh, okay. That's cool, man.'

'You better be over that chick by then, Shane,' Nate told him.

'Pfft, she's a joke,' Shane said. 'Over it already, mate.'

'Great,' Nate replied. 'See you tomorrow then. Oh and Jason says hey.'

'Tell him I say hi. See you guys tomorrow.'

Shane hung up. To be honest, he was more than a little relieved that his two best friends were coming. Even though Shane hadn't been getting along with his two bandmates too well of late their presence would still provide a much needed distraction from thinking about Mitchie. Whatever he had told Nate, he wasn't over her. So not over her.

The next day the whole camp was buzzing. Somehow the fact that the rest of Connect 3 were coming to visit had got out. Mitchie might've once been excited about that but at the moment the last thing she wanted to deal with was anything to do with Shane. When she'd tried to talk to him earlier, he'd completely ignored her. He'd recently given her his phone number and she'd tried texting him multiple times to apologise and asked for a chance to explain herself with no reply.

She sighed and went back to her cabin. It was deserted. Everyone was waiting for the rest of Connect 3 to arrive. But she was more than content to be left alone.

Once Nate and Jason had said hi to the campers and had signed a few autographs, Shane impatiently pulled them away and started leading them to his cabin.

'Hey guys,' he said, once they were alone.

'Hey mate,' Nate said.

'How's camp been Shane?' Jason asked.

'It was actually going alright until I found out that bitch was lying to me,' Shane responded bitterly.

Nate and Jason nodded sympathetically. Neither of them needed to ask who he was referring to.

'That sucks,' Jason said understandingly.

'I just want to forget about it,' Shane muttered.

'Okay, so let's change the subject then,' Jason said brightly. 'How's my birdhouse going?'

Nate rolled his eyes.

'I already told you I wasn't going to make you a birdhouse Jason,' Shane said impatiently.

Jason's face fell a little but then he smiled again. 'It hasn't been the same without you, Shane,' he said. 'Me and Nate were lonely.'

'Oh. Well, it's been ... different without you too, Jason,' Shane replied, trying to return his smile.

'Aww!' Jason smiled, pulling Shane and Nate in for a hug. 'Group hug!'

Later that day Mitchie was sitting by the lake by herself, lost in thought. She was so upset about how everything had gone wrong. This was supposed to be the best summer of her life but she knew she had no one to blame but herself. She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard someone panting behind her and she looked around. A boy who had obviously just been running had collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

'Are you okay?' Mitchie called out to him, jumping to her feet.

He looked up at her and Mitchie gasped when she saw who it was.

'Are you Nate from Connect 3?' she asked curiously.

'Oh um - yeah,' he replied, wiping his sweaty forehead with his sleeve.

'Are you okay?' she asked again.

'Well, I think I lost them,' Nate replied, glancing around nervously.

Mitchie laughed lightly. 'Let me guess - crazed, screaming fans?'

'You got that right,' he muttered, taking her hand when she offered it to him.

She helped him to his feet.

'Thanks,' he said awkwardly.

'That's okay,' Mitchie said, giving him a small smile before walking back to her spot by lake and sitting down again. She was surprised when he followed, sitting down next to her.

'You're not a crazed, screaming fan, are you?' he asked, looking at her in interest.

Mitchie shrugged.

'What's your name?' he pressed.

'Mitchie,' she replied shortly.

'Well, it's nice to meet you, Mitchie,' he said.

She just gave him another small smile but didn't say anything else. Nate looked at her in interest, making no move to leave. He found himself intrigued by this random camper. No other girls at this camp would be able to sit next to him so calmly, seemingly uninterested in him. He also couldn't help noticing that she was rather pretty.

Mitchie's phone suddenly beeped in her pocket. Nate watched Mitchie's eyes widen and face drain of color as she checked it.

'Are you okay?' Nate asked, concerned.

Without warning, Mitchie's eyes started to water.

'Mitchie!' Nate exclaimed, alarmed. 'What's wrong?'

She glared at him through tear-filled eyes. 'Why don't you ask Shane?' she said through gritted teeth.

'Shane?' Nate asked, perplexed. And then it hit him. This must be the girl. Shane hadn't mentioned her name before.

'You're the girl,' Nate stated flatly.

'He told you about me?'

'Yeah,' Nate said and then suddenly felt angry, annoyed that he'd been so interested in this girl. 'What you did to Shane was low,' he snapped.

'I know,' Mitchie mumbled.

'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'I didn't mean to lie to Shane,' Mitchie said, tears running down her face. 'And I didn't have any intention of using him!'

'Yeah, like I'm going to believe that,' Nate snorted scornfully.

'He thought that I wasn't being myself around him,' Mitchie said softly, as Nate stood up to leave. 'He thought that I was using him. I wasn't. And I was always myself with him. Who he knew was me. I never wanted anything off him.'

Nate sat back down. 'Was that Shane who just text you?' he asked.

'Yeah.'

'Wow,' Nate said in slight shock. 'Shane's really selective of who he gives his number to. You must have made quite an impression.'

Mitchie didn't say anything.

Nate sighed. 'Can I see what he text you to make you so upset?'

'Whatever,' Mitchie said, handing her phone over.

You're honestly such a bitch Mitchie - if that's even your name. You're a desperate, lying attention seeking whore and I can't believe I ever thought you were my friend. Stop texting me, I don't want your fake apologies or excuses. You're pathetic.

Nate read the message with wide eyes. He looked at Mitchie and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. 'Well, I know he's pissed, but that was a little over the top.'

'I guess I deserve it,' Mitchie said. 'But my lie about my mum working for Hot Tunes had nothing to do with Shane and I didn't do it to get close to him or anything.'

'Can I hear your side of the story?'

Mitchie gave a resigned sigh. She told Nate everything. How she just wanted to be accepted and make friends for once in her life. She told him everything that had happened with Tess and how the whole mess started. How she met Shane. How she'd been herself around him and hadn't meant to abuse his trust.

When she had finished they sat there in silence for a while before Nate finally spoke.

'You may've done and said some things you shouldn't've,' Nate said softly. 'But I understand why you did, not that that makes it okay but I get that it wasn't to do with Shane. And you certainly didn't deserve that message from him. That was uncalled for.'

Mitchie looked at him, surprised by his considerate words. He surprised her again a moment later by pulling her into a hug. After all, he barely knew her.

'Sorry,' Nate said, smiling at her awkwardly as he pulled away. 'You just looked so upset and stressed.'

'It's okay,' Mitchie smiled back at him softly.

'Look, I want to try give you a change to explain this to Shane,' Nate said. 'Because I think he's got you all wrong and judged you far too quickly. Would it be weird if I asked for your number?'

'No, it's okay,' Mitchie shrugged even though she was slightly confused.

'I know you regret what you did, Mitchie,' Nate said, handing her his phone to get her number. 'Stop beating yourself up.'

'I'll try,' Mitchie murmured. 'And ... thanks Nate. Thanks for listening.'

'If Shane says anything like that to you again, he's in trouble,' Nate said as Mitchie handed him his phone back. 'I'll see you round. Jason and I are here for a few days.'

'Thanks,' Mitchie said again, giving him her first real smile since her secret had been exposed.

Leaving Mitchie by the lake, Nate went back to Shane's cabin. He felt close to Mitchie already, somehow. He knew how angry Shane was at her but after hearing her side of the story he didn't think Mitchie deserved the crap she was getting. He couldn't believe Shane's text to the poor girl.

Getting his phone out of his pocket he quickly typed in a message for Mitchie.

Hey Mitchie, it's Nate. This is my number, feel free to message me anytime if Shane's giving you a hard time. Also please stop beating yourself up.

A minute later Mitchie replied. Thanks for giving me a change Nate. Don't worry about Shane, I can deal with it.

Nate put his phone back in his pocket and collapsed onto his bed. He was unable to keep his thoughts off Mitchie. She actually seemed like a great girl. Surely he would be able to get Shane to see her side in this mess.

Well I hope you guys liked chapter 1! Please, please let me know if I should continue this and what you thought of it. Also, this was just setting up the story, it gets better – I promise! And will it be Nitchie or Smitchie..? You'll have to wait and see! But feel free to comment which you'd prefer.

Also just in case anyone attacks me about this being very similar to another story on here, that story is mine and it's my old account. I wrote this years ago and recently decided to finish it but I wasn't happy with it and I wanted to change it a bit and start fresh :)